Yes, I know it took me FOREVER to update and sorry for that, but during the last, two weeks I had many… difficulties (both technical and personal) along with some major, author blocks. Bottom line, I wasn't able to write anything until today.
But I finally manage to finish this chapter and since there weren't any questions in your reviews last time (or I missed them… and if so, sorry), so the only thing left for me to do is get on with it. Hope you'll find this chapter worth waiting for:
Chapter #12: Bonds, Rivalry and Trapped Demons
Title page: Naruto is standing before the mirror, but in stead of his reflection, the one appearing in it is Sasuke
"You've put up a good fight…" stated Naraku calmly with blood dripping from his left cheek as he held his hand under his torso, from with blood was escaping his body through a wide slash going across his chest. "But that was still not enough…" and with that he glared at Hasaki who was laying under a nearby wall with frostbites all over his body, a lot of tiny cuts here and there and a deep wound on his torso.
"That technique…" began the missing-nin, finding it hard to breath. "What the hell… was it?"
The young Monodane didn't reply, He just looked over his shoulder right before Hinako appeared. The green-haired girl looked at the swordsman with her eyes widen slightly and the turned towards her companion: "Naraku-sama, are you…?" she began nervously, but the former leaf-nin only raised his hand in a gesture to make her stop. "This is the first time I've seen him in such shape… even after his fight with Resshin he seemed better… how in the world did a simple missing-nin managed to push him that far… to use that jutsu… Naraku-sama promised that…" but then her thoughts got interrupted by the arrival of four, Suna ANBU.
Naraku turned to face them and with a slight bow, he announced: "I'm glad you showed up… please take this guys prisoner…" with that he quickly pointed at Hasaki, who was still laying under the wall. "Be advised however as he is an S-class criminal and you shouldn't take him off your sight. Also, he's from Juusan Akuma and they work in pairs, so there's at least one more guy like him in the village. If you encounter him, use caution. Now, if you'll excuse us, my friend and I will go on a search for his partner…"
The ANBU squad leader only nodded and in an instant his two subordinates grabbed Hasaki and disappeared somewhere. The young Monodane turned towards the kunoichi then and said with a little guilt showing on his face: "I understand why you came back, but I'd prefer for you to stick with Naruto and the others. They may be in trouble. Which way did they headed when you turned around?"
The green-haired girl pointed in the asked direction and a moment later the duo was already heading that way. "Tamao-chan…" Naraku thought to himself worried. "I hope you're okay…"
---Same time, elsewhere---
Tsumeko jumped back as a powerful blast of sand shoot straight at him. Before his feet even touched the ground, he had to use his metal glove to block Yari's attack, who aimed her spear at his head.
As the both former sand-nins landed on the ground, the Juusan member bended his knees slightly and grabbed the spear's blade with his glove. The blue-haired girl seemed surprised at first, but in an instant a small smirk appeared on her face as she moved the other end of her weapon between Tsumeko's feet, making the hand with which he held the blade twist a bit.
In a fracture of a second the kunoichi moved her spear to her left, making one of the missing-nin's feet separate from the ground and thus resulting in him loosing balance. With his other leg bended slightly, he could maintain his balance and began falling on his back.
But before his fall was completed, he used his hand with the metal glove to prop himself against the ground, thus breaking the fall. In an instant he began spinning on that hand and aimed a kick in Yari's face.
His foot never reached its target however as a wall of sand rose right before the kunoichi, stopping the attack. In a next second Tsumeko found himself surrounded with sand walls, which started to get closer.
The missing-nin landed back on his feet and still spinning, he used his claws to cut the sand in half. As the sand dropped back to the ground, he looked at Gaara with a smirk appearing behind his bandages: "Did you really expected me to jump into the air to avoid being squished? I'm not an idiot… though I wonder what surprise you prepared for me once I'd go into the air…"
"Actually…" began the redhead calmly, looking back at the Juusan member. "What makes you so sure I didn't predict that you won't fall for that and prepared counter measures?"
As he said so, Tsumeko's eyes widen a bit as he noticed his feet buried slightly in the sand. In the next moment he spotted Yari charging right at him, with her spear ready. As he made an attempt to get free, the sand tightened its grip around his feet, keeping him in place.
