I haven't written much recently. I hope that I can find some motivation soon. Else it might be that after this part of the story you might have to wait a bit longer for the chapters. Sorry for that.

The Dance of the Doomed

He was dancing over the battlefield. A cruel, bloody, deadly dance of blades, fists and jutsu. There were twelve of them and now that he didn't have to concentrate on Inoichi, Shikaku and Choza he could for the first time truly assess their skill. Six had been behind him, the other six joined the fight only moments after Sakumo had first clashed with them. Twelve in total.

With the very first attack he had killed his first opponent, a chunin – he assumed – who had been much too slow for him. It had been a good start, now however he felt like he was stuck in a dead lock he couldn't get out of.

His chakra enhanced blade sang a high-pitched tune as it clashed with another sword and cut the blade clean in two, but his opponents managed to divert the slash enough, so he wouldn't get harmed. Sakumo didn't lament over it, but easily twisted away from a fire jutsu directed at his chest. He didn't know who had cast it and there was no time to look because a taijutsu specialist jumped him from behind.

This one was good, really good. But he didn't seem to be so good with teamwork. His strong attacks were not coordinated with the other enemies so for just a moment Sakumo only had this one opponent to deal with. He knew the others would probably use the pause to come up with new ideas or surround him from all sides, but for a moment he took the break with gratitude.

He could have easily flashed away – he was clearly faster than his opponent – but then the others would just join the fight again, so instead of making this one quick he used the moment to assess his situation.

This one, he'd assume, was a Jonin or Special-Jonin. So far, he hadn't shown anything but his – admittedly strong – taijutsu. The fact that he wasn't coordinated with his comrades gave Sakumo hope that they weren't used to fighting together in this constellation, so maybe that would somewhat negate the advantage in numbers they had.

There was clearly one opponent at least, that was S-rank. Behind the blank mask he did not know his face. He carried two swords over his back but unlike the others he kept his distance, watching the fight rather than taking part in it. He was the biggest threat, Sakumo thought, at least if his scent was anything to go by. He smelled of blood, deception and lightning release. He was the main threat, Sakumo thought, but if he stayed back the way he was now, maybe Sakumo could avoid fighting him until he had somewhat taken care of the rest.

Threat number two, he decided, would be the female. He couldn't place what made him fear her, but all his instincts screamed at him to not turn his back on her. She exuded a killing intent like he had never felt before. Both of them he didn't remember being there when he had first fought the opponents that had come after them, back when his team was still with him.

Number three … He avoided a crushing punch from the taijutsu specialist aimed for his head. Threat number three would be the tactician. He had realized that the moment the fight had started. The shinobi had not much of a chakra signature but the way he was staying in the back and keeping a watchful eye on what was happening … It was not like the swordfighter that Sakumo deemed threat number one. No, threat number one seemed to hold back out of a lack of interest or some misguided sense of … arrogance? This one however was clearly watching every move Sakumo made with intelligent eyes waiting for the chance to strike.

He'd have to take care of this one, and soon, before he could come up with a strategy that would rally the others behind him. As for the other's …

He suddenly grabbed his tanto and slashed at the man who was slowly backing him against a tree. The man evaded skilfully but obviously surprised at the sudden counter attack. Had he thought he had successfully cornered Sakumo? Well, he'd regret his error now. Sakumo was after him in an instant. The man was fast. Taijutsu specialists were always fast, but he wasn't quite as fast as Sakumo, so as he stumbled back, Sakumo stroke downwards with his blade and caught the man in the shoulder.

A water release attack came for him, so he evaded backwards before it hit and sadly also before he could kill his opponent, but he was confident he'd dealt a severe blow.

He immediately went after the man he thought was a strategist, but maybe he had seen it coming or the shinobi in general had orders to protect him, but three opponents jumped in his way simultaneously. He diverted his way, because there was no reason to get locked in battle with three opponents of whom none was the man, he needed to kill the most. Instead, he went after the shinobi that had tried to hit him with the suiton jutsu. That one had proven to have impeccable timing. So, despite not having a threatening presence or chakra signature, Sakumo now deemed him a threat.

