Cherry Blossoms and Chakra Strings: A Curious Foe

Iwabi’s sickle slid cleanly through flesh as he slit the throat of a dying man, ending his misery and turning his moans of agony into wet gurgles. He then turned and did the same to the man next to him, ending another life that was too far gone to save.

The jonin stood, shaking the blood off of his weapons as he looked around. He was standing on the outskirts of a burning building, full towering flames that sent smoke spiraling into the sky. The burning pile of rubble was all that was left of Gato's compound, and it was clear that it and the men dying around it had met with a terrible fate.

“Hard to believe that a couple seals did all this. Maybe I should be taking notes.” Tsu said from nearby, pulling her sword out of a corpse and wiping it clean.

“You don't have the patience. A tiny mistake could cost you your life if you don't know what you're doing.”

Which made it even more astounding that Sakura had managed to do all of this with one of her hands completely incapacitated. Iwabi saw that wound. Even a hardened jonin like him would struggle to keep a straight face and a steady hand when faced with something like that. That girl was something else.

Tsu walked up, sheathing her sword with a click. Her nose was scrunched. “I can't smell anything but burning meat and ash. How are we going to find anyone specific in this mess?”

“Carefully. We'll have to comb through it in sections to make sure we don't miss anything.”

Tsu groaned, face falling at her sensei's decision. Her nose was useless with this much smoke which meant they'd be doing it all by sight which would take three times as long. “That'll take forever! Can we at least split up to speed it up a little bit?”

“Absolutely no splitting up.” Iwabi said firmly. “If that nin Sakura faced is still here, then splitting up is our absolute worst option.”

The weapon she described was undoubtedly the Nuibari, which meant that not only was Zabuza Momochi in the area, but he'd brought one of his comrades along with him. The Seven Swordsmen of the Mist were all masters of stealth. Splitting up with one of them in the area was practically suicide.

“Can we at least make clones?”  Tsu asked. She really didn't want to be here any longer than she had to. Her nose was starting to hurt.

Iwabi thought about it. “Only two. We need to conserve our chakra, just in case.”

“Thanks, Sensei!” A moment later, four more ninja were scattered around the rubble, looking no more eager to comb through the destruction than their progenitors.

“Let’s make this quick.” Iwabi turned towards the rubble. There's no telling when who heard that blast and that smoke can probably be seen for a few miles. We don't want to get snuck up on.”

Together, they combed through the rubble searching for any sign of Gato or one of the enemy shinobi. The explosions Sakura set off collapsed most of the compound but some of it was still standing, if you could call it that. Most of them were inaccessible, and the ones that weren't were filled with burning rubble that made it clear nobody alive was inside.

“You know,” Tsu spoke up after they looked into a basement cellar that was filled with burned corpses, “after all of this, I think Sakura has a higher kill count than all of us combined.”

Iwabi examined the half-dozen men who had died from either burning or smoke inhalation, and shook his head. “I don't know about that, but it's still impressive.”

Tsu scoffed as they moved on. “What? Are you saying you’ve killed more people than this? Which small village did you depopulate in the last ten years?” 

“The requirements to become a jonin are pretty high.” Was all he said, causing his student to stare at him in shock.

They cleared one section and headed to another. This one was ground zero for one of the seals, as evidenced by the chakra lingering in the air and the scorch marks on the ground. Two bodies were laying near the explosion, blown into pieces by the power of the seal.

“I don't think we'll find him here.” Iwabi said, and Tsu nodded. They moved on.

“So what are we going to do about Sakura's injury? It looked bad.”

“It was.” Iwabi said, confirming her fears. “That kind of wound needs surgery to fix and she made it worse by making all of these seals. I doubt Hikari will be able to fix it before the damage is permanent.”

Tsu absorbed this silently. Her heart ached for her friend, but one concern stood out to her above all others. “So what’s gonna happen if she can’t use her hand again? Sakura’s good, but I don’t think she can use her puppet with one hand. She says it’s complicated, even for her.”

He looked at her. “You’re worried I’m going to pull her off of Team 3.” Tsu nodded. “Well don’t be. Sakura is a generational talent and she’s my student. She caught up to the two of you despite the year you had on her, and I know that she won’t give up just because of some handicap. She stays on the team unless she wants off.”

