Chapter 79:
Akane was not, despite her parentage and upbringing, a sheltered girl… well; Not wholly sheltered at least.
She'd been a ninja since she was just a little girl. A Jinchuuriki for longer still.
Her mother and father tried to shield her from the worst of what ninja did, and for the most part, succeeded. But there were things they couldn't hide from her.
Her own missions for one.
Her first kill happened less than a year ago. A Chuunin that had been sneaking up on a mission with Konohamaru; she turned, punching wildly- his neck snapped.
Just like that.
The crying and the horror hadn't come until later, much later.
But she knew what being a ninja was. The killing? That was just the easy part.
It was other things that were ultimately truly… horrifying.
Infiltration, Sabotage, Assassination; these were their objectives every other day. And those were considered 'clean' by some measures.
Uncle Oro, whenever she asked him of something would tell her. His accounts of the missions he'd been privy to were unfiltered when they weren't classified. Her uncle was unwilling, maybe even incapable of holding back the blunt and brutal truth of the matter, whatever it may be.
As such she knew what she was, what it meant to be a Jinchuuriki. What her… intended purpose was; when it came down to it.
She was a weapon, the village's weapon to be precise. Their sword, or their shield depending on the needs of the day.
As such, when she was approached by the Hokage's Anbu in the middle of the market mid discussion with Hanabi, she, perhaps, felt a bit more trepidation than any other of her peers might have.
One doesn't call a Jinchuurikki into the Hokage's office this abruptly unless something was very wrong.
When they entered the Hokage tower, and she could almost feel the undercurrent of disquiet… of fear her suspicion was cemented.
Something was very wrong.
Her mind began to wander, possibilities and scenario's emerging and being discarded just as quickly in her mind as the Anbu negotiated through the traffic of people moving this way and that way.
Did they need her on the front? For a counter attack?
Did something happen to her mother? Her father? Naruto-sensei?
Her heart twisted painfully in her chest making her wince before she shoved the feeling down, feeling a heat blooming through her chest as Son Goku's chakra pulsed beneath her flesh with a soothing warmth.
No. Whatever was wrong; they were fine. They were all fine.
Even so; by the time they reached the double oaken doors her palms were sweaty and her tongue felt like a cotton ball in her mouth.
The Anbu pushed the door open and Akane was greeted to the sight of the Godaime standing with his back to a collection of commanders in his office; staring out towards the village from the balcony doorway.
The men were speaking over eachother, some paced, the others hovered over a map and others still sat in their seats, tense and quiet as they listened.
"-vailable reserves stand at just over two hundred."
"That's not enough for a proper defense."
"It is if we pull back from the outer walls and focus our defense in the center. Hard points, vital logistical areas. Draw them in."
"The collateral would be-"
Voices were raised, others joining in on the argument; descending into a cacophony of shouting and disagreements between the commanding officers.
Her eyes turned this way and that way, feeling herself slowly becoming overwhelmed just by virtue of being in the room.
"Hokage-sama" her Anbu escort clasped his hands together and bowed. "I've retrieved Akane-san as you requested."
That made Kakashi move, turning to look back over his shoulder as his single eye found her at the door. He nodded, smiling just a bit, seemingly to reassure her, though she noted the light of it didn't quite reach his dark eye.
He turned to the bickering commanders. "Leave us for a moment if you please."
The men, still arguing, halted their disagreement, offering stiff bows before shuffling past her and out of the room.
Akane remained, her Anbu escort stepping back to place himself by the door as Kakashi turned and walked closer to her.
She stiffened where she stood. She liked the Hokage, though she couldn't claim she knew him well; but her already present nervousness seemed to magnify at his proximity.
He looked down at her, hands clasped behind his back, he held himself in silence for a moment before he took a deep breath.
"I don't have the time to coddle you…" He said before shrugging. "You'll be needed soon."
"As a Jinchuuriki." She wasn't sure if it was a statement or a question.
