Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Paradise Comes at a Price ❯ Just out of Reach ( Chapter 1 )

 

 

The troops stood at the villages' edge, gathered around, getting ready to attack at my signal. It was coming time for the Sound to take victory and destroy the Leaf for good. They had spent a good many years training for this one event I had spent even more years training the young to the emotionless, strong and tactical killers. Kids that normally would have been Genin by twelve were now trained ruthlessly to be ANBU by the time they had turned twelve to fourteen. Now those children are under the General's, my, command along with the hundreds of older adults, waiting for my signal to charge the repulsive village.

 

I sat at the top of a tree, watching for the appearance of the snake that was being summoned from a deeper part in the forest. Sure enough, it suddenly crashed through the treetops and as a group we all surged forwards as I made a signal to a team captain below and the twenty or so teams took off in their assigned directions. Jumping from the tree and being followed by the few teams under my control I barked a few commands down at them and the captains sped forwards and into the watch house not far away, striking them off guard and disposing of the easily. Turning I made a few hand seals followed by a fire jitsu, thrusting it towards the sky, making a fireball. The signal was meant for supplies teams to set camp in the tower taken. If it was to be any kind of war it was bound to bring plenty of wounded.

 

I followed into the tower after the captains. They were already finished kneeling in the blood of our enemies out of respect for their superior, waiting for their next orders. I smirked. At this rate, it wouldn't even take a month before we would take over and then I would be praised by Orochimaru-sama for such an excellent job in training such troops who used be such sorry excuses for ninjas.

 

I was pulled from my thoughts by one of the kneeling captains;

 

“Anuket-sama, the area is clear”

 

I returned my attention to the next steps in demolition of the scum.

 

“Good. Take your teams into the defensive until we have secured this tower from breach. When set up is complete, team `Shell' will stay to defend here while teams `Strike', `Confuse' and `Switch' will accompany me onto taking the tower situated in the middle of the village. Understood?”

 

All three captains quickly responded in a loud, barking voice

 

“Understood!”

 

And then they disappeared from sight. In my adrenaline rush, I decided to go out and clear the way a bit before we went to go take out the tower after all what else is a General to do. It would probably be easy as well because every country has a policy that is to not let females out onto the battlefield. If it weren't for my extensive and unique abilities passed down from my family, I most definitely wouldn't be here, let alone General for the whole army.

 

I walked down the spiral staircase of the tall tower, trying to determine any signs of lurking enemy shinobi hiding in the shadows. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs where a wooden door was my only barrier from the outside and paused slightly, hearing the sounds of clashing weapons and scuffing of shoes on the dirt. The battle was raging and I was missing it. The door burst open, almost ripping it from its hinges. The symbol displayed on the intruders' head was evidence enough to activate an automated response and I quickly thrust a kunai into the nameless shinobis stomach. There was enough time to register the look of horror and surprise flash across the enemies face before I ripped the kunai upwards, tearing through skin, flesh and bone. Blood exploded outwards with the force of my attack, spraying the doorway and continuing out the door as the already cold carcass fell backwards.

 

No matter how many times I had done this in the past, it had always been the same, the quick kill and then nothing. No thrill, no feeling of disgust, nothing. It was the way originally intended for the way of the shinobi; Show no emotion or it could lead to your downfall. Somehow it had snuck up on me when I wasn't looking in my younger years and sure enough had caught me in it `no feeling' bullshit. I stared at the carcass for a moment, watching as the entrails slid from the body of a feeling man. One who was fighting to save something real out of love. It satisfied my reasoning for making every one of them fall as the first one had; quickly and by the knife.

 

I stepped out of the doorway and over the body, spotting my next opponent. Obviously a close comrade as the expressions took on the emotions of loss, namely; anger, hate and something murderous. He was running towards me quickly, drawing his weapons. I was on him in an instant, and with a flick of my wrist I slashed his throat, slicing through it easily, letting myself get splattered with the blood that came from the open vein. It would happen sooner or later, no matter how clean I would try to stay, so avoiding mess was a waste of time.

 

My three other teams, Strike, Confuse and Switch, were in time to watch me wipe my kunai blade on my pants before putting it back in its holder. There would be plenty of opportunity to lose equipment later, when it got serious.

 

“We are ready for your orders, General”

 

The shortest of the three men bowed his head in respect

 

“Good, Strike will go ahead in arrowhead formation, confuse will follow in the middle in arrow shaft formation and switch will watch the behind in arrow tail. We head for Hokage tower”

 

I pointed out towards the tall building out in the middle of the farthest side of the village. There was a lot of ground between here and there and it would most probably take a long time to get through the resistance. Their formation, however, would be able to take most attack without much trouble.

 

Strike was put in the front as the strongest fighters and the quickest to kill, maim and destroy. Confuse, aren't as strong, but have been trained extensively in more confusing techniques, poisons, Genjitsu, substitute techniques and were generally an agility team. Switch were a back up team, quite strong and the best with stamina and everything else in moderation. They were designed to take over if a team were to get tired and were to watch the other team's backs for danger. It was quite good, although the teams were a little too large for my liking. But orders are orders.

