Chapter 9
I found out this fic has actually inspired people to write their own crossovers! I'm so happy!
I found at least two stories like this. If you are inspired by this story then please do tell me so I can read it. And I will read it trust me. Just because I won't follow or favorite it won't mean I don't like it. I tend to forget to do any of that. ^-^' Sorry.
Cyricist001: You listed almost all reasons why Luffy is fighting Sasori and why Nami and Brook are fighting Deidara. Poison resistance and strong enough hits to actually break Sasori for the first one and electricity combined with Brook's fast accurate attacks for the second one. Deidara isn't exactly bad at close range though, but I suppose Brook would overpower him in the long run.
fingers-falling-upwards: Thanks! :D And no the poison doesn't do shit. I can say that right now, since it will come up in this chapter anyway. And the story this inspired is Burning All the Bridges right? I read it! I didn't follow it quite yet, but I might sometime later. The setting is interesting.
"How does Iruka know it's Naruto?" He's Iruka. That's all I'm saying about it for now.
xxxOPNxxx
"Nami-san!"
The red haired navigator spun around when she heard her crewmate's scream. She saw a black blur as the skeleton dashed past her, cutting a white centipede like thing in half. Not knowing if the remaining two pieces would explode, she ran to Brook's side. Thanking him for looking out for her, she eyed their enemy who was flying around, high up in the sky, dropping bombs down behind him. Meanwhile, Hinata was hitting the various bugs with her palms, somehow preventing them from exploding.
The three had been dodging the insects for a while now and Nami was getting tired of running. She unlike the other two, wasn't quite as fast and thus had already had a couple of close calls. But it was almost worth it. Thanks to all her rushing around the red haired woman was able to plant a few thunderclouds all across the battlefield's airspace. The only thing she needed for it to work was-
"GAAAAAHHHH!" She smirked.
All three people on the ground whipped their heads up to see the source of the scream. Both the blonde man and the bird he was flying on were scorched black. They fell down from the sky and Nami watched on victorious as her Thunder Trap faded away.
"Ah. Good work, Nami-san!" the skeleton cheered as the criminal plopped down to the ground. With a cheerful wink as a thanks, she watched the blonde body on the ground.
"The-the bird fell too!? Nami, try to electrify some of the bugs!" Hinata suggested hurriedly and the pirate complied. Spinning her Sorcery Clima-Tact around, she created a few small black clouds like the ones she had been using before. The clouds merged together easily into a bigger one. The thundercloud prickled with electricity so the red haired navigator swung her staff in a downwards motion. A single lightning strike followed the staff's movement and struck the ground, engulfing most the white bombs in it.
The insects caught in the attack were unmoving and according to the kunoichi, defused.
"What the-?!" the blonde exclaimed as he saw the destruction of his creations. He stared at the white remains dumbfounded as the two women and a skeleton looked at each other in realization. Lightning defused the bombs.
Nami smiled a sweet smile as she started to spin her staff again. This battle might not be so difficult after all.
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Sasori cursed mentally as he dodged yet another rubbery punch. For some reason the strawhat wearing man had not yet fallen down on the floor writhing in pain. The poison should've taken effect immediately, yet the man was still proving to be a nuisance. Either the young man was incredibly good at ignoring tremendous amounts of pain or he was somehow immune to the poison. Both options were just as impossible as the other.
Seeing a leg shooting towards him, he spun to the left and jumped over the arm that followed it. Determining that the battle was going nowhere as of currently, the puppeteer made a decision to counterattack. Jumping back to avoid a fist going for his face, he reached back and pulled out a scroll. A scroll that contained his other favorite puppet to be exact.
The criminal made sure to open the scroll with flourish so his dimwitted opponent would see it and, as he predicted, the man stopped in his tracks looking confused.
"Huh? What's that?" the youngster asked, stupidity lacing every syllable of his words. Sasori still found it hard to believe an imbecile of this class possessed so much strength. Choosing not to humor the man this time, he stayed silent as he applied chakra to the paper in his grip. One short bang of smoke later, the human puppet of the Third Kazekage was draped around him. The youngster voiced his surprise out loud.
