Chapter 12: An Army of Me
Warning: Extreme violence ahead.
-X-
As soon as the thunderous crack went wrapping around the massive stone left hand, the cloaked figures that happened to be on it had to jump to avoid the collapse, effectively breaking the ceremony that was taking place within the very heart of Amegakure.
Naruto's body fell to the ground with a loud thud, signaling the beginning of the battle.
"Fools!" one of the cloaked nins roared, disclosing himself as Kisame. "You don't know what you just did!"
"Oh believe me, we know exactly what we're doing," Sasuke hissed, jumping out of the way as Sakura's foot connected with the floor once more, sending a crack to the statue's other hand. Soon, the other Konoha nins scattered, laying dibs on their chosen opponents.
"Konan!" the pink-haired kunoichi snarled, fists poised and ready. "I'll be the one that will send you to hell!"
Said blue-haired female nodded wordlessly, her face and body fracturing into thousands of little paper sheets, swirling away towards a corner of the massively large hall. Sakura bounded close behind; hands flying through a long string of hand-seals. A sudden green glow on Sakura's forehead soon formed a diamond-shaped marking.
"I see," Konan's deep but feminine tone floated with the paper sheets. "You are the Godaime Hokage's apprentice. I shall not underestimate you."
"How wise of you," Sakura hissed, hands flowing through another string of seals. "Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu!" she inhaled, sending the Grand Fireball towards the swirl of papers, which whirled away, but some of them got caught in Sakura's technique.
The paper assembly gathered together, showing Konan's frowning face. Sakura sneered.
"What, you don't like fire?" she taunted recklessly. "That's too bad."
Konan's eyes narrowed in irritation before dissipating again in paper sheets. Her pink-haired opponent jumped away as a sudden barrage of kunai flew towards her. Looking around, she noticed an orange-haired man with piercings all over his features glaring at her, with a pair of the strangest, ringed eyes she had ever seen. But he had to look away as Itachi's sword tried to pierce him.
"Leave the females to their own devices, Pein-san," the Uchiha Heir's voice intoned mildly, as his Sharingan glinted wickedly in the dull darkness of the humongous hall. "Or do you feel that your partner is not up to the challenge, that you have to protect her?"
The man called Pein merely raised a hand, turning his attention to the raven-haired ANBU Captain.
"Your words bear no reason at all," his deep, cultivated voice answered, as a pointy black spear appeared in his hand, parrying the ninjatô in Itachi's hand with amazing skill and not even blinking at the loud clang that both blades made at the point of contact. "She will be the last one standing from that battle. The Konoha kunoichi will die."
"Well, that's rich," Sakura hissed sarcastically as she jumped away from the sudden attack of the paper sheets. Noticing immediately how the crinkling material shaped themselves into kunai and shuriken, Sakura started to run, avoiding the finely honed weapons as they practically rained on her. It wasn't of consequence that they were made of paper; they were as efficient and razor-sharp as the ones made of steel.
Feeling warm liquid trickling down her cheek, Sakura realized that some of the paper-made weapons had aimed true. Konan still floated above her, pouring sheets of paper as she went, also gathering a few of them to make a pair of wings, in order to help maintain her light body in the air. It was a bad prospect for Sakura, seeing as she was trained for close combat and the Akatsuki female was made for middle to long-range attacks.
But let it not be said that a teammate of the Kyuubi vessel doesn't know how to surprise people, the pink-haired Jounin thought with a decisive clench of her teeth.
-X-
Sasuke was thinking the same thing as his female teammate as he evaded another clay-made sparrow.
"What's the matter, kiddo, hmm?" the blond ninja that he was facing sneered, with a cocky, psychotic grin. "Can't handle a few explosions?"
The young Uchiha's Sharingan swirled, surveying Deidara's techniques and cursing inwardly. Kekkei Genkai techniques couldn't be copied, but perhaps he could do something to trick the bomber-nin.
"Why don't you just go die in a fire?" Sasuke sneered as the Gokakyuu no Jutsu flared in the hall once more. Deidara evaded it, sending a barrage of clay birds toward his opponent.
"Why don't you die already? This is getting boring as hell, yeah."
