A/N: It's never easy to admit when you're wrong. Luckily, I'm wrong a lot of the time, so I've had a little practice. To stop dancing around the issue, I've decided that Lizonjoeand several other reviewers were right when they argued that Naruto went down too easily in his fight against Kimimaro in Chapter 35. After taking a long look at my reasons for making the scene that way, I realized that if I was going to make Naruto stay true to his character, I needed to rewrite the fight. So I did.
If you go back to Chapter 35, you'll find a completely revamped fight between Team Naruto and Team Kimimaro. Naruto still gets Sealed by Kabuto in the end, but the road to that outcome is a hell of a lot bumpier, and – I hope – more realistic given the characters involved. As a teaser of sorts to encourage you to go back and read the new version, I'll just say that Kabuto decides to recruit a little help from beyond the grave.
Before I go on, I'd just like to thank all of you for your feedback, especially when it comes in the form of thoughtful criticism. I do pay attention to what you have to say, and I want you to know I'm trying my best to make this story as good as it can be.
Back to business. As far as this chapter is concerned, a fight ran long so I decided to split it down the middle and post the rest soon. This time you get a smallish battle and a few cute moments courtesy of Team Neji. Next time you'll get a king-sized slugfest between the Sword-Slinging Bad Boys of Kiri and a few badasses from Kumo – get pumped. After that, we'll see what happens when Sandstorm runs afoul of Kimimaro, and then it's on to the Prelims. Stay with me folks, 'cause it's about to get crazy in Konoha.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter 37
Neji, Tenten, and Lee made it through the first day in Deidara's Forest of Death without running into another living soul. They planned it that way, using Neji's byakugan to lead them deeper into the Forest while avoiding enemy teams. By the evening they were far enough in that when Neji focused his byakugan directly ahead, he could just make out the monolithic Tower that was their goal. The three Sealed shinobi decided to stay put for the night, taking turns standing guard. In the morning they would continue on, and search for a weak-looking team close to the Tower. They should have guessed that it wouldn't be that easy.
Several minutes after leaving their makeshift camp, Neji announced that a team was waiting further on, directly between them and the Tower.
"Should we go around them?" Tenten asked reasonably. "We're still far from the Tower – if we get drawn into a long fight out here, we might attract attention. I don't know about you, but my weekend plans don't include getting blown to pieces by clay spiders."
"You nag like an old woman, Tenten!" Lee chided. "Where is your Youthful spirit? Let's show this team the power of Konoha! We'll vanquish them swiftly, and so silently that Deidara's pets will think us a light summer breeze!"
Tenten kicked him in the shin. "Idiot. Discretion is the better part of valor, don't you know that? Let's not fight if we don't have to."
Lee jerked back in horror, clapping his hands over his ears. "Not figh- not… Tenten, don't say such things!"
"I don't think we have a choice," Neji said quietly, bringing his teammates' comfortable banter to an abrupt end. "They're not moving, and there aren't any other teams close by. They're waiting – maybe not specifically for us, but they've definitely sensed us. As much as it pains me to say it, Lee's right. Sneaking isn't an option, so we need to end this as quickly as possible. Weapons out. Lee, you take point."
Tenten unrolled a storage scroll and unsealed a wicked-looking spiked ball attached to a metal handle with a short chain. She spun it in a tight arc above her head, faster and faster, until the weapon became a silver blur. "I've been meaning to try this out," she said, relishing the ominous thrum of the chain whipping through the air.
Lee led the team, clacking his tonfa together as he went. He held the wooden weapons flat against his forearms, where they looked deceptively innocent, more like a policeman's baton than a shinobi's weapon. But Neji knew that Lee's tonfa actually contained metal cores, making them a match for edged weapons like swords and spears. Neji had seen what happened to human bones that got in the way of Lee's favored weapons – it wasn't pretty.
As for Neji himself, aside from a set of shinobi tools in his belt pouch, he had no weapons save his bare hands. Those were the only weapons a true Hyuuga needed.
Since both teams knew the other was there, neither side bothered wasting time with diversion tactics. Lee was the first to burst out of the undergrowth, Neji and Tenten close on his heels in a triangle formation. Their opponents were waiting for them all in a row, relaxed and calm, as though they were merely out for a morning walk in the Forest of Death.
