Chapter 9 – Altered Perceptions


Tayuya reached for her flute, forgetting her current situation. Recognizing her mistake, she slid Oshime's sword out of its sheath, holding it awkwardly in the air.

"Kin, stay back." Oshime stated, pointing towards the door they entered.

Kin looked very nervous, merely nodding and backing away towards the door.

"You sure you want to do this?" Tayuya asked, "You're going to die if you do."

"Hehe, as if two little ladies could ever hope to harm me." He replied, "Why don't you go back to doing the laundry or whatever so us men can do some real ninja work."

The vein on Oshime's forehead throbbed, due to the presence of a more temperamental consciousness within. Tayuya's body stayed staring at Ixero, grasping for a kunai from the pouch. Ixero smirked, and held out his arm towards the body of Tayuya.

"Shattering Sphere!" He shouted, as a glass ball grew in front of his hand.

The ball shot from his hand, towards the body of Tayuya. Oshime, caught off guard, could only try and slash at the ball with the kunai she was holding. Unfortunately for her, once she hit the ball, the entirety of it burst into an uncountable number of glass shards, continuing their momentum forward. Oshime had to way to block the shards, only able to cover her face with her arms while the shards ripped through many parts of Tayuya's body, leaving multiple scratches across her.

"Oshime!" Tayuya shouted, "Be a bit more careful with my body..."

"Sorry, Tayuya," Oshime replied, "But you're not one to talk after what you did to my underwear after we switched bodies..."

"What in the hell are you two chicks rambling about?" Ixero questioned, raising his eyebrow behind his sunglasses, "Are you telling me that you actually switched bodies?"

"Maybe," Oshime replied, "If so, we're both handicapped for this battle. You really going to beat up two handicapped girls?"

"Hah, you think I care about shit like that?" Ixero responded, "As long as I kill you, I get my reward, and I'm not going to let you go. I'd beat you to death even if you were a blind, crippled child."

"How chivalrous..." Oshime mumbled.

Tayuya, sensing an opportunity, rushed up to Ixero and attempted to slash at him using Oshime's sword. However, her lack of experience with this blade, and swords in general, along with the different physical capabilities of her current body, allowed Ixero the time to defend himself, creating a wall made of glass a few feet in front of her face. Tayuya had been in mid-swing at that moment, unable to stop herself from slashing at the fragile barrier. The blade effortlessly broke the barrier, creating a few large chunks of glass and many smaller pieces.

"Shard Stream" Ixero stated calmly, smirking.

The chunks of glass hovered in mid-air, before suddenly shattering further into countless tiny shards, launching forward suddenly. Tayuya had no way to dodge them, feeling them slash and cut this body's flesh in multiple locations.

"You ok, Tayuya?" Oshime asked, not chastising her for the damage to her body, as Tayuya had done shortly before.

"Yeah, just some scratches." Tayuya replied, wiping the blood that had flowed over her eyes, "Right now, I'm the only one who can use your sword, right?"

"As long as you have my chakra signature, only you can use it." Oshime replied.

"Figured as much. Tell me how to use it." Tayuya stated.

"Well, just focus on which jutsu you want to use, and focus your chakra through it, molding it to the image in your mind." Oshime stated, "What about your flute?"

"That's a bit trickier," Tayuya replied, "Only one attack doesn't require an intricate melody."

"That's what I figured," Oshime replied, "Mold your chakra through it, and play a specific melody while doing so."

"That's about how it works." Tayuya replied, glancing at the blade in her hands.

"You two ladies can chit-chat later," Ixero replied, "Well, not really, as you'll be dead, but you get my point."

"Just shut up and die..." Tayuya shouted, concentrating on the image in her mind.

After a second, the jaws of the dragon on the hilt opened wider, spewing flames over the length of the blade. The blade under the flames became red-hot, glowing from the heat of the fire.

"Hmm, not bad." Tayuya muttered, admiring her work.

"Well, at least you're trying, now." Ixero stated, placing his hands into a handsign, "Glass Sand!"

As he spoke, the ground began to rumble, miniscule shards of glass pouring up resembling whiteish sand. Ixero raised two thick tendrils of the sand, shooting one towards each girl. Tayuya swung the blade at the sand, knocking the tendril away for a second before it came back for another attack. Oshime placed Tayuya's flute to her lips, pouring chakra into it while she randomly blew notes as hard as she could. The result was a burst of compressed air that collided with the sand, spilling it across the ground. However, it reformed itself quickly, launching at Oshime again. It was too quick to get another shot of air at, colliding with her arm before she could fully dodge. The multiple tiny shards left enough scratches at the area of impact that no skin around the area was left unbloodied.

