The Wanderers
Chapter 6 – Defence
A/N: You guys are awesome. I never expected to get 50 reviews, I'm so happy you guys are enjoying my story. I've decided to write the side story of the Chuunin Exams in Suna. I'll still be aiming to release this story weekly, so I'll work on it when I can. It'll be a reasonable length too, because there are lots of things I'm leaving out of this story that happened in Suna.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Kakashi would use more of his 'Thousand Jutsus'
"It's worse then we feared" said Itachi looking out at the open field.
"How bad?" asked Kakashi, his Sharingan already revealed.
The others were ready to defend Naruto with their lives, knowing that their opponent would be a very powerful criminal. They watched as four shadows jumped into the field to confront the remaining Konoha ninja.
"Very bad" responded Itachi, staring at his former partner.
Kisame bared his teeth at the Uchiha betrayer, removing Samehada from his back and pointing it at the Sharingan user.
"Itachi is mine."
The three other Akatsuki members looked at the large shark man before conceding the point.
"There appear to be a large gathering of insects before us" said the tall Akatsuki member, the ring on his left hand reading Hoku (North).
"Of course there are you bastard, why do you think the shit-head sent us here?" said the grey haired scythe-wielder, his ring reading San (Three).
Deidara sighed as the two immortals argued with each other.
"Kakuzu, Hidan, focus on the enemy, hn. If they survived Konoha, they are worth blowing up, hn."
Hidan glared at the blonde shinobi, "Don't start going on about that art bullshit, I'll cut your face open and piss down your throat."
"Do they always argue like this?" asked Kakashi, wondering why the criminals hadn't attacked them yet.
"Most of the time. It's a wonder we got anything done at all" said Itachi with a sigh.
"Kakashi-sensei, we aren't ready to take on four of them" said Shikamaru.
Neji stared at the four cloaked figures with his Byakugan, startled by what he saw. All four of the Akatsuki members had monstrous levels of chakra, even the blonde one who couldn't be more then 16.
"We can't fight them, they would overpower us instantly" he said, taking a step back as even his pride wouldn't stop him from fearing their opponents.
Shikamaru shook his head and bit a nail nervously, taking a moment before setting down his hands into his favourite pose. Itachi continued to stare at his former teammate but could feel the fear in his comrades.
"We can't flee. They would catch us immediately at this range. No, we must fight them now."
At the other side of their defensive line, Shizune sighed in relief as Naruto began to breathe on his own. The girls had repaired most of Naruto's internal damage, and Shizune had sent Ino and Sakura to the others. She had ordered Hinata to go as well, but the young girl spent a few minutes alone with Naruto's unconscious body before reluctantly joining her teacher. Her eyes widened as she saw their opponents, who were still arguing with each other.
"Shizune-sensei, what are we going to do? Naruto-kun can't be moved yet."
The black-haired medic removed a needle from her sleeve and held it up defensively.
"I'm not sure, Hinata. Itachi said that each member is a powerhouse, we can't take them lightly."
"I've got it."
Shikamaru sat up and removed six kunai, two smoke bombs and a flash bomb. He began to give instructions to the rest of the group, aware that a lot was riding on his plan. Across from the line of shinobi, the three Akatsuki members continued to bicker until Kisame had had enough. He slammed Samehada into the ground before snarling loudly.
"Enough wasted time. Itachi must be shredded; no small fish will stop me."
Hidan reached back and retrieved his scythe, wrapping the cord around his arm, "I want the lion's share of the kills. Jashin has been disappointed of late, and I haven't reached my quota for children this week."
His partner ignored the subtle insult the Akatsuki member had given him, his green eyes regarding their opponents with interest. The ponytail boy seemed to have purpose in his eyes, given whispered instructions to the adults before starting a set of seals.
"Deidara…"
The blonde looked at the Konoha ninja before shoving his hands into the bags on each side of his waist. He grinned as he removed his hands and squeezed them tightly.
"Let's show them what real art is, hn."
He threw the objects in his hands towards the ninja, the white blobs forming into small white birds that zipped towards the Nara heir.
Deidara put up a single hand and grinned, "Art is a bang!"
The lazy genius realised what the missiles were and yelled out for the group to scatter as Deidara yelled out his favourite phrase.
"KATSU!"
The group scattered as the two birds exploded, shaking the trees behind the group as the blonde grinned wildly. The Akatsuki members shot forward, each pursuing a separate group of Konoha ninja as they were split apart by Deidara's explosions. Kisame honed in on his target, throwing Samehada towards him as he swiftly ran through a water jutsu seal set.
Deidara put a hand out and smiled as a tongue protruded from it, spitting out white clay that formed into a small hawk. He put up his seal and leapt up into the air as the clay transformed into a large hawk, launching itself into the air as the young blonde landed on its head. Using his imager he looked around and pinpointed a small group of ninja off to the south, sending himself towards them while preparing more clay with his mouth-hands. Hidan yelled out wildly and began powering towards a group that was still recovering, two of them healing the other two. Kakuzu balled his fists and began to walk towards the shinobi that had piqued his interest, his jacket moving unnaturally over his arms and chest.
Kisame vs. Itachi
"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. I did once tell you to be wary of me."
The shark man snarled as he levelled Samehada against the elder Uchiha. Itachi had his Sharingan focused on Kisame's beady eyes, remembering the battles they had fought together, how Kisame shredded his enemies. He reached into his cloak slowly before producing a kunai.
"I also told you that anyone who raises a hand against a comrade never dies a decent death."
Kisame laughed as he remembered the meeting, "You also said that we don't find out who we really are until the very end. Tell me something, Itachi."
He motioned his free hand around the giant bubble of water he had created around them.
"Do you know who you are yet?"
Itachi took a moment to consider a battle plan, not willing to get sucked into Kisame's barbs. In an unnoticeable flicker he grabbed several shuriken from his free hand and flung them at Kisame. The shark man grinned as he blocked the projectiles with his blade, disappointed with the display.
"Come now, Itachi. You know that won't work on me."
Itachi stared at his failed attack, closing his eyes slowly as he faced off against the Akatsuki member. Kisame's grin disappeared when he saw Itachi's eyes open slowly, a familiar set of eyes regarding him. Kisame knew a lot about his former partner's techniques and had seen his Sharingan in action. He felt Samehada's chakra run through his arm and his grin returned. Tsukuyomi would be useless against him, but Itachi didn't know that. He glared at the pinwheels and scowled, suddenly bored at the exchange. He switched Samehada to his other hand and began running at Itachi. The Sharingan-wielder brought up his kunai in defence but as Samehada slid towards him he burst into a murder of crows.
Kisame stood amidst the crows, reaching out and attempting to grab one before noticing that the crows were making no noise. His hand passed straight through the crow, an odd shift came out of his peripheral vision as Itachi reformed himself away from Kisame. He turned around and regarded his opponent, no longer feeling the chakra from his blade.
"This is Tsukuyomi" he stated, unsure as to how Itachi had trapped him in the genjutsu.
'Itachi' shook his head as he began to replace dozens of times around Kisame.
"There are more subtle illusions that you would not comprehend."
