21 : Mission Group
By: Kokoro Kakera HP ^^
Disclaimer: Naruto, (Manga, anime, products, etc.), belongs to Kishimoto Masashi
Author's Notes:
21, 21, 21! Just rolling along as quickly as possible~ Judging by the last chapter, being out so long screwed my writing vibe. I guess that means from now on, each chapter will not take 5 months between each anymore. >_> Though 2 months isn't much better, is it?
Thank you to everyone who reviewed!
Oh, and if you have time, you might want to visit my online journal! It's a better place, I think, to post all my replies to the readers' comments than after a chapter. Just go to my author's bio page to find the address.
Er...ya. Lee...is kind of out of character. Just warning all Lee purists.
Notes:
Kyuubi - Nine-tails-fox
Sasuke was the one chosen to lead the group up front. He was not however, the one determining everyone's actions. That part had been designated to Shikamaru, the most intelligent member of their group. Sasuke was to some extent bothered by this, but as he deemed getting to Naruto in time more important than a petty feeling; that he should have been leading the mission, he kept his mouth shut about the matter and did what he was told.
'That is what you want, right?' Unconsciously, he glanced back at Ino. He wasn't looking at her though. 'For me to stop being selfish and think about the best way to get Naruto back.'
'Sasuke-kun...' Ino had caught him looking her way and knew immediately why. Gently, she readjusted the weight resting on her back, cringing when she bumped against it. "Sorry." She whispered, despite knowing there wouldn't be an answer for the apology. She then made sure Sakura's body was completely stable and wouldn't fall off her back. Not that Sakura could complain if she did fall off. She sighed quietly. 'I wish you were here, Sakura.' Ino blinked, the weight on her back she'd been trying not to think too much about, making her realize the sick irony of the situation she'd just put herself into. Ino bit her bottom lip, realizing that her hands had begun to shake.
Quickly, she turned her attention to Sasuke. She was still worried about him. Even after he had recovered from his outburst, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was still wrong with him. His violent reaction to the news that his team would be made up of only four chuunins including him, had scared the wits out of her. Even now, her eyes were riveted to the bandage around his hand - the one he'd cut up by squeezing a kunai's blade. She hadn't expected him to blow up like that and seeing him in such a state had made her very concerned for Sasuke. 'Has his mind become unstable...?' She was afraid to know the answer.
'She's going to burn a hole through him if she keeps staring at him like that.' Shikamaru thought irritably. Annoyed even more by the nature of the thought, he refused to pursue it and tried to think of the mission at hand instead. This unfortunately, brought him right back to Sasuke. 'Jeez... I try to ignore Ino staring at Sasuke by thinking about our mission, but the mission involves Sasuke, thus noticing Ino staring at him. What a troublesome circle.' Shikamaru gave a short sigh of disgust.
"Is there something wrong, Nara-san?" Shikamaru, surprised at being heard, shook his head.
"We're still okay. No one's spotted us as far as I can tell and we're making good time."
"I see." Lee nodded. Then out of the blue he said quietly, "...It was the same for me with Sakura-san."
"What?" Shikamaru turned his head.
"Nothing. I'm sorry." Shikamaru had heard Lee's last comment though and was bothered by the reference. As far as he was concerned, it was the same situation with all the guys who had an interest in any girl who knew Sasuke. He couldn't help glancing back at Ino as he thought of the Lee's comment though.
"It's time to start." The man - Junrou picked up the prone body lying at his feet. He glanced up, catching some of the setting sun's light in his eyes. He easily hefted the weight up onto his shoulder and turned around to address the ten ninjas obediently lined up in two rows behind him. Their shadows steadily grew longer as the sun strode toward the horizon. "I expect all of you to perform with competence and devotion. Anything less will result in failure and thus death - not necessarily by the enemy's hand if that is the case."
The subordinates' heads bowed and mouths moved in agreement, with complete synchronism.
