Team 7 Deja Vu!
Chapter 4: Like a Mirror
Naruto, contrary to most people's beliefs, is not always the enthusiastic, spastic ninja he is during the day. In fact, were it not for his alarm or the rather extreme measures to which his ero master went to wake him up every day, he would certainly be happy to sleep till noon. When he woke to up to his alarm the morning of Team 7's first assignment in two and a half years, therefore, he could be forgiven for not immediately recognizing that he was not in his own home, but merely staying the night at his pink haired teammate's house along with the temporally displaced younger members of Team 7.
Having never been much for modesty, anyway, Naruto made his way out of the guest room and into the hallway clad only in his boxers and a cap. Doing his best to wipe the fogginess out of his eyes, he made his way down the hall to the bathroom. Now, it should be noted that his home did not have a hallway of which to speak. In fact, his bathroom door was not far from his bed, but the blond boy was not quite cognizant enough to recognize it. He saw a door that looked like it led to a bath and he opened it.
The room was filled with quite a bit of steam. One breath of the hot air began to clear his head already. Nothing woke Naruto up like a good, hot bath. Now that his vision was sharpening, he noticed a distinct bright pink shape in front of him. The pink shape shifted and a pair of big jade eyes became visible underneath them. And below those eyes... "Oh... damn..."
Sakura froze in place, one foot still in the bathwater, when she heard that voice and saw the barely clothed form of her teammate. She looked down at her dripping wet and very exposed body then back again at her mostly disrobed friend. "N-Na-Na..." she stammered, blushing and bringing her hands up to cover her bosom and pelvic area. The other turned to flee, but it was too late. "Naruto, you pervert!" she cried, in one leap making it all the way into the hallway and bringing her trembling fist down upon his relatively tender head and sending him bouncing down the hall and into the living room. Fortunately for Naruto, she was forced to abandon her attack on her teammate upon remembering her egregious state of undress, and she retreated back into the bathroom.
The younger Naruto, already in his "Kayaku" disguise, looked up from his bowl of cereal at his older self through a pair of blackened eyes. "You too, huh?"
"S-S-Sakura's natural hair color," Naruto wheezed. "Is bald..."
"Saizo" looked oddly at the older boy. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Ume blushed. "Nothing! He's obviously delusional from the blow to the head." She trotted over to him and helped him up. "Are you okay, Naruto san? I can't believe she would do that to you. I would never do anything like that..."
"You just did half an hour ago..." Kayaku rebuffed, pointing to his left eye. The right one had actually been caused when he tripped running away and fell into a doorknob.
Saizo scoffed. "They're both idiots."
"Ooh," Ume gushed as she put a hand on the blond's stomach for "support." "Your abs are so hard and defined. Have you been working out?"
"My abs are hard..." Kayaku said, poking his stomach. The flesh gave significantly. "Well, okay... so maybe it's a bit flabby," the boy said, pulling the skin out an inch. "But I've been working on it."
Naruto blushed a bit as he noticed the young girl paying rapt attention to the slight bulge in his boxers. It was morning after all, and certain biological things of that nature did happen. It didn't have a thing to do with the fact that he had just seen exactly how much Sakura had developed after three years, and certainly had nothing to do with the fact that Ume's hand which had been supporting him from the back had moved downward and was now beginning to squeeze one of the largest muscles on his body. "Uhhhh... thanks, but I think I need to go over there now... and... put stuff on." He quickly trotted back to the guest room.
"So," Ume said after a moment, going back to the kitchen area. "Mind if I sit here, Sasuke kun?"
"Whatever..." the boy muttered moodily.
"Uhm," Sakura began addressing Naruto. "I'm sorry about that bump on your head. I guess I overreacted. Heck, I bet you were too asleep to even know what you were seeing, huh?" She laughed good-naturedly.
As the five ninja walked down the road, the tall blond rubbed the back of his head where the swelling was finally going down. "Y-Yeah. No big thing," Just keeeeeep believing that.
Ume looked at her older self and back at Kayaku. She took a deep breath and said. "Yeah... I guess I shouldn't have overreacted, either." She looked dubiously at Kayaku, who grinned gratefully back at her. She didn't believe for a moment that the boy had anything but perverted intentions. If only Sasuke kun had been the one to walk in on her and see her in all her glory... though... an older boy like Naruto might have been even better. She sighed lustfully. Yeah, but what would there have been to seea voice in her head that sounded more like Ino than her Inner self snickered. Remember, the only oversized part of you is your forehead... and that little pot belly you're getting. She looked down at her exposed stomach and felt queasy.
