The Alternate Path
By Inner Self
Chapter XIV: The Long Awaited Fight II
I cut it off because I like playing w/ the chapter titles! (And switch, and beginn!!)ßI know.
--XIV--
"So, you want me go after Sabaku no Gaara, right? Like a continuation of our match, right?"
--The Long Awaited Fight II--
Sakura scales the great wall of the arena and leaps over fluidly. She then concentrates a miniscule amount of chakra into her feet and scales a random tree at the edge of the forest. Hopping from one to the next, she hopes desperately to find her targets in time.
Flying from one to the other, she lightly and swiftly charges after her enemy, but at this pace there is no time to see. 'What?' An explosion goes off, "!!" Without eyes, one can only react.
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The sand siblings race through the canopies. "Temari, someone's tailing us!"
"Yeah, that's the second time you've complained! You think I don't know already?" She says, not at all questioningly.
"Well, then what do you think we should do?"
"What I thought we should do was try to out-run that brat. It has to be her. Every other konoha-nin is indisposed right now," Temari smirks but then it disappears; the situation has become serious, for once since their arrival in Konoha. "She is not someone we should come into direct contact with. She's not a walking fluke any more."
'Yeah, she's a rampaging druggie,' Kankurou adds as a sidethought.
"We shouldn't make any direct confrontations… but that's not an option! You go ahead with Gaara."
'Hopefully one of my traps can take care of her,' Temari muses. 'If not, my revenge will be even sweeter.' Temari places a hand on her repaired fan, having not forgotten, then reaches into her dress to pull out a spool of metal wire. Pulling with her teeth, she sets off to work.
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Sakura, not thinking clearly, falls into one of the enemies traps. With the concentration of chakra already being pumped into her feet, Sakura releases it and dodges the explosion by a fraction of a second, jumping upward to the underside of another branch.
'Ino, what would I do without you?' And Sakura would take the time to comically wipe the sweat off her brow…if it weren't for the explosion tag waiting for her.
"..!!" Landing, then pushing off, instantly, another tag explodes. She flips and braces for the ground, but spots another trap. 'Wires!' Sakura's 'perfect chakra control' is put to the test. Concentrating on nothing but landing on the wire, Sakura manages to bend the laws of physics. Instantly surging chakra into the wire, Sakura manages to strengthen it to allow her weight.
'There's a wire there, and another there," Sakura, multitasking, decides it best to keep her plan simple during her time on the wire. She inches her way toward the tree tied by her wire. Once there she leaps. 'I will head straight through there and substitute on the first trap I hit.'
---
'I see she's gotten through my little forest of death.' Temari unwraps her fan. With a powerful swing, she throws her signature technique upon her enemy.
---
Sakura shoots through the traps, her petite frame narrowly missing all of them. Upon reaching the end, she feels an oncoming rush of wind accompanied by a furious voice. "Itachi!" Oh, yeah. She's pissed.
'Temari!' Sakura's eyes grow wide for a brief moment before squeezing shut. She brings up her arms to cover her face. Futile, she is hit head on and smacks against a tree.
Temari sweeps her fan once more to finish the job securely, when Sakura's unconscious body returns to its original form and is chopped to pieces.
'A log?!'
---
With Sakura's substitution technique activated, she stealthily escapes to a nearby tree. 'I accept your challenge. Bring it on! Shannaro!' Unleashing a punch as soon as Temari unleashes her attack, Sakura arms herself with the trunk of her tree. "Head's up!"
"!!" Temari jumps aside, but Sakura's warning was too late. She's abruptly hit by the massive object. If it was any larger, she would have heard all the bones on her left side crack. The tree continues its diagonal path as Temari falls gracefully to the ground, her fan slowing the impact.
Sakura, being the medic-type she is, evaluates Temari's condition. Seeing no fatal injuries, she continues her pursuit.
"Ciao!"
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Sakura turns around and waves tauntingly at Temari, then dashes off again on her mission. Running at full speed, she closes in on Kankurou's location. Still fired up, Sakura unleashes a chakra punch to another helpless tree.
