Important Note: There has been an edit to the previous chapter. The final scene that takes place in Konoha has been moved to the night after the Meet team has departed, not the same night.
Chapter Twenty Five - Confrontation
The night was still young, yet filled with chaos. Billows of smoke and dust clung close to the ground, minuscule particles stinging the eyes of the onlookers while the airborne ash made breathing difficult. Here and there, the ground was strewn with debris from the explosion, wood smoldering amidst blackened plaster. Although visibility remained low, the strong, cool evening breeze served to part the curtains of dust towards increasing clarity. Amidst the chaos, muffled coughing reached their ears from those knocked over by the blast; amongst the recovering figures, a few lay motionless, tossed in several directions. The earth-shuddering explosion had drawn the attention of all those in the vicinity, shinobi and civilians alike, though few dared truly approach until the smokescreen dissipated. Skidding to a halt approximately sixty feet away from the heart of the dust cloud, Shikaku and Inoichi cast a cursory glance around them before attempting to make out the cause of the commotion. And then they saw it.
A man with a small army.
Danzo!Despite knowledge of the past few days' events, the Nara was still taken aback at the bandaged man's audacity in making such an attempt at escape. Beside him, Inoichi seemed just as in awe as he was feeling, his usually warm expression smoothened out into stress and determination.
"He seems to have half of Root with him," he commented in a low voice quite unlike his usual cheerful tones. Peering into the parting cloud, Shikaku could see that he was right; surrounding Danzo were about thirty to thirty five masked shinobi.
"Jounin loyal to him alone, probably," Shikaku muttered in reply, mental gears already awhirl as he fought to formulate a plan before the situation slipped entirely out of his control. Heartbeats that felt more akin to eons passed them by with neither party moving even an inch. Suddenly, as if guided by a single mind, the Anbu Root operatives surged forwards in an arrow formation, Danzo protected behind the front line.
"Attack! Stop them!" Shikaku yelled as loudly as he could, his body instinctively moving forwards. "Inoichi, call for everyone to intercept them. Danzo is our priority!" Through the flurry of confusion, the Nara was just able to make out the Yamanaka as he retreated several steps towards a more sheltered location. A familiar warm sensation swept over what he could only imagine as 'his mind', Inoichi's voice seeming to soundlessly project itself into his consciousness while he raised a kunai to block the first smatter of shuriken whizzing in the direction of his person.
"Shimura Danzo and several masked Anbu members are attempting to flee the village. All shinobi present are to head towards Construction Area 43; the enemies are heading eastwards!"
How many shinobi could respond in time was questionable, Shikaku knew, yet every man counted. One cursory glance revealed that most of the on-looking civilians had fled the scene, leaving but a few rooted to the spot in horror. Of the shinobi that had hastened to investigate the source of the blast, only about two thirds had engaged with the fleeing Root members. Several had been incapacitated swiftly, leaving only about a dozen in active combat.
Barely dodging a particularly well-timed earth-style move that would have trapped his legs, Shikaku retreated to higher ground that he could better survey the battlefield; his techniques weren't well-suited to mass, open combat as was unfolding in front of him. To his dismay, more than half of the enemy's force was breaking away from the battlefield, leaving behind one Root operative for every Konoha shinobi,
"Inoichi!" he yelled back to the Yamanaka without pause to further enlighten the telepath. Hands forming well-practiced hand seals, a mass of shadows streaked off towards the combatants, splitting into six individual tendrils. Two managed to connect with their target's shadow, thus immobilizing them long enough for the Konoha-nin to take them out. The others were obliterated as a flash-bomb was set off. The Nara was driven back several paces as kunai embedded themselves in the ground at his feet, a fireball searing his left side with painful results. Seeing two more Root members go down, with a handful of Konoha-nin speeding towards them in the distance, the Jounin commander made the split-second decision to spin around towards the direction of the main group and sprint away from the secondary focus; Danzo was their primary concern.
