| [May. 22nd, 2017|01:13 am] |
“Shit.”
Genma swerved abruptly away, taking a perpendicular track to the one he’d been on. The dogs — at least two of them now, with distinct voices and chakra signatures — were chasing a clone. Genma took back all the uncharitable things he’d just thought about Raidou’s stealth and applied them to himself and his failure to trust his captain.
The clone must be a good one, if it even had scent for the dogs to chase. And Genma was an idiot. He’d fallen for it just as much as they had. He headed uphill, towards a lush growth of rhododendrons. Their fragrance might be enough to hide him from the dogs’ noses, and they were dense enough to give him cover.
He dove for the broad leaves and bright pink petals of the closest plant, and a huge golden shape burst out of the bamboo to his right. Genma didn’t wait for the jaws to close around his arm — he used a substitution jutsu, reckless with his chakra in his haste to evade. The points of the dog’s teeth raked his skin, then closed around a heavy, flowered branch. Genma burrowed into the ground with an earth jutsu, creating a tiny cavity beneath the tangled roots of the bushes where he could hide and regroup. The honey-colored dog barked sharply, and the deeper-voiced dogs that had been chasing Raidou’s clone answered.
This was really not going well.
He couldn’t stay under the earth forever, he’d run out of air, and the dogs would just sit and wait for him to emerge, probably with Kakashi right beside them, looking smug behind his mask.
No, he had to fight, and then get as quickly far away as possible. He waited until the golden dog sounded close, shaped his chakra, and when the soil shifted overhead with dog’s weight, he released the jutsu, trapping the dog in an earthen dome. It wouldn’t last long, but it was enough to buy him a little time.
He surfaced, planning to translocate again, and was immediately bowled over by the damn golden shepherd. It stood on him, one back paw digging dangerously into his groin, and smiled at him, wagging its tail.
The earth dome was right where he’d put it. With a gap under one broken edge.
“Bastard,” Genma said, without much malice. The dog shook a few dry clumps of dirt from its fur, and gave a decidedly smug-sounding bark.
Then Raidou, the real Raidou, thundered out of nowhere, and tackled the dog.
Genma rolled one way, Raidou and the dog tumbled the other, and after a brief but vicious wrestling match, it was the dog that was pinned, with Raidou looking breathless and victorious.
The dog gave the most pitiful little whine, squirming under Raidou’s elbow to no avail. Its brown eyes rolled towards Genma, showing a little white around one edge, as if it were appealing to Genma for help.
“You’re a fool if you think I’m getting you out of this, mutt,” Genma said. He got to his feet and went to give the captive dog’s head a rough pat. Then smiled at Raidou. “Thanks, Taichou. I’ve got some rope left. Shall we tie this one up and get out of here?”
“You don’t want to make yourself a rug?” Raidou’s eye glinted; the dog’s pointed ears clamped flat back. “Kidding. I’m kidding,” he told the dog.
The dog didn’t seem entirely appeased.
“Don’t worry, he’s really a very nice guy,” Genma said. He liberated the last of his rope, and while Raidou continued to restrain the dog, Genma tied her front and back paws together, making a tight, secure bundle, then laced the rope between her hind legs and up over her back to knot it to itself around the dog’s neck.
“That won’t choke you unless you struggle,” he told the dog. “So just relax. We’ll leave you in a sunny spot, and Kakashi can untie you when he gets here.”
The dog just whined again.
Raidou twitched, and glanced back towards the woods. “Clone just died. We should move.” |
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