And a very long Chapter 5 has arrived hot on the heels of Chapter 4! OH MY!
As always, I appreciate the reviews/favorites/follows and thanks everyone who has reviewed thus far. They really help to keep me motivated to keep going!
Shout out to my reviewers since I posted the last chapter: Kyuubi loves NaruSaku, Serenity Namikaze, Toasty Warrior, Lavoisiae, Season Crystal, Echo Uchiha
Echo Uchiha: hehe, sorry. If it's any consolation there's far less depression in this chapter (IMO) =P
Season Crystal: Thanks! Believe me, I was very tempted to have Sakura to lunge forward, crash her lips into Naruto's and tell him she didn't mean any of that, that she actually loves him. But sadly the story would not allow it!
Toasty Warrior: I think you're going to like this chapter [insert evil Sakura grin here]
Serenity Namikaze: Ya.. again sorry for making Naruto emo. Hopefully he'll un-emo'fy soon… Thanks for the kind words! Side note- I originally typed in "Operation- Retrieve Naruto and Kick Sasuke's ass" as a placeholder until I could come up with a more serious name. But while editing it, it entertained me too much so it stayed =P
Kyuubi loves NaruSaku: It would be nice if the Kyubi or Sasuke intervened wouldn't it? Hmm hmm…
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Naruto would never have worn a black and RED cloak with his black and ORANGE jumpsuit. Seriously… I'm a guy and even I know red and orange is a no no. What the hell was Naruto thinking?
And with that ever so insightful thought in your head, let's move onto the main act.
Please do enjoy "A Jinchuriki's Husk"– Chapter 5: The Two Battles
The last remaining legendary sannin leapt from tree to tree following the Inuzuka and his dog as they rushed to find the boy she thinks of as a son. As they crossed a river with a bad current, Tsunade surveyed the small army that had accompanied her. They all looked exhausted, and for good reason. They had been chakra enhanced running for the past six hours without a single break.
We won't be able to help Naruto if we're all exhausted, and it is getting dark… "Everyone! We're taking going to camp here." The Hokage barked out as the final member of her army made it across.
"But Tsunade-shishou! Naruto's in danger. Sasuke could've already brought him to the Akatsuki… We don't have time to rest!"
"Sakura, we will be of no use to Naruto if we're all exhausted when we finally reach him. Look around you, everyone is exhausted." Tsunade calmy told her pink-haired student.
"Fine, you can all rest. Kiba, tell me which way Naruto is, I'm fine. I'll keep going and you guys can come back me up when you're rested." Konoha's cherry blossom huffed.
Tsunade smiled, she was proud of her apprentice. Sakura had blossomed into a beautiful and powerful kunoichi, and Tsunade was absolutely thrilled at who she had fallen in love with.
"Sakura, your legs are shaking and you are covered in sweat. You are going to rest, and THAT is that."
"Damnit shishou, I don't have time to rest I…"
"Oh shut it forehead! Do you really want to tell Naruto you love him looking like that?"
Sakura blushed at her best friend's comment. "Who said anything about telling him I love him." She mumbled.
Kakashi silently took in the exchange with a smile on his face. Sakura was acting just like Naruto when they were running to save Gaara.
Looks like Naruto has rubbed off on you Sakura. He thought with one of his famous one-eyed smiles. The smile was replaced by a frown quickly though. I just hope we don't get there too late this time…
The Kyubi jinchuriki stared at the strange statue that was going to be killing him in a few short moments. There were two hands cuffed together, and a face with nine eys. All but two eyes were open.
So this is it. Finally, I've reached the end. Images of all the people who had accepted him over the years flashed through his mine.
"Arigato." The husk whispered his final words as he laid down underneath the chain connecting the two hands.
Madara and Zetsu stood on two of the fingers. "Now then, let's begin." Madara said, as both he and Zetsu formed the same hand signs.
Naruto was lifted into the air as blue energy that was his very soul began to surround him. It felt so… strange, so surreal to be surrounded by your soul. Then it began, his soul began being sucked out of him and into the open mouth of the statue.
Pain was not a sufficient word to describe what Naruto felt as began to be drained. What the jinchuriki was feeling was beyond pain. Once the Kyubi began leaking out of Naruto's eyes and mouth, the "pain" only intensified. He felt one of the two remaining closed eyes on the statue slowly start to open.