Having no, other alternative, the missing-nin began cutting the sand around his feet with his claws and as the blue-haired girl came closer, he just grabbed the stick right behind the blade of her weapon with his other hand and pulled it to the ground.
In an instant he spun on his feet, aiming his claws at the kunoichi's head now. However Yari just dug her spear deeper into the ground and bounced of the surface, still holding to her weapon tight.
As Tsumeko's claws went right bellow her body, which was now located parallel to the ground, she spun on her spear and delivered a kick into the missing-nin's face. As the Juusan member flew back, another sand wall rose behind him and 'swallowed' the former sand-nin.
"Is it… over?" asked Yari as she kept observing the place where the Juusan member disappeared just a second ago. The Kazekage only shook his head slightly right before the sand blasted into the sky, revealing the missing-nin standing back up, breathing heavily.
Just by looking at him, the kunoichi could tell that he has changed: his calmness disappeared completely. Now he was more holding back his anger, so that rage wouldn't take over. From behind the bandages blood was escaping his body and it seemed like he had to make a big effort to keep standing. His eyes were set on Gaara and him only. He seemed to completely forget that she was there as well.
"Well, this is disappointing to see you in such state, Tsumeko…" the trio heard a voice and as they turned towards the rooftops from where it came from, they saw a two more, missing-nins. The one who have spoken was a man wearing a violet cloak with a headband with the mountain symbol. "I thought you were sure you'll be able to get the Dog symbol…"
"Shut up, Henkou…" the former sand-nin shoot back. "The fight isn't over yet…"
"Sadly, it is…" corrected the one called Henkou calmly. As Tsumeko turned around to look at him, his companion, a man with spiky, brown hair, wearing green and brown, with a hitae-ate with the Grass symbol spoke up: "Akatsuki are in the village…"
"So?" responded the former sand-nin, mad that he couldn't finish the fight. "I can just kill them if they'll get in my way… get lost!"
"You just don't get it…" announced Henkou. "We're not asking you to go with us… we're ordering you… it's Resshin-sama's instructions… we can't afford to waste anymore time, especially since we have to pick up Hasaki as well…"
The bandaged ninja hesitated for a moment and then dropped his guard. "So, are we leaving the Dog symbol behind just like that? This is the perfect situation to get it…"
"Are you questioning Resshin-sama's direct instructions?" asked the former grass-nin, narrowing his eyes. "Don't get too sure of yourself, Tsumeko… you're useful… but not irreplaceable… now move it…"
"Yeah, yeah…" replied the former sand-nin as he jumped into the air and in the next moment he appeared right next to the other missing-nins. "Sorry for cutting this short, Gaara-san…" he apologized while looking at the redhead. "I guess we'll do this another day…" and with this the three of them vanished.
"Shouldn't we go after them?" asked Yari confused about what just happened.
"It'd be pointless…" replied Gaara calmly as he walked over to her. "It's likely for us to defeat three of them at once… besides, the village is being under attack and pushing back the attackers is my top priority now as the Kazekage… care to join me?" he asked after a short pause.
The blue-haired girl only smiled and followed the redhead towards the nearest place the battle noises were coming from.
---That time, elsewhere---
Sasuke blocked Naruto's punch with his left hand and instantly spun on his foot, aiming a kick into the blonde's stomach. The whisker-marks however saw right through it and also blocked the raven-haired boy's attack with his left hand.
With Sasuke having his back turned towards the Kyuubi vessel, the blonde decided to use the situation and aimed his claws to pierce right through the missing-nin's chest. Surprisingly for him however, the Sharingan user just jumped up and somersaulted in mid-air, making the two boy's eyes meet for a split second.
The sound-nin smiled noticing rage in the blonde's eyes and the moment he landed on the ground behind Naruto, it was now him who was facing his opponent's back. He instantly began forming hand seals with an attempt to burn his former teammate to a crisp, just to see a chakra hand with claws shoot out of the whisker-mark's back and hitting him hard in the stomach. With the chakra palm still pushing him, Sasuke hit the wall behind him and was forced against it by the red, chakra hand. Yet the smile didn't disappear from his face.
"What now, are you gonna kill me, dope?" he asked teasingly.
