Chapter 17: The Breaking of a Bond, the promise of a lifetime, the departure
Ryouske stood there, shock evident on his face, as he tried to digest what Tsunade had just said, his brain buzzing from the impact of the information, "W..what?!" he asked, dumbfounded.
Tsunade sighed and looked towards Sakura, who still seemed to be shaking from her sobs, "Late last night, Izumo and Kotetsu found Sakura lying on a bench near the village gates. When they woke her up she said that she had tried to stop Sasuke from leaving the village but he knocked her unconscious and left," Tsunade said, her gaze turning to Ryouske.
Ryouske ran a hand through his hair, his expression becoming one of anger as his thoughts turned to Sasuke, beginning to understand why he would want to go to Orochimaru as his thoughts turned to the pair that attacked him. With a sigh he looked at Tsunade and crossed his arms behind his head, "I think Sasuke went to Orochimaru so that he could gain the power to kill Itachi," he speculated and told them about the pair that had attacked him.
Tsunade sat down at her desk with a raised eyebrow as she took in Ryouske's report, "The fact that Orochimaru's henchmen came into the village is troubling, Sasuke I can understand why he would want him for, but why would Orochimaru be after you Ryouske? Didn't he designate you as a failed experiment?" she inquired, making Ryouske clench his fists tight, "Don't remind me that I used to be that monster's experiment."
Ryouske then punched the wall, his expression still of anger as he grit his teeth, "Damn, this isn't good," he said, causing Tsunade to nod her agreement, "Sasuke is one of the finest Genin in the Hidden Leaf, if Orochimaru gets his hands on him then he would be even stronger," she said but Ryouske shrugged, "That too but I meant that Naruto is NOT gonna be happy about this."
Tsunade rested her chin on her upright arms as she pondered Naruto's reaction, but then shook it off and gestured at both Shikamaru and Ryouske, "I've called the two of you here because I'm authorising a mission to retrieve Sasuke BEFORE Orochimaru can get his hands on him. I can't spare many ninja but you are free to choose from the Genin that are on standby, they should be sufficient to bring him back"
Ryouske and Shikamaru looked at each other and nodded before looking back at Tsunade, "It seems me and Ryouske both have the perfect team in mind so you can count on us Lady Tsunade," Shikamaru said, with Ryouske holding up a fist and clenching it with a smirk, "Yea, we WILL bring Sasuke back," both were the dismissed from the office.
First they headed to Naruto's apartment, both deciding that Ryouske should break the news to Naruto, but when the knocked there was no answer so Ryouske, losing patience, kicked the door open and walked in to find Naruto still asleep so Ryouske, having lost patience, did a handsign, "Water style: Water Whip Jutsu" he said as he whipped his hand down and a whip of water formed on his hand to slap at Naruto's head.
With a yell, Naruto woke up, a red mark on his now wet face, and glared at Ryouske, "What the HELL was that for?!" he demanded, but stopped being angry when he saw Ryouske's serious expression. "Sasuke left the village last night, he went to join Orochimaru. Get dressed and meet us outside, we'll explain along the way to get others," Ryouske said and without another word, he and Shikamaru waited outside for Naruto.
After Naruto joined them outside, they went to get the fourth member of the retrieval team, but when there was no answer at the door, Shikamaru bade them to sit down as he opened a bag of potato chips, which they began to eat. As soon as Ryouske pulled the last chip out, however, there was a thundering sound and the doors to the house flew open as a large person jumped over Ryouske, grabbing the potato chip and standing with it in front of them.
"The last chip in the bag is always the one with the most flavour, NEVER will I let anyone else have it," Choji Akimichi said as he ate the chip and grinned at them. Ryouske laughed and shook his head, "Same as ever, huh Choji?" he asked as the large boy walked over to them and looked at Shikamaru for an answer, "Tsunade has a mission for us, c'mon we have to go get the other two members of our team," Shikamaru said.
Soon after, they were all at the gates with a complete squad. The squad consisted of Ryouske, Shikamaru, Naruto, Choji, Kiba and Neji, the latter four of which were waiting for an answer to their question from Ryouske and Shikamaru. Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head as he looked at them, "Right so here is what's up. Last night Sasuke left the village to join Orochimaru. Our mission is to bring him back no matter what and stop him before he can get to Orochimaru, any questions?"
Naruto clenched his fists as he stared wide eyed at the ground, trying to comprehend why Sasuke would betray the village and just up and leave. Ryouske's voice brought Naruto back to reality as he relayed them a plan for a formation that he had, "Okay guys so here's how we are gonna go. Kiba will go in front, his keen sense of smell and keen sight, coupled with the fact that him and Akamaru take walks through the woods all the time, will be essential," Ryouske began, getting a nod from Kiba and a small bark from his white furred puppy Akamaru, whose head was poking out from Kiba's jacket.
Shikamaru then looked at them, "After kiba will be me, I'll have a wider range than Kiba and will be able to relay orders in front and behind very easily. After me will be Ryouske and Naruto side by side, they both will be looking left and up respectively and be able to react to any threats quickly with their shadow clones and with Ryouske's sharingan giving him enhanced vision, he will be able to see threats more easily than Naruto, giving him a better chance to react to them," he said making Ryouske nod.
Ryouske then looked at Choji, "Choji will then be behind me and Naruto and will be watching the right side just as Naruto will be watching the left. Choji's attack power will be a crucial final blow for surprise attacks and added with the fact he can do partial expansion, he would be able to stretch his arms to help us get back to formation if any of us are knocked out of it," he explained, getting a nod from Choji.
