Hostage Battle Royale

Where Three Roads Meet
"Can you walk any slower?" Kimiko shouted at Akemi from the end of the path.

"Yeah, hurry it up." Her older brother Hikaru chimed in.

Suppressing her urge to smack both the bratty children on the sides of their heads as she approached. It had been awhile since Akemi had been assigned a mission, 4 weeks in fact. Though Akemi had taken advantage of the surplus of free time to train, she had longed for a mission, simply to ease her boredom. Acting as the sole guard for two rather unpleasant teens was not the mission she had in mind. Hikaru and his younger sister Kimiko were the children of one of the wealthiest merchants in the Land of Fire from what Akmei knew. They had been brought to Akemi out outside the boundaries of the Hidden Leaf Village by a team of five chunin. Their father had began traveling to the Land of Craters with his caravan, while his children were to be escorted South, to The Land of Tea where their mother resided. The task had seemed simple enough, an easy task for a ninja of Akemi's caliber. No one had told her the hardest part of the mission would be NOT killing the people she was supposed to protect.

Kimiko was an attractive young girl of 16, her long brown hair cascading over her back, obscuring the pink floral pattern on the expensive Kimono type overcoat she was wearing. The Kimiko's knee high boots had a similar pattern, stretching from the fur peering out from the inside of the boot to the thick heel that added an inch to Kimiko's height. Her brother Hikaru was only a year older, sporting a sleeveless shirt, no doubt showing of the weapon tattoos on his arms. Apparently his father dealt in rare weapons, several of which were now a permanent part of his son's body. A heavily embroidered black and gold staff ran up the teen's right arm, surrounded by am equally decorated whip sword of the same color. His left arm bore a set of decorated knives laid out across his flesh. Hanging from his expensive leather belt, Hikaru had a sheath completely concealing a finely crafted knife. Akemi knew it was finely crafted, because she had helped make it. Her and Yoru sensei had spent hours crafting a blade that was both beautiful and efficient. That knife was now around the waist of Hikaru, son of one of the richest merchants currently in existence. The thought left a bad taste in her mouth.

Hikaru and Kimiko had been nothing but a thorn in Akemi's side since they had left the village. They were typical spoiled brats, nothing less and certainly nothing more. Kimiko went into a momentary rage every time dirt was kicked up from the trail and onto her attire. The outbursts occurred every ten minutes or so, the spaces filled with Hikaru making passes at Akemi, the last of which Akemi had threatened to drag him by a broken leg to their destination. The edge in her voice and the threatening look in her eyes had convinced Hikaru to remain distant from Akemi for now, but it was likely only a matter of time before his arrogance once again got the best of him. In addition, the siblings seemed to view Akemi as more of a servant than a hired bodyguard, constantly showing displeasure with her pace, whether slow or fast and insisting she perform laboring tasks such as carrying their bags when they got tired, which had been about 90% of the journey so far. ''Worst. Mission. Ever.'' Akemi thought as she began grinding her teeth.

"Your so slow." Kimiko exclaimed. "We're never going to make it there in time if you keep slacking like this, and I am not sleeping outside on the dirt. If it gets dark before we reach the inn, you better come up with something fast."

Hikaru slowed to allow Akemi to come even with him, stretching one of his tattooed arm over her shoulders. "Are you tired?" he asked with a tone that somehow emanated his confidence. "If you like you can rest in my room once we get to the inn?"

Akmei shot Hikaru the same icy look she had before, getting him to immediately remove his arm and take a step away from Akemi. "I told you to back off." Akemi said with a hard edge in her tone. "I'm getting really sick of these advances. If you keep this up, you won't like what I do to you." Despite them obviously being a threat, Akemi's words didn't seem to have the desired effect, as Hikaru continued to look at her with a smug grin on his face.

"Your so rude." Kimiko joined. "Our father is paying the Hidden Leaf a lot of money to keep us safe. We were told you were professional, not rude. Stop being so rude."

Akemi could feel the veins in her face bulge for a moment before she took a deep breath to calm herself. Arguing with the brats would do nothing but slow them down. It was in Akemi's best interest, and theirs, that this mission be completed as quickly as possible. So far nothing had gone wrong. Akemi could only hope that the remained of the mission go as smoothly.

Shai Uchiha looked out beyond his hideout. The sun shined through the leaves, causing them to glow in a glistening manner. "This moment, is proof perfection exists." He turns away from it, and opens up a scroll. "KILL HIKARU AND KIDNAP KIMIKO. A LEAF SHINOBI WILL BE TRANSPORTING THEM. DESTROY ANY EVIDENCE." Shai ignites the scroll, signaling his acceptance. "Minor jobs like this are bringing me one step closer.." He whispered.

