Spectral Illusions (Naruto fanfic)

Spectral Illusions Chapter 25

I am on a roll!

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Mayako looked to their surroundings and scowled. For metres upon metres, the village lay in ruins, in an almost perfectly-circular region where the battle against the colossal snake had been fought for the past hour or so. Even past the edgings of where the snake's reach ended, there was a path carved through the village where the snake had previously began its rampage uninterrupted.

Ayame landed beside her in a crouch, shoulders heaving. The poor girl was only a Genin yet had greater chakra control than most grown ninja she knew, and she was impressive to watch. She had some sort of unfamiliar ability with fire, one that Mayako actually envied, but Ayame wielded it with such grace that Mayako was sure she didn't have the fine control needed for it.

"You okay?" Mayako asked, leaning down to pat her shoulder.

Ayame nodded, breath coming out in short pants. "I'm okay," she nodded quickly, rubbing at the sweat forming at her brow as she looked up at the snake in front of her. "Nothing takes this monster down!"

Mayako hesitated, looking between Ayame and the snake. Ayame's flames reminded her of her own, thought it seemed unlikely she'd be able to do any real damage in time. Sure, hers were eternal and they burned like the sun, but to take down a creature that huge, she'd need forever and a day to cause enough damage to kill it.

"We'll come up with something," she reassured, squeezing her shoulder. "Just keep going."

"Damn it," Ayame's nails dug into her knees as her head dropped to glare at the ground. "I feel useless! Everything I do does nothing!"

"You're slowing it down." Mayako corrected. "You're giving innocent people a chance to flee. If we weren't here- if you weren't here, confusing this thing, a lot more people would have died by now. You're doing great, Ayame."

The Genin looked up at her in awe. "How the hell did you do that?" she asked, stunned.

"What?"

"Make me feel so much better in just a few words?"

Mayako snorted, "Well, that's the first time it's happened." then, she looked back to the great snake before them, who was currently hissing and trying to catch a pair of Leaf ninja between its powerful jaws. "Now, do you feel alright to carry on?"

She nodded. "I can carry on."

Giving her a nod of approval, Mayako pushed up to her feet and Ayame quickly followed. They'd been fighting for the longest time, ninja of all different villages, even one or two Sand renegades, fighting against this beast. The Chuunin Exams had been a clever time for attack -- when a village's guards were down in place of hospitality -- but it was also the worst time to attack; your enemies are on your doorstep but your allies are already guarding the door.

How on earth this creature was going to be brought down, however, she wasn't sure. It was all well and good thinking about the sentimental side to the united villages, but how would they use the range of skills and abilities so different to one another to their advantage? It was hard to even comprehend what kind of abilities most of those people used. She barely knew most of what the average Leaf ninja could use with how varied their skill sets are.

She could barely bring anything to the table. She had hidden Sharingan, a few water jutsus and a handful of Genjutsu tricks. She felt inferior to the twelve year-old girl beside her who had just dashed off to launch another attack.

"Dammit, think, Mayako!" she growled, pulling at her hair. "What would Kakashi do?"

What would he do? Anything smart, probably. He always knew what he was doing in these sorts of situations, even if he was just pretending to be calm and collected. He'd probably... What on earth would he do? How could she apply his calmness to this situation?