Naruto
Naruto: Shadow Legion – Chapter 26 [The Price or War]
Disclaimer: I Do not own Naruto nor its Characters
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
The field of battle that surrounded Kiba was at first calm. His sole focus was on the task at hand, however, after his sharpened natural claws slid cleanly through the torso of his opponent, he had a moment to himself, a moment to properly survey the sensual overload. The smell of blood finally reached his nose, the screams that had been ringing out became louder as he truly grasped the field of corpses that surrounded him.
"Look out!" a voice shouted, bringing Kiba out if his small trance as the body of a sand shinobi flew over top of him.
"Sorry." Kiba sputtered as he turned to face a heavily breathing Neji.
"You need to focus." Neji said with a grunt as he fell to one knee, prompting Kiba to rush over, passing by a falling shinobi littered with various kunai and shuriken. "I'm fine." Neji said through his teeth.
"Sakura! I need assistance!" Kiba cried out as he turned to see Sakura struggling against an opponent. Turning back to Neji, Kiba continued. "You need to stay by me, you're done." He ordered sternly, watching as Neji reluctantly nodded in agreement.
"Lucky for us they were mainly weaker fighters." Neji acknowledged as the dozen or so shinobi had been whittled down to just five, each one engaging Sakura, Hinata, Shino, and Tenten respectively, with the fifth standing by watching in the back.
"Or maybe we've just gotten stronger." Kiba retorted as he gave a half smile to the spent Hyuuga, watching as Hinata calmly landed a final palm strike, letting her opponent fall limp on the ground, their chakra network shut down entirely and the stamina depleted. "Hinata, stay with Neji! I'm going to help Sakura!" Kiba expressed as the Hyuuga girl quickly made her way to her cousin.
As Hinata reached the two of them, Kiba left without sparing another moment for talk, beelining it for the struggling kunoichi. "Akamaru!" Kiba cried, the dog barking in acknowledgement as Kiba flew through a slew of hand seals, transforming his partner into a copy of himself. "FANG OVER FANG!" Kiba exclaimed as he caught the sand shinobi off guard, shredding him with a mess of claws and teeth.
As Kiba settled beside Sakura, she began to speak. "Thanks for the assist, but we need to make it inside before more of them show up." Sakura explained as she made her way past Kiba towards the downed Neji in hopes of getting him walking.
Kiba nodded in acknowledgement. "Akamaru, go with her." He ordered, causing Akamaru to do the same. Kiba looked towards his remaining allies, however before he could survey the situation further, a sudden sensation of slight heat began to permeate from his side. It didn't feel like anything at first however as he watched Sakura making her way towards their allies, the warmness turned to heat as a stinging pain erupted. Kiba clenched his side, removing his hand to see a small knife in his side, and his hand covered in a purple liquid, as well as his own maroon blood. "Sa—ku…" Was all he managed before he collapsed to one knee. His strength began to fade, and what was once a winning fight, turned into a mess.
"Kiba!" Hinata cried out, her focus leaving her as she turned Neji and Sakura's attention towards him.
Kiba wanted to speak, but the words wouldn't form. "Poison…" Kiba thought lamely as he collapsed onto the ground facing the battlefield. "But from where…" he continued as he looked around his now blurred surroundings, his view obstructed by another nearby body. In the midst of this daze, Kiba watched as a sound shinobi kicked Tenten away from him and into a nearby building, turning his attention to him as he quickly charged the prone Inuzuka.
"Why won't you damn leaf bastards DIE?!" the man screamed as his charge became frantic. Kiba could only watch.
The man would have reached him were it not for a swarm of bugs that came flying from the side, carrying the man up into the sky as his screams frantically continued on as he was carried out of sight. "You're alright." The monotone voice of Shino confirmed as he moved over to pick up his comrade. "Here, eat this." Shino ordered as he showed a green food pill. "This should counteract the poison for the time being.
Kiba opened his mouth for his friend to place the medicine in his mouth, chewing it quickly. Kiba's vision began to solidify nearly immediately. "T-Thanks." Kiba said as his rapidly clearing head was tired of thinking so frantically. "So this is a battle…"
"Keep focus, there is only one left." Shino ordered as they began to slowly move towards the remaining team.
"Wait, I don't know where the poison came from, be careful!" Kiba said frantically as he started looking around in search for the mystery attacker.
"There is only one left, we should be—" Shino stopped talking suddenly as the air left his lungs.
Kiba looked to his friend quickly, seeing several similar blades sticking out of his friends back. "S-Shino!" Kiba yelled in horror as the boy fell down beside him without of word, dropping him in the process. In that moment, a cackle filled the air.
"You lot are far too young indeed." The final sand shinobi laughed as he showed a psychotic smile. "You may be playing shinobi, following the steps, but you are far too green to really know what that means." The mystery man exclaimed as he started moving his fingers rapidly.
Kiba looked closely at the man's fingers, his mind racing at the possibilities before he managed to detect the faintest sight of chakra coming from the man's fingertips. His eyes opening wider in horror he quickly jerked his attention over to where his team was regrouping to see two pseudo corpses rising from behind Sakura and Hinata. As the corpses fell away, two wooden snake like puppets were revealed from underneath them, their throats containing tubes, and their artificial fangs dripping the volatile poison.
Kiba tried to stumble forward, but his body failed him. "HINA—" was as far as Kiba got when the snake quickly snapped forwards, catching the kunoichi's thigh with its venomous bite, causing her to scream out in pain as Neji used the last of his strength to knock the false serpent aside, destroying it in the process.
Kiba watched as Akamaru assessed the situation for himself, quickly noticing the second snake and jumping in between it, and Sakura as it silently shot a dagger out towards the kunoichi, hitting Akamaru instead of its intended target, causing the form he was holding to drop as the the nin hound fell onto the ground.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
A silver flash of light emitted briefly in the area of team seven's skirmish as Naruto stood still, his kunai impacting a nearby tree as he held his blade outstretched. A thud sounded behind him, signaling that his opponent was no longer a threat. Deactivating his sharingan, he sheathed his sword, moving towards the nearby tree to collect his kunai before surveying the now quiet battleground. "Looks like we're stronger than the average chunin." He thought as he watched Satsuki swiftly collecting as many recoverable arrows as she could whilst Sasuke made his way over to Naruto, sheathing a bloodied kunai.
"I count six chunin with a jonin coordinating the two teams." Sasuke explained as he looked at the body that Naruto had just recently finished off.
"I thought as much." Naruto agreed as he signaled Satsuki and Kaze over to him. "She wasn't very strong in taijutsu, but had I not been part Uchiha her genjutsu could have been deadly."