 

I jumped ahead of the whole group, leading the way through the deserted streets quickly, any and all combat engaged were small bands of Leaf nin, way past their prime and in need to extermination. We passed through a deserted street. We were heading on through towards the stadium, the quickest way through to the Hokage tower. Hopefully it would cover them on the way through, avoiding conflict as well as setting them ahead a few hundred yards. We jumped into the street in front of the stadium and slipped in through the large double doors. I cursed. I didn't expect to be so many people in the stands, both shinobi and non-shinobi shit. Now we've got to fight our way through, it could delay us by a day or more, damn. It would be even harder, seeing as Orochimaru-sama and their Hokage were only a roof away, engaged in heavy combat. ANBU were watching their progress. No doubt they would wait the second the barrier from Orochimarus four special fighters went down to move in and protect their Hokage.

 

The stands were full of people even though they were all knocked out, no doubt by a Genjitsu of some sort. All of those who weren't experienced shinobis were asleep while the large number of empty seat indicated the Genjitsu had been dispelled by those who could recognised it as a technique before it got a hold of them. There was no use trying to avoid it now, we were seen and if we tried to slip by, it would be most likely that we would be followed and it would be a disaster to get caught by in front as well as ambushed from behind. I turned to my teams.

 

“Alright, ladies it looks like this is where the real fighting will begin and will be the slowest part on the way through. Now get out there and kill me some leaf nin”

 

There was a round of confirming yells and they dispersed, to go pick their fights. The captains were barking commands to their subordinates, grouping and ungrouping, working together and taking out their targets. I was watching it all go down with satisfaction. There were minimal damages to any of the teams, although `Confuse' was having a difficult time, not being used to hand-to-hand combat but if they couldn't defend their selves, then they weren't worth sparing.

 

I moved out to the centre of the stadium. There was already two people standing there, ready to fight. I recognised one of them as an ally of the sound, a Jounin of the Sand Genin that were participating in the Chuunin Exam, the distinctive cloth hiding half of his face. The other, a leaf nin, headband wrapped around his head like a bandana and a thin stick, maybe a senborn, hanging from his mouth. Every other fighter in the stadium is in the stands, trying to exterminate the Leaf Jounin about, without much success, I could see their Jounin are making light work of them. I sighed. Some people are useless.

 

I moved quickly, disappearing from sight to re-appear on the railing of the stadium, rows upon rows of unconscious people. I applauded the Genjitsu users work. By the time they wake up, there will be no one to save them. Then they'll be shifted into slavery, the men set to work on re-building the village, the women, trained to be servants or sold as whores, maybe both. I was just in time to see two children sitting at the top of the aisle stairway and a lower-ranked Sound Shinobi appear behind them, arm poised to strike when a blur shot passed at an incredible speed, slamming him into the wall behind them. As another Leaf Shinobi joined him, he pushed the Sound nin through the wall and soon after that another kid joined them before they disappeared out the hole along with a small brown dog, leaving the two older Leaf nin to watch for more enemies.

 

I stepped to the bottom of the asile, looking up towards the two shinobi, it was time to play. They noticed me and were started by my appearance.

 

“A woman? In a war?”

 

Said the cloth covered Leaf nin, wearing a standard Jounin outfit with a face mask and forehead protector dipped to cover the left eye and grey hair that shot out at a strange angle. The other, wearing a green body suit who was distinguishable by a bowl haircut complete with thick eyebrows, replied with distaste.

 

“The Sound have gone so low as to force their women into going to War.”

 

I pulled a Kunai from my holster, deadly smile making its way across my face, steadying it in front of me. I turned to the side slightly, pointing my other hand to the intricate design ingrained into the muscle at the top of my arm.

 

“Don't underestimate the women of the Sound.”

 

Their sense of confusion was gone in an instant, all that was left was dead seriousness and the overwhelming intent to kill. I had just shown them my stature of power amongst the parties of Sound Shinobi and their reactions was what I was looking for. Maybe now I could get a decent battle for once, after all I haven't trained half my life not to have anymore than a fight that barely lasted barely seconds.

 

“A Shinboi Woman acting as General of their army? That's unusual. Gai, we must take care with this one”

 

His bowl cut companion nodded in compliance, setting himself into a stance, on guard. I gathered my chakara into my body, feeling the elemental force build within me and letting it seep out around me. The air crackled slightly as the man with the grey hair charged, kunai out and I blocked with my own. With a smile I pulsed my chakara out of my hands and through the kunai, toothy grin showing as the electricity travelled though both metallic objects and instantly shocked my opponent. He dropped the Kunai in an instant, jumping back a little ways, his hands looking a little raw and burnt. I was a little confused, actually, usually people who went through that died. They would get roasted before they could even think to let go of the Kunai as the electricity sparked and crackled around the air.

