Thanks to Mdawg (I'll call you that until you give me a different name to use XD) for pre-reading!
A/N: Gomen nasai for the very very very late update…I just haven't been feeling up to writing…sorry. Another warning, even though this story is PG-13 already, there's swearing and etc.
Chapter 4: Search for Sasuke
"Kuso! I thought baa-chan said that they would be around here!" Naruto groused as they searched the area around Hidden Stone. "So if they're here, where the hell are they hiding!"
This was there third and last time scouring the village outskirts, before starting the hunt for their elusive prey. The area around Hidden Stone was littered with giant boulders, and the village itself was built into a mountain. Neji had deactivated his Byakuugan, since this last time around the village was merely a token gesture, not seriously meant to find anyone.
Shikamaru groaned to himself for the umpteenth time. How the hell did I let myself get talked into this? Now I'm stuck listening to Naruto whining all the time…Sighing, he tried to sound as patient as possible as he told Naruto the reason – also for the umpteenth time. This is really tiresome…
"They could be hiding, or they could have moved on. It's our job to make absolutely sure they are not here – however troublesome that may be – and then pursue them as neces – nani!"
Three shuriken flew right at his face. Knowing he had no chance at all to dodge, he tried bending backwards and raising his arms, in a desperate attempt to save his life. He set himself for the inevitable pain of steel ripping into flesh – that never came. Surprised, he landed on the ground with an ungainly thump. He looked up just in time to see Kakashi tossing three shuriken to the side, a kunai held in his left hand, and his Sharingan eye exposed. What the hell? Quickly analyzing the situation, he decided to take the initiative.
"Kage Mane no Jutsu!"
Sidestepping so as to see his target, he sent his shadow racing towards the direction the shuriken came from. Peering closely at the nearest boulder, he thought he saw a little piece of shadow that wasn't supposed to be there. Gotcha.
His shadow connected to the extra piece on the boulder. Shikamaru smirked. Too easy. To his surprise, a voice emanated from behind him.
"Hn. Baka."
He felt steel touching his throat, and he swallowed hard. Crap.
"Release your Jutsu." He obeyed.
The chill of metal left his neck. With a sigh of relief, he quickly ducked and rolled, turning to face the new adversary. Naruto and Neji appeared on each side of him. Kakashi seemed to have disappeared.
Ten figures stepped into view, all wearing forehead protectors from the Sound Village.
"Where is the Jounin that was with you?" This was obviously the leader, from the sneer on his face, to the way he carried himself. Arrogantly confident.
Neji had activated his Byakuugan. Quietly, he informed Shikamaru that there were none left hiding. Receiving a nod, he settled back into a defensive crouch. Before Shikamaru could answer, Naruto spoke up.
"Oy! What do you think you're doing? Do you want to get your asses kicked!" Naruto did not seem intimidated at all. He grinned at the attackers. "'Cause we're taking you down!"
"Look at the little pup! Thinks he's ninja. We'll just have to teach him a lesson won't we?" Cracking his knuckles, he signaled to his comrades. "Let's go!"
Shikamaru, quickly calculated a dozen ways to escape from harm, and to hide himself – and then realized he wasn't alone anymore, with two more people to think about. Kuso! Teammates are so troublesome… Before he could rethink his options, the enemy ninja were upon them.
These seemed to be mostly Chuunin, with only the one Jounin as the leader. They attacked quickly and mercilessly. There first target: Shikamaru.
To his great surprise, Naruto and Neji stepped in front of him, taking them in the chest. Before he could react, hands grabbed him roughly, and dragged him back, under the cover of the two disappearing clones.
"Be quiet and follow." Neji's voice came to him curtly.
They came to a boulder roughly fifty meters away from the previous spot. Kakashi was there, waiting for them.
