Land Of Waves Arc (5) : Destiny.

Once the kunai missed his vitals Tachibana leaned forward and shot towards the genin blinded by the dust he'd kicked up.

'Tsk. Those two recovered already.'

Avoiding his plan to kill the genin directly by stabbing the kunai in his eyes, Tachibana ducked low and used his momentum to slither around the genin before taking him hostage because the two other genins had recovered in time to intercept him.

"Why don't you just stab your own teammate? I mean, when you're cowardly enough to gang up on me three-on-one, why not? Am I right or am I right?" Tachibana asked kindly while placing the kunai on their teammate's carotid artery in the neck, drawing blood.

"Don't worry about me!!! Just kill him!!" The genin shouted but his teammates remained reluctant.

Meanwhile, their team leader was stuck fighting Kakashi who gave him a polite smile as he spoke softly, "Why don't we leave the kids to the kids? Aren't they growing up well?"

Tachibana noticed the unwilling expression of his two enemies and smiled, "As long as you don't harm me, I won't harm your teammate, isn't that fa-"

But before he could finish his sentence, the genin he had held hostage pulled out a kunai and attempted to stab Tachibana's thigh.

Except Tachibana was infinitely faster and slashed his neck before he could do anything.

The feeling of intentionally slicing flesh felt new to Tachibana, although he'd already stabbed his kunai into Naginaga's stomach earlier he'd done it fast enough for him to feel nothing. It was reflexive.

Right now he wanted to hurl out the shinobi ration bar that he'd eaten in place of a proper breakfast in the morning, but he managed to stay focused on the two other genin.

With his leverage over the other two gone and the genin enraged Tachibana did his best to dodge their attacks. Except one of them was smart enough to throw a kunai with-

'An Explosive tag is attached to it!'

Tachibana's eyes narrowed, as he grabbed the lit explosive seal and stuck it to the back of the boy whose neck he'd just slashed. He then pushed the boy back at his teammate who with wide eyes reflexively caught him.

*BBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM*

A dust cloud rose in the air, mixed with flesh and blood.

The other genin instantly shouted at the loss of not one but two of her teammates, "Kenji!!! Daichi!!!"

Except all of a sudden, she felt her body go weak, slowly becoming numb as a sharp pain shot throughout her chest.

She looked below and found a kunai piercing through the back of her body and into her heart as it exited out the front.

She tried to look back at her enemy but the pain in her chest stopped her. Her eyes gained an unwilling look and carried immense hatred against her killer but she couldn't do anything except fall limp as her blood drained away and she died.

Tachibana pulled out the kunai and flicked it clean with a sense of disgust before looking at team Seven fighting the genin they were against.

'Ok. They don't need help.'

Sasuke was handling two enemies while Naruto fought one of them yet neither chose to violently harm their enemies, they only made sure they wouldn't wake up for a while.

Tachibana's eyes then went to Kakashi and Maruboshi.

Maruboshi's enemy was on the ground, lying in a pool of blood, while Kakashi's enemy was dead.

'So one for extracting information?' Tachibana guessed.

Maruboshi looked over at Tachibana and nodded after he saw the carnage he'd caused before giving him a smile.

'At least don't smile when there's blood on your face! You look like a psychopath!' Tachibana complained with his eyes and it seemed like Maruboshi understood what he'd meant since he laughed slightly before turning back to his enemy bleeding out on the ground.

"Tachibana-kun!!! I'm here to save you!!!!" Naruto shouted as he ran through the cloud of dust the explosive tag had kicked up and was slowly dissipating. But as soon as he saw the carnage that Tachibana had caused he fell to his knees and vomited.

'Ah…he hasn't killed anyone yet I guess…'

'Not like I can stomach this either way…' Tachibana complained as he looked at the half-blown-up bodies of the two genin and the body of the girl he'd stabbed through her heart.

