The Shadow Wars
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Chapter 22
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Tsunade continued doing her hand seals, trying to summon enough chakra to heal Sasuke's spine. Suddenly, the man raised the poisoned kunai up, and Tsunade knew that she had failed. But then, just in the nick of time, she had reached her last seal. Frantically placing her hand on Sasuke's spine, she focused on the crack sealing itself, healing it. Right when the man finally threw the kunai, she completed the healing process. But the kunai embedded itself into her left cheek, forcing blood and venom into her mouth.
Suddenly, Sasuke twitched slightly. His Sharingan whirling fiercely, he stood up. Then, silently, he charged at the man, throwing a strong punch. The abruptness of Sasuke's move shocked the man, and he flew into the wall of a neighboring building.
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Uchiha Itachi was sitting at a table with Hoshigaki Kisame, making plans for the invasion of Konoha. The room was darkened, and had one door that was behind Kisame, which allowed Itachi to deal with any intruders, no matter if they are friend or foe. Suddenly, there was a loud, urgent-sounding knock on the door.
"Come in, Ororo." Itachi said calmly, smiling savagely.
The door opened, and Ororo walked in. He was tall, about two feet taller than Itachi, and his hair was tied in a ponytail. At his side was a long katana. His robe was that of a samurai, with elegant, floral designs.
"Itachi-sama, our agent in Konoha has ceased contact. His last report said that Tsunade and Sasuke were dead, but then there was a rushed message that made it sound as though the report was premature, and that Sasuke is alive and even better than during the... attempt." Ororo said in a very matter-of-fact tone.
"Is that so? I think... we may have another enemy, Kisame." Itachi said, drawing his kunai.
"Itachi-sama? What are you doing!? Itachi-sama!" Ororo said, as the kunai cut right through him.
"Never bother me again, Ororo." Itachi said. "Next time, it'll be at your throat."
"I... I understand, Itachi-sama..." Ororo said, walking out the door. "I can't take this anymore..." he thought then. Ororo made up his mind on what to do. Smiling slightly, he jumped up and headed toward Konoha.
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"Hello, Sakura-chan." Naruto said. It was the next day, bright and early. The sun was shining brightly. The only thing to bother them was the fact that Sasuke had disappeared, leaving behind a dead Akatsuki spy and a wounded Tsunade.
"Hello, Naruto-kun. What do you say to some training?" Sakura asked. There had been an announced interval in the exam to allow for some rest before the semi-finals. The rest of the quarter-finals had gone smoothly, leaving only 8 teams intact, nearly all of them from Konoha.
"Okay, Sakura-chan." Naruto said, entering his preferred combat stance.
"Don't expect me to go easy on you just because of your status." Sakura said playfully, entering her own stance. Immediately, the two rushed at each other. They managed to match each other blow for blow.
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At the Hidden Cloud village, a group of shinobi were congregating in the village temple. Amongst them was a very experienced Jounin. Having been ignored for most of his life by his parents, this Jounin had tried very hard to perfect his fighting to gain their approval. However, he came to realize that this was to be a fruitless effort when his parents ignored him even after he became a Jounin at age 17. This man's name was Yashada Iki.
The Cloud village has long been a rival of the Leaf Village, but they never wanted Konoha to be destroyed. However, they had very few experienced shinobi. Anyway, there wasn't enough to take on the huge army that Itachi had recruited. This meeting was called in order to ready a battle plan as well as an allied defense plan. However, there was a huge divide as to what the tactics should be. Some believed that the village should launch a full frontal attack on the Akatsuki army, but the more sane tacticians agreed that such an attack would be suicide. The Akatsuki leadership had been planning an assault on the various hidden villages since the brief period of peace before the Kyuubi's last attack on Konoha.
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The Akatsuki headquarters was a drab, eerie castle that stood on an equally eerie mountain. Having once been the home of a daimyo, the castle fell into disrepair over the years. However, it's poor state allowed the Akatsuki leadership greater concealment. This was necessary since every one of the original nine were missing-nins.
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"Itachi-sama, I have bad news. I spent hours searching for Ororo. He has fled the camp. I think he may be heading towards Konoha." Kisame said.
"Damn... Kisame, send scouts to hunt him down. Tell them to bring him alive. I will kill him myself after keeping him under Tsukiyomi for twenty minutes." Itachi said.
"That is an interesting plan, Itachi-sama. I will carry it out immediately." Kisame said.
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It was the day of the last Semi-final. The only remaining fighters were Naruto and Yokure. This meant that Yokure and Naruto would fight for the right to go on to the finals. Tensions were high, but almost no one was cheering for Naruto. No one except Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi.
"Because this is such a high-tension match, the stakes are raised. At no point during this match will I stop the fight unless one of the fighters is unconscious." The announcer said as the two fighters entered the ring. Both were clad in their Chuunin outfits instead of their usual clothes. They were both well-stocked with kunai and shuriken. "Ready, begin!"
Immediately, both fighters began readying a jutsu. Naruto performed his Kage Bunshin, while Yokure activated his Dissection Technique.
"You fool, Yokure. This time, you lose!" Naruto yelled, charging at Yokure.
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A/N: I'm sorry for the delay, but I've been working hard on various stories and schoolwork.