A New Path

Ch. 29 Failed Plans

Shikamaru watched Red Death fight his teammates in the distance, Temari standing next to him with a frown on her face. The lazy Chunin was growing agitated, there was no sign of Naruto or Sasuke entering the fight. He guessed that they would have intervened by now but there was no sign of them.

"Where the hell are they?" Temari growled with worry on her eyes.

Shikamaru sighed. "Don't worry much about it-"

The two ninja suddenly jumped away from where they stood, dodging a set of kunai in the process. The two turned around to see a man with long black hair, a goatee on his face, wearing samurai-like armor.

"I don't get why you ninja's use tools like this," the mercenary began, twirling a kunai on his left hand, "They're easy to dodge and you can tell when their coming. You ninja aren't that stealthy, are you?"

Shikamaru studied the man, wondering why he was after them. Meanwhile Temari took out her fan and gripped it tightly on her hands. "Why are you here anyway?" the lazy Chunin asked with a frown on his face, "By the way you talk and dress yourself, I'd say you're a mercenary."

The man smirked. "Not bad kid. You're sharper than you look, but…" the mercenary reached for his back and pulled out a sword, pointing it at the two ninja, "But, it won't save you. I won't show mercy just because you're kids."

Shikamaru studied the man with a careful eye, he held the sword with two hands in front of his body. It looked like a pretty standard and relaxed stance but the Chunin knew better. The mercenary clearly knew what he was doing and wouldn't let himself open without a reason, unless he planned on tricking them.

"Temari…" he muttered with his gaze on the mercenary. The blonde Sand ninja turned to the shadow-user with a frown, "Don't attack him head on, he's expecting that."

Temari's frown deepened. "Then what am I supposed to do," she muttered back, "We can't just stand here or he'll find an opening."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed as he watched the mercenary shift his feet, he was about to attack. "It'll be a pain but I'll create an opening," he turned to the Sand ninja and gave her a firm nod, "Make sure to get him or else my work will go to waste, and that would suck."

The mercenary watched the two ninja talk amongst themselves with a smirk on his face, he found it amusing to watch since they thought that they could actually beat him. Traveling the world had made him strong and he would show it to them.

A sudden explosion rocked the area. The mercenary frowned while the two ninja turned to look at a large cloud of smoke in worry. His eyes narrowed, he didn't' have much time. If he was to do his job then he would need to kill the ninja when they were alone, taking more than two opponents, ninja nonetheless, would only make things difficult.

His eyes scanned the ninja and found them to be slightly distracted. An opening. Not waiting another second, he charged at the two ninja with his sword on his side. The black-haired ninja quickly faced him and threw a couple of shuriken. The man scoffed and swung his sword, sending the incoming projectiles away.

Shikamaru threw more shuriken at the man. He watched as the mercenary prepared to knock them away, making him smirk. Next to him Temari swung her fan and created a stream of wind that changed the speed of the shuriken.

"Dammit," the mercenary growled as he was forced to throw himself on the ground, effectively dodging the projectiles. He jumped back to his feet just in time to dodge a kunai, he glared at his opponents but heard the distinct sound of burning paper. With wide-eyes he looked down to see the kunai bearing an explosive tag on its handle, "Shit!"

The mercenary jumped away from the area but not fast enough to avoid the impact. The man was blown away before landing hard on the sand, kicking up a small cloud of sand. He quickly rose to his feet and swung the sword horizontally, earning a loud 'clang.' In front of him stood Temari with her fan interlocked with his sword, she had used the sand cloud as a diversion while she attacked head on, a wise move in the mercenary's opinion.