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tampered2006-12-18 09:27 am
crimsonmangekyo.livejournal.com) wrote in tampered2006-12-18 09:27 am
Log: Complete
When; Dec 16-early 17th
Rating; R for violence and language
Characters; Uchiha Itachi![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
crimsonmangekyo, Yondaime Hokageyellow_flash, Hoshigaki Kisameomgashark, Tayuyaviolentflutist, Deidarachaoticcreator, and a little bit of help from Lucifer at the end.
Summary; Arashi calls out Itachi for revenge on the Uchiha for what he did to Naruto. Agreeing to meet the former Hokage, Itachi and Kisame find themselves in the midst of a serious fight as Tayuya shows up to get a piece of Kisame and Deidara and Lucifer appear to aid their respective colleagues.
God, this thing was a bitch to clean up. 2 days-long AIM log with 5 people.
Log;
He was sincerely trying to take deep breaths to calm, but all he could focus on was how satisfying the crunch of facial bones under fist would feel. Think of Obito. .this is a relative of his. .but that only spiked the anger to remember what Jiraiya had told him in his brief stay: that Itachi had slaughtered all of the Uchiha save for Naruto's teammate Sasuke. The waiting should have cooled him off, should have done something aside of escalate the intensity of the words of both Itachi and Naruto. Strangely enough, it was his son's words that kept his mood unstable, 'I'm used to it by now,' just reading that had killed him.
Crimson eyes watched the blonde man from the depths of the trees, visible as burning coals beneath the cover of a straw hat lined by silk ribbons. Chakra surged, pushing against the confines of the mind that kept it suppressed and bound, moving like a living thing that wished to be free. Arashi.... The Uchiha wasn't stupid, by any means. He knew the strength of the man he watched, and he wasn't about to take any chances or run into a fight unprepared. No, it was better to stay in the shadows, hidden and untracable, until he was ready to deal a killing blow. For this time, there was no time for taunts. No room for playing. This was a battle. He silently slid a tasseled kunai out of the sleeve of his robe. Readying it, he flung it with a whispered word and a seal at the back of his opponent, the tiny jingle of the bell only sounding when it would be too late to avoid the weapon.
He knew it would be a sneak attack, Itachi would press every advantage. So he was both surprised and unsurprised when the bell sounded and the sharp pain of a kunai lanced through his flesh. Arashi turned and in a fluid movement released a handful of tagged kunai in a spray around the general direction that blow had come from. It was on. And the sharingan user would have to come out at some point, he was hoping, but knew it not likely that the kunai would flush him. So Arashi remained still, listening, waiting.
Itachi lept soundlessly from his point in the tree, using a simple genjutsu to block Arashi's ears so that any motions he made would remain un-noticed, and utilizing the advantage it gave him to land in another hidden spot. Spinning around, hands a blur of motion as they formed seals, his form split into several others that ranged their way around the edges of the clearing, remaining hidden. As each one readied their own kunai, the real Itachi continued forming seals, eyes intent on his prey. Utilizing the clones, he finally spoke. "So Arashi, are you going to provide me with anything entertaining today?" The voice echoed, reverberating and repeating around the clearing, masking his true location.
"I'm surprised at you, Itachi," Arashi said aloud, not bothered by the clones, doubting that Itachi himself was actually amongst them. His demeanor was calm, he restrained the insults and epithets he wished to use. Even if he was not calm on the inside, there was no reason to betray that to his opponent. "You were all ease and confidence hidden behind a moniter. Now you are hiding behind clones?" Raising his hands, he performed his own hand seals and seemingly disappeared from the spot. The new vantage point was at one of the tagged kunai in the trees, observing himself. This wouldn't do. He needed Itachi out in the open. He needed to pluck those eyes from his head.
The Akatsuki smirked to himself at Arashi's words. Oh really? I doubt you're truly that calm, Arashi-san. At a simple gesture, a storm of kunai rained down out of the trees towads where the Yondaime Hokage stood in the center of the clearing. But, just as they had for his son, the weapons vanished as they reached him. And then pain blossomed all along Arashi's body.
He watched from his position as the kunai raced towards his clone, then disappeared. Clenching his jaw closed around any sound, eyes widened at the sudden pain as though he himself had been hit by the kunai. Thoughts raced. This wasn't possible, how- then narrowed eyes. Genjutsu. Forming a seal, he murmured, "Dispel." And tried to get out of it, annoyed athimself for falling into one so easily. Really, he knew to expect it from Itachi. His hands raced through a second set of seals and he moved to another kunai in another part of the woods to reassess the situation. He had to actually get near Itachi.
The Sharingan-user frowned slightly. He had certainly used a lower-level genjutsu, but the fact that Arashi had dispelled it with such ease irked him. But no matter. It wasn't as though he couldn't simply cast another one with a mere motion of his fingertip. But that was still bothersome... He felt Arashi's chakra move, training his sharingan on the area where he thought the blonde now rested. Bringing his hands together into a seal, he whispered to himself. Opening his eyes again, his normal Sharingan transformed itself into the tri-spoked wheel of the mangekyo. Training it on his chosen location, he slid his fingers seamlessly through another round of seals. "Katon Gokyaku no Jutsu". The fireball sped into the trees, erupting into flames as it impacted.
"Gotta keep moving," He murmured to himself, sealing again as he saw the fireball heading towards him. Sliding from one location to another, he felt a bit singed, that one had been close. And this was getting futile. Reaching into one of his weapons pouches, he took out another handful of kunai and scattered them, ensuring one landed back in the clearing from which he had originally been standing, then sealed and appeared there. "Come on, Itachi. You can do better than this. Come and fight." Provoking, leaving himself out in the open. It was foolish, but he was walking the line between desperate anger and violence.
He raised one eyebrow sardonically. So, Arashi wanted him to come out and fight? He supposed he owed the man at least something afterall, he had once been a great shinobi. Pulling out several coils of wire, he spun them around before sending them soaring to wrap around the blonde, effectively pinning him in place as well as his arms. Jumping down, he landed at the other side of the clearning from Arashi. With a smirk, he formed a quick set of seals. "Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu". Fire swirled out of his mouth and blazed down the wires towards the bound shinobi.
The wires came about rather quickly, but he was not bound so much as to be unable to seal, he waited until almost the last minute before finishing the seal and flickering out of the hold. One singe was enough, he didn't need a burn, thanks. And appeared at a kunai near to Itachi's position, but sealed again, moving to another, while releasing a final tagged kunai at Itachi. If he could hit and transport litearlly onto him, it would remove the necessity of waiting for an opening.
Itachi swore to himself and spun, sharingan whirling rapidly as they tracked Arashi's chakra through the trees. Unfortunately, the blonde's damnable jutsu made it difficult even for the sharingan to follow him. Not to mention that he wasn't able to entirely avoid the kunai, which lanced into his side.
There! The opening he was waiting for. Hindsight later on that evening would tell him the move had been entirely foolhardy, but right now, it seemed like a great idea. Narrowing eyes, Arashi went through the seals and in a moment found himself staring straight into mangekyo sharingan eyes. His own eyes widened as he managed an, "Oops."
Itachi's lips curled into a malicious smile. "Tsukuyomi." The world rushed away to come crashing back in a torrent of red and black, blanched out colours replaced by the bloodstained landscape. Itachi stood across from his victim, simply watching him. With a twitch of a finger, the Hokage found himself bound onto a metal cross, wires holding him in place. Itachi reached into his robes and pulled out a katana. Stepping closer, he paused. "I'm sure you are probably aware of the mechanics of this technique, but shall I explain them to you anyway, Arashi-dono?"
He didn't bother chastising himself now, the moment was more important for finding a way out of this technique. And if Itachi was going to give him the details on the technique, mores the information for finding a way out of it. With an inclination of his head, he barely acknowledged being bound and instead replied, "Yes, why don't you." As though speaking to Itachi over a nice bowl of ramen. It was a genjutsu, only a genjutsu and there had to be a way to dispel, no matter the power of the user or the strength of the technique. He'd had a vague plan for this, but enacting that plan was proving harder than thinking of it.
The crimson-eyed man smirked to himself. So, Arashi wanted to know the ins and outs of Tsukuyomi? He knew perfectly well that the man's true intent was to try and find a weakness in the technique. But that wouldn't happen. It HAD no weakness. As long as Itachi's eyes remained intact and operable, the genjutsu would not break. But...he supposed he could humor the man. "This is my world, the world of the Tsukuyomi. In this world, I control time and space. And here you are going to stay, for a period of 72 hours. And endure." With that, he plunged the sword into Arashi's stomach, before pulling it back out again.
He took in that information but it left little to work with, "72 hours, eh? How-" and was cut off by the business end of Itachi's katana. He gasped at the sudden pain of it, having forgotten how much a genjutsu could hurt. The coppery slickness of blood in his mouth was all too real and he tried to use the pain as a focus, a lapse in the genjutsu to command his fingers to move in the world outside of the genjutsu. The going was slow, but he managed a bit. Inside, he narrowed eyes on Itachi, "You think this is torture? Three days is a drop in the well compared to sixteen years in death god stomach." Upper lip curled away from teeth, the yondaime looked a bit feral in that state.
Itachi only grinned and continued, more copies of himself appearing with their own swords until there were so many blades embedded in Arashi's stomach that his shirt was matted with blood. An interminable amount of time had gone by when Itachi stepped back. "Arashi-san, would you like to know how long you have been under the thrall of my Tsukuyomi?"
Each sword was another spine wrenching lance of pain, but another opportunity that led to flexing and moving of muscle in the outside world. That was what he tried to concentrate on. No matter the pain, he had to succeed. He wouldn't fail his son again. When Itachi spoke, Arashi almost didn't hear it, but refocused his attention on the other man through his haze of blood and pain. "We're still in Tsukuyomi? I thought this was Ichiraku's," and gave a dry, almost coughing laugh.
"Hmph, how amusing. Although you don't seem to care much, you
have been in the Tsukuyomi for exactly 3 seconds, Arashi-san. However..." He gestured and another cross rose up from the sea of blood. "I suppose that it will take this to dispose of that cocky attitude of yours." With another gesture, a figure appeared on the cross. Smaller, blonde hair blood-matted, orange and black clothes stained with the same crimson colour. Itachi turned back to Arashi as another one of his clones stabbed it's katana into Naruto. "let's see how you deal with this, old man."
