This chapter is so long.
Only because there's a special surprise at the bottom. :I
"When I said 'death' before 'dishonor', I meant alphabetically."
-Anonymous
Disclaimer: Naruto is Kishomoto's toy. I'm just playing with it.
Warning: Violence and language and smiling Sasuke.
Dear Gaara,
We have a new team member on our team. His name is Sai.
He's emotionally stunted, socially retarded and constantly insults both Naruto and I—all the while keeping up a fake smile.
Kakashi and I have a bet to see how long it'll take before Naruto punches some sense into him.
Kakashi bet a month.
I bet a couple of weeks.
You want in?
So gonna win the bet,
Sakura
( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)
At noon two days later, we all gathered at the bridge. Naruto, Sai and I were crouching in the shadows of the forest at one end of the bridge. Sasori had drifted off in the center of the bridge.
On one end of the bridge was the spy, who slowly walked towards the middle.
At the other end, I could see Yamato—disguised as Hiruko—approaching.
I let out a soft sigh, preparing myself.
( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)
(Third Person POV – Sasori)
Sasori drifted to the center, staring impassively at the spy.
Sasori was a little miffed, to say the least.
The fact that he had been outsmarted by a brat and forced prisoner, did not bode well with him. He had believed himself to be a clever man—he had to be in the business he ran. But to be outsmarted by a mere child…
And worse, his original plans of escaping were dashed by this prison that now held his physical body. Even if he killed her, it would only cause more harm than good. A nuisance, really.
Perhaps if Sasori had even heard of this prison, things would have been different. There was always a way to escape cells—it was simply a matter of finding the key. But how could Sasori hope to find a key, when he did not even understand the lock?
It was a vexation, truly.
But it would only require time and patience before he did understand his lock and he found the key. While normally Sasori was not a patient man, he could be patient when needed. And this situation certainly required patience.
For the moment Sasori was free, he had the intentions of ridding himself and the world of this girl. His normally apathetic heart decided to make an exception for this situation. A strange thing indeed, when Sasori once again felt irritation.
Perhaps though, it was only because he was not physically attached to his body anymore that he could feel such things again? It was an interesting thought that would require further investigation.
However… Sasori allowed himself to be thankful that he was bound to this... girl and not rotting away in a prison. How dreadfully boring that would have been. At least while following her, she proved to be entertaining.
And at least she did not grate on his nerves like his previous partner. No, she was not audacious and seemed inclined to think ahead. Something of which he was slightly pleased about. Had she been as bad as Deidara—or worse, Tobi—Sasori wasn't quite sure what he would do.
Over all, it could have been worse, but not much.
Then there was the way she knew things…
Things that she should not know. Sasori was quite sure he had not informed anyone of this meeting, and he was also sure that his spy would not reveal the meeting so freely either. It was a curious thought, indeed. It left Sasori unanswered and most puzzled.
Sasori did not care for feeling puzzled. He'd much prefer to solve the mystery and be done with it. But Sakura seemed intent on letting Sasori wallow in his thoughts, only giving him more questions than answers…
How bothersome.
Sasori was pulled from his thoughts as he noticed the approaching spy and the approaching mimic of him.
It was a little odd to see himself walking towards him.
Finally, Hiruko had reached the spy, stopping before him.
"It's good to see you again, Sasori-sama," came the soft voice of the spy. The spy slowly turned around, revealing his face towards Sasori's imitation.
Kabuto, was the name of the spy if Sasori could recall. Which, naturally, he could.
"It's been five years, hasn't it?" Kabuto asked, his voice coming out slightly muffled from the harsh winds of the bridge.
"Were you followed?" the imitation asked.
"No, we're fine."
"How are you holding up?"
Sasori's eyes narrowed. A pointless question. Something in which he would have never bothered to ask. What difference did it make what the spy felt? Kabuto was merely a tool, used as his subordinate. What did it matter if he was ecstatic or depressed?
"I still feel a bit shaken from when your technique was released and remembering who I really am," Kabuto answered, seemingly unthrown by the question.
Sasori's eyes narrowed further. He shouldn't be feeling anything. The moment the technique was released, he would have lost all emotions and become little more than a fleshy puppet.
Kabuto shook his head. "My mind is a bit clouded, as well."
Preposterous. The mind seal placed inside the tool eliminated all doubt, all emotions, all hindrances into serving Sasori the moment it was released.
This was wrong, and Sasori did not like it at all.
"I've got a few questions for you," the imitation began. Once again, Sasori had to restrain himself from shaking his head. He would never bother with introductory at such a meeting. This… fake… was being far too polite. He did not understand Sasori at all.
"We don't have much time, please keep it brief."
A flash of annoyance raced through Sasori. How dare the subordinate speak to him in such a manner! Even if it was to an imitation to him…
"I'm risking my life just by being here," Kabuto went on. Once again, Sasori found himself questioning the situation. Not to mention he felt another flash of irritation.
Had Sasori been able to do something at that moment, he would have killed Kabuto then and there.
Damn shame he couldn't.
