The Hyuuga kunoichi put her hands upon Aimi's breasts, the glowing chakra of her medical technique surrounding her palms. As she did, Tashi propelled himself into the air, sucking in his lungs and spitting out a thick cloud of ash into the great tailed beast's face.<strong>"GRRAAGH!?"</strong><br/><br/>He brought up one large claw up to his face and then sucked in his own belly, emulating Tashi's maneuver just a moment prior. He blew out his own burst of air into the cloud, dispersing it and sendng the airborne Tashi flying backwards. The blast was above Marise and Aimi, thankfully... or it would have blown them away as well. Then, the konoha ninja looked down and saw Aimi begin to awaken... her golden eyes lazily opened, looking upon the other kunoichi's own white orbs.<br/><br/>"M-Mari?"<br/><br/>The gust of air from Shukaku's mouth began to weaken until it was just a breeze. He looked down and twisted his head,<strong>"UH?"</strong>He brought his claw up to his face and watched in horror as the sand that formed its structure began to fade away. It dispersed in the dust and the one-tailed beast recoiled, golden eyes wide,<strong>"N-NO! I... I JUST GOT HEEEEEEERRRRREEE!"</strong>His jaw dissolved into dust as his voice trailed off, and the glow in his eyes disappeared,<strong>"<span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 10pt;">NNNN</span><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 9pt;">NNNOO</span><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 8pt;">OOOO</span><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 7pt;">OOOOG</span><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 6pt;">GHHHH</span><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 5pt;">HHHHhhhh</span>"</strong>Within moments, the great bijuu had disappeared into the wind.<br/><br/>The dust settled... Tashi was half-buried in a dune, but he freed himself from a sandy grave without much difficulty. Aimi began to regain her consciousness as Chiyo and Hitomi looked on. Chiyo held onto her stump of an arm and Hitomi likewise appeared exhausted. Or annoyed. It was difficult to tell.<br/><br/>Tashi emerged from the sand to find the Shukaku gone. He went to stand, but the strain on his body had been too much. His legs failed him, and the Mibu swordsman fell forward, unconscious. Aimi, too, drifted in and out of consciousness. She closed her eyes once again and her body went limp in Hitomi's arms. Mari followed not too long after, exhausted from her ordeal and... violations.<br/><br/>Hitomi looked up at the old woman, who was herself nursing the wound on her arm. She shrugged her shoulders...<br/><br/>...<br/><br/>...<br/><br/>...<br/><br/>The sun had fallen over the mountains by the time they awoke. Hitomi, it seemed, had dragged them out of the hot sun of the desert to the shade of an upturned boulder, one of those dislodged and sent flying during the battle with the great tailed beast. Mari, Aimi, and Tashi all lay side by side. Mari was dressed in her spare clothes, laying upon he own cloak. Tashi likewise was laid upon his travel attire, but he was shirtless. Aimi, between them, was wrapped in what seemed to be Chiyo's old poncho, the one she discarded while they were travelling. Around her waist, offering her some decency, Tashi's shirt was wrapped around her like a towel.<br/><br/>On a small rock likewise in the shade, Hitomi and Chiyo sat. The old woman had her head down and her eyes closing, resting like the others... while the mercenary kept vigil. She saw Mari and Tashi begin to awaken and nudged the puppeteer. "They're awake."<br/><br/>The old woman nodded. It was dusk and the sky was blue and orange.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">No more crunch. The encounter was going to end last round anyways. :P<br/><br/>He may have used something like Mugen Sajin Daitoppa or Ichijin no Jutsu though...</div></div>