Man. Reviews have been steadily declining. Sad. Pout Pout, cry cry, w/e w/e. Just review guys.
Chapter 16
"Naruto?"
The soft voice awoke Naruto out of his daydream, bringing his attention back to the real world. He looked down at the concerned face of Tenten. "What was that Tenten?"
"I said, 'Sakura and Sasuke really make a good couple, don't you think?'" Tenten repeated, a little irritation evident in her voice.
"Oh, yeah, sure Tenten…" Naruto looked back up into the sky, gazing at the clouds lazily drifting across the blue sky. He and his girlfriend had found this spot after their double date with Sasuke and Sakura. They were sprawled out in the middle of a grassy clearing, Tenten resting her head on Naruto's stomach. She too looked up at the sky, contemplating her new boyfriend's behavior, allowing the peacefulness and silence to return.
"Is something the wrong Naruto?"
"I just…have a bad feeling…"
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"Sabaku Kyu!"
"Haha! You'll have to do better than that jinchuuriki, yeah!"
Gaara narrowed his eyes, sending yet another massive claw of sand at the blonde Akatsuki member. The claw sailed by the twisting, agile clay bird, which began to fly straight at Gaara's sand sphere that was protecting him.
"Let me show you my art! Isn't it beautiful?" he yelled maniacally, throwing two small figures at Gaara. Gaara swept one of his arms in front of him, controlling a large arm of sand to intercept the two figures. As they connected, a loud explosion fractured the hardened sand, separating some of the claw from the rest of the sand. For the umpteenth time during the battle, Gaara narrowed his eyes. This would not be an easy fight.
(A/N: This part is sticking to canon. There's no reason why it would change, since Naruto never really affected the Sand much.)
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One Day Later
"Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama!"
Tsunade whipped her head around to face the new arrival. He was a messenger, out of breath, holding a small scroll.
"Yes?" she asked, signaling for Sakura to stop the exercise she had been working on.
The man was bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for breath. "I have a message from the Sand Tsunade-sama!"
Tsunade strode over quickly, taking the scroll from the messenger's hand, waving him off. The man quickly left the office, leaving Tsunade, Shizune, and Sakura alone in the office. Tsunade quickly opened the scroll, and scanned the message. Her eyes flew open and she quickly reread it, this time paying close attention to every decoded word on the page. Sakura looked at her sensei curiously.
"What is it Tsunade-sama?"
Tsunade's hand trembled, before she slammed the scroll down onto the desk, storming out of the office as if she didn't even hear her young apprentice. Sakura and Shizune watched her leave in shock before going over to the scroll which had apparently had an incredible importance.
Shizune read it quickly before taking a step back. Sakura, who did not know the code that Konoha's decoders used, could not read the message, so she looked at Shizune questioningly.
"What is it Shizune-sempai?"
"It's a message from Suna…the Kazekage has been captured!"
Sakura's eyes widened before she flew out the twin oak doors seeking out Tsunade.
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Naruto lay on the grass, the subtle weight of Tenten's head resting on his stomach was a soothing comfort to his mind. Tenten had a way of calming his mind and putting him at ease. They were in the same position as yesterday, lying down in the grassy clearing after lunch together.
Tenten sighed, snuggling her head into Naruto's abs, grinning when Naruto made a comment about throwing up all over her. Regardless of how much she enjoyed him joking with her, she still playfully punched him, telling him not to make such vulgar jokes. Naruto smiled down at her, and then returned his attention back onto the clouds.
However, a shadow soon fell upon his face, distracting him from his peace and quiet. Naruto and Tenten looked up in confusion, only to find a single ANBU standing before them.
"Uh…hi," Naruto said cautiously.
The ANBU only looked at him in silence, before handing him a small scroll and disappearing.
Naruto looked quizzically at his girlfriend who looked just as confused as him. Shrugging, Naruto broke the seal on the scroll before reading the contents.
"What is it?" asked Tenten, peering over his shoulder.
"A summons…Sorry babe, I gotta go," Naruto said, kissing Tenten on the side of the cheek before he ran off towards the Hokage's building.
Tenten sighed, gently touching the side of her face that Naruto had kissed before falling onto the ground, eyes closed dreamily and smile plastered on her face.
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Naruto arrived at the office just in time, as when he had arrived at the door, Shikamaru was in the process of entering as well.
