To kouzumi 4eva: I think is because I keep jumping here and there. Or perhaps I didn't protray it as well. Anyhow, you can tell me what's confusing you and I'll be glad to answer you! -winks- Thanks for reviewing!
Chapter 12: Konoha gets chaotic
"Sakura-chan…"
It was ridiculous, but Naruto thought Sakura was calling out for him somewhere in the village. His gaze lingered on the familiar buildings ahead, only to be blurred by the raging flames around him.
"Naruto!"
Naruto landed on one of the surviving branches, and turned to look at Kiba, who landed a few branches ahead.
"Neji found something ahead!" Kiba informed. "Let's go!"
Kiba leaped ahead, followed by Akamaru closely behind. Naruto looked around him, finding the scent of fire annoyingly familiar.
(It's got to be him… that bastard…)
He heard his name being yelled, and immediately set on catching up with the others. The four of them, Neji, Kiba, Chouji and him were to find out the cause of fire while the rest ventured back to their village.
"What did you see?" Naruto heard Kiba asked Neji when he just landed beside them. The four of them were abreast each other on one of the stronger trees.
"Sasuke." Naruto uttered, before Neji could speak.
"Ah." Neji agreed with a nod.
"How did you know?" Chouji asked, tugging on Naruto's sleeves when the latter seemed preoccupied.
Kiba caught on faster. He should have realized it when their blonde comrade turned away from them the moment he joined them. He was looking at Uchiha Sasuke all the while!
Jeez! Since when was Uzumaki Naruto this fast in catching on?
Neji gestured Chouji to look ahead.
"Oh…" Chouji muttered, shading his eyes from the blazing heat with one of his hands. "Is he here for Sakura?"
The question caught the rest of them off guard, and surprise was certainly evident on their faces when the three of them simultaneously turned to face Chouji.
"Why would he?" Kiba asked, sounding incredulous at the same time considering the possibility. Shikamaru might be right when he said that this 'big-boned' comrade of theirs could draw out insightful but often neglected viewpoints.
"I don't know. But I thought they were teammates after all."
Naruto tore his gaze away from them, trying to clear his head by focusing upfront.
Kiba tried to retort. "But still-"
But Naruto wasn't in the mood. "I see another one, Neji, but I couldn't make out who it was." He moved his head to and fro to get a clearer peek. It was obvious to the rest of them that the subject was to be dropped. It was, after all, a delicate issue to Naruto.
"And he isn't mov-"
Neji cut him off. "Kakashi."
Naruto widened his eyes. A lot of possibilities crossed his mind but the one that kept repeating over in his head was death. He felt his anger building up, and was about to leap off when Neji stopped him with a hand on his shoulders.
"There is one more. We shall have to wait and see. Besides…" Neji gripped Naruto's shoulders when he doesn't seem placated. "There are four of us."
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Sasuke noticed the fingers twitched. Matched with the grimace on his face, Sasuke knew Kakashi had survived from his high speed swirling slam dunk he copied from Lee years ago.
The jounin was now half-buried in the earth barely breathing and Sasuke wondered why the famous copy nin made no efforts to evade his earlier attack. He knew he could, someway or another. Kakashi was someone he used to look upon after all.
But Kakashi aside, Sasuke turned to glare at the intruder who dared to interfere just now. If not for him, Kakashi would have been dead. A few shurikens were flung at him barely moments before they hit the ground, thus lessening the impact Kakashi had to take when he let go of him to dodge the surprise attack.
The intruder dragged his feet out from the shadows of fire and Sasuke thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
It was a midget with hair and eyes as dark as the night. In other words, it was a kid!
His Sharingan scanned the boy from head to toe, and found that the kid was… indeed only a kid. Sasuke thought he was foolish doing that, because his Sharingan would have told him firsthand if there was indeed something amiss with the boy.
His plain white shirt and khaki knee-length pants were soiled form the fire, and so was his boyish-looking face. Sasuke reckoned the boy to be not older than twelve, and the way he was made Sasuke felt that he was looking at a younger him. Now, that triggered something…
"Hi…" The boy greeted awkwardly, one hand facing up while the other was tucked behind his head.
"Are you the one?" Sasuke asked instead, his voice as cold as winter.
"I didn't mean to.. do that…"
Sasuke frowned. Was he trying to apologize for just now? No… he must have something up in his sleeves.
"You can still turn back, you know." The boy blurted, his hands now at his sides.
Sasuke's frown creased deeper. "Turn back for what? What does a kid like you know?"
"You never listen." The boy said, his eyes downcast.
"Eh?" It was an instinctive reply, but Sasuke thought this one was one hell of an oddball!
"You asked me what I know, didn't you?" The boy explained. "And my-" He froze when he was interrupted by a shuriken flying swiftly past his face, effectively slitting his cheek and a few strands of his tousled hair.
He was still in shocked mode when a shadow suddenly loomed over him and lifted him off the ground in that split second, his limbs desperately struggling against the death grip on his neck.
Sasuke tightened his grip. "Go to hell."
