(The Forest of Death)
The ground below rumbled as almost all the earthbound fauna within a two mile radius able to run, slither or hop stampeded with reckless abandon towards the other end of the forest. The relationship between predator and prey, defined by thousands of years of coevolution, was broken as each animal fended for itself, driven by the stronger and deeper instinct to flee in the face of a superior threat.
Leaping from one tree branch to another Sakura was thankful she wasn't swept up in the chaos below, the collective fear so strong she could taste it on her tongue, pungent and sour like urine.
But still, she couldn't help but be spurred on as another invisible wave of unadulterated malice washed over her, sending shivers up her spine and striking terror into her heart. The shivering complimented the unshakable sense of foreboding that settled at the bottom of her stomach like a cold lump of sludge. Her skin itched while her insides felt prickly and hot, while another bout of nausea assailed her.
On top of that was the feeling that Naruto was at the center of it all, in the eye of tornado, unable to escape without being swept away like a dust bunny sucked up by in a massive vacuum.
In the distance an unearthly roar rolled through the forest, the fifth in an infrequent series of hellish snarls, followed by clouds of squawking birds erupting from the canopy.
However terrified the birds were, Sakura was even more afraid for the inhuman snarl was familiar to her ears, a horrible growl that jolted her awake from poorly remembered nightmares, desperately clutching at sweat soaked bed sheets that had been knocked aside by her unconscious thrashing.
She had prayed that the inhuman growl was just a recurring terror fabricated by her dreaming mind, but it seemed like her prayers had been for nothing but pleas based on false hope.
"Something's wrong, terribly wrong. I can feel it in my bones. Please let Naruto be okay." Sakura thought.
"Leave him. It's better off he dies here, alone and without aid." Her second voice said eagerly, but clearly just as frightened, if not more.
A second mighty bellow, louder than its predecessor, heralded yet another great migration of avian organisms, except this time around the monstrous call sounded more like the pained death rattle ripped from the throat of defeated predator rather than that a victorious and rampaging beast.
As if sensing the change the trio of blonde clones leading them, (the rest had all withdrawn back into the forest about fifteen minutes ago in one large squad), who had appeared to grow more haggard and pale merely the farther they traveled, suddenly bent in half like they being suddenly gutted, two of them dispelling without warning while the other crashing into a tree branch it could have easily leaped over.
The kunoichi abruptly came to an awkward halt, staring at where the replicas had vanished and nearly skidding off the branch she landed on.
Sensing he wasn't being followed, Sasuke turned to look at the girl standing with her jaw clenched.
"Come on Sakura we don't far to go. The tower is less than two kilometers away."
"I'm not going." She said quietly, barely audible above the wild stampeded below.
"What do you mean you're not going?" asked the Uchiha, nervous but hiding it the best he could.
Like her, he had heard the receding cry of bloodlust and felt the intangible current of demonic blood freezing hunger shear through him. But, unlike her, he was spurred on by the monstrous call, eager to flee to the alleged safety of the tower, away from the unseen horror that made him recall those imagined gates of hell and the ravenous monstrosities that waited beyond.
He was willingly to travel to ends of the earth to escape it, but he needed to take Sakura with him, or else there definitely would be hell to pay.
"I'm not going." Sakura repeated, her voice gaining confidence as she stood her ground and crossed her arms. "I'm going to help Naruto. He's in trouble, I can feel it and I bet you can feel it too, can't you?"
The avenger forced himself to look the girl in the eyes and visibly strained to put on his most convincing smile.
It was painfully obvious he was out of practice.
"I think he's doing just fine. He knows how to stay out of trouble . . ."
" . . . When he isn't causing it." Sasuke left unsaid.
Sakura didn't look convinced. "He could be hurt or worse. Besides his clones dispelled and he said that only happens when he's running low on chakra or it's disrupted somehow, which has never happened before. At least not while we we're around."
"He could've dispelled them consciously to save chakra." Sasuke quickly shot back.
"Why would he need to save chakra? We both know he's got way more then Kakashi-sensei? Besides, what about how tired the clones looked? I may not be an expert on clones Sasuke, but I know when someone looks sick, that means something is wrong. And those clones looked like they were on verge of dying, which in fact, they did. You saw it just like I did."