"Now go! Kill all the intruders, otherwise don't come back." The ninjas disappeared into the woods.
"They will not be enough." A low voice said behind him. "You killed the only other ninja who could have stopped them-"
"She was quite disobedient. I specifically told her not to kill them."
"And the other two reliable men were killed by them as well." She continued patiently. "What can ten poorly trained ninjas do against four chuunins?"
"Three and a half. They're carrying extra baggage. Besides, all I want them to do is delay them. Amuka-sama will no doubt, be quite hungry when he wakes up." He shrugged. "And you're the only one I require against a couple of adolescents. They're nothing compared to you. We can get more recruits once our god has re-risen."
A hand touched his arm lightly.
"Are you really sure of this?" The woman dared not come closer, feeling the subtle buzz of anger pass through him.
"What? You're having doubts now?" He demanded.
"No. Of course not. No..."
"Whether this happens or not will be reflected from your desire for His resurrection. Do not fail me."
'But what if I'm as afraid of it succeeding as I am of it not?'
What insurance was there that Amuka would not devour them as well? It was a mission Junrou had long been fiercely devoted to for all his life under his father's teachings. 'But I've said it many times, haven't I? I would give my soul to hell for you.' She'd always meant it too."Yes sir." Jinn answered, her voice free of doubt once more. She followed him to the designated site of the ritual.
'How much farther do we have to go?' Ino wondered as she shifted Sakura's body to rest higher on her back. 'We've been running for two hours now!' She didn't voice her annoyance though; weary of how Sasuke would react to it in his current state. She did however send a fleeting glance back to Shikamaru, wondering if he had any idea of how long they would have to continue running. She was surprised to find him already looking at her. He quickly looked away. 'Shikamaru? ...What was that about?" She didn't get a long time to wonder about what she'd just seen. "Ow!" She yelped as she walked right into Sasuke's back. "Oww..." She rubbed her nose. "What's wrong?" She asked.
Sasuke didn't move.
"Sasuke-kun...?" Ino whispered.
"They're coming."
"Now?" She reacted though, by pulled out a kunai - a signal to the others that they were about to have company. She faltered a bit when she saw what was coming though.
Shikamaru's eyes, usually half-lidded with the weight of annoyance and laziness, widened a little when he as well caught sight of what Ino and Sasuke were looking at. "Shi-"
An enormous wave of spears rained down upon them. The group bolted in different directions, narrowly avoiding each weapon as it made contact with the earth. To make matters more difficult, the numerous trees populating the area in such a close-knit fashion made obstacles that everyone had to be aware of while they tried not to get skewered. Clumps of dirt on the ground were loosened by the impact of weapons and sprinting feet, causing mini clouds of dust to form around the area. In a few moments, everything in sight seemed to be coated with dirt and dust with more still settling down.
"Split up and look for the bodies!" A ninja, clad completely in black called out gruffly to the group of nine others dressed identically, "Kill any surviving intruders right away!" They scattered.
"I see three of them."
"They're not moving. They must be looking for us."
"In a defensive position!? It's like they're waiting for us to come to them-"
"That just might be the trick. Be careful. Those guys might just be kawari-"
"AA-" One of the three ninjas standing guard in a small circle with their backs to each other, uttered a cut-off cry of shock when he was swiftly snatched by his throat and yanked up into the tree above him.
"No. They're real." Ino whispered when she snapped the man's neck and the body as itself, remained hanging in her hands. "They weren't smart enough to use any replacement techniques." She checked Sakura to make sure she wouldn't slip off the branch she'd been placed on. She glanced perplexedly back at the little two-man semi-circle. "They weren't smart enough to do much at all actually... What's with the circle? Shouldn't they be... looking for us instead of mindlessly standing in one place and waiting to be attacked?"
"I guess they're not the best of group they're working with-" He turned to Ino. "More importantly, that was a big risk you just took." Shikamaru chided her. "Borderline suicidal actually. If it really had been a replacement or clone, then our position would have been given away. You could have been going right for some bait in a trap."
