Log: Complete

[lazy-kage-mane.livejournal.com]

When; October 9, 2006
Rating; R for violence
Characters; Nara Shikamaru and Tayuya
Summary; Tayuya interrupts Shika on his way to help out Chouji, revenge on her mind.
Log; He swore softly to himself as he darted from rooftop to rooftop, dark eyes scanning the thinning crowds for a familiar head

of unruly tawny hair crowning cheeks marked with swirls. Dammit, Chouji....where have you gone to? Shika was worried,

not so much over the idea that Chouji might lose (he knew the Akimichi was stronger then most people gave him credit for),

but because he knew Chouji. Knew his best friend, and knew to what lengths the other man would go if need propelled him

there. He paused momentarily at the apex of an apartment building, sighing in irritation as his continued search yielded

nothing, familiar phrase echoing through his mind. Mendokuse...
Tayuya smirked, following the other ninja's movements with her eyes from a perch on a building electrical rod, the chakra on

her feet gluing her solidly to the smooth metal. She idly fingered the kunai pouch on her right thigh, still a little

unfamiliar with the weapons being on hand. She'd never had to use any other weapon than her flute, but fighting this man

had shown her the need was there. Silently dropping from her vertical perch, she fell into step behind Shikamaru, stopping

about ten steps behind him. "I don't think crashing an invitation-only party is very gentlemanly, sir." She drolled, voice

dripping with sarcasm. But her body was taut, ready for any moves she may need to make to defend herself. She wouldn't

underestimate him this time.
He stopped dead in his tracks, the tension in his shoulders the only other indication that he'd noticed her. "Tayuya... I

told you, I don't have time to play with you right now. And as for party-crashing, I don't recall ever saying that I was a

gentleman. Now, if you'd kindly back the hell off..." There was the faintest flicker of movement from one of his hands

before a kunai was sent sailing in her direction, exploding tag fluttering like a pennant from the end of it.
She ducked smartly, hitting the floor with the slap of palm on concrete, the kunai flying over her head and soaring through

the air behind her, the explosion behind her lighting her silhouette as she stood straight once more, one hand running

through her hair, picking out a piece of gravel and tossing it to the ground. "No, you didn't. But the way Konoha acts I

assume you all like to think you are." She smiled, the corners of her mouth tugging up cruelly. "And I have other things

to do as well, but I know Sakon really wants to have some fun with your friend, and I'm all about helping my comrades."

That was a downright lie, but it suited her now. Shifting her weight to one foot, hand on hip, she idly hooked a kunai with

her finger and began twirling it about. "So want to reconsider my offer of play?"
He didn't move, but simply stood there. There was a sound, like a small smirk as he turned around, hands held together in a

familiar seal. 200 moves ahead as always. He sighed, scratching the back of his head as he relaxed his hands. "You don't

learn, do you?" As the flash from the exploding tag faded, the shape of his shadow, stretching across the pavement and

melting into hers was easily visible.
Looking down, Tayuya noted the shadow merging with a small smile. Giving a small shake of her head, as much as she was

able, her cocky expression didn't change. "I just don't feel like dodging that little trick, I do hope you've got more.

It's old." She'd been training for this one, with Sakon and Ukon, with Kimimaro, with anyone she could get a hold of.

Working to make the curse seal stronger, to make the chakra bursts harder and faster. Working with the seal was... risky.

But well worth it. Too many nights had had her on the floor, unable to move after spending so many hours in her curse seal

form. But it would be even more satisfactory today. She took a moment to close her eyes before the curse seal exploded,

the horns sprouting from her head, hair rapidly gaining length, skin darkening, and pupils heading into gold. Accompanying

the switch was a burst of chakra, enough the begin ripping herself free. One step, two, looking as if she were wading,

fighting the shadow, before the stumbled free and retreated a fair distance, disguising the drops of sweat on her forehead

with twirling hair. She couldn't pull that trick more than one, maybe two times more, but she couldn't help it, she had to

show it off.
He smirked, hands once again forming the seal. "I figured you'd have thought of that. But you missed one thing." He nodded

to the shadow that stretched up from the hole the exploding tag had blown in the ground. Following the shape, it stretched

from her feet, to the hole, then joined with the thin shadow cast by an antennae across the concrete to where it connected

with a larger shadow. And then HIS shadow. "I can split my shadow, you know. It just means I have to use other things to

gain the same distance."
Tayuya gave a small sigh. Needed to watch out for that damn thing. She tested the hold, Foot half-raising before she put

it down. She didn't want to do the chakra burst again, wanted to keep the rest of it in reserve. Moving slowly, gritting

her teeth, she tightened her grip on the kunai still in her hand. "... I have heard you're a genius." She spoke slowly.