"Dammit, we'll never win like this..." Tayuya muttered, "We need our own bodies back!"

"Just concentrate on which jutsu you want to use, and make good use of it." Oshime replied, "You can use most of my arsenal, so you're in better shape than I am."

"Any suggestions?" Tayuya queried.

"Hmm, try the one I perfected a few weeks ago." Oshime replied.

"Right, right..." Tayuya responded, picturing the jutsu, "Piercing Heaven Spear!"

The flaming blade quickly lengthened, rocketing towards Ixero. Its speed combined with the piercing assistance of the heat allowed it to shoot through the shard tendril as if it was not even there. Ixero saw the blade coming, able to get far enough out of the way to avoid a fatal blow, taking a glance across the shoulder. He winced as the hot metal sliced through his skin, not bleeding much as the burns had actually sealed the wound quite quickly, but hurt tremendously moreso than a usual slash. The blade quickly retracted, going back to its original length, still on fire.

"Hmm, interesting." Ixero replied, "Not bad for a couple of chicks. I may have to actually put forth some effort."

"If you want to live, you had better." Tayuya replied.

Kin stayed huddled against the closed door, scared and shaking, watching the two people that seemed nice to her get beaten up and covered in blood. A few tears coated her face as she watched, a voice deep inside her telling her not to cry, despite the situation.

"Tayuya, I can't use your flute jutsu, but what about you Doki Form ninju-" Oshime began, stopping and blushing as she felt herself begin wetting the diaper she was wearing.

She knew she really should not be embarrassed, as she was inhabiting Tayuya's body, and she of course had no control down there. Despite the logic, the embarrassment stayed, although Oshime could not help but pay attention to the unique feeling as her bladder emptied. She could feel that the diaper was warmer, and somewhat wet, expanding a bit as it filled up.

"Err, Oshime, you ok?" Tayuya asked, "You're spacing out."

"Oh, umm, yeah." Oshime replied, still blushing a bit, "What about your Doki Form jutsu?"

"Hmm, that's a bit different." Tayuya replied, "It requires the summoning pact with the Doki."

"I thought I signed one of those a month or so ago?" Oshime questioned.

"That was with the Doki Guardian" Tayuya replied, "Same family, different contract."

"I guess that being in your body doesn't change anything?" Oshime asked.

"I guess it does, but there's a mental concentration aspect that requires knowledge of the specific contract details." Tayuya replied.

"Damn..." Oshime muttered.

Tayuya looked at Oshime, letting her know that she had an idea. Oshime saw the look, and nodded, not sure of the plan, but trusting Tayuya's judgment. As the only thing Oshime could do was the compressed air blast, she assumed that she was expected to do that a few times. She placed the flute to her lips, seeing Tayuya nod out of the corner of her eyes. Tayuya slashed at the shard tendril in front of her, watching it reform itself each time she did. When it attacked her, she dodged to the side repeating this a few times. Oshime watched and noticed that Tayuya was actually getting closer to Ixero, figuring out her plan as she watched. Tayuya nodded at Oshime again, signaling Oshime to attack. On cue, Oshime shot a compressed air blast, hitting the tendril not in front of her, but in front of Tayuya. As a result, she took a glancing blow from the one attacking her, but the one attacking Tayuya was scattered once again, creating a small area of mist where the attack was. Tayuya leapt through this obscuration, getting a few nicks and cuts from loose glass shards. Ixero, not expecting this, was unable to dodge or block as Tayuya rammed the sword through his gut. Ixero's look of surprise switched to a smirk, confusing Tayuya until the impaled body collapsed into a pile of glass shards.

"Dammit, a clone!" Tayuya shouted.

"Not bad, not bad...for a girl" Ixero stated, behind Tayuya.

Tayuya turned, and saw that the tendril she had been battling collapsed into a pile of shards, before reforming itself into Ixero.

"Good thing I always come prepared, or else I'd be in trouble." Ixero taunted, "Don’t think that you'll get that lucky again."

"Tayuya, use my signature jutsu!" Oshime shouted, clutching her bleeding arm.

Tayuya nodded, concerned about the damage that Oshime had taken, but knowing they needed to win this battle. She pictured the jutsu in question, pouring the required chakra from her arm into the blade.

"Bladed Dragon Ledge!" Tayuya shouted.