The enemy squad's hitai-ite proclaimed their allegiance to Kumogakure. In contrast to most shinobi teams that Neji had seen, this one had two kunoichi and only one male shinobi. The man had spiky white hair made even more striking by his dark skin, and wore a thoughtful expression that was diminished somewhat by the fact that he was also sucking on a lollipop.
The kunoichi to his left was dark-skinned and wore her red hair long. Her eyes were a deep, arresting amber color, and together with her lithe, graceful form they suggested a powerful feline predator, like a jungle cat or a mountain lion.
With her pale skin, blond hair, and blue eyes, the second kunoichi could not have looked more different from her partner. She wore her tunic cut low, revealing sizable cleavage and mesh body armor, and had red arm-warmers and high boots.
All three Kumo shinobi had swords strapped to their backs, though none had yet been drawn.
"Looks like C was right, Karui," the man said slowly. "And you doubted him."
"Shut up, Omoi!" the red-haired woman snapped, glaring at her teammate. "I just asked him if he was sure he could tell a Hyuuga's chakra from another shinobi's. It was a perfectly reasonable question."
"Sorry to interrupt," Neji spoke up. "But if you're just going to argue all day, we'll be moving on."
"Not cool, handsome," said the blonde kunoichi. "Afraid we can't let you do that. Have to cut out your eyes first."
"Excuse you?" Tenten demanded, outraged. "What did you say?!"
"You're doing it wrong, Samui," said the male shinobi. "They don't even know who we are yet."
"Your teammate is right," Neji drawled. "I believe it's customary to introduce yourself before gouging out valuable body parts."
The leader of the enemy squad shrugged with perfect equanimity. "No skin off my nose. I'm Samui of Kumogakure, and these two are Karui and Omoi. Nothing personal, but we have standing orders to bring back a byakugan eye if the opportunity arises."
Neji bared his teeth in a feral grin, welcoming the coming fight. Lately he had been experiencing strange doubts and unfamiliar emotions – mostly to do with Naruto. Neji owed him a debt, and worse, he even thought he might be starting to respect the bullheaded blond. It was hard to reconcile that with Neji's knowledge of the upcoming war. They would be on opposite sides of a battlefield then, where there was little room for things like mutual respect or debts of honor.
It would be a great pleasure indeed to fight without moral confusion clouding his normally clear judgment. These Kumo shinobi were strangers who wanted to kill him, and that made matters beautifully simple. Neji liked simple.
It didn't matter how skilled these Kumo shinobi were – today they were messing with the wrong Hyuuga. "It looks like the opportunity just arose," he said, speaking softly but enunciating each word clearly. "I have to thank you. I've been in a shitty mood today, and I think this is exactly what I need."
Tenten barked a short laugh. "Are you kidding? You've been in a shitty mood since the day you were born."
Neji grunted. "Fair point."
Samui and her teammates drew their swords. They wielded matching katana with checkered hilts, and held them in a way that suggested they knew how to use them.
"It's too bad there's all this explosive clay overhead," Samui lamented. "Otherwise we could show you some seriously cool lightning combination jutsu."
Tenten started whirling her chain mace, knees bent in a ready stance. "Maybe next time."
Neji began the fight by throwing a brace of shuriken. He didn't expect any to land, but he wanted to gauge the speed of his opponents. The result was pretty much what he expected – they were fast. Very fast. Even with his byakugan, Neji found it difficult to follow the swords as they flashed around in a tight arc, deflecting the shuriken with contemptuous ease.
"Samui, you take the Hyuuga," Karui called out. "Omoi and I will handle the small fry."
Samui eyed Neji appraisingly. "Cool." Then she disappeared, and Neji had just enough time to wonder if she knew about the byakugan's blind spot before she reappeared to his right, slashing out horizontally. Neji could have dodged, but he wanted to send a more emphatic message.
"Heavenly Rotation!"
The swirling chakra erupting from his tenketsu ripped the sword right out of Samui's hands and sent it flying. A second later the force of the rotation reached her as well. She crossed her arms and absorbed most of the impact, but it still sent her skidding back several feet. She jumped back and snatched her sword out of the air, landing on the balls of her feet.
