Chapter V

Trigger Warning: Graphic descriptions of violence

Naruto ran through the rain towards his sensei, the pellets hard against his skin, stinging the cut on his cheek. He faced towards the forest while Kakashi faced the ice castle, their backs against each other. "She's coming," Kakashi stated, "I can probably get one hit on her." Naruto glanced back towards Kakashi quickly before moving his eyes back to the forest, anticipating the enemies movements. "And then?" Naruto growled.

"And then-" Kakashi created a chidori in his hands and bolted past Naruto as the ice woman emerged from the trees, colliding it into her upper right shoulder as she clumsily tried to dodge the impact, losing her balance beneath the mud. Her scream pierced the air, blood seeping out of her shoulder as she fell back. "I'll be in the castle."

An ice spear pierced Kakashi's heart and with a dull poof, the water clone disappeared. Naruto glared at the woman and got into a battle-ready stance as shadow clones lined up next to him on the battlefield.

"I've let this go on far too long." The enemy's voice was hollow, the sound dull to Naruto's ears through the persistent heavy rain. Naruto ran forward, the shadow clones following suit, as he fell back slightly, allowing them to go in first. He broke away with another shadow clone, utilizing the others as cover, and ran to the right, away from where he put Sakura, and entered the forest.

The Narutos overwhelmed the enemy and began slicing into her with weapons, bruising her with punches, and biting every part of her body, the blood pouring out and mixing with the muddy soil below her feet. A chill wind emanated from around the woman and the Narutos were blown away in an orchestra of pops and poofs. Naruto emerged from the woman's left, Resengan in hand, and slammed it straight into her chest.

He heard a sickly crunching, felt her bones breaking as his hand plunged deeper inside her chest, bone shards toppling out of her and into the sludge, the light in her eyes diminished just as an ice spear connected to Naruto's calf and held him to the soil. Naruto pulled his hand from the woman's chest and her body toppled to the ground as Naruto fell forward, his forehead hitting his arm. He looked at the woman and gritted his teeth, the pain in his calf overwhelming his senses, and saw the woman had become fully crystallized in ice. Shit.

"Tsk, tsk. What a pity." A finger snaked under Naruto's chin and tilted his head up. Her baby blue eyes were filled with rage and hate, colder than the tallest peak of a mountain, as she looked at Naruto. He recoiled away from her. The woman lacked warmth, literally, she had no body heat at all to her - as though she herself were made of ice.

"H-How…" Naruto managed to rasp out a partial question and the enemy laughed manickly.

"Your teammates might have been able to see through my trick," She clicked her tongue, "But someone as daft as you, well, I knew it would work. You have probably never experienced ice clones before." She dropped her finger from his chin and spun around so that her foot pushed Naruto's head into the mud. He felt her grab a fistful of his hair into her hand as she raised him up again, his head inches away from her own.

"My ice clones are unlike any other. I bet it felt like bone, didn't it? Tell me, did you enjoy the feeling of murdering me?"

"Fuck you!" Naruto growled and spat at the woman. She tugged his hair harder, making tears well in his eyes. "Now, now. Is that any way to treat a lady?" With that, she released his hair and he again fell to the mud. She kept her foot on his neck and slowly increased the pressure. Naruto could feel his lungs giving out from the lack of oxygen as he sank deeper. He tried desperately to hold his breath but could see the spots of white forming through the darkness as he kept his eyes tightly shut.

Naruto reached his arms up to grab hold of the woman's leg, trying to twist his head left to rake in a shaky breath - for a release from the tingling sensation deep within his lungs - but a jolt of pressure punctured his left hand as he felt a freezing cold blade cut through his skin, emerging through his palm, followed by agony so intense, so all-consuming, that he forgot where he was.

He thought of Sakura as he faded away, saw her smiling at him in his mind, before the image flashed and transformed into her bruised body against the tree, mud caked all over her clothes and hair and face; he felt the way his lips had brushed gently against her skin… and then, darkness.

Sakura slumped against the tree trunk for support, her legs wobbly and bruised, as she finished sealing the mangled hole in her shoulder. She could feel that the scar was still frail, knew that a simple action could rip it back open with ease, but didn't have the energy to heal it fully and decided to leave it as it was.

Sakura watched as Kakashi barely missed the ice woman with his chidori before she saw the water clone disappear. She looked towards the ice structure and noted that Kakashi, the real Kakashi, was most likely trapped inside. She has a partner, Sakura remembered his words to Naruto. So, both enemies possess ice kekkei genkai. Odd.

Sakura began trudging through the sludge towards where she remembered seeing Akira last, praying the ice woman hadn't gotten to her first. She may not have liked the girl, but that didn't mean she deserved to die, especially not in the hands of someone that radiated such evil chakra.

Through the trees, Sakura saw the Narutos begin charging forward, and she took that as her sign to increase her pace. She would have to get to Akira fast if she wanted to get back to Naruto in time to heal him, if she could heal him. Sakura shook her head as though trying to shake out the dread of the idea. Naruto was strong, one of the greatest ninjas she knew, and probably would ever know, she knew that - but he was not invincible, and that woman was the devil. If she got close to him, then…

"Sakura!" She lost her footing and nearly fell into the mud as she felt the boy grab her wrist to steady her. Sakura's mouth hung dumbly ajar as she took in the sight of Naruto before her, scratching the back of his neck with a sheepish look on his face, before he simply shrugged at her and gave her his signature thousand gigawatt smile.

"He sent a shadow clone to help me?" Sakura asked.

"Heh," Not-Naruto laughed lightly, "Sorry, Sakura, but you didn't think I would just leave you in the mud alone, did you?" Sakura smiled and quickly frowned at the realization.

"This is a waste of energy. I'll be fine." She wasn't sure if she really meant that. She was having a difficult time getting through the mud, her feet dragging slightly with each step she took, and her chakra pool was depleting quickly due to her own injuries she had healed.

"Naruto?" Akira's voice was nothing but a whisper through the rain. Sakura scanned the area and saw her still hiding in the shrubs and ran to her, extending her hand.

"Akira, thank goodness!" Sakura never thought she would be so excited to see Akira in her whole life. "It's safe to come out, but stay close to me, okay?" Akira took Sakura's hand and started silently crying. Sakura put her hand on her back and rubbed it comfortingly as they began walking. Akira, not being used to ninja, looked at Not-Naruto expectantly, and Sakura realized she had no idea that it was a shadow clone at all.

"Naruto," Sakura lied through her teeth, "Why don't you and Akira wait where you left me?" She didn't want to freak Akira out any more, so she figured it was for the best if she kept believing this was Naruto. She would listen to him and he would hopefully be able to keep her safe from the battle. Sakura looked at Not-Naruto and saw his mouth was formed into a tight line, his shoulders tense, hands balled into fists at his sides. Naruto!

Sakura pushed Akira into Not-Naruto and sprinted forward, each breath was sharp and painful due to the freezing air. Sakura ran and saw flakes of snow mixing with the rain as she rounded the corner and held back a scream. She saw the ice woman now pushing Naruto deep into the mud with her foot, saw his calf and hands pinned by large ice spears, saw the familiar red flames surrounding Naruto, the heat of his body radiating towards Sakura through the sting of the frigid air, and she quickly hid behind a tree, fearing the woman would turn around.

This can't be happening, Sakura thought. She reached to her pouch and pulled out a kunai, attaching a fake paper bomb to it. She had one shot at this. She studied the trajectory. The kunai sang through the air toward the woman, Sakura jumping into a tree to watch it graze across her enemy's cheek. The woman's body stayed in place, her foot firmly on Naruto's neck, keeping him facedown in the soil.

"You think I'm going to fall for that? There's no way you'd bomb your own teammate." Sakura leaped from the tree top and focused her chakra into her hand as she landed a punch dead center onto the woman's face. Sakura felt herself being gripped by the collar of her shirt as she was launched with the stranger further into the field, their bodies skidding through the soil. Sakura made sure to twist the woman underneath her body, utilizing her like a human sled.

As they slammed into the ice castle, Sakura's breathing was uneven and heavy; the woman's head collided into the structure as Sakura held her hands up, focussing her chakra once again to her hands to lessen the impact. Sakura crashed into the building with her hands and she felt her left wrist snap as a large crack formed against the wall. Sakura looked down to her opponent and utilized her right hand to grab her shirt and lift her up, the woman's head hanging limply, her eyes closed.

Sakura felt a sudden heat wave against her skin as she looked up to see Naruto charging to her right, Rasengan in hand, heading straight for the castle. Sakura dropped the woman as another pair of hands dragged her to the left before Not-Naruto shielded her in his embrace, placing himself in front of her. Sakura watched as the Rasengan clashed against the castle, shattering the wall - thousands of translucent fragments and blood flying into the air, mixing with the falling snow and painting ground pink.

She could smell ginger and aspen as Not-Naruto pushed her head into the crook of his neck before he disappeared with a puff of smoke, replaced by Naruto who stood a few feet ahead, sweltering from the flames that surrounded him, melting the snow that had accumulated on the ground, a pool of light pink liquid beneath his feet, as he stood in front of the shards and took the brunt of their impact.

"Are you alright?" Naruto's voice was gruff and tired. He turned his head to look at Sakura, his rage twisted face softening when his eyes landed upon hers.

"Your calf-" Sakura reached her left hand instinctively towards him and hissed, her wrist listless in the air before she clutched it into her right hand. She saw Naruto turn to face her fully, reaching out to her, before balking and awkwardly crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's fine." He huffed, his gaze locked onto her wrist now as she slowly stood up. Sakura watched as the snow turned to rain before evaporating into vapor as it landed onto the flames that surrounded Naruto and she looked at him sternly, taking in his wounded hand and calf fully, seeing the way the holes had cut cleanly through his body.

"Naruto, how-" Sakura was cut short as a giant of a man emerged from the crystal building, his tall frame looming over her and Naruto as though they were nothing but worms in the dirt. His burly arm swung at Naruto, connecting to his stomach and launching him into the air, smoke emanating from the man's arm as the flames sizzled away at his flesh.

Before she could react, the man gripped his massive hand around her throat, squeezing it tightly like a python prepping its kill. Sakura's vision blurred through the tears before she was suddenly dropped to the ground, sputtering and choking. She blinked in rapid succession before her eyes locked onto Naruto's, the blue she was accustomed to seeing fully replaced by seething red, rage filled and yearning for destruction - for blood. Naruto fully lifted the enemy and hurled him back into the castle before following suit on all fours, his animalistic side winning the battle against Naruto's human psyche, a single flaming tail trailing behind him.

The giant lumbered toward him, the lucid floor webbing with cracks after each step. It wasn't so much that he was deft - he just consumed so much space that it was hard for him to miss his punches.

The right hook barreled toward Kakashi like a battering ram. Tapping off the massive fist and pressing to a crouch, Kakashi shouted a battle cry as he began to sprint, low to the ground, beneath the outstretched arm toward the giant. His kunai held overhead, he etched a wicked wound all down the giant's arm as Kakashi neared his torso. He bled, but it froze on the spot.

The realization that the frozen blood was now splintering down behind him in a wave, coming from the giant's arm, was one he wished he'd had sooner. He spun out of the way of the giant and his bloodcicles before colliding with his torso, but a flash of red and then searing, ungodly pain made Kakashi fall to his knees as half his vision went dark.

Impossible! Kakashi thought, rolling from beneath the beastly man into the wall behind him. He canceled my Sharingan?

Husky laughter bounced all over the room. Kakashi winced as he stood against the wall before lowering his headband to cover his eye. Fire-style jutsu was futile against the ice, at least on the inside. Kakashi wasn't able to test his theory about the outer walls being susceptible to breaking since his water clone had been demolished before it had the chance. That means he only had one choice left - he had to kill this guy, and kill him quickly.

"It's useless," The enemy's voice boomed, "Just give up the girl and we'll make it a quick death for all of you."

"So it is Akira you're after," Kakashi stated, "What do you want with her?"

A loud boom thundered around the men, a crack splintering down the wall to Kakashi's right, giving him a chance to take his attack of opportunity on his foe. He charged forward, chidori connecting with the back of the man's leg, tumbling him forward onto his knees. A giant arm reached behind, swinging at Kakashi, as he leaped forward, utilizing the enemy's size against him, and slashed a kunai across the enemy's face as he somersaulted off his back and skidded backwards, panting.

A low, pained growl escaped from the enemy as he covered his eye, blood pooling out over his face. Kakashi's breathing was irregular, his chakra pool nearly depleted now. The crack in the wall was large enough that Kakashi thought he might be able to squeeze through it as his enemy was wounded. He began to slink his way towards his escape just as the wall exploded, an earth-shattering noise emanating all around him resembling thousands of mirrors crashing onto concrete.

The giant bounded forward, his movements quick and sustincet, adrenaline kicking in. Kakashi noticed a red hue encasing the insides of the castle now, flickering lightly like a campfire. He ran towards the manmade entrance as the enemy knocked Naruto to the side before grabbing onto Sakura's throat. Before he could react, Naruto had thrown the enemy his way. Kakashi ducked and spun left, narrowly avoiding the burly body, as Naruto began charging forward, red eyes connecting with onyx, his teeth barred.

The Ninetails' chakra is taking over, Kakashi thought. But how?

Kakashi ran past the pair towards Sakura, avoiding the enemy woman laying flat on the ground, before lifting his student's limp body into his arms and charging towards the forest entrance. This was bad.

He saw Akira standing off in the distance and headed towards her, placing Sakura down against a tree. She was unconscious, but alive; her chakra pool almost nonexistent. It was clear she had over-exerted herself, and Kakashi took note of her now partially healed shoulder wound and felt himself swell with pride. Sakura's willpower was one of her best attributes. She couldn't recognize it in herself, but she had the power to overcome adversity - her willpower sometimes rivaling that of Naruto's when she put her mind onto an objective.

