Exit Strategy by Crackalive
Summary: Kenobi escapes by jumping into a random simulation. However, things go wrong and he cannot leave. What he needs is an exit strategy... but is he ready to follow it?
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Rated T for some language and violence.
This is it! I spent a lot of time doing the choreography. Tell me what you think about it!
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PART 4
IV- SPEED
Sasuke was fast.
He was a shadow in the darkness, appearing only in a shower of fierce sparks when his sword glanced off my shields. My weaponry consisted of two slabs of metal on my forearms and two darts hovering next to me, ready to catch any of his shuriken or cut his metal wires.
Only by following the movements of his sword was I able to keep up. Because of that, I had to restrain myself from turning the weapons he carried against him; it would reveal the nature of my power and remove my only advantage.
I grunted. I lifted a shielded arm to block a decapitating strike, only for the ninja to spin on his toes and slam a heel into my neck. My right arm swung under his guard, aiming for his gut. His fist flashed from the hilt of his sword to intercept my punch. Before I managed to establish a grip, he leapt backwards, melting back into the shadows.
The sword returned to its sheath. I frowned. What did he need both his arms for?
An orange ball of fire illuminated the vast chamber. I leapt above it, flames licking the edges of my cloak. My legs protested against the movement imposed by the metal wires around them.
The Uchiha followed me into the air. His summoned flames cast enough light to illuminate a blank face. I turned the remaining metal in my cloak into a platform and pushed on it to move out of the path of his sword. The tip whistled past my ear.
I felt a mass of metal approach before I landed. Sparks flew as the shuriken were deflected on my shields. In the darkness, Sasuke rushed towards me, zigzagging as he threw shuriken. I launched a multitude of darts at his predicted positions. All were dodged save for one, deflected with a flick of his sword.
Second later, he was upon me. The sword darted to my throat. I blocked the tip with my right arm. He blocked my left-handed jab with a raised knee, counterattacking with a strike to my ribs. I twisted my torso to absorb the hit, pushing against the sword as I did so. Sasuke straightened his knee and pushed against me to disengage.
I launched two darts before he regained his balance. A pair of red eyes glowed in the darkness before the projectiles were batted away. Several more followed. I felt the blade twist and bend as Sasuke whirled it around him in an impenetrable defense.
The Uchiha stepped out of a circle of darts embedded in the stone floor. He slid his bare feet into a combat stance, sword raised. In the dim light, he seemed nothing more than a pale ghost, except for the eyes. Somehow, I felt his amusement. He was playing with me… and he wanted to extend the fun.
Sasuke had been hiding his true speed.
His movements were now impossible to follow, much less anticipate. Unlike Naruto, his style was smooth, efficient and deadly.
The fight quickly broke down into a sequence of matches. Again and again, we lunged at each other, locking arms and metal before retreating.
He would attack from an unexpected angle and I would stop his sword at the last second. Our fists and legs would twist and extend in a lightning-quick game of chess. Invariably, his sharingan would see through my feints and break my locks, but I pressed on. The darts on the floor accelerated towards him without warning, to close off a space or abort an attack. I was kept on my toes by the frequent flashes of fire jutsu.
After the fourth assault, I was covered in cuts and bruises. My neck was rigid from the incalculable number of hits that had landed on it. Both my knees creaked from absorbing his punches and kicks. Breathing heavily, I inspected my forearms. Despite blood dripping from the soaked cloth that covered them, I felt nothing. The brutal treatment of blocking Sasuke's crushing strikes and being brutally accelerated by metal wires had turn them into insensitive masses of flesh. I gritted my teeth against the pain and sucked in more air.
The Uchiha basked in the flickering remains of his fireballs. He had neither tired nor visibly injured. A smug expression hid under the shifting shadows on his face. Nonchalantly, he ran a finger along the side of his blade, checking for dents and scratches.
"Is that all there is to an Uchiha?!" I shouted.
He looked up slowly. Sasuke hated those who insulted his clan. I pulled a mad grin despite my aching face.
