Lightning flew from Ryu's hands, slamming into the large man hovering above Yuumai. Hoping that Ino was fine behind him, he jogged up to Yuumai. He quickly helped the girl raise to her feet. Yuumai took the hand he offered. "Are you okay?" he asked.
Yuumai glared slightly but nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Ryu rolled his eyes. "What? Not happy I had to save your life again?" he asked as he turned toward the enemy once more. There were a nice number of bandits. Of course, there would have to be to hold an entire village at bay. "Stay behind me, okay?"
The statement was only one to protect the girl, but Ryu could feel the death glares drilling into the back of his head. Of course, they were not the only eyes he felt on him. Ryu refused to look at Daichi, though he was fully aware the gaze he felt belonged to that man. He had to stay focused on the bandits who were interested in the sudden reappearance of their person of interest.
"Ryu." The lazy voice nearly made Ryu jump, but it also flooded him with relief. After a day of worrying about his team-mates' lives, hearing Shikamaru's, even in the grave tone he used, it lifted the weight that had been on his shoulders. "By any chance, did you have a plan before you rushed in?"
"Depends. Does running in to kick some butt count as a plan?"
A sigh answered him. "You're as bad as the other two," he grumbled. "How troublesome."
Before Ryu had the chance say anything, a body slammed down in front of him. He jerked, preparing for a fight, but the bandit seemed too dazed to get back up. After a quick glance from the direction he'd come from, Ryu saw that Chouji had sent the man flying with an enlarged hand. The path now clear of enemies, Chouji jogged over to his team-mates.
"Looks like we're all back together." Ino appeared beside Shikamaru, already a bit worn due to the run over then instant battle. "Except for Asuma-sensei," she murmured.
The genin all turned toward the most powerful duo in the area. Daichi was examining all of them, his hungry eyes falling upon Ryu at last. Senshi wore a victorious smirk. Asuma was expressionless, though he did seem focused on his team. But the children could all tell one thing - he was lost to them. There was something so lifeless about him, stolen away by the genjutsu placed upon him by Daichi.
Because they were so focused on their sensei, it was instead the Forest Villager who spoke. "If we don't have a plan or anything, we need to just grab Aiko and run for help."
"We would never make it," Shikamaru sighed. "Ryu and Ino were lucky getting away last time."
The chuckle from Ryu shocked all the others except Ino, who already knew what was on his mind. "When you asked if we had a plan, I didn't actually say we didn't." The lazy glower he received caused Ryu to laugh nervously. "You guys are going to have to trust me on what I'm about to tell you."
"We've got your back, Ryu," Chouji said, flashing a grin. It was forced, though, the stress fighting the action.
"Either your plan works or we're even worse than when we started," the Nara pointed out. "This is such a drag."
Yuumai was the only one who hadn't spoken. Ryu raised an eyebrow, though he refused to fully take his eyes off Daichi. Thankfully he seemed to find their "hopeless" situation amusing. The bandits were also waiting for his orders. He only needed the shock to wait for about another minute and they'd be good. "Whatever." Yuumai's voice cut through Ryu's thoughts. "Just make sure you save my sister or I'll kill you."
With the consent of everyone, Ryu quickly relayed the plan.
He will still explaining the finishing touches when a voice began to overlap his. "You know, I've been waiting to see if you would do anything, but it seems like you're finally realizing you are powerless," Daichi called. "So if you don't want to make the first move, I can."
The threat carried clearly in his voice. The children tensed, preparing to fight, but it proved to be in vain moments later. Their opponents were about jounin level or higher.
"Capture them!" Daichi's command rang out as Asuma and Senshi lunged. One bandit from each side moved as well, compensating for their lacking numbers. The two on the edge - Chouji and Ino - were grabbed by the random bandits. Both struggled, but they had been taken by surprise. They also froze once they saw the one who grabbed Shikamaru. Asuma socked him in the face, and that was all it took to get him on the ground to be pinned. Senshi was quick to wrap his hand around Yuumai's throat and keep her subdued.