Regardless, the Godaime nodded. "Yes."
"Where?" The front was miles away, she knew Naruto-sensei was to the north and her parents on clandestine missions. Perhaps if he said where she would be going she could piece together what had happened somehow.
"Here."
For a moment her brain stuttered.
What did that mean?
He saw the question on her face; read it like an open scroll.
"Kumogakure will attack the village soon." He clarified, turning his head to look at the pile of reports and scrolls atop his desk. "Only noticed the pattern recently. Same person is writing the North eastern reports. Vernacular and handwriting is too similar." He shrugged. "Honestly, I may not have picked it up if not for one of the Chuunin commanders having a particular signature. Iruka. It was forged."
"They're coming here!?" Her eyes were wide, still trying to fathom what he was saying.
No one attacked Konoha village itself… ever. They had like… the forest defenses, the Anbu, the Hokage himself- it was…
He nodded, oblivious or uncaring as to her disbelief as he turned to peer towards the village seated beyond his balcony. "They are very close. A day at most… more likely than not, mere hours. They know the ruse couldn't hold forever. They would move as fast as possible."
He turned his eye back to her. "You are Konoha's Jinchuurikki, Naruto trained you; you're our last and best line of defense." He spoke slowly, emphasizing each word. "Konoha is under your protection now."
She felt her stomach opening up into a pit, a yawning chasm that made her feel queasy and weak.
"It's a lot to ask." He said. "And I wouldn't ask it if I had other options but I don't."
"Are you… recalling others?" She asked, reached. She couldn't do this… this… it was the village the whole village. She…
Her knees shook, the world seemed to spin behind her eyes.
Kakashi's hand placed itself on her shoulder, bringing her eyes up to meet his as he stared at her with an uncompromising, rigid steel.
"You are our Jinchuriki."
He emphasized every word. Every letter carrying enough weight to crush her, and his eyes told her he expected nothing less than for her to bear it. That he would accept nothing less.
"Konoha is under your protection. "
(X)(X)(X)
The Iwa nin's blood spattered across Hinata's face, her short sword bathed in red as she turned with the movement, her free hand whipping out, fingers thrusting into another attacker's throat, the chakra burst from her Juuken spilled into his body, through the skin, rupturing larynx and windpipe.
He gasped, trying with his last burst of strength to cut her down before she sidestepped the strike, stepping past him and out of his fumbling reach as his vision swam and his body began to fail.
She turned, marching away. She heard him take another step and another before finally collapsing, drowning on dry land.
Hinata's byakugan expanded its sight as far as it would go, searching the surrounding forest.
Lee was near her, one brutally powerful kick cracking his opponent's neck with enough sheer power to nearly take his head off completely; the man flopping to the floor like a dead fish.
The Taijutsu master didn't give the man a second glance, rushing to Hinata's side as the mute heiress let out a shrill whistle.
Seconds later, Sakura and Kyofu were by her side, both covered in blood as the Iwa chunin scattered, breaking off their attack.
"We have to go after him." It was Sakura who gasped out the words, breathing heavy, though Hinata got the impression it was more from adrenaline than exhaustion.
She nodded regardless, her free hand moving in quick and concise signals.
"We will. Move north. Kyofu, stay, Sasuke, Tenten and Ryoko approaching now. Bring them."
Kyofu held out her hand, with a puff of smoke there was a small lizard at her palm, the tiny creature crawling to her fingers before leaping onto Hinata's shoulder.
"It'll let me track you." The summoner explained.
Hinata nodded, then gestured. Follow
She rushed through the forest Byakugan guiding her, following the faintest trace of Naruto's own Chakra trail, Sakura and Lee at her back.
(X)(X)(X)
The rain hissed as it fell, running down the chasm walls and pooling in the cracks and divots of the ancient reservoir.
It was a constant, deafening hiss so loud it could almost drown out their thoughts.
Orochimaru and Tsunade moved like two parts of the same being, lightning fast, powerful, precise and purposeful.
