Shirinai: Winds Of Change Arc 1

It had been a week since I gave our Shirinai Bounty Hunters business over to Ren. I no longer felt fit to run the business and gave it to the most capable hands. She decided that we had to make an attempt to get Destiny back. Destiny had fallen to the control of the ninja Sins Lust and Pride on her mission three days after Ren took charge and left. Shortly we were contacted by Darki saying that she had killed 4 people and was headed southeast toward the ocean. This put us two people down since Kyoma left on his own. Ren called a meeting with me on what to do about Destiny. "I'll go get her, if there's going to be anyone that's going to be able to get her back it'll be me." I told Ren. We sat her office. "Alright, take Kia with you" Ren said "She'll make it easier for you to bring her back." "No! She's only 7, Ren. She hasn't realized that Destiny left and if we drag her into this you know it'll tear her apart. I refuse to do that to Kia" I protested. Destiny and Kia had become extremely close since Ryu, Darki and I saved her from the ninja Sin Gluttony. "You can't go alone Gary. You know Kia's Wood style is especially effective on Avatars. Plus, Pride and Lust are probably with her, they'll kill you. Take Miso at least. Don't go alone" she demanded. "No Miso needs to stay with Kia. I'll take Team Yoru No with me." I said. "Are you sure? They aren't equipped for this type of battle." she questioned. "Yeah, but I have to go now if we want to catch up with her. Trust me Ren, I have this." I assured her. She sighed and rubbed her head. I knew she didn't like my plan. "Okay Gary, just be careful" she said. I smiled and waved goodbye; she was questioning my decision. As I walked out of her office Ryu, who had remained silent the whole time, followed behind me. "Stay here with Kia, Ryu." I told him. "No, you'll get killed, how do you expect to fight her without being able to use the 7 Tails' chakra? We have to go together." He protested "I understand you not taking Kia but I'm going" Like Ren, he only had my best interest in mind but I had a plan. "Look Ryu, trust me, stay here with her, she won’t have me or Destiny. Help Miso keep her from finding out. If I'm not back in two days then you guys come and get me." I replied with confidence before he could protest. I turned around and left Ryu but right before I left, I thought "We lost Kyoma, I'm not going to let Destiny go. " "Fine Gary, just take care." He thought back.

As we followed her Chakra signature through the woods, I briefed Team Yoru No. "Okay listen, when you guys catch up, don't engage her. She will kill you. She's an Avatar with unlimited access to the Beast's chakra. Danielle you won't be able to fly well or use your Wind Spirits; she'll over power your chakra. Marai, you know lightning has no effect on wind. The only one who might stand a chance might be Ray, but that's a stretch, her High Gravity Jutsu could be able to crush his particles. Just slow her down until I'm able to catch up." Marai didn't like what I said "You act we don't know what we're up against. You act like I can't fight her without using Lightning Chakra, we're assassins, Gary. You should know not to underestimate us." She said. Danielle remained quiet because she knew I was right. Marai just hated being underestimated. "Calm down Marai, he's just warning us." Ray snapped at her. "If I was underestimating you guys, I wouldn't have asked for your help." I reminded her. "So, how are we supposed to slow her down if she can kill us?" Ray asked. I looked over at Danielle who was using her Harpy's Blessing eyes to track Destiny. "Ray you will have to replicate Danielle. You and Marai go ahead, since you're fastest, use your pillars to block her physically and Marai you have to attack and draw back. Ray if you're not able to get her away soon enough you will have problems." I instructed. "What will I do?" Danielle asked. "You'll have to use your Harpy's Blessing to take me to the battlefield. They after I engage her, you and Ray get Marai out of there. I have to stop her before the Darkness takes over her." I answered; I didn't tell them her chakra signature was already stained with Darkness. Marai turned back and looked me in the eyes then continued running.

