Ink's Notes:

Hi guys! Managed to get another chapter done. And not a moment too soon, since tomorrow's my birthday and I don't know what I'm getting, and if I get distracting things I might not be able to get chapters done because, well, distracted. Anyway, time to respond to reviews! I like doing it like this in case people have similar questions to ones that have been asked in reviews, so that the answers are in a visible place and they can get answers like that if they're too shy to ask questions otherwise. (I know I'm like that sometimes.) But if you don't want to read the responses, feel free to just scroll down to the chapter start.

Krazyfanfiction1: That she has! I quite enjoy writing for her, too. And thank you~

The Keeper of Worlds: Yup. I try and keep everyone in character when I write, so it's always nice to hear things are progressing logically.

peppymint: I quite like Tashigi, yeah. I wonder what's in store for her in the future.

CrystalHeart27: NO REGRETS, LIVE LIFE ON THE EDGE

Allykrau: Yeah, I heard it was being released late in Europe for some reason... well, hopefully you have it now!

Sakuracherryblossoms: Aaah, thank you so much~! I'm glad you like the story!

The Fluffy: ...Either you know about things I've said I like on other websites or this is a weird coincidence, but I'm glad you like the story~! (can I kidnap you because you are fluffy)

Anyway, shall we begin the long-awaited match?

Chapter Thirty-Three

Sasuke was having a hard time comprehending exactly what was going on. His sword had just been broken and discarded, and he'd attempted to put some distance between himself and his opponent with a fire jutsu, only to discover that attacking a person who could turn into a phoenix at will with fire was a terrible idea and had gotten a talon to the gut and a wing to the face for his trouble. Then he'd tried using his Sharingan to cast a genjutsu on the man, only to discover that it was difficult because his chakra was rather abnormal and by the time he felt like he was getting a grip on the man's senses, the man had realized what was going on and closed his eyes, then started attacking as if he weren't under a genjutsu at all. It was getting frustrating – each time he'd tried to press an advantage, the man would adjust his fighting style to compensate and get a few good blows in before Sasuke put a good amount of distance between them. If there was one thing he'd noticed, it was that the man didn't seem to have a way to fight at a distance, but his speed was good enough that he could close any distance between them without much issue, so it was something of a moot point.

Sasuke frowned and reached into his shuriken pouch in order to pull out some shuriken, charging them with electrical chakra and throwing them at the man. The man responded by shifting into his full phoenix form, allowing the weapons to pass harmlessly through them with nothing more than a slight jolt to his body. The holes created by the shuriken lit up with blue flames and simply closed themselves, and the phoenix flew towards him. Sasuke threw some shuriken with thin wire attached to try and wrap them around the bird, but the bird seemed to notice the wire somehow and flew upwards before dive-bombing him with his talons, gripping him by the shoulders and bringing him to the ground, where he kept him pinned by tightening his grip on his shoulders.

The flames dispersed off of the man's top half, leaving his bottom half a bird as he clenched his hand into a fist, the fist coating in black before he brought it down towards Sasuke's face. As it was about to connect, Sasuke performed a Kawarimi to replace himself with a nearby log, and was instantly grateful that he had done so when the man's fist broke through the log, shattering it as it did so. However, instead of reacting with confusion, the man simply turned towards his hiding spot, changing to his full bird form and shooting forwards, forcing Sasuke to move back outwards into the clearing as he brought out a kunai to parry the phoenix's swipes. The phoenix moved backwards, realizing his current strategy wasn't working, which allowed Sasuke a moment to take a breather.

This… bird-man was outclassing him, majorly. He'd managed to avoid a lot of painful blows, but every instinct he had was telling him that this was a losing battle, and so far those instincts were proving right. The man was faster, stronger, and Sasuke was willing to bet he had way more combat experience as well. The only advantage that Sasuke had was his jutsu – and he was going to need to press that advantage for everything that it was worth.

Sasuke brought his hands together and began flying through hand signs, his Sharingan helping him move through them more quickly than normal. The bird's eyes narrowed, only to widen as Sasuke sprinted forwards. He shot upwards as Sasuke released a burst of lightning chakra, the sound briefly deafening him to the world.

When the electricity faded but the bird didn't attack, Sasuke looked up to see what he was doing, only to find that his attention was elsewhere. Cautiously, he followed the bird's gaze, and found that all of his allies – aside from Tashigi – seemed to be having trouble facing their opponents, and Suigetsu's hands appeared to be broken despite the fact that he was made of water. He brought his focus back to the bird as he made a mental note to chastise his allies for their subpar performances, and noticed that the bird had gone back to being a man, aside from his arms and legs, which were still wings and talons. Somehow, the man was still remaining airborne despite the change in weight and the effort you would have to exert to remain that way.