---
"What happened to Temari?" Kankurou feels the other's presence approaching his. With all the cargo he had to support, escape wouldn't be an option without Temari. "I hope that's her. The auras are similar."
Kankurou continues running through the canopies until he hears an abnormal rustle of leaves. 'Aw, what did I do now, Temari?' Kankurou internally whines as he turns his head to see…
"Oh, shit!"
With a rustle of a thousand leaves and a devastating collision of trunk and branch, the place where Kankurou previously stood was destroyed. Kankurou barely escapes jumping to another tree branch.
"I've found you."
------
The three and one dog followed after Sakura. When the alarming sound of bombs shot off, the groups hearts began to race. They were about to pick up speed when Pakkun addressed them, "Its too dangerous! There's a better chance that Sakura will survive rather than all four of us! We'll have to go around and meet her on the other side."
As they continued, however, Pakkun noticed another scent. "Whoa, this is—"
"What?!" They all interrupt.
"Sakura-san wears the same kind of shampoo as I do!" Sasuke bops the pug on the top of the head as the others topple over and cling to their branch before composing theirselves.
"I don't suppose that helps!" Sasuke asks rhetorically.
"Well, no, but," Pakkuns mood changes seriously, "we're being followed."
"How many?" Sasuke inquires.
"Eight—no, there's another following them…probably to protect them from ambushes."
"Alright," Sasuke orders, "we should ambush them anyways. Since we know about their extra precaution, they won't be much of a problem. "
Shikamaru sighs, "Well, don't you feel confident. Look, prodigy among us or not, we don't have the standard number proper for an ambush. All we have are," Shikamaru grunts something about 'besides you' to Sasuke, "an dog, an idiot, and the biggest chicken you've ever seen…" he pauses to watch the said person and dog's expressions change from annoyed to confused, "me. Plus, we don't have any territory for which to ambush or enough firepower," Sasuke coughs. "Therefore, I think it would be best, before Sasuke objects, to use a feint operation that looks like an ambush."
"How many should stay for this operation? I could run ahead and kill Gaara before Sakura reaches him." Sasuke suggest.
Shikamaru declines, "Actually, only one will be needed."
Naruto takes his turn to object, "Wait? You two are planning to leave me behind, aren't you? Look, I know I could take them out with kagebunshin…but Sakura-chan really needs my help! Make Sasuke-teme do it!"
Shikamaru sighs, "You guys really are idiots. Don't tell me you never knew why the Nara clan's secret technique was created."
"Shikamaru…" Naruto trails.
"I haven't used an ounce of chakra yet, so, with surprising luck, I'll probably just be standing there until the cavalry arrives."
"Huh?...Okay, then! We're counting on you," he grins, "Shikamaru!"
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'How could I lose to a spoiled brat like her?' Temari tilts her head to look at the blue sky peaking through the trees. 'I need to get up. I have duties to fulfill.'
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"I've found you." Sakura smiles innocently. "It didn't take as long as I thought it would."
'Damnit, I can't tell if the brat's bluffing or not.'
The trees rustle off to the side of Sakura. She listens in as she keeps smiling to Kankurou.
As stoic as usual, the konoha-nin politely says, "I am here to assist you, Sakura-san."
"Thank-you, Shino-san, I accept your help. I will heal any injuries you acquire, as well as observe Gaara's status."
Shino looks as if he wishes to question Sakura.
"That's a medic's role, afterall. You're safe in my care." She smiles truthfully, happily. "Take this," She hands him an antidote. "Puppet masters are known for installing poisonous apparatuses into their dolls. There's a chance this will help."
'Damn Tsunade and her chibi!' Kankurou prepares to stall as long as possible. In reality, there's no way for him to fight while carrying his precious village's trump card. 'Where the hell are you, Temari?'
Another tremendous rustle of leaves is heard. 'Not again! Wait,' Sakura, standing still, has no intention of hitting him with another heft of lumber. The breeze centers around Kankurou. 'That can only be…'
"Temari!" She floats gracefully from the sky onto the same branch where Kankurou was. Hopping cautiously from her fan, it is obvious to everyone of her pain.
"Kankurou, get out of here. There's no way you can fight hauling him everywhere." Temari says, adding an inaudible gasp of pain.
