Senna-chan: I'm glad it made your day! Remember, when the going gets tough the tough gets going!
Horong: I'm sorry (blush sheepishly)... but here's another chapter! And yup, KabuKaka is quite cool huh...
pink.raine: yup. we do like to make poor Kakashi suffer...
Thank you to Senna-chan, Vampiress of the Day, flowing tears, Heosic-chan, Horong and pink.raine for reviewing! You guys really made my day!
Chapter 13
Kabuto smiled sadly at the oncoming jounin. Even if Kakashi was whole and well, his chidori would not have been able to defeat Kabuto. But here he was, a desperately formed chidori in his hand, charging straight at Kabuto.
Such determination. Too bad it will all end today. Kabuto was about to knock Kakashi out cold when an explosion erupted behind him.
What the hell? Is it the ANBU from Konoha?
The sight of 4 masked faces confirmed Kabuto's suspicions.
Shit. I have been too careless.
"Orochimaru-sama!"
"I will handle these guys, you just make sure I get the Sharingan."
Kabuto turned to face Kakashi, and almost didn't escape the blast of chakra from Kakashi's chidori. As it was, his chest was slightly singed by the chakra. Kabuto jumped back, quickly healing himself as he sought to calm himself down.
Kakashi was almost at the end of his tether now.
Just then, a masked ANBU appeared in front of Kakashi and slung him over the shoulder.
"Oh no, you're not going anywhere!" Kabuto cried as he moved to attack the ANBU, only to be thwarted by balls of wind that were hurled his way.
Spinning at extremely high speeds, those circular puffs of chakra-mixed-wind were deadly to come in contact with.
The ANBU wasted no time dealing with him, instead, with Kakashi over his shoulder, he quickly fled out of the underground hideout.
Damn! Kabuto immediately gave chase.
---
Meanwhile, the other 3 ANBU were facing off with Orochimaru. From out of the corner of his eye, Orochimaru saw the fourth ANBU escape with Kakashi. It didn't concern him at all. Kabuto will definitely bring him back, he knew the consequences if he did not.
The three ANBU in front of him were of no threat. He could finish them off in less than a minute. However, that would be no fun at all. Perhaps he could play with them a little while, let them humour him. Yes, he would kill them one by one.
And then, shock rang through him as one of the ANBU removed his mask.
The unmistakenable white bushy hair. Those eyes, the wrinkled face...
"Why, I didn't expect to see you here, Jiraiya. Nevertheless, I'm happy to see you."
"Well, I'm not." Jiraiya snorted.
The other two ANBU stole a glance at each other. So they didn't know either, Orochimaru thought. This changes things.
Orochimaru didn't want to be caught up in a fight at this moment. Not only was it troublesome, a fight with Jiraiya would definitely bring destruction to the entire place and Orochimaru wasn't sure he wanted his research to be destroyed.
On the other hand, it would be perfect if he could kill Jiraiya now.
Orochimaru smiled.
"Stop that you old snake. I am going to do mankind a favor today and destroy you!" Jiraiya shouted.
"Be my guest to try."
And then there was a blinding white light as the two powerful ninjas battled their chakra against each other.
"Ru...ka?" The soft groan came out of Kakashi's mouth.
"Don't talk now Kakashi, save your strength. It's all going to be fine now."
"Ruka... listen... I wanted to see you one last... time... and now I... have..."
"Yes you have and you're going to see a lot of me after this too. You'll never be able to get rid of me, you hear that!" Iruka answered as he sprinted through the woods. He could sense Kabuto very close behind him.
"Now... now I can die... in peace." Kakashi mumbled and then was silent as he lost consciousness.
"Kakashi!" Iruka cried. There was no avoiding it now. Kabuto was right behind him. Iruka stopped and carefully lay Kakashi down. He turned around to look at Kabuto.
The ninja was staring at Iruka with a fierce expression of hate. "So you're Iruka... the one who Kakashi... oh it doesn't matter now. I am going to have fun killing you."
Iruka fisted his hands to keep them from shaking in fear. He had known such a battle would arise, yet he had hoped he could avoid it. He didn't know if his strength was enough to protect Kakashi.
Kabuto gave a cruel laugh at the fear he saw behind the mask. "Scared already? I wonder why Konoha sent a pathetic chuunin like you to save Kakashi. You don't deserve him."
That brought Iruka up short. I must defeat him! Kakashi's life depends on me. Even if I die, I will protect Kakashi from harm! That is why I will defeat him!
Iruka snatched out several kunais and hurled them towards Kabuto. As expected Kabuto quickly dodged all of them, only to find himself surrounded by dozens of Iruka clones.
"Kage bushin no jutsu?" Kabuto laughed. "Is that all you can do? Well, what else can I have expected from Naruto's sensei?"
He's incredibly fast! Iruka thought as Kabuto dispatched of all his clones.
"Well, let's see you take this then!" With the distraction of the clones, Iruka had managed to concentrate on his jutsu undisturbed. Sending out his chakra into the air around him, he had managed to garner a small tornado which he hurled towards Kabuto.
"What?" Shocked, Kabuto barely managed to jump out of the way. I have clearly underestimated him. Seems like he can control the wind.
The small tornado returned to Iruka's side. Iruka's eyes were as dark as whirlpools, concentrating hard on controlling the tornado beside him. With a flick of his hand, he flung the tornado towards Kabuto again.
So he can control where it goes. Kabuto thought as he sprang aside, the tornado missing him by inches. But... "You're too slow!" Kabuto shouted back.
No sooner had he said that then he felt a sharp pain on his shoulder where the tornado had grazed passed. The cloth there was torn and blood was oozing out of the cuts.
"Even if you're not hit directly by it, the force of the wind will not leave you unharmed." Iruka said as he directed the tornado at Kabuto again.
