Last time: The Akatsuki take Gaara from Suna. Danzo sends Team Shikamaru to interrupt their plans altogether, and Team Z goes in to rescue Gaara himself.
This time: The Akatsuki hit a road block in the form of three supermen.
XXX
"Wow… it's beautiful…"
The Capsule ship cruised through the darkness of space, closing in on a familiar blue and green planet. Mino stood at the window, blue eyes gazing out at the planet that gradually grew larger the closer the ship got to it.
"It's not bad." Trunks admitted, the teen leaning back in a chair, legs propped up against the control dashboard. He too gazed out the window, only he stared into the emptiness of space. "The land isn't what I'm used to, but compared to the Earth I came from, it's a paradise.
"Tsk, beautiful?" Bardock scoffed, the saiyan pulling an alcoholic drink out of the fridge, "You kiddin' me? Planet's a goddamned shithole." he took a seat, cracking open the can before taking a quick guzzle, "Trust me, that view's gonna change when we land."
Trunks chuckled, "Don't listen to him Mino,"
"Oh, I know." the alien said, closing his eyes as he smiled, "He's said that about every planet we've visited."
Bardock snorted as he finished his can, crushing the aluminum before tossing it to the floor behind him, "It's true." He leaned back in the chair and folded his arms behind his head, "You wanna talk about a good looking planet, talk Planet Vegeta. That was a good looking planet."
"Hey Mino, what is this, the… fiftieth time he's said that?" Trunks asked the mohawked alien as he smirked.
"Fifty-seventh to be precise." the alien nodded.
Trunks turned to Bardock, "You know, if you love Planet Vegeta so much you should just go visit… oh wait…"
Bardock glared at the smirking half-saiyan next to him, "Low blow…"
A beep came from the control panel, an indicator that the ship just entered the planet's atmosphere. The windows frosted as the outside of the ship cooled, a mechanism that the ship had to counter the burn from re-entry. Bardock got up to maneuver the spacecraft, aiming to steer the ship clear of any possible hazardous terrain.
Trunks got up from his seat, he himself staring out the window to the world outside. This may not have been his Earth... but he sure could call it home.
A flash of light, far off in the distance caught his attention, "What the hell?" he said quietly.
"You caught that too?" Bardock asked his protege.
"Yeah." Trunks said as Mino stood next to him, hoping to see what he saw. It had to have been a hundred miles away, give or take, but that was an obvious explosion. A plume of smoke could be seen rising up into the atmosphere.
"Let's get in closer, shall we." Bardock suggested as he accelerated the ship across the planet.
Trunks stretched out his senses, hoping to get a quick read on his loved ones. He could only hope that in the time he'd been gone, everyone was okay.
It was then he sensed something. An energy he hadn't felt in over 3 years, but he wouldn't forget it.
Gaara? Shukaku?
He could feel both, and they were fluctuating heavily, as if the psychotic redhead were in some sort of conflict. Suddenly, it went faint… and then it moved as if it were steadily traversing.
That didn't bother him. What did bother him, were the two other energy signatures surrounding him.
"Feels like trouble." Trunks mumbled as his brow furrowed, 'Mom, Naruto, Ino… everyone, my apologies, but it might be a minute before I get back to you all.' he thought. "Bardock, take us east." the prince ordered.
The older saiyan looked questionably at the lavender haired young man, before doing as told. Still, he asked, "Any reason why?"
"Let's just say things are looking cloudy with a chance of bloodon the horizon." Trunks responded with a cracking of his knuckles.
"Say no more." Bardock nodded, instantly putting two and two together.
Minotia smiled, "I love this planet already. Excitement."
"We'll have no shortage of that, believe me." Trunks nodded to the mohawked alien as he threw on his Capsule Corp. denim jacket, before strapping his sword holster to his back.
Mino grabbed his scarf, wrapping the blue fabric around his neck.
Bardock grunted, "We're gettin' close, but there's no way to land this piece a crap fast enough without those shitbirds bolting at the sight of us."
Trunks shrugged, "We don't have to land the ship right on top of them. As long as we're in the vicinity we can intercept them." He smirked at Bardock, "These guys can't fly."
"Oh, well I'll be." Bardock set the ship to land about 5 or 6 miles from the targets. "Hope you kids don't mind a little theatrics." Bardock said as he sat back in his chair, lounging comfortably as the Capsule ship lowered as slowly as the engine seemed to want to go at such an urgent time.
As the ship touched grass, the three warriors could feel the three foreign energy signatures appear outside the Capsule ship, waiting in what had to be curiosity.
"Looks like Christmas came to us, boys." Bardock drawled as he stood up out of his chair, walking over to the hatch controls.
"Who opens the presents first?" Trunks asked with a smirk.
"Tsk," Bardock rolled his shoulders as he pressed the button, "If you can't solo both of these idiots then the last three years were a waste of my time."
"Fair enough." Trunks said as he looked to Mino, the alien nodding approvingly. The door to the spacecraft slowly opened out, the three men greeted with the sight of two robed weirdos expectedly waiting for them atop a clay formed bird. They casually stepped out of the ship and into the open, Trunks allowing himself the chance to take in the familiar smell of Earth's fresh air after so much time away. This particular area smelled heavily of pine.
Trunks blues eyes locked onto the Akatsuki, Deidara and Sasori staring at him like they knew him.
Time to get introductions out the way.
Trunks smiled at the Akatsuki before him, "Well well, what a lucky guy I am. Stupid looking robes, funny looking people, and a whole lot of bad energy." he pointed at Sasori and Deidara, "You guys hit every beat. Akatsuki, I presume?"
Deidara smiled back, "You presume correctly. I take it you must be this Trunks guy I've heard so much about."
"The one and only." Trunks nodded, smirk never waning as his excitement grew, "You know, I've been anticipating meeting you guys face to face."
Sasori's head tilted unnaturally, almost like an owl's. He hopped off Deidara's bird, already knowing where this was going, "And what business could you possibly have with us?"
