| [Dec. 31st, 2016|10:12 pm] |
Raidou was starting to understand why Kiri-nin, as a default, were so bad tempered. If his daily commute involved sharks, cliffs, and man-eating undertow, he’d be testy too. How did civilians even get to Kirigakure? Escorted guard? Steel-plated ships? Maybe Kiri just posted a successful mission confirmation to the next of kin.
Fukuda cut through the ocean like a knife, no wasted movement, and vanished into darkness. Kakashi and Satomi, with the eerie knack of Sharingan-users, had developed a comparable grace underwater, and Kurenai wasn’t far behind. With Kuroda’s weight to manage, Raidou was a lumbering walrus.
On Kuroda’s other side, Ryouma looked like he felt much the same, except more edible if the twitches at dark shadows were any indication. Ginta flitted about them like a happy minnow, occasionally grabbing Raidou’s leg to tug them back on course.
As they got closer to the cliffs, the waves grew more violent.
Without warning, Kakashi’s ANBU spark jerked upwards, as if he’d been flung by a giant hand. Or grabbed by something. It kept rising, didn’t go out, then dropped down and forward, stretching the range of Raidou’s senses, and finally froze in place.
Raidou sincerely hoped that was the cave.
He tightened his grip on Kuroda’s sling-strap and kicked onward. The water surged around them, rolling forward and washing back. The ocean floor rose up below, murkily visible. Raidou’s head broke the surface; he caught a glimpse of wet cliffs, a yawning rock-fringed mouth, then the crest of the next wave knocked them down again.
A hand slapped his shoulder. Ryouma’s fingers flashed through quick signs: Next one.
Raidou gave a quick thumbs up. Kuroda’s good arm locked around Ryouma’s. The ocean sucked back, a wave building behind them. This time, they were ready for it. When it broke forward, they kicked up to meet it. The swell grabbed them like a handful of pebbles, and the next few moments of Raidou’s life were a dizzying kaleidoscope of sea, sky, rocks, don’t let go.
Light cut out as they tumbled through the cave entrance and washed down on the other side in a chaos of wavelets and seafoam. The ocean roared, already sucking back. He scrambled to get his feet down, find ground.
“Here!”
A hand flashed out and grabbed him by the arm, hauling him up. There was a wall, slick with seaweed and studded by barnacles. Raidou slapped a hand down on it, anchoring his chakra — found a hold. Kuroda and Ryouma landed in the same instant, grabbing wherever they could. Ginta crashed into Raidou’s back and, lacking better options, wrapped his arms around Raidou’s neck.
The wave poured away. There was air again.
Gasping, Raidou looked up and found Kakashi perched on the rocks above them, looking like he’d gone through the rough cycle in a washing machine.
“Pass Kuroda,” Kakashi ordered, and Satomi was right there with him to drag the coughing vice-commander up out of danger. “Next one’s coming!”
The roar returned, delivering Usagi, Kasumi, Abe, and Genma with bone-jarring efficiency. Usagi and Kasumi caught their own holds. Ryouma grabbed Genma. Abe slipped. Raidou saw his hands claw the wall, raking sea-wrack and loose stones. Felt the hooks of his chakra fail to get purchase. He fell.
And like a goddamn monkey, Ginta wrapped his legs around Raidou’s waist and dropped backwards, snagging Abe by the wrist just before the sea took him. Their combined weight nearly yanked Raidou off the wall. He lurched, grip skidding — and Usagi grabbed him, then Genma. Kasumi dropped to stabilize Ginta, and Ryouma swung down to take Abe’s other wrist.
Hanging over basalt teeth, Abe managed to catch his breath enough to say, “Ow.”
“Did everyone make it?” Kakashi demanded above them. |
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