Leaves crunched underneath his soles in a rushed rhythm. His feet ached with every step, but he didn't dare risk slowing down for even a second. Not with who knows how many Hidden Cloud shinobi chasing him through the forest. His breath was sharp, coming in short bursts and scratching the back of his throat with each exhale. His silhouette passed flew through the shadows casted upon the soil by the trees looming under the dawn's rays.
He knew that helping Kakashi would lead to risking capture by the Hidden Cloud Village, but at least he could give the Copy Ninja a chance of surviving the onslaught that Sasuke put him through. Kurenai wouldn't have forgiven him if he had let Kakashi give in to his wounds. Shikamaru tried to guess how they would manage to save the Leaf jonin. He wasn't a medic by any means, but he had read enough manuals from the clan's library in order to determine a decent diagnosis for Kakashi's condition. And, by his calculations, the Hidden Cloud would have to possess a medical ninja near the Fifth Hokage's level in order to give Kakashi the best recovery. Wincing, he knew that there was no one that fit that description in the Land of Lightning. So, that would mean that the Hidden Cloud would have to outsource. The Hidden Leaf would be the most suitable ally of theirs to ask, but Shikamaru doubted that the Hokage herself would risk travelling to the Hidden Cloud, not without the Leaf's greatest shinobi at full strength.
He shook his head; he didn't have the luxury to worry about how Kakashi would survive. Not with shinobi just a few hundred yards behind him. Thinking of a plan that could suffice, Shikamaru began leaving explosive tags in his stride. Wire traps sprouted from the kunai he fired towards tree trunks at various angles. It didn't take long for the first set of explosions to reverberate through the forest, provoking a swarm of fresh leaves to fall from the canopy. He didn't take any time to admire his work, deciding to put as much distance between the explosions and himself as he could manage. The trees that were felled would also make for an irritating obstacle for any shinobi.
His attention was drawn to the horizon, however, as he saw a mass of trees shoot into the air in a familiar manner, although he wasn't sure why that sight would be a familiar one to him. He seemed to remember witnessing a whole forest being cut down to the stumps once before, the scene engraved deep into his memory. Yet, what terrified him more was the prideful grin on the face of the kunoichi who'd caused the carnage of deforestation. He paled at the image of the kunoichi's current victims as he changed course to head towards her location.
He had hoped that since Temari had left before him, she wouldn't have been pursued already, but the Hidden Cloud must have moved faster than he expected. And he was praying that she didn't manage to kill Kurenai within the few minutes that they were apart.
It sounded as if he wasn't being followed anymore, his makeshift traps enough to deter any pursuers. But, just in case, he laid a few more elaborate traps in order to catch anyone bold enough by surprise.
It didn't take long for him to reach a clearing that didn't take a genius to understand was new to the forest's ecosystem. The devastation went on for what looked like miles, acres even. Shikamaru whistled at the sight, impressed by the lack of care to the environment in a manner that worried him considering his lineage and their duty to care for a forest greater than the one he was in.
And, amidst all the carnage, a beautiful kunoichi took his breath away. A towering figure, covered by crimson clouds that billowed around her, stood proud with her regal face held high. She exuded her royal air that matched her dominant personality, her sharp facial features highlighting her pretty details. Whirling in front of her, her Tessen fan inspired a certain amount of fear in her enemies, as well as a false amount of security when facing a weapon that didn't look all too threatening to the untrained eye. Shikamaru had witnessed the terror of her giant fan first-hand, and he never wanted to risk being on the wrong side of her potent Wind Scythe jutsu again.
When she caught him ogling her, Temari smirked. "What took you so long, Shikamaru?" she called out.
He massaged his neck as he strolled towards her. "Is it such a good idea to be fighting right now?"
She shrugged, cocking her hip and drawing his attention to how her loose cloak was now tightened to her body, outlining her sumptuous curves. He averted his eyes, darting towards what Temari was aiming to kill.
