Naruto: The Shattered Eyes

'Genjutsu: Shinrakugan,'

Hinata saw the flash of red, and cold sweat trickled down her neck. A crimson gaze was rapidly approaching, with an outstretched hand ready to beat her down.

—Thud! Thud! Thud!

Three swift strikes flew from that single hand, forcing her to parry, dodge, and block. The parry was with her elbow, sending the arm slightly off-course. The second strike thus became a sweep, forcing her to duck, or her cheek would get slammed by a terrifying backhand.

Then, finally, she crossed her arms over her head to block the chop that followed.

A whimper escaped her, but she knew that the assault wasn't over. A straight kick was aimed at her stomach. She forced herself lower, nearly hugging the ground, as a foot whizzed past her head.

Rolling to the side, she dodged a heavy stomp that kicked up dust. Her Byakugan flashed, seeing the incoming heel kick cutting through the brown cloud.

—Crack!

Her bones screamed when she blocked with her arms, shielding her head from damage.

A lull in the battle arrived as her enemy shifted their weight. The heel kick dissolved, and the next thing Hinata knew was that her clothes had been grabbed.

Yanked from her defensive posture, she was surprised by the hooks on her enemy's sandals, pulling her clothes and dragging her with its swing.

"Ah!"

A small scream, silenced by the fist twisting into her gut.

"Ack—!"

The wind was blown out of her chest and she gasped for breath.

—Thud.

Another fist made contact with her face, flattening her nose as she was sent flying backward.

It was then that she saw the state of her surroundings.

And she would regret ever looking.

***

[A/N Trigger Warning: Body Horror, Insects.]

Held by the enemy's grasp, Shino was writhing in a choke hold that held him in the air. His feet flailed helplessly, and even his insects didn't seem to respond to his will.

No...

Hinata's eyes widened as she gazed into Shino's chakra pathways.

Something felt off.

Something was going wrong.

—Bathump!

A heartbeat. Supposedly soft yet echoing so loudly through the night.

—Bathump!

A sense of dread engulfed Hinata's heart, grasping it like a death sentence. Shino was turning purple, deprived of oxygen, squirming under his enemy's stare.

"H-Help..!"

He tried to speak, however, that only tightened the grip around his neck. The insects in his body bulged out of his skin in reckless chaos.

It seemed like they were confused.

Disoriented to the point where they were harming their master.

Squirming beneath Shino's skin, thousands of insects moved around. Crawling among his muscle fibers, moving through his veins, swimming through his blood.

He was gasping for breath, yet left incapable of a single moment of respite.

—Spurt!

Suddenly, a large wound opened up, and insects burst out of his body, tearing through his clothes. His shoulder, swarming with creepy crawlies was open for all to see. The red that should have marred his wound was plagued by a living breathing mass of black.

Shino's eyes bulged, turning red from what Hinata thought was the constricting of his throat.

However, judging from the chakra signatures, she knew she was wrong.

—Splatter!

Shino's swelled like balloons and burst like bubbles, sending a rain of blood upon the man holding him up. Yet, the latter paid it no heed.

The insects continued to flow, this time out of his eye sockets as well. And instead of attacking the enemy, they circled back to their master, devouring his chakra and tearing through his flesh in a rabid rampage.

They weren't even made to eat flesh, yet it was still happening before Hinata's very eyes.

Terrified, Hinata could barely even speak.

—Crack.

And in that gap in her thoughts...

Shino exploded into a shower of blood and flesh.

***

The real Shino was, luckily, not exploding into pieces. Instead, he was turned into a sandbag, tossed around the battlefield, bruised and battered.

Despite Shino's use of insects, he could not shake off his pursuer. The burning heat around their body deterred any approach.

Left with no choice but to throw hands, he desperately tried to stay afloat in the chaotic sea of battle.

Unfortunately, he blocked with his face and parried with his guts. The rain of kicks and fists was a blur to him as his vision waned.

Every heavy-handed strike brought a concussion.

Every roundhouse kick tossed him into the air.

Shino was helpless, and despair had kicked in. However, despite the dulling of his senses in his descent to unconsciousness, there was this fire burning within him.

Not the Will of Fire no... A part of it maybe, but not that.

It was a concentrated flame — pure and unbridled.

The joy of meeting fists with fists, blocking kicks using kicks, and skulls banging against skulls... Some part of this fighting style resonated within him.

So he forced himself to keep going, struggling against the uphill battle.

Never giving up.

A left hook rushed out from his side, reckless and unrefined. It was parried with a mere flick of the wrist.

Yet Shino was not disheartened. There was a rhythm he was catching.

He dodged the fist that counterattacked, weaving into his enemy's guard. From there, he let loose an uppercut and his enemy jumped back.

But they were quick. Much quicker than what Shino himself was used to.

Another roundhouse kick met his shoulder. Their shin slammed against his arm, nearly shattering bone.

Shino replied by grabbing the leg frozen by the impact.

"Hm?" A grunt of surprise rang with the twisting fabric.

Eyes dilated in surprise as a right hook swiped toward his gut.

—Uwak!

Shino landed an attack, a dire reach towards his enemy's solar plexus, knocking the air out of their lungs. Yet he had no plans to stop there.

Shino's foot swept the ground in front of him, hooking his enemy's leg with his own. With both legs bound, and the enemy incapacitated for a moment, he took this opportunity to jump.

However...

—Poof!

The shinobi he was fighting burst into a cloud of smoke.

'A Shadow Clone?!' Shino's thoughts were in disarray. 'Since when—?'

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