"He told us to meet him here," Sakura said as they stopped at a corner. She looked at her watch. "Looks like we still have about three minutes."
"Good," Saizo said. "I want to get started as soon as possible."
Naruto chuckled. "Well, you've got a lot to learn, 'Saizo.' Kakashi sensei was late for your first meeting, and you'll find that his tardiness is habitual."
"Hmph," the disguised genin snorted. "They would never make such an irresponsible ninja a jounin..."
Half an hour later, Kakashi strolled up to the five ninja. "You're late!" Naruto barked.
The team leader scratched his head with a lazy-eyed expression. "Well, this time I was delayed by filling out the paperwork for the new team..."
"Today we start our first mission as a new team!" Naruto stated. "Be enthusiastic! Kakashi sensei! You've been like that for ages!!"
"Oh, let it go!" Sakura scolded. "There's nothing he can do about the fact that he has a face devoid of any enthusiasm!"
Kakashi looked somewhat hurt. I'm... I'm losing my dignity, aren't I? He was distracted from the thought when he noticed what looked like a messenger bird flying at very swift speeds. Strange, he thought, is that that one from the Sand? Takamaru, was it? He shrugged it off and led the five away. Might be interesting, but I doubt it will effect us...
The ninja entered the assignment office. It was about the same as it had been three years ago. A giant sign hung from the ceiling prompting everyone to "do your best," assorted elder ninja sat at their desks, and, of course, the Hokage was at the center of it all, handing out missions.
"Ehhh!" Naruto growled upon hearing Tsunade's offer. "That mission... no thanks!"
"What kind of response is that? Well?!" Tsunade tsked irately.
"Is he serious?" Ume whispered to Saizo. "Assassinating an 'A' class criminal? That's a tough mission!"
"He's still a genin after all this time..." the young Sasuke grumbled. "He should be happy with an A ranked mission..."
"Gah," Iruka exclaimed, clasping his head in exasperation. "You haven't mentally matured at all, have you?"
Sakura grabbed Naruto about the neck and bopped him on the head, about in the same place his previous wound was healing. "Sor... sorry, sensei! I'll sort him out!" I... idiot! You have no idea how terrible the Fifth can be when saying those kinds of things... gaaaragh! Inner Sakura scolded.
Naruto scowled in Sakura's grasp. "The Third was more... sensible," he complained.
"Huh?!" Tsunade queried, beginning to hand the mission papers to Kakashi. "What did you say?!"
Sakura shrieked in horror, "Hey... calm down!" as she nearly wrenched Naruto's head off his shoulders in her flagellations. She was interrupted from her attempted maiming of her troublesome teammate by a loud bang.
"I... it's bad!" a voice shouted. "Godaime!!"
"What is it?" Tsunade inquired of the out of breath kunoichi. "You are so loud..."
"The Sand's Kazekage has been taken by an organization called Akatsuki!" she declared. "We just received the message!"
The assembled ninja were shocked, even the young members of Team 7. After all, if a Kazekage was anything like a Hokage, it would take a powerful ninja to capture him. Naruto, in particular felt the sting of those words. Gaara...? he thought, the memory of Itachi and that fishy partner of his flashing through his mind. Those guys again...?
Tsunade withdrew the papers she had been about to hand Kakashi. "... Right, Team Kakashi, I will tell you your new mission." She looked meaningfully at Naruto. "You are to go immediately to the Sand, find out the situation, and relay it to Konoha. After that, follow the orders of the Sand and back them up."
Elsewhere in Konoha, Temari was lost in thought as she chewed her food. Her "escort" had left not too long ago as he had some troublesome business to attend. She reached for her tea to wash down the bite of dumpling in her mouth, but it suddenly cracked. She paused. She was certainly not a superstitious person, but... I've just had a bad premonition.
She got up from the table and headed swiftly over to the restauranteur. "Hey, if that lazy ass comes back, could you tell him... 'it's troublesome, but I have to go back to the Sand on business.'" Receiving confirmation that her message would be relayed, she began to walk toward the city gates.
Reaching the woods, she wondered what it had been that made her want to leave so badly. She had a bad feeling, for sure, but she wasn't usually one to act on such unfounded gut instincts. It was like every cell in her body was screaming out that she needed to return. However, she wondered, would she be able to handle whatever the source of this feeling was alone?
As if to answer her worries, she heard a voice call her name from behind. Turning, she saw a flash of pink descend upon her, followed by two more familiar figures, as well as those three kids she recognized from yesterday. "Sakura? And Naruto and Kakashi? What are you three doing here? And with these kids?"
"I'm afraid these genin are my responsibility," Kakashi said. "Despite the dangerous nature of the mission we are on, I think they will be safest with us."
Temari's gut sank as she asked the next question. "And... what is your mission?"
"It's about Gaara," Naruto said. "He's been kidnapped by Akatsuki."
"What?!" she gasped. "Gaara...!" She thought back to the cup that had broken just minutes ago. "I had a bad feeling..." she murmured.
"It will take 3 days to reach the Sand from here," Kakashi said. "Let's hurry."
"Okay," Temari said, intent on joining them in their mission to save her little brother. They leaped back into the trees, racing against all hope that they could save the young Kazekage in time.
Meanwhile, Naruto thought back on his experience with Akatsuki. To abduct Naruto kun, Itachi had said, Those were the orders given to us by our organization, Akatsuki. The perverted sage had expounded on those words later, saying, It's not you they want... it's what's inside you. The "Kyuubi" sealed inside you, I believe that they want to put that power under their own control... It was too frustrating. He couldn't stand the fact that Gaara had been taken just because he was a... "container." His anger caused him to lose track of his speed and pull far ahead of the rest.
"Naruto," Kakashi called. "Just because I said to hurry, you shouldn't split up the team. Don't get so heated... didn't Jiraiya sama just tell you that?"
The words slowed his pace, but he couldn't help but say, "I can't stand it..."
The young ninja were confused at the pain evident in the blond's voice, though Kakashi simply kept his silence, knowing the boy's secret.
"Even I know why they're after me and Gaara...!" he growled. His voice softened, though, as he addressed his cherry blossom haired teammate. "You still don't know, do you Sakura chan...?" He scowled, resolutely deciding to put caution to the wind and divulge that which had made him hated all his life. "Inside me... is sealed the demon fox, Kyuubi..."
Ume stumbled as she looked in shock at her version of Naruto. He... he has the demon fox inside him? But... is... that why...?
The white haired Sasuke looked studiously at his rival. I see... so that was it.
"Me and Gaara," Naruto continued, still flying over the canopy. "Because we have monsters contained within our bodies... that's what they're after! That's what I can't stand! Just seeing us as monsters. I can't stand them looking at us whatever way they feel like!!" In this last sentence the anger and pain he felt was evident in the strangled sound of his voice.
Sakura remembered once seeing Naruto on the edge of a crowd of people... it was during the anniversary of the Kyuubi's defeat and Yondaime's death, she remembered. But then everyone stopped and turned. She could remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday. The blond kid, no older than seven, was the focus of the entire village's glares of hatred. She saw this and had wondered what the boy could have done to earn such hatred. She looked at the boy and saw his look of defiance slowly crumble into tears. He turned and ran from the assembled masses. What a crybaby, she had thought. That must be why no one likes him. She looked over at her younger self, ashamed, and could see that Ume was also remembering that... or something similar, and the regret on her face was evident.
"He and I are the exact same," Naruto said almost too softly to hear. "And he was... fighting, he was lonelier than I was...!" His teeth grit as he remembered hearing Gaara's plight... how even the one person closest to him wanted him dead... and how Naruto himself had been so lucky to eventually gain Iruka and later Team 7, and gain a purpose. "He was targeted by Akatsuki... just like I was before! Even so! Why is it always him alone that has to have such a hard role?!! Always him alone?!!" Even Kakashi felt his heart in his throat as he heard the passion in his student's voice. "... That's why! That's why I won't just sit around asking 'why'! This time, for sure, I want to save him!"
Temari, touched by Naruto's words, closed her eyes in gratitude. Uzumaki Naruto... thank you!
Sakura couldn't bear to be silent any longer. She closed the distance between them slowly and called to him. "Naruto..." she saw him jerk his head toward her voice and she hesitated, feeling her heart catch in her throat. "... You've gone through a lot, haven't you...? Uchiha Itachi... and you're his target."
Her voice was loud enough that the other ninja heard it, and Saizo's eyes widened. My... brother? Naruto... and that guy...? He looked at Kayaku and then back at Naruto.
"I wasn't just training these past two and a half years," Sakura said. "I was looking through Tsunade's notes, and researched outside as much as I could." There is something I wish to do! To revive my clan, and... to kill that man. Those had been the words Sakura remembered Sasuke saying the first day Team 7 had been together. There is nobody but me who can kill that man. I must become stronger than that man... here... She had wondered who it was... who he wanted to kill so badly that he would abandon the village. Who had destroyed his entire clan. "The enemy Sasuke kun wants to kill... it's really his older brother, Uchiha Itachi, isn't it...? A member of Akatsuki..."