"Tell me what you know about his hideouts, and Uchiha Sasuke."
Sasori shook his head in disgust. Why would he care about Uchiha? While having the Sharingan implanted in a puppet would be most useful, he had no intentions of going out of his way to hunt down a mere boy. It was hardly worth his effort. Furthermore, he already knew where Orochimaru's bases were.
Did they honestly suspect that Kabuto was his only spy inside Orochimaru? Granted, he was the closest spy to the former partner, but did they really believe Sasori so inane that he wouldn't come to the conclusion that he needed more spies?
Imbeciles.
Nevertheless, Kabuto answered the imitation, despite the wrongness of it all. "There are several hideouts. He switches from one location to the next each week to keep his whereabouts hidden. Of course, he has them in many countries, not just the his village land. Orochimaru's spies sneak in, set them up and manage them in his absence. But he makes use of many different methods to switch locations, so tracking him isn't easy."
"Where is he now?"
"Currently, he's concealed himself on an island in a northern lake and will move in three days."
Sasori's gaze snapped towards Kabuto.
That was incorrect information. Sasori knew Orochimaru's patterns for switching hideouts. At this point he would be residing in his hideout in Kusagakure, a couple days from this very bridge. He would switch in five days to his southern hideout, six days from this bridge.
This spy was lying to him, on purpose.
Clouded mind… emotions… disrespect… and now lying.
Briefly, Sasori's mind wandered back to what that girl had said.
… I'm glad you came along… I'm curious about your reaction when you… well. I'm curious about your reaction when we meet the spy…
Had Sasori not been staring right at it, he would have said impossible.
His mind seal had been broken and ineffective against Kabuto. No wonder the brat was so anxious for Sasori's reaction… he had failed.
Not only that, this spy was a traitor.
For a moment, Sasori was overcome with the strong desire to murder the traitor. He was overcome with frustration and resentment to how he couldn't. But it was only for a moment because Sasori did not allow such folly things to guide him.
Soon, he was relatively apathetic again with mild irritation, mixed with curiosity.
How had the girl known?
He was quite certain she had never had any interactions with Orochimaru before—aside from a possibility from a Chūnin Exam in Konoha, years ago. But that was only a rumor, something Sasori never bothered to confirm. There was no way she could have known all of this before Sasori.
And yet she had.
Curious, indeed.
Sasori's eyes flickered back towards the girl. She had hidden herself well, but Sasori knew where she was. He could feel her pulling him in softly, the same sensation he had felt the moment he realized he truly was bound to her for the time being.
It was irritating for the most part, but useful at times like this. His eyes flickered to hers and they locked. Green meeting brown.
Her eyes dance with amusement, and his reflected nothing.
She was amused. At his annoyance, no less.
The brat.
"… Uchiha Sasuke is there as well," the useless spy finished, pulling Sasori's attention back towards him. "By the way…"
The traitor was interrupted from his statement, his gaze swinging over to a bush on the other side of the bridge. A brown rabbit hobbled out.
Sasori almost snorted.
"Oh? Just a rabbit?" The ex-subordinate murmured.
The expendable boy turned back towards the imitation. "Anyway… about the matter you ordered me to look into—" Sasori resisted sighing aloud. He ordered no such thing. It was clear the unpurposed miscreant was merely trying to test the imitation.
"The body that Orochimaru transferred out of had protective wards surrounding it, so I was unable to obtain the cell samples you requested."
Cell samples? What good would cell samples be of use to him? Sasori already knew the basics of Orochimaru's technique, and he was not interested in such fleshy and unstable jutsus. It did nothing to prolong his life and it showed no artistic value. Besides, he still had plenty of Orochimaru still stuck to some of his puppets swords.
"I see."
"If you would please, hurry up and give me the item," the apostate said. "I can't afford to stay here any longer." He then had the gall to hold out his hand in expectation. "I'll be killed if he finds out I'm here with you."
"Fine."
The imitation then prepared to rush forward, pulling out a kunai in the process… only to stop right where he was.
Orochimaru appeared right behind the ignorant boy. A thick snake wrapped around the Sannin's waist, hissing at the imitator.
"Interesting conversation, mind if I join you?" Orochimaru smiled.
The incompetent boy jumped away from Orochimaru, landing in front of the imitator, taking up a guarding stance as if he actually intended to defend the imitator.
"Sasori-sama, if you hadn't drawn your kunai, I wouldn't have been able to dodge in time!" Abortive trash declared. As if Sasori would have wasted his time in saving its life.
"That outfit… it reminds me of the old days, Sasori," Orochimaru commented.
"You followed Kabuto?" the imitator inquired.
"Don't be rude, I just thought I'd come and thank you. This child you sent me was truly a blessing. When I developed new techniques, I used to go through over a hundred test subjects for each one I created. But thanks to this boy's medical abilities, I was able to use the same subject over and over again."
"So glad to be of assistance," Sasori replied dryly, despite knowing his words fell in deaf ears.
"I had been running low on them recently, you see."