Finally Shikamaru looked at Neji, "Neji will be at the back, with his Byakugan he can see 360 degrees making him able to cover any blind spots that we have and will be watching the rear for any threats approaching from behind," he finished, getting a nod from Neji. Ryouske crossed his arms and leaned his head back, as much as he could anyway due to the handle of the executioner's blade, and sighed, "Look guys, I'm going to be honest. I don't particularly like Sasuke, in fact I think he is an arrogant, smug asshole who needs a good solid punch. That being said he is, however arrogant, a ninja of the Hidden Leaf village, that makes him a comrade and I'll be DAMNED if I let that scum Orochimaru get his hands on one of our own."
Shikamaru nodded his agreement and looked at them, "We can't guarantee that all of us will make it back alive, but if you are able to then do come back, no matter what," they all nodded and turned to leave when all of a sudden, Sakura and Rock Lee appeared, with Lee on his crutches making everyone smile that he was able to at least walk around easier after his successful operation to fix the damage Gaara had done to him.
Lee turned to Ryouske and Naruto and looked at them sadly, "I really wish I could go with you, but Lady Tsunade says I'm not ready. So I will be cheering for your success and wish you luck on the mission," he said holding his thumb up in a good luck sign, making Ryouske and Naruto grin, giving him the same sign.
Naruto's grin dropped, however, when Sakura looked at him, tears threatening to spill over her eyes, "Naruto I have…a once in a lifetime request," she began, making Naruto's and Ryouske's eyebrows rise, "Please…I'm begging you…PLEASE bring Sauske back to me," she begged through her now tear stained face.
Ryouske looked at her, disapproval evident on his face as he glared at Sakura, "Little bitch! She DARES to beg Naruto for that?! Not even bothering to notice how he feels about her?!" he thought as he watched the pink haired girl. Naruto just grinned at her and held up his fist, his eyes closed with his grin, "Don't worry Sakura, I'll bring Sasuke back no matter what. That's a promise and I never go back on my word," he exclaimed, making Sakura smile and murmur her thanks.
After that touching scene, the retrieval team soon headed out in their formation, Kiba and Akamaru in front sniffing for threats and booby traps, Shikamaru behind them ready to relay orders, Ryouske and Naruto behind Shikamaru with Ryouske looking at the tree tops with his Sharingan active and Naruto looking left, Choji behind them looking to the right and ready to use his powerful fists to deal with any surprise attacks and Neji at the back facing the rear with his Byakugan active and scanning their blind spots.
They travelled for quite a distance before Kiba raised his hand for them to stop and they all landed on some tree branches to hear what he had to say, "I smell Sasuke up ahead along with 4 other scents," he explained, noticing Ryouske frown, " Two of them are probably the goons who attacked me in the village." Shikamaru put his finger to his chin in thought and nodded to their right, "Let's try to sneak up on them, see if we can't get the jump on them but don't let your guards down," he advised making them nod as they flanked round the enemy.
They crouched in some bushes, watching them carefully as their targets sat on some logs and against trees. Ryouske's eyes focused on a white barrel with seals keeping the lid closed and with purple rope tied around it, "That must be where Sasuke is," he whispered to Shikamaru who nodded and then looked at Tayuya and Jirobo, "Those the goons that attacked you?" he asked making Ryouske nod this time.
Shikamaru looked at them with a thinking face and smirked, "I got a plan guys," he said making them all smirk as he explained it. Ryouske and Naruto soon began to talk loudly, "So, Ryo? I heard you and that Tayuya chick got a bit close when they attacked, did sparks fly between you two?" Naruto asked making Ryouske laugh loudly, "Just a bit, I could tell she was into me but I couldn't be attracted to someone as foul mouthed as that."
Ryouske then smirked when the woman in question came crashing through the trees with the rest of her group and proceeded to apprehend Ryouske and Naruto. It was short lived, however, when all of a sudden Ryouske and Naruto disappeared and a smoke bomb burst in front of them and in the ensuing chaos, shadows flew across the ground and latched onto the sound four's shadows, holding them in place as Shikamaru appeared holding the hand sign for his Shadow Possession jutsu, but all of a sudden someone attacked them from behind, sending them flying to the rest of the sound four.
As they stood up from being knocked away, the person who found them strode in, a smirk clearly seen on his pale face. He was wearing the same outfit as Tayuya and Jirobo, except this guy did not wear a hat like Tayuya which let his neck length grey hair run free. Ryouske looked from this guy, to the other grey haired guy with a raised eyebrow, "The fuck?!" he said aloud as he noticed that the grey haired member was missing his second head.
The guy smirked at them, "Did you honestly think you can sneak up on us? Please, we aren't Orochimaru's elite guard for nothing you know," he said and just as they were about to get up and attack, a big earth dome enclosed around them, trapping them inside, with Jirobo's hands on one side of the earth dome, making it clear that he was the one doing it.
Seeing that they were trapped in the dark dome, Ryouske swore loudly as he began to punch the dome, trying to break it. "Damn this shit is solid," he said making Shikamaru nod but they all looked around when they heard the Sound four's voices saying how Jirobo was going to stay behind and take care of them while the others pressed forward.
After a few unsuccessful attempts to break out of the dome from Kiba and Naruto, with the rock repairing itself from the blows, Neji and Ryouske began looking around the wall with their Byakugan and Sharingan, seeing the chakra flowing through the rock. "It seems that this earth dome sucks away our chakra and feeds it back to Jirobo, thereby increasing his own chakra," Neji explained as Naruto kicked the ground, frustrated.