Naruto jogged at a brisk pace until he was next to Shikamaru. "Any idea what this is about?"
Shikamaru shrugged. "I'm sure it's something troublesome…"
Naruto grinned. "Sometimes troublesome is fun!"
Shikamaru smiled back. "Sometimes…" he conceded.
The both entered the office at the same time, spotting Kiba, Shino, Sakura, Sasuke, Ino, and Hinata. They joined the six other Kousou members on one side of the room, coming to attention as Tsunade entered the room.
Tsunade began speaking the second she entered the room, walking quickly to her desk. "Suna has been attacked. The Kazekage has been defeated and captured. We believe Akatsuki is behind this. This mission is ranked as an A class rescue mission. You eight will go to Suna and track the Akatsuki from there. Go."
As soon as the last word had left her mouth, the eight Kousou members disappeared from her office in flashes of speed.
Tsunade sat at her desk, her chin resting on the back of her entwined fingers. The first test to see Kousou in action…don't fail.
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The eight members arrived at the gate simultaneously, stopping only to receive orders from their acting commander, Shikamaru. The strategist was always considered the leader, even when not officially put into command, with maybe the exception of Neji, who was almost as much of a strategist as Shikamaru with the added benefit of being a fighter. Which is why he was made ANBU captain while he was part of the "Eleven" before being replaced after being put into the special Kousou team.
"Kiba will be in front, followed by Sasuke, Ino, Hinata, Myself, Sakura, Naruto, and then Shino. Sasuke will act as frontal support, Ino and Hinata as our flanks, and Naruto as our rear. Sakura will stay in the middle so she can react to injuries and I will stay in the middle so that I can call out orders more easily. Let's go. We won't stop until we reach Suna."
And then they were off. Naruto knew it was supposed to be a three day trip to Suna, but he knew if they actually hurried, they could make it in two. And running non-stop could be arranged, as soldier pills allowed them to forgo sleeping and even eating to a certain extent. And so they ran. And ran. And ran.
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Baki dropped down from the ceiling, landing in a kneel with one hand planted on the ground. "Chiyo-sama."
Chiyo sat there, silent, and still. Ebizo, her brother, began to shout. "Oy! Old Lady! You haven't died on us yet, have you? Are you still alive? Eh? Chiyo?"
Chiyo remained in her still form, not moving an inch, her chin touching her chest in an almost solemn position. Baki looked up from his bow, worried for the elder's health.
Suddenly, Chiyo leapt up, her eyes wide and began to scream. "AHAHA! I'm not dead yet! I've still got a little energy left in these bones! Fooled ya!"
Her brother only sweat dropped a little, commenting, "Chiyo…you really shouldn't joke about these kinds of things…"
Baki was relieved that the elder was still in good health, but was also in quite a hurry. "Chiyo-sama. The Kazekage has been captured, and his brother is in critical condition."
Chiyo spat to the side. "So the demon has finally been disposed of. Find a new Kazekage, that's how things are. Things grow old, and new things replace the old ones. As for his brother, I'm sure that your medics can properly take care of him."
"Chiyo-sama, he's been poisoned. We can't find an antidote."
"And you believe I can?"
"Chiyo-sama…Kankuro says that the person who poisoned him…was Sasori."
Chiyo's eyes widened in shock, as she heard the one name that could spur her into action. "Sasori?" she whispered to herself.
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To say that Chiyo was frustrated would be a huge understatement. She herself was a poison master, but the poison that Sasori had used seemed to be impossible to antidote. The only person who could hope to remove the poison would be Tsunade, but Chiyo knew the impossibility of Tsunade herself coming to Suna to heal a single boy.
Chiyo sighed, testing another antidote on the special scroll she had created, but for the umpteenth time, the antidote was negative. She had been working day and night to create a working antidote and it seemed like she was getting farther and farther away from success. Baki has hopeful that one of the Konoha nins would be able to do something, but the odds of that were slim to none. Chiyo wouldn't be surprised if all they sent was a single genin team, sent only as a formality. If Chiyo was one thing, she was a solitary person. She believed that Suna should have stayed solitary in world affairs and that their alliance with the Leaf was a mistake. Alliances were hindrances and eventually, all allies would stab you in the back. And Konoha would be no different.