The unusable juvenile's right hand flickered blue with chakra. He held it up, his face set into determination—and then had the nerve to attack his imitator.
Even though it wasn't actually Sasori, it was the principle of the matter.
A subordinate—ex or otherwise—should never attack his master. Sasori didn't bother trying to reign in his moment of sheer annoyance at the situation.
The imitator's disguise crumbled away and the man inside leapt back and away.
And that was when things got a little more interesting.
( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)
(First POV – Sakura)
After Yamato successfully replaced himself with a log—and thus evaded Orochimaru and Kabuto, he landed back down on the bridge, clutching his right arm.
I couldn't hear what they were saying—the wind was too loud—but I could tell who was talking. After Orochimaru made a brief comment about something, Kabuto spoke. It then bounced back to Orochimaru.
While they talked, Sasori watched it all with growing irritation.
I tried not to smile.
Kabuto and Orochimaru continued to converse with Yamato on the bridge. After Orochimaru finished speaking, Yamato gave us the signal.
Immidiately the three of us lurched from our hiding spot, landing to stand on the bridge. I moved quickly to kneel beside him, my arm flickering green as I gripped his arm. Naruto and Sai stayed in the front.
"You two again?" Kabuto asked, clearly amused.
"Shut up, Lapdog," I called out, my tone sounding bored as I finished continued to heal Yamato.
"Ah, such big talk."
"You must feel so proud of yourself. Defeating a twelve year old little girl. Oooo, tough guy."
Kabuto's eyes narrowed.
"Hmm? I suppose we could stay around to have a little fun," Orochimaru said with a—there's really no other way to say this—creepy smile. "We'll see whether you've gotten stronger than Sasuke-kun."
I finished healing Yamato. In front of us, Naruto was shaking with anger—though I couldn't see his face, I had a feeling it was already taking on Fluffy's characteristics.
"Give Sasuke… back!" Naruto snarled, red chakra already bubbling around him.
My mind momentarily flashed back to the first time I had seen the fox cloak on Naruto in real life.
He had nearly killed me.
Unconsciously, my hands snaked back to the scar I held around my hip by being narrowly saved from my own sons by my Shisho.
"We can't simply 'give him back', Naruto-kun," Kabuto said, jutting me from my thoughts. "Don't you get it yet? Sasuke-kun came to us of his own free will. You've gotten too attached to him be a man and stop dwelling on the past."
"Lapdog you have no right to tell my son to be a man when you can't even be one yourself," I interjected.
Sasori's head inclined slightly in my direction. I had funny feeling he approved of the insult.
Orochimaru sneered. "If you're so intent on finding out where Sasuke-kun is, you'll have to force it out of me. If you can, that is."
Not even a full second, and Naruto was gone. In his place was a splintered hole that was still falling apart. Naruto's clawed hand slammed against Orochimaru's face, sending the Sannin flying away.
He was out of sight the moment he hit into the forest—but the sound still carried. He crashed through nearly a quarter of a mile's worth of trees before stopping. Possibly more.
The bridge shifted unsteadidly beneath us, creaking loudly. Naruto slowly turned his head to look back at Kabuto.
"Naruto-kun, your power as a Jinchūriki has grown a lot," Kabuto stated calmly.
Tense filled seconds passed as Orochimaru slowly walked back towards the bridge, his head bowed. Naruto swung his gaze back towards him, his teeth bared. Orochimaru raised his head, revealing his outerskin had been shredded and thus showed his current host's face.
He smiled as he walked back on the bridge towards us.
"Now I see, why they placed you in charge of this group—in charge of Naruto. It seems Konoha benefited from my experiments after all. Wouldn't agree, my little lab right?"
Beside me, Yamato stiffened.
"It doesn't matter now," I said loudly before Kabuto could remark. "What's done in the past has already been set in stone. Are you really so old that you have to find yourself reminiscing about the past at time like this?"
Orochimaru scowled at me before raising a hand back to his face to repair it.
"Impatient girl," Orochimaru sneered.
I sighed in exasperation. "Long story short: You stole remains of the First Hokage, experiment on what, sixty? Yeah, sixty kids, thought all of them died, then you were discovered… but one of them lived and here he is."
Orochimaru's hand fell away and his eyes narrowed. "You seem well informed, girl."
I muttered under my breath.
"Mmm, well if only I had brought Sasuke-kun with me… it would have been interesting to see him pitied against Naruto-kun."
At his tone and words, two more chakra tails grew from Naruto. Naruto snarled, "He doesn't belong to you." Naruto's entire body quivered in unhidden rage. "Don't talk about him… like he's some toy that you own!"
Overpowering chakra flowed out of Naruto, streams of red chakra swirled in the air. I inwardly winced at the pressure of the demonic chakra. My mind threatened to wander back to my first encounter with the four tails.
The wind burnt with the bits of chakra mixed in it, the trees shook violently behind us.
A sudden spike of pressure had the railings dent off and Naruto burn a hole into the bridge, all in a flash. The wind slowly fell, soon dying completely. The chakra that threatened to overwhelmed us, condensed back into Naruto.
