End of an Era (Naruto AU)

[The Laurent]

Vote'll probably close on Sunday, so there's still plenty of time, but I did want to put down a time-limit.

 

[Oh I am slain!]

[X] Fight.
-[X] Time to use Dizzy Spell, give everyone on her team a leg up.
-[X] Go after the fresh enemy Genin, try to force them to engage with the creepy puppet.
[x]

Spoiler

 

[veekie]

Zenzo stormed in carrying a large scroll and looking as if he had sprinted the whole way there. "I was in the shed, and what is going on here?"

It had been a half dozen minutes, and everything was as it had been before. Yumiko was sitting at a desk, and when she saw Zenzo she rose and sneered, "What is it, Zenzo? Shouldn't you be coordinating things with your civvie docs?"

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This is extremely anomalous. What kind of Special Jounin can outright disrespect a full Jounin?

"I have done so, but I had asked you to help set up the beds and basic supplies for the field hospital. Instead it's a dump! If the attack came within the next hour or two, we wouldn't have anything set up at all."

"It won't come in two hours, and I had better things to do than haul around a bunch of boxes and beds into place," Yumiko said, "Orders have come down from on high."

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Suspicion level rising. REALLY should investigate her next.

This is a goddamned warzone, and she's ignoring orders to set up a vitally needed facility. Whether we win or not the war effort depends upon the recovery of our wounded. It's not a thing you put off, and hurts nothing iif done early.

"You could have just ordered one of the Genin…" Zenzo paused. He looked at her for a long moment and asked, "What orders?"

"We're going to be the jaws of a trap, lure them in. Was just about to send people scurrying to get the civvie ships out of harbor. When the time comes, we're gonna get them stuck in here, mines planted behind them, and just slaughter them."

"Whose orders?" Zenzo asked, though from the way he was biting his lip, he had seen the same thing Shizue had. If there was a traitor, these orders could be fake, or they could be real but the enemy knew all about them. This could be a mess.

"Council in general. Has their seal on it and everything."

"What level of encryption?"

Yumiko snorted, "Didn't have time for encryption, so they just sent it as is. Came with Yaramachi-san over there."

"No encryption," Zenzo said. He seemed beyond speech, as he just wildly gestured for a moment before groaning and glancing around the room. When his eyes lighted on Shizue, he finally said, "You! And...you and you," he pointed to Genta and Rika, "Come with me. I need your help setting up the field hospital."

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What the fuck?

That's insane. An order with no specific person attributed, with no encryption level, this is blatantly a trap, one that avoids being finger pointed by having no identification.

"I didn't know…" Genta said, quietly, looking around the shed. Dozens of beds, not assembled, had been dumped around, there are boxes and crates full of supplies unopened, and the whole place looks as if it had been abandoned for months, rather than just recently deposited. "This is bad, isn't it?"

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Huh. Didn't even requisition a clean place for the hospice?

"I was going to suggest," Shizue said quietly, "That we deploy near Rika's father, a little way's back, so we can interfere then."

"If there IS an attack," Genta said, "They could win just by attacking the ships and ambushing Yaramachi if he's drawn out."

"And there'd be little we could do about it," Rika pointed out, frowning, eyes darting around as if there was a solution here.

"We'll find a way, but I need to keep on the watch. I can't give any orders," Zenzo said, unrolling the scroll and cutting his thumb before smearing the blood all over it. IVs appeared, sitting on the scroll, and then boxes of pills, sealing tags, medical equipment, more and more of it filling the room. "But for now…"

The three genin hurried to try to get the room ready on time, and that meant hours of tiring, annoying work. Yet at the end of it, a functioning field hospital had been set up, and luckily the attack had not come yet. The lights were now on, the beds prepped, and Zenzo stood there examining all of it.

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I'd hazard a guess that Yaramachi isn't going to get killed from this, seeing as he delivered the fishy orders...unless he set up the orders for maximum personal glory hounding. Might not be the traitor.

Which was how they wound up drinking tea in a lovely living room while glancing out the windows every five minutes for the attack to come. There was only a single maid- the owner of the house (whose tastes apparently ran to the extravagant) seemed to have left. Apparently he has a small bunker out near some more internal farms, which was no doubt part of the reason why he'd left only a few servants to watch the place. And why most of those had run off, leaving only a single employee that Rika's father had to bully into letting them stay there.

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We have a maid!

Not sure how much good a bunker would be against ninja attackers, but I suppose they aren't intending to waste time digging out a medium priority guy.

At first, Shizue and her friends tried to talk about the situation, and yet soon they would find that there was a point of exhaustion. All they had was speculation, and they didn't want to air too much of said speculation in front of a woman who might blab it to the wrong person. And even what they did know couldn't be advanced much.

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Hurry up and wait. Something the military has to get used to, but ninjas not so often.

It wasn't that long before they talked about minor matters, but Genta seemed closemouthed about his training, except that he was enjoying it, and Rika didn't want to talk about her father. Shizue didn't want to talk about her date with Okiie, and there was only so long Okiie could try to make jokes and quiz Genta on whether he'd found his elemental affinity or what it might be before even he ran out of anything to say.

In place of words, there was only silence, and nervous snippets of conversation were cut off for lack of anything to say.

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Super awkward. Odd that Genta's keeping mum on his training. New trick?

Shizue totally should have talked about her date

Shizue hoped she was understanding the sounds right, because what it sounded like was the roar of engines just below the sound of the siren, then crashes, shouts, fighting.

She wondered what Island would do when it saw that most of the ships were gone. Turning around could have been an option, but if they were still fighting the ninja near the front, that would mean that they were stuck.

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Unless they weren't after the ships.