Tears welled up at the corners of his eyes and flowed freely down his cheeks.
Sasuke smirked. How he loved to see the last moments of his preys. So beautiful was their expressions. But this one was dignified. He didn't beg for his life like the others shamelessly did. For that, Sasuke decided he would kill him simply – by twisting his neck, that is.
But his instincts told him that someone was charging at him at a very high speed.
He looked to his right.
Only fire working their way out.
"Let go of him, you cold-blooded filthy animal!"
The element of surprise caught Sasuke off guard, and he couldn't dodge the kick aimed at his face in time. He was forced to release the boy as he got flung away by the wretched kick.
The boy landed on the ground with a thud. He grimaced from the throbbing pain coming from his neck and his bottom. A shadow loomed over him once again and he looked up, staring at the back of the ninja he known as Uzumaki Naruto.
"It's about time you came." The boy drawled, rubbing his neck and bottom as he stood up.
Naruto turned to look at him. "Sorry about that. You're alright?"
"Yeah."
"Things are going to get really ugly here, kid."
The boy nodded. "Hm."
Naruto turned his head back front. "You shouldn't be here."
The boy stared at the back of Naruto. He knew he wasn't smiling now.
"Yeah. I know."
Sasuke rubbed his bruised jaw bitterly as he stood up. He doesn't even need to look to know who bestowed the kick. The colorful use of vocabulary said enough about him. He did looked though, and there the number one in surprising people dobe was, glaring right at him. The boy was behind him, though he blocked most of him. Kiba and Chouji appeared then, helping the unconscious Kakashi up. The four of them were talking, but the conversation was not strong enough to carry over to his side. But it soon became apparent to Sasuke that they were arguing who got to stay, for the Inuzuka glared at him with disappointment before disappearing fleetingly with Kakashi on his shoulders.
Chouji was to get the boy, but the boy slapped his hand away and hurried to sandwich himself between Naruto and Sasuke.
"Stop!" He held his hands up to both of them. "I know what you two are thinking! But now is not the time!"
He knew he wasn't making any sense to them, for Naruto looked rather exasperated while Sasuke simply glared.
"Eh…" The boy rubbed his hands together, seemingly in search of the right words to say. "Look! The fire is eating us! We should worry about that first!"
"Kid." It was Chouji. "That's why I'm taking you away. We have to seek help to put out the fire. And you should be worrying about yourself first."
"No, you don't understand! Both of them shouldn't be fighting each other now!" The three were taken aback by the boy's bizarre outburst. And the boy continued, "Akatsuki! Yes, the Akatsuki! Some of them are here, if I'm not wrong! And, and, and Sakura! Yes! Her! She's in danger now, I suppose. We should get to her as soon as possible."
In less than five seconds, the boy was sorry that he mentioned Sakura.
"Sasuke-bastard! If not for you, Sakura-chan wouldn't be suffering now!" Naruto snapped.
The boy gulped. "Eh-"
"She was stupid, and so were you!" Sasuke countered, matching Naruto's killing expression.
With clenched fists, Naruto advanced a step. "And guess what, damn it! You were the stupidest of us all! Fancy believing Orochimaru would give you power when all he wants is that lame body of yours!"
"Ple-"
Sasuke swung his right arm in agitation. "And you wanting to be the Hokage was just as lame, DOBE!"
"TEME! I'm going to kill you right here, right now, SASUKE-BASTARD!"
"Ex-"
"That's my line, DOBE!"
"Shut up, SASUKE-BASTARD!"
And both of them started to charge towards each other at that same time.
Sasuke got to the boy first. "Get out of my way!"
The boy was hurled wretchedly away from where he was, but was cushioned by the bloated Chouji in time. He uttered his thanks and tried to look for the two anxiously, but all he heard was the whooshing sound. Both of them were fighting a high speed duel, the boy realized, for both of them were moving so fast that they seemed invisible in his naked eyes.
"What have I done…?"
-+-+-+-+-+-
"Stop now, Sasori, Diedara." Rin called out breathlessly on one of the trees nearby. She noticed the teams gathering, and most important of all, the Fifth was nearby, in fact watching them. She started to wonder why there was no action from her. "We're outnumbered."
Upon 'eavesdropping' that, Lee decided to deliver the fatal blow at Diedara when his kick got blocked by a huge spear. It took him a moment to recognize the familiar weapon – The Samehada.
Kisame stood out behind his weapon with a smirk. "Later, boy."
Shikamaru felt someone behind him. Before he can react, his eyes dilated with the sudden affliction that shot through his body - a kunai drove right into his spinal cord.
Itachi pulled out the kunai and drove it right in the fresh wound a scant second later, doubling Shikamaru's pain by twisting the kunai in his hand. Shikamaru grimaced from the excruciating agony and dropped to his knees, effectively canceling any of his jutsu used on Sasori.
"Shikamaru!" Ino cried out and delivered five shurikens towards the elder Uchiha but her shurikens clashed with Rin's, who was looking out for the Uchiha above them. However, another five shurikens flew out from nowhere straight after that, undoubtedly heading towards Itachi but he disappeared in a blink of the eyes, appearing alongside Rin on the tree with Kisame, Sasori and Diedara.