After walking for a while, Shai found a shinobi with two others. He looked closer, and to his surprise, saw a leaf headband. "That's them.. Time to strike!" He pulled out a sword, flying towards Hikaru.

Akemi had barely had time to finish her thought when a sword wielding man emerged from seemingly no where. His weapon was aimed at Hikaru, but Akemi had not intention of letting the teen be injured, even if he was a brat. In a flash, Akemi had dropped the extra bags which hit the ground as Kimiko let out a high pitched scream, and maneuvered between Hikaru and the attacker. The man's sword clashed with Akemi's drawn kukri, the blades sparking off one another as they collided. Using her enhanced strength, Akemi pushed the man back, furthering the distance between him and the siblings.

"What the hell?" Hikaru stammered as he fell back on the dirt trail.

"You bastard!" Kimiko shouted from behind Akemi. "Your going to get dirt on my outfit if you keep moving around like that. Do you have any clue how much this costs?"

Hikaru shot his sister a look. "Forget your outfit." he said annoyed. "He just tried killing me, with a cheap-o sword like that." Hikaru pointed to the sword in the man's grip. Hikaru rose to his feet a dusted his body off. "The Hell I'm gonna let a common blade cut me down."

Akemi stomped her foot down, forming a small crater under her feet. In reality, the feat was accomplished with Earth Release, but I had successfully intimidated the siblings, as both suddenly became silent.

"Shut up and keep back." Akemi ordered. "Your safe a long as I'm here."

Shai sighed as he saw his attempt fail. "Children always have to be difficult.." He performed hand seals and touched the ground. "Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!" The lightning flowed through his hands, breaking apart the earth. The crater now held an opening, giving Shai a new opportunity to attack. "Fire Release: Ash Burning Pile..!" He created a fog of ash, covering the whole area in the black smoke.

Pushing the siblings back to avoid the powerful lightning, Akemi tossed her kukri in the air, forming four hand seals in rapid succession. A wide earth wall emerged behind her, separating the three of them from the black smoke the enemy combatant had spewed.

"Stay here." Akemi instructed the siblings, who were both too shocked to do more than nod. Akemi stuck her hand to her side, catching her kukri as it descended back down to Earth.

Akemi back flipped up onto her earth wall, adding a 180 twist so she would be facing the man when she landed. Akemi looked down at the man, taking in his features. His wild white hair and kimono over coat caused him to stand out against the forest backdrop. It seemed like an amateurish choice of attire, but looking into is battle hardened eyes, Akemi could tell the man was no rookie. This wouldn't be a simple confrontation, not with the siblings in play. Akemi would need to either end the confrontation quickly, or escape with both the siblings.

"What is your business here?" Akemi asked the man, pointing her Kukri in his direction.

Shai pulled out another sword, staring at Akemi. "My name doesn't matter. I have a mission to fulfill. If you let me do my job, I won't engage further." He finished his hand seals, igniting a huge blast of flames in the whole area.

Walking through the forest of a country they were familiar with Shiga and Fangu were walking around when they heard loud explosions in the distance. They simultaneously looked in the direction of which the noise was generated from. "Bro. Look. That's smoke." Fangu pointed out. "I wonder what's going on over there?" Fangu looked at Shiga. "I think we should go check it out." Shiga suggested. The twins agree and starting for the area where the explosion where coming from.

The explosion threw intense flames upwards over Akemi's earth wall, but the flames were simply absorbed through the pours on her skin, causing no harm. Steam radiated off of Akemi, as she quickly formed the Torā hand seal.

"I was assinged a mission as well." Akemi explained. "To protect those two brats behind this wall."

"What was that?" Kimiko shouted up at Akemi. "Did you just call us brats?"

"To think, I was going to take you to dinner after this." Hikaru chimed in.

Ignoring the two siblings, Akemi continued talking to the man. "I have no intention of letting you get to them. Now I am going to warn YOU. Leave now. Whatever your being paid, it's not worth making an enemy out of me."

Akemi, now having not choice but to release the fire she had absorbed, strung together a rapid series of hand seals, completing all eight seals in mere moments. Thrusting her hand outward, a concentrated blast of fire shot from Akemi's arm, striking the ground next to the man and leaving a scorched rut in the earth.

"Just leave." Akemi calmly instructed the man.

Shai smiled, watching the sun shine again. "No more.Wind Release: Pressure Damage." The wind tore up everything, exposing the two children and the hiding spot. The wind began slicing towards Akemi, who's earth wall crumbled due to the wild force.

Akemi reacted fast to the powerful technique. It appeared more than simple words would be required to solve this confrontation. Jumping off her wall, she landed between the two siblings, sheathing her kukri and wrapping an arm around each of their waists.

"Wait, don't be so rough." Kimiko commanded.

