Yay! I'm back to annoy you guys! This is a loooong chapter. Well, in my perspective at least. I have never written fights before so please tell me how i did. Also, i would like to give a big thanks to Luna-Dara and Ayrmed for reviewing. Thanks! :3 if there are mistakes, my apologies!
Happy reading!
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, there would be Naruhina in the first episode.
Chapter 3: Encounter
Inky clouds that threatened to weep covered the afternoon sun. The weather was quite dismal. None of this bothered Uchiha Sasuke, who was perched on a huge rock in the middle of a clearing. For months he had felt the presence of chakra wherever he went. At first, Sasuke was itching to make those men stalking him suffer, but an idea formed in his mind. They would most likely report to Konoha and he was sure after hearing where he was, Naruto would come running to him. Why go through all the trouble to go to Konoha to destroy Naruto when he would willingly come to him, probably with the rest of his old teammates. He had led the Anbu to this location and stayed for a few days knowing they would come eventually. Feeling the vague presence of his old teammates approaching fast, Sasuke smirked devilishly.
The time has come; soon i will kill those people that ruined you nii-san! One by one, i will crush those that bear the symbol of Konoha. The clouds above begun pouring down rain, as if weeping for what was about to happen.
Jumping off another tree branch Naruto tightened his hand into a fist. They were so close to Sasuke, he could feel it. Behind him, Sakura was lost in her own little world. Her mind was overflowing with images of Sasuke and all the times they shared together. Everyone was quite. The only thing that could be heard was the slight pitter-patter of the rain. Kakashi was ahead of the crew, with Kiba in tow. He growled in frustration. "Man this rain is making it really hard for me and Akamaru to track down Sasuke's scent!" He said.
"Neji, Hinata, what do you see up ahead?"
Kakashi asked the two Hyuga.
Both of them whispered a silent Byakugan and strained their eyes to see. In their 360 degree vision, the two saw a landing with separate paths. However, they could see no more than that. "There is a landing up ahead, leading to different directions. I can't see further for some reason." Neji informed a puzzled expression on his face. Nodding Kakashi jumped off a few more branches and landed on mire ground. The rest of the team landed around him. In front of them, there were four caves, most likely leading to different direction. "Which cave should we enter?" Sakura asked.
"I'll just send a bunch of cones in each one! That way we can find out what's in there." Naruto suggested happily already making the appropriate sign. "If we do that, we will lose out element of surprise ya moron!" Kiba retorted.
"We don't really have an element of surprise anymore. Our group gives of a massive amount off chakra. I doubt that Sasuke hasn't already noticed us." Shikamaru replied.
"Well, what do we do then?" Tenten asked.
They all looked to Kakashi, Gai and Yamato. "Here is what we will do. We will split into 4 groups and enter. This way we'll cover more ground. Also, only separate when you need too. Otherwise, try and stay together. Naruto, Sakura, Kiba and Shikamaru will enter the tunnel farthest to the right. I will enter the next tunnel with Hinata, Lee and Sai. Shino, Ino, Choji and Yamato will go into the third tunnel and Tenten, Neji and Gai will go into the last one. Got it?"
"Why do i have to team up with this moron?" Kiba whined.
"Well i don't want to be with you either dog breath!" Naruto retorted angrily.
"Why can't we just go with our team members? We know each other's powers and coordination better." Sai asked.
Shikamaru answered for Kakashi. "That's because it wouldn't balance out. Don't you see how it works? Right now, each team has a medic, a fighter, a tracker and leader."
"Exactly!" Kakashi answered.
"But i still don't want to be with him!" Naruto grumbled and pointed at Kiba, who grumbled back. "Suck it up Naruto! It's not the time to be choosing who to go with." Sakura said threateningly.
"Alright! Now let's get a move on!" Before anybody could stop him, Naruto ran to the first tunnel and disappeared.
"Naruto, Honestly! He's gonna get it!" Sakura, Kiba and Shikamaru followed him and disappeared. The rest of the ninja quickly nodded to each other and entered their respected caves.
"Baka! Wait up!" Naruto heard angry yelling behind him and slowed sown to let his comrades catch up.
"Stop running before we even got dismissed!" Sakura gave him a good smack on the head while Kiba laughed and Shikamaru just sighed. "Gomen, Sakura-chan!" He whined.
"Humph!"
They continued walking deeper into the cave. Shikamaru silently took note of the dazed expression on Sakura's face. Aside from joking with Naruto, she had been like this for a long time. He wondered if it was a good thing or a bad thing for her to be on this mission. Her emotions would definitely interfere with this assignment. Shaking his head, he looked around. The cave walls were rough to touch. Lights hung from the ceiling, giving off an eerie glow. The team stopped suddenly. In front of them was a forked road. "Which way should we go?" Naruto asked.