"You almost made me drop my sword," she drawled. "Not bad."
In answer, Neji just assumed the ready stance of the Gentle Fist style, extended his hand, and crooked his fingers. Bring it.
Meanwhile, Tenten and Lee were taking the fight to Karui and Omoi. Tenten swung her chain mace in wide, vicious arcs, hoping to catch even a glancing hit on either Kumo shinobi. Those swords would snap like twigs if they came in contact with the hardened steel of her weapon. Unfortunately, her opponents were extremely fast, and avoided her opening blows with ease.
They leaped to opposite sides and swooped in for a coordinated attack. Tenten whirled and jerked her weapon back through the air, making Omoi jump away. She left herself completely open to Karui's strike, trusting that Lee would have her back. Sure enough, he appeared like a green wraith between her and Karui, turning aside three lightning-fast strikes with his tonfa. The two continued to trade blows, generating a shower of sparks in the air around them, while Tenten took off after Omoi.
"That weapon is powerful," Omoi allowed, turning to face her. "But slow." He performed a series of seals that Tenten recognized from sparring with Naruto after the mission to Ame – it was the Shadow Clone jutsu. Three clones of Omoi appeared around Tenten, so that she was cut off on all four sides. They charged her, swords raised.
Tenten lashed out with the chain mace and whirled in a circle, activating one of the buttons built in to her weapon's handle. This one allowed more of the chain to extend from its Sealed container at the end of the handle, effectively increasing her destructive range. Omoi and his clones hadn't been expecting her attack until they were closer, so they couldn't dodge in time. The wicked spikes sliced flesh and the metal ball broke bones before the shadow clones dispelled. Tenten waited to see which one didn't disappear, confident that Omoi wouldn't keep fighting after that hit – but all four figures vanished with a puff of smoke.
Shit, Tenten thought, they were all shadow clones? Where's the real one?
She looked up, and sure enough, Omoi was dropping from a tree branch overhead, sword outstretched in a beheading cut. Tenten had no time to complete her follow-through – she would have to drop her weapon and try to evade, but even that was unlikely to work.
A blessedly familiar green shape blurred into being between them. Lee caught the blow meant for Tenten, and the two men landed in a stalemate, each pushing against the other with all his might. From the Lee's red face and the veins sticking out around his eyes, Tenten knew that her teammate had been forced to activate the First Celestial Gate.
Tenten cursed silently. Now they were on the clock. Of course, with clay spiders massing in the trees, drawn by the sound of fighting, time had been running out ever since the fight began. Lee was smart to draw on more power.
Tenten saw a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye and reacted instantly, sending her chain mace out to Lee's right. Karui was forced to change direction mid-jump, pulling on a ninja wire spooling out behind her. She dropped to the ground, avoiding a metal spike by the width of a hair.
That was when Tenten activated a second hidden button on her weapon's wooden handle, which detached the spikes on her chain mace and sent them shooting away in every direction. Karui escaped with just a scratch along her arm, but Omoi was locked in a contest of strength with Lee, and so took a spike in his right calf and his left shoulder.
Lee disengaged, jumping away from Omoi and landing next to Tenten. "You two fight well together," Omoi observed, his injuries seeming to affect him not at all. "You are very young, but your teamwork belongs to shinobi beyond your years."
Tenten smiled, thinking of all the close scrapes she'd survived over the years because of Lee. They understood each other, and coordinated on the battlefield like members of the Yamanaka clan, only without the telepathy.
"We were taught friendship and teamwork by Guy-sensei," Lee declared, so loudly that Tenten winced, worried about him spooking Deidara's creatures, more of which were gathering in the trees above. "We will never lose sight of the youthful values he instilled in us!"
"Might Guy," Karui murmured while glancing around to gauge the proximity of the deadly clay creatures. "Konoha's so-called Beautiful Green Beast... we're not impressed, Eyebrows. We trained under Killer Bee, Kumo's strongest shinobi after the Raikage himself."
"Guy-sensei could squash your bee without thinking twice!" Lee shouted, his face even redder than opening the First Gate could account for. "Guy-sensei! I will defend your honor!" He would have been completely absurd, if not for the intensified green aura and the surge of killing intent that accompanied the opening of the Second Gate.