Ignoring the obnoxious brat, the redhead directed the puppet to fly forward as fast as it could go. Not that he expected it to keep up with the youngster. He already witnessed firsthand that it was near impossible.
The strawhat wearing man jumped to the right and Sasori flicked a finger. The puppet flew after and the blades hidden in the puppet's right hand sprung out, catching the man off guard. The blades scraped his side and the man yelped in response.
The redhead observed for a moment to see whether or not the poison kicked in this time. He clicked his tongue as the stretchy man only grimaced after. It would seem he was immune. That fact made most of his attacks and techniques useless. With a few small movements of his hand, he made the Third Kazekage chase the youngster around, buying him some time to think.
The man was made out of rubber so blunt attacks were immediately out of the question. This enabled the man to stretch as well, so the criminal had to take that into account to make sure his own strategy wont backfire on him. This did not mean he could not be cut or pierced though as already proven. The man's agility and techniques were also a problem of the worst sort. The rubber body could bend any way the man wanted, making any projectiles easier to dodge. Which seemed to be ridiculously easy for the strawhat wearing man, as he was somehow able to predetermine where the attack was coming from. If he tried the Iron Sand attacks, which were one of the fastest he had, the man could just use the strange speed boost from before. And then there was the most troublesome one…
The youngster turned his fist black as he broke the poisoned blades of the human puppet, causing Sasori to take a deep breath in order to not yell in frustration.
He had the weird ability to harden his fists, and maybe the rest of his body as well, to the point where the puppeteer's sharpest blades were proved useless. And the man wasn't even fighting with full power yet! The redhead knew there had to be some moves the man still hadn't revealed.
For now he knew only two ways he might be able to harm the youngster; taking him by surprise and striking from all directions leaving the man with no way to run away. He would have to try both.
So, having chosen a battle plan, the puppeteer called his puppet back to his side. Yet again the youngster looked on, confused. Flicking his fingers, he released the iron sand from the puppet. Waiting for it all to gather, Sasori noticed the white nin-dog drag his master away to the direction Deidara was at. For a moment he considered killing the two, but he dismissed the thought. There had already been several explosions and a scream from that direction, the two would die either way.
When there was enough sand in the air to partially block his sight, the criminal waved his hands. The corpse of a puppet moved in response and then following that movement, the sand gathered up high above him.
"Eh!? What's going on?!" the youngster exclaimed, staring at the sand in wonder. How naïve. He would be better off running away.
The sand started to branch off, spikes spreading all around. Sasori liked this technique; the spikes were impossible to predict. "Satetsu Kaihō." he whispered, and watched the black iron sand stab the battlefield, the strawhat wearing man stuck right in the middle.
xxxOPNxxx
Kakashi sighed deeply. The three people in the room, including himself, had been standing there in silence for several minutes, processing the information. The hokage had called in him and Sakura and told them Naruto had come back, accompanied by the Akatsuki. Kakashi knew this of course, having already arranged a meeting with the man. He had chosen to stay quiet, but this was ridiculous.
"I knew." he said. Might as well get it out of the way. The two women whipped their heads to see him in shock. He had to wonder how Sakura didn't already know. "Sakura and I ran into him a few days back. He introduced himself as someone else, but after some thought I was able to recognize him as Naruto. I was planning on talking to him properly first, before reporting about this. I didn't expect the Akatsuki to show up as fast as they did though."
"What are you able to tell me about him?" Tsunade questioned. Her voice was professional and the silver haired ninja knew she wanted him to answer as a shinobi and not tell her about the man's wellbeing.