Catching their breath, Shikamaru watched as three figures licked their wounds. Covered in thin cuts, Shikamaru knew that they had been the victim of Temari's jutsu. It looked like an archetypal squad of shinobi that was found across each of the Five Great Nations' hidden villages. A team comprised of three shinobi, although this one subverted the usual formula with its two kunoichi. That contrast matched the differences in the looks between those kunoichi. The tallest of the three, a blonde kunoichi, with skin as pale as a ghost, wore a plain, plunging top that drew attention to her massive chest that gave Shikamaru a headache as he tried to estimate just how large her breasts were.
A scowling in his ear forced him to move on to the shorter kunoichi with darker skin and soft amber pupils that narrowed on the newest arrival. Over her shoulder, a shinobi with a similar skin tone eyed Shikamaru with suspicion. Both the two younger-looking shinobi wielded longswords whilst the taller kunoichi guarded with a kunai in hand.
Shikamaru watched them with care, unaware of their abilities yet from what he could tell, they were already struggling with Temari alone. He wasn't too well-versed in the Hidden Clouds expertise, but he knew that he should watch out for Lightning Style jutsu and, by the looks of their weapons, kenjutsu.
"Have you had enough yet?" Temari asked, her condescending tone booming in his ear, making him question who she was talking to. She lifted her fan with little effort to rest it over her shoulder. Shikamaru had to wipe the drool off his chin before he drew his knife.
The redheaded kunoichi was the first to respond. "Not until you've surrendered to the Village Hidden in the Clouds!"
She tried to stomp towards them, but she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. "Karui, we shouldn't rush in" the other young shinobi cautioned his squad mate.
His warnings fell on ignorant ears, however, as Karui spun with the momentum of her fist, giving him a narrow instant to duck away. "Shut up, Omoi!" she spat. "These criminals are here for Master Bee!" she jabbed the point of her sword towards Shikamaru and Temari.
The older kunoichi stepped forwards with her palm facing Karui in a calming gesture. "We all have that weight on our shoulders, Karui, but for now we need to be smart about our mission"
Omoi interjected, pointing his finger in the air. "No, I think that's just you, Samui" his finger turned on Karui. "I'm pretty sure that Karui doesn't have any weight on her shoulders"
It took a few moments for Karui to comprehend the meaning of Omoi's words. When she did, she looked down at her chest, switching her gaze between it and Samui's much larger bust. Her fists trembled at Omoi's implication, the sword point shaking as she raised it high above her head.
"I'm gonna kill you! You little shit!"
Shikamaru and Temari shared a look of curious confusion at the scene of Karui attempting to slice Omoi's head off all whist trying to club him with her fist that arced towards his skull. Samui couldn't do much besides offer an apologetic look towards her supposed enemies.
As she tried her best to calm them, Shikamaru took advantage of the unexpected distraction. He focused on himself and on the chakra that flowed through his body. He followed it from his torso and pictured it spreading through his limbs until it reached his soles where it hooked the shadow that his presence casted. A coil of abyssal darkness snaked around the remnants of the forest, trailing around the stumps and absorbing any shadows that they casted in order to extend the jutsu's reach. It stalked the three shadows, unaware of the incoming jutsu, heading towards the tallest shadow that was all too easy to catch.
Karui and Omoi recoiled at the odd expression on Samui's face. What was once expressionless and calm, was now paler with raised eyebrows and widened pupils. Her dropped jaw and darting eyes lead them to search for the cause of her surprise.
They attempted to look downwards, but when they did, their necks seemed to lock in place. For a few powerless seconds, they struggled against their stiff necks and strained against their frozen limbs. But, it was all to no avail. Like puppets on a string, their heads were raised against the instructions of their minds.
The scene they were forced to play out was downright torturous. With stiff movements, they turned to face the puppeteer. A sly grin was all that Shikamaru offered in return as he stood, proud of his work.
Noticing their grimaces, he decided to tease them. "Relax, there's no need for the sad faces" he called out. "All we want is for you to let us be on our way"
"Like that will ever happen!" Karui spat. Her fluid use of expletive vocabulary gave away her failed efforts to break free.
