Chapter 9

Without a Voice

"Sorry I'm late, guys..." With Samehada inches from her face, Kurenai looked desperately towards the source of the words. Her mouth formed a smile, but it wasn't she that named the voice.

"Shikamaru!" Ino stumbled toward her teammate, her breathing sharp, and her hand clutching the bloody slash on her abdomen, but her lips stretched into a warm smile. Shikamaru stood near the bank of the river, parallel with Kisame, his arms held in the same position as Kisame was holding his sword, and a long black shadow connected their feet. bKagemane no Jutsu/b, The Art of Shadow Paralysis, had stopped Kisame's fierce attempt on Team 10's sensei. The lazy genius looked over at his blond teammate with a smirk.

"Looks like I'm just in time, eh?" Kisame's body shivered as he tried to fight off the control over his shadow, but it was no use. So, with gritted teeth and a furrowed brow, he slowly raised the blade up above his head once more, allowing Kurenai to move out of the way, and then Shikamaru made him throw the sword far across the river, and into the forest on the other side.

"Damn, brat....what is this?" The shark-man muttered angrily, still fighting against the control in vain. Shikamaru forced Kisame to start stepping backwards for a few steps, then they both turned around and moved farther away from the river. By then, Kiba and Shino had recovered, and were heading towards them. Ino came up to Shikamaru's side as he stopped.

"It's called, Shadow Possession. Am I to assume this is your first time experiencing it then?" Kisame's lip curled in indignation, "Heh, no wonder it was so easy to trap you. And now that I have you, it's over." Shikamaru glanced over, "Ino, if you would." She nodded and started moving forward. She took her hand, still dripping with blood, and placed it up against the other one in the same seal she had used before.

"Shinranshi-"

"bYou brats think it's over??!!/b" Kisame roared. Through sheer force of will he broke the Shadow Possession and knocked Ino away with one powerful sweep of his hand. He then shot forward and grabbed Shikamaru by his chuunin jacket, pulling him over and throwing him brutally into the ground. Standing over him, the member of Akatsuki laughed hilariously. "I've just been toying with you brats!! None of you have what it takes to take me down!" He boasted. Shikamaru reached for a kunai from his pouch, but Kisame immediately thwarted his effort with a terrifying kick into the boy's ribs, sending him rolling and bouncing across the ground. Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru were the first at his side, followed by Ino and Kurenai. By then, Shikamaru had made it to one knee, and was carefully watching their enemy.

"Shikamaru! Are you okay?" Ino asked, despite her own bruises and bleeding lacerations. He nodded.

"I'm fine."

"Shikamaru...how did you get here?" Kurenai asked, she never expected him to show up to the fight. He glanced at her.

"Godaime sent me. Soon as I got back too. It was a big pain, but I got here as fast as I could. She also gave me files on every remaining Akatsuki member for me to analyze." The other four shinobi looked at him, surprised. Shikamaru smiled knowingly.

"Listen carefully, I know how we're going to beat him..."

"They're getting closer, Sasuke. What're we going to do?" Karin asked. They were deep in the forest surrounding Konoha now, and all four members of Team Falcon were jumping swiftly through the branches. Sasuke didn't answer for a moment.

"Keep going."

"But they're coming straight for us! If they have a tracker, they will find us in no time! Shouldn't we tu-"

"Keep going!" The boy ordered a bit more fiercely. Karin was startled, and a bit hurt by his angry tone at her. But, before she looked away, her mouth a frown, she caught sight of Sasuke's face turning toward her. On it, she saw a smile spread. A smile! Sasuke almost never smiled!

"Don't worry. I have a plan." He added, quelling any doubts Karin and the other two members may have had. If Sasuke had a plan, they could rest easy.

"Ah...!" Hinata gasped, her activated eyes widening. Naruto landed on the branch next to her for a moment before launching again.

"What's wrong, Hinata?" He asked. "Where are they?"

"Th-they're splitting up!" She announced. This caught Kakashi's attention, and he immediately stopped on a branch, as did the others as soon as they were able.

"Splitting up?" Naruto repeated in a question. Kakashi glanced the way Hinata had been looking, as if he could see for himself the sudden turn of events.

"Damnit....so they have sensed us..." He sighed, "I was afraid of that." He turned to the rest of the group, "Alright everyone. If they're splitting up, then we are too. Each of us will take one of them."

"I got Sasuke!" Naruto called, raising a clenched fist with a small smirk. Hinata couldn't help but smile a little at his enthusiasm.

"That's the plan." Kakashi pulled off his pack, digging through it and extracting the small radio set. "We'll use radios to stay in contact, the frequency is 214. Hinata, we're counting on you to guide us, alright?" By now all of them had gotten their own radio systems out. Hinata nodded as she reached up and clipped the mouthpiece to the inside of her headband. Her Byakugan still activated, Hinata used her finger to give the others a heading after the radios were in place.

"One is approximately 800 meters that way."

"I got em." Chouji replied, and launched himself in that direction.