There was no waste of movement, no hesitation, no missteps.
Decades of fighting experience, of experience fighting together could be seen in every movement, every tactic and maneuver.
But still, Konan matched them, moving with that uncanny technique, vanishing when she was cornered, appearing in their blind spots, striking where they were weak.
More than once she'd nearly killed them. More than once they'd just barely avoided the kiss of her blade or the touch of a technique.
Always they saved each other, or avoided the deadly attack. They could match her even with her ability.
In terms of skill, experience, perhaps even instinct, they were her equal.
She was not their superior.
And yet, even so she could match the both of them; even working together as they were.
"Kuchiyose!"
"Kuchiyose!"
Their voices ring out simultaneously, hers and his not an octave different. Summons burst from clouds of smoke dozens of them, snakes and slugs both.
They hissed and slithered across the earth as they surround and converge on the Ame kunoichi.
Slugs spew acid, serpents cough up clouds of virulent toxin.
Konan's hands blur in rapid signs, a swirling typhoon of water coalescing from the rain and the reservoir around them, shielding her in one moment.
There's a surge, a burst of chakra; potent and raw the droplets of rain crystalize, becoming needles with razor sharp points.
Their summons screech and hiss as they're skewered and it takes all their speed to form two identical earth domes to shield themselves from the deadly downpour.
Tsunade's eyes find Orochimaru's in the brief reprieve.
The technique was powerful, dangerous. A trump card.
And it hadn't been hers.
… She had help.
This time, when she moves, they know what to look for.
And it's there, the flicker; barely noticeable, not if you weren't looking.
Tsunade whirls fast as quicksilver, her blond hair whipping about her as her fist strikes out, and nearly catches the blue haired Ame Kunoichi right in the skull, the blow would have disintegrated everything above the neck, but Konan reacts just as fast, twisting out of the way, barely avoiding the deadly punch as she lashes out with her sword and vanishes again.
The edge digs into Tsunade's shoulder, the wound heals immediately, superficial even without her abilities.
Konan appears and the flicker of foreign chakra stands out, like a ripple on a lake.
There. Just there, beyond sight, at the very edges of perception.
"Kawarimi." Orochimaru mutters before breaking into a slow amused smile.
Two of the greatest Shinobi in the world. Befuddled and confused… by a simple Kawarimi.
The earthen domes crumble around them and Orochimaru trails his eyes up to the sky, looking at the individual rain droplets, truly seeing them… feeling them.
"The chakra is infused in the rain."
Tsunade-hime is just as quick as he is; it seems.
He nods. "Whoever this is; his control is astounding. The power it would take to control the weather... A new bloodline perhaps?"
"Has to be." She whips her hand across the air then cracks her knuckles as she fixes her stare on Konan. "He'd be dead after a minute of this otherwise. And the infusion is too… precise. Too perfect. I never would have noticed if he hadn't used so much power to turn the rain deadly."
"Hmmm… That technique must drain him." Orochimaru muses. "Not something he can pull off for prolonged periods."
"Lucky us." The Slug Princess comments wryly.
Across from them; Konan looks grim. She knows her odds of victory are much worse now.
On the other hand, her 'partner' need not be so subtle anymore.
"Deal with her or find the partner?" Tsunade asks.
Orochimaru takes a moment to consider. "Her first." He answers, the Kusanagi cutting across the downpour. "He'll reveal himself when she's in danger."
(X)(X)(X)
Kurotsuchi's legs burn as she runs, pushing herself faster and faster, rushing through the trees of Hi no Kuni's dense forest forcing herself to catch up with Fukuro who's speed is still a match for high ranking ninja half his age.
She doesn't let herself feel tired, doesn't let herself dwell on what the hell she's going to do, what she's going to say or even if there's anything she can say.
Han, Sasori, Deidara are somewhere behind her, their chakra signatures just at the edge of her perception. The Konoha ninja not far behind them, following, chasing.