"Were they all a bunch of losers swinging swords and spitting a bit of fire? No wonder they all died!"
Sasuke's expression went sour. Black flames slid up his neck and across his shoulders. One eye turned black. No more fun and games, I thought.
The ground exploded under his feet, showering the area in shattered stone. Electric crackles filled the chamber. Blinding white light radiated from his right palm.
A split-second magnetic pulse slammed my body to the side. Sasuke's Chidori gouged a crater at where my feet were moments ago. I sacrificed the metal on one arm to place a platform under my feet and sped away.
Claws dug into my heel. The hand let go when a dart whizzed past. I accelerated harder towards the exit. Only a few meters and I would…
The electric light flickered and disappeared. Sasuke was nowhere to be seen. I immediately stopped, stilling my breath. The platform hovered vertically, becoming a shield. In the darkness, my own heart sounded like a drum in my ears. I felt his metal sword shift in an arc around me. I pinpointed his position.
Now! My feet slammed into the stone as I dodged the sword. The edge whistled through the air as a ghostly figure rushed past. I coughed up blood.
I frowned. The sword had missed… what had hit me? My eyes lowered to a bright blue blade embedded in my chest. I gasped in agony as the Chidori Spear retracted. The electric chakra had missed my heart but it had charred a tunnel through my chest.
Immediately, I felt light-headed as the blood pressure dropped from a ruptured artery. My legs gave way and I slumped to my knees, head rolling on my chest. My eyes went blurry and I felt a warm liquid trickle inside of me.
Two sandals appeared, bathed in a cold blue light. My gaze wavered upwards; black pants, blue cloth held by a purple ribbon, shirt undone and revealing pale skin marred by black markings. The Uchiha smirked, eyes glinting in flickering radiance of his Chidori.
"An interesting fight." he said.
I chuckled, blood gargling at the back of my throat. Sasuke's brow bunched slightly. Then he died.
An ear-splitting boom resonated across the chamber, followed by a strong breeze. A second later, a cloud of dust rose from the opposite end of the chamber.
The arcing electricity fluttered and disappeared. Sasuke took a step back, mouth open and eyes wide in shock. It closed in a bloody cough, splattering blood at his feet. A few drops fell on my face.
Slowly, I stood up. He fell to his knees. I looked back, spotting a red glow in the shadowsl. Twenty cylinders of metal had released all their energy into accelerating a meter long spear, heating up visibly. The projectile had already passed through his body before the sonic boom reached my ears.
I stepped forward. The teenager's emotions had been his demise; his anger allowed me to lead him near the cannon, and in his arrogance he had stopped moving to kill me.
My gaze wandered over him. His still palms were open, wet from the blood dripping from the hole in his chest. It had removed his heart and sectioned his spine. A pang of guilt rose in my chest. How would Naruto and Sakura react to his death? At my hands? After I promised them not to... It would have been preferable to follow the original plan and capture-
I jumped back, startled. Sasuke spasmed. His eyes flickered open, ferocious. Broken ribs contorted back into position. Skin expanded over the cavity, turning a pale shade of purple. As a new spine snapped and popped into position, two stubs above his shoulders grew into bony wings. Orochimaru's evil aura permeated the air.
I stared, fascinated by the Cursed Seal's power. The wings opened like twisted hands. Sasuke's monstrous transformation had given him fangs and a black star over his nose. Contrary to his usual lack of expression, he snarled in genuine fury. I used my last defense: thirty darts accelerated in rings, hidden in the darkness since the beginning of the fight. The darts left their magnetically-governed trajectory with the speed of bullets. The effect on the creature's body was devastating.
One wing was torn off, then an arm before the stream of metal projectiles ripped into his upper chest and gouged craters in the grey skin. Sasuke stumbled backwards, shrieking in agony… until his flesh began to reform. He had died twice already!
