"Ane-san..." sataki whimpered, still shaking his sister. She didnt respond and her breathing was shallow, barely even audilbe. this only served to further frighten the tiny blonde. He grasped his sisters hand, looking up at Tae pleedingly. "She's...she's going to be okay rigth?"

"She will be if I have anything to say about it," Tae said deturminedly, focusing all of her energy into healing her friend, eyes narrowed in concentration.

Meanwhile, from a higher point at the top of the waterfall, Kataki crouched down slightly, his dark blue eye that was visable from under his bangs watched carefully at what was going on, a small frown gracing his face. Well, this wouldn't do. It seemed that the group whom had been opposed to Hatsuseken in the past were on the losing end right now. Frowning, he stood up. He'd watch a little longer. However, if it seemed they were going to lose, he would step in.

Because he couldn't let them die.

Except by his hand.

*(Kyueen Meihi)*

Looking over at the small group, Meihi couldn't help but laugh at them. There only help at beating him, the lightning-weilder, was now completely out of commission, no doubt from the last technique of his. He then looked over at the girl, the one with the flaming tonfa's, and saw multiple people surrounding her. His guess was that they were treating her medically, trying to regain some of the help.

He then looked over, and saw two people approaching him. It was the lightning-weilders brother, and someone who appeared to be a twin of the one healing the girl. He was now mentally preparing himself for what was about to happen. The first person to make the move, though, was Kaoru. The boy had called out a lightning technique, which was followed by a quick lightning strike. The next moment, after the flash, Kaoru was running towards Meihi with ball lightning.

Meihi watched closely, although with slight boredom. If this boys brother could not defeat him, what chance did he have? Thats right,none. He was prepared to show them what he was made of, and take them all out. He held both his scythes out, crossing them out in front of his chest. He waited a couple more seconds before initiating his technique. The greenish wind-chakra began vibrating instead of shaking. He then scraped the blades together. Out from which a loud, disorienting sound came.

"Metsuretsu Takanari no jutsu!"(Incoherent Ringing Technique)

(which lightning weilder's out of commission?)

Kuro slamped hands to his ears, as did Shiro. The sound was so loud, it hurt their ears. Poor Kuro especially, since his bloodline made his sences a lot more attune than others, so the sound effected him the most out of the twins.

Shiro managed to use some kind of sound jutsu on himself, dulling his hearing before darting over to Kuro to do the same.

Still, it was going to make them sitting ducks at this rate.

From his point on the cliff-side, Kataki frowned. It looked like he was going to have to get involved himself.

That in mind, he made a slashing movement at the air beside him, creating a portal that he steeped into.

(if you could target the twins, that'd be awesome to get Kataki involved.)

(Ryoichi is unconsious right now. And target the twins? no problem)

*(Kyueen Meihi)*

Meihi knew now was his chance. All of his enemies were now deaf, and therefore unfocused, so he had to take this opportunity. He then quickly saw that one of them, specifically a twin, was heading for the group. He didn't seem to be in as much discomfort, which meant he had some sort of defensive measure against it. The black death couldn't allow that boy to spread the defense.

With a simple shunshin, Meihi stood right in front of Shiro, poised for the attack.

"Tourouken..."(Praying Mantis Style)

Meihi's chakra flared around him, and began centering around his scythes. The blades began extending, starting from half a foot to nearly a foot and a half. The blade started out erratic, but then they smoothed out into sharp ethreal blades.

"Shisuto!"(Four Strikes)

Tae, who had just finished healing Mirai, just in time saw the attacks aimed for the twins. "Kuro! Shiro!" she cried out in warning and horror.

Just as the strikes were about to happen, something odd happened. What looked like a portal just formed quickly to the side of them, before two arms shot out, grabbed the twin's clothes by the neck and yanked them inside. seconds later, the portal reformed in front of Tae and Kuro and Shiro were dumped out, before someone that Tae would never have suspected to come to their rescue steped out.

Eyes wide, she found herself looking up at the back of a person she had thought was an enemy.

"T.....Taki.....kun....?"

Kataki shot a look over his shoulder. "Baka," he said calmly. "Can't you guys take care of yourselves?" he turned back to look at Meihi. "Well, whatever. This little problem is beinging to irritate me," he said, eyes gleaming red, ignoring the oni horns his bloodline hand formed and got into a stance. "Well, shall we?" he added to Meihi.

