"I'm trying to kill you." Aoi narrowed his eyes at the figure. It was near impossible to make anything out of the person. The attacker was the person who had been sitting in the corner of the room in the cloak. Now that they were standing, pale skin and dark hair could be made out from within the hood of the cloak, and as it fell back into place from the kunai being launched, a white shirt and dark blue pants could be made out.
Feeling out the chakra, Aoi could tell that the opponent was a highly skilled shinobi. The amount of chakra they possessed was that of a jonin, or perhaps even higher, a sure sign that Aoi ought to be on guard. The other patrons of the restaurant, simple civilians, took a look at the two shinobi in fighting stances and made a mad dash for the door. Neither paid them any mind.
Not letting his guard down, Aoi surveyed the person as he asked his next question. "What do you plan to do once you have killed me?"
There was a humorless chuckle as they replied, "I plan to tell Orochimaru of my success in this test." Something about the words caused alarm bells to go off in Aoi's head. There was something else though, a faint recognition of not only the voice, but the choice of words.
Kou silently gasped a breath of surprise, but Aoi was thinking. Why had he said test, in a normal instance this would be a mission. Going off of data, Orochimaru was only known to have two students. "You must be-"
"Enough talk." Saying this, the cloaked figure began his handsigns, finishing them quickly. Keeping his si in his hands by dangling them on his thumbs, Aoi made his handsigns as well.
The two jutsu launched within a split second of one another, Aoi's ball of water crashing into his opponents flame and causing a thick steam to cover the entire interior of the restaurant. Aoi ran, crashing through the doors and leading his opponent out of the enclosed area. They sailed across the rooftops, and as they did Aoi clutched both of his si in one hand, using the other to form handsigns. Having to teach Kuria, he himself had mastered one-handed handsigns. Using this, he launched water bullets at the figure, hindering them in their chase and giving Aoi himself an advantage.
At this point, they had garnered attention from several mist shinobi that were wandering the streets. They tried to interfere with the two, but were unable to catch up. When Aoi turned to launch another water bullet at the figure, he caught the ending handsigns that they made. Turning to the left immediately, he managed to dodge as several small fireballs were launched at him. The roof of the building caught fire, and seeing this, several mist shinobi jumped up to the roof to put it out.
They were drawing too much attention, and not wanting to be kicked out of the village, Aoi had to go somewhere more secluded. Besides that, there was always the chance of a bystander getting injured. While thinking this, Aoi's guard had slipped ever so slightly, allowing the figure to catch up slightly. Grabbing a kunai with his left hand, Aoi launched it backwards, but they simply plucked it out of the air, throwing it back at him. Rolling to the side, the kunai whistled past his ear in a narrow dodge.
_+_
Kou stood, looking around as the steam cooled and the air cleared. The chef came out from the back room, and seeing the upturned table as well as kunai and small puddles of water he started to freak out. Ignoring the angered man, Kou ran out of the restaurant to see utter panic in the streets. Smoke rose in the distance, can she could only assume that was the direction the two had ran in.
Thinking quickly, Kou finally decided that she should tell his teammates what had happened. The only problem was that, having come so far, she no longer knew where the hotel was. She knew the vague direction though, and started to run down the street. After taking several corners, she new that she was hopelessly lost. Not knowing what else to do though, she kept running, tears of worry slipping down her face.
Then, there was an abrupt force, knocking Kou back. She looked up, and hope grew on her tear-stained face. "Shin!"
"Princess Kou?" He took in her distraught demeanor and leaned down to help her up. She accepted his hand, standing and brushing off dirt from her clothing. "What happened?"
"Aoi and I were in a cafe, and then someone attacked us. There was a cloud of mist, and then they were gone!" She looked back the way she had come. "I was trying to get back to the hotel to warn the others, but I don't know the way."
Shin's face grew serious. "We should get going then." As they ran toward the hotel, Shin now leading the way, he tried to get more information. "Who attacked you?"
"I don't know, some man in a cloak. I... I remember him saying something about Orochimaru."
Shin turned to look at her in worry and surprise, almost running into a lady with a basket of vegetables. "Are you sure? What did he say exactly?"
"He said something about a test. I'm not sure, but Aoi seemed to know him."
"This is bad, we need to hurry."
Kou tripped a little, trying to keep up with Shin. "Wh-why is it bad? Just who is h-he?" She was running out of breath, but refused to be left behind.
"You'll find out soon enough." By now they had reached the hotel, and any questions Kou had were stemmed for the moment.
The two rushed up the stairs, Shin crashing through the door to the Konoha shinobi's shared room. Ryo, Migota, and Shino sat within. They looked up in shock as the door practically flew off of its hinges.