Chiyo's thoughts were interrupted by a messenger bursting into the room.
"Baki-sama! The Konoha team has arrived!"
Baki's head whipped around, surprise evident in his voice. "But we only sent that message out a day ago!" As the words left his mouth, the Konoha team suddenly appeared in the room. Sakura immediately ran forward to the patient, her hands already glowing with green chakra.
Baki glanced over at the two medic nins working on Kankuro and decided he would greet the Konoha team before he checked on Kankuro. He walked over to the seven remaining members of the Konoha team, bowing deeply in front of them.
"Suna would like to offer their sincerest gratitude for your aid in this dark time. Allow me to brief you on the situation." Each of the shinobi nodded silently, and they followed Baki out into the waiting room. Baki was slightly unnerved by the silence. He himself had been expecting a genin team, but instead, Konoha had sent eight shinobi. In addition, Baki could feel the chakra of the team, as they did nothing to hide it in the presence of allies. These shinobi were jounin level. Never in his wildest dreams would he have guessed that Konoha would react in such a way to Suna's call for aid. For they themselves had sent only a genin team when Konoha had asked for help with their rogue ninja situation. Granted, the genin team was the strongest in the village, but it was still a single genin team, without even a jounin sensei to guide them.
"The Kazekage has been kidnapped. Two ninja entered the village yesterday, destroying our defenses and defeating Gaara. Both have been identified. Deidara, previously of the Rock, and Sasori, previously of the Sand. I shouldn't have to remind you that these are formidable opponents and are S-class missing nin. They should NOT be underestimated. We believe that their goal is to extract the Ichibi from Gaara, something that will take approximately three days. Please. Save Gaara. We cannot provide you with any assistance, as with the absence of the Kazekage, we must focus on our border defenses. Do you understand?"
Shikamaru stepped forward. "Crystal clear sir. We'll do our best."
Baki nodded and bowed once more, turning to go back and check on Kankuro, only to see the eighth member of the Konoha team exiting the room.
Baki looked at her sadly. "I appreciate you trying to save him, but not even Chiyo-sama could create an antidote."
Sakura returned to her team. "Baki-sama, I believe you misunderstand me. I haven't given up on him. I've already finished healing him."
Baki gaped, turned around and ran into the room, only to see Kankuro sitting up gingerly, med nins flocking around him, poking and prodding him to make sure he was healthy.
Baki turned around to thank the pink haired kunoichi, only to find that the team had already left on their mission.
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Said team was speeding through the desert, Kiba's nose able to keep the team on track. Eventually, they came to the border of Suna, exiting the desert and entering a forest, something they were all much more accustomed to. Still rocketing through the dense vegetation, they all scattered as a monstrous fireball exploded upon the earth where they had just been standing.
Shikamaru whispered commands into his wireless communicator and the eight man team divided up into four man teams, each taking on one of the two unseen adversaries. As the two men made themselves known, each and every Kousou member silently prepared themselves for the battle of their lives. Naruto, Shikamaru, Ino, and Hinata faced off against Itachi while Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba, and Shino faced Kisame.
Sasuke's eyes flashed over to Itachi, his body twitching involuntarily. However, Shikamaru was constantly whispering over the earpieces, telling Sasuke to stay focused and for each team to divide even further so that the two missing nin could not help each other. Of course, this made helping each other harder for their own team, but that could not be helped. As Shikamaru's team dashed off to the north, Sasuke's team ran south, luring their opponents further from each other. After a minute of running, Shikamaru commanded them to stop…and fight.
Naruto turned to see Itachi, standing there as passively as ever. "Don't look into his eyes," muttered Shikamaru. The rest of the team nodded as they fixed their eyes on Itachi's feet.
Naruto decided he would make the first move. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"
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"Ah, the last Uchiha. What a pleasant surprise. Itachi won't be happy that I killed you, but he'll get over it," said Kisame, smirking. Sasuke trembled in rage, stopping only when Sakura put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked back at her face, waving off her concern. He was focused. And he would stay focused.
Sasuke activated his Sharingan as Sakura pulled her leather gloves a little tighter as she prepared to execute their attack. She looked over at her three teammates who gave her a slight nod. She nodded back, rearing her fist back and rocking the area with an earth shaking punch.