The demi-saiyan pulled his sword, holding it in front of his face to reflect the Akatsuki in the metal, "Killing you… what's it look like?"
XXX
Naruto punched his palm, "We aren't getting anywhere just standing around." He stood up, "I'm gonna look for him."
"That makes two of us." Fu said as she stood up in the hall as well.
"Three of us makes a crowd." Shinhan said as she stepped up.
"And four makes a party." Lee said as he stepped up next to the triclops.
Another set of footsteps drew all eyes to Kankuro's door. Ino stood in the doorway, "Make room for one more?"
"Heh, got tired of handling Kankuro?" Naruto asked.
Ino smiled, "Sakura and Karin got him covered. I'd be a nonfactor." she shrugged, "Might as well be an extra set of eyes."
"Cool!" Naruto fist pumped, "With all of us out there, we'll find Gaara in no time!"
"So eager." Temari huffed with a roll of her eyes, "Do any of you even know where you're going?"
"Nope." Naruto said as he and Fu walked down the hall, "So we'll split up and signal out if we find anything. Me and Fu got dibs on north."
"I'll take the South." Kakashi sighed as he leaned off the wall, "Ino, be my guest?"
"Sure." the Yamanaka said.
"I got the east." Shinhan said as Lee nodded,
"Which leaves me with the west."
Temari looked around at the group, "You know you aren't leaving me out of this."
Lee quickly suggested, "You can come with me, I will gladly fly you."
"What-why?" Shinhan quickly asked.
Lee was quickly taken aback, the shaggy haired young man quickly explaining himself in confusion, "I just thought, if by chance I encountered the Akatsuki it would be best if I had someone at my side who could cover me with range. I am just limited to my fists after all."
"Yeah but," Shinhan said as if she didn't care, "Whatever sure do what you have to." the bluenette said as she walked away.
"Wait-what!?" Temari quickly interrogated Lee, "When and where did you learn to fly?"
"Um… television?" Lee quickly lied with a red face.
Temari glared daggers at him, 'Me and the lavender wonder are gonna have words…'
"Lets go." Temari ordered as she and Lee left the hall with everyone else.
XXX
Ringed eyes opened, shining brightly in the darkness.
Konan noticed the sudden shift in energy in the air. She turned to her superior, "What is it?"
"Trunks Briefs." Pain said, voice barely above a whisper, "He's encountered Deidara and Sasori."
"Is he a threat?" She asked.
Pain held his answer, "I can not risk the lives of any more Akatsuki. Not now."
XXX
Deidara grinned at the young man, the tongue in his palm salivating in anticipation of molding more clay, "Kill us? Heh, that's big talk if you know our rep."
"If you knew mine, you'd know I can back it up." Trunks said as he gave his sword a small twirl in his palm. He glanced at the red headed figure laying behind Deidara, face and body cracked from still damaged sand armor, "That's a familiar face. I'm not one for guessing, but I'll assume you guys didn't exactly find Gaara like that."
"Not a bad guess." Sasori drawled, "Unfortunately for us, your friend here didn't wanna accept an invite to a party we were hosting. Unfortunately for him, we insisted he come."
"We'll be sure to show him a good time." Deidara said, "You can have him back by tonight."
"That's sweet. I wouldn't exactly call him a friend though." Trunks said, "Regardless, I can't just let you have him."
A bladed tail slithered out of the rear of Sasori's robe, the tip hanging over his head.
Trunks noticed Mino pull out an instrument from his pocket, an ocarina. The Akatsuki's guard's were up as the alien put the instrument to his lips, and played a quick soft melody. The alien looked at Gaara as he played, something that raised Trunks suspicions.
"What was that about?" Trunks asked as Mino put his ocarina back where he pulled it.
"Just a precaution, Trunks." the alien assured him, "Just a precaution."
Just as Deidara's hand inched into his bag, a voice echoed in his and Sasori's heads,
*Deidara, Sasori, you are not to engage Trunks. Escape with the One Tail. Now.*
Keeping both pairs of eyes on their enemy, Deidara said to Sasori, "Guess the boss has other plans."
"So it seems." Sasori replied, "You go."
"Why do I have to go?" Deidara fumed, really wanting a chance to fight the half-saiyan across from him.
"Because the ultimate goal is to preserve the One Tail, you idiot." Sasori said, "We're outnumbered and I'm more vulnerable on that damn bird. Besides," Trunks noticed a hint of craze behind those eyes, "I think Trunks here would make a nice addition to my collection."
Deidara huffed in begrudged acceptance, "Fine." Just as his bird turned, the claymation slowly soaring higher up into the air, Gaara's body sinking into the clay to keep him safe and secure.
Bardock snorted, sensing the power of puppet Akatsuki in front of him. Not even worth his time, neither was the blonde idiot on the bird. He stepped back and took a seat on the steps of the Capsule Ship entrance.
Trunks and Sasori locked eyes, Minotia's eyes going to Deidara.
Just as the claymation turned to soar off, Deidara heard the sound of metal chopping through wind, quickly racing up to his ears. By the time his brain told his body to move, Deidara's left arm was sliced off at the elbow. The man cried out in pain as he grabbed his bleeding stump, a sword boomeranging back to Minotia's palm.
"Go!" Sasori ordered, Deidara's bird jetting off at near mach speed.
"Sorry Trunks, couldn't help myself." the pale skinned alien said, "May I?"
"Hey, have at him." Trunks shrugged, "Just don't shoot any ki blasts at the bird, don't wanna hurt the cargo." Trunks said in reference to Gaara.
Minotia smiled and flew off, chasing down the Akatsuki.
Sasori's tail encircled his body defensively, the Akatsuki's eyes glancing over at Bardock for a half-second,
"Don't worry about him." Trunks said, "He'll stay out of this, trust me. It's just you and me ugly."
"Ideal." Sasori said as sand seeped from the grass next to Sasori, forming an exact clone of himself.
Trunks flashed his aura, the grass tearing up from the ground around him to reveal the soil beneath. "Your move." he challenged.
