Rokudaime

Chapter 6: Mirror Image

The moon trickled lightly through the trees, its faint light brightening the tops of the trees, but leaving the forest floor almost completely dark. Smiling, Tamasine took a bite of his meat stick and mumbled, “Shall we?”

“It’s time.”

Sakura grumbled as Ino shook her awake. “It’s third watch. You’re up,” the other girl whispered quietly, shaking her friend a little more.

“I’m up, I’m up,” Sakura mumbled, pulling herself out from underneath her blankets. Feeling the cool night air against her skin, she decided to take a blanket with her. She watched as Ino crawled into her own bed and promptly fell asleep. Sakura leaned against a thick tree trunk, tucking the blanket securely around her.

Only a faint amount of moonlight shone through the thick treetops. Everything was only a different-colored shadow to her. It was so quiet. It seemed like even the animals were asleep. No night birds sang, and the wind only barely touched the trees and bushes.

Her eyelids began to droop closed. Sleep took her for a little while, spiriting her through a glimpse of a dream. A rustling noise woke her. Her eyes snapped open, and she found a kunai in her hand. She didn’t remember exactly where it came from. The noise was over before she was fully awake. She glanced around, noting that the other three of her team were still resting quietly. Sleep began to steal her away once more when she heard the same quiet noise, and then a thump.

She rubbed her eyes with her fists, trying to enable herself to see better in the near darkness. A shape moved near Ino’s sleeping body. Sakura stayed low to the ground and crawled over to Hinata and Kurenai, shaking them awake. Both woke silently in the dark, eyes wide open. Sakura shifted her eyes toward the moving shadows. Kurenai nodded, and shifted her weight, turning over onto her stomach. The next instant, she’d grabbed both girls’ wrists and pulled them up into the trees with her.

Up above, they could see the two intruders better in the clouded moonlight. Kurenai nudged Hinata, jerking her head towards the people below. “Byakugan!” Hinata whispered, after using her ability. “Sound-nin, both of them,” she whispered, still watching them. “Thieves, by the look of it. They look exactly alike.” She paused, coming back to herself. “Twins.”

“Ino’s not asleep,” Sakura said quietly. “She never sleeps like that,” she continued, gesturing to the blonde girl. Ino had both arms raised, curled around her head, eyes peacefully closed.

“Kurenai, what’s the plan?” Hinata asked, turning anxious eyes toward her team leader.

“Judging by the feel of their chakra, they’re both about high chuunin-level. Not quite jounin,” Kurenai muttered.

“Chuunin?” both girls replied, shocked. Only a glare from Kurenai kept them from making more noise than that.

“I can fight equally with one of them, but probably not both at once,” she continued. “I could take one of them, if you three will take the other.”

“We’re not up to it. We can’t take on a chuunin at that level. Even us three together, we’re only genin. We can’t do it!” Sakura said quickly, hand on Kurenai’s wrist.

“They have sound amplifiers, one each,” Hinata whispered, noticing the metallic glint in the moonlight. “One on the right arm of one, the other's the left arm.”

“You three can do it,” the jounin answered, pushing Sakura’s hand off of her arm. “Get Ino and the three of you can do it together. Be careful though. Something tells me that these two are not simple thieves.”

“How can you tell?” Hinata asked.

“They haven’t even touched our packs yet. If they were thieves, they would have taken them and gone. They’re still here. What does that say to you?” the teacher answered.

“Killing intent…” Sakura whispered. Before Kurenai could stop the younger ninja, Sakura had already thrown her kunai, whipping it across the clearing. It thudded solidly into a tree trunk, quivering inches away from one of the shadowy forms.

“You gave away your location!” Kurenai hissed. “We have to move now.” With those hissed words, the jounin was gone.

“Sakura,” Hinata whispered, tugging on the other girl’s sleeve. “Ino’s gone.”

“I’m right here,” a soft voice whispered.

“Ino!” Sakura yelped, jumping back.

Ino hushed the other girl, holding one finger to her lips. “What’s going on?” she whispered.

“Two Sound-nin. Kurenai’s taking one, and we’re taking the other,” Sakura quietly replied.