Shikamaru quickly decided. "Me and Kiba will go to the right. You and Sakura go to the left." Nodding, they split up and continued to different paths.
Naruto and Sakura ran for only a few minutes before they were halted by another path that separated.
"How many paths are there?" Naruto groaned.
"We have to split Naruto. What if we chose the wrong path?" Sakura looked at him pleadingly. Reluctantly, Naruto agreed and he entered the right path while Sakura went to the left.
Hinata, Kakashi, Sai and Lee cautiously walked down the long road. The walls on both sides were made of granite and pitch black. Their only light source was Hinata's hand that emitted a soft glow of chakra. Hinata strained her Byakugan to see further but was only able to eliminate the darkness for her. Lee was unusually quiet. Kakashi guessed he had caught the mood of the rest of the group. Suddenly, Hinata put her hand out to halt the group.
"Do you see something?" Kakashi asked.
She nodded and gestured to the ground in front of them. Nothing. It was a bottomless pit.
"How wide is it?" Kakashi questioned her.
"About 12 metres" Hinata answered.
"I have a solution for this" Sai took out his ink container and his brush.
"Can you please shine some light Hinata-san?" He asked.
"Hai" Hinata moved her hand right above Sai's scroll. Lee watch in fascination as Sai scribbled a bird on the thick parchment. The bird fluttered out of the scroll and awaited his master's instructions. "Hop on!" Sai smiled. They obliged and climbed the bird. After all the passengers were seated, it flew across the wide chasm and landed on the other side. Jumping off the bird, Sai did a release seal and the bird turned into ink. They stood in front of a huge door made of cold metal. There were carving etched on the sides with a huge seal in the middle. "This is a pretty easy seal. Almost too easy, don't you think sensei?" Sai asked. Kakashi nodded thoughtfully. He climbed the wall and swiftly removed the thin paper. There was a loud shudder as the rusted gears shifted into action and the heavy door creaked open. Silent steps echoed as Hinata, Sai, Lee and Kakashi entered the through the door. In front of them was a huge expanse of ground. On the far side, there was a small exit. Four shapes emerged from the ground just as Hinata took another step. It was White Zetsu. A smirk was on each one's face.
"You won't pass any further." One of them rasped. Kakashi reached for his left eye but Lee halted his actions.
"Let me do this, Kakashi sensei. Please go on ahead with Hinata-san and Sai-kun!" He exclaimed loudly.
"Alright. We are counting on you." Kakashi nodded and advanced towards the exit with Hinata and Sai. One of the Zetsu moved towards their direction but Lee intercepted with a kick to the gut. It grunted in pain and collapsed, turning to a tree. Lee assaulted the next Zetsu with punches right to the face. By this time, the rest of the team had already left.
"Yosh! None of you will get across me!" Lee loudly exclaimed and shined his teeth. The remaining two rushed on each side of Lee with a kunai in hand. Lee however was ready for them. He ducked; making the two Zetsu's stab each other. They both landed on the ground with a thud and transformed into trees. This was easy! Gai sensei, i made you proud! Lee turned around to go but four more creatures emerged from the ground. "Oh..." Well, i guess I'm gonna be staying for a while. Lee thought and got into his fighting stance.
Meanwhile, Kakashi, Sai and Hinata were quickly running when Hinata shouted "Get down!" She quickly ducked while Kakashi pressed himself to the left wall and Sai barely managed to avoid the onslaught of kunai by pressing himself to the right. "That was close" Sai murmured. He took out his sword, in case there were any more objects coming their way. Hinata reactivated her Byakugan and searched for any threat but surprisingly found none. She gestured for them to follow her and they continued, entering a large and open space. In the middle, there was a young woman standing with silky long black hair that reached her lower back. She wore a beautiful gray kimono with blue doves sown on the corners. Her head was bowed and hands were inside the sleeves of her kimono. Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Hinata, what do you see?" He asked. Her eyes widened as she scanned the women bowing I'm front of them. "It looks like a puppet... But i can't see any chakra strings." She muttered.
"Then how do you know it's a puppet?" Sai asked "Because she is dead." Hinata answered. The woman lifted her head and they were met with a horrifying sight. Her skin was the colour of milk. Smudged red lipstick that looked suspiciously like blood matted her thin lips. Tears stained her cheeks and her nose was quite crooked. Her eyes however were the worst. The sockets contained nothing. They were completely hollow, with huge eyelashes on the side. There were no lines around her face like a puppet would have. She opened her mouth and another kunai shot straight for Sai. He quickly deflected it with his sword. "Sensei, i will do this. Please go ahead." He said.
