06-14-2007, 11:47 PM
Tilting At Windmills
A Naruto Fanfiction
Post XXII
He cursed and she swung the sword around, flipping it over and stabbing him between the ribs. He fell like a stone and she had the sudden sinking feeling she might have killed him. She had no time to look however because Nanabi’s ninja had drawn a kunai against her throat, backing up towards the balcony from whence he and his teammate had entered. Tenten followed, measuring the distance between them steadily as she flicked the blood off her borrowed katana.
“I know you won’t hurt her,” she said softly, “and your friend has been severely injured. I suggest you leave Nanabi and take him for medical treatment.”
“It looks like you’re more than what you seemed,” he told her, ignoring her suggestion. “But I’ll be taking this girl with me.” He was out on the balcony now and she knew he was going to jump backwards off the edge to escape at any moment. She lifted the sword and reached her free hand towards her purse.
Pain blossomed under her right shoulder blade and she gasped as she felt a kunai bury itself into the muscle there. Kinku had thrown it from his position on the floor, blood dripping from a corner of his mouth as he looked at her with hatred. His partner smiled and Tenten gritted her teeth, determined.
“Do you think you’ve beaten me with that?” She made a sharp motion with her hand and sent invisible wire whirling out to wrap around Nanabi’s arms and legs. Grunting with effort, she tugged hard while at the same time lunging forward. The ninja was forced to release Nanabi against her pull or risk cutting her throat accidentally. As the girl fell forward, Tenten ducked around her, stabbing the last ninja in the thigh.
The wound caught him off guard and his eyes widened as he fell off the balcony, pushed over by the force of her blow. She didn’t watch him fall, she was too shocked. Stumbling down to one knee, her mind numb with the thought that she had just taken a life, she never saw Kinku throw two more kunai, one landing in her thigh, the other in her side. She barely had time to notice the exploding tags before they blew up in her face, ripping a cry from her as she collapsed.
More might have happened then if Mikuro had not suddenly kicked Kinku right in his stab wound, sending the ninja into painful unconsciousness. Through blurry eyes, she saw him hurry towards her, kneeling by her to pull the kunais free. She groaned each time he did, vainly trying to ignore the two horrible wounds made by Kinku’s tags. Blood drenched her once pale sundress.
“Are you alright?” Mikuro asked her worriedly, the baker’s apprentice having no idea what to do for her. She struggled to raise herself up on her elbow, panting. With another tug, she loosened the wire holding Nanabi.
“See to her,” she said hoarsely. Mikuro didn’t need to be told twice and he went to Nanabi, untying her bonds and embracing her quickly.
Ignoring them for the moment, Tenten used the balcony railing to pull herself up, scraping her arms as she tried to look down with her doubling vision. She could hear the sounds of a battle. Were Neji and Kei still fighting?
“Miss, you shouldn’t move,” Mikuro was beside her again as Nanabi watched worriedly. “You’re badly injured. You need a doctor.”
She waved a hand dismissively, bravely avoiding the sight of her blood seeping into the cement. “I need to get down there,” she said, wondering why her voice sounded so whispery. “Neji, he…” A bout of nausea made her stop but Mikuro had heard her. Despite what she knew to be his better judgment, he helped her stand. She did not accept his arm, however. Instead, she walked unsteadily towards the bedroom door, using the wall for support, a trail of blood in her wake.
She would not go back to Neji beaten.
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