Shiori's katana 'Mikazuki' is the Crescent Moon Katana, one of Japan's Five Swords Under Heaven. It's named after a real sword.
Third pov
The moon was high in the night sky, as silence settled over the village sheltered by the trees. Two people, one girl one boy were the only people the clouds could see for miles, one leaving, the other unwilling to let go.
The boy sighed at the teammate he had first found annoying, but grew fond of despite circumstances.
"Thank you, Sakura," Sasuke whispered as he knocked her out with a swift strike to the neck.
Gently placing her on the bench he spared her one last look before turning around to exit the village gates. As he went to take his first step, he stiffened at the new presence.
"Come out, whoever you are," he said coldly.
"You're really leaving huh?" A girl said, stepping out of the shadow.
"Shiori," Sasuke spat, "You can't stop me from leaving."
She smiled sadly, "I'm not here to stop you. I just wanted to say goodbye one more time before you left."
Sasuke stilled, "You're not gonna stop me?"
"No, I'm not. You're have the right to make your own decisions. I might not agree with them but I'm not going to stop you."
"I thought you were-"
"I was. But it was more important for me to come and see you off than to brood at home about what you said," Shiori replied.
"Even after..."
"To me, family is were home is. You might not consider me family, but you welcomed me into your home. You're my family."
"We're going to be standing on opposite sides after tonight," Sasuke said weakly.
"I know. Which is why I wanted to talk to you before you leave. Don't get me wrong, once you step out of this village I'm not going to hesitate if I meet you on a mission. But right now, we're still both inside the village," Shiori stepped forward right into front of him.
"Look, I don't want you to go, obviously. But this was what you've been working towards for the past five years. As hard as it is, I'm not going to take that away from you. Just remember that there's always a place for you here in the village if you ever find that the snake is too creepy for you," Shiori said, drawing out a small chuckle from the boy.
Sasuke froze as she gave him a quick hug.
"For the last time, brother. Good luck."
She flickered away after that. Looking at the place where she once stood, Sasuke stared for a while, deep in though.
Then realising that he wasn't gaining any time by just standing there, he shook himself out of it and bolted out the gates.
'Sister. Thank you.'
---
Shiori's pov
"Team Two this is an urgent A-rank mission. You five are the only ones available right now for this mission," Tsunade said seriously.
"Why did you call us, Tsunade-sama?" Kaoru-sensei asked.
"I sent a team to recover Sasuke earlier today and we have received intel that they are now engaged in a losing battle. I'm sending you five out to provide help. The Sasuke Recovery Mission is aborted, your priority is to get our current shinobi back alive. Understood?" The Godaime asked.
Kaoru-sensei nodded seriously, "We won't fail. Team Two, we set out now."
We nodded in sync as my heart sunk. I didn't want to get involved in this...but I have to bring everyone back alive.
As we exited the village and entered the forests of Konoha, my Sharingan spun to life. Racing through the trees, Kaoru-sensei asked us.
"Anything?"
It was Akiko that spoke up, "There's a fluctuation in chakra around two kilometres ahead. Someone's fighting."
"Pick up speed team," Kaoru-sensei commanded.
As we got closer to the area, my Sharingan started to pick up on the chakra signature and Leiko could see who it was.
"It's Choji," she informed.
"The others must be up ahead if he's the only one here. He possibly stayed behind as a distraction," I relayed.
Sensei nodded, "That means one of us have to stay behind as well. We need more people going forward to help the others."
She paused.
"I'll stay." She eventually said.
"What? Sensei, you can't do that! You're the leader!" Akiko protested.
"I know. If there's anything I learnt from anyone at the Leaf it's that when possible, you do not leave a comrade behind. Plus, I'm not a tracker. It'll be easier for you four to find the others. It's better if I stay behind," Kaoru-sensei said.
"She's right," I spoke up, "It's faster if we go forward since you two are trackers and we can see with our eyes. It's better for the mission."
"Shiori, you're the temporary squad leader until anything else happens. Go. And make sure the others come back alive," Kaoru-sensei said hurriedly.
I nodded, "Sensei, be safe. Guys, let's go."
Sensei smirked and whipped out her chakra blades.
---
"It's Neji!" Leiko shouted, as we encountered the next enemy of the Sound Four.
"Crap it's the spider guy," I muttered.
"Who's staying this time?" Akiko asked.
I halted, "Leiko, Akiko, Aoi. Go on. This is my stop."
"What? You this time?! We don't have a leader!" Aoi said.
"Shiori, let me stay! He's my brother!" Leiko protested.