A chilling sense of fear ran up and down my spine.
I had learned long ago to fear the staged cloak. I didn't want a repeat.
I found myself wishing fevently for Jiraiya to have come along.
Yet somehow, all through this, Orochimaru continued to smile creepily.
My eyes snapped over to Sasori. He was watching it all transpire with interest.
I clenched my hands into a fist, flexing it as a way to relax me.
Kabuto's hand glowed blue and he charged forward. My mind flashed back to the anime before I quickly dismissed it. Naruto swung his head around, snarling dangerously. Kabuto faltered in his steps, but did not stop or retreat.
His mistake.
Naruto opened his mouth and sent down a sheer blast of condensed chakra into a roar.
The roar ruptured the entire middle bridge and sent Kabuto flying back.
My hand snapped forward, into a fist as Kabuto came back towards me.
I felt a sick satisfaction when I heard a crack as it connected to his head. Kabuto's body was still being pushed on from the attack so he rolled with the punch, flipping over my hand and flying back into the forest behind us.
I leapt back with Yamato and Sai to avoid the rest of the blast.
The bridge slowly crumbled underneath us, forcing us to jump back to our side. Naruto and Orochimaru jumped across to the other side, and quickly out of view. I glanced back at my other two teammates to see Sai had already summoned his bird and was quickly flying away.
I looked back at Yamato with a raised eyebrow.
On the other side of the ravine, a large explosion echoed, kicking up quite a bit of dust that could rival the size of a super cell tornado.
Yamato gave a slight wince, clutching his shoulder. I frowned and move forward, my hand already glowing green.
After I healed his bruised shoulder he thanked me before creating a wooden clone. The wooden clone then jumped across the ravine—with the help of summoning a wooden branch.
Just as the clone reached the other side, scarily familiar chakra burst from the other side of the ravine. The clone quickly created a shield for himself as trees and rocks flew away from the sheer pressure of the chakra.
I winced, my hand flying down to my concealed scar.
Soon the clone was out of sight.
"The fourth tail…" I murmured. "It appeared, didn't it?"
Yamato glanced at me and gave a slow nod. "Jiraiya-sama informed me of both of yours previous encounter with it. It seems to have surface here."
"Then we better seal it," I said. "That takes priority… while Naruto in that state he's… he's in pain…" I shook my head, glancing over at Sasori who now bothered to join us.
Another explosion echoed from Naruto's side.
"We won't get close enough at this rate," Yamato muttered.
"It seems Sasori won't be coming, after all."
Yamato and I swung our heads around to see Kabuto slowly coming out of the forest. I scowled at the fact I hadn't knocked him unconscious, but I confess I did feel slightly better at noticing how his entire right side of his head was coated in dried blood.
"Didn't kill you? Damn."
Kabuto ignored me. "He was the only one who should've known I was coming here today. He didn't even tell the rest of the Akatsuki. And yet, your group from Konoha showed up. I seriously doubt you forced that information out of him through interrogation. In which case, he must've told you voluntarily.
"Your performance from earlier," Kabuto said after a pause, "was nearly flawless. Someone in your group must have met Sasori in person to have been able to do that. And that's when he gave you the information about today, correct? Of course, he probably thought the mind-control technique he'd placed on me was still in effect. That Sasori bothered to tell you about today means he's acknowledged your strength."
Kabuto stared down at us impassively. "Sasori hated Orochimaru-sama and was always talking about how he wanted to get back at him. He wouldn't have handed the task over to you unless he was unable to do it himself. In other words, he's either being held captive or he has already passed away."
"Correct," I said after a moment. "He's being held captive in my custody."
Yamato glanced at me sharply. Oh. Did he not know that? Oh well.
"Really? So you were the one to have defeated him?"
"Yes," I said with a smile.
A giant explosion rocked our world for a moment, all of our gazes snapped back to the other side of the ravine, only to see a billowing piles of dust and dirt kicked up in the air.
A couple seconds passed before my baby boy(s) came flying back to our side, to land less than thirty feet away from us. Orochimaru's summoned sword, pressing down on him.
Fluffy-Naruto gripped the sword tightly, trying to break it away from him.
Despite my fear, I couldn't help the spike of worry for them.
Kurama… Naruto…
It startled me, really, how off guard it came. I wanted to do something—I wanted to help. I couldn't allow my fear from one encounter hinder myself from helping my sons. That was… that would be wrong.
I unclipped my weights, releasing all of them.
Yamato glanced at me sharply. "Sakura…?"
I really shouldn't do this. I really should think twice about this, at the very least.
But I couldn't not do it…
I shook my head, and then before my fear could force any more (logical reasoning) doubts, I pushed in as much chakra as I could into my feet and I leapt.
My fist swung out, pushing chakra inside it as it connected against the legendary sword.
The sword swung away from me—away from Fluffy-Naruto. I glanced back over my shoulder to see him. Fluffy-Naruto glanced towards me for a brief moment before swinging his gaze back to Orochimaru.
I flipped over the sword, kicking off it to land back on our side.
