A/N: So I've been receiving several comments on my quick updates. The answer to that is… I have no idea. Haha I guess I just love you guys so much. And to be honest, I love writing SasuSaku. It's fun to escape the everyday high school drama of my own life and write and read about a world that sounds so exciting. ((Sigh)) I wish I lived in Konoha!
I have to say that I got one of the greatest reviews from Heartless Ghost (or is it Izzy-chan the Disturbing™? Whatever, you know who you are). The third line made me laugh so hard my mom looked at me like I was insane. And I too am a total chocolate whore, so I've decided to dedicate the chapter to you! Here's a bar of chocolate too. :)
.:Chapter.14:.
Two large men were holding on to Hana and Kyo. Two more had Hinata by the arms. Standing in the middle of the dozens of Sound ninja was Ryuu.
And in his arms was Sakura.
Sasuke felt the shock hit him like a kunai in the stomach. How could this have happened? They were barely ahead of him and Naruto, just about a mile away from Konoha's front gates.
The Uchiha looked over at Naruto, who didn't look shocked or afraid at all. He looked courageous and… excited? Of course, Naruto always loved fighting tough opponents and proving his power. Seeing the brave look in Sakura's eyes was like someone coming up and slapping him on the face, yelling "Snap out of it man!"
"Sasuke-kun," Hana yelled. "Help!" The man holding her shoved his large hand over her mouth, pressing hard until she started to cry. Sakura glared, struggling to get away from Ryuu without endangering her friends.
"Uchiha Sasuke, we meet again," Ryuu said with a condescending smile. "Although, I must say, I like these circumstances much more than in our other meetings. Wouldn't you agree, my dear?"
Sasuke's hands clenched into fists as Ryuu said the last part into Sakura's ear, burying his face into her bubblegum pink hair. Sakura would've elbowed him in the gut, but she was afraid that any move she made towards her captor would result in something happening to Hinata, Hana, or Kyo.
"I'll make you a deal," Ryuu continued. "You can come with me, hime, or you can watch your little friends die a slow and painful death."
Sakura shot a glance at Hinata, but otherwise remained emotionless. There was no way she was going to let Ryuu get to her. She'd dealt with men like this before, it was like all the missions Tsunade had sent her on were preparing her for this day.
Sasuke grinded his teeth, his mind frantically searching for a way to solve this without any of his companions getting injured.
Kuso, now would be the perfect time for Ino's Shintenshin no Jutsu, he thought to himself.
Aa. And we're probably not close enough for anyone to see us here…
Sasuke sighed, this wasn't going to be easy. If they could get Hana and Kyo free, then Hinata and Sakura would be able to fight back. He elbowed Naruto, then nodded towards the crying children. The blonde nodded, apparently he'd been thinking the same thing.
Naruto thought hard, suddenly remembering something he'd taught Kyo and Hana while Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata had been collecting water one day. He looked forward towards the horizon line and said loudly in a sing-song voice, "WHEN YOU'RE IN TROUBLE AND HAVE A BAD FEELING, THERE'S ONLY ONE THING YOU CAN DO, AND THAT IS SING!"
The Sound Ninja burst out into laughter. Sasuke looked at Naruto like he had grown two more heads, while Sakura was trying to figure up what Naruto was up to. Hinata shifted, realizing that it was Saburo and Katsu who had their hands on her. She glared as their hands rubbed on her arms in a suggestive way. She couldn't wait until the kids were free so she could kick these guys' asses.
"You can sing all you want, Blondie," Ryuu said with a smile, "but it's not going to save your little friends."
Naruto looked over at Hana and Kyo, then nodded. Suddenly the two got what he was talking about and smiled.
Naruto nodded again and looked over at Ryuu. Now for Part II of the plan… "Hey Ryuu!" he shouted, "Get a look at this! Orioke no jutsu!"
Sakura, Sasuke, and Hinata gaped at the blonde. What was he thinking? Several of the Sound Nin had to pinch their noses to hold back the blood that came gushing down from Naruto's Sexy no Jutsu. Female Naruto, covered only by the smoke surrounding "her", gave a wink and a smile, blowing a kiss and giggling. More men were drawn in, except for Ryuu who was shouting at his men to snap out of it.
