Impossible to Forgive

Chapter 31: Zetsu's Abilities

I moved with more speed and strength than should have been possible. Over time I had forgotten about the overwhelming power of the Eight Inner Gates.

I charged with a powerful kick. It wasn't quite Might Guy's Severe Leaf Hurricane, but it was still a strong blow.

Wood shot out of the ground all around Sasainako, stopping my attack. The wood was black and lifeless. Unlike Yamato's wood style that creates brown, lively wood that comes out in perfectly clean lines, her wood style was twisted like her mind. The pillars created were warped and skeletal, and with the ring of jagged branches around her fiery hair and dull eyes, she looked like something from a children's fairy tale, like an evil witch or enchantress.

Kakashi turned to look at me, "How can she use wood release jutsu?"

"She absorbed remains of the White Zetsu army, and they could use weak wood style techniques. I would only assume that she can utilize all of their other jutsus as well."

She smirked as the spooky forest around her grew, "Are you analyzing my jutsu? I guess that analysis is all that the Strategy Unit is good for these days after the untimely deaths of its other members." She tapped her chin slowly, "What were their names again? Oh yes, one was Shikaku Nara, hailed as one of the greatest minds to ever grace the Leaf. What's it like working in his shadow? And then the other one was Toukuro Nakahara, your late husband. Tell me, what does it feel like to have your husband stolen from you? I already know what it feels like having experienced it myself, but I'm curious about your thoughts on the matter."

I didn't have time for her little mind games. My body could only keep the gates open for so long with how weak I was right now so I needed to make the most of the little time that I had.

Sasainako was still trying to rattle me, "I see that you still wear your wedding ring. How touching!" I charged her with a fast series of taijutsu attacks: round kick, jab, left cross, right elbow, side kick. She flitted between the strikes with a huge grin on her face. "Wood style: Cutting Jutsu!"

Black splinters of wood about four to five inches long shot out of her body towards me, and I barely jumped out of the way in time. Damn, I was almost able to finish my series of attacks as well before the counterattack.

I looked over, and Kakashi was standing next to me having seemingly appeared out of nowhere, "We'll probably have better luck if we attack as a team."

With an uncharacteristically bright smile, I nodded, "Fine by me."

Kakashi charged first with me a few feet behind him and to the side. Ragged wooden beams shot out of Sasainako's arm as we approached.

"Wood style: Great Forest Technique!"

We managed to avoid most of the attack, but I did get a slight nick on the shoulder from a black branch that I hadn't managed to completely avoid.

Kakashi charged with his own taijutsu, but I could tell by the way that he was trying to turn Sasainako's focus away from my direction that he only meant the charge as a sort of distraction. A chunk of wood shot out of the ground at her feet and slammed against Kakashi's chest throwing him back about fifteen feet. He was going to feel that one tomorrow.

As soon as the wood made contact with Kakashi, I jumped at her left shoulder. Sasainako pivoted and caught my punch in her hand, and the force of the blow caused her feet to dig little trenches in the ground below her as it drove her backwards. I slid my hand out of her grasp a little and clasped my right hand around her wrist before she could move the arm back to safety. I pulled her forward into the powerful punch that my dominant left hand was aiming for her temple. She barely dropped below it and tried to sweep my legs out from under me. Without letting go of her hand, I flipped up over her head, twisting her arm behind her and probably tearing several of the tendons and ligaments in her shoulder. I landed behind her, but Sasainako managed to shoot a kick out blindly and pushed me far enough away for her to twirl under the captured arm and face me head on again. However, as soon as she faced me, I let go of her wrist and clasped both of my hands behind her neck. With a loud yell, I brought her head down and to the side of my body as I thrust my knee up into her gut. I put my foot on the ground and then brought it up to pound her diaphragm again. I've always loved kneeing people; it's so effective. Three more times I hit her in the gut with my fast knees, bringing the same leg up and down over and over again.

With a cry, Sasainako shot wooden spikes out of each of her hands, pushing me away from her. She bent over and coughed up blood, and it left a thin trail down from the corner of her mouth and around the bottom of her chin. It was the exact same color as her hair.

I smiled triumphantly at the damage that I had managed to inflict with my taijutsu alone, but then I nearly fell over. I had lost an enormous amount of chakra. The world danced around me, and my eyes went a little out of focus before I could bring myself back to the battle again with a deep breath. I would have to thank my physical therapist later for the breathing techniques that she had taught me for my hip; they had really come in handy right there.

Sasainako wiped the blood away, leaving a rust-colored smear across her chin, "Running a little in low on chakra now, aren't we?" Dear god, I had forgotten about one of White Zetsu's abilities: he could absorb chakra through physical contact. "I don't think that you should have held onto my wrist for that long, don't you?" She was right, shit.

A/N: Just for whoever is wondering or cares: I based  Kaiyo's taijutsu style off a mixture of Muay Thai and Taekwondo. It is a sort of balance between a close-quarters, "I'm going to pound on you until you can't stand anymore" sort of martial art a and mid to long-distance, "I'm going to stand here out of reach and try to get in and get out without getting hit" style of martial art. I think that it really fits her character well. Oops, my inner black-belt is rearing its head; sorry about that.