What he didn't know was that the youngest Uchiha was constructing his counterattack in the form of a genjutsu. Several snakes broke out of the ground with a joint hiss and jumped at the clay bird, in a flurry of movement that opened a humongous hole in the wall, startling the people outside the building and creating the unavoidable collective chaos.
The fight was out now, and the Leaf ninja would be probably attacked from every angle. But as soon as the pieces of wall settled down on the ground, a shout outside signaled that Konoha wasn't invading Amegakure on their own; a rush of sand and a barrage of weapons made it clear that reinforcements had arrived, with a few addendums.
All the better, Sasuke smirked as he felt the tomoe in his eyes shift into another form.
-X-
The Uchiha ANBU Captain deflected another thrust of Pein's black spear while his mind reeled. The probability of coming out of this battle unscathed was about forty percent, for him, whereas his cousin Shisui – who was battling the nin who had a swirled orange mask, Tobi – had a sixty percent chance, given the information Sakura had decoded from Kabuto's journal in the last stop before entering Rain.
Kakashi, who was fighting the powerful Hoshigake Kisame, had a sixty-five percent chance of victory, while Yamato, battling the mysterious Zetsu, had an even fifty percent.
However, his brother Sasuke, who was battling the blond arsonist and explosive expert, Deidara, had less than a thirty percent of winning his battle.
Sakura's chances of defeating that kunoichi, Konan, were less than ten percent, in his objective opinion.
It was a fortunate thing that their help got hold of the rest of the mercenaries that surrounded the main building. It was very convenient, and Itachi wondered if his Hokage had something to do with this, as they had to round the route by gathering info from Orochimaru's hideout. Also, there was the strong possibility that Jiraiya had helped, gathering information on his own.
"I would appreciate your full attention before I kill you, Uchiha-san," the smooth voice of his opponent broke his quick reverie. "Are you worried about your teammates? Do not be, for they are going to die at any rate."
"I would not wager on that, Pein-san," Itachi shot back easily. "I have to admit that your organization has been most effective in keeping the information about its members classified," he continued; it was time to make the orange-haired man talk, if possible.
"It was most unfortunate that Sasori couldn't finish Orochimaru and return with us," apparently, Pein knew they had the journal. "It is of no importance. We are aware of the technical summaries the Snake Sannin had on us all. However, it is one thing to know the theory and another..." slate grey ringed eyes glowed diabolically under the clouded daylight, "the practice."
Itachi stopped when he recognized that Kekkei Genkai from an old folktale book one of his aunts gave him when he was a boy.
The Rinnegan.
-X-
Yamato was not having a good day.
Not to mention how dangerous this mission would be - he understood the need of salvaging Naruto and bringing him back home, for letting the Kyuubi fall into Akatsuki's hands was not an option, and god forbid, allowing the release of the Nine Tails bijuu to the world would practically vaporize it.
Now he was avoiding the several tentacles that were shooting toward him from everywhere out of the ground, producing as many branches as he could dare as he avoided the stingers that were poised at the end of every tentacle attached to Zetsu.
Having enough data on the plant-man made him think of a nice, safe strategy - wearing the guy out and then neutralizing him with a doton jutsu. It was by far the safest bet since the Akatsuki was surely keeping his distance from his mokuton.
"What's the matter," Zetsu asked in a mild voice. "Are you scared?"
The second question came out in a harsher, wicked tone. This gave Yamato the outrageous idea of how Zetsu seemed to be everywhere... but medically, that farfetched idea was beyond impossible.
Or was it?
Not having the time to ponder his deranged idea, the ground shook once more, this time from one of the blond Akatsuki's bombs, which were chasing Sasuke all over the place. Deidara was laughing maniacally, the mouths in his hands with their tongues waggling mockingly as the youngest Uchiha practically flew around, avoiding the charged blasts.
Such a freak... all members of the Akatsuki were proof of the strange meddling of Mother Nature.
No one knew about natural interferences more than Yamato.
Hands flying in the usual mokuton seals, numerous wooden branches cracked out of the earth, matching the poisoned tentacles of his enemy.
Creating a shield, he quickly set about his plan, praying that his gut was right about that incredibly ridiculous but horrific idea.
-X-
A blond, laughing moron was still hovering over Sasuke.