“Good.” Tsu said as she turned over a body, grimacing at what she saw. “Because I’m not cool with losing another teammate and neither is Hikari. She’ll get over this and get back to kicking ass soon.”

“I’m sure she will.” 

Though this would definitely affect his decision to put them in the exams. This mission was supposed to prove that they were ready, but all it managed to do was injure one of his students, possibly permanently. Iwabi was sure that Sakura would move past this handicap, but would she manage it in time for the exams? He hoped so. But part of him doubted it.

He’d play it by ear and keep a closer eye on her for signs of improvement or the opposite. This was a roadblock, but if she managed to move past it and improve despite it, then maybe his fears were invalid. They’d just have to see how things played out.

It took them less than an hour to go through their entire section. With the clones searching the other parts of the compound, they made great time, but their search proved to be completely useless. Gato wasn’t here.

“This was a waste of time.” Tsu grunted, kicking a fallen sword across the ground. “There’s nothing here but corpses and rubble, and I’m not digging through all of that just to find some fat asshole with too much money.”

“I doubt he’s here anyway.” Iwabi said, examining a puddle of blood where a large piece of the building had landed on a group of unfortunate bandits. He shook his head as he stood. “Let’s head back. If Gato’s still alive, we’ll find out later. If he’s not… well, digging up corpses that are already buried isn’t in our job description. At least not this time.”

“Finally.” Tsu said, gathering Tadao in her arms and following him. “All this ash and smoke is gonna stick to my clothes for weeks! I’m glad I brought spares.”

As Tsu complained, Iwabi’s ears perked up at a sound and his eyes sharped. He thrust a hand out, grabbing his genin by the shoulder and pulling her to his side as a cluster of kunai slammed into the ground where she’d been walking. There was no warning, no whistle of displaced air to signify their approach. Whoever threw them knew what they were doing.

“Going so soon?” Iwabi pulled his hand off Tsu’s shoulder and held it near his sickle as he turned to face the new voice. A tall, gaunt man strode from the smoke and rubble around them, twirling a thin blade between his bandaged fingers. “You just got here. Why don’t you stay a while and play around with me?”

“Tsuyoka…” Iwabi retrieved his sickles, stepping in front of his student as she wordlessly retreated behind him. The man in front of them was a dead ringer for the one Sakura described. From the Kiri garb, to the long, stringy hair, to the headband wrapped around his neck. The sword in his hands only further reinforced the point, and Iwabi swallowed as he recognized it. 

“Nuibari…” He whispered, catching the nin’s attention. He glanced at his sword, grinning widely and showing off bloody teeth.

“You recognize it, do you? I guess someone from Konoha would. After all, you were the ones who killed my predecessor.” He chuckled, eying Iwabi specifically. “You’re a jonin, huh? That’s good. I was worried that Zabuza was going to be the only one allowed to have some fun on this trip.”

Sweat trickled down Iwabi’s neck as the full force of the man’s killing intent was directed towards him. It was sharp like a blade, with something darker lurking under it. He had never felt anything like it.  There was no doubt in his mind that this guy was the real deal.

“Why are you here?” He called out, causing the ninja to tilt his head.

“Why? Well I was originally here to keep an eye on the place for Gato, but you can see how that turned out. I was just wondering how to break the news to my senpai when the two of you showed up and I thought bringing along your corpses might soften the blow just a little bit.”

Iwabi shook his head. “That’s not what I meant. Why are you here? In Wave? Doesn’t Kiri already have enough bloodshed to suit you animals? Why are two of the Seven Swordsmen in a country like this, working for a man like that?”

The man laughed, “Now why would I tell you that? That’s classified information, you know? I can’t just go around telling our grand plan to the enemy.”

The man tilted his head, staring at Iwabi with sunken eyes. “That being said. You’re right about one thing. This country is awfully boring. Would you mind entertaining me for a little bit? I might even make it worth your while. If you manage to survive!”

The man’s sword flickered through the air as he threw it upward and caught it in a reverse grip, holding it like a javelin, and Iwabi broke into a defensive stance, already seeing what was about to happen before it did.

