Tsunade grinned and pushed herself up. "Who's ready to kick some serious ass?"
"Tsunade-sama..?"
Tsunade turned towards the tentative voice. "What, Kakashi?"
The jounin swallowed and stood up. "I smell ninja. They're foreign. And…I smell a weasel."
Tsunade's eyes widened. They've-!
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Huh?!
A teenager of about seventeen soared overhead on a giant fan. Three purple circles decorated the pleated, cream-colored steel of the Sunaga nin's weapon as she landed and took the fan into hand. She had four spiky blonde pigtails, glowing turquoise eyes, and a Sunaga headband dangling from her neck. Her purple dress was tied with a loose red sash, loose enough for her to slip her fan into when it was not in use.
"Temari…!"
The girl turned to the sputtering Chuunin and grinned broadly. "Long time no see…Shikamaru."
Tsunade looked up at Temari. "What are you doing here? Why is Sunaga getting involved in this? And where is that weasel you just summoned?!"
"Shredding the Akatsuki headquarters."
Tsunade smiled. "Lovely."
"Temari, we didn't come here to mess around, let's get what we need and go," grouched a redhead from behind Temari. Sand swirled around him from a cracked gourd on his back.
"Greetings, Gaara!" exclaimed an enthusiastic boy in green spandex. Gaara simply quirked an eyebrow and flicked a finger. Sand whipped over the Akatsuki, causing some to slowly back away.
"Ready Crow?"
"Seriously, Kankuro, the face paint…?"
"Well, well, well, it's the Inuzuka shrimp. I see your puppy's all grown up too," Kankuro mocked.
"Yeah, Akamaru's a big boy now," Kiba said, ingoring the insult and affectionately ruffling his huge dog's fur.
"And lookie, here! It's bug boy!" Kankuro continued, turning to Shino. "Once we're finished here, I want a rematch!"
"Fair," Shino replied. "But only if you work with me now."
"Fair," Kankuro grunted. "Little Hyuuga-call it."
Hinata blushed. "Me?" she asked shyly, with a small giggle.
"Yeah, you," Kankuro said. "What's your name, anyway?"
"H-Hinata," Hinata replied quietly with a blush. Kankuro nodded.
"Call it."
The heiress's bloodline emerged, blood vessels popping and eyes flashing white.
"Go!!"
Kankuro pulled the ties on his puppet, connecting his chakra strings even faster than that. The puppet charged like a bull at Kankuro's command, poison-tipped knives exposed.
"Wind Scythe Jutsu!"
A blast of wind shattered the forest's unearthly calm, and blades of wind began to slash at the trees, neatly cutting branches to pieces. The Konoha ninja attacked viciously, going at the Akatsuki with all weapons drawn and jutsus prepared.
"Get out of here!" Yasu cried. "We have no shot! There are too many and Itachi's down! We have to get out of here!"
"What about Itachi?" someone called. Yasu whipped around, gazing at her fallen comrade and lover.
So this is what it truly is to be a shinobi…"We have to leave him!"
"What?!!"
"We have no-gack!"
Wind chakra and trench knives cut across a back, slicing through muscle and tendon. Zetsu collapsed, green-blue blood spilling from several large wounds on his back, staggering, and struggling to fight the wind phantom that had dealt him a fatal blow. Yasu gasped and looked around. Okay, now would be a great time for a miracle to happen!
There was no miracle, but Tsunade decided she could settle for a hostage and started towards Itachi. Yasu grabbed Hidan's wrist and jerked him through the gap Tsunade had unwittingly opened. The rest of the Akatsuki followed her, Sasori dragging Zetsu, who was doing his best to keep up.
"Hinata, Neji, Shikamaru, Ino, Kiba, Asuma and Kurenai, follow them! Team 8, go with them and take 'em out! Kakashi-choose now! Sand nin, stay here!"
"I'll-" Kakashi faltered. "I guess I'll…" He took a deep breath. "I'll go."
Tsunade looked up. "You sure?"
Kakashi nodded and pulled a scroll out of his jacket. He yanked the end free, trailing blood from a bleeding finger across it. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Kanji spilled out of the scroll onto the branch it had been slammed down upon. Several enormous dogs appeared out of plumes of smoke, snapping and snarling. Spit and foam flew from their sharp fangs, an razor-sharp nails sliced at the branches. Kakashi readied his Sharingan and sprang ahead of the dogs. They followed him obediently, although still sniffing and barking alternatively. Tsunade watched them disappear into the foliage, then sighed and concentrated on Itachi with what little of her original force was left.
"Shall we kick him until he's awake?"
"Sure, why not?" Genma drawled, spitting out his toothpick into his hand. He gave it a cursory glance, and then stuck it back between his teeth. Tsunade saw a devilish grin on Anko's face.
"Hehe, sounds like fun. I call dibs on the first shot!"
"Feel free," one of the ANBU muttered, stepping out of a tree.
"Oh, shame," Gaara said, appearing next to Itachi in a swirl of sand. "I was dying to crush him."
"Gaara, watch it," Kankuro warned. "This one is a Kage, just like you. And her medical ninjutsu is almost as good against your sand as that Uchiha kid's Chidori was."
"Stop fighting," Temari growled, jumping off her fan. "Or I'll smack you both over the head with my little pet here."
"Somebody do something!"
Anko's wicked grin spread even further. "Well, if you insist." She waltzed up to Itachi's side and landed a kick on the missing-nin's bleeding side. She received a grunt of pain as her foot slipped partly into a wound and came back out almost as bloody as the wound itself. The next time, she kicked him harder. Now, Itachi gave a sarcastic whine and a "Make it stoooooooooop," but still no effort on Itachi's part to get to his feet.
"Oh, for God's sake, you!" Anko yanked Itachi up by the back of his cloak and punched him. Hard. Hard enough for the Uchiha to reel backwards from the impact. Itachi finally fell onto his stomach. He pushed himself up a bit, then coughed out a mouthful of blood.
"I take it I'm screwed?"
Anko nodded slowly. "Yeah, you're pretty much dead meat."
Itachi sighed and let his shoulders fall to the side, away from the blood he had spit up. "Everything hurts…"
"Good. Now get up, and get moving!"
Itachi flopped lazily onto his back. "No thanks, I'll just stay here."
Anko kicked him again, this time producing a pained yelp. "Up. Now."
Itachi gave them a horrendous glare that quickly turned into the Mangekyou. "Back off, Lady."
Tsunade sighed. "Glad you think so. We'll do this the hard way, then."
Blue chakra lined Tsunade's hands again. Itachi turned to Tsunade, Sharingan blazing like the sun. Tsunade's hands blurred, flying up and flashing at Itachi's face. Itachi threw up his hands to shield himself-
Tsunade's hands fastened over Itachi's wrists, chakra scalpel slicing through flesh and bone. Itachi gasped in pain, then bit his lips to keep himself from crying out. He refused to give Tsunade that pleasure!
"Going to be quiet, now are we?" Anko taunted, leaning over and cupping Itachi's face in her hands. "I'll have to change that. Come on, don't be so shy; you have a beautiful voice." Anko released him and jumped out of Tsunade's way.
Itachi had no time to kick out before Tsunade clamped her hands down on his ankles, snapping the bone and severing the tendon. But Itachi didn't move; he was almost afraid to, and he was certainly apprehensive about it. He couldn't use his hands or feet, he couldn't defend himself, and his chakra was almost depleted. He released the Mangekyou in hopes of preserving what little chakra he had left.
"Brat," Tsunade spat, straightening. The chakra disappeared from her hands, and she reached down to grip Itachi's upper arms.
"Now move it!"
Itachi remained where he was.
"You broke both my ankles, fool!"
Tsunade sighed. "You're a very difficult child, you know that?"
"I'm not a child, and I'm not being difficult!"
Tsunade rolled her eyes and sighed again. Her hands were now edged with green chakra, and she wrapped them around Itachi's ankles. The bleeding missing-nin grunted in pain as the newly severed muscles knit back together again, and his legs twitched with agony. Tsunade finished and grabbed his wrists.
"You are a very difficult little child," she repeated as she healed his wrists. Itachi sighed and waited on his knees, for Tsunade's next move, giving her a horrible glare at the same time.
"You got a problem?" she snapped, seeing Itachi's look.
"With you calling me a child, yes."
Tsunade stared, murder in her eyes.
Itachi shivered.
She glares like a basilisk.Tsunade smirked and yanked Itachi's hands behind his back. "Play nice and you won't die. Pull anything stupid you're screwed. Any questions, no, good."
Itachi made a face, but allowed himself to be tied and kicked to his feet. Anko seemed more than happy to take his upper arms in a firm grip and shove him forward.
"Chicks," Itachi muttered.
He earned himself a slap for that.
A/N: I really hope Itachi is IC…it just seems better if he's biting someone, but I'm not sure… . Tell me if anyone is OOC, there are probably a couple. If anyone wants to see someone or something, you can PM me. I know I've told you this before but no one sent me anything so…yeah, just letting you know you can. Thanks again everyone!!!