"No, i will stay with you. We can finish the job quickly." Kakashi answered.
"Hinata, you go ahead."
"Alright" She nodded sharply and ran to the opening on the other side. The puppet made no move to stop Hinata. Instead, she focused on Sai and Kakashi.
Get ready, Sai." Kakashi ordered and crouched low.
Hinata swirled through different passages. The heavy chakra that blocked her 360 vision was vanishing slowly, but it was still not enough for her to see ahead of her properly. She turned left and continued down a long passageway. There were two turns ahead of her. Before she could decide which one to go into, Naruto suddenly came out of the right path. "Naruto-kun!" He stopped when he saw her.
"Hinata! What are you doing here?" He asked.
"I-i was continuing down my path." She answered.
"Where are Kakashi sensei and Sai and bushy brows?" He asked. Hinata told him how they had to split up.
"I see, well, I've already checked this path. We'll go into this one!" He pointed to the opposite section and Hinata nodded.
"Hai!" She said and they both entered the left section.
Lee was on his 10th batch of disgusting creatures. Every time he killed a few, more showed up. Avoiding a kick to the head, he leapt back quickly and crouched on the ground. Searching his surrounding he tried to think of a solution. I've been fighting them for such a long time but nothing has changed, they just keep on coming from the ground. The ground... The ground! His eyes went to the rocks and mud beneath him. It was odd how there wasn't even a scratch. In a battle, the landscape was always ruined, the ground especially. So why was it that not a scratch was on the earth? To test his theory, he got up, jumped and landed a solid drop kick to the ground. A large crater formed and he backed away to observe, almost like it was alive, the earth started mending itself and closed up like he had never hit it. An idea formed into his mind. He rushed forward to the nearest Zetsu and stabbed him, therefore killing him. Doing the same with the rest, he waited for the last creature to turn into a sapling and waited for the next batch. Just as he suspected, they emerged from the middle of the field, right where the previous batch had come from and the one before. Lee leapt back a few feet and concentrated. The air around him turned chilly and his skin turned red.
"First gate Open! Second gate open!" He yelled. "Third gate open! Fourth gate open!" His skin colour was now a bloody red and his hair was defying gravity. In a flash, he was behind the first Zetsu. Delivering a solid punch in the back, He advanced towards the next one and obliterated him. Finishing the job with the third one, Lee landed in the middle of the field. Using his hands, he punched the ground continually before switching to kicking. The mud quickly chipped away and a deep hole formed. At the very bottom was a scroll. Quickly grabbing it, Lee inspected it before ripping the paper to shreds. There was only one Zetsu on the ground. He groaned and looked up.
"How... Did you know?" He rasped.
Releasing his four gates, Lee stumbled a little before answering. "In a battle, the ground is always ruined. Also, you guys always entered from the middle of the floor. It was suspicious. The scroll that was at the bottom was a summoning scroll. It automatically summoned more of you every time I killed a few." Lee flashed a smile. Zetsu groaned fell to the ground, turning into a tree. The fatigue finally caught up with Lee and he collapsed. Please continue without me everyone! With that, he closed his eyes and let exhaustion take over him.
Sai dodged another kunai dripping with poison. The puppet had done nothing but opened her mouth and throw weapons at them.
"This is getting annoying" Sai muttered as he dodged and deflected two shuriken. Kakashi made a few hand seals and chakra crackled in his right palm. Rushing towards the puppet, he jumped up and landed a chidori on her head. The puppet made no move to stop it as her head shredded to pieces. Just as quickly, a new head popped up. Kakashi backed away, disgusted. "If we can find the strings or whatever is controlling this thing, this would be over quite quickly." He stated. "Hm... We keep on thinking it's a puppet yet there are no strings connected. Or, there are and we just have to find them" Sai murmured thoughtfully.
"How do you suppose we do that?" Kakashi asked. Before Sai could answer, the wooden doll made her first movement. She slowly walked towards them with her arms outstretched. She stopped just a few feet I'm front of them and took out a blade from her sleeve. Sai leapt forward and intercepted her. They exchanged blows and the puppet was surprisingly agile. Kakashi quickly removed the cloth covering his left eye and his sharingan activated. The puppet's movements were quick and no chakra surrounded her. Just as Kakashi was about to move, he caught something. There a little glitch in the puppets actions and a small string connected to the back of her head became visible. Kakashi quickly beckoned Sai to retreat. "There are chakra strings. I just saw one. They were only visible for an instance but disappeared quickly. How, i don't know but i have a plan to make them reappear." Kakashi said as Sai retreated. Nodding he lent the Jonin his ear and listened to the plan. His eyes widened when he heard the plan. "Do you think it will work?" Sai asked.
