"You look like you slept in a dumpster." "Just because you used to do that doesn't mean I have such low standards." "This coming from the guy who used to fall asleep in control of a clone when he was on buildings, wake up when he rolled off, and dispel as he was shrieking and hitting the ground and therefore wake me up when the memories and you came slamming back into my head." Kurama crossed his arms, glaring out the window. The evening sun filtered in the windows and cast an orange tint over everything, making the tomato design on the booth seats look pinkish. "I figured I'd let you run around for the day to have some fun instead of bothering you to stay cooped up in my body or stuck following me around, but you look like you've been doing nothing but sleep," Naruto said, amused. He leaned back in the booth and stretched his arms above his head, yawning. "Yeah, well, maybe your village is just boring." Kurama decided to keep the visit from what he'd started to call "Naruto's Friend Collection" to himself. Naruto rolled his eyes at him. He made another change to the notepad in his hand; the page he was working on featured a new seal meant to prolong food's shelf life. While the fox grumbled and let himself slump into the cushions, Naruto worked on his fuinjutsu at a leisurely pace, having nothing better to do. Technically he did have paperwork piling up in the planning room that Sasuke yelled at him about, but he was studiously ignoring it- he took after his second cousin (and great aunt as well, but he didn't know that) the Hokage in that sentiment. A pull on his chakra made him pause. "The foxes are reverse summoning me to the den," he said, making Kurama open one eye. He tore off a piece of notebook paper and wrote out a quick note to Tsunade, shoving it into Kurama's hand. "Take that to baa-chan then dispel, yeah?" "Sure, whatever, brat." Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. "All right, so you'll come in every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for normal medical jutsu practice with the other students in the examination rooms, and I'll send a messenger bird for you when I have time at the hospital to tutor you. After you pass the first two-week training course and show consistent mastery of the most basic medical jutsu, we'll work out the shifts you'll take doubling as a nurse and helping in the ER. After that it's mostly just hard work until evaluation." Sakura stared at the papers in her hands, feeling like she'd stepped into the Twilight Zone. Who knew she'd be teaching Ino of all people? Her self-proclaimed "rival in love" for years before, a loudmouth who used to like bashing one of her best friends over the head. Her first friend in the Academy who she'd had a falling out with over a boy that she hadn't even really liked. After an awkward pause, she cleared her throat, shuffling the papers. "Any questions?" "Oh! Uh, no," Ino replied. "All right. Study these once you get home." Sakura took out three booklets from a shelf behind her. They were in a room full of paperwork on the second floor, surrounded by bookshelves. "They're basic overviews of the human body, its systems and their functions, common ailments and remedies, basic medical ninjutsu and how to perform them, and exercises you can do at home to help your training here." She pulled a pamphlet from a stand next to the shelf. "These are career opportunities and a little bit of information on what those careers will be like. Some medic nin choose to exclusively use their talents in the field; some choose to stay in the hospital for the rest of their career. We have some working with the Nara developing medicine or studying diseases and there are medic nin who specialize in animals or insects as well. Some specialize in a certain field, such as childbirth or heart ailments." "Th-thanks," Ino stammered, giving the stack in her arms an appraising look. She hadn't known what to expect when she enrolled- and her parents in particular thought it was a mistake. She knew they wanted her to train more with Inoichi and specialize in their family's techniques. She did plan on doing that- but she was just so… useless when compared with Sakura. Sakura was able to take care of her teammates. Ino wasn't a genius strategy maker like Shikamaru, or a heavy-hitter like Choji. If she could take care of them like Sakura took care of hers, she would be content. "If you need help, feel free to visit," Sakura said, rubbing her neck. "You can come over to my apartment, too." "Apartment? You moved out?" Ino asked, stunned. "Ah…yes…" Sakura's smile became more strained. In truth, that little conversation hadn't gone well with her parents at all. Her mother was particularly upset. She supposed they must have felt like their time to be parents to her like parents were to their civilian children was getting cut short. In reality, it was just more convenient. She could come and go as she pleased, do as she liked to wind down from missions, and not worry about waking them. She could leave kunai on the table and shuriken on the couch; have cereal in the middle of the night after returning from a mission and leave it on the counter and not be chastised the next morning. Her father had been friendlier about the whole thing, even if her mother had sulked as Sakura packed up her things. At the very least, he'd given her a hair ruffle as she left, naturally gravitating towards the apartment building that housed Kakashi's own apartment- the owner gave lower rates for shinobi, knowing they sometimes went periods without getting paid or didn't take many high-paying missions. The apartment she'd toured was small, but that was what she could afford. Fittingly enough, she was four doors down from Kakashi himself, and had taken to badgering him whenever she saw him in the hall about the dishes that piled up in his sink at times. Sakura took a pen from her lab coat's pocket and scribbled on the pamphlet. "That's my address," she said with what she hoped was a friendly smile, "come over if you need anything. Or just want to, um, talk or something." She shrugged awkwardly. "S-sure," Ino replied, glancing at the address several times as if to make sure it had really happened. "I'll do that." They both nodded. "Well, it's getting late. You should probably head home," Sakura said, glancing out the window. "Yeah. Thanks, Sakura." "No problem." Sakura had opted out of taking a late-night shift to catch up on some sleep, as she had a mission early the next morning, instead planning on spending the night lounging around in her room doing nothing but read the copy of Jiraiya's book Naruto had (secretly) given her. She didn't know how he'd acquired something so hard to come by- as it apparently never got a second printing- and he hedged around answering that question. She suspected he had a lot more copies than he would admit to. She kicked her boots off on the mat by the door and hung up her jacket, placing her keys on the ring by the light switch beside the door. The place wasn't built for more than one person; in fact, the building was mostly full of bachelors and bachelorettes. The kitchenette was small, with an oven too small to cook a turkey in and a fridge half the size of Sasuke and Naruto's. A small microwave, one of the few purchases she'd made, sat in an alcove above the stove; only three cabinets sat between it and the fridge. A small breakfast bar for only three people separated it from the living area, where a nice quality but aged coffee table sat amidst a sofa and two chairs. The door let one enter with the kitchenette to the right and sitting area to the left, and her bedroom at the end; the front wall was full of windows and had a fairly nice view to the village. It was odd to live alone. There wasn't the familiar sense of security of her parents' chakras in the other room, even if they couldn't do much to fend off an actual attack. The room was quiet, save for the occasional shuffle of movement from another occupant of the building. Most shinobi were quiet by nature. She opened up a drawer in the kitchen and pulled out a box of pocky, walking over to her sofa and plopping down. She pulled The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi from her tiny bookshelf, the only fiction book she owned; the rest were all medical texts. Initially, she hadn't been expecting much from Jiraiya's writing. Not that she thought he was dumb; she knew he was quite intelligent. Still…he'd always seemed to spend more time "researching" than refining his writing skills… but Naruto's favorite was his favorite for a reason. It was actually quite good. She would have to thank him when she saw him the next day. Unfortunately for him, the girl seemed quite adept at genjutsu as long as she had that flute in her hand. The large one hadn't been in his tree binding for long- two of his teammates attacked Sasuke himself while the other broke him out of it. The redhead hadn't actually been able to put him under a genjutsu, but he didn't have time to get her under one either; the way they attacked made genjutsu out of the question completely. As long as there was more than one standing, they could just break each other out of it. That left taijutsu and ninjutsu. He'd set a small portion of the forest on fire, but the large one had appeared from the midst of his flames with strange markings all over his body. "You should pay attention to what's behind you!" Something hit him hard in the back. He stumbled forward, nearly right into the two-headed one's fist. Ducking under the boy's arm, he jabbed him into the redhead who'd hit him, hooking an arm in the purple rope around the boy's waist as he went. He turned and swung hard, knocking the girl down and the two-headed freak into the one with six arms as he charged. A moment later the orange-haired shinobi dropped down, making Sasuke hastily duck and roll to the side. The ground shook as a crater formed beneath his feet, making Sasuke give him an appraising glare. "On your right, child!" Sasuke, of course, couldn't hear Tobirama, but the Nidaime was only trying to guide him out of habit from spending time with Naruto. Hashirama had taken off at the speed of light to find the Jinchuriki himself, leaving his brother to keep an eye on the Uchiha. Regardless, he saw Sakon coming anyway, dropping into a handstand and bringing both feet down on Sakon's guard in tandem. He contorted his body so the redhead went flying over him, but couldn't dodge multiple strikes from Kidomaru. Gritting his teeth as a wave of pain overwhelmed his back, he flipped and slammed his feet into the teenager's chest, sending him barreling into a tree. "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" He leapt onto a higher branch and spat out flames, hiding shuriken within. The four dodged and leapt about the forest floor, while Sasuke ducked under the branch behind him and ran for the village. "Nuh-uh-uh," Sakon said with a sickening smile, appearing in front of him with a malicious aura about him. "Honestly, I don't know why Orochimaru-sama wants you. You're so weak." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. The fight had been going on half an hour, with both the redhead and orange-haired ones using the strange designs on their bodies. Still, he hadn't been able to slip past them for the village- they were toying with him, drawing the fight out for their own amusement. If it were only two, he knew he could make it. The worst thing was, they were pushing him farther and farther away from the border of the village. "Can we hurry it up?" the redhead asked, irritation lacing her growl. "Just be patient, Tayuya." "Patient my ass." "You shouldn't use such coarse language," the large one chastised. "Oh, shut your mouth, Jirobo." Sasuke scowled. He pushed hard off his branch, sending him spiraling into the air above the trees. "Oh? What's he doing now?" Sakon asked, amused. He placed one hand on his hip and watched from his own branch, smirking. Sasuke summoned two scrolls from the storage units on his wrists, throwing them open and letting them wrap loosely around his body. A handful of kunai appeared in a puff of smoke in both hands, while a variety of weapons appeared in midair around his body; he threw the kunai in a hard arc towards the trees, grabbing the others at lightning speed and sending them barreling down one by one. "Sōshōryū!" "Shit!" Tayuya hissed, dodging a blade that came her way and lunging behind a tree. A nick on her arm made blood trickle down, making her give Sasuke a scowl. Jirobo yanked a kunai out of his shoulder and ducked into cover, while Sakon twisted and contorted his body further up to avoid the storm of weapons. "This kid's getting annoying," Kidomaru called out from below, practically growling. "Let's just get him to Orochimaru-sama already." "Agreed," Tayuya glowered. As one, their Curse Marks activated, growing across their bodies like serpents wrapping around their prey. Sasuke grabbed the end of his scroll and spun it in a hard loop, causing it to spiral around him as he landed on a branch and began running towards the group. He kept up the barrage of weapons, his Sharingan watching their forms morph and transform into something hideous. What the hell? He startled when something grotesque appeared next to him, slamming into him hard and knocking him to the ground. Almost immediately, two more of the monster shinobi were on him, leaving him little room to even catch his breath. "Tobirama!" Tobirama let out a curse under his breath and wheeled around. "Did you find him?" Hashirama came to a stop beside him on the ground, looking panicked. "I couldn't find Naruto anywhere. I have the rest of the ghosts looking for him. How's Sasuke doing?" Tobirama grimaced. "See for yourself." Sasuke slammed into a tree directly beside them hard enough to break the bark. "This is bad," Hashirama said worriedly, glancing at the Sound Four as they closed in on the chuunin. "What's happened to them?" "The work of that brat Orochimaru, no doubt. They aren't using their own power anymore." Sasuke spat out blood when Sakon decked him hard in the ribs. He stumbled further in the direction opposite of the village, wiping the blood leaking from a cut on his forehead away from his eyes. Through bleary vision, he saw them letting their forms recede. "Let's hurry it up," Tayuya snorted, hands on her hips. He squinted and grunted when Sakon appeared in front of him with a hard uppercut to the jaw, making him slam into a tree behind him and slowly slide to the ground. A hand wrapped around his ankle and yanked him into the air upside-down. "What Orochimaru-sama wants, Orochimaru-sama gets, I guess," Kidomaru sighed, shrugging. Sasuke shot them a glare, biting down on his lip to keep himself from revealing how badly his ribs were throbbing. One of them set down a round coffin in front of him, flipping open the lid. "All right, let's hurry it u-" Sakon suddenly spasmed, head snapping to and fro so quickly it sounded as if he was breaking his neck. Tayuya leapt away from him. "What the hell?!" Hashirama grimaced when Tobirama stumbled out of Sakon's body, leaving the Sound nin to catch his breath and sit on his knees for a minute. "Damnit," he hissed. "If only Izuna were around. We aren't skilled at possessing people." Hashirama rubbed his forehead, dread building in his chest. "What the hell was that?" Kidomaru demanded. "I don't know," Sakon panted, shooting Sasuke a glare. "If that was some genjutsu you tried to pull, it won't work." Sasuke had no idea what the hell was going on, but it was getting harder to stay conscious. Crap…Naruto…Sakura…I can'tSakon struck him hard on the nape. Everything bled out of focus until only darkness remained. The night dragged on. "Stupid foxes can't even deal with a snake infestation on their own," Naruto sighed, rolling his shoulders as he walked down the street. Kurama snorted, drumming his tail on the boy's shoulder lazily. "-ruto! Naruto!" "Eh?" He paused and shaded his eyes against the morning sun, covering a yawn. A moment later his eyes went wide, and he burst into a sprint to reach the next street over. Disarray and chaos. Everywhere he looked, ghosts flew or sprinted in every direction, shouting his name over and over. "Hey!" he thundered, rushing for the nearest one. "What's going on?" The woman whirled around, eyes wide. "It's- it's Sasukesan!" she said as they gathered around him in a mob. "He's in trouble!" "What? What happened to him? Tell me!" "People from Otogakure abducted him!" A different voice cried out. "Orochimaru took him!" "We've been looking for you all night!" A cold pit formed in Naruto's gut. "Crap," he breathed, whirling around with a panicked expression. "Everyone scram!" They parted before him like the subjects of a ruler, and he set off for the Hokage Tower faster than he'd gone in his life. "Baa-chan!" He burst into the office and slammed the door into the wall, taking no heed of the papers that flew off her desk. She twitched, looking up at him with a scowl, but stopped cold at his expression. "What happened?" "Orochimaru sent his goons after Sasuke last night. They took him out of the village," Naruto said in one breath, panting. "I need a team right now to go after them." "Damnit." She stood up, nearly overturning her chair. Smoothing one hand over her face, she quickly grabbed for a paper on her desk, frowning. "I'm afraid most of my jounin are out on missions right now. Normally I would send a squad composed only of jounin for a clan head." "Give me chuunin, then. Where's Sakura?" "Out of village. Damn. All right," she crossed to the door and poked her head out, addressing the secretary, "send for Nara Shikamaru." "Is Karin here?" Naruto asked as he undid the bandages wrapped around his arm. He'd received several snake bites during the night, hacking and slashing through the foxes' forest to get rid of the damned things, but couldn't afford to leave his storage units covered. "She's at the hospital right now. She'll be your medical support." "I'd like Team Gai, preferably." "You'll have to see who's around. You can't afford to dawdle." Tsunade looked up when someone knocked on the door. "Enter!" Shikamaru entered with a yawn, one hand rubbing the back of his head. "Reporting in, Hokage-sama." Naruto twitched. He was high-strung with tension, feeling like every single nerve was awake and humming; normally Shikamaru's laziness didn't bother him, but anything could irritate him at the moment. "Last night, a team of Sound nin abducted Uchiha Sasuke from the village. You'll be leading the retrieval squad," Tsunade said, making the boy's eyes go wide. "Holy crap, he actually got kidnapped?" "Get it through your brain," Naruto snapped. "We have to assemble a team now. Who are we going for first?" Shikamaru paused. "I have just the guy." Naruto tapped his foot impatiently, watching Shikamaru eat chips as he sat cross-legged on the ground. Are you freaking kidding me? He could sense Choji's chakra in his home. He knew the Akimichi was there. "Don't worry," Shikamaru said, "he'll come out-" "Do you not realize someone's life is at stake?" Naruto growled, shooting the Nara a scathing glare. He jumped, but Naruto ignored him, walking towards the door and raising his foot. "Hey, wait-" Naruto kicked the door down, storming into the house and zeroing in on Choji's chakra. He found the boy face-down on his bed, snoring away. "Wake up," Naruto hissed, grabbing the back of Choji's shirt and tossing him bodily to the floor. "Gah! Wait!" He flailed comically, while Shikamaru entered behind Naruto with a sigh. "What a drag." "What's going on, Shikamaru? Why're you in my house?" Choji squeaked. "Every single second we waste is a second Sasuke gets further away from the village," Naruto seethed. "You." He pointed in Choji's face, making him blink at his finger. "Sasuke. Kidnapped. You're on the retrieval squad. We have a mission in twenty minutes, front gate, get dressed, do not be late." He whirled and stormed back out the door, leaving two-thirds of Team Ten to stare after him in confusion and sigh in his wake. "You didn't have to break my door down," Choji muttered sourly. Naruto's scowl deepened. His hands tightened on his biceps, crossed in front of him like a shield. "If you complain about that one more time-" "Naruto is right. We cannot afford to waste time," Neji cut in smoothly. He stood beside Naruto at the gates, arms crossed in a calmer mirror of Naruto's position. They hadn't been able to find TenTen or Lee. Naruto had gravitated towards him like a moth to a flame, some of the anxiety in his gut quelled by the boy's stoic demeanor; Choji and Kiba were just making him twitchier. "Aw, come on, chill out. We'll get him back," Kiba said; Akamaru yipped in agreement. "All right, everybody, quiet down. We need a game plan," Shikamaru said, unusually serious. "He's right. We need to be serious. I know I'm usually a pretty lazy guy, but not today. Sasuke's one of our comrades, and if we don't do this right, we could all die." Choji went tense; Kiba gulped, and Karin took a deep breath beside him. Shikamaru bent down and drew a diagram in the dirt with a stray stick. "Kiba's going to spearhead our formation. His sense of smell and Akamaru's nose will lead us and allow him to detect any threat coming from the front. Next will be me, the squad leader. After that, Naruto; he's the best suited to defend from the center of the line. Karin will be behind him, the best spot to protect our medic, and after her Choji; Neji will come up from behind to keep an eye out for any rear attacks. Got it?" The squad nodded as one. "Now, show me your gear." Everyone but Karin and Naruto held out their pouches, counting off their kunai, tags and wire. "What about you, Naruto, Karin?" "Two hundred kunai, two hundred shuriken, seventy-five feet of wire, forty smoke bombs, twenty poison smoke bombs, two hundred explosive tags, four bottles of sealing ink, five brushes, a tantō, and a scythe. I also have roughly fifty poison senbon." "Three hundred kunai, three hundred shuriken, two hundred feet of wire, fifty smoke bombs, twenty poison smoke bombs, seven hundred explosive tags, ten bottles of sealing ink, ten brushes, two tantō, and roughly two thousand bombs in my arsenal," Naruto rattled off. The others watched them with wide-eyed expressions, sans Neji, who only hid a smirk. "…all right, then," Shikamaru said, voice slightly weaker than before. "Let's move out, then." Karin nodded and shrugged off the purple jacket she wore. Beneath she wore an armored vest, with lean, muscled arms covered in seals similar to Naruto's, if less elegant and practiced. Kiba gave her a slightly bug-eyed look before ripping his gaze away, shaking his head. Must be an Uzumaki thing. They lined up in front of the gate, ready to leap into formation. "…by the way, where's Shino?" Naruto asked in pure confusion. Sasuke gritted his teeth as his head knocked into the lid of the coffin again, wincing. The space was cramped and tiny, not to mention suffocating. The air was stale and cold, practically freezing. Every motion jostled him about, making his injuries throb. Nothing life-threatening, but they were bad enough it made the unwilling ride uncomfortable. He'd tried to break out, but the coffin wouldn't budge. Rubbing the swelling that had started up beside one eye, he tried to rearrange himself so he wasn't bent in half like a folding chair. He couldn't believe he'd let this happen- that he was weak enough to let them take him. Naruto…Sakura. I'm sorry. This was unplanned for. This- wasn't supposed to happen. He couldn't leave them behind like this. Not alone. "What's in the coffin, hmm?" Was that Genma? For a moment, Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm warning you…you don't want to tangle with shinobi of the Leaf." Unfortunately, the ensuing battle did nothing to ease his nerves; it only left a cold feeling in his chest as he wondered if two of his comrades lay dead behind as the Sound Four carried him off. Uzumaki Databook [Book 2: Spirits and the Supernatural] [Section 3: The Powers of a Ghost] Ghosts are not normally that powerful. That's just how it is. They don't have much spiritual energy to be throwing around, unlike a poltergeist, and are usually sent on to the next world quite easily by one. However, certain rare ghosts can fight on their plane, specifically against poltergeists- this requires a strong spirit during life that carries over into death. A stronger spirit gives them more protection- or resilience, to be more accurate- against attacks, and more power to use. The Senju, Uzumaki, and Uchiha in particular produce ghosts that have a better chance of