Author's notes:
First of all, I would like to say sorry to all my readers and reviewers for taking enormously much time to write this chapter of this story of mine, well over half a year. To be completely honest, one of the major reasons (aside from the fact that my post graduate studies have finally began, leaving me with far less time to write) is that my interests sort of shifted towards other anime now (most notably, towards Elfen Lied and REC, definitely the best anime I have seen lately), therefore leaving me slightly less interested in continuing writing this story of mine. But don't worry, as you can see, I am continuing writing this story of mine now (as well as my other Naruto-related fanfictional story, "School Wars"), and I expect to eventually complete it. Though in regard of completing it, I still have a long way to go; I have this story of mine thought-out almost thoroughly by now, and by now I have written less then a third of it.
And as always, I would like to thank all those wonderful people who reviewed the last chapter of this story of mine, namely: Kiba-and-Sakura-4ever, Mezumi Azuma, krista, MistressBlossom, sillymail, Suicidal Butterfly, Nian7, harunosakua, sakura90873, Hannah Sakura, HeartAngel, Sakura's Bloody Lullabye, Flowerperson and kttykiwi. Domo arigato gozaimasu, thank you very much! I can only hope that this chapter of this story of mine will be up to your expectations, considering how long you had to wait for it (I do hope that at least a few of my reviewers DID wait for this chapter, instead of writing this story of mine off as discontinued).
HeartAngel, Sakura's Bloody Lullabye, Flowerperson and kttykiwi, special thanks to you for actually reviewing this story of mine a good half a year after my last update of it; I didn't really expect more reviews so long after my last update of this story of mine, and I was so happy when you have proven me wrong! Once again, domo arigato gozaimasu, thank you very much!
Once again, I am very happy that you enjoyed reading this story of mine, Flowerperson! As I told you earlier in a PM, I haven't forsaken this story of mine, I just had an author's block with it, which I have overcame by now, more or less (I will probably still take time updating this story of mine).
Oh, and HeartAngel, I am sorry disappointing you with Team Kakashi's failure to notice Sakura's presence, but I hope you realize that a battle against all but superior opponents isn't really a place for reunion. Also, Sakura and Gaara were at some distance from Team Kakashi and the rest of Team Baki (as you probably noticed, Baki went to help Kakashi, Kankuro went to help Sasuke, and Temari went to help Naruto, while Sakura and Gaara went to face sound-nin's sensei), making her presence not instantaneously noticeable for her former teammates, particularly since they kinda have a more important things to worry about at the moment (particularly Sasuke, who is currently paralyzed, and Kakashi, who has been beaten to the point where he cannon even stand up).
Alright, and now without further ado, let's get to…
Chapter FiveThe Best of the Best! Time to Fight With All You've Got!
Sakura stared at her opponent for a few long seconds before shifting her gaze to screaming Gaara once again. Despite the surprise, she quickly understood what has happened.
"It must be some kind of Genjutsu! Gaara's sand would have protected him from any physical attack, but it is powerless against an attack that has no physical aspect. I must free Gaara from it quickly!"
Sakura rushed to Gaara's side, preparing to perform Genjutsu Kai, but before she reached him the larger figure of her opponent blocked Sakura's way, and she was forced to dodge a flurry of lightning-quick blows. Just a few moments of such one-sided combat was enough for Sakura to realize that she won't hold against Hiroshi much longer, and she concentrated Chakra in her feet, swiftly jumping out of harm's way. During their first clash, Hiroshi had to watch out for Gaara's sand as well as for Sakura's blows, and only now, when Gaara was no longer at her side, Sakura realized how powerful her opponent was.
"He is clearly of Jonin rank, and his speed and reflexes are fully match for Baki's," Sakura thought, studying her opponent, "I think I got pretty good lately, but I…"
"You may be able to defeat most Genin and even some Chunin," The memory of Baki's voice sounded in her mind, "But until you learn to tap into more chakra, should you face a Jonin in real battle, your fate will be… Death."
"I cannot hope to win against him!" Sakura realized suddenly, "I must either get to Gaara and release him from Genjutsu, or to hold on until other can arrive on my aid!"