Both Shikamaru and Ryouske then sat down, both thinking on how they could get out of here until, with a wide grin, Ryouske looked at them, "I got an idea. The rock repairs itself when damaged right? So let's cause damage faster than it can heal," he said, causing the group to raise an eyebrow, except for Shikamaru, who understood Ryouske's line of thinking.
"That could work, we would just need to follow up with a second attack straight after the first," Shikamaru stated, making Ryouske nod as he looked at Kiba and Naruto, "Kiba, use your Fang Over Fang jutsu to make a hole on the rock wall, then Naruto will use his Rasengan to enlarge that hole and dig through the rock wall," he explained making them smile and nod, liking the idea.
Kiba and Akamaru then got into position and Akamaru turned into a clone of kiba and both jumped into the air, spinning until they resembled mini tornados, "Fang Over Fang" they both called as they both slammed into the same spot on the wall, one after another, making a hole appear. Straight after, Naruto, after charging up a Rasengan, thrust forward and pushed the spinning sphere into the hole, the power of the Rasengan digging through the rock wall until it exploded outward, making a hole for them to escape.
Jirobo lowered his hands as he looked at the now free group and smirked at them, "Well done, you ACTUALLY escaped my jutsu," he said smugly. Ryouske smirked at him and gripped the handle of the executioner's blade, "Wasn't that hard, while your jutsu is very interesting, it was easy to see how to get past it," he explained, making Jirobo snort, "With that Jacket, I'm guessing you and pineapple head there," he said as he looked at Shikamaru, "Are the leaders of this group. A bunch of pathetic, weak losers with bigger losers for leaders," he scathingly mocked.
Behind his back, Ryouske made some hand signs to the group, signalling them to go around Jirobo and proceed on ahead. They nodded and feinted left but instead headed to the right but Jirobo, expecting the feint, jump in front of them and smacked them back, blocking their progress. "You guys aren't going anywhere, not until I've had my fun with you," he said, smirking at them.
Ryouske was about to jump towards him, when all of a sudden, Choji jumped in front of him and stood tall, glaring at Jirobo, "You guys go on ahead, I'll deal with this guy. No-one insults my friends, especially not my BEST friend," he said, making Shikamaru smile, "You better catch up Choji," he ordered, getting a nod from his friend. They then tried to go around Jirobo, who tried to block them again, but this time was smacked aside by Choji, and were able to head on past him with Ryouske looking back to tell Choji that he better catch up, his eyes widening as he saw Choji pop a green pill into his mouth.
As they continued on through the trees, Ryouske looked over at Shikamaru and frowned, "Shika, did you see that pill Choji took as we left? Please tell me that wasn't what I thought it was," he requested, looking at the shadow user who sighed nodding, "I'm afraid so, the Akimichi Triple Threat," he answered, getting a confused look from Naruto and looks of concern from Neji and Kiba.
At Naruto's confused look, Ryouske explained, "The Akimichi Triple Threat is a set of three different coloured pills, spinach green, curry yellow and chilli red, that convert the body's fat reserves into chakra, thereby granting the body tremendous power but at a drawback. The pills do damage to the body once the effect of one wears off, the greater the boost, the greater the damage."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at Ryouske's explanation, "But isn't that good? It means Choji will be able to take that guy, right?" he asked but frowned when Shikamaru shook his head, "He will be able to take him but if he is forced to take the red chilli pill, his power would be immense but at a cost," he began but trailed off at the thought and Ryouske continued for him, "When the red pill wears off, the damage the body would sustain would kill the person," he finished, getting a gasp from a wide eyed Naruto.
They then continued on until they had the rest of the Sound four in their sights, where Shikamaru came up with an idea, "Maybe we can trick them into handing us the coffin," he suggested as he used the transformation technique to turn into Jirobo and jumped ahead as the rest of the group lagged behind, ready to spring forward if need be.
Jirobo/Shikamaru caught up with the sound four and quickly adopted Jirobo's bored, yet focused look, "Sorry it took me a while guys, that brat was annoying," he explained to them. Tayuya scoffed at him and glared his way, "Maybe if you wasn't so busy stuffing your fat fucking face with their chakra, you would have been able to get your fat fucking ass here quicker," she bluntly suggested getting a grunt of apology from Jirobo/Shikamaru.
All of a sudden, the unidentified member of the four turned towards Jirobo/Shikamaru and proceeded to punch him full on in the face, sending him flying back, where he landed on a tree branch and changed back to his normal appearance. "What gave me away?" Shikamaru asked as he rubbed his face, swollen from the punch.
The member smirked and the three of them landed on a branch, staring at Shikamaru and the rest of the group, who had just appeared, "The real Jirobo would have reminded Tayuya about her language, so it was a dead giveaway when you didn't," he explained. Shikamaru shrugged and was about to relay an order to the group, when a clone of the guy appeared behind them and proceeded to shoot what looked like webbing out of his mouth, trapping them each against a tree, except for Naruto and the clones he had created, who had fallen into a huge web near the ground and were stuck on it.
The member motioned for his group to continue without him, which they did, and he stepped into the light, giving them a better view of him. He wore the same outfit as the other members of the sound four, except this guy's outfit showed a black tank top underneath and the grey tunic had a musical note on it, the symbol of the Village Hidden in the Sound. His hair was black and done up in a ponytail and he also had dark skin, but this or his clothes were not the reason their eyes were now wide. He was wearing arm warmers on each of his arms, all SIX of them.
