Disclaimer: Hmm, well finally got the snakes with the bowties and tophats on my side- still working on the monkey's with wings, so still dont own.
A/N- so after...around three weeks (school is evil, evil i tell you!) i present chapter 9 of whisper! reviews are welcome, specially since it took me so long to write this chapter. Remember- shino shaped cookies to those that review! hope you like! Not really sure how well this chapter turned out so review please!
"Well?" She demanded, sweeping into the large front hall, her glare directed at the pair of chunnin's, a man and a woman, standing by the door. "What is it now?"
"We've caught up to the group- the others are still fighting them." The glare melted off her face, as she beckoned for the two to sit in the large chairs donning the hall.
"Good, have there been any deviations from the plan?"
"None that have come to our attention, everything is going as per your orders." The woman recounted, handing a small scroll to her.
"Hmm, since the Kazekage joined them, more ninja's will undoubtedly be sent out, if they have not already. We need to make preparations for our…guests. Once here, the others will be taken care of easily."
"And what of the Uchiha? Why did you change the original plan, if I may ask?" The man stood, facing her.
"Everything I do is for a reason. By changing the plan I have ensured his capture and torment, while at the same time making a profit off the two demon holders." She snapped, rising from her chair and gathering up her long skirt in her hand. "This deviation has ensured a higher success rate, so I suggest that the two of you return to the fight and ensure that this stage goes off without a hitch."
"As you wish, Moon." She grimaced as the two left, exiting through the door. 'Moon', not her favorite alias, but it served its purpose. Uchiha Sasuke would be made to pay- just not right away. She wanted to have some fun with him first. He would know what it felt like to lose the one thing he cared most about. With the current fight, she hoped that everything would go according to plan and he would reveal his most precious person to her. If not, well then, she could wait just a little while longer, until he came to visit.
ZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZzZ
FLASHBACK
Black lines on his arms stand out against the crimson and they seem to be feeding off the dark liquid, growing, traveling up his body, enveloping him in a thick haze, making it hard to think, harder to fight.
"You are weak. Your mind is easy to control, for we are all weak when it comes to our fears. Your fears allow me to control you. You are my puppet." The raspy voice comes from behind him.
"Don't listen to him! He doesn't control you!" Kiba's voice is laced with pain, but determined. For a second, he feels as if the control shifts back to him, but the illusion quickly disappears. "Snap out of it! You're stronger than this!"
He can't! His grip on reality is slipping, but while his body does not listen to him, his mind is his own. Think! There has to be some way, some way of escaping this hold!
"It will not work. You cannot fight me. I own you now." The voice comes again, this time from next to him, but he cannot tilt his head to see who it is, who his enemy is.
"You bastard, fight me yourself!" Kiba growls, eyes shifting to the unknown man next to him.
"Why fight you, when I have a perfectly good puppet here?" The cold voice drawls. He has no control over himself as his kikaichuu swarm forwards.
"Shino!" It comes out as a pain filled scream that wrenches at his soul, driving his mind down a dark path of despair and hopelessness.
"Shino…!"
WwWwWwWwWwW
"Shino, snap out of it!" He dodged the kunai aimed at his head, blocking Shino's fist as he suddenly appeared behind the blond ANBU. A second well aimed kunai cut through the string holding his mask in place, nipping at the tips of his hair. It didn't matter that they were all unmasked; it appeared that their enemy knew exactly who they were even with the masks.
"Heads up Naruto!" Kiba called a second before he launched himself over Naruto's shoulders, tackling Shino to the ground. All three of them were on their feet again, a moment later, forming a triangle. "Shino, if you don't get a grip right now, I'm gonna kick your ass all the way back to Konoha!"
"Can he hear us?" Naruto asked, lunging forwards, landing a solid kick knocking the Beetle ANBU off his feet.
"Oh yeah, he can hear us." Kiba snarled, eyes focusing on the man that stood a safe distance away from them. "Lets tag team this bastard."
Naruto ran to the left, Kiba taking the right, a kunai in one hand, three shurriken in the other. They would take this bastard out, that should break the jutsu, if not it should be enough to get Shino to stop attacking them.
The red eyed man wasn't moving; he stood there, a malicious grin on his pale face. He'd have to figure out what he was up to later; in the meantime they needed to break the hold on Shino. Tossing the shurriken he lunged at the man's throat with the kunai.