"C'mon, yeah!" Deidara sneered, sending another dozen sparrows after his quarry. "Show me how awesome that Uchiha clan is! How long are you going to run, little brat?"
Not for long, Sasuke promised inwardly, feeling the mark on his shoulder throb and pulse, begging for release. "Stupid arsonist," he mumbled, hoping his opponent heard him.
Deidara did hear, cackling in response. "Is that what you call an insult? Bah! Hidan was way more versed in the cursing field, Uchiha brat. Sure, he lacked finesse in everything else, but his filthy mouth could give a sailor a run for his money, yeah."
"And he was killed by one of my comrades, did you know?" Sasuke taunted, three tomoe spinning lazily in each of his eyes. "His zombie skills didn't save him from his final destiny."
"Oh? And tell me, did he go with a blast?" the mad bomber asked eagerly, eyes glinting in excitement.
Remembering Shikamaru's report, he smirked. "Who knows."
Deidara frowned, watching how at ease his enemy seemed to be as he sliced all the bombs with his katana and avoided each explosion.
"Oh! You think you're some hot shot because you're able to avoid minor charges? I'll show you, yeah!"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Oh yeah, show me."
Pressing both hands inside his clay bags, Deidara missed the clone that dropped from the neighboring building, inhaling all the air it could muster.
"Katon: Gokakyuu no jutsu!" the clone yelled, sending a massive fireball towards the back of the ninja but a sudden flock of birds served as a wall, protecting Deidara and directing the blast right back at Sasuke's clone, which popped out as it was caught in the explosion.
"Nice try, yeah!" Deidara jeered, annoying his opponent by sending another group of sparrows after him. "But you're gonna need more power if you want to be a worthy match!"
"More power," Sasuke repeated flatly, his sword slashing out. "Fine, I'll give you more power."
Deidara's taunting laugh resonated through the battlefield.
-X-
Actually, Shisui wasn't faring too well with his opponent.
The moron kept slipping away from his attacks, no matter how sure he was that his kunai or shuriken would hit. The weapons simply passed through without harm.
Tobi tilted his head inquisitively. "Oh! Shisui-san, you seem upset!"
"Oh no, not at all," he groused, gritting his teeth in frustrated annoyance as he launched another barrage of sharp kunai. "I just want you to be still for a moment!"
"Oh! But I can't do that!" Tobi jumped in place frantically, but his ridiculous antics weren't amusing at all for the elder Uchiha. "Why do you attack me, Shisui-san? Tobi didn't do anything to you!"
"That might be," the Uchiha jumped, ninjatô in hand, intent on slashing his opponent but, once more, the corporeal form seemed to vanish as the blade ran through. "Dammit!"
He would need to pull out the big techniques then, Shisui decided, his Sharingan shifting to the three tomoe, which started spinning.
Suddenly, Tobi laughed. "Oh Shisui-san, a genjutsu is not going to work with Tobi. Tobi is a good boy, you see."
The Uchiha ANBU watched in surprise as the masked nin looked up, engaging his Sharingan with one of his own.
But the form was different... there were no tomoe.
Shisui let out a mental curse.
-X-
Kakashi was certain the sword that Kisame carried was going to be a great nuisance.
"I should have picked Itachi-san to fight with," the tall Mist nukenin was musing as he avoided his attacks. "I owe him a thump or two after that genjutsu in the Fire Palace."
The Copy Ninja smirked under his mask, his hitai-ate showing his gifted Sharingan. "What's the matter, you don't like genjutsu?"
"I prefer ninjutsu," Kisame showed all his razor-sharp teeth in a menacing smile before opening his mouth and letting out a humongous amount of water, basically drowning every person around them with the force of the wave.
"That's impressive," Kakashi noted, hands in his pockets as he regarded the flooded place with bored countenance. "It's a good thing I like ninjutsu the most too."
"Oh yeah, that 'Master of a Thousand Jutsu' title you hold... it's interesting, don't you think?" the blue-skinned nin taunted, his sword ready in his shoulder, buzzing with anticipation. "Why don't you show me what you got?"
The silver-haired man looked up. "Fine, but don't come crying to me afterwards."
He hoped his bluff wasn't called before his chakra was eaten, or worse, depleted.
-X-
Thankfully, the flood didn't reach the site where Naruto lay.