Akemi, replying on her enhanced strength, jumped back with the siblings, bringing them out of the range of the man's devastating attack. Akemi released both the siblings and covered her eyes as dust from the blast was kicked upward, stinging her face.

"My outfit!" Kimiko shouted. "That bastard ruined my outfit!"

"This is totally going to mess up my hair." Hikaru stated, brushing dust form his shoulder.

With the bast clearing, Akemi could see the devastation left in its wake. Her earth wall had been devastated, now just the ends of the wall remaining on the edge of the crater that had been formed. The man stud tall at the epicenter of the destruction, not a single one of his white hairs having even been ruffled by the powerful attack. He was good. Better than Akemi would have originally guessed. Best to keep this fight simple.

"It appears your skilled in Kenjustu." Akemi shouted to the man, referring to his blades. Akemi once again drew her kukri, angling it to catch the bright sunlight bearing down on the land. "How about we keep this simple. Blade to blade."

Shai looked around, noticing the landscape. He ran his fingers through his hair and laughed. "Look at what I've done.." He thought. He turned and heard the kunochi yelling to him. "''A sword fight huh? Let's see what that leads to.." Shai threw all seven of his swords in the air, catching them in a unique position. "Acrobat!" He yelled. With that, he began a high speed rotation of slicing blades towards Akemi, attacking with moves not even a dojutsu could keep up with.

A bead of sweat formed on Akemi's forehead. She hadn't expected that. With seven swords swinging around freely, it would be near impossible for Akemi to keep up with her single kukri. Reaching into her tool pouch, Akemi produced a single kunai knife. She didn't typically use such weapons, but she always carried one as a last resort weapon. Though Akemi also had a trick up her sleeve, the man's unique form of sword play would be challenging, even for someone as skilled with a blade as Akemi. She had only heard of the Acrobat style of combat, made famous by the former 8-tails Jinchuriki, Killer B. Though she had heard volumes worth of information on how it was deadly effective and unpredictable, she had never heard anything about how to combat the particular style. Likely because such a method didn't truly exist.

As the man drew near, Akemi began blocking the furious strikes with her kukri and kunai, sparks flying off of each contact of the two blades. Though Akemi's reflexes were far beyond that of a normal human, she could barely keep up with the man's slashes, frantically moving her weapons the keep the continues succession of attacks from cleaving her flesh, though she knew at this rate it was only a matter of time before one of the wild slashes made it through her defense.

Shai continued to slash, focusing on weakening Akemi's defense.

Akemi continued blocking, taking gradual steps back as the man's furious attacks forced her to backpedal. Akemi seemed to be fighting a loosing battle, the strike not letting up as her weapons were repeatedly knocked away. While focusing on her defenses, Akemi made a wrong step, leaving her slightly off balance as the mans pressed forward.

"Damn!" she grunted out loud.

Shai was finally able to move Akemi, and she was pushed over. Shai began to run at full speed, aiming for the two children.

Not letting the man get far, Akemi allowed both her weapons to slip from her grasp as she fell, forming the Mi hand seal. A space opened up in the ground, underneath the man's foot. As the man sank knee high into the hole, the dirt returned to its original place, trapping the man's leg. With the man immobilized, Akemi quickly formed several more hand seals while lying on the dirt trail. Following which, several stone spikes emerged from the soil, surrounding the man and preventing any sudden movements on his part. Akemi scooped her weapons off the ground and swiftly positioned herself between the man and the siblings.

"That's right you scumbag!" Hikaru shouted from afar. "You better hope she holds you back from he."

"Shut up!" Kimiko screamed, obviously more shaken than her older brother.

"Now, Akemi said, pointing the tip of her kukri between the man's eyes. "Who are you, and why are you so interested in these two?"

Shai closed his eyes and began to smile. "Our mission..." As Shai whispered the words, Maroi and Vega jumped from the sides and ambushed Akemi. Vega knocked the stones from around Shai with his enhanced strength, and Maroi returned his swords back to him. Vega and Maroi stepped in front of Shai, announcing their appearance. "...is to take those two and do as we are being paid for!" Maroi and Vega finished. Shai walked in front of them, opening his eyes once more. "Now... Meet the full strength of Kanpeki!"

Damn! Akemi shouted in her head as she was forced back by the emerging blond man's attack. This was bad. There was now way she could hold off three attacker from the siblings. There wasn't much choice now, the battle had started and there was no way to outrun them. Akemi had to fight, had to accomplish her mission, even if the situation was dire. Akemi skidded across the dirt, throwing her kunai back into the ground in front of the siblings. She heard Hikaru shout something at her, but tuned it out as she formed several quick hand seals and fired a volly of small fireballs at the trio of ninja.