Orochimaru sent me a furious glare at my interference. Nonetheless, he withdrew his sword, swallowing it back down.
Fluffy-Naruto let out a deafening roar.
I looked back at Yamato. "Captain Yamato—now's your chance!"
Yamato's eyes flashed towards me and he gave a slow nod before he began to perform rapid handseals.
Wood erupted around Fluffy-Naruto, trapping him effectively. Yamato ran forward, performing more handseals before he slammed his right palm into Fluffy-Naruto's chest. A bright green light glowed from the hand and Yamato leapt back, pulling a string of chakra with him.
Wooden pillars appeared from the ground and Fluffy-Naruto let out a distressed roar. Chakra pulsed from Yamato's chakra but slowly, ever so slowly the burning chakra resided back into Naruto. I winced at the fleshy skin it left behind and made a cautious step towards him.
Then another step, and another.
When the cloak was entirely gone, I had already stepped behind him. My arms wrapped around him as he fell back into me. I openly winced again, seeing his state.
My hands flickered green and I wasted no time in beginning to repair Naruto. Naruto breathed heavily, his breaths coming out in ragged gasps. I swallowed roughly as another patch of skin reappeared on Naruto.
Minutes ticked by in utter silence until I was done.
"Momma?" Naruto whispered hoarsely.
I smiled down at him. "Hey baby-boy."
Naruto struggled to sit up, I grinned and glomped him.
"Eh? Momma? What happened…?"
I ruffled his hair. "Don't worry about it, Naruto. Eto… before I forget… where is Sai?"
"Ah… right now Sai is—" Yamato was cut off when he received a walkie-talkie message from his wooden clone. He frowned as he listened to it. "Right now Sai is heading off somewhere with Orochimaru."
"Aw damn it, not another one," I whined.
Sasori shook his head.
( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)
After grabbing Sai's dropped stuff and Naruto shouting sense into Yamato—or perhaps it was illogical reasoning?—we headed off to find Sai.
Along the way Yamato explained in that in the big meal he had given us at the resort, he had implanted seeds to allow him to track us at all times. With the exception of me of course.
Yamato shot me a mock glare. "Because Sakura was overly cautious though, she didn't receive one."
I grinned. "I like having my whereabouts kept secret whenever I can. Even if you're the Captain, I don't want you to know where I go always."
"Eh? Momma how'd you know there was something in the food anyway? You weren't actually cautious from Sasori, were you? Because you ate at Ichiraku's with me when we got back from Suna," Naruto accused.
"Is that so?" Yamato murmured, glancing over at me.
I smiled. "I have a way of knowing things."
"Apparently," Sasori muttered.
I shot him an amused/smug look.
After a while of running, we were forced to take a break. During the break, we went through Sai's book and discussed a brief strategy before we took off again. All of us eager to bring Sai back from Orochimaru and rescue him.
Damn, déjà vu anyone?
( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)
Dear Sakura,
I'll take that bet.
I bet one more week of them being a team.
Naruto has a way with… words, after all.
Yours,
Gaara
:S I'm horrible at fight scenes. No, really I am. I can't take them seriously and if I read them in a story I usually skip them unless they're entertaining. However... just for some of my reviewers...
I wrote a special crack fight between Sasuke and Sakura.
So. I'll do my official A/N note at the very bottom. So if you don't like fights, skip the actual fight and just read the dialogue. If you do. Here you go. This is an extra long, overally dramatic fight.
I am so sorry for its horrendousness.
It's crack in the way that it has nothing to do with the story. At all. It's completely AU to the story. Or well... kind of. It's like an Omake, almost... er, I guess the actual fight is a little ways into it... hmm...
"Oh come on," I whined. "Please?"
"No," Sasuke said firmly.
"Please?"
"No."
"Why noooot?"
"You can't handle fighting me at my full power," Sasuke said.
"You don't know that," I argued. "So long as you don't use Susanoo and Amaterasu then I can handle you just fine."
Sasuke stared at me a while, considering my statement. "Are you sure about that?"
"Yes!"
"Well..."
"Oh for God's sake, if you don't fight me I swear I will start selling your boxers to the fangirls again!"
"Sakura!"
"I mean it!"
"Damn it. Fine."
"Yay," I cheered, doing a little mini dance.
"Meet me at training grounds three at eight o'clock tomorrow morning," Sasuke instructed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to hide my boxers... again."
"Hide them all you want, Itachi loves me more so he'll totally help me find them," I said smugly. Sasuke just shot me a dirty look.
Still a little more than smug, I turned on my heel and skipped away.
"You're going to fight Mini-Itachi?" Kisame asked incredulously. I sat beside him and Sasori at my home, nibbling on my PB&J sandwhich.
"Yep!" I chirped.
"Momma, are you sure about this?" Naruto asked worriedly. He was sitting across from me, nibbling on some of the chocolate cookies I baked for him and my so definitely Harem-Akatsuki.
No, I'm not a pervert. I can't help it if Kisame is just so awesome.