Nuibari whistled as he threw it at them, trailing a long length of wire meant to snare and entrap. It headed towards Tsu but Iwabi was there in an instant, knocking the weapon upwards with his sickle before his genin could even get her sword out of its sheath. She stared at her sensei’s back, shocked at how close she had come to death, and Iwabi turned towards her, barking a quick order.

“Keep moving! You can’t stand still around an opponent like this or you’re dead!”

“You should take your own advice, friend!” 

Iwabi cursed as the Kiri ninja suddenly appeared above him in a shunshin, snatching his sword out of the air and coming down on the jonin like a meteor. Iwabi stepped away as Nuibari slammed into the ground, sinking almost a foot into the hard rock thanks to the strange qualities of the blade. He pulled his other sickle from his belt and aimed a strike at the nin’s neck but he got caught on something invisible before he could even get close.

“You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?” The ninja asked as Iwabi jumped back.  A nearly invisible length of wire extended from the back of his sword, held between the clenched fingers of his other hand as he ripped Nuibari out of the ground. “I may not have had the pleasure of killing my predecessor to get this blade, but I was still chosen to use it nonetheless. You’d do well not to underestimate me.”

“Fang Passing Fang!”

The Kiri nin barely reacted as he turned to see a tunnel of pure destruction screaming towards him from behind, tearing up the rubble as it passed. He jumped into the air to avoid it, only for his eyes to widen as it followed after him without missing a beat, splitting apart into two distinct arcs that approached him from either side.

“Interesting!” He smiled as the tunnels approached him. He launched Nuibari at the ground, sticking it deep into the earth before yanking on the wire, using it to drag himself out of the path of danger and into relative safety once more.

Only as he stood, Tsu was somehow already beside him, sword unsheathed as she thrust it into his chest as he stared at her in surprise, wondering how she had gotten there. He wasn’t able to defend himself in time and her weapon slid into his soft flesh without any resistance, spraying blood everywhere as he clutched the wound.

The Inuzuka grinned as her strike connected or at least seemed to, as a moment later the blood on her blade turned to mist as the man dissolved before her eyes. A substitution! But where–?

“Behind you!” Iwabi shouted. Tsu whirled around and was met with the grinning face of her enemy before a sharp, sucking pain encompassed her as the length of his sword passed through her stomach like a needle through fabric, coming out the back with just as much speed as it entered.

“You’re out of your league, kid.” The nin said as blood erupted from her mouth. He watched as she tried to come to terms with the pain, before tilting his head as her bloody lips spread in a grin and her features began to dissolve. “Oh?”

Tsu dissolved into water, soaking into the nin’s clothing as he headed back towards the ground. He pulled on Nuibari’s wire, pulling his weapon back into his grip just in time to parry a strike from Iwabi. The jonin pressed him, using both of his sickles in tandem as he forced the more skilled swordsman back, keeping up with him solely due to the disparity in the number of weapons between them.

“A water clone at her age? Impressive! Let me guess, she’s on the same team as that pink-haired kid I came across earlier? You’ve got quite the collection of brats.” Despite the life-or-death situation, the nin didn’t seem concerned in the slightest as he bore the brunt of Iwabi’s assault. He pivoted, swinging his blade at Iwabi’s skull and their weapons ground together as the jonin brought up both sickles to defend, leaving them almost face to face.

“I’m having fun for the first time in a long time.” He said as he towered over Iwabi with a bloody grin. His sunken eyes were almost manic as they fought for dominance. “You Konoha nin always know how to keep things interesting. I wish we could’ve gone to war with you at least once in my lifetime. That would’ve been something to see.”

“Keep this up, and you’ll get your wish.” Iwabi grunted, channeling chakra into his arms to keep them steady. “Kiri just got out of a civil war, but here you guys are picking fights again. Your whole damn country has lost its mind.”

“Ha! You don’t have to tell me twice. But that’s what makes it fun!” The nin fell back as he sensed something behind him, slipping past Tsu’s blade as the genin tried to capitalize on his distraction. He danced away, coming to a stop several yards away. He wiped his mouth, dying his lips and the bandages on his hands a crimson red. 

