The words echoed around in her head. Again and again and again. The world pulled sharply into head-pounding quiet. Muffled, distant, and all together too slow.'Go'Something sharp and black flashed through the air, making her eyes trail to follow. A hushed whistle of steel cutting through the air, followed by the distinct muted sound of chopping wood.A long black sword planted itself into the charred wood of the roof beams between her feet, wobbling as it stuck fast. She had been kneeling there a moment ago. If she had still been, she would be dead. Dead.Dead like-Something red and hot splashed across her face and chest. It smelled like copper. Her eyes trailed to her hands and front. They were dyed inconsistent red now, red and dark.'Go'Her gaze trailed up, at the cloud of black ash that covered the rooftops in front of her. A figure was in the ash, quietly screaming and clutching at their face and chest. They sounded terribly angry, but she couldn't make out any of the words.Chunks of red were falling around. They splashed against the roofing beams and steamed, some heavier pieces rolling and falling off to the ground below, kicking up little waves of dust.Ah, that's right.'Go'This was a genjutsu, wasn't it? Just like they taught in the academy. She raised her hands together and made the right handseal, sluggish as everything seemed to move at the moment. She made her chakra circulate, and made the enunciation."Release."But nothing changed. Her hands and feet felt cold, cold and numb and filled with something like sandpaper.But her head and chest were hot, terribly, unbearably hot. Her eyes drifted down again, to the red that painted her front, to the black sword covered in something that looked too much like red oil. The angry screams grew louder and louder, and the crackles of distant fire began to return to her ears.'Go'The sword. Bozo- Bo- Bobo- Ba- Baba- Baza-Bazo. Bazo had disarmed the enemy for her. She couldn't let him down.'Go to Chikako.'Her hands surged forwards to take hold of the long black sword, straight with a short guard and a long handle, the tip of the blade embedded with a large greenish-blue gemstone. The numb and cold of her hands vanished as heat rushed through her limbs, and she strained.A moment later she stumbled, the sword coming free from the charcoal. She turned and threw herself forwards in an unplanned leap, reaching the next rooftop and stumbling into a sprint. Her sandals made 'crunch-crunch' noises as she raced over the hot, burnt wood. She didn't like this noise.She jumped again, rolling onto the next rooftop and away- towards the other side- away from the water. A distant roar of outrage sounded out behind her- somewhere distant and yet too-close."Y-you- you fucking- are you running off with my fucking sword you brat?!" A harsh, wet, sputtering cough followed.She blinked hard, face scrunched up in agitation, the dust was making her eyes water. The sound of metal whistling through the air came from behind. She ran across another section of rooftops, jumping at the end and trying to duck-She tripped, one foot slamming into the other and sending her rolling forwards. She fell onto her face, rolling and skidding briefly, sword hugged tight against her body with both hands.The metal whistled over her head and stopped against the next roof, thunk-thunkthunk-thunk. Shuriken impacting wood, just like the throwing training in the academy. She let out a whine as she threw herself up, stumbling into another almost-aimless run and jump across the hot rooftops."Y-cuah-cuoug! You b-brat! Absolutely not- You get back here w- coauhg! Cao- couword!"'Go'She ran harder- stumbles smoothing out into a steady forwards gait. Her gaze roamed the distance, her own breathing drowning out the screams behind her. The crunching noise of her footsteps were replaced by the sound of something like drums. Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum.She jumped and jumped again, kicking off a section of partially-topped roofing and towards more stable grounds. She landed into a long slide as blurring white steel raced over her head.Brown hair tied back, furious bloodshot eyes, cheeks ragged and bloody revealing bony teeth beneath, a purple coat painted in red and black. His hand was holding a white blade, painted red and the pinky torn off in a ragged mess. Her eyes locked with the stranger's for an instant that dragged on timelessly.She swallowed, the slide continuing as the stranger tripped with the weight of his swing and topped over the side of the roof. A stumbling, uneasy gait that moved drunkenly across the charred roofs. A roar of fury immediately followed his fall, as did the sound of snapping logs, the sounds echoing over the distant flames and rolling across the soot-stained riverbanks.She pushed up- stumbling once as the entire building was rocked by some immense and rancorous blow, and then jumping over to the neighboring building.There, in the distance, the movement of familiar colors and shapes over blackened, hellish rooftops. They kicked up black clouds of ash twinged with little hot cinders as they leapt, the same that she was.'Go'"Mao- report, what's going-" Chiko began with a worried shout, leaping over another set of rooftops to get closer. Mao cut her off."We need to go!" She shouted, desperately trying to get the words out as fast as she could. Her eyes watered- more ash. She did not stop her running pace, leaping across another ash-choked alleyway and onto the roofs adjacent to them. Crunch-crunch-crunch. "B-bazo needs us to go! We need to go right now!""We- what? Mao what's going on-" Shimi began, before another boom echoed and a building began to collapse behind her- in the direction of the stranger."AH'LL GHUT YOU LHIKE A FISH, GHIRL!"Soon, Chiko and Shimi were running apace with her, over rooftops and away from the riverbanks. Their expressions were panicked, and frequent glances were thrown back as they hopped over charred pillars and walls and reached the packed-earth roads again."W-where's Bazo!? We need to get him!" Shimi got out through harsh breathing, arms flipping up and down rapidly as her legs pumped to carry her forwards.'Go'"Mao." Chiko got out, voice clipped and choked up as she raced along the road. "W-where's Bazo?"'Go'"H-he needs us to go!" Mao repeated, face hot and wet, clutching the immense black sword to her chest as she ran. Her sandals made 'clop-clop-clop' noises as they returned to the road. "H-he needs-" She had to sniff in the middle of her words- the road in front of her becoming blurry. "-He needs us to go!"Clop-clop-clop. They did not respond for a few moments, little choked noises coming from their throats and sharp inhales of breath."SHTOP RHUNNING! GHIVE ME MY SWORD!""Mao- the sword, why do you have it?!" Chiko snapped, throwing a tense look behind them again as they raced forwards."Bazo disarmed him!" Mao all but wailed as she explained, face scrunched up and breathing unsteady. "He was going to kill us- and Bazo got his sword away- He's the one who burned the rice with it!"A boom echoed behind them, followed by the distinct sound of a rock wall being reduced to rubble. Mao flinched forwards, clutching the sword tight enough to make her palms bleed. "H-he'll kill us if we give it to him! H-h said no survivors! We can't let him have it!"'Go'"W-we have to go!" She repeated, something hot and wet rolling down her face and dropping off her chin- angry that she couldn't find the right words to explain. She was too stupid. Stupid. Stupid Mao.Chiko's fists clenched up, and her face scrunched in frustration and fear. Mao wanted to tell her that she was crying- but she couldn't get the words out.Chiko's eyes closed as she choked out order. "Full retreat! Make clones- have them follow behind us- I-I'll set the pace."Mao pulled her hands together, doing her best to not slip and fall, sword bouncing between her chest and her arms as she called chakra up.Three puffs of smoke followed, and three clones appeared behind them, one of each girl. Chiko-clone immediately slowed her pace, maintaining a slower run as they raced forwards."Y-yoshimi- get out the explosive tags and start charging them!" Chiko ordered, ponytail swishing as she reached into her bag and started to pull out coils of ninja wire and kunai. Yoshimi glanced over, her own face twisted up with a fearful expression, before giving a sharp nod and reaching into her pouches.In the distance behind them, the loud pop of a clone being dispelled by force sounded out. A roar of outrage echoed through the treelines, followed by two more rapid pops of clones being ripped apart like balloons. The girls flinched as the flow of chakra suddenly cut off, an elastic effect that twinged against their foreheads painfully."Again!" Chiko immediately ordered, holding her tools with her arms and throwing her hands together in a seal. Yoshimi and Mao soon followed.Another trio of poofs as clones came into existence behind them and slowed their pace. Chiko followed this by leaping, turning midair to toss two kunai in short succession, and then turning again to land and keep running. The kunai planted themselves into trees on opposite sides of the road and suspended a tight length of ninja-wire between them, diagonally across the road.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings."We'll do this until we get low on chakra- then leave a substitution of ourselves exhausted." Chiko hissed, getting out another set of throwing weapons and ninja wire as they moved. "The substitution will be that bunch of explosive seals that Yoshimi is charging- we'll trigger it the moment we hear that pop!" "I JHUST WANT MY SWORD- I'LL EVEN LHET YOU GO!"