She can't rescue him.
They can.
All they need is for her to buy them time…
If she's not even good for that the fuck is she good for anymore?
She sees him, the both of them, just ahead and she pushes herself to move with that bit of extra speed, that little bit faster that's just beyond what her own body and skill can handle, nearly sending herself careening off the treetops to crash somewhere with a broken neck before she shouts.
"Stop!"
It comes out firm, with more authority than she has, more assuredness than she feels.
The old owl turns to look over his shoulder, finding her and slows his pace, not by much, just enough, enough for her to catch up.
She tries to school her features, tries to regain the professionalism that's been slowly slipping between her fingers like sand through currents.
She catches up, and he's beside her, and she wonders what to say, what she can do.
She doesn't have time for subtlety, she doesn't have time to think. The Tsuchikage and her Anbu weren't far to begin with, hours at most, and at their speed even that would have been cut down to almost nothing by now.
"Give him to me." She says, "Turn back. Hold them off."
The old Nuke-nin eyes her, his eyes shrewd and calculating.
Too forward, he knows something's up. His suspicions are raised.
"Give him to me." She repeats. Demands.
The suspicion is naked now, and the slow, rolling smirk that stretches over his lips is mocking… cruel.
He shifts his stance and when he lands on the next branch he brings himself to a dead stop, Kurotsuchi leaps once more, bleeding away her own speed before she comes to a stop herself; rounding on the man as she stands at the trunk of a tree.
He shifted his grip on the unconscious Uzumaki, using his free hand to grasp a kunai from its holster, spinning the blade by the ring pommel.
"Tell me." He drawled; his canines seeming almost predatory in the row of teeth he showed off in his vicious smile.
He kneels quietly, setting Naruto down beside him on the tree branch the kunai hovering in his grip. "When did the lines start getting blurry for you little princess? When did you start having second thoughts."
She fought down the urge to curse, hoping against hope she could dissuade him from the conclusion he'd so clearly reached already.
"I have no doubts." She snarled. "This is just the best option."
Their time was cut short, Han, Sasori and even the lagging, wounded Deidara rushing in through the trees.
"Why are we stopping?" Han demanded, staring down at them from a high vantage in the canopy above.
"Aye Princess." Fukuro smiled, cruel laughter lighting up his eyes. "Why are we stopping?"
She stood there, watching as all of her avenues, all of her possibilities and options slammed shut. One by one, every alternative evaporating.
Her eyes trailed from Fukuro, to the blonde he'd captured.
Her friend…
Even now, after everything.
He was still her friend.
One of the only one's she had left.
Her eyes turned to Fukuro.
She saw the smile on his face slip, crumble away.
Perhaps he could see the switch, flipping in her mind; the moment she simply… stopped caring.
Caring about the pretense.
Caring about her future
Caring about herself.
He tried to move the blade shifting to a more firm hold, descending down on the blonde.
He was fast.
She hadn't been lying when she told him she was faster.
Koutou's sword was in her hand, a flash of steel nearly slicing the man's arm at the wrist before he pulled away, leaping back as he drew his own sword to clash against hers with a ring of steel.
The others didn't hesitate, didn't ask questions. She turned, standing over Naruto now as she spewed molten lava from her lips, catching one of Sasori's puppets mid dive, forcing the others to scatter.
Rock armor encased her forearm, bringing the limb up to block a strike from Han who came at her from directly above.
Her body held under the force, the stone shattering over her skin but doing enough to absorb the blow. She was still standing.
The tree branch under her feet wasn't so sturdy.
Her feet caved in the wood with a deafening crack, it shattered after holding for a brief moment, sending Naruto and herself plummeting down to the earth.
She twisted mid fall, using chakra and what little control she had to leap off the splinters and pieces of tree bark falling around her to change her trajectory. One arm wrapped around the blonde's waist to grab hold of him; clutching him close as she descended to the ground below.