"But it wasn't, right? So we're okay!" Ino looked annoyed.
"That's not the point here..." He trailed off as if he'd just thought of something. "It's true that time is a large factor here, but that doesn't mean-"
"Ryuji! Ryuji!"
"Looks like they finally noticed the disappearance of one of their men. We'd better act quickly before they decide to do something smart." Ino murmured, glad for the interruption. She hoped her cheeks weren't red. She was just as aware as Shikamaru of how stupid her last move was, but talking about why she'd acted that way was the last thing she wanted.
"Che." Shikamaru leaped off the branch he'd taken shelter on since the first attack.
"Where did he-gahh!"
The third and last ninja had not even been able to utter a sound before Ino descended upon him, only seconds after his comrade's demise, kunai first.
Silently, Lee leapt from a branch he'd been sitting on. He landed gracefully, causing no more than a whisper of wind to rise. He could see Sasuke's back from where he was. The dense mess of trees could not hinder his sight enough to make Sasuke disappear from view completely. He felt strangely bothered by that. It wasn't that he harboured any negative feelings towards the other boy. He didn't of course- but all the same...
No matter what he did, Sasuke seemed to be always there in the back of his mind, along with Neji. The only difference was, that in his mind, the idea of beating Sasuke seemed to look increasingly beyond his reach with each passing day. Sasuke had fought with Gaara and fared far better than he. He'd become as strong as he had in a fraction of the time it had taken him to reach the same point. He had Sakura's full attention and her heart. Sasuke really was a genius - one that he was beginning to doubt he would ever surpass.
A branch cracked behind him and he mentally readied himself. His muscles tensed reflexively.
He didn't have any bad feelings for Sasuke.
There was a sound of numerous feet scraping the ground as more joined the ninja behind him.
Not at all.
"He's alone." In another moment, Lee was surrounded.
It wasn't Sasuke's fault that Sakura had died.
Various pairs of eyes glittered maliciously at him. It was obvious that they expected an easy kill.
Lee deliberately took his time in sliding back his left foot a bit to get into his trademark stance. His left hand rested comfortably at his lower back. He lifted his other arm, wrist bending so his straightening fingers pointed upwards and palm turning to face himself.
It wasn't his fault-
"Rahh!" One of his opponents finally decided to attack. Effortlessly, Lee ducked beneath a long bladed spear - a quick swipe that was meant to take off his head. He caught the back edge of the weapon as it just finished its ark of movement and increasing his fingers' pressure on it, jerked it sideways and sent the butt of the spear crashing into his attacker's face. A sickening crack sounded and the man stumbled away, eyes tearing and blood streaming from his nose - or what was left of the broken mass. He fell over and whether he was genuinely unconscious or had just chosen to stay down, resulted in the preservation of his life.
she would never come back,
"AHH!" The three remaining men charged together, sure that there was power in numbers. The terror they felt at facing an enemy who had defeated one of their comrades with such ease showed in their faces nonetheless. They knew though, that whatever this man did to them would probably not compare to Junrou's wrath if they retreated.
Lee readied himself once more.
no matter how hard he wished for her,
"Die y-" Lee kicked the man's chest and felt the rib cage snap and fold in under the impact. The broken bones smashed into the man's heart, tearing it apart. He dropped like a stone, twitching once - as if trying to send a pulse going through his body in another way because his heart could no longer - then he went still.
even if his chest ached unbearably every time he thought about a life without her.
The other two just fell to the ground with shurikens embedded deeply in their heads, not even realizing their transition to death until after it had happened.
Lee turned away from the gruesome scene, appearing only a little troubled. He almost wished he could feel as calm as he looked, but that would mean he'd lost a component of himself that he considered important. Even after many years, he was still deeply affected by taking the lives of others, despite it being routine on many assignments he was given. He had no real wish to get rid of the feelings of regret and guilt that rose up after he'd killed someone. It was better, he knew, to feel something instead of nothing at all.