XXX
Naruto and Fu flew through the air, both pairs of their eyes scanning the ground below.
Naruto looked to his fellow jinchuriki, noticing the depressed air she was giving off.
"We're gonna find him." Naruto promised her.
"I know." She said, passing him a smile, "I promised him. You promised me. That's one thing you've never broken. And I definitely won't start now."
It was then the two teens stopped mid-flight. They felt something they hadn't felt in years suddenly flare up in the horizon.
"No way…" Naruto breathed, eyes brightening and smile breaking out across his face.
"Race ya' to him tiger!" Fu said as she flew off, Naruto jetting off after her.
XXX
Shinhan flew through the east, blue hair and red ribbon whipping through the wind.
She came to a sudden halt, eyes widening as she smirked, "Well it's about time, loser!" she whipped a u-turn a blasted off in a blue flame.
XXX
Ino's eyes widened, the young woman's heart practically stopping in her chest.
Kakashi felt it too, the man's heart warming just as much at the energy he sensed.
'Welcome home, kid.' Kakashi thought as Ino shot off, the man quickly following suit.
XXX
Temari clung to Lee's back, the woman's eyes scanning the ground below for any signs of her little brother.
Her frustration rose as Lee came to a sudden stop mid flight.
"What's the hold up?" She asked him, spotting the smile the teen had that spread ear to ear.
Lee turned his head to her, "Trunks. He's back."
"And that's important now?" Temari almost growled.
"He's in action." Lee said, "Meaning he most likely found Gaara before us."
"Then move your ass!" Temari urged, Lee shooting off after the source.
X
Team Shikamaru soared through Wind Country, the terrain slowly shifting from grassy green, to stony gray, to sandy brown in their travels.
"We'll land about 10 miles outside of the village walls." Shikamaru said, gaining the attention from the rest of the squad, "Neji, Sasuke, you'll use your dojutsu to-"
The team froze, feeling an all-too familiar energy.
"You… you guys feel that?" Choji asked, Tenten nodding in response, a smile brightening her face.
Sasuke couldn't help the hint of a smile that cracked the corner of his mouth. Neji couldn't hide the frown that deepened his features.
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed in anticipation, for much the same reason as Neji's… they may be encountering the traitors earlier than anticipated.
XXX
Sasori's tail slung out at the half-saiyan, his sand clone leaping up high into the air and over him.
Casually weaving the tip of the tail, Trunks thrust his palm forward, sending forth a powerful shockwave that tore a wide furrow through the ground, striking the Akatsuki puppet master full force.
Sasori's sand clone swung the spiked length of its tail down on Trunks, the demi-saiyan swinging his sword up to meet the blade, cleaving through it and turning the disjointed end back to sand. The bunshin landed down on all fours, launching at Trunks in a deadly brown blur as it reformed its tail.
The saiyan moved quicker, getting through the clone's defense to land an elbow into its jaw that burst the bunshins face. The saiyan teen performed an acrobatic flip kick just as the real Sasori's tail burst from the ground below, allowing him to burst the rest of the bunshins head with the tip of his foot and let him dodge.
The second Trunks' feet touched the ground he swung his sword behind him, clashing his metal against the metal of the real Sasori's tail blade. Sasori followed up with a flurry of swings with his tail, all blocked and parried by Trunks sword. The headless bunshin also joined in the assault in an effort to breach Trunks' defense, but to no avail as the young man simply doubled his speed.
'Tsk,' Bardock thought, the older saiyan casually sitting on the ground with his arms folded over his chest, 'Kid's not even trying. This bastard's power pales in comparison to Trunks own...'
Naruto and Fu arrived in the battle area, the two observing the clash from above.
A grin slipped across the Uzumaki's face, Naruto proud at not only seeing his friend after three whole years, but at how well he was handling this Akatsuki.
Fu smirked as well when Trunks grabbed Sasori's tail by the space inbetween the joint and the tip. The saiyan crossed his free hand over his arm, before blasting the clone into nothing, "Welcome back Golden Swordsman." She looked to Bardock, her feelings on the man not changed much over the years, "So much for hoping he'd get sucked out of the ship's airlock." she said, though not loudly enough for Bardock to hear… fortunately.
Trunks swung the Akatsuki puppet master around by his tail before throwing him high up into the air.
Kakashi and Ino appeared, the two flying up next to Naruto.
"Arriving back in style, I see." Kakashi said more to himself than anyone else.
"Wow." Ino breathed when she got a good look at the man she'd yearned for all these years.
Though Trunks stared down Sasori, the Akatsuki struggling at getting back up to his feet, he could feel his friends flying into the area. It brought a smile to his face. Naruto, Ino, Kakashi, and Fu were there, and now in came Lee and Shinhan.
"Guess pretty boy's kicking off homecoming himself." Shinhan said, Lee and Temari flying up next to him.
Temari's eyes squinted as she got a good look at the swordsman on the ground below. Her eyes widened in disbelief, "That's Trunks?" she said to herself. She thought back to the short, scrawny, pasty shy boy she met and fought during the invasion all that time back.
Now, he was this tall, tan, god of a man down on the battlefield.
"He's gotten… bigger…" Temari mumbled to herself. She looked to Sasori. 'That asshole managed to slice his way through my brother and over a dozen of our top ninja. How strong could Trunks have gotten to take him on so casually?'
Sasori stared bloody murder at the half saiyan across from him, "So… I guess the rumors weren't lies."
The smirk of his father formed on Trunks mouth, "I promise you, whatever you heard about me was watered down."
"A lot less humble than I was told." Sasori said, ripping the fabric away from his mouth, "Let's fix that!"
A jet stream of poisoned senben needles fired from Sasori's throat and at the half-saiyan across from him.
Unfazed, Trunks boby flickered as he dodged the needles by centimeters. He suddenly phased out, appearing right under Sasori, fist pulled back for an uppercut to the chest that launched the Akatsuki up in the air again. Trunks followed up by flip kicking the nin back into the dirt.
Bardock nodded, this battle just as one sided as he'd anticipated.
