The Shadow Wars
Chapter 28
"I am the Green Beast of Konoha, Rock Lee!" Lee yelled, and swiftly dodged a kunai that Moujuu had thrown. Then, he went into a spin, kicking the Uchiha into a wall.
"Hino Bakugeki!" Moujuu yelled, and fire rained down on the taijutsu expert.
"Ho Kunai no Jutsu!" Sakura yelled, and a hail of flaming kunai flew at Moujuu, who blocked the attack, although it ended Moujuu's attack on Lee.
"So, it seems that Konoha's few Chuunin who haven't gone to fight my grandson are ganging up on me." Moujuu said, and then turned to face the ruined stadium entrance. "Faithful warrior, reveal yourself."
Upon this command, a shape appeared, slowing walking toward the center of the arena. Slowly, it's form revealed itself: first it's purple hair, then it's blank eyes, then the body itself.
"H- Hinata?" Naruto gasped.
"Yes." She replied, and, without a word of greeting, activated her Byakugan and rushed at Naruto. "Jyuuken!"
"Stop, Hinata!" Naruto yelled, as he dodged the technique, and then spun into a full-force kick, which she blocked. Suddenly, he flew back, as Hinata expelled a burst of chakra.
"Naruto-kun!" Sakura yelped, running to his side.
"Get away!" Hinata yelled, and she threw a kunai at Sakura. Realizing what was happening, Naruto ran and blocked the kunai, letting it hit his shoulder.
"Ah!" Naruto yelped, and hit his side on the floor.
The battlefield surrounding the stadium was ravaged with the remnants of a confrontation. Kunai, shuriken, and bodies littered the ground, which was soaked with millions of blood pools. The fighting had subsided to allow the two armies to rest, but it could resume at any moment. The sole movement was the fight between Itachi and Takara.
Takara was badly injured, with blood pouring out of numerous stab wounds inflicted by several kunai, and his face was bleeding. The Sixth's hair was matted down by the blood.
Itachi was also hurt from the skirmish, though he was less so than Takara. There were numerous small gashes from Takara's kunai littering his serene face.
The battle was fast, with both sides jumping, blocking, counter-blocking, and rapidly blasting off basic ninjutsu.
"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" Itachi yelled, firing a powerful barrage of flame at Takara.
"Suiton: Suijinheki!" Takara yelled, and a huge barrier of water surrounded him, causing the flames to dispel.
"Not bad, Takara. But how about this: Kage Honoo no Jutsu!" at this, his hands rapidly moved through twenty hand seals, and a shape, the Uchiha Clan crest, appeared behind him. It was on fire. Instantly, the fire compressed into the Uchiha prodigy's hand, transforming into flaming shadow. Then, the fire flew out, a steady stream.
The Suijinheki had drained most of Takara's remaining chakra, so he was unable to dodge. The stream of shadow fire blasted through his body, leaving a gaping hole in his stomach. "Farewell, Konoha…" Takara said, and then collapsed.
At this, the entire army of Konoha rushed at the Akatsuki army. Once again the battle resumed, blood dribbling down onto the already-bloody ground.
"Why… Hinata…" Sakura gasped out, blood pouring down her face. Realizing that she had no way of defeating Moujuu, yet she had already beaten Hinata, she decided that the only way to beat both was for Naruto to fight Moujuu, and for her to fight Hinata. But Hinata had received more power from the evil Uchiha than Sakura had gained from the few training sessions she had had before the Third Task.
"Simple. I want revenge." Hinata said, a cold tone in her voice.
"Revenge? On who?"
"On you. You were always Naruto's favorite, and you managed to steal him from my grasp. Now you will learn, Sakura, that everything has a price. And the price for Naruto's heart," Hinata said. "Is your life."
"I don't know what's gotten into you, Hinata, but I will bring you back to your senses!" Sakura yelled, as she drew a shuriken. She aimed at the Hyuuga and threw it. "Katon: Ho Kunai no Jutsu!"
At this, a barrage of flying kunai rushed at Hinata, who dodged both the shuriken and the Ho Kunai.
"Fool. Your anger blinds you to see my plan!" Sakura yelled, as she finished a second series of hand seals. "Reido Ika no Jutsu."
Immediately, the air around Sakura turned freezing, with only the tiny area where Sakura stood remaining warm. Hinata started shivering from the freezing cold, wrapping her jacket tighter around her.
"Tatsumaki no Jutsu!" Sakura yelled, and instantly the freezing wind started swirling, throwing Hinata everywhere around the stadium.
"Die!" Naruto yelled, as he threw another punch at Moujuu, who dodged, and then jumped, spun, and kicked, causing Naruto to fly into a wall.
"You're too wasteful, Kyuubi-no-gaki." Moujuu smirked. "You won't be able to defeat me if you just keep charging like that."
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto yelled, and the stadium was filled with clones. Some were caught up in Sakura's Tatsumaki no Jutsu, and those exploded in smoke.
"Oh? And what are you planning now? Sanjuu Hisaki no Jutsu!" Moujuu said, and, instantly, thirty large flames appeared around him. "This is my own ultimate defense. If any of the clones - or yourself, for that matter - touch any of the flames, they will be destroyed. Also, I can manipulate them with my mind, so I am protected as long as I have chakra. The defense drains only a tiny bit of chakra, and I can use them offensively, as well. What can you do?"
"Attack!" all of the clones yelled at once, charging at him. Some began performing Rasengan, some performed Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, and some had kunai or shuriken out.
Suddenly, the flames surrounding Moujuu began moving wildly, cutting through the attackers. Some flames were blocked for a second by Rasengan, but the ball of chakra exploded, taking out the clone.
"You'll… Pay…" Hinata gasped out, for the abuse that Sakura's Tatsumaki no Jutsu had inflicted upon her was severe. Several bones were broken, blood was leaking down her face, arms, and legs, and her skin was pale from the cold of the Reido Ika no Jutsu.
"It's over, Hinata. While your master has an advantage, I can throw you into his Sanjuu Hisaki no Jutsu. You'd be killed by the very person you sold your soul to!" Sakura yelled, as she readied her next attack. "I'm running low on chakra… I can only do this jutsu twice, the third will kill me…" She muttered, but then decided that she wouldn't miss.
"Y- You can't bring yourself to kill a fellow shinobi of Konoha!" Hinata shrieked.
"Two things. One, you gave up that title when you joined Moujuu. Two, I won't be the one who actually kill you! Tatsumaki no Jutsu!" Immediately, a huge gust of wind picked Hinata up, sending her flying toward Moujuu.
A/N: I apologize for the delay, but I was having a lot of trouble figuring out how to handle Hinata's arrival at the fight.
Also, I apologize for the cliffhanger, and I will try to update ASAP.