Firstly, I'd like to thank everyone for reading this fic! I loves you guys! and I'm sorry if there are typos I didn't catch!
Chapter 11: Combustion
Naruto pulled at his face mask. The warm fabric stretched tight over his cheeks. He peered around a corner, into a large hallway, and watched the gargantuan, burly men in dark suits pace before the party's door. Loud music and merry making could be heard inside, but that was not where Naruto put his attention.
The door the room beside it opened and two figures came out, two girls, one tall and blonde, the other shorter with abnormal platinum hair.
"Shikamaru told me not to leave her alone." The blonde was saying.
"Look at all these security guards!" The other assured her friend. "Akari-san will be fine."
The taller made for the door back to the party, when the platinum blonde stopped her.
"Um... Ino, I have to use the restroom. Will you come with me?"
"Sure."
Naruto nodded to Sasuke and, gathering chakra in their hands and feet, the two boys scaled opposite walls and lodged themselves into the high ceiling.
"Did you feel that?" Ino asked as she and Sakura passed below.
"Feel what?"
"Never mind."
The girls disappeared down the corridor. Sasuke nodded to Naruto and they both dropped silently back to the floor and made several hand signals.
Henge!
And from the puff of smoke, emerged Ino, and Sakura, disguised as Haruko.
"Opps!" Sakura (Naruto) giggled as she skipped past the guards.
"I can't believe you forgot it." Ino (Sasuke) called as she slowly followed from behind.
"Sorry, sorry."
The guards watched as they entered the waiting room and reappeared several minutes later, Ino carrying Sakura.
"You didn't need to sprain your ankle. Ino reprimanded as she dragged a seemingly unconscious Sakura toward the bathroom. What the guards missed, however, was Sasuke, silently stealing away on the ceiling.
The group pulled around the corner and continued down it in the direction of the bathroom. They traveled quite a ways, almost to all the way to the bathroom, but ducked swiftly into a janitor's closet next door.
Once inside, there was a puff of smoke. Ino turned into Naruto and Sakura turned into Akari's sleeping form. Sasuke put a finger to his lips. Naruto nodded in acknowledgement and they both pushed their ears to the door. Several minutes passed in silence. Naruto fidgeted nervously.
The faint sound of footsteps echoed down the hall, gradually growing louder.
-
"What took you so long?" The real Ino scolded as she and Sakura left the bathroom and passed the janitor's closet on their way back to the party. "What are you, constipated?"
Sakura laughed sheepishly. She looked back at the closet, but froze, seeing something else instead. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest; she had to cough to keep breathing.
"Ah... I-Ino, I just remembered. I forgot something in the bathroom. Go on without me, okay?"
Without waiting for an answer, Sakura doubled back and slid into the bathroom.
"H-hey!" Ino began as Sakura's fleeing figure disappeared.
"INO!" Her gaze extended down the corridor. Shikamaru and Chouji dashed at her in full sprint and skidded to a halt before her.
"Shika? Chouji? What the hell-?" She scratched her head as they bent over panting.
Shikamaru lunged and grasped Ino by the shoulders.
"Ino, are you okay? Where's Akari?"
Ino blinked in surprise.
"I'm fine. Akari's asleep in a waiting room."
Shikamaru grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction of the party.
"Show me!"
"Wait, Shikamaru, what's going on? How did you get in here?"
"I'll explain on the way. Now hurry!"
-
Sakura opened the closet door and Naruto, Sasuke, and the unconscious Akari came tumbling out.
"You heard that didn't you?" She said standing solemnly over them.
The two boys stood up and brushed themselves off. Sasuke handed Sakura the bag of her clothes.
"Put these on and let's get out of here."
-
Using the transformation/stealth technique to get by the guards, Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji snuck into the waiting room.
"See, she's fine." Ino said as they looked at Akari asleep on the couch. "It must've been someone else."
"Don't be so sure." Shikamaru pulled a kunai from his satchel and flung it as Akari's sleeping form.
"Hey! Shika, what-?"
The kunai struck Akari square in the back. She buckled forward, before turning into a couch cushion.
Ino gasped.
"They can't have gotten very far." Shikamaru said turning toward the door. "There's only one unguarded exit and they haven't left through it yet. I put a seal on the door; I'll know if it's been reopened. Ino, what's the fastest way to the dressing room."