"That could have been . . . indigestion."
Sakura frowned and gave the sternest glare she could muster hoping the Uchiha would buckle under her emerald glare. True her mother was still teaching her the infamous "Haruno Stare" and she had a long way to go before mastering it, but it was worth a shot.
Fortunately her attempt seemed to be working for Sasuke turned his head avoiding eye contact.
"Sakura we have to get to the tower." He said finally.
"I'm sure we can find him and make it to the tower in time." Sakura said, trying to use logic, "Besides you heard what that crazy purple haired woman said. We have to enter the tower as a team or else we can't move on."
Sasuke walked towards the pink haired girl and gripped her shoulder, briefly considering putting her under genjutsu, but quickly dismissed the notion since it would be a waste time and energy . . . not to mention she'd probably break within moments of being ensnared.
"Listen Sakura, I promised Naruto I would get us both to the tower and things would be explained there. I'm just as clueless as you are. Now come on."
Sakura narrowed her eyes and shook off his hand, taking a few steps back to distance her from him.
"What did you talk about with Naruto when I was checking supplies that he couldn't tell me?"
Sasuke gave a half-assed shrug trying to look naïve, but failing, "Nothing important. You know just . . . guy stuff."
She could tell he regretted using that excuse because it didn't take a prodigy to notice how lame it sounded.
"Then I have nothing more to say to you Sasuke-kun." Said Sakura, huffing as she turned on her heel and prepared to leap.
She heard him start to run after her, sandaled heels gently striking wood and was moment away from telling him off when a massive shadow loomed over her head and suddenly the world as she knew it seemed to explode with a deafening crack, lurching upwards in a sickening tumble head over heels.
She had little time to register that her body was being flung forward, briefly feeling the contents of her stomach enter freefall, before gravity kicked in and she started to fall, quickly attaining at terminal velocity.
"Ten meters per second, that's how fast I'm falling. It's funny, I never thought of myself as the flying type. It's surprisingly nice" She thought with a distracted, her mind momentarily overcome shock.
"Shake it off baka we're going to die!"
The distressed yell awoke her from her shocked induced state of quasi-leisureliness as the jittery image of the ground rapidly swelled before and instantly she was overcome by the fear of becoming a bloody shattered husk crushed own weight.
Her panic motivated her to act. She quickly straightened her body and brought hands together in a short series of hand signs.
She sucked in air and waited with lungs ready to burst as she continued to tumble downwards. For her harebrained plan to work she needed the timing to be perfect or else . . . well there wouldn't be an "or else" because she would be dead.
Approximately three seconds before she was destined to collide with the unforgiving plot of earth she let loose a loud belch releasing the large sphere of compressed air she was holding at where she estimated her landing point would be.
Predictably the rippling ball of air hit the ground first at an angle and as planned it burst in a gust of wind. And, just as planned, Sakura's body was hit by the backlash before landing, slowing her descent down enough that when her body did hit, it bounced, clumsily for several meters/
She finally came to a rough and undignified stop among some bushes at the other side of clearing she entered, groaning and trying not to move any part of her body.
She groaned, happy to still be among the living, though it felt like she could be mistaken.
Grunting, she began to assess the damage by running a simple diagnosis performed by circulating chakra through body.
Her left wrist was sprained, along with her right ring and pinky fingers; a few slivers of wood were sticking out of her back, not deep enough to cause pain but still a hindrance. Her wounds, in addition to the various scrapes and bruises covering the entirety of her frame, left her feeling like shit.
Miraculously though, none of her bones appeared to be broken but she didn't want to risk it by moving.
Sakura slowly turned on her side and was in the middle of removing the splinters when she heard a voice shout from high above in the trees.
"Hey bitch! You still alive! Scream if you are!"
Sakura jerked at the feminine voice coming from above her, muffled by the distance but still loud and clear. A moment something large landed the ground sending tremors through the dirt and causing leafs and debris flying everywhere.
Fearful, Sakura unconsciously suppressed her chakra and peeked from underneath the foliage.
Less then fifty feet away from her stood a giant ogre. She wished she had a better word to describe the thing hunched on its knees, maybe the word "monster" or the phrase "nightmare come to life" fit better but it made little difference. It was here in the flesh and it looked angry.