Outside, in the darkness, the streets were chaos. As they moved closer towards the harbor, the screams could be heard from fall off, the shouts and yells. Chills ran down Shizue's spine as she searched, desperately. Not too high. Being high up might protect them for a short time from enemy Genin, but ultimately, time wasn't on their side. The more time a fight took, the more likely reinforcements from one or both sides would come. It needed to be over fast, and so Shizue searched until she a shed on a very small patch of dirt that no doubt someone called their yard. She gestured, and Rika nodded as they hid just behind it. They'd have a view of the road at least, that was for sure.

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...Until she a shed?

Waiting. Watching. And when the time came, attacking with all they had. Shizue understood the principle. Depending on their foe, ambush might be the only chance to kill them before it bogged down into a battle that she and her friends couldn't win. When two Genin darted past, apparently not seeing out of the ordinary, the four of them struck.

There was time for only a few details. Both male, one short and muscular, the other with a thick pouch of kunai. Close combat and ranged, probably. All the detail needed. They'd planned for this: pick one target and kill them. Rika threw a spread of shuriken, leaping out of cover. They dodged in a shocked bout of instinct, but it's just the start, and Genta had an extra moment: his aim was far better, as was Stinger's, as it shot another kunai.

Two meaty thunks, two hits. Arm and belly. The first enemy genin gave a shout, poison coursing through him, as Okiie slammed a Water Shuriken into him, sending him stumbling back, bleeding heavily, but finally able to return the attack, throwing a kunai in a practiced motion. It buried itself in Rika's arm as Okiie reacted immediately, and flashed through the handseals for a Breakthrough.

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Dammit Rika, Stinger's the tank, not you!

A simple plan, knock them down, finish them off. The second Genin could have dodged, but instead he leapt for his teammate, sweeping both of them up. He crouched, prepared to just, just as the gust slammed into them. He tumbled, losing his grip on the first genin as they crashed into the ground, the first genin clamming against a sign post before he finally stopped.

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This gave me some weird mental images

Shizue's fingers danced as she prepares to send Stinger forward, but Rika acted faster, wrenching the kunai from her arm and leaping down at the second genin, slashing, trying to keep them off balance. Her slashes don't do much, but the other genin is forced to desperately parry blows, the silence of the street broken with the grunts and shouts of combat. Even in that desperate moment, he was protecting his comrade, Shizue realized, by trying to draw attacks.

Then let him, Shizue decided. Her heart was pounding, but her fingers were steady, and Stinger crossed the distance, stabbing and slashing, faster than it ever was before. A few hits get through the other genin's solid defense, but none of them sounded like they were fatal, for all that Shizue couldn't see much. But she could see how he rolled out of the way of yet another of Stinger's blows and rose, bitter smile on his face, to run through a few familiar handseals.

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Good teamwork on their part...which would have worked better if we actually had normal team numbers.

His own Breakthrough, powerful enough that Shizue could feel the distance even from a distance, slammed and cut into Rika, Genta, and Okiie, who hurled against the side of the house where Shizue sound with a miserable thud. Stinger still stood, his design and Shizue's protection keeping him steady, but even Shizue was off balance, shocked, and the first enemy genin took advantage of the moment of disorientation to attack Rika, slash after slash just barely held off. She's hurt, but she's fighting back with more skill than expected, and the enemy genin is just distracted enough that Okiie's desperate charge, kunai and hand, forces him to retreat, break from the attack rather than risk being caught unawares.

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Ow.
Stinger-sama is stronger than their wind!

In the dark, Genin scuffle, and Shizue decided not to have Stinger join the fray. Rika, Okiie, and Genta at a distance...what they're forgetting is the second genin. Instead, Stinger darts forward, as fast as it can, interrupting handseals with a quick slash that forces them to defend themselves, knife to knife. Surprisingly, they hold, with only a few blows making it through, but they could only hold out so long, as long as Shizue could force them to fight close up, with no room for jutsu.

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Pity that didn't connect.

With a shout, the first Genin collapsed, bleeding heavily, moaning and shifting, scrabbling for a kunai. Rika kicked it away and then stepped on his hand, eyes hard, sandal grinding in, as Genta darted forward, triumph in his face. And then shock. Shizue followed his gaze, as the second Genin let out a laugh of relief.

Three new arrivals were barreling down the street. They wore Island forehead protectors, and looked about as old as Shizue. The other thing that was obvious was that they were family. Same eyes, same hairstyle, even the girl, and same weapon. A pair of Kamas, the mark of some Island clan or another.*

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A team huh.

Double Kama is a crap weapon against a puppet at least, but that shit is vicious to flesh,

 

[Arkatekt]

This is extremely anomalous. What kind of Special Jounin can outright disrespect a full Jounin?

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Zenzo is a Special Jounin.

Shizue totally should have talked about her date

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They haven't had it yet...

 

[veekie]

Zenzo is a Special Jounin.


They haven't had it yet...

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Ah, okay, durr, still paranoid, but not that paranoid anymore.

 

[Bakkasama]

Well, there were a lot of things to comment in this update.

Spoiler: Reaction

Zenzo stormed in carrying a large scroll and looking as if he had sprinted the whole way there. "I was in the shed, and what is going on here?"

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Oh, there he is. I was beginning to wonder where he was (no, actually, I've been since last update). It is a little worrying that he has to ask, it implies that things are obviously off script.

It had been a half dozen minutes, and everything was as it had been before. Yumiko was sitting at a desk, and when she saw Zenzo she rose and sneered, "What is it, Zenzo? Shouldn't you be coordinating things with your civvie docs?"

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I wonder why does she feel the need of sneering. There are several reasons it could be. Maybe she thinks he will challenge her authority. Maybe she is looking down on him because he will not be fighting. Maybe it is because he would work with civvie docs, implying they need them. Maybe she thinks he is the traitor. Maye she is just a jerk. Maybe she is angry because he is not where he is supposed to be. Maybe it is just pre battle nerves or he did something to anger her before or she just doesn't like him.

It could be so many things...

"I have done so, but I had asked you to help set up the beds and basic supplies for the field hospital. Instead it's a dump! If the attack came within the next hour or two, we wouldn't have anything set up at all."