A long fissure ran along the earth, headed straight at Kisame. Kisame only smirked, dashing off to the side, watching in amusement as the ground where he had been standing moments ago erupted with enormous power. As he dodged Sakura's attack, he quickly made seals. "Suiton: Bakusui Shoha!" Water erupted from his mouth, quickly flooding the entire battle area, forcing the four Kousou nin to fight on his terrain of choice. The four nin regrouped, standing on top of the water by focusing their chakra to the soles of their feet, a technique so practiced that it was done subconsciously.
Sasuke glared down into the water, his Sharingan blazing a fiery red. Sensing the slightest big of motion, he yelled out his warning.
"He's coming!"
The four teammates jumped aside simultaneously as the water below them exploded, Kisame's sword Samehada thrusting out of the water in a giant stab. Kisame rose out of the water calmly, Samehada resting back onto his shoulder.
"Ehhhhh, you Konoha nin sure are a pesky bunch, aren't you?" Kisame smirked, studying his opponents. There was Itachi's little brother. He might pose a bit of a threat…anyone with the Sharingan was a viable concern. Then there was that pink haired one. She had the same monstrous strength that the legendary sannin Tsunade had…she could be a problem…especially if she had the same healing skills that Tsunade had. And then there was an Aburame. They were a well known clan, almost as dangerous as one of the major clans, like the Uchiha and the Hyuuga. Wait…wasn't there four?
"Gatsuga!" Kiba cried, as he threw himself at Itachi once more. Kisame calmly dodged both spinning tornados, only to find that he had been maneuvered into the next attack.
"Doton: Great Earth Spike," muttered Shino, throwing his palms onto the ground. Kisame jumped away yet again, dodging a sharpened pillar of earth that emerged from the water below him. However, he was assaulted yet again by the second of the team before he could muster any kind of offense. In short, Kisame was annoyed. These two shinobi kept their attacks coming, flowing together, forcing him into positions where a lesser shinobi would be long dead. But Kisame was elite.
"Raiton: Gian!" Kisame looked behind him, twisting midair as he dodged two large lightning blasts that came from Kiba's hands. "Dammit!" yelled Kiba as he prepared his next attack.
"Ripping Wind!" Kiba roared, bringing his hands down quickly in a feral slashing motion. Kisame easily jumped away from the twin blades of wind, projected from Kiba's claws. As the blades passed Kisame, they impacted into several trees behind him, easily slicing them into pieces. Kiba growled in impatience and anger that in ten minutes of fighting, they had yet to land a single blow on the Mist missing nin.
Kisame smirked at the Inuzuka and waved jauntily as he sank into the water, all the while making seals. "Suiton: Daibakufu no jutsu!"
Once Kisame was fully submersed in the water, a great explosion of water disrupted the moment of peace that the Kousou members had enjoyed. Quickly dodging the massive explosion of water, the Kousou members discovered that they had unwittingly separated in their hurry to escape the deadly water technique. This was a small detail that Kisame took care to exploit.
"Mizu Bunshin!" Many clones of Kisame rose out of the water, keeping the Kousou separated. Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba, and Shino fought wave after wave of clones, but there were so many that eventually, they were each caught in a clone's water prison. After each was properly subdued, the real Kisame made himself known. Rising steadily and calmly out of the water, Kisame slowly made his way over to Sasuke.
"Hahaha…I have the most chakra out of any of the other Akatsuki. I could keep this up for days!"
Sasuke glared, his Sharingan forming a frightening display. "You will die. And then my brother will die."
Kisame rested his arm on Samehada, lowering his head down to Sasuke's level. "Oh yeah? It doesn't look like you're in any position to make idle threats." Kisame then straightened out, lifted Samehada, and swung mightily, separating Sasuke's head from his shoulders. Only for Sasuke to burst apart into many flapping blackbirds. Kisame gasped, looking behind him to see Sasuke dashing towards him, Raikiri in hand. As Sasuke neared, Kisame's shocked expression became a sneer, as he brought Samehada up to block the attack. Sasuke thrust the deadly assassination attack forward, only for Kisame to block the attack easily. Sasuke's face was contorted into a look of surprise as his trump card was easily taken care of by the S-class missing nin. Kisame snorted as he explained to the young Uchiha. "Samehada eats your chakra, so any chakra attack is useless against me. That was tasty."
