Snake Lords
"Takes place around when Naruto comes back with Jiriya. Sasuke is still with Orochimaru. So yeah, they're all around 15 or 16. A Naruto and Harry Potter Crossover. I'm not sticking to the plots of either series."
Thinking
"Yelling"
On with the story!
Chpt 25: Part One; Ninja's Ascend!
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"Are you kidding me? Everything went like totally in slow… motion……" Lee stared at his hands. They were a reddish color, almost like when he opened his gates, but not quite. And another thing, he hadn't even opened his gates in the first place! What was going on?
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Shikamaru easily dispatched a man by catching him in a booby trap. The man's leg snapped in two between several wires and dozens of kunai came hurtling down upon his back, killing him instantly.
Shikamaru turned his head and saw Chouji fighting another man, his right hand swollen to an enormous size. Chouji reached down and crushed the man's legs as if they were toothpicks. He bent down to give the killing blow, but another man came up behind him.
"CHOUJI! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" But Shikamaru's warning came too late. "Avada Kedavra!" Rang out, and Shikamaru's vision was blotted out by the green flood of light.
"CHOUJI!" Tears came to Shikamaru's eyes as he fell to his knees, holding his head in his hands. "NOOOOOO!" Shikamaru cried out. His vision blurred and he suddenly felt cold. Shikamaru opened his eyes a little bit and saw a man fall into his wire trap. Dozens of kunai made a dull thud as they plowed straight through him. Shikamaru turned his head and saw Chouji fighting, again.
"But… didn't this already happen?" Shikamaru gasped out. "Wait… CHOUJI!" Shikamaru scrabbled to his feet and ran as fast as he could, pushing his friend as far away as he could. Shikamaru himself kept running.
"Avada Kedavra!" A green light brushed by Shikamaru's back, missing him by a hair. Shikamaru quickly caught him in the Kagemane, while Chouji got back up and sent him to another dimension.
"Thanks Shikamaru." Chouji said, putting on a grim smile. "I was almost done for."
"But you were! I think…" Shikamaru scratched his head. "You died!"
"I'm right here."
"No no! You died! Then, It's almost like time rewound or something, and I pushed you out of the way during the second time."
"Riiiight…" Chouji muttered, raising an eyebrow. "We don't have all day you know. Lets go!" They ran back into the fray, striking left and right at the black clothed men. However, that didn't mean that Shikamaru had forgotten about what had just happened. That was no hallucination.
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Ginny crouched down to the ground, dodging a shuriken that had been aimed at her head and jumped. She flew up about 20 feet in the air and shot off several spells in her opponent's direction. For about the third time, he deflected her spells without even blinking. Ginny landed on the balls of her feet, hand grabbing at her chest as she gasped for breath. This was taking quite a toll on her.
She saw him advancing and wearily pushed herself up, slightly swaying back and forth. She cautiously edged backwards, and fell over a concealed trip wire, knocking her to the ground. She took a sharp intake of breath as a needling pain shot through her leg. Crap! My ankle! Her opponent smiled and unhooked a giant shuriken from his back and pulled several senbon from his holster. She frantically tried to reach her wand, but it was to no avail. When she fell, her wand had been knocked out of her hand, just out of reach, and she was almost out of chakra.
Her eyes went wide with shock as she heard the whir of the weapons coming at her. A faint cry was heard, but was drowned out by the deafening beating of her heart. She covered her head with her arms and closed her eyes, not wanting to watch. She heard the muffled thud of metal cutting flesh, a small surprised groan, and felt the hot spray of blood splatter her face. But it wasn't hers.
She nervously opened her eyes and looked up. Kiba had jumped in at the last second and taken the hit for her. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth as his breathing became ragged. His eyes took on an unnatural glazed over appearance as he fell to his knees.
"Kiba…" Ginny whispered, completely shocked at what just happened. "No… no… Kiba!"
"Are… y-you ok-okay?" He sputtered out past the blood bubbling out from his mouth. "L-like… I sa-said… I w-will always… be th-there to h-help…"
"Not like t-that!" Ginny yelled at him. "Killing yourself won't help anything!" Kiba could no longer even support himself on his knees and he fell forward onto the ground and stopped moving. Ginny grimaced against the pain and dragged herself towards Kiba, wincing as her broken ankle scraped against the harsh ground. She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.