The battle that ensued was short-lived and brutal. His opponent was a ranged attacker so as soon as Sakumo flashed in front of him, the man had already lost. He didn't go out without a bang though and the Water Release: Severing Wave, he spit with his last breath almost cut off Sakumo's left arm. He managed to block most of the damage by activating his lightning shield. He still took damage, but the hit his chakra reserves had taken from blocking the point blank technique with pure lightning chakra was worse than the physical damage.

There was a short moment of confusion after that, because the powerful Severing Wave-Technique had forced his enemies to evade and break their formation and he had been pushed several steps back, right back into the centre of their now somewhat oddly shaped circle.

From there the dance went to its second round. He was already sweating heavily as he dodged and avoided enemy attacks without really being able to do something himself. With the taijutsu fighter taking a backseat after his injury their teamwork had improved immensely. Or maybe the strategist had implemented a new formation? It didn't really matter why, what mattered was that he was effectively stuck.

Did they try to make him turn his back to the kunoichi – threat number two – or was it just great timing that whenever he got the chance to take one of them out, they moved in a way that he'd have to open himself up for a counterattack from her? Whatever it was, it was frustrating. Maybe he should just ignore his instincts and risk it. If he didn't take the risk, sooner or later, they'd wear him out, he could already feel his chakra depleting.

At least, most of them weren't fast enough to actually land a bad hit at him. He had taken a kick in the stomach, that he had chosen to just absorb, because there had been no way to avoid without worsening the situation, and then there had been a few needles and kunai that had grazed him, because he hadn't seen them coming soon enough.

He would risk it, he decided suddenly as he got his first and maybe final chance to strike at the strategist. Steeling himself for an attack from behind he twisted around and with hardly any trouble whatsoever severed the head off the man's torso. For a split second he triumphed. That hadn't been that difficult, it was hard to believe how long he had struggled to even get that far. Then before he even managed to fully turn around and somewhat block the attack coming from behind something hit him hard, fast, explosive and hot from the side.

He stumbled sideways to avoid the brunt of the attack, but it still hurt like hell when he hardly even had a second to glance down at himself and assess the damage. His flak jacket was pretty much blown in pieces, his skin below it scorched. This was …

He quickly jumped back as he saw the kunoichi attack him again, earth, dust and fire exploding where he had just stood. He only now realized that the moment the kunoichi had attacked everybody else aside from the swordsman – threat number one – had quickly put some distance between themselves and the duel.

He didn't dare to focus on them, though. The woman was not finished, and he did not fancy being hit point blank by her Explosion Release. Because that was what it was, there was no doubt about it. He'd never fought anybody from Iwagakure's Explosion Corps, but he'd read about them and there were quite a few pages in his Bingo Book about their members. Of course, he couldn't see her face, so he didn't know if she was in the book as well … however, judging by her strength she deserved to be.

Her style wasn't very fancy. She just threw what looked like earth- or mudballs at him and they exploded on impact. It wasn't fancy … but definitely deadly. He tried to avoid them all, but it was difficult. He had to end this before she'd destroy the entire battlefield and take him out with it. So, the next time she threw one of her mudballs at him he pushed forward, ran straight past the mudball and learned the painful way, that they did not need to explode on impact but that she could activate them whenever she pleased. It was only his speed that saved him, as she hadn't been fast enough with activating the bomb, else she'd have probably blown his head off. This way, it exploded at his back and ripped his shoulder open, the shock of the explosion catapulted him forward instead of stopping him in his tracks as she might have hoped. He didn't have much control over his movement as he crashed into her.