I started revolving eight darts around myself. Internal bleeding and the numbness climbing my arms were taking their toll. Was there a way out?. I briefly considered calling for Yamato. No, I thought, I'll find a solution myself before bringing the others to to harm.
I observed the healing process. The Uchiha trembled as a new arm sprouted from his shoulder. I frowned. The wing wasn't growing back, and the arm was thinner than the undamaged one. 38 seconds. It was taking longer than the previous 25 second return to life. I felt a glimmer of hope. Sasuke wasn't invulnerable, and I had a strategy to take him down.
First I needed him to be furious. More than he was now. I wanted him to see red, be blind with rage.
I launched a dart at his leg. The painful cost of accelerating it was rewarded by a splatter of blood and torn muscle. His left arm stopped growing past his elbow, skin now moving to cover his new wound.
"I never knew the Uchiha were so weak!" I shouted across, putting as much forced amusement into my words as I could. He refused to look up. I embedded a dart in his kneecap, making it expand before pulling on it as hard as I could. The bone broke through the skin and the Uchiha fell with a grunt. Hateful eyes glowed in the low light.
"Tell me, weakling, is this how you'd impress your brother?"
I launched two darts spaced by a few centimeters. Sasuke caught the first one with his palm. The second one ripped through his fingers.
"You've submitted yourself to a selfish quest for power. What has it done for you?" I watched new fingers sprout from the bloody flesh. "Your brother would be disappointed. Beaten by a guy with no chakra… Before I kill him I'll say-"
"You know nothing about him!" he hissed.
That was the reaction I wanted. I tore away the fingers he had just created.
"Oh I know everything. I know how he made you look like trash in front of Naruto. Remember your closest friend?"
Sasuke's aura darkened. His healing quickened.
"He scared you, didn't he? He made you piss your pants! He was growing more powerful by the day and Itachi was ignoring you." I chuckled. "I guess you were scared of Sakura too. That's why you rejected her and ran away."
If his eyes were murderous before, they now dripped with savage killing intent. He got up to kneel on one leg.
He answered with thinly veiled disdain. "She was weak."
"Weak you say?" I retorted, anger permeating my voice. I struggled to regain a cheerful, mocking tone. "You threw her away and hurt her because you said she was weak. Tell me Sasuke, did Itachi not reject you as well... he said you were weak?"
His right hand erupted into a blinding ball of lightning. I launched my remaining darts, the pain causing me to hiccup and taste blood. They were deflected with a lightning-quick movement of his sword. I created a platform under my feet. My objective had been achieved.
Sasuke was more than angry. He was furious. I had interrupted his meditation and insulted his clan and brother. A newcomer, not important enough to be featured on Orochimaru's bingo books, had ridiculed his chakra-sensing abilities. My attacks could not be predicted by the Sharingan.
The great Uchiha was now relying on borrowed power to take me down, and it still wasn't enough. His cool-headed assessment of the situation was clouded by hateful emotions. Instinctively, like a predator sensing a weakened prey, he gave chase when I flew away.
I grinned.
The creature had launched itself at me the moment I moved.
I aimed for the entrance to the chamber and pushed as hard as I could on the surfboard-shaped metal at my feet. My arms hung limply at my sides, nervous connection overloaded. Soon, they were pushed back by the wind.
Sasuke's feet dug into the stone as he launched himself forward. His Chidori spear sliced off my cloak before I picked up speed. His legs became a blur as he sprinted to catch up.
A pissed Uchiha was behind me. Vague details of the base's layout ahead, I concentrated on maneuvering at the highest speed possible.
I dismantled the linear cannon and pulled the metal towards me a second before I slammed the platform into the corridor wall. Several candles were blown out by a cloud of dust. Sasuke! I pulled my legs out of the stone before a Chidori slammed into my previous position. The resulting explosion sent me careening between the walls of the narrow corridor before I regained my trajectory.
I accelerated. Sasuke ran.
The wind seemed to rip my hair off. My clothes billowed and fluttered under me as I crouched on the board, slanted to follow the curving tunnel.