"No. Kidomaru already found the Byakugan's blind spot. You don't have experience fighting him but he already can counter the Byakugan."
"But-let me stay with you at least," Leiko said desperately.
"There are more people that need our help. You need to help Shikamaru with Tayuya in close-range battle. You can't stay here," I reasoned.
"But he's my brother!"
"And I'm not gonna let him die," I met her eye solemnly, "I promise."
"You two better come back alive," Aoi huffed.
"You guys too," I smiled tightly.
"Fine!" Leiko snapped, "But if you don't come back alive I'm gonna drag you out of the Shinigami's stomach and kill you again myself. Understand?!"
I grinned without humour, "Yeah, I got it. And by the way, you're in charge, Leiko."
---
Leaping through the trees, I put on more and more speed when I saw Kidomaru's chakra fluctuate. He was loading his second arrow. As soon as I entered the clearing, he had fired the arrow. It went straight through Neji, the force of the arrow sending him flying backwards as well.
"Shit, too late!" I cursed and quickly jumped down from the trees.
"You okay?" I asked, buffing his fall.
"Konoha?" he asked after spitting a mouthful of blood.
"Yep. Be careful. I'll deal with Kidomaru," I told him.
"Another one? You are just a minor character too..." The spider-like man growled, staying a long distance away.
"Second stage and long distance attacker? Damn...that's gonna be hard," I muttered.
"Watch out for his...webs..." Neji grunted, stumbling next to me.
"Okay, I got it."
Nothing happened for a moment, as if everything was still. And then...what was he planning?
I saw it coming out of periphery, seeing where he was aiming.
"Neji, watch out!" I yelled, pulling him.
"Gah-!!" he cried as he lurched sideways, the arrow whizzing by him and puncturing several trees.
"Sorry, my bad. Be careful of your blind spot though."
"Yes." he nodded.
Shiori's pov
Unsheathing my sword, I watched carefully as Kidomaru jumped out of the clearing.
"Looks like we're back to Stage One," he sighed, deactivating his cursed seal.
"What are you doing?" I asked, frowning.
"That Hyuga kid is good but he's completely out. But you're probably nothing interesting. After all, the only clan that can top the Hyuga are the Uchiha. And they're dead."
I gritted my teeth in mild frustration - stay calm...
But this could be good. He was underestimating me.
Neji frowned beside me as he tried to get into a stance, "...I'm not done yet-"
"Only fight once you recover enough energy. I'll go first," I said quickly.
Spinning my blade quickly in an arc, Kidomaru's eyes widened as they left after-images.
Hazy Moon Night.
I dashed forward as he hurriedly formed a weapon from his sticky goo thing.
Swinging several times, his eyes went blurry from the many swords he was seeing, due to the speed of the movements.
Pfft.
Kidomaru groaned as Mikazuki pierced his arm.
"Heh...you're decent with a sword. Still not much though. Spider Sticking Spit!" As the name suggested, he spat sticky webbing in my direction, trying to catch me.
My sword lit up with crackling chakra. Although it wasn't as precise as the Jyuken, the strong concentration of chakra made it easy to sever the webbing.
I stabbed my sword into the ground, "Lightning Burial : Banquet of Lightning!"
Bolts of electric power coursed through the ground at Kidomaru who was less than fortunate to be only metres away from me.
Jumping up into the air, he loaded formed knives and threw them at the ground with the same force as before, landing back on the ground as the lightning dissipated.
"Huh?" he muttered, "Where'd she go...? Shit!"
Kidomaru swore, narrowly dodging the blade.
"Secret Sword: Moonlight," I stated.
"Shushin no Jutsu, used very proficiently. However, I have already discovered your weakness...heh, this is slightly more difficult than I intended, but I will end you now!" his cursed seal returned, covering his body.
He then untied his hitai-ate and threw it onto the ground. Behind it was a third eye.
"What the fuck..." I asked dumbly.
"This third eye gives me stronger perception as well as analytical skills on the battle field. And your eyes are already struggling to keep up with what's happening. Even my close range combat is better than yours. This is it. Game over."
Third pov
With a flash, he was behind Shiori trying to stab her, only for her to block with a short-blade she had slipped out of her compartment. Now with a sword in her left hand and a short blade in her right, Shiori looked at Kidomaru determinedly. The spider-like man looked down at her condescendingly.
At a speed even faster than before he flashed towards Shiori and formed of his weapons. Shiori quickly blocked it and this continued for several more moment before Kidomaru jumped backward and made a sudden pulling motion.
