I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Assault
Ryuu watched the sandstone sphere as Gaara's voice chanted, voice carrying through the dead silent stands. At the top of the stands' wall, Sasuke was holding a Chidori, preparing to charge. Beside Ryuu, Fu was clutching the railing tightly. Ryuu had a guess why.
"Here? Now?" Fu growled.
"Even he's not that insane, right?" Ryuu asked. "He can't possibly have control over it. But even he's not that weak-willed, right?"
Sasuke shot forward, his Chidori tearing a trench into the wall, then the ground. As Sasuke shot toward the sphere, spikes grew out of the side, as it had done the last time he attacked it. This time, however, he slipped past the spikes, driving his Chidori through the sphere's wall. For a moment, all was silent.
"BLOOD! ! ! IT'S MY BLOOD! ! ! !"
Ryuu felt bad for Gaara. The monster inside of him had protected him his entire life. To see his blood, and to feel the pain of being wounded, for the first time must be terrifying. Suddenly, a shrill chirping filled the air again as sasuke struggled to rip his arm free. A scream of agony joined the chirping before Sasuke finally broke free, leaping backward, a massive arm following. It was huge. About as big around as Ryuu's torso with spikes along it, a curse mark spread over it, and an enormous clawed hand on the end.
The evil, oppressive chakra that had been plaguing the arena since the sphere appeared intensified as the arm retracted. Ryuu's Sharingan stared at the hole, catching the barest of movements. Then, the sphere began to crack before falling apart, Gaara remaining standing there, blood running quickly out of his left shoulder.
Suddenly, several things happened at once. First, Kankuro and Temari appeared around Gaara. Second, a kunai stabbed into the railing between Ryuu's hands. Third, glowing white feathers began to drift down from the sky. Lastly, the Kage's balcony exploded.
Ryuu released the Genjutsu for himself and Fu instantly as Gaara's siblings took Gaara and fled, Sasuke following. Several shinobi wearing Hidden Sound uniforms appeared, drawing kunai and leaping at Fu only for Ryuu to appear in the middle of them, placing a Gravity Seal on each. Once on the ground, he placed a Paralysis Seal on them as well for good measure.
"Get Orochimaru," Ryuu said. "Carefully."
Fu nodded, taking off only to stop when a violet flame barrier formed over the rooftop the Hokage and Kazekage had landed on. Ryuu growled in annoyance just as Sakura, Kakashi, Naruto, Shino, and Shikamaru landed around him.
"We have to help Sasuke," Naruto said.
You have no idea how right you are," Ryuu nodded. "Fu, help out around the village!"
Fu nodded, taking off, and Ryuu and the others left after Sasuke. Ryuu took the lead, sensing for Sasuke. As they ran, he sensed Temari stop, attacking Sasuke.
"We're about to catch up!" Ryuu shouted as Sasuke and Temari began to move and fight, several chakra signatures suddenly entering the rear of Ryuu's senses at the same time. "Shit! Several Hidden Sound Jonin from the rear!"
"How fast?" Shikamaru asked.
They'll catch us in thirty seconds," Ryuu said.
"How many?" Shikamaru asked.
"Seven," Ryuu said. "Can't pinpoint formation."
"Understood," Shikamaru nodded. "I'll stall them. My jutsu is designed for delaying tactics."
"Don't die Shikamaru," Ryuu said.
Shikamaru nodded, dropping back. The others continued on, stopping in a freshly destroyed clearing just as Temari was caught in the explosion of a paper bomb. Sasuke landed opposite them, grinning.
"About time," Sasuke said. "Let's go."
He turned, taking off again and the others followed, Ryuu extending his senses, finding Gaara easily by the bonfire-like chakra signature. As they began to close in, a small metal canister suddenly fell from above, exploding into a purple smoke cloud.
"Wind Style, Breakthrough!" Ryuu shouted, exhaling a stream of wind that blew the smoke away just as Kankuro's puppet shot out at them.
Sasuke leapt into the air, kicking the puppet aside. As he did, Shino landed on a branch, watching the other keep going, Kankuro stepping out of the trees, glaring at him.
Shikamaru landed on a branch, staring down at Temari. She was lying at the edge of a crater, blood staining her side. He sighed, dropping to the ground beside her, pulling out a kunai.
She stirred, groaning as she saw the knife, reaching for her own. Shikamaru took hers, throwing it to the side.
"Relax," Shikamaru said, cutting the side of her kimono open over her wound. "I'm going to save you." He quickly bandaged her side, ignoring her pained moans and groans. Finally he pulled out a plasma pill, holding it out to her. "Eat this."
She turned her head but he forced her to look back up.
"If I wanted to kill you, I would have let you bleed out. You've lost too much blood. This plasma pill will help you replace it. Now eat."
She stared at him a moment before allowing him to place it in her mouth, chewing it and swallowing before speaking. "Why help me?
"I don't like seeing women hurt," Shikamaru said.
Temari glared at him and tried to stand, only for her legs to give out and her to crash back down, head landing in his lap this time, by some miracle. Shikamaru grinned, shaking his head.
"Calm down," Shikamaru said. "It'll be a while before your body can get enough blood back to move, especially if you keep trying to move and making our side bleed."
"Shut up," Temari huffed. "I didn't ask for your help."
"You're welcome," Shikamaru smirked, wiping some blood from the side of her face.
Ryuu flipped over the wall of sand, slamming a punch into a second wall, this one defending Gaara. Just as Ryuu's fist crashed into the wall, Sasuke blasted his way through the offensive sand with a Chidori.
Gaara leapt away instantly, Sasuke stopping beside Ryuu, his Chidori fading. Ryuu sighed, glancing to Naruto, who was under orders to protect Sakura but not attack.
"This is insane," Ryuu said. "Two Genin against a Jinchuriki."
"I've only got one Chidori left in me," Sasuke said, breathing hard. "Can you hold him still?"
"I'm trying," Ryuu said. "There's only so much I can do."
Sasuke nodded and Ryuu took of, flipping over the first wave of sand. He formed several hand seals, firing several Air Bullets. Sand sprung up, blocking the jutsu at the same time as Ryuu appeared behind Gaara, stabbing with a Vacuum Blade. Sand formed into a single point, stopping the blade. Ryuu jumped, using the blade to jump high into the air, firing even more Air Bullets. Again, sand blocked it, but this time Sasuke appeared, Chidori extended.
Gaara's eyes snapped to Sasuke just as something thick, tan, and with a Curse Mark extended from behind Gaara, crashing into Sasuke from below, launching him away. He crashed down hard, groaning as Ryuu landed beside him, staring at the tail made of sand growing out of his gourd.
"Dammit," Ryuu growled. "We almost had him. Are you okay?"
Sasuke nodded beginning to stand only to shout in pain as the Curse Mark began to spread over his bod. It stopped after half his body, but it left him unable to move. Ryuu growled in annoyance, looking back to Gaara, seeing the sadistic grin as sand solidified on his right arm, spreading until it had formed the same arm that had extended from the sphere.
"Great," Ryuu growled. "Can I fight Orochimaru again instead."
"Uchiha!" Gaara shouted, saliva running down his face as sand began to collect on the side of his head.
The sand condensed into half a monstrous face. It had the Curse Mark on it, like the arm and tail, it had Gaara's scar of the kanji for "Love" on its forehead, and an eye with a black sclaera, a sand-colored iris, and a four-pointed-star-shaped pupil with four small black dots in between the arms. His teeth on that side grew pointed and drool ran out of his mouth.
"Uchiha!" Gaara shouted again.
Ryuu readied himself, forming a Chidori as his Sharingan activated. Gaara grabbed the branch at his feet, leaning back as the arm stretched. Then, he shot forward, streaking through the air at Ryuu. Ryuu grabbed Sasuke and leapt at Gaara.
"What are you doing!?" Sakura shouted.
Ryuu held the Chidori out, driving his arm shoulder-deep into Gaara's mutated arm before the arm crashed into him, slamming him into a tree. Sasuke flew past Gaara, Naruto catching him and jumping to Sakura. Gaara grinned wickedly, and Ryuu grinned as well.
"Now you die!" Gaara snarled.
"Sorry, not yet," Ryuu smiled.
He began to expand before exploding into a ball of fire, launching Gaara backward into a tree, his tail having shielded his normal half. He growled in rage, sand spreading over the rest of his body, leaving only the top of his head and his feet from halfway down the calf exposed.
"Die!" Gaara shouted, swinging his arms upward, a wall of sand shuriken flying at him.
Ryuu smirked as he was hit, dissolving into crows. Gaara turned instantly, one arm blocking several kunai before his arm shot out at Sakura in response. Sakura screamed as she was slammed into a tree, Ryuu removing the hand instantly. The arm retracted, regrowing the hand while the hand against the tree began to harden, Sakura now unconscious and slowly being crushed.
Ryuu swore. "Naruto, that hand is going to keep hardening until we take him down. I'll need your help."
"What can I do?" Naruto asked.
"You're the east predictable, and most energetic, ninja in the village," Ryuu said. "I'll get an opening for you. You use your shadow clones."
Naruto nodded, crouching, readying himself. Ryuu took off, shooting straight at Gaara, flipping over Gaara's hand as it swiped at him before slamming a kick into his face. Gaara began to tip backward, and Ryuu's eyes narrowed as a grin grew over Gaara's face. Then, several mouths opened over Gaara's body.
Ryuu leapt away from Gaara, expecting a wall of sand, but instead, the mouths all fired a Great Breakthrough combined with sand, the jutsu blasting Ryuu into a tree. He groaned as he landed on a branch. Just as he did, Naruto appeared behind Gaara.
"Straight from the teaching of Kakashi Sensei!" Naruto shouted, drawing a kunai. "Thousand Years of Death!"
Ryuu felt his mouth pull into a tight line as Naruto drove the kunai into Gaara's rear, below the tail. For a moment, everyone stared at him incredulously. Then, Gaara slammed his tail into Naruto, launching him.
"Naru-"
"Boom," Naruto said in mid air, the kunai exploding as he did.
Ryuu's eyes widened as the smoke cleared, revealing Gaara's body to be damaged and only slowly regenerating.
The base of the tail, Ryuu thought.
Just as he began to move, Gaara appeared in front of him, smashing him down through the branch, into the ground. Ryuu groaned as Naruto crashed down beside him
"Alright, fine" Naruto growled. "I'll use my new Jutsu."
Ryuu looked over at Naruto just as Naruto but his thumb, forming hand seals.
"Naruto a Summoning Jutsu won't-"
"Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto shouted, slamming his hand down.
A moment later, it was resting on the back of a slightly larger-than-normal toad with orange and blue skin.
"Hi there," the toad greeted. "Ya know, I've never been summoned before, but I promise, I won't let you down."
"Oh come on!" Naruto groaned. "I was trying to summon the Chief Toad!"
"My pop?" the toad asked. "That makes sense. I'm Gamakichi, Gamabunta's son."
"Look out!" Ryuu shouted, diving aside.
Naruto looked up, seeing a cloud of Sand Shuriken flying at them. He grabbed Gamakichi, leaping away, several Sand Shuriken stabbing into his back.
"Naruto!" Ryuu shouted.
"I'm okay!" Naruto said as the sand fell away.
Ryuu nodded, releasing his Gravity Seal and rocketing toward Gaara. Gaara swiped at him but Ryuu used a Gale Palm to get out of the way, passing Gaara and rolling, forming hand seals instantly.
"Fire Style, Dragon Flame Bomb!" Ryuu shouted, flames blasting Gaara below the tail, where the body had just finished regenerating.
Gaara flew through the air at Naruto. Then, an army of Narutos met him, pummeling him constantly, until finally blasting him into the ground. Gaara stood from his crater, sand falling away rapidly.
"I will not disappear from this world!" Gaara suddenly raged.
Ryuu grabbed Sasuke, vanishing as sand exploded skyward around Gaara, obliterating Naruto's clones. Ryuu landed lightly, setting Sasuke down before jumping to the top of a tree. He tossed a scroll into the air, the scroll unfurling to reveal a pre-staged summoning circle.
"Summoning Jutsu!" Ryuu shouted, smoke exploding out of the scroll before Ryuu caught it.
"What do you require?" the giant crow he had summoned once before asked.
"I'm sorry," Ryuu said, storing his scroll and jumping onto the crow. "I had hoped it wouldn't come to this. We have to fight the One-tailed Beast."
The crow turned its head, staring up at the gigantic sand raccoon towering over them. "Understood."
The two of them shot into the air, Shukaku watching them rise. Ryuu took a breath before firing a massive barrage of Air Bullets at Shukaku's eyes. The jutsu exploded against his eyes harmlessly before the crow took off, Ryuu clinging to it with chakra. As they flew,the crow began to roll, feathers shooting off its wings and driving themselves into Shukaku.
"Well that did nothing," Ryuu sighed.
"Just wait," the crow said.
Suddenly, all of the feathers began to explode in a trail around Shukaku. Shukaku roared in pain, but when the smoke cleared, the sand was already mostly restored.
"Damn," Ryuu sighed. "Fu's going to hate me, but I'll have to risk running out of chakra to hurt him."
Just then, sand began to shift on Shukaku's forehead, Gaara rising out of it. Ryuu grinned. He wasn't fully transformed yet. If he could land a hit, he might be able to stop him.
"Fling me!" Ryuu said, getting on the Crow's wing.
The crow flipped, launching Ryuu at Gaara, then exploding into smoke just ahead of Gaara's hand. Ryuu pulled his hand back only for Gaara's hand to crash into him, launching him. Ryuu's vision swam, body screaming in agony. Any second he'd hit the ground and die. Sure enough, he felt himself hit a moment later, except something was off. The ground was red and stretched, caving in around him. Then, it ejected him, and he was falling again. A moment later, a second impact jarred him, but this time with a body, the body catching him. After several seconds, the familiar warm feeling of Medical Ninjutsu spread through his body, his vision slowly sharpening. He stared up at Kabuto, then past him at the giant red toad wearing a blue hapi vest and with a pipe in its mouth.
"Kabuto?" Ryuu croaked, surprised by how weak he sounded.
"Lay still," Kabuto said. "Your ribs are shattered, again, as is your left femur, your right humorous, and several vertebrae. I'm doing what I can now."
"Thanks," Ryuu smiled. "How's the battle?"
"The Hidden Leaf took numerous casualties, but they've regrouped and are pushing the hidden Sand and Sound out."
Ryuu nodded and sighed. "And Orochimaru?"
"He's still fighting Lord Hokage," Kabuto said. "It doesn't look good for Lord Hokage." Kabuto remained silent for a moment before sighing. "I have other orders. I'm supposed to capture you."
"I figured," Ryuu nodded. "I suppose my only hope is Fu, then."
Kabuto nodded, smiling. "She's almost here. She started over the moment Shukaku appeared."
Ryuu nodded, sighing. After several more minutes, Fu landed beside Ryuu, beginning to help Kabuto heal Ryuu.
"You're a fool Ryuu," Fu said, voice carefully controlled. "Why would you fight a Tailed Beast?"
"I just had to stall," Ryuu smiled, looking up as Gamabunta exploded into smoke.
Out of the smoke, the nine-tailed Fox leapt, roaring as it charged Shukaku, avoiding several humungous blasts of wind before leaping onto Shukaku, sinking its teeth and claws in deep. Then, in another cloud of smoke, it was Gamabunta again, Naruto leaping off of his head, landing on Shukaku's head and charging Gaara. For a moment, sand caught him, before orange chakra began to shoot off of him. Then, he surged forward, his forehead crashing into Gaara's.
Cracks spread over Shukaku's body instantly before it fell apart, Gaara and Naruto falling. Fu turned back to Ryuu as Kabuto stood. Fu looked up at him in confusion.
"It's fortunate for you that Fu was here to drive me off," Kabuto smiled. "I'll see you again. And Ryuu, thank you again."
With that, he vanished. Fu gently lifted Ryuu and headed back toward the village.
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