A surprised 'oof' escaped him as he met a solid force, sending him crashing backwards, tumbling before he regained his balance, sliding the remaining space on his feet, hand digging into the ground to stop the momentum.
His shurriken lay scattered on the ground, Shino standing in front of the man, his hands wrapped around Kiba's neck, squeezing as the Inuzuka clawed at the pale fingers.
"KIBA!" The teen in question broke the choke hold, slipping to his knees, before climbing to his feet, determined fanged grin plastered on his face.
"Told ya you couldn't hurt me Shino." He wheezed, glancing over at Naruto. The blond nodded, quickly catching on, running at Shino, knocking him to the ground, attempting to pin him.
Kiba ran past him, heading straight for the man they had been unable to get to before. He could feel Shino fighting against him, trying to break his hold, was close to succeeding, but he just had to hold on a little while longer, he needed to give Kiba time- time was all they needed.
Naruto sensed one of the Jounin's attempting to sneak up behind him, he wouldn't be able to hold him off and Shino at the same time, his options were running out. And then the Jounin was gone and another set of hands were helping him hold Shino down.
"This had better work." Sasuke muttered from next to him, glancing over at him briefly.
Kiba's pain laced screams suddenly filled the area, drowning out the sounds of battle as he was enveloped in a web of crackling blue electricity. Underneath him, Naruto felt the bug teen jerk. His eyes widened, before he was suddenly thrown backwards, landing on his back a few feet away.
Sasuke was being corralled back away from him by another section of the seemingly endless bounty hunters. Kiba slumped to the forest floor, the electricity disappearing as Shino rejoined the man with the red eyes.
Shino- the way he'd jerked when Kiba had screamed, had he broken through the jutsu a bit? He couldn't tell by the neutral expression on the bug teens face however; it might have just been his imagination, but he couldn't be sure.
"I see you've met my brother." Naruto spun, knocking a man he had not noticed before, to the ground, pinning him there. The man, younger in appearance than the one controlling Shino, had the same red eyes, voice a mere whisper.
"Your brother?" The blond asked, suspiciously, not taking his eyes off the man he had pinned. "I don't know who you are- but you messed with the wrong ninja!"
"Allow me to introduce myself- my name is Kaine, the man who has turned your team-mate into a puppet is Jira." He smirked, showing off a set of pointed teeth. "You will remember my name the rest of your short life." With a strength that startled him, he was flipped over, their positions reversed. "Separate!"
A bright red flashed before his eyes as the feeling of his body being ripped apart reached him. A scream tore from the blonds lips- it felt like his bones were being ripped from his own body, his limbs were on fire.
"Bastard- whadd'id you do?" He managed as the man climbed to his feet, brushing off his simple brown clothes.
Naruto stumbled to his own feet, swaying slightly. It felt like part of him was missing, the world was spinning. Wait- he couldn't feel Kyuubi! His mind was hazy, making it hard to concentrate, to think.
"I merely blocked your chakra, oh and blocked that troublesome demon inside of you while I was at it, couldn't have you escaping, now could I?"
QqQqQqQqQqQqQqQ
They had found definite signs off battle recently- within the past few days most likely. His gut had been telling him that it was the group they were looking for, however to be certain he had summoned Pakun, pleased as the small tracking dog was quick to pick up the scent.
Now however, they needed to rest, they had not taken a break in over ten hours in the rush to catch up with the first group and while no one was complaining, they were pushing it- even Gai was beginning to look tired.
Calling a stop, he sent Sakura, Shikamaru and Gai to collect water from a near by stream, the rest of them settling in with protein bars. It was too risky to start a fire with the threat of groups of bounty hunters traveling the area.
Iruka settled in next to him, leaning back on the tree trunk Kakashi was resting against.
"They will be fine 'Ruka." Kakashi gripped the teacher's hand, threading their fingers together.
"It feels like something is wrong." The tanned man mumbled, sighing and closing his eyes, head tilted towards the afternoon sun.
That worried him, he had noticed this strange connection that Iruka had with Naruto over the years, it wasn't much but every so often the younger man got a twisting feeling in his stomach- those were usually the times when Naruto came back from a mission hurt. He had made a joke once about Iruka's 'motherly' intuition; however it had been useful in the past.
"We'll rest for an hour and then continue on until dark." He wrapped an arm around his dolphin, tugging him closer, until Iruka's head was resting on his shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll find them in time."