"Calls himself Sanji. Strong. Most of the strength focused on his legs. During our encounter he was constantly on guard, legs positioned to kick. Smokes. Hot-headed to some extent. May or may not have a weakness for women." he listed, leaving out the parts Shikamaru had told him about. Like the fact that the man's occupation as a chef and the incredible feat of leg based taijutsu. No need to get the advisor in trouble. He noticed Sakura grimacing after hearing the last part. "The flirting was forced, possibly to hide his identity further." The woman looked at him. It seemed she hadn't noticed that part.
The hokage contemplated the information, before going back to questioning. "Any idea why he's here?"
Kakashi thought for a moment. Shikamaru told him the man was waiting for some of his friends to show up. They had most likely gotten separated by something and were meeting in Konoha. Maybe because it was the closest to all groups. The man himself was with two others; another man and a reindeer. The silver haired shinobi raised his head as he realized Tsunade had mentioned a group of pirates coming from Suna.
He told the women his theory when he noticed their inquiring gazes. "A meeting place. If I'm correct, Sanji might be part of the crew of pirates hoping to meet up here. He's supposedly waiting for some of his friends to show up before he's willing to face me. And you said something about pirates. If you take into account the amount of time it takes to travel here from Suna and the time Sanji and his companions have been here for…It can't be a coincidence."
Sakura seemed to have a hard time accepting the information. "A pirate, no way. Why would he become a pirate?" she asked as she laughed weakly. The silver haired shinobi stayed silent, wondering the question himself.
"Kakashi." the blonde woman spoke after a small silence. The silver haired ninja nodded his slightly to show he was listening. "I want you to fetch Naruto and his companions. I've already told Shino to bring the so called pirates here after the battle is over." Kakashi gave a sharp nod and poofed away.
xxxOPNxxx
Deidara grit his teeth in annoyance. The red haired woman was somehow able to produce lighting and wind from her staff, making his bombs duds. The criminal had tried to take the staff from her, but always got stopped by the odd skeleton and the Hyūga. The two were protecting the woman.
He was almost desperate enough to try and blow himself up, until he saw something black and huge in the air above the place Sasori and the other two were fighting in. Then right after, the white nin-dog and its master ran into sight, getting the attention of his three opponents.
He couldn't help it. He laughed. "What did I tell you?! They didn't have a chance! The other one is getting his ass pierced right now!" The blonde's laughed turned into chuckles as he realized his opponents had lowered their guards and were almost completely ignoring him. "You really don't have the time to be worrying about your friends right now. He's probably dead by now anyway."
Two of the three turned to glare at him, most likely because he insulted their 'nakama'.
"Hinata-san. Nami-san." the skeleton spoke, his voice echoing in the quiet clearing. "Take care of Kiba-san. I shall take on this man." After addressing his companions, the skeleton started humming a soft and distracting tune.
Deidara blinked as he thought that sentence through for a moment. He couldn't believe that was actually something that was happening. He shook his head. Why was he thinking such thoughts right now? He was in a middle of a fight!
Coming back to earth, he suddenly realized the skeleton was playing a violin. He was playing a cheerful song. A song that wouldn't be out of place in a festival. What could be the point however? Didn't he just announce he was going to fight? Where did he get the violin?
The scenery around him turned light and colorful and the blonde criminal could swear he heard a thousand other instrument being played. Drums and flutes joined in the song despite the fact there was no one else around except for him and the eccentric skeleton. The sound of the violin lead the musical performance, the scenery around him changing after every note.
As soon as the thought crossed his head, he looked around, trying to see the rest of his enemies. Dancers appeared around him and lights started to spin and flow, but no shinobi or kunoichi was in sight. He begun to feel like dancing himself…
With a jolt he realized it must be a genjutsu of some sorts and closed his right eye. He focused on the sight the scope gave him on his left eye, but couldn't see anything else but the bright festival. It wasn't a genjutsu. But then what was it? It couldn't possibly be the reality.
Deidara tried pinching himself to see if he was asleep and then Genjutsu Dissipation, but neither returned the situation back to the fight from earlier. What was going on? Had he dreamt the whole fight?