○ // Dear Kaoru // ○

The attack that had been intially meant for Meihi seemed to do no damage at all. Kaoru wasn't even entirely sure it had hit, because before he could tell, a deafening sound started tickling at his ears. At first, it was bearable... but the volume and intensity increased rapidly, forcing the young red-head down to his knees.

Hands clasped tightly over his ears, the young teen hissed and writhed in agony, trying his best to overcome the painful blaring of whatever jutsu had been cast.

Throughout the course of this battle, it seemed as if he was becoming more and more useless. If anything, the group was likely to have been better off without him there. All he had done for them was piss off a powerful criminal. Great job, Kaoru, great job...

*(Kyueen Meihi)*

Meihi inspected the new arrival, the man was impressed with the power radiating off of this boy. He had piercing red eyes, coupled with red chakra horns and cloak formed around him. Meihi knew that this must either be a kekkei genkai, or a forbidden technique. Regardless, he coudn't back down now. He was in way too far for that now. He went to reach for a soldier pill, to regain some of his lost strength, but halted. He had used the last of them when running after he murdered the Iwa Representivie. He sighed mentally, and realized he was sorely disadvantaged now.

Taking some measures, the extra foot of chakra blade dispersed into the air, due to the need to conserve as much chakra as possible for this. He settles in his ready position once more, his kama's held out in a defensive fashion. His body began shaking slightly, no doubt from all the antisipation of what was to come.

"Yes, let's do this" From there, Meihi disappeared with speed.

Shooting Tae one last rather cool glance, he darted dorwards too, also practically disappearing with speed in order to meet Meihi's attack, leaving Tae to be slumped in shock. why? Why was he helping them? Hadn't he sworn only the day or so before that he would kill them? Then why was he helping them now? Did this truely mean that perhaps he wasn't as bad as they thought, that he was still salvagable as a person?

A groan from Kuro caused Tae to snap from her thoughts, quickly darting over to help heal the twins and the other boy. Taki-kun....please, be ok.

*(Kyueen Meihi)*

Moving at blistering speeds, Meihi kept his eyes focused on his newest opponent. The kid was fast, for he nearly kept up with his speed. Regardless, Meihi wouldn't back down right now. He would see what this boy was made of. There was a collision between the two, and Meihi was pushed back from the pure strength produced by the boy. He was quite surprised, not that anyone could tell through his mask, but the surprise was there.

"You are not only fast, but strong. What is your name, boy?"

"Amatsu Kataki," Kataki said calmly. "Not that it'll matter much," he added, striking out withg a hard blow towards Meihi that the other only just dodged, his touch causing the cloth of Meihi's sleeve to disintigrate under his touch due to his kekkei genkai. However, Kataki payed no attention to the miss as he followed it up by a twisting kick aimed at the other's chest.

*(Kyueen Meihi)*

Meihi's eyes widended a great amount when he watched the clothing on his arm simply disintigrate into nothing. It was simply gone. He hadn't seen the boy activate a technique, though. For a minute, he was stumped, but he had to move as he saw a twisted kick coming his way. He jumped back, but felt the sheer force behind it. It was then that he realized what was going on.

"Red aura, disintergration. It's your bloodline!"

"If you think that's all I can do with it then you are seriously mistaken," Kataki said calmly as he slipped into stance. "Onihengen can do so much more than that," he added, suddenly darting to the side and seemed to vanish into a portal, only to reappear to the side of Meihi, drawing a kodachi and slashed at Meihi's side.

*(Kyueen Meihi)*

Meihi kept his eyes locked onto Kataki, making sure that the boy could not surprise him with anything. He was very surprised, even though he kept looking at him, he was surprised. The boy had spoken in a calm voice, took a step to the side and vanished into what seemed to be a portal. With instincts which were tuned from years of fighting, Meihi barrel rolled to the side while barely evading the kodashi that wanted to bite deep into his ribs.

"Damnit, this isn't going well." he said, he then looked over, and his sight set upon the small one. Kaoru.

