Naruto's Life Redux Ch. IV: A Severed String Cannot Be Reattached
Hello again, we are back with the fourth installment and are already beginning the wrap up for the original Naruto series
"This is your son." The blond said smiling
"WHAT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY SON! YOU MEAN AFTER JUST THAT ONE TIME!" He replied
"THAT'S KINDA HOW SEX WORKS YOU IDIOT, YOU ONLY NEED ONE TIME AND UNLESS YOU FORGOT YOU FINISHED INSIDE OF ME! IDIOT." She responded clocking her lover in the head.
"I swear you can be so stupid sometimes." She grumbled
Normal Timeline
After Naruto went home with Temari and made good on his promise to her they slept peacefully not knowing that Sasuke Uchiha has forsaken the village and is currently headed to Orochimaru.
No one knew he left and no one was going to find out until the morning after he left.
Next Morning
Naruto and Temari woke up together and after Temari teased him some more by bringing him right to the edge again with some morning head they made their way downstairs in their usual morning attire. Temari had on a black sports bra with shorts she stole from Naruto, and Naruto had on a different pair of shorts and nothing else. Their morning has become pretty routine. They'd cook and dance together while laughing and getting food on each other before sharing a kiss or three. They'd eventually move to the table where they'd eat but today was different.
Naruto heard his name being called from the front gate of his home and went to see who it could be this early and he found Shikamaru at the gates.
"Shikamaru? What're you doing here this early?" He asked, "And what's with the vest?"
"Just got promoted 5 minutes ago to Chunin by Lady Tsunade, but that isn't important, Sakura was found knocked out on the street this morning. She says she ran into Sasuke last night and that he was leaving for Orochimaru. Lady Tsunade wants me to put a team together and use available genin that I think would be good for this mission. You're the first person that came in mind, we need to go now." He said
"Alright, let me get my gear and I'll meet you at Choji's, I assume he's coming." Naruto replied in a serious manner.
"Yeah, I'll meet you there or at the gates."
"Got it." Naruto said and turned to get ready.
"Everything okay Naruto?" Temari asked as he came in the house.
"Sasuke's left the village for Orochimaru and Shikamaru is leading a retrieval team under Baa-chan's orders." He said as he went upstairs and got changed in 30 seconds and had everything he needed. He came back downstairs where Temari was waiting with a worried look on her face.
"Wipe that look on your face, everything's gonna be okay. I'll bring him home." He said
"I don't care about him. I'm worried about you, if he left for Orochimaru like you said, he's probably going to have a security detail with him. Promise me you'll be safe and you'll come back to me in one piece." She said
"I promise Temari." He said with a small smile on his face.
The two shared a kiss like it might be the last time they'll get a chance to and Naruto started walking out. "Be safe dummy." She said
"I will, I'll be back soon. I love you Temari."
"I love you too Naruto." She said and with that her fiancé was gone.
Temari finished breakfast in silence and then got dressed in her normal attire before leaving the house to check in with Tsunade to see her full plan. By the time she got ready to leave the house Shikamaru had collected, Naruto, Choji, Kiba with Akamaru, and Neji. He laid out the plan and they soon got moving.
Just as Temari locked the gate to her home a member of the ANBU Black Ops appeared at her feet kneeling. "Lady Temari, Lady Hokage asks for your audience. She says it's urgent."
"Does it have to do with Sasuke leaving?" She asked
"Yes ma'am."
"Alright, I'll be there in a minute." She said and the ANBU left while Temari ran to Tsunade's office.
Tsunade's Office
Temari made it to her office and she began getting debriefed of the situation. "So Sasuke left for Orochimaru and Sakura says she tried stopping him, but she got knocked out and now Shikamaru is leading four genin to chance after them."
"That sums it up." Tsunade said
"You know he most likely has a security detail that has at least chunin level individuals and put together are probably Jonin level or higher right." Temari said
"You're worried about Naruto." The older blond said
"I can't help it, I've finally fallen in love with him and I can't help but worry for him, he is going to be my husband soon and eventually the father to our kids. It's my job to worry about him." She said
"Don't worry. Naruto has a tendency to overcome obstacles that seem impossible. And besides we're talking about getting Sasuke back, Naruto won't stop until he's done that." Tsunade said calmly
"Yes ma'am I understand."
"I'm saying to not worry Temari." Tsunade started as she got up and walked up to the younger blond. "Just keep it under wraps, you're a shinobi, right now you need to act like it and as a soon to be married woman you need to have faith in your man to take care of himself."
"You're right. Is there anything I can do?" She asked
"Actually you can. It's the real reason I called you here. I need you to send a message to the Hidden Sand to your siblings. We have a mission for the three of you. Back up the Sasuke Retrieval Team and make sure our boys come home. Defeat this enemy with as much force as you need, even if you have to kill." Tsunade said
"Yes ma'am." Temari started before drawing blood and going through hand signs, "Summoning Jutsu!" Temari yelled out and her weasel popped out of the smoke. "Kamatari I need you to go to the Sand and give a message to my brothers, then reverse summon them here."
"I understand, but you know reverse summoning can be dangerous."
"Just do it, we don't have time for them to travel across the desert."
"Understood." Kamatari said and got the message form Temari and left.
"Go ahead and prepare Temari. Oh and you're officially a chunin now Temari, congrats." Tsunade said tossing her a vest. "Thank you m'lady." Temari said bowing and left.
Temari changed out of her attire in favor of a new one she's been wanting to try out. "No time like the present." She said as she got dressed put her fan on her back and had her two smaller ones sealed away in scrolls.
Once Temari checked over to make sure everything was in place she left and headed for the main gates.
Suna
Kamatari popped out of nowhere surprising Kankurō but Gaara wasn't fazed. "Kamatari, what's the problem?" Gaara asked with his monotone voice.
"It's Lady Temari, she's been given a mission by Lady Hokage to back up the Sasuke Retrieval Team and she needs you two to come with Temari."
"What do you mean Sasuke Retrieval Team?" Kankurō asked
"I'm not sure of the situation I was just given the information to come and get you two and reverse summon you back to Konoha. Please hurry and get ready." Kamatari asked
"Right." Both Gaara and Kankurō got ready and after 30 minutes they were fully prepared after telling Baki the situation.
"Just be safe you two." Baki said
"Don't worry, it's those Leaf brats you should worry about. We'll uphold the honor of the Sand sensei." The older sand sibling said.
Baki nodded and Kamatari tried to reverse summon them all the way but he could only manage to put them a few hours out of Konoha.
"I'm sorry but this is the best I can do without consequences becoming relevant with the two of you." Kamatari apologized
"It's okay, take this and tell Temari we'll head east to Konoha and for her to head west, we'll meet up and then head north after the group." Gaara said handing Kamatari a small pouch of sand.
Kamatari reverse summoned himself back to Temari and delivered the message.
Temari
"Thank you Kamatari, I'll take that pouch. You're good to go, just remind me to give you some treats after this mission of over." Temari said smiling at her summon.
"Of course m'lady." Kamatari said then poofed away.
With that Temari headed west to meet her brothers.
It took 6 hours for the siblings to reach each other and they turned north to follow after the retrieval group from the Leaf. They were pushing themselves to catch up, mainly Temari out of worry for Naruto's safety.
With the retrieval group they were slowly making ground on Sasuke and the Sound 4 but they really made ground when the Sound 4 stopped for a break. This allowed the Leaf to cover a good amount of ground. Before the Leaf even left to chase after them the Sound 4 made Sasuke take a pill that was going to "kill him" as Jirobo put it.