Sakura, however, after the flooding Kisame had provoked, had a wonderful idea.
It would be quite risky, but knowing that everybody else was fighting for their lives and the rest of the world, hers was a small price.
"Creation Rebirth," Sakura murmured, feeling a rush of warm chakra flooding her senses and pathways, feeling recovered as every single gash from the razor-sharp origami healed.
She had known for a while that her base element was earth. Doton jutsu were nicely set with earth, wind and water. With fire, even better. But water...
Sakura wondered idly what kind of element origami was.
"Nice new addendum to your face," Konan droned from her vantage point, hovering over the water. "Paying homage to your shishou?"
"Something like that, but it's not really your business," she sneered, raising an eyebrow, dismissing the ornate swirls that decorated her features. "Come on, bitch. Shannaro."
Konan dissipated herself into tons of folded paper shaped into kunai, which rained over the Leaf kunoichi. Sakura didn't move, taking every blow, scratch and gash, not having enough room to avoid them. She cried out in pain, as the kunai moved faster, staining the paper with her blood.
"You will lose now," the blue-haired kunoichi said with a faint note of triumph in her ethereal voice. "Just like your friend, that couldn't handle his own artwork being ripped apart by the paper that contained it."
Sakura saw red when she realized how Sai had been tricked and cornered.
Just like she was now.
"I have to wonder though," Konan continued as she rematerialized in front of her panting opponent, "what do you have that is so special, for Uchiha Itachi to refuse our advantageous proposal. He could have been a great asset to us."
"Shut up!" she gritted, as another gash was opened on her skin.
"But it is true," the blue-haired woman pressed, feeling that Sakura was about to crack. "You are not suited for this ninja life. You are pathetic and emotional; this makes you so weak I find it amazing for you to even be a jounin-ranked kunoichi with this obvious lack of skills."
"Perhaps, you're not looking at the big picture," Sakura gritted as her blood kept flowing, "It's more about the desire to protect our loved ones that makes us strong. Itachi refused you because you have no honorable goal whatsoever. He decided to stay in his homeland because he knew he could make a difference with us."
Konan narrowed her eyes. "This is where you die, Haruno Sakura," she said coldly, her origami skills creating a long katana and running it through her stomach. "Your idealism holds no reason against the word of God."
"Who's the God you speak of?" Sakura asked after she cried out, feeling her life slipping from her. "God is the greatest protector of this world, the one that lets us live with our decisions, no matter how bad they can be for us. He granted us the most amazing gift... free will."
"You have no idea how God is," Konan allowed herself a mild sneer, as Sakura's clammy hands clasped hers feebly. "God is the one that will set this world right. No more war, no more death. No more ninja."
"And how...many people...will you...kill for this goal?" Sakura asked, tightening her grip on the blue-haired woman's hand. "People that have... always worked for the greater...good. If you really...believed in God...you would see..."
Pulling Konan's sword deeper into her, Sakura breathed deeply and smiled. The Akatsuki kunoichi's eyes widened in surprise when she found herself covered in exploding tags, the product of Sakura's blood as she sliced her. Realizing she had been fooled by a simple genjutsu.
"You will see...how wrong you are. Sakura Fubuki no jutsu!"
The ensuing blast called the attention of all.
-X-
Sasuke's snakes lay all dead, scorched and seared, at his feet.
At least, Deidara wasn't laughing anymore.
And Sasuke himself was furious. He had seen Sakura's technique going off, and so far she hadn't appeared among the debris that floated in the water.
He would never forgive her if she died so stupidly.
The building he stood on rumbled with the beginning of another explosion. Deidara was closing in, he could feel him building up the C2 charge he had promised him. It was just a matter of time until he executed his plan...
But first, he needed to release that little mark on his neck. Three teardrops in a circle were the only physical evidence of the seal Orochimaru had imprinted on him with his fangs, the Heaven Cursed Seal. Disregarding the warding that Kakashi had placed on him, it was just as his genin sensei had advised him.
The cursed seal held wicked power, but in this dire situation he didn't have any qualms about using it.
"There you are, brat! Eat my explosive clay, yeah!"
