Mission: Defend the Leaf Village

Chapter 9

Colors of the Broken Bonds

The sky began to turn a bloody red color. Kisame grinned, sending out another wave at Guy and Lee. "So Itachi has lost his match. That must mean Kakashi is much better."

Lee came from below, but Kisame instantly trapped him within a water sphere. "Pathetic loser. Well, I already released the chakra of Samehada. I should at least take him out before retreating," Kisame chuckled, glaring at Guy.

"What sort of chakra is that?" Guy asked himself as he got back onto his feet. That was when he saw Lee trapped. "I can't let this happen. You're going down, Kisame!"

Guy dashed through the trees and slammed Kisame's weapon down. "Here's the finishing blow!" he shouted. "Dynamic Destruction!"

There was another explosion, yet Kisame remained unharmed. Samehada had produced a barrier around Kisame, and the moment Guy touched it, his foot had been caught in a sphere. "Guy-sensei!" Lee cried.

Guy was in a horrible situation. "Seven gates from the two of us," he started, "and Kisame still stands. I never expected myself to be caught up in a situation like this."

"So what will you do now, Konoha's Might Guy? As long as you're caught within the barrier, you'll be unable to move. And to think that you've actually reached your limit to that wild power."

Tears flowed down Guy's cheeks. "I… will not… let my student… be in harm's way!" A greater amount of chakra began forming around him, bringing great shock to Kisame.

'Impossible!' he thought. 'This chakra… it's more than some of the tailed beasts! What… who is this guy?!?"

"You'll never surpass my abilities, Kisame Hoshigaki!" Guy roared. "It's time for me to do the finishing! THE EIGHT GATE! THE GATE OF DEATH!"

The barrier was instantly shattered, leaving Guy to send Kisame soaring backwards. Samehada flew with him, absorbing whatever leaking chakra it could. Guy grabbed it with his hands and tore it in half, causing yet another explosion. The energy flew into Lee's water sphere, tearing it open and releasing him. "Guy-sensei! No! Not the…"

"Lee, now's your chance! FINISH KISAME!" Guy screamed at the top of his lungs.

Lee couldn't move. The shock had paralyzed him. "LEE!!!!"

"GUY-SENSEI!" he screamed back. Kisame snatched the handle of Samehada – there was still a little left.

"His strength is greater than any I've seen. One single focused blow would kill me!" Guy came from millions of directions, hacking away at Kisame's strength.

"LEE! DO SOMETHING! EVEN IF I DIE, YOU MUST CONTINUE!"

Lee fell onto his knees, sobbing. "No… this can't be happening."

Kisame focused all of his chakra to the blade. "Even if he has that much chakra and strength, I should be able to disable him…"

Guy appeared from the front, his fist ready. Kisame swung his sword, creating the final explosion. Lee looked up into the air and saw both bodies fly down from the smoke. "Guy-sensei!" Lee cried again. He jumped into the air and saved his teacher from the fall. Kisame, however, managed to land in the center of the pond he created.

Lee continued sobbing and he stared at his weak teacher. "Lee… you fool…" Guy started. Lee gasped and begged for forgiveness.

"Guy-sensei, why?"

"A shinobi must give his life for the village. Missions involve sacrifices… you learned that didn't you? And even in… ack…" Guy began coughing blood. "Lee… you didn't make me proud…"

There was a shuffling coming from below. Kisame emerged from the pond, still wielding the broken blade. "Interesting, Konoha's Might Guy. I would kill both of you right now, but unfortunately, I lack the necessary chakra. Too bad Itachi decided to call back. Let this be a lesson to Konoha – the Akatsuki will definetly prevail!"

And with those final words, Kisame disappeared.

Lee stared at his sensei, he who was turning even more pale as time flew by. "Lee… I want to tell you something."

"Yes, Guy-sensei. Anything! Please tell me!" Lee responded.

Guy sighed. "Become a great shinobi. You already are. Like Kisame… ah… as he said… let this be a lesson. Make… make sure you defend Konoha with your own life on the line. Protect your friends as if they were family. And lastly… defeat the Akatsuki. Make sure they… they don't prevail. Do that, and I surely shall be proud of you."