Sasuke was hesitant but after a nudge in the right direction with some persuasion about the pill granting him a second stage of his curse mark that would make him much stronger, he gobbled it down like a tic tac.
Afterwards Sasuke's body exploded in purple and black flames and the Sound 4 prepared to seal him into the coffin where Sasuke would undergo his transformation over the next few hours.
Once they got this done, they accidentally encountered a jonin squad from the Leaf and an unavoidable fight began between the two groups and after 20 minutes of fighting and being forced to use the second stage of their curse marks the Sound 4 won and moved out to try and keep their schedule of getting Sasuke to Orochimaru.
After 40 minutes of traveling they were forced to stop since the toll of the battle was catching up to them and the adrenaline had completely worn off.
"Damn, to think we were forced to use our second stage against some Leaf scum; it's embarrassing." Tayuya spat
"Relax Tayuya, it's not like they were weak, those were all jonin, we're lucky we got out of that in the condition we're in." Sakon replied
"Shut up Two-face, I'm just saying it shouldn't've happened." She snapped back.
"Someone's here." Kidōmaru said
"Is the trap set?" Sakon asked
"Do you have to ask?" The multi armed shinobi replied.
They soon got into position and waited to strike.
Retrieval Team
"Make sure you watch where you're going, we haven't seen too many traps and the ones we have seen have been set up pretty lazily. That's gotta mean we're getting close and they're resting." Shikamaru said
"Got it." Choji said
"Keep your eyes open Naruto." Shikamaru said
"The hell you telling me for I know to keep my eyes open." He snapped back.
"Because you're the one who lets his emotions get the better of him when it comes to Sasuke, just stay focused and ready." The Nara replied
"Yeah, yea-" He started before Shikamaru caught him with his shadow.
"That's exactly what I mean." He said
"Nice catch." Naruto replied
Shikamaru pulled him back and they fell down while Neji checked the trap.
"Interesting." He said
"What?" Kiba asked
"They set a double trap, while we've seen every trap and thought that they've been put up pretty lazy and rushed they took the time to put down two trip wires. One that easily catches the sun's rays, and a second one that barely catches any close to the first."
"I see, the idea was that we see the first one, nullify the trap and then when we move on, we trip the second one without realizing it. It seems like a paper bomb has been attached to it with a small delay so when you ready a certain area of no return multiple paper bombs go off. Not bad, gotta give them some credit." Shikamaru said
Once they took care of the traps, they were ready to move on. Unfortunately they missed one that wasn't able to be seen and the paper bombs went off. Thankfully Shikamaru caught it and was able to jump back and everyone followed his lead and they avoided and serious damage with only some scratches and bruises from kicked up debris.
When the dust settled the sound four was waiting for them and all them were smirking. "This is the group they sent after us? They're just a bunch of snot nosed brats." Tayuya called out
"I want them, just go on ahead and I'll be right behind you." Jirobo said
"You sure Jirobo?" Sakon asked
"Just give me a few minutes and I'll catch up." Jirobo said
"No fuck that I want to beat these brats to a pulp." Tayuya snapped
"Drop it Tayuya we still need to get back to Lord Orochimaru, let's go." Sakon said
With that the other three members of the Sound Four left.
"Alright now to take care of you brats." Jirobo said
"Shikamaru you got a plan?" Naruto whispered
"Not really. I know nothing about his abilities."
"Shit." Naruto replied
"Earth Style Barrier: Earth Dome Prison!" Jirobo yelled and the earth from around them seemed to swallow them and create a dome.
"Good luck trying to get out of this one." Jirobo taunted
"Damnit!" Naruto yelled punching the wall but to no avail.
"Stand back and let the real man handle the job." Kiba replied with a smirk on his face.
"Now hold on a second-"
"Fang Over Fang!" Kiba yelled as him an Akamaru did their signature jutsu and left some dents in the wall as they bounced everywhere but the dome didn't break.
"Damn I thought we had it for sure." Kiba said
"You idiot that's what I was trying to tell you." Shikamaru said
"Tell me what?" Kiba spat
"Look, when Naruto punched the wall over here the dome seemed to heal itself very quickly." Shikamaru replied
"So what." The Inuzuka said
"You're such a dumbass, it's a drag. Let me dumb it down for you. This place is made of chakra, Neji can you confirm this for me?" The Nara asked
Neji obliged and activated his Byakugan and saw the chakra network holding the rocks together and in place. "Shikamaru is right, there's a complex chakra network holding the rocks together and in place. Kiba I want you and Akamaru to hit that side of the dome over there, Naruto hit the side opposite of Kiba, Choji; you and I will hit opposite sides of the wall from each other." The three looked at Shikamaru who nodded his head in agreement. "While you guys do that, I'm going to pay attention to your impacts. Make sure you use a strong jutsu." Shikamaru said and prepared for what was to come.
"Rasengan!" "Fang Over Fang!" "Partial Expansion Jutsu!" "Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms!" The genin all yelled out and hit the dome and then stepped back to let Shikamaru observe everything.
"Exactly what I thought." Shikamaru said after a minute of looking thoroughly.
"Well." Naruto said
"See this point where you hit Naruto?"
"Yeah, it's all healed up."
"Exactly, now look at Kiba's."
Kiba's point of impact was still there and the dome was slowly healing that portion.
"It's barely healing itself." Naruto said
"Yeah, that is something of significance." Shikamaru replied
"Yeah, because my technique is the strongest one obviously." Kiba replied
"Idiot. It means that Jirobo is on the side that Naruto hit, because of how quickly his mark healed. The dome is constantly sucking out our chakra to keep the dome intact. When we use techniques it uses the chakra from them to heal itself. The closer to Jirobo the point of impact is the faster it heals. The further away it is the longer it takes to heal. So we just need to keep hitting the side Kiba attacked before we run out of chakra and we'll be free. So let's do it again except everyone take turns aiming at the spot Kiba hit." Shikamaru said and the four Leaf genin nodded before repeating their attacks one at a time with Choji delivering the final blow and breaking them out.
"Alright! Nice going Choji!" Naruto exclaimed
"Yeah, good job Choj." Shikamaru complimented
Now that the group was free it became a 5 on 1 fight. "Alright now that we're free we can easily take him on." Kiba said punching one fist.
"What about Sasuke?" Naruto interjected
"Naruto's right. I was hoping to keep the group together but every second we waste they get further ahead. Unfortunately we'll have to split up. Now the hard part is to decide who should stay." Shikamaru said
"I'll do it." Choji replied with a serious look on his face.
"Choji you sure?" Naruto asked
"Our mission is to get Sasuke and bring him home. If that means we need to split up and fight on our own then so be it."
The others could feel the conviction and knew there was no way to convince the Akimichi heir otherwise.
"You better win." Naruto said before turning and taking off and the others left as well.
After calming his nerves and looking at the enemy that towers in front Choji was ready to have his first real fight that would ultimately mean life or death. This was his first real taste of being a shinobi.
"So you think your puny little ass is enough to take me on by yourself huh?" Jirobo said
Choji didn't say anything he just waited for the fight to begin.
"You realize you're gonna die here right?"
"So long as the mission gets done and we Sasuke back home where he belongs, I'll gladly give my life." He replied
"Hn, then get ready to die."
Choji calmly took out a three cell container with different colored pills. Jirobo noticed this as he charged in but didn't bother to stop. 'Take whatever you want kid, I'll run you through.' Jirobo thought as Choji popped the Green Spinach Pill.
All of a sudden Choji could feel the immense power rush through him and he sent a punch straight for Jirobo's gut and made perfect contact stopping the man in place.