The legacy of the Yondaime wanted to scream but found that he physically could not, his body would only allow for him to gurgle in pain.
This is what I deserve. The blonde-haired husk thought. It's only fitting that before I die I feel this kind of pain, afterall I caused more pain than this to the people of Konoha. Only a little while longer and my end will finally arrive…
One final image supplanted itself in his mind, and stayed there. He stared at the emerald-eyed angel that he loved.
Goodbye...Sakura-chan.
Vibrant emerald eyes stared into a smoldering fire and pink hair swayed gently in the night breeze. Sakura had volunteered to take the first watch because there was no way she would be able to sleep. She was exhausted, the chakra-enhanced running for six straight hours drained her. But she couldn't stop, not until she had her knucklehead back.
What if… what if I'm not too late? What if they've already killed him? She suddenly thought. Tears that she hadn't let drop since leaving Konoha threatened to spill from her eyes as she dropped her head.
WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE TOO LATE! WE'RE GOING TO GET BACK OUR NARUTO-KUN AND KICK SASUKE-TEME'S EMO ASS, SHANAROO!
Sakura was startled, she hadn't heard from her inner for a very long time. You? What are you doing here? I thought you were gone.
You stopped acting the way you thought other people wanted to act and started acting like yourself. So I wasn't needed.
Then why are you here right now?
Because you are strong. You are Sakura Haruno, apprentice of the legendary sannin and Gondaime Hokage. You don't need to be worrying about failing Naruto-kun! It's finally your turn to save HIM and there's no way you're going to fail. SHANAROO!
Sakura smiled, her inner's speech succeeded in lifting her spirits and returning her confidence. Naruto would be back with her in no time. She smiled and started day-dreaming about her future life with the knucklehead.
"..kura. Sakura, earth to Sakura!"
"Shishou!" a startled Sakura was brought out of her daydreaming by her master.
"Sakura… I wanted to apologize for beating you so badly earlier. I'm so…"
"Don't worry about it shishou!" Sakura interrupted with a fake smile that she learned from her favorite knucklehead. "You've done worse to me during training! And besides, you were angry about what happened to Naruto, I probably would've done the same thing in your place."
"No Sakura, that's no excuse. If Shikamaru and Shizune hadn't arrived when they did, I probably would've killed you… Had I done that, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself."
"Shishou, really it's no…"
"Shut up and let me finish Sakura!" the sannin barked. "You're right, I was angry about what happened to Naruto. He's one of the few remaining precious people I have left. But not just that, whenever I see him, he reminds me so much of Jiraiya… It just makes me extra protective of him."
The Hokage suddenly grabbed both of Sakura's shoulders, staring straight into her emerald eyes.
"Naruto is like a son to me. But he's not the only precious person I have. You, Sakura, are also one of my precious people. And you are like a daughter to me. I just wanted you to know that." The Hokage finished with a smile.
Her apprentice smiled back. "Wait… shishou nothing personal, but you might want to stop thinking about me as a daughter." She nearly laughed at the confused face her master made.
"I plan on spending the rest of my life with Naruto, and it's kind of frowned upon for a brother and sister to be with each other... like that." Sakura finished with a smirk.
Both master and apprentice burst into laughter.
Sasuke sat meditating outside of the hideout. He lost track of how much time had passed when Madara started draining Naruto.
FLASHBACK
"Why… What the hell do you want? Why do you care so much?" Sasuke yelled at his biggest rival.
Naruto merely smiled, "Because we're friends!"
FLASH IN
Friends. Hhn, some friend I turned out to be eh dobe? Again Sasuke was considering saving Naruto. He didn't have much time left, and there didn't seem to be anyone from the leaf in the area. Naruto… the man who never gave up on him… the man who knew his pain.
No, Naruto doesn't know my pain. He knows pain, but not MY pain. Konoha slaughtered my clan… But Naruto is my friend, my brother. Sighing to himself, Sasuke stood up, drawing his kusanagi as he began walking into the base.
"What are you doing Sasuke?" a Zetsu asked causing Sasuske to freeze in stride. If I do this… I will not be able to get my vengeance on Konoha for what they did to Itachi and my clan. If I don't my best friend will die…
"Sasuke?"
