Chapter 46
Tayuya and Sakon were Hurrying. They had to get out of Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire). They only hoped that Kidomaru and Jirobo held them off so that they could escape. They flew through the trees unaware of anything. That's when Sakon felt his foot catch something. He looked down to see a wire.
"Ambush!" he shouted as an explosion rocked the top of the tree line. It was not the only explosion as several others were activated from all-around. The two elites managed to escape but just barely.
"God damn it, who has this much explosive notes?!" Tayuya cursed loudly.
"S'up?" Tayuya turned her head only to be punched in the face. Sakon was hit from behind as well by Kiba. He cut the barrel free during his attack and kicked it away. Shikamaru appeared and made the grab.
"You damn brats!" Sakon shouted. He recovered and launched himself at Shikamaru.
"Do it Akamaru!" Kiba shouted. "Dainamikku Mākingu!" (Dynamic Marking) The white pup jumped into the air and began spraying around the area. Sakon gagged in disgust before slipping and falling toward the ground. He was quick to grab a branch and right himself. He growled at the pup and his owner who glared back at him.
Meanwhile, Tayuya was engaged with Naruto. The blond used the Hebi-ken (Snake Fist) to slip one of her punches and land some quick strikes. Tayuya was tired of getting hit so much and went for a haymaker. Naruto easily dodged it and turned her attack into a throw. She hit the branch with a thud and Naruto flicked pout a kunai. He rushed forward, ready to finish her off. Tayuya quickly pulled out a flute to block the stab. She kicked Naruto away and jumped away to gain distance. The two prepared for another go.
Shikamaru survey the fights and didn't like the plan they came up with. He didn't want to leave the two, but Naruto did have a point. Sasuke needed to return to the village to face judgement. He reluctantly began to turn away to make his way back to the village. That's when some extra weight landed on the barrel. He looked to see a pair of green eyes looking at him. He only had seconds to pull out a kunai and block this person's attack. It was a strong attack as it knocked him back. Naruto and Kiba saw that Shikamaru was in trouble. They quickly disengaged to help their comrade.
The person who attacked him landed next to Tayuya with the barrel. When she saw who it was, she was extremely nervous. Standing before her was a pale skinned, tale teenager. He had shoulder length white hair and two red dots on his forehead. He gave her a look that made her gulp. They were soon joined by Sakon who was just as nervous.
"W-Why are you here, Kimimaro?" Sakon asked. The teen locked eyes with him without any expression.
"Where are Jirōbō and Kidōmaru?" Kimimaro demanded.
"T-They stayed back to cover our escape." Tayuya answered.
"Then for their sakes, they better be successful. The same should be said of you two." He stated. This shocked the two and readied themselves for an attack. However, Kimimaro did not attack them. He just lifted the barrel. "You all have failed Orochimaru-sama. Because you could not deal with a group of children, he had to change bodies. Now, he must wait. He is not happy with your failure and expect their to be heavy consequences for your failure." Sakon and Tayuya couldn't believe how badly they messed up. They knew that their punishment would not be pleasant.
"I will leave those three to you two. Finish them off and maybe, your punishment will not be as bad." With that said, Kimimaro vanished with Sasuke. The three Konoha shinobi looked at the scene carefully. They turned their attention to the two teenagers who began to leak out a dangerous amount of chakra. They can see lines going across their bodies. Shikamaru looked on and came up to a decision.
"Naruto, go after that guy. We will hold these two here." Shikamaru said.
"You're kidding! These guys have curse marks and have just activated them!" Naruto shouted.
"I know but we have to keep on task. Sasuke needs to be returned to the village or he does not get to Orochimaru. This is something that you can do, and you know it." Shikamaru stated. Naruto didn't like it, but he knew Shikamaru was right.
"Don't be lazy Shikamaru." Naruto said before vanishing as well. Shikamaru scoffed at the comment before preparing himself with Kiba And Akamaru. The two enemies glared at them hard. Shikamaru just sighed.
"God, I wish I was still a genin."
XXX
Kakashi and Anko were flying through the trees, picking up the trail of the five boys. So far, their worry was well founded. They had just found Choji and had to quickly stabilize him. Kakashi recognized that pill box and was concerned. Anko checked the body of Jirōbō. She saw that his chest was caved in. They managed to stabilize Choji and were back on the trail. They continued until Kakashi called for a stop. They landed on a branch and Kakashi took a few sniffs.
"What is it?" Anko asked.