Then, all dignity was lost, as they scrambled over the ground, kicking earth and dried leaves and each of them trying to deal a devastating blow. He had lost his sword in the explosion, so instead he used his piercing lightning chakra right at his fingertips. She on the other hand seemed to desperately try and get some distance to not get caught in her own explosion.

"Back off!" she suddenly screamed. "Back off, or we'll die together!"

He only had a moment to realize that she had turned the earth they were rolling over into a bomb. She was willing to take him out with herself if he didn't step back. Then again … it wasn't like he planned to survive this fight, and if she was so nice as to take herself out, he wouldn't complain.

"Two seconds," she warned trying to get a kunai and attack him with it. He didn't back down. And then she started panicking. She'd been bluffing, he realized.

She was very much not willing to die right here and now, but she couldn't stop the explosion know. So instead she tried to scramble away. There was a lot a shinobi could do in a single second. Sakumo could kill up to three Genin or Chunin level opponents in a single second, for example. Of course, only when they were all positioned nicely … She …? Well, she could at least try to get out of her own death trap. As if he'd let her.

In the last moment before the world exploded around him, he activated his raiton shield over his entire body and tried to flash away himself as fast as he could. He just barely avoided the epicentre of the explosion, it still hit him with crushing force, hurled him back a few yards and tossed him unceremoniously back on the hard ground. His shield faded immediately, leaving his body bloody and scorched on the surface but still surprisingly intact.

He grunted and groaned in pain. As he tried to push himself up again pain flared through an obviously broken wrist and rib. His body wasn't working as it should and his eyesight was shifting and twirling in front of him. He hardly even recognized the figures around him, but they were coming closer.

He couldn't just lay here and let himself get killed off! He quickly assessed the state of his body and chakra. There was still fight left in him. The raiton-shield had cost a decent junk of his chakra, but it was still nowhere near depleted. The chakra-shield aside he didn't really use any chakra heavy techniques and as always, he was glad for his tight chakra control.

He managed to search in his pouch for a painkilling pill and a blood replenisher and swallowed them both before someone kicked him in the stomach making him grunt again. He wished he'd have time to look for the energy pill, too, but that had to wait for another chance to catch a breath.

He grunted as he was kicked again. The pills were helping fast, as always, so when they grabbed him at the wrists to drag him upright, he was already able to defend himself again. The painkillers were working good enough that he could twist his hurt wrist out of their grasp and blindly kick at them. A moment later as they backed off, he was back on his own two feet.

"Still able to fight?" someone asked gleefully and a glance in the voice's direction showed the swordsman that had kept to the background all this time. "He is mine."

Had he waited all this time, just to look if Sakumo was even worth for him to fight himself? Sakumo knew of those shinobi, arrogant pricks, that thought they were the epitome of the ninja arts and didn't care for their comrades' lives in their quest to look for a worthy opponent. He knew it then … This man had only waited whether or not Sakumo could kill the Explosion User to now take over the fight himself. It didn't matter to the man that Sakumo was nowhere near his peak.

"You just want to take the credit for all the work Hiroko has put in," one of the other masked shinobi accused aggressively.

The swordsman just shrugged nonchalantly. "You can have him, if you want," he gave in with a gleeful smirk, "you can give us a good show."

The shinobi backed down then, obviously not fancying his chance against even a heavily injured Sakumo. He made the smart choice, Sakumo thought. Sakumo wanted to fight this man. This piece of shit with his swords who didn't care one bit for his comrades. One glance around proofed to him, that the shinobi facing him stood divided. Some leaned back confidently waiting for the swordsman to start the fight, the body language of some of the others spoke of enmity and disapproval the way one of them had already voiced.

"Well then," the swordsman said drawing both his swords at once. They weren't just swords, Sakumo realized for the first time, now. They were … he knew them, had seen them in pictures. Twin swords, thin steel with fang-like spikes growing from the blade. Sakumo was a swordsman himself, so of course he knew the famous swords of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist. This was Kiba, so this man was its wielder: Ikuto of the Mist.