Omoi's eyes widened, a surprising show of emotion from the placid shinobi. He looked at Tenten and gestured with his lollipop at Lee. "Is he always like this?"
Tenten hefted her chain mace and sighed. "Pretty much."
Over fifty yards away, Neji and Samui were locked in a duel that raged across the forest floor, and even ranged up and down the trunks of Deidara's clay-covered trees. Samui knew that Neji's ultimate defense gave him an advantage on open ground, so she stayed close to the trees to limit his options. His rotation might be powerful, but it wouldn't do much if he set off one of Deidara's large-scale explosions.
But a Hyuuga was never out of the fight when it came to taijutsu, even if the enemy was wielding a sword. With Neji's byakugan eyes he was able to track Samui's attacks, no matter how well she disguised her approach. Each time, he met her with a barrage of Vacuum Palm strikes, which generated an all-but-invisible wave of energy that inflicted massive physical damage when it connected. It worked according to the same basic principle as his Heavenly Rotation technique, but shaped the released chakra and focused it in a single direction.
Samui thus far had been unable to close with him, having to redirect her strikes in order to avoid losing her sword after getting hit by one of Neji's attacks. Neji felt reasonably secure that his defense was solid, but simply playing defense wasn't going to end this fight quickly enough.
The next time Samui approached him, she used a series of Body-Flicker jutsu to appear as though she were attacking from four directions at once. She was fast enough that her after-images were almost solid enough to fool his byakugan – the key word was almost. He was ready for her, and this time he set himself in a solid stance, knees bent for stability and power, and pushed out with both palms at once.
"Eight Trigrams Vacuum Wall Palm!" The super-charged vacuum palm strike left his hands like a blade of wind, making direct contact with Samui's sword. The blade shattered into a hundred metal slivers, most of which bit deep into Samui's body as they were rocketed backward by the force of Neji's strike. Samui managed to raise one arm in time to protect her face, but in that moment she sacrificed her field of vision to save her eyesight.
That was the only opening Neji needed. His first jyuuken strike drove the breath out of Samui's lungs, brought her to her knees, and closed the first of her tenketsu. The next seven strikes disabled her limbs and locked her neck in place. The final eight strikes knocked her unconscious. Neji had neither the need nor the time to complete all sixty-four jyuuken strikes of his favorite technique, although he realized that he was probably losing style points by stopping in the middle.
Neji went to see how his teammates were faring. They had drawn first blood, but Karui and Omoi were still more than capable of fighting back. Neji could see the clay creatures massing in the branches above – this needed to end now.
"Tenten! Lee!" he called out. "Use the Hurricane of Steel!"
Tenten stared at him. "Are you serious? But Lee will-"
Lee cut her off with a joyful laugh. "-will what, Tenten? Be overjoyed to help my teammates? Of course I will!"
Tenten rolled her eyes. "It's your funeral." Only her worried tone made her words seem more than an expression.
She unrolled the largest scroll that she carried in a sling on her back, and leaped high into the air. All of the weapons she had sealed into the scroll, countless hundreds of them, burst into existence all around the clearing. They formed an impenetrable barrier of steel around Karui, Omoi – and Lee. The taijutsu specialist faced the Kumo shinobi without a hint of fear.
"You think this is enough to scare us?" Karui demanded scornfully, fending off a questing spear with a firm strike from her katana. "We're faster than you, girl, and you know it. No matter how many blades you make dance, they'll never touch us."
Tenten made her weapons begin to rotate, sweeping in a wide circle and darting in to attack the Kumo shinobi before continuing around. Karui had spoken true: fighting back-to-back with Omoi, she wove an impenetrable defense against the ever-tightening vortex of steel.
"You're faster than me," Tenten muttered, not trying to raise her voice above the cacophony of metal against metal. "But are you faster than Lee?"
The green-clad genin danced around the Kumo shinobi, drawing on all the speed granted by two the Celestial Gates, harassing them like a wolf nipping at a deer's heels. All the while the weapons drew closer, contracting the space in the center, until there were only a few square paces left. Tenten could see when the weapons started to draw blood, and Lee was the first to bleed.