XXX
"Shit shit SHIT!" Deidara cursed as he sent forth flock after flock of clay birds, the claymation's exploding at or around their target. Unfortunately, his target had a defense against such attacks, and was quickly gaining on him.
Mino's sword sliced through the flock of birds, the pieces exploding violently behind him. He took satisfaction in the look of fear on his enemy's face, an indication that his victory was ensured.
The mohawked alien pulled back his sword, prepped to slice down Deidara.
The Akatsuki put up his arm, a futile effort to block the incoming fatal attack.
A hand clamped down on Deidara's shoulder, much to his and Minotia's surprise.
"Itachi?!"
Minotia looked to the newcomer, the man's haunting red eyes catching his turquoise.
A single black crow flew past Minotia's vision, before a massive swarm of the birds assaulted the alien.
Mino slashed with his sword and swung his arms, trying to keep the birds from pecking or clawing his eyes out.
Almost as quick as the birds came, they suddenly vanished into thin air, as if they were never there to begin with. The pink haired alien's eyes scanned the area, seeing no sign of Deidara.
"Damn." Mino cursed, sheathing his sword back into the holster.
They got him with some sort of mind trickery... the Akatsuki got away.
XXX
Team Shikamaru closed in on the battlefield, the team stopping at a far distance and high enough altitude to avoid being seen.
"Ino…" Choji said softly at the sight of his old teammate.
Neji frowned when he saw what could only be his old teammate. He noticed Lee's separation from Gai influenced the boy's change in appearance.
Sasuke couldn't help the small smirk when he saw Naruto and Trunks. He could instantly tell how much stronger the both of them got, though it was no surprise to him.
Shikamaru was eyeing Trunks manhandling the Akatsuki. He'd known how tough Trunks was, but to see him in action again, dominating one of the most feared rogue ninja on the planet, still left him awestruck.
He shook himself from the distraction, turning to the others, "Its best we deal with the traitors while Trunks is busy."
Bardock noticed the newcomers heading towards the teens of Team Z, the older saiyan raising his eyebrow, 'What are you up to?'
XXX
Sasori's face was cracked apart, pieces falling to the ground.
Trunks phased in front of the ninja at the speed of light, fist punching through his chest cavity. To the demi-saiyan's surprise, a smaller figure burst out of the back of Sasori's torso.
It didn't take much for Trunks to realize that whoever he'd been fighting, had been using this body as a shell or armor of some sort. Trunks pulled the empty shell of Hiruko off his forearm, and tossed the massive shell behind him.
He stared down the skinny, boyish looking redhead across from him. The real Sasori climbed to his feet, staring down the boy who destroyed his shell so easily.
In his movement, Trunks caught a small glance of what was under the robes Sasori wore.
"So, you're a puppet also." Trunks nodded in understanding, "Not much different from that oneover there," he nodded to Hiruko. He smirked at Sasori, "Only difference is, I guess you have at most half a brain under that shell." he tapped his forehead.
A small smile found its way across Sasori's face, "And I guess Itachi and Kisame were right to fear you. You've more than lived up to the rumors. Face of an angel, but fights like a demon." Sasori's face twisted into a maniacal smile, "And you'd certainly make for my most prized possession!"
"I would?" Trunks asked in mock awe, "I'm honored." cocky smirk settled back into the young man's features, "But you've gotta earn me first. We're at round 2 and I'm still not impressed." he nodded his challenge, "Your move, Pinoccio."
Sasori pulled out a scroll from within' his robe. Trunks noticed the symbol for "Third" inscribed on the scrolls front.
XXX
Deidara and Itachi appeared within' the Akatsuki hideout, the blonde man panting heavily from the shock of his recent encounter.
Pain looked to his two newly arrived members, "Sasori is not with you."
Itachi looked to his boss, "Sasori's engaged in a battle with Trunks as we speak."
"Well he's dead." Fuka said callously, "Rest in peace. He had a good run. Such a shame."
"Silence." Pain told her, "You will not disrespect a fellow Akatsuki, Fuka." the man turned to the rest of the members, "Now that we have acquired the One Tail, it is time to seal the beast."
XXX
Trunks was having flashbacks of the Chunin Exams from three years ago.
Standing before him, Sasori wielded a puppet of the Third Kazekage, much like how Kankuro wielded his own puppets all that time back. Trunks suspected the Akatsuki would keep fighting with poison, but he was surprised to see black sand seep out of the puppets mouth and nostrils, the sand gathering up into the air around them like a dark cloud of death.
Trunks felt his sword nearly pull from his grip, urging him to hold the blade handle tighter.
'What is that, some sort of magnet?' Trunks thought to himself.
"You know who this is, don't you?" Sasori asked the lavender-haired warrior.
"Am I supposed to?" Trunks asked casually, not really caring.
"This is the Third Kazekage, known as one of the most powerful shinobi in the Wind Country… or he was, before I killed him." Sasori explained, in a manner like he was explaining a science project. The black haired puppet that was once the Sandaime Kazekage stared down Trunks like an animal ready to pounce its prey, "It was easy. Just an attack in the dead of night and everything he was, is now mine. His body guards, some of the Sand Village's best at the time tried to stop me, and they fell as well. He was still alive when I made him my weapon. The sounds he made, I couldn't tell if they were from pain, or the realization of what would become of him." Sasori's head tilted as he eyed Trunks, "You seem tough. Maybe you can answer that question for me, when you're in his same position."
"You're so lame." Trunks said, cutting Sasori off, "You took someone down in a surprise attack, and now you use what made them special for your own ends." the saiyan prince cracked his neck, "Not impressed."
In a lightning fast motion, the sand materialized into a spear that launched for Trunks left leg. The half-saiyan quickly yet casually pulled his leg up to dodge, the spear sticking deep into the ground.
Trunks was a bit surprised by the force he felt in the air from the spear. Had that spear hit its target, it might've actually took Trunks leg off at the knee.
The son of Vegeta weaved a scythe blade formed of the sand, before clashing against another swing of the scythe with his sword. Through his peripherals, Trunks could see more streaks of the black sand coming in close at hyperspeed. The streaks hardened into deadly spikes and branches that he had to jump, flip, and maneuver around. There was more than a good chance he was durable enough to withstand the nature of these spikes, but with a chakra and poison backing, Trunks wasn't going to take a chance.
Trunks took up into the air to avoid the massive web of branched spikes that assaulted him.
He dodged and sliced away at the spikes, before holding both hands out to either side, "HYAAAAA!" he fired a massive ki wave that blew away the iron sand.
Temari continued to be dumbfounded while the others cheered, obviously enjoying the show. "Just how powerful can a person…" her thoughts, as well as the others were interrupted by several approaching figures from behind.
Shikamaru, Choji, and Neji were expecting their old comrades to regard them with some sort of surprise, but instead, they were only given… disinterest.
Naruto completely ignored the three as he looked to Sasuke and Tenten, "Sasuke, Ten, how's it hanging? Been a while, eh."
Sasuke let out a slight 'hmph' as a reply, his way of subtly agreeing. Tenten passed the group a corrigible smile, though she wouldn't reply. After all, as far as Shikamaru, Choji, and Neji knew, she had every intention of bringing them in.
Shikamaru sighed, somehow knowing this was gonna go sour, "Naruto Uzumaki, Ino Yamanaka, Kakashi Hatake, and Rock Lee. You're all under arrest as traitors to the Hidden Leaf Village. You are to be brought back to the village immediately to face trial."
Naruto and the others looked completely unfazed. The Uzumaki looked Shikamaru dead in the eye as he rebutted, "And what's gonna happen when we say no." his tone reeked of challenge.
"Don't do this." Shikamaru said.
"Don't make us." Naruto shot back, "Be safe, Shikamaru. Be smart, Neji. Don't do something you won't live long enough to regret." he finished as he looked to Choji.
"As missing nin, we can bring you in warm… or cold." Neji said, "Is that really how you want this?"
"It's your game." Ino said, fingers hovering over her weapons pouch, "Just tell us when you wanna kick off."
"Ino come on." Choji begged, hoping to reach his old teammate and the rest by extension, "We all practically grew up together. Why throw away everything for someone who's been around for such a short time? You know Trunks can take care of himself." Choji held a hand to the ongoing battle, as if to prove his point, "He doesn't need you with him."
"You're right, Choji." Ino nodded, completely agreeing, "Trunks doesn't need me… and if we're telling the truth, maybe in the grand scheme of things I don't actually need him either." her eyes narrowed, "But after seeing the way the village treated him and his family, and how the village treats others," she said in reference to her whiskered ally, "I've decided maybe it's a matter of principle. It's all behind me now."
"What about your father, huh? Your mother?" Shikamaru asked in one last attempt to reason, "You're telling me-"
"Just give it a rest, Shikamaru." Ino said with a slight wave of her hand, "Of all the things for you to put energy into, this isn't it."
"So be it…" The Nara said, eyeing his old teammate with pity. Choji passed Ino a look of sadness, one the girl ignored.
Temari looked to the Leaf nin, 'Knowing how to fly would really be useful right about now.' she thought.
As if sensing her thoughts, Lee asked her, "This conflict does not concern you. If I were to let you go, could you land safely?"
Temari nodded, before she let go of Lee. She free fell to the ground, flipping before she landed to cut momentum.
She watched as the Leaf nin clashed.
Naruto and Sasuke's swords met in a shower of sparks, the two teens pushing against each other in a struggle to overpower,
"We still cool right?" Naruto whispered to his old friend.
"...Depends on how much better you got." Sasuke answered with a small smirk, earning him a grin from Naruto.
Choji's arm expanded to the length and girth of a tree trunk in a punch aimed at Fu. The Seven tailed Jinchuriki swiftly dodged the punch, the force enough to send a shockwave through the air. The mint-haired girl ran along the length of Choji's arm, kicking the teen in the jaw before flipping and catching him in a headlock. She used the momentum to throw him down towards ground level, her wings flapping as she flew down after him.
Two thrown kunai collided, the blades breaking on contact.
Ino and Tenten stared each other down, the two girls having pulled another pair of kunai to replace the ones they'd thrown. They knew they weren't enemies. This would be all about putting on a show.
The two girls flew in close, their kunai clashing together in a shower of sparks and meta. scrapes.
Ino saw a shadow move in from behind Tenten, flipping over her to get at Ino from above. The Yamanaka's fingers formed a dog-sign, before locking eyes with Neji in mid-air,
"Restraining Art: Psychic Eyes!"
Neji's form froze mid-flip, the Hyuga prodigy suspended in the air. Ino launched herself back to gain distance before the jutsu wore off, the Hyuga finishing his motion.
He was in front of Tenten, the teen caught off guard by that move. When he got an eyefull of Ino, the Yamanaka was already wrapping up with another set of handseals,
"Ninja Art: Swords of Light!"
Neji's pearled eyes widened as swords formed from a purple light formed around Ino, the blades at least three feet long and spinning around her rapidly to protect her from up close combat.
Neji held his hands in preparation of a distant attack, only, to his surprise, Ino raised her hands also, two of the swords of light following and aiming directly for Neji,
"Try it." The Yamanaka challenged.
Fu found herself frozen, unable to continue her assault on Choji. She noticed her shadow was connected to that of Shikamaru's, the Nara using his signature technique to protect his best friend.
Choji shook off the damage, the teen pulling wire linked kunai from his weapons pouch. He quickly wrapped himself up with the knives, before expanding, "Human Boulder!" He launched himself at the jinchuriki, the girl frozen in time.
Shikamaru's gasped as a green mass appeared at his side, roundhouse kicking him in the face, "Leaf Hurricane!" Rock Lee cried, the blow knocking Shikamaru off his feet and disrupting his jutsu.
Fu flipped out of the way of Choji's assault, dodging by mere nanoseconds.
Lee passed the girl a thumbs up, a gesture she returned.
XXX
Trunks came down over Sasori with a flip kick, the saiyan's blow being stopped just a few inches from his target in a massive burst of iron sand that sprung up to protect Sasori, much like Gaara's sand protected him.
Two spikes of sand shot out at bullet speed, aiming for Trunks eyes. In an incredible show of speed, Trunks fazed out and reappeared several feet away to dodge, kneeled low with his sword held to his side.
Moving at the speed of light, Trunks shot in through Sasori's defenses, appearing behind the Akatsuki and his puppet, the saiyan now holding his sword at his opposite side.
A glance behind, and Trunks saw Sasori and his puppet both sliding in half at the waist. "And that's a wrap," Trunks stated as he prepared to resheathe his sword.
"Don't get ahead of yourself, kid." the half-saiyan heard Bardock call out.
Trunks turned around to see Sasori's two halves levitate up, before reconnecting back together,
Trunks sighed, "For God's sake, die already…"
"Not yet…" the Akatsuki said calmly, though he was actually frightened. Trunks had picked apart every maneuver Sasori had made. He was 110% on the defensive, and Trunks physical capabilities trumped any offensive attack he could throw out.
He was now down to his final card…
A cord from his stomach slithered out and pulled a scroll from his back, opening it as a compartment in his right peck opened as well.
Immediately, a flurry of puppets rapidly shot out of the scroll, filling the battlefield and the sky for several hundred yards. There were so many puppets, most of the sky from Trunks perspective blotted out, shading most of the area. There were puppets next to and behind him, and close at that.
It bothered Sasori that Trunks didn't seem the least bit disturbed.
"I used this technique to bring down an entire country." Sasori said, hoping to shake the demi-saiyan, "Though given the state of the world now, I've had to up my numbers three fold." Trunks eye twitched a bit. He eyed these puppets, knowing exactly what they were made of. All of these people dead, because of this bastard. Sasori held his forehead, "It is a shame, really, that I've had to resort to this for just one man."
"No it's not." Trunks snorted, "You took down a country, big deal. If I wanted to, I could bring down this entire planet. No, what is a shame," he blinked, and his blue eyes turned jade, "is the fact you ever thought you stood a chance here."
XXX
Naruto and Sasuke stopped their clash, Naruto's palm filled with a Rasengan while Sasuke's was filled with a crackling Chidori. They and the others turned to the rapidly rising source of power.
"What the hell is that?!" Tenten shouted when she saw the hundreds of puppets, each one equipped with a bladed weapon; from scythes, to swords, to knives, to sai's, to metal whips all dripping with purple steaming poison.
"That fool," Neji growled, "He's fighting an entire army!"
Temari stood mouth agape, 'How… how is he supposed to take all of that on?!' she thought. She stole a quick glance to his friends, none of them showing the slightest bit of worry, 'And they aren't worried at all?'
Trunks let out a battlecry as he violently ascended into Super Saiyan, the force of his aura vaporizing and destroying over a half a dozen puppets closest to him.
Sasori's eyes widened in astonishment, the golden kekkai genkei that he'd heard so much about now finally before him to bear witness.
XXX
"Alright, that's all of the toxin from his liver," Karin said, holding a liquid orb of water filled with the purple colored poison. She dumped it into a bucket they'd been using as a waste container.
"Good." Sakura said, the young woman aiming to strip toxin from his liver, "Ino managed to neutralize it so it's not spreading, but it's still managed to hit almost every vital-"
A spark of energy hit Sakura's sixth sense. She turned to the redhead across from her, Karin looking back at her from the realization of its familiarity.
Trunks was back...
XXX
Like a swarm of furious hornets, the other 300 puppets mobbed Trunks, the half-saiyan becoming a hardly trackable blur of gold that picked apart every puppet that got within striking distance.
Elbows and fists to the head, kicks to the torso, sword slash decapitations, and ki blasts to vaporize made short work of several dozens of the puppets. Trunks suddenly shot up high into the sky in a gold blur, the force of his aura taking out another several dozen puppets as he climbed almost 20 miles higher into the sky.
Those closer to ground level could barely make out the glowing blue emanating from Trunks arms, the saiyan pulling them both back in preparation of a blast,
"Buster Cannon!"
A massive blue wave of energy shot down to the ground, detonating in a very controlled cylinder of destruction that wiped out over half the army of puppets, but left those around safe from harm.
Sasori had managed to barely dodge the wave of energy. If the man could sweat, he would be…
Years of work gathering and constructing those puppets, only for half of them to be wiped out in the blink of an eye…
The other half of his army flew up at Trunks, almost 150 dangerous puppets, but the half-saiyan picked them apart with just as much ease.
Bardock watched the show, growing bored. He got up to his feet and sauntered over to where the other teens were.
XXX
Shikamaru shook his head, "Surprise surprise." he watched as the person of mass destruction handled his business.
"No way…" Choji breathed in awe as he watched wooden limbs and pieces fall from the sky, "How could anyone be this strong?"
"How do you think," a new voice cut in, grabbing the attention of the Leaf shinobi. They looked to see the man that arrived with Trunks approaching them, "He may be half-bred, but the kid's still got the blood of nature's greatest warrior race running through his veins."
'Oh God…' Tenten grimaced, 'It's him…'
Shikamaru, Neji, and Choji's guards went up. Sasuke was wary of the man, knowing who he was, already.
"Who are you?" Neji asked.
With a roll of her eyes, Shinhan answered for him, "His name's Bardock. He's a saiyan that's been training Trunks."
"What?!" Shikamaru, Choji, and Neji said in disbelief. 'There's another like Trunks?'
Before Shikamaru could say anything, Ino called out, "Quiet guys, Trunks is getting ready to wrap things up!"
XXX
Sasori looked back… it had been a long time since he'd considered running from a battle… but…
"You know…" Sasori heard Trunks say from behind him. The redhead turned to see the saiyan slowly lowering himself down to the ground, "you were supposed to earn my being a puppet, but, so far, I'm not impressed…" the son of Vegeta took a step forward, Sasori taking a step back in response. Trunks stopped, his head tilting in curiosity, "That fear I see? Never expected that out of a doll, guess you're more of a real boy than I gave you credit for…"
Trunks fazed out and appeared low in front of Sasori, fist prepped in a fiery orange glow, "Game over." Sasori was hit under the chin with an uppercut that almost knocked his entire head off, but the blow tore off his entire bottom jaw, and sent him flying and flipping uncontrollably up in the air for several hundred stories. Once he hit the peak of his altitude, Sasori looked up to see the Brief's boy coming down from above with his sword.
Before the Akatsuki puppet even knew what hit him, Trunks sword had already passed through him.
The puppet looked the Brief's boy in the eye, the fact that he was already dead now settling in him. The image of the golden swordsman before him slowly started to split in half, one half of the image sliding down before the two halves came apart.
The images began to fade, changing to an image of something completely different. The left half changed to that of a woman with long dark hair, and the right half changed to that of a man with red hair much like Sasori's own...
Trunks followed up his attack with several more hyper sword slashes, reducing the Akatsuki puppet to wood chunks and cloth. To finish the job, he held his palm flat under his arm, "Arrivederci" before blasting Sasori into dust that blew into the wind…
Ino grinned in joy, watching as Trunks made easy work of the Akatsuki. The half-saiyan twirled his sword before holstering it, allowing his super saiyan form to melt off his body.
The half-saiyan touched down to the ground that was littered with puppet pieces.
"Trunks!"
He smiled as he turned to the familiar faces making their way towards him.
He expected a simple handshake from Naruto, but the blonde teenager hugged him, Fu, Lee, and Shinhan doing the same as well.
"Whoa, hey, take it easy!" Trunks said with a laugh, "I think you're breaking my ribs!"
"Deal with it!" Fu said, "It's your fault for taking forever!"
"What took you so long, pretty boy?" Naruto scolded lightheartedly.
Trunks rolled his eyes and smiled, "Saw that one coming." he laughed.
"Hey, long hair," Tavi pointed out, giving the saiyans hair a firm pull, "You really set yourself up for that one."
"Fair enough." the saiyan relented with a slight chuckle, "But me and Bardock got caught up in-"
"Hey, hush your mouth!" the older saiyan barked at his student, "We don't talk about what happens during my training, ya' got that!"
Trunks lightly shook his head, seeing that one coming, "Well, just know there was a good reason for that." *I'll fill you guys in later* He quickly added in telepathically.
After a few seconds, Trunks noticed they were still in a group hug, "So, ya guys plan on letting go any time soon?" he chuckled lightheartedly.
"Yeah, they do!"
The others cried out in shock as they suddenly went flying through the air, Trunks himself in just as much surprise at the sudden act. He turned to Ino, who was holding her arm and standing bashfully in front of him.
"Sorry," she said as she walked up to him, catching the young man in a tight hug, "I don't like sharing." she whispered in his ear.
Trunks cheeks turned red from the close contact, more from her matured assets than anything else.
She pulled back, looking Trunks up and down, "You look great!" she stood up on her tip toes, the young woman noticing she just barely reached Trunks at his chin, 'Wow, he's so tall now!'
"So do you." he looked her up and down, "You look incredible." He noticed, while she was slim and femininely built, having developed noticeable abs in her waist, she had filled out with curves in her chest and hips.
Ino's eyes brightened, "Really!" she got giddy, "Ya really think so?!"
A nod from Trunks made her mentally jump for joy, 'Thank you Lady Tsunade!'
(Three Years Ago)
Ino, Sakura, and Karin dragged themselves back through the Capsule home, exhausted after the day's training. Tsunade and Shizune followed in behind them. Bulma and Shinhan had been in the kitchen, cooking up dinner.
The blue haired genius saw the girls enter, "Hey ladies, how was training?"
All she received in response were a trio of groans.
"Rough. Got it." Bulma said as she drained the water from the noodles.
Tsunade took a seat at the table, "They're just a buncha snowflakes that can't take a punch." the woman said, "Food almost ready?"
"Pretty much done now!" Shinhan said as she added the chicken grilled chicken to the dish.
"Good." Tsunade said as she turned to her students, "Sit down."
Karin, Sakura, and Ino took seats at the dining room table as Bulma brought plates and large dishes with noodles and chicken.
Sakura and Karin happily put generous portions of food on their plates and dug in, something Tsunade was satisfied in seeing. The sannin looked to Ino, noticing the very small bit of food she'd put on her plate.
An unusual sight for a growing young woman that just finished an intense workout.
"Ino," Tsunade got the girls attention, "why aren't you eating?"
"I'm not that hungry." was the Yamanaka's response.
Tsunade eyed her, the woman now making more sense of Ino's very skinny figure, "You 'haven't been that hungry' for a while now. Wanna tell me why?"
"I just don't wanna get fat, that's all." Ino said innocently.
Tsunade wanted to face palm, 'Of course it's about impressing the guy.' she had to nip this in the bud. She pinched her brow as she sighed in frustration, "I cannot believe I'm actually giving guy advice," she looked to Ino seriously so she'd listen, "look, Ino, I promise you I know what I'm talking about, so hear me on this. If you wanna impress a guy, you aren't gonna do it by playing anorexic. Most guys, actually prefer a woman with meat on her bones, rather than a woman that looks like they'd snap in half when things get physical. Get it?"
"Really?" Ino asked, Bulma and Shizune turning to her,
"Oh yeah." the three women said knowingly.
At this, Ino quickly cleaned her plate and went back for seconds.
X
Naruto and the others groaned before getting back to their feet. Trunks turned to Shinhan, noticing what was on her forehead,
"Whoa, what happened there?" Trunks asked the girl as he pointed to his forehead.
The daughter of Tien brushed her blue hair away from her forehead, "I got the third eye, duh." she said casually, 'Laugh at it, I dare you!' she growled in her head.
"Cool!" Trunks said, "That a puberty thing, or…"
"Oh boy…" Fu started, "wasn't that an event."
"Yes," Lee added in, "You see, when her and Kakashi were training-"
X
(Two Years Ago)
Fu, #16, and Lee watched as Kakashi and the daughter of Launch sparred, the three waiting for their chance at a round with the silver haired ninja.
"Destructo Disk!"
"Raikiri!" Kakashi sliced through the deadly disk of ki, heading in a lightning fast beeline for his target.
Tavi shot up into the air, Kakashi missing her completely by just a fraction of a second. Just as she cupped her hands, forming a Kamehameha, the silver haired ninja twisted his upper body, thrusting his lightning charged prosthetic at the teenager.
Shinhan's blue eyes widened at the Raikiri shooting at her in a bolt of blinding light. By the merest fraction of a second, she dodged the attack, eyes following it as it reached the atmosphere of the planet in half a second, the light from the detonation filling the sky.
The instant she turned around, she was eye to eye with Kakashi's sharingan, the wheels in the iris spinning,
"Match over." he said, his dojutsu neutralizing his opponent.
Shinhan's vision faded out, the girl's blue eyes rolling into the back of her head as she fell out of the sky.
Her eyes slowly opened, the surprised expressions of everyone from Kakashi, to Fu, to #16, to Lee all she was greeted with.
"Wh-What? What are you guys looking at?" she asked groggily. She felt like she had a hangover. The four pointed to their foreheads, confusing the teen.
When she blinked, she felt it, and she gasped. Something was on her forehead that shouldn't have been there before…
She jumped out of Lee's arms and ran to the nearby stream, peering into it to gaze at her reflection.
Her screams sent every bird in a mile radius into a flock.
X
"Damn." Trunks said, "That eye do anything for you?"
"Well, aside from seeing through bullshit," the teen joked, "it's allowed me to use an old technique my dad left for me in one of his journals…"
"But…" Lee wanted her to finish. He made her promise him that she would never use the technique under any circumstances.
"But," Shinhan sighed, "the attack could very easily kill me if I use it. Tri beam's the name." the blue haired woman looked past Trunks, the saiyan following her gaze, he turned around to see Temari approaching him, the two expressing similar feelings of awkwardness.
Before he could say anything, the Leaf ninja made their approach.
Sasuke passed the half-saiyan a nod, a gesture Trunks returned.
"Heya Trunks." Tenten greeted, barely containing her excitement. She still had to keep character, so she restrained herself from hugging him.
Choji was much more nervous, "Hi, uh Trunks." He knew that Trunks, just like the rest of the warrior's friends, viewed the Leaf as enemies.
The Akimichi really didn't wanna fight Trunks…
Kakashi walked past Choji and approached his old student, the two clasping hands to share a firm handshake, "It's good to have you back, kid." the silver haired ninja said.
"It's good to be back, sensei." Trunks said, "How's mom?"
"Just fine. Watched over her like she were my own." Kakashi said, clapping Trunks on the back.
"Trunks!" all eyes went to the new voice that cut into the air. They saw a light-skinned mohawked man touch down on the ground in front of Trunks.
"The hell is he?" Temari asked Shinhan, only to get a shrug in response. Whoever this man was, he wasn't human. It didn't take Temari much brain power to put together that this man had to have been an alien, someone Trunks brought back from his so-called 'Space Training'. She didn't even have the presence of mind to be stunned at the fact that the human race wasn't alone in the universe…
"Mino, what's going on?" Trunks asked the alien, "You couldn't get to Gaara?"
The mohawked alien shook his head, "Had his taker dead to rights, but a third party intervened, used some sort of illusion, or hallucinogen to throw me off."
"Genjutsu." Trunks, Kakashi, and Sasuke said in unison.
"Sounds like Itachi's work." Sasuke said calmly, though his blood was pumping. He was ready to settle this score, and he was ready now.
"You dumb chump." Bardock shot at Mino, "That's what happens when you leave a-"
"Not the time for racism, Bardock." Trunks sighed, interrupting the saiyan.
"But it is time to get a move on." Ino said, Temari nodding her agreement.
Just as Ino turned, Shikamaru grabbed her arm, stopping her in place, "Not so fast, you all need to return to the village."
A one-handed push to the chest from Trunks sent the young genius back to the ground, hard.
Neji nearly stepped up to retaliate for Shikamaru, but an arm in front of his chest from Choji stopped him.
"They aren't going anywhere they don't wanna go." Trunks said firmly, "Drop it, unless you wanna run your odds against me..."
'Well, he's definitely gotten more… assertive.' Kakashi noted. Ino smirked at the act, she herself noticing the difference in Trunks demeanor.
Neji and Shikamaru looked combative, but before the two could do or say anything to dig a hole for themselves, Tenten spoke up, "Our main objective was to keep the Akatsuki from getting Gaara. We can settle this issue later."
"If you all wanna link up, I'm fine with it." Trunks said, "As long as these two don't try to start something."
Neji spoke, eyes staring down Trunks "Let's just say, as long as the Akatsuki are the main goal, you won't have us to worry about."
Naruto, Lee, and Kakashi glared at him, but looked to Trunks and nodded.
"Alright," Trunks said, looking from the group to the horizon, "Let's hunt us some Akatsuki."
XXX
A/N: I know, I know… long ass wait. Again. I'm sorry, I really am. Had an extremely rough year.
Thank you all for being patient with me, this update was a long one coming. All I can do is hope that you found the wait worthwhile.
Until next time, drop a review and lemme know your thoughts.
Attack Glossary:
Restraining Art: Psychic Eyes: This is an attack based on General Blue's ability from the original DragonBall. This technique requires that Ino make contact with a target of equal or lesser strength, and once she does, her target becomes paralyzed for a very short duration. Typically, Ino would follow this attack up with a mind-transfer, seeing as how she won't have Shikamaru there to assist with a Shadow Possession.
Ninja Art: Swords of Light: An attack inspired by Vergil's (Devil May Cry) Summoned Swords. Ino forms purple, chakra generated blades that she can either use defensively or offensively. The swords are lightning in nature, and capable of detonating on command.