Disclaimer: No, I don't own Naruto …
Author's Note: This is my first NaruSaku – and it will probably be a longshot! I've had this in my mind for ages … after being inspired by so many other fics too! This was also inspired by Naruto Shippuden Movie 4 which I just recently watched too!
Do enjoy!
Chapter One: Abduction
Withered metal. Chunks of stone scattered everywhere. Shrubs had begun to grow through the cracks on the ground and withered trees stood limp at the entrance of the courtyard. Dark clouds hung in the sky, and light rain started drizzling down.
Haruno Sakura knelt next to a fallen pillar; a kunai clenched in one hand and her other hand supporting her weight on the ground. She listened intently for a slightest sound, anything to alert her to the presence of who they were looking for. If the foe showed himself, then she would be ready to attack. She could feel the weight of her weapons in the pouch attached to her belt, hidden due to her cloak being draped around her.
She sensed movement from her left and looked sideways to see Hatake Kakashi a distance away, stooped behind rubble of stone, scan the entire area. She watched as he readied the cloth hiding the most of the face, and tensed as a current of air blew past her. What's this?
There was something wrong. She had felt an enormous amount of malicious energy in that wind, something she had only experienced feeling a few times before. Gripping the kunai tighter, she leaned forward to peek over the pillar, hoping to catch sight of the enemy. There was nothing; the square really did look ancient and untouched. Sweat trickling down her forehead, she gained courage and leaned a bit higher, the courtyard now in better view before her.
"Sakura! Watch out!"
Time seemed to stop after she heard her name being called. She looked around, eyes wide to see an arrow flying straight at her. Its tilt was twisted and the point gleamed maliciously in what little light there was. She clenched her teeth and held up her kunai in an effort to deflect it, but waves of chakra were radiating off the arrow.
"Sakura-chan!" She felt herself being knocked off her feet as someone barged into her. Closing her eyes shut, she fell roughly on the ground, the rocks digging into her back. The kunai she had in her hand slid and clattered on the broken tiles. She hissed through her teeth and felt slight weight on her, but it was moved a second later. Opening her eyes, she found Uzumaki Naruto looking down at her, the look in his eyes shifting from concern to relief.
She blinked, "Naruto!"
He quickly stood up and helped her to her feet, his eyes scanning the courtyard anxiously. He slipped into battle stance and took out a kunai, "He's here!"
Kakashi ran towards them and Sai stepped out from behind a pillar, his gloved hand reaching towards his weapons pouch. "We need to be careful!" Kakashi said, lowering his cloth to reveal his Sharingan eye. "This guy … he seems to have gathered energy from the panels underground."
"From this place?" Sakura asked, looking around them. There was nothing out of the ordinary. It seemed as though even the arrow hadn't come hurling at her. It was embedded into the pillar, where just recently, Sakura's head had been. She pulled at her glove to ready herself. She had to be ready now.
"We need to stay alert …" Kakashi murmured. "There's no trace of him – but he's definitely here. That arrow … that's his weapon!"
It started growing dark, and there was a flash in the sky. Sakura didn't dare move; she was concentrating hard for any sign of movement, for any unusual smell. All of a sudden, there came a loud crack from behind them. Sakura gasped as the ground underneath their feet started rumbling. She turned around and her eyes widened at what she saw, her mouth hung open in a silent scream. What … is … that?
It was towering above them, about fifteen feet tall. It was shaped like a dark boulder, except it had what looked like ripped skin hanging off its surface. It held itself up using its arms, which were clamped tightly on the ground, creating cracks everywhere. A low rumbling sound was coming out of what looked like its mouth, a hollow red orbit that made up most of its small head, perched on its boulder-like body. It watched them with small dark eyes, partially hidden because of the folds of flesh that hung off its head. It had no lower body but it rested on its midriff, hunched slightly. An awful smell was starting to spread around them, obviously coming from the monster that suddenly appeared.
Sakura couldn't move at first. She knew she had much worst encounters than this; giant animals, monsters, strong shinobi but she hadn't seen something as grossly transmuted as this. She stepped back when it opened it mouth to let out a scream. It was so loud she felt the ground vibrate.
"It's mutated!" Kakashi said, holding out his arm. "It's impossible to summon something like this …"
"So where's Tsutomo?" Naruto yelled.
No one had time to answer as the mutant raised its right arm with skin hanging down like vines and brought it down on the team. Sakura leapt out of the way towards the right and landed nearby to see that Naruto had already produced clones and that they were already attacking the mutant. She gasped as it grabbed a Naruto and threw him behind it as easily as if he were a rag doll. Sakura was relieved to see it was a clone when it disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kakashi was charging towards it with his Chidori technique activated and leapt high in the air to aim it directly.
A determined frown appeared on Sakura's face and she ran towards the mutant, her fist raised back to hit it. Her eyes widened as she saw the mutant swing its arm at her, causing her to fall back hard due to the momentum of her run. She sat up quickly and looked up at the sky to see an ink bird hovering over them. Sai was probably commencing an aerial attack. She closed her eyes and shook her head. No! I can't be like this – I have to be useful – I need to help them!
"Nothing seems to affect it!" Kakashi said. "It's like it's made out of chakra itself!"