From there it became a battle of wills with both plus sized shinobi having the veins in their heads protrude. Unfortunately for Jirobo Choji gained the upper hand was able to begin to push him back before gaining enough momentum to switch gears. He grabbed the Sound Four member by his belt and with a great feat of strength he lifted him off the ground and suplexed Jirobo head-first into the ground. With the Sound-nins head buried in the ground the rest of his body went limp.
Breathing heavy and starting to feel the beginning effects Choji began to slowly walk away before he dropped to a knee and threw up from the sheer pain he felt in his abdomen.
"Not bad, that'll be the last shot you get on me." Choji heard from behind him as his eyes widened.
"No way." Choji whispered
"Alright let's get this started then." Jirobo said popping his neck.
"Damn, I thought I finished you." Choji said getting up.
"Please, that little move isn't enough to kill me." Jirobo replied
"Well then let's try this. Spiky Human Boulder!" Choji yelled and he started to rotate incredibly fast with spikes protruding from him as he charged the Sound Four member.
"Earth Style: Terra Shield!" Jirobo yelled as he slammed his hands on the ground and a huge block of earth stood up like a wall and stopped Choji right in his tracks. Jirobo cocked his fist back and punched through the dirt wall and sent Choji flying back into a tree.
"If that's all you got then I don't need to even use my curse mark." Jirobo cockily said with a smirk.
"Then you might as well use that curse mark cause I'm not going down so easily." He said slowly getting back up and breathing heavily.
"You know what, I'll humor you." He said as he activated his first stage curse mark and rows of triangles spread across his body.
Choji could feel the amount of power Jirobo was putting off and he knew this fight was long from being over.
"This is what you wanted kid; don't say I didn't warn you." Jirobo said
Jirobo began an onslaught punching Choji 3 times in the gut knocking the wind out of him and making the Akimichi heir fold over clutching his midsection and threw up some more.
"See brat. Only 3 punches and I've already made you double over and puke yourself!" He yelled out as he kicks Choji for good measure in the face breaking his nose and sending him on his back.
"You're nothing but Leaf trash." Jirobo said looking at the panting oversized shinobi.
Choji slowly moved and pulled out the same container that had the green pill he ate. He popped open the middle slot containing a yellow colored pill. 'The yellow curry pill.' Choji took it out and put the container away and got ready to pop it in his mouth.
"Another one of those damned things huh?" Jirobo asked
"Yup, so get ready to keep fighting." Choji said popping the pill and as soon as he swallowed visible chakra could be seen coming from Choji as the ground cracked and broke beneath him.
'The hell is this? It's just like the first pill he ate but more intense.'
Choji stood up and popped his neck before staring down Jirobo. Choji calmly breathed out and charged at Jirobo faster than he could process and he felt the back of his head grabbed and he soon found Choji's knee making a new home in his face.
Jirobo stumbled back holding his nose and crying out. "Son of a bitch!"
Jirobo looked at Choji with blood pouring out of his nose and was pissed off. "I'll make certain you die."
"Bring it."
Jirobo wiped the blood from his face and went right back at Choji. "Shoulder Charge!" He yelled out as he slammed his shoulder into Choji but he only slid back and wasn't that affected. "Partial Expansion Jutsu!" Choji yelled as he raised his knee up and slammed it into Jirobo's stomach sending him flying up and knocking the wind out of his lungs. Choji jumped up past Jirobo and expanded his right arm, cocked it back and punched Jirobo square in the spine and made sure his arm kept expanding as he made sure his fist stay connected to his back and buried his in the ground creating a small earthquake that the rest of the retrieval team and the Suna support team could feel the ground shake.
Retrieval Team
*Ground shaking*
"The hell was that?" Kiba asked
"It came from the direction of Choji's fight." Neji said
"Yeah. I'm sure he's fine. Keep going we've almost got up to them." Shikamaru said trying not to get distracted. He hated the fact that he left his best friend but he knew he had to for the mission's sake.
Suna Support Team
"What was that?" Kankurō asked
"No clue." Temari replied but she was still focused on trying to get to Naruto.
"Let's just keep moving." Gaara said in his monotone voice.
Choji v. Jirobo
Choji landed back on the ground and grabbed Jirobo out of the hole and punched Jirobo back into a tree. Choji then gave an onslaught of punches that kept slamming Jirobo through trees and created a path of destruction for a quarter mile, before he gassed out and dropped to a knee puking his guts out and rolling on his back trying to catch his breath.
'Damn, I had no idea these pills would do this. Pa's gonna kill me when I get home.'
For 5 minutes Choji looked at the clouds passing and it reminded him of all the times he would watch the clouds with Shikamaru on the rooftops back home in Konoha. 'Shikamaru would like these clouds today. Too bad we had to go on a mission.'
Choji was finally catching his breath when he felt Jirobo's chakra spike even more than it was earlier.
'Shit.'
"I can't believe…of all fucking people…to make me go to my second stage…it was a little snot-nosed brat from the Leaf." Jirobo said as his orange hair grew into a mane and his skin turned red. The whites of his eyes became black and his irises became gold.
Jirobo came up to Choji and lifted him up by his neck and started at him in disgust. "Slamming Palm!" He yelled out connecting with Choji's chin sending him flying in the air and crashing back to the ground and a bag of chips fell out from Choji and Jirobo noticed.
"You know I still need some chakra to keep up this form so I think I'm just gonna take some from you." Jirobo said as he walked up to the bag of chips and picked them up as he began stealing Choji's chakra through the ground.
Choji could feel himself getting weaker and couldn't understand why.
'Why…why…do I feel so weak? Like my energy is being sapped. I can't…I can't move at all…is…is this what it's like to die? Damn, I can't believe I won't be able to try that brand new bag of chips.' Choji thought as his vision slowly started turning to black.
Jirobo opened the bag of chips and began to eat them and was talking to Choji while he ate them. "You know, the reason your friends left you is because you're the weak link. They knew it would be better if they left you behind to die. Why do you think they didn't hesitate to leave your pathetic ass, because they knew they had a better chance without you? They only picked you to join this stupid mission of yours because they felt guilty about leaving you out. You're nothing but trash in your group of so called friends you fat piece of shit." Jirobo said as he got to the last chip. "Well looky here, the last chip. I'm gonna enjoy this for sure." He said tilting his head back to drop the chip in his mouth but before he could he heard a crunch and saw the container that originally had three colored pills was now empty.
He saw Choji chewing the pill and his eyes grew wide knowing exactly what he was chewing. "Did I hear you correctly? Did you just say you were about to eat the last chip from my brand new bag? That's a brand new flavor that just got released and I've been waiting to eat them." Choji said as he got up and Jirobo felt the biggest chakra spike he's felt in this fight.
"What the hell are those pills!?" Jirobo yelled
Choji's chakra was flowing so much that steam was coming off of him and the charka made itself visible in the shape of butterfly wings.
Jirobo ate the last chip and Choji's wings grew and wind began picking up. "I don't care that you made fun of me, I don't care that you called me fat or that you even ate the last chip from a new bag of chips I was excited to eat; NONE OF THAT MATTERS! BUT DON'T YOU DARE INSULT MY FRIENDS! THEY DIDN'T ABANDON ME, THEY TRUSTED ME TO WIN THIS FIGHT AND I'M GOING TO!"
Jirobo tried to move in to attack but Choji easily dodged to the side and expanded his leg and swung his legs and kicked Jirobo in the face and sent him flying through more trees as a loud boom was heard from the connection of the attack.
"S-stop please!" Jirobo begged "I'm sorry!"
"No, you had your chances and you blew it." Choji said coldly
He then channeled all of the chakra in his body to his left fist and prepared for the strongest attack he had. "This attack right here is worth my whole life, and it'll take yours." Choji punched Jirobo square in the chest creating a crater and crushing his heart at the same time. "Butterfly Bombing!"