The Uchiha sheathed his sword and resumed his meditation pose. Sorry Naruto, but I am an avenger. You may be my best friend, but you are also my most powerful enemy. You need to die, as does the rest of Konoha so the Uchiha clan can regain its honor.
Sasuke once again started replaying his family's massacre and Itachi's death in his mind. Watching over and over, using his anger to push away his guilt and to hide his bond with the Kyubi jinchuriki.
After a good night's rest, the mini-army was once again following Naruto's trail, although this time at a more comfortable pace without using chakra to increase their speed.
"His scent is getting stronger. We're almost to him." Kiba called out to the group.
Excitement, fear and anger flew through Sakura as she began to gather chakra in her legs to reach her knucklehead faster. Just as she tensed her leg muscles to take off, Kakashi placed his hand on her shoulder.
"I know we're close Sakura, but you need to conserve every ounce of chakra you have. You're going to need it when we all fight Sasuke, he's become so powerful now that only Naruto could handle him one on one."
"Actually sensei… I want to fight Sasuke… alone. He used me to destroy the man I love… that…" she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. "That is unforgivable. And I want to be the one who defeats and kills that bastard. And if I kill him alone, it will just be an added insult to him, to be killed by me, someone he views as weak."
"Sakura… that's all good and all, but you can't handle Sasuke by yourself. You are very powerful, but Sasuke and Naruto have reached a new level of power that you and I are just not at."
"Everyone listen up! Sakura and I will fight Sasuke by ourselves, the rest of you are to stay out of the fight." Came the unnervingly calm voice of the last remaining Sannin.
"Hokage-sama that still won't be enough. The two of you won't be able to beat Sasuke on your own!" Kakashi all but yelled, his normally calm demeanor gone. He had already lost Sasuke, and he might have already lost Naruto, he didn't want to lose Sakura too.
"Shishou, I'm sorry, but I can't allow that. Sasuke is mine."
"Sakura, I know why you want to kill Sasuke by yourself, but that's not going to happen. Naruto is very important to me too, I want to help beat the life out of the bastard that hurt him…" the Hokage growled.
"Hai shishou… "
"We're almost there, although now I smell a bunch of different scents around Naruto…" Kiba said.
"Neji, use your byakugan to scan ahead." The Hokage ordered.
"I can see Sasuke, he's sitting in front of a hideout. But he's not alone, there's 100 pale men who look like Zetsu of the Akatsuki around him. Although… they don't have a venus fly trap around their heads like Zetsu does. Ok, they're just up ahead in that clearing." The Hyuga finished his report.
"Shikamaru!"
"Yes Hokage-sama?"
"You're in charge of the battle. Sakura and I will be dealing with Sasuke, you are to command everyone else in the battle with those other 100 nins."
"Tch, troublesome." Shikamaru grumbled earning a hit on the back of his head from Ino.
"Ok. Kakashi, Yamato, Guy, Lee,Kiba, Chouji, Neji and Hinata will fight the enemy at close range. Sai you will attack from the air. Ino, Iruka, Tenten, Shino and myself will provide ranged support. Tenten specifically will be focused on attacking since she has enough precision and enough weapons to do so, Shino will also focus on attacking since he can send his bugs in from a distance. Ino and Iruka will be focused on watching the backs of the close range team. I will be supporting the close ranged team by trapping enemies with my shadows making them easy prey."
Everyone nodded as they listened to the lazy genius' plan.
"This is it. Naruto is somewhere inside that base, the sooner we take care of this scum the sooner we retrieve Naruto." Tsunade bellowed. "LET'S GO!"
The mini-army charged forward, with Sai taking to the air on a bird he drew.
Sasuke… thought an enraged pink-haired kunoichi. After I'm through with you you'll be WISHING you were experiencing the hell you put Naruto through.
Naruto had no idea how long he had been getting drained, it seemed like years. How much longer am I going to have to feel this pain? This hurts… The eye on the statue was nearly fully open. This had to end soon. Then suddenly all the pain stopped. He could no longer feel the Kyubi's presence. He cautiously opened his eyes and gasped.
He was standing in an area that was all white, and was littered with fog.