"Sasuke ku--" Ume stammered, looking at Saizo. She remembered the day he had vowed to kill some mystery man. She'd thought it was so cool... but his own older brother? Saizo's eyes turned murderous before her eyes. She saw him stop on one of the branches, his body rigid. "Sa... Saizo kun!" she called, stopping herself on another branch.
The others stopped as well and hopped nearer to him. "What's going on, now," Temari grumbled. "Is the brat tired or something? I'll carry him on my back if I have to..."
Naruto hung back with his hand on his younger self's shoulder. He knew what Sasuke was upset about, and he also didn't want his younger self... well... saying anything stupid. Not that he thought he would. Kayaku seemed subdued himself with all the talk about the Kyuubi. He was also now very interested in Gaara.
Saizo looked coldly into the eyes of Sakura. "That guy... Uchiha Itachi..."
"Listen," Sakura said, "About Uchiha Itachi, he's..."
Suddenly, she leaped backward and down to the ground below as a barrage of shuriken rained down on them. The other ninja, too, were forced to retreat downward as more shuriken came from all directions.
"That name..." a dark voice said from the shadows. When they searched for the source of the voice, they saw two red globes shining from an inky black pool before them.
"Those... eyes," Naruto growled.
"My ears are burning..." the voice continued as the rest of his body melted out of the darkness, followed by a taller figure. "Naruto kun."
The blond ninja would recognize the man who emerged anywhere, and his "friend," even more so. "Uchiha Itachi!" he hissed. "And fish-guy!"
The shark-skinned Akatsuki member snorted. "That's 'Kisame,' kid."
Saizo froze, scenes of his family's slaughter flashing before his eyes. The burning hatred he felt for this man in front of him was more than he could bear. Every cell in his body ached to kill him... but could he at the mere level of genin? When his brother had been his age, he was already a jounin, and now, with three years gained on him in addition to the nearly six year difference already between them, could he possibly stand a chance against him?
"It has been awhile," Itachi went on, heedless of the others. "Kakashi san... Naruto kun."
The same Sharingan as... Sasuke kun, Sakura thought, clenching her teeth. This person is... the one who inflicts suffering on Sasuke and Naruto...
"You bastard!" Naruto growled. "Not just me, but even Gaara?!!" He pointed threateningly at the Akatsuki. "I'll beat you all down!!"
"Naruto, wait," Kakashi began, going to stop his pupil from acting too brashly, but he was unprepared for the brash actions of another of his team.
Saizo leaped over the two older ninja and rapidly prepared his signature technique, pulling down his mask and putting his fingers to his lips, directing the stream of flame at his brother. The flame struck the Uchiha, and he seemed to be engulfed. However, out of the bonfire of his body flocked hundreds of screeching crows, leaving nothing behind of the Akatsuki member. "Wh-what?" the disguised Sasuke gasped, stopping in place.
Itachi put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Well, this is interesting." When the boy whirled around, locking eyes with him, he activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, piercing deeply into the boy's psyche. "Who... who do you think you are?"
Sasuke looked down at himself, seeing himself clothed once more in his traditional Uchiha outfit. It seemed that his disguise had melted completely away, and he was dangerously exposed to his brother. He didn't care. "Aniki!" he growled. "I'll kill you!" He drew some shuriken and tossed them at the older man, dashing in behind them to take the S-class criminal by surprise.
Itachi snatched the shuriken out of the air easily, then caught his younger brother's fist and kneed him in the gut, causing him to collapse. "What? Ridiculous. You're not my brother, though you have the same face he did long ago. Your skills are not half as good as his when last we met... and even then they were a pitiful match. Your hatred... it's weak."
Sasuke heaved, but managed to keep his lunch down. He looked desperately around for his teammates, but he found that he was suddenly alone... nothing but blackness stretched out forever. "Ge-genjutsu..." he stammered.
The young Uchiha tried to retreat... to regroup, but his legs were caught by something. He looked down and was horrified to find that snakes were coiling up around his legs, binding him in place. "N-n-no!" He looked into the black sky and saw his brother's eye leering down upon him... mocking him.
"Your attachments have made you weak. In order to attain true power you must sacrifice what you hold most precious to you in order to achieve that goal. Until then... you lack proper hate." Itachi's voice boomed. The snakes began piling onto Sasuke even more then, and they started to bite him over and over.