"...It's 'Edge'!" Oshime shouted to Tayuya, although the name had no bearing on the success of the jutsu.

"Whatever!" Tayuya shouted back, feeling the chakra begin to take effect.

The etching of a dragon on the blade began to glow, and expanded till it reached the edge of the blade. The blade itself took the shape of a dragon, yet appeared to still be flat and sharp like a blade. Ixero raised his eyebrow as the dragon launched itself towards him, extending from the hilt of the blade, yet still attached to it. Despite still being as hard as steel, the dragon was able to curve and turn its metal body. The dragon was three feet tall at its head, and continued to get thinner as it reached the hilt of Sui-Riu. Ixero dodged the dragon, which twisted to attempt to attack him again. He managed to avoid each blow, but not by much. With one enhanced leap, Ixero landed on the other end of the battlefield.

"Hmm, interesting. Fancy sword tricks." Ixero stated, grasping the hilt coming from one of his two sheaths, "I believe that you've earned yourself a view of my sword talents. But I warn you, you ladies won't survive what you're about to witness."

-~-

Anko placed Ino's unconscious body against the wall of the room, returning to her position next to Sakura, ready to fight if need be. Yuri looked at each of them, cruel smirk on her face.

"If I actually cared about crap like this, I'd almost feel bad about beating up a handicapped team." Yuri mocked, "One's unconscious, one's wearing a diaper, and the other just plain looks like a moron."

Sakura both blushed and grew angry at Yuri's words, wishing she had another pair of pants to change into. Yuri's comments made Sakura more conscious of the crinkling of her diaper, unable to place the sound out of her mind. Not only that, but her head was buzzing, which scared her greatly due to the possibility of complete or even partial regression. She tried to ignore the buzzing, but found it a bit difficult to do so completely. As if to add gasoline to the fire, Sakura could feel herself wetting at that moment, hating the fact that she had instinctively turned towards Ino afterwards.

"C'mon, Crinkles, stop looking at your girlfriend and fight me." Yuri taunted, "Mesh is ready to fight."

Sakura clenched her fist, her anger building as the spunky girl mocked them with every word. She ran up to Yuri, attempting to punch her with her strength, but Yuri leapt back to dodge, seeing the punch create a small crater in the ground where she was.

"Heh, interesting, very very interesting..." Yuri stated, smirking, "You have more potential than I thought, Pinky."

"Don't call me that!" Sakura shouted, rushing again.

Yuri dodged this punch as well, noticing another small crater. She landed, and built chakra into her right fist, punching the ground directly afterwards.

"Wave Tremor!"

The punch caused the ground to ripple as if it were rubber, knocking both Anko and Sakura over, and causing Ino's body to flop around like a puppet. The attack also dislodged numerous rocks from the cavern floor, leaving jagged stones all over the ground. Yuri smirked, and held her arms out as thin strings of chakra reached out to the stones, and grabbed them. The strings retracted, pulling the rocks with them, until her arms were covered with spiky rocks, collected mostly around her fist, where the spikes were larger and thicker than the rest. Anko and Sakura got to their feet, paying attention to the jagged stones on Yuri's arms, each plotting a strategy. Anko released a few snakes from her sleeves, launching them at Yuri. Yuri smashed them with her fists, leaving a small crater, similar to Sakura's. Yuri ran in to punch Anko, but was countered by Sakura, who punched as well, the momentum hurting each other, Sakura moreso due to the spiked rocks.

"Hey Crinkles, that kind of hurt," Yuri taunted, "I'll make sure to return it tenfold."

"We'll see about that, Bitch." Sakura seethed.

Ino's body twitched once, and then again, as her eyes opened, revealing her current location. She blinked a few times to take in the sight, while her brain processed it. After a second or two, she realized that Sakura and Anko were fighting an enemy. She shot to her feet, ready to help in any way that she could.

"Ino, get focused!" Anko shouted, noticing her awake.

Ino ran over to the two, placing her hands into a handsign.

"Flower Fall!"

Ino stared directly at Yuri, who had no time to look away before being placed into a genjutsu. Yuri felt herself falling, noticing nothing but flowers around her. They obscured her vision and made it hard to place her hands into the "Release" handsign, but she managed to get it after a bit of fumbling. Unfortunately for her, "Release" did nothing, prompting her to dig into her pouch for a kunai. She noticed that she did not seem to have her pouch in this genjutsu, unsurprisingly, as her fists were not rocky, either. She bit her finger with all her strength, but it did not seem to be painful enough to release the genjutsu, even though it was quite painful.