"Good work guys. These guys are obviously here to delay us. We can't just ignore them, or else they may sneak up behind us and do us in sometime later. We have to defeat them here and now. Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru had quickly recovered from his previous shock. Apparently, Naruto wasn't so dumb after all. And Neji? Well, he seemed different…something about the way he acted, and how he seemed to accept Naruto. Shaking himself out of his momentary trance, he sketched a strategy out in the soft dirt.
"Kakashi-sensei, take down the Jounin first, and we'll hold off the Chuunin until you can help out." Naruto and Neji sweatdropped. This was the brilliant plan?
Naruto was about to complain about the simplicity when Shikamaru interrupted.
"Naruto, go in with about ten clones. Try to make each look a little different, so that it looks like we have reinforcements. I'll go and catch them one at a time with my Kage Mane no Jutsu. You take them out. Use your clones to distract the other people. Neji, you watch the rest, make sure they don't sneak up on us. Use your Jyuukenpou (Gentle Fist) to take them down if you see an opening. Let's go!"
He dashed off, hoping that everyone else was behind him. They were. He heard a popping sound, and he knew that the clones were made. And then, they were upon the Sound nins.
"Kage Mane no Jutsu!" The first Chuunin turned, only to be caught in Shikamaru's shadow. The Sound nin struggled frantically to move, but to no avail. Glancing up, his eyes widened in terror at the visage of a viciously grinning Naruto.
"Naruto Rendan!" Naruto burst past Shikamaru with his combo, and rendered the first enemy unconscious. Hmm…Almost like me and Chouji. Shikamaru smirked. This could be an interesting fight. Let's see if I can incorporate some of our old tactics…
Kakashi had drawn the Jounin off to one side, away from his students. In one swift motion, he pulled up his forehead protector, revealing his Sharingan. His hands flashed through hand seals.
"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" A water dragon appeared out of nowhere, and roared towards the Sound nin, who quickly performed some seals of his own.
"Doton: Doryuudan no Jutsu!" An equally furious earth dragon came out of the ground, and slammed into Kakashi's water dragon, canceling it out. Launching a couple kunai for distraction, Kakashi formed more hand seals, while trying to circle around his opponent.
"Ginkaze no Jutsu!" A silvery wind blew at the Sound nin, each gust ripping and slashing at him mercilessly. He slumped, cuts much in evidence.
"Argh! Bastard Leaf! Orochimaru-sama sent me, Dar Tanaka, his best captain, to make sure you die. I'll kill you!" Kakashi nearly facefaulted. This guy is so out of it. Kabuto and Sasuke are his most valued followers... He had no more time to think as Tanaka whipped out a wickedly hooked blade and he dashed at Kakashi. A meter before he reached him, he suddenly disappeared. Kakashi, unperturbed, took one step back as the Sound nin dropped like a lightning bolt, into the spot where he was standing less than a second before.
Kakashi kicked out, only to hit thin air, as his opponent vanished again. Drawing two kunai, he crouched down, never stopping his constant watch of his surroundings. There! One arm flashed out, launching a kunai to his right, and, at the same time, throwing his other arm straight out, smashing right into Tanaka's face. Tanaka flew back several feet, and struggled somewhat shakily to his feet.
Sputtering and spitting out a couple teeth, he stared at Kakashi. How the hell did he know what I was going to do? Can the Sharingan truly see the future? Will Sasuke-sama be able to do that? His fear and discomfort showed clearly on his face. Clearly, he had never actually fought a Sharingan user before. However, Orochimaru-sama had sent him on a mission, and he wasn't about to fail.
He glared defiantly at Kakashi. "You think you're so great, because you have that one Sharingan. Sasuke-sama has two – if you ever met, he would send you crying to your mommy." He was blustering, and he knew it. Calmly, not the least bit worried about the other man's idle boasts, Kakashi looked into his eyes.
Kakashi did not have Itachi's endless capacity for torturing people with the Sharingan, mainly in part because of the little problem of only having one to work with. Nonetheless, the pain and terror induced by his one eye was enough for Tanaka, who collapsed in a heap. Almost pityingly, Kakashi shook his head. This was no Elite Jounin, only another one of Orochimaru's expendable followers. Kakashi proceeded to tie up the Sound nin, and turned his attention towards his comrades' battle.