With those final words, Guy closed his eyes and went into a deep, peaceful slumber.

//-\\

\\-//

Orochimaru stared into the hazy sky as his memories came back together. "Akatsuki… here…?"

Pein and Konan were standing in front of the organization. "In the event of our whole group being close, should one member fall into great harm's way, activate the Iro Kakemono (colored scrolls)!"

Each of the members lifted the scroll in the hands. They all stared at the labels. 'Aka Kakemono,' Itachi thought (red scroll). He looked at Kisame's light blue scroll. "Mizuiro Kakemono," Itachi whispered. "I see, so the different colors represent different members.

"Indeed," Pein responded. "Hidan will have Haiiro Kakemono (gray scroll), and Kakuzu, take the Kiiro Kakemono (yellow scroll). Deidera and Sasori get the Daidaiiro and Kuro Kakemono (orange and black scrolls). Zetsu… Midori Kakemono (green scroll); Orochimaru… Murasaki Kakemono (purple)! I will have the Ao Kakemono (blue) and Konan will keep the Shiro Kakemono (white)."

Ino lay both Choji and Tenten aside and rushed to the crater in the center of the stadium. Suddenly, a tongue flew out and caught her by the neck. Tsunade and Naruto both turned to the cry and began rushing to save Ino.

"This isn't over!" Orochimaru hissed. "I may be weak, but I will destroy the Akatsuki! They cannot leave! Get out of my way!"

Tsunade grabbed the tongue and cut it with the kunai in her hand, giving great pain to Orochimaru. "Ahhh! This can't go on any longer. Kabuto… you take over!" he hissed. The remains glowed a bright red again and began to recede into a small mark on Kabuto's neck.

Naruto, Ino, and Tsunade had Kabuto surrounded. He groaned, inspecting his environment. "So it seems that Konoha was able to drive us out. Well, don't expect this to be the last invasion. It's time we headed out!"

Before Naruto could attack, Kabuto disappeared.

//-\\

\\-//

Konan grabbed Sakura and pulled her close. "Die, bitch!"

Suddenly, she was blown back by a chakra wave. Neji had hit his mark. Konan regained her balance and flew again at Sakura, only to be slammed down by Neji's Gentle Fist. "Shit!" she cried. "No! How could I, an angel, fall down like this?"

Sakura jumped in front of her and laid a great blow, causing Konan to return to her original form. "No! One more attack… a spear… it will kill you both!"

Neji appeared once more and slammed her below with a Mountain Crusher. The entire chasm began to rumble. Rocks and boulders began to crash down. Konan was trapped underneath the rubble. "AHH!!!" she screamed. Neji saw blood oozing out from the rocks.

Neji and Sakura fought their way to the top, only to be confronted by hundreds of leeches. Shikamaru and Shino hadn't moved an inch in the past hour. Neji and Sakura froze, understanding what was going on.

Zetsu chuckled. "So I see Konan was unable to survive. It's too late. These leeches attack only if they sense movement! Now it's over!"

That was when Zetsu had been caught off his guard. "Konoha Senpu!" Lee cried, slamming him down into the ground. Zetsu quickly got up only to see that his arm was bleeding. The leeches turned towards him and charged.

"What?!?" Zetsu cried. "No!"

And so, the leeches began to cover his body, sucking his chakra and life force. Shikamaru threw a great shadow around Zetsu, and Sakura came in for the finishing blow… only to miss. Zetsu was up in the tree, and all the leeches had disappeared. "Interesting. I completely underestimated Konoha's shinobi. To be able to stop Konan and then continue fighting… interesting. But as you can see, Itachi is calling. Unfortunately, I cannot play any longer. So this game is officially over!" With that, Zetsu slipped down into the ground.

//-\\

\\-//

As soon as the signal had been let off, Itachi began running. "Sasuke, I must apologize, but we shall continue our fight another time. Right now, I have a bad feeling…"

As he crossed into a great barren field with both Kisame and Zetsu, he gasped. Standing in front of him was Pein himself. "So, Itachi, where is Naruto Uzumaki?"