"So long as Mini-Itachi doesn't use his haxxing moves, I'll be fine," I consoled.
"But..."
"Sweetheart, are you doubting Momma?"
"No..."
"I am," Sasori said dryly, flipping another page in the Konoha newspaper.
"No one asked you," I retorted. I then quickly turned around, my face morphing into a hopeful expression as I looked at Kisame. "What about you, Kisame-sama? Do you doubt me?"
Kisame shifted nervously. "It's not that, Sakura-chan... it's just... well... he's Mini-Itachi. And worse, he's not Itachi. He won't hold back on you because he's certainly not a gentleman."
I gasped, clearly crushed at my idol's lack of support. Kisame winced and moved quickly to pat my head in a reassuring way but it was too late. The damage was done. I stood up from my chair and rushed out of the room, before finding Hinata and glomping her.
"I was just in th-the bathroom, what happened now?" Hinata inquired.
"Everyone doubts my ability to kick Sasuke's ass!"
"I don't doubt it," Hinata assured me. "I know you c-can win, Sakura-chan."
"Thanks Hinata-chan," I sniffed. "At least I have one real friend."
"Aw, come on-Momma!"
"Not listening," I shouted back. "Come on Hinata, let's go to the hotsprings..."
"Um... okay?"
To make matters easier for the authoress and a bit easier for the reader (I think), the authoress shall be writing in Third POV.
Sakura shifted her weight from the balls of her feet to her toes and back again. She repeated this process, her body moving slightly in synch with the gentle wind. Sasuke stood directly across from her, his katana nowhere in sight. The two stared at each other for a while, neither making a sudden sound or movement. It was Sasuke who broke the silence. "They're watching."
"I know," Sakura replied evenly. "They should be staying out of the way."
"Of course. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Positive," Sakura confirmed. "Are you ready?"
Sasuke paused, mockingly considering the question. His head tilted slightly and he stared back at her. "I am."
A heartbeat passed and then the two leapt away from each other. Sakura quickly backpedled away, knowing Sasuke was more of a close to mid-range combat type. She could switch to long distance and fight long distance if need be, and it would probably be more advantageous for her to play it a bit safer. She knew with his Sharingan things would be a lot more difficult. She would have to either move fast enough to overcome that disadvantage or somehow manage to control the battle with sneak attacks.
She gave a thin smile. She knew quite a few. She wouldn't use her poison style unless absolutely necessary. It somehow felt like cheating. However, if she wanted to enter ANBU within the next month then she had better be able to keep up with Sasuke. If she couldn't push him enough then there was no way she could survive in ANBU. This was a test of her skills to see if she was ready.
Her hands clenched into fists and her body tensed. Which sneak attack should she choose first though? Oh... oh, yes... She knew.
Hands traveled down to her weights around her ankle, unclasping them and setting them down gently. Her eyes never left his, as he watched and waited for her to make the first move. After she had removed all of her weights she brought her hands up into the first start of her jutsu. It was a standard chakra gathering sign. "Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed as the area around them quickly became covered in a thick, cold mist. Sakura felt her chakra fluctuate slightly before she suppressed it completely in the mist. Her hands moved again, now certain that Sasuke could not see them. There was a slight rush of chakra that left her before it traveled down to the ground.
She grinned.
Sasuke's eyes stayed narrowed as he scanned the area around him, his body tense and alert. He could no longer feel her chakra signature. He would have expected nothing less, seeing how she had worked for weeks with Kisame on this particular move. He had never seen it in action and had no clue what her plan of attack would be in this mist. He wouldn't release it. He could. But he wouldn't.
He wanted this to be a challenge.
Besides, he wasn't entirely sure he really could. He could never release Kisame's and if she had been training hard enough under his tutelage then it could be assumed he wouldn't be able to release hers either. But he would like to imagine he could so he merely consented to himself that he would not-not because he could not-but because he was in the mood for a challenge.
A heartbeat passed and he saw the first fist come to him. His sharp gaze caught it and he quickly bent away from it. She was fast. Outrageously so without her weights. Not as fast as Lee. But damn well close.
His hand shot up to grab her but her arm was already out of sight, dissolving back into the mist. It was only a second later that another hand shot out. Sasuke defleted it with his own arm, sending it further away from him and caught the first full glimpse of her. His arm snaked out, intent on grabbing her or landing a blow but she was already gone, back into the mist. Sasuke's eyes narrowed into slits.
It was time to take it up a notch.
The next attack she sent out, Sasuke's Sharingan flared to life and with unnerving precision he was able to grab hold of her forearm just as she was able to disappear again. Gripping it tightly he twisted his body to bring her towards him, his leg kicking out to deliver a nasty blow to her side. But she was just as quick. Her body twisted and her free arm jutted out to push off his upcoming leg and she twisted up and away from him. Sasuke still held tight to her forearm, yanking it away, knowing it would be causing her some serious pain if she continued her flip to freedom. It didn't hinder her enough to stop in the end though. Soon she was out of his grasp again, albeit her right arm-the one he had grabbed-was dangling at her side. She sent him a glare and he smirked back in return as she disappeared into the mist.