"Blood, lots of it." Kakashi answered. Following his nose, Kakashi and Anko tracked the scent until they came upon two bodies. One was Kidōmaru and the other was Neji. Kakashi checked Kidōmaru's body while Anko checked on Neji. Kakashi checked and found that the teen's heart was dead. 'Neji must have exploded his heart. He truly was a prodigy.'
"Kakashi! Get up here and help me! The kid still ahs a pulse!" Anko shouted, surprising Kakashi. The jonin was quick to help her as they both tried furiously to save him.
XXX
Kimimaro came out of the forest and landed in an open field. He got a few steps until he heard something. He quickly moved as three kunai landed where he was. Naruto appeared before him and threw off his trench coat, which blinded Kimimaro. The coat dropped to the ground to reveal that Naruto wasn't there. However, Kimimaro caught Naruto with a kick as he attempted to stab him from behind. Naruto quickly recovered and got into a stance. Kimimaro put the barrel down before facing Naruto.
"It seems that I will have to punish those two myself." Kimimaro said as he faced Naruto. "It was a descent attempt, but you will have to try harder to kill me."
"Yeah, figured as much. With how nervous those two were when you appeared, you've got to be strong. However, I'm not going to allow your master to get the best of us again. Sasuke is coming back to Konoha to face judgement." Naruto said seriously before flicking out two kunai. He did gather a lot of chakra before crossing his fingers. "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu)" A large plume of smoke surrounded Kimimaro. It cleared after a few moments to reveal and army of clones.
"Impressive but futile." Kimimaro stated. Naruto didn't say anything. Five clones charged froward and attacked. Kimimaro was relaxed as they engaged him. Naruto saw that he smoothly avoided his attacks, so he changed tactics. Kimimaro noticed that the five clones were fighting well together. He also noticed a few of them disappear. He decided to stop dodging and attacked. The clones watched with surprise when a piece of bone came out of him. He quickly took one three clones who were still shocked. The other two quickly recovered and engaged him seriously. They did well but Kimimaro was just much better. He destroyed one of the clones and was about to destroy the other but had to jump as he was nearly stabbed in his legs. Now in the air, a few of Naruto's clones did hand seals.
"Katon: Karyūdan! (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet)" A few of them shouted and launched flames at him. Kimimaro quickly used a Kawarimi (Body Replacement) to escape. He appeared before a group of clones who tried to rush him.
"Yanagi no Mai! (Dance of the Willow)" The group of clones gasped as they felt themselves being pierced from bones. They all were dispelled, and they saw that bones were coming out of Kimimaro's knees, elbows, hands and feet. Naruto was just in shock at what he was seeing.
'Shit, this must be his Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limit). It's not one I know about. That must mean he's the last of them. Shit, I don't think I'll be able to deal with him. I need to grab the barrel and jet.' Naruto thought. The other clones prepared themselves as Kimimaro retracted his bones. He then had a bone come out of his shoulder. He grabbed it and pulled it out. Naruto saw that it was sword. He looked at the army of clones, looking briefly at the barrel. He saw black smoke coming out of it.
'It is almost time.' Kimimaro thought. That's when he noticed the movement of the clones. He quickly charged forward, destroying a few clones before appearing in front of the barrel. Naruto cursed but it did not deter his attacks. The clones engaged with Kimimaro and tried to get around him. The teen was taking out clones left and right using his taijutsu and sword. However, He did not expect and attack from below as a few clones managed to get by him and got the barrel. They landed and started to run. Kimimaro was about to give chase but he got surrounded by the clones. He wasn't happy but that changed when there was an explosion.
Naruto watched as his clones were dispelled by the force of the explosion. A thick smoke came from the broken barrel. Naruto watched it clear to reveal Sasuke only, he looked much differently. He skin was grey, and his hair looked longer. He could see Sasuke look at his hands and body. The think that worried Naruto was the vile chakra that was coming off him. It reminded him of the Chunin exam, only stronger. Sasuke began to laugh, probably at the power he just received. He then ran off, heading toward the border. Naruto and a few clones were about to pursue when Kimimaro got in his way.
"I'm sorry but I can't allow you to pass. That boy will be vessel that I could not." He spoke.
"Vessel?" Naruto asked.
"It makes not sense for me to explain it to you. You will be dead long before it happens." Kimimaro said. He moved forward to kill Naruto. Naruto and his clones prepared to fight.
