Wandering Heathens

Battle

Ao was fighting for her life. Pein advanced upon her quickly, black chakra rods in each hand, intent on impaling her where she stood. She had no choice but to reveal her Byakugan, highlighting Pein's chakra system and readying herself for their one on one.

Roaring, Pein ran at Ao who had raised her hands in the Gentle Fist. She quickly hit Pein's vital chakra points and rendered the Akatsuki leader useless. Pein's eyes widened as the chakra rods fell from her limp hands and she crashed to the ground. With confidence Ao approached her, picking up the discarded chakra rods and plunged them into Pein's back, pinning her to the ground and unable to move. Ao smirked at Pein and raised her hand, brandishing a kunai, intent on stabbing Pein in the back of her neck to sever her spinal cord and brain stem.

Before Ao could end Pein's life and reign, a hurricane of paper shurikens flew at her, cutting her skin and clothes, and she raised her arms to protect her face. Konan landed beside Pein, readying more origami weapons with an angry expression. "For the crime of harming a God, I sentence you to death" he said, gritting his teeth in determination and planting his feet solidly. Ao chuckled and slashed at Konan who dodged and blocked the taijutsu attack.

"TOBI WILL SAVE YOU!" screamed Tobi who ran between the battling shinobi, their attacks and weapons harmlessly passing through her, and reached Pein. "Leader-chan isn't doing so well," she mused, "should Tobi save her?" She questioned while scratching her head. "Yes! Get me out of here and I'll buy you candy!" Pein begged. Tobi perked up and became animatedly excited, shouting "FOR CANDY!" as she grabbed Pein, wrenched her from the ground, threw her bleeding body over her shoulder and leaped away. Ao took advantage of Tobi's intrusion to slip away.

"Where the FUCK are those two?!" Hida yelled to Kakuza as she stabbed another shinobi in her prayer circle. "I don't know" she replied, her tendrils wrapping around a kunoichi's neck and squeezing until the satisfying crack of her neck being broken reached her ears. She smiled savagely underneath her mask but she couldn't help but worry a little at the realization that she hadn't seen Shinjo since the start of the battle. Where is he? I hope he's not dead...

Kisame ran after a swarthy Kiri shinobi and jumped onto him, her teeth sinking into his neck and she purred in animalistic pleasure as his hot coppery blood filled her mouth and slid down her throat. She continued savaging the shinobi, feeding off his corpse while Samehada consumed his chakra. Itachi was horrified that her lover had given into her primal instincts but let Kisame attack and consume as she saw fit. With blood covering her mouth and chin, her robes soaked and clinging to her chest, Kisame looked every inch the feared swordswoman who had almost singlehandedly destroyed Kirigakure.

Itachi cast Tsukuyomi on a large swathe of the battlefield and smiled to herself as dozens upon dozens of shinobi grabbed their heads in agony and writhed on the ground in pure terror as their nightmares came to life. Flying high above the battle Deidara saw her chance to create an expressive and explosive art that would silence Sasori on the subject forever.

Swooping low she unleashed small bird bombs that hovered over the area and detonated in a fiery show of oranges, reds, yellows and blues. "What do you think of that, un?!" She said to Sasori who looked unimpressed. "It was good for a few seconds before it became boring...like your oral skills" she replied with a blank expression. Deidara was shocked by the statement and was silent for the duration of the battle, her and Sasori wordlessly working together to kill and maim as many opponents as possible.

Tobi propped Pein against a rocky outcrop and quickly wrapped bandages around her wounds. "We need a medic-nin! Tobi doesn't know medical ninjutsu! Pein is going to die!!!" She wailed and fat tears fell from under her mask and onto Pein's skin. She was too tired from blood loss and chakra drain that she couldn't berate Tobi or push her away. "Protect...Konan..." she breathed before she fell unconscious. Tobi nodded before wiping her tears away and getting to her feet. She scanned the battlefield, looking for any sight of Ryuu or Shinjo and her heart sank when she couldn't find them. "No no no NO!" She said as she ran back into the fray, searching for the men and quickly checking on the other members.

"Retreat!" Came the call from the battlefield and the remaining Kiri shinobi poured over the borders and into the Lands of Fire and Wind where they knew the Akatsuki wouldn't follow. Their force was greatly decimated and Itachi doubted that Kirigakure had enough shinobi in reserve to mount another full scale battle on its own. They would likely encounter Konoha and Suna shinobi the next time they fought Kiri on the mainland. That was a problem for another day she decided as she embraced Kisame and soothed her, bringing her out of her primal state and back to the kind shy woman she loved.

Deidara and Sasori flew down with a second bird and picked up each member before flying towards Amegakure. Kakuza and Sasori worked to stem the flow of blood from Pein while Itachi frantically tried to remember how to unblock chakra. She wished she had paid more attention when Kakashi-chan and Hizashi-chan were teaching her about the subject while she was in ANBU.

They landed in Ame and Konan ran to the hospital with Pein's body. The startled medic-nins quickly got over their fear and apprehension of being invaded and rushed to stabilize their patient. Konan stood unnoticed in the corner of the room and silently watched over Pein and the medics, ready to intervene if necessary.

Tobi stood alone on the battlefield. Zetsuki appeared next to her and waited. "Well?" Tobi asked. "Ao is in Konoha." "The Byakugan can wait. Have you found them?" "No. I can't sense them either." "Show me where they fell" Tobi commanded and Zetsuki lead her to one of the many bomb craters created by Deidara. Tobi removed her mask and activated her Sharingan, searching for a chakra signature. There! It was faint, barely a glow in the infinite blackness but it gave her hope. Hold on, she begged and jumped into the black hole, her figure swallowed up by the nothingness, with Zetsuki following.