Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor any other manga/anime that I write about. The only other works that are my own/co owned are on a different site getting ready for publication.
A/N: Thanks for all the review guys. When I put the last chapter up I did notice one thing. We are at 200 reviews! I hope you guys will enjoy the next two chapters.
Thanks to:
Darkhuntressxir: Yeah, I think that she does, but at least she has a way of using it not abusing it. You won't have to be too impatient because you have two more and I might leave it at a cliffie for a little bit.
Silvermane1: I'm glad you did.
YaoiHimeSama: Yeah, it is a shame really. It seems that they are a bane to anyone's existence right about now. And really childish to boot, going onto a story and putting a comment like that shows the persons age, and brain capacity. What give me a kick is that they think it aggravates me; no it just shows me the humorous side of watching people with no brain, acting with their little amount of brain cells that probably killed one in the process of thinking of that insult. My daughter and I are doing great, in health wise. My daughter not so good behavior wise, I swear she is literally pushing mine and her teachers' buttons with the way she is acting. She's on her way to getting suspended for the third time in being in school. Unfortunately, the first time was in Kindergarten. Well, maybe we can find a solution when we bring her to her first round at the behavioralist, they are going to do a full battery of tests on her so I will keep you all updated on that. Luckily for me, I can write and stuff to get my aggression out while she is in school. Kind of feel lost at what is causing her to act the way she is. Humorous part of this week is that she's gotten two hermit crabs from her sister on her last birthday. One died before Christmas so her sister got another one for her. The new one was three times the size of the surviving one and then they went on full battle royal and started tearing each other's limbs off during the night, big one got his rear handed to him by the little one. So now she's upset because the big one might not survive this.
Melyway: Depends on what exactly you mean, but you will see that there are two more chapters on their way then I will be going to a different story. Not going to quit this one so don't feel that I will, but I have a deadline coming up so I need to buckle down on this short story.
Chapter Twenty-Four
A line of enemy Shinobi lines up on both sides of the 'fake' ANBU. "A large number…" Kakashi said as he looked at them.
"It's not just that…the situation is more dire than that…Look at the roof of the central watchtower." Gai says and Kakashi zips his head to see what looks like a violet box on the roof.
"That's barrier Ninjutsu…" Kakashi mutters.
"It's a stolen Ninjutsu." Naruto mutters gritting her teeth when she glares up at the box. "That came from the Uzumaki clan."
'What on Earth is going on?' Sakura wondered.
"Kakashi, look within the barrier." Gai says and the silver haired male's eyes widen.
"Orochimaru!" Kakashi growls out.
'Orochimaru? Why is he here…? Not for Sasuke-kun again?' Sakura turns quickly to look back into the arena. "Sasuke-kun!" She saw that there is only two Shinobi's in the arena. 'What…Sasuke-kun is gone!' She doesn't even pay attention to her surroundings when Kakashi notices ahead of time two of the Shinobi rush to attack her. He quickly takes out two Kunai and speeds over to her and stabs both of them in the back of their heads, killing them instantly, while the pink haired girl ducks down. She finally has enough courage to peek out.
"Sakura, stay like that for a bit…I'll even the odds a little." Kakashi tells her with a smile. All around her there is blood flying; Kakashi and Guy fighting back to back while Naruto whips out a technique that nobody knew she had. She controlled Kyuubi's tails to attack.
"How is she able to control it?" Guy asks while they are fighting.
"I think there is more to meet the eye for those that are beast wielders.
"Damn it…I'm concerned about Hokage-sama." Guy says while exchanging blows from enemy Shinobi's.
"Let the ANBU handle what's going on above, besides…Hokage-sama isn't a person that will be taken easily…" Kakashi says while watching the enemies.
"But…" Guy mutters.
"After all…that person is the Hidden Leaf's…Hokage!" Kakashi says while looking at them with a cold eye. "Sakura! Naruto!" Both teens look at Kakashi. "It was worth teaching you Genjutsu during the Genin survival training…as I thought, you both have a talent for Genjutsu…more so you Naruto since you have been using it longer. Nullify the Genjutsu and wake up Shikamaru. This is the first mission you've had in quite a while…"
"Naruto will be happy." Sakura says and sure enough the blond is bouncing on her feet in anticipation. "What kind of mission?"
"Listen carefully. For the first time since the wave country mission…an A class mission…" Kakashi pauses and the girls look at him in confusion.
"Sensei! At a situation like this…what kind of "A" rank mission…?!" Sakura yells out while Naruto rolls her eyes at the girl.
"God you are clueless." Naruto says and the pink haired girl glares at her.
"You know what I want you guys to do, Naruto?" Kakashi asks her.
"Sasuke went after Gaara and his team." Naruto states looking at the girl like she was an idiot before she turns to look at Kakashi. The girl still looks confused.
"Sakura…you are to nullify the Genjutsu on Shikamaru…and track down Sasuke." Kakashi stares at them while thinking of what Gaara could be. 'I'm concerned…about that weird Chakra…'
"But for that…shouldn't we wake up Ino and Choji, then all of us…" Sakura was interrupted by Kakashi.
"Most likely Shinobi from the Sand and Sound have already entered the village. With more than the basic four man small team, you lose speed and it becomes harder to remain hidden…you learned that during the patrols drill at the academy, right?" He asks her while Naruto crosses her arms showing her impatience.
"Oh! Yeah…" She says. "But four people…who's the other person?" When she asks this Kakashi does a series of signs.
"Summoning no Jutsu!" Right below Kakashi's hand pops up a small dog. "This guy, Pakkun, will be able to track Sasuke down by his scent."
"Wait a moment, is the last person…this little doggy?!" Sakura asks looking freaked out.
"You're an idiot, yes, Sakura. He wouldn't have summoned him if he wasn't going to have him go with us. He has a better nose than we do anyway." Naruto growls out while Pakkun starts jumping over the unconscious Shinobi's around them to get to the girl.
"Hey, missy! Don't call me a cute little doggy!" Pakkun growls at her.
'But…I never said…cute…' Sakura looks at the dog with exasperation showing on her face.
"Ok, Sakura! Nullify the Genjutsu on Shikamaru." Kakashi tells her over his shoulder.
"Al…alright." Her, Naruto and Pakkun sneak over and look at Shikamaru. Sakura noticed that he was twitching where he lay. "Shikamaru…you…from the very beginning…" Pakkun trots over and chomps down on Shika's ankle causing the boy to cry out. "You were able to deflect the Genjutsu too! Why were you playing possum!?"
"Bah! I didn't want to be attacked." He says while picking up the Ninja dog by his jacket, he starts pinching the dogs' cheek. "I refuse! Who cares about Sasuke." As he glares at the little dog, Pakkun bites onto the hand pinching his cheek. He cries out in pain, when a Shinobi tries to attack Naruto from behind.
"Naruto! Behind you!" Sakura cries out but the girl already knew he was there and spun around to grab the guy and slam him into the wall making it bust as the body hit.
"Fast…" The Shinobi gasps out when Gai appears besides the girl.
"Not just fast…" He says and punches the Shinobi through the wall.
"Gai-sensei…" Sakura cries out as Naruto looks at the man who helped her.
"Now I'll restate your mission! Once you've heard it, escape through that hole…" Kakashi says as he stands in front of Naruto and the others protecting them from sight. "Chase after Sasuke, join up with him and stop him! Then take him away to a safe location."
"Why hide though?" Naruto asks.
"I'll explain as we go!" Pakkun tells her and Sakura grabs the girl dragging her out of the hole.
"Here we go!" She says as she jumps.
"Urgh…why me…" Shika complains jumping out after them.
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The group speed through the tree tops trying to find Sasuke and the team from the Hidden Sand Village. "Sasuke's always impulsive but I know he is right in chasing after this group. If the Sand is helping Sound attack the village then we should make sure they don't escape." Naruto says.
"So! Why am I being assigned out like this? It's a shittin' chore!" Shika whines.
"It can't be helped! It was Kakashi-sensei's orders after all!" Sakura says while looking at the irritated teen. Pakkun sniffs the air.
"This way!" He says and quickly turns. They travel a little bit further when Pakkun sniffs again. "Hey! You guys, pick up the pace!"
"Huh…what is it!?" Sakura asks.
"From behind, two squads with eight, no…one more, nine men are chasing us!" Pakkun says while looking over his shoulder.
"Hey, Hey, already!? Man, you've gotta be kidding!" Shika shouts out while Naruto boosts her Chakra to read the ones following them.
"Don't look as if they've got a fix on our true position yet but, they're closin' in on us quickly while on the lookout against any surprise attacks…" Pakkun explains.
"Sheez! Shit! They're probably all beyond the Chuunin level…if they catch up with us, we'll be annihilated!" Shika grumbles.
'Annihilated?' Sakura's eyes widen.
"Shit! Well, if that's the case then shall we ambush 'em and do 'em!?" Naruto asks.
"Ambush…" Sakura says.
"We'd certainly have a great advantage if we were to ambush them! Even if they're twice our number, as long as we can surprise them…" Naruto explains.
"It's no use. They're subordinates of Orochimaru, a former Konoha Shinobi, you know…" Pakkun tells them.
"Sheez…I thought we might have been able to pull it off, but I guess not then." Shika grits out.
"Huh!? Why, that has nothing to do with it, does it!?" Sakura asks.
"Like, what do you mean?" Naruto asks the pooch.
"You guys just don't get it. Ok, listen up! Sure, an ambush is a basic tactic that's very favorable to the user but there are two necessary conditions that must be met…" Shika says while holding up two fingers. "The first is that those fleeing must move without making noise and discover the enemy first! The second is to locate and quickly conceal themselves in a place and position where you can take them off guard and ensure you cause maximum damage to them. Only when both of these conditions are met without doubt, will the ambush become effective. Well, the first isn't so hard to clear as long as we have Pakkun's nose…" He continues on as they get further into the forest. "And even with the 2nd condition, it may seem at first glance that we would be able to secure the best position to surprise them…since this is our home and we're quite familiar with the geography, but…this plan won't work against the subordinates of a Shinobi who was from Konoha!" Naruto looks at him with confusion filled eyes. "Because they're all probably Ninja's who have mastered the art of hunting…Hunters, who will have been taught the geography of this land and practiced mock combat for this battle. Even with that, the ambush will still be advantageous to us but there's too many undecided factors involved! To begin with, the enemy's a Ninja Squad that's been organized for this plan. Where as we have…An impulsive and sometimes smart idiot…A Kunoichi with no special ability…a dog…and the best guy at running away, me!" He says and looks at each of them. Battle tactics, you know! It's how to come up with the best plan after fully grasping the combat ability available in a given situation. And so, after that analysis, there's only one thing that we can do now…"
"One thing!?" Sakura asks.
"We need to create a diversion that looks as if we're going to ambush them…One of us will have to remain behind and…delay them by faking an ambush." He says.
"In other words…a decoy." Sakura says.
"That's right…if they're stalled they won't be able to locate the remaining three…if we do this we'll be able to lose the trackers…but the one who stays behind will probably…die." Everyone's eyes widen. "So, who's going to do it? The dog's necessary to chase after Sasuke, in which case…"
"Ok! I understand. I'll…" Naruto starts but Shikamaru interrupts.
"I guess I'm the only one…" Shika says.
"Shikamaru!?" Sakura looks at him.
"Why you?!" Naruto asks worried about her friend.
"It's better than being annihilated isn't it? Besides, if you think about the guy that can fulfill the job of the decoy successfully and be the most likely to survive then…" Shikamaru snags a tree branch and swings around it to land on top of it. "I'm the only one in the bunch who can do it." Everyone stops and looks at him. "Because the Kagemane no Jutsu was originally a Jutsu used as a delaying tactic, you know…" He says while smiling and looking at them over his shoulder. "Well! I'll catch up with you later on so, hurry up and go!" He says while looking at the way they came.
"Shikamaru, we'll be depending on you!" Naruto says and Shika waves at her.
'Was Shikamaru a guy you could depend so much on like this…' Sakura wondered as she looks at him over her shoulder while she follows Naruto.
"Hey, the enemies are coming closer and closer! Is he really delaying them!?" Pakkun wonders.
'It can't…it can't be that he…' Sakura's eyes widen. "He can't have run away, could he?"
"He's got a bad mouth and he acts like everything's a pain in the neck, but he's not someone who'd betray you!" Naruto scolds the girl.
"Hmm?! The pursuers have stopped moving!" Pakkun says looking over his shoulder.
"He did it! Like, he was successful in stopping them in their tracks!" Naruto says with a grin.
"That Shikamaru!" Sakura smiles.
'Alright! Now all that's left…hang in there Sasuke! Shikamaru…you'd better be alive and catch up to us!' Naruto thinks as she looks out the corner of her eye.
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