Shiori stilled and lurched forward. Stumbling clumsily, blood spilled from her side as the arrow flew past - barely losing any speed. Someone echoed her cry of pain.
The girl's eyes widened in alarm.
Looking quickly over to the white-eyed boy, he'd also taken another arrow through the shoulder, completely unable to deflect it in his state of half-consciousness.
As Shiori reached for the chakra string attached to the arrow, Kidomaru cut it with a snap.
"Hehe, did you really think I was going to leave something for you to electrocute me with?" He asked.
Shiori glared at Kidomaru, if she didn't finish this fight soon, they were both going to be done for.
A flick of his wrist and several kunai were launched through the air, which were all dodged or blocked by Shiori's own. Spinning the kunai she was holding she threw it backwards, where it embedded in the tree next to Neji.
"You're out of weapons, right? Take this," she said.
Neji nodded and pulled the kunai out of the tree by the handle.
"Like that is going to do anything. I told you, game over. I am the game master, and you...are all just the minor characters waiting for me to be killed off," Kidomaru smirked.
Shiori resisted the urge to sweat-drop, "Y'know, this guy would do great in our world as a pro gamer."
Focusing chakra into her feet she jumped into the air to avoid another golden dagger and quickly threw weapons of her own in retaliation.
"You can't do anything that will hurt me-"
He never got to finish his sentence as Kidomaru next clutched his stomach and stumbled backwards, the world around him changing. Neji now stood in front of him, striking him straight in the stomach.
"Good work, Neji. You snooze, you lose buddy," Shiori panted, kicking off the side of a tree to avoid Neji's jutsu. She landed on the ground in a crouch.
"Genjutsu...that's impossible! I have my third eye open," Kidomaru muttered to himself, "You shouldn't even have chakra left."
The answer came in the form of Shiori using her kunai to cut something tied to her ankle, a wire which was connected to the kunai she had thrown to Neji. Chakra transfer.
Shiori laughed, "You let your guard down the moment you stabbed me. You didn't even think twice about looking into my eyes. Would you look at it - the Uchiha aren't so dead after all."
She glared at him, Sharingan blazing in its fully matured form. Pulling out her sword she swiftly stabbed it towards his side, aiming to cut him in half.
Clang!!!
Shiori looked in shock as her katana hit something hard and Kidomaru swiped at her hand, making her drop her blade with a yelp.
The sticky gloop he had previously used to form his weapons now covered his entire body in a yellow armour.
"You forced me to use my armour...perhaps I underestimated you. Uchiha."
Kidomaru lunged forward and clawed at Shiori who hurriedly fell back to avoid it. Kidomaru's other arm flung shuriken towards Neji who was deflected all the hits with his gentle fist.
"I may have underestimated you but that doesn't mean you'll win!"
Hehe...that's too late!" Shiori grinned, forming a hand sign. Kidomaru's world was filled with the sound of chirping birds as hundreds of feathered creatures flocked him. Kidomaru screeched as he waved at them and started spitting webs around the place.
"Birds. A spider's natural enemy. This is where you die, Kidomaru," Shiori said confidently.
Kidomaru grinned and glanced at her shrewdly.
"Foolish hunters will become the hunted if they aren't careful. You need to be more creative with your illusions if you want to fool me. Kai!" he shouted, dispelling the genjutsu.
The birds faded away to nothingness...
Kidomaru frowned. Why could he still hear chirping?
He got his answer when thousands of volts were sent through his body as Shiori's Chidori pierced him through his stomach. Screaming in agony he looked behind himself in disbelief.
"Hehe...the Chidori, named so because of the sound it makes. It sounds like birds chirping, doesn't it? The avian race really was your natural enemy," Shiori declared, arm still inside his body.
"Hehe..." he chuckled, "You missed my heart. And you'll pay for that mistake."
The gloop once again covered the part of his stomach that had been punched through and stuck Shiori's arm in place.
He raised a kunai to hit slice through her arm.
Poof.
Kidomaru growled as the Shadow Clone disappeared. Shiori's voice came from the side of the clearing.
"There is a reason I missed your heart," she said, smirking.
"Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!" Neji shouted, getting close to Kidomaru whilst Shiori had him distracted.
"AgRhH!!" Kidomaru screamed as Neji sealed off his tenketsu points and blasted his organs to bits with his technique.
"H-how...are you<gak>" he spat out blood, "-still...standing?"
Neji clutched his side as he told Kidomaru, "Even if my enemy is far stronger, even if my body should fail me, I cannot lose. There is a reason I cannot lose..."
He trailed off, glancing at the man scornfully.