Naruto and Shikamaru were still merrily bashing their way, one by one, through the remaining Chuunins. They had already taken down four out of the nine, and were pounding away at a fifth. Neji, with the help of a couple Naruto clones, had accounted for two, and was busy sealing up the opening points of a third.
"Kageshibari no Justsu!" Shikamaru finished off the ninja he and Naruto were fighting, with hands of shadow creeping up to the Sound ninja's neck. Naruto, seeing that Shikamaru had it under control, turned towards the last two Chuunin. Time to test out this new technique…
Quickly going through the hand seals, Naruto dashed at one of the two remaining ninja. "RAIKURAI NO JUTSU!" A bolt of lighting lanced from Naruto's open palm, striking the Chuunin in his right shoulder, completely scorching the man's arm. He had no time to react as Naruto appeared in front of, after just finishing another set of seals.
"Katon: Goukakayou no Jutsu!" The giant fireball slammed into the man at point blank range, instantly scorching him. He screamed, then fell silent as two follow up kunai's thudded into his chest. Buffing his nails on his shirt, Naruto smirked at his combo. Turning, he watched as his remaining five clones converged on the last Chuunin.
"Ishi no Tate!" The Chuunin summoned forth a shield of stone, obliterating all five clones in one hit. Naruto's jaw hit the ground, and Shikamaru and Neji, who had finished their battles as well, also looked on in confusion. Looking closely at the Chuunin, Shikamaru noticed that his clothes did not seem to be ripped, or dirtied, and did not show signs of damage. What the hell?
Naruto seemed to mirror his thoughts. "WHAT THE HELL! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!" He pointed accusingly at the Chuunin. "NONE OF THE OTHERS COULD EVEN BEAT TWO OF MY CLONES, AND YOU DESTROYED FIVE IN ONE HIT!"
The man cackled. "I am sad to see that you've already forgotten me Naruto-kun." The man pulled a sad face. "But I have not forgotten you." He whipped out a card, and started reading. "Uzumaki Naruto. Shinobi of Konohagakure. Favorite Skill: Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Overall Rating: Worthless." He sneered as said the last item on the card, and he waited for Naruto to attack in rage.
Surprisingly, Naruto kept his cool, not even flinching as the last item was announced. "Yakushi Kabuto. You're just a bastard. Cards can't tell you everything." As he spoke, two hands shot out of the ground and gripped Kabuto's ankles. As Naruto vanished, a voice came from the ground. "Something I learned from Kakashi-sensei. DOTON SHINJUU ZANSHU NO JUTSU!" With a rough jerk, Kabuto was pulled down into the earth.
Halfway down, Kabuto finished his seals, and immediately, the Naruto in the ground found himself holding two sticks in place of two legs. A kawarimi? Kuso! The Naruto on the surface rolled to the left, just as Kabuto appeared out of thin air and stabbed with his chakra scalpel. Before Naruto could react, Kabuto was lunging for him again, chakra scalpel at the ready. Craaap…I'm in for it now was all Naruto had time to think before he closed his eyes and readied himself for imminent pain.
It never came. He opened his eyes to see Kabuto struggling to get up, and Kakashi standing over him. "Oyy…Kakashi-sensei, what took you so long?" Grinning, he leapt up, and took his place by Kakashi's side, as Neji and Shikamaru also jumped into the formation. Kakashi's eyes were hard as he addressed Kabuto.