"It won't come in two hours, and I had better things to do than haul around a bunch of boxes and beds into place," Yumiko said, "Orders have come down from on high."

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It seems Rika's father had a point about ninjas and carrying boxes not mixing up well. She could have conscripted civvies so that they set it up instead (even if they probably wouldn't do so propperly though I doubt she would consider that if she instead chose not to set it) but maybe she did it as a petty shot towards Zenzo. I would suggest that she maybe thinks he is the traitor and did this to keep him as far from the operation as possible but that would be giving her too much credit.

"You could have just ordered one of the Genin…" Zenzo paused. He looked at her for a long moment and asked, "What orders?"

"We're going to be the jaws of a trap, lure them in. Was just about to send people scurrying to get the civvie ships out of harbor. When the time comes, we're gonna get them stuck in here, mines planted behind them, and just slaughter them."

"Whose orders?" Zenzo asked, though from the way he was biting his lip, he had seen the same thing Shizue had. If there was a traitor, these orders could be fake, or they could be real but the enemy knew all about them. This could be a mess.

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Or she could have sent the genin.

I will admit, it hadn't occurred to me that the orders might be false. It would tip their hand about the traitor but the heavy blow might be worth it. On the other hand, Yaramachi is right there. If orders came to put Yumiko in charge and he thinks they are real, that would be a severe blow to him.

"Council in general. Has their seal on it and everything."

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Or not. I mean, things would have to be really messed up if Yaramachi was excluded from the meeting. Though if this is a trap, we might want to learn who thought of this.

Speaking of messed up, Zenzo came with the last batch of fighters, is a special jounin and neither the council or his fellow officers informed him about the change of plans. They have to know there is a traitor by now so it makes sense to keep plans in a need to know basis, specially the last minute changes but if they distrust the guy we are using to investigate... it is bad for us regardless of them being right or wrong about him.

"What level of encryption?"

Yumiko snorted, "Didn't have time for encryption, so they just sent it as is. Came with Yaramachi-san over there."

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Well, at least that pretty much settles that the orders are real. On the other hand, it is worrysome that they did it like that. Seal implies writen orders but if they sent it with a jounin that was unneeded. Anyone could have seen the message so we can't even narrow it down by who knew about the change of plans. This does ensure they can't pin all the blame on Yaramachi if the operation fails (unless it is his part of the operation) by accusing him of changing their orders on a whim.

"No encryption," Zenzo said. He seemed beyond speech, as he just wildly gestured for a moment before groaning and glancing around the room. When his eyes lighted on Shizue, he finally said, "You! And...you and you," he pointed to Genta and Rika, "Come with me. I need your help setting up the field hospital."

He swept out of the room, so fast that by the time Shizue could react, he was gone.

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He certainly seems like he is not the traitor. For someone who is practically in charge of making the codes the village uses this must be particularly baffling. I mean, what is the point of making the codes if they don't use them?

"I didn't know…" Genta said, quietly, looking around the shed. Dozens of beds, not assembled, had been dumped around, there are boxes and crates full of supplies unopened, and the whole place looks as if it had been abandoned for months, rather than just recently deposited. "This is bad, isn't it?"

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They didn't even begin setting it. Considering that one of their leaders is a medic nin and that she is respected because of all the lives she saved, I certainly hope Zenzo brings this up to her. There has to be a limit to how petty a special jounin can be.

"Yes," Zenzo said, "All of this is rotten. I'm going to need your help if we're going to salvage this. We have to assume this is going to go very wrong, but we need to do triage. Just," and here he took a breath, "One thing at a time. First off, we need to get this field hospital set up, because provided everyone's not dead, we're going to be drowning in wounded. Rika, you are to tell your father that any men he designates high value are to have secondary priority, so he should get together a list. People of tertiary value will be treated only after all primary and secondary subjects are. The civilian doctors will have to tend to them. You three, and Okiie as well, are to...well, it'd be best if you kept out of the first line, you know?"

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I like this guy. He is allright for a self medicated bipolar who doesn't give a shit about civilian casualties. He is also hitting all the buttons to make me less suspicious with him and anyone who increases our chances of surviving is ok in my book. The situation is shit and it is too late to change it without revealing the investigation and causing even more confusión so he is trying to minimize how bad it is.

"I was going to suggest," Shizue said quietly, "That we deploy near Rika's father, a little way's back, so we can interfere then."

"If there IS an attack," Genta said, "They could win just by attacking the ships and ambushing Yaramachi if he's drawn out."

"And there'd be little we could do about it," Rika pointed out, frowning, eyes darting around as if there was a solution here.

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The best thing they can do now is coming out of this alive. That should be the priority.

"We'll find a way, but I need to keep on the watch. I can't give any orders," Zenzo said, unrolling the scroll and cutting his thumb before smearing the blood all over it. IVs appeared, sitting on the scroll, and then boxes of pills, sealing tags, medical equipment, more and more of it filling the room. "But for now…"

The three genin hurried to try to get the room ready on time, and that meant hours of tiring, annoying work. Yet at the end of it, a functioning field hospital had been set up, and luckily the attack had not come yet. The lights were now on, the beds prepped, and Zenzo stood there examining all of it.

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I will assume that the pills and seals were the reasons they just didn't use civilians to set it up before and they needed ninja.

"Thank you for the work, kids. You should get going. How about that idea Shizue had had. I order you to follow that, feel free to take your other friend as well," Zenzo said, still looking around the room, "If we survive this, we will have a lot more data on how the traitor operates, and what sabotage they can bring upon us."

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I would be suspiscious about him ordering us to be somewhere specific but it was our idea. Yeah, we are almost ready to put him on the "low on the suspect list" category if only because of how helpful he's been.

"No," Rika's dad said sternly, staying in the door, "I won't allow you to use my house as a base."

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When I first read this, I assumed we had a bad roll and thought "Well, shit".