But one look at Gaara, whose screams were getting only louder as illusionary pain seemed to only intensify, made Sakura realize that she couldn't afford to stay in full defense. Among the Sand Siblings, Gaara was the one she was afraid of the most and they barely even talk during her almost a year long stay in Suna, but Sakura couldn't afford to coldly remain on defense while her teammate was suffering in such a way.
But Sakura realized the futility of her efforts the moment she charged at older ninja: he could effortlessly match her speed, and his skill suppressed that of hers; he wasn't a full-ranked Jonin for nothing. And in but a few moments, Sakura was once again forced to narrowly dodge the flurry of blows he threw at her.
She could only hope that her teammates were doing better…
"Shimatta!"
The moment Dashi disappeared, Temari broke into run, but immediately froze as he appeared beside her with his right hand buried in her left side, narrowly missing her heart.
Temari countered with a lightning-quick swing of her fan, which followed by a wide blast of wind, but Dashi seemed to simply disappear into the thin air, easily avoiding both.
"You are not bad, I'll give you that," Dashi said, appearing at some distance from Temari, "But you cannot dodge my attacks forever. Sooner or later, I will deliver the killing blow."
"So, he is not just toying with me, I AM dodging his blows," Temari thought, "And if I figure out how I am doing this, I may be able to counter whatever technique he is using…"
"I got her!"
It took Kankuro some time to catch up with the girl from the Sound, but now when he did it, he didn't hesitate to deliver a quick and powerful blow at her head. The blow struck home, causing the girl to stumble and… Disappear.
"A clone! I didn't lose the sight of her for more then a couple of seconds, and yet she managed to replace herself with a clone without me noticing it! She is really…"
Kankuro's thoughts trailed off as he felt a sudden shift in wind and jump sidewards to narrowly dodge three serpentine heads at launched themselves at him. Yet the serpentine heads turned around with incredible speed, following Kankuro's movement and biting into his chest…
"Don't let a single blow slip! This boy is using some kind of bone-breaking technique!"
"Understood."
With as many broken bones as he had, Kakashi could barely move, let alone stand up and fight, but at least he was able to warn Baki about the uncommon Taijutsu technique the blindfolded boy from the Sound was using. He hoped that it will be enough to help Baki to score the victory over a powerful opponent that the blindfolded boy from the Sound definitely was.
There was a quick exchange of blows and dodges, and both opponents stepped back. Both Baki and the blindfolded boy from the Sound were excellent in Taijutsu, but Baki couldn't help noticing that the boy's seemingly infallible reflexes suppressed even his own. And he immediately realized that the boy was relying on some kind of sixth sense, making him all the more formidable Taijutsu master. And if what Kakashi said was true he needed but a single blow to make the odds tip in his favour…
Almost as though he was reading Baki's thoughts, the blindfolded boy charged at his opponent once more; unlike Baki, he could afford to let the blows slip. Seeing the opening, Baki struck a blow of his own, but the blindfolded boy from the Sound effortlessly dodged it even as his fist connected with Baki's chest…
"Don't let a single blow slip! This boy is using some kind of bone-breaking technique!"
Sakura ducked, letting the blow she at first intended to dodge pass over her head. Though she realized the warning wasn't meant for her, she quickly guessed who most likely taught the blindfolding boy this technique.
"She is a quick thinker," Hiroshi thought with a frown.
He had no doubt that he would eventually get this kunoichi, but even though he had great faith in his students, taking time was one thing he couldn't allow himself to do. His students were some of the best ninja Otogakure had to offer, but presence of Sabaku no Gaara and this kunoichi proved that Sunagakure also sent their best ninja. Against them, he would take no chances.
Hiroshi proceeded to make a series of hand-seals, and with a startle, Sakura recognized them as the same ones he used against Gaara. Sakura had no illusions: even knowing that the sound-nin's attack is some kind of Genjutsu, the chances of her resisting the technique that brought down even Sabaku no Gaara were too slim to be considered. Sakura knew that like it was with Ino and her trademark Mind Body Switch Technique, her best chance was to dodge the sound-nin's technique before it hit her.
Sakura braced herself, once again focusing Chakra in her feet…
"Shinteki Oto no Jutsu!" (Mental Sound Technique)
…And jumping into air the moment Hiroshi performed his technique.