Already, he could distinguish a few isolated foci of combat as he pushed his speed to its meager limits; it seemed Inoichi's call had found a few shinobi close by, gauging by their rapid reaction time. Regretfully, Shikaku passed his comrades by, dark eyes straining in the gathering dusk to make out the shapes of those around him. The dark-clad figures of Root were still visible in contrast with the light ground, yet they would be difficult to make out in the treetops.
Suddenly, a secondary blast caused the ground to tremble once again, albeit less violently than the initial explosion. Instinct rather than observation told the Nara that the concussion wave and dust cloud was caused more due to a powerful impact than due to some explosive material.
"Konoha Dynamic Entry!" came a voice from up again, and Shikaku felt the tension lift from his shoulders marginally, although a knot of stress still coiled inside his stomach.
Gai.Now that he was closer, he could see that Konoha's Green Beast had landed in the midst of the Root operatives, no doubt with one of his tremendously long leaps. Several masked figures had been knocked aside within seconds, Gai's surprise attack coupled with his powerful taijutsu serving to incapacitate a number of opponents before the remainder could begin to block his attacks. Elemental attacks soared through the air alongside a multitude of ninja tools. Despite not being the target of most of them, the Nara was required to focus on dodging those coming his way while fretting for the escape of their main target.
A familiar chakra signature arrived just then to his left, triggering a motion that had come to be second instinct to the jounin; hands flying through seals, his shadows streaked out over the uneven ground, seeking out a target amongst the Root operatives. The dark tendrils were neatly camouflaged in the near-dark and thus more dangerous, yet, Shikaku also knew, less powerful. He would only have one chance. With a distraction by form of Gai's 'Leaf Whirlwind', the Nara focused to his full capacity; a grin split his face as he connected with a body. Instantly, resistance rose against his control, only to disappear with another one of those warm sweeps of energy.
The combatants suddenly froze save for one Maito Gai, whose powerful kick sent one last assailant sailing into a stack of buckets. Seeing the stillness all around, he too paused and turned to assess the situation.
Situated near the back, precariously close to the half-rebuilt walls, stood Danzo, a kunai held directly under his chin.
"I see your men are trained well, Shimura." Shikaku spoke up with a failed attempt at even the most basic of polite speech as befitted someone of his rank and age. However, eyes boring into the slightly stooping back of the former Council member, the Nara felt little regret for his breach of etiquette. The older man stood with his back facing to them from where he had been about to flee from the new battlefield. One of his subordinates' kunai was held within millimeters of his jugular by effect of Inoichi's completed mind-transfer into his body. Despite the gravity of his situation, Danzo appeared calm as he slowly turned around, 'Inoichi's' kunai still trained on his throat.
"Look at what has become of Konoha," the old man said sadly. "An attack in its heart and a scant few shinobi are able to react quickly enough to even get close to the source of it." Genuine regret seeped out of his words, a light frown the only indication of any emotion masked behind that blank façade. "it's only to be expected when that Minato considers rebuilding a few houses more important than rebuilding this village's shinobi force and securing its defenses."
"Defenses and force which you helped to set back even more," Shikaku couldn't help but point out. He did not shout nor raise his voice in any way whatsoever, the frank undertone to his voice a clear enough indication of his disapproval. "And now you're running away because you fear what the investigation will do to your status and agenda," he carried on flatly, but paused when Danzo gave a short laugh.
"Boy, you know nothing," he fired back condescendingly with a shake of the head. "I have never done anything that wasn't in Konoha's favor. Someday, you will understand. Until then, give Minato my regards." Before he had time to fully process those words, Shikaku heard a strangled moan from behind him, one he was all too familiar with.
