Princess Hunting

For a moment, it really looked like his plan had worked. The constant presence of the cloud may have debilitated Umber's vision somewhat but he and Luther had worked together long enough to know that when the latter activated rain tiger, it was the former's turn to jump into action. Finding the gate hadn't been too hard either seeing as it was a tactic he was used it, keeping Luther safe to finish their work while Umber dealt with troublemakers outside the gate's protection. The Jibashi attempt would have gone off smoothly... had the kid not been faster.

By the time Umber felt the rush of razor sharp water, it was already too late. In his last moments, Umber could only think of one thing: The impact to the water piercing through him would lessen when it reached the gate, giving Luther that bit more time.

"Fu-" the older rogue manged to get out before his blood and entrails were spattered all over the gate he had died protecting. The gate however, remained unharmed despite the water daggers shot at it.

Inside the three gate triangle, Luther felt his partner die, the rain all around enhancing his sensory. No remorse or fear swept his mind, no respect either. You had to know the risks when you signed up for something like this.

An Umber's death had not been in vain, the precious time he had bought was enough. the child princess now lay completely dead, the last bit of life drained out of her. As soon as the gates went down, it was only going to be him and the blasted kid.

Her body cast aside like a broken doll, Luther turned once more to where his partner had following, deactivating the gates. There was enough water now for him to take care of the brat and all this jutsu oriented fighting would only add further proof that shinobi were the ones responsible for it all.

"Come on kid, you, me, let's dance," he growled.

(Umber dead but gate unharmed because gate health = 60 and you need +60 to break a jutsu. The power of water slicer would be 70 at max)

Luther AP remaining = 100

Even in the mists of battle, Arashi had to hesitate for a moment, as the realization of what just happened hit him.  His attack... hit.  Not just hit, but it killed his opponent.  His clones threw their cloud weapons, but they only impacted the gate, puffing out instantly.  The boy was shaking as the gates finally came down, and the main guy stood before him, seemingly pleased.  Behind him... the Princess laid ghostly pale, and showed no sign of life.

"No..." he said, shaking even more now, as his attention was focused on the girl that he was supposed to find and bring to the village.  His mission was now lying lifeless, and Arashi started to burn with anger and rage.  He never felt this way before, and it wasn't sitting well with him.  Even his clones looked at the boy like they knew something was wrong, but that paled in comparison to how Arashi felt.

His fists were clenching, his skin felt both sweaty and cold, as well as wet from the rain.  His eyes were starting to spark from the edges, and the golden band on his arm, it too was starting to crackle and spark.  Around him, the mists from the rain seemed to slowly drift around him, almost by sheer will. 

"Dance?  You will regret those words.. but not as much as what you did." he said, his voice like acid.  Arashi was no longer concerned about the Princess's safety.  No, this Luther guy made sure of it.  And because of that, Arashi was ready to go out for blood.  Luther's blood.  With clear bolts coming off the band, Arashi shot out his hands, and brought them together in a series of signs, followed by slamming his hand to the ground.

"Cloud Summon: Thunderstorm!" he shouted, as the summoning seal spread out around him, and lightning shot up into the raincloud, making his cloud turn even darker, crackle with lightning, and then the water came down in torrents, with high winds to boot, and lightning striking randomly. 

"You called that rain?  THIS is rain." he snarled, as he turned to his two clones, who once again used their Shuriken jutsus, Arashi did the same, but as he ran at Luther, he added something more, something that he tried to do earlier.

"Water Fang Bullet!  Die, you lowlife!" he shouted, firing his bullet out while all three sent the cloud weapons in, and finally the three going in with kunais, fists and feet.  He was in a rage, and the storm reflected that.  He was ready to bring him to his knees with his own fists if needed.  For the man in front of him, between two clones, a bunch of cloud weapons, Arashi's water attack, and the random strikes of lightning coming from the storm, there wasn't a lot of places that Luther could move to.

Jutsu used: Summon Thunderstorm (Power: 55) - 40; Cloud Shuriken (Power: 20; Speed: 20) - 10; Water Fang Bullet (Power: 50; Speed 45) - 30

AP: 411 - 80 = 331 left

(w/c: 507)

Avoiding the weapons thrown was easy enough, body flickering was an ally, Luther had learned. And the boy's rage too, that was also Luther's ally in battle. Though perhaps he'd underestimated that brat. Umber's bloody remains were proof of that at any rate. But no problem, all this rain would wash away evidence, it always did in the end.  