“Let’s do it then!” Ino answered, jumping over to another tree to get a better view on the two. Sakura followed. Hinata glanced down for a few moments, and then reluctantly trailed the other two.

Kurenai circled the two intruders, waiting for them to split up a little more. When they finally did, she targeted the one coming closer to her hiding spot, waiting for the perfect moment. At last, the other ninja turned his back. Silently, Kurenai dived from her hiding place, kunai in hand. Her knees hit first, slamming the other into the ground. Before Kurenai had time to react, her opponent had weapons in both hands, slashing at her. She jumped backwards, staying low to the ground and hiding in the shadows.

“Tamasine, what happened?” the other Sound-nin barked, turning to face his partner.

“The enemy is here,” Tamasine whispered, licking the thin trace of blood of his kunai. Kurenai raised one hand to her cheek, where blood beaded on her cut. “Toshi, shall we take her on?”

The other shook his head. “Their supplies and packs say that there are four ninja here. I shall watch for the others, and give you the honor of taking the first.”

“Thank you, dear brother.” Tamasine replied, getting slowly up from the ground and brushing dirt from his clothes. A narrow trace of blood ran down his chin, oozing from his lip. “Now it begins,” he hissed, eyes narrowing to slits in the darkness.

Kurenai smiled grimly. These two weren’t natural. From faint half-light images, she gathered that these two were twins. At the risk of a cliché, it was double trouble. In an instant, she vanished into thin air. Seamlessly, she stepped out of a tree and held two kunai, one at his throat, one at his back. “Check,” she hissed in his ear, leaning forward, legs still part of the tree.

Tamasine’s throat bulged as he swallowed, pressing lightly against Kurenai’s blade. There was a single moment of silence before the Sound-nin laughed sharply, expelling the sound from his stomach. “Zankuuha!” Kurenai was blown backwards by the force of the air, going through the tree and slamming, hard, into the next. Little slow on the draw, she grimaced, checking her skull for bleeding. “Checkmate,” Tamasine laughed, crossing his arms.

Still crumpled on the ground, Kurenai pulled three shuriken out of her pouches, her body hiding most of her movements. Whirling, she threw them in a neat pattern. Tamasine jumped out of the way, right into Kurenai, who had anticipated his movement. Her kunai sank deep into the side of his neck, and blood flowed heavily down over her fingers. Kurenai smiled for just a moment.

Then a large log fell to the ground, its weight pulling Kurenai’s weapons with it. Kawarimi no Jutsu…

Above, the genin clustered high up in a tree, Hinata observing the fight occurring below. Even her sight couldn’t reveal everything in this darkness, but she could do better than Sakura and Ino could. Behind her, she could hear the other two whispering about their plans. Sakura knew from past experience the sound of a Zankuuha, and the trio knew that at least one of their enemies had sound implants. After a long moment of observation, Hinata spoke up. “They’re twins, right. The one is fighting with Kurenai, I can’t tell who’s winning. And the other…I can’t find him.”

“That’s the one we’re supposed to cover,” Ino whined, gnawing nervously on one of her fingernails.

“Keep looking, Hinata,” Sakura instructed. “Ino, what can we do to avoid the implants? You fought those three sound-nin too,” she asked the other girl.

“I don’t know, Sakura…” Ino looked frightened, her face pale in the moonlight. “Those blasts were pretty bad. They even took Lee down…”

Sakura looked at Ino in disbelief, luckily hid by the shadows. Ino was never this way, even when the pair had fought in the preliminaries. They could have been hurt, they could have even died, but determination – or maybe stubbornness – won out. Sakura couldn’t really see how this was that different from that fight.

But when she actually thought about it, it made a lot of sense. Her team had been on a mission that had turned bad, and she’d probably had more experience in battle than Ino actually had. And Hinata, she always looked shy and scared. Sakura was surprised Kurenai and Kiba hadn’t had more of an effect on her. But Ino…all she had was Shikamaru, Choji and Asuma, and that really wasn’t much. Shikamaru would rather sleep than anything, and Choji would rather eat. And Asuma… Sakura wasn’t actually surprised at all after thinking about it.