Rika stared at him, and after a moment his mustache twitched and, with a slight smile, he said, "My neighbor, on the other hand... my mansion is likely to be a target, second after the ships that are still clearing out, but still a target. My neighbor *will* agree to host you." He stretched out his arms, bending down, to give Rika a brief hug, "I didn't expect to see you again so soon...may we meet again before too long."

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Am I a bad person if the first thing that came to my head was that we should have found a way to bring explosives? It is just, it is a mansión and it is not ours or of someone we know and you know you could lure someone in either by the prospect of fighting or of loot.

Which was how they wound up drinking tea in a lovely living room while glancing out the windows every five minutes for the attack to come. There was only a single maid- the owner of the house (whose tastes apparently ran to the extravagant) seemed to have left. Apparently he has a small bunker out near some more internal farms, which was no doubt part of the reason why he'd left only a few servants to watch the place. And why most of those had run off, leaving only a single employee that Rika's father had to bully into letting them stay there.

So the four Genin had their own personal servant, who prepared a very small meal for them, and plenty of tea, and no doubt if they'd asked for sake she would have brought it out too. She didn't seem the sort who was foolish enough to argue with ninja, it wasn't how one got ahead in life.

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Yet another remainder of the difference in status. I asume it would have been a similar situation if the owner had not fled.

They couldn't see the harbor, but they could see the lights, and all of them had heard the plan. When the attack came, the lights would be turned off--there was even more reason now, when surprise was needed. For an hour, and then two, the lights stayed on, illuminating the night which slowly drifted into the early morning.

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"Allright people! We will attack at dawn!"
"Um, sir, we are ninjas. Wouldn't it be better if"
"AT DAWN! No more sneaky stuff. Go there and die!"
"YES, SIR!"

At first, Shizue and her friends tried to talk about the situation, and yet soon they would find that there was a point of exhaustion. All they had was speculation, and they didn't want to air too much of said speculation in front of a woman who might blab it to the wrong person. And even what they did know couldn't be advanced much.

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Until they think or discover something new there is no point in arguing about the conspiracy. By this point they must wait and see what happens.

The whole plan looked fishy, and yet they couldn't just bail on it, couldn't just run.

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Yes, Reef doesn't take kindly to runners. Remember the bitch fit Yumiko threw when mum died? because of that they might be harder on Shizue which would make things difficult regardless of who wins the war.

They were just Genin, and the traitor could easily be sending everyone there to their deaths. Shizue even briefly contemplated the possibility that the traitor had somehow caught on and would target Shizue and the others. And if it was Zenzo, they'd always been dead, and this morning would merely be when they learned about it, here on a battlefield where their deaths would be very easy to explain.

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Oh yeah, they also have a moral obligation to fight because it is their duty and could help avoid the lost of lifes of other Reef ninjas. I forgot.

It wasn't that long before they talked about minor matters, but Genta seemed closemouthed about his training, except that he was enjoying it, and Rika didn't want to talk about her father. Shizue didn't want to talk about her date with Okiie, and there was only so long Okiie could try to make jokes and quiz Genta on whether he'd found his elemental affinity or what it might be before even he ran out of anything to say.

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Shizue and Rika avoided death flags there.

Also, Genta, the hell are you up to now? You already tried not telling your friends stuff, it didn't work that well.

In place of words, there was only silence, and nervous snippets of conversation were cut off for lack of anything to say.

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They should have brought cards. Or asked the maid for some.

Yet it wasn't any sort of relief when the lights coming from the harbor flickered off. From that far off, all that could be done is listen, and wait. In the inky darkness, they would all have had to be far closer to see much. So they listened instead. Shouts, screams, but the sounds didn't get closer, not in the way they all hoped they wouldn't.

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Damn that last sentence. Lets see, they all hoped that the shouts would not get closer but that didn't happen. Instead, the sounds didn't get closer in a different way?

Shizue hoped she was understanding the sounds right, because what it sounded like was the roar of engines just below the sound of the siren, then crashes, shouts, fighting.

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She hoped that was what was happening because it would indicate that an attack did indeed happen and they didn't focus all their forces on the ships or Yaramachi, right? I have to wonder what those engines are though.

She wondered what Island would do when it saw that most of the ships were gone. Turning around could have been an option, but if they were still fighting the ninja near the front, that would mean that they were stuck.

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And then, when they retreat, BOOM! I will asume this was too high profile for the second spy to pass that much information. But, if what they want is not Island's victory but to prolong the war they might have wanted for Reef to win here to even out the numbers.

A minute passed, then two, and then there was a flicker of light. A fire jutsu, or maybe lightning. Then the shouts grew closer. If they were going to move it had to be now, and, gathering their effects in a moment, they went out the door.

For all that they had decided little enough, they had a plan of action. They'd find a place to wait, and then ambush their foes if possible. The element of surprise could come in handy, and with Rika's knowledge of the town and Shizue's skill at hiding, hopefully they could remain unseen long enough to strike.

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And kill the enemy as fast as they can to move on to the next ambush site. I like.

Outside, in the darkness, the streets were chaos. As they moved closer towards the harbor, the screams could be heard from fall off, the shouts and yells. Chills ran down Shizue's spine as she searched, desperately. Not too high. Being high up might protect them for a short time from enemy Genin, but ultimately, time wasn't on their side. The more time a fight took, the more likely reinforcements from one or both sides would come. It needed to be over fast, and so Shizue searched until she a shed on a very small patch of dirt that no doubt someone called their yard. She gestured, and Rika nodded as they hid just behind it. They'd have a view of the road at least, that was for sure.

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We don't see nough urban warfare in Naruto fandom and when we do it is always war-war in which they don't care about colateral damage or being discovered instead of the sneaky stuff.

On a completely unrelated note, for some reason this segment mae me think of Fallout 3. I am not entirely sure why since that is not the kind of strategy I use on it.

