Chapter Text
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...
Hayate clearly heard the growl. Killing intent as he had never felt before lay itself over him and Zabuza. One that sent shivers down his spine. It was like that night 12 years ago when they had lost so many of their best ninjas. Including the Fourth Hokage.
Brown eyes searched the shore looking for the Kyuubi Chakra on Naruto. He didn't find it. Naruto and Shikamaru had put a safe distance between them and Shioon. Blue and black lightning coursed up and down the dark-haired boy.
They had been worried about something that caused the seal in Naruto to weaken. Not a single one of them had considered there was someone equally as dangerous in the team. What was this? The presence was like Kyuubi but at the same time, he knew it wasn't.
What was that?
...
Shikamaru stepped back fear coursing through him. He was prepared for many things when they had gone on this mission. Even after all the surprises they already had he was not prepared for this.
Chakra like what was coming off his teammate was not normal. It was darker and more feral than what could possibly be brought out by a human. At first, he thought it was Nine-Tailed Fox or another tailed demon's chakra.
When he got his shinobi headband his father had taken him to the side. The attack twelve years ago was a history all members of the village knew about. Those that weren't shinobi however were only given the most basic of information. They weren't given anything on how the Fourth Hokage had stopped the demon.
His father that night filled him in with part of the truth. The Fourth Hokage had exchanged his life for sealing the demon in a person. His father refused to tell him who that person was. When Shikamaru was alone he thought about it and knew who held the demon inside them. Being aware of what was going on around him, he knew it was Naruto. Adults treated him like he was a pariah.
It was not Naruto who was losing himself to a darkness no one could understand. It was Shioon. Shioon had chakra as he had never seen before was coming off of him. Did both of his friends have a demon inside of them?
Shioon launched himself at the jonin without any hesitation. The swordsman's eyes widened in surprise but he didn't try to dodge. Instead, he took the full force of the first blow. Lightning coursed up and down the man.
Shikamaru winced as it coursed briefly into the water prison that held their sensei. To his surprise though Zabuza coughed up some blood. Shikamaru didn't think Shioon had enough strength to do any damage. Not against a jonin.
"What was that?" Came the jonin's low growl.
There was an answer as Shioon launched in a barrage of attacks. For a short time, the man was able to keep up with dodging. Until a blond blur joined the battle. Flashes of steel could be seen.
Turning Shikamaru noted that Naruto was no longer in his position to protect the bridge builder. What were they thinking? They couldn't take on a jonin. Immense strength or not they didn't have the years of experience necessary.
However, the two had teamwork that couldn't be taken for granted. Shioon was throwing fast and lightning encased by lightning attacks. Anything that landed Shikamaru thought he could see bones breaking but he couldn't be sure.
Despite facing two genin the jonin was being forced back and eventually, he let go of the water prison. Neither boy let up in their attacks giving their sensei time to recover. Shioon seemed to grow even more agitated and his attacks became more frantic. As if he was losing control over himself.
Tazuna said his voice tight, "There's something wrong with that one. I've never seen anyone act like that."
Shikamaru watched as Shioon seemed not to care about what would happen to him. Zabuza had redrawn his sword and tried to bring it down onto the dark-haired boy. Only for Hayate to throw his right arm in its path to let it take the brunt of the assault. Hayate swiftly took the opportunity to swing his sword and slice hard across Zabuza's stomach, sadly not enough to kill, but a deep enough wound that the blood loss would get to him soon.
Having leapt out of the way of what would have been a lethal strike; Zabuza swiftly shot threw the hand seals of the water style: water dragon missile attack. Hayate looked around as if to grab the boys and retreat. Only to find Shioon once more going to fight Zabuza. Unlike Naruto who wisely retreated when Hayate was ready to reenter the battle.
The two picked up their swordfight across the water as if it had never been interrupted. The only difference was Shioon jumping in and out of the fight. Hayate continued to counter any move Zabuza tried.
Shikamaru didn't know how long the two could keep up the fight. Shioon had extensive stamina reserves but he had to be running on empty now. Hayate seemed to find his chance.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" Hayate cried, throwing the jutsu straight at the startled Zabuza.
While blinking the flare from his eyes and trying to see through the steam kicked up, Hayate sprung for the ninja with a hard kick beneath the chin, sending Zabuza flying. Quickly leaping after him to finish things, Hayate was forced to a stop as Zabuza's eyes went wide as senbon needles seemed to appear through his throat.
A soft voice giggled lightly. "Not bad, thanks for saving me the trouble."
Zabuza's body hit the ground with a soft 'fwumpf' noise. The exhausted sensei, his team, and his client looked up into the trees. There, they saw a ninja in a white mask with a red swirl decorating from the side to where the mouth should be. The symbol for the Hidden Mist Village was also on his mask, like on Zabuza's forehead protector.
Hayate swiftly walked over to Zabuza and checked his vital signs. "Dead."
"Thank you for your help." The figure continued, settling into a slight bow. "I hope you don't mind my interfering, but I wanted the satisfaction of taking this one out myself."
"You're a hunter-nin from the Mist, correct?" Hayate questioned, falling back to stand between his students and the hunter.
"Correct. I am, indeed, a hunter-nin. It is our responsibility, our art, and our pleasure, to hunt down rogues, outlaws, and missing-nins." The figure said calmly before he lept down from the branch to land beside the body.
Another low came and Shikamaru felt the need to run. The hunter-nin glanced at Shioon. Shikamaru knew used his Shadow Possession Jutsu to keep the dark-haired boy from lunging at the other. He might have been able to keep up with Zabuza but they couldn't risk getting in a fight with a hunter-nin. Their sensei was at the very end of his stamina. They would lose if they fought.
Shioon snarled sounding animalistic. The hunter-nin decided that was the time to take the body and leave. This left the five of them alone. Hayate looked so weary that he could collapse at any moment.
Brown eyes however went straight to Shioon who was trying to break free of the jutsu that caged him. Hayate struck Shioon in the back of the neck knocking him out cold. Once he was sure that the other was unconscious Shikamaru released the jutsu and the breath he didn't know he was holding.