"KAI!"
Saizo turned and saw Sakura and Ume on either side of him. They had apparently worked together to dispell the genjutsu being used on him. "I... I... I don't need your help," he wheezed. "I'll kill him, myself!"
"Oh, no you don't!" Sakura snapped, pushing him behind her. "You're no match for him at all... you couldn't even break out of his genjutsu!"
"Che," Kisame snorted. "Troublesome little girl, isn't she? How 'bout I do you a favor and keep these guys out of your way for awhile?"
"Fine," Itachi said evenly to his partner. "But I want you to leave both that boy and Naruto to me..." he leaned closer and projected his voice in a manner that ensured Kisame would be the only one to hear. "And the black haired kid... watch out for him. He, too, is a jinchuriki..."
"Eh?" Kisame said in surprise, whirling to look at the kid with spikey black hair. When he looked closely at the face, despite the different coloration and lack of markings he did remind him of how that Naruto brat had looked when he first saw him. But how did Itachi know he was also a jinchuriki? He looked suspiciously back at his partner, but decided to just play along. There was little else he could do. "Okay! Kakashi!"
When the white haired jounin looked his way, he made several hand seals and belched a stream of water from his mouth. "Suigadan!" He shouted at the same time... though it came out a bit garbled as his mouth was still quite full of water. The liquid began to split and rotate as it neared Kakashi and formed more than ten water fangs. Kakashi was already in motion, pulling Kayaku and Temari out of harm's way.
The water fangs cleaved out a deep trench, and the shark skinned criminal kept pouring water into it until it had become a small pond separating Kakashi, Kayaku, and Temari from the other four ninja. The Akatsuki member alighted in the middle of his self-made pond and he began to generate a thick fog. "You might recognize this technique Kakashi... from a mutual friend."
The fog covered both sides of the pond, obscuring everyone's vision. Naruto crouched, ready for whatever attack was about to come. Several forms seemed to flit around him, but he simply didn't have the acuity to lock on to any one. Suddenly, he heard a scream close by him and he turned to see a large shadow streaking away from him. The feminine screech of "Sasuke kun, help!" identified the victim immediately.
Naruto began to run after Ume, but he was sideswiped by a large blade as rough as shark skin. "Sorry kid," the wielder of said blade chuckled. "But I promised I'd save you for Itachi."
Naruto snarled at the shark like man and leapt up, driving his fist into the Akatsuki's face. However, his hand passed through the head like water and the entire body dissolved into a transparent liquid. A water clone! Naruto realized. Then he realized something else. Behind the clone were a pair of eyes. Dangerous, blood red eyes.
The fox boy kicked at the Uchiha, but his body erupted in a storm of spiders. He cried out in shock and began to beat the arachnids off of him. However, he could feel some on his face and they began to bite viciously. He smacked himself on his right cheek, crushing the spiders, and pulled them off. However, along with the spiders came pieces of his face. He looked with horror at the pieces of flesh in his hand, and as the skin of his hand itself began to flake off, revealing a familiar greyish clawed hand underneath, he shouted, "No! No!!" Half his face was now peeled away, revealing the dark face of Sasuke's second curse seal form underneath.
Sasuke's hand came up and grabbed Naruto by the throat. It squeezed with an iron grip. "Since I missed killing you that time," he said, referring back to their fight at Valley of the End. As he continued to squeeze, causing Naruto to feel quite nauseated, the zipper to his jacket came undone and a pink haired head rose from within, the jade eyes set within the frightening shadowed face glaring accusingly at him.
"...Why... why didn't you stop Sasuke kun," she asked angrily. "Even though I trusted you..."
Naruto stumbled back, in absolute terror. His breathing quickened and his heart felt like it would hammer itself out of his chest. The blood wasn't making it to his head... he felt like he would pass out, and yet he remained agonizingly alert, especially when the left shoulder of his jacket began to sprout silver hair and morphed into the masked face of his own teacher.
"You couldn't protect your comrades could you?" the head deadpanned with disappointment. "Even though I had faith in you... you let me down."
Naruto could no longer breath. This was unbearable. He lifted his left hand with the intention of tearing the heads off his body and throwing them away where they would no longer bother him, but then he saw an eye. A familiar, black ringed eye tinged with sadness.
"It's always you who profits," came Gaara's voice. "You're always the only one getting the good luck."
"Guh," Naruto choked, tears beginning to come down the eye that was still his. Why wouldn't this stop? Why couldn't they just leave him be? He wanted to fix his mistakes, but... how could he ever do it if they didn't let him go?