In his all-out drive to get past his opponents' defenses, he left himself open to the spinning blades. That was the danger of this technique, and Lee was perhaps the only person besides Might Guy who could withstand it. Thanks to the inhuman levels of strength and energy granted by the Second Gate, Lee could ignore wounds that would bring an ordinary person to their knees.
From quick glimpses through the hedge of flashing steel, Tenten could see that their strategy was working. Omoi and Karui could not defend themselves against Lee and the spinning vortex of Tenten's weapons. They had to choose, and soon they were bleeding freely.
Tenten nodded. It was time. She brought her arms out, still suspended in midair above the battlefield, and brought her will to bear on the flying weapons. They contracted even more, until swords, knives, and even more outlandish weapons were locked together in a solid cylinder of steel, barely wide enough for three people to stand side-to-side. There was nowhere to escape, either for the Kumo shinobi or Lee.
A green glow emerged and reflected off the metal. Tenten heaved a sigh of relief. Lee had come through. She dropped her arms, and wall of weapons dropped to the forest floor. The green glow intensified, at first obscuring what had happened to Lee and his opponents. But then three forms appeared, and one of them appeared to be beating the living hell out of the other two.
It was Lee, unveiling the full might of his Reverse Lotus Technique. He kicked Omoi and Karui higher and higher, their katana nowhere in sight, and then blurred into liquid motion to appear above them. Red skin, bulging veins and white, glaring eyes transformed him from a poorly-dressed genin into a vengeful demon.
The Reverse Lotus finished with a kick and an open-handed strike delivered at the same time, and neither Omoi nor Karui had a prayer of escaping. They went hurtling toward the ground, where a carpet of steel waited to end their suffering permanently.
To Tenten's complete surprise, Neji appeared out of nowhere, snagging the unconscious Kumo shinobi out of the air before they could be impaled by the fallen weapons.
Lee landed a second later, his knees wobbling after the strain of using the Reverse Lotus. He buckled and almost fell, but Tenten reached him in time to offer him a hand.
"Nice work, Lee," she said. He gave her an enthusiastic thumbs up and a wide grin. Tenten was horrified by the extent of the cuts all over his body, and the knowledge that most of them were her fault. She knew it had been necessary – the solid, spinning barrier of steel had kept her opponents from avoiding Lee's attack. Still, it hurt to see her teammate in so much pain. Not that Lee would ever complain. He was too youthful for that.
"So, Neji," Tenten said, turning to her team leader. "Why did you save them? No offense, but mercy isn't usually your strong suit."
Neji raised one eyebrow. "Mercy? No, I simply wanted hostages. Another team has been watching us since the fight began. I almost missed them, which means they're even better than these three. I have a hunch that one of them is the sensor nin who told Samui how to find us."
Tenten shrugged stoically. It never rained when it could pour.
"Not a bad hunch," came an unfamiliar, confident voice hidden among the trees. "But you needn't have bothered keeping Samui or her teammates alive. Kumo shinobi know the risks. We don't negotiate."
Neji shrugged. "I thought it was worth a try. Who are you three? Are you aware that you risk war with Konoha by targeting us?"
Three shinobi appeared before them, exhibiting impressive Body-Flicker jutsu – once again, Tenten didn't recognize them from the survivors of the First Round. Two men and one woman, and all of them carried the self-assurance and casual air of power that Tenten associated with experienced jounin. Were any of the genin in these Exams who they appeared to be?!
The leader was a languid black man with an unruly shock of white hair. He wasn't as large as Omoi, but somehow his presence flowed beyond the limits of his frame. Somehow, and Tenten had no idea how, this shinobi managed to seem both apologetic and menacing. "I'm sorry," he began, "but I think you overestimate your worth. Madara would not risk provoking the might of Kumogakure over something so insignificant as the life of a Sealed shinobi. Does a man go to war over the death of a slave? Of course not. At most, he demands reparations, and that's only if he values what he lost. Your Hokage values the sharingan, but the byakugan? Madara thinks it a paltry ability – for a man with legendary eyes, he is surprisingly blind."
The second man of the team laughed. He had short, blond hair and brown eyes, and wore the standard red-and-white shin guards of Kumo. "Darui, you're forgetting that Madara might not even find out who killed the Hyuuga. Once these three are dead, there's no evidence that Kumo was involved in anything at all."