Sasuke's shocked face became one of anger. Then, it transformed into a smile. Once again, Sasuke erupted into a mass of blackbirds, each flying away into the sky. Kisame glanced around him, discovering that each and every nin had escaped. Eyes narrowing, Kisame suddenly had a case of déjà vu. He remembered one day, talking with Itachi. They were discussing ninjutsu vs. genjutsu, and Itachi was convinced that his genjutsu was so realistic that he could make his ravens shit all over Kisame. Only now did Kisame understand what he had been talking about.
Bringing his hands together in a simple chakra molding seal, Kisame stopped the flow of chakra in his body for a second. "Kai!"
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"Kagemane no jutsu!" Shikamaru muttered, his shadow dashing forward at Itachi. Itachi glanced down at the shadow before leaping high into the air.
As Itachi was in the air, two Naruto's appeared on either side of him, each swinging Hirameki in a horizontal slash, only to be stopped on both sides with kunai in each of Itachi's hands. After pushing the two swords away slightly, Itachi shifted his grip on the kunai and threw them with deadly accuracy into the Narutos' faces, dispelling the shadow clones.
Naruto stood beside Shikamaru, a small grin appearing on his face. Shikamaru noticed this, and asked him about it.
Naruto shrugged. "The more shadow clones I send at him that he destroys, the better I get to know his fighting style. Eventually, I'll know his technique inside and out."
Shikamaru nodded. "But that could take days…"
"Yeah…but at least it's a backup plan!"
Shikamaru sighed. The thought of having Naruto fight Itachi for days was not a pleasant one. Though Shikamaru supposed Naruto could, with his unnatural stamina. Still, they needed a plan, not just blindly throwing attacks around.
Ino appeared behind the tall Akatsuki, her blade flashing forward, seeking out his Itachi's flesh. Instinct alone kept his head on his shoulders, but Ino still was able to graze a moderately deep cut in his back. Itachi stumbled forward, his hand reaching for the injury. Looking up at her with his Sharingan, he vowed to himself to be more careful.
Ino continued her assault, her katana singing through the air, flashes of silver the only thing visible to the naked eye. Still, Itachi was able to dodge with such and skill and precision that her swordplay was just that. Harmless play. That is, until a second Kousou joined the fray.
Ino slashed in a vertical strike, throwing all the force she could muster into the blow. Itachi calmly jumped back, simultaneously pulling out a kunai for a counter attack. He smirked at her, only to find that Ino's face also held a confident smile. Sensing a presence behind him, Itachi instinctively dove to the side, narrowly dodging Hinata's strike from behind. What was meant to maim him instead only cut the back of Kisame's right thigh. It slowed him, yes, but not to the extent that Hinata had planned. As Itachi regained his composure after Hinata's last attack, he glared at the duo that had attacked him. The two kunoichi continued their assault, not allowing Itachi any breathing room. Counter attacking was impossible, as every time one of the kunoichi had an opening, the other covered for them. Each time one of them attacked the other defended. Their attacks wove together, together creating a fearsome onslaught that Itachi could not stop.
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Kisame snapped out of the genjutsu only to find that the Aburame had used his bugs to eat through the chakra holding his technique together. He had then proceeded to free the rest of his allies, finishing moments before Kisame broke the genjutsu.
Kisame smirked. "So you're as good with genjutsu as Itachi, eh Sasuke? You're really following in his footsteps," he taunted.
Sasuke glowered in Kisame's direction. Kisame waved cheerily as he once again sank into the water. "Suiton: Goshokuzame!" Five sharks made of chakra and water began to swim around in the makeshift lake that Kisame had created.
"On my mark," whispered Sasuke into his communicator. "Go." As a unit, Sakura, Kiba, and Shino jumped into the air as Sasuke clapped his hands together and formed seals.
"Raiton: Death from the Heavens!" he yelled, as dark clouds formed in the sky. Then, all at once, lightning bolts rained down from the sky, striking the water a hundred times over.
As the rest of the team landed, the clouds parted, allowing the sun to once again shine on the lake that they stood on.
"Did that do it?" asked Sakura, uncertainty evident in her voice.
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"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!"
Naruto grabbed Shikamaru and hauled him out of the tree they had been hiding in. Seconds later, a giant fireball burned it to ash. Itachi calmly landed in the middle of the clearing. In the surrounding forest, hundreds of Naruto's prepared their assault. They each threw a handful of shuriken at Itachi.