"Akira," Kakashi said, "Stay here and don't move. If Sakura wakes up, don't let her fight. Is that clear?"

The poor girl was trembling uncontrollably - Her teeth were chattering, a mixture of sludge and dirt clung onto her hair, tears appeared to be frozen onto her cheeks, and her eyes were as wide as an owl's. Kakashi forced a warm smile through his mask, closing his eyes at the girl, as he leaned down to be level with her face.

"Akira, I know you can do it. You've been very brave," Kakashi placed his hand on her shoulder. "This is the only part of the mission you need to help me with, okay? Make sure she stays put - no matter what. Stay here and hide with her until morning. The rendezvous will come this way and find you. Alright?"

Akira hiccuped, then nodded.

"Good… Good." Kakashi gave her shoulder a last squeeze, turning to get back to Naruto, as he saw a body flying from out of the ice castle, skidding across the frozen forest floor, muddied snow flying into the air. Naruto emerged on all fours, chasing after his victim, a bloodied battlecry cutting its way across the field.

The giant righted himself mere seconds before his jaw met the dirt again, a fiery red lash of ninetail energy finding the error in his step, wrapping around his massive ankle like a whip. The air escaped his lungs in a blast, scattering dirt and leaves before him. To see such a foe scrambling, panicking, digging at the dirt for purchase as hope faded … there were new horrors to witness with the ninetails's chakra every day, it seemed.

His panicking was cut short as the massive man began to be dragged through the dirt, hollering a cry so guttural that birds and squirrels scattered; as Naruto retracted his tail-whip like a fishing line, gritting his oversized teeth with a mote of satisfaction in his eyes, each crack and crunch of the giant barreling through a fallen log or colliding with a boulder sated some sadistic font within the youth. Each collision inching the giant closer to death; each drop of blood teetering Kurama closer to the edge of his prison.

I've seen enough, Kakashi thought to himself, taking off low to the ground, legs pumping furiously to try and outpace the tail pulling the giant to Naruto. He would cut off its trajectory, perhaps remove the giant's foot to free him… he'd then have invaluable seconds to decide what to do next, each moment more fleeting than the last; but he could worry about that when the time came.

Sometimes it's best not to plan too far ahead… At times he adopted this way of thinking. As the giant's body ruptured through an imposing tree trunk, only to be seconds later fully encased in a rough-hewn block of ice, Kakashi was thankful he'd taken a moment to consider - well, be immobilized by panic, really - his next steps. It seemed as though the giant had saved himself, albeit temporarily, as his now-frozen form was fully inert, a hoary blue pillar righteously looming upward among the trees. The tail-whip was trapped with the giant, too, and Kakashi winced as he witnessed the agony overcoming Naruto's face as his ruthless endeavor was stalled.

Silence overtook the forest as Kakashi watched Naruto's eyes darken; the crimson nearly resembling the blackness of night, his rage twisted face unrecognizable. The seconds ticked by incredibly slowly as realization loomed over the air. Kakashi saw the enemy's face through the ice twisted into a pained expression; an expression that he has only seen twice before and that was only brought on after months of intense torture. The stranger's eyes bulged nearly out of their sockets, his mouth hung open as though he were screaming so intently that his vocal cords would be coated in the metallic taste of blood.

Vibrations throughout the ice pillar began to shift and crack the structure, bubbles rising throughout the inside as the ice began to melt… Melt? Kakashi looked to Naruto again, heard his rage induced scream, saw his glaring eyes and the way they were locked onto his prey, saw the ninetail's wild chakra twisting and contracting from Naruto through the battlefield and connecting to the enemy through the pillar and Kakashi felt the air drain instantly from his lungs. Naruto was boiling the man to death.

Author's Note: Phew - this is the longest chapter yet, and also the hardest one I have had to write. As I have stated before, action really isn't my forte, so I hope that you are still enjoying it. I know we have had a few action-focused chapters lately, but the next chapter is going to be filled with angst and a NaruSaku moment that I, personally, really would have loved to see captured in the canon story so I hope you're looking forward to it.

Reviewer Notes: TaminoSan, Thank you for the kind words! Accidental or not, I am glad you are enjoying the story so far. Guest, I really hope you enjoyed how the fight played out in this chapter. Naruto got a few hits onto the ice woman, but I thought it would be important for Sakura to have the last hit. As for her crush on Sasuke, she has shown some signs of how she feels about him back in Ch III, and there will be more of Sasuke and how Sakura feels about him now sprinkled in throughout the story. Hc94436, Thank you for the review!