Activating the shushin to disappear five meters to the side of the boy and therefore bypassing his weapons, Luther brought his hands up once more. Even as the sky roared and raged above him, he knew the game was over. He had to finish this boy and finish him now because there was no way a thunderstorm of this caliber would go unnoticed in the usually dry climate of this country. Another body flicker was out of the question as the storm spread as far as his eye could see. And he didn't need to get away from the boy, he needed to kill him.

And all the rain he was summoning forth would only help.

Why the time the boy had finished his own handseals, Luther would be one step away, activating the water prison jutsu just before Arashi managed to complete his fang bullet, making the water all around the young ninja rise into a thick, viscous and unbreakable spear.

If he could beat the kid to death, he would frown or suffocate him. And just in time to high tail it out of there. Arashi's body would not be ideal but it would prove ninja involvement beyond a doubt, and his employer knew people in the city who could start riots over a lot less.

Keeping his arm attached to the sphere of water, Luther watched the boy struggle to break free, knowing that it would all be in vain.

Jutsu USed: http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t22305-body-flicker - 10 AP, speed is 100
http://naruto-role-play-rpg.forumotion.com/t22544-v6-water-release-water-prison?highlight=prison - Mastered, No handseals, 15 AP, power is 40

AP calculation: 100 - 10 - 15 = 75 AP left

It would have worked, it had to, except Arashi forgot the most important difference between himself and older ninja... their speed.  His clouds bounced harmlessly against each other or to the trees in the background, before puffing out and fading.  His clones weren't able to get him, and too late, Arashi realized that the ninja had moved beside him. 

The boy tried to tumble away, but it was too late, the pooling water around them rose up into the spinning sphere of water, trapping the boy inside.  Not even his cloud body would help him in here, and that didn't matter since he already solidified himself to hold back against any self induced damage.  Now, he was stuck in a ball of water, dense water that held him, and forced him to strain just to move.  His air was cut off, he was now holding his breath.  However, there were minor sparks dancing from his body inside the sphere, but not even to shock his hand. 

Arashi looked around the field.  His two clones were standing by, unsure of what to do, while Arashi himself was stuck.  It was just Luther, and even he looked like he wanted to finish this quick.  In a few minutes, it would be over.  And not only would he have failed to save the princess, but just as the councilman had said, it would look like a shinobi attack, which would further destabilize relations.  Even worse, if the body of the so-called Prince was found, with the letter in his pocket, it would look like he was behind it.  This must be exactly what the ninja wanted. 

Arashi's realization caused his anger to subside, as worry took over.  He would be dead, unless he did something, and nevermind about his own life, he was more concerned with the ninja of Hoshi.  Of Maku.  Of Den.

Of Akihana. 

Arashi tried to bring his hands together, and he was able to move them, but not fast enough to do the signs.  He wouldn't be able to fight back... but he wasn't alone.  Instead of trying to do a jutsu, he could leave it to his clones.  Arashi glanced down at his arm, the golden band of Aki's glinting at him from the water.  He looked up and smiled.  There was a way to turn this around, to keep from destroying what they built with Hoshi.

Both cloned took a knee, one aimed at Luther, and the other at Arashi.  Then they proceeded to do the signs to gather up the water and air around them, swirling around they turned white and cold.  Luther couldn't move, otherwise the prison would be broken and Arashi would be free to attack.  In a sense, Luther was prone due to his need to end this quickly.  Arashi, on his part, raised his arm, fighting the swirling water as it reached for Luther's hand.  His wrist was crackling with lightning, as well as his body, and the thunderstorm overhead was starting to react to it, strikes hitting the ground near the two. 

His clones fired their blasts of cold air, chilling the water around them and dropping the temperature to freezing.  Regardless of if Luther was hit, the sphere was most definitely hit, and slowly Arashi felt the cold grow underneath and then around him as the sphere was slowly being frozen.  He finally reached out to touch Luther's hand, and took a breath.  The band sparked as it sense Arashi was in danger and lit up, breaking away with a bright light and shooting out of the sphere.  While not doing damage, he remember what happened when Akihana burst the shield.  There were solid projectiles that destroyed his clones, meaning that if he angled them right, there would be solid projectiles going up into the sky. 

Sure enough, the lightning cracked, right on top of the two combatants, as the water near his face became white and opaque.  With a last reach, Arashi grabbed Luther's hand, so that it would freeze with him in the sphere.  The lighting or his clones would be able to break the ice, but trapping the other ninja would allow his clones, or the lightning, to have their way with him, and that was the plan.

Arashi didn't care if he died anymore, either of them.  He wanted to avenge the death of the princess... and he was just about to.  Watching his opponent while he could, he smirked, and gave him a look.

Weather was his element.