Marai and Ren both knew the truth. My false face of a cold heart didn't fool them. This was going to be one of my harder fights I was going to have. Having to fight the girl I loved and having her try to kill me; was tearing me apart. They knew the mission was more than a just mission to me. I was risking my life to get the girl I loved back; a fight that would most likely end my life. I couldn't drag Ryu or Kia into it and get them killed too, it wasn't fair. Ren and Marai undermined my doubts in myself and trusted my decisions. In return I put my trust into Ren's choice, Marai, Danielle, and Ray and pressed forwarded to face someone I never thought I would.

She was headed for the Rain Village alone; Pride and Lust weren't with her. Ray and Marai had already gone ahead to slow her down. As I ran through the barren wasteland, Danielle flew closely over head. It was hard to see through the rain even while sharing Danielle's Harpy's Blessing sight. It wasn't long until we seen huge gusts of wind knocking Ray and Marai around. They managed to block Destiny's access to the lake, where she seemed to be going, that surrounded the Rain Village with Ray's Silver Rods technique. Every time she tried to go over the skyscraper like silver pillars, Ray and Marai would strike her down. I was starting to fear for their safety. "Gary, are you sure you don't need us?" Danielle asked as we neared the fray. "Everything will okay, just you and Ray get Marai and you guys get out of the battlefield." I told her as we reached our friends. Danielle flapped her wings once and sped in "Ray! We're here!" she yelled. Ray turned around, he was an exact replica of Danielle only his wings were purple, swooped down and grabbed Marai and lifted her. Danielle swooped in and they carried her onto the top of the pillars. It was strange Destiny didn't sense me. She seen they were no longer trying to stop her; she made a break for and ran toward the right end of the pillars. "Earth Style: Rising Mountains!" I touched the ground and huge stone pillars rose out of the ground and blocked her path. Before she realized what happened; I closed her in. "Earth Style: Earth Swallow!" The ground opened up and closed around her. "You caught her?" Ray questioned. "It's never that easy." I answered as I dashed in to where she was imprisoned.

Destiny exploded from the ground and faced me. It was storming; lightning crashed, illuminating the sky and the barren stone wasteland. She was wearing a ragged black cloak that hid her face. There was a dark aura around her, the same aura that came off of Lust's true form, an evil aura; the Darkness. It almost overpowered the 1 Tail's Wind chakra. "Destiny." I said lowly; my heart held for her to be free of the darkness holding her. Her arm swung up and blade of wind at me. I jumped over the attack, dropped an axe kick on her so hard she fell on her belly. Fighter's instinct set in; I backed off "Second Stage: Earth Warrior!" rocks covered my arm and legs; I pulled up my face mask. Destiny stood up. I couldn't see where she was looking under her cloak, her attacks could've been aimed anywhere. Her hand went up again; I readied myself to dodge another Wind Blade. "Wind Style: High Gravity." Destiny growled. Instantly air around me became heavy and I was struggling to stand. The gravity started to crush me; her jutsu forced me to my knees. The rain started falling harder around me and the ground became to soften. I put my hand on the ground "Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bomb!" The mud morphed into a dragon's head and began shooting mud bombs at Destiny. She released her jutsu and began dodging the bombs. I took my chance while I had the cover of the bombs "Earth Blade!" Earth chakra swirled in my hand, I ran at her. Her movements were swift and precise as she dodged each bomb; landing the attack to her was going to be hard. I faked a frontal assault, she shot an Air Bullet at me that destroyed my Earth Dragon Bomb; I slid to the side and rushed in aiming for her stomach. I got within five feet and she blasted another Wind Bullet. I dispelled it with my Dragon Blade, only to be hit with another Wind Bullet. I was sent flying, she blasted me with two more that knocked the wind out of me then slammed me into the ground with her High Gravity Jutsu. The gravity was crushing my chest, I couldn't breathe. "Earth Style: Earth Swallow." The earth below me opened up and took me in. I erupted from the ground behind her. I tried to hit her with a round house but she turned and dodged it. We began a fierce Taijutsu match and she somehow managed to dodge all of my