Damn. I knew being a Chunin would be troublesome as hell. Shikamaru thought to himself, lost in the depths of his mind. He found himself looking up at the clouds the way he usually did despite the current situation.
To say they were getting destroyed was an understatement.
The boy Zaku was fighting the five of them so well that they couldn't even help Kurenai who wasn't faring that well against Fire.
"Unh!"
Shikamaru flinched at the cry of pain being released from the sensei of Team 8. With a weary glance, the Chunin looked to see the woman doubled over. Blood streamed down her clothes as Shikamaru's tired eyes caught sight of a pink crystal blade protruding out of Kurenai's back through her midsection.
"KURENAI-SENSEI!" A female voice shrieked out of terror.
Ino...Shikamaru identified the voice as he hissed out of both pain and frustration. Damn!
There was no Genjutsu. Kurenai had actually been stabbed.
"Sensei!" Shikamaru heard another high female voice, one he immediately identified as Tenten. Said girl removed a scroll from her pockets. Unraveling the scroll in midair, Tenten thrusted a single hand in the middle of it. One cloud of smoke later and Tenten was now running toward Guren with a kusari-fundo in her left hand and the scroll in her right.
Seeing what the girl was trying to do, Temari swung her fan at the purple-haired girl's direction. Guren saw this, removing the crystal blade from Kurenai, kicking her away with a front kick to the chin, and turning toward the strong gust of wind unleashed from Temari's fan.
Running through a series of hand signs, Guren threw arms out toward the ground, releasing a wave of chakra. chakra that engrained itself in the ground. Suddenly, a fairly sized red crystal wall shot up from the ground. The gusts of wind crashed against the wall. However, Temari was shocked to see that the crystal wall was so sturdy and strong that it had practically no effect at all.
"N-No way!" She gasped with shock as Tenten took initiative.
She ran circles around Guren, throwing one side of her kusari-fundo into the ground as she did so. Her enemy smirked, not fazed by her actions at all. Tenten stopped running, tugging around on the chains as they ensnared Guren, who let out a small grunt as the metal dug into her body.
Tenten rolled her arm around, causing the scroll in her hand to spin around. She infused chakra into the scroll, activating it and releasing its contents toward Guren in the form of paper bombs, shuriken, kunai, maces, etc.
Unfortunately, her attempt at an attack did nothing, as the next thing she knew her kusari-fundo was destroyed, and Guren was encased in a large crystal that shielded her from all of the weapons released from the scroll.
A drop of sweat rolled down Tenten's face as she stepped back out of shock. "Is there no limit to how strong her defense can be?"
THUK!
Tenten's eyes widened at the sound.
She went through the ground that quickly?! She looked down to her feet just in time to see the ground beneath burst apart, and out of it came Guren, who was aiming a crystal-covered fist right at her face.
It all happened so fast. One second, Tenten saw Guren, the next, complete darkness as she felt a loud scrunch and crack in her nose. She released a loud cry of pain as she was thrown into the air with a stream of blood cascading from her nostrils. As soon as gravity took hold of her body, she felt a hand grip her collar tightly to the point where she was almost being choked.
"Seems like you have a broken nose now." Guren muttered mirthly, smirking at the girl's pained expression as she slowly and painfully opened her eyes to her dominant opponent. The crystal user cocked her crystal hand back, a sadistic smirk on her face. "What should we break next? Your arm? Your leg? Your ribs?"
Shit! Shikamaru thought to himself with alarm. It's a drag, but I have to do something!
He stumbled to his knees, turning toward Guren and forming his most signature hand sign. He concentrated, and concentrated. His shadow wiggled momentarily before thrusting forward towards it's owners' enemy.
"I decide your ribs!" Guren shouted as she threw a hook, aimed for Tenten's side.
The weapons specialist flinched, shutting her eyes and bracing for the pain...only for it never come. She peeked through closed eyes to see Guren's body shaking...as if it was fighting some external force.
A small smile appeared on her face. She knew what was happening.
Kagemane no Jutsu (Shadow Possession Jutsu)...is a success! Shikamaru thought weakly.
"Ino! Choji!" He yelled with a raspy voice.
"Right!"
Ino thrusted her hands out for, aiming them at Guren as she recited the name of her Jutsu. "Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Possession Jutsu)!"
Guren's body flinched as ino's real body collapsed to the ground. It wouldn't be for long, but Ino had control for a couple of seconds at least.
Seeing that his comrade had succeed in using her Jutsu, Shikamaru disengaged the paralysis Jutsu so Ino could move.
As soon as she regained the ability to control her body, Ino relinquished her grip on Tenten's collar, dropping the girl's body to the ground. She began to walk away from the body when suddenly, she felt a pull.
It wasn't much, but at least Tenten was free…
Ino shot open her eyes, finding herself back into her own body once again. She jerked her head in Guren's direction to see Choji running onto the scene, grabbing the injured Tenten and running her to safety as fast as he possibly could. Whether it was the trauma of the last time they fought that made him run so fast or the fact that a friend was in danger, Ino didn't know.
"How annoying!" Guren glared at Ino, who immediately cowered under the powerful kunoichi's gaze.
WHOOSH!
"GAH!" Guren cried out, taken off guard by a sudden gust of wind that took her off balance. She glanced back and saw Temari, who had swung her fan, at the corner of her eye with a proud smirk on her face, the very sight of which immediately made Guren want to throw her face into the ground.
"Zankuuha (Slicing Sound Wave)!"
Temari screamed as a sound wave was blasted into her body, throwing her into the ground.
Zaku smirked, turning his attention to Ino, who was still shaking with fear at the amount of killing intent Guren was releasing. In a flash, he practically teleported in front of Ino, who gasped out of shock.
She was so taken off guard that she didn't even have enough time to defend herself from a knee to her bandaged stomach.
"GUH!" Ino choked, doubling over Zaku's knee.
Removing his knee from the blonde's stomach, Zaku backhanded Ino across the face. She screamed as she stumbled to the ground, a red mark where his hand had hit her.
"I'm going to enjoy taking every single one of you down." Zaku grinned, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. However, as soon as he was about to make a move, a kunai whizzed by his face. The Oto nin winced as a small cut appeared on his face with a small streak of blood coming out of it.
Irritated, Zaku turned to see Kurenai, a hand over her wound from Guren, standing with her other hand outstretched as she had been the one who threw the kunai.
She's still standing, huh? Zaku thought to himself. That's one thing about Konoha Shinobi. They can be damn stubborn.
"Jonin or not, you're not invincible!" Zaku gloated with a sadistic grin. "That wound is definitely going to hinder you. And with this baby's power…" He gestured to the black marks riddling half of his body. "You stand no chance!"
"She may not…" A voice entered the clear, giving pause to the current situation. A small smile appeared on Kurenai's face, immediately identifying the gruff voice. "But what about me?"
A cloud of white smoke appeared, and out of it was the legendary sage Jiraiya, who spotted a wide grin on his face. Behind him came Naruto, carrying an unconscious Sasuke on his shoulder, Sakura, who was supporting an injured Hinata, Gaara, a limping Asuma, Guy, carrying an unconscious Kakashi on his back, along with Neji, Shino, Kiba, and Kankuro.
The ones who were left uninjured and we're practically in sound condition all had a fire burning in their eyes. They were raring to go.
Guren's eyes widened as she saw the man leading the pack. Jiraiya of the Sannin. There was no way in Hell she and Zaku were going to contend with someone as strong as that.
"Let's go, brat!" She shouted. The boy hissed with anger, but he relented and along with Guren, he used the Shunshin no Jutsu (Teleportation Jutsu) to flicker away from their enemies.
"Hey!" Naruto shouted as the two disappeared. "Don't run away you bastards!"
"Enough, Naruto." Jiraiya ordered, the grin on his face now gone, replaced by a frown. The mission was a failure. When he infiltrated Orochimaru's hideout, he was hoping to find his former teammate, but all he encountered was a Kabuto Bunshin that quickly dispelled itself along with the Sound Four. Breaking out of his reflection on the past, he glanced at his fellow Konoha Shinobi, taking in their current conditions.
Sasuke and Kakashi...completely incapacitated.
Hinata...broken leg.
Tenten...broken nose.
And that was just at a first glance. He could tell that while the injuries of the others were nowhere near as severe, they would leave their psychological marks on the young Shinobi. His more pressing concern at the moment was the condition of Sasuke and Kakashi.
At first glance, he deduced that they would be in a coma indefinitely for a while. He was no medical ninja, but he knew that much at least.
And Sasuke...the mental trauma that he would suffer from the Tsukuyomi could have very negative effects.
There's another reason to get her...Jiraiya thought to himself.
Tsunade could practically heal anything.
Jiraiya blinked, a lightbulb had lit up in her head. That was it!
Tsunade could heal many injuries, no matter how severe. Which means…
That Orochimaru is going to go for her.
The Shiki Fuujin (Reaper Death Seal) was a Jutsu by the Uzumaki. Unfortunately, the whereabouts of its details were lost when the Uzumaki clan fell. If anybody left in the world knew how to heal Orochimaru's arms, it would be Tsunade, a woman that was not only the greatest medical ninja in the world, but also partially an Uzumaki. After all, her grandfather was Hashirama Senju, whose wife was Mito Uzumaki. Tsunade at most had a quarter of Uzumaki blood coursing through her veins.
All the more reason to get Tsunade back. Not only that, but she would be a suitable candidate for Hokage, more so than Jiraiya himself.
We must return to Konoha…
Later - On A Steady Walk Back to Konoha
"What happened?" Asuma asked with urgent concern as he bandaged Kurenai's midsection. He already lost his father, he didn't want to lose Kurenai as well.
"That woman, Guren." His girlfriend responded with a bitter tone. "She got the best of me again. The result was the same was the last time. I understand it hasn't been that long, but...the gap between us...feels bigger than before!" She looked down at Asuma's leg with a stiff gaze. "What happened to your leg?"
"Itachi."
Kurenai grimaced. Asuma had already filled her in on what he now knew from Jiraiya. Itachi and Kisame Hoshikagi appeared to deal with Orochimaru, and two of the teams encountered them.
"To think he's so strong as to leave Kakashi incapacitated with a single Genjutsu…" Kurenai murmured with a grim tone. "I guess it should be expected since he's an Uchiha, but his Genjutsu prowess is far greater than mine."
Asuma glanced to his partner in shock. Kurenai was renowned as the greatest Genjutsu user in Konoha. To think that Itachi was ahead of her in even that…
Is there nothing that bastard can't do?
While the two continued to converse, Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata were in a conversation of their own.
"How horrible." Hinata whispered after hearing what happened to Sasuke from Naruto.
"Sasuke-kun's own brother…" Sakura mumbled with wide eyes. "How could he do something so cruel?"
Naruto's eyes scrunched up. "I don't know. And the worst part is, he wasn't even there for Sasuke."
Sakura blinked, her concern for Sasuke still everpresent. "He wasn't? Then why…"
"I don't know." Naruto quickly answered, shutting down the topic immediately. He didn't want them to know. It would ruin everything he has.
He finally had friends...people he could love and care for.
And he didn't want the truth about the damn fox ruining that with them. Maybe someday he would tell them, but that would not be now.
"H-Hinata…" Naruto stuttered as he looked down at her teammate's broken leg and tattered clothes, an indescribable anger boiling within him at that moment. "That bitch...did all of this to you?"
Hinata flinched. Somehow, she could feel the anger radiating off of her teammate, and she hated it when he was angry. But, it's not like she could lie in this situation…
"U-Umm...it's nothing, Naruto-kun...really."
"No! It is something!" Naruto shouted with venom in his voice. "Anyone who hurts my teammate, much less my friend, deserves to get the shit beaten out of them!"
Wait, Hinata could take of herself...and Sakura was there with her.
So...why was he so angry?
Before he could further go through with these thoughts, the gruffy, commanding voice of Jiraiya played through his ear.
"Naruto, we need to talk."
"Huh? What is it, ero-sennin?"
The sage ignored the derogatory term. He knew there was no point chiding the boy for the nickname. Plus, this was much more important than some stupid name.
"I am taking you with me to a town called Tanzaku Quarters." The man revealed.
"Why?"
"Because," he started, "I think it's about time we return one of our own to the village. Yes...the third member of the Sannin... Tsunade!"
What's up, everyone! I know it's been a while and all I've shown for this long absence is a very short chapter, but life has started hitting me from all different sides like a bitch.
I've just been so busy since school's started up again, and for the past month I was helping out with my brother's wedding. I just haven't had the time or energy to write for either of my fics, so I hope that this much is enough for now.
So, I decided to skip the Search for Tsunade arc. Originally, I was going to have Sakura tag along, but nothing would change with her there so I decided to just not do it. My goal was to use Tsunade's showings in that arc as inspiration for Sakura to get stronger, but I realized that the fight with Kin and the upcoming situation with Sasuke will all be enough to inspire her even more.
So, the next chapter will most definitely be set at the beginning of the Sasuke Retrieval arc.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this short chapter. I'll see you guys in the next one.
Take care, goodbye!