"So the snake left you here to delay us eh?" Kabuto staggered to his feet, the sunlight glinting off his glasses. "No…the 'snake' – "
"—didn't leave him here at all!" Snakes shot out from the undergrowth, straight at the huddled group of Konoha shinobi. In a flash, the three Chuunins were tied up, and Kakashi only barely managed to avoid the miniature python flying at him. Shit! Found them too soon! And without Sasuke…
"Kukukuku…I see you've defeated some of my weaker underlings? Well, now you have us to contend with!" Orochimaru's tongue shot out towards the helpless Chuunin, just as Kabuto readied his chakra scalpel and charged Kakashi. Kakashi could only defend against Kabuto's attacks, helpless to aid his students. However, he was not worried, and fought almost leisurely against Kabuto, confusing Orochimaru's subordinate.
It soon became apparent why Kakashi had adopted his nonchalant attitude. Orochimaru's tongue had reached the three Chuunins, and turned into a snake, from which the Kusanagi sword popped out, cleaning slicing off the heads of the Konoha ninja. Who then promptly vanished in three identical puffs of smoke.
"KATON: HOUSENKA NO JUTSU!" Fireballs erupted from the trees, streaking towards Orochimaru.
"You think you can hit me with a puny attack like that?" Sneering contemptuously, Orochimaru raised his hand to swat down the blazing balls of flames rushing towards him.
"KAGE SHURIKEN NO JUTSU!" Suddenly, deadly shuriken materialized around the group of fireballs, all flying towards Orochimaru in a rain of steel and flames. Still wearing a look of supreme contempt, Orochimaru easily dodged each fireball and shuriken. However, as the last burning shuriken flew past him, he ran right into it.
"YES! I got him!" Naruto leapt from his hiding place, cheering, jubilant that his attack had succeeded. That idiot! He's gonna get us all killed! However, before Shikamaru could act on his thoughts, Neji had already pulled Naruto down.
"What'd you do that for?" Naruto, indignant that his victory celebration was so rudely cut short, failed to notice that the Orochimaru he hit was quickly melting into a puddle of mud. And just as unfortunately for him, it was a gravelly, malevolent voice that brought him back to reality.
"Well now, what do we have here? Three little birds, all ready to be…EATEN!" Before any of the three Leaf shinobi could react, they had been swallowed by Manda.
Kakashi was still in his battle with Kabuto, and it was quickly intensifying as he saw his students disappear into Manda's gullet. It was only because of his Sharingan that he was still able to keep the upper hand, albeit barely. Kabuto was good, especially with his healing Jutsus. Every time Kakashi landed a particularly damaging blow, Kabuto managed to heal it within the next couple seconds, thus nullifying Kakashi's momentary advantage. The fighters were starting to tire, and it showed.
Dammit, this is taking too long…time to end this now. Kakashi flashed through hand seals, just as Kabuto landed on the ground, after just barely dodging a couple shuriken.
"Hatsuiku Karamiau!" From around Kabuto, the grass grew longer and thicker, and a couple vines sprouted from the ground, latching onto his arms and legs, completely immobilizing him. SHIT! This is bad… Kabuto immediately created a chakra scalpel, and tried to twist his wrist enough to cut himself free. His plans were foiled, however, as the plants just constricted him tighter, the more he moved.
"Time to end this!" One again, Kakashi performed hand seals. "This is your fate!" Kakashi grabbed onto his right wrist with his left hand, as chakra crackled into existence in his palm.
"CHIDORI!" The sound of a chorus of birds erupted into being as Kakashi dashed at the immobile Kabuto, filled with killer intent. The chakra dug a ditch along the ground, evidence of Kakashi's power, showing the path of his mad charge at Kabuto. As he neared, he thrust out his hand, straight at Kabuto's chest, the blue chakra lighting up the area around him.
"Doton Kekkai Doroudoumu no Jutsu!" A clay dome rose around Kakashi, impeding his progress towards Kabuto. Orochimaru dropped down next to Kabuto, just as Kakashi burst through the dome, Chidori still glowing, and screaming at his foe.
"DIE!" With one last lunge, Kakashi plunged his hand into Kabuto's chest, blood spurting wildly from the wound. Kabuto's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the hand stuck in his chest. A helpless wail escaped from him as his life ebbed away. The haunting sound was muffled by the surrounding trees, and quickly faded, just as the spark in his eyes vanished with one last incredulous look at the blood-splattered Kakashi.
There was a moment of silence, broken only by the occasional breeze rustling the leaves. Orochimaru was the first to speak.
"So…I see you have manage to defeat my servant. However," Orochimaru's eyes took on a maniacal glint. "DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU HAVE A CHANCE AGAINST ME!" Without waiting for a response, Orchimaru leapt backwards, and ripped off the bandages covering his arms, and raced through hand seals in the same movement.
"Senei Yashuu!" Snakes flew out of his sleeves, straight at the shell-shocked Kakashi. Kakashi's reflexes automatically kicked in, launching him out of harm's way, but with his mind still uncomprehending Orochimaru's miraculous recovery of his arms.
"Shimera no Jutsu!" Immediately after the first attack, Orochimaru had already launched a second one. Snakes once again appeared, this time successfully capturing Kakashi in their deadly embrace. Kakashi managed a weak smirk, and whispered, "Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu."
Orochimaru's eyes widened in rage and surprise as dogs of varying sizes and breeds leapt out of the ground, and caught him with their fangs. He gritted his teeth, unable to do anything, for fear that Kakashi would trade his own life in order to kill the criminal Sennin. And he knew that it was a trade that Kakashi would gladly make.
"Before we go on," Kakashi spoke from within the coils of Orochimaru's snakes. "Why don't you tell me how you had your arms healed?" Where are Naruto, Neji, and Shikamaru? Dammit…
As if reading his thoughts, Orochimaru snickered. "I'll tell you that after you tell me where your students are hiding. If they're not careful, they might run into…unfriendly serpents…"
Not letting Orochimaru get to him, Kakashi waited for Orochimaru to go on. Orochimaru, stalling for time until Manda could finish consuming the three Chuunin, decided to reveal his secret, since the recipient would take the secret to his grave.
"Well, it was like this…"
It was dark. As in pitch black. As in so impossibly dim that even the Byakugan could see nothing at all. Neji, deprived of his most prized ability, was as close to terrified as could possibly be. Shikamaru almost wet his pants, as he considered their predicament. Naruto just laughed, earning him glares (which he could not see) from his teammates.
"Why the hell are you laughing?" Neji demanded, as Naruto continued cracking up. "Can't you see that we're going to be digested if we don't do something – and fast!"
Naruto finally managed to get himself under control enough to explain to his teammates. Punctuated by his own laughter, and the occasional snort from Shikamaru, Naruto told his story.
"Well, you see, this lame reptile's 'son', of sorts,ate me once before, and you'd think that he'd have told his oyajin to be wary of eating me. The first time, I busted out so easily, I bet I gave the damn serpent dysentery for a week." Ending his speech with a grin (which his teammates could not see), he proposed his solution. "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Shikamaru winced. Geez, you don't have to yell so loudly…
Clones filled up all the empty space left in the giant snake's stomach. "Ready, set, KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Naruto after Naruto created more and more shadow clones, completely bloating up Manda. Naruto relentlessly duplicated himself, until Manda was forced to spit them back out, or be ripped apart from the inside.
"DAMN BRAT, INTERUPPTING MY MEAL!"
"WHAT! ME! IT'S YOUR FAULT, YOU LOUSY SNAKE, TRYING TO EAT US!"
"DON'T DISRESPECT ME!"
"FUCK YOU! KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!" Amidst a giant cloud of smoke, GamaBunta vent his displeasure.
"NARUTO YOU IDIOT, WHY DID YOU SUMMON ME? I WAS HAVING A NICE NAP!"
"Oy, oyabin, we gotta take care of this worm, before he causes anymore damage. Shouldn't be too hard since we have a little…help." Refusing to elaborate, Naruto jumped up to GamaBunta's head, and they hopped into battle.
From the depths of Manda's stomach came a voice, faint, but clear. "Kaiten!"
Manda screamed in agony as Neji literally ripped at his insides, ruthlessly shredding the giant snake's abdomen. GamaBunta took his chance, and sliced his katana at Manda's head. The snake immediately puffed out of existence, rather than risk losing his life by the steel of the toad.
"Arigatou, oyabin! You can go back to sleep now!" Grumbling to himself about brats who thought too highly of themselves, GamaBunta also vanished. Naruto and Shikamaru exchanged a silent nod of satisfaction, both more than a little surprised that Manda had given up so easily. As the smoke cleared, they saw Neji running towards them, his voice reaching them long before himself.
"Watch out behind you!" Simultaneously, they also heard an ominous chirping noise. Naruto's eyes widened. It can't be…! Grabbing Shikamaru roughly by the arm, he leapt into the air, and hoped that it wasn't too late.
Just as they left the ground, a dull roar sounded behind them, as Sasuke's Chidori narrowly missed them and slammed into the ground, opening up a giant crater where the two Leaf nins were standing just a second before. Red eyes gleamed through the dust cloud as Sasuke anticipated their landing and dashed towards the spot, another Chidori in his hand.
"KAITEN!" Surprised by the unanticipated interruption of the Hyuga prodigy, Sasuke ran right into the Heavenly Spin, and was flung roughly through a tree. Getting to his feet, he wiped blood off his mouth, and spat contemptuously to the side.
"The Hyuga genius eh? You'll soon find that the Sharingan far exceeds your puny Byakugan! You cannot surprise me like that again!" He rapidly began performing hand seals.
/Flashback/
"Orochimaru-sama! Hang on just a little longer!"
It had gone horribly wrong. Instead of healing his arms, the potion had started to spread the infection. His shoulders were now consumed, and it was slowly eating its way up his legs. Orochimaru screamed in helpless fury. How he wished to smash something! But now, with the failure of his experiment, he could use neither his feet or his hands, rendering him completely powerless.
"Orochimaru-sama! Please! Don't fight it!"
Kabuto was desperately mixing potion elements, trying frantically to blend another potion to counteract the first. How did it go wrong! He mentally berated himself. It was perfect. There should have been no hitch. And yet…
Another scream tore through the air. Orochimaru strained against the two Sound Jounin holding him down. It had already reached his thighs, and it seemed to be speeding up.
"DAMN YOU KABUTO! HURRY THE HELL UP!" Orochimaru bellowed. Icy fear froze even his stone-cold heart. His dreams of immortality and greatness were about to end – and it all depended on what this medic-nin could do.
"Orochmaru-sama! Please calm down! You will only speed up the process if you are agitated." Kabuto's voice was placating, tinged with panic, trying to concentrate on his potion, and to calm down his master at the same time.
"I DON'T GIV—ARRGGHHH!" Orochimaru's body was completely consumed by Sarutobi's seal. "DAMN YOU SARUTOBI!"
The Jounin restraining Orochimaru backed away in fear, overwhelmed by the immensity of what was happening. Even Kabuto stared in horror, as Orochimaru's body started glowing a sickly greenish purple color. As the seconds ticked by, serenaded by Orochimaru's screams, the green started to glow, as the purple grew duller. With a final shriek, Orochimaru fell silent.
Minutes passed. Cautiously, Kabuto approached the renegade Sennin.
"Orochimaru-sama?"
There was no reply.
One of the two Jounin turned to leave. "Well, that's that I guess. Seems that his ambitions have brought his own demise. I will go infor—" Blood gurgled in his throat as he dropped dead, with a maniacally grinning Orochimaru standing over him, his Kusanagi dripping blood.
"You were saying…?"
/End Flashback/
"Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!" A stream of fire blazed towards Neji, who leapt out of the way. However, Sasuke would give him no reprieve.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" A giant fireball flew towards where Sasuke's Sharingan showed Neji's future position would be. Smirking confidently to himself, he rounded on Naruto and Shikamaru.