But the next moment she collapsed to the ground, holding her head in both hands. Inside her head a thundering sound suddenly broke, growing only louder and louder; although it seemed like it couldn't get any worse, it BECAME worse with each passing moment.
Sakura could felt like her ear-drums are about to burst as her consciousness slowly began to slip away…
"No… It is just a Genjutsu! I… I can deal with it!"
But the truth was that she couldn't. Even knowledge that all the pain she was experienced was nothing but a figment of her imagination didn't help, as the sound and all pain associated with it became so great that she could barely think, let alone perform Genjutsu Kai.
Through the pain that clouded her vision, Sakura dimly noticed as her opponent approach her to finish his job…
"Sabaku Hiden: Kaze no Tate Batsu!" (Desert Secret: Shield of Wind Attack)
Despite his youth, Baki's opponent was a true Taijutsu master; it took him but a couple of moments to realize and recover from the fact that his attack was not only deflected, but actually backfired on him: an almost material shield made of compressed wind not only stopped his attack, but the next moment it also rushed forward, striking at the blindfolded boy from the Sound with great force and taking him completely off-guard.
But even though it took the blindfolded boy from the Sound but a couple of moments to realize and recover from Baki's attack, Baki wasn't far behind in Taijutsu, and his opponent's momentary confusion was all he needed. And before the blindfolded boy from the Sound fully recovered from the powerful gust of wind that hit him right after his unsuccessful attack and threw him backwards, Baki was upon him with another, more lethal technique…
Although the girl from the Sound staked her pride, and her life, on her ability to always be prepared for anything, this time she couldn't help being taken by surprise. Though the serpents' bites weren't particularly dangerous by themselves, the real strength of her Strike of a Three-headed Serpent technique was in a powerful paralyzing or killing poison it delivered to her victims.
Right now, the black-clad sand-nin should have been lying on the ground, dying a swift but painful death. Not standing. Grinning at her. Grabbing her transformed left hand...
Too late the girl from the Sound realized the trap she was in: one of her powerful technique's flaws was that after the strike was made, she had to withdraw the snakes to return her hand into its normal shape, thus canceling now useless technique. As long as his opponent had a grip on her hand, he could use it to force her into a close-quarter combat…
Which was exactly what he did, pulling at her transformed hand with inhuman strength, thus dragging her from her hiding spot.
"You are not the only one good at deception, you know?" Her opponent said, continuing to grin at her even as his face began to fall apart, revealing the inhuman features underneath…
"Damn! This is not good!"
There was another quick exchange of blows, and Temari's opponent disappeared into the thin air once again, leaving her with another non-fatal wound.
So far, she succeeded only in preventing him from scoring a killing blow; but none of her attacks managed to reach him, while the wounds he inflicted were beginning to take their toll on her. The battle was slowly drawing to an end, and this end promised to be none too pleasant for her.
Naruto, who stood at the side, couldn't help feeling more useless then ever. He would die before admitting that he was anything but powerful ninja, but with both combatants being in constant motion, even Naruto had to admit that there was little he could do. Even his Shadow Clones wouldn't help; concentrating one controlling numerous clones reduced Naruto overall reaction greatly, and their opponent cut through them as if they weren't even there. And to think that he always thought that he has perfected Shadow Clone Technique... And even Naruto's most powerful technique, Rasengan, was useless with him being unable to come anywhere close to hitting the boy from the Sound…
Naruto's gloomy thoughts were interrupted as he heard the sound of another brief exchange of attacks between Temari and her opponent. Naruto retuned his attention to battle only to see Temari unleashing another of her Cutting Whirlwinds, but as before, archiving nothing other then leaving deep cuts on the nearby trees; in the heat of battle, combatants slowly moved from now-devastated campsite to the edge of the forest.
Naruto wasn't the smartest ninja in Konoha, far from it, but it was obvious even to him that Temari was slowly but surely losing this fight: by now she has already had half-dozen bleeding wounds, while her opponent didn't seem to suffer as much as a scratch, as none of Temari's attacks have apparently hit their target.