kicks. Her speed was surprising; she had never been able to dodge my all of my kicks. I began to speed up in hopes of gaining the upper hand but she continued to dodge them. She jumped back trying to create space between us but I closed the distance. I tried kicking her in the face but she jumped; I followed her into the air "Dragon Twister!" I began a spinning in rapid fire of kicks at her in mid air. She tried to counter with a Wind Bullet but it missed. "Wind Style: Typhoon Tornado." She began spinning until she turned into a tornado. We began clashing like two spinning tops. The twister of Wind Chakra she created blocked all my kicks from hitting. In the middle of the attack she tried to blast me with a Wind Blade and created an opening. "Quake Slam!" I grabbed her and suplexed her into the ground, ending our mid air confrontation. We hit and I released her "Earth Swallow!" The ground around her opened up "Earth Crunch!" and smashed her in. I charged another Earth Blade and just as Destiny erupted from the ground, ran to her and buried my hand and the Earth Chakra into her stomach. I wrapped another arm around her and bound her; I could feel her body and mind being consumed by The Darkness. There was pain and struggle inside her as it grew. "Give up. I'm not letting you go, Destiny." I said. Suddenly her body went limp then tensed up again; The Darkness stalled. This was my chance; I thrust my hand harder into her belly. She screamed but the sound was muffled by the crash of thunder. Suddenly The Darkness flared around her, flinging me far away from Destiny. Lightning cracked again and Destiny was still screaming. "Gary! The attack slowed The Darkness from transforming her but something is going on with her Wind Chakra." Danielle called out to me "It's like the two chakras are fighting each other." The air sounded like it was ripping as Destiny screamed in pain. "That's right, Shukaku's chakra won't let The Darkness take over it's host." I rose up and out of the mud to see Destiny with her hands over her face and screaming; she was in pain. There were whips of razor like wind whipping all around her; cutting and ripping the air. If Shukaku's Wind Chakra could take over maybe it would expel The Darkness, which meant I had to try to knock her out. I burrowed underground, emerged behind her, and was cut up by the razor winds her body was expelling. Through her screams of pain, the razor winds, the rain and the struggle, I put her in a headlock. As I tried squeezing, the winds slashed at my torso more and more. She struggled to turn her head but eventually did and glared at me with a glowing crimson eye. The Darkness flared again and something began tugging at my heart.

Suddenly everything stopped. Everything went dark. A voice spoke to me, it was Destiny's."You want me to come back right, Gary?" she asked. She was standing in front of me as I always remembered her; holding my hand. The answer couldn't leave my mouth. "Just come with me. You want me Gary, we both know you do." The memory of her and I sitting on the beach at night flashed in my head. We watched the stars together. We were always together "Just me and you." She said. The memory of her laying in bed next to me, smiling before we kissed, flashed through my head. We were happy together. "We're meant to be together. You know it's true." The memory of me and Destiny training together, studying her method of how to fight passed through my head. "I love you; you love me. It meant to be us. Just come with me." She said. Her looking in my eyes and telling me we'll always be together, kissed her and told her I love her; the memory flashed through my head. We were in love. The memories, the thoughts brought me happiness; it tugged at my heart. It felt so right like it did before; like it was meant to be. I felt weak; I wanted to go with her. Bliss and weakness rushed me and I was focused on our love for peace and security. " I'll never let you go." I whispered. "Yes, Gary," She answered "Don't let me go, you want to marry me. Don't let me go." The thought of us having a beautiful wedding on the beach like we planned ran through my head. "We'll have kids like we wanted." She said. I remembered me and Destiny going to the woods and playing with Kia. "What, Kia?" I wondered "Why Kia?" "That's what you lust for right, Gary? You lust for me, just come with me." Destiny said. Then I realized what was happening. It wasn't Destiny, it was Lust's Darkness trying to pull me in. "You aren't Destiny." I growled. I tightened my grip on her hand, pulled her, drove my knee into her face, and was snapped back into reality.