Meanwhile, Kyo and Hana nodded at each other, then elbowed their captors just under their rib cages. In unison they stomped on their feet, then brought their small fists up to their nose when the men bent over in pain. Lastly, they brought their fists back down, smashing into the men's groins.
Naruto and Sasuke noticed this, as well as Hinata. She grinned at the children, then nodded her head in the direction of Konoha. The two children hid back in the woods while Hinata used her Gentle Fist on Saburo and Katsu. Once the two were knocked out, she ran over towards Kyo and Hana. She pointed towards Konoha and Sasuke nodded, watching as the three ran off to get more help.
Naruto turned back to his normal self, grinning at the reaction he got. "Why didn't you tell us that you taught them S.I.N.G.?" Sasuke whispered. (a/n: Solar plexus, Instep, Nose, Groin haha you can thank Miss Congeniality for that little idea.) Naruto smiled, "We'll talk about this later, teme."
Sasuke nodded, returning his attention to the problem at hand. He knew that they'd have to keep the ninjas' attention on them so they wouldn't notice three of their captives were gone.
"So, Ryuu," he started, crossing his arms. "Tsunade-sama said you're some powerful nin who we should be cautious of, yet every time we've seen you, you've used your men to fight for you. I'm starting to wonder if you even are a nin at all."
Ryuu laughed. "You're smart, Uchiha. It is true that I've relied on my men to do the easy tasks, despite their lack of success. That's why I decided I'll just have to take care of you myself.
"I'm taking Sakura back with me, Uchiha. You can either let her come with me the easy way, or I'll just have to kill you all. Either way, Sakura will end up with me, and you'll be all alone- in life or death, however, is your choice." Sakura rolled her eyes, resisting with all of her might to dig her nails into his arm. But she didn't know that Hinata and the children were free, so she tried her best to be compliant for their safety.
"I'd rather die one thousand deaths than let a perverted bastard like you have Sakura," Sasuke said, activating his sharingan. Naruto conjured up a dozen shadow clones and raced towards the Sound nin.
Ryuu smiled. "That can be arranged, I know of several jutsus for bringing back the dead. I have an even better jutsu that I think will be much more useful to me today, however. You see, my clan goes centuries back, back to when dragons roamed the land. My ancestor, also named Ryuu, was studying dragons and their behaviors. He'd been traveling and came across about fifty females, meaning their leader, the male, was somewhere near.
"One thing I'm sure you don't know about dragons is the males have the ability to secrete an acid-like substance. Ryuu found the male and fought against it, he killed it, but first was able collect some of the liquid. He brought it home and his family studied it for years, soon they were able to understand dragons' genetic make up.
"Ryuu was able to make a jutsu to transform into a dragon, but he wanted to reinforce the power. He inserted the liquid intravenously into his own blood stream. His appearance took on that of a dragon and man combined and found his strength was multiplied greatly.
"Only a few per generation are able to get this bloodline trait, and I was lucky enough to be one of them." Ryuu threw Sakura to a man about the size of a tree. "Henka Ryuukasai no Jutsu!" he shouted, making several hand motions.
Naruto and Sasuke watched as Ryuu's teeth turned jagged, his tongue growing long and thin. His skin had a new appearance, it looked scaly and rough. Sakura gasped as she saw Ryuu's eyes, they were a golden yellow, the pupils black vertical slits.
"I'd like to see you try to defeat me, Uchiha," Ryuu said, his voice much raspier. He smirked as Sasuke threw shuriken and kunai at him. Ryuu simply batted them away, the blades not making a mark on his person. Sakura's eyes widened.
Sasuke glared, and decided to try something else. "Katon Ryuuka no Jutsu!" Sakura held her breath as she saw the flames engulf Ryuu.
Soon laughter was heard. Sakura gasped as she saw Ryuu walk out of the flames like nothing had happened.
"You don't get it, do you Uchiha?" he asked with a smirk. "This jutsu gives me the qualities of a dragon. My skin is not that of a human, it can withstand flames. It's stronger than armor. There's nothing you can do to me."
Sakura glared, then moved to knock the man holding her out. He knew what she was about to do, however, and placed chakra binds around her wrists before she could do anything. Sakura groaned as he tightened his grip on her.
They'd better get here soon, she mumbled in her mind. I need to help Sasuke-kun. There's no way he can defeat Ryuu by himself. I don't even know if anyone in Konoha can defeat him if his skin is as strong as metal and can withstand fire!