The giant fiend was dressed in black shirt and pants, long white hair covered its eyes, and in two hands it wielded kanabōs the length of four maybe five men, while with the other two hung limp at it sides.
Perched on its shoulder was a girl with long dark pink hair dressed in a dull green vest, grey arm bands, and loose grey pants. On her head she wore a headband with a musical note imprinted on it under a dark blue skull cap. Though Sakura couldn't see very well with the bush she was hiding under partially blocking line of sight, it seemed like the girl seemed to be favoring her right side as she glowered at the area below her.
The stranger started to play a haunting melody with what looked like a simple flute while the monster grunted and pawed at the ground with its free hands pulling up saplings and huge clumps of dirt like a living bulldozer.
"I'm not going to repeat myself." The girl yelled, taking her mouth off her instrument, her summon stopping the moment she did, "Either you come out now or I'll hunt you down. Coming out will save both of us time, and I might go easy on you."
Time passed and the ogre continued tearing up the landscape as it were made of paper while the kunoichi riding it seemed to grow agitated and restless.
Finally, after two minutes the kunoichi stopped what she was doing and shouted:
"Alright, it's clear you've decided to remain hidden. Don't blame me for what happens next."
With that said the female jumped off the ogre's shoulder and continued playing the flute. The ogre opened its mouth, revealing a massive set of crooked and snaggled teeth, and a phantom with multiple mouths of its own, all lips thin and cracked, wriggled out like a transparent worm.
It experimentally squirmed in the air, apparently relishing in it's freedom from captivity, while its host remained motionless. Then all the mouths lining the phantom smiled at once and it snaked its way along the soil like a ghostly serpent, at first directionless but after awhile an internal compass must of kicked in for it headed straight towards where Sakura was hiding under her leady shelter.
Sakura held her breath and began to slowly inch deeper into the foliage as the apparition within a creature came closer and closer to her position, seeming to become more eager the shorter the distance between them became.
Suddenly there was a stirring in the bushes besides the leaf genin who nearly jumped out of her skin at the noise. Then, in the blink of an eye, an object the size of a football scurried out of the shrubbery on four stubby legs.
The "Ghost Worm" as the hiding kunoichi had decided to call it, paused then surged forward with surprising speed, swerving to meet the animal head on. Without a sound it passed through the young raccoon, proving the eerie parasite had no mass of its own.
The furry critter shivered as if caught in suddenly caught in cold spot, and then with a small squeak it collapsed and rolled over, dead or at very least unconscious.
The green eyed girl stared in horror. She couldn't afford to let that thing catch her or it would game over without a doubt. The problem with her plan was that "Ghost Worm" was now headed in her direction and gaining momentum.
Thinking quickly, Sakura gritted her teeth and erupted from the bush, leading a handful of regular bunshins mixed earth clones following her lead.
The flautist didn't seem surprised by the sudden outburst and continued playing, but drastically increased the pitch of the tempo until it became a hellish drone that drilled the ear drums.
The worm drew back like a cobra then suddenly lashed out, passing through six of the bunshins, a third of the total number, like derailed freight train. The intangible clones soundlessly dissipated, as if their death had descended upon them too suddenly to comprehend.
The original Sakura at the edge of the herd of lookalikes ran faster, discreetly weaving in and out of the herd, carefully to not actually touch any of the projections in order to keep her location hidden until the time was right.
The multi-mouthed phantom creature drew back and was prepared to strike again when the mob of pink haired young women doubled then tripled in number.
Again the pitch of the music changed, dipping back to the previous tone, and all of its mouths snapped shut at once then the worm was dispelled into thin white mist while its host closed its jaws and sprang into action, wiping out two rows of bunshins with one wide swing of its mighty club with savage war cry befitting a creature of its twisted nature.
In response the horde dispersed into three man teams, a third of them running circles around the monster the beast, the few earth clones throwing kunai and shuriken and launching the occasional water bullet while the regular clones ran between the beast's legs yelling and screaming nonsense, adding to growing chaos on the forest floor.
The remaining two thirds of the group quickly formed a half circle around the kunoichi from The Village Hidden in the Sound, then without further instruction, charged, baring down on their target like a true army.
Unfortunately, their target wasn't cowed by the collective assault. Showing off a surprising amount of dexterity and skill, the flute player didn't stop performing even as she spun like a ballerina, her feet constantly whipping up to strike any clones that came too close or when she gracefully leaned sideways to avoid sharpened projectiles threatened to pierce her flesh. Initially it seemed pointless, but the girl was slowly thinning out the assembly and backing away towards the edge of the clearing, to the safety of the forest beyond.
Suddenly the melody changed, altering from a frantic almost frenzied war beat to low pitched whistling sound, so distorted and unrhythmic in its irregular hazy pace, that it could easily a have been mistaken for the demented howling of tortured souls rising from the bowls of hell to share tales of their agony with the living.
The ogre stopped, the tune bending its subservient will no longer filling the air and it wasn't the only affected by the change.
Beneath its unsightly eyeless visage the hollering replicas stood spellbound. Then like the insubstantial imitations that they were, a majority lost their façade of substance, fading away like mirages. The few that actually were constructed from physical matter, and thus did have substance, slumped over and crumbled back into mounds of dirt.
One by one, then two by two, the mob green eyed young women in the grass covered area enclosed by twisted trees disappeared.
All except one lone figure, on the verge of collapse.
Sakura stumbled and strained against the metal chains binding her wrists and ankles as she desperately tried to claw her way to her opponent's bare throat.
She knew the restraints were merely her adversary's chakra bolstered imagination invading her mind, but the mind, almost never used to a tenth of its full potential was powerful in what it could do, thoroughly proven by the sharp pain she felt as the imaginary shackles bit into her wrists causing her knees to quiver and bend.
Finally she fell to her knees as her adversary calmly walked over, her stride brimming with confidence and smooth face adorned with the gloating grin of a conqueror.
"Now normally I'd just beat the shit out of you then, but I think it's fair that I kill you since that fucking blonde teammate of yours killed that fatass Jirbou. Sure, that sorry tub of lard had it coming but he was still part of the team and his death is really going to fuck up the "team dynamic" shit we had going, you know?" The smiling girl didn't wait for her captive to reply as she tugged Sakura's leaf entangled long hair, the bun having fallen apart in the crash landing, allowing the long strands to fall down her back in a grimy mess. "But of course you don't understand. You're nothing but weak little girl who cares more about her looks then being a kunoichi. I hate bitches like you, wasting space and resources, nothing better then cannon fodder and most of the time you manage to fuck up even that simple task. And besides, Orochimaru-sama said that we couldn't kill the Uchiha but he didn't say shit about his teammates."
Pulling a kunai out of the pouch hanging around her waist the kunoichi hailing from the Village Hidden in the Sound plunged the metal instrument into her captive's chest, deep enough that it doubtlessly pierced her victim's heart.
The kneeling pink haired girl gurgled as she coughed up blood, arms still hanging limply in mid air.
"My name's Tayuya by the way. Remember that name when you're burning in hell."
Tayuya grinned in satisfaction and wiped the murder weapon on the other girl's red dress.
But to her surprise the knife met little resistance and sluggishly passed through the dress like it were made of molasses.
The supposedly dying girl smiled ghoulishly as she lunged forward and tried to grab the shocked girl by the throat.
Tayuya easily fended off the attack, but cried out in pain as she felt something hard ram into the back of her skull sending her sprawling forward into the dirt.
The older girl groaned as she felt fingers eagerly groped and wrestle the flute from her right hand.
"Who's the weak bitch now, eh? Oh and by the way, my name is Sakura, Haruno Sakura." Sakura questioned, kicking the downed body three in the ribs.
She watched in sadistic glee as the member of Orochimaru's elite force groaned and crawled on scraped hands and knees to escape further punishment.
Sakura was more then happy to continue kicking her opponent, but that wasn't her main objective.
"I'll have to thank Kabuto for that "lesson" in genjutsu."
"Yes, and when we meet him again we'll teach him a lesson of out own. A lesson of pain and humility."