Naruto Uzumaki, Kyubi jinchuriki, legacy of the Yondaime, student of the great Toad Sannin Jiraiya, future Hokage… was dead.
"Naruto?" a surprised voice gasped.
Sasuke opened his eyes as he felt his former friends charge forward. The Zetsus instantly rushed forward to meet them. Sasuke stood, preparing to do the same when he felt a tremor and a large wall of earth suddenly blocked him off.
"OH SASUKE-KUUUUUUUUUUUUN" Sakura called out in an unnervingly sugary voice, a sickeningly sweet smile plastered on her face. "Your fight…" Suddenly Sakura's face changed to one of utter anger. The killing intent pouring from her made it hard to breathe. "IS WITH ME!" she finished with a terrifying roar as she ran forward, fists glowing with chakra.
"Kuso!" Tsunade swore. Sakura had gotten away from her and isolated herself and Sasuke. Tsunade started running towards the barrier Sakura set up to smash through it and join the fight, but the Zetsus continued to block her path, and forced her to fall back.
"Shikamaru, I need a path to Sakura… NOW!"
"Sorry hokage-sama, but until we kill off some of those enemy ninjas, I don't see a way that can happen." The lazy genius replied. "Stay back here and conserve your chakra with the ranged team until we've killed off 40 or so of those things."
"Screw that!" the Hokage yelled, leaping into the fray. "I'm going to speed things up!"
Whoever said that losing your calm in a battle put you at a distinct disadvantage had never met Sakura. The enraged kunoichi attacked Sasuke with a strength and speed that was beyond her normal levels.
The man who took my love away from me, the man who ruined what could have been a perfect moment that both Naruto and I would smile fondly back upon for the rest of our lives… Oh that man NEEDS to feel pain.
These were the only thoughts that were going through Sakura's brain. No doubt, no strategy, only anger. The girl was fighting solely on instinct. And she was doing good. Sasuke's normally calm face could not hide his shock, as his former teammate connected with yet another hard punch to the face and he went flying backwards.
Sasuke had barely managed to pick himself up when she suddenly appeared above him and slammed him back down into the ground creating a large crater. She gathered even more chakra into her fist and tried to slam it into Sasuke's head, but the avenger dodged and sent a kick into her gut forcing her back.
Drawing his kusanagi he channeled his chidori through it and charged forward. Sakura dodged his stab attempt, but couldn't block his kick that hit her in the side sending her flying backwards. Sasuke made a few hand signs.
"Goukakyuu no Jutsu" he shot a giant fireball out of his mouth towards his former fan girl.
Sakura punched the ground forcing a piece of earth up to block the fireball. She flicked the earth wall, causing it to crack and nearly break. "Kaze no Bakehutsu" Sakura yelled and pushed her palms forward as a powerful blast of wind burst from them shattering the earth wall and sending the shards of it straight towards the Uchiha.
Sasuke swore as he saw the hundreds of little shards of earth fly toward him, he activated his mangekyo sharingan and summoned Susanoo, using it to shield himself from the attack.
"Impressive Sakura, I never would have expected to have to pull this out against you. And I certainly didn't want to have to use one of my post powerful techniques so early in a fight."
Sakura was panting, she had already used up a lot of chakra. Seeing Susanoo brought her out of her rage and her mind began thinking rationally again. She was a little surprised that she still had about half of her chakra left after all the chakra she just used. She wasn't sure how she had gotten stronger, faster, and a larger chakra pool, but she didn't have time to question it now.
She examined Sasuke's Susanoo, it was a huge dark purple demonic looking humanoid clad in armor, with horns on its head. In one hand it had some sort of chakra sword, and in the other a bow. The latter being what Sasuke used to defend himself from her attack, so it must function as a shield as well. She really wished she hadn't been too busy healing Karin to see Susanoo in action when Sasuke used it against Kakashi.
Even with her increased chakra pool, the kunoichi knew she was going to need more chakra if she wanted to beat Sasuke now that he had his complete Susanoo summoned. She needed to buy some time. Throwing down a smoke bomb, Sakura muttered, "Sasai Chakra no Jutsu."