"How did you get past Samehada's chakra? I've never had an issue with genjutsu in the past."
Hundreds of 'Itachi's regarded Kisame through their pinwheel Sharingans. None of them were wielding weapons, but the shark-man knew that Itachi's strongest weapons were his eyes, and he was at a massive disadvantage within Itachi's world.
"Your reliance on Samehada is an exploitable weakness, Kisame. You might be immune to genjutsu…"
Kisame looked down as the blade in his hand fluctuated and thrashed before disappearing from his grasp.
"…but your blade is not."
Kisame brought up his now-empty hand and his eyes narrowed.
"Clever, Itachi. But…"
He brought his arm up to his mouth and bit down hard, his razor sharp teeth making short work of his blue skin. All the 'Itachi's sighed as they dissipated slowly, the world around him crumbling before cracking and shattering to thousands of small pieces. Kisame looked back down at his arm, satisfied that Samehada was back in his hand. His arm had been partially wrecked, but he had broken Itachi's genjutsu.
He grinned and looked up at the stiff Uchiha ninja, "You should have expected that, Itachi. Now what will you do?"
His opponent said nothing, he didn't even move as Kisame went to charge him again. Itachi slowly let a smile creep onto his face as Kisame's blade took him in the neck, severing his head from his body. Kisame's face was sprayed with blood as Itachi's body struck the ground, his head bouncing away from his feet. He took a moment to revel in the pleasure of killing a comrade before reaching down and grabbing the black-haired shinobi's head.
"That was too easy, Itachi. You should have kept me in that illusion."
"You still talk too much, Kisame."
Deidara vs. Kakashi, Neji, Sakura and Lee
From his high position Deidara finally found the four ninja he had been following. They had fled quickly from his first assault, but on his clay hawk he caught up to the Konoha ninja. The imager on his left eye zoomed in on the tallest one until he saw the Jounin's eyes.
He frowned as he saw the single red eye, "Another damn Sharingan. It's a damn plague."
On the ground the group had stopped running, seeing that their enemy had caught up to them but still hid with the trees as cover.
"Kakashi-sensei, he's a long range fighter."
"I see that, Lee" replied Kakashi, internally wondering how Itachi could have miscalculated so badly.
Sakura held her kunai with shaking hands, the explosions that had followed them had shaken her. Lee reached over and grasped her wrist, looking straight into her green eyes.
"It's okay, Sakura-san. Just remember that we are fighting for Naruto-kun. For all of us."
She smiled and nodded, her hands still shaking but she felt a little better. One tree over Neji stared at Deidara's aerial position with his Byakugan.
"That…thing he's riding is made up of chakra. The same stuff he has been throwing at us."
Kakashi nodded, before signalling the group to move as another small bird flew towards them before exploding violently. Above them Deidara took a calculation of how much clay he had in his bags.
More then enough to take care of them. I need to keep my favourite for Itachi.
Frustrated as he continued to miss the group he swallowed a large portion of clay with his right hand before melding it between both of his hand-mouths. Neji's white eyes widened when he saw how much chakra was stuffed into the clay he was making.
"We've got to move" he yelled, the group following him as a small eagle honed in on the group.
"We aren't going to make it, Kakashi-sensei!" called out Lee, knowing he would be able to escape with his speed but the others didn't have his training.
Kakashi tapped Sakura on the shoulder before quickly running through a group of seals. She called the group to stop, running through her own set of seals. The eagle got closer as both of the Konoha ninja put their hands up while Deidara formed a handseal.
"Suiton: Bakusui Shouha" (Water Element: Water Wall) said Kakashi, spewing a torrent of water in front of them from a scroll between his hands.
"Suiton: Mizutate" (Water Element: Water Shield) said Sakura, putting her hands on the newly formed water to form a solid dome around the group.
"Katsu!"
The eagle exploded into the reinforced water shield, throwing the ninja back by sheer force. Sakura panted heavily as she Lee helped her up from the ground. If her sensei hadn't used his water technique, she would never have had enough water to use hers, and they might have died she figured.
"We can't keep defending, he'll outlast us" said Neji, his Byakugan showing him the amount of clay hidden within Deidara's bags. Kakashi swore as he tried to concentrate on the flying enemy.
"I know. But I'm the only long-range fighter in our group."
Lee reached back and removed his staff before tapping it on the ground.
"If you can bring him a little bit closer to the ground, Neji-kun and I can attack him while Sakura defends us with her water techniques."
Kakashi thought about it before nodding grimly. He indicated to Neji and Lee to prepare themselves as he ran through a set of seals.
"I can't promise anything, but he'll at least be moving."
He looked up at the clear sky and pointed a fist upwards.
"Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu" (Fire Element: Great Dragon Fire Technique)
A giant dragon of fire raged towards Deidara, who laughed as he flew away from the blast. He ducked and weaved as Kakashi sent several more upwards at him. Kakashi ran through another set of seals before smiling at Sakura.
"Here's all the water you'll ever need Sakura."
She looked him confused before her mind clicked and she looked up into the sky. The spaces in the sky where Kakashi's fire techniques had dissipated, small clouds forming above their personal battlefield.
Kakashi finished his seals with a hand over his fist, "Suiton: Uramiame." (Water Element: Grudge Rain)
Deidara sighed as he saw what the Sharingan-user was doing. He felt the rain slam into his hair and cloak from the clouds above.
I hate the rain.
He wanted to fly out of it, his explosions would be less artistic in the rain, but his opponents wouldn't indulge his luxury. Lee sighed as well as the rain hit his hair, destroying his perfect bowl-cut hair.
"Kakashi-sensei, he isn't getting closer to us. If anything, he's getting farther away."
Having worked with Kakashi in the past, Sakura simply smiled and indicated for Lee to prepare himself.
"Lee-kun, in a few seconds you'll need to attack quickly. Try to avoid that dangerous clay."
Lee was sceptical, but trusted Sakura nevertheless.
Kakashi drew onto a large portion of his chakra before placing both hands up in the air, "Raiton: Raikouarashi." (Lightning Element: Lightning Storm)
Deidara swore as lightning began to strike between the clouds and the ground, loud crashes hurting his ears.
If that lightning hits my clay, I'm through. Shit, why did I choose these ones as my opponents? No artistic appreciation at all.
He ordered his hawk to take him out of the hazardous lightning field, but found that every time he neared the edge he had to fall back as the lightning strikes became more accurate. Kakashi strained at the enormous chakra requirements as he kept up the lightning field.
"Go! Strike while he swoops low!"
Neji began running towards Deidara's closest position, while Lee hesitated.
"You…um…we aren't going to hit…right?"
He looked over at his teacher concerned before buckling back as Sakura lightly 'tapped' him on the head.
"Lee-kun, if you don't go after the enemy, I'm going to ban you from training for a week!"
Lee stared at the pink-haired girl in horror, "You…wouldn't!"
Feeling an odd sense of courage around her temporary tutor, Sakura pointed at Neji's advancing form.
"I would. Now go!"
Collecting himself from the ground and picking up his staff, Lee rubbed his head before smiling slowly and saluting her stiffly.