"How far ahead did Pakun say they were?"
"Another day or so, apparently they've been stopping a lot." He waited until Kankuro glanced away for a moment, before quickly eating the entire protein bar, replacing his mask. Grinning, he waved when Kankuro looked back, scowling at missing his chance to see Kakashi without his mask. Apparently the strange fascination with his face had spread to Suna.
"That sounds like Naruto." Iruka smiled up at him, tugging lightly on the material donning his neck. "You really enjoy teasing them, don't you?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, 'Ruka." He chirped innocently, already planning his next 'victim'.
His smile turned softer as he glanced over at the man leaning against him, he'd managed to make his 'Ruka smile, and if he was really lucky- restored his hope that, yes, they would make it in time- perhaps they would be the ones to save the day, because when Umino Iruka had no hope left- that was only when the situation had no positive outcome..
FfFfFfFfFfFfFfFfFfFfF
The large mass of ninja's raining down from the tree tops and filling the clearing were proving to be rather annoying with their almost suicidal determination. Or at least that's what he had decided on as a great wall of sand rose from the ground, effectively blocking a pair of Jounin's that had attempted to attack him from behind.
Waving a hand, the wall collapsed on them, muffling their cries. His sand protected him from a kunai aimed at his heart, and then another aimed for the back of his head. None of these bounty hunters were fast enough to get past his defenses. None of them had Lee's amazing speed.
Lee stood a few feet from himself, moving with a grace that took years to master. The green clad shinobi was slowly being backed towards the edge of the clearing, surrounded by more of the enemy nin. Gaara raised his sand, capturing them, covering them in the deadly substance, while carrying Lee out of harms way with it.
Naruto's pain filled cry broke through the noise from the battle. He couldn't see the blond from where he was, as his teal coloured eyes searched the area, attempting to find his friend.
"You should not allow yourself to become distracted." The voice came from directly behind him as he sent his sand out, attempting to catch his enemy. Nothing, there was nothing there. Gaara turned, a sense of foreboding creeping through him. "Try behind you."
He turned, eyes widening slightly, as a hand shot forwards, aiming for his throat. His sand just blocked it. A man stood before him, small smile forming on his lips. Red eyes were trained on him, light brown pulled up by a leather strap. His clothes were a bright red that reminded him of Naruto's clothes. This man was fast, although did not appear much older than himself.
"So, you have a demon sealed inside of you." Gaara's eyes narrowed as the man stepped forwards, no sign of fear from the sand that was creeping forwards, circling him. "And the Kazekage- do your people fear you and the demon trapped inside of you? Does he?" The man nodded towards where Lee was fighting, the small smile twisting upwards into a smirk. This man knew a fair amount about him, but if asking if Lee or his people feared him was to make him lose his concentration, it would not work. Not when Lee had been the one person to never fear him- he had seen it in his eyes.
"That will not work." Gaara replied calmly, crossing his arms. The man did not seem fazed, instead placing his palms together.
"Very well, remember this however-"his hands formed signs as he spoke, "my name is Lin and I am the one that will beat you." Bringing his hands to his mouth, he cupped them and blew. A hurricane force hit Gaara, as his sand automatically raised, forming a shield. His eyes widened as slowly grains of sand were lost in the gale force. Reaching out his hand he sent out more sand, trailing it around behind Lin, as he had called himself, rising up behind him and crashing down on the unsuspecting man.
"Now that we know how you fight with your sand-"The Kazekage suddenly found his arms twisted, pinned to his back. There was no way this man could possibly be that fast. He must have some sort of aid. Something almost like a soft breeze was emanating from the body behind him, his sand having no affect on the man, as he attempted to crush the figure pinning him "Let's see how you fair without it. Separate!"
Pain tore through him, forcing him to his knees, so severe his vision blurred as the feeling of one thousand knives being forced into his body, and then ripped out filtered through him. A muffled gasp escaped him, the coppery taste of blood in his mouth from where he had bitten down on his tongue.
The feeling faded slowly, small pinpricks of pain appearing as he forced himself to his feet. His sand, the gourd- it was gone. Raising his hand, nothing happened. The world spun before him as he realized that his chakra had somehow been blocked. But the scratching at the back of his mind was gone as well. He could no longer feel the demon fighting for control. It was gone. Fear ran through him.
