A/N: Pretty low reception last chapter, but that's to be expected, given that I was gone for 4 weeks (also made the mistake of updating on a Wednesday). But I plan to be updating every few days for the rest of the fic. Less than ten chapters to go. The final fight will be starting soon.
Time for Chapter 70
Enjoy!
A deafening silence fell over the plains as chunks of the wooden barrel rained down in a small radius around its remnants. A thick cloud of black smoke was obstructing its contents, rising up into the sky. Visibility or no visibility, Naruto could feel that whatever, whoever, was within the cloud was very much alive. There was an inbred hostility to the new presence. One that he recognized. As the smoke cleared away with a cold gust of wind, his initial assumption was proven correct. They had finally caught up to her.
Standing up from the rubble of her container, Satsuki threw her head back. Her messy hair fell back behind her shoulders. She was facing away from Naruto and Lee, with her back turned in their direction. As such, her face was still hidden. Still, despite the limited view, Naruto immediately noticed something strange. Her hair was the wrong color. Rather than a midnight-tinted black, it was a deep gray, and it appeared to be slightly longer than usual. Beyond that, her skin seemed to have tanned, but in a way that was sickly and unnatural. Something was deeply wrong.
"S…Satsuki?" Naruto called out hoarsely. Horror was gripping him, and he wasn't entirely sure why. Even with the unsettling aesthetics, he was halfway to succeeding. They had tracked her down. She was less than fifty feet away. But even still, he couldn't shake the feeling that his task was far from done. There was still hell to be paid. After several moments, the Uchiha turned her head just enough to give a hint of her cheek, but stopped halfway and turned away again. She said nothing.
"You picked a bad time, but it's nice to know you were worth the trouble. Now get going." the white-haired man said, drawing the slightest of nods from Satsuki. Interestingly, her hair then retracted a few inches and returned to its natural shade, alongside her skin reverting back to its usual color. A few seconds later, she broke out into a sprint toward the opposite end of the plain, where the final set of woods before the valley lay. With no hesitation, Naruto took off to pursue her. He hadn't made it fifteen feet before the henchman appeared directly in front of him. In one harsh motion, Naruto was backhanded across the jaw and sent down to his back just in front of Lee.
"This is as far as you go." the man said. Naruto bared his lengthening canines and shot back up to his feet. As he rose, a burning aura of reddish-orange chakra cloaked his body. The very same he had conjured during his encounter with Gaara. He had fully snapped.
"I'm sick and fucking tired of everybody butting in and slowing me down!" he yelled, pushing off his back foot and bursting forward to engage as he lashed out. Though Lee did protest to his reckless charge, his cry fell on deaf ears. With shocking speed, the henchman protruded a sharp bone through the palm of his hand and stepped forward to meet his aggression in kind. The pair collided in the middle of the space between them, with Naruto barely managing to avoid being skewered through the eye socket by pulling his head off to the right. While avoiding fatal damage was a positive in isolation, the exchange was one he decisively lost.
In the midst of evading the serrated bone spur, his intended punch had flown off course, and missed entirely. Enslaved by his own momentum, he had run right into the man's knee, which was now driven into his stomach. Coughing painfully, Naruto made a pointless attempt to punch with his free hand, but was seized by the throat and lifted off the ground mid-swing.
"You're quite fast. Powerful too. If you'd hit me, you might've broken something." the man said. He then tossed Naruto a few feet upward, lowering his stance as he did so.
"But you're crude and overconfident." he added, turning his back to the falling
Jinchuuriki and pushing a dangerously sharp group of bones through his skin to meet him. Naruto attempted to twist away from the jagged fate awaiting him once gravity kicked in, but found that he could only move so much mid-air. Just as he was about to be impaled, he was tackled out of the air by Lee. Clumsy as the maneuver was, it proved to be effective, as both boys tumbled along the rough grass to safety.
"Thanks for that." Naruto grunted, rubbing his sore abdomen as they laid in a pained tangle. Lee nodded and stood up, walking a few steps before assuming his distinctive taijutsu stance between Naruto and their foe.
"Go after her." he said. Naruto frowned and labored up to his feet. Angry as he was, his grasp on logic had yet to completely deteriorate.
"You don't have a chance alone. He'll butcher you." he said reticently. If the prospect of an early grave phased Lee at all, he did not show it.
"We have a mission to complete. Whether or not I can win is irrelevant. The longer he stalls us, the further Satsuki-san runs. One of us has to stop her, and your chances are better than mine." he reasoned. Naruto pursed his lips and looked toward the henchman. He looked nearly bored. He was hardly trying.
