Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Shinobi: Pride of Pride ❯ Chapter Twelve ( Chapter 12 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Shinobi: The Price of Pride

By: Hanasaki Rikku

Summary: With a clan like the Hanasaki, is it any wonder why Rikku is the way she is? She lost her brother and friend at such a young age, and things with Chizuko have seemed to only gotten worse. What does Itachi want and why does a certain Snake Sannin seem so interested in her life all of the sudden?

Rating: T/M. For violence (poorly written, but still there), language, and some other stuff I can't quite recall at the moment. Just be warned. Oh, that, and my horrible writing.

Genre: Romance/Action/Adventure/Angst

“I am the right hand of vengeance and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to earth.

I am death incarnate and the last living thing that you are ever going to see.”

((CHAPTER TWELVE))

Chizuko scowled, her temper getting the better of her as she slammed her elbow down between the man's neck and shoulder, shattering the collarbone. He fell to the ground in a pitiful heap, groaning in pain.

The men's anguished cries fell on deaf ears, her crimson eyes scanning over the metal plaque adorning his hitai-ate. The single quarter note inscription said it all; her eyes hardened with an intense hatred, spinning on her heel and leaping up onto the lowest bough.

She had to find Rikku. They were close.

Yet in spite of her eagerness to find the damnable village and the bastard lurking within it, a feeling of apprehension manifested in the bowls of her stomach, carping at the severity of the matter.

This was it; this had to be it. She was so close. She could feel it, taste it, her need to enact her revenge so powerful it surprised even herself. Her eyes flashed, a lust for blood so strong within, before she managed to settle down.

She had to find Rikku.

She had lost track of the younger girl a while back, having neither sensed nor suspected an ambush. She had disposed of them quick enough, their bodies now lying below, the fresh scent of blood encompassing the surrounding area.

Nothing had been supposed to go wrong this time. It had only been a scouting mission. I should have known better. She should have known by now, that when it involved herself and Rikku, anything that could go wrong, would.

Mind set, and raging need for vengeance in check, she sped off in the general route they had been heading before the dispute and mishap, her natural sense of direction kicking in. Rikku was bound to notice her disappearance sooner or later; if not, she would seriously throttle the girl for being so stupid.

It was unsettling, because she could no longer feel Rikku; she couldn't sense that familiar, almost dark aura that was Rikku. It was an aura only she could distinguish quite well, and only after years of knowing the girl. She was so used to feeling its presence, that now it was just so… unnatural.

After what seemed like hours of searching, her anxiety and feverous need to find the girl helping not at all, she felt a familiar chakra signature spike dramatically before declining at a dangerous speed until she could only just barely feel it; a slight prickling sensation at the back of her neck. It was, without a doubt, Rikku… but who was she battling that had caused her to weaken so. The girl was fighting with a little less than half her chakra, and she felt the same ominous sensation whenever that accursed Kurutteiru was activated.

Picking up pace, she narrowed down on the chakra and followed it until she could feel the familiar, cold aura that belonged to her friend. Another, stronger one, clashed powerfully against it, and she felt herself shiver at the sudden acrimony that befell the clearing.

As she neared the battling duo, she realized a second too late who the second chakra belonged to, coming to a freezing halt on the branch just above the scene below. Her limbs seemed to become lead and immobile, her blood running cold and her eyes taking in what her mind could not register.

Rikku was nursing an injured arm, falling into a defensive pose against her opponent. The man…him…Itachi was only standing there, a bored look on his face, eyes flickering over the girl before him, then fixing on hers.

A tremor ran past her, her voice refusing to cooperate with her, nor her body. She wanted to move, run, but couldn't. His eyes kept her in place. Those cold, dead eyes of a murderer who had decided to test his strength upon his own clan, slaughtering them in the process.

What the hell was going on? What the hell was she going to do? What was Itachi doing here? Dammit! All these questions ran through her mind, spinning in insane circles, rendering her senseless. Rikku needed help; she was hurt, all because of thatdamn Uchiha.

His eyes, Sharingan spinning languidly, took her in entirely, as if reading her very thoughts. Annoyance bordered the man's listless eyes; eyes of a demon.