His heavy lidded sneer at Itachi disappeared as the smaller form of Naruto on a twin cross appeared. It's an illusion! He yelled mentally, Don't be fooled! For all the good his mental reminders did. Arashi was already thrashing on the cross. Was this an illusion of what Naruto went through or just a torment. Either way, it hurt more to see that than all of the swords combined. "You maniacal little weasel!" What was left of his rational mind was calling for him to stop, feeling the control on his muscles outside the genjutsu weakening, setting his momentum back. But the focus now was more immediate, more primal.
Itachi raised an eyebrow with a smile that would have sent chills down most spines. "Oh dear, throwing insults around, are we? I'm so sorry that your son has to suffer for it." He turned slightly to regard Naruto on the cross as two of his clones dug their swords into the boy's gut and began to twist, the air filling with cries of pain from the young shinobi.
"NO!" He ordered, straining against the wires binding him to the cross. Then forced himself to still and look away from the illusion of Naruto being harmed to focus on Itachi. "How a person could get this way...What do you want? Do you want suffering? We both know he's not here, and torturing an illusion is no fun." Unable to control the curve of his upper lip falling into a sneer. "Or are you resorting to cheap tricks because you genuinely can't think of anything else to use against me?" He had to keep Itachi's attention focused on himself.
It didn't work, however. Itachi simply glanced back at him and summoned a third clone that went to work on Naruto. "A good tactic, Arashi, but a pointless one. You are not the one in control here. I am." As if to punctuate that, he doubled the number of clones around the boy, whose cries had shifted into desperate pleas for help from his parent.
He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to block every sound but the rushing of blood in his ears. Though the illusion Naruto's cries stuck with him and finally he opened his eyes, "Please stop, Itachi-san. ." Likely the other man would not, but Arashi could do nothing but continue to try. He understood that this was to be the torture and needed to refocuse and regain what he had lost. The only real way to save Naruto was to get out of here and gouge out those eyes. Though that was his main goal, he was planning more. Sheer pain for the young man.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Arashi-san. Afterall, you've only been here for 4 minutes and 6 seconds. Another 71 hours, 55 minutes and 54 seconds still to go." As if to punctuate that statement, he lazily pulled out a fistful of the tasselled kunai, holding them up so that Arashi could see the stained blades. "Do you know what this is? It's your son's blood. Shall I show you what I used them for, Arashi-san?" Without waiting for his victim's answer, he flung them at Naruto, the razor-sharp blades embedding themselves to the hilt in each shoulder and splitting each kneecap before impacting with the metal of the cross.
A sick feeling welled up in him at ignoring Naruto's pain and pleas, but he knew, knew that this was the only way. So, continuing to focus on the outside world, he spoke to Itachi. "What was it? Your father only praising you when you fought well? When you progressed with violence? That's all you learned the value of. I pity you for that. For all that you might have been and done wasted in a pursuit that will see you dead before you ever succeed."
"You know nothing of my father. Though I will tell you that he was certainly a far better father then you ever were to your own son. Contrary to what you think, he praised me endlessly for any acheivement that brought honor to the Uchiha family. So much so that he utterly ignored his other son. You think I was raised with violence? You're quite wrong. I simply abandoned that useless clan when it became clear that advancement was no longer possible within it's confines." He sent another kunai flying, this one embedding itself into the center of Naruto's throat, eliciting a sickening gurgle from the boy, who looked at Arashi with eyes full of bewilderment as to why his father didn't rescue him from this fate.
That dry laugh returned, "You went too far, Itachi. That's not my son. Just an illusion. Kyuubi would have merged with him by now to preserve Naruto's life. And you would be running." It helped, regaining a bit of control over the situation, or at least, a feel of control. There! He flexed his fingers outside the genjutsu and started to move slowly again.
"You think I'd run from your brat, even if he was channeling the Kyuubi? I've faced him before, Arashi. He is lacking." Several of the clones stabbed their swords into Arashi's chest and stomach, twisting the blades.
The pain was the last push he needed. A very strange smile curled one corner of his lips, "Hubris." Then activated the flashbang in the real world, shoving it in Itachi's face. It had to work, this was his first, last and only idea.
And work it did. The force of the explosion ripped into the Uchiha's eyes, burning corneas and searing it's light into his retinas. With his scream of pain, the Tsukuyomi shattered and broke as he flew backwards, eyes charred and scorched to blindness, blood running down his cheeks from his ruined optics. He shook his head, trying to focus through the pain to sense for Arashi's chakra.
It took him a moment to regain control of his faculties, to breathe and not taste the coppery tartness of his own blood. He got over it quickly with his target in sight. "I'm not just going to kill you. I'm going to make you want death." Though his chakra wasn't tapped out, he wanted the satisfaction of bones crunching under fists and thus was his first attack physical. A head on rush at the other man, though not without the scattering the last of his tags around the area. Hands moved to grasp Itachi's shoulders, hoping to give him a dirty knee shot in the manly bits.
Itachi tried to avoid, but the pain from his ruined eyes was too distracting. And while operating in a world of blackness was something that any shinobi could do, being faced with a situation where you were suddenly at a disadvantage wasn't easily overcome when you were blinded with pain.
Knee connected with groin in a satisfying feeling of bone against squishy bits. That was for telling his boy about Orochimaru. He continued on, not pulling back but twisting to try and catch Itachi on the side of the face with an elbow. He knew the man wasn't done, any minute Itachi would recover and the Yondaime knew it would be a battle again, just one lacking the sharingan.
Well, it wasn't as though he hadn't expected it to hurt. But that didn't mean it hurt less. Itachi doubled over, right into Arashi's elbow.
"Still think it was worth it?" Arashi asked, tone low and deceptively calm. It wasn't enough, he wanted to hear the other man cry out. Dropping back, he followed up the elbow with a kick to the ribs. Put Itachi on his back and break some fingers. Perhaps a few joints. Those were the worst. His mind was on immediate gratification.
Itachi grunted, but didn't give Arashi the satisfaction. He tasted the coppery tang of blood and spat, hoping to hit the blonde with it. "It was always worth it to see your pathetic little brat cry like a baby when I showed him what I'd done to his little boyfriend."
"Is that all you can say? That the last of your insults?" Arashi asked, moving forward to step on Itachi's hand, pressing his weight down slowly and wanting to feel the bones snap. It left him open, of course, but he wasn't thinking critically.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Itachi took his chance. His other hand snapped up to wrap around Arashi's ankle while he pivoted his body around. One foot shot up, heel aimed at catching the Yondaime directly in the chin with crushing force. Hopefully, he'd break the man's neck.
When the hand gripped his ankle, he already started to fall back, so the kick glanced over his already closed jaw, shattering a cheekbone instead of causing any permanant harm anywhere else. Twisting, Arashi riposted a kick with his free leg, aiming the blow at the femur of Itachi's planted leg.
It only took a split second before Kisame began to move. His wide-brimmed hat fell behind him, arms back unsheathing Samehada as his black and red robes flapped in the wind, as he drew closer to his target. He had seen the slowed Yondaime's counterkick, and decided now was a good a time as any to step in and finish the bout. A strong arm shot out from his cloak, and grabbed the yellow haired hokage's ankle, and in a fluid motion, turned and slammed him directly into the ground, before hammertossing him into the woods. "Itachi-san."
The Sharingan-user blinked, still adjusting to his newly-dark world, and glanced up where he knew his partner stood. "Kisame. As usual, your timing is impeccable." He stood up and threaded seals quickly before slamming a palm onto his own forehead. Blue characters spread across his skin for a moment before pulling in to form a seal. It wouldn't heal the damage, but it would at least block the pain. And once that was gone, he could focus again. He'd be at a disadvantage, certainly, but now that Kisame was here, that would be balanced.
The blow to the ground dislocated his shoulder, being tossed into the woods was almost a blessing. In the air he handsealed and reappeared at one of his tagged kunai, giving him a moment to place a palm against his own shoulder and press upwards and back, replacing it in the socket with a rather stomach turning sound. Rising from his crouch, his hands flowed through the seals and once more he appeared in the clearing at a tagged kunai. "Brought backup did you? I expected as much."
"Ah. Yondaime-sama. I've heard and seen all I need to about you. I hope to enjoy this." Reaching over his shoulder to reach his sword, Kisame couldn't help but smile. He hadn't had the opportunity to fight someone of nearly his equal in far, far too long, and he would savour the taste of this one for a long time, to be sure. With a quick step, Kisame bounded towards his opponent, Samehada pulled back to his side, before releasing his tensed muscles like a ballista, the sword swinging at Arashi with blinding speed.
Kisame was fast, his rush of speed catching the Yondaime before he could seal himself out of the area and to another tagged kunai. He barely had time to move away from the blade's strike, but gasped at the surpriseing drain on his chakra. He didn't have time to block or even to react after that. The entire fight was starting to take its toll.
"Damn, does a bitch have to step in?" The voice came from the tree above the Yondaime, where the Sound ninja Tayuya crouched, surpressing her chakra to the point where she almost seemed nonexistant. This curse seal was good for something, it seemed. She'd been watching throught most of the fight, have spent an hour earlier deciding whether or not she would show. But in the end, the idea of both seeing the Yondaime's ass kicked and being able to kick ass herself, well... it was too much to pass up. "Boys just can't play nice can they?" She was using a mocking tone, one that was used to her. She didn't make any moves, surveying the bloody Hokage, the goldifsh man, and the esentially eyeless Uchiha. "Damn sad, really." But she was prepared, muscles terse and ready to move, equipment itching to be used. But she wanted to have a tad bit of fun first.
Taking full advantage of the situation, Itachi darted towards his prior victim, lashing out at Arashi with a spinning kick towards the man's center of gravity. Of course, he couldn't see where the kick was aimed, all he could sense was the chakra. He knew the blonde was there, he just hoped he hit something vital.
Tayuya's unexpected (and vulgar) arrival took his attention but he was not ignoring Itachi and the other man's attack was not unnoticed. He turned slightly, taking the force of Itachi's kick to his abdomen. Breath exhaled in a grunt at the force, but the pain of bruised and broken ribs was second to the opportunity. Hands wrapped around the ankle, catching it and twisthing while squeezing, attempting to shatter the joint.
"I'm your opponent now, Arashi-sama. It would be wise not to ignore me!" Kisame struck the blonde man's chest with the hilt of his sword with tremendous force, causing the Hokage the release his fellow Akatsuki's ankle. Kisame took one step back, and lifted his sword high over his head, ready to bring down Samehada for the killing blow on the stunned Yondaime.