"Shin? What are you doing?" Migota stood up, and looked past him to see Kou hunched over holding a cramp in her side. "What happened Kou? And where is Aoi?"
Shin stepped forward. "That's the problem! Someone attacked Aoi and they vanished."
Migota turned around, "That would explain why Hane suddenly took off..."
Everything paused for a moment, but then there was rapid footfall in the hallway. Shikamaru appeared, Hane flapping after him before settling on the ground. Hane squawked loudly, gaining the attention he already had. Shikamaru looked at Shin and Kou. "You already know about Aoi then?" Everyone nodded.
"Let's hurry, Shin, fill us in on the way."
Kou stepped forward. "Let me come with you!"
"It's too dangerous, and you'll only slow us down." Shikamaru looked down at her. "Aoi is strong, he should be fine and we'll be back before nightfall."
Migota stood. "We can't leave her unguarded though." Looking around the room, she spotted the perfect solution. "Ryo, stay with Princess Kou until we return. I don't care how much you hate Aoi, this is for the good of Konoha and the Land of Fire. I expect you to behave and do as you're told."
Ryo opened his mouth as if to reply, but just looked down. He nodded briefly before standing. He made his way to Kou and gestured for her to walk ahead of him to her room. Kou looked at everyone in disbelief. "You expect me to just wait here? What do I do if something happens to you?"
Shino turned to answer. "Ryo will help you if something should happen to us, because he is a shinobi of the leaf."
With that, the three leaf chunin took off with Shin following close behind as well. Hane led the way, and they ran as fast as possible to where Aoi was.
_+_
Shuriken launched at Aoi's back. He barely turned, before zig-zagging to dodge them as he kept running. Threads attached to the shuriken moved though, and when the shuriken embedded in the rooftops, he had to step over them. His foot caught on one, and Aoi had to twist to avoid falling completely.
When Aoi regained his feet, his opponent was upon him, drawing a sword that he had resting across his hips. It slid out, and immediately was slicing toward him. The easy manner he swung the weapon indicated that it would be a hard fight. Bringing his left si up, Aoi blocked with it against his forearm, the ring of metal on metal sounding out from the rooftops. Swinging his right hand weapon, he nearly caught them across the cheek with it, but they moved out of the way too quickly.
There was a pause in the fighting as they both assessed their opponent. Neither were breathing hard, despite racing across the tops of the roofs for about two miles. As if by silent agreement, they raced forward at the same time. Flurries of blocks, stabs, and slashes followed, as they both tried to gain the upper hand. Eventually, Aoi stabbed his si forward in an attack that would have pierced through his opponents eye. A flash of red followed, and his opponent barely dodged to the side. A piece of cloth remained stuck on the end of Aoi's si, and he flung the dark fabric off.
With that attack, the hood had been ripped off of his opponent's head. They stared each other down, both eyeing the other. Red eyes met blue, as recognition passed over Aoi's face. The dark haired teen brought a hand to his cheek, wiping the blood off of his face.
"I heard that you trained under Orochimaru too, Aoi." They smirked, eyes glowering. "I had always wondered how you had gotten so strong. That was one of the reasons I left you know, because if he had made you that strong, imagine the power I could get."
Gripping the si tighter, Aoi responded. "I have to admit that you have changed, Sasuke." His eyes narrowed, and a killer aura emanated from him. "Though I haven't met Orochimaru, I'll never forgive him or you for putting Kou in danger."
"Kou? Is that the name of the girl that was with you? Is she important to you?"
Instead of answering, Aoi charged forward again, trying to embed his si in Sasuke's throat. Sasuke brought up his sword, parrying the weapon before bringing it around toward Aoi's left shoulder. Seeing the right si stabbing upward though, he changed the course of his sword. The force behind the strike knocked the si out of Aoi's hands, and it flew across the rooftops before stabbing and sticking into one.
Aoi retained his left si however, and he caught Sasuke's downward stroke in the guard, sliding and redirecting it so it bit deeply into the roof they stood on. Aoi snaked out a foot, intending to trip Sasuke, but the younger shinobi caught on and jumped backward and over it, abandoning his sword. As he landed, Sasuke finished his handsigns, and lightning surrounded his hand as he activated chidori.
Sasuke attempted to charge forward and stab Aoi, but found he couldn't move. Aoi held his hair to the side, the green symbols on his eyes lit up. In this time, Aoi raised his other hand to his mouth, and let out a piercing whistle. Hoping that Sasuke wouldn't break free, Aoi charged forward. His left si came dangerously close to piercing Sasuke's heart.