being able to hone their energy to use effectively. Although some from other clans, or no clan at all, have done it, the Sage's line are still the frontrunners. Although not every Uchiha can activate their Sharingan after death, many still can, although sometimes it is a weaker form. Many only gain one tomoe. It still requires spiritual energy, but it was a literal feature of their body- it would be like being unable to use their hands or feet or even see at all just because they were a ghost. It seems a ghost's Sharingan can see chakra and spiritual energy as well as souls, and use a ghost version of all the powers of the Sharingan available in life as long as the ghost is powerful enough, such as Amaterasu. An affect such as this is still very draining, however. In case you're confused, a ghost's spiritual energy is different from a live human's- we use both yin and yang chakra to use jutsu, but a ghost is no longer on the living plane and cannot access the chakra meant for the living. From my experience their spiritual energy seems to come from their soul, hence why it's tied so closely to how strong they are. Some ghosts with a strong energy, or "ghost chakra", so to say, can easily possess people without any harm to the host. Some use that same skill to harm the host on purpose. The body naturally rejects a ghost as an intruder, but a ghost can "harmonize", so to say, and either repress that reaction, lessen it, trick the body into thinking it isn't an intruder, "convince" it that he or she won't do it harm, or, most effectively, work with a willing host and experience no backlash on either side. Nothing a ghost does will ever hurt or have any effect on a human being or anything else in the living realm. By that, I mean jutsu: let's say a ghost is strong enough to use a water dragon jutsu. The water dragon won't flood the area and drown people. It will just pass through everything like the actual ghost. A ghost's powers primarily affect its own realm, not that of the living; so the water dragon will affect other ghosts, but not anyone actually alive. It would take an impossible amount of power and concentration to focus on making even part of an attack tangible; it's hard enough as it is to make even part of the hand tangible to a ghost. What can a ghost do in a person's body, you ask? I haven't yet found the limits of that. Izuna, when possessing Irukasensei (he lets him sometimes since they have such similar goals…damn those lectures…) can use Iruka-sensei's chakra to perform jutsu. A ghost powerful enough to possess someone at all can usually override any trouble the host body gives it, but if the host himself/herself is powerful enough, they can eject them forcefully. Iruka-sensei has ejected Izuna-nii before, although not for any reason that involved them fighting. The last time it happened he did it unconsciously in a fit of rage at a prank I pulled. It seems a host is aware of what's happening if the possession is consensual; they may or may not be in a possession that isn't. Breaking out of possession is similar to breaking out of a genjutsu; you may or may not be aware it's happening, but you can free yourself with enough strength of will if you notice what's going on. The host automatically has the advantage in a battle of wills. It is, after all, their body, and the ghost is intruding in a realm they already don't belong in. Although it's possible for a ghost to overpower somebody, it's just as possible for them themselves to be overpowered. It comes down to the individual. Although I used a water dragon jutsu as an example, I have only actually ever seen one ghost use a jutsu. Jutsu are extremely taxing and difficult to use. That being said, I'm sure Hashi-jii-chan and Tobi-oji will figure out a way to do it sooner or later. (A note, from a few years after I wrote this section: they totally did, and it's very annoying.
"Here, Karin. Take some of these." "What are they, Naruto-sama?" "Electrifying tags. Just finished them last night. When they activate, they'll zap whatever they're in contact with with a thousand volts of electricity." Kiba shuddered at the conversation behind him. Naruto and Karin had been quietly exchanging tips the whole way about the best places to hit with poison senbon on a shinobi's body; every one of them was surely fatal. Of course, as a shinobi he was no stranger to the idea of death- but the way they spoke about it so casually, as if they'd had to kill hundreds of people before this and the Sound nin were just targets to be brutally mowed down, was unnerving. He snuck another glance at the bite marks covering Karin's arms. He wanted to ask about what the hell they were, but he didn't think it was an appropriate time when he was leading the squad through the forest. "Let's see…" Naruto muttered. There was a quiet poof, and then he let out a noise of satisfaction. "Glad to see that seal works." "Did you summon it from your home, Naruto-sama?" "Yep. Been working on that for a while." "Ugh…what a drag. I bet you got that from that Suna kunoichi." "She recommended a crafter, yes." Naruto placed the fan he'd summoned on his back. "You'll want to stop right about now. There are traps ahead," he called. Kiba halted his progress and landed in a crouch on a tree branch, with his squad mates landing in a line beside him. "Good eye," he said, eyeing a barrier tag on a tree. "There are wire traps below. Triple layer." Naruto was staring at the ground below with a strange telescope held up to one eye. "Be careful in how you proceed." Kiba leapt onto a tree branch and started going around the barrier, keeping an eye out for any wires like Naruto had mentioned. "I see them in the distance. It appears they're resting," Neji called from behind. "I see a strange coffin." "Coffin?" Naruto asked sharply. "I can see Sasuke inside, but it's difficult to see through it. But I believe he is alive." Naruto breathed a small sigh of relief. Shikamaru paused in a crouch on the forest floor, looking thoughtful. "What's the plan?" Kiba asked. "Hmm…all right, here's what we'll do." Naruto slithered through the trees and chose a branch to wrap his ankles around, hanging upside down as he examined the shinobi below. Four of them. They look a bit haggard. His eyes narrowed. He glanced at the coffin, reaching out with his sensing. Sasuke's chakra was a steady rhythm inside, even if it was much weaker than usual. After a moment, he paused, frowning. Closing his eyes, he concentrated further, trying to grasp the tiny tendrils of chakra he could feelAll around them. "Crap." The ground rocked with an explosion. Shikamaru and Neji burst from the underbrush at the same time Kiba lunged out to deter Sakon's attack. Unbothered, Naruto let himself drop down, dropkicking the Sound nin back towards his team before the two could meet. Karin landed on his other side, scowling. "You felt them too, yeah?" "Too late. But I guess it's four-on-six." "Make that four-on-seven. I like those odds," Kiba said with a feral grin. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," the redhead muttered. "They send the preschool kids to catch us? Konoha must be going down in quality." "Look, we're here for Sasuke. Hand him over and there doesn't have to be a fight," Shikamaru said. Kidomaru picked up the barrel with two sets of arms, transferring it to his back. "Sorry, kiddo. You're out of your league. Jirobo, why don't you show them some common courtesy?" A chuckle escaped his lips. "They won't be much of a meal," the orange-haired one snorted. He clapped his hands together, making the group go tense. "Earth Dome!" The hell? Naruto leapt back a pace as the earth rose up around them, mentally cursing. Darkness closed in around them as the wall closed them in, blotting out the sun. "What the hell is this?" Kiba demanded, dropping Akamaru to the ground so he could beat on the wall with his fist. It didn't budge an inch, cold and hard beneath his fingers. Karin formed a hand seal and closed her eyes. "They're fleeing," she said urgently, giving Shikamaru a pointed glance. Naruto knelt down and brushed the floor with his fingers. What's the point of just trapping us in here? Unless… "Hey, Karin, you feel that?" "Yes, Naruto-sama." "Feel what?" Kiba asked, glancing between them. "As we speak, this dome is absorbing our chakra like a sponge," Neji explained. He glanced down at his hand, watching his energy seep out of it and towards the dome walls. "What? No way! I'm not gonna let that guy steal my chakra! Akamaru, let's go- Gatsuga!" Naruto rolled his eyes and started feeling along the wall. It rumbled as Kiba burrowed into it, but he knew his friend wouldn't be able to break through. If he could just find the spot where Jirobo was absorbing their chakra… "This sucks," Kiba complained, twitching when he caught sight of Choji. "What're you eating for at a time like this?!" "Quiet! Can't you see Naruto-sama is trying to do something?" "All right, that's enough," Shikamaru interrupted. Rubbing his forehead, he knelt down, folding his hands together before raising his voice so the shinobi outside could hear. The rest watched him curiously. "Hey, let us out already! You can have Sasuke. We'll just go on back." "As if I would fall for that! Even if you were telling the truth, I'd feast on your chakra anyway," Jirobo yelled back. "Fine, then just let me out." "What are you doing?" Kiba hissed. Jirobo started laughing. With a smirk, Naruto stepped in front of the wall where he knew he was, placing one hand directly over where he estimated Jirobo's hand would lie. Closing his eyes, he formed a hand sign with one hand, blocking out the others' noise. "Uh, Naruto, what're you doing?" Kiba raised an eyebrow, yelping when Karin elbowed him and shushed him with a hiss. Shikamaru just narrowed his eyes at him. He glanced at Neji, only to find him watching Naruto like a hawk, Byakugan active. Thirty seconds passed. A dark chuckle emanated from Naruto's chest. "He wants chakra? Let's see him feast on this chakra." "Shikamaru, shouldn't we-" Choji began. He was cut off by a scream from outside, making everyone but Naruto and Neji jump. Shikamaru glanced at Neji's widened eyes before grabbing Naruto's shoulder. "What did you do?" Naruto ignored him, rearing back his fist. Shikamaru leapt back to avoid the rubble as the blond slammed it into the wall, shattering it like a house of cards. The genin coughed on smoke and dust as it settled, gaping at the dome's remains that had crumbled around them. "Llook!" Karin exclaimed, pointing at the figure of Jirobo where it had been blown back. Kiba's mouth fell open. Jirobo was on the ground, face twisted in pain as he favored one arm- or lack thereof. His whole forearm was gone, leaving only a stump; his arm had turned to stone and snapped clear off, lying at his feet. "W-what did you do?" the teen stammered, backing up until his back hit a tree. "Your idiot of a leader couldn't have come up with something like this!" "Senjutsu chakra," Naruto explained, throwing said idiot leader a wink. "Absorb too much, your body turns to stone." There was an orange tint over his eyes, which had gone yellow with horizontal bar pupils. "Really shouldn't try and trap a sage in a chakra absorption technique." Kiba squinted at him. "How many weird transformations does your face have, man?" "It's sage mode. I'm mixing the nature chakra I drew into my body with my own." Kiba yelped, backing up a step while he flailed comically. "Aaren't you gonna turn to stone?!" "No," Naruto snorted. "I perfected it training with erosensei." "Smart," said Shikamaru. He watched Jirobo out of the corner of his eye as he stood up, glowing black marks spreading all over his body. "This might still be a little timeconsuming, though." Naruto reached around to the hilt of his tantō and began sliding it from its sheath. "No, Naruto." A hand landed on his, halting its progress. "I'll take care of this guy. You guys go on ahead." Naruto turned and blinked at Choji, glancing in between him and Jirobo with narrowed eyes. "You sure? I mean…you're one of the strongest genin in the village, but this guy is…he isn't using normal shinobi arts anymore. He's a freak of nature." "Don't worry." Choji grinned, feeling something flutter in his chest. One of the strongest genin in the village. "I've got this. I've got my trump card, too." He