The dragon uncoiled itself from the electric tower, bellowing a roar that resonated throughout the entire village. It wasn't raining anymore; a dark power kept the sky overcast but with no more precipitation.
Sasuke gripped his sword and closed his eyes, feeling the foreign chakra engulf his form, changing his body, feeling his back throbbing as it ripped apart as horrendous wings sprouted from his skin. His hair grew wild, his Sharingan honed in on his target unerringly.
Attacking a surprised Deidara, who ripped his own shirt apart and displayed another mouth sewed closed on his chest, Sasuke was sure of his victory.
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
-X-
Itachi almost froze when he felt Sakura's energy dwindling at an alarming rate, but the dark chakra that roiled out of his little brother stunned him to a halt.
Looking around quickly, he found each of Pein's bodies battling furiously against a Konoha or a Sand nin. Sabaku no Gaara was imprisoning one, while his siblings were fighting another. A third was battling a newly minted ANBU-level Hyuuga Neji, while the fourth body was being handled marvelously by the rest of his genin team. The fifth was being handled by Nara Shikamaru and his team. Itachi was handling the main one, though, as the orange-haired man kept pushing him for an opening.
"What is the matter, Uchiha?" Pein asked coldly. "Did you lose something?"
Sakura's explosion rocked the village, making the Akatsuki leader pause in surprise.
Itachi leaped forward, breaking the black spear Pein held as they realized that Sakura had risen against all odds and defeated her opponent. Itachi felt a rush of fierce pride inside; he hoped, hoped that she would pull through. Like a phoenix, she had risen from her ashes, and had fulfilled her promise to her friend Sai by conquering her Akatsuki enemy.
Pein, on the other hand, was gripped by a cold fury.
"Konan," he whispered.
"Excellent battle they had, won't you agree?" Itachi said smoothly as he avoided a second blade and parried a third.
"Your nakama is surprising, I give you that," Pein said flatly, his speed enhancing with each blow and making Itachi accelerate his movements to keep up with him. "But you won't come out victorious from this battle. I ask you, Uchiha, how incensed is your flame regarding your beliefs."
"My beliefs? What a strange question coming from you, Pein-san" Itachi answered with an ease he didn't feel.
"The Path of God is the Path of Pein," the orange-haired ninja intoned, as if repeating a line he had said many, many times in the past. Your doujutsu won't help you against the hand of God. The Rinnegan overpowers everything."
"How...arrogant of you, Pein-san," Itachi answered, now realizing why all the genjutsu he had placed hadn't held against his quarry. It was simply impossible to fool him with an illusion, pretty much like the Hyuuga, although there were high-level genjutsu that couldn't be broken by the Byakugan. "I personally do not believe in God."
"Ah, you are a skeptical one," the other said, as if he was amused by Itachi's flat remark. "The works of God are everywhere. Do you honestly not believe in the high power of divinity; how you humans play the game God has set for his subjects? It is easy to understand why you are so detached when it comes to such matters, Uchiha, but that doesn't make you the holder of the ultimate truth."
"The ultimate truth is that you want to annihilate everyone and bring all the countries to their knees," Itachi's face finally twisted in a disgusted, haughty sneer. "I cannot call that the work of God but the work of a totalitarian madman. Tell me, Pein-san, is this your way of getting revenge for whatever wrong was done against you?"
"You know nothing of my reasons," Pein was swift in his response and his counterattack. Two of his other bodies had been brought down – the summoner and the taujutsu vessel – which limited his field of observation, making him a bit vulnerable. Yet, the others were responding well and it was just a matter of time for his comeback.
A humongous explosion stopped all his machinations though, when Deidara had finally gone through all his techniques against the youngest Uchiha. The blond Akatsuki had resorted to his last but not least jutsu.
The C0.
The earth shook so strongly that all the contenders fell to the floor unceremoniously. There was a massive feeling of confusion, but then some ninja took the diversion to their advantage and struck their enemies.
-X-
Kisame's arms lay on the ground, neutralizing him effectively as Kakashi stood over him, breathing heavily, his Sharingan spinning in a bright pool of red.
Yamato managed to cage Zetsu, delivering a fierce Suiton jutsu inside his wooden contraption. He knew the only thing that could kill the plantman was salt; but then he remembered one of Sakura's poisons. He only had to add it to his water jutsu to make an acidic solution, strong enough to kill his opponent.
Shisui managed to land a hit on his adversary, a hairline crack dividing the orange, swirled mask. A dark laugh came out of it, making him curse now loud and clear in his mind, as he gripped the kunai and drove it hard into his own thigh.
-X-
Yamato ran to the summoned lake when he noticed a figure trying to make their way towards the shore.
"Sakura!" he exclaimed, splashing all over as he ran to assist her. "Are you alright? We thought you –"
"I'm fine," she replied, panting as she took in a cleansing breath. "I managed to cover my head with chakra when I slammed down to the bottom of the lake. Where's Naruto?"
"Still unconscious," he answered with a grim frown. "I have a clone watching over him. His vitals are stable, but..."
"By the gods..." Sakura murmured with a stricken tone, but she wasn't listening to him anymore.
A monstrous sight was hovering in front of their eyes.
Long-haired, dark eyes with a strange pinwheel form in his Sharingan, Uchiha Sasuke waved his morbid hand-like wings effortlessly, taking in the massive battlefield the Rain village had become.
"What..." Yamato whispered, bewildered. Kakashi also observed the hovering young man from his place, as he finished tying Kisame up.
"Sasuke, what have you done..." Sakura breathed, eyes widened. "Sasuke!"
His eyes swiveled to hers and held her there. "It was the only way," he growled.
"No it wasn't!" she screeched. "Why did you have to do this? This is not a quest for power, Sasuke!"
"Shut up!" the bizarre winged form roared. "You haven't the slightest idea of what I was going through!"
"And serving as a test subject for Orochimaru served you to set your own North?" Sakura snarled right back. "This is not about you, you moron! This is about Naruto!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Yamato asked her as Kakashi reached them. The silver-haired ninja looked angry, but not as livid as Sakura appeared to be.
"Sasuke asked for a leave of absence for a few weeks after their Chuunin exam," Kakashi explained curtly. "I figure Orochimaru did get to him, even if his brother and I were keeping him under strict surveillance."
Sakura didn't listen to her former sensei. "Sasuke! Goddammit, listen to me! Put that thing back!"
The youngest Uchiha laughed. "Why should I? I've never felt better. This curse seal is under my control, now that Orochimaru kicked the bucket. No pain at all."
His Sharingan took notice of how hard-pressed his cousin was with his opponent.
"You will see," he sneered at Sakura, "how great I will be now."
-X-
Kicking his opponent to gain an opening was all it took for Itachi to see why the battlefield was so quiet. Sakura was back on her feet, which was a relief for the stoic ANBU Captain, but why she was scowling so hard?
The figure that flew low and tackled the nin his cousin was fighting was so bizarre that he almost couldn't believe what his Sharingan eyes told him.
That monster was his little brother.
"Sasuke! NO!" Sakura screamed as she sprinted behind him. Pein noticed her right away.
"Ah, so she survived," he said in a frosty tone. "But not for long."
Itachi had no other choice but to run and parry the black spear once more, halting Pein's advance and engaging him in a new bout of Taijutsu. His Sharingan, though, was picking up new things in his system. The chakra the Akatsuki leader had was exhausting and somehow all the black piercings were concentrating a lot of his energy.
"I would appreciate it if you would move, Uchiha-san," the man said conversationally. "I have someone to kill in retaliation."
Itachi blinked and frowned. Like he was going to allow him to get closer to Sakura. "You leave me no choice, Pein-san," he answered smoothly, as his hands flew in a flurry of hand-seals that he hadn't performed, ever.
He only hoped he had copied the technique just right.
-X-
Shisui gaped unabashedly at the freak of nature his little cousin had become. He had caught Sakura's form in her flight though, having no qualms in pushing her back to keep her in line.
"What the hell, Sakura?" he shouted, "You can't interfere-"
"Fuck if I let Sasuke get consumed by that stupid curse seal!" Sakura yelled at him. "That thing will kill him if he uses it too much!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" he started to say, but a sharp intake of air was all it took for Shisui to shut up and turn to see the wide arc of Sasuke's katana swipe in the air, just over his former target, Tobi-
His Sharingan eyes widened in sudden fear. "Sasuke, no! He has a Sharingan! Sasuke!"