"Why!" She screamed at him. "Why did you do that? You didn't have to!" She didn't realize it till now, but small tears were starting to fall down the side of her cheek. Kiba's chest heaved upwards suddenly, coughing up large droplets of blood, all of which landed on Ginny's shaking face. "No…" She mouthed. "Stop moving. Please stop! I'll go get Sakura, anyone! Just stop m-moving!"
"G-Ginny…"
"Shut up Kiba! If you keep talking, you'll die!"
"But…"
"Please!" She cried out. "I'm begging you! Stop moving!"
"Wh-what can… you d-do with th-that ankle of yours?" He tried to laugh, but all that came out was a gurgling sound. "You'd just h-hurt yourself… even more…"
"Very touching you two." Ginny looked up and saw that the man who she had been fighting was still there. He mockingly clapped his hands in fake applause. "Very touching," He pulled out a wand. "but enough of that for now. Let's get down to business."
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Ten-ten's hands began to sting again. She gasped and held them close as the pain became more and more intense. Neji's face was filled with worry as he held her closer.
"Oh shit…" Neji cursed under his breath. "Kiba and Ginny!" He turned his head and saw Kiba get run through by numerous weapons in Ginny's place. "Lee! Get Ten-ten out of here! I'll meet you as soon as I can!" He called as he ran off.
Lee bent down and scooped Ten-ten up in his arms. Her skin was ashen, and her limbs were limp. Lee glanced quickly over his shoulder and got a small glimpse of about three or four ninjas in pursuit. He tried to run faster, but with Ten-ten in his arms, it was pretty much impossible to go faster without hurting her. Only one choice left, get rid of them as fast as possible.
Lee drew out his wand with some difficulty, and fired as many destructive spells as he could think of over his shoulder. He turned around and saw them caught in their death throes, writhing on the ground. But when he turned back around, it was too late. A ninja held a scroll to the ground and shouted, "Doton; Suuta Supaiku no jutsu!" (A.N: Earth type; Many Spikes technique!) Right under Lee's feet, the ground erupted into thousands of granite spikes.
His limbs became entangled between the spikes, leaving him trapped in a rocky prison more than eight stories above the ground. Lee's arms became twisted, leaving Ten-ten dangling by his one free hand that had managed to keep its hold on the back of her shirt. Lee could feel his arm groaning under the strain of trying to keep Ten-ten from falling, but he forced his hand shut and refused to let go.
The ninja on the ground grinned and pulled out more than just a few shuriken in each hand. He threw them as hard as he could straight up at both of them. His hands moved abnormally fast and the shuriken multiplied. Lee stared in dismay as the many shuriken became hundreds of shuriken under the Kage Shuriken no jutsu. He desperately tried to break the rock that surrounded him, but to no avail. It was impossible for him to open his Gates fast enough.
All he could do was watch in horror as Ten-ten was torn up to pieces by the metal stars. Her body convulsed under him, finally going limp and unmoving.
"YOU BASTARD!" Lee roared down. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Tears ran down his cheek as he was finally able to open the First Gate. The ninja let out a short barking laugh, and threw a kunai up at Lee's arm. Lee's arm went slack as a tendon was sliced in two. As if in slow motion, Lee cried out as Ten-ten fell head first towards the ground.
"Say good bye to your friend!" The ninja shouted up to Lee. He pulled out even more shuriken and kunai and threw them at the still falling form of Ten-ten. After each impact, more and more blood spilled to fall weightless in the sky. "And for the coup de grace!" The ninja pulled out his katana and held it straight up. Ten-ten became impaled upon the sword, and was tossed carelessly to the ground.
Lee went absolutely beserk. His skin went black and his eyes burned with red flames, giving him the appearance of a demon. As for the ninja, he died so fast, he didn't feel a single thing except for the sudden stop of his heart. With five of the Gates open and everything in slow motion once again, Lee ripped straight through the man like he was nothing but wet tissue paper.
"Ten-ten…" Lee's voice echoed and was rough and gravely. "No…" He fell to his knees beside his teammate. Lee's body shook with rage as he tried to remove the weapons from her body. But they wouldn't budge. "Let me at least…" He pulled at the katana that rose straight out of her stomach, but that wouldn't move either.