With a smirk at them, he walked along the webbing as if it was nothing, "My name is Kidomaru of the East Gate. I'm the smartest of the sound four and the one who shall end this game and your lives here and now," he stated, his smirk never dropping as he proceeded to look down at Naruto as the clone disappeared.
Ryouske and the others struggled against their webbing, finding escape impossible as the webbing was incredibly sticky, yet hard as steel. Ryouske looked around, trying to find a way out, when his eyes landed on Neji's hand, chakra swirling around it as it began to cut the webbing, "Of course, Neji's Gentle Fist taijutsu style enables him to cut the flow of chakra. It makes sense that he would be able to cut these webs," Ryouske thought with a smirk.
Kidomaru, it seemed, had not noticed what Neji was doing and instead was smirking down at Naruto and his clones as he spat a yellowish-brown substance into his hands that he then formed into a bow and arrow, which he aimed at one of Naruto's clones. "Let's see if I can't find the real you," he said, licking his lips with anticipation and let the arrow go free, hitting one of the Naruto's and making him disappear.
He proceeded to do this until, to his surprise, all of the Naruto's had disappeared and the real Naruto had appeared from above, fist poised to strike, until Kidomaru turned around and smacked him away to the ground. He was about to fire another arrow at Naruto, when all of a sudden Neji smacked Kidomaru from behind and the rest of the group dropped down next to him, freed from their webbing.
Kidomaru glared at Neji, impressed that he could cut through the webbing, and decided that he wanted to fight Neji one on one. Neji turned to his group and bade them to move on, "I'm the only one who can cut through these webs, so you guys go on without me," he then turned to Naruto, "Naruto, sometimes your eyes see better than mine. Sasuke is in the dark and you are the only one who can find him," he said, getting a nod from Naruto as they all began to follow the other two.
They soon caught up to the other two where this time Ryouske came up with a plan. He motioned for Shikamaru and Kiba to follow him and for Naruto to go underneath them, where they can try and get the coffin. From above, Ryouske, Shikamaru and Kiba attacked the pair from above, raining kunai and shuriken onto them as Naruto went below and, while they were distracted, grabbed the coffin with Sasuke from the hands of Tayuya and proceeded to run in the opposite direction to try and get away with it.
During the confusion, the grey haired member tackled Kiba and they both went flying through some trees away from the group, with Kiba yelling at them to go on without him, where the stranger introduced himself as Sakon of the west gate and where they proceeded to fight. Ryouske and Shikamaru were about to catch up with Naruto, when all of a sudden, Tayuya jumped at him to try and grab the coffin, only for Shikamaru to use his Shadow Possession Jutsu to trap her. Yelling their thanks at Shikamaru, Ryouske and Naruto proceeded to head onwards to try and loop back to the village.
They thought they were home free when, all of a sudden, a newcomer launched at Naruto and grabbed the coffin from, continuing on the path that the Sound Four had taken. Growling with frustration, both Ryouske and Naruto followed the stranger, ending up in a grassy field where the stranger had stopped with the coffin on the ground. The newcomer was wearing a different outfit than the Sound four.
He was wearing a light lavender, loose-fitting, long-sleeved, zip-up shirt, black pants cut off around mid-calf, bandages wrapped around his ankles, traditional shinobi sandals, and a purple, rope-like belt tied in an inverted bow around his waist. He also wore two red, tube-like hair ornaments; one on either side of his head, securing two locks of his silvery-white hair. Unlike the others, he did not wear a Hidden Sound headband.
He had pale skin, vivid green eyes, masculine facial features, two scarlet dots on his forehead, and shoulder-length white hair, which he wore divided down the middle on his head with two separate partings on either side of his face. He was also sporting a blank look as he looked at them as if they were nothing but minor insects.
"Wanna tell us who you are asshole?" Ryouske demanded, drawing the executioner's blade as he did so. The newcomer looked at him with that blank look, "My name is Kimimaro, the leader of the Sound Five and one of Orochimaru's greatest soldiers," he explained. Just then then, the coffin began to smoke and, with a puff of smoke, the coffin exploded and when the smoke cleared, Sasuke was standing there, unharmed it seemed and began to laugh eerily.
Seeing his best friend unhurt, Naruto's eyes widened, "Sasuke, you're safe. C'mon, let's head back to the village, everyone is waiting for you," he said, trying to reach his friend, who just continued to laughed and ran on ahead. When Naruto tried to follow, Kimimaro knocked him back with what appeared to be a white sword and Ryouske caught Naruto, standing up upright.
Kimimaro pointed his white sword at them and continued to give them that blank look, "You will NOT be getting between Lord Orochimaru and his vessel," he stated. Naruto growled at his statement and did a familiar handsign as he made 2,000 clones appear around Kimimaro with an impressed Ryouske looking onwards at the clones as they all yelled at Kimimaro, "We won't let Orochimaru get his hands on Sasuke!"
Kimimaro looked at the clones, unfazed, as the skin on his arms moved as if something was trying to escape from them until, with a shocked look from Naruto and Ryouske, bones came out of Kimimaro's arms as if he had swords attached to them. Ignoring their shocked looks, Kimimaro kept looking around at the clones, poised to attack, "My, there is so much trash around here," he said as he began to attack the clones, swinging his bones around here and there, until only the real Naruto was left.