Sasuke barely had a moment to process the lack of logic before the man dive-bombed him. He pushed himself backwards just as the man's talon-foot connected with the ground, leaving a small crater impact. With that, the man went on the offensive, constantly sending punches, kicks, even head butts in Sasuke's direction. Sasuke began trying to defend himself, lacking the proper time and focus to execute a jutsu, but when a well-placed kick to the forearm resulted in a faint cracking sound he winced and began trying to put some distance between the two of them. With that, he began preparing a Chidori, ignoring the pain that shot through his arm from the action, and lunged forwards at the man as quickly as he could.

The man, however, seemed to see his actions coming, and simply swayed to the side, grabbing his wrist as he moved past before spinning him around in circles and flinging him towards a tree, then dashing forwards to meet him and unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks while Sasuke was still in midair. Sasuke managed to pull another switch with a nearby log, but the man simply turned in midair, launching off of the very tree he'd thrown Sasuke towards, and swung a punch at his face, which Sasuke narrowly avoided. Unfortunately, the talon to the gut wasn't something he avoided, and he gripped his chest as he put distance between them again, idly noticing that he was bleeding in a few places and would likely need some treatment soon.

"Marco!" The cry cut through the battlefield, and the man's expression changed from one of rage to one of mild shock. Both he and his opponent, apparently called Marco, turned towards the source. His fellow members of Hebi were approaching, along with Sakura and her… odd new allies. Sasuke noted that several of his allies were injured, but for the most part Sakura and her allies were unharmed. Mentally, he scoffed at their performances, and was about to give them a stern talking to when he noticed Marco visibly relax.

"Sakura. You're okay," he smiled warmly at her, walking over and embracing her in a hug. Sasuke frowned when his teammates didn't make any motion to approach him, aside from a cautious glance from Karin and a death glare from Tashigi.

"Yes, I'm fine, Marco," Sakura smiled in response, and Sasuke shuddered at the sight. It reminded him of the things he'd left behind in Konoha. Even his allies were smiling at their opponents, as if they had been friends for years. Jut the thought of it brought his anger to a boil. He brought his hands up and began preparing a fireball technique. If they were going to betray him, then he wouldn't hesitate to take them out like the obstacle they were.

"Ah- Perona!" the bear suddenly yelped, pointing at Sasuke as he finished his hand signs. The other pink-haired woman reacted quickly, sending a ghost-like creature towards Sasuke. But it was too late, Sasuke smirked as he prepared to send a fireball their way. Too late…

…too late to make amends, he realized as the chakra dispersed and he fell on his hands and knees in a state of depression. What happened when he killed his brother? Would he go back to Konoha? No, he was a missing-nin. They wouldn't accept him just because he took out another one. He committed a huge crime when he betrayed his village to go to Orochimaru; taking out another criminal wouldn't suddenly make everything right.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard laughter, and he forced his head up to see the two pink haired women laughing at his predicament. "I- I never thought I'd see Sasuke-" Sakura was gasping out, leaning into Marco for support, who seemed to be mildly amused himself. "This is- Perona, you're the best!"

"Horohorohorohoro~! Of course I am~" she hummed happily. "No one can stand up to my negative hollows." She paused momentarily. "Except… hmm. Well, almost no one. He doesn't count." Perona huffed at something she seemed to be remembering.

"Um… there there?" the polar bear offered, and Perona instantly latched onto him in a hug, prompting him to start flailing wildly.

"…These are the people we lost to?" Suigestu deadpanned, and Karin gently pat him on the shoulder a few times to comfort him.

The group was so lost in the humor of the moment that they didn't notice Marco's expression turn cold. Sasuke, however, in his completely unamused state at being made fun of and humiliated like this, did. He pushed himself to his feet and glared at Marco. "What's with you?" he asked, almost instantly snapping the group out of their amused mindset.

Marco was silent for a moment, before he sighed. "What a pain in the neck," he grumbled, rubbing behind his neck as if it were actually in pain. He then fixed his gaze on the area behind Sasuke. "Hey, I know you're there," he called out. "You planning on coming out anytime soon?"

Sasuke stared at Marco like he was crazy, but at the sound of movement he instantly turned on his heel to face the newcomer. From the underbrush emerged a strange creature in a cloak that instantly brought his rage to a boil – an Akatsuki cloak. Judging by Sakura's gasp, she recognized it as well, though he wasn't quite sure how she knew what it was. Instead, he focused his attention on the thing he was pretty certain was a man that stood in front of them. The man in question appeared to be surrounded by some sort of Venus flytrap, and his face and potentially body were evenly split between black and white.

"It seems that we've been found out," the man smiled, teeth sharp like fangs. He laughed quietly to himself before speaking again in a deeper voice. "Is there something that you wanted from us?"

WHOOPS I ACCIDENTALLY A ZETSU

See you next time!

-Ink