"I already told you…" replied the blonde with a cold face as he turned around to face his former teammate. "The only thing I want from you now, is your head…" and with that another chakra hand with claws shoot out from his body, aiming the claws at the missing-nin's head.
"No choice then…" stated the sound-nin still smiling. "I'll have to get serious…" and with that he hit the wall with his head, making it crack (A/N: a note for those of you who are surprised Sasuke managed to do something like this: he simply filled his head with chakra, which may sound weird, but that made it more resistant to damage and gave it more destructive power). In the next moment the stone wall went into pieces and having his back freed, Sasuke jumped back, avoiding the incoming attack. In a blink of an eye, the raven-haired boy just vanished.
In the next moment Naruto jumped back right before the missing-nin shoot from bellow the ground in the place he stood with a kunai in his hand. Immediately the blonde threw several shuriken at the Sharingan user, yet the Oto shinobi simply deflected them all with the knife he held in his hand.
Sasuke landed on the ground with a wide smile on his face, yet his eyes widen as he noticed an explosive tag right bellow him, covered in sand a little, The sound-nin jumped back right before the explosion, avoiding serious damage.
Before his feet even touched the ground, the missing-nin performed a quick set of hand seals and bending back so that he could see what was behind him, he called out: "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" with releasing an incredible among of fire from his mouth.
Naruto, who appeared right in the place Sasuke's attack was aimed, immediately used his hands to bounce off the ground and just barely managed to dodge the assault. "He's capable to catch up to my speed even when I'm using Kyuubi…" concluded the blonde with the angry expression still showing on his face. "Such cheap tricks won't do then…" and in an instant he performed his standard technique: "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"
Before he knew it, Sasuke got surrounded with tens of Naruto. The missing-nin looked around him, but the smirk still haven't disappear from his face. The instant the blonde's clones charged right at him, he bended to his back a little and grabbed the closest bushin's shirt.
In a fracture of a second Sasuke jumped up, hitting another, charging clone with his feet, which just left the ground, and still holding the other bushin by the shirt, he somersaulted and the instant he landed on the ground, he tossed the one he grabbed against the other, two incoming clones, making all three disappear in the cloud of white smoke.
As more clones charged at him, Sasuke bended to his right a bit and lunching a kick with his left leg at the incoming bushin, he used his right hand to punch the other blonde that charged at him from the opposite direction.
Noticing that all, other bushins were coming at him from every direction, he bended to his right even more and placing both hands on the ground, he performed a Belgian Helicopter, hitting clones that weren't able to stop in time and making them get dispelled.
While his hands were still pressed against the sand, the missing-nin used his palms to bounce off the ground and spinning flew into the air. Landing outside the circle that Naruto clones created around him, he smiled even wider as the explosive tag he left behind exploded, making even more bushins disappear in the cloud of white smoke.
Immediately Sasuke performed another set of hand seals and when Naruto's bushins were about to attack the missing-nin, he simply called out: "Katon: Karyuudan no Jutsu!" and in an instant a powerful dragon made of flames escaped from his mouth, piercing right through the blonde clones, lifting up an entire fog a white smoke.
As the air became clear, a smirk on Sasuke's face widen once more as he saw a red ball of chakra forming itself in Naruto's hand. With his smile staying on his face, the sound-nin asked the blonde: "So this is it? Are you that willing to forget about the promise you made to Sakura?"
The whisker-marks didn't reply. His eyes only narrowed and his hair become redder, which were the only signs that he listened to what the Sharingan user said. He let out a short growl as he took one step towards the missing-nin and then another.
Naruto charged forward as a ball of red chakra circled in his right palm. With a wild roar he held that hand out front, aiming the red orb at the missing-nin. Sasuke however didn't seemed to be moved by this at all and just calmly announced: "This reminds me of something…"
In the next moment electricity wrapped itself around his right hand and the Oto shinobi moved it closer to the building wall, making the stone go into pieces as the electric current drew nearer to them. In an instant the sound-nin charged at the blonde, also holding out his hand that was now surrounded with the current out front.
As the two teens came closer and closer to one another, both carrying their strong and misunderstood emotions, their vision changed. Everything each of them saw at that moment was his opponent and his heart that he wished to pierce.