It was hard sometimes, to stick to that ideal.
Like earlier, when he'd been subject to seeing Sakura's corpse because he'd been placed behind Ino after Shikamaru, was reminded over and over that he'd broken his greatest and most sincere promise to her.
'I'll protect you until I die!'
He felt like some naive little boy whenever he thought back to that time.
But then again, he thought sadly, even if he could be where Sakura was before, what chance had he had? Even the genius Uchiha Sasuke couldn't save her.
Naruto was near. "Get out of my way." Sasuke said it even as he continued, wearily, to walk forward. He didn't have time. It was becoming dark quickly and the ceremony would start in minutes.
Only a few minutes until it was too late and thus another promise would be broken.
The men who'd landed before him only moments before stood where they were, glaring at him as they sized him up. "We're-"
"Stupid for talking so much." Ino said breezily, landing behind him. She shoved a dagger into his back and dragged it up until there was no more to pull through.
"Keep going, Sasuke! We'll take care of these guys!" Shikamaru called out as he brought down another. "We'll join you later!"
He'd hardly finished talking before Sasuke took off.
"The preparations are finally complete. The resurrection will work this time." Junrou looked over the alter. Naruto had been placed on the left side of it, his hand placed upon a skeletal one - belonging to an irregularly large, shriveled, dry corpse lying on the right.
Amuka's eye sockets gazed heavenward. His mouth, filled with sharp teeth - too numerous to count - were blackened with extreme age and seemed to be hungrily waiting in great anticipation for something great to happen.
"There's no reason why it should not." Jinn said calmly, despite the fearful fluttering of her heart. "We have the Kyuu-"
Sasuke ran for all he was worth, trying to keep in mind that it would be too risky to just burst into the area where Naruto was being kept.
"There's not reason why it should not." He halted and inched forward slowly, following the sound of a woman's voice. "We have the Kyuu-" Jinn stopped and Sasuke was startled when she and Junrou looked right in his direction.
"Huh. One of the bugs managed to get through after all." Junrou looked smug nonetheless.
Sasuke stepped out of the bushes, having been discovered. He'd stepped into a clearing of dirt and rocks. It was void of grass. He couldn't see trees behind the two and suspected that they were at the edge of a cliff.
"Where's Naruto?" He demanded.
"Look for yourself." Junrou moved out of the way.
'Naruto!' Sasuke's heart skipped a beat for a second when he caught sight of the boy lying motionless on the stone table. Everything had been set up already. He narrowed his eyes and the Sharingan came to life in them. 'Focus! It's not too late yet!'
"NARUTO!" Sasuke shouted. He dashed towards the boy's unconscious form, his hands moving automatically to trigger a jutsu.
"No you don't!" Sasuke didn't even see the woman coming. One moment she was standing beside Junrou, the next she was in his face. She grabbed his wrists and as if he weighed only as much as a rag doll, swung him up and drove her fist into his stomach. He crashed into the ground roughly and skidded a few feet away.
"Shit!" Sasuke choked. He rolled up onto his knees, keeling forward a little, gagging. Some blood dribbled onto the ground.
"Just stay there and watch." Junrou pulled out a kunai and ran it along the palm of his hand. Blood ran onto it and once it'd spread it completely over the blade, he took the knife away from the cut and walked to the alter. He hardly seemed to care that he was still bleeding.
"Damnit-" Sasuke stumbled up; unable to believe how hard he'd just been hit. 'Damnit, GET UP!'
He raised his head just in time to see Junrou slam the kunai through Naruto's hand into the demon's.
"NO! N-" Then, it was as if all the strength he'd been sure he had at the beginning of the mission was simply gone. His legs gave out and he dropped to his knees.
'Naruto!'
Dizziness overcame him and disoriented, he tried to steady his breathing not sure whether he'd started hyperventilating or forgotten how to breathe.'I...failed.'