Lee moved back quickly as the weapons began melting away. The metal slowly absorbed into Ten-ten. It was almost as water does into a dry sponge. The bloody cuts that covered her body closed shut, leaving no trace of her being wounded at all. Lee cautiously pressed his ear to her chest and heard the faint lub-dub of her heart start up.
"Ten-ten…" Lee pulled her up by her shoulders. "Speak to me!" When he didn't get a response, he shook her gently back and forth. "Are you… alright…" He trailed off as he felt something pointy on her back. He turned her around and saw tiny little metal spikes sticking out of her back.
"Lee, could you let me go? This is awfully uncomfortable." She groaned.
"You're alive…" Lee mouthed. "You're alive you're alive YOU'RE ALIVE!" Lee began crushing her in a giant bear hug.
"Not for long." Her face started to go blue. "I can't breathe!"
"Oh Ten-ten! It's just I thought you were dead because you got hit with all those weapons and now you're not dead at all and now I'm really super happy that you're not dead!" Lee said in one giant run-on, not even pausing for breath.
"Uh…" Ten-ten groaned, holding her stomach. "I don't feel so good."
"Ten-ten…" Lee's eyes opened wider than usual. "What are those on your arms?" She looked down at her arms in confusion and gasped. A metal platelet was forming on the underside of both forearms, while metal needles were growing out of the top of her forearms at about 20 degree angles.
"OHMIGOD! I'M TURNING INTO A HEDGEHOG! GET IT OFF ME!" Almost like the metal understood her command, it retreated back under her skin. "Wait a second…" Ten-ten's eyes narrowed. "I have an idea." Ten-ten lifted her arm and formed a right angle. "Plate." She said simply. Her entire arm became armored with what looked like long metal plates. (A.N: Not the plates you eat off of, but like plate armor from medieval times.) She grinned. "Claw." The metal spread out along her fingers and formed sharp, clawlike formations at the end.
"This is too weird." Ten-ten clenched her newly clawed fist experimentally. "But it's too cool for me to care!" Ten-ten turned to look at Lee. "Hey, if your Gates are open, why is your skin black instead of red?"
"I'm not really sure." Lee said, scratching his head. "But the other weird thing is that I don't feel strained while keeping them open. In fact, I feel great!"
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Amanda had a bunch of death-eaters cornered up against the school wall. She was about to unleash a Katon jutsu on them when something crashed into her at about 40 mph, almost knocking her out of the air. Luckily, she got her bearings and stopped spinning around and around. Unfortunately for her, this went unrewarded as she was yet again hit by the flying thing.
"WHO THE FUCK IS DOING THAT?" Amanda yelled out, trying not to crash into the Whomping Willow, which was getting dangerously close.
"HELP! I CAN'T STOP!" Even though it was from a distance, Amanda was just barely able to make out who it was. It was Temari.
"Wait up a second." Amanda flew quickly to match Temari's pace. "Since when can you fly? I thought I was the only one who could! And, by the way, where's your fan?"
"I DON'T KNOW! HELP ME STOP DAMN IT!" Temari yelled, getting hysterical. Amanda sighed and grabbed her leg, bringing her to a screeching halt.
"Calm down first. If you don't, you'll just keep flying into oblivion. Think of yourself as being stuck in molasses, and don't move." Amanda carefully let go and Temari wobbled unsteadily before coming to a complete stop. "Now answer my questions!"
"I… I don't know!" Temari looked down worriedly. "I waved my fan once, and I just kind of got shot up into the air! I accidentally dropped my fan and I just kept going! Sorry I ran into you."
"That's weird."
"No kiddin!" Temari flipped over, her head facing the ground and her feet in the air.
"HEY GAARA!" Amanda yelled down while turning Temari right side up. "YOUR SISTER CAN FLY TOO!"
"WHAT?" A tiny figure yelled from the ground. "I'M KIND OF BUSY AT THE MOMENT! COULD YOU WAIT?" Said figure floated up on a cloud of sand and glared at them annoyedly. "Make it fast. These guys don't kill themselves you know." Gaara did a double take when he saw his sister floating up there with them. "Okaaay… Am I missing something?"
"Yeah. Apparently, she can fly too." Amanda grumbled.
