A/N: I'm sorry. This took way longer than I thought it would. It was my mum's birthday, Diwali (I'm Hindu and for those who don't know, it's a huge festival of lights. Kinda like Hanukkah if you're Jewish, but for different reasons), and a general hectic week filled with festivities. Also, I've mentioned this before, I think, but fight scenes are hard for me, and this chapter was focused on that, so...

Anyway, y'all aren't here to see me give excuses and rant about life.

Here's the chapter! Enjoy!


LAST TIME:

Deidara threw clay figurines towards the five ninjas.

'I guess the battle's begun.'


NOW:

"Sakura, it's a bomb! Dodge!" Hanara yelled, moving to the right as Sakura moved to the left, letting the bombs explode behind them.

'Clay… clay bombs. What would be its weakness? It's a jutsu… Isn't clay made from mud? Soil? Something earthy. Earth is weak to lightning! Yes, Kakashi-Sensei is great at Lightning Release and can handle Naruto. I'm long-ranged but would do nothing against a bomber. Sasori however… my skills match his so much, it's almost insane! I mean, with my use of chakra threads, I could destroy his chakra system in two moves.'

"Deidara," Sasori growled, "Don't destroy the base with those pyrotechnics of yours."

"Respect my art!" Deidara demanded.

"You call those monstrosities, art? True art is eternal!" Sasori exclaimed.

"Art is fleeting; a transient beauty that fades after a moment, hmm." Deidara said.

'They take way too long to plan… but I can use this to my advantage. Gaara's still there. Ten minutes, is my guess… We need a quick way to get him out of here. Pho! Yes, and cha– no! The replacement jutsu!'

Once again, she signed, and hoped to Kami that her squad saw it.

Replacement. Target.

Her hands moved in a blur, and she performed the Summoning Jutsu. The moment she saw a puff of smoke that was bound to get her opponents' attention, Hanara performed the Replacement Jutsu, replacing herself with Gaara.

"SAKURA, GET HIM ON PHO AND GO!" Hanara yelled, dropping a few smoke bombs and Body-Flickering as fast as she could to escape from the very upset holograms of Akatsuki members.

"Deidara… Sasori…" one of the holograms growled threateningly.

Nodding, Sakura carried Gaara's unconscious body and climbed onto Pho, who, sensing the urgency of the situation, immediately flew out of the cave.

Hanara saw Sasori using his chakra threads to try to grab Pho, but immediately cut them with her Gentle Fist. Pho went full speed after that and was out of a normal person's sight in half a minute.

"Deidara, follow them," Sasori commanded.

Rolling his eyes, Deidara complied.

"Kakashi-Sensei, lightning. That should be a weakness, if I'm right. Take Naruto and handle the bomber," Hanara whispered.

Kakashi-Sensei didn't acknowledge her words, instead opting to signal Naruto, who was calming down now that there wasn't any immediate danger.

The two of them followed the bomber, leaving Hanara and Lady Chiyo to take care of the puppeteer.

Studying the man closer, Hanara realized that the figure on the outside wasn't a man at all. In fact, even on the inside, he wasn't completely human."

"My Gentle Fist…" Hanara gasped, "It's useless!"

"That's right, girl," Sasori said, "If you even managed to break my shell, I don't have nearly as many chakra points as a regular person."

'Dammit, why did I send Sakura away? I think, for the first time, I'm actually scared for my life… I– I know I've died before, and– and that hurt. I never thought that I'd be afraid of death again since it's no longer an unknown but… I have things here. I got attached, and while that gave me Pho… it's made me fear things I hadn't before. I don't want to lose them again, but this man. He's– he's merciless. He's– something about him, it isn't right. He's scary in ways I didn't– he gives me bad vibes… Deep breaths Hanara. Sending Sakura was necessary. She's the only person that could make sure that Gaara didn't die on the way back and the only person that would know what's wrong with him. So what if your Gentle Fist is useless? You can cut him apart while keeping the distance you need so that you aren't poisoned. Besides, she gave Lady Chiyo three antidotes before… Alright, you can do this Hana. If you die, it's only cuz of chakra exhaustion or poisoning! I didn't even have the foresight to bring a mask even though I knew that one of these guys specialized in poisons. It's okay, you can do this, Hanara. You. Can. Do. This.'