held up a small plastic box with three different colored pills inside. "All right, then. You catch up to us, you hear?" "Got it." "Be careful, Choji." "When am I not, Shikamaru?" With a grim smile, Choji turned to his opponent, watching his body morph and twist before his eyes as his friends fled into the trees. Naruto dropped down from the trees, landing directly between the six-armed nin and the redhead. Some part of him was mildly curious as to whether or not she had any Uzumaki blood in her, but her life force didn't feel as strong as his own or Karin's- plus she was already so deep in Orochimaru's clutches he doubted anyone could pull her out. He was lucky and had caught Karin early, before she became so devoted she wouldn't listen to reason. Besides, there were plenty of redheads that weren't Uzumaki. Just look at Gaara. (Why couldn't he have gotten beautiful red hair like Gaara's? Blood was an awesome color. Instead of getting his mother's amazing, wonderful hair, he'd ended up with his father's scruffy bird's nest. Screw genes.) He lunged for the eight-armed one, making him toss the coffin overhead to the redhead. "Go on ahead, Tayuya. I'm itching to gut these annoying brats." "Whatever. Tell Jirobo to hurry his fat ass up when you see him." Naruto spun on his heel and went after Tayuya, cursing when Kidomaru cut him off. He darted back before any of his six arms could grab him, smirking when Kiba barreled down from above and crashed into him. Kidomaru spiraled towards the forest floor. At the last second, he flipped over and shot spider web from his mouth, plastering a startled Kiba to a tree. Shikamaru grunted in surprise when another glob cut him off, while Naruto flipped over onto a higher branch and slipped the Raijin no Ken from its holster. The blade buzzed into existence as the next glob shot towards him, cutting through it like a knife through butter. "What the hell?" Kidomaru exclaimed from below. Karin flipped down from the branch above Kiba, standing upside down on it, and began hacking at the threads binding him. Naruto leapt down to engage Kidomaru close-quarters, slicing through the webs sent his way. "What the hell is that thing?" Kidomaru yelled, hastily dodging backwards away from a swipe. "Nothing can cut through my thread!" "Evidently it's just your day to be wrong," Neji's amused voice said from behind him. Kidomaru whirled around with wide eyes, quickly shooting off a wad of web; the Hyuuga's Gentle Fist cut through the net in one slice, while Naruto went for the Sound nin's neck. Gritting his teeth, Kidomaru dropped to the ground, rolling with the hardened spikes in his hands pointed outwards. Naruto raised an eyebrow and simply summoned a vertical pentagram to stop his progress through the air; before he could do much else, Kidomaru opened his hands and released a volley of thread. Neji cut through it easily, twisting to the side to avoid a mad lunge with a long spear of wax- but Kidomaru's intention hadn't been to cut him, only knock him into Naruto behind him. "Ack!" Naruto flailed when Neji barreled through his pentagram and took him to the ground. I really need to remember to make those things solid from both sides. "Apologies, Naruto. Please stay down." Naruto's forehead crinkled in confusion as Neji shot up off him, falling into a rotation just as a barrage of wax spikes shot towards them. It was weird being in a Hyuuga's rotation, although not altogether unpleasant. He rolled into a crouch close enough he was just outside Neji's radius of movement to avoid the chakra himself, leaping up again when the rotation died down. Kidomaru glared at them, twitching. "Please leave this to me," Neji said as Shikamaru and Kiba dropped from the trees with Karin close behind. "My Byakugan and Gentle Fist are the perfect counter to his technique. I'm the best suited to fight him, and Sasuke is still getting closer to the border." "All right, then. Let's go, guys." Shikamaru squinted at Kidomaru once before leaping into a tree, while Naruto paused to clap a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't die, all right?" Neji smirked at him. "I do not think it is my destiny to die here." Naruto grinned at the joke and went onwards. "You sure this is the best strategy?" Naruto asked, glancing at the forest behind as the now four-man squad plus a ninken rushed through the trees. The midday sun was beginning to sink into the horizon, marking the hours they'd spent tracking the Sound Four. "As of right now we outnumber them by two. We'll wait for dawn to break, and while you and I distract them, Kiba and Karin will jump in and grab that coffin," Shikamaru replied. Naruto frowned. "You sure we should wait until night has passed? That will only give Orochimaru time to send more shinobi." "We can't go in attacking blindly in the dark. After the first moment of contact, we'll lose the advantage, and they'll double back into a defensive position. If we had Neji with us it'd be different, but…" "We should reach a good distance from them in about ten minutes," Karin said. "Close enough we shouldn't lose them. Choji and Neji should catch up by morning." Shikamaru nodded. He glanced back in the direction they'd come from, an odd look in his eye. "Yeah. They should." There was a strange feeling in the air. Everything was tenseand not just because it was Sasuke he was rescuing. That fact already had him on edge, but Naruto had been on a few higher-ranked missions with stakes as high. Grimacing, he dropped to a lower tree branch, breathing in deeply. His sense of smell wasn't as potent as an Inuzaka's, but he caught traces of their scents on the wind, Sasuke in particular. He only hoped Tsunade sent a backup squad sooner rather than later. He knew the amount of missions brought to Konoha's doorstep had increased- not just because they'd shown their strength in fending off Oto and Suna's invasion, but because word had gotten around the Uzumaki were rebuilding there. Uzushiogakure had probably been one of the strongest villages- hence why the others took the time to so thoroughly destroy it. Fortunately for diplomatic relations, Suna's wealth had finally increased as well, due to much better trade agreements Tsunade had helped forge. Naruto didn't particularly want to have to face Gaara on the battlefield anyway. "Still the same distance ahead?" Shikamaru called behind him. "Affirmative," Karin replied. There weren't any traps. Naruto thought it was the pinnacle of arrogance to not even set any traps for them. They must really think we're weak. He'd show them how weak he was when he slammed their heads through a tree. No one messed with his family and got away with it. "All right, let's move in," Shikamaru said. Finally. Naruto picked up his pace, leaping up to fall into step beside their leader. Sasuke was coming home, even if it was the last thing he did. Uzumaki Databook [Book 2: Spirits and the Supernatural] [Section 2: Removing Spirits, Subsection 2: Purification] Purification is a much more difficult method of removing a spirit. Basically anyone can perform an exorcism, even if they can't see the spirit itself. It's actually safer to do so if you can't see it, as spirits can affect you more if you can see them- it's something about how you operate more in their plane of existence than someone who's oblivious to them. However, not everyone can perform purification. Purification operates under one principle: a poltergeist's soul is trapped in negative energy that can be countered by using positive energy. Think of it like this: let's say you have a murky, dirty pond. If you filter out all the muck and filth, you're left with a clean pond. In the same way, when you purify a spirit, you must use your own spiritual energy as a filter to remove the negative energy from the spirit's soul. Now, I'm not talking about yin chakra. I'm talking about… let's say, your force of will. The power that comes from your very soul. This method relies entirely on strength of will and emotional and mental strength. Although trying to purify an especially strong poltergeist can sometimes have physical side effects on the body, physical strength plays a miniscule role outside of how much punishment you can take with a particularly nasty spirit. Purifying A Spirit: First, trap the spirit. It is exceedingly difficult to do this without trapping it. You need to have a single point of focus to work with. Second, reach out with your mind- "heart" or "soul", whatever you want to call it; your spiritual presence. There is little way to explain this with words- it has to be experienced. Therefore, the only thing I will say is you must use your own energy as a weapon- it's like using your chakra outside your body, like the Hyuuga do with their Gentle Fist. At the same time, however, your intent must not be to harm. Thirdly, press forward with the intent to heal or help. What can counteract hatred? Love may be a cliché, cheesy answer, but the kindness of the heart is the only thing that can pierce darkness; more darkness can't. Success: If you're successful, the poltergeist will either be freed from the shackles of its hatred and move on to the afterlife or become a mere ghost again. Think of water boiling away from a water/salt mixture and leaving only the salt behind. Side Effects: There is an inherent danger in trying to purify a poltergeist. If you aren't strong enough, its hatred can overwhelm and damage you. Because you are opening a connection between it and yourself, it can even take the chance to possess you. There are normally ways you can fight off a possession, but a failed purifying attempt makes them all the more difficult.
Naruto had been expecting many things when they attacked Tayuya and Sakon. He'd been expecting a trap, an ambush; perhaps a glowing purple monkey to descend upon them from the sky boiling with the rage of a thousand suns. He hadn't, however, been expecting both Kiba and Sakon to fall down a ravine. "Crap," he groaned. "Karin! After him!" "Yes, Naruto-sama!" Karin threw herself into the gorge, leaping down from pentagram to pentagram. She was progressing quickly under Naruto's tutelage, although her technique wasn't as elaborate as Naruto's and she could only use them to move objects or as bouncing boards. "And here I thought you all were so good and all," Naruto drawled. "Leader falls down a ditch?" Tayuya glared at him. Naruto decided to take the direct approach and let himself go for once, leaping at her with total abandon now that there was only one to worry about. He flashed forward onto the tree branch the coffin sat upon, landing with his heel striking down on her shoulder; the force of it sent her stumbling back into midair, just barely dodging the strike of the Raijin no Ken. Even if she'd avoided the brunt of it, it still sliced through her thigh, making a long, jagged gash; with a hiss, she retreated several paces away as he knelt beside the coffin with a glint in his eye. "Nice going," Shikamaru said, smirking as he landed beside him. "Now we've only got one to deal with." "Doesn't matter," Tayuya hissed. "I'll take you both out anyway." Naruto's eyes were roving over the symbols decorating the coffin. He whipped out a brush, placing it between his teeth as he unscrewed a bottle of ink and took out a sealing tag. "The hell do you think you're doing?" Tayuya barked, flute clenched tightly in one hand as she surveyed the best way to approach. Shikamaru eyed the fuinjutsu dotting every free space of the wood. "Can you get that off?" "Hell yeah," Naruto replied, slapping his tag on the lid. Instantaneously, the edges began to simmer, steam rising as purple energy evaporated off. "Twenty minutes tops for this baby to get cracked open." He affectionately referred to such seals as 'breaker tags'; they decoded a fuin formula and broke it on their own for him, leaving him hands-free to defend himself. "Great. Now we just have to deal with her." Naruto stood up and clapped his palms together. "Just leave that to me," he said with a grin. A glowing pentagram appeared directly in front of Tayuya, startling her. Naruto used her split-second distraction to dash forward, slamming into the pentagram feet-first. The seal magnified the impact and sent her sprawling several yards back into a tree, landing in the bark with a groan. "Y-you…" Snarling, she activated the curse