“But it looks like I’m running out of time to play.” He said regretfully. “Oh well. I should probably wrap this up anyway.”

Gathering his chakra, he held his hands up in a strange set of seals. One hand was raised above his head while the other was kept near chest height. He gave them a bloody grin. “I hope that wasn’t all you had to show me, because I haven’t even started taking this seriously. Let me give you a taste of what I’m capable of.”

There was a flare of chakra, cold and sharp as it slid down their back. “Hidden Mist Jutsu!”

The smoke lingering in the air gave way to a thick, unnatural fog. It came from nowhere and quickly grew thick enough that neither Iwabi nor Tsu could see even an inch in front of them. Tadao growled, snapping at the mist as he sensed the chakra lingering inside. Tsu grabbed him, lifting him into her jacket so she could keep track of him as she eyed the mist around them. “This isn’t good, is it, sensei?”

“No, it’s not.” Iwabi grunted, standing back-to-back with his genin. “How much chakra do you have left?”

Tsu checked her stores. “Less than half. I spent a lot of chakra on that attack earlier. For all the good it did me.”

“Take a pill.” He said, making her nod and dig into her pouch. He frowned as the mist grew thicker. “We need to clear this mist out before it becomes too thick or else we’re both dead.” 

“Too little, too late!”

Iwabi turned at the voice only to gasp as a length of steel slid through his shoulder, making him drop one of his weapons in shock and pain as the Kiri nin appeared behind him, catching his sword as it passed clean through his flesh. He turned back to give Iwabi a devious grin, pulling on the wire that had been threaded through his shoulder, preventing him from escaping. “You put up a good fight, but it’s over now. Don’t struggle too much.”

“Sensei!” Tsu shouted as Iwabi clutched his wound. She clenched her teeth, racing through hand-seals at a blinding pace. The chakra pill hadn’t taken effect yet, but she couldn’t wait on it. She had to do something now!

She inhaled, filling her lungs with chakra and air. “Wind Release: Wind Tunnel!”

A rippling gust of wind burst out of her pursed lips, straight towards the Kiri nin who merely braced himself against the gale. It buffeted his clothes and hair but didn’t seem to do any real damage, but it wasn’t supposed to. Tsu tilted her head, angling the wind towards the mist surrounding them and sending it away on a violent gale.  

As the technique petered off, the Kiri nin gave her an amused look. “And what did that accomplish? If my technique could be blown away with nothing but a bit of wind, it would just be a fancy waste of chakra. It’ll come back, and then what will you do?”

“This!” 

A figure burst from the lingering mist, sword held high above her head. The Kiri nin turned to look at her, seeming truly surprised for the first time during the battle. “Another clone!? When did you have time to make another one?”

The newly-arrived genin brandished her sword and even Iwabi was left stunned as a jagged blue glow encompassed her blade, running up the length. It was faint and wavered every now and again, but as she brought her weapon down upon Nuibari’s thread, her chakra did its job and she sliced clean through the impossibly tough ninja wire, freeing her sensei.

She wasn’t done yet however. Her feet barely touched the ground before she was off again, heading straight towards the Kiri nin who was still reeling from her appearance. The glow on her blade flickered and faded as she conserved her chakra, but the weapon was still more than sharp enough to carve a large gash in his arm as he tried to dodge her a second too late.

He staggered back, clutching his wounded shoulder, a mirror of the one he had just given Iwabi. He grimaced, but for some reason he actually seemed happy to have been injured in such a way. 

“Good job, Tsu.” Iwabi panted as he reached down and grabbed his sickle from the ground, holding it in an unsure grip.

“Impressive! It's been a while since someone managed to get me so good, and they definitely weren't a genin.” The Kiri nin took a deep breath, running a hand along his wound with an introspective look. “Yes. Very impressive…”

He straightened, and both Tsus angled their weapon in his direction, wary of another attack. Instead, the Kiri nin smiled widely, clutching Nuibari in his uninjured hand as he made a single seal with the other.

The mist around them dispersed fading into nothingness just as quickly as it had arrived. The Konoha nin looked around in confusion before returning their attention to their opponent as he brought his hand back to his side.