She twisted again, eyes finding the light of the sun peeking through the canopy above as Han and the others pursued , chasing her like wolves chase a bleeding animal.
(X)(X)(X)
Kakashi has always understood the meaning of the role of Kage.
You're a military commander, the highest authority of your village, the ultimate voice of control and power besides the Daimyo himself.
This is where the chain of command stops, this is where the prosperity, even the existence of the village itself can and will be decided.
But it's in these few moments hovering before the encroaching battle, where he feels their alarms and final warning systems trigger, lancing bright flares across the senses of the Ninja that he comes to the realization that it's only now, here that he's beginning to understand what a Kage is.
"Sir." His Anbu commander, Kojuro, speaks. "We have confirmation. North, North east and East sides."
He wants to ask how many, but it doesn't matter, the answer will be the same
'Too many'
Instead he compartmentalizes, prioritizes. There is a way to win, though not cleanly. Not painlessly. He has minutes at best. The civilians are still in mid evacuation to the shelters and designated defensive hardpoints.
Nothing for it. They might all die if he hesitates.
Perhaps Hiruzen could have found a better way. Perhaps he would have always been the better Kage.
But he isn't Hiruzen. And he doesn't have time to pretend to be or dwell on his failings.
"Engage Autumn Protocol."
There's a moment of hesitation, a moment of doubt.
He can't blame them.
"Confirmed."
Minutes later, as the first of the Kumo ninja breach the barrier system around and crept into the walls; the outer edges of the village erupt in fire.
(X)(X)(X)
The rain hissed. Like an angry, terrible beast it hissed and fell, droplets the size of rocks harshly cutting into them, sheer icy cold biting down to the marrow.
Her ally revealed, now Konan held nothing back, nor did her assistance. She flickered in and out of reality, replacing herself with individual raindrops to evade danger and strike from seemingly every angle at once.
Mid strike she would suddenly be behind them. A blow that should have cut into her flesh was suddenly off point, the raindrops obscuring their sight just enough for the woman, or her benefactor to cast the most subtle of Genjutsu, just long enough to send the attack off target.
Water converged and thrashed about, crushing earth walls and smothering flames. Moisture parted like waves breaking over rocks to avoid lightning techniques. Their own control of water slipped out of their grasp for even the most basic and rudimentary Jutsu.
She was skilled, powerful, and the one assisting her more powerful still.
They had her outnumbered, but it was rapidly becoming clear, the ones in danger were the two of them, not the Ame kunoichi.
Tsunade's palms cracked like a thunderbolt as she slammed them together, pure concussive force visibly rippling out of the blow like a wave, scattering the falling rain, buying them a moment's respite as Orochimaru's fists slammed down into the earth.
His Chakra sank deep into the basin of the reservoir, warping twisting, pulling soil, rock and metal as spears lanced out of the ground, wide and jagged they were thrust towards the sky around them.
They had to make some shelter, cut her off more permanently from the rain.
The shelter had gaps, openings, too many of them, but it was better than nothing.
Paper cranes fluttered about the woman's shoulders as she formed her handsigns, the individual birds glowing with the razor sharp power of wind chakra.
The birds flew, and with laughable ease, sliced the stone pillars hanging over them, letting the rain cascade down once again as the rocks fell.
Tsunade leapt, twisted and with two spinning kicks, the pillars were sent hurtling towards the Ame Kunoichi like lances,
She dodged the first, twisting out of its way before lightning lanced through the second, thorns of crackling energy splitting from the main body to sunder the earth to pieces, shattering it.
Then the Kusanagi blade cut through water, lightning and finally bit into flesh.
Perhaps her ally was tiring, perhaps the rapid array of Jutsu, chakra or other factors had let his attack slip through their notice. Either way, the result was the same.
One slice, barely enough to be called a wound, a scratch along her forearm.
But it was there.
Konan gasped, flickering once more out of existence before she reappeared meters away, cradling her arm close , red blood with the taint of black poison now spreading across the silk clothes she wore.