"Inoichi!" the Nara called anxiously just as the shinobi the Yamanaka had been controlling crumpled to the ground, his held kunai barely grazing Danzo's Adam's apple. Gai leaped forwards with a reverberating battle-cry, only to be sent hurtling backwards courtesy of a lightning-style jutsu to the chest. Shikaku was about to use his Shadow Possession when another flash-bomb went off, blinding him; a series of kunai flew into the direction his opponents had been in, but he heard no sound of metal sinking into flesh. Once his vision began returning, he knew that they were gone.
Assessing his resources, adding in a few Konoha-nin that had just reached them, Inoichi and Gai took priority. Once the decision had been made, the battle-hardened shinobi found it easy to turn his back on his objective and rush to the aid of his comrades. A swift hand gesture had two of the incoming nin look to Gai while he crouched beside his old teammate, feeling for a pulse. And again. And again.
"Damn it, Inoichi! You are not allowed to die like this!" he yelled, only realizing he had spoken when the sound of his own voice reached his ears. The clamor of footsteps all around him did little to distract him as he pulled his childhood friend out from under the rubble he had been pelted with upon collision with a few wooden beams, that he could stretch his prone form out on the ground. Thud; his fist connected with the Yamanaka's still chest. Thud; thud; thud.
Suddenly, hands grasped hold of his shoulders and pulled him away from the body; a flurry of pink hair obscured his vision momentarily. Hissight angled upwards as he himself fell back from where he had been crouched on his haunches, the Nara found himself staring into eyes of the purest sky blue.
"Mi-Minato?" he asked dazedly, the consequences from his fierce concentration and the pain in his side only now catching up to his tired mind and body. The figure grinned in such a mischievous way only one person could accomplish it. "Naruto." The statement was rather breathless, fact which caused the blond to return to his previously serious demeanor. From beside them a soft teal grow pushed back the shadows of the night- shadows that were otherwise his friends, though now they seemed to taunt him.
"Naruto," he gasped for a fleeting moment before battle-hardened senses kicked back in, "Danzo has escaped with a small posse of his men. You're the only one that can stop them from getting any further." Now with a semblance of control returned to him, the strategist looked at the deck and was relieved to pick the one card that could save them yet.
"Don't worry, Shikaku-occhan," Naruto promised him, an angry glint in his eyes. "I'm going to stop them no matter what." With a chakra-powered leap, the teen was gone, speeding off towards the direction the Root shinobi had taken. Despite everything, the calm confidence with which Naruto had spoken soothed his worries. 'He makes me want to follow him,' Shikamaru had said, and Nara Shikaku now fully understood.
With that situation now out of his hands, he focused his attention on the pink-haired med-nin still crouched by Inoichi's side, a frown marring her features.
If I were Danzo, where would I go…? The thought chased itself around and around in his mind, twisting into incomprehensible shapes as the answer eluded him time and again. Naturally, he had met the man in question when he was younger, on a visit to pester the Third. Despite his acquaintance with the man, however, he knew very little about him save from what he already knew about from Sai, and the few conversations he had overheard between Tsunade and Shizune. From the looks of it, he was following four, perhaps five men with not much of a head start. Closing his eyes, he felt it; the stream of energy all around him, vague shapes pulsating in the shadows. With more and more natural energy pouring in, his awareness grew radically until he had them. There.
Speeding through the trees, now with unerring accuracy, Naruto narrowed his eyes in anticipation of the battle. No matter what, he had to focus on keeping everyone alive, he thought; they were fellow shinobi from Konoha. Although he tried his best to block out negative thoughts, he couldn't help but remember back to another fellow comrade he couldn't bring back. This time is different.
Just as he was nearing his targets, he suddenly felt a spike of energy from up again; three of the lights seemed to flare, then go out entirely, a light glow the only indication they had ever been there. Staggering to take in the sudden deaths, Naruto barely had the concentration to notice the four new lights that descended on the one remaining target. Three were unknown to him, but he would know the last one amidst a thousand others.
Sasuke!
The scene in front of him seemed surreal, almost, as if taken out of one of his most private nightmares.