○ // Dear Kaoru // ○

Not long after Kataki had taken to fighting Meihi, Kaoru was at the side of his fallen brother, working what little healing skill he had. It didn't appear as if it was doing much, if anything at all. After a vain ten or so minutes of failure, the red-head turned his attention to the fight at hand.

Over the course of their battle, some of Kaoru's self-pity managed to be forgotten, especially when the young teen discovered that this new opponent seemed to have a number of neat tricks up his sleeve. Every now and again, the teen would catch a look on Meihi's face, the kind of look one got when they knew things weren't playing out in their favour. Despite all the recent happenings, Kaoru couldn't help but smirk.

All was going well in the battle, Kaoru thought with a fuzzy feeling that was something like triumph. There was a strange tingling in his brain that made him 110% certain that the match would end well. Meihi would be overthrown and then these people could help Ryoichi -- after that life would go back to normal. (Subsequently, Kaoru planned to stay by his brother's side for a few more years, since it didn't appear that single-missions were his forte.)

Yes, it seemed as if the drama would be over in no time at all. And then something happened. It might not be considered odd under different circumstances, but circumstances as they were, Kaoru visibly shuddered. During a pause in the battle, one in which it appeared as if Meihi was again contemplating the odds of his victory, the S-Ranked Missing Nin took to staring. Right. At. Kaoru.

"You shouldn't get side-tracted," Kataki said in that same calmness as he ran fingers on the ground as he flipped over. the ground glowed a moment, disintigrating until the particals shifted and a metal spike shot from that area to strike at Meihi while he was distracted.

"argh...." Mirai finally stired from where she lay on the ground. It'd been a few minutes since shed been knocked out but her head felt like someone smashed a hammer right into it. She definately didnt feel so good. Sataki instantly noticed that his sister was awake.

"Ane-san!: He cried in relief, throwing his arms arround the still dazed redhead. "Ane-san! are you okay?"

"I-im fine i think..." Mirai replied, checking herself to make sure she indeed was fine. "Just...my head hurts."

"Hang on...: Sataki placed his hands over her temples and closed his eyes. A moment later, Mirai felt the ache in her head begining to fade away, dissapering entirely. She sighed in relief. Sataki had te ability to remove nerve feeling from specific parts of a persons body, although it was only for a time period of five minutes, it was enough. She smiled. "thanks Sata-chan. Now what...?"

The scene arround her was not one she'd expected. Kuro and shiro were on the ground, Tae was attending to them. The other two they were supposed to be helping seemed to be out of the fight too. Meihi was still there...and he was still fighting. His opponent was the most unlikely person imaginable.

"...Kataki?"

Kuro and Shiro being healed and recovering, Tae darted over. "Mirai, you're ok," she said, relieved. "I....I dont know what happened. That guy was about to really hurt the twins when they suddenly disappeared into the portal and Taki-kun came. B-but why is he helping...." still there was an almost relieved look in her eye. Maybe Kataki wasn't too far gone.

Mirai winced as she sat up. Her back hurt from the fall. "W-why...?" She said breathlessly with a look of confusion upon her face. "Why is that guy helping us? Didnt he swear that he was going to kill us before? Why is he saving us now?"

"I dont know," she murmered. "H-he didn't say. But he's saving our lives right now."

Mirai glanced over at Kataki with narrowed eyes. She was confused, but right now this guy was fighting and weather intentionally or not, not matter what other reason he might have...he was saving their lives. She should be grateful.

(cant really do much until Meihi replies now)

(I'm SO sorry for the wait guys, i've been non-stop the last couple days.)

*(Kyueen Meihi)*

His eyes quickly darted back to his opponent, and was shocked when all he saw was a metal spike racing towards his face, intent on rupturing his skull. He cursed himself for leaving his guard open, as well as taking his eyes off the boy in front of him. The kid was a force to be reckon with, and he shouldn't have underestimated him in the slightest. Now, he was left with thing to do. The spike came even closer towards him, and he rolled to the right. Burning pain errupted in his shoulder as the thing dug deep into the socket. He winced a lot, and knew that he could not win this in his condition.

He was filled with madness, so much he craved revenge. What better way than find the boy who caused all this? He rushed towards Kaoru, intent on grabbing the red haired boy. He would make the little shit suffer dearly.