"Are you sure?" he asked. Lee nodded again, but said nothing. Instead, he reached into his kunai pouch and produced a smoke bomb. He then glanced back at Naruto. His intention was clear, as was the proper action to take in response. Taking a deep breath, Naruto awaited his chance. It came ten seconds later, when Lee threw the bomb to the ground. The very same instant the smokescreen burst into being, Naruto rushed straight ahead. It was a high-stakes gamble. It had already been conclusively proven that, for the time being, both he and Lee were almost certainly outsped by their adversary. Timing and cover would be everything.
As he crossed by the meridian on which the henchman stood, his heart practically leapt out of his chest. Whether by way of foresight or sheer reaction speed, the man was making a beeline toward him. The distance he had to cover to reach the Jinchuuriki was miniscule. Only a few feet. The odds were stacked in his favor, and Naruto could feel that reality stabbing him in the back. Then, in a surprising turn of events, Naruto's view of the man was obstructed by the blurred form of Lee, who met a swing of the henchman's serrated bone with the sharp end of his kunai. His body was enveloped in a light green aura. A sign that he had opened at least one of the eight inner gates. How he had managed it in such a brief window, Naruto did not know, but it was a blessing.
Not taking a single look back, Naruto ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Currently, all that mattered was putting as much space between himself and the battlefield as possible. And soon, his ability to make up the ground Satsuki had gained over him would matter even more. While she only had a lead of two or so minutes, the Uchiha was far from slow. Gritting his teeth, Naruto kept his eyes fixed straight ahead. There was no room for doubts. The final chase was upon him, and every ounce of his focus was needed.
And so, with pained resolve, he barreled toward his inevitable reckoning with Satsuki.
Neji spat blood out of his mouth as he stared numbly up at Kidomaru. Nearly an hour of fighting had drained him of his ability to feel much of anything. Not even disdain for his enemy. Shino had fallen minutes ago. He was not dead, but likely near to it. His help had been invaluable. His insects had proven an excellent counter to Kidomaru's webs, and he had even proven himself to be proficient with the Summoning Jutsu of all things. He had fought valiantly. But unfortunately, he had been the weakest of the three participants from the very start, and Kidomaru had targeted him ruthlessly until he could take no more punishment.
Now, standing alone against the man-turned-arachnid, the Hyuga had but one task left before. To finish what they had started. He was utterly exhausted. His heart pounded like a drum in his ears, his lungs burned, and his vision was muddled from the sweat and blood dripping into his eyes. He was in tatters. Kidomaru was hardly better off. Shino's insects had chewed off three of his fingers, and siphoned out much of his chakra. Additionally, the monstrous transformation he had undergone some time ago appeared to be taking its toll. The fight was still on the table for either combatant to claim for themselves.
Very few webs remained. Shino's insects had seen to their widespread destruction, as had Neji's precise taijutsu. All that remained was a butchered section of woods. The final confrontation would be hand-to-hand. A test of strength and skill. In most cases, a contest of taijutsu would have greatly favored the Hyuga. He was well beyond his rank in terms of proficiency. Even so, the fact remained that Kidomaru was stronger than he was. His body had been amplified well beyond human limitation. The gentle fist was meant to bypass such disparities, and Neji had done considerable damage up-close, but his form was growing sloppier by the minute as his arms and legs got heavier.
'One shot, one strike, one collision. I'll end it all at once.' Neji thought to himself through the haze of his stupor. Assuming what he could muster of his usual stance, the Hyuga sent a silent challenge Kidomaru's way. Combat, especially in long-form, had a way of revealing a person's character. Put under enough duress, a human being's true colors tended to show through. Through the brutal struggle, Neji had learned a number of things about Kidomaru. First and foremost, he was highly intelligent. His schemes were well-constructed, and his execution was clean. Second, he was much more a tactician than a strategist. His focus was more tuned to the question of 'how' as opposed to 'why'.
Lastly, and most importantly, the second trait was his greatest weakness. It made him inherently short-sighted for all his sharpness. His schemes only ever accounted for their immediate execution and impact. As such, he could be manipulated. It was far easier said than done, but it was a clear path to success. The particular idea running through Neji's mind as he tauntingly stared into Kidomaru's eyes was far from nuanced. In many ways, it was downright boneheaded, but he was far too tired to think more than two steps ahead. Regardless of its risk, the Hyuga committed to it fully when Kidomaru leapt down from his branch with a sickly yellow spear drawn.