Upon impact Jirobo died and then reverted back to his normal form. Choji's chakra disappeared and he fell to the ground with a smile on his face. "I did it Shikamaru, I beat Jirobo. You don't have to worry anymore." Choji's eyes slowly closed and a smile was on his face as he saw a butterfly come and land on his hand.
Retrieval Team
The team had gotten caught in one of Kidōmaru's traps allowing the rest of the Sound Four to continue their mission. The only exception to getting caught was Naruto thanks to his Shadow Clones making it difficult on Kidōmaru to track him down and restrain him.
"You little, hold still would ya!" Kidōmaru yelled as he kept shooting webs at Naruto to try and catch him but it didn't work. Naruto kept moving around too much and using clones to evade the traps and this gave Neji all the time in the world.
As the young Hyūga prodigy was trapped in the webs he was panicking but slowly calmed down to try and figure a way out to help Naruto since he was definitely a mismatch for Kidōmaru.
'Alright, just calm down and think. Focus on your chakra and figure out a way to get loose and help Naruto.' Slowly his heart rate dropped and he began focusing the way he needed to and was able to break free from the webs silently and noticed that both Kiba and Shikamaru were still caught up in their own cocoons. He gave a silent and discreet signal to Naruto to let him know to keep it up while he got the others out and Naruto did just that.
He kept being a nuisance to Kidōmaru's web attacks and in no time Neji was able to free the rest of the team and just in time too because Naruto's luck had run out at the moment. Kidōmaru got a single thin strand of the webbing to connect with the outer wrist bone on Naruto's right arm and tugged at him to bring him in for the kill. "Looks like you're finally at the end of your rope kid." He yelled
'Damn not like this.' Naruto thought
"Naruto!" Neji yelled out as he cut the web and grabbed Naruto to bring him to the rest of the group.
"Your webs are chakra based which makes them useless against my Gentle Fist Taijutsu." Neji said standing with the team.
"Nice job Neji." Naruto said as he stood next to Neji and the Four Leaf ninja plus Akamaru looked at Kidōmaru.
"Alright, easy 4 on 1 wouldn't you say Shikamaru." Kiba said punching one of his fists as Akamaru barked.
"No, it's up to Neji. I'm useless against his webs with my shadows and I don't think either you or Naruto would be a good match up. Neji's taijutsu is the only one that can break these webs. Not even our kunai could cut through. If we stayed here to help Neji I think we'd only get in his way. As much as I'd hate to keep splitting us up, I think it's really the only way." The Nara heir replied
"I'd have to agree with Shikamaru on this one. I can't focus on fighting him if you guys keep getting caught in his webs and can't get out. Just go on ahead of me. Choji will be coming up behind anyways to help so when he gets here, I'll be done and we'll catch up." Neji replied still looking at Kidōmaru.
"Well if Neji says he can handle it then I believe him." Naruto said seriously
"But Naruto-" "No Kiba he's right. If Neji has made up his mind on staying to fight to let us continue the mission then we need to respect his decision. If we didn't it would be an insult to him as a ninja." Shikamaru said
"Neji you sure you got this?" Shikamaru asked
"Yes, I'll be right behind you. We'll get Sasuke back home." Neji said not looking at his captain.
"You heard him, let's move." Shikamaru said taking off with Kiba following right behind him.
"You better win Neji. I know you want a rematch." Naruto said before jumping away.
"Oh no you don't! Get back here!" Kidōmaru said shooting his webbing at the three ninja chasing after Sasuke.
Neji was quick to intervene and break apart the webbing while landing on a branch.
"Your fight is with me not them. If you're so eager to get to them then you should have no problem getting through me, right?" Neji asked
"Seems like I have no choice." Kidōmaru spat out.
Kidōmaru started off trying to end the fight quickly by creating multiple webs and shooting them at Neji.
Because the attack was so widespread Neji wasn't able to cut through all of them or evade quick enough and got pinned to a tree.
"Easy enough." Kidōmaru said and shot out a golden colored web that was hard but Neji easily escaped in time and looked at Kidōmaru before saying, "Easy enough." Neji then charged in getting close enough to land some hits before getting in his stance. "You're in range Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams 64 Palms!" Neji yelled and connected with Kidōmaru's body since he couldn't move from the yellow webbing coming directly from his mouth.
Neji thought he connected every hit but was surprised to see the Sound ninja still moving and he jumped back retreating into the forest to gather himself.
'This one doesn't seem to be a pushover like the rest of his group. I guess I'll have to take him seriously.'
Kidōmaru used his harder webbing to create arrows and began shooting them at Neji. Even though they were fast, it would be impossible to make a hit with Neji's Byakugan active.
'Damn, not a single one is connecting, even the ones from what should be blind spots. It's like he can see 360 degrees.'
"Time to kick it up a notch then." He said to himself as he activated his curse seal. The patterns on it were different than Jirobo's since these were more like vines that curled into itself.
"Summoning Jutsu!" Kidōmaru said as a huge black spider with 2 orange stripes appeared on the web above Neji.
The huge spider then began birthing out babies the size of basketballs and dropping them on Neji. As they fell Neji knew he still had one trick up his sleeve that could help him out, something he hasn't shown yet. "Rotation!" He yelled and began releasing chakra from his body while rotating at an incredible speed to where the spiders just bounced off like nothing at first; but as more kept falling they soon slowed down his rotation thank to short strands of webs coming from the babies.
'Damn, they slowed my rotation.' Neji thought
'There!' Kidōmaru mentally yelled as he threw a kunai made from his gold webbing.
At the last second Neji released some chakra from around his shoulder and it deflected the kunai away from him. Kidōmaru wasn't having it though and released a barrage of the same kunai he had attached to webs and they launched themselves toward Neji who deflected some away before jumping away and contorting his body to narrowly avoid getting hit with one.
'Damn, it's like he doesn't have a blind spot, but that can't be it. Everyone has a blind spot and I'll find his. I just need to keep up my attack and wear him out, he'll eventually slip up enough for me to land a good hit.'
The summon kept birthing more babies than Neji could evade so he resorted to using a higher form of his Gentle Fist; "128 Palms!" He yelled and began slaughtering all the spiders that were falling but eventually it became too much and as he tried to rotate there were too many and he couldn't move and his right shoulder got sliced.
'Damnit, where did that come from!?'
"Eight Trigrams 64 Pal- arghh." Neji screamed in agony as a kunai imbedded itself in his back.
Kidōmaru began sickly laughing as he was finally making some headway on this fight. "Now let's see how you handle more!" Kidōmaru yelled releasing even more kunai to the young Hyūga.
Neji was able to dodge them more the most part but the band hold his hair got sliced and 2 more kunai found a home in his back.
At this point Neji was exhausted from using his Gentle Fist so much but he still had a mission to do, he had a promise to keep to his comrades who trust him and consider him a friend; and most importantly he still had a rematch he so dearly wanted with Naruto. With that in mind Neji stood up not accepting defeat as an option.
"I won't go down, not until I've beaten you Kidōmaru." He said as his knees were ready to give out at any second and he was visibly heaving for air.
'Damnit, I haven't felt this exhausted since my fight with Naruto back at the Chunin exams.'
'Well kid you had a good run, but it's time to end this.' Kidōmaru thought to himself as he plucked a string a certain way that made his summon cry out from above Neji and it descended upon the young man and crushed him. It began crying out and Kidōmaru didn't know why until he saw what looked like the end of impact points on his summon. "Gentle Fist!" Neji said hitting the spider as hard as he could until it exploded into nothing but webs and the first thing he saw was a bunch of Kidōmaru's homemade kunai coming right for him.