(Tis okay ^_^)

Mirai saw that comming, and Mirai was not going to let that jerk get his hands on that kid if it was the last thing she did. Snatching up her tonfa from where they'd landed in the dirt beside her, creating a chakara whip with one of them again and lashing out at Meihi. The whip hit him square on the cheek.

"Dont. You. Dare." She growled, sky blue eyes glaring at him furiously as if daring him to take one more step towards the younger teen.

Kataki managed to launch a kick at Meihi's head as well, hoping to use the distraction of the Chakra whip to land the blow.

(whether it hits or not is up to you, since I know you want to kidnap Kaoru and all)

*(Kyueen Meihi)*

For a slight minute, Meihi began experiencing tunnel vision. The end of the tunnel was the small form of Kaoru Itsukurai. His mind and body were already torn, and he could feel a slight rush of craziness wash over him from all the adrenaline flowing through his veins. It gave him power, and also it gave him a motive. He had already sworn to get the little bastard, and pay him back tenfold for what he had done.

Despite these thoughts, he was instantly brought back to reality when he felt a slight sting in his right cheek. The tunnel suddenly vanished, granting him his periphial vision once more. To his side, he saw Mirai holding one of her tonfa, a whip of chakra hanging from the tip. Once again, adrenaline pumped inside his body. Although this time it was due to anger and not desperation.

"Don't. You. Dare" She had said to him, challenging him and his power.

He took another step before his body sensed another presence rushing at him once more. He turned his head quickly and saw a red-covered foot aimed right at his head. He had seen what that aura did to things, and he didn't want his head to become a victim. Hoping his idea would work, a little bit of chakra swam to his arms, covering it in a makeshift shield. The foot came in contact with his arm and a slight hissing sound could be heard. He was horrified to see that it was actually disintergrating his chakra. He took the last second to throw away the foot and spin on his heel.

Before anyone could react, he was up in Kaoru's face. The red-haired child looked up at Meihi, fear evident in his eyes. Meihi chuckled maniacially, and raised his knee into the boy's stomach. The boy heaved forward from the force, only to be stopped by Meihi's shoulder. With a quick heave, the S-Class criminal had Kaoru held in a fireman's carry, and was already running away. Before he got too far, he turned and channeled the last of his chakra into his mouth.

"NIMPOU: KUROKIRI NO JUTSU!"(Ninja Art: Black Mist Technique!)

○ // Dear Kaoru // ○

So, technically speaking, if Kaoru was a smart child, he would have picked himself up and ran for the hills. While the red-head was considered a decently intelligent being, he sometimes was below average in the area of common sense. For example, when he noticed Meihi staring at him with hate-filled eyes, he might have at the very least moved himself closer to one of the more experienced fighters. Brotherly love kept him at Ryoichi's side, however, regardless of the fact that he could do no more good.

To be honest, though, Kaoru had expected Meihi to bite the bullet -- there were two seemingly experienced fighters right there, teamed up against him as soon as he had started toward Kaoru. That wasn't to say that the movement didn't unnerve the little ginger, because it most certainly did. Seeing Meihi get up and move forward had to be one of the most terrifying sights he'd seen in years.

But the two other shinobi moved, simultaneously, to stop the S-Ranked criminal. That should have been the end of it. Meihi would be incapacitated and Kaoru would be safe.

Only, this was not the case.

In a matter of seconds, Kaoru realized that Meihi was only inches away from him. A gasp escaped the lips of the small teen, fearing the worst. Before he had any chance at all to defend himself, Meihi kneed him directly in the stomach, knocking the breath out of him. The force of the blow by itself might not have knocked Kaoru unconcious any other time, but with his low chakra levels, it was more than enough to send the red-haired kid swirling into a world of darkness.

"Ryoichi," he though, just before the darkness engulfed all his senses, "I'm sorry."

"NIMPOU: KUROKIRI NO JUTSU!"(

"NO!" Mirai yelled as the black mist spewed out of Mehi's mouth and began to engulf the battlefield. They couldnt let that happen. Once it did it would be the end for them. Their senses would be completely blocked. Meihi, who was already making a run for it, would easily escape with the boy. Mirai made a move to get to her feet but winced as a jolt of pain ran up her spine, forcing her to sit back down again. She still hadnt completely recovered from her injuries. She wasnt in any condition to go chasing after some criminal, no matter how desperate the situation was.