Delaying his own jump just a touch, Neji flew up to meet him in the air. As he had expected, Kidomaru was faster than he was. When they collided, the henchman struck first, and drove his spear right through the genin's stomach. As the sharp tip erupted out the other side of him, the Hyuga seized the shaft of the weapon and pulled Kidomaru in. With the last of his strength, he slammed his palm right into his foe's throat and forced a forceful surge of chakra into it. Both shinobi promptly crashed to the ground, with Kidomaru landing on top of Neji.
For a few silent moments, neither moved. They had both been badly wounded. Eventually, once the shock of his impalement had worn off, Neji pushed Kidomaru off of him and staggered up to his feet. He only made it a few steps before dropping down to his knees and gripping the spear that had been run through his abdomen. A grotesque choking sound then escaped the henchman, drawing Neji's battered gaze.
"I severed your jugular vein and carotid artery from the inside. You're as good as dead." he rasped through the severe pain in his gut. Kidomaru's body then convulsed, with the odd casing of yellow armor his transformation had manifested melting away. Soon enough, he had fully downgraded back to his normal state.
"We'll…call it a draw." he forced out, blood spilling from his mouth with every word. A set of strangled coughs followed, each more severe than the last as he choked to death on his own blood. By the time the fifth convulsion had run its course, he stopped moving. He was dead. Normally, Neji would have been at least somewhat unsettled by the torturous nature of Kidomaru's death, but as things stood, he was too spent to care. Finding the strength to rise once more, Neji hobbled over to Shino. The journey lasted no more than sixty feet, but it cost him the last of his stamina. The moment he reached him, he collapsed onto his side next to him.
With a grimace, he ripped the spear from his stomach and tossed it aside. He then rolled over onto his back, staring up into the cold sun poking through the canopy. There was a far from insignificant chance that his end was nearing. He had lost a dangerous amount of blood, and his chakra pool was as close to empty as could be. Blindly reaching left, he found Shino's wrist. There was still a pulse. It was weak, but present.
'You had better survive.' he silently lectured his fallen comrade. His senses then dulled in tandem. His consciousness was fading fast.
'...one of us has to.'
Naruto felt a weight lift from his shoulders as a distant speck of black and blue came into view. He had finally caught up after a brutally long stretch of sprinting. He was still well behind, but he was making up for lost time. Satsuki was in his sights, and he would not stop until he had run her down. With renewed motivation, he picked up his pace even further, skipping multiple branches at a time with every leap as he blasted through the forest. Of the many emotions swirling about within him, the chief among them was desperation. Armed with the knowledge of where, and to whom, she was headed, he knew with panicked certainty that this would be his only chance to ensure her safety.
On some level, he felt foolish for not having seen the exact scenario he was currently neck-deep in coming. He had long been aware of Satsuki's perplexing inferiority complex, and her broad feelings of inadequacy. All of that, coupled with the sudden reappearance of Itachi after seven long years should have created far more concern for the possibility of rash behavior on her part. Yet, he had still been blindsided. He was still confused. He was still grasping at straws. He was lost. He hadn't the foggiest notion of a plan. Only a few loose assumptions.
Of them, the one of which he was most certain was the idea that they would come to blows. Under far less pressure, she had lashed out at him physically in the hospital. There was little doubt in the Jinchuuriki's mind that there would be a fight waiting for him if and when he caught up to her. Attached to this assumption was but one single question.
What did he plan to do should he defeat her?
There existed a simple answer, that being that he would return her to Konoha by hand, but as dedicated as he was to the cause of keeping her from Orochimaru's grasp, something about essentially smuggling her back to the village did not sit right with the blonde. For reasons he could not pinpoint, it felt wrong. Frustratingly, despite his conflicted feelings on the matter, he had yet to come up with any other solution. Shaking his head, Naruto pushed the thoughts into a far-off corner of his mind. He could not afford to be conflicted. Satsuki's mind was clearly made up. His needed to be as well if he hoped to have ground to stand on.
Hardening his focus anew, Naruto continued to slowly move closer to Satsuki as they both sprinted headlong toward the valley. After nearly five minutes, he was finally close enough to make out the Uchiha emblem on the back of her shirt. Once he reached this range, however, he stagnated. Not out of exhaustion, but due to the slightest of increases in pace from Satsuki. She had been intentionally moving below her top speed. For whatever reason, she had allowed him to whittle down her lead. Perplexing as it was, Naruto took the opportunity to make his voice heard.