"I'd be careful with what you say next" Shikamaru warned the fiery kunoichi, gesturing to the kunoichi beside him, who he'd bet his own life on having a worse temper than any of the Hidden Cloud shinobi.
A cold wind blew through the clearing, sending a shiver down the Hidden Cloud squad's spine. "What are you doing, wasting so much time on these losers?" a voice, colder than ice, carried over the air.
As much as they wanted to, none of the shinobi from the Hidden Cloud Village could turn to face the source of the newest voice. Yet, they sensed that the berating question wasn't directed at them, but their captor.
Behind them, fresh leaves squelched underfoot. The sounds of soil giving way to heavy weight came closer with each passing second. The hairs on Omoi's neck stood on end when he felt the presence of a shinobi looming over him. A tired groan sounded out of place in the tense atmosphere that the clearing had succumb to.
"What's taken the two of you so long?" Temari redirected the question. "Don't tell me you were struggling with the Eight Tails!" she let out an exaggerated gasp, as if she found out that she was the killer all along, feigning shock.
There was shift of movement behind the Hidden Cloud shinobi, accompanied soon after by another groan, although it was mumbled. "Well, he is pretty heavy but no, he wasn't that hard to deal with" a devious voice boomed past their ears.
Karui began to tremble, albeit her shivering limbs were almost unnoticeable due to the restrictive jutsu she was frozen by. Omoi spoke the name that was on both his and Karui's mind aloud. "Naruto?" his shaky tone gave away the desire for his suspicions to be incorrect by any means necessary.
"Do I know you?" the voice came closer, inspecting him. In a blur of movement in his periphery, a golden-haired figure appeared in the Hidden Cloud shinobi's field of view. A giant form, stared down at Omoi, a thoughtful expression furrowing his brows. He scanned the towering character, fighting every instinctual urge not to. Holding back his messy locks of gold, his forehead protector glinted with a murderous intent as the light of the dawn glanced off the gash that crossed through the forgotten leaf symbol of the Land of Fire's hidden shinobi village. Below it, bright indigo mixed with deep ruby in the endless whirlpools that were his eyes. Sharp features were accentuated by the honed, pointed fangs that gave the smile that stretched his lips a grim tone. His long cloak covered his body, hiding his arms underneath the void-like folds.
A bandaged hand drummed against his temple, before his eyes sparkled. "Oh yeah! I remember you!" he pointed his finger towards Omoi. "Well… I remember you standing there and watching as she…" he gestured towards Karui, shooting her a wink. "… tried to beat the ever-living shit out of me" the serious intonation that lay underneath his recollection of past events gave a drastic contrast to his cheeky grin.
"I should have just killed you then, you piece of shit!" Karui spat. Naruto ignored her for the time being, instead he enjoyed the mental torture that plagued Omoi's cautious nature. The scathing glare, that Naruto bored into him with, mirrored his smile like the sea did to the heavens. It was almost as if Naruto was some cruel god, enjoying the spectacle of Omoi's human suffering. With little effort, Naruto had managed to reduce Omoi to a murmuring mess, whose muttering was becoming even more nonsensical with every breathless word.
Over Karui's shoulder a dark presence waded past, focusing his complete attention on Shikamaru and Temari with an unamused stare. Lowering his gaze, he took notice of the fact that neither of Shikamaru's hands were occupied holding the shape of any of the seals needed for his Shadow Imitation jutsu. Yet, it was clear that his jutsu was still in effect, restricting the Hidden Cloud shinobi and crushing any opportunities for them to fight back.
The blood red clouds that patterned the cloak attracted her pupils and enticed them to seek out the same colour elsewhere. Dashed across the darkness, in random spots, were splashes that matched the Akatsuki's infamous symbolism. Karui felt her breathing shorten upon the realisation that the marks were not apart of some elaborate embroidery. In a panic, her eyes darted between Sasuke and Naruto, roving over their figures to pick out every individual splotch that rolled down their complexions. It was everywhere, as if they were splattered with paint, and Karui couldn't focus on anything except their choice of paint. Blood.