Darui nodded thoughtfully. "You're right, C. Do you understand, Hyuuga? Strengthening a nation is dull work, but someone's got to do it."
Neji suddenly tensed up, staring at the enemy captain with total concentration. "Darui… I know that name," he whispered, thunderstruck. "From the Bingo Book… You're the Raikage's right-hand man. Inheritor of the Third Raikage's Black Lightning."
The elite jounin smiled apologetically. "Sorry."
Tenten couldn't stay silent any more. "This is so stupid!" she yelled, drawing five pairs of eyes. "These are the Chuunin Exams. The purpose is to promote genin and showcase a village's future talents so that civilians know whom to hire for missions. Why are high-ranking shinobi pretending to be genin? The byakugan can't be worth that much to you."
The Kumo kunoichi spoke up for the first time. She had long blonde hair pulled away from her face and secured by her forehead protector, and she wore purple fingerless gloves and bandages around her arms and legs. Her face looked like it could be kind, but now it was set in a stern and uncompromising mask. "If that's what you think, then you're truly naïve. These Exams have never been about promoting genin. The balance of power between the shinobi villages has been fragile ever since the Night of Reclamation, when Madara appeared from nowhere and established his reign. No one knew what to expect. Would he look to expand his power? Were we about to see a war? For years we all waited, wondering, consolidating our forces… nothing. Now there has been another revolution in Kiri, and we receive word that Konoha has allied with Ame. Loyalties are shifting, and the world realigns. These Exams represent the first gathering of the major villages in almost ten years. Every Kage will have sent agents to learn which way the wind blows, some disguised as genin, some testing the extent of Madara's security. One way or another, after these Exams, the shape of future events will become clear."
The blond man known as C rolled his eyes expressively. "Thanks for the lesson on international politics, Yugito. Honestly, it feels like I'm a chuunin again, forced to attend your lectures."
"Learning never stops, C," Yugito told him severely. "A shinobi who thinks he's learned enough is already dead."
"Yeah, yeah," C drawled. "But you forgot something. Madara made it clear from the beginning that he was entering his son in the tournament. The jinchuuriki. The major villages weren't about to take that lying down – no regular genin has a prayer of beating a jinchuuriki. Madara knew the moment he sent those invitations that he was issuing a challenge. He knew the other Kages would send ringers – shit, he wanted it that way. Wants to see how his pet Nine-Tails stacks up against the big dogs, in an arena that he can at least partially control."
Yugito grinned at the younger man. "See? You were listening!"
Tenten snorted angrily. "And this has to do with Neji's byakugan how?"
C shrugged. "It doesn't. But A is still pissed about our Head Shinobi's death in that disastrous kidnapping attempt years ago. He wanted Hyuuga Hiashi's head on a platter, and instead he got some worthless Branch family twin. That's why all Kumo shinobi have standing orders to secure a byakugan eye if they have the chance. And since we were already infiltrating the Exams, Darui figured we should kill two birds with one stone. I thought Samui's team would get the job done, but it's no problem – this way I get to have some fun, too."
Tenten could see Neji's knuckles whiten, and winced. C had insulted Neji's father, and that, Tenten knew, was never a good idea.
"You'll have to carve it out of my skull," Neji growled, rage boiling from him like a force of nature.
C shrugged. "Of course we will. And you have to be alive while we do it, otherwise your Seal will activate and destroy your byakugan. Don't worry, we've been fully briefed. I'm a fairly decent medic, so don't worry – it won't hurt that much."
Darui bowed his head, his eyes sad. "I'm sorry," he said. "But orders are orders."
Suddenly there was an explosion of chakra that drew everyone's attention. It was Lee – the brave fool, already exhausted from opening three of the Celestial Gates to finish off Karui and Omoi, had unlocked yet another. He was sacrificing his very life, thirty seconds at a time.
"Neji," Lee said, his voice crackling with raw power. "Can we defeat these guys?"
Neji gritted his teeth, the veins around his eyes bulging, but he couldn't lie to his friend. "Probably not. Darui is probably as strong as Gai… and that woman has two kinds of chakra. I think she's a jinchuuriki like Naruto. The most we can hope for is to take them with us."