Naruto was about to charge at Kimimaro once more, when a green blur appeared in front of him and faced Kimimaro. Ryouske and Naruto both looked with wide eyes as they beheld Rock Lee, standing there without his crutches, in his usual fighting stance ready to fight. Lee looked over his shoulder at Ryouske and Naruto, "You two go on a head, I will fight this man," he stated to the two.
Naruto was about to protest, until Ryouske stood in front of him and next to Lee, executioner's blade pointed at Kimimaro, "You go Naruto. Sasuke is YOUR best friend, if anyone should go after him at this point, it's you," he told his friend as he too looked over his shoulder. Naruto looked at his two friends, gratitude evident on his face at their actions and smiled even more when both held their thumb up to him, "You made a promise to Sakura, don't let her down Naruto," they both said.
With a nod, Naruto rushed past Kimimaro and chased after Sasuke. Kimimaro let him go, his attention focused on the two in front of him, his eyes narrowing as Ryouske began to speak, "Careful Lee, this guy seems to be able to grow his bones from his body to use as weapons," he warned his partner. Lee nodded, heeding the warning and began to run at Kimimaro, throwing strikes hard and fast while Ryouske ran around behind Kimimaro to attack at his back, but both were blocked by bones coming out of Kimimaro's arms.
Both then proceeded to swing blow after blow at him, only to have them blocked by his bones, which seemed to be as hard as steel and were quickly knocked aside. Kimimaro then stood over Lee, ready to deal an ending blow, that is until Lee held up his hand, "Please, one moment. It is my medicine you see, I must take it," he explained to Kimimaro and Ryouske, the former who just stood there, allowing Lee to take his medicine with Ryouske looking at him with a raised eyebrow, "Huh, so this guy is honourable enough to let Lee take his medicine mid-battle?" he thought.
Lee brought out a white, corked bottle and held it up so Kimimaro could see, "To be honest, I never actually liked medicine," he said as he opened the bottle and began to drink. Ryouske could sympathise with him, he never liked Medicine either, he mused as he stabbed the Executioner's blade into the ground and leant on it, looking at Kimimaro, "It surprises me that you would just stand here and allow him to take his medicine, what gives?" he asked the pale faced opponent.
Kimimaro just looked at him and shrugged lightly, "I may work for Lord Orochimaru, but I have honour and striking at an opponent in such a vulnerable state does not bode well with me," he explained making Ryouske raise an eyebrow and shrug, "Fair enough, can't argue with that. It's nice to see that there is honour to be found in some opponents."
They both looked back at Lee as he stopped drinking and grimaced, looking at the bottle, "This medicine tastes rather awful," he said, then proceeded to drop the bottle as he began to sway side to side with both Kimimaro and Ryouske watching with raised eyebrows, both sharing the same thought, "What kind of medicine was that?"
Both were just watching him as he groggily beckoned Kimimaro over to fight, while Kimimaro just looked at Ryouske and pointed at Lee, "Is that a usual occurrence when he takes medicine?" he asked making Ryouske shrug, "Fuck if I know," he said, hefting his sword over his shoulder. When at that moment, Lee launched at Kimimaro, his foot groggily striking out at him.
As Lee fought Kimimaro, Ryouske noticed that his movements were all groggy and unfocused, "As if..." he thought as he picked up the bottle and sniffed, then proceeding to drop the bottle in disgust, "Damn, just as I thought. He must of somehow accidently gotten a hold of one of the Old Hag's sake bottles," he said aloud as he watched the drunken Lee fight Kimimaro, his movements showing he didn't need help.
Lee soon collapsed onto the ground, his eyes closed, and Kimimaro walked over to him, with Ryouske ready to jump in if needed, when all of a sudden Lee jumped up and struck at Kimimaro with a drunken grin yelling, "YOU FELL FOR IT!" and making Ryouske chuckle. Lee stopped and looked at Ryouske with one eye open and burped before calling out to him, "Hhey Ryo *burp* uske? What are you do..doing over there? Stop day dreaming ab *burp* out Miss Karina and join the fight," he called making a vein pop on Ryouske's head.
"I'm not day dreaming about her you drunken moron!" he called to Lee who just grinned wildly and danced around laughing, "You TOTALLY weeeeere. You LOOOOOVE Miss Karina don't you?" he asked the now red faced Ryouske while Kimimaro looked from one to the other, obviously confused, but getting the gist of it, "I assume this Karina woman is a person of great importance to you?"
With his face now as red as the front of his hair, he hefted his sword and stammered at them, "S..sh..shut up the pair of you," he stammered out as Lee resumed his dancing and was now clapping his hands, "Ryouske loves Karina, Ryouske loves Karina," he chanted. Ryouske, now with steam almost coming out of his ears, waved at Kimimaro, "Y..you can attack him again now," he suggested to the pale man, who just shrugged and continued his attack on Lee.
Eventually Lee collapsed once more, this time it seemed for real, as Kimimaro advanced on him and this time Ryouske intercepted, blocking the piece of bone that Kimimaro swung down at Lee and held it in place as he glared at Kimimaro, "Now it is MY turn to play", he said as he knocked the bone upwards and began to swing at Kimimaro again and again.
He lost focus, however, when Kimimaro feinted to the right but then went around to the left, getting behind Ryouske, and swung at the boy's back, leaving a cut going down it. Ryouske jumped away, pain burning up his back as he glared at Kimimaro, his blood dripping down his back slowly and with a wince Ryouske stood up straight and hefted his sword in front of him, both hands on the handle, fighting the pain in his back.