She leaned forward for a moment, laying her hand on Ino’s shoulder. “It’ll be fine, if we just work together,” she assured her friend. “Relax, and help me think of a plan. I was thinking of something involving your Shintenshin.”

“I can only use it if they hold still, remember?” Ino muttered. “I really don’t see how that’s going to happen.”

“Over there,” Hinata finally murmured, gesturing to another nearby tree. “She’s watching the fight, probably planning to attack when Kurenai’s focusing on the first.”

“Let’s take her out. She doesn’t know where we are, right?” Sakura asked, suddenly looking more alert. Hinata shook her head. “Ino, can you make it?” Sakura turned to the blonde, looking quizzically at her.

With a nod, Ino fitted her hands into her signature seal, aiming carefully towards where Hinata pointed. “What do you want me to do exactly?” she asked. Sakura explained quickly, pointing at things to emphasize her point. After understanding, Ino focused, and she began to see hints of movement where Hinata pointed her towards, enabling her to aim better. Feeling a little more confident, she whispered, “Shintenshin no Jutsu.”

Sakura caught Ino as she slumped over, sweat dribbling down the back of her neck as the plan she’d created was put into motion. For everybody’s sake, she hoped this worked out. Hinata still peeked out of the edge of their tree, watching the sound-nins. “She moved,” she hissed back to Sakura, eyes widening in panic. “It didn’t hit.”

The other genin sucked her lower lip in, thinking about the next move in her plan. There had to be a new plan now. Before she had much time to think, a cry of pain rang out from below.

The clone in front of Kurenai disappeared a fraction of a second before the real shinobi hit her from behind. She stumbled forward, not expecting the attack. Throwing herself to the ground, she used Tamasine’s own momentum to toss him across the clearing. She didn’t manage to get her opponent away from her in time, and a line of fire sliced down her arm. Turning instinctively to hold the edges of her wound together, her blood was slippery between her fingers. The warmth of it felt thick as it dripped down her arms. Distracted for a second, she barely heard the clink of metal as Tamasine turned to aim at her. “Zankuuha!”

Pushing herself to her feet, Kurenai barely managed to jump out of the way. The back draft from the blast of air turned her leap into a dive, and she tumbled to the ground, hitting heavily on her already-injured arm. Cursing, she stood, head on a swivel to determine where her enemy was.

Above her, Hinata watched, telling Sakura everything that happened. Still occupied with Ino, Sakura wasn’t willing for any of them to move. There were still a few minutes until Ino would return, Kurenai was injured below, and the other enemy nin was on the move. Mind focused on creating a new plan, she barely noticed Hinata’s movement out of the corner of her eye. “Hinata, wait,” she called after the Hyuuga. It was too late. Hinata had already dropped down out of the tree, intent on helping her teacher.

Almost silently, she hit the ground next to Kurenai. The jounin was quickly and sloppily wrapping her injury with a roll of bandages. Hinata touched her gently on the shoulder, making her jump. The girl extended a hand, and Kurenai handed over the bandages, letting Hinata bandage her arm, quicker and cleaner than she could have done it on her own. Putting the final touches on the dressing, Hinata was suddenly scooped up underneath her teacher’s uninjured arm. “Zankuukyokuha!” The voice this time was oddly amplified; it took Kurenai a moment to realize that the twins had finally gotten together as a team. The blast was even stronger this time, and it made her ears hurt. A mixture of sound and air?

“Be careful,” Kurenai whispered. “They’re twins, and they’ll probably have special jutsus.” Hinata just nodded in acknowledgement. Suddenly, both twins appeared on either side of them, closing to form one-on-one pairs. Kurenai only had time to pat Hinata on the shoulder encouragingly before launching herself at her attacker.

Hinata froze for a moment, staring at the sound-nin coming towards her. Her panicked mind, for some reason, absorbed details about him like a sponge. He was clothed in a mixture of dark green and camouflage, and she caught a glimpse of a sound implant in his left palm. Short, spiky black hair fell down into eyes that held just a hint of insanity. He smiled in the darkness, a slice of white teeth, burning itself into Hinata’s mind. This girl would be easy prey.