mark on her neck, letting its pattern spread over her body. Abruptly, she paused, a smirk appearing on her face. Naruto went rigid before whirling around. "Shikamaru, move!" "Wha-?" Shikamaru tensed when he felt a presence appear behind him. He turned his head, barely getting the time to catch a glimpse before the coffin had disappeared from the space beside him. Naruto landed in its place half a second later, a curse leaving his lips. The newcomer loomed on a branch above them, the coffin held under one arm, while Tayuya boxed them in from the other side, smirk still present. "You're taking too long, Tayuya," the shinobi said, voice sending a shiver down Shikamaru's spine. "The only reason I'm not killing you right now is you still have a purpose." Tayuya scowled in reply. "I'm taking the vessel to Orochimaru-sama. You know what your job is." The pale shinobi leapt into the trees, hightailing it for the border. "Hold on, asshole!" Naruto bellowed, going to leap after him. Tayuya went to cut him off, ducking back when a kunai crackling with electricity zipped past her nose. She flipped back and landed on a tree, turning to glower at Shikamaru. "Go after him, Naruto," the Nara yelled out. "I'll hold this one here. You were right; it's a mistake to be so divided, but we've got to work with what we're left with." Naruto glanced at him, a bit indecisive on leaving him alone. When he saw the determined glint in his eye, he nodded, jumping onto one of his pentagrams and moving ahead. He didn't like having to leave so many friends behind. It appeared whoever the shinobi was, they weren't planning on trying to make an escape while he followed; they set the coffin down once they reached a clearing, standing docilely beside it and waiting for him to catch up. "So, might I know the name of the person I'm going to take the head off of?" "Hn, so overconfident. It's Kimimaro, if you must know." "Not nice to meet you, Kimimaro." Without further ado, Naruto flashed forward across the field and struck out with his palm, eyes widening in surprise when Kimimaro blocked him with what appeared to be a dagger made out of bone. He's fast… Leaping back, he made a good distance before flying through a set of seals. "Doton: Dochūbaku!" Kimimaro's eyebrows rose in surprise when the earth quivered beneath their feet, rising up in a landslide. He leapt high into the air to avoid it, while the coffin was sent tumbling to the edge of the forest, slamming to a stop against a tree. Naruto winced. Sorry, Sasuke. But you can't be in the way. "Seems rather counterproductive," Kimimaro called out. Naruto couldn't see anything beneath his sleeves, but he saw another bone-like dagger slide into his hand. Slipping a scroll from his pouch, he threw it open once he'd landed on the side of the field with Sasuke to his back. "Bakuryūgeki!" The seals on the paper glowed, unleashing a construct made of flames that barreled across the field towards his opponent. Kimimaro pushed off from the ground and dodged around the dragon's strike, sending what appeared to be tiny bullets made of his own bones from his fingertips. Naruto slammed his palm into the ground and summoned an earth wall. He uses his bones to attack? Ask what clan he's from, brat. "What clan are you from?" Naruto called out. "I am the last of my clan," Kimimaro replied, stoic. "The Kaguya no longer exist but through me." Kurama grimaced. Just as I thought. He's directly related to Kaguya. She was able to do similar techniques with her bones. Be careful with this one. "Well, after today they won't exist at all." Naruto summoned enough shadow clones that the field was full of them, gathering in a circle around Kimimaro until they were but a wall of green and orange. As one, they charged forward, obstructing Naruto's view while he took a sealing tag from his pouch. Should I use it…? I need to get Sasuke back quickly, but… Smoke exploded into the air. He's good. He's dispelling my clones at such a rate. A bunshin barreled past him and dispelled when it smacked into a tree. Within the circle, he could see Kimimaro slicing through them with mild difficulty, occasionally getting hit because of the sheer number of them. He vaguely heard the teen call out "Dance of the" something; he and Madara seemed to share the habit. Thunk. Naruto went tense, narrowing his eyes. No way… He whirled around, catching sight of Kabuto's silver hair just before he snatched the coffin and leapt away. "Oh, hell no! I killed you!" "You should be more thorough," the Sound nin called over his shoulder, clearly amused. Naruto went to sprint after him, stopping short when he was forced to dodge a barrage of bones that made to skewer him. Ducking behind a tree, he leapt onto one of its branches and summoned a group of plain-looking kunai from one of his storage seals, littering the field with them after he dodged another bone strike. In a flash, he appeared on the other side of the field, a Rasengan forming in one hand. Kimimaro wheeled around to face him, stunned at his appearance, but he was too late to block him. Naruto slammed the Rasengan straight into his chest, sending him careening back into a tree. Holy crap, he thought, blinking in surprise when Kimimaro slowly started to rise. Steam was rising off the broken bark around him, a shinobi-shaped indent in the tree itself. The top portion of his shirt was destroyed, leaving a pale expanse of skin in its wake- he could see broken bits of bone falling off him, having shielded him like armor. "This is getting irritating," Naruto scowled. He shot a glance behind him towards the forest, searching for Sasuke's chakra and finding it already over a mile away. "And timeconsuming." "Keep your eyes on your opponent!" Naruto ducked, and Kimimaro sailed over his head. He slipped the Raijin no Ken from its holster, turning to take a slice out of the other's back, eyes widening when spikes protruded from his spine in mere moments. At the angle, they would skewer his wrist, so he prepared to jump to another Hiraishin. Before either one of them could do anything, a blur slammed into Kimimaru from behind Naruto himself, sending him slamming into the ground a good distance away. "Lee?" Naruto asked, startled. "Leave him to me, Naruto!" Konoha's second green beast of battle fell into his usual stance in front of him, sending him a thumbs up over his shoulder with a blinding grin. "You go after Sasuke!" "Awesome," Naruto said, leaping up and flashing to the Hiraishin mark closest to the forest. He took off into the woods, not sticking around a second longer than he had to. When Karin reached the bottom of the gorge, she found Kiba and Akamaru standing across from Sakon and Ukon in bad condition. She could feel their chakras were depleted greatly, while Sakon was already in his second cursed state. She wasn't a heavy-hitter and she knew it. No good would come of her revealing herself too early, even though her first instinct was to leap in and help Kiba as soon as she could. 'Dog breath', as she called him, may have been annoying sometimes, but even the Leaf shinobi she weren't even friends with showed her more care and concern than any Sound nin ever had. While she'd been a Grass shinobi originally, they'd used her bloodline and leeched off her, treating her like a walking chakra source instead of a person; they'd killed her mother that way. Originally, she'd thought Sound was her home- she'd been totally loyal. But living in the Leaf was a breath of fresh air. Sound nin treated their comrades as dispensable. Even with the exceptions and outliers, Karin knew ninety-nine percent of the time no Leaf nin would leave her behind on a mission or purposely hurt her for the sake of one. Once she'd proven her loyalty, they'd welcomed her with open arms. She helped at the hospital without feeling like they would force her into being used like a machine. She felt safe. Taking out several of her poison senbon, she wrapped a few electrical tags around half, holding them tight between her knuckles as she tried to get a better vantage point. She saw Akamaru leap onto Kiba's back as he yelled something, and a plume of smoke later, a gigantic, multi-headed dog had taken their place. Pausing in surprise, she watched the dog leap into the air and start spiraling, imitating the destructive power of Kiba's Gatsuga. Sakon dodged the first strike, leaving a small crater in his wake, and was hard pressed to dodge the second. I'm not going to be able to get a shot in with him doing that, she thought. I'll have to wait. She watched the spiral rear up for a final shot. It barreled into Sakon head-on, making her tense up in excitement to jump down. He got him! A ball of anxiety formed in her gut. The two halves of Sakon's body lay on the ground on separate sides of the landscape below, twitching. Slowly, the legs that had been blown off filled out, and the two halves- now whole- stood up, closing the exhausted Kiba in on both sides. Crap. I forgot he could split in half like that. She leaped further down the side of the cliff, trying to move in closer without either of the Sound nin noticing. Kiba's head snapped up, and for a moment, he glanced in her direction, before turning back to Sakon with false bravado. When she reached the riverbed, she heard Sakon's voice drifting from ahead. "Ah! My eyes! It's different from before, it's like acid!" "Go and wash your eyes in the river. I'll take care of this," Ukon chuckled. Karin ducked down behind a boulder as Sakon ran past. Now's my chance! She followed him with sharp red eyes. The boy was kneeling down by the river, splashing water into his eyes. Karin took a senbon and considered for a moment; there was nowhere she could aim that would kill him or knock him unconscious instantly from her angle, nor did she want to alert him to her presence. She decided on the back of his calf, rearing back her arm. Sakon groaned, holding his hands over his eyes and rubbing his palms against his eyelids. "Damned dog," he hissed. There was a prick on his leg. "Hmm?" He lowered his hands and blinked rapidly, twisting around to look at his leg through a bleary gaze. Nothing. He slapped at it for good measure, convinced a bug had stung him. Karin tugged her senbon back to her by the wire attached to it, breathing a sigh of relief. He didn't notice me. Turning around, she darted back towards Ukon and Kiba, trying to beat the now poisoned Sound nin back. She was halfway out from behind the boulder she'd been hiding behind when she froze, horror making her feet stay stubbornly stuck in place. Ukon's head protruded from Kiba's shoulder, one of his hands holding the Inuzaka's wrists in its grasp. Kiba's other arm was occupied with the kunai he'd driven into his gut; even through the pain, there was a smirk on his face. Karin saw them begin to separate. She tossed a smoke bomb and lunged forward, throwing an electrified kunai with only half her attention on where it would land; she snatched Akamaru up and hightailed it away with one of Kiba's arms over her shoulders, Ukon's strangled cry of pain alerting her to the fact her aim had been true. Karin set Kiba down behind a boulder, making him wince as he settled on the ground. "Let me see your wound," she said, setting Akamaru down on his knee. Cringing, he took his hand away from his side. Both it and his coat were saturated with blood. "Got yourself real good, didn't you?" "Had to," he grunted. She placed her glowing hands over the wound. "That guy fused himself with my body." "I'm sorry I wasn't able to mention that before," Karin apologized. "I didn't know he could fuse with others. I thought it was just each other. They were born conjoined, and that's their kekkei genkai." "Don't sweat it. He probably would've got me even if I'd known." Kiba flinched as a wave of pain ran through him. "Can you do anything for Akamaru?" Karin bit her lip. "I can try. I've never healed an animal before." "Damn…I shouldn't've let this happen…Akamaru." Kiba stroked the dog's forehead, lips pulled down in guilt. Karin pulled her hands away. "I did my best to stop the bleeding. It's too serious to treat here," she said glancing around before forming a hand sign. "We should get moving, too, or else-" She paled when she felt their chakras moving in. "They're coming. We have to get out of here." "Crap. Where are we supposed to go?" Kiba hissed, sitting