Chapter 21
ASUMA SARUTOBI
Few people could boast of surviving a confrontation against one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. The Bloody Mist's shinobi had a history with violence, and none exemplified this more than its most respected unit—the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
Seven shinobi, each wielding one of Kiri's treasured blades, formed one of the most fearsome units of the entire continent. They were not just feared for their prowess, but for their spectacle as well, for these seven men did not just kill shinobi for a mission, they had a penchant for cruelty.
Zabuza was one of these men, the wielder of the Executioner's blade. He was called the Demon of the Mist, and for good reason. He had famously killed all of his fellow classmates during his graduation, and was the main reason for the abolishment of Mist's Bloody traditions.
"It's all my fault," Kurenai whispered as she lay there in bed, as Asuma stood behind her, leaning against the wall as he saw Kurenai's fists ball up.
"If only I had acted sooner. If I had been better," Kurenai whispered as the sheet crumpled in her hands, and Asuma understood her emotions better than she thought.
"You did your best," and she had killed two chunins and had faced off against one of the most deadly shinobi from Kirigakure. It was just that the odds were stacked against her from the start.
"And what good did that do for that girl?" she returned angrily, turning towards him. And with their genin out patrolling the town and trying to rescue Sakura, it was her first time showing emotions.
For a novice sensei, she had held herself gracefully in front of her students, but now they were beginning to slip out.
"They took her because I was not strong enough. Because I made the wrong call," and if she began thinking like that, she would get nowhere as a sensei.
"And now look at me! I lie here in this bed while two genin are trying to save her," and one of them was not actually a genin.
"You did not make the wrong call, Kurenai," and he was not even lying to her.
"You chose the best option given the information at your disposal," he corrected her, as he played with his lighter, for he did not have the audacity to smoke in her presence.
"It doesn't matter..."
"This is the life she chose," Asuma answered a bit coldly, but this was the only way he knew to help her.
This was her first time being a sensei, but he had experienced this before and knew the dangers that it held.
"The life of a shinobi is uncertain, and that goes for genin as well," and dozens died every day, on some mission or not. Some died in their sleep, some in battle. That was the reality of the shinobi life.
"You did not force her to be a kunoichi, and while you were her sensei, you bear little burden for her choices," and with that, he looked out of the window, remembering the dozen or so losses he had suffered himself.
"I know," Kurenai whispered.
"But I cannot help but feel responsible for this. And if something were to happen to her..." and she did not have the words to continue, and neither did he have any consolating words for her.
They had both been in this life long enough to see through lies and false assurances. The simple truth was that Sakura Haruno's life was in grave danger, and that there was a very good chance that Demon of the Mist had already killed her for sport.
"Why didn't you join the rescue team?" and given their numbers, one would expect him to give more members to the rescue team, but he had an inkling that Zabuza would not wait for the exchange's time.
That he would rush to attack the village, especially as Kurenai had suffered grave injuries during their battle. He would know that and try to strike while she was still weak and vulnerable.
"Because I believe that Zabuza will strike at us," and Kurenai was experienced enough to see why.
"It's what I would do," he added, before he clicked the lighter close.
"And then there is the fact that they won't need us. Hikari's experience as an ANBU, along with Ino's skills, makes them the ideal pair for rescuing your student," for if he were to go along with them, they risked Zabuza and Gato storming the town and causing a slaughter.
"They will be fine," but even Asuma could not help but worry for his own students, especially given that they knew very little about this masked hunter-nin who was working with Zabuza Momochi.
It was strange, for Zabuza was a rogue ninja, and it did not make sense for a Hunter-nin to be working with a rogue ninja. Unless, they were missing something.
"Well, regardless I can onl..." yet suddenly they both stilled as they heard the bark from a dog.
BAKG! BAKHG!
Asuma perked up at that, just like Kurenai for this signal meant only one thing. His fears had come true.
"He is here..." and a number of whistles followed the barks, telling him of the location as Kurenai jumped out of the bed.
"We should go," she added as he frowned.
"But you are injured," he argued.
"He won't be expecting backup. Let me go and face him so that I can ask him about Sakura, and afterwards, you can then ambush him," and it was a sound enough plan as they both blurred through the town, and reached the mentioned location.
The half-completed bridge stood as a symbol of defiance and hope, and upon its edge stood the Demon of the Mist, with his sword hanging at his back.
Asuma hid himself behind a house, as he had signed for Shikamaru to do the same, as Kurenai jumped to the front with her team behind her, guarding the workers.
"What are you doing here, Zabuza?" she called out, strongly as the man laughed.
"You are still alive. I would think a weak woman would have taken the first chance to escape," he taunted, yet Kurenai knew mind games better than anyone else, given her specialty.
It was what had allowed her to escape the bastard once.
"I am not one to abandon missions or my village. Child Killer," and if the narrowing of the eyes was anything to go by, Zabuza was not of a sane mind.
"Why are you here, and where is the girl?" Kurenai asked, and Zabuza laughed.
"You see, I got tired of waiting, so I decided to come here a bit early," and he saw the air thicken, for Zabuza was preparing to attack.
"And what about Sakura?" Where is she?" Kurenai asked again, her desperation obvious.
"Ahh, so that was her name. Sakura," he whispered, and now a thick mist covered the entire bridge, making his intentions obvious as Asuma slid on his knuckle knives and began to push his chakra into them, as his next words silence the air.
"She is dead..." and he felt Kurenai's chakra shiver, and even if he was lying she had been stilled and missed how Zabuza was right beside her.
"But don't worry. You will be joining her soon..." and he swung his blade, but not before Asuma jumped in and swung his own knives, as the metal clashed against metal, as he looked the bastard in the eye.