"You sound exhausted," Kankurou gives Temari custody of Gaara, to which she must protest, but he cuts her off, "Don't be foolish. Focus on running. Leave them to me and Karasu."
Temari still administers a rebellious look, but he yells at her and she finally leaves.
------
"It seems that Gaara has stopped movement," Pakkun sniffs and announces. "Sakura-san has caught up with him. We should change plans and intervene now. "
"Dattebayo!!" Naruto cries!
"—No, wait. Gaara's on the move again."
"Aw, man! Wait, we're suppose to find Sakura! Let's go help Sakura-chan!"
"There's already another Konoha-nin with Sakura-san. I just hope she can work with the creepy type because he's got that kind of aura."
Naruto laughs, "That's gotta be Shino. Kiba mentioned he was weird and strong, being on his team and all!"
"Hn. He must have escaped from the candidate box." Sasuke detaches, thinking of when he activated his Sharingan, and when Kakashi gave them orders.
"Well, now that that's settled, let's continue shall we? We've got a lot of ground to cover." Pakkun sniffs again.
------
"Sakura, you're opponent is leaving. I can handle things here."
"That goes against my medic code!" Sakura says, to which Shino raises an eyebrow questioningly. "And she won't get far like that! She's counting on Kankurou to—" Karasu appears from under during their quarrel.
"We'll meet up somewhere!" Sakura replies, dashing away from the knife darting out from Karasu's palm heal strike. Shino dashes backwards in the exact opposite direction.
"I guess we have no choice." Karasu shoots kunai via the jaw apparatus and Shino dissolves into numerous bugs once they make impact.
"Shino, head's up wherever you are!" Sakura has detached (yet) another tree and thrown it at Kankurou's direction. 'He's hiding in one of those trees!' She then forms hand seals and substitutes as Karasu opens his mouth to shoot off darts.
The thrown trunk hits horizontally and crashes upon two of the trees in Kankurou's location. Kankurou jumps out of one of them. 'I need to find cover before—'
Shino jumps to Kankurou's location and throws a punch.
'Hah, he missed! He's too cocky with that Tsunade-chibi around!' Kankurou twitches his forefinger and brings up his arm. As he retreats from close quarters, Karasu unlocks its elbow joints, opens another apparatus, and launches a smoke bomb.
'It's poisoned.' Shino tries to cover his face but inhales some of the smoke. He jumps to a higher position, and administers the basic antidote. Sakura reveals herself to him, as if to ask an underlying question.
'That will be all, Sakura-san,' she sees him mouth from her overview position, 'Thank-you.'
Kakashi's first lesson: Search beneath the underneath!
Sakura pumps chakra into the soles of her feet as she flees from the scene towards her main objective. 'You won't get away. Not with Temari's condition.' Sakura knows that one more 'tree' and Temari could be dead.
------
"Hey, Naruto," Pakkun asks.
"What, more shampoo?" He asks irritatedly. They still had a ways to go to pass Sakura.
"No, well, technically yes. Sakura's begun pursuing again. We can expect our encounter to be in approximately five or ten minutes."
"That's good dattebayo!"
"Also…"
"Also?" Sasuke and Naruto both inquire.
"Also…Shikamaru's pursuers were caught a while back. I forgot to mention. Gomen."
"Hn. Stupid dog."
"I would leave, but I have orders," Pakkun snaps. "Also, another has just now come to the aide of Shikamaru, and taken down the tracker-nins. He smells bad…like cigarettes. Has to be Asuma-san."
------
Sakura gulps as she closes in on Gaara. Right before face-to-face confrontation, she pulls out the container once more, and swallows one soldier and protein pill each. 'I didn't need the protein against Kankurou…what a waste.'
'Don't abuse the use of these pills.'
'Heh, gomen ne, Tsunade-taichou. It's not like I have a lot of options right now.' She smiles sadly.
---
Sakura drops from overhead and confronts Temari. "He hasn't recovered and neither have you. Surrender onegai-shimasu."
Temari grits her teeth. She hears Gaara stir and lets out a sigh of relief. 'I'm saved.' Oh, the irony.