Five figures stood ahead, perched each on a branch to which they were attached with chakra. Sasuke and Danzo were the most prominent figures, standing perhaps fifteen feet opposite each other. Almost like an idle threat, Sasuke had a hand on his sword hilt, body leaned forward in anticipation of the conflict. Three other figures stood behind him, two men and one woman, none of which he recognized. By the way they looked to Sasuke, however, he could gather that they were part of his team. A four-man cell, he thought bitterly.
"And here I thought I would actually have to look for you, boy," Danzo was saying in a calm, even voice. "How courteous of you to come to me. And don't be mistaken; unlike that weakling's true intentions, I fully plan on killing you before the morn."
Sasuke actually laughed at the Root commander's words, his dark head thrown back at the force of his chortling. "An empty threat. By morning, you're the one who'll be dead," he threw back recklessly, a sneer pasted on his face. Despite the open hostility, the old man smiled.
"Oh? You're going to kill me? I thought you said your orders were to take me back to your leader. I guess one can't expect brothers to be equally obedient soldiers, just like you can't expect them to be equally talented." The words were spoken calmly, but even Naruto could feel the taunt in them, though he failed to see the true meaning behind it.
Sasuke got it.
"You bastard!" he screamed, pupils dilating terrifyingly. As a red-haired woman reached out towards him, he slapped her hand away, eyes only for the older man a few scant paces away. "No, he's mine! Stay back!" Only then did Naruto see his other team members had also gotten closer.
"Sasuke-kun, there-there's someone else-"
"Shut it, Karin!" the Uchiha interrupted. Dropping his hand from his sword, practiced fingers flew through hand seals Naruto could recognize in the dark; for too long had they been part of his nightmares. "Chidori!"
A blinding blue light blared into existence in his outstretched hand, crackling tendrils of electricity setting the teen's hair on end. The young Uchiha's eyes gleamed dangerously, like a wild beast unchained. A cry was ripped out of his throat as he surged forwards on powerful legs, the sphere of lighting aimed straight at the old man's chest.
Fractions of a second later, the concussion wave rolled over all those in the vicinity, splinters raining down all around them.
He had missed. Or so Taka had thought.
Upon closer inspection, Sasuke had been knocked off his course straight into a neighboring tree by a boy no older than him. The unexpected intermediary had landed on a branch just below the Uchiha's target, who hadn't moved an inch. A scowl adorned the teen's face, a face that drew a similar expression from Sasuke as soon as he laid eyes on him.
"Naruto."
That one word was spoken with more hate than Naruto had expected, the malignance throwing him off for a split second. Sasuke, too, seemed to be having trouble removing his arm from where it had gone through a thick tree trunk. His followers were frozen, gazing from one to the other.
Danzo was forgotten.
With the commotion before his eyes, the War Hawk saw his opportunity to flee, now that the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki had arrived. Knowing him, Danzo was certain he would focus on Sasuke instead of on himself, despite him being the boy's likely target. With a twist of his cane, the Root commander leaped to the side with far more agility than one could have expected of him and was lost amidst the trees in seconds.
Another inarticulate cry emerged from Sasuke's mouth as he wrenched his arm free, literally tearing apart the remainder of what used to be a healthy elm, now toppling to the side so that one of the two men – the redheaded one – had to jump clear of its trajectory. Unperturbed, Sasuke sped in the direction Danzo had gone, only to skid to a halt when Naruto rose to block his path, golden eyes and orange markings giving him an otherworldly aura.
"Get out of my way or I'll kill you!" Sasuke growled, still trembling, out of control with fury. Naruto grit his teeth in answer, legs bending at the knees as he lowered his center of gravity.
"No way! I'm not budging an inch until you calm the hell down and think about what you're doing, Sasuke! That old man's another comrade from Konoha, like Sakura-chan or Kakashi-sensei! And you almost killedhim! How the heck are you okay with that?!" Saying that Naruto was angry would be an understatement; although Sasuke had previously explicitly stated that he wished to kill him, he had never seen the threat as aimed towards anyone but him, not his friends nor comrades. "How the hell can you attack your own home?!"