"Ninjutsu wasn't too shabby either." Satsuki added as she showed off a small part of her top that had an extremely concentrated jet stream hole in it.
"Regardless, we better get moving if we're going to catch that kid." Kaze retorted in an aggravated manner as he began to aggressively sniff the sky.
"He better not have lost the scent." Sasuke scowled as he watched Kaze turn to a different direction then they were headed before their stop.
"Their close, should be less then a mile in that direction."
"Then Kankuro probably heard the commotion. He's probably not planning a trap or moving as quickly as he can." Satsuki surmised. "He shouldn't be too spent, so it's more likely that he's trying to get Gaara back in action before we get there."
"Then let's get moving, I'm sure we can come up with a plan when we get there." Naruto agreed as he focused his chakra to his legs, making a leap into a nearby tree before he started moving towards their targets with Kaze quickly catching up with him to lead the way.
"There's not much we can plan for, especially considering we don't really know what we're up against." Sasuke expressed in a disgruntled tone as he and Satsuki brought up the rear.
"What do you mean? We've seen their abilities firsthand." Satsuki questioned skeptically. "Not to mention Gaara is injured mentally and physically. We should just have you and Naruto blitz Kankuro and the puppet thing, and I'll try and take out a Gaara who can't move from a distance, I highly doubt he could do anything but use that sand shield, meaning that we'd just have to wear it down together." Satsuki explained as she went through the details of the flash plan.
"If there weren't two massive wildcards, I would support that whole heartedly. The problem is that not only will we not know where the puppet is, but the moves Gaara used at the tail end of the fight weren't his own." Naruto expressed, placing much more emphasis on his second issue.
"Exactly, not to mention it only came out after someone made him bleed. He could have all manner of tricks we simply don't know about." Sasuke agreed, causing a baffled look to reach Satsuki's face.
"What do you mean by 'not his own'?" Satsuki questioned.
"He's like me, only not in control of the tailed beast inside of him." Naruto explained without hesitation, seeing as not only did the two know about Kurama, but the situation was too important to hold information that would be key to the battle.
"That explains a lot actually." Sasuke said as he began to think back to the arm that struck him before the sand nin fled. "The eye that stared back at me was definitely not Gaara's."
"I still think that we should go with my plan. Even with all that considered, if Gaara goes straight for the sand dome then…" Satsuki stopped at a tree alongside her teammates as she looked down to see a bloodied Kankuro sat up against a tree holding what looked to be a broken arm.
"I don't think that's going to work." Kaze expressed as he poofed out of existence. Naruto watched as a malformed creature standing in the shattered puppets remains turned to see them. The look of evil in the unrecognizable eyes was met with near simultaneous sharingan activations. This only resulted in a sadistic smile from the Jinchuriki.
"Mother said you would be here soon." Gaara said, a distorted second voice echoing right behind it. "She said that you were bad, and needed to be punished."
"Gaara! You need to focus on the—" Kankuro tried to call out before a small wave of sad was sent towards him, covering him almost entirely, leaving the head exposed.
"I'm not done with you, but I will be back." Gaara said in a tone reminiscent of nails scraping on a chalkboard as he flicked a finger, causing the sand to move up far enough to cover his mouth. "They are the catalyst that will prove my existence to this world!"
"Be prepared, this fight will be much more difficult than any of you have ever fought."
"I won't take that warning for granted." Naruto thought as he drew his blade, prepared for the imminent battle to come. "You guys ready?"
"Always." Sasuke said with a grin as he and Satsuki similarly readied themselves.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
It would be wise to take the Raikage and get out of here." Tobirama said to the Anbu as he slowly walked towards them, unable to halt himself. "If I am correct, I am only out here to keep intruders from interfering up there." He said with a stop, mentally marking a line in the sand so to speak.
One of the three remaining anbu that was standing between the second Hokage and the current Raikage took a step forward. "We're under orders to—" he was cut off as Tobirama closed the distance in an instance, separating the man's head from his body before returning back to his location, receiving no further orders from his summoner.
Looking down regretfully, he continued. "I cannot control my actions, reason will not do you any good, and none of you have the power necessary to defeat me. You must go!" Tobirama urged sternly. This provocation would not go unnoticed.
"You surely are not referring to me, are you?" A questioned as he firmly planted chops into the back of the leaf anbu's necks, stepping in front of their now unconscious bodies.
"I do not know who you are, however I assume you are the current Raikage yes?" Tobirama surmised by the way the group talked as well as the various attributes he noticed A had. "You would have the best chance, however you still could not—"
"Shut it!" the Raikage interrupted, silencing Tobirama as a clear hatred that Tobirama was unaware of began to surface.
"Perhaps getting him rambling could give me some time. At least I wouldn't cause more damage." Tobirama thought as he decided to indulge the man.
"Do you have any idea what you and your spawn have done to me?! To my people?!"
"Spawn? I suppose Minato may have made the same enemies I did. Or they more likely carried over." Tobirama began to speak. "I only know that I have fought a war against your nation. I have killed many of your Kin, and when I arrived to make peace, I was attacked." Tobirama spoke, recounting the event that took his life.
"No less then you deserved, but the sins of your son far outweigh your own!"
"And what pray tell did he do?" Tobirama inquired for both stalling purposes, as well as his own minor personal interest.
"He murdered thousands of Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri nin in the third war! That is a sin I cannot forgive!" A belched out as he began flowing with electricity. "The blood that haunts your family will never fade, only expand as this new generation grows!"
"He was likely doing his job as a shinobi." Tobirama said trying to keep the conversation moving, seeing that the Raikage was deteriorating fast. "Can you blame him for protecting his own?"
"Perhaps, but it is irrelevant. And now not only has his own offspring come back to haunt us, but the boy has revealed himself to not only fight like his devil of a father, but he has an almost equally devastating power in the sharingan! And that is something I will not abi—" A's speech was cut off as Tobirama's interest shifted.
"Impossible. Only the Uchiha have the ability to harness the Sharingan." Tobirama feigned as he contemplated the premise of his son not only wed an Uchiha, but also having a son of his own.
"Oh? You didn't hear? He settled down with an Uchiha woman." The Raikage said in an attempt to taunt the specter, confirming his suspicions. "She happened to be the daughter of your old student."
"Kagami? If this is true, then it is very necessary that I find this boy so I may understand what is happening properly. I need to find someone seal me, but I also need somebody who can take me down." Tobirama thought to himself as he returned his thoughts to his plan.
"If you wish to die than go ahead and charge. I can only tell you how to counter my moves in the heat of the moment. Let us hope the divine speed of the Raikage have not diminished in you." Tobirama expressed with a minor jab at the man's ego.
"You little… Prepare to die!" A' roared as he blitzed Tobirama only to dodge out of the way of a Flying Raijin strike.
"There's no going back now." Tobirama thought as he turned to meet the Raikage's gaze once more to properly begin their battle.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
Ino swiftly moved through the streets of Konoha, her teammates by her side as they darted from street to street, alleyway to alleyway as the avoided the various skirmishes breaking out between the invaders and their allies. As she made her way to the end of her current alley, she discreetly poked her head out in the direction of the academy. "Shit." She said under her breath as surveyed the situation.
"What's the situation?" Shikamaru asked from next to her as Choji took the opportunity to readjust their prisoner, and Yugito began focusing in her own way, closing her eyes to seemingly check the area out on her own, a nervous look coming across her face.
"About three dozen or so mixed sand and sound forces. With a force that large there are easily 3-5 jonin. The academy entrance is a no go, we can't risk them finding it." Ino explained as she stepped aside, letting Shikamaru see for himself.
"You are correct. I detect six chakra signatures significantly higher than the others. I think I count 39 in total." Yugito reported as she opened her eyes, stumbling for a moment as she regained her balance.
"I appreciate the information, but try not to push yourself right now, we can't risk another body that can't walk." Shikamaru expressed in his usual manner as he turned away from the mess in front of him, rubbing the back of his neck. "Now we'll have to make it to the main barracks, what a drag."
"Is that an issue?" Yugito questioned confused. "You have done surprisingly well at avoiding conflict until now."
"The barracks is in the center of the village." Choji explained.
"Meaning we'll be moving through the heart of the battle. It'll be nearly impossible to avoid a fight in those conditions." Ino surmised. "Any ideas?"
"How far on your family jutsu training are you?" Shikamaru asked Ino. "The normal stuff I mean."
"Well if you're asking if I can communicate telepathically, I still haven't quite got that down yet, I've been focusing more on my combat style than the more utility oriented aspects of my families Jutsu." Ino explained semi-frustrated with herself. "I could try it, but it takes up to much of my chakra for even a simple message. I'd likely only be able to use it once, and even then it wouldn't do us much good."
"That might just be enough." Shikamaru explained as he started looking back towards the academy. "If I'm correct, an assault team is going to try and retake the academy any minute now." Shikamaru explained, noting the lack of leaf presence at the building. "The students probably already made it to the safe house. We should wait till then before we move out. Then when we're on our way to the barracks, we'll have you contact Yugito's team to rendezvous with us there or on the way."
"That likely won't be necessary." Yugito spoke up. "It is more than likely that my team has already made it to the barracks. We were informed that if an emergency took place that we were to report to the barracks so that we would avoid unnecessary danger since our quarters were near it."
"Probably for the best, I'd rather have my chakra for a fight, just in case." Ino replied. "Wait, why weren't they at the tournament?" She asked as an explosion echoed behind them in the direction of the academy.
"That's our que." Shikamaru stated as he watched the leaf force that slightly outnumbered the invaders sprung out of the woodworks from the direction of the barracks.
"The Raikage requested that they remain in a safe zone so that if there were an emergency he wouldn't lose anyone." Yugito explained.
"Alright, same thing as we've been doing." Ino ordered as she dashed across the street into the next alleyway, accepting Yugito's explanation. "This is too easy… we should have met at least SOME resistance by now. What are they planning?" she thought as the group began their trek to the barracks. Knowing that she'd need to be more careful than ever, Ino began leading her group as stealthily as she possibly could. With the battle for the academy raging so close, she couldn't risk rushing. Darting from alleyway to alleyway, ensuring her team and their charges made it through the immediate area.
As the group neared the backside of the battle, preparing to turn towards the barracks safely, Ino heard the faintest sound of additional movement to her own party. "Everyone quiet." She expressed as she turned behind her.
"I hear it too." Yugito confirmed as she quickly made herself as scarce as possible, hiding behind a nearby pile of rubble.
"Get ready." Ino ordered as she drew her blades, followed swiftly by Shikamaru and Choji preparing themselves. "Make sure Temari doesn't get caught by any means necessary."
"But what about—" Choji was about to object, however he caught himself. "Right, I'll get the girls out of here if necessary."
"We still don't know what—" Shikamaru began before he was cut off by distant voices, causing him and everyone else to further tense themselves.
"I'm not gonna die for some academy brats! Let's just go to the Hospital, surely we could use some back up there." An older and raspy voice expressed distantly.
"Get ready for an ambush." Ino requested as she moved into the shadows, watching as Shikamaru did the same, and Choji stood firm in his position in front of the rubble Yugito was hiding behind.
"We have our orders, if we don't get into the shelter through the academy, we'll surely be reprimanded." Another voice argued, this one much younger, likely an underling.
"Tell that to your squamates, or did you forget that they died for that damn shelter. The leaf wasn't supposed to mobilize this quickly." The older man expressed as his voice got louder, peaking as he and the young shinobi with him ducked into the same alley as team ten.
"I know what happened, but we have to think of the—" the shinobi was cut off as his superior stopped him manually pointing towards Choji. From what Ino could tell, this was the remnants of a genin team that the sand had sent.
"Why the hell would a genin team participate in this kind of attack? Are they really this desperate?" Ino thought as the man began to speak.
"Looks like we have some stragglers." He expressed as he readied a kunai.
"Sir I think he's a genin." The younger boy replied as he did the same, his focus shifting on Choji.
"Good, this will be quick then."
"Running from a fight and then assuming I'll be easy pickings? Are you sure you don't got it backwards?" Choji asked as he turned to reveal a slight bluff, letting Temari's face to the two nin.
"T-Temari?! If he could take her out… we don't stand a chance!" the younger exclaimed in fear.
"Relax boy, you saw for yourself that the other leaf shinobi took her out, he's just a runner. Change of plans, we are to recover lady Temari and bring her back to the Kazekage."
"Wait, but it if she's here…" the younger began to piece together losing himself in thought for a moment.
"That's it, just have to wait for the right opening aaaand…" Ino saw for a moment as the senior warrior switched his focus to his student. As she signaled to Shikamaru, it was clear she was not the only one waiting for this opening. Ino watched as a leaf shinobi dropped from the sky, quickly incapacitating the experienced sand nin as she dropped on his knee, breaking it. As he screamed out in pain, he was muffled by her hand silencing him. The genin, shocked out of his stupor, made a clumsy attempt at attacking the kunoichi, however his fate was sealed as the woman maneuvered the jonin in between the two of them, allowing the boy to stab his mentor in the heart.
"Ino now!" Shikamaru cried, causing Ino to leap from the shadows. She noticed the genin was frozen in place by Shikamaru's jutsu, if only briefly. Taking the opportunity, she swiftly approached the boy, knocking him out with a quick chop to the back of his neck, watching him fall to the ground.
"Was I interrupting something?" the familiar voice of Ino's mother asked with a smirk.
"Doesn't really matter, does it?" Shikamaru asked as he and the others regrouped in the alley.
"Mrs. Yamanaka? What are you doing here?" Choji asked as he and Yugito fell in.
"I'm here chasing down remnants of the routed invaders from the academy." She explained pointing upwards as several leaf shinobi hopped overhead. "As of right now the tide has turned in our favor, but it's not over yet.
"What's the status between here and the barracks? Shikamaru questioned.
"Clear for the most part, however small groups might have fled into the alleyways like these two." Kiku explained, gesturing to the sand shinobi on the ground.
"We could use all the help we can get, could you escort us there?" Yugito asked both politely, but with a hint of anxiousness.
"Your one of the kumo nin right?" Kiku asked, receiving a confirming nod. Acknowledging this, Kiku let out a loud whistle. "We had orders that if we were to find you to bring you to the shelters." Kiku explained as two more shinobi dropped into the alleyway. Ino recognized them as her clanmates, each of them being chunin in rank. "Let's get moving to the barracks then."
"Why not the academy? Didn't you just say you cleared it out?" Choji questioned.
"Yes, but the entrance is to out in the open for us to risk a hiding sand nin seeing us or that precious cargo your carrying." Kiku explained, gesturing to Temari.
"If that's the case then let's get moving." Ino agreed as she took a step to the side, allowing her mother to assume the lead.
"Right, let's go!" Kiku ordered, leading Ino and the others trough a safe route to their destination.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
Kiba was in absolute shock at how easily this lone shinobi turned the tide of battle. As Kiba's panic began to set in, he felt a weight that wasn't there before slither across his legs, causing him to freeze in fear, left staring at Sakura who stood against one of the puppets. "We… failed…" Kiba thought hopelessly as his senses left him. He could hear nothing, but he watched as the snake ahead of him was hit with an explosive kunai, sending wooden shrapnel in every surrounding direction. "What's the point… half of us are poisoned, and we still have that guy to take down." Kiba thought as he looked towards the crazed man, who was now no longer smiling. "I'm sorry." Kiba expressed quietly as he turned to face what he thought would be a snake, however he was met with the sight of Tenten holding the broken head of one.
"GET UP!" She shouted as she forcefully pulled Kiba up to his feet. As his feet met ground he unstably wobbled for a moment before he managed to orient himself. "Sakura can slow the poison, focus on the more important target!" Tenten roared at him, returning the same energy he had used in his own speech moments prior as he chastised her for attempting to abandon the mission.
"R-Right!" Kiba expressed as he jabbed his claws into his side, sending a adrenaline coursing through his body as he once again was forced to switch gears in this hectic brawl. "I can't really fight like this, but I can find the rest of those snakes." Kiba explained as he traced one of the few remaining fingers. "There!" Kiba cried at a pile of bodies, causing Tenten to immediately throw another over her kunai at the pile. The hidden snake made an attempt to escape, but it only managed to give the kunai a clearer target as it was blown to bits, sending it and the corpses sprawling. Kiba watched blood and splintered wood cover the ground, forcing himself to stop himself from puking at the sight. He'd seen gore, gore by his own hands, but this was brutally different.
"NOOO! MY BABIES!" the crazed shinobi said in a distorted tone, almost as if he were more beast than man. "You will PAY!" he expressed as his fingers began to move rapidly.
"How can you tell?" Tenten asked quickly.
Kiba nodded and pointed towards another tendril. "I can't see chakra, but when it's built up in such a precise way, I can see small areas where what should be dust, particles, and any other things that would contaminate the air aren't there, the chakra repels it, but only to a miniscule degree." Kiba explained as he looked to Neji, who was helping Hinata while Sakura tended to Akamaru. "Neji could probably see it better with his Byaku—"
"I don't have Neji right now, you'll have to do!" Tenten expressed as she readied another kunai. "How many more?"
Kiba looked up at Tenten for a moment lacking words, however he quickly surveyed the scene once more, seeing the man attempting to defend himself with a kunai, while using his other hand to control two tendrils ahead of him. "Two." Kiba said as he quickly followed the lines. "There, and there!" Kiba expressed as he pointed towards a stationary pile of rubble, seeing the firing tube that likely got Shino. The other was moving quickly towards the others, seemingly not caring if it was spotted. "Go for the moving one! I can block the other's shots!" Kiba called out as he moved in between Tenten and the stationary snake just as it began to fire.
"That won't be necessary." Tenten expressed behind him as two kunai flew past either side of his head, the first intercepting the snake's projectile, whilst the second, sporting a tag, impacted the rubble destroying the snake. Simultaneously another explosion went of no more than a few feet beside where he knew the others were sat.
Kiba quickly looked over to see a dust cloud settling, and his friends relatively alright aside from the poisoned ones. "Shino!" Kiba quickly expressed as he fell to his knee yet again, this time to check on his friend as he pulled out the knives frantically before turning him over.
"I hope you have a way to help him!" Tenten asked as she stood in between him and the sand shinobi who was in the midst of a breakdown, incoherently babbling to himself and nearly frothing at the mouth. "I'm out of ammo, but if he has any, I'll take care of it!" Tenten expressed as she held up two kunai defensively in front of her.
"Shino, talk to me! How's that wound?!" Kiba asked as he turned the weak, but still struggling head of Shino towards him, drowning out the frantic and more animalistic mumblings of a madman.
"The…. Miss—" a rough cough that shook Kiba's spine as the blood hit his chest. Looking down Kiba saw a smooth trail of blood begin to flow from out of the boy's nose.
"Shit! Where do you keep that antidote!" Kiba asked as he began to rifle through Shino's many pockets.
"You need…. Get everyone to safety." Shino said softly as his normally monotone demeanor gave way to a tone that was a mixture of both fear, and anxiety.
"Got it!" Kiba expressed as he finally pounds a small pouch filled with several more pellets. "Sakura!" Kiba shouted as he pulled out a pellet and fed it to the still struggling Shino.
"It won't… matter" *Cough*
Kiba ignored the statement as he tossed the pouch over to the medical nin in training. "Don't say that shit man, we gotta get you outta here, I don't need that downer attitude right now." Kiba said as he tried to force out a laugh out of his false tone of lightheartedness. This persona immediately fell as Shino tightly gripped Kiba's collar, pulling him closer.
"Get everyone out of here…" Shino said sternly through coughs, his desperate eyes showing as his glasses slid down his face.
Kiba paused for a moment as Shino's grip loosened, before inevitably falling to the ground beside him, limp, his eyes still staring into Kiba's. "Shino…" Kiba said in disbelief as his hand started shaking violently. " Shino?" He asked as he started slightly shaking the genin. This shaking grew gradually more violent before Kiba realized his struggle was in vain, resolving himself to bowing his head in sadness as the tears he shed came violently. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
Zabuza stood in a blade lock with the last remaining member of what used to be a sound black op team. The woman didn't wear a typical anbu mask, but she, alongside the rest of her deceased companions wore jet black uniforms that covered their entire body that differed from the others he had encountered, only being distinguished as a sound shinobi by her headband.
"You have a lot more fight in you than the others. Are you sure they were ready to be anbu?" Zabuza taunted as he broke the lock, leaping back as he used his blade to flick the deceased body of the anbu coward towards the woman. In response she knocked the lad out of the way, watching helplessly as Zabuza disappeared into the mist.
"You coward!" she cried out as she slashed at the mist with a wild swing, catching nothing with her blade.
"What's interesting is despite your emotions, you are the most capable sound shinobi I've come across." Zabuza continued as he began slowly and silently walking behind the woman.
"You've met Lord Orochimaru and his chief retainer; I will not fall for these lies." The woman expressed as she turned around to Zabuza's direction, slashing at mist once again.
"Interesting, your senses are sharp." Zabuza expressed as he grew more intrigued with this woman. "There is only one tracker nin I know of that was able to detect me in my mist outside of my student."
"Student? The demon of the mist has a student? Enough with your games!" the woman lashed out as she charged towards Zabuza, running into the mist. As she once again slashed at Zabuza, he simply caught the blade in his hand, allowing the blood from the cut to flow down. Helpless, the woman tried to dodge out of the way of Zabuza's swing, however she was too slow as the executioner's blade caught her by the neck, making contact with the wall.
Zabuza stood disappointed. "I was really hoping you would put up a bit more of a fight with the potential you expressed." He expressed as the mist began to fade. "I suppose we'll have to see what all your capable of."
As the mist cleared Zabuza looked towards his blade, the kunoichi's neck caught in the indentation on the back of his sword, struggling to pull herself out.
"Zabuza! We're coming through!" the voice of Hana called out from out of sight.
"Playtimes over." He expressed as he quickly knocked out the struggling anbu, letting her fall to the ground as he began to bind her as Hana turned the corner with a demoralizing sight.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
Tenten stood her ground as she kept her eyes on the dangerous man before her. "Get it together Kiba!" she thought to herself as she stood between him and death. Taking a glance to the side she noticed the other group wasn't doing much better as Sakura tended to their own wounded, whilst Neji stood on one knee in a similar way that she did.
"You little Bitch!" the man shouted angrily, snapping Tenten out of her assessment. "You and that flea covered runt ruined my pets!"
"You and your pets almost killed us!" Tenten responded, trying to buy time for anything to happen. "It's equally likely that more sand or sound nin come instead of our own troops, I hope I'm not dooming us."
"Then you should have sat there and died!" The man argued incoherently as he drew a pair of jagged kunai, slightly longer in length than the normal type.
"Tenten, watch out." Neji grunted out. "Those things are coated in some sort of poison."
Tenten acknowledged this as she prepared herself. "No doubt the same kind of poison he used on them." Tenten figured. "Surely he has the proper antidote on him. We may have to engage him."
"Antidote? Why would I need an antidote?" the man postured as he began to slowly walk in Tenten's direction. "Now move little one, I have an animal I need to put down before I deal with you!"
"Not if—" Neji started to try and stand up, falling back down to one knee, helpless to intervene.
"Everyone is either out of commission or helping with the wounded. This one is up to me I guess." Tenten thought as she felt her pouch, already knowing it was empty, but hoping for a miracle.
"No more tricks I suppose?" the man asked in a sadistically sarcastic tone as his pace quickened. "I guess that just makes my job easier!" he exclaimed as he erupted into a full sprint towards the kunoichi.
Tenten braced herself as she too began to charge, deciding that it would be better to battle away from Kiba, whom was still in the midst of trying to wake Shino from his comatose state in vain. "Give it your best shot bastard!" Tenten roared as she made contact with the mans blades. After a few quick strikes it was clear that Tenten had not thought her plan through.
"All that talk and this is it?" the man taunted as Tenten was seemingly swinging wildly in comparison to his clean blocks and parries, throwing in feigned attacks every so often.
Tenten tried as best she could, however she knew she never stood a chance. "I can't let you any further!" Tenten said in attempt to bolster her resolve.
"IS THAT RIGHT!" the man expressed as he thew a blade past her towards Kiba.
Reacting quickly she was able to throw one of her own kunai to intercept it, but this is what the sand nin wanted as he quickly closed the distance, disarming her of her second kunai. Tenten tried a final valiant strike, but it was caught by the nin's now free hand. "You wanna know what I think? You should suffer a bit more before I kill you!" he cried out as he brought the jagged blade upwards, cutting her arm. The pain was tenfold that of a normal strike. The pain she felt was much more potent then any other attack as she had experienced, causing her to fall to her knees, her motor functions leaving her. As she was about to fall the man held onto her arm, sheathing his other blade for a moment as he gripped her head, turning it towards her team. "no, no, no this won't do. You need to see this happen." The sand nin expressed in a tone more calm than he had exhibited before.
"No, don't—"
You already had your chance to just die. Now you watch!" the man cried out as he re-drew his jagged kunai.
Tenten watched in horror as the man was moments away from burying a kunai into Kiba's back, however instead she was met with a voice that in any other circumstance she wouldn't consider to be angelic in nature.
"Stay away from them you bastard!" the voice said in an angry roar. Tenten watched as the claw-like hand ripped through the man's arm, causing it to fall limp to the ground.
"Huh?" The man grunted in a choked notion of disbelief, not yet feeling the pain due to his god like levels of adrenaline. "MY ARM?! YOU BI—" The man was cut of as a massive metal claw gripped his face, lifting him off of his feet.
Tenten felt his remaining arm release hers as the shaggy haired man spoke. "It'd be smart if you stopped there."
Tenten watched as the man's eyes grew stiff, a second metal claw protruding from his chest. "It really doesn't matter though, does it?"
As the man's now lifeless corpse hit the ground, Tenten couldn't hold back her relieved smile. "Sakura! Status!" the woman she now recognized as Hana shouted as the ragged man fell forward only to be caught by his counterpart.
"Alright, you're done. You'll probably have to rest for even longer now." The more clean-cut of the two expressed in a chastising way.
"Everyone except myself and Neji were poisoned, including Akamaru. The only person who hasn't received a blocker is Tenten!" Sakura exclaimed as she quickly threw over a final pill that Hana caught. "Kiba and Hinata are slowly regaining motor functions, but Shino and Akamaru are in dire situations! If we don't get all of them proper treatment soon, the effects will also likely return."
As Hana gave Tenten the medicine, she turned to see Kiba still shaking Shino, trying his best to revive him. "Rokuro the Snake Charmer." The gruff man said aloud as he stared at the deceased man's face. "Check our bingo book, it might have the recipe for a proper antidote."
"Right!" Hana acknowledged as feeling in her fingers returned to Tenten.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
A loud impact sent Naruto flying backwards, shaking the forest with its sheer power. As Naruto landed on the length of a tree trunk, he quickly diverted enough chakra to his feet to keep him planted in his vertical state. "Satsuki! How much ammo do you got left!"
"Not much, after our match I was only able to resupply so much from my backups." Satsuki explained from across the field of battle, narrowly dodging the fist of a berserker Gaara.
"I'm starting to run low too!" Sasuke chimed in as he threw several kunai towards Gaara, each sticking in to the Bijuu arm that had taken over, dealing next to no damage.
"I feel like conventional methods just aren't going to work in this fight!" Satsuki shouted out as she shot an arrow towards Gaara, missing as he quickly dodged out of the way.
"Shit, if only we had more time to plan!" Naruto thought to himself as he quickly began running through a handful of seals. "Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed as he slammed his hand into the tree, followed by two plumes of smoke poofing onto the branches beside him.
"Bout time you called on us." A fox similar in color to the water sisters expressed.
"Focus Raiden, there is work to be done." A fox with a dark grey coat expressed stoically as used his paws to create a set of hand seals. "Doton: Earth Prison Jutsu!" A moment of calm was created, if only for a moment as the earth around Gaara erupted into a small pyramid, containing the violent boy for a short moment as he viciously pounded the wall.
"Thank you Jishin, I was just about to ask the two of you to hold him off so we can come up with a proper plan." Naruto explained as Sasuke and Satsuki regrouped with him.
"Leave it to us!" Raiden expressed excitedly.
"We'll buy you as much time as we can." Jishin expressed in a proud manner as Gaara's fist punched a hole through the earth wall.
"We might be able to put some damage on him too." Raiden said in further excitement as his body began to radiate electric charges.
"Right, if it gets to harry, or you think your about to die, just reverse summon yourself outta there." Naruto ordered as he and his team made their way a good distance away to strategize.
"We need a plan and fast." Satsuki expressed in a minor panic as she quickly took inventory of her remaining ammo.
"Let's think, what do we know that will damage him?" Naruto quickly began to speak. "I think Sasuke's Chidori and that evolved variant are out best bet for the time being."
"I don't know about the Chidori proper, we'd have to get to close. Not to mention I don't think you could handle Eiso yet, the chakra toll on top of the fact that you're both more spent then I am suggest that it wouldn't work." Sasuke said both realistically, if not with a hint of pride.
"You made it so I'll take your work for it." Naruto said as he reorganized his chakra paper to have the electric style on the outside for his slashes. "Normally I would suggest using water jutsu's to slow his sand, but he doesn't seem to be relying on it all to much with his augmented body."
"I only have about a dozen arrows left, and I only have enough paper for 3 lightning shots, an explosive shot, and I have one of my specially made shots for the dragons." Satsuki added as she slung her quiver onto her back. "After that, I don't think I'll have enough power to do much damage to him. All my other weapons are base."
"Then we conserve your arrows for openings, and once your out you'll just harass him with small attacks looking to exploit openings." Naruto suggested. "Sasuke, we'll have you on the borders of the battle. Wait for an opening to reveal itself while Satsuki and I chip away at him. I don't want you using that jutsu too much, I don't know its chakra cost, and we still don't understand that mark."
"Don't you worry about the mark, I'll be fine." Sasuke said with confidence.
"Alright, I got you." Naruto expressed as he sheathed his sword, producing his Raijin kunai from his bracers. "I'm going to try and find an opening myself to exploit so hopefully we don't have to resort to the Chidori Eiso."
A loud explosion erupted from the area of battle, and Naruto could feel the fox Raiden's chakra signature disappear back to its home. "I think that's our signal to head back." Satsuki expressed as she turned to the battle.
"Your right, let's move!" Naruto exclaimed as they charged back into the fray
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
As Hana surveyed the situation, taking in the report she just received from her subordinate, she quickly burst into action as she gave the wounded girl below her the medication to fight off the poison for the time being. "Sakura, I need you be an anchor for the two Hyuuga's. Get them both up and moving."
"On it!" Sakura responded as she began to help Neji up from his downed state.
"Gozu, do you think you can grab that ninken with your brother as well?"
"Not a problem." Gozu acknowledged without a fuss as he carefully stood his brother up before moving for Akamaru.
"Get… Kiba…" the girl choked out from below her.
Not needing to be told this twice Hana quickly moved to Kiba's side. "Kiba" she said, but to no answer. "Kiba!" she said in a stronger tone, grabbing her brothers shoulder, ripping his gaze from his comrade to her.
"W—"
"Can you stand?" Hana asked before he could say a word.
"Yes, but—"
"Then grab him and lets go, we'll have the help of plenty of experts inside for him and the rest of you." Hana firmly ordered.
Hana noticed that this seemed to have had the intended effect, giving Kiba what looked to be a second wind, or possibly a third or fourth based on all the bodies she saw lining the street. "Right!"
Taking one final scan Hana noticed the daggers the assailant used, deciding to appropriate them for future study. "Alright, move into the hospital!" She ordered, looking around to see everybody back on their feet in one way or another aside from the girl she had saved. "Up you go." She added, helping the girl up only to find out that she had yet to regain complete function as she nearly fell over again. Grabbing the girl bridal style, Hana continued towards the hospital, walking through the doors.
As she entered, she noticed a distinct lack of combat sounds as she called out. "Zabuza! We're coming through!" As she did so she entered the lobby to see those that she told to stay out of the fighting did so.
"I think we won." Meizu pointed out as he made a small nod towards the hallway she sent the remaining troops.
Turning to see the carnage, the small space was filled with mostly dead invaders with a handful of allies there as well. "Any abled bodied shinobi will stay behind to scan the building for survivors, all medical personnel and patients follow me. For those who need assistance to move, wait for another patient of medical official to aid you. Move it!"
With these words the victorious leaf shinobi scrambled to quickly scan the building whilst Lee and the remaining patients made their way behind them, the former quickly wobbling his way to the front of the pack. "Tenten! Neji!"
"It is all right Lee." Neji spoke first "Just a little tired is all."
"Yeah, just gotta wake up my legs." Tenten concurred as she started shaking her legs with slightly more force then before as Hana rounded the corner to see a rather bloody mess with Zabuza standing at the end of it, with what looked to be a single prisoner.
"Girl-er Tenten, can you walk?"
"I should be fine now." Tenten stated as Hana let her down as they moved. While she struggled a bit Lee managed to hold her with his good half, keeping her up.
"I'll be right back, keep moving after I open the door." Hana ordered as she turned to Sakura, moving quickly towards Zabuza.
"I need a chakra seal, quick." Zabuza stated through his rough voice.
"Right, I should have a few." Hana expressed as she quickly fiddled through her pouch, pulling her singular seal from it as she handed it to the assassin before reaching the door and starting to input the combination for the master seal. "She important?"
"She wasn't the boss, so she probably doesn't have anything too major, but she's a higher paygrade then most of these people, and she was the strongest warrior of the force they sent here." Zabuza answered as he slung the bound kunoichi over his shoulder.
"Better than nothing I suppose." Hana admitted as she opened the door, taking a count as everyone walked in, including the twins, Haku, Kin, and the team she just rescued. As the final VIP's made their way through the doorway, a multitude of the remaining shinobi came back nearly empty handed, only a few wounded being brought through the door. "Alright, that's everyone, come on." Hana ordered as she stepped through the door with Zabuza, sealing it behind them. "I'm surprised you took a prisoner."
"I wouldn't have if I didn't find a purpose in her outside of information."
"And what would that purpose be?"
"She seemed almost too skilled to be a simple anbu for this rouge minor village that could rival the weakest of the major villages." Zabuza explained. "She could be a valuable asset for more information and perhaps the same indoctrination that Kin went through.
"First off, don't call it indoctrination." Hana said in defense of her village. "And secondly, if she's as skilled as you say, it's going to be much more difficult for any sort of conversion." Hana explained as they made their way to a large opening, filled with citizens, students, and shinobi alike.
"Hinata! Kiba! Shino!" a cry rang out in the distance. Turning to see the source, she was greeted with the concerned gaze of a mostly unscathed team ten reuniting with the comrades.
"Medical teams! Set up a medical zone at each entrance to the shelter! Get all the wounded tended too Immediately!" Hana roared at the remaining staff of the hospital.
"How many made it out?" Zabuza questioned.
"Not enough." Hana replied as she looked around to see the looks of relief on the civilians faces in seeing survivors coming from the final tunnel, a few bringing those with minor injuries to the entrances. "Are there any high-ranking shinobi in the area?!" Hana called out.
"I suppose as wife to a clan head, I'm the highest rank here." Kiku Yamanaka responded as she approached the Inuzuka.
"I need to stay and help with the wounded. I need you to take any of the able-bodied shinobi I brought with me to go rejoin the fight, him too." Hana explained, nodding towards Zabuza.
"Already on the first part, my clansmen are gathering troops now, but as for him, he is to stay here with the Kumo nin, and the prisoner alongside his own team." Kiku explained, causing a confused look to appear on Hana's face.
"Why? He's likely one of the strongest shinobi here!" Hana asked baffled.
"Well officially it's for their protection, but currently we have turned the tide and are pushing back hard. The battle is as good as won in the key areas, we only need to push back the stragglers. It would be better if we had someone like him guarding the civilians and prisoners alongside the genin that have gathered here. They are the last line of defense in case the enemy has a trick up their sleeve.
"They do." The weak voice of kin entered the conversation with a similarly tired Haku carrying her.
"They do what?"
"The boy… Gaara. If he is what the sand say he is. You're going to have another Bijuu attack on your hands when he transforms." Kin explained.
"What? Are you sure?!" Kiku asked wildly. "Right now the only shinobi my daughter said are after him are… oh no." Kiku said with a look of shocked horror. "We need to gather a small team to reinforce them, they won't be able to take a monster like that alone.
"I'll go." Zabuza stoically expressed as he sat down his prisoner. "Gozu! Take her over to the other prisoners once you get Meizu situated.
"Right!" Gozu expressed as he started to sit his brother down.
"But what about the—"
"If I'm on my way to the Bijuu, either we take him down or we don't. No sense in dying after the village is razed to the ground.
"I'll stay here and tend to Shino. He's in the most critical condition that I've seen at least." Hana expressed solemnly as she looked over to see Her younger brother looking on as multiple medics attempted to ascertain the situation, reading through a mist and leaf bingo book for Rokuro. After further inspection however, there was a genin notably absent from the scene.
"I'm going too." The rouge genin Ino expressed as she shoved her way into the conversation.
"Ino, I need you here with the others in case—" Kiku began before she was swiftly cut off.
"And he needs me out there right now!" She stubbornly shot back at her mother.
"Let her come, it's clear she has more guts than needed." Zabuza expressed calmly.
Kiku was clearly contemplating the request deeply, however in a few moments, she seemed to have made her decision. "Fine, but me and my team are also going to ensure your safety, and the rest of you guys are staying here."
"If you have your assignments I suggest you lot get moving!" Hana expressed as she rushed her comrades to get back into the fight.
"Right, let's move!" Kiku acknowledged, nodding towards Kin with a thankful gesture as she signaled for the able shinobi to move out.
"You better get there quick… I don't know if you'll make it in time." Hana lamented as she watched the group disappear into the tunnel leading towards the barracks before turning and moving towards Hinata, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino, determined to save the lot of them.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
Naruto swiftly made way back towards the battlefield, briefly splitting with his allies as they made their own ways around their opponent. Arriving back to where he had left his summons, he was greeted with the sight of Jishin doing his best to not contain, but delay Gaara to the best of his abilities.
"Bout time you got back!" Jishin called as he spotted Naruto's return.
Naruto responded quickly as he fluidly drew out a lightning slash paper, igniting it in the direction of Gaara. As the Blade arced through the air, severing a portion of the more beast like arm, Naruto said. "Sorry for the wait, get out of here, you've done your job!" quickly dashing in another direction leaving kunai in a variety of strategic positions as he went.
"With pleasure, good luck!" Jishin expressed as he dematerialized, returning to the summoning plane to meet with his comrade on the other side.
"RRRRGH! MY ARM!" Gaara cried as his once arm disintegrated into sand before rejoining the mass at Gaara's base, allowing him to regrow his appendage.
"That hurt him, but not nearly enough." The Kyuubi analyzed as he sensed both the physical and spiritual strain on the boy's chakra.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" He cried out in a rage as he reached for Naruto.
As the hand inched closer, Naruto moved his head to the side, allowing a lightning encased arrow to fly into the forest behind him, leaving a gaping hole in the hand before giving him an opening to evade. "Nice shot but try and aim for more critical area's if I'm not in danger!" Naruto expressed as he watched Gaara turn fast, allowing his hand to reform as Satsuki changed positions in the shadows, not acknowledging, but Naruto knew she understood.
"ONLY COWARDS AND WEAKLINGS RUN AND HIDE!" Gaara roared as he made a multitude of hand signs. "SAND SHURIKEN!" he announced as he launched a volley of projectiles into the forest, turning as he shot so that he would destroy a half circle's worth of the forest.
Naruto watched as a shot impacted a nearby tree, launching Satsuki from her perch as she was forced to make a quick landing nearby, giving away her advantage. "That's not great, but it looks like Sasuke's spot wasn't given away." Naruto thought as he glanced towards a nearby boulder with an impact impression left in the stone, continuing his constant move and place strategy as he sent a water slash towards the beast, figuring that he could at least slow him down slightly as the arc passed through their opponent, leaving a deep streak of water on the boy.
"There we go…" Gaara said softly, his anger subsiding momentarily as his pain faded. "Now, let's see who is truly worthy of their existence!" He proclaimed as his monstrous form further grew onto his body. While this transformation was slow, Naruto knew that if it progressed much further there was only one outcome.
"Raiton: Lightning Bolt Jutsu!" Naruto cried out as he flashed through the hand signs before sending out a shot cloaked in blue energy towards Gaara.
"To slow!" Gaara shouted as he evaded the jutsu, allowing it to fly aimlessly through the forest, impacting a tree far away from the battle.
"Shit… if only I were a second faster." Naruto cursed as he stared at the fully covered Gaara, now looking more beast than boy.
"That transformation is too fast, and that jutsu not concentrated enough."
"I knew Sasuke's jutsu was our best bet, it's near instantaneous." Naruto thought as he took mental inventory of his seal paper.
"Come now, surely you can do better than—" Gaara was cut off by and explosive arrow exploding at his feet, causing a dust cloud to form in its wake.
"Come on Naruto, we gotta keep moving!" Satsuki cried as Naruto heard the sound of several basic arrows being loosed, one of which was laced with a lightning seal as he saw a flash of blue emanate from where Gaara previously stood.
Naruto quickly dashed away from his previous position, slashing out in hopes of catching the giant unawares, while also clearing the field of dust. Naruto was sorely mistaken.
"You're becoming too predictable!" Gaara exclaimed as the enormous palm of Gaara shot towards him. As it climbed inches away from his face, Naruto threw one of his Raijin Kunai, managing a last second teleportation before Gaara's hand crushed a fallen tree that sat behind him.
"That was close." Naruto thought as he quickly spread three more kunai around the area. As the dust settled, Naruto surveyed the situation as he teleported once more, nearly being blitzed by the Ichi as he watched a third and final lightning arrow shoot through the shoulder of the beast.
"WHY YOU LITTLE!" Gaara cried as his anger once again surfaced, clearly not fond of this new sensation he's been forced to feel ever since Sasuke in the Arena.
Taking his opportunity, Naruto decided to take this moment to make his move as he unveiled a kunai on each finger, moving through a set of hand seals before proclaiming "Raiton: Paralysis Barrage!" throwing now ten kunai engulfed in yellow lightning at the beast.
Gaara noticed slightly too late, moving to dodge seconds after the first three struck him, allowing the rest to pile on as he cried out in a primal pain. "SASUKE NOW!" Naruto signaled as Sasuke emerged with a still charging Chidori in his hand.
"I'll finish this!" Sasuke roared triumphantly, extending his arm to deliver the final blow onto the helpless Jinchuriki. "Chidori Eis—" a moment of shock hit Sasuke as he made his attack.
Naruto watched a catastrophe unfold as Sasuke's attack soared too low, piercing the side of Gaara's stomach as Sasuke fell to one knee, coughing up a spat of blood, the curse mark spreading over his body like a plague as the jutsu fizzled out.
O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O
Authors Notes: It has been WAY to long, so before I get into the chapter notes, let me hit you with some explanation and announcements. As most of you may know, we're currently in the middle of summer. When I got out of school, I was intent on taking a small break and then returning in full force with a schedule, however summer fever hit and between lack of drive and vacation, I never got around to writing the next chapter. As of right now I am trying to get myself back in action, but I only ask patience from those willing to wait for these chapters.
As for announcements, until the end of OG Naruto (So the Tsunade/Sasuke Retrieval Arc's with some fluff in between arcs) My focus will be solely on THIS fic, and not the others I started. At this point in time, for those interested, I am indefinitely suspending The Mage Hero, and suspending AOT: Vanguard until I feel I'm able to balance the two of them, or I catch up to OG Naruto. This may be a blow to many of my readers, but I have simply lost interest for the time being in my shield hero fic, and I am in no state to continue vanguard. These updates will be posted on my Bio following the upload of this chapter. While I have several more planned stories outside of those already in development, I'm choosing to shelve them for the time being. (anyone interested in the concepts I've concocted feel free to PM me so I can share and receive any criticisms or support you would show.)
Into the chapter notes. This chapter is easily the most violent I've made in terms of gore. I'm not a fan of writing these scenes, but I feel that they are necessary to show what those on the ground face in these types of scenarios, portrayed by Kiba in this chapter. Many of the Konoha 13 are significantly stronger than in canon with some exceptions, hence why team seven can dispatch a jonin and six chunin and team gai/8 can take down a decent force of chunin as well. I do have a plan for Tobirama in this battle, I did not put his short interaction in this chapter for no reason. Gaara is significantly more feral in this version because I wanted team seven to be faced with a much more overwhelming foe since in canon, they did waaaay to much talking beforehand, and because felt the only way they would struggle is if they were always on their toes. That's all for this chapter. I will try my hardest to get a new chapter out by at least this time next week when we enter [ The Bonds that Define Us ]
One final note, I've been having trouble writing for A, and I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for his name. I've tried [A, A' , Aei, Ai, A , A ] but none of them ever looked good. I would love your input!