I was flung into the air by a tornado that spawned around her. The wind started to pick up turning into a wind storm and the rain started to fall harder. It was the Shukaku's Beast Cloak; The Darkness managed to pull it out of her. I heard a roar and the tornado dispersed; she was now covered in Wind Chakra. The white Wind Chakra that covered her took the shape of Shukaku. It had no details other than her glowing red eyes and the veins of crimson negative chakra that ran through it. She swished her giant tail around and roared at me.  "Dammit Destiny." I growled. There was an ominous voice that echoed from her, an evil echoed voice "There is no Destiny! I'm Vanity!" she said. She was changed in the worst way and was no longer herself. Now she was at full power, she had the Beast's Chakra Cloak. This was trouble; I couldn't use the 7 Tail's Badger's chakra without Ryu otherwise I'd turn to stone. Something had to be done either way or we would all be killed. "3rd Stage: Earth Warrior!" a barrier of rocks swirled around my limbs. Destiny roared and blasted an Air Bullet so fast it was unavoidable. I was hit by the full impact and knocked breathless. Before I could gather myself, I was hit with a barrage of Air Bullets. "Jet impact!" her mouth opened and I was hit with a powerful jet stream of wind that would've cut me in half if if my defenses weren't up. Unable to counterattack her, she roared and her tail stretched out and smashed me into the ground. "Gary!" Danielle yelled. Destiny's attention was drawn to Team Yoru No who was sitting on the silver pillars. She crouched to lunge at them. I struggled my way up and charged two Dragon Blades. Destiny roared and jumped up at them. I launched myself in the air and successfully intercepted her. She missed a swipe at me with her tail and I drove both my Dragon Blades into her belly. The attack couldn't get past her cloak, she slammed me away with her claw, and I hit the pillar hard. She hit me with another Jet Impact on her descent. I coughed up blood as my ribs cracked. She grabbed me, slammed me into the mud then unleashed a tornado on me. I could feel it sucking the oxygen from around me, I couldn't breathe; there no way to counter. My attempt to turn over and burrow underground was nullified by the pressure of the tornado. I coughed up more blood. I began to lose consciousness and knew she would kill me as soon as I did; there was only one way to survive, I had to use the 7 Tail's Earth Chakra. I closed my eyes and struggled to tapped into the core of the chakra. Reaching deep with in myself almost pulled it out but I was pulled into the Earth Dimension instead.

I opened my eyes and there was nothing but huge stone mountains and dirt everywhere; I was in the Earth dimension. There in front of me sat Kaku the 7 Tailed Badger of Earth "Kaku, I need you to let me use your chakra." I said. He swung his 7 tails around and chuckled. "You're free to use it whenever you want, just face the curse." he snarled. "We both know if I die, you lose your avatar and you're way out of here. That'll make the 8 Tailed Snake more powerful and he wins. You don't want that! You owe me, I brought you Shukaku!" I demanded. The huge beast rose up, slammed his claw down in front of me and glared at me "I don't owe you anything! You are the one who chased after that girl without your lizard! You have damned me to this place; you dug your grave now die it!" he roared. "I didn't damn you ANYWHERE! I will kill Destiny myself, with my own hands, using YOUR chakra," I told him "watch me." "Kill her? You think I didn't sense you almost being taken by Lust's Darkness? What little lust you hold in your heart is for that girl! She will kill you." he laughed. "You really believe that? That's why it didn't take me! Watch me, Kaku! I will defeat her!" I told him. The Badger glared at me; his green eyes inspected me. He turned away from me and began to walk away. I lost hope. "Fine, don't prove me right." he growled as one of his tailed glowed green. "Thanks Kaku!" I said before turning around; It was time for me to return to my own dimension and the fight.