Mao's face twisted as she choked out. "He's lying! He- he's not g-gonna! He didn't!""...Team Leader." Shimi muttered fearfully, breath coming out in short clips. "W-we're an hour and a half away from the flare point. C-can we get there? Y-you know, b-before…"Chiko didn't reply for a long few moments, only the sound of her heavy breathing and the tensing of wire came out. After a few long moments, she spoke. "...I'll figure out his pace with the clones- i-if he's too fast, I'll give the flare launcher to you and stay behind."Mao's eyes screwed tight, closing up as she focused on running.'Go'"This… this is bullshit." Shimi choked out, almost growling as she spoke. "Why- why the fuck- why the did did we even enter that stupid fucking village!" She didn't raise her voice, hissing out the words hatefully and charging another explosive seal before tucking it under one arm. "It was stupid! We knew that someone had burned it! Why the fuck did we go in?!"A trio of pops and another furious roar came from behind them."Again." Chiko ordered with gritted teeth.A trio of poofs, and clones appeared behind them, slowing their pace. Chiko tossed out two more lengths of wire suspended on blades, and they continued their running."B-bazo got him with a boom." Mao forced out, head slumping forwards as she ran. "He got him- he should be slow- we can all gotogether!""Can we?!" Shimi hissed at her, water building up in the corner of her glaring eyes as she charged another explosive tag. "Are you sure about that?!"The twang of wire snapping echoed through the air behind them. The three genin flinched at the harsh sound. Chiko's face tightened in concentration. A few moments later, another set of pops sounded out."He outpaces us by one-point-one meters per second." Chiko announced grimly, the sound echoing like a terrible gong in Mao's ears. "Assuming he's not holding back and reserving his chakra for a sprint- if we can keep distracting him with our clones and traps, we can make it."Shimi almost spoke again, before being cut off by Chiko's tense hiss. "Another set of clones."They obeyed. Another set of clones appeared behind them, and their paces slowed."He's not going to keep falling for this!" Shimi hissed, immediately going back to charging explosive tags. "Sooner or later he's just going to skip over them and keep running for us!""He can't afford to." Chiko shook her head with gritted teeth. "If we swap places with our clones and he skips over us, we'll have ample time to hide with transformation. He'll never find us unless he has a sensory jutsu- and he doesn't because he keeps checking the clones. He's locked in- he has to attack the clones every time to make sure. And because he has to keep checking the clones- we have to keep making them.""Do you know that?!" Shimi hissed."I have to!" Chiko snapped back, tears in her eyes. "I have to, otherwise we're dead!"After a brief time spent glaring, she bit down on her lip and turned away. "Get the explosives into three balls- and get ready to perform a substitution. Our chances will improve if we manage to hurt him at all."Mao's breaths were already coming out in harsh clips. Shimi was muttering harsh and terrified curses to herself."...H-how much longer do we have to run..?" Mao asked fearfully, too hot and too cold at the same time."Another hour and twenty minutes." Chiko declared with eyes fixed forwards, tone blunt and daunted.'Go'The echo kept her legs pumping, even when they really wanted to stop.