Ryu was the only one left standing as his friends were kept at bay. Daichi smirked as he gradually walked toward them. He bore an air of confidence and triumph. For a moment his attention shifted to Senshi, but after a simple nod, it returned to the prior focus.
"It appears we're back nearly where we started," Daichi mused, stopping a few yards away from Ryu. "It would have been much simpler if you'd only listened to your sensei before."
When Daichi attempted to meet Ryu's eyes, he quickly averted his own to the man's chest. Ryu still had a full view of him, but now there was little risk of their eyes meeting. "You aren't going to get control of me, Daichi. I fought off Shiro's attempt to get into my mind. I'll do the same to you."
All the confidence Ryu could muster was put into that sentence. However, both knew just how wrong he was. The Yamanaka mind jutsu was miles apart from how the Shigamo's jutsu worked. One was a special type of ninjutsu while the other was full-blown genjutsu.
Daichi laughed. "You can try to fight it all you want, Ryu." As he spoke, Daichi began walking forward again, knowing full well that Ryu had nowhere to escape. "What you used to combat Shiro's mind jutsu is the very thing my genjutsu shall take advantage of - your love for others."
The distance between them closed quickly. When Ryu still kept his gaze locked on Daichi's chest, he continued, enjoying his opportunity to explain just how simple his success was to the boy who had not only escaped him, but once stopped his previous mission. "The moment my genjutsu is cast upon you, no matter how aware you are of it, you will succumb in an instant because of this love of yours. Your devotion to your love makes you strong at times, but it is also what makes you weak, for you shall also be controlled by it. Rather than follow sense as you should, you follow that emotion of yours. That very emotion is what caused your capture the first time."
Ryu winced as Daichi took a fist full of his hair. The boy squeezed his eyes shut. If he couldn't look at a spot other than Daichi's eyes, he wouldn't look at all. However, as Daichi spoke once more, he could swear there was something about his voice that seemed strange.
"I will make you look into my eyes, Ryu, because my genjutsu is no longer at the level it once was. And once you do, you shall succumb to one of your greatest weaknesses - your blind love."
Before Ryu could comprehend what was strange about Daichi's voice, he felt a familiar chakra. Relief drained away the tension as the plan repeated in Ryu's head. First step had been to be captured in a realistic way. The second had been to lure Daichi into a sense of absolute victory. And it was then they would appear.
"Lightning style! Lightning snake jutsu!"
Hearing such a familiar jutsu said from someone besides him was strange to Ryu, but he was glad for it. Daichi exclaimed in either shock or pain as the jutsu slammed into him, causing Ryu to open his eyes to see the bolts had hit him directly. As the jutsu was repeated and sent his way once more, Daichi jumped back, releasing Ryu's hair as he did.
The user of the jutsu, Kaine, appeared to the side of him. A small smirk rested upon his face. Although he appeared smug and confident, his body was tense, ready for movement. He glanced at Ryu, offering his hand. It was neglected, however, as more noise came from behind them.
Hime had appeared beside Senshi and the random bandit that held Chouji. The rings that usually adjourned her wrists were now each in their respective hands, and they had enlarged to the size of a fist. As she cried, "Secret art! Chakra beam jutsu!" light blue chakra swirled within them. The chakra shot out, and the aim was true. Both bandits were shot back from the force.
The other unnamed bandit pressed his forearm against Ino's neck, holding her against his chest. "Stay away from me!" he cried, backing away from the new arrivals. He only made it a couple of steps before a large rock suddenly slammed into his head with enough force to send him to the ground unconscious.
"You're lucky I didn't use a kunai." Taiki stood behind the rest of the group, a dozen kunai floating around him, each with a small amount of his blood smeared upon them. Ryu still could not figure out if Taiki had a kekkei genkai or a secret art that allowed him to manipulate objects with his blood.
Which only left Asuma holding Shikamaru. Asuma glanced around before he gazed questioningly toward Daichi. It was saddening to see the extent to which Asuma lacked will. But if the last of the plan worked out right, that wouldn't be the case for long.