Waiting. Watching. And when the time came, attacking with all they had. Shizue understood the principle. Depending on their foe, ambush might be the only chance to kill them before it bogged down into a battle that she and her friends couldn't win. When two Genin darted past, apparently not seeing out of the ordinary, the four of them struck.

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Surprise and numerical advntage should make this fight easy enough.

There was time for only a few details. Both male, one short and muscular, the other with a thick pouch of kunai. Close combat and ranged, probably. All the detail needed. They'd planned for this: pick one target and kill them

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Two things to point out. The first is the I aprove of the tactic, killing one of them immidiately would make this fight so much easier.

The second and perhaps more important thing is that they are not wounded. They reach this far without fighting someone else. Is the first line spreaded too thinz or were they already defeated and they fell back? Or maybe we are closer to the battle than we expected.

Rika threw a spread of shuriken, leaping out of cover. They dodged in a shocked bout of instinct, but it's just the start, and Genta had an extra moment: his aim was far better, as was Stinger's, as it shot another kunai.

Two meaty thunks, two hits. Arm and belly. The first enemy genin gave a shout, poison coursing through him

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Is anyone willing to bet on who hit the arm and who hit the belly? Mine is the belly wound being Stinger's.

as Okiie slammed a Water Shuriken into him, sending him stumbling back, bleeding heavily, but finally able to return the attack, throwing a kunai in a practiced motion. It buried itself in Rika's arm as Okiie reacted immediately, and flashed through the handseals for a Breakthrough.

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Rika is wounded. Again.

Okiie is performing rather well. Two jutsus in quick sucession, faster than I expected. Shame they are not quite that lethal yet.

A simple plan, knock them down, finish them off. The second Genin could have dodged, but instead he leapt for his teammate, sweeping both of them up. He crouched, prepared to just, just as the gust slammed into them. He tumbled, losing his grip on the first genin as they crashed into the ground, the first genin clamming against a sign post before he finally stopped.

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That was unexpected. Also some thing worth respecting. Well done number 2!

Shizue's fingers danced as she prepares to send Stinger forward, but Rika acted faster, wrenching the kunai from her arm and leaping down at the second genin, slashing, trying to keep them off balance. Her slashes don't do much, but the other genin is forced to desperately parry blows, the silence of the street broken with the grunts and shouts of combat. Even in that desperate moment, he was protecting his comrade, Shizue realized, by trying to draw attacks

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You slipped into using present tense here and then did it again later.

I imagine the scene with Rika wrenching the kunai free and then attacking with the very same kunai which does make her look very good. She is a spitfire that one but I think her willingness to act through the pain here and in other fights is a little worrying. What drives her? Is it patriotic pride, protecting her friends or does she feel the need to prove something because of her background? Also, I can really respect this enemy genin here. It makes it seem like we are the bad guys in an anime.

Then let him, Shizue decided. Her heart was pounding, but her fingers were steady, and Stinger crossed the distance, stabbing and slashing, faster than it ever was before. A few hits get through the other genin's solid defense, but none of them sounded like they were fatal, for all that Shizue couldn't see much. But she could see how he rolled out of the way of yet another of Stinger's blows and rose, bitter smile on his face, to run through a few familiar handseals.

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A bitter smile because his plan worked but that means he is in trouble. Did Shizue play alone out of respect for the plan, because while his companion is down he wouldn't escape, because he is the biggest threat, because he is fighting Rika or because the other one is not that big of an issue right now? I like to think it is not the first one.

His own Breakthrough, powerful enough that Shizue could feel the distance even from a distance, slammed and cut into Rika, Genta, and Okiie, who hurled against the side of the house where Shizue sound with a miserable thud. Stinger still stood, his design and Shizue's protection keeping him steady, but even Shizue was off balance, shocked

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That is some serious firepower there. It would need to level Breakthrough quite a bit. Wait, was his retreat so that he could position himself to hit us all with his jutsu? That is kind of impressive for a genin.

and the first enemy genin took advantage of the moment of disorientation to attack Rika, slash after slash just barely held off. She's hurt, but she's fighting back with more skill than expected, and the enemy genin is just distracted enough that Okiie's desperate charge, kunai and hand, forces him to retreat, break from the attack rather than risk being caught unawares.

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You slipped back into present tense here.

Should we asume that Okiie went into melee because he didn't want to risk hitting Rika with his jutsu? Well, even if melee is not his best skill Okiie did his job since few genin would like to fight 2 on 1 in close quarters. Though really, it seems like Rika is our only good melee fighter if we don't count Stinger. It seems her practice paid off by her surviving that onslaught.

Which reminds me, we still need countermeasures in case someone gets into melee range with us.

In the dark, Genin scuffle, and Shizue decided not to have Stinger join the fray. Rika, Okiie, and Genta at a distance...what they're forgetting is the second genin. Instead, Stinger darts forward, as fast as it can, interrupting handseals with a quick slash that forces them to defend themselves, knife to knife. Surprisingly, they hold, with only a few blows making it through, but they could only hold out so long, as long as Shizue could force them to fight close up, with no room for jutsu

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Present tense again. Also, maybe it should be he and him instead of they and them since she is fighting one genin.

Good thinking on Shizue's part. Finish off the second one fast so that they don't havee to worry about him.

With a shout, the first Genin collapsed, bleeding heavily, moaning and shifting, scrabbling for a kunai. Rika kicked it away and then stepped on his hand, eyes hard, sandal grinding in, as Genta darted forward, triumph in his face. And then shock. Shizue followed his gaze, as the second Genin let out a laugh of relief.

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Genta, please don't tell me you just stopped your attack in surprise...

Three new arrivals were barreling down the street. They wore Island forehead protectors, and looked about as old as Shizue. The other thing that was obvious was that they were family. Same eyes, same hairstyle, even the girl, and same weapon. A pair of Kamas, the mark of some Island clan or another.*

Click to shrink...