"Are weapons allowed?" Sasuke inquired.
"Did you bring yours?" Sakura's voice came out as a faint echo from the mist.
"In a summoning scroll," Sasuke replied.
"Then yes. You may use your katana so long as I can use my own katana."
"Deal," Sasuke said, already pulling out a small black summoning scroll. He unrolled it and with a faint pop his beloved chakra-enhancing katana presented itself.
He easily swung it in his right hand, gripping it with ease as he discarded the scroll with his left hand.
He had one more moment to himself before she attacked again. Katana clashed with katana. Sakura's own pitch black katana that had been a gift to her from her... as she liked to refer to them 'Her Own Harem' about a year after the Fourth War. Kisame and Sasori had been training her to use it ever since. The two katanas struggled against each other, and Sasuke released his own chakra into his. Lightning flared to life on it and Sakura grimaced, pulling away. Her earth type and water type natures were horrendous to compete with Sasuke's lightning type. While he would lose if he resorted to his fire type, so long as he stayed with his lightning type he would win.
She dissolved into the mist and this time Sasuke decided to pursue her. Her Sharingan tracked her movement as she appeared in the next attack, aiming for a low stab. He deflected the attack, leaping high above her and swinging his own katana in an arc. She twisted her body to move away and his katana connected with the ground instead. She rolled away, popping back up to dissolve into the mist again but before she could, Sasuke's left hand raised towards her. A Chidori crackled before he shot out a long thin beam towards her.
Her eyes widened and she narrowly avoided the attack. While she dodged that attack however, Sasuke flickered towards her, his katana effectively stabbing her straight through the abdomen. However... something felt... off when he stabbed her. The hairs on the back of his neck raised and his head snapped around just in time to see another Sakura swinging her fist towards him. It was far too late to do anything about it and her fist connected solidly agains this cheek. Sasuke was sent flying away.
Sasuke glowered in annoyance as he moved his body to land properly against a tree, still in the mist. It was an effective strategy. The entire time the person he thought was Sakura from the beginning was in actuality a rock clone. The Sakura that attacked him was more than likely another rock clone. Under normal circumstances he would have been able to tell the difference from a rock clone and the real one, however in this mist... in a mist that was thick and layered with her chakra, it would be near impossible to tell which one of her would be the real one. He doubted even someone with the Byakugan would have been able to spot the difference with such ease. Granted, they probably would in the end but...
Sasuke felt his lips twitch. It was an effective strategy to use with the Hidden Mist. It had already been proven that while in the mist the user and the clone are near impossible to differentiate, even with the Sharingan. Kakashi and Zabuza had proven that in their own fight. He should have guessed Sakura would have used that to her advantage.
Not to mention while he was busy focusing on one of the clones, he wouldn't have suspected another one was waiting for him to lodge his katana in the other one-thus preventing him for using it so quickly-before attack.
Smart.
But only good for one shot.
And she had to know that too. Now he would be fighting with the real one, more than likely. Sakura was never one to repeat a strategy in battle. Something about how it just grew too boring that way.
Sasuke flexed his fingers before flickering back to where his katana laid in a pile of rock rubble. He picked it up, and swung just as the real Sakura emerged from the ground with her own katana, intent on stabbing him. His katana deflected hers and he stared into her smirking face. He leapt away as she completely emerged from the ground before flickering towards him. He brought his katana up just in time and the two met in perfect synch. His own katana flickered with lightning and she was once again forced to disengage.
She gave a half heated glare and he only smirked in reply. His left arm rose with Chidori crackling to life. Only instead of a long Chidori sword as normal, Sasuke created his Chidori senbon.
The mass of lightning needles flew towards her and she wasted no time in leaping up into the air. But Sasuke was quick to follow. With another flicker he was up in the air with her, his leg already swinging out and his knee jamming into her stomach. Her mouth reflexively opened as she was forcibly deprived of air. She flew to the ground and landed with a sickening thud as the ground cracked around her. She glared at him, before rolling away from the crater. Sasuke flew down, still smirking.
Three water-style dragons flew out of the mist towards him. Sasuke's smirk vanished and his eyes widened. He was in midair. He couldn't dodge.
Damn it, he thought. Time to pull a Naruto.
His hands flew up into the Ram sign before summoning a shadow clone that pulled him away from the first two dragons and flew him towards the ground. The third dragon, however twisted and before Sasuke could summon another clone, the dragon dug into him. The force of water sent the young Uchiha flying away into the ground. As the pressure of the water intensified, Sasuke was forced to release his breath else he would pass out.
When the water passed, Sasuke was soaking wet with a very sore and bruised chest. He glared at Sakura. She smirked and winked before dissolving into the mist.
Sasuke stood up slowly, still glaring silently and he swung his katana in his grip, flexing his hold. He took the first step and through sheer instinct alone was he able to leap back up into the air just as the ground he had just stepped on exploded.
As he was back in the air, he stared at the small explosion. Of course.
Of course she put mines in.