"Straight through the Arena." She whispered as they snuck past the guards.
"Then that's the way the captors are going. Hurry!"
As soon as they reached an unguarded passage, Team 10 sprinted off toward the MegaDome's interior.
-
Sakura dashed out of the bathroom, stashing her wig and white dress in the now empty sack.
"Your hair is black again." Naruto pointed out.
"Yeah, I had a feeling Shikamaru would figure it out, so I dyed it last night."
"That's also why you asked me to bring your clothes." Sasuke muttered, adjusting Akari on his shoulders.
Sakura pulled the face masked over her head as the three scaled the wall and began using the intricate ceiling as a road.
"You said it before," Sakura latched her red dagger around her waist. "'Never underestimate the power of Akamaru's nose.' Shikamaru's brain power is the same way. There is a reason he was promoted before any of the rest of us. Sasuke, do you want me to carry her?" Sasuke, the fastest sprinter of the three, lagged behind her.
"Sure," Sasuke passed Akari to Sakura, who hefted the unconscious girl as easily as a rag doll. With Sakura's strength, Akari's weight had no effect on her pace.
The trio dashed down several empty hallways, finally stopping at a flight of stairs. They dropped to the floor and climbed the stairs, throwing themselves against the large double door at the top. The doors swung open violently, hurling the four bodies onto a dirty red carpet. They stood up and looked out over the brightly lit MegaDome, with it's thousands of seats and bleachers. The massive inward arch bellowed down hundreds of feet below them and far away, at the other end of the stadium, the wooden stage stood tall against the dark rows of cushioned chairs.
"And I thought our seats were bad." Naruto muttered as he squinted at the stage.
Sasuke jumped up onto a seat, which creaked intolerantly beneath him.
"Let's get out of here."
Naruto and Sakura followed his lead and stepped onto the creaky seats. Gingerly, they hopped over the rows, falling downward toward the stage, narrowly avoiding falling into the seats at times. They reached the circular rim where the permanent seats ended and the arena, filled with makeshift bleachers for the pageant, began. They dashed through the aisles, over the assorted NinCola cans and up to the stage, sitting 6 feet above the crowd.
Sasuke clambered up first and took Akari as Sakura pulled herself up after him. Leaving their cargo asleep on the plywood, Sakura and Sasuke craned over the edge, each lending an arm to Naruto.
"C'mon, Shortie." Sakura teased.
"Shaddap." Naruto hissed as he grabbed their wrists and hoisted himself up, flailing in midair for a moment.
Sakura picked herself up and dusted herself off and moved toward Akari.
"I'll get her, Sakura." Sasuke called as he pushed himself off the plywood stage.
"You sure?"
"Yeah." Sasuke stepped forward to pick her up.
Naruto twitched uneasily. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up on end. A chill ran down his spine and he shuddered. Naruto coughed. It felt like something lodged itself in his throat. He shook his head to shake the feeling and looked up to see Sasuke, frozen in motion, before Akari.
"What are you doing, stupid?" Naruto taunted, still fighting the chill in his back.
"Sasuke...?" Sakura began.
Sasuke's fake blue eyes rotated toward Naruto. They stretched wide on his face, a dangerous, open glare, and when they paused at Naruto, he nearly jumped. Naruto was about to yell at Sasuke for the look, but Sasuke's gaze didn't stop. With a difficult effort, Sasuke's head moved a degree and his eyes snapped to an area behind him.
Naruto rubbed his prickled neck, confused, until he noticed at the unusual, black shape on the ground. Sasuke's shadow stretched off the stage, through a littered temporary, up the arena wall and up a stepped aisle, where it became one with the shadow of the panting silhouette of Shikamaru.
The shadow lengthened a full hundred feet between the two boys.
"I guess Ino's not the only one who's been doing extra training." Sasuke muttered spitefully.
Shikamaru's other two companions raced through the swinging double door behind him. Without pausing to look at their enemies, each dashed down an aisle adjacent to Shika and stopped short at the arena's rim.
"Give up the girl and no one gets hurt." Shikamaru commanded. Ino brandished a pink string laced kunai. Chouji puffed out his cheeks.
"Naruto, Sakura," Sasuke mumbled, "Take Akari and go. I'll hold them off."
"So they can capture you, find out your secret and drag you back to Konoha?" Sakura braced herself. "I don't think so."