Itachi's eyes twitched, seeing the hundreds of flying projectiles on all sides of him. Preparing to dodge, he was stopped mid jump by a reverberating shout from all directions.
"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" The once "difficult to dodge" attack became the "impossible to dodge" attack as Itachi threw his palms together forming seals at an alarming rate.
"Suijinheki no jutsu!" A barrier of swirling water surrounded Itachi, blocking every single one of Naruto's shuriken. The blocked shuriken all imbedded themselves around the swirling dome of water, but what Itachi didn't notice with all the flying blades approaching him was two trench knives imbedding themselves into the ground behind him along with the various shuriken. Shikamaru silently thanked Chouji for making swords for him. Well, not really swords, but trench knives, like the ones that Asuma used.
Itachi tried to move, but found it impossible for some reason. Then, against his own will, he turned his head and looked behind him, seeing two trench knives imbedded in the earth behind him. Or more specifically, his shadow. He then turned back forward, seeing an alarming sight.
"Odama Rasengan!"
Naruto plowed his glowing sphere straight into the immobilized torso of Uchiha Itachi, obliterating his insides and blasting his body into a tree on the opposite side of the clearing where he lay motionless.
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Kisame was hurt, but not done. The lightning jutsu that the Uchiha had used had certainly hurt, but Kisame was a stamina freak, just like Naruto. He plowed out from under the water, catching Sakura flatfooted.
"Suiton: Water Shark Missile!" The large missile of water shaped like a ferocious shark rocketed towards Sakura, who turned her head just in time to see that the jutsu was far to close and far too fast to dodge. Bracing herself for impact, Sakura felt just that, but not from her rear as she was expecting. Instead, she felt a strong push from her side, pushing her small body out of the way of the attack. Looking back, she saw Sasuke looking at her with concern before his face instead contorted into a mask of pain as the shark collided with his torso, throwing him back into a tree trunk, where he lie unconscious.
"Tsk tsk tsk. Silly boy. Sacrificing himself for you? That was dumb. Now without the Uchiha, you have no chance." Sakura ran over to Sasuke, her hands glowing green in a medical inspection technique. Running her healing hands over his body, she saw that he was not seriously injured, just unconscious from the strong blow. He would be alright.
As Sakura let out a sigh of relief, she looked up at the S-class missing nin once more. As she began to rise, she felt a strong hand on her shoulder. Looking up, Sakura saw Kiba, smiling down on her.
"I'll take care of it Sakura. You stay with Sasuke." Sakura nodded dimly, in awe of the sheer confidence in Kiba's voice. "Oy! Shark bastard! Here I come!"
Kisame sneered. "You're coming? By yourself? Heh, and here I thought all you were good at was teamwork with bug boy over there."
Kiba laughed eerily, somewhat spooking Kisame, who began to slowly crouch into his ready position. He then pulled out Samehada in response to Kiba pulling out his own katana.
"Your sword is called Samehada, right? It eats chakra…just like a shark. Fitting. Meet my sword! Shugotenshi (Guardian Angel)!"
"Hah! Come then boy, and test the mettle of the shark within me!"
"As you wish," Kiba responded calmly. He began to channel chakra around his body, allowing it to swirl wildly like a tornado. This wild chakra slowly began to converge onto one spot, the hilt of Shugotenshi. As the chakra began to travel up the blade, the appearance of Shugotenshi began to change as well. Where it once was a smooth blade, the blade changed to be more jagged and sharp spikes protruded out of the opposite side of the blade. Kiba looked up into Kisame's stunned eyes. "Shuurai (Lightning Strike)!"
Kiba flash stepped forward swung his blade mightily. Kisame raised his own blade to block, noticing that Kiba's sword was crackling with lightning chakra. As the two blades clashed, Kiba released every ounce of his lightning chakra in his blade all at once, creating an enormous glowing sphere, so bright that it pained the two onlookers to look at. And then, all at once, it was over.
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Naruto looked at Itachi's body warily. He gasped for air; he had put everything he had into that last shot. And it looked like it paid off. But suddenly, Itachi's body exploded in a small puff of smoke.
"Shit! Kage Bunshin!" Then, unknown to Naruto, a lone figure rose from the ground from behind him. A figure that proceeded to form seals, lifting his finger to his mouth.