His crimson cold orbs instinctively settled on the pink-haired kunoichi, who was now glaring at him, willing him to die with those piercing emerald eyes of hers. From the corners of his eyes while behind Shikamaru a while ago, he saw the Haruno coming out of the house with a couple of medics helping her. He expected she would do something, so no doubt it was her who flung the shurikens.
Their mole dropped to her knees, gasping for breaths but her attention never left them.
"Sakura!" He heard all of them called out to her at the same time. They offered to help her up but she smacked their hands away.
"It's about time we go." Itachi said plainly, narrowing his eyes on Sakura.
"But the fun only just started." Diedara answered with a smirk, enjoying the scene below them.
"Some changes are going to take place, and when that happens, you won't be thinking about fun." The Uchiha pointed out.
"What changes?" Sasori asked. "Is there something you're keeping us from, Itachi? What has Yuya told you that we didn't know?"
The Uchiha answered by vanishing right before them.
"Damn him!" Sasori spat and went on catching up with him. Diedara and Kisame went off after him. Rin spared a glance at Sakura. The kunoichi was holding up. Rin averted her tired eyes to the raging forest. They needed to pass there in order to get out of Konoha, so…
"Rin! What are you waiting for?" Diedara's bellow brushed off her thoughts and she too, vanished above the midst of commotion.
-+-+-+-+-+-
"I'm not done yet!" Hinata heard Sakura's assertion but was not fast enough to stop her. Sakura was gone before she could even react.
"Let them go!" Shizune asserted when various jounins tried to pursue the Akatsuki. "See to the firefighter teams. There must be something going on amidst the fire for them to take so long!"
The shinobis nodded and disappeared promptly after that.
"Tenten! Lee! Go after Sakura! Don't let her out of the village!" Shizune commanded right after that. The two nodded and disappeared as swiftly.
Hinata nodded at Shizune knowingly and immediately set to calm the shocked civilians. Shizune quickly saw to Shikamaru's injuries. The Nara was already unconscious. Ino was sobbing nonstop beside him.
"Don't die on me, Shikamaru!" Ino muttered in between sobs. "Please."
As for Shino, he turned his gaze towards the raging fire, deep in thoughts.
-+-+-+-+-+-
"Kakashi-san, you're awake?" Kiba asked when he felt Kakashi shifting behind him.
They were still within the fire compound. And Akamaru was leading the way out in front of them.
"Ah." Kakashi feebly replied. "Sasuke…"
"Naruto is dealing him." Kiba answered. "Let's get you to the hos-"
He was cut short when Akamaru came leaping back to him. "What's wrong, Akamaru?"
Akamaru gritted his teeth and quivered. Kiba scowled and looked ahead. "Someone is coming. And it's not one of us."
"Akatsuki." Kakashi reckoned.
Shortly after Kakashi said that, four shadows leaped over them. Kiba's head snapped up in absolute surprise. They didn't stop. Then another leaped over them. But this one turned her head back though the face was veiled. Kakashi recognized instantly who it was.
"Rin…" Kakashi uttered faintly before he passed out.
"Kakashi-san!" Kiba rested Kakashi on the trunk and slapped him light on the face. When he got no response, he checked his pulse and found that it was dangerously weak. He quickly loaded Kakashi on his back once again when another shadow leaped over them. The pink tresses and the ragged green robe told him instantly it was Sakura.
"Sakura!" Kiba shouted, but she didn't stop.
Kiba cursed. He didn't like the idea of being leaped over and ignored. But something big must be happening, if not, why would the Akatsuki not take the advantage? He knew they knew he and the injured Kakashi was below them, hence ridding them would be, in fact, easy.
So when another two more leaped over them, the Inuzuka decided enough was enough.
"Tenten! Lee! What's going on?"
Lee turned his head back. "You do what you have to do! Don't bother about us!"
Kiba scoffed. How he hated to be the one left out.
"What's with the fire?" He then heard Gai beside him. Gai and his team, Kiba realized, and a lot others were all over the place.
When Gai realized Kakashi was unconscious on Kiba's back, he asked anxiously, "What happened to Kakashi?"
"Sasuke did it." Kiba said as a matter of fact.
"Kiba, rush Kakashi to the hospital. Leave here to us." Kurenai said above him.
Kiba nodded and got on with Akamaru.
Gai clenched his fists. "This is maddening!"
One team of the firefighters was spotted and their expressions showed exhaustion when confronted.
"The fire doesn't seem to end." One of them breathlessly informed.
"Sasuke must be behind this." Gai reckoned. "Let's go!"
Hmm... I was actually contemplating on 'killing' some of the characters like Kakashi and Shikamaru. That's why I made them seriously injured. I thought it might create a little angst in it, having to lose two outstanding shinobi at the same time. What do you think? And you might be wondering who the boy in white shirt and khaki pants is... you might be surprised... hehe.. later...