Kabuto quickly avoided it this time. You think you're quite smart aren't you? But too bad, cause you've forgotten something. In a one-on-one battle, you never leave yourself unguarded. When you hurl your winds at me, you leave yourself vulnerable to attacks. And that is what I am going to take advantage of!
Iruka saw the look of determination in Kabuto's eyes and knew what Kabuto was up to. Indeed, it was the loophole in his jutsu. Controlling the air requires enormous concentration and impeccable control of chakra, leaving the ninja defenceless against attacks from anywhere else. But I still had to try!
Iruka carefully build up the tornado, it spun and spitted and grew into a huge whirlwind. The tornado whipped up objects around it. Iruka's brown eyes grew dark and unfocused as the tornado sucked up more chakra from him. Now!
This time, Kabuto did not avoid the tornado, instead, he ran straight at it, only veering off at the last moment. Yes! He'd avoided that monstrous thing, and Kabuto was now headed directly at Iruka!
The tornado overshot Kabuto but quickly doubled back. Too slow! I will get Iruka before the wind gets me!
Blood spurted onto Kabuto's face as he dug a kunai into Iruka's chest. "Goodbye chuunin." he grinned as blood trickled out of Iruka's mouth.
"Not quite." Iruka's face was that of calm as he slowly gathered a ball of wind in his palm.
Kabuto's eyes widened as he realized what Iruka was about to do. A blow at such a close range will be disastrous. He turned to retreat but discovered that Iruka had a death grip on him.
"Goodbye Kabuto." Iruka said as he punched Kabuto straight in the guts with a huge ball of wind, and then again and again and again, heedless of the blood that was pouring out of his wound. Finally, Iruka gave one last blow and Kabuto was flung several hundred feet away.
Kabuto lay motionless on the ground. He wanted to move but he couldn't. His body felt torn apart. Even though he had shielded his body against the blows by repairing the injuries as soon as he was hit, the damage was still severe. Damn that chuunin... Kabuto had underestimated him.
Kakashi was lost to him now. Orochimaru's wrath would be unpleasant to bear. At least the chuunin will die. Not that he would live through that chest wound anyway, but just as an additional precaution, Kabuto had put poison on that kunai. Iruka's death was certain.
Kabuto closed his eyes and succumbed to exhaustion. He would face Orochimaru's anger later.
---
Iruka crumpled onto the ground. His limbs felt wooden. He had defeated Kabuto, but he was now an invalid, unable to protect Kakashi anymore. With his remaining strength, he crawled over to where Kakashi lay. And then his world turned black.
"Is that all you can do?" Orochimaru sneered at the panting Jiraiya.
"Me? I'm doing fine. In fact, I'm worried about you. You've never sweated so much. Are you sure you're okay?" Jiraiya retorted back.
That was true. Beads of sweat trickled down Orochimaru's forehead and he wiped them away in disgust. They had been fighting for almost an hour. They were almost equally matched and neither was willing to give in to the other.
"I am going to kill you today."
Jiraiya snorted. "I see, so you had it planned all along. The whole Sharingan thing was just a ploy to get me here. You knew I would not stand by and watch while my grand disciple got mucked up by you."
Orochimaru gave a chilling laugh. "Say whatever you want. It isn't going to change things. You are still going to die."
The air around the two ninjas crackled as chakra gathered around them. Orochimaru was surrounded by a bright purple glow while Jiraiya was surrounded by a similar orange glow. This would be the final deciding blow.
---
Jiraiya stared up at the clear blue sky. His entire body hurt. It felt like he had been trampled by a thousand people. He didn't understand what had happened. At such a close range, no one could have missed.
Wincing, he got to his feet and stared down at the motionless figure on the ground.
"Why didn't you kill me?" Orochimaru murmured.
"Same reason why you drew back at the last moment." Jiraiya answered.
"Hahaha!" Orochimaru's laughter rang out loud. "What a gullible fool. You're too amusing to be killed. I rather enjoyed battling with you."
"So did I, just like the old times." Jiraiya said softly, sadness in his eyes.
"There are no old times. I am not the Orochimaru of the past. I am much stronger and powerful now."
"I see, then why didn't you kill me. You could have you know."
"I told you. I'm keeping you alive to entertain myself with."
"..." Jiraiya rolled his eyes in disbelief. "Orochimaru... stop the evil deeds you're doing. Stop treating people's lives as if it were worthless."
"Why should I stop? It is not evil. I'm just looking for power that rightfully belongs to the intelligent who search for it. Besides, all lives are worthless without power."
"You're hopeless."
"You're stubborn."
"The next time we meet, I will not hold back." with that, Jiraiya turned his back on Orochimaru and walked away.
"What are you going to say to Tsunade. She will not appreciate you letting me go." Orochimaru called after him.
Jiraiya stopped and was about to say something but he thought better of it. Silently, he left.
"Neither will I hold back." Orochimaru whispered. Jiraiya... you're too amusing to kill. If you die, who will I spar with? Who will be around to challenge me? Who else can I torment? I will keep you alive until I've uncovered the most powerful jutsus. Then I'll show you who is more powerful. Then I'll defeat you once and for all and you will see that you've been stupid all along.
End of chapter 13! I'm afraid I haven't really got a clue on how to write fighting scenes. My apologies for it being not very well written and for skipping much of Jiraiya and Orochimaru's fight.
Note: I wanted to give Iruka a powerful jutsu, something that may have passed on in his family. So I decided to give him the ability to use chakra to capture air and control it, turning it into wind. Of course, nothing of this sort happened in the manga or anime, it is purely my own imagination.
Once again, thank you so much for reviewing! There's still about two more chapters to go before this story ends.