Tayuya frowned, watching this. She enjoyed watching the Yondaime hurt, this was true, but she wanted the Akatsuki to hurt as well. Dilemma, dilemma. Making the call, she suddenly hurtled from her perch in the tree with a burst of chakra, slamming feet first into the blue man's sword arm at a slight angle to force the sword down and aside. She quickly vaulted back up into a tree top, not wanting to leave herself open to be grabbed, bringing out her flute as she did so. This might be the time to test that new melody.
Itachi stifled a smirk as he felt Kisame's chakra move, coupled by the sound of the impact and the release of the hand on his ankle. Sensing the Otonin's retreat back into the trees, he concentrated on her chakra, vanishing to reappear beside her. "You're the illusionist, I presume? I'd suggest you go home, little girl. This isn't your fight."
The air was knocked from him again, Arashi released Itachi's ankle and fell back, gasping to refill his lungs with air. He had known this could be the outcome, and death wasn't permanant here, so he did not flinch from Kisame's sword. He was, however, surprised at Tayuya's intervention. So focused he had been on Itachi that he hadn't felt her chakra. Without a second thought, Arashi moved, reganing his footing and forming a seal, reappearing at another tagged kunai to reassess the situation with Kisame.
Tayuya was only slightly shocked at Itachi's appearence, both that fact that he had appeared and how he looked with his eyes sizzled. Not pleasant. But Orochimaru-sama had told her of this man, and she expected much from him. Not that she came here to fight him. She was here for the goldfish. "It is now, faggot." She spat, throwing a handful of shuriken as a mere distraction while she dropped from the tree tops near Kisame, ignoring the Yondaime. "Now, goldfish, you need your pretty boy to fight me or can't handle me yourself?"
Seeing that the Yondaime was playing the part of the coward, Kisame thought it nothing to divert his attention to the bitch that had been pestering him since he had arrived in the City. "Ah, the snake's whore. Found time on your list for ME?" With that, Kisame threw several hand seals in quick succession, before a second vision of himself rose from the ground. "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu. And it's far more than enough to take care of the Yondaime. I want to be here to see your blood spill, Oto-nin."
Itachi glanced around him with his useless eyes, assessing the chakra concentrations and their locations. This was growing tiresome. Closing his eyes and threading a series of seals, he concentrated. "Kokuangyo no Jutsu". As the genjutsu rolled over the clearing, darkness descended, plunging everyone else into nearly the same level of blackness that he was currently experiencing. He smiled. That should even the odds.
First Kisame cloned himself and then the entire area went black. Another genjutsu? Likely, but at this moment, dispelling it was less important than simply staying alive. Instead of concentrating on his sight, the Yondaime concentrated on the chakra he felt around him. Kisame was fresh, but he was not.
Tayuya knew an illusion when she saw one. An illusionist herself, she'd hope not to have to pit hers against his, but it seemed she'd have to, if he kept interferring like this. All she wanted was a piece of the blue man, nothing with the Sharingan user. But she took the shroud of darkness as an oppurunity to create a clone herself, and handed off her flute, the solid metal instrument given to her by Cobray, sending the chakra clone up into the trees, taking a place and beginning to let a melody begin seeping out over the area. It was something Orochimaru-sama had helped her develop. One that brought out fear. It had only failed against one person, and that had been Aizen Sousuke, who by her estimations, was much more powerful than any here. With her clone secured in place, she let the new curse seal on her neck, which by all appearences looked the same, begin to surge as she dispelled the inky blackness around her and the black lines rapidly raced across her skin.
With another push of chakra, Itachi pushed back, sending the darkness creeping back around her. He knew he was the stronger genjutsuist, but he was chakra-drained and at a disadvantage. As the melody reached his ears, burned eyes widened slightly as thoughts raced through his head, the most pressing of which was what would happen to him if the girl he had met earlier was unable to heal his eyes. he swallowed hard for a moment, closing his eyes. He knew it was genjutsu, and genjutsu was his field. After a moment, he opened charred irises and dispelled it with little effort. A formidable genjutsu, certainly. Against a lesser opponent.
Kisame breathed deep as the darkness covered the forest, and heard Tayuya's tune begin the play. He didn't know what the effect was supposed to be, but he'd be damned if he took a chance to find out. With shaky hands, Kisame formed seals of his own, ready to add his own level of complication to the field. "Suiton: Bakusui Shoha! And, Itachi-san, help on the jutsu would be appreciated."
Itachi would have rolled his eyes. If he'd still had use of them, that is. As it were, he turned slightly in the direction of Kisame's voice and concentrated his chakra. "Dispell". He directed the focused chakra towards his partner, in an attempt to dispell the girl's genjutsu.
"Goddamn." Tayuya heaved a sigh, glancing up briefly towards the Sharingan used and flipping her middle finger in his direction. "Bitch can't fight a goldfish without the faggot interfering."But the curse seal was taking over and even as she
gestured with her finger the skin was darkening, hair growing, horns sprouting. This new curse seal was more powerfuil than anything she'd ever experienced, and the mere rush of it taking over her body was enough to make her shiver. Her lips twisted into a feral grin and she rushed the sword user, arcing around and trying to maneuver in close enough to get within range too close for the sword to be brought into play. This form, her level two, was even more twisted and less human than it had been before, with her nails having lengthened and sharpened into caricature's of claws, and the horns on her skull had also found places on her shoulders and neck. Her goldin irises were dilated, blood pumping in a power rush unlike anything she'd ever experienced.
Above in the sky, a small shadow began to reflect upon the ground in the gaze of the moonlight. Nothing out of the ordinary, really.. a cloud, something hanging overhead, and at night, something normally overlooked. All at once, a bird fluttered to the ground near the fray--picking at the ground lightly, and looking around. It hopped a little, moving toward the legs of the Yondaime, twittering and making a small racket. While behind the young Oto ninja, a spider, upon tiny silent feet, began to approach. As it moved closer, it began to crawl softly up the girls' sandals, finding the fabric of her pants, and continuing to bring it's diminuitive form upward bound, until it rested upon the flat of her back. Upon high, a pair of eyes watched, gliding unobtrusively above all.
"Tch." One of the Kisame's ran off into the woods, presumably after the Yondaime, while the other firmly stood his ground, hunkering down for the charging Oto-nin. "I've shrugged off attacks from Feudal Lord bodyguards. You're nothing to me, Tayuya-san." With that, Kisame swung the mighty Samehada with all he had at the approaching ogre-ish girl.
The bird was suspicious. Kisame's water clone moving in his direction was suspicious. And the Yondaime was fatigued both mentally and physically. He wanted nothing more than to snap the Uchiha's pale neck and leave but it seemed that would have to wait, if ever it happened now. Eyes narrowed as he put his hands together, gathering chakra there, waiting for the clone as he started the technique.
Though he could see neither bird nor spider, Itachi felt the slightest flare of chakra from the fringes of the battle and smiled. Refusing to let on that anything was different, he instead folded his hands into a series of seals and blew a veritable inferno in the general direction of everything other then Kisame, spinning around to create a halo of flame that spread outwards. Even without his sharingan, Uchiha Itachi was still an ex-ANBU. And thus, he certainly wasn't finished yet.
The sword swing was alarmingly quick for its size and Tayuya immediately dropped to her stomach, scrambling in an almost unnatural manner to avoid to sword, even as she felt the tips of flame licking at her skin. But the curse seal heavily dulled her pain senses and even as she was aware of the burning and the heat, she felt no pain, though she knew in the back of her head that she would once the seal released its hold on her. Reaching out, one shoulder of her uniform still smoldering, she latched onto the shark man's ankle, sinking talons in and ripping. She didn't know what was wrong with her. This... this wasn't her. But it was, and it was powerful and that was all that mattered. The black pupil dilated and expanded sporadically, as if something was fighting for control, but it didn't matter now. She reached for a kunai with one hand, sticking close to the Akatsuki's body so that the sword would be hard to maneuver.
As the ogrish girl attacked, trying to rend the shark Akatsuki's flesh asunder, something skittered around, nestling itself between her breasts, and pulling it's legs up against itself, readying. Almost as if on cue, the small bird fluttered up, landing lightly upon the shoulder of the Yondaime, twittering. A grin slid serpentinely across the lips of the one in the skies, as he focused with the lens upon one of his eyes at the scene. Sliding his hands together in a seal, he mouthed just one word--a breath upon the wind, "katsu". In a flash of light and sound, the spider and bird exploded in tandem against their targets, with a display of violent force.
Kisame was thrown backwards by the force of the explosion... and promptly knew who he had to thank for that. Not that he ever would, mind you. "Deidara-san... damn you." Kisame walked over the girl who had just been nearly blown to shreds, and executed several hand seals in quick succession. "Suiton: Suikodan no Jutsu!" Kisame grew a toothy grin as a rather intimidating burst of water in the form of a shark shot from his hands, slamming into Tayuya. On the other side of the forest, Kisame's mizu bunshin finally reached Yondaime, and wasted no time with a jutsu of his own... the Suiro no Jutsu, or water prison.
It took her about half a second to register the heat between her breasts after the shock of the disintegrating clone, but by then it was too late. The blast caught her full in front, ripping with vague hints of pain that were quickly blocked by the curse seal, that contained the knowledge of the immense damage for later, when she released the seal's hold. She was thrown back several feet with a muffled slamming into a tree with enough force to embed the small horns on her shoulders inches into the bark. With a snarl Tayuya ripped herself free of the tree, staggering once. She saw the blood, felt the blood, but didn't feel the burns covering the right side of her face and melted hair, sizzling, mottled and ripped flesh on her breasts and neck. What she felt was the seal, urging her on, to kill, to be powerful. That was when Kisame's jutsu hit. The water hissed and steamed when it came into contact with the still broiling flesh but the shark bowled her over, slamming her up once again against the sametree, blood dribbling from her mouth. But she still had a few more cards to play, her conscious mind slowly wresting control back from the seal. She huddled in on herself for a moment before her back arched and her eyes opened abruptly, a sharp, large burst of chakra that forced the water back and she took the oppurtunity to hurtle through the dissipating water, kunai flashing before her and a small glowing ball held between two fingers. This thing that girl had given her way back when must be good for something.