Seeing this as a chance to go after Naruto,, Kimimaro ran past Ryouske, effortlessly dodging the boy's attack, and proceeded to go after Naruto, but stopped in his tracks when a sobered up Lee and the wounded Ryouske, both appeared near him with Lee's foot aimed at his chest where his bones formed to catch the foot and with Ryouske's sword pointed at his back with the bones of his back blocking the sword. With a sigh, he spun around, making the bones grow long and sharper, and slashed at their faces, the broad side of a bone hitting Lee's face, while Ryouske got a sharp end down his face.
Kimimaro thrust his hands forward with extended bones, poised to finish them off, when out of nowhere, sand appeared and wrapped around the two, carrying them away to where a newcomer appeared, controlling the sand as if it was nothing. Ryouske looked up at the newcomer and smiled weakly through his bloodied face, "What the hell are you doing here, Gaara?" he asked his best friend who looked at Ryouske with his usual blank stare, "Lady Hokage requested assistance from the Sand, so Kankuro, Temari and I were sent to help."
Ryouske stood up, feeling stronger now that he had backup, and hefted his sword onto his shoulder, spitting out blood as he did, "You look like hell," Gaara said in his monotone voice, making Ryouske blink and burst out laughing, "Damn, don't hold back Gaara, tell me your honest opinion," he joked with a grin. Kimimaro looked at them with his head tilted, curious to who this newcomer was.
Gaara looked at Lee and then towards Kimimaro, "It seems Rock Lee is too weak to continue. Looks like it is just me and you Ryouske," Ryouske nodded and smirked at Gaara, "Wouldn't have it any other way, my friend," he said, happy to be fighting by his childhood friend's side. Kimimaro watched their interaction with a thoughtful expression, his eyes darting to Gaara, recognising him as a strong opponent and without a second thought, he shrugged his arms out of his tunic, letting the top half fall down to hang around his middle.
Ryouske raised an eyebrow as he wondered what Kimimaro was doing and his eyes widened as a mark on Kmimaru's chest, a circle of three curved lines, began to glow as black markings travelled over his body, dotting his body with rectangular marks as his chakra soon began to flare. With eyes still wide, Ryouske nodded and looked at Gaara, "This may get interesting," he said, making Gaara nod as sand flowed around him.
Kimimaro then launched at them, bones growing out of the palms of his hands, his back, his shoulders and other parts of his body and jumped at the pair, spinning as the bones extended outwards and lengthened, striking at Ryouske and Gaara, "Willow Dance" Kimimaro called as he used the jutsu. Gaara brought up a wall of sand to shield him, and Ryouske and brought his sword up to block the bones, but a few got in and stabbed at Ryouske's arms, drawing blood.
Gaara whipped sand at him, knocking Kimimaro away, and looked at Ryouske to see if he was ok, getting a wave of dismissal from Ryosuke, who then charged at Kimimaro, sword swinging while Gaara's sand flowed around him like a shield with spikes pointing straight ahead. Kimimaro slashed with a bone sword, breaking the sand spikes and blocked Ryouske's strike, marvelling at the strength Ryouske still had in his injured body, and kicked him away.
Still holding the bone sword, Kimimaro began to thrust it forward repeatedly, "Camellia Dance" he stated as after images of the sword appeared, making Ryouske confused as to which swords were real and ended up getting stabbed in multiple places trying to block the swords. Kimimaro then appeared behind him and kicked him away but then jumped away to avoid a strike from Gaara's sand and regarded the two with a look of boredom and turned his head to Gaara, realising, too late, that this was a mistake.
Ryouske appeared behind him, hand signs weaving, as Ryouske stabbed his blade into the ground with lightning surging along it and into the ground, "Lightning style: Lightning Stream Jutsu" he called as the lightning struck Kimimaro from in the ground and, with a yell of pain, Kimimaro shot backward, landing on his feet with his arms and legs still twitching from the current.
Gaara appeared next to the panting Ryouske and looked at his friend, "Are you ok? You look ready to collapse," he said but Ryouske just shook his head and smiled weakly, standing up straight despite his panting, "I'm good, don't worry," he replied, watching Kimimaro as he ran at him, sword swinging downward, only for bones to grow out of Kimimaro's body as the blow was deflected, "Larch dance" he stated as the strength of Ryouske's attack was thrown back at him and he was sent flying towards Gaara, who caught him with a hand of sand.
Watching Kimimaro, Gaara sent a wave of sand at him from all sides, cascading around Kimimaro, who jumped over the sand, his eyes locking onto Gaara. Seeing that Ryouske and Gaara were stronger opponent's than he realised, Kimimaro raised an eyebrow, "Looks like I'll have to resort to level two curse mark, how troubling," he said to Ryouske and Gaara, who both wore looks of confusion.
The marks on Kimimaro's body began to glow orange and soon covered his entire body as his body began to change and Ryouske jumps back, cursing loudly. Kimimaro's body now looked like a dinosaur, with dark grey skin, dark black eye sclerae, yellow eye irises, six large bone spines protruding out of his back, a long bone-spiked tail and two dark black curved like markings under his eyes - one under each eye and two as elongated eyebrows - one above each eye. Even Gaara's eyes widened at his new appearance and both felt the increase in his chakra as he clicked his body, preparing for this fight to get much worse and all Ryouske could say was, "Fuck."