She saw that look. He was cocky, overconfident. Kurenai had taught her that that overconfidence would be one of her big advantages. A smaller girl like her, who looked so fragile and weak, would be a big surprise for others. Maybe this time, she’d take Kurenai’s advice, and prove her worth. The veins around her eyes stood out sharply as she barked out a battle cry, taking the Hyuuga battle stance.

Perfectly timed, she hit him solidly in the upper chest, throwing his balance off. He staggered back, but kept coming. Dropping to the ground, she lashed one leg out, catching him in the ankle. He flew over her crouched body and rolled up to his feet. Hinata began to gain confidence. This didn’t seem that difficult.

That confidence began to crack when the sound-nin began to actually fight back. He proved to be skilled in hand-to-hand combat, striking with a speed that Hinata couldn’t match. Small, high-pitched whines seemed to come from each strike. Her ears began to throb as his speed increased. He may have his own techniques, but Hinata could match him easily.

She began to target her own attacks, aiming for the main organs of the body. His height worked against him as she came in underneath him, striking up at his sternum. It was a firm hit, and she felt the warm splash of blood against her face. Blood was pouring from his nostrils and mouth. He looked at her in shock. Suddenly, he had a kunai in his hand and struck out at the back of her head with the blunt end. It hit her neatly in the base of the skull, tumbling her down into darkness.

Kurenai focused on her own enemy, finding that she was able to easily meet his assaults. Too easily, she thought. Her thoughts were correct. As she struck forward at him, he somersaulted backwards, slapping his hands together through a series of seals. Behind her, she heard a rustle and the sound of palms hitting together. The other sound-nin.

A loud, ringing tone rang through the clearing, making Kurenai’s very sinuses vibrate. Tears sprung to her eyes, although she tried to fight them back as her ears felt like they were going to implode. A trickling in her ear heralded the beginning of the flow of blood. They had burst. She took a staggering step forward, and fell forward against a tree. Her balance was so off that there was probably no way she could walk for a while, much less fight. The thing that really bothered her was that there was nothing she could do about it.

Seeing double, she saw the two…four? nins back up across the clearing. And she caught sight of Hinata’s still form. Praying that her student wasn’t dead, she crawled across to the girl, the world spinning around her. She was fine, just unconscious. A bruise forming behind her student’s ear betrayed the reason.

Sakura and Ino dropped down from the tree next to her, forming a triangle defensive stance. “Kurenai, what are we going to do?” Sakura whispered softly to the mission leader.

“How are you two?” Kurenai responded, exploring her options. It was hard to hear, and she tilted her head towards the person speaking.

“Tired, but okay,” Ino responded, voice dragging.

“I’m fine,” Sakura continued. “Ino used her jutsu, and missed.”

Kurenai nodded, thinking. They probably could use the jutsu they’d just performed on her more than a few times. And that probably wasn’t the only skill they could use. But she thought she might have done some damage to her personal opponent. Signaling Ino and Sakura, they moved back behind a tree, carefully carrying Hinata. The dark-haired girl was beginning to move slightly, waking up.

“It’s four on two,” Sakura whispered, closing her eyes to think. “Sound attacks,” she continued to mutter to herself, collecting her thoughts.

Kurenai created a plan first, and turned to fill the others in, keeping a cautious eye on the darkness around them. Ino and Sakura nodded in understanding. Low to the ground, Kurenai and Sakura moved off. Ino stayed with Hinata, waiting for the girl to wake up.

Hidden low in the brush, Kurenai created three separate clones, spreading them out around the clearing. Focusing just a small bit of chakra to each, she sent them out, flowing through trees to distract the sound-nin who were still within. She still couldn’t move well, her feet seemed to tangle with each other every time she took a step. Clones were the best she could do.

Sakura, opposite from Kurenai, saw the clones enter the clearing, slipping out of the trees like ghosts. Straining her eyes, she could see the two sound-nin move so they were back-to-back, hands clasped together. One of them had a dark streak, possibly blood, down the front of his clothing. The other just looked…off. One of his arms seemed as if it was held too tightly to his side, and the upper half looked broken. They had taken some damage, it seemed.

Kurenai’s clones were all heavily armed with kunai, probably making them more dangerous than the real Kurenai was right now. Sakura saw the sound-nin focus on them, quickly counting the enemies. Their joined hands moved against each other, possibly a sort of signal language between them.

