Chapter 28 - Arc IV: Harsh Reality- Chapter 2

After two days, the Suna guards were relaxed a little. There had been no further sightings of Azami or her mysterious helper. There had been no further attacks on the village. Not even any threats.

Gaara and Naruto overlooked the village from Gaara’s office, standing on the balcony, enjoying the breeze. The two of them had found so much in common over just a single fight. Now, they both seemed like proud protectors of their homes, overlooking a beautiful village at it’s best.

Except I’m not Hokage yet! Gahhh! Naruto whined internally, shifting a large scroll off his shoulders, feeling the skin chafe thanks to his sweating and the extreme heat.

“…Naruto, what do you see out there?”

Gaara had quietly asked the question, staring at his people going about their business. Naruto looked, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. He said so after a minute.

“…It’s too quiet. There, in the far right of the village…there’s usually a very active dojo over there. They’ve clashed with Baki and Temari before, and they’ve been very vocal that a ‘weapon’ like me shouldn’t be in charge.”

“Hey, if it’s bothering you, it’s my job to check it out. I’ll get the others together and we’ll go scope this dojo out.”

Gaara nodded, still not quite good at conversations. He had learned how to make the bare minimum requirement for a conversation, but starting and ending them was still difficult. Especially now that he cared what others thought of him.

If that dojo’s silence is real, then there’s nothing to worry about. But I can’t help thinking this isn’t over yet…

An explosion went off on the far left side of the city. Civilians ran for cover while shinobi ran to intercept the attack.

Gaara took a large step off the roof. A cloud of sand immediately rose to hold him up. He kept stepping, and clouds of sand kept creating a bridge for him. He aimed to see the source of the explosions for himself this time, while his biggest opposition was held in check by the Leaf Shinobi.

Kankuro will be returning through the main gate soon…He might meet them if they flee. So the bastards are trapped. I’ll show you what happens when you bring harm to the Sand Village.
--

Ryouko concentrated and concentrated as they walked. Azami watched him silently, though she kept taking note of their surroundings. Up ahead, there was a forest. It would be interesting to see if Ryouko would make a connection here, too.

Bonk.

He made a connection with nature by walking into a tree.

“Dumbass,” Azami murmured, rolling her eyes. But she found Ryouko had fallen into the perfect position. His upper half was in the desert; his lower half in the forest. Time for another lesson.
“Look where you are, without getting up.”

Ryouko did- A forest and a desert meeting like this was rare. But there was no way she’d call this to his attention for the obvious reason.

“This represents how my chakra and the air are opposing forces, yet they coexist. Right?”

Azami didn’t say anything, but widened her eyes a little, still smirking. He was on the right track.

“The coexistence happened naturally…which means that I’ll have to get those two elements to coexist naturally…wind and fire…elements that play off each other…If I was a wind type, this would be easy. But my second type is earth…so…ah!”

Ryouko had an idea. He faced away from Azami, raising his foot.
“Can you give me some wind? A jutsu that will push me forward?”

Azami grinned- he had figured out the in-between step of her idea. It wasn’t a jutsu she had come up with. It was a fighting style by itself. Now to see if he would really get it.

“Wind Style: Wind Rider’s Jutsu!”

“Flama Succendo!”

The fire jutsu met Azami’s wind attack with spectacular results. But even more spectacular was that Ryouko leapt on the wind and flames and rode them, moving incredibly fast.

He looked back, a somewhat satisfied smirk on his face.
“Catalysts…if was right in front of me the whole time. Chakra comes from within, whereas chi comes from without. I’ve been focusing on the ‘out’, not the ‘in’.”

Azami felt a little proud, now that he was finally ‘getting’ it. It was so obvious. His most elementary jutsu was the key to the whole thing.

“Good for you, Ryouko,” she whispered while he made calculations in his head. “I’m proud of you. Now to test it. HEY! THINK FAST!”

Azami blasted Ryouko with a shot of wind. He dug his heels into the ground, using his chakra to stick to the sand.
“Sorry, this doesn’t have a name yet, but…”

Ryouko breathed out, and the air around him ignited in a brilliant flame. But he managed to hold it’s power in, and redistribute it to his hands and feet. He kicked at Azami, about two feet out of range. The fire extended…
But fell short.

“Close. Very close,” Azami told him, genuinely happy for him. “Now that you’ve got the technique’s basics, we need to fashion it to your fighting style and fine-tune the whole thing.”

“Right. …”

“Something else?”

Ryouko moved in and kissed Azami on the cheek.
“Thanks. I needed this.”

While Azami needed time to recover from the shock, Ryouko looked toward the Fire Daimyo’s mansion. It occurred to him that Azami might have a hard time getting in. But he guessed she already had a plan for that. So he didn’t say anything.
--

Naruto and the others raced toward the dojo at top speed, weapons at the ready.

“There it is!” Naruto shouted, pointing toward a rare wooden building among the sand of the village. How it hadn‘t burnt down, being old and aged wood was amazing.

“Water Style: Tidal Palm!”

Naruto got washed away by a fierce blast of water. Sakura snagged his hand and threw him above the source, where he used a Shadow Clone Jutsu.
“Rasengan!”

The water aimed toward him was deflected by the Rasengan. Naruto’s clone bounced off his shoulders and into the air, aiming a kunai at the source of the water. That person saw the kunai coming and threw a water wall in the way, rolling- right into Shikamaru’s Shadow Possession Jutsu.

“Success. Shadow Possession achieved!”

Asuma nodded, his trench knives in his hands. “Good work, Shikamaru. Now we’ll get some answers. -eh?”

“LET GOA ME, FREAK!”

A little kid was struggling at the end of Shikamaru’s Shadow Possession Jutsu.

“Oh no! Mizumaru! Not again!”

Four shinobi materialized around the Leaf Shinobi, weapons at the ready. But one woman who appeared to be a leader pushed her way into the circle.
“Please, let him go! He won’t attack anymore!”

The woman had gray hair braided down to her waist. But her chakra felt as though it belonged to someone at least half the age she appeared to be. It was still vibrant and dangerous.

Shikamaru shifted a glance to Asuma. He had the ‘what a pain’ look on his face, scratching his head.
“Let him go. Cleary he’s in her jurisdiction. But-” Asuma held up a hand, silencing protests from his group, “She owes us answers. Answers that a child likely won’t have…”

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment