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Konoha Crush - Part 1
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"Have a drink with me," Jiraiya told Tsunade one night, after Naruto and Sakura had long gone to bed. It was the night before the big tournament in Konoha, but that was hardly on Jiraiya's mind. He enjoyed his time in the town, and he enjoyed being close to Tsunade again. Even if she barely acknowledged his existence.
To his surprise, that night Tsunade agreed.
It felt almost magical. Whether the magic was due to Tsunade's presence or all those bottles of sake he couldn't tell. But they certainly had a good time. They drank, played cards, drank more, played dice, drank more. And for just one night, Jiraiya was thrown back into the past. A past that he wished would become his present again. But the magic was not quite strong enough for that.
After just enough sake, Tsunade asked, "How is Orochimaru? Are you still trying to find him?"
"Well, he's still around. That's all I have to say."
Tsunade chuckled. "All those years I tried so hard to keep that guy alive. And then he goes and figures it out himself? I'm that much of a failure, huh."
Jiraiya chose not to comment on that last statement. Instead he poured them both another shot and shuffled their cards anew.
"So how did he do it?" Tsunade asked, genuinely interested. "His illness was supposed to be fatal. No way my medicine would keep him alive all these years."
"Maybe you should ask him," Jiraiya calmly suggested. His eyes studied hers until he eventually decided to share a bit more with her. "You know, it seems he's back in Konoha. If you returned with us, it'd be like a reunion."
Tsunade raised a brow at him. "Back in Konoha? Last time I checked he was branded a deserter and traitor."
Jiraiya only shrugged. "I never said it'd be a friendly reunion."
The slight blush on Tsunade's face from having drunk too much and from giving into card games and fun vanished. In a more serious tone she asked him what he was talking about.
Jiraiya focused on drawing cards. "Confidential information, I'm afraid. Can't tell."
She laughed. "Oh, so you can tell me just enough to get me interested but not a word more. I see how it is. But let me tell you, whatever he's doing in Konoha, I don't care." She picked up the cards he handed out to her, then signalled him to start playing.
Instead of taking the first turn, Jiraiya put his cards away. The atmosphere immediately changed when he asked, "When did you become this selfish? You used to be different. Back then, you were all about helping others instead of yourself."
"Oh, please," she immediately returned, rolling her eyes. "Did you come here to lecture me after all? I thought we could just enjoy a night of games."
Jiraiya downed his drink. It felt hot as it ran down his throat and left a warm feeling in his stomach. "I guess I'm not the kind of guy who lectures. Let's continue playing."
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When Naruto and Sakura woke up the next morning, Jiraiya was nowhere to be found in their hotel. Part of Naruto was hopeful that, maybe, the old man had left early to actually work for once. Because he and Sakura had bugged him for days that they wanted to return to Konoha for the tournament.
Sakura was less hopeful. She sighed in defeat and sat down next to a window to read one of the medical books Shizune had given to her.
Naruto grabbed it before she could even open the first page.
"What are you doing?" she immediately complained.
"Don't just sit there reading. We are on a mission. A mission! And today are the first rounds of the tournament. I'm sure we already missed the first fight."
"I might as well do something productive while we are here. Who knows, maybe I can convince Lady Tsunade to return to Konoha by blowing her away with my talent as a medic-nin. She'll want to be my teacher so badly after she sees my potential."
Naruto didn't want to say what he was about to say, and he had to force each word across his lips. "Don't you want to see Sasuke's match?"
"Of course I do! But what are we supposed to do? Lady Tsunade made it clear that she doesn't want to return, and Jiraiya is not exactly helping."
He chewed his lower lip while trying to come up with a solution. Eventually he announced, "We'll just have to drag her. Ya know, tie her up and force her to return."
"Tie Lady Tsunade up? You do realise she's still one of the Sannin. And the granddaughter of the First Hokage."
"So what? How good can she possibly be. She's old and senile." Naruto grabbed his things and packed his backpack. He was ready to leave this place behind. "Anyways, I'm going back to Konoha. I don't care if that old hag is coming or not. This mission is stupid."
"You can't just abandon the mission," Sakura called after him as he stormed out of their hotel room. Quickly she grabbed a few things too before hurrying outside. She followed him all the way to Tsunade's hotel down the road.
Naruto entered and went straight to her door. He slammed his fist against it until it opened.
Tsunade glanced at him from behind the door, eyes still tired, hair completely undone. "What do you want, brat?"
"We are taking you back to Konoha," Naruto announced with the confidence of a shinobi who had a sound-proof plan. "We are leaving right now and you'll come with us."
She stared at him for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. Without saying a word, she closed the door into Naruto's face again.
"Step back, Sakura. I'll slam the door in," he decided.
Sakura didn't move a bit. "I don't think that's a good idea."
Naruto charged. And just before he could jump at the door with all he got, Shizune came around the corner. The scent of freshly baked bread and pastries filled the hallway.
"Are you two joining us for breakfast?" she asked enthusiastically.
Sakura actually would have liked that, but Naruto took Shizune opening the door as another opportunity to finally make Tsunade comply.
Inside, they found Jiraiya.
He was lying on the sofa, still snoring. Instead of fresh bread, the air now smelled of alcohol and smoke.
"What's that old man doing here?" Naruto asked, unimpressed.
"From what I understand, they were drinking together last night," Shizune answered in a friendly tone, still hoping they could all share a peaceful breakfast.
Naruto went over to the sofa and shook Jiraiya's shoulder. "Wake up, old man. I want to return to Konoha."
Jiraiya only grumbled and turned away from him.
"Why don't you just go?" Tsunade asked. She was wearing a morning yukata and had a cup of coffee in one hand.
"Go?"
"Yes, go back to Konoha. I'm telling you, you are wasting your time trying to convince me to return."
"But why? Don't you want to be Hokage? I mean, that's the dream."
There was a small spark glowing in Naruto's eyes, one that Tsunade caught. She took a sip of coffee. "No, I don't want to be Hokage."
Naruto pointed at Jiraiya, whose pants had slid down dangerously low and revealed a small part of his butt. The man did not care though, just kept snoring.
"The old perv said you did," Naruto told her. "He said you always wanted to be Hokage. It was your dream too once. So what, you gave up on it?"
"Dreams can change."
"What dream's better than being Hokage?"
"Pretty much any dream," Tsunade replied dryly. "It's a stupid dream for stupid brats."
At this point, Naruto had heard enough. "You are the one who's stupid. You suck. You know what? You are right. I'll just return to Konoha without you. Konoha doesn't need a Hokage like you anyway. I'll tell our grandpa Hokage he's better off without you!"
"Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed, though she was not yet sure whether she was supposed to scold him or back him up.
"I just don't understand," he said more calmly, but with a good amount of disappointment. "You are supposed to be a hero. I'm not sure what I would ever do if I lost one of my teammates like you did. But I'm sure that I wouldn't just run away and abandon everyone else!"
"Are you done yet?" Tsunade asked, unimpressed.
Naruto stared at her, lips pressed together. "Fine," he eventually said. "I am done. I'm done with this mission. I'm going home." He looked at Sakura, searching for her approval.
She was unsure, lost almost, still she followed her teammate outside.
"Wait!" Shizune tried to stop them, still holding the bag of fresh bread in her arms. But the door fell shut and the two Genin were gone. "Oh no, what should we do?"
"Just let them go. They are not our responsibility."
Shizune looked at Jiraiya, who was still sleeping soundly like nothing ever happened right next to him. The smell of alcohol around him increased each time he exhaled. She was not convinced that letting those two Genin run off was the right thing to do.
"Hey, Jiraiya," Tsunade called over to the still sleeping man. "Your kids are running off."
He only grunted and turned around on the sofa, away from her and all the fuss.
Tsunade shrugged and decided it was time to shower. Shizune stared at her, then at Jiraiya, then at Tsunade again.
"Aren't you going to stop them?" she called after Tsunade.
"Me? Definitely not." Tsunade didn't stop to even think about the idea.
"But what if they get lost? They are just children." She followed Tsunade until she almost had a door slammed in her face.
With a torn mind she went back to Jiraiya. She carefully prodded him with a finger. He seemed to not even notice. Then she shook his shoulder, but Jiraiya only told her to get lost.
Shizune left him be. But Naruto and Sakura did stay on her mind.
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In Konoha, Sasuke's match found an abrupt end.
The sound of a thousand birds chirping echoed throughout the arena. The eyes of the audience were on Sasuke and the electric current visible around his hand.
Kakashi sighed as he watched Sasuke charge at Gaara. He hoped he'd made the right decision teaching the boy such a jutsu.
"I've never seen that jutsu," Naho said. Tenten had left with Neji, and Gai too had decided to check on Lee after his student's match against Hinata was over. So it was only her and her teacher left.
Not too far away, Asuma sat with his team. But neither Kakashi nor Naho really wanted to go over to them and socialise.
Before Sasuke could reach Gaara, a loud bang on the viewing platform of the Wind daimyo drew all attention away from them. A smoke bomb went off.
Out of the smoke, three shinobi emerged. The whole stadium watched as two of them attacked the samurai guards. The third outmanoeuvred a Suna shinobi to reach the daimyo.
A blade glittered in the sunlight. Next, the Wind daimyo was dead. Dead for everyone to see.
Panic spread immediately among civilians, and shinobi.
"What is happening?" Naho asked her teacher.
Kakashi's eyes were on the three assassins. On their foreheads, they wore Konoha's symbol, their headbands. But clearly that couldn't be.
The Kazekage jumped up from his seat. With a strong voice he yelled into the arena, "Konoha is attacking us!"
Most Konoha shinobi looked around in confusion, unsure what the situation was. The Hokage's guards stepped in front of him, ready to defend their leader. But they too could only wait for orders.
"Let's keep calm, everyone! Konoha is not attacking anyone," the Hokage returned in an equally strong voice. "We need to figure out what is happening. Seize the attackers. These are no Konoha shinobi!"
Kakashi hesitated. His eyes fell on Naho, then back on the strangers killing the Wind's samurai before they were confronted by real Konoha shinobi. The fighting continued.
"Go stay with Asuma," he told his student. In the corner of his eyes, he saw that she was about to protest, trying to make him stay with her. But he left before she could say a word, and joined the fighting on the tribune of the daimyo.
In the arena, Sasuke had stopped his attack. He was looking around, confused. People were screaming. Some ran for the exits, not caring if they had to push others out of the way. But Gaara's eyes never left Sasuke, his prey. He hardly cared about anything happening around them, and saw an opportunity.
Sand wrapped around Sasuke's ankle while he was distracted. He tried to jump back, but it was too late, and the sand followed. Quickly it travelled up his leg.
"I'll kill you!" Gaara yelled at him.
Sasuke could almost feel the sand squeeze, just like it had done with Lee.
Then two dark figures appeared next to them in the arena. Gaara's sand returned immediately to him to protect him from the two strangers. They attacked the Kazekage's son. The sand blocked.
"What the hell?" Sasuke screamed at them for interfering, though adrenaline was still rushing through his body from the immediate danger he had felt just seconds ago.
"State your name and village," Genma demanded. He stepped next to Sasuke, knowing that this was the end of the tournament. The two strangers wore dark cloaks, similar to those worn by their Anbu. One of them even wore an animal mask to cover their face.
The two figures ignored both of them. Gaara was their target.
The one with the mask vehemently kept attacking. The sand Gaara sent his way simply shattered as it hit wind jutsu. The other one stood at a safe distance away from them. Red hair fell over her shoulders from beneath the black hood. She raised a flute to her lips and a song started to fill the arena.
It was soothing, slow and melancholic. No one listened to it. The people around them were still trying to flee the arena as the Kazekage was yelling at everyone that Konoha was attacking them, attacking his son.
It confused the Konoha shinobi. They could not figure out who the enemy was, what they were after. So they froze.
While everyone ignored the flute song, it affected Gaara, and only Gaara. He stopped moving, pressed his hands on his ears. Each note seemed to physically hurt him. His eyes were wide as he kept mumbling for the song to stop, kept mumbling that he had to kill Sasuke.
Slowly his eyes grew heavier. He closed them, his muscles relaxed. And Gaara fell asleep right then and there, in the middle of the arena while still standing straight.
"What the hell are you doing?" Sasuke yelled at the strangers again.
Sand danced around the sleeping Gaara, whirled all around his body, and soon mixed with chakra so dense it was clearly visible to the blank eye.
Something emerged from the Kazekage's son, oozed right out of him. It was a power that turned the blood in Sasuke's veins to ice.
"Konoha is trying to kill my son!" the Kazekage yelled into the arena again.
Two Suna shinobi now came to Gaara's defence and protectively jumped between him and the two strangers that looked like members of Konoha's Anbu.
"These guys are interrupting our match. Go do something," Sasuke threw at Genma, though secretly, he wasn't quite sure whether he even wanted to continue the match. Not while a weird darkness started to surround his opponent.
"Are you serious, kid? Look around. This match is over."
Genma saw the Kazekage attempting to flee. Konoha shinobi tried to stop him, but they were still too wary to attack. Then more smoke bombs went off at different parts of the stadium. Screaming and shouting increased. Complete chaos took over.
Gaara's eyes shot open. He laughed with so much force each sound was like a bark that sharply cut through the air. It was like he had lost his mind. He kept laughing, manically, and the dark chakra around him mixed with sand took on the physical form of a tail.
It grabbed one of the Suna shinobi, wrapped itself all around his body. And then it squeezed.
There was only a short scream before bones cracked and the only sound left was Gaara's laughter. The tail went for the second Suna shinobi. Seconds later it slammed him head-first into the ground.
Genma took a step back. "Leave the arena," he told Sasuke. "Go find a teacher and stay with them."
Sasuke's throat felt tight. Blood and body parts now covered the soil he had fought on moments before. He was standing so close to death. A maniac killing his own people. It made Sasuke sick.
"I'm not running away," Sasuke mumbled.
"This is an order from your superior," Genma returned harshly. "Go join up with your teammates and evacuate."
Sasuke didn't like it. Still he tried to swallow the lump in his throat, and then left.
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"What about Gaara?" Temari asked while hurrying after her father to leave the Konoha stadium. Left and right they were accompanied by their shinobi guards.
"He can take care of himself," Kankuro answered in their father's stead.
"He's surrounded by Konoha shinobi!" she kept insisting, but their father wouldn't even slow down. "We can't just leave without him."
"Be quiet, Temari!" The Kazekage snapped at her with a good amount of harshness in his voice. "We don't have time to worry about Gaara now."
Temari hardly cared about the tone he used with her. She increased her speed to step in front of their father. She wanted more of his attention. "You attacked him - that wasn't the plan." Her father pushed past her without saying another word, and suddenly she realised that, maybe, it had been the plan after all and she just didn't know. "He is our brother. Your son."
"Gaara is a danger to us and our village. This will be for the best," the Kazekage mumbled while hurrying down the long corridor, out of the building.
"For the best?"
"Father is right. Gaara is dangerous," Kankuro gave his opinion too.
"He's our little brother!" She reached for her brother's hand to get him to stop. They were outside of the stadium already, and Gaara was still inside. They were abandoning him.
"And yet he always looks at me like he's one twitch away from killing me!" Kankuro pulled away from her and kept following their father and guards.
A sudden surge of energy hit her, originating behind her, in the stadium. She knew the feeling well. It was the aura of the onetails. The monster was taking over her brother's body.
Temari stopped. A panicked crowd left the building behind them. Everyone seemed to run away from it. Only Temari turned back towards it.
It took her father a bit to realise she wasn't following anymore. He turned around to her, saw her staring back at the stadium. "We are leaving, Temari."
She glanced at him, pressed her lips together. Spiteful she said, "You are throwing him away."
"We need to leave Konoha. This is a dangerous place for us right now," he kept urging.
"You are abandoning him, just like you abandoned our mother."
"Temari!"
"No!" she immediately yelled back at him. "Mother was good enough for you when she got pregnant with me. And then with Kankuro. But as soon as Lady Hanako was pregnant with Gaara, you threw her away."
"We can have this conversation once we are back in Suna," he tried to interrupt her.
"When Gaara is already dead? Disposed of?"
The guards around them stayed quiet and averted their eyes, pretending they were not even present.
"Temari, please," Kankuro tried as well. "This is for the best. Gaara only ever destroys things. Let him do what he's best at."
"You think Gaara wants to be like this? It's all our father. He sealed this monster inside of him. And Gaara is the one who got to suffer for it." She faced her father, looked him straight into the eyes. "You only ever think about yourself."
With those words, Temari turned away from them and ran back inside the stadium.
"Temari!" the Kazekage yelled after her. "Come back here right now!" He wanted to go after her, but suddenly, Konoha shinobi appeared in front of them.
His guards prepared themselves to fight for their protection, but no side attacked just yet.
"I'll get her back," Kankuro announced as he saw an opening.
"You are not!" Rasa tried to hold him back, but failed once again. And Kankuro sped past the Konoha shinobi and took off on a mission to save his sister.
"What are you doing?" the Kazekage yelled at some of his guards. "Go protect them!"
"But Lord Kazekage…" one of the shinobi said and looked at all the Konoha shinobi surrounding them.
"I can take care of myself," Rasa kept urging them. "Besides, it's not like they'll dare kill me."
His shinobi finally started attacking their enemies. It gave others enough room to leave and go after Temari and Kankuro. After all, the Kazekage had only planned on losing one child that day. Not all three.
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Back in the arena, the Jinchuuriki of the onetails was about to lose himself. More and more dark chakra coated him. It hung in the air, sent a sense of a foreboding disaster to anyone close. Ever since the day Naruto was born, the threat of a tailed beast breaking out and rampaging in the village had never been this great again. The onetails needed to be stopped.
With Gaara participating in the Chuunin exams, the Hokage had been aware that this threat existed. Jounin and Anbu members stood ready, and were now in the arena with the Kazekage's son and the two strangers. So was Kakashi.
The Third was still standing on the viewing platform with his Anbu guards, observing the situation. He wanted to go after Rasa, had to go after him to find the root of this growing disaster. But he couldn't take his eyes off the monster threatening his village just yet. Before he left, he had to know that his shinobi were handling the situation, and that the evacuation of the villagers and students was proceeding without interruption.
The situation was still such a strange one. The attackers pretending to be Konoha shinobi were after Gaara. And the actual Konoha shinobi had to protect Gaara, make sure the vessel would not die and release the tailed beast in the village. But at the same time, Gaara had already entered a state in which he killed whatever was close. Be it friend or foe. So Hiruzen's men found themselves trapped between two fronts.
The tail of the beast rose into the air. It lunged out, then slammed it down at a group of people standing around one of the exits, waiting to leave. The whole stadium tried to get away as fast as possible, and the doors were jammed with people.
The Hokage's hands instinctively formed signs. He was ready to get involved, save his people. But he abruptly stopped when a wooden wall formed in the tail's path. It just so managed to absorb the hit without bursting. Roots caught the tail and wrapped themselves around it.
"Danzo's man," Hiruzen realised when his eyes found the root member, Yamato, who had used the wood style jutsu. They too were involved.
But while the attack was successfully prevented, it didn't stop those still waiting to leave the building from panicking. Civilians saw how others had almost been crushed like ants by a gigantic chakra mass. So they started running, pushing. People fell, others stepped on them. Screams and shouting was everywhere.
The Hokage watched. His mind raced to find a solution, but there were so many people. The stadium had been filled with viewers excited for the tournament.
Hiruzen took a step towards the arena. He had to help. His shinobi could catch the Kazekage in his stead. Talking could wait.
"Lord Hokage." A boy appeared next to him. His hair was dark, skin pale. He was one of Danzo's favourites, a member of root too. Sai, he called him. "Lord Danzo wishes that you come with me immediately."
"Whatever he needs me for, he has to figure it out on his own."
He wanted to jump off his platform, but the boy said, "It is urgent. It's about Orochimaru."
That immediately had the Hokage's attention. "Where is Orochimaru?"
The boy looked around before answering, "Underground. He has broken the seal to the strongroom."
The Hokage considered. Yet another problem had arisen in all this chaos. But at least this one he could make sense of. Orochimaru was using the uproar he had surely helped create to steal Konoha's greatest secrets. That was like him.
So the Hokage left the stadium for the tunnels. He had to trust that his shinobi could handle the situation at the stadium, that he would not come back to his village in ruin. And maybe there, deep down underground, he would find the real root of the chaos that surrounded him.
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The Sharingan glowed in Kakashi's left eye as he exchanged blows with his opponent, a stranger wearing an Anbu mask. They were in the arena, close to Gaara. The last time Kakashi fought there, it had been during his own Chuunin exams. Back then, it was only for show, entertainment. But this fight was real. One misstep meant death, that Kakashi knew. There was no hesitation in his opponent's movements, no second thoughts. Whoever he was, he was prepared to kill.
Next to him, Genma was fighting the red-haired flute girl. Despite the horrific situation they all found themselves in, Genma had smirked when he saw her face, and said, "She's a cutie. I'll take her."
Kakashi recognised her and remembered her name, Tayuya. He remembered that she had fought Naho in the Chuunin exams, remembered that Sakura said she attacked them in the Forest of Death. Back then, the symbol of Sunagakure adorned her head. Now it was Konoha's symbol. Kakashi was quite sure that she belonged to neither of those villages.
Wood cracked. The tail of the onetails broke away from Yamato's jutsu.
Kakashi decided he had to end this quickly. They had to join forces against the onetails. But the two strangers were set on keeping them away from Gaara.
Kakashi was still in the offense, a kunai in hand. Strike after strike, he tried to go for the vital areas. Neck, chest, throat, heart. The movements came so naturally to Kakashi, it was like a choreography he'd practiced thousands of times. And maybe it was just that indeed.
He decided to change things up and threw his kunai up into the air to free his hands, then formed signs. He could feel a slight electric current rise in his hand. And before the kunai was even called back down towards earth again, Kakashi's hand connected with his opponent's elbow. The hit was blocked, but the electricity still seeped into their muscles, stunning them. With another quick movement, Kakashi's hand slid to their wrist and grabbed it. His other hand crushed the Anbu mask.
He'd never seen the face that hid behind the mask. It was a boy, a few years older than his own students, just like Tayuya. When the kunai landed in his hand again, he moved it to the boy's throat.
"Kidomaru!" Tayuya yelled in their direction.
"So your name is Kidomaru, eh?" Kakashi asked, but he didn't really expect an answer. He had a tight grip on Kidomaru's arms and a kunai to his throat. But he didn't want to kill him, not yet. Konoha needed all the information they could get first. "Are you working for Orochimaru?"
A short snort was all that he got.
He glanced at Tayuya again to find that she seemed not in the least interested that her teammate got captured. She was annoyed and disappointed by his incompetence at best.
Maybe keeping Kidomaru alive was too risky after all, Kakashi decided. With the onetails breaking out, they had no time to take hostages.
So he moved the blade closer to the boy's throat.
Before Kakashi could cut, a sudden pain spread through his abdomen. It was a feeling he knew well. Sharp, burning. Somehow the enemy had driven a blade into his stomach. Kakashi didn't understand. He was still holding onto both arms.
He let go, retreated to evaluate the situation anew.
And then he saw it. The third arm that had forced its way through the cloak, a kunai in its hand.
"What the hell?" Kakashi heard Genma say. He too spotted the additional limb that had been hidden beneath the fabric. "Are you injured, Kakashi?"
He shook his head, but he knew he was bleeding. Warm blood dripped down his skin, and the sting of the wound sharpened with each breath.
Genma used a jutsu that created a hand of stone. It sped after Tayuya, and a second one soon followed Kidomaru. They were too slow to actually catch a shinobi. Or at least too slow to catch a shinobi with decent movements. But that was not the point. It was enough to distract them, and that was all Genma needed.
Kakashi knew what Genma was plotting. He knew him well enough to read his movements. So he went after Kidomaru again, both to distract him even more and to force him into Genma's direction.
In the blink of an eye, Genma was behind Kidomaru. He swung his blade at him. Kidomaru just so managed to change directions and dodge. The blade sliced through his black cloak instead. It revealed three more arms.
The sight was enough for Genma to stop his attack. He had never seen anything like this, and neither had Kakashi. But the boy had six arms in total on his back. And they were all functioning as well.
"Are you even human?" Genma asked, then gave his attention to Tayuya again. "Are you hiding additional limbs too under that coat?"
Tayuya spit in his direction in response. She formed a sign, concentrated. "Let's end this, Kidomaru. This idiot is getting on my nerves."
Kidomaru formed the same sign as her, and moments later, both Kakashi and Genma could feel a rush of chakra around them.
Tayuya was still wearing her black coat, but they could see a sealing formula extending up her neck into her face. Her movements changed as a result. She was quicker all of a sudden. Her target was still Genma. She spinned her flute, used it like a fighting wand. Except she never aimed to hit Genma. At least not directly with her flute. It now sent out waves of sharp air instead. Each movement of the instrument had the air around them become wilder.
Genma chose the defense for now. He couldn't gauge the destruction her jutsu would cause if he got hit.
Kakashi watched them. One hand he had pressed on his abdomen to slow the bleeding. He could only hope the blade hadn't hit any major organs.
Kidomaru attacked again. Kakashi noted a change in his movements too. Similarly to Tayuya's face, Kidomaru's arms now wore the pattern of a similar sealing formula. It reminded Kakashi of the mark on Sasuke's neck. And that only affirmed his suspicion that these two were connected to Orochimaru.
Kakashi dodged an attack, then formed signs himself. A water dragon met Kidomaru's next strike. It was like a fountain that crushed him into the ground, leaving the boy completely soaked. A few more signs and the electric current was back in Kakashi's hand. This time, the electricity was so strong and dense that the air around it chirped like birds.
Kakashi was going for the kill. Before Kidomaru could stand up again and recover from the water jutsu, Kakashi would end this. That was the plan.
He sped towards his opponent. The Sharingan in his eyes helped him enhance his senses and dexterity.
Spikes emerged from the ground all around Kakashi. They blocked his path and forced him to an abrupt stop. The power that had accumulated in this hand crashed into one of the spikes instead. It barely left a crack on the translucent material.
"Crystal?" Kakashi's eyes fell on Gaara. Crystal Release was nothing a Genin would know. Not even the Kazekage's son. It was the pinnacle of Earth Release. The highest level any shinobi could hope to achieve. It turned stone into crystal, with the potential of it being the hardest material in existence.
Gaara was still fast asleep. He couldn't possibly be using any jutsu.
Kakashi didn't understand. Who else was able to use Crystal Release around them? He knew it couldn't have been a Konoha shinobi. Kidomaru had been incapacitated. And Tayuya was too occupied with Genma to be using such a sophisticated jutsu.
The onetails was screeching as Yamato caught it in yet another wooden cage. It was completely engulfing the Kazekage's son and had not only formed a tail but four legs and a head as well. All around it, crystal spikes stood out of the ground, completely deforming the landscape of the arena.
Kakashi inhaled deeply. His mind focused on blanking out the pain in his abdomen. But what he'd done once, he could do twice. So yet again, he went for Kidomaru. Genma tried to help as well, but Tayuya occupied him too much for them to join forces. She seemed to completely control the air around her with her flute, never forming a single sign.
Still Genma managed to catch her. He grabbed the flute first, broke it. Tayuya immediately threw insults at him. Then he went for her. Even with the seal active, Genma's movements were still slightly faster, his punches still hit harder. And eventually, he had her in a tight stranglehold.
Tayuya struggled, but she did not have the physical strength to free herself.
Kakashi observed it all from the corner of his eyes. The onetails was caged up, Tayuya restrained. It was the best moment for another strike.
This time, he decided to take no chances at all. He locked eyes with Kidomaru. The chakra flowing to Kakashi's Sharingan increased, and then his opponent completely froze in the middle of his movements. That was when Kakashi knew that the genjutsu worked.
For the third time that day, birds chirped in the arena.
Kakashi sped towards Kidomaru.
Not far away, Tayuya stopped struggling. All tension left her body. Instead she just stood there, whistled a single tone, then another, and another.
Kakashi heard it too, though he didn't bother. Not until he saw a wave of kunai right above him, coming out of nowhere and ready to rain down at them. There were so many, his immediate impulse was to abandon the attack and defend.
It was what Genma did. He let go of Tayuya, used a jutsu that formed a protective stone dome around him.
But Kakashi was too far into the attack. His hand connected with Kidomaru's chest, impaled him. He pulled back. It always irritated him anew just how warm the insides of a human body felt.
The boy collapsed.
Kakashi looked up again, but the kunai were gone. Genma too was surprised that nothing ever hit his stone.
It felt obvious all of a sudden that it had only been a genjutsu. After all, the girl had used those before. But Kakashi had never anticipated that she could carry visual illusions using sound waves with such an ease.
"Shit," Tayuya cursed to herself when she saw Kidomaru's lifeless body. She scanned the stadium around them, looking for something, maybe someone. Then she made a run for it.
"You are not getting away!" Genma immediately yelled after her and took up pursuit.
And Tayuya really did not get far. But it was one of her own who stopped her, not Genma.
"What the hell are you doing, Tayuya? The vessel is still alive." He too wore an Anbu cloak. His hands were full of blood. This one had killed the Wind daimyo and several of his guards.
Tayuya took a step backwards, towards Genma. "It's Kidomaru's fault. He let himself get killed."
"You are both useless." His voice was low, almost hoarse. He dashed past Tayuya and Genma towards the onetails.
Genma swayed between the two, then decided to follow the cloaked one. Protecting Gaara was more important than capturing the attackers, at least for now.
Tayuya clenched her teeth as she stared after them. "Shit, shit, shit," she kept cursing, then she too turned around and joined the fight in the arena again.
Both Genma and Kakashi immediately realised that this new opponent was different from the other two. He sped past them with intense speed, and immediately went for Yamato, who was the main reason the onetails was restraint.
The Konoha shinobi followed, but he was already forming signs. Just as they reached him, an inferno of flames flared up around him, burning down the wood that kept the tailed beast in place.
The onetails roared as flames surrounded it. Another surge of its chakra broke the burning roots that had wrapped around it.
The stranger went for an attack on the Kazekage's son next. It was the sand that followed Gaara everywhere that protected him, even while he was asleep. It formed a protective sphere around the boy that kept him safe from any attack as well as from the beast's own chakra.
Kakashi and Genma attacked the stranger together, but the onetails was once again freed. The sleeping Gaara was all that kept it from unleashing its whole power on Konoha.
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Naho made it out of the stadium with Sasuke and team 10. Asuma had told them to evacuate together with the civilians and left them. There was pushing and shoving left and right, even when they were outside. And from one moment to the other, Naho lost sight of the others. She was caught in a stream of people that all just wanted to flee. She tried to stop, wanted to find Sasuke again, but that only caused others to push her out of the way.
She almost fell. Then a hand grabbed her arm and pulled her sideways, out of the crowd.
"What are you, a shinobi or a lost child?" Sasuke complained.
Naho didn't think he actually expected an answer, so she just pressed her lips together and kept quiet. Ino, Choji and Shikamaru were standing not far away, near the wall of the stadium, away from the turmoil.
"Shouldn't we return to the village?" Naho asked them as she walked over to them with Sasuke.
"The civilians are evacuating. But we are no civilians. We are shinobi; we should be helping," Ino said.
"Asuma-sensei said we should evacuate," Choji reminded her.
"Look around." Ino pointed at all the chaos. "No one knows what's going on. This is the sort of situation in which you have to think for yourself and make yourself useful."
"Or the situation in which you just listen to your superior." Shikamaru too had no wish to get involved in anything he didn't have to get involved in.
Ino puffed angrily, but seemed to accept that her teammates both disagreed. At least until her green eyes spotted something of interest. She saw Temari, who was on her way up the wall and back into the stadium.
"Look!" She immediately made sure her comrades' attention was on the blond girl as well. "That's the Kazekage's daughter right there. I'm sure she knows what is going on."
Ino wanted to go after her, but Shikamaru and Chouji were both ready to follow the flow of civilians and evacuate.
"Come on, we have to confront her. Who knows what she's up to? If she causes trouble back in the stadium and we just leave here, it'd be our fault for not stopping her." She met everyone's eyes: Shikamaru, Chouji, Naho and then Sasuke. To the latter she said, "You agree with me, right? You don't want to just run away like a scared civilian."
"Who's scared here?" Shikamaru complained in a tired tone. "We simply follow our sensei's orders. Don't get us into trouble again, Ino."
Ino only looked at Sasuke. He hesitated.
