Inverted Cross
Ayane Selznick
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The Mind of the Devil
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Kimimaro, which Orochimaru called as his beautiful masterpiece, walked towards the light that was provided through the stained glass window. The pale toned walking corpse extracted two swords from his flesh. There were miniscule amount of blood dripping from fresh holes but the corpse felt absolutely nothing about it. He barely gazed at his opponents before him.
Kisame, who was wounded by the said corpse, seethed as he walks to the front. He completely forgotten about Itachi's orders after receiving a graze from a blade that he so proudly admitted being immune at. Of course his pride is on the line and he won't let the annoying corpse off that easily without being beaten mercilessly.
Kisame finally learns how to not listen to me damn it. Itachi watched his subordinate walk passed him in preparation of another heated battle. Itachi noticed that his little brother slightly recovered from his temper while he narrowed his eyes in observation. "Enough gawking moron of a brother and get your girlfriend to safety."
Sasuke jerked awake at his older brother's call. He instinctively dashed towards Sakura and protected her near a corner. He unsheathes his katana and knelt in front of Sakura as shield. Unfortunately as he was about to face towards his brother, Kabuto, Orochimaru's right hand servant forced him to engage into a melee fight as their blades clash in mid-air. Sasuke was very much surprised from the ambush whilst his eyes turned ever so wide.
Shit! I didn't sense his movements!
The glint on Kabuto's glasses hinted Sasuke how much he let his guard down. "You still have to work on your defenses, boy." After Kabuto spoke, he kicked Sasuke to the side and followed him so he can start eliminating the youngest member. "I will have your blood tonight!"
Sasuke squinted. Then again, it's no different from common missions. Why am I always the target?
Itachi's plan worked that he didn't have to tell to Sasuke about it because he knew for a fact that his little brother would start another verbal fight sooner or later. Just as that Kimimaro guy came in, he knew that there would be a one-on-one fight unless Sakura wakes up soon. He lured Kabuto when he told his brother off.
That was easy. He decided to leave Kisame and Sasuke alone together with their small fight as he walks to Orochimaru. "Do need I spell it to you?"
Orochimaru chuckled for a moment before he lean forward with a mocking stare. "Do you mind?"
Itachi quickly drew out his katana, because he only had few rounds on his guns, and dove towards Orochimaru's spot only to slash the wind.
"Aah. Splendid, Uchihas are known to swing sticks, aren't they?"
Itachi pushed himself away from the chair and on to Orochimaru who was standing in front of his favorite stained glass window.
"Well, well, aren't you going to have an 'interview with a vampire' scenario this time?" Orochimaru provoked then dodges all Itachi's attack consecutively.
Itachi noticed that he was fighting against a different vampire. This certain vampire knew how to fight from the very beginning and if by statistical records, is up in 2-3 notches. Nonetheless, Itachi won't let this be a hindrance because right there and then everything must end. And there's no way he's going to give up.
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Everybody's real battle has taken its place from different places in the fortress.
Kakuzu arrived, much to Sai's relief, so that they started fighting against Kidoumaru and Sakon – these kids were turned into guinea pigs and as result becomes a spider and a two-headed vampire.
Sasori and Naruto were against the foul-mouthed Tayuya and a giant blob name Jiroubu. But because of Naruto's expectedly loud battle cries, Neji and Tenten immediately came as reinforcements.
Deidara and Hidan have yet to finish their task especially when tons of vampires are hiding underneath the fortress and attempting to leave the place. Hidan has to stop all of them and protect Deidara at the same time. In all truth however, Deidara can fight even when his mind is on his bombs. He could throw Holy Water bombs at anywhere he wanted and all of it would just land successfully to all targets.
Kimimaro was up against a pissed off Kisame in a sword fight. Same goes with Sasuke and Kabuto, where both of them practically use the entire hall as their battle field. When it comes to speed, Sasuke was up by several levels against Kabuto who just follows and dodges. However, no matter how many damages Sasuke gives to his opponent, Kabuto easily recuperates. Sasuke couldn't get his hands on the vampire's vital parts so he hasn't really dealt with real damages yet. Itachi was calmly confronting Orochimaru, who was up until this point, hasn't revealed his true intentions yet nor had he counterattacked Itachi's blows. Said Uchiha was clearly insulted from Orochimaru's strategy but he never shows his infuriation for he has a lot of plans up his sleeves.
The last member of the field Cross agent, Sakura, was still out in the corner. She must gain her strength and consciousness altogether to stabilize a fair amount of force against their strong opponents. If possible, someone has to tell her that her clan's not the final boss. They still have Orochimaru to go up against.
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Sasuke twisted his body as he propels himself away from the ceiling when Kabuto almost gave him a scratch from the side. He received cuts and grazes during their first minute of encounter and he still hasn't given him any real deep damages yet.