I opened my eyes and stone mountains rose up around me and diminished the tornado. Kaku's Earth Chakra engulfed me. I could feel all of my wounds healing and the power surge through me. The green chakra took the shape of Kaku and sprouted 7 tails; the Chakra Cloak was complete. I stood and faced Destiny. She roared at me and I roared back. I slapped of my tails on the ground and 7 stone claws erupted from the ground and bound her while our whole battle ground turned to stone. She fought and clawed to get free but couldn't. She hit me with Air Bullets that didn't do any damage then a Jet Impact that only knocked me backwards. I opened my mouth and assembled a ball of Earth Chakra and rocks. I growled and launched the Quake Blast attack at Destiny. The attack exploded on impact and destroyed the stone arm that held her. The wind picked up and the earth quaked. Twisters formed and mountains rose as our chakra clashed and changed the environment. She started a rapid fire of Jet Impacts that was dodged by me burrowing underground. I erupted from behind her, grabbed her with my tails, threw her into the air, blasted her with five Quake Blasts then burrowed underground again. When I felt her hit the ground I jumped out, grabbed her with my tails and tossed her into the air again. My pursuit of her into the air was stopped when she somersaulted and slapped me with her tail. I hit the ground and she unleashed a tornado on me. It swung me around; she cut through it with a Tyrant Cannon attack. The jet stream paralyzed me and Destiny landed on top of me. I knocked her off and tackled her. She was sent flying and hit the silver pillars. I spat a barrage of Quake Blasts at her. Before there was any time to respond I returned to all fours and ran toward her. The tornadoes that were caused by her cloak began to swerve into my path to defend her, I burrowed underground and emerged in front of her. She was stuck to the pillar, the Quake Blasts had encased her in stone to the pillar. She fired a savage arsenal of Jet Impacts, Wind Blades, and Tyrant Cannons from her mouth but her neck movement was handicapped. She looked so helpless; I almost couldn't believe it. As our chakras clashed and the immediate area became tortured with tornadoes and mountains something told me not to get any closer to her. Through the evil and the chakra cloak I could see Destiny, the real Destiny, was in pain. Before I could decide what to do, a twister almost collided with me. I jumped back to dodge it and was hit with a Jet Impact; I had jumped right into Destiny's range of fire. She ejected a Tyrant Cannon that was barely blocked by a mountain that rose up in front of me. "Gary! She got free!" I heard Marai yell. I jumped over the mountain to now see Destiny in pursuit of Team Yoru No. They ran across the top of the pillars barely fending off Destiny with strikes of lightning from Marai's sword. I roared out at Destiny, she turned and shot a Tyrant Cannon. I burrowed underground, tracked her movements, I locked onto her signature and pulled her deep underground. When I emerged Ray, Danielle, and Marai were no where to be seen. This was good, there was no worrying about them anymore. The tornadoes in the battlefield began to circle around where I dragged Destiny under, she was trying to escape; It was only a matter of time before she did. I slammed my tails on the ground and raised full sized mountains around the pillars, creating a tall coliseum around me. There was no way Destiny was getting away, she had to face me. Soon enough, she crawled out of the earth. I ran in and began a slash and claw match. Slashing, clawing, scratching, and swiping at each other furiously. We'd tussle and wrestle, break apart to go at each other again. As we continued, biting and joined the onslaught, followed by tail lashes, Jet Impacts and Quake Blasts. The ground cracked, rose and quake under us and the air swirled violently. We were two beastly forces of nature battling. We separated and squared each other off. She twitched then used her Tyrant Twister jutsu. She used her tail to spin and propel herself like a tornado of Wind Chakra at me. Before she could get near me I countered with a Seismic Roar; roaring sonic waves of Earth chakra at her. It knocked her back and I launched myself onto her. I bound her with 5 of my tails and held her down with stone claws. She fired a Tyrant