The violin was still playing. He listened the upbeat tune and noticed his finger tapping to the beat as well. The tune went up and down, the sound of partying people increased and the criminal was starting to have fun with the festival. The skeleton's low voice rang above the party: "Party Music…"
Deidara wondered how he got his voice heard so clearly, until it suddenly hit him. The music! The blonde clamped his hands on his ears to block the sound and immediately the colors faded back into the greens and browns of the forest. He was about to grin as he put his hands down, but stopped when the skeleton spoke again.
"Too late. I've already cut you." The voice had come from behind him, so he turned around. "Quinto Tierce Fantasia."
The blonde heard a click as the skeleton sheathed his sword He had already opened his mouth to question the thing's sanity when he felt pain blooming from his chest. Looking down, he saw deep cuts going all across his chest, sides and stomach. The pain was intense enough to draw the blonde on his knees. The violin had played until he blocked the sound. When did the skeleton have the time to cut him?
Deidara coughed up a bit of blood. First the weather manipulating witch and now a nine feet skeleton that causes illusions with his music?! Exactly who the hell were these people?! The blonde had to admit that using music to kill was kind of artistic…He lost consciousness.
xxxOPNxxx
Sasori refused to believe his eyes. There was no way this man was real! The Iron Sand World Method had worked better than he expected. It had caught his opponent completely off guard and had impaled him on the spot. The youngster didn't have a chance. Thinking his opponent was at least at the brink of death, the redhead had dispelled the jutsu. He had taken the sand back, only to see the strawhat wearing man rise back up.
The puppeteer stared as the obnoxious rubbery idiot stood up from the ground, despite the fact he had large holes going through his torso. Blood oozed out like a never ending river yet the man didn't even cringe!
"How?! How are you still alive?!" the criminal questioned, unable to contain his curiosity. He was getting a little exited as well; if he won this fight then he would have near indestructible puppet in his hands. The keyword was if. Somewhere deep in his still human part, Sasori wasn't quite sure if he could win this battle. The young man was a monster if he'd ever seen one.
The man didn't answer. He only raised his head to glare, his eyes reflecting pure anger. If the puppeteer had been capable of doing so, he was sure he would've shuddered. Though he still had to wonder what had the man so furious. There had been nothing before this that had caused such a reaction.
The youngster opened his mouth to speak. "My hat…" The redhead's blink was the only thing that revealed his confusion. He glanced at the strawhat in the man's hands. It was not damaged at all. There was only a small nick and some blood on the thing. It was a miracle it had survived the attack at all. Sasori realized suddenly that the man had taken the hat off to better protect it from damage. "You almost broke my hat." the young man continued as he placed the garment back on his head. "No one touches my hat."
The man dashed forward too fast for someone with a hole in his stomach. The redhead managed to bring the puppet corpse of the Third Kazekage in front of him, only right before the youngster's hand turned black. The puppet didn't stand a chance as the punch destroyed it in a manner similar to the way Hiruko had been. Only this time the man hadn't even bothered to stretch his arm. Sasori would've assumed the man knew how to enchant his limbs with chakra, but he was already sure the man didn't use it.
The puppeteer jumped back for more distance, but didn't get far as the youngster followed right after. He was punched in the face. After seeing the damage the man did with his hits, he was glad he didn't feel pain.
The redhead knew the young man was no longer playing around, so he threw his cloak away, revealing his artificial body. The man didn't look amazed this time. Had it been an act or was the man in a trance? Deciding not to fool around, Sasori didn't even try the weapons he had installed in himself. He would go all out and if it failed…
He pulled out another scroll from his back right as the man charged again. Dodging the barrage of punches and kicks the man sent his way, the criminal opened up the container on his chest. The numerous puppets started pouring out from the scroll, successfully drawing the man attention. Sasori used the distraction to make some distance between them.
"This attack is going to be the final one. You will die here." he announced while strings of chakra attached themselves into the puppets. It was truly the last one. If the man didn't die, then the one who would was going to was him. He might be able to reattach himself back together if broken, but even he wasn't immortal no matter how much he would've wished to be. "Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets."