"Another is about 540 meters that way, near the river." She pointed. Kakashi nodded and disappeared, leaving Naruto and Hinata.

"What about Sasuke?" He asked anxiously, making Hinata smile.

"We are headed that way." She replied, pointing almost directly behind the blond. He looked at her, confused.

"We?"

"For some reason, one of them is still with Sasuke." She answered, blushing a little, "It seems we'll be fighting together, Naruto-kun." The boy grinned.

"Alright! Let's go!!" He cheered, and the two of them vanished into the leaves.

"Are you sure, Sasuke?" The redhead asked, "Shouldn't I leave too?"

"No, Karin." Sasuke told her again, "I need you. It's part of the plan." The girl found herself blushing quite a bit at the words 'I need you.' She certainly wasn't complaining at getting some alone time with the boy, but she still didn't understand the reasoning behind it. But, she fell silent, and contently sat on the large rock next to Sasuke while they waited for their prey. Sasuke's senses were on high alert, listening for any sound or movement. From the sound of it, Naruto's group had someone with them that could sense the location of his group. His heart burned with anticipation of fighting the fox-boy.

He had split the group up because he knew that Naruto's group would sense that, and do the same. He wanted to fight Naruto himself. So silently, he willed Naruto to be the one that came after him, and not someone else. He could only trust that the tracker in the other team could sense precisely where Sasuke himself was, and as such ensure that Naruto is the one to go after him. As for his plans for Karin, he didn't want to underestimate the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails like last time, so just in case something happened, Karin's special ability would come in handy. Even if it meant that another person would probably show up with Naruto, as long as his old comrade appeared, Karin could handle the other person.

"Where is he, Hinata?" Chouji spoke into his radio receiver. There was a pause, but soon a soft voice replied.

"Turn a little more to your left." Hinata directed. Chouji did so. "Okay, your target has stopped moving. Keep going straight and you'll find him."

"Alright, thanks!" He replied cheerfully.

"You're welcome. Good luck, Chouji-kun!" The girl said nicely.

"What about mine, Hinata?" A calm, cool voice further drew Hinata's attention.

"Um...Yours hasn't moved either, Kakashi-sensei. He's still by the river, a little to the right."

"Got it." The jounin's voice crackled over the radio, and with that, Hinata's ear piece fell silent.

"Hinata-chan." Naruto said after another moment. Her kekkei genkai faded, Hinata looked ahead at the orange boy.

"Hm?" She answered.

"Do you really think it'll work?" Naruto asked. Hinata's mind went back to last night. Naruto and Hinata had trained all through Naruto's shift and again that morning on a particular move Hinata had come up with, specifically a combination move between the two of them that she had saved for when and if they ever were together. She still had trouble believing that in between the campfire last night and right now, Naruto had gone from her crush, to her full-fledged boyfriend. Her heart was still buzzing with that fact, while Naruto seemed as calm as ever. But that fact only made her like him more.

"Yes, I believe so." She answered solidly, smiling as she watched him. He glanced back and slowed a bit until the two of them were speeding through the trees side-by-side.

"So, you've arrived." The ground practically rumbled at the red-clad Akimichi boy landed on one knee, his fist causing the ground below it to crumble. As he stood, he cracked his knuckles in anticipation and examined his foe. It was a tall man, and a long cloak covered his entire body. His eyes seemed kind enough, but something about them made Chouji uneasy. As if there was death hiding just beneath the surface of those smiling eyes.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Juugo." The man greeted. "What's yours?"

"Akimichi Chouji." The boy replied. The formalities were friendly enough, but his fists remained clenched, ready for the first move.

"I'm sorry, Chouji," Juugo continued, smiling kindly, "But I'm going to have to kill you."

"That's Momochi Zabuza's sword. Don't tell me you went and robbed his grave." The hybrid sharingan wielder landed in the field, straightening casually. The young man Kakashi's red eye was staring at had white hair, his arms folded, several water bottles at his waist, and a confident smirk that failed to hide his unnaturally razor sharp teeth.

"A sword this great, like I was going to leave it laying around." He laughed a bit, "What an honor...Not only do I get to fight the great Copycat Ninja of Konoha, but I also get to fight the same guy Zabuza-senpai fought. Before I kill you, you simply have to tell me how I compare with the original owner of this sword." He then drew the weapon, holding it in front of him to emphasize his point. Kakashi smiled under his mask.

"Will do...Suigetsu."

"Ah! They're here!" Karin suddenly cried out, her arm lifted, ending in an extended finger pointing in front of her. Sasuke followed her gesture just as a flash of orange and a flash of lavender appeared from the trees. Smiling, he stood up on the rock, and looked down upon his opponents.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" He greeted with mock sincerity, "Naruto."

The orange ninja didn't show any signs of anger, nor did he shout out at the boy on the rock. He stood firm, his arms at his side, staring up at the last remaining Uchiha. However, Hinata could see the anger boiling just underneath the surface. But the fact that he was controlling it, at least for the moment, made her heart warm with amazement at his strength. She too, had expected him to shout out, but he didn't...he only said one word.

"Sasuke."