Dark and viscous, it dried to their clothing and skin, branding them with the reminders of their crimes.
The image brought the memory of their emergency briefing to the forefront of her mind. Samui had called for both her and Omoi as they had been summoned to the Raikage's office. As soon as they rushed through the door, they were bombarded with a discombobulating amount of vague information about the current situation that was occurring in the outskirts of the Land of Lightning. Reports had come in of the Hidden Leaf shinobi that had taken up the search for the ever-missing Lord Bee and how there were worrying explosions and seismic impacts around their last-known location. The Raikage ordered the Hidden Cloud shinobi to surround the few miles around the location, before searching for any hostiles. Whilst they did that, the Raikage and his aids would search for Lord Bee and escort him back to the Hidden Cloud Village.
After the barrage of information that they were assaulted by, Team Samui watched as the Raikage busted straight through the wall and into the distance with his bodyguards, Darui and Cee, not far behind him. Samui lead them towards their location where they had come into contact with a preliminary scouting party that came across one of the Hidden Leaf shinobi, Kurenai was her name if Karui's memory was correct, who was being attended to by the medical ninja. By her side was a giant beast, covered in a coat of fur that was thicker than armour. Karui recognised it as a ninja hound that one of the clans of the Hidden Leaf were famous for using. She was certain that it was the largest she had ever seen, its unconscious snoring almost shaking the earth beneath her feet.
From what the scouts could decipher from the Hidden Leaf kunoichi's explanation of what had transpired, it sounded as if there were criminal shinobi not too far from their current position. Despite both her and Omoi's worries for their master, Karui followed Samui in their pursuit of their targets.
After a little while of aimless searching, a blonde streak flashed past their decreased lines of sight. When they took in the markings of a cloud, Karui saw red. She sped up, leaving Omoi to try and keep up whilst Samui kept her usual pace.
When they managed to catch up to their prey, they wound up hiding from the rogue shinobi's powerful jutsu that scythed through their skin, cutting their clothes to shreds. They were forced to stay back at the great distance between them, with no ideas as to how to close the gap without putting their lives at risk.
All these recent memories passed in mere seconds as Karui watched Naruto stroll towards her with a leisured demeanour to the movements of his body. Although the expression on his face was a different story, one of the genre most different to that of the Legendary Sannin's Jiraiya's novels. Sweat dripped down her skin, drawing erratic shivers from her tense muscles in an attempt to avoid the chilled drops. When his face came within unrestrained headbutting distance, Karui noticed his eyes look past her, his eyebrows giving a silent order to someone behind her.
An even larger figure brushed past her shoulder, almost knocking her over if it weren't for her restraints. It took her a second too long to comprehend the strange appearance of the newest arrival to this hopeless scene.
Atop his head, a golden crown glittered in the dawn's light. His face, however, was similar to Naruto's. Karui winced at the recollection of Naruto's most famous jutsu. This shinobi wasn't similar to Naruto, it was identical. There were a few differences between the original and his copies, and one of them was the lack of blood that was splashed over the clone's clothing. The second, and most obvious, was the unconscious body of the Eight Tails' jinchuriki that was slumped over his shoulder.
"Master Bee!" she squeaked.
In her ear, Naruto's breath brought another bout of shivering through Karui's body. "Shhhh! We don't want to wake him up now, do we?"
She glared at him. "What do you want with him? Why are you taking him?" she asked, desperate for answers.
The original Naruto continued his tyrannical tirade. "Well, it's not Bee that we need, it's Gyuki who would have been annoying if we left him unchecked" he explained.
"You bastard! Don't you have any shame?" she screamed until her throat felt raw.
Naruto's smile faded. "Says the girl who beat a defenceless man" her protests died down the instant he brought up the shared memory. He seemed to enjoy her sudden quietness, as his mischievous grin returned. He leaned in close, his eyes sparkling with horrific ideas. "You know, I think its high time that you pay for your crimes" he announced, savouring the irony.