"It's our only chance." Kakashi answered.
Sai took out his ink container and drew a small bird. It came to life and flew towards the puppet. Just before she could kill it, the bird turned to ink and dripped around the puppet. Some of the ink stuck to strings connecting to the puppet's body. "It worked!" Sai said and Kakashi nodded. Rushing forward, he took a kunai from his pouch and cut the visible strings. The puppet's right hand went limp. Sai drew more birds and they all aimed for the woman before turning to ink and staining her kimono. Every string that became visible, Kakashi cut it. Soon, the puppet went completely limp and fell to the floor. Sighing with relief, Kakashi stepped over her and continued to the exit. Sai followed him and together, they both left the puppet and ran after Hinata.
Kiba and Shikamaru were having a hard time; they were having a nice conversation when both of them were attacked by water. Spitting out the liquid, Kiba growled, "I sense some nasty chakra." Shikamaru turned and looked at the scene before them. There was a huge puddle of water inside the cave they just entered. The ceiling was quite low and the cave walls were curved.
A shape emerged out of the water. "Haha! You look so stupid dripping wet!" A voice filled the cave. "Who's there!?" Kiba narrowed his eyes. A man was standing before them. He had short white hair and canine teeth. He wore a purple tank top and light blue pants. A water bottle was in his hand. "So you are the Konoha trash Sasuke ordered to remove, eh? Well, I'm Suigetsu! Nice to meet ya. But you are gonna die!" He laughed. Kiba growled and rushed forward.
"Wait! Kiba!" Shikamaru yelled but Kiba didn't listen. He aimed for a punch at Suigetsu's gut but his hand passed right through, like water. Suigetsu grabbed Kiba's hand and jerked it around making the Konoha ninja flip and leap back. "I told you to wait!" Shikamaru grunted and looked around. There wasn't any light source in the huge cave. He would have to find a way to create light first and then worry about shadows. "Can you keep him distracted for a little while?" He asked.
"Of course!" Kiba rushed towards the enemy and started a taijutsu battle. Every kick and punch was blocked by Suigetsu. Frustrated, Kiba leapt back and did a few seals. Akamaru joined him and Kiba yelled, "Chou ju Giga!" Turning into a whirling tornado, he hurled himself at Suigetsu. The man simply jumped aside and Kiba crashed into the nearest wall.
"You Konoha ninja are so weak!" Shaking, he got up and growled. Kiba leapt back to Shikamaru and muttered. "You got any idea how to kill this bastard?" Shikamaru's gaze went to the hole Kiba had just made. A trickle of sunlight was coming through.
"Yes i do." Shikamaru murmured something into Kiba's ear. Puzzled he nodded. "How is this gonna help?" He asked.
"Just trust me." Shikamaru countered.
"Ok" Kiba made another hand seal and tried again. "The same trick won't work!" Suigetsu yelled and easily dodged another fang over fang. This time however, Kiba turned his attack and headed for the ceiling. A huge hole formed into the roof and Kiba repeated his actions. The whole roof collapsed on them. Shikamaru swiftly dodged the boulders that came his way and leapt back. Sunlight engulfed the whole room. "Huh! Now i know that you guys are weak and crazy!" Suigetsu yelled and shook himself off. "This good enough?" Kiba asked as he returned to Shikamaru's side.
"Perfect!" He answered.
Striding forward, Shikamaru took a few kunai and threw them at Suigetsu. As he leapt to avoid them, Shikamaru did quick hand signs and shadows caught him.
"Argh! I can't move my body! What is this!?" After a few colourful words, Suigetsu stopped moving and glared at Shikamaru.
"You bastard! What did you do!?" He yelled.
"I don't need to explain anything to you." Shikamaru retorted and did a tiger seal. Strands of shadows squeezed Suigetsu's body while Shikamaru held him in place. At last, he was completely covered and went limp. Shikamaru sighed and turned to his partner.
"Let's get going, we need to find Sasuke." Kiba nodded and they turned to leave.
Sakura heard an explosion to her right and jerked her head. She continued walking and observed her surroundings. The ground had changed from earthy to grass. There was moss growing on the walls and the air smelled fresh. Light was up ahead and she followed it. Emerging from the cave, she was in a wide clearing. In the middle, silhouetted from the sun was a figure. Her eyes widened as the memories of the past haunted her. A whispered word left her throat as the figure turned around.
"Sasuke-kun..."
I finished! Oh my god! This took me such a long time! My next update will be on Tuesday, though i may update sooner. Please review and tell me what you think. I really like reviews! Criticism would be nice cuz i wanna improve! :)
~Thejollyhyuga