Cannon at me and I covered her mouth with 6th tail. This was it, instincts told me how to defeat her. With my 7th tail and claws, I began to rip and tear her cloak open to separate it from her body. I got to a certain point then I noticed the Darkness seeped more and more into her body as I peeled the Beast Cloak back. It was no use, I had one last chance, one last option. I burrowed underground and took her with me. I used my Earth Terror Nin-Genjutsu. Everything went black as I pulled her into the Genjutsu. It was the Earth Dimension. I felt a power like I never had before, Destiny stood there in her Beast cloak staring at me in fear, she was now a dwarf compared to me. I was more than just in a Beast Cloak; I was the 7 Tailed Badger. It was amazing I had become the power of Earth. Now that my illusion was cast it was time to capture and paralyze my prey. I looked down and hit Destiny with a huge Seismic Roar. She was sent flying and her body was flung around like a rag doll. She hit me with a wave of Tyrant Cannon attacks followed by Jet Impacts. The attacks were useless. I responded with a with huge Quake Blast. She jumped and barely dodged it. Stone claws came out of the ground and tried to grab her but she avoided them with her Tyrant Twister. After she landed, she turned and ran. There was no hope for her to escape. I ran after her and within seconds was overshadowing her. She turned and roared. Even as Kaku, I could smile. My tail wrapped around her and held her still. It was like holding the key to breaking your loved one out of jail. She began squirming and struggling to get free, I could smell the fear leaking through her Cloak. With my other 6 tails I began ripping through her Beast Cloak. As I peeled through the layers of Wind chakra The Darkness flared out at me, trying to fend me off. I started to finally rip through the final layer of the Cloak then Destiny began to scream in pain, the scent of the fear became stronger. The Darkness was feeding off of her fear. I froze, I didn't know what to do. If I left the Beast Cloak alone she would retain the power and I ripped it apart she would be instantly consumed by The Darkness. There was no hope for me to save her other than kill her. Her screaming became more pain filled as the The Darkness took over. I stopped and released her. As the Beast Cloak slowly regenerated, I stared at Destiny hopelessly. I had lost Kaku's body and my Beast's Cloak; it was back to my regular self. I dropped to my knees in front of Destiny. I felt all the pain in the world, thoughts ran through my head but I couldn't comprehend them. I didn't understand what was going on and it hurt so much. Destiny struggled towards me, slowly step by step. "Gary" she forced out. It was her, the real Destiny. Her voice was strained but it was her. "I can't be saved.." shes said. This shot like an arrow through my heart. I went blank. Kia, Ren, Kyoma, Marai, Destiny, Ray, Miso...Ryu... My mind ran through everyone and everything with no prevail for an answer. The same feeling from before like my heart was being ripped out. No hope; no answer.

Gary just sat there as Destiny's Beast cloak revived it's self. "Gary! Get up!" Ray yelled. "He's barley awake!" I said "His chakra is almost all gone!" I could see his chakra was depleted. "Well we're not going to just sit here!" Marai snarled. She drew her sword "Plasma Charge!" Within seconds she was in already in Destiny's face. She raised her sword and lightning bolt knock Destiny away. Ray and I joined the fray. Replicated me, carried Destiny high into air and slammed her into the ground. All three of us surrounded Gary and tried to wake him up before Destiny fully revived. He looked up and whispered "There's no hope." His eyes were blank. Marai looked shocked at his expression. Destiny's cloak fully revived; she roared at us. We all turned and looked at her. She looked at Gary then turned to the lake and took off toward the Rain Village. "We have to go after her!" Marai ordered "No, there's no hope." Gary whispered again. "Dammit! We have to finish this mission! Let's go!" Marai's sword charged with Lightning Chakra and she took off after Destiny. Ray followed behind without hesitation. I looked down at Gary, he didn't moved, he was mumbling. He wasn't right, everything was wrong with him, he wasn't the same Gary. I opened my wings and wrapped them around him.