"So be it." Never had Lee sounded so calm, so mature, as he did then. "Neji, Tenten, I apologize for this."
"Apologize for wha-" Lee's kick knocked the wind out of her lungs and her into the air. Neji followed a second later, so that they were both rising into the air side-by-side.
"Friend Neji, I will protect your beautiful eyes!" Lee declared, jumping up behind them, surrounded by his powerful aura. "Rock Lee Release: Tearful Roundhouse Kick of Friendship!"
Tenten barely had time to groan before Lee's foot kicked her in the backside and drove her upward through the canopy of trees with devastating force. She and Neji sailed over the trees as if launched from a canon, propelled by their teammate's final act of friendship.
Back in the clearing, Lee turned to face the Kumo shinobi. They could only stare at him, utterly speechless. "You'll never lay a hand on my friends!" he declared. "My youthful fires will burn brightly one last time, as I open the rest of the Eight Gates and destroy you with the power of a Kage!"
"HOLD IT!" the voice didn't come from the Kumo shinobi, who were just as surprised as Lee to find that there were other shinobi around.
Three indistinct forms appeared from above, dropping down between Lee and his opponents. It was the team of Swordsmen from Kiri – their legendary swords were strapped to their backs, and blank Hunter nin masks hid their faces.
oOoOo
"How… that's impossible!" C declared, losing his cool momentarily. "I should have sensed you."
The leader of the Kiri squad, whose black hair stuck out in an unruly manner behind his mask, held out a peremptory hand. "Hold that thought." He turned to Lee. "We would have let you fight it out, but if you unleash the full power of the Eight Gates, you'll take half the Forest with you. I'm not willing to die for your… um… youthful sacrifice. But I am willing to fight these jokers while you make your escape. You've got about fifteen seconds left before the Fourth Gate closes – you should probably try to catch up with your friends before that happens. I've heard the aftermath of opening the Gates is nasty."
"I don't know your name, friend," said Lee, tears streaming down his face at the kindness of a stranger. "But I will never forget this! You have the undying gratitude of Rock Lee of Konoha!"
Then he was gone, leaving nothing but a ghostly afterimage in his wake. Lee's shouts drifted back into the clearing: "Neji! Tenten! If I do not catch up to you before you hit the ground I will run four hundred laps around the Forest on my hands!"
Yugito shook her head like an amused aunt. "Our orders aside, I'm glad we didn't have to kill that kid. He's kind of… charming."
"I still want to know how these bastards hid from me!" C shouted.
"All in good time," Uchiha Sasuke responded, grinning behind his mask. It was kind of fun winding this guy up. "Haku, would you mind taking care of Deidara's pets? With all the noise that ridiculous Sealed shinobi was making, I give it less than a minute before those spiders above our heads reach critical mass."
"Right away, Captain," Haku said, gathering his chakra. Then he let it out in one burst, unleashing his Ice Release in a wave that spread outward remorselessly. Wherever the ice came in contact with the clay creatures, it froze around them until they looked like the preserved victims of some long-ago Ice Age.
"There we are," Sasuke said with satisfaction. "Now we can have ourselves a nice, leisurely fight, as long as we keep the explosions down here on the ground floor, so to speak. Oh yes," he said, finally acknowledging C, "we used a little technique Kiri's new Head of Intelligence worked out. It completely suppresses your chakra. Almost totally useless because it basically turns a shinobi into a civilian for a while, but it does come in handy if you're worried there's a sensor nin around."
Darui stretched like a cat, visibly preparing for a fight. "You may have just cost us a byakugan. I'm sorry, but you're going to pay for that. The Raikage might not be as displeased with our failure if we bring him three of the legendary Swords of the Hidden Mist."
Suigetsu drew his blade Hiramekarei, the Twinsword, and channeled a bit of chakra. The blade morphed into a shark, then a giant snake, then back again.
"You want our swords? Come and get them."
This will be a tough fight, Sasuke thought, surveying his opponents. Three of Kiri's Swordsmen against a sensor-type nin, the Raikage's right-hand man, and a jinchuuriki… they'd just better have an Earth scroll!