This time three more connected with his back leaving 6 sticking from his back.
Seeing him get up again Kidōmaru went ahead and advanced to his second stage curse mark. 'This kid is something else, he's turning out to be a lot more entertaining than I could've dreamed. I'll have to demonstrate my appreciation.' Using his golden webs he created a bow and arrow that had an insane amount of tension behind it to where the veins in Kidōmaru's arms were popping out. "Now DIE!" He yelled right after launching his arrow right towards Neji's blind spot and it impacted the ground so hard it created a crater and sent dust and debris back towards Kidōmaru.
Kidōmaru laughed thinking he finally got him since his third eyes that appeared on his forehead helps with aiming his arrows. The other noticeable changes were the two short horns coming from his forehead, his skin was now a little dark shade of brown than before, his hair was greyer and his teeth sharper along with points coming from his elbow joints.
Neji looked at the crater just able to avoid getting a killing blow by emanating enough chakra to throw it off go through his left shoulder leaving a clean entrance and exit wound. "Damn, just in time. I can't believe I was able to throw it off without even knowing where it was. Could he know my Byakugan's weakness?" He whispered
'No! How could I have missed!?'
Neji didn't wait around for answers and began running, or rather staggering to get away while pulling the kunai from his back.
This time Kidōmaru made a gold arrow with normal web acting as a string attached to the back of it as he aimed the arrow to the prodigy. 'Gentle Fist is useless if you can't get close to me, absolutely useless.' He thought launching the arrow to Neji who was still running away as best as he could.
Since this arrow had a string attached to it Kidōmaru was able to control where it was going and Neji tried to dodge by going around a tree but the arrow went right through it and drew blood before slamming into the ground.
Neji's headband got cut off his head and fell to the ground. When looking form the side all you saw is a string at Neji's head level but looking head on you see that Neji escaped death by mere centimeters since he came away with only a cut left cheek.
"A thread!?" Neji said as he collapsed and realized why he couldn't see it and that he got lucky with only a cut on his cheek.
Kidōmaru was extremely upset that even with a string he didn't kill the boy but wasn't panicking. He created a new arrow but made the tip a swirling head.
'This time, even if it hits a tree it'll slice right through it and find my target. 120% destructive power. Absolute maximum!' he thought as he released his arrow and it traveled at incredible speeds that all Neji could do by the time it got within range was turn around and the arrow went clean through his guts, through a tree and planted itself far enough that the force pulled Neji to the very tree it pierced and pinned him.
'Shit!'
"I've still got one last thing I can do, while I still have chakra flowing through my body. Gentle Fist." He said as he grabbed ahold of the string that guided the arrow and he began letting his chakra flow through all the way back to Kidōmaru.
The idea worked perfectly as it was a clear path to his enemy and Kidōmaru was paralyzed, temporarily, for taking in foreign chakra, and began to fall from his spot. Once he got control of his head he bit through the web and prepared to finish the fight. Even with his internal organs severely damaged, he knew all he had to do was win the fight, get back to Lord Orochimaru and then Kabuto could heal him up.
A simple plan, but not every plan is flawless.
Neji was thinking back to what Naruto had called him and what people called Naruto. They called the blond a failure and screwup, but everyone praised Neji calling him a genius, even Naruto acknowledged that sentiment.
With that resolve flowing through him Neji cut the string and began running. He should be on the floor bleeding out and dying. He shouldn't be running towards danger; but he was.
Kidōmaru was trying to retreat but Neji found him and used his Gentle Fist to make direct contact with his face and sending the Sound ninja to the ground unable to mold chakra.
"But how, you should be dead with those injuries. My last arrow should've killed you instantly, how!?"
"I knew I couldn't completely evade it so I deliberately prepared myself to take the hit. You're the strongest person I've ever fought. Not long ago the strongest person I fought at the time said something to me. 'You can do it too, cause unlike me you're not a failure.' Those were his words and all this time I've been called a genius, so I can't lose. I can't let down those who believe in me."
"The weakest one in the game always goes down first. Isn't that what you said. Well look where we are now; fate isn't something for you to decide." He said hunching over as Kidōmaru was struggling to even sit up.
"Well you look like you're creeping on death's door too kid."
Neji reached out for his headband and remembered what his father said to him when he was a child, that the bloodline of the Hyūga flows strongest within him.
"Maybe so, but I won't die as easily as this."
"Hehehehe, go ahead and try to stop it but it's too late. Sasuke left to the Sound village of his own free will."
'Sasuke is in the darkness.' Neji thought to himself.
"You're wrong Kidōmaru." He replied, "There's one who can find him in the darkness and still save him from this path." He said thinking about Naruto.
"Haha, no. Sasuke belongs to Lord Orochimaru now kid. I don't care who it is he can't save hi-" "HE WILL!" Neji interjected which surprised Kidōmaru a little.
'So calm and collected during our fight but just talking about this subject he seems so passionate about his stance.' He thought
"Because Naruto, it was you who saved me from the darkness." Neji said as his fight back in the Chunin exams ran through his head.
Neji looked up at the shining sun with a smile before throwing up and hunching back over.
"Still talking shit right to the end huh- argh." Kidōmaru said clutching his stomach with one of his six arms and rolling on his side.
Kidōmaru rolled on his back and realized he hadn't been pushed this far to his limit, 'Not since Kimimaro at least.'
With that Kidōmaru passed away and Neji laid on the ground and the feather of a bird fell right into his palm.
'I leave it to you Naruto.' Neji thought as he closed his eyes.
With Jiraiya
Jiraiya had heard from Tsunade about the mission to get back Sasuke and took off after Naruto in fear that this would be too great a challenge to face. 'I'm coming kid, just hang on.' He thought as he came to some injured jonin. "You guys alright? What happened?" He asked
"We got ambushed by some Sound ninja carrying a coffin of some sort. Thankfully Shizune was here and able to help patch us up." One of them said
"Master Jiraiya is that you?" Shizune asked
"Yeah, Shizune, are you alright?" he asked
"Yes I'm fine, thank you. How come you're all the way out here?"
"Naruto and some of the genin are chasing after Orochimaru's lackeys and Sasuke to bring him back. I'm going after them to make sure nothing happens to Naruto. I need you to come with me when you're done Shizune." He said
"Then let's move, you two head back to the village and report to Lady Tsunade." She ordered.
"Yes ma'am." The other 2 said nodding their head and leaving for home.
After a while they came to the fight scene for Choji and Jirobo and they checked Jirobo and saw that he was dead. Choji on the other hand was alive but barely, he needed medical attention right away.
"Shizune do what you can on him right now and take him home. I'll send a message to Tsunade to prepare for emergency surgery and I'll make sure Chōza knows as well. Go!" He ordered and she nodded as she quickly went to stabilize Choji as best as she could before she lifted him up and noticed how much skinnier he was, then took off for home.
As he kept traveling to find anyone else he saw far off in the distance what looked to be birds fleeing and wondered just what or who was fighting over there.
Not too long after that he came upon the final scene of Neji's fight with Kidōmaru and just like before the genin took down a Sound ninja.
'These kids are tough as hell, but also still need more training.' He thought
"Summoning Jutsu!" He yelled out and a purple with red accent around the eyes toad popped up. "Jiraiya, long time." He greeted
"Hey Gamagorō, do you think you can carry Neji here back to Konoha and make sure you find Tsunade and let her know Neji is in the same condition as Choji and needs immediate medical attention?"
"Don't worry about I got it boss." The toad said getting Neji loaded on his back and taking off.