First there was the concussion inducing explosion of the suspcious bird and then he was narrowly avoiding a water prison, hands sliding into the familliar seals as he reappeared at one of the many tagged kunai tossed about the area. Though he did not stay still, as soon as he appeared he riposted, launching forward while gathering charkra between his hands, thrusting out one hand containing a swirling, eldritch ball and yelling, "Rasangen!" in an attempt to catch the shark with it. His balance was off, inner ear damage, he noted, but kept going, adjusting for the injuries.
Itachi's ears were ringing slightly as he crouched, having dodged behind a tree at precisely the right moment when he'd known that the waiting Deidara was going to strike. Shaking his head slightly to clear the tones from his auditory sense, he used a simple tactic instead. Pushing off of the ground, he sent himself rocketing towards the Yondaime, using the blonde's own voice as a tracking beacon. He slammed into Arashi, shoulder digging into the man's gut with an upward motion designed to send the Konoha-nin flying backwards.
A large bird circled around, like a vulture above, finally coming into view. Tiny spiders began to rain down, on small whisps of web, spreading their legs out, waiting to hit the ground. As the spiders settled, they began to crawl--avoiding once again the shark and the weasel, and homing straight for the demon girl, and the former Hokage. A snicker escaped a throat--a birdrider, a young boy, who lorded over the air of the battleground, keeping his form from view, and yet, waiting for the precise moment to allow himself to be seen fully. The genius of this art.
Kisame couldn't help but roar with laughter as he watched his partner knock Arashi off center with a flying headbutt. "Itachi-san! Remind me to treat you to dango when we return!" Grin wide as ever, Kisame resumed his water prison, effortlessly capturing the Yondaime this time. The real, Kisame, however, had a new and interesting problem to deal with. Samehada unsheathed, Kisame lowered himself into a stance ready to make a counter attack at a moments notice. "Ah, did Orochimaru-san teach you a new technique, Tayuya-kun?"
Tayuya smirked, teeth showing red with her own blood, the only thing keeping her going now was the curse seal, eating away at her even as it gave her such power. "This one's not his." She grit out, landing abruptly directly in front of the Samehada, and slapping the glowing orb against the sword. In a total contradiction to her earlier movements, she then turned on her heal and sprinted back towards the trees, bounding for cover and retrieving her flute from her clone, which hadn't moved since the genjutsu had been dispelled. Fingers moving into a seal, she activated it how Yuffie had told her to. This.... gravity materia thing. But from what she heard, it packed one hell of a pressured punch.
He could have laughed at Itachi's move, a straight out tackle, but the shoulder to his gut rather prevented that, knocking the wind from him. He landed with a wince, dislocating the shoulder he had, only minutes before relocated to the proper socket and before he could even get his bearings, water surrounded him. The situation had deteriorated. He simply had no chakra left, was fatigued beyond measure and felt his grip on mental stability shifting even further. Last resort. The kunai was small and on the hilt was a purely decorative pommel. Thrusting the business end into the palm of his hand, he drew his own blood. The crimson liquid leaked not only into the water, but flowed upwards. A red seal, a compass rose with a dagger through it, glowed on that pommel and Arashi relaxed. He trusted to his allies and there was little he could do, at this point, to defend himself.
Already in fit of pique, wishing not to be trifled with, Lucifer felt the irksome summons and leapt from the Cathedral rooftop, alone this evening for the emotional state of Rosiel.
Kisame couldn't let his guard down... especially not with Tayuya retreating. The girl just didn't do that. But the true realization of what happened. He could feel his knees begin to buckle, his feet crushing into the earth as Samehada hit the ground with a bang. Kisame looked up quickly, his grin a grimace, as a crater erupted beneath, Kisame's body hunched over and breaking as he struggled to stay on his feet.
The young blonde looked down upon the field, keeping his perch aloft. The spiders ran up to the feet of the two nemesises of Akatsuki, crawling and attaching to their sandals. All at once, the word again was breathed, and the spiders exploded once more against the bodies of their victims. As soon as the dust cleared, another round of small, eight-legged creatures came along, skittering along the paths of their predecessors.
Tayuya tried to avoid the spiders but they jumped along with her, clinging to her sandals even as she cursed the flute coming away from her lips and she shielded her face and chest from further harm. The explosions were smaller this time, smaller creatures, but the blood between her toes... what was remaining of her toes, told her it was bad. But dhe didn't look. The pain didn't register, and she wouldn't be distracted, not now. Crouching in another tree top, focusing her weight on her knees instead of her wounded feet, she began to play a tune that would simply induce madness, hoping that Kisame, weakened by the weight, would be affected. It looked like the Yondaime was doing something, and goddamn he better be. She was risking her ass here, and if she died again she'd make him pay.
Itachi pulled out a kunai, swiftly rolling to avoid the explosions that rolled across the ground with sonic vibrations. He had no idea where his fellow Akatsuki was, but the chakra signature came from somewhere above. Which meant that the blonde was probably perched on that clay bird of his. Getting to his feet, he barked at Kisame. "Dispell the water, Kisame! He's using it to summon allies." Spinning towards where he could feel Kisame's chakra in the water, he flung the kunai with deadly precision, aiming for the center of Arashi's chest.
The explosions were incredibly painful, burns blossomed across the soles of his feet and he was sure a few bones were splintered. As the water dispelled, he managed to twist and take the kunai on the opposite side, managing only to puncture a lung. The chest wound made a sucking sound as he breathed and blood foamed along the opening. His head fell back and he stilled, looking up into the night.
It was snowing. . black snow . no, black feathers. Hundreds of them gently wafting down. Then straightened and darted down, points pricking at the spiders. Four wings spread, Lucifer alighted the clearing, expression dull, sheath in hand, he drew Shiranui, light flashing off the blade as he gave a swipe to them. "Truly God's creations."Arashi gasped in air and added, "Horned one . . isn't an enemy." Lucifer started forward, two on the ground, one he had seen in the air.
Deidara looked at the winged one curiously--he had never seen something like him before. He cringed slightly. Just the sheer look of him was unnerving. In the back of his mind, a thousand inspirations were forming, as he stared upon the new arrival. Itachi and Kisame were taking hits, and he knew that with that new person on their side, it couldn't get better. Also, it was a strange occurance for an Otogakure nin to be helping a Konoha nin. Maybe the clock's finally ran down, un. This seems like the end of the world, if they are working together., Deidara mused, with a small snicker. But, if it is the end of the world, what better way to end it but with fireworks? A wicked grin began to thread itself upon the former Iwa nin's lips, as he reached into his back, and pulled out something. A deformed 'bird' statue, with it's wings caught in strange positionings now sat in his hands, eyes wide and mouth agape. He smiled at it, and petted it almost lovingly. "It will be your time to shine, un. We will make this place beautiful. A fitting end to everything." He whispered this to the sculpture, before standing up upon the back of the homing bird he flew upon, yelling to all around in a loud voice. "I have enjoyed this farce, un. It has been quite amusing. I've seen many things that I have never thought I would witness. It shows me what desperation can do to someone, un. Or stupidity. But, nevertheless, for whatever the reason, it came together, a most intriguing display. A delightful show. But, now, this pageant ends, un. I, too have an act I'd like to perform. My friends, I hope you enjoy art. For I am going to give you my masterpiece!" He looked down toward his comrades, his smile since fading from wicked to purely psychotic."Kisame-san, Itachi-san...you have seen it. I suggest you go, " He turned back to the others. "But, for the rest of you..I give you the art that rocked Sunagakure...the masterpiece that almost brought the city to its knees! I give you....Number 18!" His voice turned back to a whisper, as he held the statuette out, "Now..my darling...fly!" With this, he dropped the strange construct down toward the ground. "It ends here, un." As the bird came close to the ground, the seal was once again made--but in a way almost reverent. Deidara's hands were clasped, and face so peaceful that one would believe he was praying..enlightened by a god no-one could see or would know. In a soft voice, like a broken hallelujah, Deidara whispered the final word of judgment. "Katsu."
Itachi's ruined eyes widened with a spine-wrenching stab of pain. This wasn't good. In his present condition, he had no idea which way constituted "away". And "away" was where he currently needed to go. Very quickly, in fact. He spun around, trying to match the chakra signatures he was sensing with the layout of the clearing in his mind. Unfortunately, there was no way to tell what had changed in the ensuing explosions of Deidara's art. Shit....
Kisame didnt need a second warning. He knew exactly what 18 was, and he ALSO knew that he didnt want to be anywhere around when it went off. Grabbing Itachi-san by the collar, the mizu bunshin dashed off, using its own Samehada to smash the ground near the real Kisame, allowing him to escape. Tayuya gulped, swallowing blood at the sight of the thing hurtling down. "Fuck." Was all she managed to get out. Pupils still changing size eerily, she cast about. Escape. Escape. Had to escape. Couldn't die here. Not again. Not again. Catching sight of whatever the fuck the Hokage had summoned, she bit her lip and forced herself to wounded feet and sprung towards it. The Yondaime had asked her for help, and she expected something in return.
"The more hideous and banal the human, the more it enjoys the sound of it's own voice," Lucifer noted, then glanced at the two attempting to flee. That was a sign, of course. Bending, he lifted the Yondaime, none too careful of the kunai sheathed in the former hokage's chest and draped him over one shoulder. As the bird drew closer, Lucifer knew this was going to end in singed feathers. Though as this alliance business was Alexiel's idea, she should be more inclined to groom his wings. Nude. Another filty, blood soaked mortal thing. This one more ugly than the rest. God really did rest on the seventh day. "Fine." Then gripped the back of her neck and alighted, heading off for the Cathedral.
As soon as the word was uttered, a blinding light erupted from where the bird hung in midair, stopped in its descent. It was quiet for a moment, as the explosion slammed through the thin, silken barrier of sound,flying alongside the shockwave that pulsed from the epicenter, slamming trees down in its wake. A blistering unbearable heat scorched everything for a half-mile radius in all directions, a deep circular rent being placed in the earth at the very point of detonation. Smoke blinded everything for a good few miles, pouring thickly from the source like a vaporous tar, sticking to and permeating every surface it came in contact with. The sound rocketed back, acutely deafening, and sharp like a whipcrack, that snapped the eardrums, and forced them to bleed. The once beautiful forest was now surreal, as this blast potchmarked the land with an undeniable scar; a blemish that would take a very long and arduous process to heal. High, high above, Deidara surveyed his handiwork, with a grin. "Geijutsu wa bakuhatsu da...un." He grinned as he spoke these words in a hushed, obsequious tone. "My masterpiece...complete." He sighed, as he turned about to fly back. "I..wish you could have seen it Sasori-danna. I..think you would have been proud, un... very proud."