In a flash of movement, Sasuke stopped Aoi's attack just in time. He shifted to the side, pulling the weapon out of Aoi's grip as he kicked the blue haired leaf shinobi in the stomach. Aoi went flying though the air, crashing into the wall of a building before falling into the street below. Rolling as he landed, Aoi stood up again and looked up in time to dodge the multitude of kunai that landed where he had been standing. They were in the farther reaches of the village now, so there was no longer a great danger to the inhabitants of Kiri. Those that were in the streets, rushed out of them and into homes, getting away from the scene of the battle as quickly as possible.
In a flash of color, Sasuke landed in the street, his sword now in his hand. Aoi almost reached behind his back, until he remembered. He had left his swords. Cursing his own thoughtlessness, Aoi jumped back as Sasuke slashed once more in attack. Searching his memory, Aoi made his handsigns as he remembered a jutsu that he had once seen. He hadn't practiced it before, but it was worth a try. Finishing the handsigns, he clasped his hand as if holding a sword, and though it didn't feel solid, Aoi felt that he was holding a sword.
Sasuke's eyes flashed, assessing the jutsu with the sharingan. Smirking slightly he started to walk forward. "Seems you picked up an interesting jutsu somewhere." Flashing forward, Sasuke slashed downward. Aoi sidestepped, and slashed his wind sword in a horizontal strike. Knowing that he couldn't block it normally, Sasuke stepped forward and caught Aoi's hand.
Before anything else could happen, a flash flew past Sasuke's face, and cut his chin. Hane landed on Aoi's shoulder, and launched forward and bit Sasuke on his ear before he had time to fully register what was happening. Releasing Aoi, the Uchiha jumped backward, his hand feeling his bleeding ear. His eyes shifted from Aoi's blue ones to his shoulder. Hane sat there, tall enough to come to an adult males waist. The sheer size of him was amazing, but even more so was the sharp beak and talons that the bird had.
"Where did you pick that up?" Sasuke looked it over cautiously. "I've never seen that species before."
"Konoha."
"Strange..."
Aoi turned his head slightly, and Hane leaned down. In a few moments, Hane flew off once more, leaving the battle. Sasuke's eyes narrowed into another glare. Seeing this, Aoi spoke. "Reinforcements should be here in a few minutes. If you think this will end before they get here, you're welcome to keep attacking."
Silence stretched between them, Aoi pulling out a kunai just in case. Sasuke seemed to be weighing his options, before sheathing his sword. Before Aoi could relax though, Sasuke had launched several kunai at him, hoping to catch him off guard. Aoi's hand was a blur of motion as he blocked all the kunai. Unexpectedly though, Aoi felt something pierce his upper arm.
Looking down, he noticed a senbon needle embedded in the skin there. Knowing that Aoi wouldn't notice the small needle among the kunai, he had counted on that landing. Sasuke smirked. "I suppose even the best shinobi can be caught off guard. I'll let you know, that's poisoned. It shouldn't kill you, but it will impede your pursuit at the least."
Trying to stop him, and already feeling the effects of the poison coursing through his veins, Aoi spoke. "Won't Orochimaru be displeased that you haven't killed me?"
"I think that I've delivered the message at least. Orochimaru won't be giving up anytime soon, and now you know that nowhere, even the major hidden villages, is safe." With that, Sasuke left. Aoi sank to one knee, trying to keep conscious.
One or two people peeked out of the homes around him, trying to see if there was anymore danger. Aoi's breathing became more ragged and his vision blurred at the edges. He looked up to see four people rushing toward him. There was a brief attempt to stand, but he no longer could, collapsing to the ground and finally falling unconscious.
_+_
Yaay! I did a chapter! Whooo! Party! Yeah, that's about it... Hm... Well you see, I have nothing else that I can think of... Um... That's embarrassing somehow... On a completely unrelated topic to both Naruto and this chapter and fanfic in general, you lot should watch Irregular at Magic Highschool, or Mahouka Koukou no Rettosei, as it is freaking beautiful! I think I am currently watching it for like, the seventh time or something. Yeah... I need more anime/manga to entertain me... So random question that isn't random time!
What semi-obscure anime/manga do you recommend?
I don't really have anything left to say. Vote if you liked the chapter, comment if you want to, and fan if you want to keep updated (or just add the book to your library), and lastly follow me on Tumblr! I'm starting out a blog there to keep you updated on my life and maybe to write one-shots that you guys suggest to me (you can do it anonymously there). Anywhore, you can find the link to my tumblr on my profile. Until next time!
-Nicky~