Sakura similarly vomited when she looked at the carnage, but Sasuke managed to hold it in. But a glimmer of hate shone through his eyes as he looked at the bloody scene.

Not knowing what to do next Tachibana weekly defended himself, "I'm not as strong as you are. I can't stop them unless I kill them first."

Naruto looked at Tachibana and began to ponder on his words so Tachibana left Team Seven alone to defend Tazuna as he made his way towards the forest where Maruboshi and Kakashi had taken their golden goose.

Except as Tachibana arrived near their 'questioning' spot he couldn't hear any part of their conversation. 

'A barrier?' Tachibana guessed as he looked at the man under whose nails Kakashi pierced senbons.

Regardless, Tachibana tried guessing what they were talking about by lip-reading but he wasn't very successful.

With nothing else to do, Tachibana's mind wandered.

'What if I tell them I can summon the spirit of the dead through a ritual to ask it questions and gain perfect answers?'

'....I'd probably get killed or tortured and interrogated by the village.'

'I can't use this incident to return since it wasn't challenging enough for Kakashi and Maruboshi to request backup.'

'I'll have to look for something else.'

That was when Kakashi and Maruboshi noticed Tachibana spying on them, so they ended their interrogation and after storing away the body in a storage seal they dispelled the barrier.

"What did he say?" Tachibana asked since neither Maruboshi nor Kakashi had a good expression on their faces.

Tachibana thought for a bit before asking, "Have they taken the people of Land of Waves hostage? Or perhaps someone who doesn't like Tazuna has sold out the village to Kumo in exchange for benefits like becoming the daimyo or something?"

Kakashi's eyes widened at Tachibana's insight but Maruboshi simply nodded, "Yes. To our misfortune, both have happened."

Tachibana frowned for a second before smiling broadly, "So we can return to the village right!? I mean clearly, this is a situation beyond our capabilities-"

"Are you serious!!?" Tazuna asked suddenly as he appeared out of a bush while looking at Maruboshi and Kakashi.

'Tsk.' Tachibana clicked his tongue mentally since he realised exactly what was about to happen.

"We need to get there faster then! My daughter-in-law and my grandchild are probably being held hostage in the village!!! We need to save them!!! Please!!! I will give you whatever you want!!!"

Kakashi looked at Maruboshi for a second before looking at Tazuna with a *sigh* as he walked ahead with him.

Tachibana left alone with Maruboshi looked at him with a little hate, "So we're going to stick our noses into what could very well devolve into a fight between two of the five great shinobi nations?"

Maruboshi *sighed* as he tried to explain, "Backup will arrive soon."

Tachibana frowned and explained, "Why are you people hell-bent on proving my divinations wrong? Why can't you just accept the fact that going to the Land of Waves will end your lives and leave it at that? Why do you want to challenge fate?"

Maruboshi looked directly into Tachibana's eyes as he spoke softly, "You shouldn't be so pessimistic Tachibana-kun. No matter what fate has in store for you, as long as you fight to change it, I believe you can bend it to your will."

Tachibana's face grew darker as a soft breeze bent trees to create a shadow on his face.

Maruboshi looked at Tachibana for a little longer before he *sighed* and walked away.

But Tachibana stopped him with one sentence, "One often meets destiny on the road they take to avoid it. I truly hope you don't die, but I don't have a cure for stupidity."

Tachibana then walked away from the forest and Maruboshi, returning to meet Team Seven and help them escort Tazuna.

And when he arrived at the team's side, Naruto was the first to speak with him, "Tachibana-kun! I will become strong enough that you don't have to kill your enemies!"

'Why am I surrounded by idiots!?' Tachibana cried in his mind while putting a smile on his face, "I'm sure you will Naruto-kun. I hope to see such a perfect day in the future. I believe in you!"

Kakashi made a deadpan expression, along with Sakura and Sasuke who heard the sarcasm in Tachibana's words while Naruto shouted innocently, "Yes!"