"Yes, ma'am."
As he ran off, Sakura screamed out in rage, "DON'T CALL ME MA'AM!"
It took all the concentration he had, but Kakashi was able to avoid hitting the two close-combat attackers as they waited until Deidara was close enough before they flew into the air towards him. Deidara was still concentrating on not getting by lightning, and didn't see the two jumping ninja until they were right in front of him.
"Konoha Buin Senpuu!"
"Jyuuken!" (Gentle Fist Strike)
Both strikes hit him at the same time, but to the two Genin's dismay his form collapsed into mud. They both landed onto the hawk, before Neji reached over and grabbed Lee by the collar, throwing him off the hawk with himself as he saw with his Byakugan the chakra concentrating inside it. They got to the tree line just as the hawk exploded, the shockwave slamming them into the ground nearby Sakura and Kakashi, who had just cancelling his technique. Sakura prepared a small bubble of the surrounding water to cushion their fall, helping Lee back down as he picked up his fallen staff. A short distance away on the ground, Deidara removed one hand from a bag of clay before slowly placing it onto the ground.
"Art comes in many forms, hn" he muttered, before putting his other hand into a bag to make another bird.
Hidan vs. Shizune, Shino, Hinata and Sasuke
Levelling his scythe at them, Hidan took a glance over the four shinobi who he had caught up with.
"A little girl, an emo, a creep and a dyke. Jashin I apologise for this pittance of an offering."
The four Konoha shinobi all reacted differently to Hidan's barbs. Shino's eyes darkened and he felt his bugs flicker in anger, though it was more about the fact that the grey-haired enemy was underestimating them. Hinata kept her Byakugan concentrated on the enemy, keeping her cool though secretly she was hurt at the attack on her height.
Sasuke didn't care about being called an emo, more concerned about the injury to his side taken by Deidara's explosion. It had been healed best it could, but Sasuke had lost a lot of chakra in the process. Shizune felt odd at being called a dyke, though it wasn't the first time considering her travels with Tsunade. Hidan fingered his chain, whispering a prayer to his god before swearing his declaration of faith and grasping his weapon with both hands.
"Well, I guess it's time. Pray as I send you to Jashin! LET'S GO CRAZY!"
"Is he insane?" asked Hinata, sensing no disturbances in her opponent's chakra flow.
"Probably" replied Shizune.
Not one to stand on ceremony, Sasuke's hands sped through seals before activating his Sharingan. His arm was covered in the chirping bird sounds as he powered his legs and sped towards Hidan. His eyes kept an eye on Hidan's movements, ducking under the wild swing of the scythe before driving his hand into Hidan's chest.
"Chidori!"
Hidan screamed out and coughed blood over Sasuke's arm. The Uchiha smiled smugly, disappointed that the Akatsuki member had fallen so easily.
"Ahh, that's a different feeling. Never been electrocuted before. Very unique."
Sasuke looked up in horror as Hidan reached up and grasped Sasuke's wrist. He pulled up his scythe and stared at Sasuke's Sharingan through his purple eyes.
"Young one, I want you to do something for me. Scream. Jashin will judge your worthiness based on your scream."
He went to slice off Sasuke's head but was forced to jump backwards while releasing the Uchiha's arm as Shizune sliced at his face with a kunai. She yelled at Sasuke to step back as she fired off several needles from her arm contraption. Not being an idiot, Hidan blocked the needles with his scythe, wincing as he felt the cut across his cheek.
"Damnit, that hurt you damn bitch! I think I'll slaughter you first. Maybe your smooth skin will give Jashin something nice to stick his…"
Does he always keep going like this? Even Tsunade's rants weren't this bad.
Shizune kept her distance from the wild foe, wary that she was way out of her league.
"How did he survive my attack?" asked Sasuke, knowing that he had struck the Akatsuki member's heart.
Shino turned his head to his fellow Team Eight member, "What do you see?"
Hinata looked closer at the hole in Hidan's chest, her Byakugan see nothing unordinary besides the gap.
"His heart is still beating. You missed, Sasuke-san."
He scowled and pulled out a kunai, not taking the Hyuuga's word for it. Hinata looked around the battlefield, trying to see how the other groups were doing but her range of vision was significantly smaller then Neji's. She did however notice the small chakra signals that were circling around their opponent. She turned her head to Shino who gave her the most inconspicuous of nods. She smiled and kept her distance, her orders from Shizune keeping her behind the others.
Being Shizune's apprentice, she knew she would be better served keeping the others alive with her newly-acquired medical techniques. Shizune kept firing needles at Hidan, who worked out that the needles were poisoned and it was a good idea to avoid them, her constant attacks keeping him from attacking. Sasuke placed his hands to his lips and brought his chakra up from his chest before his view was blocked by Shino, who glared at his Sharingan through his sunglasses.
Sasuke put down his hands, "Get out of my attack line, Shino."
"No" was the tactile reply.
Sasuke's anger boiled to the surface, running through the seals for his technique again before Shino reached down and grabbed his hands.
"I do not like explaining myself, Uchiha Sasuke. Patience."
"To hell with your patience. Shizune can't keep him occupied for long."
Shino nodded and pointed over at the duelling shinobi. Shizune grinned as she dodged Hidan's scythe and jumped backwards, her hands flicking under her sleeves at Hidan's feet. Hinata had thrown a set of shuriken at Hidan's face, forced him to concentrate on blocking that attack. Several needles pinned his feet to the ground as Hidan called out in pain.
"Argh! That hurt, you bitch! Damn jumping around whore!"
"Are you ready?" asked Shizune, landing back next to the three Genin.
Shino didn't respond, but placed his hands into a seal and stared at Hidan's thrashing form.
"Hijutsu: Mushidama." (Secret Technique: Insect Sphere)
Hidan noticed the buzzing around him all too late as the air turned a dark black with a blanket of insects.
"What the fu…" was all he could respond with before being covered in the insects, sucking his chakra frantically.
"Get these shits off me!"
His body was completely covered in the destruction bugs as he dropped his scythe scratching at his face and chest. Despite wearing sunglasses, Shino's eyes widened as he released the technique, calling all his insects back. They immediately came off Hidan and fly back into his jacket, leaving the crazy Akatsuki covered in bug bites.
"That hurt damnit! Damn little bugs, no fun in killing them."
"Shino-kun, why did you call them off?" asked Hinata, not able to see anything with her Byakugan.
The Aburame heir looked at one of the bugs sitting on his hand, "The bugs say his chakra is unnatural. They couldn't stand it."
He turned to the Jounin, "I must apologise, sensei. Why? I won't be particularly useful in this fight if my insects cannot attack."
Shizune looked around before patting the quiet teenager on the shoulder, an action he was thoroughly uncomfortable with but understood the social concept behind the action so he accepted it without a word.
"You don't always need to attack to be useful, Shino-kun."
She looked over behind Hidan, who was recovering his scythe before scratching his face idly.