"Water Release: Water Trumpet!" Vega shouted. The fireballs made contact with the water, causing a mist to rise. Maroi activated her Byakugan, looking around. "The kids are over there! Let's go!" Kanpeki all went running towards the siblings, using the mist as a cover up.

Shiga and Fangu has reached the area where the explosions came from. They noticed there was confrontation. "Bro. There's a fight!" Fangu pointed out. "Obviously Fangu. But there is something off about this. I don't think the two in the fancy clothes are ninja. I think this could be an ambush!" Shiga stated closing watching the fight. He continued, "It would be best to wait to see what happening before we act." The twins simultaneously activated their Sharingan.

The group got closer, getting ready to attack. Shai pulled out a sword, while Maroi and Vega pulled out kunai. The siblings couldn't see thorough the mist, so they couldn't notice the assault. Kanpeki then began to attack, focusing on the two.

Akemi's Fire Release attack had backfired, now being used as cover by the trio of ninja. They were good, no doubt. But Akemi wasn't about to allow her mission to fail so easily. Swiping her arm in a wide arch, Akemi launched a dozen Diamond Shuriken in a half circle, followed by a quick spin. Akemi's kukri was quickly surrounded in a veil of fire, which expanded and fell from her blade as she swung, forming a line of fire in front of her that spanned the length of the trail. After setting up her defenses, she jumped back out of the thinning mist, her kukri prepared to strike at the first enemy that made it past her defenses. A lunging slash to the jugular would be her attack of choice, her enhanced speed adding to the odds the strike would find its target. She would then have to double back after landing the first hit, catching the other attackers before they reached the siblings.

"They are clearly outmatched. Fangu! Let's go!" Shiga exclaimed drawing his short swords. "Right behind you!" Fangu unraveled a scroll to summon his sword. After gather their weapons the twins rushed from the bushes where they were hiding, appearing in front of Akemi's group facing Kanpeki. "This is as far as you good." Shiga stated glancing at the three shinobi.

Shai stood there, suprised at the new shinobi who appeared in front of his team. He looked at them, seeing their Sharingan. "If your going to interfere, I won't be hesitant to fight you either!" He awakened his Sharingan, and jumped back along with Maroi and Vega. "Water Release: Water Trumpet!" "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" "Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!" With that Kanpeki had sent a devastating combo towards the group, ensuring damage to someone near it.

Akemi, having rushed back between the siblings and the two shinobi that had suddenly appeared, Akemi quickly clasp her hands together, erecting a wide shield of diamond, blocking the triple team attack by the Kanpeki trio. Though the attack spanned a wide range, Akemi's shield provided adequate protection, halting any water, earth or wind that threatened to harm her, the siblings or the two armed ninja. To their flanks the mix of water and earth, its speed magnified by the powerful gust of wind, washed away everything in its path. Gravel and stones were picked up by the current, along with several small trees that crashed into the trunks of their larger brethren, some with enough force to snap them in two. The attack was well designed, each jutsu complimenting the other nicely, indicating their opponents were an experienced team, rather than just individuals. Once the attack had passed, Akemi, the siblings and the other ninja stud on a island of untouched earth, trenches of stripped earth roughly a foot deep ran on either side of them, displaying the effects of the triple team.

Akemi separated her hands, allowing her shield to disintegrate into a fading cloud of sparkles that slowly vanished. Akemi bent over and plucked her kunai from the earth. She had thrown it back towards the twins to use in the event her kukri became lodged in a target, but she luckily had not had to implement the tactic. The sudden appearance of the two back haired shinobi had given her precious seconds to refocus, and forced all three of her opponents back to one side. Best of all, they appeared to have taken her side in the conflict. Perhaps they could be helpful, but for now Akemi preferred them to stay out of her way. The Kanpeki had picked a fight with her, interfered in her mission and pissed her off. though she didn't believe their assistance necessary, she was not so naive as to waste such a valuable resource.

Stepping ahead of the two ninja, Akemi returned her kunai to her ninja pouch and stated "If you two wish to be of use, you can focus on guarding the two civilians behind us. Otherwise, don't get in my way and stay on my good side."

Fangu gave Akemi a deranged look, a look that could clearly show his dissatisfaction from the response that come from the girl's mouth. "What in the holy fuck?!? We just came along to help, clearly seeing that you are outnumbered. Of all the-" Fangu's rant was interrupted by Shiga's response, "Not now, Fangu. All we will do is aid her in combating these three shinobi, protecting the children and then we will be on our way." Fangu sighed smacking his lips and silently cursing to himself. "Whatever." He sternly said lifting sword in the air to quickly bring it back down to his side.

"Who are you calling children?" Hikaru shouted from behind the three shinobi. "I'm 16 damn it!"

"Forget that!" Kimoko joined. "I got mud all over my shoes. Mud! You better make those filthy ninja pay for that!"