"Tch." The sudden transformation from wild anger to subdued bitterness had the blond confused for a moment, his eyes losing the glimmer of outrage. Instead, he watched as Sasuke bit his lip with such force a trickle of blood streaked down his chin, the knuckles on his clenched fists white with pressure. "Konoha is no longer my home."
"Home is where someone's thinking of you," Naruto said seriously, eyebrows furrowed in deep concentration. Azure eyes never left the form of his old friend for fear of an attack, or an attempt to run away; he wasn't letting him get away this time. "Everyone back home – Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei, Shikamaru, Lee – they all want you to come back. We want you back on Team 7," he said in a soft voice, hoping beyond hope that, this time, his words would reach him. Just looking into his friend's eyes, though, he knew he had failed yet again.
"You… You have no idea what an idiot you are, do you?" The question was unexpected enough to draw surprise out of the blond; Sasuke still wasn't angry, but retained that acute bitterness that had to be consuming him from the inside. One of his companions – the woman – seemed to want to say something, but held her silence. "I can't evergo back!"
"There's always a way- there hasto be!" Naruto countered, his voice rising with conviction. "Even with the nuke-nin part, we could find a way! Dad could take-"
"Shut up, loser!"
A tense silence hung between the two ex-team mates, each glaring into the others eyes. Sasuke had begun to imperceptibly tremble again, one hand clenched around his sword hilt.
"You don't know anything," he said in a deadly monotone, his face wiped clear of all emotion. Even his body ceased its telltale signs of agitation, seemingly following its master's will. "I will never go back. I'm not another part in your fantasy pantomime, Naruto, where everyone gets along and plays Happy Hidden Village! I'm an Avenger, now and always, as long as people seek to manipulate me for their own goals. And when they do, I willcrush them." Flabbergasted, Naruto could only stare for a moment, then grit his teeth in frustration.
"Is that all you have to say? Is that what you would tell Shikamaru and the others, who risked everything just to save your stupid ass?!" Naruto growled in growing anger. "Konoha has done everything she can for you, and you-"
"Don't tell me what Konoha has done for me!" Sasuke suddenly snapped, his calm mask pierced by a fierce intensity. His dark eyes blazed with hate and pain Naruto was surprised to see there, body language aggressive. For a moment, Sasuke seemed to be struggling with his words, jaw clenched tightly. "Do- do you even know who that 'old man' you're so eager to protect is?! Do you know what he did to me?! Huh?!"With that final exclamation, a clenched fist slammed into a neighboring tree truck, causing an audible crack. For perhaps the first time in his life, Naruto was speechless. Sasuke didn't seem to be expecting a reply, too focused on what he had to say.
"That 'old man' is the one who signed my family's death sentence!" he snapped aggressively, voice scratching roughly in his throat. Naruto's startled expression spoke for him, as if the Uchiha needed further incentive to talk. "Under the Hokage, my family had never been treated fairly. Every single Senju saw them with distrust and did everything in their power to keep us on a leash, to keep us obedient to serve them! And when my family finally decided to step up for themselves, Itachi stopped them. Do you know why?" he demanded furiously. "Because he was afraid for the Village! Because he cared too much for Konoha to take part in a rebellion! And what did the Council do? They could have settled the matter peacefully, but chose instead to have my brother kill his own family and become a nuke-nin just so they could be seen as blameless! That'swhat Konoha is to me; the people who murdered my brother's name and used him as their pawn!" Sasuke's voice had risen into an angry scream, his chest heaving by the time he uttered that final phrase. All Naruto could do was stare back at him, mouth gaping open.