"Fuuton: Kaze shouheki!" Sataki yelled and he made handseals for the second time. A raging spehere of wind instantly formed arround the tiny blonde, whipping the black fog away and dispersing it. This jutsu had already proven effective againt this smokescreen once. The only thing that mattered now was if Sataki could be fast enough to disperse the fog that shrouded them.

Seconds later the black mist cleared away leaving an empty feild before them.

Meihi was gone.

When the black smoke started to billow out, Kataki came to a stop, not sure if going into the black smoke would have been poisonous for not. Frowning he reached out whith his aura glowing hand to see if he could disintigrate any of the mist, or manipulate its form. Indeed he managed it on some later and the black mist around him took a liquid form, splashing to the ground around his feet. However, even though the mist was now clearing, it seemed the man had scaped, along with the boy. No matter, the boy hadn't been of importance to him anyway and he had only gotten involved to stop those people from dying. Still, having an enemy escape did get on his nerves.

"Kuso," he swore finally, letting his eyes tuirn back to dark blue and his kekkei genkai to go back to a dormant state.

"a-argh..." Mirai moaned as she monce again tried to stand up, failing miserably. Sataki instantly rushed to her side, using his kekkai-genkai to numb her nerves so she wouldnt feel the pain. "Daijobu ka, Ane-san?" He said worriedly as she finally managed to stand up, abeit a little shakily.

"I'm fine..." She said quickly. "Its not me you should be worrying about...He got away." She said darkly. "Tae, are Kuro and Shro okay?"

"We're fine," Shiro said weakly. "I think Kuro's ears are still ringing a little. His senses are usually hire when he uses Mom's kekkei genkai. He'll be ok though, we've lived in Oto for at least part of our lives. You guys ok?" he added.

"I wwould have thought you could have taken them yourselves," Kataki said, causing Shiro to stiffen as he looked over to where Kataki had somehow gotten over, looking down at them with dark blue eyes that seemed fairly impassive.

"We would have..." Mirai muttered. She hated being beaten. even more so she hated being saved by others. And even more infurating was that they'd been saved by none other than Kataki, the very person who'd sworn to kill them. What the hell was up with that huh?!

"A-ano...." Sataki said as he clung on to his sister arm, timidly peeking out from behind her at Kataki. "Anata wa...dare...desu?"

"Amatsu Kataki," He said finally, before turning around. "Don't get used to this though," he said finally. "The only reason I saved you was because the only person allowed to kill you guys will be me."

Tae winced. "Taki-kun...."

"Next time I see you all, we'll be on opposite sides again," he said sharply, interupting her as he formed a portal in front of him.

"...eh?"Sataki said blankly as Kataki dissapeared through a portal, leaving absolutely no trace that he'd been here.

Mirai finally relaxed, but not quite. There was a chance he could pop up from somewhere else and finish them off...but then again why didnt he? They were aleady in a weakened state. it could have been easy for him to just finish the job. Why had he even helped them out in the first place? He'd said it was only so that he could kill them...but....Mirai had her doubts.

Anyway this wasnt the time to worry about that. The question was what were they going to do now?

"Why didn't he just finish us off then?" Kuro asked weakly.

"I think its because Taki-kun would feel he had been helped or something," Tae said quietly. "Or maybe he's not fully lost to us yet?" she added. "But now what....?" she asked. "We....we should find somewhere to stay, to recover before we try again to get Taki-kun to stop this revenge trip."

(You guys wont forget about Ryoichi, right?)

*(Kyueen Meihi)*

Running away from what was almost his death, Meihi's anger boiled. He couldn't believe what had just happened. He was an S-rank criminal from Otogakure no Sato, the nastiest village ever, and he was nearly bested by a small amount of children. That train of thought brought him to his more recent problem; namely Kaoru. He had no idea why he grabbed him, it was the worst move ever. He didn't think he could get so caught up in revenge he would put himself at a disposition. Regardless, he had to get far away, and fast. If he didn't, there was a good chance the one who was very skilled with lightning would wake up and come looking for him.