 

He shook his steaming hands about to cool them, they would be painful to use for awhile, but would heal. His friend however was nowhere in sight and I quickly set my senses to find out where he was hiding. Too late. He appeared with lighting fast speed and attacked straight for my abdomen, pushing a fist out. I jumped back out of reach, just in the nick of time, but my movement was cut short when my back hit a pillar behind me. But he had followed through with his punch ramming into me and taking out the pillar at the same time. I fell out of the stadium, falling down into the arena and I used what little time I had to use Kawarimi, swapping myself with a part of a boulder from a broken part of a wall, not too far away.

 

Standing, I coughed. I had felt a few of my ribs giving way from the impact of getting bashed into a pillar as well as the extra pressure of being pushed through it. Calming myself, I watched as both of my opponents looked out over the edge of the stadium railings and down at the debris. They were both soon disappeared again when allied Shinobi attacked them from behind and they disappeared into the fight against the bulk army of the sound once again. I looked around me and by the looks of it, that fool of a Sand nin had just been defeated by the brown haired leaf nin as he held a bloody kunai, looking down at the blood stained corpse who was once the ally of the Sound. I found an opportunity and took it, launching myself swiftly towards him and catching him in the back, embedding my own kunai deep and high upon his back. I could tell blood spluttered forth from his damaged lungs and out his mouth as I heard the familiar patter of liquid hit the ground.

 

It was satisfying, hearing the sound of death at your own hands, knowing that you were just that much closer to victory at every life you destroy. I felt the bones crunch as I twisted my kunai slowly and my enemy grunted painfully, head dipped in pain, missing the view of him lifting his hand as I leaned over to whisper in his ear.

 

“Ready to die?”

 

He gasped shallowly for breath, he knew he wouldn't last long at the rate he was losing blood, I could visibly see it run down my arms and onto my uniform as I spoke. But I still didn't see his hand take what now clearly a senborn from his mouth.

 

“Only if I take you with me”

 

He grunted and thrust the senborn into my thigh, searing pain shot through my leg and I knew it wasn't a normal senborn as I felt coldness spread through me from the wound. Fuck. It could only be poison. In my irritation I quickly took another kunai and swung my arm around to embed it into his front before pushing his repulsive body from my own where he immediately collapsed into to dirt. Dropping back to the ground on my arse, I pulled the wretched thing from my thigh, feeling it rip a slightly bigger wound into me and threw it away in anger.

 

Just then someone jumped down besides me. I reflexively went to my pouch for a weapon, but realised that it was a member of one of my teams.

 

“Ma'am, are you alright?” I gave him a look that said `Do I look alright to you?!' but replied shortly with “Poison.” Understanding he looked about him. “We need to get undercover.” He picked my up, bridal style and ran for some covering trees of few hundred metres away, keeping in the shadows along the way, away from the eyes of enemies. Stopping under the trees and in the undercover of some dense bushes, he put me down, tearing away the material away from the wound and pulling a poison kit from his pouch of gear, placing it down besides me. “I need to go help some others. I trust you know what to do.” I nodded “Good, I'll be back soon to check up on you.” And then he left me with the box to fix myself.

 

Opening the box I was met with it separated into two sides, one for testing, the other full of vials of antidotes. I took several testing vials, adding the poisoned blood oozing from the wound into them one by one and adding the testing colouring to it. One colour meant it was a negative match another colour meant it was a positive match. The cold had by now spread out to both of my legs and they felt numb and tingly, like they were asleep. At this rate I wasn't going to last much longer and I was quickly running out of possible poisons when I was getting results of negative. As the numbing cold reached my waist I had reached a positive result. The note with the testing vial explained the type of poison it was and which corresponding of vial of antidote would counter it.

 

Oh shit. Oh shit, shit, double shit, shit. Swearing didn't make me feel better as my eyes scanned the paper from a paled face. The words read `Class: Strong Sedative, Symptoms: Spreading cold sensation originating from the wound, numbness, dizziness and multiple blackouts. Effects: Non-fatal, but effects may last for up to 20 hours, there is no antidote for this poison as of yet.' I read the effects part a few times. Not good. I had must have been kidding myself when I thought that this would be an easy mission, these Leaf nin just didn't know how to die normally, the bastards. Coldness touched my shoulders and I slumped back unexpectedly, head spinning and I silently hoped that medic nin would be back soon. It hadn't taken long after that before I had succumbed to the darkness of the sleeping-poison.

 

 

 

 

Well if you had been waiting for the next chapter of `The path I take', I've kind of had a mental blank on that one so far, so I've started up another to gain some inspiration. Plans for this fic is that it's going to turn into a very dark and angsty fic, that may or may not have a pairing. This will depend on what suggestions I can get from the lovely readers. My review box is open, so feel free to leave a review… Please… *tear* I'll cry if you don't!