As Sakura watched, their hands moved again. A single note rang out, low and jarring. One of the sound implants, but only one. Then the other began, harmonizing and making Sakura’s knees weaken. Her muscles seemed to turn to water, and she fell to the ground.

She could see everything, but she couldn’t move a muscle. Her hearing was partially gone as well. Being unable to move scared her more than anything. She could only watch as the sound-nin separated their hands. The clones had all dissipated; their plan stopped almost before it had begun. And they had heard Sakura fall.

Watching as one of them approached her, Sakura’s breathing came faster. It seemed almost as if his slick smile and hungry eyes glittered in the darkness.

Sakura could move now, but she had no energy, no power. It was as if all of the energy was gone, sapped out of her by a single sound. Even if she could stand, she could not support her own weight for even a moment. He was standing next to her now, kunai in hand and a nasty grin on his face. “I wonder how your blood tastes,” he hissed, leaning towards her.

“Tamasine!” the other barked. “Don’t. Finish her quickly.”

The first scowled down at Sakura. “He always ruins my fun,” he whispered, voice softening. His hand gently stroked her face, but still, she couldn’t move away. She felt too weak. Tamasine leaned in, resting the kunai at her throat. “Good night, sweet one.”

“No!” Ino appeared out of the air, swinging her heel down towards Tamasine’s head. Whirling, he raised his arms to defend himself, and Ino’s foot hit his hands solidly. The sound of bones cracking was audible. Landing on her outstretched leg, she continued her movement, lashing out with her other foot. The man threw himself backwards, sliding in a three-point stance.

“Two delicious treats for me?” The sound-nin cocked his head to one side, still smiling broadly. His broken hands dangled in front of him, ignored. One of his fingers bent sideways, dripping blood. He wouldn’t be using any more hand-seals tonight. His arm was still tucked up tightly to his side, another advantage.

“We’re not your treats,” Ino snarled, taking a wide stance in front of Sakura. She held a kunai in each hand, a sneer on her face. The other girl only watched as her friend stood up for her and protected her. “I’ll show you.”

Obligingly, he offered a hand to her. “We will dance, you and I?” he asked.

“Sure, dance.” Ino stepped into a fighting stance, a signal. “You look like you’re lonely.”

“Oh, but I am. It’s been so lo-“ Tamasine spun, deflecting the kunai Hinata had thrown from above. The girl followed shortly after, from the side instead. Her long-reaching hit struck him solidly in the side, while Ino approached from behind.

Originally distracted by Hinata, he barely countered Ino’s attack in time. A scratch on his neck leaked blood from her near miss. As he began to slow, Ino and Hinata speeded up their attacks in turn. Their endurance together could certainly outlast his, especially after Kurenai had gotten a turn at him. With a broken arm and more than a few broken fingers, he flinched with every hit he took, whether he blocked it or not. Slowly, he began to wear down.

Behind him, his brother called out four sharp words. A change came over the first shinobi, and he moved into a different stance. He seemed to ignore his injuries and began to move with renewed energy. Ino and Hinata had to struggle to keep up, only occasionally getting a hit in.

Pushing herself, Byakugan activated, Hinata felt an odd teamwork with Ino. When she increased her intensity, Ino decreased hers, and vice-versa. It preserved energy, so they could outlast Tamasine, but his brother had done something that made that plan impossible. Searching for the other sound-nin, Hinata saw him, across the clearing.

The twins were backing up towards each other, looking for something safe behind them. But their movements looked odd, as if they were stilted. Stiff and awkward. Suddenly, she realized why they looked funny. The pair were mirroring each other. Twins.

“They’re matching!” she called out, looking to Kurenai, who was starting to lose her dizziness. Behind her, she saw Sakura begin to struggle up, limbs shaking. After gaining a sitting position, the girl’s face was pale and sweaty. What had that sound done to her?

Finally, Tamasine and Toshi were back to back. Hinata knew that this would be the last round in this fight. Kurenai approached the two, bringing her superior taijutsu skills into play again, although she was a little shaky.