"Katon: Daiendan." (Fire Element: Great Flame Sphere)
Hidan didn't get a chance to dodge as giant flames consumed him from behind. Sasuke understood why Shino was stopping his attack before, but now that the insects were gone he was free to use his position from behind the cloaked enemy. Hidan screamed out in agony as his cloak and skin burned wildly. Sasuke leapt back to the others and nodded smugly as he watched his target burn.
"Survive that" he muttered, wondering how his brother was faring in his own battle.
"Keep up your guard" warned Hinata, her doujutsu showing her something she had never seen before.
The flames slowly went out as Hidan's body stopped thrashing about. After a few moments his arm twitched slightly. The Konoha shinobi watched in awe and horror as the burned man slowly picked himself up off the ground. His cloak had burnt off completely, but remarkably his skin hadn't taken much damage besides some harsh black burns to his back. He reached down and grasped the chain attached to his scythe slowly before bringing it up to his other hand and cracking his neck painfully.
"Damnit that hurt far too much. Your fire techniques are almost as strong as Kakuzu's, you emo schoolboy. You'll make a nice sacrifice in Jashin's name."
In front of him the shinobi could only stare at their enemy's recovery.
"What the hell is he?" asked Shizune, reloading her sleeve launcher with care.
BREAK
Kakuzu vs. Gai, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino
"...three...four…five…interesting."
The Konoha ninja stood opposite the tall Akatsuki member, who seemed to be in no hurry to attack them. Gai had to keep himself from youthfully attacking the opponent, wary of the fact that the Genin he found himself with hadn't faced a foe of this calibre before. Shikamaru reached back into his pocket and mentally counted how many weapons he had lost in his scramble to escape the clay explosions. Akamaru growled slowly, his master was also suspicious as the ninja dog could tell how strong an opponent was. Kiba bled a little chakra to his nose, immediately regretting as he realised that he has standing next to Gai, who hadn't had a shower in several days.
When our companion is safe, then I can relax he had said.
Kakuzu stared at his opponents through green eyes, finishing his calculations.
"I can get several million for the Jounin; Maito Gai is worth a fair amount to several crime circles. The children though…they are a prize in of themselves."
"Is he talking to himself?" asked Ino, having finished healing a small burn mark on Chouji's face.
Shikamaru shook his head, trying to keep his calm as his shadow snuck underneath the ground towards the tall enemy.
"He's analysing. He's a dangerous foe, we have to be careful."
Kakuzu stared at the ponytailed ninja, "You must be the Nara heir. Clever, yet unoriginal."
He slammed a fist into the ground beneath his feet, sending a shockwave outwards as the ground shattered beneath him. Shikamaru swore and cancelled his technique, unable to reach his enemy's shadow. Sensing his opportunity, Gai leapt towards Kakuzu with his foot extended outwards.
"Dynamic Entry!"
Kakuzu didn't flinch at all, simply putting up a hand that was a darker colour then the rest of his skin. Gai's foot collided with the hand and he bounced off, grimacing as he flew back and landed with the other Konoha ninja, holding his foot tenderly.
He took that attack without flinching. I do believe I have damaged several bones in my foot.
"I've never hit anything so hard…" he commented, waving Ino over to heal his foot.
Kakuzu put down his hand slowly as it turned back to his normal tanned skin tone. He turned his head and watched as the other ninjas watched him carefully.
They are not idiotic like Hidan. They are cautious yet take advantage of openings, which makes them dangerous. Still, the bounties for living Konoha shinobi are worth the risk.
He knew that Shikamaru was watching his technique, if the Nara clan was anything like they were talked about he would have figured out his technique already. He knew that Gai only used taijutsu and that the small ponytailed one used shadows. The other three were unknowns, but Kakuzu decided that they were likely worth the effort of capturing alive, if nothing else the girl would fetch a high price in the slave markets. Shikamaru stood up slowly, having worked out Kakuzu's technique finally.
He whispered to his sensei, "He hardens his skin just before the attack. There is a high probability that it is some form of Earth release, possibly a Kekkei Genkai."
Gai nodded and moved his foot, thanking Ino for her service with a thumbs up before staring at their opponent intensely.
"If blunt force doesn't work, then perhaps another type of attack will work" said Kiba, motioning for Akamaru to follow his lead.
Kakuzu observed as the red fang wearing ninja grinned wildly as his fingers grew into claws and the white dog that had jumped onto his back turned into a clone of its master.
Ah, an Inuzuka. I'm impressive one of them survived, they aren't known for fleeing a battlefield.
Kiba threw two smoke bombs to the ground, hiding his presence as he ran through a set of handseals. Kakuzu watched with interest, hardening his whole body with a lightning fast handseal. His green eyes tried to find the feral ninja, but the smoke bombs had hidden him well.
It matters not. No physical technique can hurt me in this state.
He felt the chakra indicator to his left, but when he went to move in defence found his feet struck to the ground. His body refused to respond to his commands, he couldn't even make handseals. It took a monumental effort, but he tilted his head to look down at his feet, swearing as he saw the black form connecting his shadow to the smoke-covered area.
"You…" he muttered, feeling the chakra signal getting closer.
"Tsuuga!" (Passing Fang)
With a great feat of strength he turned his head just before the rapidly spinning attack slammed into his side. The shadow released him just before the attack struck, not giving him enough time to defend, though he knew that the likelihood of him taking any damage was quite low. He fell back at the force of the attack, taking a quick look at himself and smiled under his mask. His cloak had been shredded to pieces, but he had taken no damage at all. He couldn't see the Konoha ninja as the spinning attack disappeared into the smoke, but he wondered how they were reacting to his appearance. Kakuzu was covered in stitches that kept his body together, with four ANBU-like masks lining his back.
He kept an eye on the ground, wary of the wandering shadow that might leave him open to a similar attack. His Doton: Domu (Earth Release: Earth Spear) required a lot of chakra when covering his entire body, and Kakuzu observed that any part that wasn't covered would be shredded by the whirlwind attack. His ears perked up as he noticed a slight change in the temperature of the air around him.
"Shi…"
"Nenshou Gatsuuga!" (Burning Fang Passing Fang)
Two spinning whirlwinds slammed into his back, covered by a cloak of fire as they drilled into his skin shield. Kakuzu yelled out in fury as he was driven into the ground by the furious attack. He still hadn't taken any damage due to the strength of his technique, but the indignation of being forced to the ground by a child was enough to enrage him.
The smoke began to clear as Kiba and Akamaru landed next to their companions, grinning wildly. Kiba sniffed the air, noticed an odd smell until he looked down and noticed his coat was on fire.
"AHHH!"
He ran around trying to put it out with his hands, flailing about wildly. Shikamaru sighed at his companion's antics; though he was satisfied enough that Kiba's attack had connected properly. As the flames began to creep towards his face Ino waved a hand over him; dumping a large amount of water onto his head. The flames were doused instantly, leaving Kiba staring at the blonde with a snarl. She in turn stared at him back with a hand on her hip, not at all intimidated by his animalistic appearance. Kiba turned his head away before shaking his head wildly. The Konoha shinobi grimaced as they were covered in spray, wiping their faces with their hands.
Gai laughed and clapped Kiba on the back, "Good job, young student. The foe cannot stand against our most youthful display."
Kiba grimaced as he recovered himself from the ground, holding his back in pain. Ino sighed, wondering for the hundredth time why she had followed this group when fleeing the explosions.
Shikamaru put his hands up for his clan's technique, "Don't get comfortable. He's not done by a long shot."
"I hit him full on, no way he survived my combination attack" bragged Kiba.
To his side Akamaru barked twice before growling softly. Kiba swore and put up his claws defensively, the others doing the same while staring at the small crater Kiba had created.
"You bastards…" muttered a deep voice.
They saw a dark-skinned hand reach up from the crater before Kakuzu pulled himself out of the crater. He hadn't taken any visible damage, but Shikamaru's sharp eyes noticed a strange white object at the masked ninja's feet. Kakuzu stared at the broken mask at his feet, the blue markings shattered as the black threads melted into liquid.
I took no damage from the attack, but the fire damage destroyed my wind-natured mask. These children are more dangerous then I thought.
His eyes widened and he drew a massive amount of chakra, grimacing in pain as his stitches began to unwind. The Konoha ninja could only watch in horror as the other three masks exploded outwards from his back, black threads forming around them. Kazuku's body restitched itself back together as the three masks formed into humanoid creatures. The mask with the red mouth had an animalistic appearance similar to a large bear. The yellow nosed mask was the tallest with large wide shoulders, while the blue marked figure had unnaturally long arms but had a general bipedal appearance.
"Now it's my turn to attack."
Kisame vs. Itachi
"Suiton: Mizu Kamikiri!" (Water Element: Rising Water Slicer)
A jet of water sped along the ground straight towards Itachi, who jumped up to avoid the attack. He put up a kunai to defend himself as Kisame jumped towards him, swinging Samehada wildly. He barely blocked the giant blade before having to duck under another swing, landing back on the ground next to the cracks caused by Kisame's techniques. Genjutsu had worked for a time, but Itachi knew it wasn't enough to take down the shark-man.
After many missions together, he knew much of Kisame's state of mind. He had exploited that to its fullest, and it had become a ninjutsu/taijutsu battle. Using his family's fire techniques he had burnt off the bandages but that only seemed to piss off the wild blade. Kisame crashed down into him, forcing him to transform into crows before reforming away.
Samehada stole a small piece of his chakra as he left, it had been doing that all battle. Itachi never had a particularly large chakra pool, while Kisame looked like he was taking a casual stroll for all the damage Itachi had done to him. Kisame shouldered the slowly growing blade and glared over at sound of explosions through the water shield. He had been forced to expand the shield after Itachi nearly punched through it with a giant fireball. Itachi stole a glance to the other side where he could hear Sasuke fire off a fireball of his own.
Sasuke…hold them off till I get there.
He did a calculation of how much chakra he had and sighed, wishing once again that he didn't have to fight his former friend. Despite his love of shredding people, Kisame was fascinating company. The shark-like man had an interesting perception on life, a darker version of Itachi's own past having forced him to adapt in a brutal way. As he ducked under the blade and leapt away, throwing several shuriken at the blade, he remembered how Kisame felt about loyalty.
It's understandable why he hates me so. To him…
"Kisame."
His opponent snarled and pointed his sword at him.
"There is no point in speaking, Itachi. You are my prey. I will shred every cell from your body, and then find other prey."
Itachi changed his Sharingan back to its normal state, still grasping his damaged kunai.
"Kisame, it doesn't have to be like this. We need not fight for a cause like Akatsuki's."
The blue man slammed his sword into the ground before running towards his opponent and driving it towards Itachi. He barely blocked it but instead of dodging Itachi took the blow and stared at Kisame's small white eyes. With his Sharingan he could have trapped him into Tsukuyomi and broken him, at this range there would be nothing Kisame could have done to prevent it. But as he saw Kisame's slight body movements and facial expressions with his red eyes, he felt pity for the mad shark-man. Kisame was the perfect example of a shinobi that had given in to the reality of life, becoming the monster that was inbred within every human.
"Kisame…don't make me do this."
His opponent bared his teeth inches away from Itachi's face, unwilling to conceal the contempt he had for him.
"Nobody made you betray your cause. Nobody made you join Akatsuki. Nobody made you partner with me. Everything about you is a lie. It is all a lie."
Itachi sighed, realising that there really was no talking to him. He blinked and his eyes turned into their pinwheel form. Kisame's eyes widened when he realised what Itachi had planned. He stared directly at the snarling face before directing his chakra flow to his eyes.
"Amaterasu"
There was no dodging the ninjutsu at that range, the black flames covered Kisame's face and shoulders as Itachi jumped back to avoid getting burned by the eternal flames. Itachi grasped his right eye in pain as a small trickle of blood fell through his fingers. With his free eye he watched as Kisame's form dropped to the ground writhing. It was several moments before he noticed that Kisame was making no noise, and he felt the black flames were not burning their target properly.
Shit…
He barely had time to hide his hands in his sleeves before the writhing form of Kisame collapsed into a harmless pool of water.
"Suiton: Suiro no Jutsu" (Water Element: Water Prison)
Itachi barely had a moment to spin around before being consumed by the water flowing out of Kisame's hands behind him. The Uchiha heir gave out a gasp as the air was punched out of his gut by the sheer density of the water. Kisame grinned before dropping Samehada to the ground with his free hand and placing it on the edge of the prison.
"Suiton: Nishokuzame" (Water Element: Two Feeding Sharks)
Two lines of blue chakra emerged from his hand, transforming into terrifying sharks that ripped their way through Itachi's body. Samehada thrashed on the ground, causing Kisame to wonder what had gotten the sword riled up until he saw that there was no blood in the prison.
He gasped out in pain as Itachi plunged a kunai into his back, before putting his hands to his lips, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu."
Kisame was able to pick up his blade before falling back away from Itachi, his cloak burning away from Itachi's technique. Kisame felt his chakra plummet as he was forced to take a large amount of chakra from Samehada. He could feel the rage in his sword's mind, its hilt creeping up his burning sleeve before attaching itself to his arm forcefully. He spat out a large portion of water to douse the flames, as his blue skin began to fluctuate and mutate. In front of him Itachi's eyes widened as Kisame became less like a human and more like the monster he was.
"Kisame, you…"
"You are strong prey, Itachi. I must adapt, get stronger. Samehada knows that as well, that's why we will work together as one. Itachi, you're going to need a bigger knife."
Deidara vs. Kakashi, Neji, Sakura and Lee
Lee attacked furiously, not giving the blonde bomber a chance to consume any more clay with his hands. Deidara struggled to keep up with the bowl-cut shinobi's speed; he had landed several blows on the Akatsuki member. Neji hovered behind Lee, waiting for his teammate to give him an opening.
Deidara stole a glance to the side and copped a blow on the shoulder for his trouble, Shit, we are too close to the mines.
Lee took advantage of his opponent's distraction, pumping chakra into his arm as he grabbed at the blocking enemy's hand, pulling him backwards with a loud yell.
"Neji-kun! Now!"