"Naruto!" came the hurried cry. Naruto twisted, but not in time. Itachi smirked and released a flamethrower that Naruto could not dodge. Naruto threw his arms up in a weak defense, but he knew that that would do nothing. But he felt nothing. Yes, he felt the heat still in the air, but he did not feel the scorching sensation was stored into his memory banks. Opening up his eyes which he had clenched shut, he saw Ino, standing in front of him, her blade held horizontally before her, fire dancing and swirling around it.
"I see. A fire affinity," muttered Itachi.
Ino lifted her flaming sword into the air. "Hotaru (Firefly)! Show your light to me!" Ino's body began to charge up with chakra, wisps of it flying off her body. It traveled up into her katana, still covered in Itachi's fire jutsu. As her chakra enveloped her katana, it began to thicken and become less…solid. Instead of holding a sword of metal and wood, she now held a hilt with a blade made entirely of fire. "Okibi (Blazing Fire)!" she screamed, pointing her blade at Itachi and releasing a stream of fire that was over three times as powerful as Itachi's previous attack that she had absorbed.
Itachi muttered a curse and jumped into the air, the only place that was clear of the raging fire that the blonde girl had unleashed. However, as he was suspended in the air, he heard a small whisper from behind him.
"Toukan (Bitter Cold)." As he twisted in midair, he saw the Hyuuga behind him, her sword made completely out of ice. And then, before he could do anything, she calmly pierced his flesh with the blade of her icy sword, engulfing him in ice that sprouted from every part of his body, instantly killing him.
Hinata landed on the ground gracefully in a crouch. As she straightened her body out, Itachi's frozen form fell to the ground and exploded into tiny shards with a great crash.
Hinata slid her sword back into its sheath on her waist. Suddenly Naruto appeared in front of her, surprising her with his small burst of speed.
Looking into his face, Hinata found that she could not help but to get lost in those two deep cerulean orbs that he called eyes. She sighed dreamily, only to be broken out of her daze by a soft hand on her shoulder. She glanced down at it, then back up into Naruto's face.
"That was awesome Hinata! I owe you one!" he said as he smiled at her, melting her icy countenance. "What was that?"
"Hm? Oh, that was Toushou's second form…it was nothing."
Naruto laughed heartily. "Oh come on Hinata! Nothing? That was amazing! You could kick my ass with that!"
Hinata blushed slightly, but caught herself before it became a full fledged blush. She knew that he was dating Tenten. She could not let herself fall into the temptations of her body. However much her body wanted him.
"Probably," she said, a small smile covering her face as Naruto's jaw dropped.
"Hey! What was that!? A challenge!? You're on Hinata! Once we get back to Konoha we're sparring, got it?!"
Hinata giggled into her hand. "Got it Naruto."
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Sasuke's eyelids fluttered, before finally opening. He looked up at the pink haired angel that was looking down at him, concern deeply etched in her face.
"Hey Sakura…" he muttered a little deliriously. "Did I win?"
Sakura giggled. "Sure Sasuke, you won."
"Then how about a reward kiss?" he asked, smirking the whole way.
Sakura sighed. "You're a little out of it right now Sasuke…"
Sasuke gave her what he thought was a sultry look. "Well maybe that kiss will snap me out of it."
Sakura raised her chin slightly, as if thinking about it. "Nah, I've thought of a better way."
Sasuke raised his eyebrow. "And that way is?"
"Icha Icha Paradise 4!" she screamed, thrusting an open book into Sasuke's face, filling his vision with the one illustrated volume of their favorite book. Sasuke looked on for a full ten seconds before falling back into blissful unconsciousness.
Kiba stood behind them, marveling at the spectacle with the ever silent Shino.
"I don't think I'll ever understand them," he noted, Shino nodding in agreement.
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The eight Kousou regrouped a short while later, as Kiba picked up the trail once again. It had been two days so far, and they had estimated that it would take three in order to completely extract the Ichibi, and as a result, kill Gaara.
Naruto leapt forward, glaring at Sakura's back. Hang on Gaara. We're coming.
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Well? Review now! By the way, I switched Ino and Hinata with Kiba and Shino after I finished this chapter, so there might be some mistakes and whatnot, but hopefully I caught all the mistakes. Seriously, review. Review's are down! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!