Sakura stood up and readied her fist again. If ninjutsu wouldn't work, then taijutsu was the better option. She clenched her teeth and broke into a run again, prepared for anything.
XxX
Naruto watched the mutant from afar as it slowly finished off his clones. It seemed as if nothing was working on it. Sai was throwing down exploding tags on the monster but it was as if they were water balloons, considering how they weren't even affecting the thing.
They were supposed to be pursuing a missing-nin, Tsutomo and he had led them here into this courtyard. There was a huge amount of ancient energy stored in these ruins and it was apparent that Tsutomo wanted to use it for his own means. What Naruto didn't get was … where this mutant came from. Where was Tsutomo?
Naruto grit his teeth and brought his hand together to perform seals. A clone appeared next to him and he held out his hand. The clone started collecting chakra into it and soon a blue ball of wind energy was formed. Naruto looked towards the mutant and nodded, "You're gonna feel this!"
His clone disappeared and he ran towards the mutant, with his arm stretched back. "Take this!"
Sakura was distracting the mutant with her kicks and punches, so Naruto found this the perfect opportunity to ram it with his technique. He leapt up high and thrust his arm forward, yelling, "RASENGAN!"
The ball of energy struck against the rotting surface of its arm and it let out an ear-splitting scream. Naruto closed his eyes against the intensity of its cry; only to open them again to find its arm being swung at him. His eyes widened and he was lashed with the full impact of it. He felt himself being thrown backward through the air, bracing himself for the impact with the ground. The breath was knocked out of him as he hit the ground and rolled over. He came to a halt, coughing. Looking up, he saw Sakura and Sai resuming their assault on the mutant. Dammit …
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto stood back up and called over to his teacher, who was standing nearby. He leapt over to him. "Sensei – where's Tsutomo? Where did this thing come from?"
"I … I think …" Kakashi said, taking out some shuriken. "That the ancient energy Tsutomo was trying to wield was too much for him to handle! It's obviously meant to merge with the user's chakra … but this is completely different. I can actually sense him … nearby …"
Naruto saw his line of vision leading to the mutant and his eyes widened. He gaped at the monster, before saying, "Y-You don't think … that … that's …"
Kakashi nodded and walked towards the mutant, "Yes … that is …"
Naruto watched Kakashi break into a run towards it. He watched the fight for a few seconds before shaking his head. A determined look came over his eyes and he ran forward, performing hand seals along the way.
XxX
Sakura leapt back as the mutant made a swing at her. She watched in disgust and it scooted its way on its midriff across the tiles towards her. For it, she was just an annoying pink fly. Before it could reach her, Kakashi had hit it with a burst of electric energy. The chirping of birds disappeared as Kakashi jumped back to stand beside Sakura. The mutant screamed in pain before thrusting its arm down on the ground, making a huge crack where it hit. Sakura watched as the tiles broke away to create a hole. She didn't have to closely inspect to see that it was quite deep. If that was true, then they were probably fighting over a deep pit.
Sakura's eyes widened. A deep pit!
"Kakashi-sensei!" she said, her hands curling into fists. "I think I know how to get rid of this thing!"
She sensed Kakashi's surprise and ran forward, her fist positioned back to raise momentum. Her surroundings were a brief blur to her as she came closer to the mutant. She stopped suddenly right before it and let out a loud cry, driving her fist down onto the ground. She heard a satisfying crack and stepped back as the floor disintegrated before her, revealing more and more of the black pit.
The mutant began slipping; not having feet to plant itself properly. It yelled out as Naruto rammed his Rasengan into it from behind. It cried out, flinging its arms around for anything to hold. The pit began widening and Sakura, content, made to turn away. She gasped as suddenly, she felt something wrap around her legs. And then, she was being pulled back rapidly. She looked around, horrified, to see that the mutant had taken hold of her with many of its vine-like digits. It was pulling her at a faster rate.
"SAKURA-CHAN!"
She saw Naruto leap at her, his hand outstretched. She reached out desperately, her eyes on Naruto's face. She whimpered as she grabbed his hand, holding on tight. He was being held back by a chain of his clones. By now, the mutant was falling and Sakura felt her hand slipping out of Naruto's.
"Sakura-chan - Hold on!" he grunted, straining to prevent her from falling.
Sakura screamed as her hand slid out of Naruto's gasp and she felt the monster pulling her down towards the endless pit. The last thing she saw was Naruto make a swipe for her, almost tumbling in after her. A black and white bird flew past – and Naruto was gone. "SAKURAAAA!"
She felt darkness overwhelming her, the pain around her legs intensifying. Her eyelids slid shut and she welcomed the darkness, anything to shut out what she was feeling.
Naruto …
Author's Note: So that's it for the first chapter! Well – how was it? I will most probably be continuing this … So yeah! Umm … do let me know what you guys think! I hope it was good! I always see how Sakura yells out for Naruto every time he slips into a dimension … so I wanted the opposite! Except it isn't really gonna be a dimension for Sakura.
Oh yeah … Tsutomo's transformation was quite fast – the time limit between the arrow attack and the appearance of the mutant was short.
So lemme know!:D