Neji ran forward and stood next to Lee before placing his hands near Deidara's chest. The blonde's eyes widened as he realised what was going to happen to him, he put up his free hand into his handseal. Neji canceled his attack as he recognised the seal, knowing that if it was a substitute and it exploded at this range they would both be seriously hurt. Instead he balanced on his back foot and began a spin, his chakra exploding outwards.
"Kaiten!"
Lee ducked down as the dome encompassed both of them, but to his credit he kept a hold of the bomber's arm. Deidara didn't get a chance to release his technique as the chakra dome sliced straight through his arm above the elbow, ripping it to shreds in Lee's hands. Deidara jumped back and disappeared into the ground, the trail of blood leading up to the two Genin. Neji stopped his spin and panted softly, before recovering his composure. Lee marvelled at the accuracy of his teammate's technique before looking down at the arm, dropping it in disgust as the tongue within the palm flailed wildly.
Their companions caught up with them, Sakura still healing a small burn on her arm from when Deidara had previously pierced her water shield.
"Where is he?" asked Kakashi, his constant use of his Sharingan taking its toll on him.
Neji pointed to the ground and shook his head, while Lee wiped his hands on his suit. Sakura took one look at the arm on the ground and gagged, still not used to seeing blood despite her new training as a medic.
"Does he still have one arm?" asked Kakashi.
The two Genin nodded, watching as Kakashi ran through a few seals before setting the arm on fire. They watched the tongue silently scream before melting into the ground.
"Was that necessary?" asked Sakura, taking all her willpower not to throw up at the gory scene.
"We can't take any chances with this enemy. He might have a way to reattach it, and now he can't use any seals" replied Kakashi, his Sharingan already checking the ground for chakra signals.
"No, he can still make those explosions. He uses a one-handed seal to make them explode" said Neji.
The others regrouped and reformed a defensive circle.
"Shit, shit, damnit!"
Deidara had his back to a tree, grasping the stump that was the remains of his arms. His imager showed Kakashi burning up his arm as he watched helplessly from afar. He had wasted a lot of his clay on setting up the mine field, which had been completely avoided on the observations of the Byakugan-user.
Never thought there would be a doujutsu that would piss me off as much as the Sharingan. No art in it at all, just a blank slate.
He grimaced as he covered the stump with a thin layer of clay to stop the bleeding. He used his functional right hand to check how much clay he had left. His left bag was completely empty, while he still had half of his right bag. He considered a plan as he tried to keep out of Neji's visual range.
I barely have enough clay for my favourite, and they keep countering or blocking my smaller bombs.
He let his left palm mouth chew on clay idly, stealing glances over at the group with his zoomed in imager. His palm spat out the clay and grabbed more, as Deidara saw that the group was keeping their distance in a defensive circle.
I can't easily finish these types off. I need to use my favourite, now.
He pulled up his palm and shoved a large amount of clay into the mouth on his face.
Urgh, I hate this taste.
He chewed for a minute before spitting it onto his palm. He moulded it in his palm before checking again that the group hadn't moved. He concentrated a large amount of chakra into the clay as it took on the final shape. On top of his palm sat a small butterfly, tiny little details on its wings showing the sheer amount of chakra concentrated inside it. He smiled as he released it into the air, the inconspicuous insect testing its wings before flying away.
"They'll never appreciate my art, hn. Not until it's too late, hn."
"Are you healed, Sakura?" asked Kakashi. The pink-haired girl nodded, feeling more exhausted then all the training sessions she had with Lee combined. Neji was in deep concentration, having found a new way to use his Kaiten he began to consider how he could use it for offense as opposed to defence.
It follows a similar pattern to Jyuuken strikes. Perhaps I can create a large spear…or a more contained shield…
His Byakugan noticed the butterfly but immediately he dismissed it as irrelevant, there was no reason to be suspicious of the tiny insect. Kakashi couldn't cover the whole field with his Sharingan to check, so he didn't catch it either. The butterfly slowly made its way towards the group, taking roundabout paths to throw off suspicion. Sakura caught a glimpse of it through her green eyes, putting out a hand for the butterfly to land on. She looked at the intricate detail on its wing with fascination, putting it up to show Lee.
The hair on the back of his neck shot up as he regarded the white butterfly, and his eyes widened as he recognised the make. He had no time to warn the others, tapping his weights with chakra to remove them before jumping towards Sakura's arm.
Away from the group, Deidara put up his hand and grinned as he moved away to shield his eyes.
"True art flashes in an instant, hn. Katsu!"
Hidan vs. Shizune, Shino, Hinata and Sasuke
Shizune gasped in pain and fell back, holding her arm as blood dripped down the slash in her kimono.
"Haha! Now Jashin will smite your heathen arses!"
Hidan pulled up his scythe and put out his tongue. He licked the blood from the tip of the scythe and grinned wildly.
"Ah, you do have a sweet taste."
He sighed loudly as his burnt skin began to slowly change colour. Through her Byakugan, Hinata watched in horror at Hidan took on a terrifying appearance, his skin turned to a pitch black with white bone markings across his whole body and face.
"Hinata, what is happening to him?" asked Shizune, healing her cut quickly.
"He…I'm not sure. But Shizune-sensei, I can see parts of your chakra in his system."
"What the hell is this guy?" asked Sasuke, trying to figure out how he had survived all of their attacks.
Hidan drove his scythe into his chest, pouring blood onto the ground beneath his feet. Their eyes widened as the seemingly immortal scythe-wielder called out in pain and removed his scythe, feeling the blood with his foot.
"He's doing something with the blood" observed Shino, having been unable to do much else in the battle.
Hidan circled his foot as it was drenched in his own blood, forming a perfect circle around himself before making a triangle within the circle.
"Everything is ready! Jashin! May this menial sacrifice grant you something to add to your collection."
"He's doing something odd, we should attack him" stated Shino.
"How? He seems to survive all our attacks."
Shizune wiped a bit of blood from her kimono and put it on her palm.
"We have to change our attack formation. He seems to survive all of our direct attacks."
She ran through the five seals and slammed her hand onto the ground, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
In front of her appeared a medium sized yellow tiger, with a scroll in its mouth. The tiger nodded to its master as she took the scroll, rubbing its head affectionately before it disappeared. Their opponent was still ranting about his deity, fingering the chain around his neck as he prayed. Shizune turned to Hinata as she opened up the scroll and ran a line of blood down it.
"Hinata-san, do you remember our lesson on seal enhancements?"
The quiet girl nodded, her hands still held up defensively.
"If he can't be hurt by direct attacks, then we go with your Jyuuken. This might feel strange."
She reached out to touch her now-glowing hand to Hinata but never got there as she screamed out in pain, collapsing to the ground.
"Ahh, that felt great…" said Hidan, a long black spike poking out of his leg.
Shizune screamed again as he pulled the spike out his leg, waving the spike ceremoniously at the group. Hinata lent down and pushed Shizune's hands away from her leg, her hands glowing blue as she began to heal the impossible wound. Shino analysed their opponent's movements, his hands clenching as he struggled to work out the technique. A
fter he tasted Shizune-sensei's blood, he turned into that form. Then he made that strange symbol and stabbed himself in the leg. Shizune-sensei took the same wound as he did. But because he survived all our attacks, he doesn't care, whereas sensei is now immobilised. There must be some link between his wounds and that circle, because sensei didn't take the stab wound from the scythe.