A burst of black flames sprang forward, Sasuke only having enough presence of mind to fly away to avoid them.
"Very good, very good!" Tobi celebrated with a smooth, refined tone, one very different from the cheery one the rest had heard from him. "You got a Mangekyou all by yourself, huh? I wonder who you had to kill to gain it."
Sasuke sneered. "What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Ah, kids these days are so disrespectful of their elders," Tobi wagged a finger at the younger Uchiha. "You should mind your tongue in front of the father of your clan, boy."
Shisui gaped once more, while Sakura looked puzzled.
"Isn't the clan founder... dead?" she whispered to her friend, who nodded numbly.
"Ah! But I'm not that dead, you see, Sakura-san," Tobi appeared to have heard her and answered with a rich, deep chuckle. "I was just biding my time for a grand comeback. You all stumped my plans, but I'm sure we'll reach an understanding soon."
"Go to hell, old man," Sasuke snarled from the air, releasing a Katon Ryouka over the man, who didn't move and accepted the flames engulfing his body. Afterwards, he only walked to the side of the sudden blaze, looking as unscathed as he was before the jutsu hit him.
"This is so upsetting," he continued talking. "I only wanted to have one of my relatives with me in this scheme of mine. Apparently I thought too well of them...or too bad."
Yamato and Kakashi attacked him in a tandem move, but he slipped away once more. Sakura was perplexed; how on earth could he dematerialize his body just when the blow was about to hit him?
Together, both Uchiha and the two older ninja attacked their target mercilessly, but to no avail. It was a complete stalemate, and all of them knew it. The situation was getting more dangerous with every second.
Suddenly, a massive wave of red chakra flared behind them, startling them all.
Tobi, or Madara, as he claimed to be called, moved forward and struck... his curved kunai found purchase as he ripped through clothes and human flesh.
Dark eyes, wide and frozen, lost their light as their bearer went down to the ground.
Sakura screamed, rage and killing intent pouring from her every pore. "Yamato!"
Three male shouts of her name were unheeded, as she charged as a rampaging bull towards the orange-masked nin.
But then the strange Sharingan form spun and her entire world went red, with black clouds hovering over a deserted landscape filled with blood.
-XxX-
AN: I had to pull a massive battle scene like I did in Refraction. I was going to limit myself to Sakura's and Itachi's fights, but then I itched to write Shisui's, Kakashi's and all the others. Therefore, chopped-scenes-no-jutsu! I do hope I could pull it off satisfactorily for you, though.
As for the canon battles, you can imagine how it happened. Sasuke vs. Deidara was the less portrayed because it happened in the manga, disregarding the change of the location.
This was the chapter that gave me so much trouble for all those months of frustrated hiatus! I had to smoke enough crack to pull this off in a mildly believing manner, so... yeah. I hope you enjoyed it, though.
Oh, and one more thing. To mystical spirits, that was one really rude and offensive review. I truly don't care what you might think, but insulting me, my writing style, the way I develop my plot, and my commitment to my stories - how in the seven hells Sakura is a Mary Sue, ahahaha, wtf! - and on top of that, comparing my work to yours was incredibly backhanded and lame of you. One humongous review like that, arrogant and nasty, gained you a nice place within my banned list. That was incredibly offensive, so if you were trying to get a rise of me, congratulations, you did. Thankfully I have friends that convinced me not to make a voodoo doll of you and stick a few not needles in its head. However, calling you out on your holier-than-thou attitude was sort of mandatory. So here it is, enjoy your ban from my account because I don't want to hear from you again.
Not to mention how much I've stressed to my readers that English is not my main language – and the fact that I work hard to provide you all with an engaging story and a source of amusement, I find truly insulting when someone thinks they're doing me a favor by pointing out things that they want to read. So even if I risk losing readers, I'm going to declare this for Hunter: there is no fluff in the horizon. This is a drama, a bunch of characters have died - and some others will also - so don't ask for something that really doesn't fit in the story.
Man, this is why I've been so wary of leaving my comfort zone. Anyway, I apologize for the drama-llama and let's move on with this, which I'm dying to see finished.
As always, many thanks to my dear MelissaRose85 for her sharp betaing skills, and to you guys for reading!