Iwa's Explosion Corps and Kiri's Seven Ninja Swordsman. So, now he knew who had joined forces here to take out Uzushiogakure – who had allied against Konoha. He glanced from Ikuto to the men and women around him … Such a shame, he won't survive to give the intel to his village. Maybe … if he could somehow find a moment, use another Kuchiyose and tell the ninja hounds. With his death, Sanae would inherit them. She already knew how to summon them even if she didn't normally use them on missions. Maybe the summons could tell her and … But that was all only a vague plan. For now, he needed to survive long enough to even think about implementing such a plan.

"You're Ikuto of the Seven Ninja Swordsman," Sakumo started to catch a moment's breath. How much time had passed since he had left Choza and the others behind? He was sure he had had run and avoided his opponents for almost two hours. The fight so far hadn't taken that long. His fights never took long, no matter whether he won or lost, he moved fast and to counter him, his opponents also had to act fast. Dragged out fights – more often than not – were the end of him and his limited chakra reserves.

"And you're the one they call the White Fang." The man smiled behind his mask, Sakumo was sure of it. "Or rather, it's your blade, isn't it? I'm sure you've read about my sword, Kiba. Let's see who has the sharper fang. Your Shiroi Kiba or my Kiba."

"You like to hear yourself talk," Sakumo noted amusedly. There was an angry grunt from Ikuto. "Well, you would be wrong." He raised his tanto just a bit. "This sword has no name. It's been in my family for generations, but unlike your Kiba it is not the sword that makes the wielder famous, but the other way around." He smiled a bit triumphantly as Ikuto growled furiously the insult not going past him. "I could use any chakra bladed tanto and my skill would be the same. You on the other hand … you can't even wield your lightning without your Kiba, can you?"

He didn't even know if it was true, but he had successfully managed to rile the swordsman up, now … he only had to kill him; easier said than done. But he knew he could do it. The man was a swordsman and he used lightning. Sakumo was sure that if he were at his best, he'd be better at both. He wasn't at his best now, and Ikuto hadn't even started to fight, yet. So, he had to make it smart, wait for his opportunity and keep the man riled up, make him do easy mistakes. Ikuto had a temper, he was arrogant and a talker, that much was clear from the start. He was also cruel and a bit of a sadist like almost all the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist – at least if the Bingo Book profiles, Sakumo still remembered, were anything to go by. It seemed like cruelty and sadism was something almost required to be a member of that exclusive club of Mist shinobi. He could use that too, he assumed. At least the man wouldn't straight up kill him but draw it out a bit more than strictly necessary.

He sidestepped the first attack, easily done because Ikuto was brash and angry. Shortly after that, though, he calmed down, and it got more difficult to avoid his attacks. He was fast, strong and unlike Sakumo still fit. Sakumo on the other hand was hurting despite the pain killers and exhausted to a point that he had problems even concentrating. He was moving slower than normal and soon he found himself on the defensive. He was glad the others had taken to just watching the fight from a distance as they had when he had fought the Explosion User.

He blocked Ikuto's Kiba with his tanto and though it was not the first time their swords met, this time the Kiri-nin had the presence of mind to push his chakra into his blade. Powerful lightning danced along the blade then to Sakumo's horror his own white chakra blade conducted the opponents lightning chakra to its hilt. Sakumo couldn't help but scream as he was suddenly electrocuted by his opponent's blade's raiton. He retracted immediately but Ikuto came after him with a vengeance lightning flaring around him and his blades. Sakumo might use raiton himself and even regularly let his own raiton rush through his body, but he was not immune to its effect and he did not have the chakra resources left to activate another lightning shield.