She was especially proud of this technique, she took a note from Naruto's book and developed this unique jutsu as a way around a seemingly impossible problem, her small chakra reserves. This jutsu stimulates the user's chakra coils making them replenish chakra at an incredibly fast rate. The only problem with the technique, she couldn't move her body much while using it. But still, she figured she would only need five minutes to completely replenish her chakra.
Now all she had to do was get Sasuke to start talking.
Kakashi whirled around to block a punch from a Zetsu. He took a swipe at his attacker with a kunai which connected with tore through the Zetsu's shoulder. He was about to deliver a fatal blow when he felt something in the earth, flipping into the air, he narrowly dodged as another Zetsu came out of the Earth swiping at where he had just been standing.
As he landed he sensed another Zetsu behind him, he swore as he braced for the coming blow, not having enough time to react. The impact never came as his attacker was forced to dodge a kunai aimed for his neck. Iruka followed the kunai with three shurikens which forced the Zetsu to leap back where he landed in Shikamaru's shadow.
Rushing forward Kakashi slashed the Zetsus throat. He leapt back to the range team for a second to see how everyone was doing.
"Thanks Iruka, Shikamaru" he said with a one-eyed smile. He looked at the other close ranged fighters. Hinata looked like she was about to fall over from exhaustion, she had been using her juuho shouriken the entire fight. Neji was hovering around her, but faring much better. Like Kakashi, he appeared to be holding back to conserve chakra. Chouji was showing signs of fatigue, but overall looked fine. His arms were enlarged as he batted away zetsus.
Like Chouji, Kiba was beginning to show signs of exhaustion, but the boy had impressive stamina, as he and Akamaru continued to launch gatsuga after gatsuga at the zetsus.
Watching Guy and Lee it was hard to believe that they had already been fighting enemies who greatly outnumbered them for ten minutes. The strange duo had managed to turn the battle into a "youthful" competition as they called out each new Zetsu they fell.
"FIVE!" came the over-enthusiastic voice of Guy as he snapped a Zetsu's neck with a powerful kick.
Well at least I've killed six so far, so I can beat Guy yet again…
"I've only fell two of these foul beasts compared to Guy-sensei's five. I must defeat more and surpass Guy sensei!" Guy's student yelled.
"LEE! SEEING YOUR SHINING YOUTH DRIVES ME IN THIS FIGHT!"
Kakashi sweat-dropped. His gaze finally landed on Tsunade, she was obviously holding back, saving most of her strength to help Sakura in her fight against Sasuke.
Sakura… Reality suddenly set in against Kakashi. Sakura had been fighting Sasuke on her own for ten minutes, she was strong, but no match for Sasuke. Tsunade needs to get to Sakura soon, before it's too late. He uncovered his sharingan.
"Shikamaru, how many Zetsus are left?"
"64." Came the reply from the genius Nara, without missing a beat.
Just as I expected, he's keeping track of each Zetsu we kill.
"How many do we need to kill before the Hokage can join Sakura?"
"As of right now, probably another 8. But I've been watching the Zetsus and it seems like they're holding back. They're hardly using any jutsus. I find it hard to believe that any form of Zetsu would depend upon taijutsu."
"Hmm… I guess we'll just have to find out, ne?" Kakashi replied with a now two-eyed smile. The smile quickly turned into a serious expression. "Hinata is nearly out of chakra, you might want to have her fall back and provide support for a while. I'm going to start going all-out now."
"Right. Tenten."
"Hai?"
"You're going to replace Hinata in the close combat team. Go tell her to get back here."
"Alright." The weapon mistress said, summoning two scimitars before she ran towards Hinata.
"Shino, watch Hinata. As soon as she starts to fall back, I want you to cover her."
Shino merely nodded in response.
"Alright, I'm going now." Kakashi told Shikamaru, and started sprinting towards a large clump of Zetsus. One Zetsu saw him coming, and noticed his uncovered sharingan. He made a strange noise and suddenly all the Zetsus leapt back from the battle. Kakashi warily gazed at them.
And then all at once, in perfect synchronization the Zetsus were forming handsigns. And all at the same time, muttered something that none of the Konoho nin could hear. Kuso!
Kakashi activated his mangekyo sharingan as all at once, as a large root wall shot out of the ground and looked to impale the Konoha shinobi. Kakashi used his mangekyo sharingan to teleport the entire wall away.
