Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Diplomacy ❯ HC vs TK ( Chapter 13 )

      In the courtyard of the Hyuga clan’s manor, a lone boy trained.

     Hyuga Neji cared little for loud and noisy gatherings. So he chose to refrain from the night’s festivities. He was not alone in this. Most Hyuga preferred to keep to their clan’s reputation for dignity and grace. That being the case, Neji practiced some moves and stances in the Hyuga compound’s courtyard until he was interrupted by an odd scratching noise on the main gate, followed by a low whining.

     Akamaru? Neji asked himself, thinking of Kiba’s dog. But then the noise seemed too deep. Perhaps a stray? Neji checked with the Byakugan to find, not a dog at all, but a human boy scratching his fingernails on the gate. Confused, but sensing no threat, Neji approached and opened the gate to try and find out what was happening.

     No sooner had the gate opened just a crack, then the boy had leapt through it. Neji immediately chased after him, and caught him just as he stopped at the flower garden just outside the main building. Neji saw him just sit there, sniffing at the air and looking around. Neji approached him, and noticed a scroll tied around his neck.

     Cautiously (Though still giving off no malice, the boy seemed more animal than human) Neji untied the scroll and unrolled it. He stifled the gasp that had been just moments from leaving his lips.

     Hanabishi! Neji recognized the code immediately. He quickly read what little Hinata had managed to write.

     Hanabi kidnapped

      By Taiki, Kiriko

     Pursuing, need help

     Extending his Byakugan’s range as far as he could he caught glimpses in the forests near the village. Neji understood right away and without hesitation, found a large bell kept by the gate as a warning for intruders and began ringing it as hard as he could. One by one Hyuga, both Branch and Main, came out to the courtyard. Most looked at the boy still in the flowerbed, thinking him the intruder. Neji noticed this and quickly explained the situation.

     “Hinata-sama has sent word that Hanabi-sama has been kidnapped! The kidnappers are none other than Kiriko-san and Taiki!” he didn’t pause when everyone began gasping in shock and horror, “There are three places we must go. Hinata and an unknown Shinobi are fighting Taiki and Kiriko-san! Hanabi-sama travels alone back to the village. We must split to three groups, two to join in the battles, a third to collect Hanabi-sama.”

     The Hyuga quickly decided who would go where. Neji was assigned to the group that would be sent to aid Hinata. Everyone, their jobs decided, broke off and charged into the woods.

     Leaving a very bewildered feral boy sitting in a flowerbed filled with very strong scents to wander off to only he knew where, his job apparently finished.

     These words ran through Tsurukawa Chie’s mind. She heard them spoken in the voice of her mother. The mother who instilled those values into her daughter before the child could manage herself on two legs, let alone one. Those words were a mantra Chie carried with her into battle. In her earliest days, it was what kept her from panicking or freezing on missions. She no longer needed that, but it still provided a source of comfort, allowing her to relax and concentrate on the goal at hand.

     Kiriko had yet to make a move. Smart. This battleground was specifically chosen to give Chie every advantage possible. Kiriko would have figured that out by now. So she wouldn’t attack lightly. Chie herself was under no pressure to attack, either. Her mission was simply to stall so as to give Hanabi enough time to reach safety in the village.

     As the stare down continued Kiriko began getting restless. Chie thought the woman might be realizing Chie’s intentions. Either that, or she was simply itching to start fighting. Regardless of the reason, the Leaf kuno’ichi eventually made her move. She started simple, a quick toss of kunai directly at Chie. Chie gathered the intent was to provoke a response Kiriko could more easily react to.

     Not bad, except…

     “Suiton: Mizutate!” she cried out after performing the appropriate signs. A wall of water suddenly rose in front of Chie, catching and slowing the flying kunai until it stopped within the water; only the very point of the knife sticking out, inches from Chie’s face. Chie was about to make a move of her own when she suddenly felt something grab her right ankle. The momentary lapse of concentration weakened her hold on the water, obviously what Kiriko intended as the woman pulled Chie into the lake.

     Distract me with frontal attack, catch me from below, Chie thought as she was submerged, Good, but predictable.