He stumbled further back and tried to increase the distance to avoid the dancing thunder around his opponent, but Ikuto didn't let him out of his range for even a second. He didn't even dare to block the next strike with his tanto so instead he used a kunai using his own lightning chakra to block the conducting lightning at the palm of his hand. His kunai wasn't strong enough to hold, so it snapped in two. It was the best Sakumo could do to divert the blade's path away from him. He let go of the broken Kunai and ducked under the second sword flashing over his shoulder. The Lightning prickled at his burned back. He sidestepped another attack and flashed back to avoid the next. It was all he could do, to keep up with Ikuto. His reaction speed was still faster but that aside … He was losing, he realized. Damn it, was he in such bad shape? He regularly won against Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Tsunade and they were stronger than this guy, he was sure of it. But now … all he could do, was avoid being hit, all the while the periphery lightning lashed out at him, scorched his skin and muscle as if Hiroko the Explosion User earlier, hadn't burned his body enough already.

"Is that all you can do?" asked Ikuto gleefully lashing out at him again. Sakumo ducked under the attack but then as he stepped back, he tripped over a root and Ikuto attacked in exactly that moment.

He could have killed him right then and there, Sakumo thought, but instead, just as Sakumo had assumed he would, he dragged it out, pierced his shoulder instead of his heart and pushed just enough lightning chakra through his blade that it would make Sakumo scream and his muscles cramp beyond his control but not enough to kill him. Sakumo crumpled to his knees, one of the twin blades still stuck in his shoulder. Keeping his breath in control was difficult, controlling his fingers that were still twitching from lightning was even more difficult, but apparently, he was in luck. Maybe, Ikuto thought he had already won and didn't expect Sakumo to even try and fight anymore. Sakumo was sure that was the only reason why the Hatake even managed to finish the finger signs for his mudwall. He couldn't remember ever taking this long for a simple jutsu like this one.

Ikuto screamed in fury as the mudwall suddenly rose between him and his already as good as defeated opponent. His lightning enhanced blades easily cut through the mudwall, destroyed it almost the instant Sakumo had erected it. And then both blades pierced Sakumo's chest at once. Ikuto wasn't playing anymore. But Sakumo had known that playtime was over.

His lightning clone flared before Ikuto's incredulous eyes and then dissolved in a sudden strike of thunder. Just like Sakumo's chakra blades had conducted Ikuto's lightning attacks, Ikuto's chakra blades conducted Sakumo's lightning just as well … if not better. After all, they were created to enhance any form of lightning chakra they came into contact with. Ikuto stood in stunned surprise as his blades suddenly surrounded him with powerful lightning that wasn't his own, but the last of Sakumo's chakra. It was the most basic and repeatedly used trick in Sakumo's book, and with the right timing it was also one of his most effective ones. Unlike the Kagebunshin the Lightning Clone dissolved more easily and was limited to using lightning techniques only, above all, they didn't share their experience with the original. However, the added effect of stunning your opponent was the reason he always preferred them in a fight.

Sakumo flashed behind Ikuto and shoved his tanto into the man's back where the heart was, all the way to the hilt. The body just slid off the hilt as Ikuto crumpled lifelessly to the forest ground.

That was it … He had defeated … or … well, somewhat survived two S-rank shinobi and killed some more that were anywhere from chunin to high jonin level. It wasn't exactly his best fight, he thought, certainly not his fanciest one. And he looked and felt like shit, now. But he guessed it was a decent enough way to go out.

He turned around still standing and blade in hand, slick with a mixture of his own blood and all the enemies he had killed and cut today. His blade, hair and skin were mostly red, now. His clothes were almost completely burned or cut off his torso. He was just waiting for them to take him out. It should be an easy thing at this point. He was sure even a pre-genin could push him over the edge, now. But instead they just stared at him forming a semicircle around the Konoha shinobi advancing slowly and with caution. They had obviously learned from Ikuto's death to not underestimate him.

He gripped his tanto before it could slip through his slick fingers. Maybe he could … But thinking about it was useless as he couldn't even clearly see them as they approached him, and although he saw the punch coming, his reflexes were slowed to a point he couldn't even raise his hand in time, never mind actually block it.