Itachi snorted at the young blond as he collapsed to the ground, his own hand around his throat and tears streaming down his face. "That should take care of the Kyuubi boy for a moment... while I take care of this... 'other.'"
On the other side of the pond, the battle was already begun. Ume had been captured by the Mizu Bunshin of Kisame, but Kakashi expertly freed her from his grasp. However, he quickly found that she had been bait to lure him in, and as the water clone burst and the liquid coalesced around him, he found himself frozen in midair. The water then expanded into a bubble, and Kakashi knew he had been caught. It was the Suirou no jutsu!
Ume plunged into the water, having been pushed free of the technique by Kakashi, and she swam desperately for shore. "Ka-Kakashi sensei!" she shouted. Suddenly, she was picked up out of the water and she found herself traveling through the air in someone's arms. Upon feeling the thud of landing on solid ground, she looked up into the face of her savior.
"Don't worry," Sakura said to her younger self. "I'll get Kakashi out myself." The pink haired kunoichi cursed herself for not being faster. She had followed the sound of her younger self upon hearing her scream, but by the time she got close enough to see her target, he had already captured the jounin. "It would sure help if we could see something, though..."
"Leave it to me," Temari said, brandishing her gigantic fan. With a wave from her fulling extended weapon, wailing winds swept the fog back behind Kisame, revealing him and his prisoner clearly. "There you are..."
"Sakura chan!" Kayaku shouted. "I already have a plan!" He held up a large shuriken.
Ume looked with confusion at the shuriken. "What? What good is that going to do? A ninja who can go toe to toe with a jounin isn't going to get hit that easy by some huge throwing star!"
Sakura, however, nodded in understanding. "I remember this trick... Naruto used it once a long time ago against a similar opponent. Maybe it will work again!" She held out her hand and caught the shuriken in her hand. She then carefully positioned one of her own and threw it, one shuriken in the shadow of another. As predicted, Kisame easily dodged the first and then leaped over the second. The second then transformed back into Kayaku, tossing the real shuriken.
At this point, however, Kisame spotted the technique and smirked. A water clone seemed to sprout from the surface of the water and caught the weapon easily. "Amateur! A trick like that might have worked on one of my old partners from the old days in Kirigakure, but against me its useless."
Kayaku's expression turned from one of shock to a smirk. Then he disappeared in a puff of smoke. The Akatsuki, alarmed, turned back to the shore to see what the real ninja might be planning, but that Kayaku had disappeared as well! Suddenly he heard a splash from below and a strong kick was delivered to his chin. He lost his grip on the sphere of water.
Ume gasped. "Oh, wow! He's... he's so awesome! When did he get so cool?"
"He... he was always that cool," Sakura said. "We just never recognized it..."
Kayaku laughed as he fell back to the pond. "Never underestimate m--" he stopped, however, when he saw Kisame's body melt before his eyes. "Wha--?" he asked as he splashed into the water.
The sphere of water began to rotate and Kisame's true body rose from the pond. "Heh, heh, heh... you thought that was the real me? Too bad, kid. I don't who you are, but I have to admit, you're almost as clever as that Naruto kid... distracting me with your clones pulling off such an elaborate and flashy trick only to attack me from below." He smirked as a water clone leaped into the air with Kayaku's shuriken in hand. "It's too bad I'm going to have to kill you, now."
Naruto remained in shocked silence as he saw his own shuriken tossed back at him. He was going to die! There was nothing he could do to save himself, and it frightened him. However, seconds before the weapon could hit, he saw a flash of pink and a red blouse looming over him.
"Nah!" Sakura yelped with the impact of the shuriken in her back. "Ru... to..." Blood began to drip from her mouth. She looked down at Kayaku. "Naru... Ka... Kayaku. You have to get away. Get away, now!"
Kayaku's mind flashed back to Iruka. How he had protected him from the murderous Mizuki's attack at his own expense. He'd been unable to take care of himself, then, just like now. His teeth gnashed. How could he have let this happen to Sakura? He couldn't just run away now. He just couldn't. He felt an ominous tingling in his stomach and a rising wave of energy.
Behind Kisame within the cloud of mist there was a flash of red and a howl of rage. The shark faced ninja turned in surprise, and yet again there was a burst from his peripheral and he turned back to see a spout of water in front of him and the black haired kid from before landing on dry land with the pink haired girl over his shoulders. Looking into his eyes he saw them glowing red. "What is going on, here?"