Ignoring the whisper, Sakura wiped the stolen flute on her dress, pursed her lips together and began to play
(Tayuya)
The foul mouthed young woman recognized the piece to be a piss poor rendition of "Hana had a Little Lamb" and in other situation would have scoffed at such a shitty performance, except right now the childish song filled her with fear as she heard heavy footsteps make their towards her.
What few knew about her demonic summons were that weren't actually real "summons" per se, but actually extensions of her chakra while the flute, carved out a special metal found on the coast of Kiri and forged in fires Kumo, served as a way for her to mold her chakra into physical shapes and to control the resulting creations. Another little known fact was that her "ogres" were controlled more by intent rather simple musical notes or rhythm, which simply was used to help her focus and make the movement her chakra monsters more streamlined and less jerky.
The problem was that right now Tayuya didn't possess the flute, and thus did not have it to help her manipulate the beast lumbering her way.
Head throbbing and vision blurry she stumbled to the left avoiding the giant hands attempting to snatch her up.
She turned to face her own creation turned against her and focused with all her might as it raised its signature kanabō raised high up in the air and swung it down fast enough that it whistled like a miniature comet of death and mountain crushing destruction.
The deadly blow that would have turned her organs into pulp never made contact. Instead a large cloud of smoke filled the air, lingering where the mighty ogre had once been.
Tayuya's sigh of relief turned into murderous glare as she faced the other kunoichi.
"I guess you underestimated me, huh?" Said Sakura with a smirk, trying to hide her surprise while she tucked away the flute into her pocket.
However, her smirk would soon change into an gape of horror as watched the older girl close her eyes and with a unladylike snort transform before her eyes.
Clenching her fists, Tayuya threw off her cap and focused inwards, drawing upon the power of the seal permanently inked into her right shoulder.
Heeding the call, the seal shined with a fiery light, black markings rapidly spread across the surface of her skin from head to toe like a living tattoo. Quickly she felt herself entering the stages of level two for the first time, her chakra coils expanding with the onrush of energy, skin beginning to thicken, muscles bulging, and her skull beginning to reshape itself to accommodate the new calcified growths.
So powerful was the influx of power, every leaf and twig in a ten foot radius rose into the air that crackled with energy, hovering for few seconds before abruptly being pushed away by the invisible exertion of force as the transformation reached its apex.
But with that surge came a dull pain, originating in left leg, comparatively petty when matched against ache of transformation, but still there.
In her lust for revenge against the "weak bitch" Tayuya ignored the ache, tugging stronger at the eager strings sent by the curse seal.
Unbeknown by her, that decision would cost her dearly later on.
When Tayuya looked up and could see mirrored in her enemy's fearful gaze that the metamorphosis had caused her skin to darken to the color of burnt umber, while her hair had grown longer lightened to shade of pink and her irises had changed from chocolate brown to a dull rings of gold, in contrast the color of the sclera had inverted from white to pitch black. Even more radical then change in skin and eye color were the twisting trio of horns that grew from her scalp almost like those of a moose.
She flexed her arms and legs, pleased at the taught bands muscles that rippled beneath her skin, practically begging to be used in violent combat.
While impressed by how she had morphed physically, she was even more delighted to feel the hot river of chakra that hummed in coils just below the surface.
Never before had she felt this strong, this magnificent, this Alive.
Drinking in the fear she saw in the other girl's eyes, Tayuya cracked her knuckles and gave a smile that would have made the devil quake in his hoofs.
"I admit I underestimated you. But I promise I will not make that same mistake again, you scrawny cunt."
Dashing forward with a fresh burst of speed Tayuya feinted to the left but quickly changed course to the right and shot out her right fist shot in a haymaker meant to break her opponent's nose.
The bitch saw the punch coming and leaned back to avoid it, but reflexes couldn't seem to keep up and as a result and some of the momentum behind the blow was transferred into her jaw.
Tayuya saw Sakura throw up her arms to protect her face and so viciously struck with a hard knee to the girls stomach, satisfied by the involuntary gasp of air she heard escape from her victim's mouth.
Sakura was quick to recover and tried to use her smaller frame and greater agility to her advantage, the key word being "tried" as Tayuya relentlessly pounded the girl with everything she had, not relenting for a single second as her enemy whimpered beneath the barrage of blows.
"Not laughing now are you, you little bitch!" Tayuya roared landing a solid hit in Sakura's right flank, just above the kidney.