"I've worked out his technique. Any damage done in that circle is done to Shizune-sensei."
Sasuke swore as he cancelling the Chidori he was worked towards, unsure how to precede.
Shizune waved off Hinata's healing hands, "Don't bother, he won't give us an opportunity to recover. If Shino-kun is right, we have to get him out of that circle. Then Hinata-san can use the seal and take him out."
Hidan kept ranting and lightly stabbing himself in the leg, wanting to prolong the pain for as long as possible, his face a mural of pleasure emotions. Shizune continued to suffer the same wounds, blood pouring out of her leg as she struggled against the assault. Sasuke clenched his fists in anger at his inability to attack until he remembered his lessons with his brother.
"Hinata, get your technique ready. I'm going to move him now."
She turned her white eyes on Sasuke and after seeing his determination nodded and picked up the scroll next to Shizune. Their teacher gasped out in agony and clutched her side, a strike piercing her kidney, causing her to start to lose consciousness. As Hinata stood up to begin their counter-attack she reached out and grabbed her leg.
"Shizune-sensei…"
"Thirty seconds, Hinata-san. No more, you know that."
She smiled and fell face first into the dirt, the pain too much for her to bear.
"We must go now. Sasuke-kun, please move him."
The Uchiha heir nodded, his hands running through a technique his brother had taught him. He stared at Hidan through his Sharingan.
Hidan pulled up his spike and went to finish the job until just before he looked down at his feet.
"What the hell?"
Underneath his feet was a field of grass, his circle was gone. He looked around before grinning, seeing that his symbol was two feet to his left. He laughed as he walked over and planted himself back in the circle. He pulled up the spike and drove it straight into his heart, screaming out in pleasure,
"Ahh…"
He looked over as the woman in the kimono coughed up blood and stopped moving, the other three huddled over her body.
"Say hello to Jashin for me."
"Go now, Hinata" whispered Sasuke.
She nodded, placing her hand over the seal on the scroll. Her hands exploded with chakra, shooting up her arms before taking over her whole body. Shino nodded as Hinata rose, even Sasuke felt an urge to let the girl do the damage.
One
Her hair began to fluctuate as she ran her chakra to her hands. She ran towards Hidan's static body, his eyes oddly glossed over as he was trapped within Sasuke's genjutsu.
Four
She put her hands up in front of his chest and then drew one back.
"Hakke: Sanjyuunishou!" (Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Two Palms)
Six
She slammed her hands into his chest, feeling an overwhelming surge of power as her chakra began to shred his tenketsu. The chakra had enhanced her Byakugan to insane levels, giving her vision over several kilometres, but she forced herself to concentrate on her opponent.
Eleven
Hidan flew back as she finished the strikes, but she grabbed the chain of his scythe and pulled him back towards her. Her hair flailed behind her and she slammed a palm into Hidan's chest where he had stabbed himself.
Fifteen
"Hakke: Ketatamashii Boko" (Eight Trigrams: Piercing Hollow)
The strike blew Hidan out of Sasuke's genjutsu. Hinata jumped backwards as Hidan wrenched over and threw up on the ground, a tiny amount of blood mixed in with the vomit. His eyes widened as he watched his hands slowly turn back to their normal colour.
Twenty-One
Seeing herself run out of time, Hinata took all her seal chakra into her fingertips, trying her best to remember her training sessions with Naruto. She kicked Hidan in the face to force him to stand, before driving her fingers into his neck.
Twenty-Five
"Fuuton: Saishuu Dageki" (Wind Element: Final Strike)
Her chakra transformed into a violent wind inside his chakra system, destroying every tenketsu in its path as Hinata jumped back to her companions, panting heavily.
Thirty
She gasped as the chakra dissipated, dropping to her knees as she felt her strength vanish.
Did I do it, Naruto-kun? Did I protect y…
Using his Sharingan, Sasuke could tell that Hidan wasn't moving at all. He wasn't convinced the mad fanatic was dead, but he would have to have been close. Shino helped Hinata to her feet as Sasuke offered a hand to Shizune. She had secretly healed the wounds on her leg and kidney, but had kept up the ruse to fool their purple-eyed enemy. The Uchiha saw Hinata in a new light as she coughed violently, feeling the after-effects of the dangerous medical technique.
"I'm impressed, Hyuuga. Perhaps you aren't so…"
he didn't get the chance to finish his sentence as he felt a sharp sting on his back. His eyes turned back to normal as he collapsed onto the ground, a giant slash cutting through his Uchiha cloak. The others quickly glanced over as the attacking scythe drew back towards their enemy, the chain moving in his hand as he grinned wildly at their folly.
"Little girl, you can't kill me! Jashin made me immortal!"
Shino kept a kunai up defensively as Shizune dropped down and began healing Sasuke's shallow wound. Hidan pulled up the scythe and slowly licked the blood off it, his eyes widening as he swallowed the endangered blood. Hinata breathed out slowly and reactivated her Byakugan, trying to figure out whether her previous attacks had worked. Hidan looked down at his hand, and for a few moments continued to grin until he realised that his technique wasn't working.
"What the…Jashin? Have you forsaken me?"
He began convulsing, a new sensation running through his body, his blood virtually boiling under his skin.
After a few minutes Hidan picked himself off the ground, looking over himself slowly before smiling slowly.
"Mortals…"
Kakuzu vs. Gai, Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino
Ino gasped as she released the water shield, the sheer amount of chakra it had taken to stop the overwhelming fire attack from the red masked creature had sapped most of her strength. Kakuzu stared at the girl with interest; unsure as to who she was, in comparison to the others. He had identified the fat boy as the Akimichi heir after he had attempted to attack him with an enlarged hand, but she hadn't revealed any of her techniques besides water techniques.
She may just be a generic ninja, but considering her companions and the rest of the group the likelihood is quite low. I remember that the Nara and Akimichi had a companion clan, but it was so long ago I can't remember who it was. Best to keep her alive with the others, just in case.
Shikamaru bit at his nail as he considered how they should proceed. He wanted to suggest a retreat, but considering how much their opponent talked about their worth, he knew he might go after Naruto or the other groups. He ran over their situation in his head constantly.
Each masked creature attacks with a different type, denoted by their colour. Attacking him is pointless because of his shield, but it seems like he can't attack while manipulating the creatures. We need to focus down the creatures, one at a time.
He reached back and removed a flash bomb from his pack. He nodded to Kiba and Chouji before giving the flash bomb to Ino.
"We going with that?" asked Chouji, coughing harshly as he picked himself up from the ground.
Kiba growled softly, he hated having to constantly dodge attacks without the opportunity to attack. Shikamaru nodded to his friend before stepping next to Gai.
"Sensei, I require your help."
The bowl-cut Jounin grinned a 'Nice Guy' smile, "What do you require, most youthful student? I feel the fire of your passion running through the air!"