The Hanasaki girl slowly followed his gaze, turning to face her. She was more than a little surprised to find an underlining flash of anger in the younger girl's molten eyes. What was that all about?

Ignoring it, she shook it off to contemplate later, breaking her trance and jumping down behind the girl. Rikku half-turned to face her, still prepared to attack the standing Uchiha if need be. Why wasn't he attacking them any way? He was just standing there, staring at them with those eyes of his that belayed little other than his slight irritation. But for what?

A firm scowl was set on Rikku's lips, a fiery emotion unrecognizable to even her dancing within her eyes, so rare and alien upon the girl that it seemed aberrant as accustomed to the normally bland expression, and in the next instant, she began performing seals far quicker than she could to perceive. That was, until she caught the last seal, hitsuji, the ram.

Her eyes widened, falling upon the black tattoo around the Hanasaki's right forearm in the form of two winding serpents, sleeve pulled back to reveal the eccentric design. With a swipe of her blood across the tattoo, Rikku's palm slammed into the rough terrain, seals formulating around the cracked surface upon which her palm rested.

“Kuchiyose no Jutsu!”

Chizuko gasped, bringing her arms up to shield her face as a powerful whirl of wind threatened to blow her back, the fumes and pallid jutsu smoke shrouding the area dissipating to reveal the towering snake summoning.

It was Rikku's common summoning; the serpent. The Hanasaki's were the most renowned snake users, no others capable of taming the massive beasts.

But what was Rikku thinking summoning that thing? Her chakra was near depleted as it was, summoning that despicable snake was completely foolish. If she didn't allow herself to recover, then…

Rikku's breathing was labored, and she could tell, even from her meager vantage point, that she was having difficulty standing. How could she expect to fight Itachi in this state?

It took a full minute for her to take in the actual danger regarding the current situation; anger swelled like an uncontrollable bubble of absolute fury.

She snapped.

“Rikku! You fuckin' dumbass! What the hell do you think you're doing! Why the hell did you summon this fuckin', oversized worm! Your chakra is almost gone! How are you going to fight that bastard now!”

She continued to rave, finding that she was beginning to make less sense as she went and finally settled to a curse. Rikku, however, had completely ignored her, and was situated atop the serpent's head, managing to stand successfully while the snake charged headlong towards the Uchiha.

There was a long silence, followed by a reverberating feeling then finally, as if, in a sudden spit of dirt, a large cloud of dust hovered over the clearing. She coughed into her arm, turning away as far off sounds of fighting, metal clashing against metal, reached her ears. Waving away the dust, she bit back a sneeze, which only served to cause her eyes to water, and rushed forward.

The serpent was continuously launching attack after attack, leaving the dark-haired man with no other choice but to fall into a defensive and settle for merely dodging attacks. Its eyes glowed a deep golden color, just like that of its master, hissing angrily every time it missed. Chizuko wasn't particularly fond of these snakes, especially not their leader, Rikku's favorite, Manda.

She didn't know what to do. Rikku was being irrational, completely and totally foolish in her current state; did she actually believe she stood a chance as she was now? She was only heading for certain death. Last time they had barely escaped Itachi, and that had been at full strength. The man hadn't even broken a sweat against them, merely toying with them like useless rags. What's to stop him from killing her this time? There would be no Kakashi to save them; no one would come this time. They were alone.

She shook away the thoughts, catching sight of the rising serpent, it's brown tail swaying in the air, then slamming down with immense force. She almost lost balance, tripping over herself as she scaled the large body. She could faintly see the silhouetted figures of Rikku and Itachi fighting upon the viper's head; Rikku was not fairing well.

With an added burst of speed, she reached the top, anger lost as she took in her friend's condition.

Itachi glanced at her, idly blocking another of Rikku's moves in an effortless gesture. She was getting sloppy, her attacks unbalanced and graceless, that it almost shamed her to see her friend in such a state. Itachi caught the girl's forearm as she sent another punch, spinning her around and shoving her in the Himura's direction.

“Enough. You are being foolish. I have no need to fight you.”

Rikku gritted her teeth, stopping herself from colliding against Chizuko, turning to glare at him. “You think I'm just going to let you prance about your own business? It is my duty to dispose of traitors like you.”