CLANK!
"Not so fast...."
0000
HIKARI HYUGA
He was no stranger to death. He dealt with it on a nearly daily basis, and much like those around him, the only way to get through this world filled with death and suffering was to tune it out.
It was a reality, but unless it hit close you ignored it. Moved past it, like garbage on a street. Even when he was young, he saw cousins vanish, he saw the crowd thin out, as people around him succumbed to the deadliness of this world.
And then as an ANBU, he became the merchant of death itself. Bandit groups, gangs, rogue ninjas, enemy ninjas. They all fell to his sword, and yet Sakura Haruno's death stilled him.
He had only ever met the pink-haired girl a few times and had found her somewhat haughty, but overall a genuinely kind person. And to see her die by biting down on her own tongue showed him nothing but the cruelty of the world he now lived in.
A world which was beginning to shift for the worse, just because of his presence.
"Zabuza-sama was sure that Konoha would try to rescue one of their own," the masked nin added as he held onto his blade, refusing to suffer the same fate as the pink-haired girl.
"Why did you kill her?" he asked, angrily, for unlike Ino, he knew the person behind that mask.
"Yet he received no answer," as he prepared himself for the fight, as they both rushed forward, and Haku Yuki was far more faster than your average shinobi, yet Hikari was no slouch when it came to speed as well, so he dodged the senbon coming towards him, as he slashed down, but the masked nin backed away and cycled through a set of handseals quickly.
"Suiton: Water Bullet," and immediately he shot out water bullets towards him, as he made handseals of his own.
"Katon: Fire Ball Jutsu," and he was not fond of relying on his breathing to use Katon techniques, but with his kenjutsu technique still incomplete, he could hardly do anything.
"And the fire tore through the water bullet as Hikari continued with his handseals, and molded his chakra into Wind nature this time.
"Futon: Vaccum Bullet!" and with that he shot a vacuum bullet straight through the fire, much to the surprise of Haku, who tried to avoid it, but was simply too late to move as the bullet tore through his shoulder.
"AGHH!" Haku faltered as Hikari jumped forward, and used his former mentor's technique.
"Ninpo:..." and he cast a subtle genjutsu and then used transformation jutsu to confuse his opponent as his sword formed a circle around him.
"...Hazy Moon!" and he moved his blade, but Yuki Haku was too nimble and was able to move back just in time.
CRACK!
The strike tore through his mask, and cut it in half, and as it fell to the floor, he saw him for the first time.
Yuki Haku, presumably the last living member of the Yuki clan, and his blade had managed to leave a mark, as blood began to spill down his forehead, as Ino jumped in from behind.
Her eyes red from crying, her teeth gritted in rage.
"What is the situation?" she asked, keeping her eyes off of Sakura.
"I am managing," he answered, coldly, and for as good as Ino was, she would only be a hindrance to him against Haku.
"What about the rest of the men?" he asked.
"They are all dead," and that was surprising, as he turned towards Ino, whose answer surprised him further.
"They were dead before I got to them," and that left only one person who could kill them.
"You killed those men," Hikari asked as he gazed at Haku, who stood tall under his gaze.
"Yes," he replied this time.
"Why?"
"It is the very reason that I am going to end this fight with the next move," and with that, he began to cycle quickly through handseals, as Hikari felt him mold a massive amount of chakra.
"Ino, take Sakura and go!" he ordered, but the blonde refused to listen.
"NO!" she snarled angrily, as a tear slid down her eye.
"I am going to kill him!" and he wondered if it really was a him, as she jumped towards him with little care, as Haku finished molding his chakra.
"Hyuton: Demonic Ice Mirrors!" and the water on the ground rose, into the air and encircled them both as he chased after Ino, trying to stop her as Haku tried to strike at her.
"AGHHH!" A few senbon tore through his body as he shielded her, before he quickly molded his own chakra.
"Futon: Gale Palm!" A storm of wind swept in, sending the senbon clattering to the ground as he gritted his teeth and stood tall once more, his gaze locked on Haku's face, which stared down at him from all sides.
"No shinobi has ever escaped this technique. Give up, and I shall make this painless for you," he warned, and fire was already weak against water, and Haku's Ince release combined both water and wind, making it the worst possible matchup for him.
If he were alone, he could have figured out a way, but with Ino here, he had to get out of here quickly.
"Ice," Ino gasped in fear as Hikari nodded.
"Yes, this is the famous Ice Style of the Yuki clan from Kirigakure," and Haku seemed impressed.
"You have heard of this," and he had.
"Your fire stands no chance against my Ice release. Give up," Haku spoke, and he was right. But Hikari was not one to give up, even as Ino eyed him with clear trepidation as she finally realised the severity of their situation.
"Well then, let me put it to the test," and with that, he pushed nearly half of his chakra into his sword, and the metal was charred black in an instant; the metal clearly strained under the immense volume of Katon chakra.
"Katon:..." he whispered, as he struck the blade into the ground, before he released it all in an instant.
"..Blazing Fortress!"
BOOOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOOM!
And so rose a pillar of fire from the ground, and swallowed the entire building to ash, and the heat was severe, that he felt his own skin burn yet as the storm subsided, the air was thick with smoke and death, and in front of him lay a burnt body of Yuki Haku.
"HaaaHaaa," he was huffing as Hikari walked up to him, his blade now broken and gone, and the hilt turned to char in his hand as he walked up to him.
"So, you are him...." Haku whispered as he frowned.
"We heard whispers about you..." and he was dying, and even if he were to try to save her, he would not survive, given the severity of his burns.
"You are that Sparrow...."
0000
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