"But this isn't the only trait I get from a dragon," Ryuu said, his smirk widening. He puffed up his chest and suddenly long flames came out of his mouth. Sasuke quickly dodged out of the way, barely having enough time to push Naruto away from the flames since he was too busy in hand-to-hand combat with a Sound nin to notice.
Sakura lifted her foot up and jolted it back into the man's knee. He groaned and shoved her into the ground. "I oughta snap your little neck," he growled. He moved closer, bringing his hands towards Sakura's neck.
"Too slow!" Sakura shouted, lifting her hands up. Before the nin could even realize what she was doing, a katana landed in the kunoichi's hands and was thrust into his chest.
"Looks like we got here just in time," Tenten said with a grin as she dropped to the ground. Sakura smiled back, seeing most of Konoha's ninja fighting with Sound nin.
"Your friends explained all that they know," Tsunade said when she came up to the two girls. "I want to know what's been going on since."
"Long story short, Ryuu's jutsu turns him into a half dragon. His skin is like armor and he isn't affected by fire, but he can blow it. I'm sure he's as strong as a dragon, but that's all that I know. It's going to take a miracle for us to be able to defeat him," Sakura said quickly. "Help me up and get these bindings off of me. I want to help."
Tenten nodded, but before she could even take a step forward, Sakura was thrown over someone's shoulder and whisked into the forest. She looked down, recognizing the owner's clothing.
"Ryuu!" she shouted. "This is enough! Why don't you just go home and leave Konoha in peace!"
He stopped once they got to a clearing and set her down. "I'm not leaving unless you're with me."
"Where did Sakura go?" Tsunade shouted as she came up to Tenten, Naruto, and Hinata. Sasuke shot past them, disappearing into the forest.
"Ryuu's got her," Naruto said. "He won't quit until he has Sakura-chan for good."
"Or he's dead," Tenten said.
"What if the curse acts up?" Hinata asked. "Sakura-chan won't be able to get through to Sasuke if Ryuu is in her way."
Naruto shook his head. "When teme killed Orochimaru, the curse mark stayed, but the actual curse died along with him. Aside from any damage that may have happened to his internal organs, Sasuke-teme will be fine."
"Come on," Tenten said, pulling out her medley of weapons. "We've got some Sound ass to kick."
The shinobi all smiled, then parted ways. Apparently, one of the Sound ninja managed to get back to Sound and report the battle. Now all of the Sound nin were making their way to fight against Konoha.
Sasuke tree-hopped through the forest with lightening speed. His sharingan eyes searched for any signs of Sakura or Ryuu's chakra, but still had yet to find them.
This has gone on for too long, he said to himself. This is it. This time only one of us will come out alive.
He saw the faint sign of chakra ahead and soon heard voices. Sasuke knew it had to be Sakura and Ryuu.
"…please stop this, Ryuu. You know I'm not going to go with you. All this is doing is causing a war that neither of our villages need."
"I don't care," Ryuu said. "I want you. I don't care who dies, I'll do everything I have to until you're mine."
"She's never going to be yours, Ryuu," a voice said, stepping out into the clearing. "She may be your prisoner, but she'll never give you her heart. It's already been taken."
"Sasuke-kun!"
Ryuu laughed. "Oh really? By who?"
"Me."
Ryuu snorted. "Cocky boy. Why would Sakura love you? You're a traitor to Konoha. You left her for that idiot Orochimaru, your time is up."
"That's what you think." And with that, the two ran towards each other. Sakura screamed for them to stop and cringed as she watched the hand-to-hand combat. Even though Ryuu's strength had been enforced with that of a dragon, Sasuke was still very powerful.
Several minutes later, the Godaime, Kakashi, the former Rookie Nine, and Neji and Tenten made their way into the forest to see if they could help Sasuke. When the finally found the three, Kakashi suggested they wait.
"Why?" Naruto asked with a glare. He wanted to get in there and help kick Ryuu's dragon-scaled ass!
"This is different than any ordinary battle," Kakashi said.
"I don't get it," Ino whispered.
"This kind of battle isn't very common anymore," Neji explained like he was explaining how to breathe. "Uchiha and Ryuu are fighting for Sakura. The winner gets Sakura."