Rating; R for violence and language
Characters; Uchiha Itachi
crimsonmangekyo, Yondaime Hokageyellow_flash, Hoshigaki Kisameomgashark, Tayuyaviolentflutist, Deidarachaoticcreator, and a little bit of help from Lucifer at the end.Summary; Arashi calls out Itachi for revenge on the Uchiha for what he did to Naruto. Agreeing to meet the former Hokage, Itachi and Kisame find themselves in the midst of a serious fight as Tayuya shows up to get a piece of Kisame and Deidara and Lucifer appear to aid their respective colleagues.
God, this thing was a bitch to clean up. 2 days-long AIM log with 5 people.
Log;
He was sincerely trying to take deep breaths to calm, but all he could focus on was how satisfying the crunch of facial bones under fist would feel. Think of Obito. .this is a relative of his. .but that only spiked the anger to remember what Jiraiya had told him in his brief stay: that Itachi had slaughtered all of the Uchiha save for Naruto's teammate Sasuke. The waiting should have cooled him off, should have done something aside of escalate the intensity of the words of both Itachi and Naruto. Strangely enough, it was his son's words that kept his mood unstable, 'I'm used to it by now,' just reading that had killed him.
Crimson eyes watched the blonde man from the depths of the trees, visible as burning coals beneath the cover of a straw hat lined by silk ribbons. Chakra surged, pushing against the confines of the mind that kept it suppressed and bound, moving like a living thing that wished to be free. Arashi.... The Uchiha wasn't stupid, by any means. He knew the strength of the man he watched, and he wasn't about to take any chances or run into a fight unprepared. No, it was better to stay in the shadows, hidden and untracable, until he was ready to deal a killing blow. For this time, there was no time for taunts. No room for playing. This was a battle. He silently slid a tasseled kunai out of the sleeve of his robe. Readying it, he flung it with a whispered word and a seal at the back of his opponent, the tiny jingle of the bell only sounding when it would be too late to avoid the weapon.
He knew it would be a sneak attack, Itachi would press every advantage. So he was both surprised and unsurprised when the bell sounded and the sharp pain of a kunai lanced through his flesh. Arashi turned and in a fluid movement released a handful of tagged kunai in a spray around the general direction that blow had come from. It was on. And the sharingan user would have to come out at some point, he was hoping, but knew it not likely that the kunai would flush him. So Arashi remained still, listening, waiting.
Itachi lept soundlessly from his point in the tree, using a simple genjutsu to block Arashi's ears so that any motions he made would remain un-noticed, and utilizing the advantage it gave him to land in another hidden spot. Spinning around, hands a blur of motion as they formed seals, his form split into several others that ranged their way around the edges of the clearing, remaining hidden. As each one readied their own kunai, the real Itachi continued forming seals, eyes intent on his prey. Utilizing the clones, he finally spoke. "So Arashi, are you going to provide me with anything entertaining today?" The voice echoed, reverberating and repeating around the clearing, masking his true location.
"I'm surprised at you, Itachi," Arashi said aloud, not bothered by the clones, doubting that Itachi himself was actually amongst them. His demeanor was calm, he restrained the insults and epithets he wished to use. Even if he was not calm on the inside, there was no reason to betray that to his opponent. "You were all ease and confidence hidden behind a moniter. Now you are hiding behind clones?" Raising his hands, he performed his own hand seals and seemingly disappeared from the spot. The new vantage point was at one of the tagged kunai in the trees, observing himself. This wouldn't do. He needed Itachi out in the open. He needed to pluck those eyes from his head.
The Akatsuki smirked to himself at Arashi's words. Oh really? I doubt you're truly that calm, Arashi-san. At a simple gesture, a storm of kunai rained down out of the trees towads where the Yondaime Hokage stood in the center of the clearing. But, just as they had for his son, the weapons vanished as they reached him. And then pain blossomed all along Arashi's body.
He watched from his position as the kunai raced towards his clone, then disappeared. Clenching his jaw closed around any sound, eyes widened at the sudden pain as though he himself had been hit by the kunai. Thoughts raced. This wasn't possible, how- then narrowed eyes. Genjutsu. Forming a seal, he murmured, "Dispel." And tried to get out of it, annoyed athimself for falling into one so easily. Really, he knew to expect it from Itachi. His hands raced through a second set of seals and he moved to another kunai in another part of the woods to reassess the situation. He had to actually get near Itachi.
The Sharingan-user frowned slightly. He had certainly used a lower-level genjutsu, but the fact that Arashi had dispelled it with such ease irked him. But no matter. It wasn't as though he couldn't simply cast another one with a mere motion of his fingertip. But that was still bothersome... He felt Arashi's chakra move, training his sharingan on the area where he thought the blonde now rested. Bringing his hands together into a seal, he whispered to himself. Opening his eyes again, his normal Sharingan transformed itself into the tri-spoked wheel of the mangekyo. Training it on his chosen location, he slid his fingers seamlessly through another round of seals. "Katon Gokyaku no Jutsu". The fireball sped into the trees, erupting into flames as it impacted.
"Gotta keep moving," He murmured to himself, sealing again as he saw the fireball heading towards him. Sliding from one location to another, he felt a bit singed, that one had been close. And this was getting futile. Reaching into one of his weapons pouches, he took out another handful of kunai and scattered them, ensuring one landed back in the clearing from which he had originally been standing, then sealed and appeared there. "Come on, Itachi. You can do better than this. Come and fight." Provoking, leaving himself out in the open. It was foolish, but he was walking the line between desperate anger and violence.
He raised one eyebrow sardonically. So, Arashi wanted him to come out and fight? He supposed he owed the man at least something afterall, he had once been a great shinobi. Pulling out several coils of wire, he spun them around before sending them soaring to wrap around the blonde, effectively pinning him in place as well as his arms. Jumping down, he landed at the other side of the clearning from Arashi. With a smirk, he formed a quick set of seals. "Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu". Fire swirled out of his mouth and blazed down the wires towards the bound shinobi.
The wires came about rather quickly, but he was not bound so much as to be unable to seal, he waited until almost the last minute before finishing the seal and flickering out of the hold. One singe was enough, he didn't need a burn, thanks. And appeared at a kunai near to Itachi's position, but sealed again, moving to another, while releasing a final tagged kunai at Itachi. If he could hit and transport litearlly onto him, it would remove the necessity of waiting for an opening.
Itachi swore to himself and spun, sharingan whirling rapidly as they tracked Arashi's chakra through the trees. Unfortunately, the blonde's damnable jutsu made it difficult even for the sharingan to follow him. Not to mention that he wasn't able to entirely avoid the kunai, which lanced into his side.
There! The opening he was waiting for. Hindsight later on that evening would tell him the move had been entirely foolhardy, but right now, it seemed like a great idea. Narrowing eyes, Arashi went through the seals and in a moment found himself staring straight into mangekyo sharingan eyes. His own eyes widened as he managed an, "Oops."
Itachi's lips curled into a malicious smile. "Tsukuyomi." The world rushed away to come crashing back in a torrent of red and black, blanched out colours replaced by the bloodstained landscape. Itachi stood across from his victim, simply watching him. With a twitch of a finger, the Hokage found himself bound onto a metal cross, wires holding him in place. Itachi reached into his robes and pulled out a katana. Stepping closer, he paused. "I'm sure you are probably aware of the mechanics of this technique, but shall I explain them to you anyway, Arashi-dono?"
He didn't bother chastising himself now, the moment was more important for finding a way out of this technique. And if Itachi was going to give him the details on the technique, mores the information for finding a way out of it. With an inclination of his head, he barely acknowledged being bound and instead replied, "Yes, why don't you." As though speaking to Itachi over a nice bowl of ramen. It was a genjutsu, only a genjutsu and there had to be a way to dispel, no matter the power of the user or the strength of the technique. He'd had a vague plan for this, but enacting that plan was proving harder than thinking of it.
The crimson-eyed man smirked to himself. So, Arashi wanted to know the ins and outs of Tsukuyomi? He knew perfectly well that the man's true intent was to try and find a weakness in the technique. But that wouldn't happen. It HAD no weakness. As long as Itachi's eyes remained intact and operable, the genjutsu would not break. But...he supposed he could humor the man. "This is my world, the world of the Tsukuyomi. In this world, I control time and space. And here you are going to stay, for a period of 72 hours. And endure." With that, he plunged the sword into Arashi's stomach, before pulling it back out again.
He took in that information but it left little to work with, "72 hours, eh? How-" and was cut off by the business end of Itachi's katana. He gasped at the sudden pain of it, having forgotten how much a genjutsu could hurt. The coppery slickness of blood in his mouth was all too real and he tried to use the pain as a focus, a lapse in the genjutsu to command his fingers to move in the world outside of the genjutsu. The going was slow, but he managed a bit. Inside, he narrowed eyes on Itachi, "You think this is torture? Three days is a drop in the well compared to sixteen years in death god stomach." Upper lip curled away from teeth, the yondaime looked a bit feral in that state.
Itachi only grinned and continued, more copies of himself appearing with their own swords until there were so many blades embedded in Arashi's stomach that his shirt was matted with blood. An interminable amount of time had gone by when Itachi stepped back. "Arashi-san, would you like to know how long you have been under the thrall of my Tsukuyomi?"
Each sword was another spine wrenching lance of pain, but another opportunity that led to flexing and moving of muscle in the outside world. That was what he tried to concentrate on. No matter the pain, he had to succeed. He wouldn't fail his son again. When Itachi spoke, Arashi almost didn't hear it, but refocused his attention on the other man through his haze of blood and pain. "We're still in Tsukuyomi? I thought this was Ichiraku's," and gave a dry, almost coughing laugh.
"Hmph, how amusing. Although you don't seem to care much, you
have been in the Tsukuyomi for exactly 3 seconds, Arashi-san. However..." He gestured and another cross rose up from the sea of blood. "I suppose that it will take this to dispose of that cocky attitude of yours." With another gesture, a figure appeared on the cross. Smaller, blonde hair blood-matted, orange and black clothes stained with the same crimson colour. Itachi turned back to Arashi as another one of his clones stabbed it's katana into Naruto. "let's see how you deal with this, old man."