"Slow the hell down and talk to me!" he called out to her loudly. If she heard him, she ignored him, because she gave him no reaction whatsoever. Grinding his teeth in frustration, Naruto attempted to squeeze out a bit more speed, but was unable to do so. He was stuck trailing her.
"I don't want this to get messier than it needs to! Please, Satsuki!" he yelled. Predictably, dishearteningly, he was stonewalled a second time. He was far from new to the silent treatment, he had dealt with it plenty throughout his life, but it hurt now more than ever. He was being shut out by the single person he had managed to meaningfully connect with. It was a horrid feeling. Though he considered crying out again, he decided against it. He would save his energy for the truly difficult part. That being the confrontation he knew to be coming.
Ducking under a branch, Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself down. She would eat him alive if he was rattled when push came to shove. He was walking a mental tightrope. He could not think too terribly hard about any one aspect of the mission. He was all too aware of the fact that his teammates had paved the way for him to be so close to the Uchiha in the first place, and the thought of what may have happened to each of them was far too guilt-inducing to be worth consideration. All he could do to repay them for the favor they had done him was to succeed. Failure was not an option, for he would be letting far more than only himself down.
'He won't lay a finger on her.' Naruto swore, the unsavory face of Orochimaru flashing across his mind's eye at the thought.
Uncertain though he was, he would find a way. No matter the method.
Lee gripped his punctured shoulder as he and the white-haired man, whose name he had learned to be Kimimaro, circled one another. He was losing, and badly at that. Kimimaro was more than formidable in every area. His taijutsu was of considerable finesse, his ninjutsu was deadly, and while he had not utilized genjutsu up to now, Lee was certain that he was proficient. Compounding his skill was a significant advantage in physicality. He was far faster than Lee was man-to-man, having managed to evade even the second gate on more than one occasion. He was also a good deal larger and more powerful. When they collided, Lee was nearly always sent stumbling back from a difference in impact.
Calling on the upper reaches of his pain threshold, Lee charged in to attack his foe. Initially entering on a linear path toward the man's front, the eccentric genin made an abrupt cut off to his left. The maneuver saved him from being blasted at point-blank range by Kimimaro's finger bones, which he had often used as deadly projectiles. Slamming his heel down, Lee propelled himself in from the new angle he had created. Spearing a punch toward the left side of the henchman's jaw, Lee managed to connect at the very end of his arm's reach. The blow turned Kimimaro's head to one side, but did not force him to adjust his feet. As such, he was still rooted to counter with immediacy, and he did so viciously.
Clamping down on Lee's wrist, Kimimaro yanked him off his feet and kicked him in the stomach. The blow set Lee in a short float just above the man. When gravity sent him falling back down again, Kimimaro broke out into a rapid spinning motion.
"Larch Dance." he uttered. With every rotation he made, Lee was sliced open by the bones protruding from his skin while being juggled back and forth. It was a tremendously painful experience, and he could do nothing to escape it. After nearly three dozen agonizing spins, Kimimaro finally stopped, and kicked Lee again. This time, planting his foot firmly across his nose. Hitting the ground back-first with a pained 'thud' several meters away, Lee groaned in pain. He had taken more damage in seconds than he had in the entire fight up to that point.
Propping himself up onto his elbows, Lee powered back up to his feet. He was bent, but far from broken. Forcing a wry smile, Lee wiped the blood from his lips.
"Is that all?" he falsely taunted. Kimimaro raised an eyebrow, clearly quite surprised that his most recent assault hadn't put the genin down for the count.
"Far from it." he said shortly, extending his fingers out toward him. Lee tensed and took a frantic look around. He knew what was coming.
"Digital Shrapnel." Kimimaro announced, sending forth a volley of launched finger digits at breakneck speed. Just as the bones were about to collide with his body, Lee managed to switch a nearby tree branch in for himself, swapping places with it just in time to avoid injury. The wood was torn to shreds on impact. The substitution bought him practically no time at all, as Kimimaro honed in on his position within seconds and sent another barrage his way. Making a long dive to his right, Lee was able to evade all but one of the digits, the last of which grazed his face and cut him open along the cheek.
Landing on his feet regardless, Lee heaved a deep breath and ran in to close the distance. The exchange that followed went exactly as badly as even he had expected it to. All four of his attempted strikes were evaded with ease, and he was staggered twice in return by the blunt side of Kimimaro's protruding radius bone. The only victory afforded to him was that he was able to scamper back out of range again without suffering an open wound.