"Man, this is going to be just fuckin' dandy"

(we wont forget him. Um....is he consious around now or will he need healing?)

(Sullie! Answer the question!)

(Whoooops sorry. He's still unconsious, so he'll neeed healing)

(lol!)

"Hey.....what about that other guy that was attacking the guy that escaped?" Shiro asked. "I think he's unconsious...."

"Crap," Tae said, pulling herself out of her daze and darted over to the ther boy's side, lightly shaking him. "Hey....Hey, wake up now," She told him as she formed the hand seals once more and began to heal the unconsious boy's injuries.

○ // Dear Kaoru // ○

Poor little Kaoru was limp as a noodle, hanging there in the grip of an S-Ranked criminal, all because he had a lack of common sense. If ever there were a time he would have liked to go back in time and change something, this would have been the time. Perhaps he would look into the making of a time-machine, when he awoke.

Until then, he was provided with no more than a strange mixture of ill-themed dreams, startling him out of his wits and then starting over again. It was just a string of nightmares, some of his worst fears come to life, so it seemed. The red-haired male would whimper occasionally, but no more. The last blow Meihi had delivered had done some serious damage — although Kaoru did not yet know it, the two ribs had had cracked earlier were now fully broken, along with three others on the right side of his rib cage.

And yet all this was nothing compared to the pain he would feel, knowing that he'd let his brother down.

(Suuuuuuuulliiiiiiiiiiiiie?!)

~Ryoichi, The Prodigy of Lightning~

Darkness.

It was everywhere. Surrounding him, suffocating him like a thick blanket. All of his senses had were gone, left dead by Meihi in their last confrontation. It was then that he began feeling a cool sensation washing over his body, restoring it. It started off small, like a river, before raging like an ocean. It went to every last square inch of his body, and he could feel the darkness lighten. It began getting further and further away, until his eyelids flickered open.

Light.

Tae nodded, before she looked over the other once more, then smiled softly to him once she noticed his eyes open, though still somewhat disorientated and she smiled brightly. "Oh, you're awake! I'm so glad," she said, putting a hand over her heart as she sighed in relief. "I'm Tae. How are you feeling?"

(Oh, if anyone's interested, Tae resembles this person: http://www.operationanime.com/dvds/screenshots/jyuohsei1c.jpg)

(The smaller person on this picture: http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/1001/jyuohseicharatizgn1.jpg)

~Ryoichi, The prodigy of Lightning~

At first instincts at seeing so many unfamiliar people, Ryoichi reached for his metal baton. When he couldn't find it, he began to panic. He then heard the girls voices, and the past battles flashed through his mind. Once he remembered everything, he looked around at the group once more. He sat up quietly, with the aid of the girl, and rubbed his head.

"I'm alright, except for a little headache....arigatou, Tae-san."

"I'm glad," she said, relieved as she sat back on her heals. "I'm sorry, I dont have much for headaches really, but I think I have some painkillers somewhere......Oh," she blinked. "These are the Yume Twins, Shiro and Kuro," she said, pointing to the twins. Shiro raised a hand with a semi grin and a 'Yo' while Kuro nodded to him in aknowledgement. "And those are the Fumetsu siblings, Sataki and Mirai." She added, pointing to each person respectively. "I'm sorry that we couldn't help more...." she added sorrowfully. "I mean....Taki-kun stopped you from getting killed but the guy escaped with that other kid.I'm sorry...."

(BUMP! SULLIE! BUMP!)

(Gomen nasai guys)

~Itsukurai Ryoichi, The Prodigy of Lightning~

Looking to each person in turn, he gave; Tae, Shiro, Kuro, Sataki and Mirai all a polite nod. He raised himself up from his back, and rested his elbows on his crunched up knees. He did rub his head though, in an attempt to qualm the ever-growing headache. He couldn't help but think that that Meihi guy had hit him pretty damn hard, to do that kind of damage. He was grateful for these people, because if not for them he could be dead right now.

"...but the guy escaped with that other kid. I'm sorry..."

He looked up at the girl named Tae, "He got...Kaoru?"

"If that was the other kids name then....yeah," Tae said, nodding. "I'm sorry, we couldn't get him in time." She added, clasping a hand to her heart, feeling her chest hurt at the expression on the other's face.

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