"Gaara!" Lee's shout sounded far away as he numbly steadied himself, forcing the dizziness to the side. Lin was a threat- and he was certainly not helpless even without his sand as his main offence and defense.
"Let's see how you fight." Lin appeared before him, no weapon in hand, and then charged, moving swiftly. He feinted left, bringing his fist down on the man's back, but feeling nothing but air. "Back here." Something solid connected with his back, sending him crashing forwards before he could regain his balance.
Gaara blocked the fist aimed at his head, sending a well aimed kick at Lin's torso. This time it worked, the man stumbling backwards.
"They do not fear me." His fist connected with Lin's jaw. "I have earned their trust." A foot in his solar plexus.
"Enough!" Gaara was knocked to the ground, vision graying around the edges. "I've had my fun. Moon wants her goods undamaged." He did not have time to dodge as the fist swung down towards him. He slumped sideways, collapsing to the ground, trying and failing to fight the darkness that came to claim him. Must protect those precious to him! The abyss took him.
QqQqQqQqQqQqQqQ
He needed to get to Naruto. The only problem was, that it seemed right after Naruto had called out- the number of enemy nin attacking him had doubled. He could see the blond out of the corner of his eye, hand to hand with a strange man that stuck out from the mass of bounty hunters in his simple brown clothes. He wasn't sure what was wrong with Naruto, but the blond was being battered around like a doll. Sasuke was not about to let this continue.
"Gaara!" Lee's call diverted his attention, as he watched as the kazekage slumped to the ground, unconscious. That wasn't possible. How had they managed to get passed his sand? Another man, dressed in bright colours stood above the fallen ninja, red eyes gleaming over at him.
He did not have time to think of it any further as he was suddenly attacked from behind, kunai automatically being raised, the clinking of metal. One of his attackers disappeared in a cloud of smoke as he drove his weapon through their chest. So they were using shadow clones now? Two could play at that game.
Forming the hand signs, he created three clones, sending them out to lead some of the bounty hunters away from him, as Sasuke quickly henged, blending in with the tree branches.
He could see Naruto clearly from his position in the trees. The blond was still on his feet, fighting- however it appeared that his opponent was more toying with him than anything else. He needed to get over there to help Naruto- the question was how?
The last remaining 'Sasuke' clone disappeared below him, as he used the cover of the smoke to take out one of the nin's. The group was on him in an instant- surrounding him as he found himself forced to take a few steps back. They were pushing closer to him, just out of reach but close enough that he was forced to move backwards, to regain his ground.
What was going on? Sasuke checked quickly behind him, suspicious when he found no enemy nin's attempting to sneak up on him. They had formed a strange sort of semi-circle, cutting him off from the others. But they weren't attacking- only enough so that he was forced away from his comrades.
Gaara had disappeared from his view, along with Naruto- sending a sense of warning through him. Annoyance and anger at the bounty hunters swarming around him had him lashing out, creating a path, as he gained ground- attempting to keep it. A tuft of blond hair caught his eye through the masses.
Naruto! Fear ran through him, as the other man's limp body was lifted up, slung over the shoulder of the man he had been fighting moments before. Gaara's unconscious form was dragged over to them, gourd missing. He needed to get over there now!
"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, gripping his right wrist as the familiar electricity flowed out of his hand from his chidori. He ran, electricity digging into the hard earth, chunks of dirt and stones sent flying, causing the enemy nin to jump out of the way or risk death.
The three men, smiled over at him, two with Naruto and Gaara slung over their shoulders, the third gripping Shino's arm.
"She can't wait to see you." The oldest looking man smirked, showing off a set of pointed teeth- he was almost there, so close, no one would take Naruto away from him, no one!
Anger propelled him, increasing his speed. This was the last time- the last time these bounty hunters or moon messed with him. The electricity flowed through his veins, chakra pouring into the jutsu.
In the blink of an eye, the three men, vanished; his friends with them. Leaves and dirt swirled up and around, as they disappeared in a burst of chakra.
He had nearly made it.
The electricity disappeared as the realization of what had happened sunk into him. They were gone. Gone. Gone? It wasn't possible- this was his fight, not theirs.
"No," He took a step forwards; eyes glued on the spot where Naruto had disappeared. It was his fault; he should have never brought them into this. "No, no, no," his voice rose slowly with desperation in each step, "No! NO!" Sasuke sunk to his knees, fist pounding the ground. "NO! NARUTO!"