He pulled the blade back, the handle cracking loudly against his palm as the woman hissed, her eyes wild, hateful.
"Press the attack!" He demanded, rushing forward, Tsunade at his side.
The Slug Princess' hands slammed together again, the shockwave sending the rain once more scattering everywhere, rippling over Konan, isolating her for the brief window they needed to try and capitalize on the opening.
She stood her ground, grit teeth and raw, unbridled hatred shining clear through her eyes.
The Kusanagi found the steel of her blade when he swung, he struck again, trying to slip past her guard but she slipped through his own in the movement.
She was swift and surefooted, spinning once to slip past a kunai slice and pivoting to drive her elbow up into the charging Tsunade's sternum.
The blow struck, he felt and heard the breath rush free from his teammates lungs but she still had her strength, her hands grabbed hold of the kunoichi's wrist, but the water that soaked them all to the bone moved… unnaturally, making her grip slick like oil, Konan slipped through her grasp and stepped over a sweeping kick that tried to trip up her retreat.
They didn't let up, infinitesimal seconds ticking by as the rain began to descend again, the concussive force Tsunade had used finally slipping away to let the deluge continue.
Konan was fast. Faster than them.
But for now at least, it was two against one.
She tried to leap to reach the rain droplets herself but a serpent coiled around her ankle, yanking her back down to the earth.
She stumbled, her tanto slicing off his summon's head but it bought them enough time.
She doesn't have time to bring her blade to bear, she has to dodge, stepping to the side and Tsunade's kick is primed, launching itself like a missile where she'd chambered it.
Konan's arm, raised in a desperate block to avoid the blow catching her in the ribs, shatters, he sees the limb twist and break, hears the bones snap and crack like dried twigs.
There's pain on her face; agony even, but she digs in her heels, using Chakra to force herself to keep still, to not let herself go flying with the force of the blow, something in her left leg gives out, her tendon, or perhaps another bone. Her weight shifts precariously but she holds her ground. The sheer force of will it must've taken… she is extraordinary.
Her blade moves, flashing like a sliver of quicksilver in moonlight and the only reason Tsunade isn't beheaded outright is because Orochimaru's own limb moved just as fast, angling it, the edge of Konan's Tanto cuts through his arm, from the bend of the elbow nearly to the wrist, like peeling the layer of a salmon filet. It does not stop, even after it scrapes against bone until its ripping free of his hand, three fingers sheared off.
The pain is blinding but momentary, a second later his specialized Kawarimi sees him pull free a fresh body out of his own mouth, shedding his skin like a serpent.
He feels dizzy, the drain on his reserves is immediate but he doesn't have the time to hesitate. Doesn't have the time to let himself regain his bearings.
The sack of flesh that was his previous body moves. The remains of the damaged arm fumbling to grasp onto Konan's silk sleeve, the other holding aloft the Kusanagi.
He grabs hold of his legendary sword, feeling the edge cut deep into his own fingers as he grips the blade, yanks it free of the dying hold his previous body has and plunges it into Konan's shoulder.
The rain cascades down.
The woman vanishes, reappearing again, meters away now, on her knees.
She is a ruin. Blood and broken bones at long last.
Still… she struggles to her feet on failing limbs.
The waters of the basin roil. The rain pours down harder.
Orochimaru hears her; her voice barely a whisper.
"No… don't"
The water rises, and with a swirling, churning tide, it envelops her, and washes her away.
He and Tsunade pursue.
(X)(X)(X)
It's not fear that Kurotsuchi can feel. Not anymore.
It's not anger, or panic… or even sadness.
Perhaps it was all of these things, blurring together so intensely and so indistinctly that her mind has settled, or perhaps simply stopped fully registering what it is.
She feels… numb. As though her emotions were covered in mud, smothered and nearly silent to her mind.