"Alright now to find out what the hell those birds were flying from." He said to himself as he once again took off.
The sun was starting to move away from its apex position when Jiraiya found Temari with Shikamaru staring at a dead girl with red hair and hundreds of trees cut at the trunks.
"Uhh, someone want to explain to me what happen to the forest?" Jiraiya asked
"Ask Naruto's wife, she's the one who did this." Shikamaru replied gesturing to the blonde who had a grin on her face.
"Remind me to never piss you off." The Sannin said
"Don't piss me off or this becomes your crotch." She said with a sickly smile.
"Yup, I'm good now. So you two ok then?" He asked getting serious.
"Other than a broken finger I'm fine. Did you happen to pass by Choji and Neji? I figured they would've caught up by now." He said
"I did." Jiraiya started before pausing and looking at the ground. "You and Choji are close friends right. Same with you and Naruto isn't that right?" He asked
"Yeah, I'd say those two are my best friends." Shikamaru replied
"Choji Akimichi is in critical condition. Seems like he took all 3 of the Akimichi color pills. And you know what it means when the Red Chili pill is consumed. Incredible power boost but death is the drawback." Jiraiya said as Shikamaru's eyes grew wide thinking that he unintentionally sentence his best friend to death.
"Relax Shikamaru; Shizune is on her back to Konoha and probably already made it and is working on him now. Same goes for Neji. I sent one of my toads with Neji on his back for emergency healing and possibly surgery. Where's everyone else?" He continued
"Kiba went down the cliff over there." Shikamaru replied
"Anyone else went with him?"
"A Sound Four member did."
"Don't forget I'm not the only one who's here. Kankurō went in his direction so he'll be fine." Temari said
"Well let's make sure, and on the way you can tell me how you came away with only a broken finger Shikamaru." Jiraiya said as they took off and Shikamaru began retelling his side of the story.
Flashback
Shikamaru and Naruto were now the only two left since Kiba fell down the cliff into a ravine with the last Sound Four member.
Sasuke has also broken out of the coffin he was in and immediately left for Orochimaru and Naruto wanted to desperately give chase but knew Shikamaru was going to need some help first before they could persue.
"Naruto hold on!" Shikamaru yelled
"But Sasuke's getting away, we have to go after him!"
"I get that but, we still need to deal with her." He replied
"Then what's the plan and make it quick, we're running out of time." The blonde impatiently replied.
"We need to create a diversion. She knows you're the powerhouse fighter so what we need to do is throw her off." The Nara heir said quietly never taking his eyes off Tayuya.
"So what? You want me to pretend like I'm gonna attack her and then make a break for it?"
"Yeah, just make it convincing. I'll go first and then you follow, got it?" He asked
"You sure you can handle her on your own?" Naruto asked
"Honestly… I don't know. Together they're supposed to be on the level of jonin, but apart from each other they should be weaker in theory. I just hope I got a good matchup. Make sure you get Sasuke or else this whole thing will be for nothing." Shikamaru said
"Don't worry about me Shikamaru, you have bigger problems." Naruto said
"You ready?"
"Oh yeah!" Naruto replied with a grin.
'What the hell are they talking about, should I cast my genjutsu, or is this just part of their plan to get me to reveal myself? Damnit I hate this waiting game, but I've got no choice, I just need to stall some time for Sasuke to get to Lord Orochimaru. Fuck this whole thing.' Tayuya thought to herself watching the two leaf scum.
She was taken out of her thoughts when Shikamaru charged in with a kunai and all she could do to react was put up her flute to block.
"Pretty sturdy instrument you got there." He quipped
"Shut the hell up scum!"
"Naruto now!" Shikamaru yelled
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He yelled and 20 copies of him popped out from nowhere and they all charged Tayuya, Some went high up in the trees, other went to the left or right and some went down low to the ground; but once the real Naruto had made it clear past Tayuya the others turned to the redhead, smiled then exploded into smoke.
"WHAT THE HELL KINDA BULLSHIT ATTACK WAS THAT!" She yelled out and almost got caught in Shikamaru's Shadow Possession.
"Damn, almost had ya there."
"What the fuck was that?" She asked now getting some distance between herself and Shikamaru.
"A family jutsu, you wouldn't know of it so don't worry, a lot of people don't know it." He replied with a smirk.
"Oh I'm gonna enjoy tearing your ass to shreds kid." She gritted out while giving him a hateful look and clenching her jaw.
"Do you honestly think he can stop Sasuke, I mean come on, Sasuke left on his own choice, he was given Lord Orochimaru's latest curse mark and it now has the ability to be upgraded. He stands no chance." She said looking at the pineapple haired chunin.
"Look at what remains of your team. You've sacrificed one member for every fight, every obstacle. You sound pretty stupid to me for a team leader."
"You're right, we have had to thin out our numbers and do 1 on 1 fights, I can't say with confidence whether I made the right decision or not; to be honest this is my first mission as a platoon leader, so go ahead and mock me, but I trust my team to get the job done, and it doesn't matter what you say about Sasuke, he's one of us and we'll die trying to get him back home where he belongs." Shikamaru replied
"You talk big but can you really back it up, just look at yourself, you're already tired form chasing and fighting to get out of Jirobo's prison. Why go this far for one person, why sacrifice your men for one measly guy who left on his own?"
"Because I was told something once, by that blond that past you, Naruto. He told me something I'll never forget, it's a sentiment my team holds as well; 'In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, but those who would abandon even one of their friends are worse than scum.' I don't know how you guys operate in the Sound, but I prefer to not be worse than scum. Every one of us will fight 'til our last breath for someone's who's been taken prisoner."
"Tch."
"Honestly I'm just a lazy, cloud-watching oaf, who isn't cut out to be a leader or bark out orders to others, but there is one thing I don pretty damn well for my teammates, that believing them. I don't believe what I did was a sacrifice, I don't believe they're dead so don't go around insulting people you don't know." He said
"Have it your way dumbass. Summoning Jutsu!" Tayuya yelled and three ogres appeared behind her.
"Well shit, this can't be good." Shikamaru lazily said to himself.
"Just sit back and relax as I play a melody of death for you." Tayuya said putting the flute up to her lips and began playing a certain toon that instantly froze Shikamaru.
'So this is her melody of death!?'
The ogres behind her began moving and moved in to attack at an incredible speed forcing Shikamaru on the defensive immediately.
'So that's how she controls them huh? Before they weren't moving and then once she began playing her tune they took action. Damnit these guys are quick.' He thought as he was forced back and couldn't an opening to counter.
'What the hell am I supposed to do? I can't get close to her to do my Shadow Possession because of that damn flute, and I can't just stay here and wait to be picked off.'
The ogres didn't let Shikamaru think and forced him further back and he noticed her curse mark was now activated as jagged line stretched across her face and body.
'This really isn't gonna be a cakewalk is it.' He thought as the armless ogre and the one with long hair and a club came from above to attack.
Tayuya kept playing her toon and finally the last one moved in and seeming slashed Shikamaru dead but it was just a substitution.
'Damnit, almost had him. Where are you…THERE!' She thought and sent the same ogre to attack Shikamaru who was camping in a cluster of leaves.
'Damnit, gotta move quick.' He thought and barely avoided the attack and was kept moving. He didn't have enough time to do his clan jutsu and was now facing the three ogres.
"It's over scumbag, you're trapped like a rat with nowhere to run."
"Impressive, the attacks were so well coordinated and you had them positioned right where you wanted them. That's quite a tricky tune you got. Must have taken a lot of practice."
"Well at least you figured it out, but that doesn't mean you know how to stop it."
