Disclaimer: I do not own any characters created by the maker of Naruto, the only thing that I own is the creations that is of my own making in the stories. So far it's only foxes but yeah, you get the point.
A/N: Okay, I know you guys were waiting a long time for me to get all of these chapters out so I will be trying my best to get all of them out as quick as possible, thanks for reading.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chouji lay gasping for breath after his fight with Jiroubou, his body showing how much he went through in the battle. There is not one ounce of fat showing on his body, "I won…!" He gasps out in surprise as he winces from the pain shooting all over and throughout his body. 'I actually won…!' He starts groaning as he struggles to his feet. His panting can be heard as he ambles through the woods leaning on trees every so often. He finally reached the tree where they left their messages and his face started breaking down in tears.
'You've got a kinder heart than anyone else…' He remembers what his father told him. 'Someday, you will make friends who will see that kindness in you…when that happens, I hope you will cherish those friends more than anything else…and be friends who can trust each other more than anything.' Tears pour down his cheeks heavily.
'Dad…' He thought to him as the tears rain down into the dirt. 'I've…made a lot of friends…' He thought as he looks at the arrow that Shikamaru wrote on the bark of the tree.
'Don't forget about the scroll I gave you, if we all make it home I'll bring you a jar filled with a feast fit for a king.' Naruto wrote below it followed by Kiba's and Neji's names. He stumbles and leans on the tree, sliding down it. Reaching into his pouch, he grabs the scroll Naruto gave him. His name written neatly on the seal of the scroll showing him that he'll have to add his own blood to it.
"Naruto…" He smiles as he took some blood from his chin to smear it on the scroll. It smoked a little as the seal unwrapped around and it unrolls to show the fourth seal that the girl told him to use. He bit into his thumb and wrote his name on the seal to activate it. A puff of smoke pops out and a bluish white fox that is three times the size of Chouji pops out in front of the boy.
"Hello, young one. I will be healing you enough to survive our journey and then we will head out." The female fox says as she kneels down before him, he nods and then passes out as a butterfly flutters off from them.
~3~
As the group rushes through the forest the butterfly catches Shikamaru's attention, making him realize something happened with Chouji. He looks behind in with pain filled eyes, catching Naruto's eyes.
"What's the matter?" The girl asks him. He didn't want to tell her the bad news so he looks back forward.
"Nothing…" He tells her.
"We're getting close!" Kiba says as both him and Akamaru smell Sasuke's scent getting closer to the group.
"How odd, there hasn't been a single trap so far. Shikamaru…what do you think?" Neji asks while surveying the area.
"We're just being underestimated," Shikamaru says with a disappointed look on his face. "They're thinking that the big guy is the only one who would follow them. No one would set traps against their comrades."
"Damn them…for underestimating us!" Naruto shouts out as her eyes pinked.
"That must be an accurate analysis…certainly, we're being totally underestimated, but…this also gives us a chance," Neji says to everyone.
"Yeah…let's get them while they're vulnerable." Shikamaru says.
~3~
The three carelessly run through the forest not really looking back except for the white haired male. "Jiroubou…he's late," he states.
"Nah…he's already here," Four arms says while looking over his shoulder to see Jiroubou hopping up to land on a branch right behind him.
"What took you so long?" The white haired guy asks.
"Sorry…it took some time to take those bastards' Chakra away," Jiroubou says as he runs alongside them.
"You fatty don't be so slow! Hurry up and carry that coffin; that's your job you inferior dickhead!" The girl says as she glares at him.
"Yeah…" Jiroubou says as he stares at her with furrowed eyes. The chick is looking at him with confused eyes.
"Hey, Jiroubou…you're so obedient today…" Four arms says looking back at him.
"What?" Jiroubou asks with a sneer on his face.
"I'm saying that I can't let you carry this coffin…since you're not Jiroubou!" Four arms says as he spins around to face him.
"Damn!" He tisks as he draws a Kunai from his pouch.
"Let me handle it this time! Sakan and Tayuya, you guys go ahead!" Four arms tells them as he throws the coffin for Tayuya to catch. He quickly raises a set of arms up so that he could catch the Kunai that is aiming straight for his head. "Jiroubou always warns Tayuya for her usage of words."
"I see…" Shikamaru says as he reveals his true self to the man.
"Ninpo Kumo Shibari!" The man shoots webbing at Shikamaru binding him to the tree. He stops and looks around as multiple figures pop up all around him. "Don't underestimate me!" He says as he drops out of the tree to avoid them and starts making a big ball of webbing. He spread it all out, "Ninpo! Kumo Soukai!" The huge spider web caught every single shadow clone that Naruto spread out to attack him.
'Now…use the fangs…Akamaru…he won't be able to dodge it in the air!' She thought just as the two shot their Fang Over Fang straight into his back. He avoids it by using his webbing to grab at the trees.
"Damn…what the hell is that fatty doing!? That shithead!" Tayuya growls out.
"I knew that it was a mistake to leave the weakest one of the four…" Sakan mutters.
"You think I'll let you escape?!" Kiba says a he slides on the ground.
"My words exactly, look at your feet." Kiba looks down and there's webbing sticking to his feet.
"Damn!" Kiba shouts out. "Damn you…it's too early for you to think that you've caught us with this little thing!" The man harrumphs when the teen says this not seeing Neji behind him.
"Loser…keep whining." He says, and then frowns as the teen grins up at him. He dodges to the side as Neji strikes making the boy only hit his webbing breaking some of the strands. The man starts to quickly form webs before he spreads them out to catch Neji. Naruto's eyes widen as she stares helplessly.
"What!" Kiba shouts.
'Me, Naruto, Kiba, Neji…is it still possible to win even with this plan…' Shikamaru wonders as Akamaru changes back and whines. Neji groans out as the webs snare his entire body.
"I'm gonna cocoon you here," the man says as he quickly spins his webs to completely cover the teens body.
"Damn!" Naruto shouts out as she takes out a Kunai to start cutting at the webs, "Dammit! Dammit! What's wrong with this web!? I can't cut it!"
"My web is unbreakable; it can even support two elephants." He tells the girl as he watches her and her clones struggling with the web. "Heh…isn't it interesting, Kage Bunshin." He breathes in deeply as he starts forming webs inside of his mouth.
'I'm stuck here…this stickiness…it's made by mixing his Chakra with his body fluid…' Neji observes as he stares at the strands sticking to his body. 'Furthermore…it's still this strong even having left his body…his Chakra flows inside these webs forever. The level of his Jutsu surpasses reality…' He closes his eyes to concentrate his Chakra levels. 'Let my Chakra..' He feels Naruto's Chakra close to him, while the man is continuously forming webbing into his mouth. He takes his multiple hands to take the webbing from his mouth. The ends of the webs look like weapons, curved and a little ragged looking. He chomps down on the web to break the strands.
'The color is different from before!?' Shikamaru observes as he stares on. "What's he going to do?" When Naruto hears her friends question she looks behind her up at the man, who is now holding a weapon made from his webbing in each hand as it hardens to steel proportions. 'It's starting to harden!?' Shikamaru observes and his eyes widen.
"Hehe…you're my first prey so I'll make it entertaining," he says as he points one of them at Naruto. "Let's play the 'guess the real body' game, shall we?" Naruto and Kiba grunt out at him. "The first one will be the one at the end!" He shouts as he throws one like a Shuriken, making Naruto's eyes widen. Shikamaru panics as he watches the weapon hit his friend. It seemed like everyone relaxed as they watched a huge puff form when the clone disappears. "Heh…it was a clone eh, well then…" He says as he raises another weapon. "The next one is this one!" This one he threw drew a cry of pain out of the clone before it disappeared. "Hehe…what a lucky girl. Next I'm gonna try two at once! It's a fifty-percent chance!" He shouts as he throws two at the same time, hitting two clones, causing them to disappear. Naruto releases her breath as she stares at the guy. "Ahahaha, she is soooo lucky! But this time it's gonna be one of 'em!" He shouts out as it looks like he is enjoying this completely and throws another one that hits Naruto making her grunt out. Everyone looks at the girl and Akamaru woofs out. The clone disappears completely making the man's eyes widen. "Dammit…she made it to the end after all…well…I guess as a game it was pretty fun to put it off until the end…but the game's gonna end here." Naruto glares up at him as he throws the last one at her; gritting her teeth she waits for the weapon to hit her. "And then, there was one." He says eerily as he watches the weapon hit Naruto right on the left of her back, a smile pops up on his lips. When the clone disappears it shocks the man, 'What the…!?' He stares with wide eyes while Naruto pops up behind him with her fist raised. He looks over his shoulder as the girl quickly attacks with her fist, making him spin around to brace his arms to take the hit instead of his face. He laughs as he avoids her, spinning more webs while he was at it. He uses the webs to catch a hold of a branch, making him able to catch a footing on a branch. 'I see…she only had her clones come out, and hid herself all this time, looking for a chance to attack. A small pawn like her, thinking so far ahead in this situation…nice try…' He thought as he crouched down on the branch looking at the girl, "But…" Naruto looks at him in shock since she's already realized that her wrist is caught by his web. "When you're out of ideas, you die!" He shouts as he yanks hard enough to send her flying towards him. Before she could hit him, Neji jumps up in between the two and breaks the web. 'What!?'