"Hanara, be brave. I'm here with you. Stand back and watch," Lady Chiyo said, surprisingly gentle.

Lady Chiyo attached some kunai to her chakra threads and sent them flying towards Sasori, who immediately used his tail to block them all.

'He's a puppet, that isn't going to work.'

Hanara's eyes widened, and she smirked, 'I've never needed them like this– not like Asuma-Sensei does, but this might just work.'

"Lady Chiyo," Hanara muttered, "He's a puppet in a puppet. The only vulnerable part is his heart and it's heavily protected. Usually I'm the one doing this to other people, but it's best if you do it for me. I'll be your puppet. I'm the only one out of us that can break his shell."

"If you're going to play like that, then I suppose you leave me with no choice." Sasori snarled, "So, Granny Chiyo, you want to join my collection along with that brat beside you? First I pull out the entrails. Then I skin the body clean and drain the blood down to the last drop. Add in a few preservatives, string it up, and we have a brand-new marionette. This is my art."

'He's fucking insane,' she thought in disbelief. 'That's inhumane! I knew something wasn't right with him. My job here isn't to kill. It's to distract and stall. It's to survive until I'm sure Gaara's okay. So, just stall.'"

"You know," Hanara called out, "I have to agree with your partner. What use is art if it isn't special? If it's eternal no one will appreciate it. The sun, the grass, nature. All of it is fleeting; there for a moment and then gone. That's why people cherish it. Even life. People treasure it because it is momentary. That's why they tell you to live every day as if it's your last. The things we treasure are things that won't always be with us. My parents. They're gone, but I treasure my memories of them even more because of it. If everything is eternal, then why would I? They'll always b–"

She was cut off by a growl, "I'll have to add you and the hag to my collection. With the two of you, I'll have exactly 300."

'And I guess, that's all the stalling I can do without risking a poisoning…'

"We don't know the inner mechanisms, but while I'm no Sakura, I can cause some damage," Hanara smirked, making sure to keep her voice hushed, "Usually, I'm the one doing this, so it'll be fun being on the other end. Lady Chiyo, control me. I'll be your puppet, and I'll cut through his puppet shell."

She slipped her hands into her weapon pouches and pulled out four kunai from each. Hana slipped her fingers through the holes and with practised ease, and used her Wind chakra to sharpen them– much like Asuma-Sensei did with his knuckle blades.

"I trust you won't get me poisoned," she smiled. "After all, despite the fact that I'm the Hyuga, you're the one that will be able to anticipate his attacks."

"Are we all ready?" Sasori growled, "I really hate waiting, you know."

"Oh, don't worry," Lady Chiyo smiled viciously, "We'll waste no time in killing you."

Lady Chiyo made her threads invisible and made Hanara charge. Sasori wasted no time in spitting out a shower of senbon that were no doubt coated in poison, if her Byakugan was any hint. After a series of quick flips and dodges, Hanara was back on her feet, and behind Sasori. However, before she could do anything, he attacked."

"DIE!" the famed puppeteer exclaimed, shooting out even tinier senbon from his left hand.

Lady Chiyo moved her faster than she did before and it was only her Gentle Fist training that let her move the way the threads were tugging her.

'Well, now I know how it feels.'

Once the second senbon shower was complete, Hanara and Lady Chiyo stood beside each other, neither of them panting or showing any signs of exhaustion. The sight caused Sasori visible frustration.

Lady Chiyo used Sasori's shock to her advantage and forced Hanara to charge. Sasori's reaction was slow but sudden, forcing Hana to stop abruptly in order not to run into the poisoned tail.

"HANARA, NOW!" Lady Chiyo yelled.


A/N: I feel bad about letting Hanara take Sakura's spot, but that was the only logical way I could think of based on her situation. And, if you haven't noticed, Hana's very logical. Sakura's a medic and can keep a level head if Gaara's condition got worse (as stated in the chapter). I don't know, maybe you could have thought of something else that actually made more sense but I'm a young person (very likely younger than any of my readers) and I'm not you. Sakura will have plenty of time to shine, but this story follows Hana, not Sakura.

By no means am I a Sakura hater, but this isn't a Sakura-centric fic. I understand that this is one of her pivotal moments as a character, which is why I'm making this lengthy A/N in the first place, but nothing else made sense logically.