"Fair enough, I was never really musically inclined, just ask my parents."
'So she controls each movement of those ugly bastards with specific sound sequences. It doesn't matter if I analyze it if I can't come up with a counter, and the fact remains that I don't have an ear for music. Damnit.'
"No one has ever heard this one and lived to tell the tale. Enjoy: 9th Passage: Demon Revolution!" She said and began playing a different tune.
'Damn a different one! What the hell does this one do!?'
The ogres all charged in with an all-out assault and the stitching on their mouths broke free and something began coming out of their mouths that had other mouths on them.
'What the hell is happening here?' He asked himself as he tried to dodge them but one got a "bite" of his hand and Shikamaru saw his chakra in the shape of his hand get a bite taken out of it. "What the hell is that!?" He asked as he landed on a branch with his back to the chakra stealers.
As they closed in he took out 3 shuriken and sent them towards each chakra stealer and they just went right through them. 'Gotcha.' He thought as he jumped away and revealed a paper bomb stuck to the branch he was on and the explosion went off as they collided with the branch.
'The instant he sees my Material Ghosts about to attack he evades. Idiot is smarter than I thought.' She smirked
'Damnit, I'm almost out of paper and smoke bombs and it only resulted in me being able to hide. And those ghost things let my shuriken right through them. It's like they're chakra itself, but they craved physical energy…because they're mental energy and need my physical energy to stay stable! If I fight against them I won't be able to build chakra to fight. I have to leave those things alone and go after her, only problem is I can't get close enough without those things getting in the way. I guess I could capture those three with my shadows, but they never attack together and I'm screwed if I don't get all of them. She really hasn't given me any options for offense or defense. Heh, she must be one helluva Shogi player.' Shikamaru thought, 'Let's see I've got 12 kunai, 9 shuriken, 36 feet of wire, 1 flash bomb and 1 paper bomb. Man it's really like playing Shogi without any Bishops or Rooks. Oh well.' He thought getting into his meditation pose to think of a plan.
Tayuya was still playing her tune to keep her ogres ready, 'There's no use in hiding, and unless you can predict the tune there's no way to stop them, and once I find you I'll break you like the twig you are.'
'Alright, time to get the show on the road.' Shikamaru thought opening his eyes ready to counterattack.
Shikamaru had the kunai strung up on the wire and had the paper bomb ready. 'Well guess all I can do is get it over with. 9 moves, I have to win by then.' He thought throwing the kunai with a paper bomb on it straight at a tree near Tayuya.
'One.' He thought before moving on as Tayuya noticed the kunai and bomb. It set off like it should've but she avoided the blast and landed on her feet still playing her flute.
Shikamaru kept moving into position, he set another kunai with a flash bomb above her. 'Two.'
Tayuya was scanning the area but couldn't find him. 'Three.' He thought as he launched a kunai right for her and she played a tune forcing the ogre with a two pronged claw attached to its arm to block it.
'So you're right there, rookie mistake dumbass.'
The armless ogre charged in but didn't find anything except for some wire wrapped around a small branch.
'Four.' He thought sending another kunai to cut the wire and it unleashed the tension in the branch sending the attached kunai to swing down at the redhead.
'Cheap tricks like that won't work.' She thought as the clawed ogre blocked it.
'Five, six, seven, eight.' He mentally counted as more kunai were launched but the same ogre blocked them all.
After a few seconds he threw another kunai at the string holding the flash bomb just before dropping down near Tayuya and she quickly reacted by sending all 3 ogres to him to finish this fight.
'A light bomb!? Shit he's making shadows with the flash bomb!' She thought
"Shadow Possession Jutsu!" He yelled and was able to get all 3 ogres' shadows.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu, complete."
"But how!? How could you predict my guys' movements?" She asked, "There's no way someone like you could hear the slight differences in my musical patterns!"
"Exactly, I wasn't listening to the music. I was paying attention to something else crucial to their movement." He said as she looked down at her hands.
"Bingo, your fingers."
"That's impossible! There's no way!"
"You extend your right index and ring finger, then you place the middle finger and pinky on your left hand the same way. That sound seems to make the crab man stand at the ready. When you press your right thumb and index finger and move your left index finger and pinky, it causes the big guy with the club to charge. While you wasted time dodging and trying to find me I was observing each and every one of your finger moves and studying how it affected them. Analyzed and memorized." He said
Tayuya was pissed off at this greenhorn chunin and put her flute to her lips and began playing but they wouldn't budge. Shikamaru had full control of them.
With that Shikamaru began his counter-attack taking back one of the kunai from the crab armed ogre. They charged in but immediately Tayuya dispelled them and it was back to a 1 on 1 fight.
"Now it's my move you rat!" She said and tried to move but found it impossible, "What the hell is going on!? Why can't I move!?" She yelled
"Heh, Shadow Possession success."
"You bastard, you tricked me. You were never planning to use my ogres against me!"
"Correct, you never attack on the first, always use that as a fake." He replied with a smirk.
'I have no choice.' She thought as she upped her curse mark to stage two and he hair turned to a peach color, skin became brown and she now had horns coming out of her head.
'What the hell, her chakra just shot up out of nowhere, and she looks different too!' Shikamaru thought as he began to realize the fight was just beginning.
Tayuya was able to summon enough strength to slowly move her right arm with her flute
'Damn, what the hell is happening. She's breaking free, if I use more chakra she'll just wear me out- no I can't worry about that right now. I have to use my other jutsu.' He thought as he made the hand signs and said, "Ninja Art: Shadow Strangle Jutsu!" and a shadow like hand began wrapping around her legs from the already connected shadow and began making its way up her body.
'Damn, that shadow is strangling my body like it's the real thing!' She thought but was defiant in letting him have his way.
"I won't let you beat me." She said bringing the flute up to her mouth forcing Shikamaru to grab the kunai and get ready.
'She's so strong, I don't how much longer I can hold her.' He thought right before she began playing a tune again.
'Demon Flute: Chains of Fantasia!'
Shikamaru was caught in the genjutsu and was forced to release his own jutsu giving Tayuya control of her body again. He tried throwing the kunai at her but missed and his arms were stretched wide like he was on a cross.
'I can't move!' Shikamaru thought as he saw his limbs being bound by some string and soon saw his arm melt off his body and let out a scream.
'Once in second state my flute can release all sorts of nasty genjutsu, and this is especially appropriate for a rat like him, it paralyzes my prey like vermin.'
"So how does it feel to be the one tied up huh?" She asked as she grabbed the kunai he threw a minute ago. She jumped to the branch he was on, kunai in hand and kept talking. "You said something about this being your final move right? Too bad for you it's Checkmate!" She said getting ready to stab him but he put a solid punch right to her gut shocking her to the core.
"But how did you-!?"
'He broke his own finger with his shadow! The pain must've broken the genjutsu! HE WAS FAKING!'
She tried going in again but the same shadow hand caught her and stopped her from moving.
"Didn't I already tell you; the first attack is always the fake. It's basic strategy, the second one always wins the match. You may notice my second move looks a little different from before." He said and she noticed it.
He used the same Shadow Strangle but this time the distance was up close and personal make his hold much stronger than before when they were separated.
"Damn you, I got careless and came too close." She said
"Wrong, remember when you said your flute was your only weapon?" He asked and she had a realization. "My last kunai throw was a miss on purpose, I was never aiming for you at all. I knew that you had no other weapon and would pick it up and come close to me." He explained with a smirk.