Without further ado, Kimimaro lunged forward, bones growing out of his body again as he proceeded to slash at Ryouske and Gaara, sand and sword blocking some of the hits, and was attacking faster than before, eventually getting knocked away by Gaara's sand and Ryouske's sword though. Before he could recover from being knocked away, Ryouske appeared behind Kimimaro, hand signs weaving as wind and lightning surged around his sword, "Sky Style: Gale Force Storm Blade" he called as he swung the sword at Kimimaro, hitting his back and shocking him, sending him flying towards Gaara, who launched a huge sand fist at Kimimaro, smacking him into the ground.
Standing on his feet, Kimimaro glared at Ryouske and reached behind him, grabbing his spine that had risen out of his skin, "Clematis Dance: Vine" he called as he held his lengthened spine like a whip, which he then whipped towards Ryouske, wrapping around the exhausted ninja's throat, and pulled Ryouske toward him as he raised his left arm and bones started forming around it, forming the shape of a drill that had bones poking from the elbow, looking like the drill had flower petals "Clematis Dance: Flower" he called as he thrust the drill forward towards Ryouske's stomach.
Ryouske's eyes widened, thinking he was done for, when all of a sudden, sand appeared in the path of the drill and formed a huge tanuki statue, the stomach of which the drill hit and Gaara looked at Ryouske over his shoulder, "Looks like I got here in time, Ryouske," he stated, making the panting Ryouske grin weakly. Ryouske lost the grin, however, when the sand started to disappear because of Gaara lowering the tanuki shield and as soon as he saw Kimimaro, his eyes widened as Kimimaro had thrust the drill forward towards Gaara. Without thinking, Ryouske dropped his sword and rushed forward towards Kimimaro and what happened next made Gaara's blank look widen with shock as blood splashed on his face. His eyes then travelled from Ryouske, to Kimimaro and then to the drill...which was sticking into Ryouske's stomach with the tip poking through his back.
Coughing blood onto the drill, Ryouske stood there, hands clenching the now bloodied drill as Gaara stood behind him, shock evident on his face as Kimimaro pulled the drill out and jumped back. Ryouske fell to his knees, blood pouring from his wound and onto the ground, as he grinned at Gaara weakly, "Lo..ooks like I got h..here just in time," he said, repeating Gaara's words to him. Gaara held his friend shoulders just in case he would collapse, but Ryouske just shook his head and waved him away, standing up on trembling legs.
Kimimaro raised an eyebrow at Ryouske's determination, only to cough up blood of his own, right onto his hand, which he looked at with widened eyes, "It seems I don't have long left," he mused to himself and then looked at his confused opponents. Ryouske picked up his sword, barely managing to hold it, and stood next to Gaara, just as sand rose up around Kimimaro and buried him completely, with Ryouske and Gaara floating above the sea of sand on a cloud of sand, Lee lying on it at their feet.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Ryouske collapsed onto his ass, his wound still pouring blood as he began to pant heavily, making Gaara look at him, "We need to get you some help, my friend. You will not survive long with that wound," he stated, making Ryouske grin in pain, "On the..the plus side, chicks dig scars," he joked, getting a shake of the head from Gaara.
All of a sudden, giant bones began to burst form the see of sand, until a forest of bones were in front of them with the tallest bone standing right in front of them. They quickly looked around for Kimimaro, not seeing him, until he burst from the see of sand and looked up at them, "Seedling Fern Dance" he stated as he sunk into one of the bone towers. "Watch out, he could pop up from anywhere," Gaara stated as both he and Ryouske looked around.
Kimimaru appeared right in front of them, looking weak and sickly, and quickly formed his drill once more as he thrust it towards them, with Gaara thrusting his sand out, only to stop in his tracks and look down at the tip of the drill that had stopped inches from his chest. Raising eyebrows, both of them looked at Kimimaro and their eyes widened in sadness for their enemy, he was sticking out of the bone tower, his whole body stiff and still, he was stone dead.
Ryouske coughed out blood at looked at Gaara, "He did look ill for the whole fight, he must have had some sort of illness or something. Poor bastard," he said as he regarded the enemy that had fought them with honour. Gaara nodded his agreement, but then looked down at Ryouske, who had just collapsed onto his back, his eyelids drooping, and knelt down by his friend, "Ryouske, keep your eyes open, don't you go dying when we have just been reunited once more," he demanded in his monotone voice.
Ryouske chuckled weakly at his friends concern and grinned through blood drenched teeth, "Would…wouldn't dream of it. I'm not gonna leave you alone anymore, Gaara" he stated as his eyes finally closed and darkness and cold engulfed him as he saw no more.
A day later, Shikamaru was sat outside the operating room in the Leaf Village Hospital, Temari sat opposite him with her legs crossed wearing a new outfit that consisted of a long-sleeved purple blouse under a grey top, a dark blue skirt, and a long sash arranged in a bow. She looked at Shikamaru as he looked down at the floor, a sombre expression on his face, and gave him a look of disgust after what he had just said, "So, you are gonna give up being a ninja just because your team failed this mission? How pathetic is that?" she asked.
Shikamaru sighed and looked up at her, "My team didn't just fail. They trusted me to lead them and I let them all down, nearly all of them almost died," he said, a defeated look forming on his face but Temari snorted and leaned forward, "That doesn't mean you just give up. They will recover and you will get stronger," she said, trying to comfort him.
She knew he was right about his team though, Choji was currently having his body cleansed of the poison from the Akimichi Triple Threat with help from Shikamaru's clan, who had done extensive research into the effects of the pills. Kiba and Akamaru were being looked after by Kiba's older sister Hana, both wounded from their fight with Sakon, which Kankuro thankfully managed to help with, both Kiba and Akamaru were ordered to rest for the next couple of days.