The Uchiha was close enough to crush the candles with his trailing wing before my own draft blew them out. The murderous aura edged me on.
I took half a second to peek at the memory of Yamato's map. The corridor I was in would end soon, intersecting a larger, perpendicular tunnel.
I took a deep breath and sequenced my actions. It was becoming hard to breathe against the wind.
Suddenly, a patch of light appeared ahead and closed in on me. With less than a second to spare, I rolled and brought the board up in front of me. It tugged at my feet, buffeted by the airstream. Sasuke's wing flared like a parachute as he clawed at the corridor walls to slow down.
I slammed into the wall first, metal platform digging into the stone. The sudden g-forces drained the blood from my head as my arms felt as if they were being ripped off.
My rotation spared me from death. Sasuke's heel grazed off my back, breaking two ribs and tearing a long bloody gash.
Once in the air again, I saw the blue-grey monster extirpate itself from the crushed rock. Its single wing was ripped, having cushioned his landing. Fire engulfed me.
The fresh pain on my face and exposed feet were overwhelmed by electric shock as I magnetically pulled myself out of the fireball. The wind picked up as I regained speed. There was a whole kilometer to go before I reached the next point of interest in the hideout.
Sasuke re-appeared, wing missing. He had cut it off, I guessed. I accelerated until the wind blasted like fire hose against my face. The traitor followed, chakra gripping the floor and tearing off chunks of rock when he pushed off. To slow Sasuke down, I was dumping darts into my wind stream and hoped they would hit. I had no magnetic power left over to accelerate them.
At the speed I was going, I could barely concentrate on anything but avoiding the walls as they passed by, nothing more than blurs.
The kilometer was crossed in less than fifteen seconds. My board gouged a curved line in the wall as I rounded a corner. The trace was paralleled by Sasuke's claws when they dug into the rock, braking to change direction. The following turns were just as close. Each time, we would exchange a glare before we sped off again.
The curse seal was placing a great strain on the Uchiha, but his bared fangs and deathly expression spoke of his determination. His red Sharingan were eager to witness a kill; they seemed to penetrate my defenses and delect on the coldness in my chest and the jolts of pain running through my arms. To him, I was nothing more than injured prey. I pushed harder.
My reserve of metal was dangerously low.
All in all, I had three cylinders left and a single strip of metal wound around my waist. Everything had been cannibalized to form darts or to repair the platform. Nothing was slowing Sasuke down. I changed strategy.
My board struck the edge of a wall, unbalancing me. I struggled to regain control as the wind threatened to slam me against the opposite side. Sasuke advanced, chakra blade extended to its maximal length. I clenched my fists against the pain as I accelerated harder and out of his reach.
I decided to risk it all around the next corner.
It was a unique tunnel which included an S-shaped curve, pronounced enough to hide one straight section from another. After crossing it, I braked in the air. Sasuke appeared two seconds after losing sight of me, claws grating on the curved walls.
Time slowed down.
Sasuke's eyes widened, smile spreading. The chase had lasted for over ten minutes, climbing the hideout to the highest level. Now was his chance. I saw his hand close slightly, then grip an expanding sword of chakra. Clawed feet pumped into the rock for a leap as his throat contracted. His fangs parted for a roar. I had the distinct impression of watching a lion close in for the kill.
My platform rippled as a magnetic push moved it aside. My feet, encased in metal, followed. Three levitating cylinders appeared behind me, perfectly aligned.
A flicker of doubt crossed Sasuke's black and red eyes. The tip of his blade sailed through the air.
I heard the magnetic pulse as it interacted with my earpiece. The three cylinders released all of their energy into the projectile they cradled. It was a metal spike, around 30cm long, created from the last of my reserves.
My eyes could not track it. One moment the spike was hovering at the mouth of the accelerator, the next it had sunk into Sasuke's chest.
