Ai Saikuro

Chapter Nine

The scum hadn't thrown the weapons at me but the unsuspecting, nervous Sakura. I knew Akadia fought dirty, I knew. If Sakura got hurt by any of those projectiles- if any of my team including Tazuna got hurt- it would be my fault. I was the strongest here and so far I have done nothing...

I clenched my fist as I appeared in front of my now confused teammate. I used my arms a shield to block the flying objects, not even flinching as they sunk into my soft flesh. Sakura gasped. My head was down, you couldn't see my face and my eyes were shadowed by my bangs. Everyone had stopped in their battles now, somehow noticing the commotion. Even Haku and the others in the ice dome peered at the scene with wide eyes.

"You're going to die." I hissed and jerked my head up suddenly."You can attack me nonstop when I haven't had food or decent rest in a week. You can try to kill me by poison. You can try to fricking molest me in the middle of the forest.. Go ahead and try." Everyone was staring openly. "Kill me, stab me, slap me, kick me, rape me...but..you won't live if you stoop as low as to hurt one of my comrades. This battle was between you and I, I've always let you live- go on, run off like a damned coward! I didn't care! But...you've finally crossed the line.."

He looked scared- deathly terrified as he stared at my shadowed face.

"I don't appreciate dirty tricks. You won't live after today- you're finished. If you run, I'll chase you. If you fight, I'll beat you. If you give yourself up? I'll slam you into the ground even harder..."

I don't think he could be any more frightened then he was then- I think I saw him shaking. It took a minute for everyone watching to snap back to their own fights and it seemed as though Arkadia had finally broken from his stupor and was back to being a smug little git; I didn't care about any of that though, I was too furious.

I didn't give him a warning before I leapt at him, intent on killing him. He didn't seem as confident as before even though he tried to hide his unease, it was in his beady little eyes; he knew my threat was no joke, after all I did have some kind of reputation for all the time I was wondering. He seemed easier to hit, slower, and all his movements seemed sloppy, his punches and other blows stopped hitting; he was losing and he knew it.

I was merciless, I didn't give him one spare second to just breath; I was at him with kick, punches, slashes, anything that would hurt I dished out. I finally sunk a punch into his got and him not being able to handle the force, flew backwards, nearly crashing into Haku's ice dome.

I moved into some of my own hand signs fluently and glared at Arkadia who'd managed to pull himself up and come toward me steadily.

"Release of Darkness: Killer Intent." I called and watched, satisfied as he seemed confused watching the waves of pure darkness shoot out of my hands.

A dome, not unlike Haku's dome of ice in reverence to appearace but of darkness, surrounded the both of us. You couldn't see the 'walls' and even if you did you wouldn't notice them being there because I was the only one that could escape this place without dying or being released. It had sort of a genjutsu like twist to it; the darkness was actually never ending to the victum, they could walk forever and never get out or find the edge. It could make any of the most seasoned ninja crack and become insane...

I could hear Arkadia already freaking out after only a few minutes and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes; he was a complete coward, I've fought Genin leveled bandits who could last longer in this place without freaking out. If you're wondering why I used it on petty robbers let's just say I'd been having a bad day.

My rage was renewed from it's dorment state suddenly as I heard whimpering and begging for mercy; the darkness and my ponderings broke me out of my angered state for a moment but Arkadia had brought it back again. Watched him huddle into himself, panicing, so I decided to up the torture. I let the darkness release all my scrolls filled to the brim with weapons, allowing a few of the hovering, invisible blade land next to his head and all around him. I teased him, moving a kunai to where it skimmed his cheek. Most would find the creepy if not a little disturbing but his paranoia calmed my upset mind. I finally ended him by sending a dagger through his chest.

I let my jutsu fall, mildly disgusted with my own sadisticness. When I could finally see the outside world and the darkness had totally dissipated I relized a few things. 1) Arkadia was no longer a dead body at my feet and 2) everyone else's battles had ended and aside from a few unknown bodies my team were the only ones waiting on me.

I turned all around, trying to spot the guy I swore I killed, wondering how he'd moved when I'd slotted a blade directly into the place where his heart was suppose to be. Arkadia was no where in sight, all I caught was a glimpse of black on pale skin. He'd escaped into the forest on the other side of the bridge.

I wanted to go after him but I needed to see my team. I promised I'd kill that bastard and I would but my squad's safety overcame all.