By RequiemofDementia
Chapter Twenty: Gaara vs. Gaara?
Gaara straightened slowly, his eyes narrowing. This being would be crushed. "This is the end," he whispered softly, in his deadly voice.
"Yes," came the soft reply. His head turned slowly, towards the tiny little ninja resting against the wall. Cradled carefully in his hands was a perfectly formed origami replica of Gaara.
"A good ninja saved their best for the end, right?" Chie asked softly, as his hands began to flow through the seals of the jutsu. The sand firmed up once more, racing out towards Chie, obscuring everyone's view of the little ninja. However, the scream of pain never came.
The sand slowly dropped to the ground, another Gaara now standing before Chie, his eyes meeting the real Gaara. "Origami Replication no jutsu," Chie said faintly.
The tiny ninja was now slumped against the wall, exhausted from the amount of chakra he had given this replication of Gaara. But the real Gaara did not care. The girl still swung her sword at him, determined, but he paid her no heed.
At the same time as the sand formed into a hand before Gaara, it did so before the replication as well. Gaara narrowed his eyes faintly. This creation of a jutsu could mimic his powers as well?
As an experiment, the hand of sand lashed out, where it met the other hand. The two grasped, each squeezing and pushing, trying to overcome the other.
Gaara's eyes widened, as he felt the strength of his opposition. What jutsu had that been?
Orochimaru straightened slowly, a growl leaving his lips. At his side, his clothing was burned through, two wounds at his side where the skin was charred and burned. Kabuto was slowly straightening from his place across the roof top. His flesh was not as resilient as his masters, the two gaping wounds slowly closing themselves.
Shinzui's eyes widened, as he saw how little damage his attack had done to Orochimaru. The tongue was there then, the only thing stopping it from breaking the bones in Shinzui's body was another chakra barrier. He tried to stand tall, even though the massive drain on his chakra was beginning to fatigue him.
He braced himself, as Orochimaru attacked again.
Gaara faced himself still, sand attacks flowing smoothly between real and fake. He had to admit, the jutsu that had created this replicate was very good indeed, and it had the powers and the skills of its target. However, Gaara was counting on it lacking one thing.
His stamina.
Once again, he was completely stationary, as his protective sand deflected blow after blow from his opponent's sand hand. This was going to take some time.
He snarled faintly, and the sand proxy of his hand became a fist, slamming at the replica. Its sand flared up to defend it, but the force was too great, knocking it away. It fell back, slamming against the wall of the building the other ninja fought upon.
The fake Gaara straightened slowly, smirking softly. Gaara was focused solely upon it, so he did not notice the little ninja that had created it beginning to move his hands again.
His sand fist lashed out again, the wall of sand defending the replica springing up again, at the same time as his own sand appendage grasped the fist. The struggle continued for a moment, until Chie's voice reached Gaara again.
"Origami Control no Jutsu."
The sand fell away from the fake, the Gaara's attacking fist slamming forward. However, the double did something that Gaara rarely did in a fight. It sidestepped.
The fist slammed into the wall, broken bricks flying into the air, as the replica Gaara raced across the ground towards the real one. Gaara's eyes widened, as his opponent drew near. His sand was about to spring up, when the replica took control of it as well. Caught between two different motives, the sand froze where it was.
The replica barreled into Gaara, knocking him back. As he staggered back, eyes widening, it straightened, foot slamming against Gaara's face.
His sand no longer completely at his command, Gaara was not sure what to do.
Shinzui was forced back, using his chakra barriers to deflect the blows from Orochimaru's tongue. As he got more fatigued, however, his actions were slower. Every now and again, he was not quick enough, the wet tongue slamming against his body. Saliva covered bruises laced his body, as he struggled to keep up with the Sannin. Now he knew why people feared Orochimaru. Even without his arms, a regular ninja could not stop him.
The sand armor cracked, as the replica Gaara rained blow after blow down on him. It was relentless, as it continued. His body was jolted by the force of the blows, and then, its hands came up. Fingers curled into his hair, and then jerked his head downwards. His eyes closed, as the replica's knee connected with his face, knocking him back against the shattered wall that he had slammed the replica against moments ago.
It took a fighting stance that Gaara did not recognize, probably that of the ninja that had made it. It was ready for more. As half of the sand armor coating his face fell away, a smirk crossed Gaara's lips.
The replica was taken aback by that, but then raced forward to deliver another blow to Gaara. And this time, he did move.
He sidestepped the attack, his hand coming out, grasping his gourd. It exploded in a shower of sand, which wrapped around the paper figure, and then crushed the life out of it.
Shinzui was crouched, holding Kakashi to him. The only thing protecting them from Orochimaru's tongue and Kabuto's jutsu's was the dome of chakra that Shinzui had erected around them. Thicker then his regular defenses, it was clearly visible, shimmering between them and the relentlessly beating tongue.
With every blow, Shinzui's body jerked, as he was forced to pump more chakra into the dome. He was pulling chakra in through the rasa as fast as he could, as well as using his own stores, but it was only a matter of time now. Something that was not lost on Orochimaru as well.
The tongue stopped its beating, and Shinzui's head came up slowly.
"You cannot maintain that forever," Orochimaru said softly, his tone one of gloating.
Shinzui's eyes met Orochimaru's, and then Kabuto's. His head slowly nodded. "You're right."
Kakashi looked at his companion, just in time to see the man's fingers grasp his vest. "Wha…?" Kakashi was shocked as he was lifted into the air, Shinzui's eyes meeting his own.
"Take care of them."
Kakashi's eyes widened, as he realized what Shinzui was doing. He reached out to grasp the other man, but it was too late. Shinzui pushed firmly as his hands released, throwing Kakashi off the roof of the building.
Kabuto was quick, leaping down after him.
Shinzui's eyes met Orochimaru's. "Let's end this."
Kakashi fell, quickly spinning as he did. He landed feet first, his knees bent to absorb the force of the impact, ending in a crouch, his head coming up quickly. He slipped back quickly, as Kabuto landed right in front of him.
"Good bye, Kakashi," Kabuto said softly, as he came in at Kakashi quickly. The two moved fast, a series of blows and parries.
Gaara's eyes turned slowly towards this new interruption. Clearly, something else was afoot here.
And that was when he heard the voice. "Gaara." His head turned slowly, and his eyes focused on Sasuke as the boy slowly stood, Airen by his side.
"Uchiha," Gaara whispered.
Author's notes.
Chie's time to shine! Here Chie reveals his trump card, and why he loves his origami so much! I hope you find it as cool as my sister did.
Sadly, we are also nearing the end of the story, as you can clearly tell. It is time for you all to send reviews, and tell me what you think. And don't worry, the sequal will be posted soon too. :D