Chizuko had never seen the other so angry, so set on killing another. It was strange, and she had never imagined the girl to be capable of such unrelenting hate. She could understand the girl's dislike for the man, but what could Itachi possibly done to earn such utter hatred from the girl?

Turning to said Uchiha, she swore she saw the Uchiha's brow twitch. The look of his annoyance and the hostility Rikku was displaying made the situation so unreal because this was definitely out of character for both Nins. “I do not…prance.”

She heard Rikku's angry hiss, patience reaching its peak, “That is not the point!” Her tone rose, something rare in itself. Chizuko would have smirked in amusement, jeering the girl on, had the situation been different; the two squabbled like children.

Rikku made a move to attack, but was blocked once again by Itachi. He held onto her wrist, red eyes locking on hers, Sharingan narrowed in a glare. “Continue this, and you will only draw unwanted attention to yourself.”

Chizuko frowned in confusion. Draw attention to herself? “Whose?” She questioned, still unsteady. He continued to hold Rikku as he began to answer, Sharingan eyes flickering her way. For a moment there, she almost forgot he was a common enemy, that he was a missing-nin. She almost forgot his past and his actions and only saw the young boy she'd admired so fondly as a child.

“Ours.”

Chizuko's focus immediately left the two before her as she turned to face the newcomers. She hadn't even felt them arrive, which brought about a pang of trepidation. Itachi was strong enough as it was, she didn't need to deal with more. Really, was it too much to ask for a little normalcy? Why couldn't they have a normal, nice, easy mission with no interruptions and no Akatsuki?

Her eyes screened the clearing below, running through each and every tree. Crimson eyes finally settle on a trio of Nins, taking in the symbols on the hitai-ate donned by two of them. An incredible anger surged within her as she recognized the face of one in particular.

Two held her arms in an impossible, vice-like grip, causing a tinge of panic to rise up within her. She blasted her chakra as the three men advanced on her, one in particular making her somewhat anxious. His lecherous smirk and dark eyes causing her to inwardly shudder.

Her vision went red; she registered nothing as a feral growl escaped her lips, the twin set of knuckle blades sliding perfectly into her hands as she dashed forward, chakra flaring.

That was the bastard! The bastard that had killed Ayame. She could remember his sardonic smirk as he watched the girl fall, blood dripping almost languidly from the tips of his gloved fingers. Specks of the crimson gore marring his pale features, and she had almost felt the satisfaction rolling off him in waves.

Ayame was dead because of him. It was all his fault. She didn't know what had happened, how he even knew her, but…

These thoughts only fueled her raging anger, like a wild beast being retained within a cage, it sought release. The strong steel of her blades began to elongate, brimmed by a faint luster of the crimson that was her very chakra, its pure, unadulterated and raw power flickering like sparks, crackling defiantly. She longed to feel her precious blades rip through his flesh, needed to see, to feel, the utter horror and anguish course through that asshole as it did Ayame's.

She saw only him. His silver hair and spectacled eyes; that cocky smirk gone, no longer present, confusion and the slightest tinge of fear plastered in its stead. Good… let him be afraid. The bastard deserved nothing more for what he had done.

She took a large leap off of the serpent, using her momentum to propel her through the air and down at the offending trio. Her hand shook, knuckles white and stiff as she clamped down harder on the grip of her aian nakkuru. Just as she came down on the tree the three were situated atop, her blades extended to their limits and slid cleanly down the expanse of the bough the two remaining Nins stood on, cutting straight through down the next three branches.

She growled in frustration, crimson eyes searching for the man, her senses finally locating his position. She glanced upwards, a scowl set firmly in place, eyes darkened and glazed in anger. He stood a good distance above her, his back half-turned body still alert should she attack.

He exchanged a few words with the pale man, and as she glanced at the other man, she took in the cool gray of his unruly hair and extremely pale features; what really stuck out, however, were his eyes.

A sense of shock managed to penetrate through her anger-fogged mind as she caught his eye for but a second; they were Rikku's eyes.

It had to be a coincidence. What other logical reason was there for this. Lots of people had that weird amber color as Rikku…and apparently this man too. She ignored the nagging feeling in the back of her head, reprimanding her for her senseless logic, and shook her head, pushing the thoughts recess of her mind, focusing on the silver-haired man.