     Chie focused her strength into her left leg, and kicked down. She didn’t hit Kiriko, but doing so would only have been a bonus anyway. Instead, the kick provided enough force for Chie to break Kiriko’s hold, she swam up to the surface. Once she was above water again she placed her palm of her hand onto the pond’s surface and, as though pulling herself up a solid ledge, flipped herself out of the water, and back to her foot. Kiriko wasn’t quite as graceful, shooting out of the water with a small blast of water behind her as she surfaced. She stood on the pond’s surface, and the staredown began anew.

     “Hinata-sama sent you here intentionally,” Kiriko said, “That much is clear. And our brief encounter shows it to be the correct decision. Were things to continue like this, the battle would drag on, with you eventually the victor.”

     Chie nodded, “Does that mean you’ll surrender quietly?”

     “NEVER!” Kiriko screamed, “Until that child is either dead or one of the Branch I will not stop!”

     Damn. Chie thought. She knew what this meant. Kiriko would pull out her best, now, and do all in her ability to finish Chie quickly.

     But what does she have that can beat me in my most natural battlefield?

     Her question was answered when Kiriko brought her hands up to her forehead. She performed a quick series of signs before chanting her technique’s name.

     “Ninpô: Chônôryoku!”

     T he veins in Kiriko’s forehead began to bulge out prominently and pulse with disgusting speed. Kiriko looked straight at Chie, her eyes wide and ecstatic.

     “From this moment on, my powers exceed even the Byakugan’s!”

      Jûken vs. Jûken

     This was not Hinata’s first such battle. She had experienced a battle of similar style, and ferocity, when she had faced her cousin Neji. Only now she faced it against a shinobi with age, experience, and skill exceeding that of Neji’s. Truthfully, Hinata did not think she would succeed in this battle.

     But success isn’t my goal. Hinata told herself, I need only to last long enough.

     The two Hyuga traded blow after blow. Neither allowing an attack to land anywhere close to their vital organs, where even a brush could be fatal. Instead they each blocked with their arms and legs if they could not dodge outright. After yet another vicious exchange, the two broke apart.

     “You’re holding back.” Taiki taunted, “Do you think you can defeat me that way, when you could not match Neji-kun even when you fought your hardest?”

     Then he suddenly looked at her more seriously, “Unless victory is not your intent…”

     No! before Taiki could make anything of this thought Hinata attacked again, with all the force she could muster. Despite Hinata fighting at her best, Taiki blocked, dodged, and parried every attack she attempted. Though she managed to avoid his Jûken attacks, Hinata thought she felt a stab against her side and feared Taiki had hit a Tenketsu, the chakra points in her body that regulated her chakra flow. Hinata knew she would get nowhere this way, and would probably lose if it kept on. She decided different tactics were in order.

     Taiki thrust his hand at her, palm held out flat. Instead of blocking, Hinata sidestepped the attack and grabbed Taiki’s arm, before he could attempt a follow up. Taiki wondered what Hinata was attempting, only to have his question answered when Hinata began expelling chakra from most of her body. Taiki immediately recognized the jutsu, if not necessarily its usage.

     “Hakkeshô Kaiten!” Hinata screamed as her body began to spin. With her firm grip on Taiki’s arm, he spun around with her until the girl let go, sending the man soaring through the air. He went neither very high nor very far. Taiki was larger than she, and simply too heavy for Hinata to throw a considerable distance. It didn’t matter, however. The Kaiten throw was only step one to Hinata’s plan.

     “Nemakabishi no Jutsu!!” she cried out after performing the signs. As Taiki picked himself up off the ground, he suddenly found the root of a nearby tree spear the left hand he had been using to push himself to his feet. His right foot was also caught in the attack, but Taiki reacted quickly enough to move away from the series of tree root caltrops Hinata had called forth.

     “Hm…” Taiki said as he looked at his pierced hand and foot, “Interesting. More Nimmori jutsu? I must say, Hinata-sama, I’m impressed.” Taiki said conversationally, “You have grown considerably in just a few short months. Your jutsu and general ability are a good deal greater than before. However, I’m afraid they aren’t good enough.”

     Without forming any signs for the jutsu, without a word, Taiki looked Hinata directly in the eyes. Suddenly, Hinata found herself unable to move.

     What? She thought to herself, How?!

     She had not seen him perform the Hebi no Nirami, she had been focusing chakra toward her eyes non-stop for that jutsu, and yet she had unmistakably been struck by it. Taiki surveyed Hinata’s frozen form.

     “I fear it is time to put this to an end.” Taiki said as he held out his palm. He charged Hinata and prepared to strike.