—Her body burned. Burned, burned, burned, burned. She couldn't breath, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale- her lungs didn't want to work properly. Her vision swam, swam and spun and twisted around. Nothing seemed to work right- the effort of moving- it was like the worst day in the Academy multiplied by a dozen.'Go'But she kept running."T-tha-" Chiko's own breaths were labored almost to an incomprehensible level. Sweat pouring down her face and soaking her shirt- bag of supplies long abandoned as another improvised trap. "Tha marker- F-fuh-field command told uh-us to make. Tha fuh-five… five kilo… Just ahead.""Flare ruh-deh." Shimi struggled to get out, the launched slung over her shoulder and her own pace staggered.They had stopped hearing anything from their chaser awhile ago. Mao wasn't sure when. It was hard to keep track of anything as her body screamed at her to stop doing anything.'Go'But she couldn't."T-there!" Chiko gasped out- a staggered finger pointing out.The mark on the roadside- a little pile of rocks, the topmost one engraved with the suna symbol and flipped over. Sensei's very specific instructions about how they should assemble a marker for the five-kilometer point.Mao didn't know why he wanted them like that, but he was smarter than her. He wanted them to shoot the flare- and then he'd come and save them. It would be okay, they could all-'Go'Her feet collided, sending her toppling forwards on her face, rolling along the packed dirt lifelessly.She was staring at something pale white, speckled with grey. It was awfully pretty. Pretty and free."Y-yoshimi! Duhploy!" Chiko wheezed, sliding to a stop and staggering over to Mao. Shimi almost fell forwards herself, throwing the flare down and fingers fumbling with the attached lighter.Oh, hello Chiko. Mao stared up at the girl, body screaming at her to lay down and rest. She needed to-'Go'She staggered to her feet, planting the sword in the ground and using it to push herself up. Her face was puffy and dry. She was covered in soot.She wanted to go home and take a bath. Mao's face scrunched up.A hot hiss-thwomp noise sounded out near Shimi- the flare rocketing up into the night sky and screaming to life- a red glare washing over everything in the area and sending the trees and road into sharp relief.Distantly, Mao thought she could hear a voice- but the scream of the flare prevented her from making out the words.Chiko let out a panicked wheeze, hands coming up in a sloppy, exhausted stance. Mao and Shimi followed her gaze, before letting out panicked wheezes of their own.In the stark red glare, a walking corpse glared at them down the road, a gleaming white blade in one hand. His face was ravaged by tears, his clothes were torn and scorched, and both hands were missing fingers. His shoulders were slumped, but his breathing was steady.And his eyes were terrifyingly focused."...A fhlare." The stranger said all-to-calmly. "Yhou made me rhun all this whay, just to shend out a fhlare." His head tilted to the side. "...How long do yhou think it's ghoing to take for me to khill yhou, phrecisely?"Chiko straightened up her defensive posture. Mao staggered up and tried to heft the too-heavy sword in front of her. Shimi raised her own hands, stance swaying unsteadily.The stranger let his head return to its prior position. Silently, he started walking forwards.Chiko threw herself forwards with a breathless cry. The white sword flashed and a sound like a gong followed as the stranger carelessly batted her to the side in a minimum-effort rotation of his hand. Chiko skidded along the ground and smacked into the little pile of rocks, sending them tumbling.The stranger kept walking forwards, towards her.'Go'Mao took a step back, sword wobbling.The stranger's eyes were furiously calm as he approached, raising his sword in a far more deliberate motion. "Yhou could've shaved us an hour, bhrat."She raised her sword- trying to block.A casual twirl of his wrist, and the sword flat smacked into her hands before drawing up and back to hit the hilt of the black blade. She let out a pained yelp and let go, sword knocked up into the air. She fell back, landing on the ground and half-crawling away. She couldn't cry anymore- she was too thirsty.The stranger caught it with his other hand in a smooth motion. There was a shifting sound behind her.Silently, hatefully, he began to swung down. His eyes glanced up, then immediately widened.The black sword twisted into a block- a gauntleted fist sheathed in howling wind smashed into the tip.The blue-green gem shattered. A second fist swung up, smashing into the stranger's hands and tearing them apart. The black sword spun in the air and landed with a thunk in the earth of the road."Reverse Summoning Technique." Ryoma-sensei growled, arms sheathed in roaring blades of wind.Mao was never happier to stare at her creepy sensei's back.