Confrontation! The Hitsugi clan makes their move! Team kunoichi broke camp little before dawn. None of the four women were able to sleep soundly through the night, fearful that the enemy would make another attack and were anxious to get moving again. Despite not getting enough sleep, they didn't feel safe and forced themselves awake. This wasn't a big issue for the kunoichi who were trained to sleep lightly nor Sizume who was used to waking at odd hours and marching for hours at end as a soldier. Barahime on the other hand was slow to wake and seemed to trip over the slightest of obstacle with her senses dulled from being half asleep. If Sizume hadn't offered to carry her, she would have slowed them down greatly. The kunoichi and their charges were able to cover many miles before noon when they decided to stop and rest. While the kunoichi set up camp, Sizume and Barahime nestled together. "They really are a cute couple," Tenten said, looking at the women enviously. "I never thought that two women could..." Hinata replied, her voice trailing off as she blushed. Seeing Hinata's shy expression caused Tenten's heart to beat quickly. Was she reading too much into the girl's expression or could her fellow kunoichi share her secret. No, she doubted, it was obvious that the Hyuga was deeply in love with Uzumaki Naruto, but she was sure everybody the same of her towards Neji and they were wrong. Tenten, found Hinata's meekness to rather bothersome at times, but cute at other times such as now. The kunoichi was also kind to a fault and strong when she needs to, not mention quite gorgeous. The more Tenten thought about Hinata, the harder her heart pounded and the hotter her body burned. "Are you okay Tenten-sama?" Hinata asked in a worried tone, seeing how the kunoichi's breathing had become shallow and the sweat the beaded on her face. "Y, yeah! I, I'm just a little tired... I'm going to wash off," Tenten said, quickly getting up and walking towards a nearby stream. Splashing cold water onto her face, she cooled down her burning body, scolding herself mentally. What are you thinking?! We're in the middle of a mission; there's no time to be thinking of that kind of stuff! Calming herself and regaining her composure, she was started to see somebody standing behind. It was a tall masculine figure dressed in Manchu attire with a porcelain mask covering its face. Standing with arms intertwined with its wide sleeves, it bowed before pulling out one it's hands which had long, black finger nails and attacked with a stabbing motion at Tenten. "Hay, Hinata-san," Sizume said, watching as Tenten left. "Yes, Sizume-sama?" Hinata asked looking at the warrior. "What are your feelings for Tenten-san?" Sizume asked. "Well, I don't know... This is the first time we have been sent on the same mission together. From what I've seen, I feel that I can trust her and I wish I had her confidence..." Hinata said, gazing into space as she tried to think. "Do you like her?" Sizume asked, pressing onward. "Yes, she seems like a nice person to be around," Hinata answered, realizing the conversation was creeping onto a specific goal, though she wasn't sure what it was. "How much do you like her?" Sizume asked. "What do you mean?" Hinata asked, growing uncomfortable suddenly. "Do you like as a friend or maybe something more romantic..." Sizume asked in a low tone. "W, What?!" Hinata asked, blushing deeply. "What folly," the gloomy voice figured said, a gloomy woman dressed in black Manchu clothes. Her face was a painted like a corpse with stitches drawn her face. "You trade idle conversation while your enemy ambushes you." "Peekaboo!" Cries the cheerful voiced figure, another an almost exact twin of the gloomy girl, but in white as she bursts forth from the ground and grabs Sizume. "Doton: Hadaka Maiso (Earth Style: Naked Burial)" Suddenly, the girl and Sizume disappear into the ground. "Sizume!" Barahime cries in horror! The gloomy girl performs a number of hand seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Teikoku no Yomigaeru (Summoning Technique: Imperial Revival)!" A number of Chinese coffins bursts forth from the ground to open up and reveal the bodies of several women from the likes of the earlier attack. "Leave no survivors." With the command, the corpses hopped out of their coffins attacked Hinata and the princess. "Byakugan!" Hinata activated her dojutsu and began to attack the hopping undead. What happened to Tenten-sama? She wondered as she attacked the advancing corpses with her gentle fist. Though Tenten been taken by surprise by the man, she was nearly able to dodge the attack, the claw-like finger nails cutting deep