She holds Naruto close, the blonde is pale, his breathing shallow. She can feel the sticky warmth of his blood seeping through her clothes, and the only real feeling she has left, piercing like a sharp point through her ribs, is the vague sense of horror that he might still die, even as she tries to save him.
Han, Fukuro and Sasori chase her. She sends clones and decoys, uses explosive tags as traps, lights fires and does everything in her power to stay one step ahead of the three even as she runs closer and closer towards where she hopes the Konoha pursuit is.
She's fast. But Naruto weighs her down, and both Han and Sasori can outlast her. Her limbs are mortal, bone and muscle, sinew and flesh. The other is a hateful creature empowered by a demon and the last a thing of wood and metal, tireless and ceaseless.
She senses the danger before she sees it and it's all she can do to arrest her forward movement, taking cover behind a tree before a cloud of boiling hot steam crashes over the area, breaking and parting around the tree she uses as a shield like water over a rock.
The heat is scalding and she clutches Naruto tight, pressing him between herself and the tree.
The cloud passes and she pitches herself off the side of the branch.
A forest of knives and blades is waiting for her at the underbrush.
Sasori's army of puppets.
Reaping and scything blades nearly take her before she stops herself, standing on the bark as the puppets skitter and climb up the mighty oak like insects.
She draws the Daimyo's sword, her chakra flowing easily into the blade like water into a canal. It channels and focuses, flames leap across its surface bright red with flecks of black that are not hers. Madara's influence.
It's enough to send the first puppets reeling. Sasori doesn't wish to lose more, they're not out of danger.
She hears a crash above, wood breaking, leaves cascade down around her; Han.
She spits out a river of molten rock; the drain on her reserves is immediate and sudden, almost enough to make her dizzy.
But the fire flows, it sends the tree, the forest and so much more bursting into flames. Two more of Sasori's puppets are consumed before they can get out of the way. She twists and turns, scattering as much fire as much destruction as wide as she can. Sasori's monsters scatter and she leaps down to the forest floor.
They're on her almost immediately. Her blade deflects sickle tipped arm before deflecting a kunai. She clutches Naruto to her, trying to shield him as her blade whips and lashes around her.
She feels pain at the back of her leg, senbon, poisoned.
The burning starts immediately, but still she twists her body and stikes out to shield Naruto as best she can before her chakra spears into the earth, opening it up beneath her feet to swallow the both of them.
She can't stay here long, seconds at most. He's unconscious, he can't breathe, it's all she herself can do to keep dirt and rock from pouring into his nose and airways.
More of the earth parts and splits and she rushes away, nearly blind in the mad dash to escape. She rushes back to the surface and for all she knows it could be directly under Han's feet.
She bursts from the ground still in the forest, the glow of rapidly spreading fires not too far.
She's still in danger. The both of them are, but she'd bought them at least a moment's respite.
She grips Naruto tightly to herself, all but dragging them to rest at the base of a tree as she struggles to catch her breath.
Her chest is heaving, her lungs are burning, the poison is snaking up her leg now, and she wonders how lethal this concoction is… or to be more specific, how long it'll take to kill her.
All of Sasori's poison's are lethal.
She doesn't want to die…
But she can't really think of many reasons she should want to live either.
She's not sure if that's sad… or pathetic.
Her pink eyes turn to Naruto, she could almost convince herself he's sleeping.
She clutches him tighter.
"I don't even know why…" She whispers to the wind.
She can almost convince herself the tears stinging her eyes are from the smoke, and the heat of the rapidly growing flames.
"Were we ever friends?" She half laughs, half sobs, feeling the words choking her as she tries to suck down a strangled breath. "Part of some big… fucking joke where I was the punch line?"
Kotou had claimed it was betrayal. But the man could wield lies and half truth's to make them more devastating than any ninja technique… How much of her time in his palace had been real? How much of it had just been an act? A puppet show for her benefit.
She clutches him tighter.
No… No… she knows why… because she knows Naruto.
If it had all been a lie. If the whole thing had been nothing but a fabrication… everyone could have been in on it.