"...I was always a genius so I cannot lose. Especially for the sake of those who believed I was a genius being my weak and powerless self."
Shiori looked at the dying boy who's curse mark was receding.
"Eh...what he said. My only words to you, Kidomaru, is - this is it...the hunters win."
As Kidomaru fell over, dead before he hit the ground, Shiori's slumped, the tension leaving her body.
"Well that was way harder than it should've been," She muttered, leaning against a tree.
Clutching her side which was bleeding profusely by now, she walked towards the genin who'd killed Kidomaru and looked at his wounds.
"Shit, that definitely went through something important and by important I mean your stomach or maybe your pancreas - or liver, actually I don't even know what a pancreas looks like," Shiori swore, looking at the hole that went right through him.
"...birds...really?" He managed to cough out.
"Hey, you're the one who likes to compare yourself to one," Shiori grinned lopsidedly.
"I suppose so..."-cough--cough---
"Shit! Okay, just hand on a sec. We'll have to go back on foot, don't have enough chakra for a shushin that far," I told him as we walked out of the clearing, towards Konoha, slowly but surely.
---
"Another two injured shinobi have arrived!" The medic nin quickly informed Tsunade.
"Who is it?" The Hokage frowned.
"Uchiha Shiori and Hyuga Neji. Uchiha has been stabbed through the side and has multiple other stab wounds...the Hyuga...he's been stabbed through the same way twice and also sustained multiple injuries. Both have exhausted their chakra and Hyuga's chakra pathways have been damaged possibly beyond repair," They informed.
"Damn, that bad?" Tsunade muttered to herself, "I'll go check on them immediately. You go and make sure that the Akimichi boy's surgery is proceeding as planned."
"Yes ma'am!"
Tsunade grumbled profanities under her breath as she quickly made her way over to try and find the girl and her charge. They had better be alright.
The thought that the remaining Uzumaki and Hyuga kids weren't back made her worry. Kaoru had returned with an injured Choji and immediately headed back out with Kakashi to find Naruto and Sasuke.
Shiori was made the squad leader but came back before the others. Which could only mean the same happened to them as what happened to Kaoru. She stayed back to help Neji, whilst the other three carried on.
The sannin sighed. She didn't get paid enough to buy the alcohol she needed for this job. And she didn't mean rubbing alcohol for injuries either.
She meant sake. Bottles and bottles of sake.
---
"We're almost there. Don't die on me, please," Shiori huffed as she the two supported each other's weight.
Well, it was more so Shiori supporting his weight and practically dragging the Hyuga who could barely walk.
"Gah-" Neji grumbled, "Yes, please be a little more rough, if that's even possible, will you?"
Shiori rolled her eyes, "Of course, Mr Sarcastic," but complied, trying to not agitate his wounds further.
Neji's eyes began droop, "Stay awake, you idiot!"
Shiori jostled him lightly causing his eyes to snap open and groan in pain.
"Are you trying to send me to the afterlife even faster?" he snapped.
"If you fall asleep now I'm actually gonna bring you back from the dead and kill you. Never mind that, Leiko's gonna do that and then sacrifice me to Satan. You either die twice or no times. No times sounds better."
"UCHIHA SHIORI!" A voice boomed across the street where everyone was watching.
An angry lady in green was storming up to the pair who were barely standing. Medics and the remainder of the Konoha 15 were following behind.
(It's 15 now cause plus Team Two)
"Tsunade-sama!" Shiori shouted, then regretting it immediately as her own voice gave her a bout of dizziness.
"What did you do to end up like this?!" Tsunade asked.
"Not me. Get him treated first."
"Don't tell me what to do, young lady," Tsunade huffed but carefully helped Neji down onto a stretcher the medics had prepared.
Shiori quickly sat down on the floor.
"Don't do that you little idiot, you need to go to a hospital!" Sakura screeched.
Shiori waved her off, "Let my legs rest. This guy's heavier than Sasuke is," she mumbled tiredly.
Tsunade grew an irk mark and picked her up by the back of her collar, "Get to a hospital. Now."
With that, she dumped Shiori on one of the stretchers too, careful to not hurt her injuries.
"Take the boy to the ER. I'll check the girl's injuries first and then join you," Tsunade commanded.
Yep, she's making a trip to the bar tonight to buy lots of drinks.
On second thought...maybe she can make a trip to the bar and get Jiraiya to buy her lots of drinks...
I should get to it and write actual fight scenes for the next two chapters instead of the pathetic excuse of a battle that's sitting there right now...
but I'm so lazy....
I cri everyday
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