"A fucking strategical genius." Glancing down at the shadow, she frowned. "Guess the intel was right." The conversation

was important, she did have some questions for him. But she couldn't resist throwing him a teasing look. "You like

my cake?"
He raised an eyebrow. "I've had better." The cake had been good, but he wasn't about to admit it to her. With a sigh

and a scratch of his head, he slipped a few shuriken out of his holster, drawing his hand back as he strengthened the

shadow's hold on her, the seperated piece he had used as a decoy sliding back along the ground to rejoin with the main

portion.
Tayuya frowned. Now that wasn't very nice. She watched slowly as he drew back his hand, noting the glints of metal off the

shuriken. Potentially painful. She felt the hold tighten slightly, but didn't fight it. Not yet. "Now that wasn't very

nice. Yesterday you said it was quite good. You must know one hell of a cake chef."
He snickered. She was right, in a way, though Hinata didn't usually make strawberry cake. "Yeah, I do. She's pretty good at

anything she cooks, and she bakes a pineapple cake that blows your cake out of the water." With a flick of his wrist, he

sent the edged bits of metal flying at her, keeping the shadow's hold tight onto her feet.
Tayuya's frown deepened, and she grit her teeth, managing to twist her body to the side, taking nicks from the shuriken

across collarbone and the top of her throat, beneath her ear. A few strands of hair, flame red, fluttered to the ground.

Tayuya's golden eyes headed down, eyeing the slow seep of blood from the two wounds. She wanted to wipe the sweat from her

brow, that had taken some effort, but she didn't feel like expending more to do that. "... must be one hell of a pineapple

cake." She muttered, tightening her grip once more on the kunai, palm sweaty.
He gritted his teeth slightly, feeling the push of the chakra as he melded it through his shadow to tighten the grip he had

on her. Shikamaru knew he was stronger, but he could also tell that SHE had been training herself. Takes more chakra to

hold her then it did before... Clasping his hands into a different series of seals, he split parts of his shadow off

from the rest, sending them sliding up her legs in the form of shadowy hands. "Kage Kubishibari no Jutsu."
"Okay, fuck this." Tayuya looked down at her legs, a snarl coming to her lips. She was not succumbing to that one

again. There was a brief moment when her eyes closed that a flash of fear hit her face, along with memories. Unable to

move, fear, blood, pain... then nothing. But this was her second chance. This was her... revenge oppurtunity. The curse

seal, still outlined in black on the back of her neck, flashed red as she upped the curse seal level, the horns grinding

against her skull as they lengthened, hair writhing along with it. She jerked herself free, awkwardly kicking off a the

last hand. Avoiding the hole that allowed for sneak shadows, she alighted on a nearby roof, quite a ways away. The kunai

was thrown as a distraction, whizzing towards his head, as her flute came to bear, fingers beginning to move. The melody

came forth, making it's way towards Shikamaru with a murderous intent.
"Kage Kabetate no Jutsu." The kunai only made it to within a foot of his face before a black wall of shadow rose up, winding

around the metal and stopping it's motion. After a moment, the shadow-shield lowered, the kunai clattering harmlessly to the

ground. He cocked his head to the side with an amused look on his face before he shook his head and pointed at it. "You

know, I'd love to hear what you have to say, but these earplugs...they just drown out most EVERYTHING, you know?"
“Goddamnit.” Tayuya spat, clenching the metal flute for all she was worth. It took her a moment to compose herself. … No

matter. He didn’t need to hear her melody for it to be lethal. Her summons usually didn’t work here in this City,