enough into her arm to draw blood. Quickly jumping back, she drew forth the scroll she carried on her back and unrolled it, summoning a number of kunai from it and toss them at the man. The man dodged the kunai and charged forward, attacking in repetition with both of his clawed hands, force the kunoichi to continuously retreat in order to maintain her range. Damn it, he's too fast! Hinata might have a chance with this guy... Wait a second, if he's the assailant, why is he wasting his time with me unless... Crap! I got to get to the others! Tenten thought as she repeatedly dodge the man's attacks. Not knowing the fate of her opponents caused her to become distracted, but she already knew she stood no chance again him. He was just as fast as him and could easily dodge her attacks if she were ever to far enough from him. She only one choice, to regroup with Hinata. Rolling up her scroll and returning it to her back, she turned away from the assailant and ran at full speed. Oddly enough, the assailant made no attempt to chase her but instead began to perform hand signs. Suddenly a number of coffins bursts forth from the ground before Tenten, cutting off her retreat, the coffins continued to rise in a ring around her and the assailant. There was no need for him to chase for he knew he could trap her, Tenten realized with horror. Fortunately for her, she had a slight upper hand. The coffin bearer was pretty wide, granting her with plenty of space for her to maneuver within, and performing technique required to stand still, creating a gap between them. Unless the assailant could perform ranged techniques (which she doubted), she just needed to keep her distance. Taking her scroll out again and summoning a variety of weapons she began to toss them while running along the perimeter of the barrier. The assailant dodged the weapons left and right, attempt to close the gap between them, but finding the task difficult with the barrage of weapons be thrown at him. Realizing this, the assailant stopped in the dead center of the ring and began to observe Tenten's movement. This made the kunoichi uneasy, though as a stand target, he became easier to hit, he was obviously planning the best solution against her. The assailant made a number of hand signs and then removed his mask. Too Tenten's surprise, his face was Tenten's. She realized that he didn't just have copied her face, but was from head to toe now a mirror image of her. "You are ranged combatant who relies solely on keeping your distance from your opponent and attacking from afar. Now that I have cut off your escape, I figured I fight you on even grounds," the assailant said with Tenten's voice. Hinata panted as she stood bent over, having defeated everyone of the summoned corpses. She was exhausted, spending most of her chakra against the swarm of enemies. "You did well, no surprise that you were able to defeat my swarm last night." The gloomy girl said, bowing. "I hope my sister has as much fun playing with you as I did." Hinata, remembering the girl who attacked Sizume, focused her Byakugan on the ground while keeping an eye on her original opponent. She could not detect Sizume anywhere and could only hope that she was still alive. Looking in all directions for the other assailant, she was nowhere to be seen, neither above or below ground. I must focus! Hinata thought, pouring the last of her chakra into her eyes. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she say a figure ascending to the surface from behind her. Almost sure that it was the other girl, she was prepared to strike as soon as she surfaced. What surfaced wasn't the other assailant, but Sizume, who was covered in scratches and bleeding. "Sizume!" Barahime cried running to the warrior's side. "Are you alright?" "I'm okay, that bitch tried to kill me, but I was able to beat her! She left as soon as soon as I fought back," The warrior said with a smile. Hinata, realizing that she had turned her attention from the gloomy girl, turned back to find that she had disappeared. Not having much chakra left and unable to find any traces of the other girl anywhere, she released her Byakugan. "I think they retreated. We must find where Tenten-sama went! I hope she's okay!" "Er, maybe we should rest... you look pretty tired out." Sizume said, looking at the kunoichi. "I think we should find her... I don't think that other girl is gone," Barahime said, "and with Hinata-san so exhausted, she has no chance of defending off another attack." "I guess so..." Sizume said, sounding oddly disappointed at having to leave immediately. The trio headed towards the river where they last remembered her leaving to. Tenten