Kuso… Kakashi thought as he fell backwards into unconsciousness, having exhausted all of his chakra with his mangekyo sharingan's technique.
"Naruto?" a surprised voice gasped. Naruto turned around and peered into the fog, where he saw a figure walking towards him. Relief flooded into him, and a large smile lit up his face as the voice's owner came into view.
"PERVY SAGE!" Naruto rushed forward and embraced his teacher in a hug. "Pervy sage… I missed you I…"
"Ya ya, I missed you too gaki, but that's not important right now. What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here…" his master replied with a slightly confused face.
Naruto dropped his head and stared at the ground. "I…died. The Akatsuki extracted the Kyubi from me."
"NANI? THEY DID WHAT? How? That doesn't make sense. When I left, you were strong. I watched as you complete sage training and then defeated Nagato. You surpassed me, you were surrounded by powerful allies. There should have been no way the Akatsuki should've been able to capture you."
"I…" thoughts of Naruto's final encounter with Sakura ran through his mind. "I… don't want to talk about it ok? I'm just glad to finally be here."
"…Finally be here? Gaki you're dead. Don't get me wrong, it's good to see you again, but you shouldn't want to be here. Everyone in Konoha is now in danger. We need to figure out how to get you back. With you gone I can't think of any shinobi who stand a chance at defeating Madara…"
"Pervy sage… I'm not going back. What's the point of going back? I was despised there, I was a demon. You were one of the few people who accepted me, and you left…"
"What are you talking about Naruto? You had a loyal group of friends, Tsunada, Iruka, Kakashi, and Sakura." Jiraiya did not miss Naruto's expression drop further at the mention of the boy's favorite kunoichi. Hmmm…
"Naruto, Sakura was starting to really come around to you when I left. And from what I've seen while watching you two, I would say it's only a matter of time until you finally get her!"
"Pervy sage… Sakura never liked me, and never will like me. She used me to bring Sasuke back to her. She recognized that I was a demon, not a human…"
"Nani? Naruto that's…"
"Just drop it Jiraiya-sensei. I don't want to talk about it now. I'm here now, I can finally be happy."
Just what did I miss? Maybe we shouldn't have stopped watching him these past couple weeks, it looks like it's going to be hard to get him to say what happened to him. Jiraiya's eyes widened. Minato must've known about this somehow. That's why he suddenly disappeared.
"Ok gaki. I'll drop it for now, but we're going to be talking about this soon. Now follow me, I have someone I want you to meet. Oh, and don't call me pervy sage in front of her, that's a nickname that she doesn't need to know about."
Naruto looked at his sensei with a confused expression before nodding and following him.
Shikamaru swore as he watched Kakashi fall backwards unconscious after saving them all from the root wall using his sharingan.
"Iruka, go get Kakashi and bring him back here." We need enough people to be fighting the Zetsus in close range to keep them distracted so the Zetsu army doesn't attack the ranged team. The ranged team on the other hand is needed support the close ranged team to help them deal with the numbers disadvantage. Kakashi was crucial to the close range team due to his power, without him some Zetsus are bound to attack the ranged team.
Shikamaru's eyes turned to the ranged team. Damnit, no one here is good enough in close quarter combat to fight up close against such overwhelming numbers. Ino's decent enough, but her specialty is mind jutsus, her taijutsu really isn't good enough to go against such numbers. Hinata is an excellent close-range fighter, but she's still far too exhausted to be of use.
Shino's taijutsu isn't the best since he relies entirely on his bugs during his fight. He won't last long surrounded by Zetsus…
"Damnit…" Shikamaru glanced into the sky were Sai was dropping his hand-sketched tigers from his perch above the battlefield. Sai handles himself well in close combat, but being outside of the Zetsus attack range allows him to focus entirely on drawing more animals to attack which helps with the numbers disadvantage. He needs to stay up there.
That leaves only one option. "Damnit!" Looks like you're going to get your wish afterall Sakura. Shikamaru mused as Iruka returned with an unconscious Kakashi.
"Iruka, now I need you to go to the Hokage, tell her with Kakashi down we can no longer afford to let her join Sakura's battle. We need her to stop holding back and use her full power on the Zetsu army. For now, we will just need to have faith in Sakura. Shino, cover Iruka."