they were blocked somehow. But with the barrier down… with all these people coming in and out…? She reached up to nick her

thumb on a sharp, ivory horn, drawing the blood across the metal flute. The quick melody brought the three beasts to her

call, a smile of triumph coming to her face. The ogres looked well. All three grotesque summons shuffled in place, waiting

for their mistress’s commands. And it was with pleasure that Tayuya bid them forward, to drop out of sight into the space

between the roofs they stood upon.
He swore slightly, wiping a hand across his brow as he watched her summon the three horrors he had faced during their last

fight. Dammit...I forgot how much chakra that Kage Kekkai jutsu takes. Rolling his eyes, he cocked his head at her.

"You know I don't have to hear the melody to figure out how you're making them move, so why the tired old tricks?" He

stepped back, watching the edge of the rooftop. He wasn't sure where they'd come from, but he knew they'd come eventually.
Her fingers stopped moving for a moment, her eyes narrowing. She knew he could follow the movement of her summons by the

way her fingers danced across the flute. Taking one step back, she angled her body, blocking the view of her flute and

fingertips while still keeping her eyes trained on Shikamaru's movements. Her lips once again began blowing air through the

instrument, the melody winding through the summons' minds and commanding them. The three beasts maintained positions in a

triangle around the building before one sprung to the rooftop in a sudden burst, spiked club swinging for Shikamaru.
With a muttered curse, he lept backwards, pivoting on one hand to swing his lanky form out of the way of the heavy tool. He

hit the concrete hard on one shoulder, grimacing as he heard a pop and felt sharp pain shoot down his arm. Dislocated,

likely. Bad angle on that landing. Rolling so his feet regained their proper place beneath him, he stood up, carefully

maneuvering the injured arm until he felt the ball of the joint slide back into it's socket with a twinge of pain and a

muffled click. He curled his arm, then relaxed it, satisfied. Alright...a bit stiff, but still functional.
With a smirk of satisfaction Tayuya directed the beast forward, still swinging the club in broad, sweeping, arcs. And for

good measure, she had the summons tip back its head, the mouth opening, ripping seams that sewed it shut, the hungry spirit

within sliding out and questing forward, sniffing out Shikamaru's chakra. A few more steps forward from the ogre, before

the second one materialized behind the Konoha nin, springing forward at his back with the horned bracers on its arms.
He caught the motion of the second ogre out of the corner of his eye, dropping to a crouch between the two. Glancing from

one to the other, he mentally calculated the distance and speed of each ogre, waiting for the right moment. Wait for it,

Shika. You know you can only use this move once. You don't have enough chakra right now for any more uses then that without

depleting all that you've got. As the seconds counted down, his shoulders tensed before he reacted quickly, slamming his

hands together in a new series of seals. "Kage Ontei no Jutsu!" As the two ogres brought their weapons down, Shikamaru's

form seemed to melt into the shadow on the concrete, reappearing in the same way from a shadow on the other side of the

rooftop. He leaned one hand against the wall, breath coming in gasps. Dammit, that stupid jutsu takes too much

chakra...
Tayuya cursed mentally, quickly spinning the ogres as fast as the big beasts were able and sending them hurtling in

Shikamaru's new direction, the white spirit bursting forth from the second's mouth as well, both, covered in hungry mouths,

aching for a meal. Have to drive him, drive him... her thoughts ran. The third beast still lurked, stationary in

the alley below. Waiting, lurking, as the two others hurtled once more in Shikamaru's direction, weapons raised.
Thinking fast, he pushed off from the wall. Move. Had to keep moving. And NOT in the way that she seemed to want him to go.

Analytical mind quickly clicking through the options available to him. Couldn't use Kage Ontei again, and Kage Kabetate

wouldn't keep something of that size and strength out. There were attacks coming from all different directions, so Kage Mane

would be too weak to hold them long enough to do much, and there were those damned ghosts to think about. They were too

nebulous to cast a shadow in the normal daylight. That thought stuck in his mind and he mentally nodded, reaching into his

equipment pouch and pulling out three kunai. Rolling out of the way of another attack, he made sure his body concealed his

hands while he fiddled with the kunai. Dodging another strike from the club, he rolled and hurled the three kunai skyward.