up and holding Akamaru close to this chest. Growling, he surveyed the riverbed, looking for a path upwards. "The river. We have to go through the river. You're making a blood trail," Karin said, pulling him to his feet. She hurriedly shrugged him out of his jacket, looking around for cover before pulling a few branches from a shrub. They waded into the water until it was up to their chests, and she helped situate Akamaru on his head before taking up her own branch and letting the river sweep her away. They did their best to stay together and simply look like a piece of shrubbery floating down the river, linked together by their arms. "Where are they?" Kiba whispered, eyes darting around suspiciously. Karin gritted her teeth, struggling to focus her chakra while staying upright and keeping the branch covering her bright red "We're over here!" hair. "I think they're following the river," she whispered. Two chakra signatures were loping after them, for lack of a better term, but one was slower than the other. "I managed to poison one of them. If we can get them to fuse again, it will spread to Ukon, too." "Nice," Kiba whispered in reply. "Then we can just wait for 'em to drop and get out of this hell-fest." "Hopefully." Karin didn't know how long they drifted down the ravine. She pulled Kiba out once she saw an opening to the forest, supporting him until they'd made it a good distance inside. Taking out a scroll Naruto had given her, she set him down against a tree, briefly searching for the brothers' chakras again. "All right, you stay here and keep yourself hidden. I'm going to try and trap them," she whispered. "It's hard to differentiate between them, but I think they've joined up again." Kiba sniffed the air. "I think you're right. I only smell one person coming towards us." He paused, frowning. "Do yo-?" "Those other three coming towards us? I don't know, but we need to finish this before they get here in case they're from Oto." He nodded. She stood up and started away, jerking when he snatched her arm. "What?" She looked down at him, squinting. "Just-" He paused, swallowing. "Be careful." She stared at him for one short moment before nodding and pulling away. Karin waited patiently in the clearing she'd chosen, drawing a useless storage seal on a scroll as she did. She knew Sakon and Ukon knew nothing about fuinjutsu- they would probably think she was trying to make a last-ditch effort to trap them, or a type of bomb. Her stomach churned as she drew her patterns, making her slightly nauseous. "Well, well, what do we have here?" Karin held her breath, slowly looking up. Sakon stood directly across from her, his brother's head lolled against his shoulder as usual. Swallowing, she stood up, leaving the scroll on the ground. "Sakon." "The little traitor, hm?" He walked almost lazily into the clearing. He didn't think she was a threat. "That's me," she said, barely able to keep her voice from wavering. He was wrong. "You know, Orochimaru-sama was very…upset at your absence, especially after seeing what that blond kid can do. He rather wanted a chance to study the Uzumaki body… especially that kekkei genkai you took so much trouble to downplay. But I'm sure he'll be satisfied with just your dead body." Karin tensed. "Let's see if you can catch me, then," she snapped, whirling around and sprinting into the forest. Sakon raged after her, not bothering to check around him for traps. Karin kept track of his breathing, right on her heels, as she pounded across the grass, a kunai held tightly in hand. His hand wrapped around her leg. He'd lunged for her, taking them both to the ground; she twisted around and threw the kunai at him, making him duck and roll to the side. Her aim, however, hadn't been him; the kunai thunked into a tree branch, activating a trap. Sakon shoved himself backwards to avoid a log that came tumbling down from the tree canopy, looking up just in time to catch the end of a set of hand seals she'd made. "Dokugiri!" Karin took a deep breath and breathed outwards, releasing a torrent of poisonous fog into the area in front of her. She saw Sakon try to dodge, but he stumbled suddenly, swaying in place. Her poison was taking effect. The fog rolled forth through the trees. Karin leapt up and started running again, stopping when she'd reached the tags she'd placed on the trees from the scroll from Naruto. "Activate!" Sakon came stumbling after her, swaying so badly he was barely standing. He was pale, an abnormal amount of sweat sliding down his face, gasping for breath as he went. "Wwhat did you do to me?" he rasped. Karin glared at him, standing safely behind her barrier as he ran into an invisible wall. "Dirty traitor," he said, voice gravelly. Karin reared back her fist. She was by no means as proficient as Sakura, but she trained with both her and the slug sannin, and now that Sakon was immobileHer fist slammed into his cheek, knocking his head to the side with something between a crack and a crunch. His body whipped back and slammed into a tree, and he slumped, finally going still, stuck in the indent he'd made. The kunai spread out in a formation around him lit up, zapping everything within their confines with electricity and making his body spasm and twitch until it slumped to the ground. Karin took a deep breath, letting herself relax. I did it, she thought, turning and hurrying back towards Kiba's chakra. I actually did it. Karin gingerly opened Akamaru's mouth and set it over her arm. "Can you tell him to bite down and suck on my chakra?" she asked, taking a moment to prepare herself. Kiba's eyebrows creased. "Um…okay…Akamaru, do what she says. Come on, boy, I know you can hear me." Akamaru's teeth barely moved, gripping her arm loosely. She pressed his jaws together and winced when his teeth broke her skin. "Come on, boy, you can do it," Kiba urged. Karin had no idea if it was going to work; she'd never had an animal use her to heal before. A pull on her chakra made her give a small sigh of relief, relaxing as the puppy fed off her. She pulled away when she felt his grip tighten enough that she felt some strength returned to his body. "All right," she panted, "you next." Kiba gaped at her. "What the hell was that?" he asked. "What'd it look like? I heal people." "By letting them bite you?" "Just do it already!" He winced. She offered her arm; looking reluctant, he sunk his teeth into her wrist, making her cringe. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" They both jerked, blood spraying over Akamaru's coat when Kiba ripped his teeth out of her arm. Karin whirled around with a cry, but her vision was spotty, and her knees had gone weak. Crap. I gave too much. She collapsed, wincing when her head hit the ground. "I-I killed you," she whispered, staring up at Ukon through barely-open eyes. "K-Karin!" Kiba shifted Akamaru and reached for her, dragging her torso off the ground and pulling her to his chest. "Dammit!" Ukon smiled at them. Pale as he was, he looked like a vampire surveying its dinner. "Killed me? Do you really think you could kill me, Karin? I seem to remember all our sparring matches ended with you in the infirmary." Karin cringed into Kiba's shoulder. "Unless, of course…you mean Sakon. Do you think you killed my brother, Karin?" Ukon leaned closer, eyes going narrow. "Leave her the hell alone, bastard," Kiba growled, retreating against the tree and wincing. Dammit, I can't move… It was just a trick, Karin thought, trying to focus around the pounding in her head. He was just…transformed…I'm sorry, Kiba… Ukon raised the hand that was transformed into something gruesome due to his cursed seal. "You'd better not have," he said with a scowl. "I'll go find him after I finish you off. If he is…" Kiba gulped and pulled Karin and Akamaru closer. "Dammit…" Shikamaru gave Tayuya a wry smile, twitching as his shadow's grip on her loosened. "Don't suppose you'd just agree to give up, would ya?" Tayuya grinned. It was less of a grin, really, and more of her pulling her teeth back and exposing the unnaturally sharp canines resting in her gums. "Not a chance, shadow boy." Choji stared down at his hands, wondering if this was real. He'd beaten Jirobo- all by himself. Just him. Not Team Ten, not Ino-Shika-Cho, just Choji. Naruto had given him a leg up, and not just by blowing Jirobo's arm off. Throughout the whole fight, his words had been reverberating through Choji's mind, like an echo that wouldn't leave. One of the strongest genin in the village. He walked through the woods in the direction they'd gone, holding the forehead protector Jirobo had knocked off his head. He knew what was going to happen now. He'd taken the red pill. Even though Jirobo had only had one arm, he'd still had to use the red pill. How did Team Seven do it? If it had been any of themSakura, Sasuke- they could have taken care of Jirobo in a few minutes. Not only that, it would have been easy for them. They were all so far behind. He wanted to catch up. But not because he was jealous. No, he wanted to walk beside him. He wanted to be their support. He wanted to be strong enough to help and protect the one who'd called him strong; he wanted to be able to help his own team, too. He didn't notice when he slumped over against a tree, mind still going a mile a minute. His last thought before everything went dark was he wanted to be strong. He didn't want Team Seven to keep showing them their backs anymore.
Naruto tackled Kabuto to the ground with no warning, sending them both tumbling to the ground below. The coffin rolled to a stop on a tree branch, the lid cracking open just an inch as purple chakra rose from it. Kabuto flipped to his feet, sending him an irritated glare. "You're becoming a nuisance, Uzumaki." "Thank you for the compliment." Kabuto twitched. Naruto slid out his tantō, channeling lightning chakra into it as he activated the Raijin no Ken. "Let's see you get in close enough to use those pesky chakra scalpels now, hmm?" Kabuto gritted his teeth, eyeing the coffin. Naruto lunged, nearly taking his head off with the speed of his strike; Kabuto ducked behind a tree and watched Naruto slice it in half. Even if his skills had been called on par with Kakashi's, taijutsu and close-range combat was Kabuto's weakest area. Naruto had predicted the fight correctly; he couldn't get in close enough to cut through any muscles or vital organs. He was, mostly, preoccupied with dodging the sizzling blades trying to carve a path through his flesh. Two kage bunshin popped into existence a short distance away while Naruto had Kabuto occupied. "Ready?" the first asked the second, wearing a disturbing smile. "Ready," the other replied, slithering into the trees. "Ah, Kabuto-san~ You should be more thorough," Naruto said with a cheeky grin, making Kabuto's eyes narrow in suspicion. "Just what do yo-" "Nice to see you again," Sasuke whispered from directly behind him. Kabuto froze. What he assumed to be Sasuke's fist slammed hard into the back of his head. Kabuto stumbled forward, straight into the middle of the formation Naruto had created with his two clones. He got a sinking feeling in his stomach when he saw the area light up. "Fūinjutsu: Sanpō Fūin!" All three Naruto's yelled in unison. Then the ground was suddenly getting very, very far away below him. Sasuke reeled back slightly from the force of the chakra in front of him, steadying himself on a tree. A tetrahedral of light had appeared surrounding Kabuto, leaving a gaping hole in its wake as it catapulted him into the sky. Naruto shaded his eyes and stared up at the sky. "Think he'll be coming down any time soon?" "I'm not sticking around to find out." Sasuke glanced at the coffin, which had come apart mere moments before, with a grimace. "What's the situation?" Naruto shared his expression. "Choji, Neji, Shikamaru, and Kiba and Karin were left fighting on their own. Go back that way and you'll find Lee finding a descendant of Kaguya who can use his bones as weapons. You?" He looked Sasuke over, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm short on chakra and a little worse for wear, but I'll manage." Naruto nodded, one hand folding reflexively into a hand sign as he closed his eyes. He spread his senses out, finding his friends scattered about the forest; he felt two vaguely familiar chakras heading for a dangerously weak Karin