"Hai." Iruka replied sprinting towards the Hokage as Shino's bugs swarmed around him.
He returned his gaze his focus to the battlefield. The Zetsus were using vines from the ground, making things far more difficult for the Konoha shinobi.
62. Slowly but surely we're whittling their numbers down. Hopefully we can keep this up without any losses on our side.
He caught a Zetsu in his shadow and watched as Tenten beheaded it with one fluid strike of her scimitar.
61…
Tsunade side stepped as a Zetsu shot another vine out of the ground at her. As the Hokage she was filled with pride for the Konoha shinobi. Even though they were originally outnumbered 100-14, they had yet to suffer a single loss while they had managed to kill a sizeable chunk of the Zetsus. Losing Kakashi was a heavy blow, but at least he was alive. As Tsunade she was worried about her apprentice, as much as she hated to admit it, Sakura could not defeat Sasuke on her own.
"Hokage-sama!"
"Iruka?" replied a confused Hokage. "You need to get back, you're a member of the ranged team."
"Shikamaru sent me with a message Hokage-sama. With Kakashi out of the fight we need you to stay here and stop holding back. He says that for now, we just have to have faith in Sakura."
"Kuso!" the Hokage swore. "That just means I have to kill all of these things faster!" Tsunade pumped chakra into her fist and slammed it into the ground sending a wall of earth into a group of ten Zetsus. She only managed to kill one with the attack, but at least that was one last vine-wielding maniac.
She pumped chakra into her legs and leapt into the startled group, her fist connecting with the jaw of one of the Zetsus which caused it to fly off into a tree, that it remained stuck in, unmoving. More roots shot out of the ground to her left. Without enough time to dodge, she slammed her fist into the ground and a wall of Earth blocked the vines.
As more Zetsus began to surround her, the sannin decided she needed to join another one of the close-ranged fighters. "SHINO, GIVE ME A WAY TO GUY AND LEE" the Hokage yelled. A swarm of small, black, buzzing insects swarmed around the zetsus, effectively distracting them, giving Tsunade the opportunity she needed to join Guy and Lee.
"HOKAGE-SAMA, I AM MOST HONORED TO BE ABLE TO FIGHT ALONGSIDE YOU IN BATTLE!" yelled Lee upon her arrival.
"WELL SAID LEE!" Guy agreed.
These two… they're unreal. The green jumpsuit wearing shinobi did not look like they had been fighting a foe who heavily outnumbered them for twenty straight minutes. As she sent another Zetsu flying with a powerful punch, she scanned the battlefield.
Guy and Lee are fine, I should join someone more fatigued.
"GATSUGA!" cried Kiba as he and Akamaru crashed into a Zetsu. His breathing was becoming haggard, and the now Kiba clone Akamaru was showing similar signs of fatigue.
"Five!" Lee yelled out as he slammed a Zetsu head-first into the ground.
"Nine!" Came Guy's reply as another Zetsu was punched into the ground.
Distracted by the antics of her two taijutsu masters, Tsunade failed to notice a Zetsu coming out of the ground behind her. She whirled around to defend herself when the an ink tiger pounced on the zetsu, biting it's throat. The Hokage arrived at the side of the exhausted Inuzuka and his companion just in time to bash a Zetsu in the temple as he went to kill Kiba from behind.
"Thanks." Kiba said in an exhausted tone as more Zetsus began coming toward the now trio.
"Don't mention it. How are you holding up?"
"Me and Akamaru are doing great. We could keep this up all day!"
"Good. Here they come."
Kiba would forever tell his future children and grand children about the day he fought side by side with the legendary Sannin and Gondaime Hokage, Tsunade.
Sasuke watched slightly confused as his former teammate appeared in the exact spot where she had been when she threw her smoke bomb. He didn't sense anything that suggested she had moved somewhere else while she was shrouded by smoke. She didn't know any advanced clone techniques that he knew of.
What are you up to Sakura…
"Why are you doing this Sasuke?"
DAMNIT! Shikamaru looked at the battlefield. The konoha nins had managed to kill 62 of the Zetsus, but now even Guy and Lee were getting tired. They wouldn't be able to last much longer against such overwhelming odds.