"Naruto, thanks for buying me some time." Neji says as he hugs the girl to him after he catches her and lands on the branch.
"You…how did you!?" The man asks the teen.
"Things made from Chakra…will be destroyed by simply putting Chakra into it. It is meaningless in front of my 'Jyuuken'." He says as he continues to hold the girl up in his arms. "This guy's Jutsu…it seems like only I can deal with it. Go…I'll take care of him." They all look at him strangely as Neji gently puts Naruto on the branch, his hand lingering on her shoulder. He turns to stare down at the man who has a sneer on his lips. Akamaru whines and rubs up against Kiba who leans down and the dog suddenly jumps into Kiba's jacket.
"It seems that this guy's stronger than the fatty we fought just before and quite much so…" Kiba muses as he caresses Akamaru's head to calm him down.
"If we don't calculate it so one person's responsible for getting rid of their own enemy it's gonna be a rough one…that's what we said right?" Neji asks Shikamaru.
"Yeah, that's exactly right," he agrees with the older teen as Naruto starts showing a worried look on her face.
"Also…" He looks at the girl whose bottom lip is trembling. "If you stop here, you won't be able to catch up to Sasuke." He cups Naruto's cheek and closes his eyes. "Naruto…you have better eyes than me." He pauses as he notices the confused eyes of Naruto's, so he decided to explain it to her. "Sasuke is currently…" He starts as he removes his hand from her cheek. "Within the darkness. Hurry up and go! I'll catch up with you guys later!" He says as he furrows his brows.
"Ok!" Naruto says as she still looks at him with worried eyes. She looks up in the sky thinking about what Neji says.
"Alright! Let's go!" Shikamaru says as he stands up.
"Chouji will definitely catch up to us!" Kiba says with a confident grin on his face as Akamaru barks in agreement.
"Neji, do you remember what I told Chouji?" Naruto asks him and he nods at her. "The same applies to you. Remember the fourth seal on your scroll."
"I will, and Naruto? I don't believe that Sasuke deserves your devotion towards him, but for now I will help you get him back." He says as they all runs off. The man is watching the group in shock that they think he will allow them to separate.
'Like I'll let you get away!' He says as he creates more weapons and throws them. All of them are connected by webbing that makes Neji activate his Byakugan. Before the web weapons could hit the three Neji starts charging his Chakra through his arms causing the man's eyes to widen. The boy starts spinning wildly cutting every single strand of webbing that was around. "This guy is pretty good…" He says making Naruto smirk over her shoulder at the killer move that he just used. 'It's not over yet…I'm not gonna let you get away easily with that.'
~3~
"It seems like us three are the only ones left," Kiba says as they get further onto their trail.
"Don't worry, Chouji and Neji will catch up to us soon," Naruto says confidently as Shikamaru shows more doubt on his face. "I can tell because…Chouji had his trump card, and I've fought with Neji once during the Chuunin exam."
"Tell? What?" Kiba asks as the other two looks over their shoulders at the girl.
"He…he is a true genius," she says with a smirk on her face.
~3~
Neji channels Chakra to his hand just so he could cut the webbing sticking out of his chest and he pulls the rest out that is keeping him pinned to the tree. 'I cannot lose, no matter how much stronger the enemy is…or how battered my body gets.' He thinks as he makes his body take off into a run, holding the side that was impaled badly by an arrow. 'I cannot lose; I have a reason why I cannot lose!' He grunts as he continues to run full out.
'Dammit, I blew it this time. I fooled around too…' Kidomaru thinks as he falls from the tree he was perched in. Suddenly, his three eyes flash to see Neji rushing straight at him. "Huh?" Neji starts using the 64 palm on him and when he's finished, Kidomaru is spinning out of control, hitting the ground finally with a loud thud. Neji looking down at him with a glare while the man starts going back to normal, groaning. 'I can't channel my Chakra…' He thought as his skin goes back to his normal tan and the third eye disappears. "How…that should have killed you instantly…why are you still alive?!"
"I knew I couldn't dodge it completely. So I was prepared to take it. Also…I knew of my own weakness far better than you. This Byakugan has a blind angle, but if I knew your attacks were coming from there, I could concentrate my Chakra into that blind spot and detect the attack. It's not so difficult then, to dodge a few centimeters from the intended target. Although, I might be fatally injured, at least I can avoid instantaneous death," Neji explains to the man as he struggles to stand with a gaping hole in his side.
"So you took the strike, huh…either way, you're going to die…you can only do so much." He cockily tells the teen.
"You're the strongest foe I've faced yet, but I have a reason why I cannot lose. The strongest of all who I faced once told me, 'because you're not a loser like me'." As he says this the man narrows his eyes staring at the teen. "I was always known as genius, so I cannot lose. Especially for the sake of those who believed that I was a genius being my weak and powerless self." Neji said as his thoughts went to his teammates. "Hmph…'a weak enemy is destined to be defeated quickly'. Was that what you said?" Neji asks the man who is staring at him, until he starts coughing up blood. He stops and starts wheezing. "Look at you; no one can determine…another's destiny." Neji says as he has to put a hand down quickly to catch himself.
"Hah…who knows…you're about to die soon as well," Kidomaru says with a grin on his lips. Neji looks off in space and thinks of what his father said to him.
"I…cannot die so easily…" He says as he looks at the man.
"Bluff all you want…you can't stop the tides anymore." Kidomaru says as he huffs breathlessly. Hearing him say this made Neji smirk and pull out a scroll.
"No…" Neji tells the man as he took some of his blood and smeared it across his name. Naruto's face flashes before his, the worried eyes that he wanted to fill with a different emotion. "There is someone who can find Sasuke within the darkness…and save him from within."
"Hah, Lord Sasuke now belongs to Lord Orochimaru. No-one can save him now…" Kidomaru tells him as he wonders what the scroll is that he took out.
"She can…" Neji says and the man's eyes widen when he realizes that there is only one female in the group that was pursuing them. 'Why? Because Naruto…you saved me from the darkness.' Neji thought as he looked up at the birds flying over them. The man stares at him as he coughs up blood, then smirks.
'Bluffing until the end…' He thought as he starts coughing as well. 'Crap. I haven't been this close to death since 'Kimimaro'…fuck, dammit…everyone…I'm counting on you all.' He thought as he watches the teen who is now writing something on the scroll that he just unsealed. After he finishes he falls down and a huge puff of smoke flares up making Kidomaru's eyes widen when he saw a huge blood red fox standing between him and the teen. 'What the fuck?' He wonders and the fox quietly stalks over to him, snorting at the man.
"I'm Lady Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze's summon, well one of the thousands that she controls. You lowly human are deemed unworthy by all of us fox clan and shall be punished for what you have done to one of our Leaf allies." The fox says in his deep voice and he summons a crazed looking fox that is pitch black with fire streaks coming out of his legs. "Finish him off, Asahi." He tells the fox who starts tearing into Kidomaru, making the man scream at the top of his lungs, since every where the fox bites a blue flame is started and cannot be extinguished. Neji looks at the fox that approaches and a gentle look in the fox's eyes shows him that he is safe. "Don't worry, young one, you are safe with us. Now let me heal you with my flames."
~3~
Kiba, Shikamaru and Naruto are still running after the two man group when Kiba and Akamaru sniff out their scents. "They're close!"
"We've got two more enemies, and we've got three…so it's 3 vs. 2. If we play our hand right, we might be able to finish it in the next encounter." Shikamaru strategizes with them.
"Alright, alright! Let's do this!" Naruto says, full of excitement.
"No! It's four vs. two," Kiba says as Akamaru barks out angry that Shikamaru forgot about him.
"Aye, aye, sorry, it's 4 vs. 2," the teen says with a smile on his face.
"Next time, we'll finish it quickly with our new techniques!" Kiba shouts as Akamaru does one loud bark.
"Hey, hey! If things get tight, I'll just use my Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, so don't worry!" Naruto tells them confidently.
"That's good to hear," Shikamaru tells her over his shoulder. "But what about your summoning? I know you can summon more than just foxes now."
"Yeah, the foxes come easier than the toads though," she answers him.
"Strategy comes first, got it?" He tells her and she nods. They finally catch up with the two left of the Sound Four, when Tayuya hears a thump from inside of the coffin her eyes widen.
"Hey wait a second!" She says to stop Sakan.
"Is it about to start?" He asks her.
"No…it should take a bit longer…but!" She stops herself as she sets the coffin down. Sakan heard something behind him and he spins around. He saw the three pursuing them standing there. "Dammit, what were those idiots Jiroubou and Kidomaru doing!?" She grits out.
"Now we've caught up!" Naruto says as her and Kiba grins while Shikamaru glares at them.
"Yeah, yeah! I'll kill them all within seconds," Sakan shouts as he jumps straight at the group.
"Damn, this fast!?" Naruto shouts as she prepares her weapon and then throws it with precision, although Sakan dodges it almost completely when it shears off some of his hairs. He starts forming signs.
"Eat this!" Sakan shouts as he nears them, not noticing that the others ran in front of Naruto because she was forming her Rasengan. "Taren Ken!" Sakan shouts as his attack makes him throw multiple punches faster than their eyes could detect. Both Kiba and Shikamaru take the hits while Naruto continues to prepare. The two teens fly back from the hits as the Rasengan bursts into life in her palm. 'The Chakra on her palm is…!' As he continuously heads towards the girl the two teens with Naruto poof away, showing him that they were clones.
'That must be a Shadow Clone…' Tayuya muses as she watches the girl and her teammate.
"Rasengan!" Naruto raises the ball of Chakra that starts singeing his ear and he grabs her arms. "What! Those hands were just…!?"
"If I grab them before you let that thing go, it's checkmate matey!" Sakan says with a grin on his lips.
'Damn! Now, Kiba!' Naruto thought as she looks into the man's eyes. An attack rips open the Naruto clone just to hit Sakan.
"Tsuuga!" Kiba shouts.
'This one was a clone also!' Sakan thought as it hits him square on the midriff. "Dammit!" He shouts out as he ducks out of the way to stop getting attacked. Kiba didn't stop as he kept heading to his real destination, Tayuya, holding the coffin that Sasuke is in.
"They placed us both in a straight path…so they were aiming for this!" Tayuya says as she takes a step back.
"You think you can get us with some shit like this!?" Sakan shouts as he starts rushing towards Tayuya, while a shadow start approaching the woman. When it seized the woman she looks to her left spotting the teen shadow controller.
"Shit…dammit!" She says as her jaw drops. 'A diversion…it's coming!' She looks at Kiba who is still steadily heading straight at her. The teen avoids hitting her to grab the coffin.
"Tayuya! What the hell are you doing!?" Sakan yells at her.
"No…it's!" She stops what she's saying as her body can no longer be controlled by her.
"What are you doing!" He yells, 'Shit…I can't dodge…' He thinks just as Shikamaru releases her from his bind and the two collide into each other.
"Catch it!" Kiba yells at Naruto as he throws the coffin.
"Phew, as I expected, they've got so many openings. It's one thing to consider about individuals with too much talent." Shikamaru says with a smirk.
"Nice job!" Naruto shouts as she catches the coffin. "Kiba! Shikamaru!"
"All according to plan!" Shikamaru says with a huge grin. 'Our teamwork was 2 or 3 grades above theirs.'
"Fuckers…" Tayuya grits out as she lies on the branch.
"Those annoying little pieces of trash…" Sakan shouts out as he landed on his ass.
"Naruto, Shikamaru! Let's get outta here!" Kiba yells as he grins at the two who nod and they all start running off with the coffin. Sakan snaps and he activates his seal.
"You're not getting away!" He shouts as marks appear on his skin, making the trios eyes widen.
'He's faster than I thought!' Kiba thinks as he is running while looking behind him. The man speedily gets closer to Kiba who shouts, "Akamaru!" The dog barks at him when he's finished placing a paper bomb on the tree. "Hurry up when you're done setting the trap!" He shouts at the dog as the man's eyes widen.
"Stop howling you bitch!" The man growls out at the dog making Akamaru whine and start running off. He ends up stepping on a branch that breaks, falling and Kiba starts panicking. Akamaru cries out as he looks over his shoulder seeing Sakan heading for him. The note starts smoking as Kiba bounces off of a tree to protect his dog from the man. The pup whines with tears in his eyes as the note explodes.
"Kiba! Akamaru!" Naruto shouts out as her and Shikamaru stop on a branch.
"Shit…" Shikamaru says while watching the cloud from the bomb, watching as both the teen and the man jump free from the cloud. The two look down to see the huge crevice below them and notice that they are about to fall right into it.
"Rats!" Sakan exclaims as he tries to see inside of the darkness.
"What the…" Kiba shouts and starts screaming as all three of them fall into the dark depths.
"You son of a…" Tayuya shouts as she heads towards the two standing still on the branch.
"Damn! What happened!?" Naruto wonders.
"That other one's coming!" Shikamaru tells Naruto as the two notices she's getting closer. "I'll do something about this. Naruto, you gotta take that barrel and go on ahead!"
"Shikamaru…" Naruto furrows her eyes at her friend.
"Hurry!" Shikamaru tells her as Tayuya's attention is draw to a figure above the two, making her land on a branch.
"What…why did you…" Tayuya stutters as a figure jumps down to where Naruto and Shikamaru are standing. "Kimimaro!"