"That… That can't be true. Jiji… Jiji would have never… It can't be true…"
"Never what? Lied to you?" Sasuke sneered derisively. "Or did he not neglect to tell you you were a Jinchuuriki for so many years?" he taunted. "Itachi's accomplice told me; Uchiha Madara still lives. And with or without his help, I'm going to wipe Konoha from the map." Sasuke finished, looking down his nose at his old teammate. Naruto had hung his head slightly in an attempt to digest the new information. Judging by how the blond's hands had begun to tremble, Sasuke smirked triumphantly, confident he had made his point.
"And just because some old men played your brother, you would kill everyone?"
The question was said softly, but Sasuke instantly frowned. Naruto's voice had been trembling, and once Naruto raised his head to glare at him, Sasuke understood the cause; unrestrained fury.
"Just because of something that happened years and years ago, you would kill everybody?!" he yelled, clenching his teeth in a fearsome grimace. "Civilians, who had no idea? Innocent children that played no part in it?" he demanded. "You would kill Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan just because they happened to live in Konoha? That's bullshit!" Seemingly pausing for breath, he stared down his old friend, hands still shaking. Sasuke frowned even more deeply and clicked his tongue at what he could only interpret as a look of superiority.
"How could you understand?" Sasuke countered bitterly, narrowing his eyes. "You didn't have a family. You didn't have a single person who loved you. And now you think you're something special because you brought your father back as a fluke! You have never been able to understand what I went through, what Ilost! All you've ever been able to see is your stupid little ideal of one big, happy family that will never exist! How could a person like you ever understand me?"
There was a short pause in the air while they stared at each other. Finally, Naruto sighed, the sorrow on his face only serving to infuriate Sasuke further.
"I understand," he said softly. "I always have, just like I told you three years ago. And now that I have my father back, I feel as if I understand you even more," he continued evenly. "It's not perfect yet, but I can finally feel what it's like to have family, someone that loves you not because you've saved their life, or are strong, or even because you're a good friend. Someone that loves you for who you are, even if you've made every mistake in the book." His words were soft, compassionate, but he didn't allow any pity to creep into his voice. "That's why I can understand what you lost now. I can understand your pain and your anger. And before you say I can't understand your revenge, you should know I have those feelings, too. The masked man – Madara – is the one who's responsible for my parents' death, for my becoming a Jinchuuriki. He's the one person who's brought the most suffering to me and my family. And, even though I want to make him suffer in return, to hate him like no one else, that's going to solve nothing," he said with determination. "All it will do is perpetuate the cycle of hatred."
For several moments, Sasuke simply blinked at him, emotions well hidden behind a mask of indifference. Finally, however, he snorted once more in derision and looked away.
"As I thought, there's no point in talking to you, Naruto," he said emotionlessly. "You really are too stupid for this world. Every moment I waste here listening to your garbage, my target is getting farther away. Suigetsu, Juugo." The two men situated behind him looked up as the Uchiha addressed them, bodies ready to act. "Keep this loser here while I go on ahead."
"But Sasuke-" the woman tried to disagree, but one glare silenced her.
"If you think I'm letting you go, you're crazy," Naruto groused, one more tensed to foil his attempt of getting past him. This time, he was rewarded only with a short laugh. Without warning, Sasuke leaped to the side, running in an arc around Naruto. The blond was forming the hand seal for his favorite technique when he was suddenly forced to leap back out of the reach of a sword he had only then noticed. His feet had only alighted upon a tree trunk when the bark shattered from under his feet, a figure knocking him to the ground several paces below.
"We've got him for you! You get the geezer, Sasuke!" the blue-haired man shouted towards the rapidly retreating form of their team leader. Naruto twisted out of the way in time to avoid another slash with the large sword when recognition struck him.
"That… That's Zabuza's sword!" he exclaimed, breathing picking up in anger at the smug grin on the blue-haired man's face.