and Kiba and Shikamaru, and he recognized Gaara's plain as day heading for Lee. All of them besides the Sand Siblings were low- almost too low to recognize. "I need to head back to Choji, then Neji. I'll only be a minute," Naruto said, nodding his head towards Lee's direction. "Head back to Lee. Gaara will be there in a few moments." He reached over and planted a Hiraishin mark on his friend in a place no one would see it. Sasuke nodded, but narrowed his eyes. "What are you going to do?" Naruto gave him a thin smile and disappeared. "Come on, Choji. Stay with me," Naruto begged, supporting the boy's head with one hand. "You've gotta hear me. Bite down." A moan escaped Choji's lips, but the unnaturally-thin boy didn't respond. Naruto knew he couldn't heal him completely- it would take more than he had. He only needed to help him last until what he could feel as a medical team heading towards them reached him. All around them, a sealing array spread out on the ground, impeachable but by those wearing a Leaf or Sand headband. "Choji," Naruto shouted, giving the boy a shake. "Bite. Down." Apparently something in his tone got through to him; with a vague, slurred syllable slightly resembling his name, the boy bit down, barely breaking the surface of his skin. Naruto winced as his chakra funneled out through his arm. After a few moments, he pulled his arm away, propping the Akimichi on his tree again. "Sorry, Choji. I should've stayed behind with you to help." He bit his thumb and smeared his blood on the seal underfoot to activate it, taking out a flare as he stood up. "Don't worry. Sakura's on her way." He set the flare off and disappeared. "Crap…" Naruto whispered, a cold pit in his chest. "Neji." The Hyuuga was spread out on the ground in a pool of blood, face covered by his hair. Naruto brushed it aside and lifted his head from the ground, hands shaking the slightest bit. "Hey, Neji. I need you to be conscious right now." "Ggh…Naruto?" Pale eyes stared up at him through squinted eyelids, unfocused and hazy. "What-" "Don't be difficult, now. I need you to bite down." "Bi…?" Naruto held out his arm. The bite mark from Choji had already healed, leaving a scar in its wake. "Do it now. Don't ask questions. Bite down." The firmness of his tone made a barely-conscious Neji obey without question, biting into his skin beside the mark already there. Naruto flinched minutely, forming a shadow clone while he still could. It reached into his pouch and pulled out a roll of bandages. "Bandage him up when I'm done." The bunshin nodded obediently. Neji promptly passed out. "Dammit. I had enough, you idiot," Naruto hissed, wincing when he saw the gaping hole still making Neji's chest its home. The other cuts and another wound on Neji's shoulder had already healed, but only the edges of the worst one had started. "All right, get started." He stepped back and let the clone bandage the Hyuuga, tossing it a flare and biting into his thumb to activate the fuin on the ground. Six minutes, he thought, since I left Sasuke. You better not have gotten kidnapped again, you moron. He flashed back towards the Hiraishin mark on the underside of Sasuke's collar. He only made it halfway, blood spurting from his nose as his vision went dark and hazy. Kiba's arms were folded over Karin's shoulders as he huddled over her, eyes closed in a flinch as he waited for Ukon to strike. When nothing happened, he opened one eye, smirking when he saw a wall of black in front of him. "Who the hell are you?" Ukon demanded, taking a leap back. "Shinobi," Kankuro said, a wide grin stretching his face. "Allies of the Leaf," Temari smirked, watching Tayuya recover from where her winds had violently tossed her into a tree. "From the Sand." Lee gaped up at Gaara, watching the sand pour out of his gourd onto the grass as he stood across from Kimimaro. The two had been going at it quite viciously before the redhead had arrived; they'd matched each other in speed, with Kimimaro having the advantage due to his bloodline. Kankuro flicked his fingers, sending the Black Ant to try and stab Ukon through the chest. Predictably, he dodged to the side, startled when the puppet's arms detached and shot after him with their blades extended. "Careful!" Kiba yelled out as Ukon dodged the puppet's strikes, circling back around to try and get closer to Kankuro. "He can fuse with your body and when he does, it's over!" "Fuse with my body?" Kankuro parroted, startled when Ukon made a mad lunge for his face. "Damn!" Kiba winced when the Sound nin's claw stabbed Kankuro through the face, but grew incredulous when he didn't react. "The hell…?" Sand crumbled from Kankuro's face, falling gently to the ground. The package on his back burst from its bandages, leaving Kankuro where Kiba had thought a puppet to be, while the puppet Ukon had struck shoved him back. "W-what the he-" The Black Ant opened up behind him, leaving him to stumble inside. It slammed shut and locked securely while he banged on the insides, screaming. "Let me out of here!" The Crow disassembled into various pieces, blades extending from each one. They shot forward like they'd been catapulted out of a cannon, skewering the Ant's abdomen. A strangled shriek from inside, as well as the blood leaking from the bottom, told Kiba everything he needed to know. "Am I glad you showed up," he muttered. Kankuro smirked, drawing his puppets back in as he turned to face them. "Don't mention i-" They both promptly passed out. "Well, crap." Naruto didn't so much as pass out as lay on the ground for several moments, lightheaded and hovering on the edges of consciousness as he struggled not to black out. Eventually, the wetness on his face roused him, and he lifted a hand to wipe at the blood and try and stop the flow coming from his nose. Stumbling to his feet, he tried to regain his bearings, rubbing his forehead as he looked around. "Damn. I have no idea where I am." Summon me outside. I'll track for you. "Right." He bit his thumb, preparing to summon his foxy companion outside the seal. A moment later he leapt back onto a tree, narrowly avoiding the fuma shuriken that lodged itself in the ground where his left foot had been. Naruto swayed, grabbing the branch above him and leaning on it as he surveyed the ground below. He knew Orochimaru wouldn't leave anything to chance; of course he would send reinforcements. Irritating as it was, he'd been expecting it; although the addition of Yoroi was particularly annoying. "I thought you got a special home with the T&I Division." The man's face was covered with a mask, eyes shielded by glasses, but Naruto could tell when his cheek spasmed. "I haven't forgotten those fingers and my ear, brat." "Going to try and suck my chakra again? I'd like to see you try." Frankly, Naruto was trying to bait the man into doing just that so he would absorb his senjutsu chakra. He'd already overexerted himself trying to get Choji and Neji into stable conditions; he'd only (unwillingly) used the technique once before and had no practice channeling his chakra effectively so the injured only took the minimum of what they needed to heal. He watched the hand seals Yoroi was making, tensing when he breathed in. How do people with masks do fire techniques? he thought, dodging onto a different tree to avoid a haze of flames. Yoroi snatched the fuma shuriken from the ground and threw it for his torso. Naruto ducked down and jumped towards him, meeting him halfway with a foot to the gut as he twisted around a punch. Naruto landed on the ground in a handstand, faltering for a moment due to dizziness. He rolled to his feet and whipped around to face his opponent, ready to block the strike coming his way, when a voice broke the quietness of the forest. "Kagerō Ninpō: Utakata!" Dammit, turn around! In an instant, Yoroi turned and fled like a man running for his life. Naruto wheeled around, eyes going wide. Why the hell didn't I sense her?! The girl floating in midair, glowing as bright as the sun, was the last thing he saw before a bright shaft of light shot towards him. He lunged to avoid it, hurriedly summoning a chakra shield in front of him, but there wasn't enough time. The world didn't go black; no, it became engulfed in blinding white. It was strangely quiet. No, there was noise- as the pounding in his head decreased, he heard an odd sizzling. Kit? You need to wake up. Oi! Oh, wait. That was his flesh. Naruto's eyes creaked open. His vision was blurry. The grass around him was charred, hell, even the dirt looked charred. With a grimace, he surveyed his body- his skin was blackened from the shoulders down in an uneven pattern; he'd just barely managed to keep his head out of the line of fire and curl so his chest was mostly protected. The amount of chakra that blast took…she had to…and I even had a shield up. The girl looked ready to faint in the air. A moment later, she zipped away in a flash of chakra. Can you heal this? You've got third degree burns everywhere. I can generate new skin, but not quick enough to help you. A hand wrapped around his throat. "I'm going to enjoy this," Yoroi said, grinning in an alarming way. What little chakra he had left began siphoning out of his body. Not good, Naruto yelled, twitching as he tried to pull away. Not good, not good, not good. Red chakra leaked from his body, gradually spreading out until there wasn't an inch uncovered. With a scream, Yoroi ripped his hand away, holding his wrist as his flesh sizzled. Naruto eyed the one burn he'd managed to give him with envy, wishing he could switch their positions right about then. "We'll just do this the old-fashioned way, then," Yoroi growled, slipping a katana from the sheath on his back. Naruto narrowed his eyes into a glare, watching him raise the blade above his head. A smirk slithered onto his face. "Why are you grinning, you dumbass?" Yoroi barked. "You're about to die!" "Oh, I think that's a little over-exaggeration," a cheerful voice said from behind him. The Sound ninja froze in pure terror, a shiver crawling up his spine. "You know, somehow I feel like we've been in this situation before!" A hand fell on his shoulder in a friendly way. Yoroi turned his head, slowly, jaw trembling when he saw the jubilant eyesmile of Kakashi. "Hey doggy-senseiiii," Naruto slurred from the ground. He promptly passed out. "I'll give you a little tip," Kakashi whispered, leaning closer as his other hand lit up with a crackling aura. "Always keep track of your surroundings." Yoroi's scream echoed through the whole forest. Sasuke darted in between a pair of trees to avoid the pincerlike weapon following him like a tracker hound. While it was true he'd been able to retreat and reach the area Gaara and Lee were, he'd had to hold off on entering the clearing due to the tsunami of sand and bone taking place. While he'd been perching on a tree, two more Sound nin had found him and decided to try and make his day even worse. "Jigumo, on the left!" One of them called out. It was the one with the pincer attached to the device on his arm. The other- Jigumo- dropped down from the tree canopy, driving his heel into Sasuke's side. The Uchiha hissed, slashing with a kunai on reflex. He wasn't on top of his game- he'd spent the night before playing a sick game of cat and mouse when he was already exhausted, most of the previous day locked in a coffin that gave him claustrophobia, and now had two- in his own wordsassholes on his case about going to become the new body for the sannin he was quickly coming to hate with every fiber of his being. He kicked Jigumo hard in the jaw, sending him slamming into a tree. He whirled around and summoned a staff from the storage seal on his arm, driving it through the arms of the pincer weapon and into a tree to immobilize it. The nin attached to it stumbled and cried out in alarm, leaving his guard open for Sasuke to drive a kunai into his gut. "Kamikiri!" Jigumo cried. Sasuke ducked, and the man went flying over his head, crashing into his partner. Kamikiri gritted his teeth and jerked his arm hard to the right. Sasuke startled when the pincer came flying out of the tree, ducking to avoid his staff as it was sent flying. Jigumo lunged for his feet. Sasuke leapt onto the side of a tree, narrowly avoiding the pincer's strike again; this time, Kamikiri was quicker about attacking him himself, taking out a dagger and going for his chest. "Don't kill him, idiot!" Jigumo yelled. "I know that!" Sasuke scowled and kicked Kamikiri's feet out from under him. He was sent to the ground with a grunt of pain, the chain connecting his weapon falling slack. Sasuke twisted around Jigumo when the man tried to chop his neck, slipping through his guard and driving an elbow hard into his gut. He flipped over so he was doing a handstand on the man's back, using him as a bouncing board to get to higher ground. Unfortunately, he wasn't expecting Jigumo to snatch the chain and use the pincer even as Kamikiri yelled out, insulted. It drove itself into his shoulder as he turned to orientate himself, making him nearly drop from the tree he'd landed on. "Dammit," Sasuke growled, ripping the thing out and winding the chain around his hand. He pulled hard, bringing them both careening towards him. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" He didn't have Naruto's insane chakra, and he was already too low to be using the kage bunshin anyway. He knew this. "Shishi Rendan!" The two cried in unison. With double the force, the two Sound nin crumpled under them like paper; the bunshin dispelled almost immediately, with no chakra to use. Sasuke was too low. He knew this. The three of them fell to the grass below, slamming hard into the ground. Wincing, Sasuke pulled himself up and placed a hand over his wound, barely able to get to his knees. The two were unconscious- or dead, for all he knewin a pile next to him, and didn't make a peep as he started to drag himself in the direction of Konoha, ending up in a crawl. He wouldn't make it on his own. He knew this. He promptly passed out. "All right, what do we have here?" "Akimichi Choji. He used all three of his clan's Sanshoku no Gan'yaku. Severely emaciated, and his chakra's almost completely depleted." "All right, take him in there. I want a team of five on him at all times." "Yes, Tsunade-sama." "Tsunade-sama, Squad Two reporting in. We've found Hyuuga Neji." "Condition?" "Severe stab injury to the upper portion of his chest. He was bandaged on arrival, but his condition is still critical." "All right, take him through there. Shizune, help with him." "Yes, Tsunade-sama!" Ino swallowed heavily, keeping herself plastered to the wall as she watched a gurney roll by with Choji's thin body on it. A team of medic nin took him into a room labeled Intensive Care Unit 4 at the end of the hall, and the sign above it lit up immediately. The jounin that had gone with the squad retrieving Choji, as well as the two chuunin who'd escorted the medic squad retrieving Neji, took a seat at the far end of the hall, far enough away that Shikamaru- who sat in a seat directly outside said room- had some privacy. Another gurney carried Neji into a room across from her. "Intensive Care Unit 5" lit up red. "Tsunade-sama!" They were at the end of the hall, and had to watch every squad come through. Sakura burst through the doors, pushing the gurney holding the redhead Ino recognized as Naruto's cousin. "Karin's critical. Severe chakra exhaustion." "Take her through here. Oversee her personally." "Yes ma'am." Ino watched Sakura with wide eyes. She wheeled Karin into a smaller room, not faltering for a moment; she was confident in every movement, unwavering. Intensive Care Unit 6's sign activated. Shikamaru's jaw trembled as they went past, Kiba following not a moment after and entering Unit 7 further down the hall. Tsunade disappeared into Choji's room in a flurry of activity. Medics darted to and fro about the hall, slipping in and out of rooms in an organized chaos, as it seemed to Ino. Gulping, she took a seat near Shikamaru, not looking the kunoichi across from her in the eye. Temari seemed cool as a cucumber even with the injured rolling past. The doors opened. She saw Shikamaru go rigid. "Squad Four reporting in," the medic near the front yelled. "Uzumaki Naruto's been retrieved. Critical condition, severe chakra depletion, third degree burns all over his body. We're going to need skin grafts," he continued as they barreled down the hall to the end. "-Squad Five reporting in. Uchiha Sasuke is in critical condition. We have a shoulder puncture wound and severe chakra exhaustion," a new medic said as she speed-walked down the hall, a gurney behind her with three more medics directing it. "Where's Naruto?" Sasuke was barely conscious, voice little more than a whisper. He grasped at the sleeve of the medic to his right with a weak grip, turning his head as he raised his voice. "Naruto, where is he?" "Akamaru!" A voice howled from one of the units. "Where's Akamaru? My ninken? Akamaru!" Ino covered her mouth, sick to her stomach. Beside her, Shikamaru was pale, staring at the floor with a checked-out expression. All around them, signs lit up as everyone on the retrieval squad but Shikamaru himself was taken into the ICU. "Relax, Uchiha-san." A needle was pressed into his arm; the tiled ceiling rolling by was the last thing Sasuke saw before slipping into unconsciousness. "Why only me?" Ino jumped, turning to her teammate. She'd barely heard him. "What?" "Why only me? Why just me?" He stared at the splint on his finger- the only injury he'd received. "It all went so wrong…" Temari raised an eyebrow at him. "What's the matter? Forget your shinobi training? Missions go wrong all the time, kid." Ino shot her a glare. "Leave him alone, would ya? His whole team's hurt!" "That's shinobi life, sweetie." Shikamaru gritted his teeth. He reached up and rubbed his forehead, sighing deeply through his nose. "I don't think 'shinobi life' is for me. What kind of leader lands his whole squad in the intensive care unit?" Ino bit her lip. She raised a hand to place on his shoulder, but stopped halfway. She had no idea what to say or do to help- she couldn't even help the medics. Sakura poked her head out the door across from them. "Someone get me five units of dragon's bane!" she hollered, loud enough to be heard over the din. "On it!" A nurse darted down the hall towards the herb storage. Ino sunk into her seat. I don't even know what that does, she thought glumly. Or wait…doesn't that help the body produce more chakra? It was one of the medicines mentioned in the booklets Sakura had given her. Given that Karin was in for chakra exhaustion, it made sense. I will be in there helping them one day. I just have to work hard, she told herself firmly. "So," a voice said beside them, deceptively casual, "you just going to give up, then?" Ino and Shikamaru both jumped. Temari only rolled her eyes. "W-what?" he looked up at Kakashi. The jounin had his book out, as usual, leaning against the wall beside their row of seats. His eyes were on the pages, but Ino was immediately thrown off by the dried blood saturating his flak vest. "You just going to give up, then? I guarantee there'll be other missions where one of them or some or even all of them end up in the hospital, because you weren't there to lead them. You won't be there with them. Instead, you'll still be sitting there, while your friends die on the operating table, but the difference will be you'll have never been there to try and help them in the first place. You'll just be a bystander." Kakashi's eye lazily turned to look Shikamaru in the eye, half-lidded. The chuunin looked away. "Naruto trusted you, didn't he?" "What?" Shikamaru's head snapped back up, expression startled. "He put his faith in you to lead this squad." Shikamaru was silent for several moments. He thought back to when he'd first stepped into Tsunade's office with a yawn; he had never expected this to happen mere days after. "Get it through your brain! We have to assemble a team now. Who are we going for first?" "Do you not realize someone's life is at stake?" "Every single second we waste is a second Sasuke gets further away from the village." "You're one of the strongest genin in the village…but this guy…he isn't using normal shinobi arts anymore." "You sure this is the best strategy?" "You sure we should wait until night has passed? That will only give Orochimaru time to send more shinobi." "All right…it's your call." "Shikamaru, move!" "Don't die, all right?" If the team had been comprised of shinobi on Naruto's level, none of them would have been injured. It was because of them- Shikamaru knew he'd been the one dragging Naruto down. Naruto wasn't the dead last. The rest of them were. Even knowing this, Naruto had trusted his judgment. He trusted me to come through for him. I didn't. "Yeah," he croaked. "Yeah, he did." Naruto didn't deserve a lazy slouch. He deserved someone strong enough to walk by his side. His whole squad had deserved that. Choji deserved that. "Then next time," Kakashi said, "don't let him down." He snapped his book shut and disappeared in a plume of smoke. One of the overhead lights switched off. A door slid open. "Inuzaka Kiba's in stable condition!" The woman who'd stepped into the hall called out. "You can tell him his dog's gonna be fine. Hana's takin' care of him," someone from the desk occupying the corner of the intersection of the hall and the one perpendicular to it called out. Ino breathed a sigh of relief. "One down," she murmured. Sakura leaned into the hall to address a medic Ino didn't recognize. "The chakra transfer was successful. She should regain consciousness within five hours. Get a nurse and move her into a room. Make sure it's close to a nurse's station." The brunette she was talking to nodded and hurried away, heals clicking on the tile floor. Sakura stepped out of the unit and pulled off the gloves she'd been wearing. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun, a few splotches of blood decorating the white apron tied around her abdomen. She dropped them into a bin and took the apron off, heading for Neji's room. Ino watched her go, just a little bit in awe. She didn't know how many hours they sat there, waiting in tense silence. Out the window at the end of the hall, she could see darkness had covered the village, although the inside of the hospital was still as bright as day due to the overhead lights- a stark white contrast to the black outside. Kiba was the first to emerge. A nurse pushed him past to the elevator; he tossed and turned slightly, muttering under his breath for Akamaru with Karin's name occasionally making an appearance. Sasuke came out next. He was unconscious and silent, even paler than usual, but his expression was twisted just slightly in a grimace, hands clutching the sheet covering him. When the light flicked off above Neji's door, Ino stood up to watch them take him past. Out of the variety of gaping wounds she'd seen that day, his had to have been the worst. The end doors swished open. Tsunade stepped out and took a deep breath, even as Shikamaru and Ino watched her with anticipation. A smile overtook her face. "Akimichi Choji will make a full recovery." Ino held her chest, sighing in relief, and Shikamaru sagged into his chair. "Thank God," he murmured. Tsunade nodded to Shikaku, as he was lurking around the corner. She stepped into Naruto's room without further conversation. Several sets of eyes rose and settled on the sign above Naruto's door. Not one of them moved a muscle, waiting. The minutes ticked by. Shikamaru was growing twitchy with nerves by the time the light turned off; when the doors opened, he stood from his seat, hands clenched at his sides from anxiety. Naruto was wrapped neck to toe in bandages, the only exception being his mostly uninjured face, which still had a bandage taped to the cheek. Sakura was by his side, wheeling him down the hall with a soft expression on her face; Tsunade emerged after him, covered in splotches of blood and looking haggard. She turned to the onlookers, shoulders slumping. "And that'll be all of them." "Thank you, Tsunade-sama," Ino whispered, unable to take her eyes off Naruto's form as it got farther away. Sakura, with her back to her, shoulders square and strong, took him into an elevator, not looking back as she pressed a button. "Hm?" she heard Temari make an inquiring noise; Shikamaru walked past her, head ducked down. Ino frowned and stood up again. "Shikamaru…?" "Next time," the boy bit out, shoulders shaking. Ino's eyes widened when she realized he was crying- not just a few tears, but sobbing- "Next time, the mission will go perfectly."