Hey, I'm so sorry it took so long to update! I've had so much homework, it's just been getting so difficult to update as speedy as before, please forgive me! To make up for it, I plan for this chapter to be longer than normal. I hope you like it!
Chapter 12
We'll Take Care of This
Sakura slowly parted her eyes. The first thing that came to her head was, Agh, my back sure is hurting…did I fall out of bed last night? In her wooziness, it took her another minute to realize what was really happening. When she did, she looked to either side of her frantically. Beside her were Ino and Hinata, and on Hinata's left was Tenten. They all had their heads hung as they slept. She looked around. Then she remembered.
"Oh God," Sakura quivered. "I can't believe…this place…we are…"
"We're back." Sakura heard the voice come quietly from the 'sleeping' girl beside her, Ino.
"Ino!" Sakura said cheerfully. "You're ok!" Ino, however, chose to keep her head hung. "Or…are you?"
"Shut up!" hissed Ino in a low, yet still angered tone. "We don't want them to know we're awake just yet." She slightly gestured her head towards the guards, guards more or less that is, seeing as they were too busy playing cards and looking at magazines to pay close attention to the girls.
Sakura got it. She hung her head and feigned sleep as best she could. "Are those two awake too?" she asked Ino in a hushed tone, regarding Hinata and Tenten.
"Yeah," Ino whispered back. "But they want to play it safer than me, so they won't be talking for a bit." Sakura nodded slightly and looked a few meters away. She saw the guys tied to a pillar like them selves. They were most likely faking slumber as well. She looked a few meters forward and saw the fellowship doing the same. Though it was most likely Chouji had been asleep.
A silence followed, and all the girls soon got very tired of faking and their necks began to hurt. They kept their positions but started a silent conversation.
"Did you guys see what I saw before passing out?" Tenten slowly asked.
"Yes," the girls whispered back in unison.
"I guess we couldn't run from our past after all," sighed Hinata, barely audible since her normal voice was already very quiet.
"It's about time you realized that." The girls yanked their heads up, and before them was Rin. Tall, dark robes, silver hair and all. Ino's eyes widened in horror. How did she get there so fast?
"But how…" Tenten stuttered. Rin laughed the same old icy laugh she had always laughed.
"Look above darlings," she said in a blatantly evil voice. The girls did so, and above them was a large morose looking gargoyle. It resembled a tortured soul. (AN: just imagine the freakiest gargoyle you can imagine!)
The girls remained silent. They were freaked by the gargoyle, but saw no significance. Rin was annoyed.
"And to think you were top students…" she gave a 'tut tut' sound and shook her head. "Let me make things clear for you- I have been hiding within that gargoyle from the moment I captured you." The girls all raised an eyebrow. "Why did I not kill you in the first place you girls are wondering, perhaps? Simple. Prophecy says otherwise, and I cannot interfere with prophecy…at the moment." As she said the last part, she cut the ropes that had bound the girls to the pillar, and they thrust forward. As they were examining their rope burns, Rin looked up at the gargoyle above the guys. She nodded up to it.
"Looks like you boys have been up to some tricky stuff too!" A voice boomed from the gargoyle, but no person was visible. The boys shot open their eyes, obviously having been faking sleep, and looked up and around. "And you boys over there! Yes, you too! You're not fooling anyone!" The fellowship bashfully opened their eyes. The voice was enough the wake Chouji up.
"I see that I have taught you well…" the voice echoed, directed towards the Sentinels. "If only you had listened to me and joined me. We could have been quite the force." The voice seemed to trail, as if the source was moving. The girls could hear it getting closer to them. Then, Rin bent down to the floor and put her hand down, as if she were letting something crawl onto it. To the teen's surprise, something actually did crawl onto it. It was a small centipede, resembling very much something that a few of them had seen before.
"…Ursula!" Shino exclaimed as he struggled to break from his ropes. Naruto and Hinata looked closely. It was in fact the 'dead' insect they had seen in Geography class earlier.
"Guess again," came the voice again. Rin then dabbed a liquid she had gotten from her sash belt onto the centipede's back, and let it back on the floor. She mumbled a few words, and a puff of smoke began to form around the centipede. There were a few small booms, and when the smoke began to lessen, the sentinels squinted to see through it while the girls and the fellowship coughed in the smoke that had accumulated in the atmosphere around them. The boys could barely make out the features, but as the smoke slowly ceased, they could make out the figure right away. It was Kiroku.
"Frick…we should have known those two were in this together," Neji whispered to himself.
"Ah, what's with the surprised faces boys?" Kiroku, shorter than Rin but more muscular, advanced on the boys with his arms folded over his chest. His hair was a dark shade of blue, much darker than Sasuke's, and his robes were long and black like Rin's. "I thought I gave you fair warning last time we were together…no matter how hard you try, I will find you, and," Kiroku did a fake gasp. "What do you know? I have!" He sarcastically held up his hands in excitement, before letting them fall to his sides. He then took on a serious face. "But now, there is no where to run."
"You got that right," Rin said seductively as she walked over to Kiroku and started to kiss him. The girls and boys recoiled.
"Egh…er…you guys are a couple?" Kiba sneered in a disgusted tone. Rin and Kiroku released.
"Indeed we are, foolish boy," Rin dropped her hand from Kiroku's cheek and winked at him. "But let's not change the subject now, shall we?" She cut the guys loose while Kiroku cut the fellowship loose, and they immediately got to their feet. Kiba glared. Me change the subject? I wasn't the one who started making out with someone in the middle of a death speech!
After all the teens were standing and poised, twisted smiles grew on Kiroku and Rin's faces.
"Now…" Rin began. "Our part of the prophecy can begin." With a snap of her fingers, which were surprisingly manicured, many dark ninjas in black robes, Kankuro and Temari included, came into the large room. (AN: The room is about the size of a football field.)
"Your part?" sputtered Ino, sweating at the sight of the experienced-looking ninjas. "What do you mean 'your part'?" Rin turned to Ino and gave her the usual evil smirk Ino had seen so many times. Ino had known Rin long enough to be able to interpret her many smirks and smiles, so she knew this one was not good.
"Perhaps you never knew…" Kiroku answered, as he dug through his pocket and revealed a charcoal scroll. He unraveled it, and it had silvery writing on it. "The dark also made a prophecy. Same people. Different outcome." He narrowed his eyes into devilish slits. "Very different outcome."
"Let me guess, bad prevails, and we die?" Shikamaru asked, pretending to be in deep thought. Kiroku was annoyed.
"Well…yes. But as for that sarcasm, Nara, you can drop it. Because in a matter of minutes, you will not be so carefree," threatened Kiroku.
"Is that so?" Asked Neji, a bored expression on his face.
"In fact it is. And oh, by the way…our ninjas have some…unexpected powers as well." Rin shrugged as-a-matter-of-factly. With that, she raised her arm, signaling the dark ninjas to attack. Once they did, the teens dispersed in all directions.
With Neji and Tenten...
Tenten and Neji backed into a corner of the room buying some time, although Neji was not fond of the idea of hiding. They got their weapons set.
"It's not pretty but…it's necessary." Tenten sighed to herself. Neji heard, and looked at her. She slipped her skirt off to reveal shorts underneath (AN: Neji wasn't like "dang" or anything…he's not like that). She had snuck them on between first and second bell, not adapting to the uncomfortable feeling that her underwear could be exposed any minute. She also took off her jacket. She would just have to fight in a tube top she figured, as uncomfortable as it was. The last thing was her hair. Regardless of what her friends say about her hair, she took out two hair ties and tied two tight buns securely at either side of her head. Neji just went on looking at her.
"I…I know it's kind of childish…and weird…but," Tenten began bashfully. Neji stopped her.
"Not at all, I think its…" Neji twitched a little, as if the thing he was about to say next was very hard for him. "…cute." He broke a small smile and blushed. When he realized what he was doing, he cleared his throat and put on a mean-business expression.
As twenty ninjas locked on to their position, they came at the two, orbs of power forming in their palms. Tenten gulped. This was obviously the power they had. Unexpectedly, they ran past Neji and went for Tenten. Neji's eyes widened. What?
Although Tenten was caught off guard, she was prepared too. She reached into her weapon pouch and took out the kunai. Neji's kunai.
"It won't work!" A ninja yelled as he and the other ninjas raised their palms, about to strike at once. They had surrounded her in a dome-like manner, ensuring no escape. Tenten stood her ground.
"Speak for yourself," Tenten said firmly, holding the kunai out in front of her. She looked at Neji, who was looking back at her. He was giving her a questioning expression, as if asking if he should take care of this. Surprisingly, she returned it in a way that said she wanted to handle this on her own. Since Neji understood everything, he could understand this. His eyes were wide and for the first time, she saw passion and fear for her safety. Seeing Neji only fed her desire to stay where she was that much more.
Suddenly, as fast as the ninjas had ran at Tenten, they came to a halt, and they stumbled back in horror. Tenten looked at her ankle. The lines had just barely not enveloped her entire body, and as long as they were not fully out reached, she could still get a hold of her powers. The lines as well as the mark on her ankle began to glow a brownish color. The earth around Tenten shook, as it grew overcome with power. The kunai began to glow as well, becoming interlocked with the power of the mark. Tenten developed a brown powerful aura. A few rocks rose from the ground and gathered around her. She drew back the kunai. About ten sharp-edged rocks flew into other air and surrounded the circumference of the kunai. Then, Tenten struck the first ten Ninja, all in one blow. Many sharp rocks seemed to move with the motions of the kunai, so it was a piece of cake for Tenten.
Neji was flabbergasted by this onslaught of power. He knew that she had hidden power like his own, but he had no idea she could utilize it so well.
Power remained in Tenten's eyes. She lifted her other arm, and the ground she was standing on tore from the ground and levitated. Tenten managed to keep her balance. The rock lifted her high above the five of the ninja, who were cowering in the corner Neji and herself were just it. Complete roll-reversal.
As long as Tenten's mark was active, she was not about to spare any lives that meant nothing to her. Especially those threatening to take her and her…close one's…lives. Bringing her hands up, lifting many rocks with them, she was poised to crush the ninjas. All of a sudden, just as she was about to release the power, she felt her arms snatched from behind her and twisted backward. She screeched in pain. It was the other five ninjas. How did I miss those ones?
"Invisibility…it's a great technique, is it not?" The ninja who had her arms asked of Tenten. Tenten dropped to the floor but they still had hold of her arms. At this point, they were definitely broken (AN: Kinda like how Zaku's were, but not as serious.) While her hands were behind her, they took the kunai from her hands as if they were parents taking candy from a baby. Tenten squinted her eyes shut. No…
One of the ninjas lifted the kunai, ready to strike Tenten fiercely. He swung it down. Just as the kunai was about to come in contact with Tenten's skin, it stopped. The ninja gasped and kept trying to break the force protecting Tenten. However much he tried, he could not. If Tenten had enough strength in her arms, she would have taken this chance to snatch back the kunai, but she couldn't. She caught glimpses of the handle though…the 'N. Hyuuga' inscribed on it began to glow. The light coming from the initials swathed the weapon and it heated up. The ninja holding it withdrew quickly, dropping the kunai immediately.
Neji walked over and picked it up, twirling it between his fingers casually.
"Looks like some people haven't yet learned at their preschool that stealing has consequences." Neji slowly walked towards the ninjas as they instinctively walked back with every step he took toward them, one of them clutching his burnt hand.
Neji, like Tenten, lifted the kunai as it was followed by even more rocks of all different minerals. They were definitely deadly. Tenten was still on the floor, feeling helpless. Then she looked in the corner to see five other ninjas piled up in a corner, dead. She grinned. She knew just who was behind it.
By the time she looked back at the other five ninjas, all Tenten could see were bodies laid sprawled out on the ground. Her eyes widened.
"Ne…Neji…" She gasped, surprised at the quick defeat. He looked back at her and kneeled down beside her. He looked at her bruised arms.
"Don't worry," he said, helping her up. "I'll take care of it." He reached into his pouch and pulled out some pills. Tenten looked confused.
"What are those?"
"They're kind of like food pills, only they restore health," Neji replied. Then he turned slightly pink. Why couldn't he act like the impassive and cold Neji he had lived up to for all these years? "These are the last ones I have left and…I simply thought if I wanted anyone to use them it would be…" Neji was interrupted when Tenten lightly kissed him on the lips. "…you." He finished, blushing madly. Tenten blushed too. They shared a look of understanding before breaking the link and getting serious. Tenten swallowed the pills with her spit and they both looked for their friends, their hearts pounding in the process.
With Hinata and Naruto...
Hinata and Naruto ran down a corridor they had found. To their dismay, it led to a dead end.
"Crap!" Naruto yelled. Hinata just shivered. Naruto looked back at her. "Don't worry Hinata, we'll find a way out of this," he assured her. She stopped quivering and nodded, wanting to look confident.
"Not if we have anything to say about it." Hinata heard a hard clink of weapons and spun around to see Naruto holding a ninja, who was most likely going for Hinata, off with a kunai. Hinata gasped.
"Naruto!" she cried, almost in tears to see him in the struggle. It was quite a struggle- as fine as Naruto was trying to make it appear, he was obviously shaking and pulsating. Hinata didn't like watching this one bit. Rin's parting words to her came flowing back into her head, like an annoying song that won't stay away.
"You are weak and fragile...people like you will never succeed. If it weren't for the help of your friends, you wouldn't even be alive right now."
Hinata squinted back tears. She had met the sad truth, and the truth was that Rin was right. All she had ever done was watch people protect her, never participating in the dilemma to begin with. And now…the lives of her friends and Naruto were on the line and she was just standing along the sidelines, watching every bit of it. Just as Rin had said.
Hinata, shivering, pulled a shuriken out of her weapons pouch. Still shaking, she held it back, ready to catapult it at the ninjas. The one fighting off Naruto took a second to look at her.
"Stay back little girl. You know, I was planning to kill you…but you seemed all too innocent and pitiful. I guess I will just have to kill your boyfriend instead…so why don't you just put that sharp weapon down before you hurt yourself." Hinata had experienced degradation before, but this she could not take. Definitely not in front of the person she cared for. She slightly loosened her grip on the kunai. Just as she did, a second memory flooded back into her thoughts.
"Do you see now? Not only are you weak, but you are ignorant as well! This is why you will not make it. Trusting your enemies just because they tell you to? You will certainly perish long before the others. And I'm not the only one who sees it…they do to."
It was this thought that fed Hinata's strength. Never before had she became so determined to achieve one goal. And this goal was to prove Rin wrong. She could be strong, and she didn't need her friends help to survive. She would prove it right here and now.
Hinata lowered her gaze. Her mark grew, and covered her. Her body was outlined in a flowy blue line, and her eyes had grown powerful and confident as opposed to shy and quiet. Naruto took a moment to look at her. She's releasing it…she's no longer afraid! I knew she would be able to from the moment I saw her.
Water began to squirt rapidly through the cracks in the corridor like pipes springing leaks all at once. She raised her arm and the flow strengthened. In fear, the ninjas backed off Naruto and looked around for an easy escape but the only entrance closest to them was blocked off by rocks (guess by whom?).
Naruto scrambled over to Hinata.
"Hinata…" he began.
"Naruto." Hinata interrupted in a deep tone you would never hear Hinata Hyuuga use. "Stay behind me. I've got this." She thought the words as the water pressure intensified. I've got this.
After a period of raising her arm, Hinata brought it down again and pointed at the enemies. In the blink of an eye, all the water shooting from the cracks all shot directly at the ninjas, blasting them with enough force to tear open a human. Hinata knew that the pressure of the water blasts was enough to kill, so she grabbed Naruto by the hand and pulled him out of the corridor into safety before they were sucked into the flooding corridor by the accumulating water.
As they leapt out into the football field-sized room, they shakily stood up. Hinata's power had long since faded, and she was back to her normal self.
"Hinata…" Naruto began.
"I'm so sorry Naruto. I know I should have stepped in earlier but I was just…"
"Hinata."
"I don't know, but the thing is I guess I just really…care about you and I couldn't bear to see you hurt, and…." Before she could go on, Naruto pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek. She blushed madly.
"I know, Hinata, I know," he said, still embracing Hinata. Hinata hugged back. Regardless of all the unfortunate events that had occurred that day, she was glad they happened. As a result, not only did she finally admit her feelings to Naruto, but she also proved herself to everyone. That was all she really wanted to do in the end.
With Sakura and Sasuke...
"This way, Sakura!" Sasuke tugged Sakura behind a large pillar as they braced themselves for the attackers. They panted as they reached for their weapons.
"Sasuke," Sakura said to Sasuke as he summoned up his Sharingan. He looked at her, and she was almost taken aback by the red of his eyes. She liked the dangerous air it gave him. Realizing this was entirely the wrong time to check Sasuke out, Sakura got to her point. "I was thinking. And if we are going to die here, then I thought I should tell you that," She stopped in her words when a dagger was flung just barely missing her head. She slightly dripped blood down her forehead, but it wasn't serious. She gulped. I guess this will have to wait till later.
Sasuke leapt out from behind the pillar and attacked. Half the ninjas took on him, while the other half cornered Sakura. Sasuke defeated each ninja with much ease, but Sakura could not summon up a way to get out of her position.
"If you're not careful, that oversized brain might become a bit of a burden for you. Who knows…maybe when you need it the most…it will turn on you."
Well this was just brilliant. Now of all times. She could always think up some way to get out of twists, but now…she was empty. She could not seem to grasp any sort of knowledge as to how to save her. She could only think of one thing that would get her easily out of this situation. And that was her mark. As the ninja were enjoying her mental struggle, Sakura's mark took her over and wind began to swirl around her.
"Hey Sakura, I finished off the ninja over…" Sasuke stopped when he saw Sakura's transformation. "…Here?"
As the wind around Sakura increased, she thought to herself. Oh, big brain within my wide forehead, don't fail me now.
It certainly did not, as the wind slowly but surely moved away from Sakura and to the enemies. It broke off into two. Then four. Then six. They continued to multiply until they surrounded the ninja. The ninja were all swept up by the small tornadoes, and after they were, each miniature tornado joined into one to create just about the deadliest cyclone you could ever see. They swirled round and round in the wind until they became blurs. After Sakura thought it was enough, she ceased the harsh winds and the ninja's fell to the floor, limp. She smiled with gratitude as the mark receded.
Sasuke stood with his mouth hung open. That happened all too fast…how did she possibly do that?
Sakura felt her knees wobble, and her legs give out from under her. It took a lot of energy to create a simply tornado. Sasuke ran over and caught her in her mid-fall. Sakura looked up at him trying as hard as she could to keep her eyes open. How could she possibly pass out in the midst of being held in the arms of the guy in which she maybe…loved?
Unfortunately, Sakura's many attempts failed, and the last thing she saw before falling asleep was Sasuke's mouth coming own onto her own. She smiled lightly as she fell into a peaceful sleep. Her mind had come through after all.
With Ino and Shikamaru...
"Go back to the others! We want to handle these two on our own." Temari turned to look at Ino and Shikamaru defiantly, Kankuro at her side.
Ino attempted bolting for it, but Temari flipped open her newly fixed fan, blocking her passage.
"Ah, ah, ah, Ino!" Temari wagged a finger at the disgruntled Ino. "It's rude to run away from a conversation."
"It depends on your idea of a conversation…" Ino growled.
"Watch it there, Ino!" Kankuro said, wiggling his fingers as his puppet moved in the same motions. "You wouldn't want my fingers to accidentally…slip." Just as he said this, he let loose two threads. Two poisonous needles were flung at Ino and Shikamaru. Ino knew what would come next, but still attempted dodging. Like that's going to save me.
Shikamaru dove in front of Ino, pushing her aside as Sasuke had done with Sakura. Only unlike Sasuke, Shikamaru ended up taking both hits.
"Shikamaru!" Ino dropped to her knees next to Shikamaru, taking his hand. He quivered.
"Ino," he said wrapping his fingers tightly around hers. "Before anything else happens…I just have to admit…"
"Yeah, yeah, 'you love her and could not live with yourself if anything happened to her.'" Kankuro mimicked, interrupting the moment. Temari chuckled.
"My, my, Shika, you still are as dense as ever." Temari laughed as she walked to where the couple was. "Do you not remember me telling you that fuzzy moments piss me off more than anything?" She raised her fan. Shikamaru grunted and grabbed his stomach.
Oh God no. Ino bit her lip. The poison was getting to his system. As if the situation weren't bad enough, they also had two rivals who's intent was to crush their souls in their presence. There was simply no bright side to look on. Except…
Of course…the mark.
"What's this? Don't tell me you're trying to win!" Temari laughed and directed her fan towards the standing Ino. "No matter what you do, Shikamaru will die."
"And this is coming from my girlfriend until only two hours ago?" Shikamaru said with some strength he had left, raising an eyebrow. Temari glared at him.
"Don't worry Shika. You won't have to worry about that anymore, since you will be dead within a few minutes. The poison of Kankuro's puppet- Kankuro? What are you doing?" Temari barked at Kankuro, who was switched liquid-filled bottles in his puppet. He stopped and looked at his sister in a nervous way.
"Um…hehe…uh…" He began, rubbing the back of his head.
"Tell me…that was poison." Temari growled at him, clutching her fan in anger. Kankuro shakily stood up straight.
"Well, you know the paralyzation serum I injected in Ino earlier? Well, it was kind of in the puppet, and I didn't realize until just now that I had the poison in my pocket and-"
"WHAT?" Kankuro was cut off by the scream of Temari. Kankuro tried to calm her down as she went on screaming at him how incompetent and stupid he was and so on…
Ino took this as her chance. She exchanged a look at Shika. He nodded. Just as Ino was about to concentrate on her mark, Shikamaru slowly grabbed her wrist with the last inch of movement he had and pressed it on his own mark. Ino's eyes turned to surprise, as she felt power surge through her and the lines from Shikamaru's seal pull back in. Once the process was complete, Shikamaru released her, grinning. Temari and Kankuro continued bickering, not noticing at all what just happened.
"Ok…" he began. "Go now." He kissed Ino. Ino was enjoying it until she felt Shikamaru's lips stiffen. Was she doing something wrong? Was she a bad kisser or something? She withdrew with a hurt expression on her face.
"Sorry…Serum…" Shikamaru explained as his whole body stiffened out.
"Oh…" Ino turned red. "Right…" Though she was slightly angered that thanks to the serum, the kiss had been ruined, it was much better than having him die. She turned back to the enemies, and used her powers as well as Shika's to break her seal. It was then that the siblings finally noticed that Ino had changed.
"You idiot! Had you done something right for a change, we would have crushed them by now!" Temari yelled at Kankuro. Ino smirked as she once again took up her flaming aura and fiery eyes.
"Now where were we when we left off?" Ino said to Temari, as a fireball developed in her palm again only much larger thanks to the distribution of power from Shikamaru. "Oh yeah, I remember. I was about to finish you off." Ino threw the fireball at Temari, and decided to split it so one would hit Kankuro too. "And this is for grabbing my butt and harassing me in the hallway!" Ino snapped at Kankuro. Temari attempted blowing the fire away from her with her fan, but the orb did not waver whatsoever. It was going to be a dead hit. It burned through Kankuro's puppet (AN: REJOICE! THE UGLY PUPPET IS GONE!), then through Temari's fan. Unfortunately, although Temari's blow had not lessened the fireball, it had in fact shifted its direction ever so slightly. Temari's had just gone over her head, though it set her hair on fire. Kankuro's hood had caught on fire. They were both jumping around hysterically as Shikamaru and Ino watched them, amused.
"MY HAIR! MY HAIR!" Temari shook her head in hopes to set the fire out, but it would not work. Kankuro did the same with his own hood, but it wouldn't come out. Ino decided to leave them like that, seeing as they were utterly too defenseless and pathetic to be worth a cool death. While the two were running around frantically, Ino lifted the stiff Shikamaru and carried him back to the big room, running. She smiled as she did so. As far as she could see, the good prophecy was fulfilling.
Back at the football field-sized room...
"Look! Sasuke!" Sakura pointed at the doorway. "Is that…?"
"Yep," Tenten answered, laughing at the site. Ino was running towards them, having a hard time supporting Shikamaru's weight. Her friends ran to help her and they set Shikamaru down gently. The effect was wearing off, so he could almost sit up.
"So, it looks like you guys had success?" Neji asked Shikamaru. Shikamaru nodded as he and Ino grinned at each other, then looked back at the hallway they had come from. They could see it glow from within, and then laughed. Everyone looked at them for laughing randomly. They stopped.
"I think we all did!" Said Naruto cheerfully, jumping up and down. "Even them!" He pointed at the pillar. Sitting down were the fellowship, looking as if they had not moved at all. They had no wounds or scratches on them.
"What the…?" Tenten asked, looking them up and down.
"Well, seeing as no one came after us, we felt no reason to attack." Kiba shrugged, putting his hands behind his head.
"No one came after you?" Hinata asked surprised.
"Not a soul," answered Kiba.
"It is not that we did not want to help you! It's just that we did not want to step in the way of prophecy." Lee assured them. They all sighed. That was the fellowship for you.
"Guys…" Sakura gulped. They all looked at her.
"What is it?" asked Ino. Sakura lifted a shaking finger a few meters away. Standing there were Rin and Kiroku with very troubled looks on their faces. On one side of them was Temari, only with her hair all blackened and burnt. The teens laughed at this, earning a scowl from Temari. On the other side was Kankuro, the top of his hood burnt, and the top of his head bald. They laughed even more.
"I thought you said you and your army could handle them…" Kiroku growled at Temari.
"I thought we could…" Temari tightened a fist.
"You really screwed up this time." Rin said. Temari looked at the floor, knowing about the consequences that would most likely follow.
"No matter," sighed Kiroku, stepping forward. "If these amateurs could not defeat you…it looks like we will just have to take care of you ourselves." Rin cackled a bit and stepped forward with him, winking.
"Indeed we will," she said as they both held their hands open, ready to yoke their strength together. The teens backed away, ready to attack when necessary. The pairs linked hands from behind their backs. Kiba looked around. I wish I had a hand to hold…he looked at Shino, Lee and Chouji. On the second thought, never mind.
Just as suddenly as everything had been that day, something intercepted Rin and Kiroku's path toward the teens. It was sand. They all looked to the right at the source.
Out of the shadows stepped Akio.
"If you think I will let you hurt these teenagers, you have one more thing coming…mom and dad." Slowly, Akio began to morph. He began to shrink in height and his hair turned red. His eyes were black around the edges, and he looked about the same age as the teens now. They stood open mouthed, watching this change. Who knew?
"Gaara…" Rin narrowed her eyes. "After all these years…" She closed her eyes and laughed to herself.
"You always were the disappointment of the family." Kiroku shook his head. "So desperate, you had to take up the alias of a high school math teacher? How pitiful. At least your brother and sister here were crafty." The boy who was apparently Gaara now, also narrowed his eyes.
"You wouldn't know crafty if it kicked you in the butt, father. But you will soon. I will finish this once and for all."
Wow, extra long chappie! I added romance too, because I realized my story was lacking that element a bit. I hope you guys liked reading this chapter as much as I liked writing it : ) Sorry if it was unbearably cheesy to anyone! But again, I hope you like where the story is. Climax! Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun……sorry. Very late at night. Just had soccer game. Must upload chapter…thanks so much for reading, stay tuned! (Always wanted to know how it felt it say that…)