After the jounin arrived to back Hinata up, Ino broke away to go to Sakura. Kurenai and Hinata continued their attacks, watching carefully for hints about ones movement from the others. Their attacks were more powerful, as if their strength had increased. Their hits jarred Hinata’s arms when she blocked.

Kurenai suddenly rolled backwards and away, and Hinata followed her lead. Tamasine and Toshi turned as one to face them. “Hinata, you have to use the Gentle Fist,” Kurenai muttered quickly, barely pausing for breath. Before Hinata realized it, Kurenai was gone already, engaging the two sound-nin again.

Reluctantly, the Hyuuga prepared to use her special technique, her hand tightly clutching the family crest hanging around her neck. She didn’t want to do this. She didn’t want to kill; she had no reason. They were probably just thieves, who’d gotten caught in the act. There wasn’t a reason for them to die. But they wanted her and her friends to die. A proverbial rock and a hard place. She’d used the Gentle Fist earlier, but that was simple, just light contact. He’d coughed blood all over. Could she do more?

Looking over, she saw Ino help Sakura to her feet. The sound-nin couldn’t move far apart because of the jutsu, and Kurenai was fighting them alone. Hinata’s face hardened. She could do more. Standing, she moved into her family’s stance. Not just her family’s. Her own.

Her first hit landed solidly in the middle of Tamasine’s stomach. He’d been distracted by Kurenai, and hadn’t expected another enemy to arrive so suddenly. Unforgiving, Hinata continued her charge, thrusting a palm up towards his heart. He easily blocked her attack, knocking it aside with a forearm. The blood on his clothing already marked him as the one she’d been fighting earlier. He would already have damage from her Gentle Fist.

Kurenai moved beside her, a flurry of action. Although she didn’t have Hinata’s bloodline, she did have years of experience on her side. They worked well together, systematically striking at their enemies. Moving together, the twins’ attacks gained power, but were more predictable. Hinata was barely able to keep up with them, and spent most of her time dodging to avoid injury.

It was a deadlock, each pair able to match the other. Hinata’s breath was coming faster, and next to her, she could hear Kurenai’s grunts as she blocked strikes and returned with her own. They needed something new. Kurenai was right about using her technique; her special attacks would injure both of them. Something needed to be done, but she wasn’t fast enough to strike with her Gentle Fist now that she was tired and injured.

The next strike Tamasine threw at her, she dodged under, dropping seemingly bonelessly to the ground. Crouched low to the ground, she flew upwards at the other twin, coordinating with Kurenai. As the jounin’s punch aimed for his head, Hinata struck him firmly in the chest. He choked, coughing and gagging on his own blood. Tamasine performed the same actions, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth. The same jutsu that allowed them to mirror movements reflected damage as well. Unable to recover in time, both were extremely vulnerable.

Quickly stepping forward, Kurenai buried a kunai in each of their throats with a flick of the wrists, using the advantage Hinata had created

. A single choking gasp and Tamasine fell to the ground, blood leaking out around Kurenai’s weapon. Toshi managed to shape his hand into an obscene gesture before succumbing to blood loss. Kneeling, the surviving jounin felt for a pulse. Finding none, she jerked her knife back out of her former opponent, wiping the blood off on his shirt. Tamasine still had a slight pulse, quickly ended.

Frowning, Kurenai called her students over. “We don’t have time to deal with these properly. We leave them here, because we can’t carry them, and we can’t bury them. A fire could grow out of control.” She began to arrange the bodies, folding the arms over their chest.

Sakura and Hinata knelt to help, laying the other out flat. Ino swaggered, woozy again, and sat down heavily. “You mean that’s it?” she asked, leaning over to try and get rid of her dizziness. “We kill them, lay them out, and leave?”

“What did you expect?” Kurenai asked, standing with her hands on her hips.

“Well…something a little more than just killing them,” Ino responded angrily.

“They would have killed us and left us here to rot,” Kurenai continued reasonably. “Get up. We need to keep moving. We’ll rest in a little bit.”

Reluctantly, the girls stood and followed Kurenai, collecting their packs and gear before limping out into the night. Hinata turned and looked over her shoulder, watching the dark forms on the ground until she couldn’t see them anymore.

Write to Alina-Cantha
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