So, Kamas.. A close combat weapon which can be used toparry, block and is a good complement with hand to hand.. It can also be combined with other weapons. Also, most of the taijutsu fighting styles that use mostly punches can be easily adapted to them.

I am calling it now, they have a jutsu that allows them to throw it and make it return to them. Also, at some point one of us has to call them upstart farmers.

Should we be worried this is yet another team that has not seen any fighting yet? I am also getting flashbacks about our fight with the kid of the twin tomahawks.

"Hiroto-san," one of the boys shouts, "Are you okay?"

Hiroto leaped backwards away from Stinger. "I am now, Minato-kun. Ding ding, round two," he said, his voice bitter as he surveyed the four of them, "Kill the fuckers who hurt Ryota-san."

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Yay, names! No more confusing first/second genin stuff. Now they are Hiroto, Ryota, Minato, the girl and the other boy.

So, now here's a pickle. It's currently four on four. Hiroto is currently moderately injured, about as badly injured as Rika. Everyone else here is either at full health (the three Clansman, Shizue) or at least higher than that (our other heroes). What does Shizue do? Choose one.

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Ryota is out then? What is his status?

The situation... in one hand there are three new fighters. On the other, Hiroto has proven he has strong jutsu. Though since the other three are likely close quarter fighters, Stinger might get them like he did the academy student... or h could be butchered like the chunin did to it.

By the way, @The Laurent how well is Shizue hidden? How effective is cloak of invisivility? Would it be better to actívate it if it isn't active or th consumption rate and time limits don't make it worth it?

[] Fight.
-[] Time to use Dizzy Spell, give everyone on her team a leg up.

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Debuff build is obvious.

-[] Go after the fresh enemy Genin, try to force them to engage with the creepy puppet.

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And keep away the melee specialist from the companions who are either hurt or no good at close combat.

-[] TARGET ACQUIRED. IDENTITY: "Hirota-san". GOAL: E L I M I N A T E

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Petty and amusing but he is a known quantity. I would like to think our Friends can finish him.

[] Run.

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Yeah, no. The new arrivals have likely trained their speed.

-[] Have Rika drop a smokescreen before they hightail it, or try to.

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It wouldn't last much with Hiroto still on the game.

--[] North, back towards Rika's father's house. On the other hand, it could lure them into attacking the very people Shizue wants to protect, and there could be a chance of running into enemies, but at least it's away from the main fighting, right?

Click to shrink...

As it was said, we don't want to bring the fight there. If we didn't care we woud have waited in the base.

--[] South, back towards the harbor. This would mean potentially going right back towards the worst fighting, but it could also mean linking back up with allies. And the red, just on the horizon...is that fire?

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We are unlikely to run into allies since they clearly didn't.

Wait a second. We are not that far off the harbor for that fire to be the port if it is in the horizon... those are the ships, aren't they? We just lost part of the ships.

-[] Finish off the downed enemy Genin first...if left there he might live to fight another day.

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RUTHLESS and also quite right. I want to think he would be finished too if we choose fighting?

*) If you took Provincial, I'd give an infodump on the history of the clan. But, alas.

Click to shrink...

Pariah strikes again!

 

[The Laurent]

Sorry for the present-tense slips, I'll fix them later today/tonight.

 

[veekie]

Two things to point out. The first is the I aprove of the tactic, killing one of them immidiately would make this fight so much easier.

The second and perhaps more important thing is that they are not wounded. They reach this far without fighting someone else. Is the first line spreaded too thinz or were they already defeated and they fell back? Or maybe we are closer to the battle than we expected.

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Should we be worried this is yet another team that has not seen any fighting yet?

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Pretty obvious. Put all their effort on the ships, give zero consideration for protecting key civilians is why we chose to defend the civilians here. Our leadership only see the boats, without thinking about the people who operate those boats

RUTHLESS and also quite right. I want to think he would be finished too if we choose fighting?

Click to shrink...

Actually, quite wrong.

We kill him, if any of these guys survive we're going up on the Island mission board.

 

[Bakkasama]

Actually, now that I think about it, you are right, we shouldn't kill it. Not because of the whole missión board thing but because it is something Reef would encourage and I am pretty sure we need to change the way the villages think if we want to deal with the mastermind behind this.

 

[The Laurent]

Vote closes tonight, so get your votes/analysis/whatever else in.

 

[The Laurent]

Incidentally, the fate of the entire Quest hinges on the next few dice rolls.

 

[The Laurent]

ohmygod, ohmygod.

 

[Oh I am slain!]

ohmygod, ohmygod.

Click to shrink...

...

Dunks are celebratory for the heroes, right? ...right?

*crosses fingers*
*makes several shadow clones so each can cross fingers too*

Edit: Apparently it's an Undertale reference? Or not. I have no clue.

 

[Kairos123]

Incidentally, the fate of the entire Quest hinges on the next few dice rolls.

Click to shrink...

ohmygod, ohmygod.

Click to shrink...

I don't think this is the end. Shizue has some solid DETERMINATION. And no path traveled with sufficient DETERMINATION ends badly. Ever.

Sans says otherwise...

 

[The Laurent]

Okay, I have officially finished with the rolling for the fight. Tomorrow, I will begin to write...

...7 pages of rolls.

 

[ReaperofInterest]

Okay, I have officially finished with the rolling for the fight. Tomorrow, I will begin to write...

...7 pages of rolls.

Click to shrink...

Yipe. Well...at least it will be full of epic! That's a nice consolation, right?

 

[Bommelom]

ohmygod, ohmygod.

Click to shrink...

Okay, I have officially finished with the rolling for the fight. Tomorrow, I will begin to write...

...7 pages of rolls.

Click to shrink...

Just finished reading this quest up until now and then I saw this. NowI'mjusthopingeveryonedoesn'tdie.

 

[The Laurent]

Just finished reading this quest up until now and then I saw this. NowI'mjusthopingeveryonedoesn'tdie.

Click to shrink...

Well, I just died in a dream of mine. Do I count? Still alive, though.