"Fuck you!"
He lowered his voice until it was no more than a deep, guttural growl. "That's a pretty close guess" he praised her with an emphatic smirk. She winced at his implication. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll soon love your punishment because one thing's for certain, revenge is always so… sweet" the last word could have been blown away by a stray breeze with how soft it was spoken in Karui's ear.
"Come on, loser! We already have what we came for, so stop wasting our time here and let's go!" Sasuke urged his rival.
Naruto pondered on his thoughts for an eerie moment, until his unpredictable imagination supplied him with an adequate scheme. He spun on his heel, turning to face his comrades. "You're right! So, I'll take this…" he jabbed a thumb behind him at Karui. "… back with us!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes whilst Shikamaru and Temari exchanged concerned looks.
"We better get moving, before any other unfortunate shinobi appear" Temari suggested, earning two hums of agreement and a moody huff.
Shikamaru wasted no time extending his shadows even further. Karui, Samui and Omoi couldn't resist, feeling the force produced from the shadows that coiled around their legs as they headed towards their torsos. Soon enough, their ribs threatened to crack under the pressure produced by Shikamaru's jutsu. They tried to fight back, but with all the effort they used to escape, the lights in their eyes began to dim as soon as the abyssal chains wrapped around their necks.
He focused, constricting his shadows like a python, its abyssal muscles cutting off the air supply of the Hidden Cloud shinobi, until their breathing slowed to a quiet pace that soon resembled snoring. All three of the Hidden Cloud shinobi slumped to the ground, with deep breaths being the one sign that they were still alive.
Naruto's shadow clone wasted no time, squatting down and scooping Karin up and hauling her over his shoulder, opposite the Eight Tails' jinchuriki. With one more cautious look over their shoulder, Shikamaru and Temari lead the group as they began their return back to their hideout.
With his shadow clone following him close behind, Naruto stretched, arching his back and arms like a fox that had finished hunting. Sasuke glared as he ducked away from a careless backhand that Naruto almost clotheslined him with in his satisfaction.
"Ahh! I can't wait to get home" Naruto beamed. "I miss Hinata! She better not be having too much fun without me" Temari rolled her eyes at his silly pout.
But, understanding what Naruto meant by fun, Temari tried to shake her head free from the fantasies that played out in her mind. Soft, pale flesh pressed against her own tanned and rough flesh. Plump limps rubbed along her sharp jaw, nuzzling her with an adorable affection. Messes of gold, caramel and peach clouded her vision, forcing her to focus on her other senses.
Temari licked her lips, the image of Sakura's giant ass rippling with every impact of her palm. Tenten's cinnamon eyes that sparkled with every word of praise Temari gave her for serving her so well. And Ino's expressions were a sight to behold. A dropped jaw and a stream of glistening drool revealed all of Ino's ecstasy at having her voyeuristic desires fulfilled by a sadistic dominant like Temari. Watching two of her closest friends become nothing more than tools for Temari's own pleasure was enough to drive Ino insane, with an order barked at her enough to keep her conscious for her mistress.
Thinking about them drew Temari's thoughts to what they were doing now, left alone with the kunoichi that Naruto had just mentioned. She hadn't seen her in action herself, but Temari could tell from the girls' reactions that she was terrifying. The image of her that her most recent conversations and experiences as well as the girls' descriptions provided was a stark contrast to the first impression that Hinata gave Temari all those years ago. A once shy girl with a tendency to blush at the mere mention of her crush was now a sadistic monster that could reduce three of Konoha's greatest kunoichi to panting messes.
Temari clenched her fist, her nails drawing blood as they dug into her softer palms. At her side, her wrist shook at the thought of Hinata playing with the gorgeous bodies of Tenten, Sakura and Ino.
For the rest of the journey, Temari wondered what Hinata was doing to them now.
A/N- Hey guys! I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you next time.
Yours truly,
Signing off