Gaara raises his head. "Haruno Sakura…why do you insist on existing when you're as good as dead." He laughs maliciously, ominously.
Temari's eyes grow wide. Gaara is unstable, and he's slung over her arm.
"I'll let you live on if you like. Once I kill you, I shall mix your blood with my sand. Then you will stay forever, and live for my existence!"
Temari tries to find a way to calm him. "Gaara, that wound," she reaches into her dress, "this ointment will help."
She begins to open it. "No, thank-you, you're in my way!" Gaara backhands Temari to the chest and sends her flying towards a destination where she'll meet with a mortal conflict.
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Sakura instantly reacts when she witnesses the horrible sight of Gaara hitting his sister, his own blood. She rushes forward to Temari's airborne form, and catches her from behind. Sakura cushions Temari's contact with the tree trunk by sacrificing herself.
'A medic-nin should save herself so that she can save others.'
'But I'm not a medic-nin, not yet, and I wanted to save this person.' Sakura holds the tears as she recovers and rolls off of the tree to escape Gaara's wrath.
'Konoha-nin are such fools.' Temari thinks before passing out.
Back facing Gaara, Sakura grits her teeth as she forms the familiar set of seals. Bearing the pain, she flees from his's presence during his next attack.
Not pleased, Gaara's chakra signature changes as his sand forms to coat his arm and stops at the right side of his face. Sakura peaks from where she is hiding and sees that his eye has changed into the one from within his shell in their previous fight.
"..!" Sakura returns to her fetal position behind the tree and covers her mouth with her hand. Slowly, she releases it and breathes as deeply as stealth will allow.
"Haruno!" Gaara calls from a distant. "Haruno girl! You aren't dead yet so come on out!"
'Well this isn't good… I'll just have to throw a couple of trees at him," Sakura reaches behind to rub her back, "but that would aggravate my back if I put too much pressure on it. What should I do…throw trees from a safe distance or go punch his lights out?' Sakura spends a few seconds weighing her options, mainly just to help herself stay positive.
Those seconds end when a roar erupts from Gaara once again, "Haruno! Come out and fight. Is this how Tsunade's apprentice fights? You'll shun her name, Haruno Sakura!"
Sakura's eyes widen in shock. 'How did he find out about her?'
Gaara throws his grotesque arm at a tree not five feet from Sakura. She curls up to protect herself as it shatters like glass. One piece grazes her arm.
"I smell your blood…Does it hurt, Haruno? Are you in pain?"
'I guess my options have just been limited.' Sakura grimaces. With one punch, she destroys her haven, then picks it up to swing at him.
Gaara merely crushes the trunk once it makes contact with his monstrous arm. Gaara laughs manically as a tail forms from the sand and his gourd , "Haruno Sakura. Let us judge the most valuable existence," He charges at her, "by whoever throws the last punch!!"
Sakura jumps through the scattered debris. Gathering chakra for her most dreadful technique, Haruno Sakura decides to take his life.
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"Be careful. This is the real thing. Unlike the exam, there will be no one to help you."
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Oh, yeah! I've learned a lot. Like how to implement corny and make it uncorny. I really hope you enjoyed this! I feel so accomplished! Thank-you to all my reviewers!
Animeluver, mm, Millie, and everyone: I hear your cries and have answered them generously! Please enjoy this update. Sadly (or not, this actually seems for the better now that I think about it) I cut off the chapter because its 11, I need my sleep, and I wanted to finish before one of the toughest weeks I'll have in school since ever. Damn EOIs are getting to me this year and I have no idea why. (May edit later. I dunno how bad the grammar is.)
xXWinterXx: someone had to jk. (Randomness) Oh how i wish i could pay someone to animate the scenes. but i'd have to win the lottery. and that would be bad. Hey, I could always get to work on my doujin…hmm…should I even bother answering that?
Note: I lost my original audience. Sorry about the troublesomeness but I'll be moving the story from under Gaara's name to Sasuke's. Sasuke is, after all, the main conflict in Sakura's original path. I guess I could split it into two parts and put the second under Gaara as the second character. Tell your friends.
Onegai-shimasu, Read and Review!