His heavy lidded sneer at Itachi disappeared as the smaller form of Naruto on a twin cross appeared. It's an illusion! He yelled mentally, Don't be fooled! For all the good his mental reminders did. Arashi was already thrashing on the cross. Was this an illusion of what Naruto went through or just a torment. Either way, it hurt more to see that than all of the swords combined. "You maniacal little weasel!" What was left of his rational mind was calling for him to stop, feeling the control on his muscles outside the genjutsu weakening, setting his momentum back. But the focus now was more immediate, more primal.
Itachi raised an eyebrow with a smile that would have sent chills down most spines. "Oh dear, throwing insults around, are we? I'm so sorry that your son has to suffer for it." He turned slightly to regard Naruto on the cross as two of his clones dug their swords into the boy's gut and began to twist, the air filling with cries of pain from the young shinobi.
"NO!" He ordered, straining against the wires binding him to the cross. Then forced himself to still and look away from the illusion of Naruto being harmed to focus on Itachi. "How a person could get this way...What do you want? Do you want suffering? We both know he's not here, and torturing an illusion is no fun." Unable to control the curve of his upper lip falling into a sneer. "Or are you resorting to cheap tricks because you genuinely can't think of anything else to use against me?" He had to keep Itachi's attention focused on himself.
It didn't work, however. Itachi simply glanced back at him and summoned a third clone that went to work on Naruto. "A good tactic, Arashi, but a pointless one. You are not the one in control here. I am." As if to punctuate that, he doubled the number of clones around the boy, whose cries had shifted into desperate pleas for help from his parent.
He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to block every sound but the rushing of blood in his ears. Though the illusion Naruto's cries stuck with him and finally he opened his eyes, "Please stop, Itachi-san. ." Likely the other man would not, but Arashi could do nothing but continue to try. He understood that this was to be the torture and needed to refocuse and regain what he had lost. The only real way to save Naruto was to get out of here and gouge out those eyes. Though that was his main goal, he was planning more. Sheer pain for the young man.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Arashi-san. Afterall, you've only been here for 4 minutes and 6 seconds. Another 71 hours, 55 minutes and 54 seconds still to go." As if to punctuate that statement, he lazily pulled out a fistful of the tasselled kunai, holding them up so that Arashi could see the stained blades. "Do you know what this is? It's your son's blood. Shall I show you what I used them for, Arashi-san?" Without waiting for his victim's answer, he flung them at Naruto, the razor-sharp blades embedding themselves to the hilt in each shoulder and splitting each kneecap before impacting with the metal of the cross.
A sick feeling welled up in him at ignoring Naruto's pain and pleas, but he knew, knew that this was the only way. So, continuing to focus on the outside world, he spoke to Itachi. "What was it? Your father only praising you when you fought well? When you progressed with violence? That's all you learned the value of. I pity you for that. For all that you might have been and done wasted in a pursuit that will see you dead before you ever succeed."
"You know nothing of my father. Though I will tell you that he was certainly a far better father then you ever were to your own son. Contrary to what you think, he praised me endlessly for any acheivement that brought honor to the Uchiha family. So much so that he utterly ignored his other son. You think I was raised with violence? You're quite wrong. I simply abandoned that useless clan when it became clear that advancement was no longer possible within it's confines." He sent another kunai flying, this one embedding itself into the center of Naruto's throat, eliciting a sickening gurgle from the boy, who looked at Arashi with eyes full of bewilderment as to why his father didn't rescue him from this fate.
That dry laugh returned, "You went too far, Itachi. That's not my son. Just an illusion. Kyuubi would have merged with him by now to preserve Naruto's life. And you would be running." It helped, regaining a bit of control over the situation, or at least, a feel of control. There! He flexed his fingers outside the genjutsu and started to move slowly again.
"You think I'd run from your brat, even if he was channeling the Kyuubi? I've faced him before, Arashi. He is lacking." Several of the clones stabbed their swords into Arashi's chest and stomach, twisting the blades.
The pain was the last push he needed. A very strange smile curled one corner of his lips, "Hubris." Then activated the flashbang in the real world, shoving it in Itachi's face. It had to work, this was his first, last and only idea.
And work it did. The force of the explosion ripped into the Uchiha's eyes, burning corneas and searing it's light into his retinas. With his scream of pain, the Tsukuyomi shattered and broke as he flew backwards, eyes charred and scorched to blindness, blood running down his cheeks from his ruined optics. He shook his head, trying to focus through the pain to sense for Arashi's chakra.
It took him a moment to regain control of his faculties, to breathe and not taste the coppery tartness of his own blood. He got over it quickly with his target in sight. "I'm not just going to kill you. I'm going to make you want death." Though his chakra wasn't tapped out, he wanted the satisfaction of bones crunching under fists and thus was his first attack physical. A head on rush at the other man, though not without the scattering the last of his tags around the area. Hands moved to grasp Itachi's shoulders, hoping to give him a dirty knee shot in the manly bits.
Itachi tried to avoid, but the pain from his ruined eyes was too distracting. And while operating in a world of blackness was something that any shinobi could do, being faced with a situation where you were suddenly at a disadvantage wasn't easily overcome when you were blinded with pain.
Knee connected with groin in a satisfying feeling of bone against squishy bits. That was for telling his boy about Orochimaru. He continued on, not pulling back but twisting to try and catch Itachi on the side of the face with an elbow. He knew the man wasn't done, any minute Itachi would recover and the Yondaime knew it would be a battle again, just one lacking the sharingan.
Well, it wasn't as though he hadn't expected it to hurt. But that didn't mean it hurt less. Itachi doubled over, right into Arashi's elbow.
"Still think it was worth it?" Arashi asked, tone low and deceptively calm. It wasn't enough, he wanted to hear the other man cry out. Dropping back, he followed up the elbow with a kick to the ribs. Put Itachi on his back and break some fingers. Perhaps a few joints. Those were the worst. His mind was on immediate gratification.
Itachi grunted, but didn't give Arashi the satisfaction. He tasted the coppery tang of blood and spat, hoping to hit the blonde with it. "It was always worth it to see your pathetic little brat cry like a baby when I showed him what I'd done to his little boyfriend."
"Is that all you can say? That the last of your insults?" Arashi asked, moving forward to step on Itachi's hand, pressing his weight down slowly and wanting to feel the bones snap. It left him open, of course, but he wasn't thinking critically.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, Itachi took his chance. His other hand snapped up to wrap around Arashi's ankle while he pivoted his body around. One foot shot up, heel aimed at catching the Yondaime directly in the chin with crushing force. Hopefully, he'd break the man's neck.
When the hand gripped his ankle, he already started to fall back, so the kick glanced over his already closed jaw, shattering a cheekbone instead of causing any permanant harm anywhere else. Twisting, Arashi riposted a kick with his free leg, aiming the blow at the femur of Itachi's planted leg.
It only took a split second before Kisame began to move. His wide-brimmed hat fell behind him, arms back unsheathing Samehada as his black and red robes flapped in the wind, as he drew closer to his target. He had seen the slowed Yondaime's counterkick, and decided now was a good a time as any to step in and finish the bout. A strong arm shot out from his cloak, and grabbed the yellow haired hokage's ankle, and in a fluid motion, turned and slammed him directly into the ground, before hammertossing him into the woods. "Itachi-san."
The Sharingan-user blinked, still adjusting to his newly-dark world, and glanced up where he knew his partner stood. "Kisame. As usual, your timing is impeccable." He stood up and threaded seals quickly before slamming a palm onto his own forehead. Blue characters spread across his skin for a moment before pulling in to form a seal. It wouldn't heal the damage, but it would at least block the pain. And once that was gone, he could focus again. He'd be at a disadvantage, certainly, but now that Kisame was here, that would be balanced.
The blow to the ground dislocated his shoulder, being tossed into the woods was almost a blessing. In the air he handsealed and reappeared at one of his tagged kunai, giving him a moment to place a palm against his own shoulder and press upwards and back, replacing it in the socket with a rather stomach turning sound. Rising from his crouch, his hands flowed through the seals and once more he appeared in the clearing at a tagged kunai. "Brought backup did you? I expected as much."
"Ah. Yondaime-sama. I've heard and seen all I need to about you. I hope to enjoy this." Reaching over his shoulder to reach his sword, Kisame couldn't help but smile. He hadn't had the opportunity to fight someone of nearly his equal in far, far too long, and he would savour the taste of this one for a long time, to be sure. With a quick step, Kisame bounded towards his opponent, Samehada pulled back to his side, before releasing his tensed muscles like a ballista, the sword swinging at Arashi with blinding speed.
Kisame was fast, his rush of speed catching the Yondaime before he could seal himself out of the area and to another tagged kunai. He barely had time to move away from the blade's strike, but gasped at the surpriseing drain on his chakra. He didn't have time to block or even to react after that. The entire fight was starting to take its toll.
"Damn, does a bitch have to step in?" The voice came from the tree above the Yondaime, where the Sound ninja Tayuya crouched, surpressing her chakra to the point where she almost seemed nonexistant. This curse seal was good for something, it seemed. She'd been watching throught most of the fight, have spent an hour earlier deciding whether or not she would show. But in the end, the idea of both seeing the Yondaime's ass kicked and being able to kick ass herself, well... it was too much to pass up. "Boys just can't play nice can they?" She was using a mocking tone, one that was used to her. She didn't make any moves, surveying the bloody Hokage, the goldifsh man, and the esentially eyeless Uchiha. "Damn sad, really." But she was prepared, muscles terse and ready to move, equipment itching to be used. But she wanted to have a tad bit of fun first.
Taking full advantage of the situation, Itachi darted towards his prior victim, lashing out at Arashi with a spinning kick towards the man's center of gravity. Of course, he couldn't see where the kick was aimed, all he could sense was the chakra. He knew the blonde was there, he just hoped he hit something vital.
Tayuya's unexpected (and vulgar) arrival took his attention but he was not ignoring Itachi and the other man's attack was not unnoticed. He turned slightly, taking the force of Itachi's kick to his abdomen. Breath exhaled in a grunt at the force, but the pain of bruised and broken ribs was second to the opportunity. Hands wrapped around the ankle, catching it and twisthing while squeezing, attempting to shatter the joint.
"I'm your opponent now, Arashi-sama. It would be wise not to ignore me!" Kisame struck the blonde man's chest with the hilt of his sword with tremendous force, causing the Hokage the release his fellow Akatsuki's ankle. Kisame took one step back, and lifted his sword high over his head, ready to bring down Samehada for the killing blow on the stunned Yondaime.