"Dammit..." Yuri muttered.

She slid her shoe off, and hesitated a second before breaking her pinky toe. She winced in pain, but saw the cavern come back into focus just in time to roll out of the way of the kunai that was about to be plunged through her neck. She hopped back to her feet, noticing at the pain in her toe, but placing it out of her mind. She reattached the rocks that she had lost when she fell into the genjutsu, creating the jagged fists again. She held up one hand towards the three kunoichi, and suddenly launched a few of the jagged rocks towards them. The speed of the stones was incredible, almost unavoidable. Sakura took one in the shoulder and knee, Anko was hit in the elbow, and Ino was hit in each forearm. The three ninja each removed the stones from their body, wincing in pain as they did. Blood trickled from the wounds, which Sakura quickly attended to with her healing capabilities.

"Dammit, she's better than I thought..." Sakura stated, finishing up the healing of her wound.

As if to prove Sakura's thought, the rocks on Yuri's hand began spinning around each of her arms, creating something resembling rocky drills. Yuri ran up towards the three, who dodged to the sides, Anko to the left, Ino and Sakura to the right. Yuri followed up by leaping to the right, attempting to take out both Sakura and Ino, one with each punch. Sakura used her strength to push Ino out of the way, not able to fully avoid the punch. She felt the ever-growing buzzing in her head as the punch connected, smashing her into a nearby wall. She began healing her wounds, finding it harder to concentrate now that her head was buzzing uncontrollably. By the time that she had fully finished healing her deep injury, the buzzing her head had changed into an all too familiar feeling of warmth. She wanted to fight it, but she had used so much chakra in healing, that there was no way for her to. Sakura felt her mind regress quickly, leaving her adult mannerisms behind. Thankfully, she not in much pain due to her healing, so her infantile mind did not scream and cry, merely suck her thumb while looking ahead, not noticing as Yuri ran up to her side to attempt to land another punch on the pink-haired girl. However, Anko managed to release a stream of snakes, which wrapped around Yuri to prevent her from punching. Ino leapt in, grabbing Sakura and taking her across the room.

"You need to be more careful, Sakura!" Ino stated, not noticing Sakura's thumb-sucking, "You almost got killed."

"Mama!" Sakura simply replied, some drool falling from her thumb.

Ino looked down in shock, noticing Sakura's thumb-sucking and vacant look in her eyes, sighing as she did.

"Dammit, Sakura, why now of all times...?" Ino mumbled, giving a fake smile to the regressed Sakura.

Sakura gave a big goofy smile back, continuing to work on her thumb.

"What's with her?" Anko asked, struggling to keep Yuri tangled up by the snakes.

"Err, I'll explain later," Ino answered, "For now, we just need to beat this girl."

Anko nodded, struggling to keep Yuri bound by the snakes. Suddenly, the snakes burst, dissolving as usual, as Yuri shot up from the tangle. She turned towards Anko, and shot two more rocks towards her. Anko managed to release two more snakes which hit the rocks, dissolving, but knocking the rocks harmlessly to the ground. Yuri turned, seeing Sakura sucking her thumb with a blank look on her face. Yuri gasped in shock, stumbling backwards. Ino looked confused, wondering why Yuri had such an intense reaction to Sakura's condition. Sure, it was probably odd to see your opponent sitting down and sucking her thumb with a goofy smile, but her reaction still seemed overdone in Ino's eyes.

"How did she...?" Yuri mumbled, looking back and forth between Anko and Ino quickly.

"It's...complicated." Ino replied, glancing over at Sakura.

"So, this is...normal?" Yuri questioned.

"Kind of..." Ino replied, noticing Anko take position behind Yuri.

"Must just be coincidence, then..." Yuri mumbled to herself, not noticing Anko.

The purple-haired kunoichi created numerous fangs along her palm and fingers, quickly grabbing Yuri around the next to strangle and stab her at the same time. As she did, however, Yuri crumbled into a pile of rocks, as a hand grabbed the back of Anko's head.

"A clone!" Ino shouted, as Yuri crumbled into rocks.

"You thought you were going to win?" Yuri questioned, smirking cruelly while gripping Anko's head, "You haven't even seen my Kekkei Genkai yet, nor my full power."

"Anko-sensei!" Ino shouted, trying to think up a counter-measure.

"Dammit!" Anko shouted, trying to get out of Yuri's grasp.

"Pinky is already out of the battle, and now you're about to be, as well." Yuri taunted, "Say good-night, Slithers."