Ryu's eyes widened. He'd been watching Asuma, completely aware of the plan, yet even he never saw Raido move until he was right there, planted firmly behind Asuma as if he had been there the entire time. His hand shot out, targeting just about any part of the other man's body, intent on breaking the genjutsu.
Asuma proved the skills of a Konoha jounin very quickly, though. Asuma jumped forward before Raido's sneak attack could work, doing a slight roll as in was in the air. Shikamaru was still in his arms, exclaiming in surprise as he was thrown in Raido's direction. While Raido fumbled to catch Shikamaru, Asuma landed on his feet and put distance between him and the new enemies.
Daichi's laughter boomed through the clearing. "Oh, so you found some new friends?" he mused. Although his voice was nearly nonchalant, his glare jumped between Kaine and Raido. "And they are Suna shinobi. I am very curious as to how you all met, but I guess that is always a story you can tell me once you're in my control."
"That isn't going to happen." A hand fell upon Ryu's shoulder. The boy jerked in shock, glancing back to see the speaker - Raido - beside of him. "Daichi Shigamo, you shall be defeated and taken in to Konoha once more."
Rather than being fazed, Daichi simply smirked and pulled a pill out of his pocket. "You have proven to be quite fast, and as you are a Suna jounin, I am guessing quite strong as well. However, can you defeat two shinobi using the enhancement pill?"
Ryu's eyes narrowed in confusion, but Kaine - who still stood in front of him - quickly realized whatever Daichi meant. While Daichi flicked the pill into his mouth, Kaine swirled around to face Asuma and cursed. Ryu turned just in time to see an Enhancement pill disappear into Asuma's mouth.
"Grab him, Asuma."
If not for the warning of the order, it was likely that Asuma would have successfully grabbed Ryu. Asuma moved to the point he was barely even a blur. However, Raido was somehow faster. All he knew was one moment he was staring at Asuma blurring toward him, and the next he felt as if a tornado of wind had spent a second slamming into him. Raido had grabbed him and ran at his extremely fast speed.
Ryu shook it off as he found his balance once more. When he turned to face Raido, he was gone once more, having launched himself at Asuma. It was possible he was continuing the previous plan. Before he could reach Asuma, though, Daichi was there, aiming a punch to his face. Raido barely jerked to a stop in time to stop. It was just proof of Daichi's skill with the Enhancement pill that he was able to force Raido to stop. Maybe his speed wasn't as big of an advantage as they all had hoped.
"Well, you're more of a pest than I realized. I really will need to Enhanced shinobi to take you down." Daichi fell into a fighting position, an excited gleam in his eyes. "Guess I'll get my first real fight in about a year now." Once more his attention flickered to Senshi, who Ryu noticed only then had been staring intently at Raido. "Asuma and I shall take care of him. Until then, Senshi, do whatever to capture Ryu."
Raido only had time to briefly shout, "Protect Ryu!" before both Enhanced shinobi attacked. The fight became one of blurred attacks and quick appearances of Raido that Ryu's eyes could not keep track of. No genin probably could. However, based on the final orders to each side, he wouldn't be able to focus on the battle.
"Don't even think about it." Senshi had merely taken a step when a kunai flew from around Taiki flew at him. "It won't be that easy to just grab him."
Ryu greatly hoped Senshi didn't have an Enhancement pill, or it would be unbelievably easy for him to prove Taiki wrong.
Regardless of the potential for this all to go bad, Ryu noticed each of the other teenagers taking small steps to put themselves in between Ryu and Senshi. Except for Yuumai, who glared from behind Chouji.
Senshi simply smirked and jerked his chin towards them. A medium-sized group had come with Daichi before, and they instantly understood. They all charged, Senshi leading from the front.
The village had become a battle field.
Another chakra beam shot out from Hime's rings, stopping most of the first bandits in their tracks. Senshi simply leapt over it, though, landing in front of Ryu. The bandit brought a fist down toward Ryu, which Ryu dodged by leaping backwards. Senshi was just about to chase when the ground beneath him crackled.