Neji was currently in intensive care, his wounds serious from his fight with Kidomaru, each wound precise and only just missing vital organs, and was being treated thoroughly by medical ninja. Shikamaru himself had only suffered one injury and that was a broken finger that he had broken himself to escape from one of Tayuya's Genjutsu. Naruto had gotten off rather easily, his wounds were already healing, but he had gotten a Chidori from Sasuke close to the heart, but was on the road to recover…and then Shikamaru shuddered as he thought of Ryouske.
Ryouske had greatly exhausted himself from using his Sharingan, Lightning style AND Sky Style one after another before he took the drill from Kimimaro. He was in intensive care as well, with his team waiting urgently for news.
Outside the intensive care operating room that Ryouske was in, Namito was pacing impatiently, his eyes constantly drifting to the lit sign above the door, constantly wanting it to go out so that they could see Ryouske. Lukyo was sat on the bench, his hands clenched together as he watched his friend pace, worry evident in his eyes. Anko was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her generous chest, her thoughts lingering on her student, willingly more than anything for him to recover, she was broken out of her thoughts when Karina hurried in, having just got back from a mission, and looked at Anko with dread, "Ryo, is he….," she began but Anko shook her head.
"He is still in there right now, the medics are working on him, but it isn't good. Gaara said he was greatly exhausted already when he took the attack, his stomach was pierced right through," she explained to a now white faced Karina, who was clearly fearing for the life of her little friend. Eventually, Tsunade came out of the room as the light above the door went out and she sighed looking at them, their question obvious in their faces, "It doesn't look good…but he made it. The hole in his stomach as successfully been sealed and he will need to rest for a few weeks, but he will pull through," she told them, smiling when they all breathed sighs of relief.
A few days later, Karina came into his hospital room, flowers in her hand for the vase by his bedside, and smiled at the sleeping Ryouske. He had a bandage on his face for the slash that was on it, thankfully not causing a scar, and his headband was lying on his pillow next to him. His shirt was off and revealed a huge bandage over his stomach, her eyes turning sad when she thought of how painful that must have been for him.
She was broken out of her pity when she heard him mumbling in his sleep and immediately her face turned red at his mumbling, a vein popping in his head, "Mmmm Karina-chan. Okay, I'll say ah," he then opened his mouth wide, clearly dreaming about her feeding him and instead got a fist into his mouth from a pissed off Karina, waking up with the pain and stared at her franticly, "Oh…uh hey."
She sighed at the little pervet, but brushed her anger aside and sat on the edge of his bed, smiling softly at him, "You ok?" she asked and he nodded, grinning like an idiot, "Yea, I feel like I got ran over by Choji's Human Boulder Jutsu though," he stated, wincing in pain. She shook her head and smiled once more, "You really are an idiot for pushing yourself so far, you know that right?" she asked causing him to grin nodding.
The door opened then and both of them were surprised to find Jiraiya walking in, a smile on his face that turned pervy when he saw them, "Ohhh, did I interrupt you two playing nurse?" he pervertedly asked as he whipped out a notebook and furiously began to write. Both blushed deeply and Karina glared at him with the promise of pain in her eyes until he put the notebook away. He walked up to Ryouske and looked down at the kid, "You alright, kid? You look like shit," he bluntly said with a smile, making Ryouske shrug and then wince with the effort, "I'll recover, did you need something?"
Jiraiya nodded and gave him a serious look, "I'm taking Naruto with me to train. It will be about two years in length. I would also like you to accompany us," he stated, making Ryouske drop his jaw in surprise. Jiraiya continued, noting Ryouske's reaction, "You were Orochimaru's experiment and as such clearly want revenge against him. While I don't condone getting revenge, I can train you to be stronger than before. Also, your Sharingan is a mutation and as such it interests me, I want to see how it develops, that is if you wish to accept my offer.
Ryouske looked out of the window, deep in thought, and after a while he looked at Jiraiya and nodded, "Count me in. I want the strength to be able to protect the ones I love and to make sure something like this never happens again," he stated making Karina and Jiraiya smile at the boy's conviction. Ryouske's smile dropped when, all of a sudden, Karina hugged him close smiling, "Just don't get yourself hurt like this again. I don't wanna lose my best student," she said to the now blushing and nodding Ryouske.
A few weeks later, Jiraiya, Ryouske and Naruto were at the gates, all prepared to depart on their training trip. Tsunade, Team 13, Sakura, Kakashi, Shizune and Karina were at the gates to see them off. Tsunade looked at them and smiled, "Train hard out there and come back safely, you hear?" she said getting nods from all three.
Ryouske walked up to Karina and rubbed the back of his head, waving Jiraiya and Naruto to go on ahead a she looked at her, "Well Karina sensei, we're off," he said making Karina smile and ruffle his hair, once again wishing him to be safe. Ryouske grinned and nodded, he then surprised her by leaning up on his toes and kissed her full on the lips, shocking her until, with a grin, he backed away, "So, you don't end up missing me too much," he joked as he jumped out of her reach and began to run after Jiraiya and Naruto, Karina screaming her rage at him as his grin widened, he will get stronger he thought, and when he does, Orochimaru will pay.
AAAAAND finally done
My longest and best chapter yet, unfortunately this fanfic will be put on hold while I work on another story, this time a Soul Eater one about my own SE character called Malice, be sure to check it out when the first chapter is up.
This is HaremKing666 signing off. Stay pervy everyone