The fight for control continued as they struggled against each other. Shikamaru back off for a second to come in with another punch to the gut but somehow Tayuya managed to move her left hand to block it and grab ahold of his fist. "You may have escaped my genjutsu but don't get ahead of yourself." She said
'Damn, she isn't immobilized yet, gotta finish this quickly and make it count.' He thought as he sent a shadow hand to her neck to choke her to death. The hand got to her throat and she slumped over his shoulder making him think he won but soon found that she was resisting even more causing her horns to grow out as she struggled and was able to force the hand off her throat.
It was a struggle of wills and chakra to see who'd win, Tayuya was getting the upper hand though forcing the shadow off her upper body before Shikamaru would get it back up to her throat and then it would back off again. A continuous cycle of pushing against each other.
'Damn, I'm at my limit. This is like that time with Asuma, but the chances of someone stepping in is almost 0. And I can't come up with anything! Shit I can't hold on any longer!' He thought as he dropped the jutsu and she was free again.
"Finally! YOU'RE MINE!" She yelled but was blown away but a huge gust.
"Having trouble are we Shikamaru?" Temari asked from a branch smirking at him.
"Who the hell are you?" Tayuya asked trying to hold onto the trunk of a tree.
"Allies of the Leaf Village, we're shinobi of the Sand." She said still smirking.
"Temari!? What the hell are you doing here!? Shouldn't you be back home in the Leaf?" Shikamaru asked in shock.
"I was but Lady Tsunade called for a meeting with me and wanted myself and my brother to come back you guys up as quickly as we could and here I am. Kankurō is helping out one of your other teammates while Gaara goes after Naruto to back him up." She replied
"Ah I see. Well it's a good thing Lady Tsunade was cautious and sent you guys or I'd be dead right now, so thanks." He said getting up and standing tall again.
"So you gonna give up again? I don't mind taking care of business by myself. I'm not some dainty lady afraid to break a nail or get dirty, so if you want just sit back and let me go to work, or are you gonna man up and fight?" She asked mockingly.
"I'm not about to give up, and I don't care if you're not afraid to get down and dirty any real man doesn't let a woman do the fighting for him." He quickly replied
Temari walked up further to confront Tayuya while opening up her fan to her third moon and getting ready. "So you guys are with the Leaf now? Huh you dumbasses are all over the place aren't ya?" Tayuya said and got ready to perform her genjutsu but Shikamaru was quick to inform Temari who was ready for a counter-attack.
"WATCH OUT! When she plays her flute it emits a genjutsu!"
"Oh really? Well then if that's her trick then I'll finish this in one shot. LET'S SEE YOUR SOUNDWAVES GET THROUGH THIS! Summoning: Blade Dance!" She yelled and Kamatari popped out riding his sickle and the current of wind tore up the surround area. Once full grown trees were now cut into oversized logs and Tayuya got caught underneath one crushed by the weight and died on impact. She reverted back to her normal self but her time was up.
"How's that?" Temari asked smirking at her work.
'Incredible, I had no idea Temari had this kind of power. Why didn't she use it against me in our fight?' He thought to himself.
"Remind me to never piss you off." He said looking out at the shaved forest.
"Don't piss me off." She said looking back with a toothy grin.
'You've got your hands full for sure Naruto. Good luck to you on that.' He thought
After taking a breather Jiraiya caught up to them and saw the deforestation.
Flashback End
The three finally found Kiba, Akamaru and Kankurō together with the Leaf and ninken looking like they've seen better days.
"You two alright?" Jiraiya asked checking them out.
"I'm alright, just got stabbed is all. Akamaru is the one who's really hurt." Kiba said clutching the wound over his liver.
"Kiba your liver got stabbed! You're definitely not alright." Shikamaru exclaimed
"Well, the job isn't over yet, we still need to back up Naruto." He said trying to get up but dropping back on his ass.
"Just stay down idiot, Gaara went to help Naruto. If we go after him right now to try and back up that fight we'd only get in Gaara's way." Kankurō replied
"W-wait, G-Gaara is here too!?" Kiba fearfully asked remembering the last encounter with the redhead.
"Don't worry he's changed, thanks to Naruto that is. He isn't the same psychopathic killer he used to be." Kankurō said but it did nothing to comfort the Inuzuka.
"I'll believe it when I see it." He quietly said
"So you good enough to travel kid?" Jiraiya asked
"Honestly…no I need to get Akamaru checked out. My sister will know what to do." Kiba replied to the Sannin.
"Well if that's the case then Kankurō is it?" Jiraiya asked
"That's me."
"I want you to take him home, make sure his clan attends to his ninken and then take him to the hospital. Make sure you see Lady Tsunade or her assistant Shizune, got it?" He asked
"Yeah, it's gonna take me a while to get there, but I'll do what I can." The warpainted shinobi replied
"Nonsense. I'll lend you one of my summons, they'll take you back to the Leaf and make sure you see Tsunade. Summoning Jutsu!" Jiraiya said and out of the smoke appeared Gamaken, one of Jiraiya's bigger summons.
"Hm, Jiraiya? What's going on?" He asked
"Hey Gamaken, I need you to run these guys back home to the Leaf and make sure they see Lady Tsunade or Shizune alright." Jiraiya replied
"Sounds easy enough." Gamaken said lowering himself to allow the two humans and one dog to board.
"One has a stab wound to the liver so be careful alright." Jiraiya said
"Got it, you focus on what you're doing and I'll take care of this." Gamaken said before leaping away and doing his best to not be ungraceful or clumsy.
"Alright so next stop is to chase after Naruto and Sasuke right?" Jiraiya asked
"Not quite, I didn't mention one detail. When Naruto and I got the coffin back some other guy that Tayuya recognized swooped in out of nowhere and took the coffin with him. Naruto is giving chase to him right now, and I can tell you this, he's stronger than all the Sound Four members put together. Naruto has a tough fight ahead of him." Shikamaru said
"Then all the more reason to get moving." Jiraiya said
"Right." Shikamaru replied popping his finger back in place.
Without them knowing Rock Lee was already on his way to assist Naruto however he could. He passed Jiraiya's group a while ago since they got off the direct path and Lee stayed right on course the whole time. He would be that back up that they need but don't realize just yet.
End Chapter
Well holy shit that was a long one. I was intending to make this chapter longer by including Kiba vs Sakon & Ukon but to be honest that fight was the lamest one to and I think everyone already knows it so it wasn't as important to me to recap it. Overall I personally find Kiba a boring character when it comes to fighting, especially in the first series, so after the time skip I'll do what I can to enhance him a bit. I know some of you will call it me being lazy, but if I don't want to include something in my story I'm just not gonna include it.
As for the Shikamaru, and Neji fights, I kept them pretty much the same because I think those fights are already perfect with Neji needing to win while knowing his secret blind spot has been figured out and for Shikamaru the chess match he played was beautifully executed already so I don't want to touch what's already great.
So that leaves us only with Naruto/ Lee & Gaara vs Kimimaro fight and then the climax that will carry us into the next series; Naruto vs Sasuke, which I will change around a bit by adding more jutsu, and stuff to try and enhance the fight as much as I love it in the anime, I want to try and make it better to the level of the final fight in the show so when THAT fight happens I'll have to step it up even more and be so over the top you wanna gouge your eyes out.
But for real I hope you guys enjoyed this extra-long chapter there won't be many of these at all and this may be the only one (Maybe) but whatever happens I'm glad you guys are enjoying the series.
As you've seen me already say before REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Tell me what you think, don't forget to FAV and FOLLOW myself and the story to stay updated on everything Naruto's Life Redux as well as everything KingSeahawk related.
I hope you guys enjoyed this installment and I'll see y'all next time!
Explain why I didn't describe Tayuya's ogres on their first appearance
Next chapter Naruto v Sasuke fight