He blasted past me and rolled on the ground to a standstill, blood marking the dusty ground. I jumped off my platform and cut it into several squares, rolling them into improvised darts. I spun four around me and retained the rest in a magnetic grip, ready to be launched.
The traitor coughed up blood as he lay on his side, blood dripping down the length of the metal protruding from his chest. From its position, center of chest and plunging downwards, I decided his heart had been penetrated and he suffered a torn diaphragm.
Sasuke grabbed the spike with a shivering hand, and slowly pulled it out. It was stupid to do so; the blood would now flow more freely.
"Give up!" I yelled. "You've lost!"
The Uchiha threw the spear away weakly. He took hold of his sword and used it as a stick to get up on one elbow. Extending my magnetic touch, I took hold of the sword and plunged it into his gut. I took care to cut into his stomach and the aorta behind it. He cried more in surprise than agony.
"Sasuke!" I said. "You have no more chakra! You'll die if you keep this up…"
As if to confirm my sayings, his hair reverted to their original black, and his skin became a pale white. Sweat broke out and he started breathing heavily. I wondered if he could heal himself without the cursed seal activated.
I stepped closer, hiding at the same time the conversion of one of the cylinders into a couple of darts. It was still hot.
Wary of the agonizing ninja, I went my plan. It had worked out in the end; he had given in to anger and kept the cursed seal activated for much longer than I thought possible. The constant drain was worsened by his frantic healing and wasteful use of Lightning techniques.
Furthermore, he had been sprinting at Body Flicker speeds for nearly 15 minutes. Whatever chakra reserves he had left, he'd need them to save himself now.
Naruto! Sakura! I felt them at the edge of my sensing range, approaching rapidly. I had a minute left with the revenge-obsessed teenager. Grinning, I knelt next to him.
He looked up, eyes wild with rage. He was sitting up, hand over his stomach wound. Blood had stopped seeping from the hole in his chest.
"Listen to me."
He grunted in pain and anger. Sasuke de-activated his Sharingan, a sure sign of defeat and chakra exhaustion.
"Naruto and Sakura are coming. I told them you were nothing but a heartless murderer with a good kill count. They still have hope for you though, so after a few years you might be set free in Konoha."
There was no reaction to the mention of his former life.
"When that happens, I want you to stay the fuck away from them. Otherwise I'd just kill you right now."
I stared into his eyes. Slowly… he smiled. He looked down. In shame? I thought. His hair was dusty and littered with little specks of stone.
"I have broken those bonds years ago. Since they will not leave me alone, I will now remove them… permanently."
My eyes widened. I watched in horror as black flames spread rapidly over his body. His Sharingan re-activated just as the chakra enveloping his right hand was transformed into electricity.
I leapt back. He was faster.
Sasuke's Chidori charred a hole through my abdomen.
I tried blocking the pain, but I couldn't. The signals couldn't be blocked by my filter, damaged by hacking. The sensation was real, visceral; far from the pure electric pain from using my magnetic powers. I felt drained and soon I was light-headed again. My knees gave way and I slumped in front of the Uchiha, his hand sliding out, slick with blood. My blood.
If I died I wouldn't get a new body. If I died I would stay stuck in the simulation forever. To lose my life would mean years and years of replaying my memories with no sensory input of an avatar.
My eyes were closing as I felt a stinging coldness in my gut. I wondered if these were the last things I'd experience for a very long time.
Then… I felt a flicker of hope. A familiar metal disk, smaller than an eardrum and thinner than paper, was close.
Naruto had arrived.
I forced my eyes open to look up. The blond was panting but all traces of exhaustion disappeared when he noticed Sasuke, then me. Shock, fear then anger washed over his face.
My eyes widened further. A dash of pink hair landed behind him. Sakura took a hesitant step before freezing. She was transfixed by the Uchiha. The latter calmly turned to face them, content in having outwitted and killed his prey.
The kunoichi's green eyes flowed to the bloody arm, then to my slumped figure. I tried to smile but my cheeks were cold and unresponsive.
Her scream filled the corridor.