Naruto clenched his fists. There didn't seem to be anything he could do to help her, but while others were probably in need for help as well, he couldn't just leave Temari, who, as he suddenly remembered, saved his life, to almost certain defeat. He had to do something, but he realized that wide area attacks were probably the only way of hitting an opponent this fast, and unlike Temari, he didn't know any techniques that did that… Or did he?
The multiple cuts on the nearby trees, the results of Temari's Cutting Whirlwinds, suddenly reminded Naruto of the time Jiraiya was teaching him Rasengan.
(Flashback)
"If your Chakra isn't focused enough… That's what will happen."
Jiraiya's unfocused Rasengan left a shallow spiral-like cut on the tree.
(/Flashback)
"But what if I make the spread wide?"
Of course, Naruto realized that wide spread will make Rasengan almost powerless, but…
"But what if I just put more Chakra into it? MUCH more Chakra? With the amount of Chakra I have, I can do it! I'll call it "Naruto's Whirlwind"!"
Spotting the boy from the Sound stopping for a moment… "By the way, I wonder why does he stop every now and then anyway? To catch his breath or something? Oh well, no matter!" …Naruto began to form Rasengan with both his hands. But instead of a small focused ball of Chakra, it was a larger and barely contained ball of swirling energy that hovered an inch from Naruto's palms, looking ready to explode in any moment. And that was what it did mere few seconds after Naruto threw it at the boy from the sound: powerful beams of Chakra going into every direction, leaving deep cuts on the trees, the ground, and pretty much everything. Luckily Naruto was able to calculate the strength of his new Naruto's Whirlwind technique with surprising precision, making certain that the beams of Chakra will stop short of hitting him and Temari: there was no way anyone could have dodged them.
But then Naruto suddenly noticed that his opponent was nowhere to be seen.
"No way! Did he…"
But then a sudden thudding sound attracted Naruto's attention, and as he looked in its direction, he saw the boy from the Sound hitting a tree hard and slumping down it to the ground, a little stunned, but not disabled yet.
At first Naruto couldn't understand how could it be that the boy from the Sound got hit only now, when his "Naruto's Whirlwind" was already gone, but it became clear to him as Naruto looked around and spotted grinning Temari standing a few steps away from him, with her fan in her hands. Her attention was focused on the opponent, however.
"You know, I realized what your problem is," Temari said, still grinning, apparently addressing the boy from the Sound, "No matter how fast you can move, your perception is still limited. That is why you have to stop every now and then: you can't seem to keep track of things while you are moving at the speed of sound, ne?"
The boy from the Sound didn't reply at reply, but a grim and suddenly serious expression upon his face told it all: Temari spotted his only weakness dead on, and there was no use in trying to deny it.
"We shall see how much it helps you."
"Sure, we shall! Hey, blonde." Still smiling, Temari half-turned to Naruto as she spoke, "Can you do your thing again?"
"Ugh, she is the one to call me that, of all people!"
"Of course, I can!" Naruto said aloud.
"Good. Then let's finish what we have started!"
Through the shroud of pain, Sakura could see Hiroshi calmly walking towards her, with an obvious intent to finish her off for good. He looked rather relaxed, as though she wasn't of any threat at all.
"Which, I am not," Sakura realized bitterly.
It was surprising that she could still have straight thoughts, by now the booming sound has became so loud, that if it wasn't an illusion, Sakura's eardrums would have exploded a long time ago. In fact, in her mind's eye, she could very vividly see eardrums exploding, warm blood running down the sides of her head…
Sakura weakly shook her head, as if trying to banish the unwanted thoughts, hopefully along with the booming sound that was the reason behind them, but all in vain.
"Was all my training for nothing?"
"…Should you face a Jonin in real battle, your fate will be… Death." Again Baki's voice sounded in Sakura's mind, feeling her with sudden dread.
This was not a training match, not some friendly contest, and not even the kind of fights they had during the Chunin exam. This was a real battle, where the goal was not just to defeat, but to kill the opponent.
"Is it… Over?"
(LIKE HELL IT IS!)
As it was often the case in such situations, the voice Sakura always referred to as "Inner Sakura" made her presence known. But in the current situation, her encouragements weren't helping Sakura much.
"Year, right. Well, maybe you'll take care about that little noise then?"