Through the corner of his eye he could see three more water dragons heading his way.
Her plan was to either keep him in the air where she would attack him with water dragons, or keep him on the ground and fight in close combat while he had to worry about mines.
"You bitch," Sasuke said.
Her laughter echoed around him.
This wouldn't work out well with him. Take the water dragon or chance the mines. Water dragon... mines... water dragon... mines...
Or Susanoo.
Hmm...
Sakura felt giddy as she watched through the mist the three new water dragons race towards him. She was getting a bit low on chakra but she had plenty of her and Sasori's specially made chakra shots with her. This match was as good as hers.
That was, until, Sasuke started glowing purple.
Not really purple.
But she knew what was coming.
"That's fucking cheating!" Sakura howled as Sasuke summoned his mini version of Susanoo and easily deflected her water dragons.
"I never said I wouldn't use it. It's clear you can handle me without using them-and without resorting to your poison. But let's see how you can handle me with them?"
"I can't!" Sakura howled as Sasuke just grinned sadistically.
Sasuke fell to the ground, landing on the first mine and detonating it. But of course because he had his stupid Susanoo it did absolutely nothing.
How the hell was she supposed to compete with that? She didn't have enough chakra for that!
There was only one thing to do.
Fine, Sakura thought vehemently. If he wants to be that way, Ibuse and I will show!
She bit down into her palm before slamming it into the ground. The ground gave a slight rumble beneath her.
"If you summon Ibuse, I'll use Amaterasu," Sasuke practically sung.
"You dipshit," Sakura accused.
"You love me anyway," Sasuke said, completely smug.
"You'll use Amaterasu even if I don't summon Ibuse," Sakura grouched.
Sasuke paused, considering this. "Yes. Yes you are correct. Here. I'll give you three minutes without my Susanoo for taijutsu."
Sakura frowned, "Really?"
"Yes. I feel gracious."
Sakura wasn't sure about that but... it gave her a chance to inflict more damage to him while also buy time for Ibuse. Sakura gripped her black katana in her hands before she flickered towards him. His Susanoo dissolved and his katana met hers. Her body twisted and she dislodged her sword to swing a kick towards him. He jumped over it, his katana making another arc as he brought it down on her. She swung her's back up to shield herself from the blow. Sasuke continued to flip into the air before he was forced to pull his katana back to complete the flip over her. She rolled underneath him before popping back on her feet and rushing to him. He flickered back to her, his katana glowing blue with lightning.
He sliced in a perfect sweeping motion where her head once was. She had ducked underneath the attack pulling up close to him and jamming her sword straight through his gut.
He poofed out of existence and her eyes widened in disbelief.
A strong blow from the back of her head sent her flying away. Her head throbbed painfully and she twisted her body automatically and reflexively to land properly. Her vision doubled and she shakily stood up. Her left hand flickered green as she brought it up to the back of her head. Sasuke stood a little ways from her, smirking. She was bleeding, but it wasn't too much. After she close the skin around the wound, she pulled back her bloodied hand.
She flickered forward and the two met in combat once again.
His free arm swung out from where their two katanas were engaged to deliever a Chidori-filled punch and she twisted away from it, disloding her katana in the process. She continued to twist, performing a full circle and with its momentum she sliced the katana straight through him. Or what would have been straight through him had he not jumped away, back up into the air.
She stared up at him, their eyes locking and he gave her a taunting smile.
She paled. She knew that smile. He was about to do something douchey.
His right eye bled and she gave a small squeal before turning on her heel and fleeing.
"I am not fighting against you when you use Amaterasu! That's way too dangerous!... And painful!"
Sasuke laughed as the first spew of black flames chased after her. She jumped behind a large boulder, where the Amaterasu landed instead.
"You asshole!" Sakura screeched.
Sasuke just continued to laugh quietly in amusement.
"If you're going to cheat then so am I!"
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Sasuke asked rhetorically.
"Naruto! Kurama! Protect Mommy!"
Sasuke blinked. Naruto and Kurama...?
That was all he had time for before two fists connected into his face and he was sent flying way.
Oh.
Damn it, that was so cheating!
This ending made me giggle. I think we all know what happens from there. How is Kurama in it? I'll leave that up to you. How does Sasuke have the Mangekyo even though he didn't kill Itachi? Magic.
This, as I stated before, was completely random. I am terrible at fight scenes, as you can clearly see. But I wanted to try it. I felt like Sasori's was too anticlimatic. Will I ever write like this in the actual story?
Who knows.
Anyway...
Answer: I guess who I would be is kind of obvious. Sakura... or Sasuke, or Rin, I suppose. It would be cool to have Itachi as an older brother and I'm definitely an Obito and younger Kakashi fan. Or just Kakashi fan...
I liked all of your answers. :) I think some of those would definitely make some interesting stories... a girl falling into the Narutoverse and ending up in a boy's body... or a boy falling in and ending up in a girl's body...
The Question: If you could have any one person as your private Shisho/Sensei from Naruto, who would it be?
So. Reviews are love.