As the sharp weapons arced into the air,the small items tied to them fizzled before exploding into a burst of blinding

light. Using his chance, he folded his hands into the familiar seals. Kage Mane no Jutsu
Tayuya's notes reached the summons ears but soured in their minds as their bodies were unable to respond. Her melody grew

shrill as she tried to force the brutes to move. They could still move, a little, but not enough. Their muscles clenched,

veins becoming pronounced as arms strained, moving slightly but not enough. The ghosts writhed in mid-air and the mouths

snapped, but they could not reach the chakra they so eagerly wanted to take. They were frustrated. Son of a bitch and

his goddamn flash bombs. She didn't want to pull in the third ogre, not yet. Nor did she want to bring herself to

play, even though she'd been practicing with hand-to-hand and weapons. Thinking along that line, she drew two kunai from

her pouch, keeping one hand on the flute, letting the weapons fly towards Shikamaru, one aiming for head, the other, heart.

He could move her summons, yes, but she'd fight him for every inch. And they couldn't do much harm to the beasts anyway.

It was worth a try, though in all her life she'd never had much faith in the kunai over her flute.
He smirked, mouth quirking into the smug expression that he was often known for. She fell for it. Perfect. With a

nimble sidestep, he dodged the kunai, fingers moving into yet another set of seals. "Kage Nui no Jutsu!" Almost

instantaneously, the Kage Mane was released. Before the ogres could do much of anything, their bodies were impaled as the

shadows that held them split into sharpened tendrils.
The ogres writhed on their impalement on the black shadows, vitals pierced. Tayuya bit her bottom lip unconsciously. She'd

have to release their summonings, but not yet, didn't want to give up on them yet. Her precious, precious, things.

Ignoring her now bleeding lip she coaxed a last few notes to the monsters, the white spirits diving in towards Shikamaru,

following the chakra of the shadows towards their source, the Konoha ninja, mouths open and ready to feed.
With a muffled curse, he tried to avoid the ghosts, while still keeping out of the way of the third ogre. He concentrated,

pouring another burst of chakra into the technique and causing the tendrils to twist, ripping their way out of the ogres as

he backflipped out of the way. Dropping to one knee, he slammed a fist against the concrete with a grimace as he felt the

difference in his chakra. Wasn't fast enough...now I've only got enough chakra for maybe three more attacks...
With that last thrust of effort, the ogres disappeared into large puffs of smoke, the spirits taking bits of the Konoha

ninja's chakra with them as a last meal. They'd recover, if she were able to summon them again later. But now she used the

smoke clouds as cover, bringing her last summon to bear, hurtling through the smoke towards Shikamaru like a battering ram.
His eyes widened as the third one burst through the smoke. It was too fast to dodge. He groped in his pouch for a kunai as

it slammed into him, sending him flying backwards into the wall, cracks appearing in the glass and concrete. He slid to the

ground, landing on his knees. One arm clutched his midsection. Broken ribs...at least 3 of them...collarbone too, it

feels like.With a cough, bright red blood splattered the ground.Looks like one of them punctured my lung

too...dammit...
The ogre stumbled to it's feet, though it was a lengthy process. Tayuya hated using this one in fast combat, what with it

lacking in the arms area. But it was useful for the more suicidal attacks, and it had certainly done it's job. Such a

good boy... She treated them almost like pets, sometimes. She tried to coax a faster melody from the flute, to get the

summons ready quicker, able to counter the attack she knew had to be coming.
He gritted his teeth, fist closing around the item he'd sought. Dammit...no choice but to use that again. Even if it

depletes the rest of my chakra. Releasing what it was in his pocket, he brought his hands together into a seal. "Kage

Ontei no Jutsu". Melting into the shadow, he reappeared in the ogre's own shadow. Sliding underneath it's body, his hands

flew, slamming explosive tags onto it's larger form before rolling out of the way. As the tags lit and exploded, he allowed

the force of the explosion to fling his body across the alleyway, crashing onto the rooftop several yards from Tayuya.