"Got it from his grave. I've always liked the Executioner's Blade. It's not like he'sgot any use for it now." Suigetsu grinned rather unnervingly with his pointed teeth. Naruto clenched his jaw in anger and formed his favorite seal.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Instantly, five clones of himself appeared, falling on the swordsman. The clones provedineffective, however, as the Executioner's Blade was long enough in reach to disperse the technique before they reached him. Grimacing in anger, Naruto sent another wave of clones at the man. The swordsman was grinning in apparent enjoyment when he realized these clones were blocking his sword strikes. Roaring with growing frustration, he suddenly forced two back, only to hack them apart at the waist.
"Is that the best you've got to throw at me?" he taunted. A whirling sound from behind him suddenly drew his attention; a clone was descending on him from behind, a churning ball of energy stretched out in his hand. Suigetsu's eyes widened in shock as the screaming clone neared him, the attack barely a hair's breadth from his face when he liquefied. A surprised Kage Bunshin found himself slicing through an amorphous mass of water before the Executioner's Blade cut through him and dispersed him in a cloud of smoke, the failed jutsu just barely grazing the ground.
"Whew, thatwas close," the swordsman grinned as he rematerialized, sword balanced on his shoulder. "Is this really what the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki has to throw at us?" Naruto growled in reply, biting his lip. A sudden spike in his mental awareness had him diving to the side, narrowly avoiding a potentially devastating blow from the red-haired man, who crashed into the ground where Naruto had stood a fraction of a second ago, causing an impact the blond shuddered to think about.
"You… Your face…" Naruto suddenly breathed, noticing the black marks so akin to Sasuke's cursed seal. A fierce anger bloomed in him then and he charged, calling on two additional clones to aid him. The markings from around his eyes were beginning to fade, yet he thought that he could time it just right. "Rasenshuriken!" he yelled, aiming straight for the red-haired man's chest.
"Like you could get me," Juugo frowned flatly, easily maneuvering out of the way. The clone wielding the technique twisted around to follow, but was quickly silenced by the sword-wielder, a sharkish smirk on his face.
"Child's play," he sneered. Seeing the smirk on Naruto's face, however, he frowned and stepped back. Not quickly enough.
Not even half a second later, a clone burst out of the ground, a whirling sphere of energy connecting solidly with the man's chest.
Suigetsu's scream was barely audible over the clone's and the buzz of energy against cloth and skin. In a heartbeat, the man was propelled backwards, breaking through a tree trunk before slamming against another, an open sore smoking on his chest. Juugo stared for a moment, then lowered his head and charged again. Feeling the last traces of natural energy leaving his system, Naruto frowned and prepared to take the hit when the attacker was suddenly blown off course and into a bush.
"Air Force Palm!" The blond was confused only for a second before a grin split his face.
"Neji! Tenten! Lee!" he exclaimed as the members of Team Gai landed around him with what could have only been described as a murderous expression. Even Lee, usually so carefree, seemed angry beyond reason.
"Where is Danzo, Naruto-kun?" he asked bluntly, eyes on the red-haired man who was just getting up.
"He went ahead with Sasuke," the teen answered, attracting three curious looks. "These guys are Sasuke's teammates," he explained. "Their objective is to kill Danzo." Though they gave no indication of having noticed, Naruto was sending them each an apprehensive look of his own. "What are you guys doing here?"
"We're the back-up," Tenten stated flatly, crouched above them on an outstretched branch with weapon scrolls held at the ready.
"We'll take them here for you," Neji instructed in a cold tone, activated Byakugan eyes never leaving their opponents. "Go on ahead." Reminiscent of another time, Naruto hesitated slightly before nodding with determination.
"Catch up this time," he threw back to the Hyuuga and leaped ahead. The red-haired man made to stop him, but a well-timed net of explosive tags served to manipulate him in the opposite direction, that the way was clear for Naruto. Glancing over his shoulder, the blond could just make out the well-oiled machine that was Team Gai getting into their usual formation. As soon as they were lost from sight, however, he turned ahead, focusing only on what was to come.
Sasuke, I'm coming!
If you haven't already, please see the Very Important Note at the top of the chapter.