Tayuya frowned, watching this. She enjoyed watching the Yondaime hurt, this was true, but she wanted the Akatsuki to hurt as well. Dilemma, dilemma. Making the call, she suddenly hurtled from her perch in the tree with a burst of chakra, slamming feet first into the blue man's sword arm at a slight angle to force the sword down and aside. She quickly vaulted back up into a tree top, not wanting to leave herself open to be grabbed, bringing out her flute as she did so. This might be the time to test that new melody.
Itachi stifled a smirk as he felt Kisame's chakra move, coupled by the sound of the impact and the release of the hand on his ankle. Sensing the Otonin's retreat back into the trees, he concentrated on her chakra, vanishing to reappear beside her. "You're the illusionist, I presume? I'd suggest you go home, little girl. This isn't your fight."
The air was knocked from him again, Arashi released Itachi's ankle and fell back, gasping to refill his lungs with air. He had known this could be the outcome, and death wasn't permanant here, so he did not flinch from Kisame's sword. He was, however, surprised at Tayuya's intervention. So focused he had been on Itachi that he hadn't felt her chakra. Without a second thought, Arashi moved, reganing his footing and forming a seal, reappearing at another tagged kunai to reassess the situation with Kisame.
Tayuya was only slightly shocked at Itachi's appearence, both that fact that he had appeared and how he looked with his eyes sizzled. Not pleasant. But Orochimaru-sama had told her of this man, and she expected much from him. Not that she came here to fight him. She was here for the goldfish. "It is now, faggot." She spat, throwing a handful of shuriken as a mere distraction while she dropped from the tree tops near Kisame, ignoring the Yondaime. "Now, goldfish, you need your pretty boy to fight me or can't handle me yourself?"
Seeing that the Yondaime was playing the part of the coward, Kisame thought it nothing to divert his attention to the bitch that had been pestering him since he had arrived in the City. "Ah, the snake's whore. Found time on your list for ME?" With that, Kisame threw several hand seals in quick succession, before a second vision of himself rose from the ground. "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu. And it's far more than enough to take care of the Yondaime. I want to be here to see your blood spill, Oto-nin."
Itachi glanced around him with his useless eyes, assessing the chakra concentrations and their locations. This was growing tiresome. Closing his eyes and threading a series of seals, he concentrated. "Kokuangyo no Jutsu". As the genjutsu rolled over the clearing, darkness descended, plunging everyone else into nearly the same level of blackness that he was currently experiencing. He smiled. That should even the odds.
First Kisame cloned himself and then the entire area went black. Another genjutsu? Likely, but at this moment, dispelling it was less important than simply staying alive. Instead of concentrating on his sight, the Yondaime concentrated on the chakra he felt around him. Kisame was fresh, but he was not.
Tayuya knew an illusion when she saw one. An illusionist herself, she'd hope not to have to pit hers against his, but it seemed she'd have to, if he kept interferring like this. All she wanted was a piece of the blue man, nothing with the Sharingan user. But she took the shroud of darkness as an oppurunity to create a clone herself, and handed off her flute, the solid metal instrument given to her by Cobray, sending the chakra clone up into the trees, taking a place and beginning to let a melody begin seeping out over the area. It was something Orochimaru-sama had helped her develop. One that brought out fear. It had only failed against one person, and that had been Aizen Sousuke, who by her estimations, was much more powerful than any here. With her clone secured in place, she let the new curse seal on her neck, which by all appearences looked the same, begin to surge as she dispelled the inky blackness around her and the black lines rapidly raced across her skin.
With another push of chakra, Itachi pushed back, sending the darkness creeping back around her. He knew he was the stronger genjutsuist, but he was chakra-drained and at a disadvantage. As the melody reached his ears, burned eyes widened slightly as thoughts raced through his head, the most pressing of which was what would happen to him if the girl he had met earlier was unable to heal his eyes. he swallowed hard for a moment, closing his eyes. He knew it was genjutsu, and genjutsu was his field. After a moment, he opened charred irises and dispelled it with little effort. A formidable genjutsu, certainly. Against a lesser opponent.
Kisame breathed deep as the darkness covered the forest, and heard Tayuya's tune begin the play. He didn't know what the effect was supposed to be, but he'd be damned if he took a chance to find out. With shaky hands, Kisame formed seals of his own, ready to add his own level of complication to the field. "Suiton: Bakusui Shoha! And, Itachi-san, help on the jutsu would be appreciated."
Itachi would have rolled his eyes. If he'd still had use of them, that is. As it were, he turned slightly in the direction of Kisame's voice and concentrated his chakra. "Dispell". He directed the focused chakra towards his partner, in an attempt to dispell the girl's genjutsu.
"Goddamn." Tayuya heaved a sigh, glancing up briefly towards the Sharingan used and flipping her middle finger in his direction. "Bitch can't fight a goldfish without the faggot interfering."But the curse seal was taking over and even as she
gestured with her finger the skin was darkening, hair growing, horns sprouting. This new curse seal was more powerfuil than anything she'd ever experienced, and the mere rush of it taking over her body was enough to make her shiver. Her lips twisted into a feral grin and she rushed the sword user, arcing around and trying to maneuver in close enough to get within range too close for the sword to be brought into play. This form, her level two, was even more twisted and less human than it had been before, with her nails having lengthened and sharpened into caricature's of claws, and the horns on her skull had also found places on her shoulders and neck. Her goldin irises were dilated, blood pumping in a power rush unlike anything she'd ever experienced.
Above in the sky, a small shadow began to reflect upon the ground in the gaze of the moonlight. Nothing out of the ordinary, really.. a cloud, something hanging overhead, and at night, something normally overlooked. All at once, a bird fluttered to the ground near the fray--picking at the ground lightly, and looking around. It hopped a little, moving toward the legs of the Yondaime, twittering and making a small racket. While behind the young Oto ninja, a spider, upon tiny silent feet, began to approach. As it moved closer, it began to crawl softly up the girls' sandals, finding the fabric of her pants, and continuing to bring it's diminuitive form upward bound, until it rested upon the flat of her back. Upon high, a pair of eyes watched, gliding unobtrusively above all.
"Tch." One of the Kisame's ran off into the woods, presumably after the Yondaime, while the other firmly stood his ground, hunkering down for the charging Oto-nin. "I've shrugged off attacks from Feudal Lord bodyguards. You're nothing to me, Tayuya-san." With that, Kisame swung the mighty Samehada with all he had at the approaching ogre-ish girl.
The bird was suspicious. Kisame's water clone moving in his direction was suspicious. And the Yondaime was fatigued both mentally and physically. He wanted nothing more than to snap the Uchiha's pale neck and leave but it seemed that would have to wait, if ever it happened now. Eyes narrowed as he put his hands together, gathering chakra there, waiting for the clone as he started the technique.
Though he could see neither bird nor spider, Itachi felt the slightest flare of chakra from the fringes of the battle and smiled. Refusing to let on that anything was different, he instead folded his hands into a series of seals and blew a veritable inferno in the general direction of everything other then Kisame, spinning around to create a halo of flame that spread outwards. Even without his sharingan, Uchiha Itachi was still an ex-ANBU. And thus, he certainly wasn't finished yet.
The sword swing was alarmingly quick for its size and Tayuya immediately dropped to her stomach, scrambling in an almost unnatural manner to avoid to sword, even as she felt the tips of flame licking at her skin. But the curse seal heavily dulled her pain senses and even as she was aware of the burning and the heat, she felt no pain, though she knew in the back of her head that she would once the seal released its hold on her. Reaching out, one shoulder of her uniform still smoldering, she latched onto the shark man's ankle, sinking talons in and ripping. She didn't know what was wrong with her. This... this wasn't her. But it was, and it was powerful and that was all that mattered. The black pupil dilated and expanded sporadically, as if something was fighting for control, but it didn't matter now. She reached for a kunai with one hand, sticking close to the Akatsuki's body so that the sword would be hard to maneuver.
As the ogrish girl attacked, trying to rend the shark Akatsuki's flesh asunder, something skittered around, nestling itself between her breasts, and pulling it's legs up against itself, readying. Almost as if on cue, the small bird fluttered up, landing lightly upon the shoulder of the Yondaime, twittering. A grin slid serpentinely across the lips of the one in the skies, as he focused with the lens upon one of his eyes at the scene. Sliding his hands together in a seal, he mouthed just one word--a breath upon the wind, "katsu". In a flash of light and sound, the spider and bird exploded in tandem against their targets, with a display of violent force.
Kisame was thrown backwards by the force of the explosion... and promptly knew who he had to thank for that. Not that he ever would, mind you. "Deidara-san... damn you." Kisame walked over the girl who had just been nearly blown to shreds, and executed several hand seals in quick succession. "Suiton: Suikodan no Jutsu!" Kisame grew a toothy grin as a rather intimidating burst of water in the form of a shark shot from his hands, slamming into Tayuya. On the other side of the forest, Kisame's mizu bunshin finally reached Yondaime, and wasted no time with a jutsu of his own... the Suiro no Jutsu, or water prison.
It took her about half a second to register the heat between her breasts after the shock of the disintegrating clone, but by then it was too late. The blast caught her full in front, ripping with vague hints of pain that were quickly blocked by the curse seal, that contained the knowledge of the immense damage for later, when she released the seal's hold. She was thrown back several feet with a muffled slamming into a tree with enough force to embed the small horns on her shoulders inches into the bark. With a snarl Tayuya ripped herself free of the tree, staggering once. She saw the blood, felt the blood, but didn't feel the burns covering the right side of her face and melted hair, sizzling, mottled and ripped flesh on her breasts and neck. What she felt was the seal, urging her on, to kill, to be powerful. That was when Kisame's jutsu hit. The water hissed and steamed when it came into contact with the still broiling flesh but the shark bowled her over, slamming her up once again against the sametree, blood dribbling from her mouth. But she still had a few more cards to play, her conscious mind slowly wresting control back from the seal. She huddled in on herself for a moment before her back arched and her eyes opened abruptly, a sharp, large burst of chakra that forced the water back and she took the oppurtunity to hurtle through the dissipating water, kunai flashing before her and a small glowing ball held between two fingers. This thing that girl had given her way back when must be good for something.
First there was the concussion inducing explosion of the suspcious bird and then he was narrowly avoiding a water prison, hands sliding into the familliar seals as he reappeared at one of the many tagged kunai tossed about the area. Though he did not stay still, as soon as he appeared he riposted, launching forward while gathering charkra between his hands, thrusting out one hand containing a swirling, eldritch ball and yelling, "Rasangen!" in an attempt to catch the shark with it. His balance was off, inner ear damage, he noted, but kept going, adjusting for the injuries.