Sakura has always made it a point to never even think of replying the "Inner Sakura"; having a split inner personality was bad enough, in Sakura's opinion, and she was afraid that she may take that little mental issue of hers down the slippery slope if she starts actually talking with her other self. Right now, however, she was in too much pain to care, and every distraction was definitely a good thing for her, particularly if it helps to at least partially distract her from the booming sound, which still continued to increase with every passing second, even though it seemed that no sound could possibly get any louder. Until…
(HA, I THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER ASK!)
"Huh?"
Sakura was surprised as the sound was suddenly pushed into the back of her mind; it was still there, but right now it seemed no more then a little annoyance, a distraction she was able to overcome with relative ease.
(NOW GIVE 'IM HELL!)
As Sakura came to her senses, she suddenly became aware of Hiroshi standing over her, with his foot raised for a blow. The blow was never struck, however, for the next moment prone Sakura struck upwards with her own foot, almost catching the older and more experienced ninja off-guard. Almost.
As Sakura leaped to her feet, she was somewhat surprised to see that Hiroshi, who was thrown into air and backwards by the sheer force of her blow, landed perfectly on his feet. He didn't look all that injured by the blow that, according to Sakura's calculations, should have been strong enough to break his ribs. Something was wrong; not even Baki could take her blows without flitching, and she never struck at him with her full force.
As a matter of fact, Sakura's blow hurt more then a little, though her opponent hid his pain well. He mentally cursed himself; he got careless, and if he didn't manage to put up his Shield of Sound in the last moment, the girl from Wind would have probably been able to, if not disable him, then at least make the odds tip in her favour. But who would have thought that she would somehow be able to overcome his Mental Sound Technique, a technique he has always thought to be irresistible.
To make things the girl from the Wind was obviously very strong, almost superhumanly so, and didn't need techniques like his Sound Blow fighting style to make her every blow count. Normally he would have been impressed by a girl not even half his age fighting on almost equal terms with him, but now he was more annoyed then impressed with it; the girl from the Wind was delaying him for much longer then he expected. In fact, he was forced to admit that she was almost a match for him. Almost.
With speed and grace of a true Taijutsu Master, Hiroshi charged at Sakura, dodging her counterattack with relative ease and then in turn unleashing a flurry of blows upon her. Instantly forced to go into total defense, Sakura managed to dodge all of them, but she was visibly getting tired; not only did Hiroshi's Mental Sound Technique drain quite a lot of strength from her, but also to match Hiroshi's speed she constantly had to focus more Chakra in her arms and legs, making the fight even more exhausting for her. And even though Sakura significantly improved in this regard under Baki's tutelage, her Chakra reserve was still anything but inexhaustible. This couldn't last forever…
A single blow slipped past Sakura's defense, just brushing her left side, but it was all it took: though Sakura all but dodged the blow, a mere contact with Hiroshi's fist sent some strange vibration through her body, and Sakura could feel her ribs cracking. She somehow managed to dodge Hiroshi's next blow, but his third blow hit her square in the chest, and this time Sakura's ribs didn't crack, they shattered. It was Hiroshi's personal invention, Sound Blow fighting style.
This time the vibrations actually went beyond Sakura's chest, reaching her arms and legs, but it paled next to the overwhelming pain in her chest. No longer able to stand upright, Sakura fall to the ground, fully at the mercy of her enemy, as overwhelming pain prevented her from either fighting or performing even the simplest of techniques. But this time it was no illusion, the pain was all too real, and Sakura wasn't able to brush it away with force of will alone.
Once again, Hiroshi raised his foot to finish Sakura off; though he usually fought with his fists, he was able to deliver Sound Blow through his feet as well, and a single kick at Sakura's head would be enough to shatter her skull into pieces. But suddenly, Hiroshi froze, with the blow never struck.
"Wise decision, big guy!"
Hiroshi darkly looked at the speaker, a smiling blond kunoichi. One of his students, Hisao Dashi lay battered at her feet, with the sharp edge of her huge fan pressed against his throat. With the incredible speed he was able to move at, Dashi could have gotten away long before the blond kunoichi could even blink, let alone strike a blow. However, his position was so that he simply couldn't get away without cutting his own throat in the process.