“My name is Kenji Sojiro.” He pointed Nuibari at them. “And you.. might just be the people I’ve been looking for.”

There was a moment of tension as he stared at them from behind a veil of stringy brown hair, before he laughed and sheathed his weapon, sliding it into the holster on his back. “Unfortunately, I'll have to wait a little bit longer to find out. I've been away for long enough. Senpai won't be happy if I stay out for too long.”

“You're just running away?” Tsu demanded, realizing what he was saying. Kenji regarded her with a smile.

“I'm a firm believer that a man's final battle should be in an appropriate location. This burning pile of trash won’t suit my needs at all. Rest assured, the next time we meet, one of us won't walk away.” 

He turned to Iwabi. “As a reward for the fun, I’ll leave you with this. We'll be attacking the bridge sometime in the next two weeks. I can't tell you when, but I hope you'll be there. You and that pink-haired kid.”

Kenji gave them an enigmatic smile before mist swirled and he disappeared. Iwabi waited to make sure he was actually gone before falling to one knee, clutching the open wound in his shoulder with a grimace. Tsu came to his side while her clone went to scout the area just like before. It was running low on chakra, but it had enough to at least let them know if he came back.

“Are you alright, Sensei?” She asked as she propped him up. Blood dripped from his shoulder, soaking into his flak jacket and her clothes as well.

“I’ll be fine. It didn't hit anything vital.” He said, pushing off of her and onto his own feet. “Let's get back to the house so we can deal with it safely.”

Tsu nodded and together, they made their way back towards Tazuna's home. Though his wound was deep and painful, Iwabi led the way just as surely as he did when he was uninjured. His shoulder throbbed with each step, but his rampant thoughts kept his mind off of it. 

“Do you think he was telling the truth?” Tsu unknowingly echoed the question in his mind. “He said they’re gonna attack the bridge soon. Why would he tell us that?”

Iwabi shook his head. “Ninja like him play by their own rules, Tsuyoka. He might be working for Gato, but I doubt he has any actual loyalty to him. More likely, he’s just using him to get what he wants.”

“What’s that?”

“There’s no way for us to tell. But looking at him, I’d say he doesn’t have much longer left. He’s clearly suffering from some kind of poison or illness. Maybe he wants to die on his feet instead of in a hospital bed, though that’s just a theory.”

Iwabi had seen his kind before. The types that lived for the thrill of battle and nothing else. Their lives were usually short, but the ones that managed to keep chasing that high had a tendency to become monsters unlike anyone else. For someone like that, dying from a sickness would be worse than being dragged down to the pits of hell still gasping for air.

“You did well back there.” Iwabi glanced at her as she kept up with him, “But I couldn’t help but notice that technique you used to cut through the wire. It was unsteady, but it's more than I expected. Especially since I know I didn't teach you how to stream your chakra like that.”

Tsu's smile went away as she looked away guiltily. “Oh, that. I've been practicing in my spare time. I have a cousin with a wind nature and he got me started. I'm still not that good at it yet, but I can manage it for a few seconds.”

“You could have asked me for help.” His voice wasn't disapproving, just curious. He knew Tsu was smart enough to be careful with her chakra, but chakra streaming was a technique he'd shown them before. Even though they had opposite natures, she would have picked it up much quicker under him than by herself.

Tsu reached back and gently caressed the hilt of her sword. “I know. I just… want to do this myself. Jin knew how to do it and he figured it out himself so I want to do it too. My way of proving I'm really worthy of using his sword, I guess.

“I see.” Iwabi smiled, pride filling him as he realized that his students were living up to the legacy of their fallen comrade. He turned his attention to the forest in front of him, laughing softly. “Maybe I was wrong then.”

Tsu gave him a confused look. “About what?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “You’ve done a good job, picking up that skill on your own. When we get back to Konoha, I'll get you a couple scrolls on chakra exercises. You'll never have the control that Sakura has, but it should help you on your way.”

“Really?” Tsu grinned widely. “Thanks, Sensei."

“You deserve it.” He responded warmly. "Now let's speed up. I need a cigarette."