He turned, facing her fully now, a smirk playing at his lips; the glinting metal caught her attention, and she dodged the thin senbon needle as it flew past her, embedding into the tree behind. Her jaw set, teeth clenched tightly and lips pressed in a firm line. She barely managed to avoid the next flurry of weapons, needles raining down on her in an interminable pace.

She allowed herself to relax, somewhat, when the continual attacks lessened, but that had proved to be a mistake, for she instantly felt the pricks of pain as three senbon embedded themselves into her flesh; two on her left thigh, one on her upper left arm. The ache was quickly discomfited with a sense of numbness, leaving no feeling whatsoever in her two limbs save for the tingling sensation.

It was an odd feeling, like a nest of spiders scurrying within her flesh, injecting her with their poison. Her vision seemed to blur, if only for a second, because the next, she found herself in full, clear vision of the silver-haired man. His arm was cocked back, a kunai aiming straight for her heart clutched tightly in his gloved hand. Performing a set of seals, she mumbled, “Kawarimi no Jutsu,” swapping places instead with a block of wood.

She reappeared a quarter mile behind the man, her hands already performing another set of seals, “Katon: Karyuu Rendan no Jutsu!” Hoping to distract him with the simple fire jutsu, she took a step back and mumbled, “Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu,” and hid underground, listening carefully for any sign of attack. There was a low vibration, resonating soundly through the ground from the direction she knew the overly large serpent stood.

There was a muffled yell, she wasn't sure exactly who it was, but it definitely sounded male, albeit younger. This was followed shortly after by the sounds of battle, steps thumping against the earth floor, not far from where she stood, muffled and subdued before reaching her ears.

There was a sudden rumbling, and the ground above her gave way, crumbling to nothing but rubble. She cursed, vaulting from the wreckage and hurdling closer towards the foliage, away from the current battles.

She felt a fist collide with the side of her face and was propelled backwards, slamming into a large trunk of a surrounding tree. The air rushed out of her lungs, and she doubled over, coughing. It took longer than she would have liked to gather her bearings, but she managed, and by then could only narrowly avoid the next fist sent her way.

She dodged to the side, and aimed a kick forward. He blocked it, catching her leg and throwing her back, taking a swipe with a kunai, then delivering another blow. It was pitiful, really, that she couldn't find the strength in her to fight back. Why the hell couldn't she fight back! She needed to kill him! To defeat him! Make him suffer for what he had done! How could she hope to accomplish that if she couldn't even land a punch?

She staggered to her feet, panting. Her eyes narrowed dangerously when she caught the smirk on his lips. “What?” She snapped, voice dripping with such intense hatred, but it did nothing to deter the man before her. A smirk spread across his lips, cocky and knowing.

“I remember you now.” He chuckled, twirling a kunai absentmindedly in his hand. “Yes. I remember you quite well.” His response was a growl, which only served to amuse him more. “You were the Niamoshi girl's teammate. Her friend. You were that little bitch I fought two years ago before I killed her.” He chuckled again, raising his chin slightly, inspecting the girl.

Chizuko's fist clenched tightly, her nails carving perfect crescents into her flesh even through the fabric of her gloves. “What's so fuckin' funny! You killed her!”

He grinned, “I find it amusing that you could still hold a grudge against me for the death of your friend.”

“You killed her! You killed Ayame! I will get revenge!” She declared, voice tight as she fought back the tears.

Ayame…She had to do this for Ayame.

“This is war, little girl. People die in war, it happens; its life. To wish vengeance upon me for something as foolish as this is a complete waist of time. Give it up.” He replied with a sudden solemnity, it surprised her, almost forgetting her anger as she let his words sink in. But she didn't care. She didn't care about anything but revenge. She would avenge Ayame's death, if it was the last thing she did.

“Fuck you! Shut up! Ayame was…I won't stand by and do nothing as long as you're still living and breathing!” She nearly screamed, at the peak of her rage.

The lugubrious mood fell off him like a weight, in its stead, the same cocky smirk from before. “Very well then. I've been meaning to try out this new jutsu anyway, and this is just perfect. I know just who to use, too…”

((CHAPTER END))