Itachi's ears were ringing slightly as he crouched, having dodged behind a tree at precisely the right moment when he'd known that the waiting Deidara was going to strike. Shaking his head slightly to clear the tones from his auditory sense, he used a simple tactic instead. Pushing off of the ground, he sent himself rocketing towards the Yondaime, using the blonde's own voice as a tracking beacon. He slammed into Arashi, shoulder digging into the man's gut with an upward motion designed to send the Konoha-nin flying backwards.
A large bird circled around, like a vulture above, finally coming into view. Tiny spiders began to rain down, on small whisps of web, spreading their legs out, waiting to hit the ground. As the spiders settled, they began to crawl--avoiding once again the shark and the weasel, and homing straight for the demon girl, and the former Hokage. A snicker escaped a throat--a birdrider, a young boy, who lorded over the air of the battleground, keeping his form from view, and yet, waiting for the precise moment to allow himself to be seen fully. The genius of this art.
Kisame couldn't help but roar with laughter as he watched his partner knock Arashi off center with a flying headbutt. "Itachi-san! Remind me to treat you to dango when we return!" Grin wide as ever, Kisame resumed his water prison, effortlessly capturing the Yondaime this time. The real, Kisame, however, had a new and interesting problem to deal with. Samehada unsheathed, Kisame lowered himself into a stance ready to make a counter attack at a moments notice. "Ah, did Orochimaru-san teach you a new technique, Tayuya-kun?"
Tayuya smirked, teeth showing red with her own blood, the only thing keeping her going now was the curse seal, eating away at her even as it gave her such power. "This one's not his." She grit out, landing abruptly directly in front of the Samehada, and slapping the glowing orb against the sword. In a total contradiction to her earlier movements, she then turned on her heal and sprinted back towards the trees, bounding for cover and retrieving her flute from her clone, which hadn't moved since the genjutsu had been dispelled. Fingers moving into a seal, she activated it how Yuffie had told her to. This.... gravity materia thing. But from what she heard, it packed one hell of a pressured punch.
He could have laughed at Itachi's move, a straight out tackle, but the shoulder to his gut rather prevented that, knocking the wind from him. He landed with a wince, dislocating the shoulder he had, only minutes before relocated to the proper socket and before he could even get his bearings, water surrounded him. The situation had deteriorated. He simply had no chakra left, was fatigued beyond measure and felt his grip on mental stability shifting even further. Last resort. The kunai was small and on the hilt was a purely decorative pommel. Thrusting the business end into the palm of his hand, he drew his own blood. The crimson liquid leaked not only into the water, but flowed upwards. A red seal, a compass rose with a dagger through it, glowed on that pommel and Arashi relaxed. He trusted to his allies and there was little he could do, at this point, to defend himself.
Already in fit of pique, wishing not to be trifled with, Lucifer felt the irksome summons and leapt from the Cathedral rooftop, alone this evening for the emotional state of Rosiel.
Kisame couldn't let his guard down... especially not with Tayuya retreating. The girl just didn't do that. But the true realization of what happened. He could feel his knees begin to buckle, his feet crushing into the earth as Samehada hit the ground with a bang. Kisame looked up quickly, his grin a grimace, as a crater erupted beneath, Kisame's body hunched over and breaking as he struggled to stay on his feet.
The young blonde looked down upon the field, keeping his perch aloft. The spiders ran up to the feet of the two nemesises of Akatsuki, crawling and attaching to their sandals. All at once, the word again was breathed, and the spiders exploded once more against the bodies of their victims. As soon as the dust cleared, another round of small, eight-legged creatures came along, skittering along the paths of their predecessors.
Tayuya tried to avoid the spiders but they jumped along with her, clinging to her sandals even as she cursed the flute coming away from her lips and she shielded her face and chest from further harm. The explosions were smaller this time, smaller creatures, but the blood between her toes... what was remaining of her toes, told her it was bad. But dhe didn't look. The pain didn't register, and she wouldn't be distracted, not now. Crouching in another tree top, focusing her weight on her knees instead of her wounded feet, she began to play a tune that would simply induce madness, hoping that Kisame, weakened by the weight, would be affected. It looked like the Yondaime was doing something, and goddamn he better be. She was risking her ass here, and if she died again she'd make him pay.
Itachi pulled out a kunai, swiftly rolling to avoid the explosions that rolled across the ground with sonic vibrations. He had no idea where his fellow Akatsuki was, but the chakra signature came from somewhere above. Which meant that the blonde was probably perched on that clay bird of his. Getting to his feet, he barked at Kisame. "Dispell the water, Kisame! He's using it to summon allies." Spinning towards where he could feel Kisame's chakra in the water, he flung the kunai with deadly precision, aiming for the center of Arashi's chest.
The explosions were incredibly painful, burns blossomed across the soles of his feet and he was sure a few bones were splintered. As the water dispelled, he managed to twist and take the kunai on the opposite side, managing only to puncture a lung. The chest wound made a sucking sound as he breathed and blood foamed along the opening. His head fell back and he stilled, looking up into the night.
It was snowing. . black snow . no, black feathers. Hundreds of them gently wafting down. Then straightened and darted down, points pricking at the spiders. Four wings spread, Lucifer alighted the clearing, expression dull, sheath in hand, he drew Shiranui, light flashing off the blade as he gave a swipe to them. "Truly God's creations."Arashi gasped in air and added, "Horned one . . isn't an enemy." Lucifer started forward, two on the ground, one he had seen in the air.
Deidara looked at the winged one curiously--he had never seen something like him before. He cringed slightly. Just the sheer look of him was unnerving. In the back of his mind, a thousand inspirations were forming, as he stared upon the new arrival. Itachi and Kisame were taking hits, and he knew that with that new person on their side, it couldn't get better. Also, it was a strange occurance for an Otogakure nin to be helping a Konoha nin. Maybe the clock's finally ran down, un. This seems like the end of the world, if they are working together., Deidara mused, with a small snicker. But, if it is the end of the world, what better way to end it but with fireworks? A wicked grin began to thread itself upon the former Iwa nin's lips, as he reached into his back, and pulled out something. A deformed 'bird' statue, with it's wings caught in strange positionings now sat in his hands, eyes wide and mouth agape. He smiled at it, and petted it almost lovingly. "It will be your time to shine, un. We will make this place beautiful. A fitting end to everything." He whispered this to the sculpture, before standing up upon the back of the homing bird he flew upon, yelling to all around in a loud voice. "I have enjoyed this farce, un. It has been quite amusing. I've seen many things that I have never thought I would witness. It shows me what desperation can do to someone, un. Or stupidity. But, nevertheless, for whatever the reason, it came together, a most intriguing display. A delightful show. But, now, this pageant ends, un. I, too have an act I'd like to perform. My friends, I hope you enjoy art. For I am going to give you my masterpiece!" He looked down toward his comrades, his smile since fading from wicked to purely psychotic."Kisame-san, Itachi-san...you have seen it. I suggest you go, " He turned back to the others. "But, for the rest of you..I give you the art that rocked Sunagakure...the masterpiece that almost brought the city to its knees! I give you....Number 18!" His voice turned back to a whisper, as he held the statuette out, "Now..my darling...fly!" With this, he dropped the strange construct down toward the ground. "It ends here, un." As the bird came close to the ground, the seal was once again made--but in a way almost reverent. Deidara's hands were clasped, and face so peaceful that one would believe he was praying..enlightened by a god no-one could see or would know. In a soft voice, like a broken hallelujah, Deidara whispered the final word of judgment. "Katsu."
Itachi's ruined eyes widened with a spine-wrenching stab of pain. This wasn't good. In his present condition, he had no idea which way constituted "away". And "away" was where he currently needed to go. Very quickly, in fact. He spun around, trying to match the chakra signatures he was sensing with the layout of the clearing in his mind. Unfortunately, there was no way to tell what had changed in the ensuing explosions of Deidara's art. Shit....
Kisame didnt need a second warning. He knew exactly what 18 was, and he ALSO knew that he didnt want to be anywhere around when it went off. Grabbing Itachi-san by the collar, the mizu bunshin dashed off, using its own Samehada to smash the ground near the real Kisame, allowing him to escape. Tayuya gulped, swallowing blood at the sight of the thing hurtling down. "Fuck." Was all she managed to get out. Pupils still changing size eerily, she cast about. Escape. Escape. Had to escape. Couldn't die here. Not again. Not again. Catching sight of whatever the fuck the Hokage had summoned, she bit her lip and forced herself to wounded feet and sprung towards it. The Yondaime had asked her for help, and she expected something in return.
"The more hideous and banal the human, the more it enjoys the sound of it's own voice," Lucifer noted, then glanced at the two attempting to flee. That was a sign, of course. Bending, he lifted the Yondaime, none too careful of the kunai sheathed in the former hokage's chest and draped him over one shoulder. As the bird drew closer, Lucifer knew this was going to end in singed feathers. Though as this alliance business was Alexiel's idea, she should be more inclined to groom his wings. Nude. Another filty, blood soaked mortal thing. This one more ugly than the rest. God really did rest on the seventh day. "Fine." Then gripped the back of her neck and alighted, heading off for the Cathedral.
As soon as the word was uttered, a blinding light erupted from where the bird hung in midair, stopped in its descent. It was quiet for a moment, as the explosion slammed through the thin, silken barrier of sound,flying alongside the shockwave that pulsed from the epicenter, slamming trees down in its wake. A blistering unbearable heat scorched everything for a half-mile radius in all directions, a deep circular rent being placed in the earth at the very point of detonation. Smoke blinded everything for a good few miles, pouring thickly from the source like a vaporous tar, sticking to and permeating every surface it came in contact with. The sound rocketed back, acutely deafening, and sharp like a whipcrack, that snapped the eardrums, and forced them to bleed. The once beautiful forest was now surreal, as this blast potchmarked the land with an undeniable scar; a blemish that would take a very long and arduous process to heal. High, high above, Deidara surveyed his handiwork, with a grin. "Geijutsu wa bakuhatsu da...un." He grinned as he spoke these words in a hushed, obsequious tone. "My masterpiece...complete." He sighed, as he turned about to fly back. "I..wish you could have seen it Sasori-danna. I..think you would have been proud, un... very proud."