Naruto stood and glared at Shikamaru.
"Bring it on, idiot. I'll kick your ass."
Shikamaru flinched slightly and made a few quick steps forward. Naruto bound off the stage and into the air.
"Kage Bunshin no Justsu." He cried as twenty copies of himself exploded into the air, the entire group landing on Shikamaru's shadow road. Shikamaru winced as his technique engulfed the twenty-one new masses and broke the black trail. Sasuke straightened and jumped backward, avoiding three of kunai thrown by Ino, who dashed around the arena's edge. Two of the small knives thudded into the plywood stage, Sakura move in and snatched the last out of the air, gripping it tightly as Ino pounced at her. Sparks flew as the two rivals met kunai to kunai, metal to metal, as Ino leapt on to the stage.
The stage shook behind them as Chouji landed and began swinging at Sasuke.
Ino pushed hard against Sakura's strength, but the other easily flung her away with the push of her arm. Ino sailed into the arena wall and groaned as she hit it hard and fell into a lump on the ground.
"Ino!" Shikamaru called as he ran a kunai through one of Naruto's shadow clones. The blonde grunted as she picked herself up.
The stage quaked behind Sakura. She turned around to see Sasuke skillful leap away from a large arm sweeping down vertically at her. Sakura raised her own arm to block the massive form. Chouji yelled as they collided. Sakura held her ground, but the plywood beneath her didn't. It cracked and blew up under her; shards of wood flew in every direction as she plummeted 6 feet to the earthen floor.
Blowing splinters out of his face, Sasuke shot across the stage, snatched up Akari's limp figure and bounded out of harm's way, off the stage and onto the arena wall above Ino. He gingerly placed Akari in a seat and quickly held up a kunai as Ino slashed at him.
Sasuke ducked as Ino slashed at him again, her kunai swiping a centimeter off his hair. He dodged in close, his face drawing closer to hers. Their noses brushed; Sasuke could feel her breath on his lips.
The move was just the tip of a complex Taijutsu style called "The Dance of the Forbidden Lovers." Sakura said it was created by a husband and a wife who were forced to fight on the battlefield. The two moved close together, brushing sensitively against each other, but still maintaining the ferocity of combat. Amongst veteran ninja, the style was an intimate serenade of passion and the longing to be close to someone, but in this case it was basic psychology.
"Ah..." Ino blushed deeply as Sasuke leaned in close and faltered. He took the opportunity to place his hands on her shoulders and push her off the railing. Ino fell back into the arena with a yelp.
Sasuke grinned as he hopped over the rail and landed gracefully beside Ino. At least he wasn't the only one who fell for that. The almost-kiss was the only reason he and Naruto ever lost to Sakura, who seemed to be a master at it.
Meanwhile, Shikamaru ducked behind a seat as Naruto fired a shuriken at his head. He slid down the row, as Naruto pelted the seat with shuriken, and popped up at the end of the line of chairs. Shikamaru threw a shuriken at the unsuspecting black-haired shrimp; it flew straight into his head, before turning the figure into a puff of smoke.
Shikamaru cursed himself, and looked around uneasily. A shadow appeared below him, and Shikamaru dodged Naruto's fist as it slammed into the seat's backing. Naruto pulled a spin kick (which Shikamaru dodged easily) before landing in front of Shikamaru. The two fought hand to hand, each blocking the other's attacks, for a few moments before Shikamaru ran his kunai through Naruto.
Shikamaru smiled as Naruto winced. The stood in still motion before Naruto once again disappeared in a puff of smoke.
The smoke billowed around Shikamaru. He held up his arms in blind defense, but a solid fist hit him square in the jaw anyway. Shikamaru flew back down the row a couple feet before grasping the ground and recovering. The Bunshin smoke plumed, the real, black-haired Naruto standing on the other side. The two glared at each other, like cowboys at a showdown, as the smoke wafted in a nonexistent breeze.
Sasuke dodged Ino's attacks cautiously. He swerved to the side as her kunai nicked his cheek, cutting through the facemask and into his skin. Crimson blood rolled down the side of his face.
Crap, I'll have to take this more seriously, he thought as he smeared the blood away with his wrist.
Ino lashed out with the kunai, but this time Sasuke was ready. He ducked and grabbed her wrist, rolling around behind her. Ino cried out as Sasuke pinned her arm to her back. She tried to grab him with her free hand but he grabbed it first.