was slightly disturbed by the assailant's new appearance, but didn't think too heavily into it. It's just a transformation technique! If he thinks he can scare me by stealing my face and voice, he doesn't know he's fighting against! She thought, summoning another handful of weapons and tossing them at the assailant. At the same time, the assailant mimicked the kunoichi's actions, summoning the same number of weapons and tossing at her. The weapons collided mid-air and fell to the ground harmlessly. "Do not underestimate me. I have studied your combat style and have prepared a counter measure. As long as you maintain your distance from me, you can evade my attacks and attack me from safely in return. Though I could easily close the gap between us, I find that would exert too much energy from myself from such a prolonged battle." "You talk to much!" Tenten said. He must have studied my attack pattern so that he could mimic it. Additionally, the fact that he could summon the same weapons that I could means that this technique is able to copy my abilities and weapons... this is no different when I fought that doppelganger back at the Aakatsuki's base. If that's the case then... Tossing her scroll into the air while still holding it, it unrolled mid air and hundreds of thousands of weapons came raining down upon the assailant, making escape nearly impossible. "Souryu Tensakai (Dragon Scattering Destruction)!" "I see," the assailant said, somehow able to stand as his body is pierced by several weapons. "By tossing your scroll into the air, you can summon a great mass of weapons at once, leaving your opponent no room to escape and insuring almost an instantaneous victory. However, it expends every weapon within your arsenal, leaving defenseless if your opponent has by some means survived. It's a simple technique that requires no hand seals or chakra so I should be able to try it out for myself..." Tenten was shocked to see her opponent to be still alive. This isn't human! She thought in horror. With that thought in mind, she remembered the undead swarm she had fought the other night. Could he be undead like the rest of them? To make things worse, his ability mimic her own techniques now granted him a chance to use Souryu Tensakai against her! With the coffins blocking her escape, she would surely die! Fortunately, Hinata and the others could be heard coming, causing the assailant to stop in mid toss. "It seems my cousins have been defeated. That is unfortunate. Forgive me, but I must temporarily retreat. I've enjoyed our encounter, Konoha shinobi. I hope to fight you again..." Returning the mask to his face, he released the technique and threw a smoke bomb, causing a smoke screen to fill the ring. As it cleared, there was no signs of the assailant or the coffins, though the weapons that had pierced his body laid scattered across the ground, no traces of blood anywhere along the blade. "Tenten-sama!" Hinata yelled, as she saw the kunoichi surrounded by her own summoned weapons. "Are you three alright?" Tenten asked running to meet the team. "We were attacked by two women!" Hinata said, explaining their encounter with the sisters. "I see, it'll only be time before they make their next attack!" Tenten said, "We better rest and prepare ourselves for the next battle." "Your arm!" Hinata said, seeing the slash marks in Tenten's arms. "It's just a flesh wound," Tenten said, covering her injury with her hand. "Though we should clean and bandage it before it becomes infected." Hinata retrieved the small medical kit in which Sakura had given her before they left the village and attended to the kunoichi's wound, taking water from the river wash the wound clean. After Hinata was done, Tenten went about gathering her weapons and sealing them back into her scroll before Team Kunoichi and their charges set up camp and rested for the night. In the shadowy corridors of an underground room, two of the three Hitsugi clansmen rested from there battle against Team Kunoichi. "Everything is going according to your plan, cousin," the gloomy woman said, sewing close the wounds her cousin received from his battle with Tenten. "The poison will kill one of the kunoichi and I'm sure Maiso-imoto is capable of killing the other one along with the princess. "Though I've lost a good number of bodies back there, I'm sure the kunoichi will make a wonderful addition to my collection. I'm glad the Maiso-imoto left this one in one piece. I should have it ready for our next encounter." Having finished repairing her cousin, she moved over to corpse of Sizume to which she stroked affectionately.
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