"Gotcha," Kaine said. He was crouched down with both hands resting on the ground.
Static field, Ryu realized. It was extremely disorienting seeing Zenjin jutsus being used by others as he had not seen another Zenjin for four years. Taking advantage of Senshi's inability to move, Ryu performed a quick set of hand signs. "Lightning style! Lightning snake jutsu!" The zigzagging bolts of electricity hit Senshi square in the chest.
"Zenjin team-up?" Kaine asked, a confident smile on his face. "We should be able to hold him off at least that way. And you also get to see what a real Zenjin is made of."
A smile also spread across Ryu's face, but it was more exasperated than anything else. Before he answered, though, he quickly glanced over everyone else. None of the other bandits appeared to be on Senshi's level, as everyone was holding their own. Taiki and Hime were working individually to hold off a group off each. The others of Team Ten were working together, Chouji's skill set the only one truly fit for combat. Though it appeared Shikamaru was freezing people with his shadow for Chouji to bowl into. Yuumai had run far enough away to be away from everyone, but her eyes were constantly glancing away anxiously.
"Fine, but if anyone needs help, you go to them," Ryu compromised.
By the time their agreement was made, Senshi was back on his feet. "You two are going to pay for that."
Senshi produced shuriken from a holster and sent them flying toward Ryu. While he dodged them, the older male went for Kaine. The tanned boy preformed a few hand signs before making an "x" out of his arms to block an axe kick. Before Senshi could draw his leg back, Kaine placed both his hands on it. "Lightning style! Static pulse jutsu!"
Lightning crackled around - and Ryu was guessing within - Senshi's leg. Senshi hissed in pain, but used the leverage Kaine gave him to take his other leg off the ground and kick Kaine in the abdomen. As Kaine was sent back a couple of feet, Senshi used his hand to turn his fall into a roll toward Ryu.
Rather than come out of the roll onto his feet, Senshi once more used his hands. This time he rose himself up, spinning on one of his hands to deliver a round house kick. Ryu attempted to block, but the force in the kick caught him off guard and made him stumble a bit. Because of this, Senshi's leg slipped past him, allowing Senshi to plant that foot and bring his other leg around to connect squarely with Ryu's ribs.
"Come on, Ryu! Fight." Kaine was back up and right near them, prepared to attack once more.
Kaine was right. Ryu had to lose himself to this battle, because if he wasn't at full power, there was no way they could delay long enough for Asuma to be released. Taking a deep breath, Ryu went in to strike just as Kaine did. Seeing Kaine coming in with a sweeping kick, Ryu swung a fist toward Senshi's face. The bandit jumped over Kaine's leg before stealing a move from Asuma's book. The only difference was Senshi took the hit to the face, but allowed his entire body to follow the sideways motion Ryu sent him in. In the process, he grabbed Ryu's arm and flung him down at the other boy he'd previously dodged.
Thankfully Kaine rolled out from under him. Ryu barely stopped himself from slamming into the ground. Before he could jump to his feet, Kaine jumped over him, a kunai in his hand. Seeing the new danger, Senshi also pulled out a kuani to block. While Kaine kept Senshi preoccupied, Ryu quickly preformed a set of hand signs.
"Lightning style! Static field jutsu!"
As the static made its way through Senshi's system, the man jerked to a halt. Kaine took this opportunity, starting a cut down Senshi's chest. However, the man showed his chakra control by quickly breaking free of the stun and hopping back out of harm's way.
He glowered at Ryu. "That jutsu both of you have sure is annoying." The boys flinched when Senshi started his own set of hand signs. "Fire style! Fire breath jutsu!" Senshi exhaled a wave of fire, sending Ryu and Kaine scrambling in retreat.
"Great. Now we're even having to go up against ninjutsu." Kaine's eyes narrowed as the jutsu ended. "And you seem to know a very small amount."
Ryu rolled his eyes, though Kaine missed it. "Didn't exactly have a teacher in Konoha," he countered, racking his brain for a way to take out Senshi.