Shikamaru ignored the idiotic comments and whispered behind his hand so that Kakuzu couldn't read his lips.
"I need you to distract the blue and yellow masked creatures for a few minutes. You are fast enough to dodge their attacks at short range. Just keep them off us."
Gai seemed suspicious of the Nara's plan, but deferred to his plan as he recalled the previous plans that the lazy Genin had pulled off perfectly. He took a serious look as he reached back into his pack and pulled out his beloved pair of nunchaku.
"I will attempt to take one of them out as well. If I can't in the next trading of blows, I'll do ten thousand one-finger push-ups!"
He gave Shikamaru a thumps up with the accompanying sunset illusion. The ponytailed shinobi looked at the Jounin with both disinterest and horror, before turning his attention to their opponent.
That shadow-user boy is going to try something. He's worth more then I first believed.
He placed his hands into a seal, sending his creatures after the shinobi. The yellow masked creature opened its mouth as Kakuzu aimed it towards the fat Genin.
"Raiton: Gian" (Lightning Element: False Darkness)
Lightning flashed directly at Chouji, who couldn't react quickly enough, the lightning striking him straight in the shoulder. Kakuzu grinned under his mask, until he saw that the Akimichi had switched himself with a log. He watched as the others began to circle around his fire mask, the ugly green clad one heading directly for the lightning and water masks while the other three seemed to keep their distance.
You can't distract me like that. Your plan is flawed and naïve.
He swapped his seal and turned his eyes to the Genin.
The red mask opened its mouth as Kakuzu activated his technique, "Katon: Zukokku" (Fire Element: Intelligent Hard Work).
He turned away from the Genin while quickly shifting his hand seal again, "Suiton: Guraburo" (Water Element: White Flash).
The blue mask opened and fired a concentrated blast of water at Gai. The Jounin side stepped the blow with ease throwing his arms out to attack the nearby lightning creature.
Kakuzu's eyes darkened as he changed seals, "Raiton: Gian".
He sidestepped the lightning strike as well, Kakuzu noting with interest how the veins on his heads were bulging as his skin had begun turning a darker red colour. He turned his attention back to the Genin momentarily, noticing that they had survived his attack with virtually no damage. He took a quick count of his opponents before putting his together in the Earth seal, just in time as a large spinning attack came at him from behind.
"Tsuuga!"
He turned the fire masked creature around and prepared its attack for when the Inuzuka heir bounced off his shield. The whirlwind attack stopped just before it struck, a puff of smoke taking its place as a medium sized white dog flew over his head, still spinning wildly. Kakuzu looked up at the odd scene, then immediately regretted it as yellow acid struck him in the eyes. He screamed out in agony and cancelled his technique, clawing at his eyes as the dog urine burned his eyes.
"Go!" yelled Kiba, taking a moment to hear a reassuring bark from Akamaru before preparing himself to attack.
Shikamaru rapidly extended his shadow to trap the fire masked creature, capturing its shadow with ease as it couldn't move while Kakuzu was completely distracted. Ino threw the flash bomb into the air while all the Konoha ninja shielded their eyes, the momentary light source allowing Shikamaru to extend his technique all the way to Kakuzu and the other two creatures.
"Go, Chouji!" yelled Shikamaru, the sheer amount of power that Kakuzu was fighting him with was astounding.
Chouji threw two sets of kunai strung together with wire around his body before putting his hands together.
"Baika no Jutsu!" (Multi-Size Technique)
He withdrew his limbs into his now enlarged body before turning towards his target and pumping himself with chakra.
"Nikudan Hari Sensha!" (Spiked Human Bullet Tank)
He began to roll fiercely towards the black creature, the spikes leaving impact hits on the ground beneath him as he thundered towards it.
"Roll, Roll, Roll, Roll…" he repeated as he slammed straight into the masked creature's back.
Shikamaru let himself smile as he watched Chouji's attack.
A normal direct attack wouldn't work, as the threads would just reform themselves. But...
Chouji's massive ball form body tore through the creature before turning about and rolling towards the two masked creatures that Gai was attacking to no effect.
"Gatsuuga!"
Kiba's combination attack struck at the falling-apart fire masked creature, the threads shredding into thousands of pieces as the whirlwind ran straight through it. Kakuzu watched through stinging eyes as his second mask was destroyed, unable to do anything in his current immobilised form.
This boy worked out the best way to destroy my masks, whilst also removing the others and myself as a threat.
With significant effort he turned his head within the binding technique before staring at the impressive opponent.
"I've changed my mind" was all he said, but something in the tone of his voice felt wrong for Shikamaru.
"Attack him now" he ordered, still struggling to maintain his technique.
Chouji rapidly changed direction using the kunai around his body to pivot before aiming at Kakuzu. Kiba also went to attack Kakuzu while Gai was striking at the lightning and water masks with his nunchaku, finally causing a small crack in the lightning mask. Shikamaru felt a slight rumbling beneath himself and look down at the ground, only to be too late to stop the wall of threads exploding out of the ground, covering the area connecting their shadows, cancelling the effect.
Taking advantage of the situation, Kakuzu hardened his arm and punched directly into the rolling ball near him, sending Chouji crashing away holding his head in pain. The two masked creatures left jumped away from Gai before landing behind Kakuzu. The Jounin nodded in appreciation for his opponent's caution, keeping his weapon up in defence. Kakuzu's green eyes looked over the Konoha ninja before finally resting on the bowl-cut Jounin.
Demonstrating a speed he hadn't shown before, Kakuzu vanished and reappeared in front of Gai, driving a fist into his chest. Unused to his opponent's rapid change in ability, Gai felt the full impact of the hit, doubling over and throwing up blood over his arm. Not one for ceremony, Kakuzu reached up with his other arm and let the threads unravel themselves before forming into a sharp spear over his hand.
The other shinobi cried out for him to stop, a foolish notion he figured as he drove the weapon into Gai's stomach, forcing the threads to invade his body immediately. The Jounin, still recovering from the effects from opening the Gates, could do little in retaliation. He felt an odd twinge as the threads touched his heart, feeling an odd sense of calm wash over him as his body became numb. He wanted to make a grand statement, some gesture of youth before his death, but nothing came to mind. All he could see was the void within Kakuzu's eyes as the criminal ripped his beating heart from his chest and sealed it within a scroll in his free hand. Kakuzu and his creatures turned to the four Genin in perfect synchronisation as he pocketed the scroll.
"Now…I still need one more replacement."
Author's Notes
I'll admit; I feel like a bastard. But, such is the nature of battle unfortunately. I have taken some liberties with some of the Akatsuki member's techniques, but I figure since this is about two years before Shippuden, they might have different techniques or techniques they never got to show. I know the translations for Kakuzu's masked creatures' attacks are absurd, but they were all named after Mecha from the Mobile Suit Gundam series.
Please review and tell me what you think. What can be improved, what you liked, I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.
Naruto Story Spotlight: Naruto the REAL Fifth Hokage by Traban16. Quite a unique premise with Naruto becoming the Fifth Hokage. He gets powerful super-fast, but definitely an interesting story with a smart-ish Naruto.