And with the terrifying chakra gathered in their hands, filled with hatred, rage and sorrow, the air got cut for this short moment, carrying two calls to the furthest corners of the Hidden Sand Village:
"RASENGAN!"
"CHIDORI!"
And then silence felt, almost like nothing happened. Even the noise of the battle all around quiet down for that short second. Who won? And for what price? Even though no-one seen this battle, even though no-one was aware of it, they all seemed to wished to know theses answers.
And in the next moment the noises were heard around the whole village yet again. The battle has not ended, everyone was still fighting. Everyone, except the two warriors, who were once best friends. Their battle has ended.
---Meanwhile, elsewhere---
Deidara jumped back, thus avoiding an opened palm aimed at his chest. The blonde Akatsuki immediately reached for his clay and after placing some of it in the mouth that was located on his hand, he performed a quick set of hand seals, calling out: "Ninpou: Nendo Katana no Jutsu!"
In an instant a sword appear in his hand, which he swung straight at the white-eyed girl, but Hinata just jumped away, avoiding the attack, but the moment her feet touched the ground, he noticed a scorpion's tail coming right at her from behind.
The Hyuuga heiress immediately bended over and, after placing her hands on the ground, she used them to bounce off the surface, making Sasori's tail sunk into the sand. Without wasting a second, the Leaf kunoichi landed on the missing-nin's tail and charged right at him with her palm ready.
Having no, other option, the former sand-nin made his tail separate and jumped back. Hinata came to a stop in a fighting stance as she saw the tail "regenerating" itself by extending itself from bellow Sasori's robe and transforming the ending into the "sting".
"Fighting them both makes it hard…" the white-eyed girl concluded as she kept observing Deidara with her Byakugan. "One I could've taken down, but with two opponents, the moment I force one to create an opening, the other springs into action… I need to do something to separate them…"
"This is a troublesome one, yeah…" announced the blonde Akatsuki with an evil smile. "At such paste we won't be able to obtain Shichibi… Sasori-dono, I'll handle her myself and you just take the seven tails, yeah…"
"Don't you think too highly of yourself, Deidara?" asked the former sand-nin in a cold voice. "That hag's good and if I were to grab the Shichibi, I won't be coming back for you…" but the moment he said so the two jumped up.
Hinata was about to do the same, but at that moment she felt someone grabbing her and taking her onto a nearby roof. The moment the Hyuuga heiress body left the ground, stone spikes shoot from bellow the surface in the entire area.
As she stood back onto her feet, her eyes widen at noticing who saved her: "N-neji-niisan?"
"Hinata-sama, it's been a while…" replied the Hyuuga genius with a wide smile. "I must say that you and Naruto are hard to catch up to… but I believe we can talk later… I see two Akatsuki members near, but what exactly were those stone spikes just now?"
"This is not good…" stated Kasumi, who stood at the edge of the roof and stared at the street bellow. Uncontrollably her body began shaking as she looked back at the two, white-eyed teens: "No matter who stupid this may sound, the Akatsuki are the least of our worries right now…" and with that she got back to observing the street. "Because it seems that IT has awaken again…"
A little confused Neji used his Byakugan and followed her sight to Tamao, who kneeled in the middle of the street bellow, holding her head in her hands, with tears dropping from her face. The former stone-nin shook her head in negation with her body shaking, but in a different way then Kasumi's.
"No…" the blonde girl begged quietly. "No, not that… please, anything but this again!"
---To be continued---
And this is it for this time. Hope you liked it and that the next chapter will be done quicker.
Before I wrap this up, here's another jutsu encyclopedia:
Ninpou: Nendo Katana no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Clay Katana Skill) – a technique used by Deidara. The user must first prepare a special clay and then, with the use of the right hand seals, form it into a sword.
Katon: Karyuudan no Jutsu (Fire Element: Fire Dragon Blast Skill) - a technique similar to the Hidden Mist's Water Dragon Blast (Zabuza used it in his first fight with Kakashi). The user first gathers chakra in his lungs and then, with the help of the right seals, releases it from his mouth in the form of a flame that looks like a dragon. This is probably one of the most powerful, fire-based attacks.
And that's that for this time. Hope you enjoyed reading this.
Best wishes and until next time, hopefully.