Chapter 3: Flirts and Fights
"Are you trying to mess with my head?" Tsunade asked as the man in front of her threw Shizune's robe to the side to reveal a black cloak with a hood covering his face. Of what Tsunade could see, his face was hidden by a mask underneath this cloak.
"Why would I do that? I'm already inside your head." the man replied. Tsunade felt a bead of sweat slowly streak across the right side of her face.
"Getting nervous? You are starting to sweat. As I said, I'm not here to fight, just here to bargain with you." the man said. Tsunade gulped and got closer to an emergency alarm button under a pile of scrolls.
"I'm sorry, I don't gamble anymore." Tsunade said and knocked over the scrolls, she went to slam on the button but it wasn't there. Tsunade looked down to see that button had been removed, the man started laughing, Tsunade spun around to look at him, he was tossing the button up and down.
"Looks like we're going to talk one-on-one after all, Lady Tsunade." the man said and sat down on a seat near the wall of the room. Tsunade took her normal seat, different ideas running through her head on how to alert the other shinobi in the building.
"So, how much money would it take for you to give up your spot as Hokage?" the man asked suddenly, Tsunade laughed before replying to the man.
"This position is priceless." Tsunade said with a smirk.
"We will pay any price. Is 500 million enough?" the man asked casually. Tsunade froze, nobody had ever been offered that much money before, not many men held that much money at a time.
"As..As I said, this position is priceless." Tsunade repeated.
"I can tell that you considered our offer, maybe if I upped the price to 750 million you'll think about it more." the man continued.
"Before we continue this conversation, tell me your name." Tsunade said, the man smiled under his mask.
"You can call me Temet." Temet replied "Now, have you thought about it?"
"For the last time, Temet, this position will not be sold!" Tsunade yelled, banging her fists on the desk and standing up.
"I see, then we'll take your position by force, just like we took the Kazekage's position." Temet said and slowly stood up himself.
"What do you mean you took the Kazekage's position?" Tsunade said, her voice breaking near the end of the sentence.
"Exactly what it means Tsunade, we punished Gaara so badly he was forced to give up his spot, he's in an underground prison built to hold the Kage's by lord Madara himself. It'll be an honour to have four Kage's in there." Temet said.
"Four?!" Tsunade exclaimed.
"Yes, I'm sure you'll know them when you join them." Temet said as he threw his cloak to the side revealing a shining white battle armour.
"I'll kill you quickly so I won't make a mess." Temet continued and charged at the Hokage.
***
"Nobody's in here either." Shikamaru yelled as he slammed the door shut to a house. Naruto's squad had reached a small village only a few hours away from the Great Naruto Bridge. They had planned on resting here for the rest of the night after what had happened at the small resort only an hour ago.
"There is no way that everyone in a village can just vanish like that." Sakura said, she was puzzled at the fact that all the doors to each and every house or shop was wide open yet everything looked untouched.
"You think they were kidnapped?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure a whole village was taken and hidden away somewhere Naruto." Sakura replied with sarcasm. Naruto opened his mouth to say something but Sasuke shook his head. Sasuke walked past Sakura and brushed his hand against hers, making her blush. Naruto couldn't stand to watch anymore.
"If you two are going to start making out, please don't do it in front of me." Naruto yelled and walked away from the rest of the group to continue the search on his own.
"Hey Naruto, wait up!" Shikamaru called out and followed him, leaving Sakura and Sasuke inside of a building by themselves.
"Sasuke, what we are doing together, is it wrong?" Sakura whispered as her lips connected with Sasuke's. Sasuke pulled back for a moment and shook his head before connecting again, the two passionately kissing.
"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled and jumped through the window, tackling Sasuke, and knocking Sakura back from him. Naruto punched Sasuke in the jaw and kicked him in the gut before Shikamaru held him back.
"Naruto, what the hell are you doing?" Sakura shrieked as Sasuke wiped blood from his lip, activating his Sharingan he would glare at Naruto.
"What's the big idea?" Sasuke asked, ready to deliver some return blows back to Naruto. Naruto was breathing heavily, Shikamaru was barely holding him back, and Sakura was trying to calm Sasuke down.
"I thought you two were my friends, but I guess that's what I get for thinking!" Naruto yelled, he broke free from Shikamaru, ran past Sasuke and out of the building, and out of the village completely.
"We have to follow him, lets go!" Shikamaru yelled and started to run off.
"Don't." Sasuke said and Shikamaru stopped.
"What do you mean 'Don't'?" Shikamaru yelled, almost ready to punch Sasuke himself.
"He'll come back on his own, lets just stay here for the night." Sasuke said and walked up the stairs of the house to calm Sakura down after she ran up the stairs crying.
***
Tsunade didn't have much time to react as Temet charged, she quickly dodged a punch from him, grabbing a kunai and attempting to cut him across the cheek, but the mask seemed to repel the kunai, sending it flying out of the Hokage's hands.
"This is your last chance, come quietly and give up your position, or I'll use fierce aggression to make you give up the position. If you die in the process, I doubt I'll get in trouble." Temet said and extended his hand towards Tsunade.
Tsunade smacked the hand away and punched Temet directly in the center of the mask. Temet laughed and made a single hand sign while Tsunade seemed frozen on the spot.
"Art of the Blade: 1000 Cut Jutsu!" Temet announced and Tsunade looked around to see what looked like about 1000 blades appear around the room, all of them pointing directly at her.
"What kind of jutsu is this?" Tsunade muttered to herself before feeling the pain of a blade cut her in her leg. Tsunade still couldn't move, her hand still stuck to Temet's mask while he continued to laugh.
"Its a jutsu that has never missed its target." Temet said before bursting into another fit of laughter while Tsunade felt tears and sweat rolling down her face. Tsunade had to think fast, but there was no time left as she felt more cuts come to her legs.
"Its over." Temet said and Tsunade suddenly felt her hand become loose again. Tsunade freed herself and jumped back, but felt blades cut her all across her back. Tsunade felt along her lower back and it was moist and wet from her own blood.
"There is no escape." Temet said and made another hand sign. Tsunade screamed as all the blades cut up her body quickly. Tsunade was still standing after the jutsu was over, but there were cuts all over every part of her body. She could feel all of the blood over her body, if she didn't replace it soon, she would die.
Tsunade quickly pulled a few red pills and popped them into her mouth, she could feel the blood clotting and reforming inside of her.
"Is it my turn to fight back now?" Tsunade managed to say, much to Temet's surprise.
"I see, looks like it'll take more then just a simple 1000 cuts to kill you, I'm not surprised, since you seem to be the strongest of all the Kage's." Temet said and drew a white blade of his own.
"Lets take this to the roof, shall we?" Tsunade asked and pointed to the ceiling above her. Temet shrugged, Tsunade went for the stairs, but she screamed in pain as Temet sent the blade right through her lower gut.
"You should know better then to turn you back on the enemy...farewell, Tsunade." Temet said and pulled the blade out, Tsunade fell to her knees, shivering from the amount of blood that she had lost.
"There will be nothing left after this...Ninja Art: One Million Cuts." Temet said and Tsunade gasped in fear before she started to lose her vision. The last thing she heard was what sounded like the chirping of a bird.
***
The rain had started again in the early morning. Sasuke was the first to awake, Sakura was asleep in his arms after crying herself to sleep the night before. Shikamaru had fallen asleep at the foot of the stairs waiting for Naruto to come back.
The bad news was, that Naruto didn't come back.
