Chapter 11: Battle Over?

Taking out a kunai, I tossed it towards his legs. I smiled she I saw him dodge, as I used the chance to wrap the chakra string around his ankles. Snarling, he flared his own chakra, breaking the string. While he may have managed to disperse my chakra, he had opened himself up to attacks from Anko and Kurenai. Anko charged forward, slashing the kunai in her hand towards Juzo, while the snakes wrapped around her other arm shot towards his limbs, hoping to bite and spread their poison. While he tried to deflect the kunai and avoid the snakes, Kurenai kept placing Genjutsu after Genjutsu on him, the tell being the movements to the wrong side, his eyes flicking towards a weapon or enemy that wasn't there. Of course, she also was tossing senbon and kunai towards him, which he deflected or dodged.

Dashing forward, I recoated my chokuto with wind chakra, while also grabbing a kunai, hoping to distract him with the coated blade and sneak the kunai towards him. Stabbing the chokuto towards his chest, I grit my teeth as it was blocked by his blade, sending a jolt through my arm. Snaking my kunai up from below, I saw his eyes widen before he tilted his blade, barely blocking the strike. Jumping back, I clicked my tongue in annoyance. Activating the Body Flicker Technique, I felt my body getting lighter. Reversing my grip on my kunai, I dashed forward again, taking advantage of the fact his back was turned to deal with Anko. Slashing at him with my kunai, he swayed out of the way. Right into the path of my chokuto, which pierced his shoulder. Grunting, he tensed his muscles in his shoulder, attempting to lock my blade in his body. I ran more wind chakra along the blade, grinning as he gave a low cry, more of his flesh being torn by the raging wind. Pulling the blade out, I slashed towards the back of his legs, hoping to sever his tendon. He pivoted, and a shallow gash appeared on the side of his shin. Before I could react, he sent an elbow to my face, knocking my head back. Stumbling backwards, I wiped my eyes, trying to get rid of the tears that were clouding my vision due to the hit to my nose.

Growling, I tossed the kunai at him before shooting wind bullets at him. Trying to block them with his blade, he couldn't react in time to the two snakes that lunged at him from behind, one laying onto his wounded shoulder while the other bit deep into his ankle. He gasped, and through his damaged shirt I could see his veins turning a deep purple. The snakes continued to pump more and more poison into him, stopping only when he jerked forward, tearing their fangs from their skulls, making them disperse into clouds of smoke. Gasping for breath, he glared at me, before stumbling to the side, narrowly dodging the kunai that would have severed his arm from his body.

Glancing at Anko, we nodded to each other before jumping back, quickly climbing the trees and moving away, keeping our eyes on him. After all, why should we bother fighting an enemy with half a foot in his grave? That's when people are at their most dangerous, when they know they are going to die. Sheathing my chokuto, I grabbed my bow and nocked an arrow, leading my shot as he tried to chase after me. Priming the tag, I shot it towards the tree he was trying to climb, knocking out a large chunk of it when the tag went off. The shockwave staggered him, causing him to fall to the forest floor. Shooting another arrow at him, I watched as he rolled out of the way, before being flung into a tree by the explosion.

I observed him, trying and failing to bring himself up. His remaining arm was covered in a latticework of deep purple, and his hand was slack. His blade was on the ground in front of him. Staring at him, I shook my head. It's always pitiful seeing these previous top shinobi lying on the ground, body battered and destroyed, gasping for breath before eventually dying. I slowly approached, war of any potential attack he could have, watching as he slowly leaned his back against the trunk, his breathing labored.

"Hah... Wh-Who would have... would have thought that I'd ev-" Coughing out a mixture of blood and poison, he glared out us, before his eyes turned pleading. "Hah... please... place the blade... place the blade besides me? I want... I want to die a warriors death, weapon in hand..."

I looked at his eyes, which were slowly dimming and unfocused. Looking towards Anko and Kurenai, both of which were solemnly looking at him, I moved forward, gently resting Kubikiribocho across his legs. He smiled weakly, placing his hand on his blade. Wheezing, he sat there, gently stroking the blade.

Moments passed, and eventually the wheezing stopped, and his hand fell limp. I waited a few more moments, making sure he was actually dead, before grabbing the blade. Anko crouched next to his corpse, taking all the scrolls he had, placing them in her pouch. Finished looting his corpse, I removed his Hitai-Ate, before stepping back. Kurenai dragged his body to the center of the clearing, before Anko let one of her snakes move forward, dislocating it's jaw as it slowly devoured his corpse.

While I waited for Anko to let me know it was finished, mainly because I couldn't stomach watching someone slowly be eaten by a snake, I lifted the blade, pursing my lips. It was't as heavy as I thought it would be, and after swing it, I nodded my head. It was definitely worthy of being a legendary blade, what with its perfect balance and extremely sharp edge. Though I wondered why no one thought of engraving seals onto the blade, like one that helps channel chakra or anything else. Pursing my lips, I felt someone lay their hand on my shoulder. Turning and seeing Kurenai's ruby eyes, I saw that Anko was finished.

"Shouldn't we go help Kakashi?"

