Hidden Depths - Chapter 14

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Chapter Fourteen – The Storm


Ame of the Depths sprawled on the ground on the side of the small mountain gully they'd chosen to stage the ambush from. Her movements were weak and hesitant as she panted in exhaustion.

“I'm spent...” she said to her sister.

Yuki smiled down at her from a nearby ledge. “It's alright. You bought me enough time. I think you'll enjoy this.”

“What are you up to?” the exhausted kunoichi asked.

“Above this fine, concealing could bank, is a veritable lake. I've been drawing moisture from all around the region for it.”

Ame's eyes had drifted closed, but now they snapped open and she didn't bother to hide her anger. “No WONDER my water-soldiers were so weak...you were stealing from them!”

“Sorry Sis,” Yuki said raising a warding hand in mock defense. “But I have some good news for you.”

“Oh?” Ame's breathing was easier, but her ire at being undermined was only growing.

“That blonde Leaf bitch was among their reinforcements. She's down there right now, tending their wounded. When I start the next attack, she's all your if you want.”

Sitting forward onto her haunches Ame licked her lips. “I have enough left for that...More than enough.”

***

Ino knelt over yet another injured Leaf ninja. The serious injuries had all been dealt with, now she and her medical teams were down to the less life-threatening ones.

She glanced aside at the security cordons Anko had set up using anyone who could still fight.

Cordons... right. It was a wall of tissue paper .

Her patient stirred, the grimace of pain easing away from his features. “Better?” she asked.

“Yeah,” the man nodded. “I can feel the wound's closed...” he trailed off and looked concerned. “Why is the light like that?”

“Like what?” Ino asked. Altered vision as a bad sign...

“It's all diffuse,” he continued. “Almost like...”

With a deafening roar, a tsunami's worth of water fell from the sky. It was wasn't rain, not a downpour or any natural event. It was as if a vengeful god had tossed a lake upon the Leaf's position.

***

Yuki smiled as the strain of holding all that water high above and out of sight suddenly let go. The release of such effort was like a drug. Her body tingled all over. She could still feel the connection between her chakra and the water. It entombed their enemies like a giant bubble, a glittering dome of death.

And yet... It seemed tenuous, as if at least a few of the fools trapped within had the power to resist her liquid embrace. Direct contact was needed.

She and her sister left their concealment in long bounds, bringing them to the wall of water. With a flashed grin and a quick hand sign, Ame flung herself through the wall searching for her prey.

Yuki placed a hand to the bubble-wall's side and slowly, she felt it absorb her bodily. She became the water, and the water mixed with and became the substance of her body.

With this, came new sensation. She could feel two of the kunoichi forming a bubble with massive circular motions of wind chakra, creating a pocket to shield their comrades within. The effort was enormous. They could not possibly continue it for long, Yuki need merely wait.

There were others, however. The snake-summoner for instance. Yuki recognized her from the briefing weeks before. Anko Mitarashi. Yuki could feel her using the great beast to circle the interior of the water dome, occasionally sweeping any stray Leaf ninja into the protective bubble.

That just would not do.

With an exercise of will, Yuki's chakra-infused water hauled the Leaf commander bodily from her serpent's back. Anko tried to fight, but Yuki held her cocooned to the shoulders. The little fool didn't even have an air supply ready.

This would be quick.

***

Sakura flew.

She bounded from treetop to treetop, covering great distance at speed. To say she reveled in the feeling would be unfair, her thoughts focused instead on the impeding confrontation.

Her friends were in danger...she could feel it deep in her gut.

With grim determination, she increased her speed.


***

Ino tumbled away in the current. She'd not even had time to get a good breath before the onslaught, but her training overrode instincts, and her hand flashed into the medical pouch at the small of her back. A Sand Village re-breather was between her lips an instant later, and fresh air filled her lungs.

The immediate needs dealt with, she took a moment to asses the situation. Her uniform, designed to conceal ninja tools and protect her vital organs, was quickly becoming dead weight in the water, and her boots restricted her feet far too much. Grimly, she removed them.

Ino'd thought it a rather odd and even foolish request of Anko's that she wear the sporty two-piece swimsuit she'd used in the crescent moon kingdom under her clothes, but now that she felt light and free of encumbrance, it made perfect sense. She'd have to re-think her kit when she got home...

She spotted the wall of wind chakra Temari and Tenten were using to create a safe pocket, and made for it as best she could.

Suddenly, each of her arms were caught in the vise-like grip of a Hidden Depths kunoichi's “Iron Water” attack. Her hands were drawn violently back at full extension and a knee slammed into her lower back.

Ino's teeth barely held onto the live-giving re-breather.

She thrashed, trying to break free, but her attacker held fast.

Ino felt the woman pinning her shift, leaning forward. “Can't use your possession jutsu if you can't SEE your target, can you?” The words were oddly distorted by the water, but understandable.

All that came through Ino's clenched lips was a sound of pure indignation.

“I don't usually toy with my victims,” the other woman said “I prefer to end them quickly. But with you.. oh it is definitely YOUR turn to feel what you did to me.”

With that, the re-breather was pulled firmly and irrevocably from Ino's mouth.