A wicked grin spread across Kaine's face. "So, how well do you think you can take a beating?"
The question didn't exactly assure Ryu's faith in whatever plan had formulated so suddenly in Kaine's mind. "Pretty well. Why?"
Movement from Senshi's direction caused the boys to flinch. He was moving towards them once more. "Just keep him distracted," Kaine demanded before suddenly running off.
"Wait, wha-?" Ryu's question was caught off as Senshi brought a fist crashing down toward him. With an exclamation of shock, Ryu fell back to dodge. Senshi did not give him a moments of rest. A barrage of fists and kicks came Ryu's way, only about half of them dodged or blocked.
After a strong kick to the chest that sent Ryu flying into a tree, Senshi leapt forward, slamming Ryu back into the tree once more by the head. The Sarutobi screamed, pain blooming both from his skull and ribs. This battle was not going well. Senshi was on an entirely different level from regular Toku.
"Looks like the other boy made the right choice in running off. Otherwise I would have had to kill him just to get you here," Senshi remarked. "Though I'll have to make sure to track him down after I knock you out for being such an annoyance." The man drew Ryu's head back, just about to slam it back into the tree to knock him out when lightning bolts exploded against his back once more. Senshi growled in pain. His shock caused him to lose his grip on Ryu, and he was quick to get out of Senshi's arm's range.
Kaine had returned, once more a wicked grin on his face. "Whoever said I was running away?" he challenged. "You made it way too easy to get you to drop your guard." Kaine met Ryu's eyes and grinned. "Great job taking the beating. You've got a career as a punching bag in your future."
A snort of laughter escaped Ryu despite his attempts to hold it back. Kaine was way too relaxed for the situation.
"You little brat," Senshi hissed. "I'll go back to my plan to massacre you first." Senshi charged forward.
Kaine was not deterred by the threat, and darted forward to meet him. However, at the last second, Kaine dropped down in front of Senshi, performing a small number of hand signs. "Lightning style! Static field jutsu!"
Senshi jerked to a halt right before he could deliver an axe fist to the side of Kaine's face. A triumphant gleam joined the smile on Kaine's face. It was quickly destroyed, however, as Senshi roared, "I'm tired of this stupid trick!"
Even Ryu felt the surge of chakra Senshi used to shatter the jutsu, quickly focusing all the chakra into his fist right after. He hadn't been kidding. Senshi was planning on smashing Kaine's skull with the next attack. "This is over!" Senshi exclaimed.
His obvious murderous intent made it obvious what he meant to do. Yet for some reason, before his fist came into contact with Kaine's head, it stopped once more.
"What... What is this?" Senshi questioned through gritted teeth, his eyes narrowed as his hand refused to listen to him.
The answer came from a lazy, almost bored voice. "Shadow possession jutsu - success."
Ryu barely stifled his yelp as he realized Shikamaru had appeared beside of him. Shikamaru was on one knee with his hands in the rat hand sign. Noticing Ryu's attention, the Nara nodded, causing Senshi's head to bob as well.
"This is what you get for being cocky." Kaine completed a series of hand signs before holding up his fist. "Be prepared to be a testing dummy, bandit scum." Static danced around Kaine's fist, only it wasn't the normal yellow; it was a bright blue instead. "Lightning style! Lightning impact jutsu!" Kaine cried, crashing his fist into Senshi's solar plexus.
The moment of contact, blue lightning flashed. A loud BOOM! rang out as well, mixing with Senshi's cry of pain. The man was sent flying back, cracking a tree as he collided with it. When he hit the ground, he simply laid there.
Kaine collapsed, heaving for oxygen. The jutsu had taken a lot from him. He winced, looking at the fist he had punched with. Ryu's eyes widened. It was still crackling with electricity, causing the occasional twitch, and there were what appeared to be third-degree burns on his knuckles. "Heh." Kaine's laugh shook. "Well, looks like I need to improve that." His focus returned to the Shira bandit. "He's lucky it's not fully developed. A direct blow like that when not prepared could have shattered his rips and possibly killed him."