Kotou, the servants, even Itachi. Everyone.
But not Naruto…
"Not you…" She cried. "I can trust that right?"
Her home, the trust of her village, her reputation, her importance, her friendships…
Every single one of them could be a lie…
But he wasn't…
She could trust that…
It was the only thing she had left to trust in.
(X)(X)(X)
"Find her!"
Han's shout was a deep guttural thing, exploding from the man's heavy mask like a boom. Sasori listened to it, his ire rankling at the Jinchuurikki's audacity at giving them orders.
He was close, so very close to simply cutting his losses and abandoning this as a failed venture. The Uzumaki had nearly killed him, nearly two dozen of his hundred puppets had been destroyed already, two of their number were injured, one dead, and now their commanding officer was a traitor.
It was the tantalizing promise of the reward at the end of this road, wounded pride and rage that kept him in place. But that was a tenuous, fragile hold as he listened to the crackling of the flames and watched the land begin to burn around him.
He spread out his puppets. A sheet of wood and steel bodies, blooming outward across the trees and forest floor.
She couldn't be far.
He had to wonder what had possessed her to be so foolish.
She had murdered the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni. Even if she succeeded in returning the Mokuton from Iwagakure's clutches, execution was the only outcome for her, Iwa would have held her in a place of near hero worship, her loyalty and value without question.
What rank stupidity made her decide that this was her best option?
He didn't know, and frankly, outside of a mild, niggling sense of curiosity, he did not care.
Fukuro lingered nearby, the old mercenary kneeling atop the branch of a tree like a gargoyle, distant from all, Deidara, wounded, dying, near useless hovered in the trees far above. He would be easy to kill after this. His share of the reward could serve to fund all the repairs his puppets would need, refurbishing the expended ammunition, weaponry, materials and time nicely.
Han stalked the grounds like a caged animal. For all the destruction of his artificial limb had diminished his size, the Jinchuurikki looked no less destructive for its absence. A mad beast straining at an all too flimsy leash.
The wind picked up, rustling the trees and feeding the flames, they grew higher, the smoke more overpowering even his own synthetic senses were being mildly obstructed.
He tilted his head. "There." As one, his army of automatons turned, pointing. "South-west."
Han took off like a plow through the snow, tearing apart the forest in his haste and force, rushing after to kill both her and the Uzumaki he was so frightened of.
Sasori moved, ready to follow himself;
Then he was under attack.
The strike hit him in the back, a chakra burst sinking through the false flesh of his primary body, and every sense, every sensation, every thought and order that came from or left his core was suddenly and violently cut off. He wondered, not with insignificant panic… if he'd died.
Then the redundancies kicked in, emergency safeguards protecting him, reviving him, life surged through him and his puppets again and he moved them immediately to surround him, protect him, an influx of sudden sensory overload hit him like a blow to the head, and it was all he could do to keep his mind from splintering and fragmenting before he made sense of all the disparate pieces of data.
He'd fallen from the heights in the boughs, Fukuro, under attack by a Konoha nin in green. Deidara, above, struggling to fend off another a kunoichi;
A hyuuga stood above, her Byakugan eyes flared, the veins bulging beneath her flesh..
She'd slipped past his senses, navigated the entire team through the cordon of outlying scouting puppets.
He recognized her. Bingo Book, recent addition. A+ Rank.
The Wolf's apprentice...
This one… was dangerous.
She drew a gleaming tanto, a spark crackling along its edge before the length of metal exploded in blinding white and all he could hear was the chirping of a thousand screeching birds.
(X)(X)(X)
A good chunk of this chapter was re-written almost wholesale, hence the delay. I apologise but it's done when its done. :)
Anyway it finally *is* done and we go slowly chugging along to reach the end of this long road.
My thanks to all those who've stuck around to see it through to the end. We'll get there, slow as my update pace is between RL and rewrites. Only about five or so chapters left to go so that's the good news :D