"I've been meaning to ask this. Are you not capable of using Ninjutsu? It wouldn't work, but it would serve you well to try it." Kimimaro asked as Lee steadied himself. The genin blinked sweat out of his eyes.
"You are correct. I lack the ability to mold chakra the way most people can, but it's forced me to be strong in other ways." Lee confirmed. Kimimaro gave him a look that almost seemed sympathetic.
"How sad. Crippled, and yet they still handed you a rank and sent you here to die. Your people are cruel." he lamented. Well used to such comments, Lee was unfazed. Coming to a quick but important decision, the genin crossed his arms in front of his face and grit his teeth.
"Crippled, eh? We'll see about that." he shot back. With considerable effort, he began the process of forcing his gates open once more. He had managed to work himself into a shape that allowed him to access the first gate with minimal strain, and the second was also rather easily accessible. The third and beyond, however, still required immense concentration and fatigued him greatly. Even so, extreme measures were needed for any outcome but defeat to be possible. As veins appeared all across his body, Lee felt his body's inhibitions releasing themselves. He would unleash his hidden lotus, and if it failed, he would be killed. A gamble of the highest order, but his only chance all the same.
"Don't bother. It won't work. Not with this one."
Lee flinched in surprise at the new voice that had rung out from behind him. Looking back over his shoulder, the genin narrowed his eyes as the sound of footsteps echoed from the treeline. The scuffle had brought both himself and Kimimaro back toward the forest again, and they had apparently attracted outside attention from within it. Slowly but surely, a shocking figure emerged from the shadows of the trees. Short red hair, pale blue eyes, and an unmistakable aura of menace. Somehow, someway, Gaara of the Sand was upon them.
Following the redhead with his eyes, Lee swallowed nervously as Gaara strolled up beside him. Once they were parallel, the Jinchuuriki looked him up and down.
"You've seen better days." he commented. Lee opened his mouth to retort, but held it back. Antagonizing him was the worst idea imaginable. Instead, he posed the only appropriate question.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. The Suna boy's presence was perplexing on numerous levels, and his timing was eerie.
"I'm hired help, so to speak. All you need to know is that we're not enemies. For now, anyway." Gaara explained. He then looked to Kimimaro and folded his arms across his chest.
"You drew a bad hand. Anybody else, and you might've had a chance." he said. Before Lee could reply, the henchman beat him to it.
"Of all the people I expected to encounter today, you weren't one of them." he said. Gaara smirked and tilted his head off to one side.
"You remember me? I'm flattered." he said mockingly. Lee looked on in confusion. There appeared to be a history between the two. Kimimaro pursed his lips.
"You took one of my legs. Not the easiest thing to forget." he countered. Lee's eyes darted back and forth between them. There was a story to be pieced together from their shared dialogue, but too little had been said to form anything cohesive. For better or worse, the conversation then changed topics.
"All in the past. You have a new one anyway. But all of that aside…" Gaara began, sand pouring forth from his guard as he made a slow advance toward Kimimaro.
"...I'm here on official business, and as far as I'm concerned, you're in the way." he said as his miniature desert whipped around him. Kimimaro reached back and pulled an extremely sharp bone from his shoulder, brandishing it like a blade.
"Lord Orochimaru spared you once. I won't be so merciful." he said menacingly. Gaara chuckled, his voice lowering to a deep growl.
"I'm glad we're on the same page." he said. Easily sensing that a fight was brewing, Lee attempted to take up a position next to the Jinchuuriki. He was halted by a wall of sand.
"Stay out of this. I don't need dead weight. Take a seat and enjoy the show." Gaara ordered him. Lee glared at the redhead's back for a brief few moments, but swallowed his pride and backed up ten paces. Deep down, he knew that he was worth very little in combat in his present condition. Part of him was even grateful to have been relieved from duty for the time being, but it was all permeated by the distaste he held for Gaara. Doing his best to find a positive angle from which to view the new arrangement, Lee sighed.
'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'
A/N: Hell yeah, back on the regular updates. Have the time to write these frequently now, and I'm super excited for what's to come.
Next chapter's main event will be Gaara vs Kimimaro, and trust me, it will be extremely different from canon. I've been looking forward to writing this one for months.
And don't you worry, Naruto and Satsuki will have their final stage set next chapter as well. After that, the focus will remain almost entirely with them until the end of the fic.
Let me know what you thought of this one in a review. As I've said before, feedback is my biggest motivator. Really helps me keep a schedule
I love you all
See you next chapter!