Meanwhile Temari reached the upper end of the stadium wall and vanished inside.
"You are all such sticks in the mud." Ino was not pleased, but she was ready to quietly admit defeat and accept that she was in the minority. At least until she spotted yet another one of the Kazekage's children.
Kankuro too was on his way back to the stadium.
This time, Ino didn't wait for anyone's approval. She dashed into Kankuro's direction to head him off before he could reach the building.
"Not again," Shikamaru sighed. "Why does this girl always run towards trouble instead of away from it?"
"Please don't make me follow her," Chouji quickly said. "We should just follow Asuma-sensei's orders."
Shikamaru scratched the back of his head. This was not the first time Ino had run off on her own agenda while Chouji wanted nothing to do with it. And just like always, he found himself in the middle, the one who had to decide whom to follow. Ino was the headstrong one, who would not sway despite their decision, and Chouji was the one who'd do whatever Shikamaru decided was right.
"She's our teammate." It was the usual argument.
Chouji was reluctant, still together, the two boys followed Ino.
Sasuke and Naho were left behind. After all, Ino was not their teammate.
"What should we do?" Naho asked.
Part of Sasuke wished that Naruto and Sakura had been there with them. He didn't want to be alone with Naho, not again. And he also didn't want to be the one to make the decisions. But a short glance at his teammate was enough to know that she would follow him wherever he'd go. Just like Shikamaru and Chouji had followed Ino.
Sasuke decided to go after team 10. He certainly didn't want to return to the arena. His whole body screamed at him that it was a bad idea and that they should evacuate instead. But he couldn't be the one to run away like a scared child.
Luckily, Ino confronted Kankuro before he could reach his destination. They stood just outside the walls of the stadium when Sasuke and Naho joined them. Shikamaru had caught the Kazekage's son in his Shadow Imitation Jutsu and Ino demanded answers.
"If you won't answer me, I'll get the information from you myself," she said when Kankuro refused to say a word, threatening to use the Mind Transfer Jutsu.
Kankuro bit his teeth. "Oh, so first Konoha attacks us and now you want to forcefully read my mind? I'm the Kazekage's son. You have no right."
"Ha!" Ino laughed at him. "You know well enough that it wasn't us who attacked you. You are tricking us and I'm going to find out why and how!"
Before Ino could form the sign, Shikamaru took her hand to stop her. Kankuro's movement mirrored his because of the jutsus. But he was standing too far away from them to take anyone's hand.
"Don't," Shikamaru whispered to Ino. "He's right. You can't do this without our Hokage's approval. It might bite us in the butt."
"Are you serious?" Ino's whisper was harsh, and loud enough for Naho, Sasuke and Chouji to hear. "You said yourself that Suna likely plotted this. This is a prime opportunity."
"Just because I have some weird theories doesn't mean you have to act on them. Besides, whatever you see in his mind, it'll be your word against his."
Ino crossed her arms in front of her. "Fine. Then we'll capture him for now. Go, Chouji. Restrain him."
"Why me?" Chouji complained. He didn't really want to go close to the enemy, even if his teammate was controlling his movements.
Sasuke and Naho watched as a short argument between Ino and Chouji ensued. One that Ino wanted to win just for the sake of it. Eventually, Shikamaru reminded them that his chakra reserves were low already from his prior fight, and that they should act soon if they wanted to act at all.
Ino was grumbling when she fumbled out some wire from her pockets and approached Kankuro.
But just before she reached him, the world started to roar. Right behind them, the tail of the chakra beast slammed into the building with the force of an explosion.
Sasuke intuitively dragged Naho with him, away from the collapsing wall.
The next moment, he found himself on the ground, debris lay around him. His eyes hurt from the sudden dust and dirt that still whirled through the air. It itched in his throat. Naho lay next to him, coughing.
Kankuro used the disruption to run off. He entered the arena through the hole the onetails created. Without thinking, Ino ran after him, and then Shikamaru and Chouji ran after Ino.
Sasuke pushed himself up again. His body froze when he saw the tailed beast rage in the arena. He could feel the waves of energy push past with each time the beast sent stones flying through the air. Some of them hit Anbu, crushed them.
All Sasuke wanted to do at that moment was to run. But his body wouldn't move.
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A/N:
Ahhh, I feel awful that this chapter took so long to write. Then again, I'm also so happy it's finally out. I had most of this written for months, but the fighting scenes towards the end just killed me.
I personally really like the beginning though! Was never the biggest fan of Jiraiya, but I enjoyed writing his interactions with Tsunade here. There was this nostalgia factor between them in this scene, at least in my head. :D
Anyways, I'm afraid I have a lot more fights planned for the next chapter too. I am reeeeally hoping those don't take me this long.
Thanks so much to anyone who stuck around for this long lol.