Shot by some crazed wacko. Rather anticlimatic, I'd hoped I'd convinced them not to do it by my youth and how bad it'd look, so he was like 'Oh, okay' and then he walked around the corner. Then he popped out behind it, you know, like 'NOT!' and started firing.

There were puffs of smoke or something, and stuff, then I died. Also there was a cult leader and my mother also on the couch. We'd just finished eating burgers.

 

[Bommelom]

That just proves dreams don't make sense, damnit (that, and that other people apparently die in dreams that don't seem to be nightmares. Bah).

 

[The Laurent]

That just proves dreams don't make sense, damnit (that, and that other people apparently die in dreams that don't seem to be nightmares. Bah).

Click to shrink...

I did wake up cursing. And the cult leader was some weirdo. Earlier, like in another dream, when I'd tried to put ketchup on the burger he'd...I dunno, flipped out. But this time since we were going to die, he was like, "Don't...ah, nevermind."

I did wake up swearing, though.

 

[Bommelom]

That sounds more hilarious than scary.

 

[The Laurent]

You know, this update might be shorter than expected.

 

[veekie]

You know, this update might be shorter than expected.

Click to shrink...

As long as it doesn't wind up shorter by dint of "your friend is now a head shorter"

 

[Oh I am slain!]

Well, I just died in a dream of mine. Do I count? Still alive, though.

Shot by some crazed wacko. Rather anticlimatic, I'd hoped I'd convinced them not to do it by my youth and how bad it'd look, so he was like 'Oh, okay' and then he walked around the corner. Then he popped out behind it, you know, like 'NOT!' and started firing.

There were puffs of smoke or something, and stuff, then I died. Also there was a cult leader and my mother also on the couch. We'd just finished eating burgers.

Click to shrink...

The Laurent, I'm sorry to inform you that you are THE CHOSEN ONE. The prophetic dreams have begun. Beware the hamburger, and shun the cerise ketchup. You know not the affairs you have stumbled upon. Beware...

 

[The Laurent]

Act 1, Scene 17: Across the Archipelago! The Bloody Choice!


The battle started anew, as Hiroto leapt away from Stinger, towards his comrades, before she could act. Two mist copies condensed out of thin air, either side of him, as Shizue tried to figure out what to do. That's when the Island clan shinobi used a combination jutsu. The girl and the more muscular of the boys ran through fumbling hand seals, and a jet of water shot through the air right at Genta, helped along by the forceful winds of another Breakthrough. He barely dodged the water jutsu, but he, Okiie and Rika were sent stumbling back by the wind, away from Ryota on the ground.

"Oh yeah?" Okiie shouted, and a second later a pair of water shuriken hit the girl before Rika's kunai scored a crimson line across her arm.

But Shizue was focused on her puppet, as its bells began to ring. The third clan kid groaned at the sound but it didn't stop him from forming a single hand seal, summoning a phalanx of clones.

It was only then that the battle exploded into chaos, the more muscular boy running at Genta, who ran through seals that seemed to do nothing, yet he dodged a blow that was impossibly poorly aimed. Okiie dodged a wind jutsu, and responded with more water shuriken, as Rika moved to attack...

Shizue observed from a distance, able to pull the battle apart: Okay, Shizue thought, Now I just need to...

Then, with a tugging feeling, she was standing in the middle of the fight, looking up at Hiroto, grinning at her. Not bothering to curse, Shizue drove Stinger forward, stabbing the female clanner, heart racing. She was in the thick, she was vulnerable. The fires seemed closer, as did the first promises of morning on the horizon.

Nine figures, all of the boy who'd been hanging back, ran at her, kamas in hand. Shizue had no choice but to release her chakra strings and draw kunai. No time or room to bring Stinger back, nothing to do but try to survive.

[Opening Credits]

The one on the left was moving just a bit too fast, that was the real one, Shizue decided as she sprang forward and dodged a blow, stabbing again and again. It was odd, this close to the violence: she could smell the blood, feel the resistance to her blade. So close and so visceral, as she lost all perspective on the battle. She barely dodged another blow, and then the girl came at her, stumbling and poisoned, kamas whirling. Shizue leapt forward, pressing her back. Stab, dodge, as Yuki tried to tackle Shizue, force her to the ground where she'd be vulnerable. They struggled and grappled. If she was down on the ground, she'd be vulnerable and she'd die. The world retreated, she heard from far off a voice shout "Yuki!", but she'd lost track of everything, lost in the dance until Yuki, her enemy, finally made a wrong move, and was struck down. She didn't get up. But, Shizue realized, she'd lost track of Minato.

She heard Rika shout, and Shizue turned, shakily, just as a kama blow smashed against her back, sending her stumbling, trying to slash only for the second kama to come down right on her arm. With a yelp, she dropped the bloody kunai. Shizue stumbled, baffled, as Rika leapt into the fray to protect her, pushing the enemy genin aside, but suffering a hard blow to the shoulder in return.

It was only then she heard the panting. Turning to look, she saw Genta standing, blood running down his arms, over a prone Hiroto. Okiie was nearby, forming more handseals with tired fingers. Briefly, she realized they were somehow winning. It didn't feel like it, but the fight was now four on two.

The clan kid who'd been roughing up Rika and Shizue took one look at the situation before he turned and ran, fumbling for a signal flare. In a single motion he charged it with chakra, and there was a loud screech as it shot in the air, briefly illuminating the early predawn gloom. That flare meant any nearby Island ninja would know to come and help. Shizue couldn't breath. After everything they'd done so far--

"We need to finish them--" Genta yelled, jolting her from panic, pausing only to run through several hand seals before throwing a kunai at the shinobi that had just fired off the flare. It wasn't a bad throw, though neither was it great, but the other shinobi dodged into it, giving a scream of frustration. "Their reinforcements will come--"

Shizue pushed out chakra strings, connecting back up with Stinger, but before she could even begin to move the puppet, a tall man in a chunin flak vest and Island forehand protector leapt out from behind a building, landing crouched before springing forward, crossing the distance in a blink, "Get away from them, you-!"