He's trying to immobilize me. He's not just using that short katana. He's even using bare hands. He avoided another near fatal attack. He jumped to the side and rolled then pushed himself up for somersault backwards. Judging from his previous attacks, assuming the katana is a decoy, he's trying to immobilize me just by his bare hands. His katana collided with Kabuto's short katana, a resounding clash of metals was heard then Sasuke chose to use his right leg to kick Kabuto away. He's definitely aiming for close combat. Have to cut his hands now.
The speed of which he was known, Sasuke flipped backwards for a start. His senses remained alert especially when Kabuto regained control of his fall and stands up to run after him. At the moment Kabuto tried to approach Sasuke sped off, hopping from left to right to create an illusion that he's disappearing in split seconds. This caused Kabuto to falter and momentarily decrease his approach as he tried to locate the young Uchiha's location. His eyes behind his glasses tried to follow movements but his attempts failed especially when Sasuke had snuck behind him.
Sasuke twisted his katana, turning to a reverse grip, before he dislodged Kabuto's left arm. While he watched the blood spraying out from the vampire's open wounds, he couldn't help but wonder—
"This blood isn't yours, right?"
Sasuke crossed his feet and side step to face the other arm. He was about to swing the reverse grip katana when Kabuto jumped to the other side while panting heavily. Kabuto was completely caught off guard. He didn't sense Sasuke coming from behind.
"Ah. I see you don't feel pain. That body of yours is numb. Removing your left arm wasn't really close to your heart. That must be it."
"Heh. You seem to enjoy this thing, huh, boy?" Kabuto responded and yet busy catching his breath while he held his open wound with his other hand. "You're no different from me, from us."
This made Sasuke really angry, "Don't compare yourself with me, bastard!!"
The wrath-filled young Uchiha made a mad dash towards his target. The blade of his sword only swiped across Kabuto's gray hair when Sasuke made his first strike but he continue to attack senselessly while Kabuto dodged every single swing of Sasuke's sword, cautious about his targeted vital organs. In this situation, Sasuke could easily take away Kabuto's stamina as well as preventing him from healing himself.
Still, the fact that he was compared to the ones he hated the most is what drives him to take control forcibly.
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Orochimaru was mocking Itachi with his sarcastic smirk and evil glint in the eyes but Itachi did not feel pissed at all. He was calmly looking back at his target with a strong grip on his katana. He re-positioned himself in a stance when Orochimaru spoke again.
"You're getting troublesome, young man. Aren't you seeking justice as an avenger? Don't you want to find out why everything seems to fall on my hands?"
"The question is – Do I have to?" Itachi shot back while his eyes narrowed dangerously. "You bark too much."
"You think you've understand everything huh, young man? Well guess what-"
"I don't need your explanation nor do I want to spend time listening to you. Avenging is just a cycle. You became the way you are because of my clan. I became what I am because of you and for that you won't be forgiven."
Orochimaru laughed loudly for everybody to hear. He seemed amused at Itachi's rebuttals of avoiding to be stepped down from his pride. Nonetheless, all Itachi's testimonials were true.
"You did a great job in researching, young man." Orochimaru chuckled more before he turns serious, "So you should rot in hell with your clan."
"You should go first."
Orochimaru produced a sword from the back of his throne and clashed its blade against Itachi's katana.
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Shikamaru worked extra fast in researching the subjects. After a few minutes of studying their attacks on his monitor, he quickly looked for solutions to eliminate those evolved vampires. Ino and some of the operators reminded the field agents about the vaccine. Also they help them track time before sunrise, although rays from sunlight wouldn't help that much to eradicate their undead enemies.
Tenten and Neji came in time to help Naruto and Sasori against two evolved subordinates of Orochimaru. Unfortunately, their exhaustion is nearing its toll. They've fought against thousands of vampires earlier and they didn't have that much time to take a break. Luckily though, they were able to keep up from their battles especially when Shikamaru finally gave them a good strategy to use.
KABOOM!
The floor they're standing on collapsed after the loud explosion. Naruto and Sasori were able to grab something on their side while Neji and Tenten had run towards a safer location outside the radius of explosion. The two evolved vampires had fallen on their trap and were both falling towards an area where Deidara and Hidan had put bombs. The area in which they were fallen is just filled with anti-vampire solutions and few ordinary bombs to reinforce the power of the anti-vampire bombs.
Shikamaru hastily told Hidan that their targets just landed, "Activate bombs now!"
Hidan and Deidara, who were on the other side of the fortress, pushed the buttons on their remote control to activate the bombs they've set up earlier.
"That was beautiful! Hmm!"
"Sasori should be glad we finished that area earlier." Hidan muttered while he stretched his arms in the air.
"I heard that." Sasori responded.
Few minutes later, Shikamaru told Sasori's team to hurry to another location.
"Can't we have a break!?" Naruto whined.
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Sai avoided Sakon's melee attacks by jumping and rolling to all sides of the hall. Kakuzu was able to fight evenly against Kidoumaru but Kidoumaru's arms frustrated him. Kakuzu has ordered Shikamaru to find their weaknesses but he was told to wait since Shikamaru has to help Sasori's team first.