Coughing up blood, he twisted his fingers into a different seal, sending his shadow out after her. "Kage Nui no Jutsu!" The

shadow rent itself, tendrils spiraling off of the ground to impale through her chest and gut, one even going through the

side of her neck.
It was with a flash of fury that she saw her ogre defeated, saw it disappear into a puff of smoke, but the expression on her

face quickly turned to blatant shock when she saw Shikamaru so close, saw the shadows coming. She tried to move, force her

joints to move from their rigid position, but she wasn't fast enough. After seeing him use the move the first time she'd

made the incorrect assumption that that was as far as he could go. But she was wrong. Her mouth opened in a gasp that had

her spitting out blood, one hand clutching her stomach and the other her flute, protecting it. She fought down the impulse

to thrash, instead freezing solid, afraid to move an inch, pain clouding her vision as the hand at her stomach reached to

try grasping vainy at the shadow. "Son of a... bitch..." She spat out around a mouthful of her own blood.
He crouched in front of her, gasping for breath, blood dripping slightly from the corners of his mouth. He coughed, sending

more blood up to join the puddles that were already forming from their battles. "You know....things like

this...are..troublesome...." His hands shook slightly as he held the seal, keeping her imobilized and impaled with the

tendrils. His chakra was almost depleted, he could tell that much.
"... Aren't they, fucker?" Tayuya grit out, spitting in his direction, though it was more blood than saliva. She raised

her chin, managing to look as if she were still trying to condescend to him, though she did it more to relieve pressure on

the shadow through her neck. Her eyes moved frantically, trying to assess the damage. The throat hadn't hit the jugular or

windpipe, though it seemed dangerously close. The chest had avoided her heart, though if her difficulty of breath was any

indication she was hit in the lung. The gut wound... she winced, was painful, but not lethal. Still frozen, her legs shook

from the effort of trying to keep herself on her toes, keeping the shadows from doing anymore damage.
Sweat pouring down his brow, he gritted his teeth, trying to push more chakra into the technique. The tendrils shifted,

twisting slightly, but didn't move any more. He felt his control over the shadow waning, the tendrils sliding back slightly

as the technique unworked itself without chakra to fuel it.
Tayuya muffled a strig of explitives as the shadows twisted, paticuraly due to the gut wound. But they were sliding back,

and that was all she needed. With a last push, drawing on chakra, she wrenched herself free, only to fall backwards to one

knee, unable to continue holding the curse seal form in such pain. The horns receeded, as did her hair, her skin regaining

normal tint and her eyes draining of the black and gold. Panting, she was still waiting for him to move. If she needed to,

she'd get up and fight, fight till she died, because she was already dead. But as it was... she was clutching the stomach

injury, trying to staunch the blood flow.
His dark eyes remained fixed on her, waiting for her next move. He knew very well that he was out of chakra. It would be

optimal to retreat for now, but he didn't trust her to let him. Afterall, not only was she the enemy, she was the one who

wanted his head on a platter.
"... Okay..." Tayuya finally grit out, becoming increasingly alarmed at the continuing blood flow. She stood, shakily,

trying to hide the fact. She knew he was out of chakra, so close, so close... but she was injured. Gravely. Needed

to see a medic. Now. ... Even if she was dead, she didn't fancy it happening again. ... There would be other

oppurtunities. "... You're out of chakra, and injured." She grit out. "... I'm injured." She stated, hardly believeing

she was even saying such blasphemy. "... so get the fuck out of my sight." Her way of acknowledging a draw.
"Hmph..how big-hearted of you." Though the sarcasm fairly dripped from his voice, he made no move to attack her in her

weakened state, despite the fact that his mobility currently exceeded her own. She was right. Neither of them were in any

state to continue fighting. With a smirk, he turned and lept off of the building, stumbling slightly at feet struck the

ground before he was off as fast as he could. Shizune...I need Shizune's help.
Tayuya smirked and spat at him one last time, considering throwing one last kunai, but deciding it wasn't worth the effort.

Tottering a few steps, she too lept off the roof, taking a moment aftr landing before heading off herself. Where the

fuck is Kabuto?