Come on… think. There has to be something I can do… Shikamaru was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the person who softly dropped out of the sky behind him. A pair of slender arms wrapped themselves around his neck in a… hug?
"Thinking of giving up lazy bones?" Temari murmed into his ear.
"…Temari? What are you…"
Shikamaru was interrupted as a wave of sand caught ten Zetsus and crushed them.
"Reinforcements have arrived." Temari said as she let go of Shikamaru and grabbed her fan. The Suna blonde charged forward.
Relief flooded into Shikamaru as he watched one of Kankuro's puppets stab a Zetsu that had nearly impaled Chouji with a root.
He caught another Zetsu in his shadow and smirked as Temari used her fan to tear him apart. Looks like we're going to win this fight afterall. The smirk was replaced with a worried frown as he looked at the earth wall separating the two battles. You better be ok Sakura…
"Why are you doing this Sasuke?" Sakura asked Sasuke in as level of a tone as she could muster. She really didn't care anymore, her entire body ached to beat the avenger to a bloody pulp. But she needed to have all of her chakra back if she wanted to beat his Susanoo. And she needed time for her sasai chakra no jutsu to restore her chakra.
"I already told you, vengeance. Konoha slaughtered my clan, Konoha made me kill Itachi. Konoha must pay with blood."
"I see. Now tell me Sasuke, are you happy?"
FLASHBACK
"But revenge…that won't bring anyone happiness. No one… neither you…nor I." a 12-year old Sakura told Sasuke fighting back tears.
FLASH IN
"Hhn. Am I happy? My clan is gone, my older brother is gone, I have nothing left…"
Three minutes, just two more than I will show you what happens when you mess with my Naruto Sasuke… Sakura thought, barely paying attention to Sasuke's words.
"I will be happy when Konoha has joined my brother and clan in the ground. I've told you once, and I'll tell you again for the final time, I have severed my bonds with you. I have severed my bonds with Konoha."
Four minutes. Come on… just one more!
"You haven't severed your bonds. I can see it in your eyes. Naruto has never given up on you, he will happily accept you back in Konoha. If you're worried about punishment, Naruto will be probably be the Hokage soon, I'm sure he'll make sure you're pardoned!"
The baka probably would, even after everything you've done to him. But I'm not going to give you that chance Sasuke… Finally, five minutes. Now Sasuke, now you answer for your crimes against Naruto.
"Hhn, that dobe isn't going to ever be Hokage." Sasuke said with an arrogant voice, but his eyes held just a slight bit of sadness in them. Sadness which Sakura missed.
"Naruto's come a long way since you were with us Sasuke, the village respects…"
"Madara has been draining Naruto of the Kyubi for a while now. The dobe is probably already dead, and if he's not, he will be soon."
Those were the absolute worst words Sasuke could say. He…Naruto…no…. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
"Ririsu!" she screamed as a fresh wave of terrifying killing intent poured out of her. Her chakra fully restored she roared, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU SASUKE!"
Sakura charged forward, preparing to kill the man she spent her childhood fawning over.
Oh wow! 6,025 words! I'm fairly pleased with how the fight scenes turned out. Not the best I've ever read, but not the worst. Man what a crazy chapter huh? I've decided that with all the jutsus I've listed off I'm going to include a jutsu directory after this speel to translate them.
For Sakura to realistically stand a chance against Sasuke, she needed some way to have access to far more chakra than she normally has. So I gave her the sasai chakra no jutsu as a way to feasibly give her that power.
Questions answered next time- How the hell did the sand siblings arrive on the scene (well, an explanation that's NOT- "the author thinks Gaara is a bamf and wanted to add his awesomeness to his story) Who is Jiraiya taking Naruto to meet? Where did Minato go? Can Sakura defeat Sasuke?
Stay tuned!
Now, onto the jutsu list…
Goukakyuu no Jutsu- Grand Fireball Technique
Kaze no Bakehutsu- Windblast
Sasai Chakra no Jutsu- Chakra Regeneration Technique
Juuho Shouriken- Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists
Ririsu- "Release." Sakura has to say release to stop the sasai chakra no jutsu.
Hmm… that's a smaller list than I thought. Ah well, see you next time!