XXX
Sakura was making her way to check on Lee. She was now a member of the hospital and she enjoyed it. With her team disbanded, she had to do something with her time. Lucky for her, Shizune came to her and asked if she would like to learn some advanced jutsu. Sakura jumped at the chance and she was shadowing the jonin. It didn't hurt that she was making a little more ryou working at the hospital. As she neared the room, she came upon Shizune and Tsunade.
"Shizune-sensei? Hokage-sama?" Sakura asked. The two looked at her when they were called. That's when a third person poked his head out. "Gai-sensei? What's going on?"
"Your 'patient'," Tsunade growled out. "decided to chase after the team I sent after Sasuke. He managed to escape the hospital and left the village without notice."
"What? He's not at a hundred percent yet! Even with the medicine, he won't be at full strength!" Sakura shouted. She rushed into the room and saw his empty bed. That's when she also saw the medicine bottle. "That idiot! He didn't even take the medicine!" That got the adults attention and they also noticed the bottle. They couldn't believe that Lee could be so thoughtless. That was until Tsunade remembered something.
"Son of a… the brat took my sake." Tsunade said.
"Tsunade-sama, how could you bring sake in a hospital?" Shizune argued.
"Hey, I've had a stressful day alright! I needed… Gai? Why are you looking like that?" she asked. The females looked at Gai who had the face of a man who was terrified.
"O-Oh no, not alcohol. Anything but that." Gai said with worry.
"W-What are you talking about? Why is alcohol bad for Lee?" Sakura asked.
"After my team's first mission, I treated my team. Lee accidentally took a sip of sake, thinking that it was water. It took me, Neji and Tenten to put him down. The destruction he caused to the place was frightening. We discovered that Lee is a natural user of the Suiken (Drunken Fist). He is nearly unstoppable if he's intoxicated." Gai explained. All three women were in shock at this. Meanwhile, Kimimaro was sent flying and hit the ground hard. He struggled to get up and looked at the person in front of him.
"What kind of monster are you?" Kimimaro sneered. Lee just hiccupped and let out a loud roar.
XXX
Sasuke landed near the waterfall. He looked at the statues of the Shodai (First) Hokage and his ancestor, Uchiha Madara. He knew about this place from the academy. Shūmatsu no Tani(Valley of the End), the final battle between these two shinobi. There battle is what shaped this place from what the stories say. No one really knew what happened that day, but the two statues were created to memorialize the battle.
Sasuke was about to leave when a kunai stopped him from moving forward. He looked at the kunai before turning to face the one who threw it. Naruto looked at Sasuke and was stunned by what he saw. One of Sasuke's eyes looked too much like Orochimaru's. Sasuke saw this and smirked at him.
"Are you shocked dobe? Are you stunned by the power I now possess?" Sasuke asked mockingly. Naruto lost his surprise and got serious.
"I'm shocked at how low you've sunk. So, because the village isn't kissing your ass anymore, you decide to go rouge. How pathetic have you really become that you would accept the easy way?" Naruto asked.
"Call it what you want?" Sasuke said and closed his eyes. When he opened them, it was back to normal. "This is the power I need to achieve my ambitions. When I arrive to Orochimaru, he will give me even more power."
"And giving yourself to be his vessel will be worth it right? Just as long as you get to kill your brother. How did that work out the last time?" Naruto asked mockingly. Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
"I've always hated your mocking. Every insult you sent my way was an insult to my pride. Every time you passed me was an insult to me as a shinobi. You were a nobody who was pitied by that kunoichi. You should be below me and it looks like I get the chance to prove it." Sasuke said. He picked up the kunai that was at his feet and readied himself.
"Well, good to know that my existence wounded you so. It's going to make it all that much better after I stomp you out and drag you back to be judged. So, what is it going to be? Easy way or hard way?" Naruto asked. Sasuke got into his stance. Naruto pulled out two kunai and got into a stance. "Hard way it is."
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Authors' Notes
New chapter! So, I decided to do something different for this part of the story. What I did was bypass all the fights that the team had. I omitted Choji's, Neji's, Kiba's and Shikamaru's fights. I would also, only briefly, be mentioning the Sand Siblings coming in to help. The reason for this, is because I could not come up with a different way from the cannon story. I tried everything to try but I just couldn't think of a way. I remember making the fights in the old version very similar to the anime. I didn't want to do that again. So, I hope that you guys are too mad that I will omit those fights.
Anyway, enjoy the new chapter and I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and are safe. Enjoy.
Discliamer: I do not own Naruto or it's characters.