Looking at Kurenai, I shrugged. "I mean, we could? Don't know if we would help or not, considering who he's facing. Well, let's go check."

Saying so, I dashed towards where I could still hear and see large Jutsu being tossed around like party tricks. Arriving at the clearing between the Harbor and forest, my jaw dropped.

Craters littered the field, small hills and boulders were haphazardly placed, and there was now a large pond in the center of the clearing. I know a fight between two high ranked Shinobi can be crazy, but they completely changed the landscape...

Looking towards the two men responsible, I could see Kakashi gasping for breath, while Itachi stood straight, looking regal, yet paler then he had been at the start. Seeing us dashing towards them, my new toy resting over my shoulder, Itachi sighed, looking at Kakashi.

"Well, that was supposed to be my partner... seems there is no reason to continue"

Before Kakashi could respond, Itachi was swarmed with crows, before they dispersed, flying in all directions. Kakashi slumped his shoulders, sighing. Drawing his Hitai-Ate over his Sharingan, he looked over towards us, giving a weary nod.

"So I'm guessing Juzo is dead? You did grab proof, yes?"

Rolling my eyes, I tossed Juzo's Hitai-Ate to him, which he caught before nodding. He looked to the blade resting over my shoulder. Seeing his gaze, I gently lifted it off my shoulder before offering him the blade. Grabbing it's handle, he lifted it with both hands, grunting slightly.

"How the hell were you just casually walking with this thing?"

Furrowing my brow, I watched as both Anko and Kurenai struggled to wield the blade. Frowning, I shrugged. "Using the bow does increase your strength. Lot of muscles used to draw it back properly."

Kakashi looked at the bow on my back, and after sighing I offered it to him. He nodded when he felt its weight, before attempting to draw it back. I could see him straining slightly. Eventually he handed the bow back to me, muttering "Monster" under his breath, which I chose to ignore. After all, I do have a few seals engraved on the top and bottom of the bow. I don't fully understand how they work, but the thing has been in my family for awhile. Apparently it was a wedding gift to one of my grandparents, or maybe their parents, from an Uzumaki sealmaster. All I know is that someone who I am distantly related to managed to befriend some really important person, who gave them this bow. The thing is light, but the draw weight... is absurd. It took me a decade to eventually be able to use the thing consistently. I was determined to use the damn thing, cause a normal longbow already offers a lot of range and power, but this thing? I've killed someone from around a thousand feet. Course the arrow was loaded to the brim with explosive tags...

Taking the Kubikiribocho back, I spun it around, smirking when I saw Anko and Kurenai gawking at me. "What? If you think this is impressive you should see what Might Guy can do. Those weights are insane."

Kakashi nodded vehemently, adding "She's right. I've seen the man lift a giant boulder without breaking a sweat. He even used to wear these weights weighing thousands of pounds on each limb, and went on MISSIONS with the damn things on."

The two women blinked a few time before shrugging. Anko gestured at the battlefield, saying "So... is there a reason it looks like a war zone? This doesn't lower our pay, does it?"

Kakashi scoffed "No, we still get paid. For your information, I just fought an S Ranked shinobi... BY MYSELF. The people can deal with the land. It was just meant to be, on this path we call life..."

I turned away, shaking my head. 'Path we call life' sounds like something a teenager would write, thinking it sounded cool. "So does this path we call life have a sign saying where the hell we are meeting the Kiri pricks?"

Sighing, Kakashi pointed back towards the Harbor. "I was thinking we take a boat and relax a bit, instead of running for a day. We can use Anko's... friend to get there."

Kurenai coughed slightly, making everyone turn towards her. "Is Itachi actually gone? Did he really just come here for Juzo, and leave when he realized he was dead?"

I could see Kakashi opening and closing his mouth, before looking around. "Yup, he's not here. Maybe he realized this wasn't the place he was meant to travel to on the path of life?"

Groaning, I walked towards the Harbor, deciding I would just ignore him. Anko henged back into her 'friend' appearance for this merchant, before leading the way. Kurenai followed us, while Kakashi... pulled out his book and started reading. If I hadn't seen the cold glint in his gaze I would think the man wasn't taking this seriously, and that he didn't care, but that wasn't the case.

Anko quickly grabbed my arm, leaning towards my ear. "So... I think I deserve a reward when we get on the boat. Do you agree?"

Sighing, I realized while the battle against powerful shinobi might have ended, another would just take its place.

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So, again, only one chapter today. I decided that Juzo was definitely dying this chapter, and saw no reason for Itachi to continue a fight with Kakashi when there was now no reason to. I think that I will steer clear from important, heavy fights for awhile, cause I don't think I'm too great at writing and pacing them. So, I think I will stick with fights against people around Kokoro's rank (Not Power), so more C+ and B rank missions are on the horizon... after a brief rest and some lemons at the Mitarashi Compound...

As always, if you see somewhere I can improve, let me know. If you have ideas, either characters or things you want to see, let me know. That'll help give me some more ideas on what I can do with this story, as I have a very loose idea of what I want. I hope you enjoy!

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