While they're in the middle of clashing their weapons, Ino spoke to them. "Bring them to Area 24 of your floor. Sasori-san's team is waiting."
After one final clash, Sai and Kakuzu dashed towards the location while listening to Ino's directions. Sai couldn't help but drag his thoughts, "Why are we letting those twerps help us again?"
Kakuzu didn't need to look back on the young Elite when he talks, "Stop putting your pride on the line, brat. You can't rely on your strength alone all the time. That's why there's a team."
Sai raised a brow before frowning, "It's not pride, Kakuzu-san."
"Whatever."
Ino's voice came in again, "You're on the right position Kakuzu-san; let's wait for them to arrive."
When Kidoumaru and Sakon arrived, they were ambushed by Sasori's team.
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Sasuke's body zoomed towards the pillar near the exit with a loud bang. It wasn't Kabuto's strength that made Sasuke's body flew a distance, it was Kimimaro's speed and power which aided Kabuto's attack.
It was too late when I noticed his presence. Sasuke tried to get up from his fall at the same time looking at Kimimaro who had returned fighting against Kisame. These damn vampires work well…
Kabuto started walking towards him, a short katana gripped on his only hand. "Well, it seems that you brought an extra luggage, boy. I should make use of it."
Sasuke's eyes snapped open when Kabuto gave Kimimaro a signal. Kisame tried to avert Kimimaro's focus but Kabuto snuck behind and impaled his left shoulder. Sasuke desperately tried to get away from the debris to get in time to save his unconscious girlfriend.
"SAKURA!!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Sasuke and Kisame watched Kimimaro being pushed by a force towards the adjacent wall where Sakura was still laid unconscious. They followed the origin of the shot and realized that Itachi's left hand held a customized gun.
Suddenly, Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw what happened next. "Brother!"
"Itachi!!"
Even in dim light, Sasuke and Kisame saw the cut on Itachi's side where his upper suit starting to be covered by his own blood.
Shit. Itachi slowly looked towards the origin of pain and found that Orochimaru has attacked him from behind. As much as he hated to admit it, he let his guard down. They used Sakura to lure us. Damn…
Orochimaru finally pulled his sword from Itachi's flesh, leaving the young man silently writhing in pain. "Don't turn your back on me, young man. You're forgetting that I'm your opponent." He walked away from Itachi as he set his eyes on the unconscious Cross member, "Once you're all dead, I should take that girl to be my mistress." He chuckled evilly before continuing, "would that be okay with you, huh, Uchiha?"
Sasuke's temper began to explode when Orochimaru started laughing after his statements. With blinding rage and battle cry, he dashed towards Orochimaru who avoided the straight attack with a swing of his sword. Sasuke didn't give up when he attempted to attack again. This time however, Kimimaro appeared in front of Orochimaru, acting as the latter's defensive line, with an attacking stance. Sasuke didn't stop his mad dash until his katana clashed full force against Kimimaro's blade. The latter's blade broke from the force earning him a slash across his chest. While Kimimaro struggled when he felt Holy Water seeping towards his wound, Sasuke turns around to acquire power before horizontally slashing Kimimaro's abdomen.
Kisame and Itachi were surprised at Sasuke's blinded rage and attacks. Kisame was having a hard time trying to hit Kimimaro but Sasuke simply dives in with his katana and a lot of Holy Water. The attack that Kimimaro received is for Orochimaru. If he wasn't guarded by Kimimaro, he would've been dead by now.
Itachi finally stood up but still clutching his wounded side. Hurt him as much as you want but never hurt those he loves. Itachi looked at all of them while they watch Kimimaro's lower half body fall with a deafening silence. He took it as his chance to surprise Orochimaru by shooting his gun towards the head.
BANG!
Once again, Sasuke and Kisame followed Itachi's gun upon hearing it but they were surprised when Itachi has yet to aim his gun towards Orochimaru.
It meant only one thing.
"Sasuke will only be my husband."
Still lying down on the ground with a gun aimed towards her target was none other than Haruno Sakura herself. She had just woken up which explains why her targeted spot, Orochimaru's heart, was missed by two inches. Nonetheless, the silver bullet was able to penetrate Orohcimaru's system which makes him stagger towards the ground.
"Feisty woman, isn't she?" Orochimaru managed to say as he stares at Sakura who's finally up and armed with two guns. "I remember those eyes and hair."
Sakura glared at the Lord of Vampires before she speaks, "How can you forget? They became your slaves until this night, you asshole."
As evil as he always was, Orochimaru started laughing.
To be Continued…
Author's Note: Ho-hoi!! Been a long time! Sorry for the long wait. I noticed that the last chapter didn't get much reviews and I thought that the plot may have been prolonged or not good T.T
Now that Sakura's awake their force has increased into ten and they're against to Kabuto and Orochimaru! The final clash continues on the next chapter!
Please Read and Review! I'm more eager to write when I know that this story is still alive through your reviews:D
Inverted Cross Fanarts: Visit my profile page and click to my Homepage. It will direct you to my DeviantArt page where I uploaded some fanarts of Cross.