"And the loser…?"
Tenten ran a finger along her neck, under her chin.
"It's a fight to the death," the Godaime said. Ino and Hinata gulped and looked back to the fight. Sasuke wasn't fairing too well, he was bruised and bloody, but he wasn't winded yet. Ryuu was sweating madly, but there were few bruises or scratches on him. He blew more fire at the Uchiha, who dropped to the ground and rolled.
I cant take much more of this hand-to-hand combat, he told himself. It's hardly doing anything to Ryuu. I need to think of something and fast.
"I read in a book that dragons had amazing stamina," Tenten whispered suddenly. "I hope Sasuke hasn't gotten tired yet, or we'll be in big trouble."
"If Sasuke can't beat Ryuu, how are we supposed to?" Shikamaru asked with a groan.
"I have an idea!" Tenten said with a snap. She masked her chakra and ran as quickly as she could to where Sakura was sitting.
"Sakura-chan!" she whispered, causing the pink-haired girl to jump.
"Tenten-chan?" Tenten quickly crawled over to her. "What are you doing here?"
Tenten slid her hand over Sakura's mouth. "Everyone's over there. We can't do anything to help Sasuke, this is up to him. I remember reading once that while dragon's scales are almost stronger than metal, they have one soft spot- I'm thinking that Ryuu probably has that same soft spot.
"Now dragons normally stood on all fours, so when they inhaled to breathe fire, they exposed their chest. Because Ryuu is only on two legs, this should be easier. There's a soft spot on his chest, right under his sternum should do the trick. Here," she said, holding out a long kunai. "Give this to Sasuke, it's big enough to penetrate through. If it doesn't kill him, it will definitely weaken Ryuu."
Sakura nodded, and before she could ask Tenten to remove the chakra binds on her wrists, the brunette was gone. Sakura sighed. She'd really hoped she would be able to battle against Ryuu.
Ryuu stuck out his chest, then blew fire. Sakura watched this, because Ryuu's shirt had been burned off, she could see how the armor-like scales seemed to move around a spot just under his sternum. The observant girl noted how cautious of that spot he was. Ryuu protected it above all odds. She nodded, she knew that had to be the soft spot.
Sasuke didn't have time to jump to the side, so he dropped to the ground. He grabbed a large clump of dirt and flung it into Ryuu's mouth, causing the dragon man to choke on it. The fire that had yet to be released was caught in his chest and it burned intensely. Ryuu growled in pain, desperately trying to remove all the dirt.
Sakura quickly called Sasuke over and explained what Tenten had said, then handed him the kunai. Sasuke didn't have time to ask any questions, for the next thing he knew, Sakura had ducked the two of them down and there was flame above them.
The tree Sakura was leaning against started tipping forward and because of his weakened state, it took all of Sasuke's might to keep it off of Sakura. She quickly rolled out of the way and Sasuke let the tree drop with a thud, the back of his shirt now torn. Annoyed with the garment, he settled for ripping the shirt off and throwing it aside.
Sakura gasped at all the blood and bruises that the shirt had hidden. She prayed with all her heart to Kami-sama to let Sasuke live.
Ryuu puffed out his chest and before Sasuke had a chance to throw the kunai, more flames came at him. Sasuke dropped to the ground, readying the kunai, yet still keeping it hidden.
Ryuu smirked. "Is this all you've got? I can't believe you're slowing down already! You're more pathetic than I thought, Uchiha." He puffed out his chest again, and Sasuke saw his chance. He sent all the chakra he had left to his hand. With a flick of the wrist, the kunai was shot into the air.
A/N: OMGEEEEEEE! I'm such a bitch! I can't believe I did that! -laughs maniacally- Heheh I guess you'll have to wait for the next chapter to see what happens!
Please review! I'm soooo close to breaking my record. Everyone who reviews gets a life-size cut out of the Naruto character of their choice! Hehe I picked Sasuke Ü (haha isn't that lil smiley guy cute?!)
Please forgive me if any of the action was corny or lame… like I've said before, I'm not very good at it, but I try…
PS: The defense tactic S.I.N.G. was from the movie Miss Congeniality and most of the information about dragons was from the movie Reign of Fire (I don't know if it's true or just for the point of the movie, but it sounded real enough to me so I decided to use it.) I own neither of these movies.