The youngster stood still as he examined the puppets and Sasori decided to get on with it. He directed for his puppets to attack. Some of the puppets flew at the young man and some gathered to attack from behind him, surrounding the youngster completely. The man had yet to move as the puppets closed in on him.
Only when the puppets were a hair away from hitting him, did the rubbery man move. He twisted and turned as he punched and kicked the puppets. If the criminal was someone else, he might've actually admired the man's agility. One by one the redhead's personal army lessened in numbers. It continued for five minutes before the man had enough.
Sasori watched idly as the man ran to the other side of the clearing, positioning himself in a way that all the puppets were facing him. The puppets charged at him without missing a beat.
The man crouched and bit his thumb. The puppeteer furrowed his brows a bit, when the youngster blew into it. His concentration faltered and his puppets froze when the man started to grow in size. The air then travelled into his arm, leaving the man standing there with a hand equivalent of a giant. Assuming this was some sort of a trump card for the man, the puppets returned to pursuing the youngster. With a fist that size, he must have slowed down in speed. So if the redhead was fast enough…
His plan was ruined when the strawhat wearing man didn't stay put as he expected him to. Instead, the man jumped. The leap wasn't slow or clumsy as Sasori had assumed either, it was fast and before he knew it, the youngster was in the air right above him. The redhead was stunned. The man had skipped the puppets and was aiming for the puppeteer. He couldn't believe he actually underestimated his opponent to this extent. The criminal stared at the giant blackening fist, cursing himself in his head. He had been so sure of his opponent's lack of intelligence that he had never even considered he would know to attack him.
"Gomu Gomu no…" the youngster yelled. Sasori glanced at his puppets and knew right away there was no chance of blocking the attack. They would only be caught up in it.
The redhead could do nothing more than wait for the attack to hit. He was almost sure the world went quiet at that thought. There was only a few feet left between him and the giant arm. Sasori closed his eyes.
"Elephant Gun!"
xxxOPNxxx
Zoro was lying on his bed, eyes closed when the presence of the sliver haired man from the street appeared on his senses. The presence came closer with rapid speed and it seemed to be headed straight for the room the pirates were residing in. The swordsman sat up and ignored the furry doctor's call of good morning. It wasn't even morning.
As he picked up Wado from its place against the wall, he heard the shower turning off in the bathroom. About time. The blonde cook had been in there for an half an hour already. The green haired man unsheathed the white sword.
A bang of smoke appeared in the middle of the room, freaking Chopper out as Zoro placed the tip of his katana under the intruder's throat. The cloud of gray disappeared and revealed the silver haired man from before. "Erm…Hello there." the man greeted and presumably smiled under his mask. The swordsman wasn't fooled by the act, he knew who the man was there for.
"Get out." he ordered. The curly browed man had been in a normal mood for a while now, the presence of yet another old acquaintance was only going to freak him out again. Zoro wasn't sure why he cared.
Just as he was about to order again, the blonde appeared in doorway. "Before that I'd like to know why he's here." Sanji growled, either because his precious shower got interrupted or because he was dressed in only a towel. Zoro raised an eyebrow, wondering exactly why the man was in so much of a hurry that he couldn't even dress himself. The blonde glared at him and the swordsman looked away and snorted.
The silver haired man turned to the blonde. "Two members of the Akatsuki were spotted right outside of Konoha." The green haired man didn't even need to look over to know the cook had become anxious and borderline scared again. "The Hokage wants you three in her office."
"And why should we come?" Zoro questioned, but lowered his sword nonetheless.
"According to the shinobi who told us about the Akatsuki's appearance, there's also a small group of three involved in the battle who are also ordered in. They claim to be pirates."
The swordsman heard the curly browed man curse as he ran to the bathroom to dress up. As the green haired man gathered his swords and attached them to his hip, he hoped the blonde would finally cut the bullshit and told the crew something that made sense. There was no way he could keep any secrets anymore after this.