Further away, his another student, Taboshi stood still before his larger opponent. Though the blade pressed against Taboshi's throat was barely visible, Hiroshi immediately recognized it as Blade of Wind, a trademark technique of Baki, one of Sunagakure's best ninja. Taboshi's reflexes were excellent, but even they wouldn't help him when an opponent presses such a deadly weapon to his throat, particularly an opponent of Baki's level.
And further away, he could see a black-clad sand-nin emerging from the forest, followed by a vaguely humanoid but obviously inhuman figure. A puppet. In its arms the black-clad sand-nin's puppet carried the battered form of his last student, Madato Saye. His students met a total defeat. However…
"I see you have gotten my students, however, I can also kill these two at the moment's notice," Hiroshi gestured towards the prone Sakura and unconscious Gaara, "The girl is completely helpless right now, and don't think even for a moment that even Sabaku no Gaara's supposedly ultimate defense will help him, I know techniques that will get through it with relative ease, particularly in a state he is currently in. So… What do you propose we do about this situation?"
Baki didn't think long before answering, "Release my students and Sannin no Jiraiya, and I will in turn release your students and let you walk away."
"Sannin no Jiraiya is not in my power to release. I propose a counteroffer: to exchange your captured students for mine."
This time Baki thought longer before answering, although he didn't really have much of choice: though the exchange was unfair, the only other option would be to kill the young sound-nin… And should they do it, Baki was fully certain that their teacher will be able to carry out his threat. He didn't want to lose Sakura, but even more important was that Sunagakure simply couldn't afford to lose Sabaku no Gaara. And with that being so, the choice was made for him.
"Agreed. How do you propose we go about it?"
"I will release the girl first, one of you will come and take her away, and she will not be able to move on her own for a while. Then you will release my students. Afterwards, we will move away and let you take Sabaku no Gaara away, you have my word of a ninja on that. Is that fine with you?"
Baki hesitated, but there wasn't much of a choice here either: one way or another, one side will have to trust another in the end…
"It will do."
…He just hope that his trust won't be misplaced.
But despite Baki's worries, the exchange went smoothly. First Naruto went forward, gently picked barely conscious Sakura up and carried her back to Team Baki's position. Baki, Temari and Kankuro in turn let the sound-nin go, and they rejoined their teacher; the blindfolding boy offered his help to the girl, who was the most beaten of the three of them, but she coldly refused it. The next was the dangerous part, but despite Baki's worries, the sound-nin remained true to his word and moved away with his team, allowing Temari to go forward, pick unconscious Gaara up and carry him back to Team Baki's position.
It was only afterwards, with exchange complete and all their debts of honor cleared, two older ninja once again met other's eyes. Their battle was not over yet, but on the other hand, both of them were aware of the battered state their teams were in. If they were to continue the battle, the bodies would likely start falling on the both sides, and two older ninja realized it too well.
"I suppose we should take care of our wounded," it was Hiroshi who finally broke the silence.
"Agreed."
As if on cue, all the sound-nin jumped back towards the forest, disappearing in it within a moment's notice and leaving the battered teams Baki and Kakashi among the remains of the camp. Unconscious and dead bodies of the mercenaries hired by Otogakure were left lying around, but they were of no significance to either their employers or their enemies: the likes of them were just a cannon folder in the professional ninja's opinion, nothing more. In Baki's opinion, those of them who were still alive weren't even worth of finishing them off or taking them prisoner.
Baki sighed, and looked over the battered members of both teams; unlike the worthless mercenaries they hired, these sound-nin were certainly powerful, but somehow they still managed to defeat them.
"No, not defeat them," Baki thought gloomily, "We were outnumbering them three to two, and even so we were barely able to make it a tie."
Baki didn't know what will happen when they face these sound-nin again, but the final battle between them was inevitable, of that he was fully certain.
Preview of the next chapter:
I will not accept it, the fact that I was the first to be taken out, and even worse, by a girl. Even Naruto did better then I… My name is Uchiha Sasuke, and I swear, this is the last time it happens! Coming next, "Some Wounds Heal, Others Fester" Whatever it takes, I will become more powerful.