"But how?" Gaara asked her.
"Pft. You're askin me? I like it better on the ground!" Temari said.
"Say, what is that?" Amanda floated a little closer to Gaara and gasped. "Oh no…"
"What?" Gaara asked, quite obviously confused. "What is it?"
"The thing! You know, the thing!" Amanda emphasized by waving her arms about.
"What are you talking about? Temari! What is she talking about?" Temari squinted her eyes and took a close look at her little brother.
"The only think I can see that's out of the ordinary are thin little blue lines on the right side of your face under your eye. Looks almost like a tattoo or something." Gaara's mouth dropped open.
"No… That's not possible."
(A.N: "Demon talking"
"What seems to be the problem this time?" Shukaku asked in a mocking tone.
You know darn well what the problem is! Gaara shouted at him. This is no coincidence! And don't tell me you have no idea what's going on! I know this is your handi-work!
"What are you talking about?" Shukaku asked sweetly.
Oh you rotten fat-ass!
"Hey! I have feelings too you know…" Shukaku made a sad face. "Stuff like that really stings!"
I. Don't. Care. Gaara said impatiently. I need you to tell me what is going on right now, or else I'll, I'll!
"You'll do what? Throw a hissy fit?" Shukaku stuck his tongue out at Gaara. "There ain't nuthin you can do to scare me! Nothing at all! So," Shukaku stared down at Gaara's defiant form. "Lets see you try. I want to see you fail miserably before something," Shukaku paused, his face suddenly getting a mischievous look about it. "something, most unfortunate happens."
Tell me this first. Is it you spreading the blue tattoos across my skin? Gaara asked, his confidence somewhat lower than before.
"Maybe… no wait! Yes it is."
So you flat out lied to me last time when you said you didn't know what was going on and that I had blue crows feet? You made me almost kill Amanda on purpose!
"You make it sound so bad when you say it that way! I prefer to say that she was in my way of destruction! And it was only a little white lie anyways."
A white lie? You almost got her killed!
"Whatever happened to the good old days when you enjoyed killing huh? Didn't you like it when you could kill whenever and whatever you pleased? Now, you're just a disgrace! Look at you! Today, when you had to kill all those ninjas and wizards, I could tell that you actually regretted killing them!"
I changed.
"No… You, of all people, can not change."
Then prove it. Prove that it's impossible for me to change.
"Look at all you've done. As soon as you were born, you killed your own Mother. You snapped the limbs of Academy students like toothpicks. You killed a drunk man who bumped into you. You even killed your own caretaker in cold blood. Along with those, you've taken countless of other lives as well, robbing children of parents, and parents of children."
Images of these events flashed in and out of Gaara's mind, making him relive each and every one. "Can you ever really make all that go away? Is it really possible," Along the floor, small blue tendrils writhed out from Shukaku's cage. Meanwhile, Gaara just stood there, almost in a trance. He didn't even realize when the markings began to spread up his body. "to ignore all those things? Are you really able to 'change' after all that?"
I guess not… Wait, what am I saying? Gaara shook his head of all those unpleasant images. I might've done those things in the past, but I refuse to do those things ever again unless there is no other choice.
"No other choice huh?" Shukaku grinned. "If that's the case, I'll make sure that's the only choice you have."
Huh? But then, everything began to fade around him. The last thing he saw was those horrible fangs bared in an unpleasant, grimacing smile. Gaara snapped his eyes open and saw Amanda shaking him back and forth.
"Geez! You have got to stop zoning out like that! Anyways, I'm sure those blue lines won't do anything this time. After all, I did seal you! Right?" Amanda looked uncertain. "Don't worry about it." She clapped her hand on his shoulder. "We better get back to work. Like you said, those guys don't kill themselves!"
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AAAGGHH! I haven't updated in forever! Alright, if you haven't been reading my other story, which I suggest you do, you wouldn't know that I've been studying for my midterms. Since I am studying, I will only be able to update my stories on the weekends during this month. Luckily, once midterms are over, updates should be back to normal.
I've been having a busy Saturday, with shopping with my parents, doing my oh-so-crappy chores, etc, so it took me awhile to post it. However, I hope to get the next chapter up by Monday to help make up for my absence. Look forward to part two of Ninjas Ascend!