Ryu could only gape. Lightning impact? He had only ever heard of the jutsu, though he had never seen it done. It was just as powerful as he had heard. And Kaine had used it so close to perfect. Given his status as genin, he was lucky all it hurt was his knuckles. According to stories Ryu heard while still with the Zenjin, if the jutsu was done wrong, it could cause about the same damage to the user as it did the target of the jutsu. Maybe he hadn't given the Suna group as much credit as they deserved.
"Great plan, Shikamaru," Kaine said as he attempted in vain to raise to his feet. Before he was even half way up, he grunt and fell back to the ground. "You had me worried for a moment how long you waited to use your jutsu."
"Now you see how I feel," Ryu grumbled while Shikamaru simply shrugged. "But at least now it's-"
A groan silenced Ryu immediately. Dreading what that groan could mean, he slowly turned back to the one he has assumed was out for the match. The color drained from his face when he saw Senshi struggling to raise, and by the looks of it, he was going to make it.
Senshi sneered at the three that had nearly taken him out. There was a large spot of his shirt now missing, replaced by a patch of skin burned, bleeding, and bruised. "If you think I'm going to be taken down by little brats, you're mistaken." Even though he said this, he appeared much weaker than he had only a minute before. "After all, my job still isn't completed."
Ryu flinched, sensing something wrong about what Senshi said. Obviously Senshi's job was to capture him, but there was something about the movement of Senshi's eyes past them that put him on guard.
"Senshi! It is time!"
Daichi's voice traveled across the village to where the small button was occurring. Senshi was moving before Ryu could even turn around. Once he did, his eyes widened. Asuma had managed to grab Raido, although it was obvious he wouldn't be held back for long. This was most likely why both Senshi and Daichi were both moving quickly.
Once Daichi and Senshi met, Senshi instantly brought his hand into a hand sign and focused on Raido. "Secret art! Emotional Overdrive!"
Raido flinched before grinding his teeth. Whatever Senshi was doing to him had greatly hindered him, though only to the point Asuma had a better ability to hold him. Nodding in approval, Daichi murmured something before blurring over toward Ryu and the others.
He stopped a bit before Ryu, backhanding Kaine hard enough to send him flying. The already injured boy rolled across the ground, groaning as he came to a stop. Shikamaru was next. Before Ryu could get over to protect him, Daichi delivered a round house kick that forced Shikamaru to crash into the ground. Shikamaru wasn't knocked out, but he probably wasn't going to be able to get up for a few minutes.
"None of you are good enough to take me on, especially with the Enhancement pill." Daichi began to approach Ryu, his eyes harder than the last time he had seen them. A few new cuts and bruises peaked out from random places on his body where Raido had managed to do damage. "And the one who can is under the influence of Sensh's genjutsu. It'll mess with his emotions too badly for him to get over here in time."
Once more Daichi became a blur as he appeared before Ryu, crouched down on one knee. He took a fistful of Ryu's hair and made sure their faces were level. Ryu squeezed his eyes shut just as he had the first time. He had to ensure their eyes did not meet.
"Just open your eyes." Daichi's voice took upon the same strange sound. Rather than his normal voice, it almost sounded as if it was... changing. Becoming uncannily familiar, but Ryu couldn't place where he'd heard it before. "It's me, Ryu. Look at me."
His eyes snapped open before he could stop them. He couldn't help it, because he knew that voice. It was one he had not heard in four years, and when he saw the speaker, he knew without a doubt that he was right about the voice owner.
The word escaped from Ryu's lips before he could stop it. The feelings overflowed, bringing tears to his eyes. How could this be possible? He was dead. Yet here he stood before him, that same strange, somewhat sad smile on his face.
"Brother."
*~*~*~
So.... I actually made a DaiRyu shipper out of the last scene because of one paragraph... IT WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO SOUND LIKE YAOI!!! Anyway, let me know if it's too rushed. The ending was supposed to be fast paced because it happened really fast, but was it too fast? And what about the rest? Let me know what ya think.