"Let her go or I kill your friend." A menacing voice echoed through the stadium. Sasuke looked up into the looming eyes of Shikamaru, filled with an insane killer intent. Sasuke glanced to the right, where Naruto stood frozen, a shadowy hand creeping up his side.
Sasuke cursed under his breath. The two glared at each other, each waiting for the other to make a move.
On the stage, Chouji had grown tired of throwing shuriken into the hole. Sakura dodged around beneath him like a mouse in a maze, looking for an opportunity. Chouji took a deep breath.
"Multi-Size no Justu!"
Chouji expanded and fell flat over the stage. His tremendous mass crushed the wood. Fractured planks flew out at odd angels. Sasuke grabbed Ino around the waist and bounded up into the stands, avoiding the largest meteors of wood.
Shikamaru braced against the spray of splinters.
Sakura-chan! Naruto's mind raced. Oi! Fox! Gimme some juice!
... Why?
'Cause I said so, dammit!
I do not care if you 'said so.'
Bastard! If I die, we both die! So shut the hell up and lend me your power!
You are not convincing.
Chouji grinned. Success; the black haired girl couldn't have survived. Chouji's spherical form rolled about then stopped suddenly. He felt something moving around beneath him.
Shikamaru watched Chouji as his friend's face turned from delight to horror. A loud crunching of wood whispered from underneath Chouji's gut. A loud primal scream echoed through the stadium as Sakura stood up like an Olympic weight-lifter, Ino's kunai between her gritted teeth, Chouji raised over her head.
Something more astonishing happened on Shikamaru's left. A giant surge of chakra emitted from his captive, destroying the shadowy trial connecting them. Shikamaru looked from him to Chouji and back again, before noticing in terror that his sightly, round friend was flying straight at him.
Sakura threw Chouji at Shikamaru with all her strength. Chouji resized, but it did little good. He collided head on with Shikamaru; the area exploded into smoke, the stadium shook and Sakura heaved with the effort.
"Shikamaru! Chouji!" Ino cried as she struggled against Sasuke. Sasuke stuck his pinky behind her ear and she went limp.
The dust cleared as Naruto approached Chouji's landing spot. A large, unruly dent had engraved itself in the aisle, a bowl filled with Shikamaru and Chouji. Naruto put a finger to their necks.
"Alive." Naruto called over his shoulder. "Damn it, Sakura-chan! Were you trying to kill them?!"
"Sorry," Sakura wheezed. She hunched over, blood dripping from her many splinter wounds.
"Are you okay?" Naruto hopped down the rows of seats, off the arena wall and ran up to her.
"Yeah," Sakura nodded breathlessly, "Let's just get out of here. Somebody must have heard that."
"But what about Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino?" Naruto looked around at their still forms.
"They'll be fine." Sasuke approached them, carrying Akari. He turned to Naruto. "Let's go. We'll miss our boat."
Together, the three left the building.
Author's Note: Whew, that chapter took forever!!! Seriously! I suck majorly at action sequences. I practically had to draw out a storyboard for this one. The original idea was to use teamwork, an even three on three, but that was too hard to manage. Then I switched to Sasuke/Naruto vs. Shika/Chouji and Ino vs. Sakura, but that didn't make any sense strength wise. So I paired them up based on strength. :) Although, working with Team 10's jutsus was difficult because their team isn't really designed for fighting as much as infiltration. I'm also sorry about the constant changing of perspective, I bet that was confusing. To make it clearer, ShikaInoCho still don't know their attackers are Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. It was just easier to call them by name than "black haired boy."
About Ino: If you're wondering why Team 7 didn't poison Ino also, it's because 1. It would have been too suspicious with two unconcious bodies, 2. Ino probably would have tasted the poison and would have found Sakura out. 3. Naruto and Sasuke needed to use her as a decoy (remember they both henged, so they needed two people) Sorry if I didn't explain that well enough. ;)
About Shikamaru: I believe I mentioned that he took a few steps forward while using the shadow bind without his captive moving. I didn't get it wrong, it's a new ability, but the movement is very limited. So don't sue me!
Next Chapter: The Aftermath! the solace of InoShikaCho! Returning Akari to her father! Journies into Outer Space ( well, that's not true... but the rest is!)