"Well, the lazy bum, and the dead last. I bet I can beat you in less than a minute." He leapt at them – only to find that he was unable to move.
"Hn…the Nara Clan's annoying Shadow Bind. However…" Suddenly, Sasuke's body was covered by the Curse Seal, which he immediately advanced to the second level. Tainted chakra streamed out of his body, breaking the bind, as he continued his rush at Naruto and Shikamaru.
Once again, Neji interfered with his Kaiten, blocking the young Uchiha's path, forcing him to take to the air to avoid the dome of chakra. Suddenly, seemingly randomly, he spun around in midair, and crossed his arms, just as Naruto's foot came crashing down.
"U-ZU-MA-KI…!" Naruto pummeled at Sasuke, who, despite having blocked every hit, was still flung around like a rag doll by the force behind Naruto's blows.
"NARUTO RENDAN!" With a last kick, Naruto launched Sasuke towards the forest. As the dust cleared, he clearly saw a log embedded in a distant tree. Shit..! That means…!
"Dobe. Did you really think you could get me with that? Allow me to show you what true power is!" He flipped to the side, so that he could include all three Konoha Chuunin in his range.
"Kuusajin no Jutsu!"
Naruto, Neji, and Shikamaru found themselves engulfed by sand, and whipped around by a roaring wind.
Kakashi mentally cursed at Orochimaru's luck. Judging by the story, the rogue Sennin had almost died by the potion meant to rejuvenate him. Just as apparently, however, was that the potion somehow needed to spread the seal before healing it.
"Well, it seems your time has run out. This is the end for you." Kakashi said, slightly regretting that he could no longer protect his subordinates. This, however, was much more important. His eyes hardened as he spoke to his dogs. "Go! Tear him to pieces!"
Growling savagely, the dogs opened their jaws to sink their teeth into Orochimaru, as the Sennin's snakes started constricting Kakashi. This is the end, I guess. I'll see you soon, Obito. Kakashi closed his eyes in anticipation, only to be rudely awakened by a yell.
"KATON: HOUSENKA NO JUTSU!" Fireballs rained down upon Kakashi's summoned dogs. WHAT THE HELL! Kakashi's mind screamed at him in disbelief. Where did that come from?
Frantically he looked around, still being squeezed tightly by the snakes. His face, worn and fatigued by his struggle with Kabuto and Orochimaru, betrayed his absolute shock at what he saw.
"Sasuke!"
"That's right, Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke sneered in the same tone Orochimaru used on Sarutobi. "Look at this power! You told me it would make me weak. Do I look weak to you!" Sasuke's eyes took on an almost maniacal glint.
"You're not worth wasting Chakra on. So…" Both Sasuke and Orochimaru tied explosion tags to all their kunai. "Have fun."
The two Konoha Missing-nin dashed away from the battleground, leaving Kakashi to contemplate his fate. However, the wily Jounin was not to be defeated so easily. He wasn't Elite for nothing. Smiling to himself, his body was replaced by a log.
"Suiton: Sanjuu Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" Three water dragons materialized and obliterated the hapless snakes. Without pausing to view his handiwork, Kakashi turned to search for his students, knowing that the explosion tagged kunai would explode any second.
There! He ran towards his subordinates, who were knocked out cold by Sasuke's last attack, lying in the midst of a particularly dense section of kunai. Exhausted, but somehow managing to dredge up strength to pick up his students, he staggered away, carrying the three Chuunin. After only a couple steps, however, he froze in horror.
KABOOM! BOOM! The kunai were exploding! He tried desperately to escape but it was no use. He simply had no strength left. As he sank slowly into the darkness, two voices penetrated the cloud of haziness around his senses.
"Suna no Tate!"
"Suiton: Suijinheki no Jutsu!"
A/N: Sooo…who do you think the mystery people are? I wonder too ) Were the fight scenes too short? Give suggestions please! And please R&R!