Shizue froze, as from the other side the stronger of the two surviving genin also sprinted in their direction. No. Not in their direction. They were both aiming for her. Her hands were shaking, her whole body felt heavy, and there was nothing she could do.

Lightning crackled and flowed across the skin of the chunin as he ran, fists clenched. Okiie tried to put himself in front of the attack, but surely he'd be pushed right--

A punch and then a kick slammed into Okiie with the crack of breaking bones, and yet Okiie stood there, took the blows. And gave a laugh as he finished forming seals. At point blank range there was no way the chunin could dodge, and two water shuriken hit him squarely in the face, sending him stumbling back.

Okiie stood there, unmoving as if frozen. "Do not--" he choked out, "Hurt--"

On the other side, Rika stumbled back, having taken a blow meant for Shizue, and blew smoke out of her mouth as Genta yelled, "Shizue-- Stinger!"

Startled back into action, she drove Stinger forward, slashing and stabbing half-blind as Genta made two clones. All three darted into the smoke. The clones were third-rate, they shouldn't have fooled anybody, yet the enemy genin swept one of his kama through one, dispersing it. Before the enemy could recover, Genta stabbed him in the chest. With a gurgle he collapsed, coughing up blood.

"But...But… then," Genta said, barely able to breath, eyes glowing bright, but with the largest grin Shizue had ever seen, "Our own… reinforce--"

"Do not go one step further!" Zenzo cried, from down the road, as he ran towards the scene. He was wearing bloody scrubs and holding a scalpel as if it were a kunai, but Shizue couldn't judge, not when he had come to save them.

[Commercial Break]


Three kunai was all that was needed to drop the final Genin. The four of them were exhausted, but they knew what would happen if one of them got away- they'd seen it played out in their own village when the fish girl killed Senzo. So they'd attacked with all of their might, now a sideshow to a fight that was well beyond their ability to interfere with.

It wasn't that the battle was impossibly high level. Neither of them seemed beyond chunin level, but that had been enough to nearly kill the four of them not that long ago. Both had a level of speed and precision that the Genin couldn't match. The enemy chunin sprinted forward, feinting towards Shizue, and Zenzo took the bait, replacing with him, only to barely dodge a lightning enhanced punch. The dance continued, desperate and fast, ranging across the quiet street, as in the distance, smoke was rising.

The fighters moved around the bodies of the fallen almost gingerly. "Give up! You've lost, your Jonin are dead--" Zenzo called.

"Liar! Trickster! Murderer," the chunin screamed. A snap kick sent Zenzo stumbling back.

"You must have gotten," Zenzo panted, slashing down to ward another blow off, "Bad information."

The chunin groaned, "Fuck you, you tricky--"

Which is when Genta tapped Shizue on the shoulder, "Shizue, I think--" His eyes were glowing even more brightly than before. "I think the traitor… gave them bad information." Shizue's eyes went wide. "Just, just saying that now in case I forget--" he began to form hand seals, "I'm so tired." More seals. Just how big of a jutsu was he preparing? His eyes glowed brighter and brighter, until all at once they flared as he formed the last seal.

Shizue didn't see anything. But what she did see was the way the enemy chunin ducked to the left as if dodging an attack that wasn't there. It was a moment's weakness, but with a slick sound, Zenzo slit the distracted Chunin's throat. The chunin whispered something hoarse, something Shizue couldn't make out, and then collapsed.

Leaving five Reef shinobi triumphant, for the moment at least. Shizue was pretty sure something in her was broken, and though her chakra reserves weren't bad, her whole body ached, and she felt dizzy. Blood was caked all over her. Rika, next to her, could barely stand, and probably had a few broken bones herself. Genta was battered and bruised, but more importantly, the red light had gone from his eyes, and now his own regular, deep red eyes were staring dazedly. He sank to his knees.

"And that's all of my chakra, folks," he muttered, and collapsed.

Okiie was sitting down, dazed, clutching his head.

Zenzo looked exhausted, yet compared to any of them, he was the one most capable of acting. He stepped forward and said, "I'm glad you survived. You must have done very well. Come with me, I think this fight is over for you. And this battle might yet be a victory. We just need to do a little triage."

He drew a kunai. "I won't steal your credit. Internally, you'll get credit for beating the enemies...but I shall kill them."

"N-no," Rika muttered, "Some of them could still--"

"Triage. We care for those who matter," Zenzo muttered, "We barely have the resources to heal our own, and where would we imprison them?" He took a step forward. "They were trying to kill you. This is war," he said, his voice getting a little harsher, dismissive. "You're an excellent shinobi, which means stand aside, Rika-san."

Rika had stood up and shakily moved in front of Hiroto, the genin closest to Zenzo. "I...I know you can push me aside. I know you will. But, but I still have to try, people can be saved and, and..."

Oh, well, what do you do?

[] Move Rika out of the way yourself.
[] Do nothing, just wait for Zenzo to deal with it.
[] Say something?
-[] What?
[] Stand with Rika.
[] Write-in.

*****

*) Fuinjutsu, what would you do without it?

A/N: So yeah, Shizue missed a lot of the fight because she was a little too busy. Plus you can't see Genta's desperate genjutsu, so the fight is a bit circumscribed. On the other hand, everyone was various degrees of awesome. Genta bagged two foes (with help), Rika and Okiie both saved Shizue's life/and-or kept her from being knocked out, Okiie did his 'I stand alone, fuck you chunin' thing.

Both he and Rika were at 1 HP.

Genta of course had so much more HP. 4 HP. And no chakra left. Okiie was doing much better than him, only down to just enough for one more attack jutsu before he collapsed.

So yeah, I know it *looks* like there were no casualties, but if the fight had gone on for, like, one more round before Zenzo showed up, things would be fucked.