He stumbled backwards but – through sheer luck – there was a tree right there, so he leaned against it, braced himself with both hands and stayed upright. Not for long, though, as someone kicked his legs out from under him. He crashed to the ground, groaning as he instinctively tried to catch his weight with his injured hand.

"Where is the girl?" Somebody grabbed him at the shoulders and pushed his back upright against the tree behind him. He blinked at the figures around him. It was the Taijutsu specialist who was talking. Looking around at the people Sakumo had killed he assumed that man was now the highest-ranking shinobi left. He had killed the four of them he had identified as the biggest threat and managed to kill a fifth as well as injured another few of them. Still seven left … but most of them seemed Chunin or low tier Jonin level. So maybe that Taijutsu guy was the strongest now, despite his injury.

"Where is the Jinchuriki?" he repeated his question a bit more rudely gripping Sakumo harshly around the injured shoulder.

Right, he thought, he still had to summon one of his dogs and … warn the Hokage about the Iwa-Kiri-Alliance. He had to … He moved his hands to form trembling finger signs not caring for the rough grip around his shoulder nor the fact that the grip was now tightening cruelly. He didn't even have a single sign formed when someone kicked his hands apart. Sakumo kicked back blindly in anger and was surprised when he actually hit. He tried to form the Kuchiyose finger signs again. This time he was punched in the face … no use.

"What do you want with her?" he asked remembering their questions.

"Where is the girl?" the Taijutsu specialist repeated, ignoring Sakumo's own question. It was a stupid question anyway. He knew what they wanted from her. The Kyuubi.

"Is that why you attacked Uzushiogakure?"

They punched him again. "We're asking the questions here! Where did you leave her?"

"No …" Sakumo thought aloud. "That couldn't be it. You … How would you even know, she was here? Only Konoha Jonin with high security clearance would know about her visit to her family." Right, he thought. How had they known about her being here? Was there a traitor, or …? Even more so … "Which village would get the Kyuubi, anyway?" He thought about this for a moment.

Again, he was punched in the face to make him stop talking but he didn't. Once all this was over, he was sure, they'd retract his traces and although he had tried not to leave obvious tracks to the cave where his team hid, he hadn't had the time to concentrate on it. So … any moment he could win here, his team could use to recuperate a bit more of their strength and leave for Konoha.

"Don't tell me, Kiri and Iwa actually agreed upon which village should get the Kyuubi after all this is over?" He saw the distrusting glances they threw at each other and nodded. "Ah, so you didn't agree about it, yet? What, you'll just deal with it in time?" He grunted in pain as he shifted a bit and his broken rib uncomfortably pushed against his lungs. He coughed violently.

He still had energy pills left, he suddenly thought. He hadn't taken any so far. He had taken blood replenishers and pain killers, though … taking too many of those pills could give him a heart attack. Then again, he'd die anyway. Coughing he hunched in on himself and exaggerated his coughing while reaching for his pouch. Suddenly there was a kick to his stomach making him cough again and this time completely earnestly and without faking it. There was a kunai to his throat.

"Take the hand away from that pouch … very slowly!" A female voice hissed. He pushed the small energy pill he had between his fingers under the cloth of his protective glove and slowly pulled his hand out of the pouch. They were obviously tense, fearing he'd draw a weapon and their faces deflated in relief as there was no weapon.

He was breathing heavily now and could taste the blood in the back of his throat, but at least it felt like a tiny victory. If he'd manage to take the pill, without them just killing him … he'd have enough strength for another round.

"So, you didn't come for the girl, did you?" he asked in between his heavy breaths. "You came for …"

This time, when he was kicked against the head, he couldn't just ignore it anymore. His head hurt with a cruel head ache blooming behind his forehead and in the back of his head. He could hardly see straight, and he felt like puking. He was losing consciousness, he realized.