Jutsu used: Cold Front (Power: 40; Speed: 35; Opp speed dropped by 5) - 35 ap

Total AP used: 331-35 = 296

(w/c: 773)

For a moment, Luther was sure the game was over. This kid had managed to get through Umber but he was, in essence, still a kid. Had Luther been the sentimental sort, he would have reflected how his life had turned out fine as a rogue. Villages bred weak ninja, not having to fight for survival everyday made for weak humans.

And that was when the cold started seeping in. The boy who by rights shouldn't have been able to move despite the thunderstorm raging outside. Luther tried to move, to break free the hand still maintaining the water prison but it was frozen solid, and then, lightning struck.

Leaving Luther's charred remains on the round, a pile of skin and bones smoking weakly through the downpour of Arashi's thunderstorm.

(Luther dead, congratulations <3)

He heard the loud boom and the ice ball lit up as the final strike hit Luther, but Arashi stood motionless for a moment, relaxing with the air pocket that had formed between his mouth and the now completely frozen ice ball.  He could still see the hand frozen with him, but it was motionless, no longer struggling.  It could mean that he was taken out, or worse, but it could also be a trap.  He couldn't be sure.

Finally, the storm began to subside, but not before he forced the electricity to run through his body, attracting another bolt from the sky.  The ball was hit directly, and Arashi practically fell out in the midst of the chunks of ice.  His first attention went to the clones, but it seemed that move was the last thing they were able to do, and both at this point were just puddles on the ground.. or more specifically frosted puddles, since the air was still chilled around them when they were released.

Finally, his eyes settled on the body of Luther, the rogue ninja who had been taunting him, and until this point, seemed sure of his victory.  Now he lied on the ground, his wrist raw from the ice, and the rest of the body smoldering and blackened in some places.  He was clearly dead, and upon realizing that, the boy scrambled away from him, breathing hard.  This was... not what he was trying to do.  All he was trying to do was rescue the-

"Oh no!" he muttered, jumping up and turning to see the pale body of the princess.  Thankfully, she only got doused with rain, but that rain was also mixed with her blood, pooled underneath her.  She was completely lifeless.  Arashi started shaking as he ran to her, and he had to admit, she looked.. peaceful.  He shook his head, and ran up to her, picking her head up and laying his fingers on her neck.  He didn't feel a thing.

"No, no, please, let me try.. please." he said, holding her in his lap as he forced himself to use as much chakra as he could, trying to seal her wound, to save her.  As the rain started to subside, his own tears were becoming clearer on his face.  He wanted to save her, he had to, Hoshi and Haven relied on her.  He was supposed to bring her back.  As the seconds ticked away, he was sobbing now, and nothing seemed to be working.  

"Please don't leave me.. we need you." he said between tears, his hands shaking until the chakra started to fade.  He had a large supply, but he had never had to use so much at once.. it was draining.  He looked up at the scene, the strewn bodies.  Slowly, almost reverently, he placed her body down and went to the remains of the two ninja he fought, looking for information, identification, anything.  He got a few things, and then grabbed the headbands.  As soon as he showed up in the village, that councilman would probably try to hide all the evidence.  He wouldn't have another shot to prove anything if he left empty-handed.

Putting everything he could on, he then went to the Princess.  He wasn't going to leave her here.. there was one chance.  Someone more powerful than him.  Someone he greatly admired.  If anyone could produce a miracle, it was her.. but he had to hurry.  Gently, he ripped a piece of cloth off him and tied it around the wound on her neck, trying to ignore the fact that the bleeding had all but stopped already.  She would make it, she had to.  Quickly, he picked her up and carried her on his back, looping her arms around his front so she wouldn't fall off, and grabbing her legs.  

Arashi kicked off the ground, running as quick as he could.  They had been so close.. so close to the village already.  Within a few minutes, he was already at the gate, to the surprise of the guards.  They seemed to almost recognize her immediately.

"Please!  I need to get to Akihana!  Its her only chance!" he shouted, as the guards moved out of the way.  He tried to move as fast as he could to avoid wasting time and to avoid prying eyes.  Luckily, he was able to jump on roofs, and that would help.  Within another minute he jumped up on the lip of the palace wall and leaped inside, running for a miracle.  The odds were getting worse and worse.. but Arashi had to try.  The disheveled look on his face was enough to show the struggles he just went through, and the pain felt.

EXIT; END MISSION

(w/c: 789; total: 8400)

Stat Conversion: +10
Claiming: Mission Rewards, Thunderstorm Mastery (1061), Cloud Shuriken A Rank (3000), Rain Tiger (4000), Chuunin Level Rewards

Approved of Appropriate Rewards