Sakura sputtered, and in move not entirely performed by her alone, recklessly dropped her guard and ran forward, crashing into Tayuya and driving her into the dirt.
"Get the fuck off me you shiteating cunt!"
Blind rage and the need to destroy the little whelp somehow managing to pin her to the ground was all that Tayuya could feel, as sweat coated every inch of her mutated body. Her wrath was like a fever that would drive her insane if she didn't quell it and she knew without a doubt that only way soothe the violent storm of anger whirling inside was to beat this no name kunoichi who had made a fool of her, senseless, and that was exactly what she planning to do.
Her arms restrained, Tayuya's sank into her teeth into the other girl's right cheek and then her neck relishing in the hot coppery taste of blood that splashed down her throat. She then drew upon that boiling ocean of rage and in a display of near herculean strength she broke the grip on her arms and sent the Leaf kunoichi tumbling into the dirt several yards away.
The savage display of strength wasn't over as Tayuya jumped to her feet, rushed over and grabbed Sakura by the ankles then proceeded to swing the twitching body like a piece of food stuck to the blades of a blender. A spike of cold was felt somewhere below her waist but the blood drunk Tayuya brushed aside without a thought.
"I HAVE THE POWER!"
"RRRRAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHH!"
The tremendous war cry signaled the release of Tayuya's mighty hold and subsequently brutal and inelegant flight of the Haruno girl.
Sakura's body hit the trunk of the tree back first with muted thud and a sharp crack, momentarily sticking to the bark like a wad of wet paper towel then falling off in a crumpled heap. There was now no question of whether or not the member of Team Seven had broken any bones, but how many were now left unbroken.
Tayuya wasn't done yet though. She needed a complete and utter guarantee that her target was completely and utterly destroyed to the point of certain death and beyond, nothing but an unrecognizable corpse and bits of smashed brains clinging to her callous covered knuckles.
Ready to make another dash forward, Tayuya was two steps into her deadly sprint when her legs suddenly gave out on her and she clumsily fell forward.
Confused Tayuya tried to stand but was met with the new sensation that had come with her entering of stage two of the curse seal, which was now back in full force and quickly making its presence too obvious to disregard.
What had started out as a dull throbbing sensation in left calf was now best described as a poisonous chill seeping into the marrow of her bones and her lower extremities until they were almost completely numb with it. In the meantime the white hot power of the curse seal continued its ravenous circuit through her system while the freezing sense of deadness below her waist seemed to consume the heat and grow stronger in influence.
In retaliation the curse seal converted more of the girl's chakra into its own potent but unstable form of chakra; the heat produced raising Tayuya's internal temperature to dangerous levels and forcing her sweat glands into overdrive.
With her mouth feeling like it was stuffed with cotton Tayuya growled and tried to crawl but her legs wouldn't budge, instead throbbing in icy deadness in tandem with her heart. She tried to power through the lack of feeling, but to no avail, ironically only making herself hotter with her efforts, but the simple logic was buried underneath the teenager's fury.
"You spineless little slut! What the fuck did you do to me!"
The "spineless little slut" didn't answer. She simply laid there, head bent to the side and trickles of blood flowing freely from the corners of her bruised lips.
On her left forearm, her hitai-ate gleamed defiantly in the light of the afternoon sun, a little bent but otherwise a steadfast symbol of the village Tayuya had infiltrated.
"I wish that every hopeless dopeface shithead in this village burns to a crisp like leaves in a fucking bonfire." Tayuya seethed mentally, "Especially this cunt and that dickhead blonde, wherever fuck he is, with his fetish for annoying ass clones!
"Annoying ass clones" was the least of the ways she could describe the squad of blue eyed imitations. They were also mind numbingly infuriating, fucking irritating, and a bunch of dickeating ass-diddling scrotumsucking bunch of smegmalickers. The way they absolutely refused to be hit, dodging and leaping like a pack of fucking monkeys.
Nevertheless they had all met there end good and proper, three of them had died by her very own hands. She had been especially brutal to the one that had punched in the ribs and grabbed her leg in a futile attempt to break it . . .
Tayuya stopped her growling. She bent her head to the side and looked at her outstretched left leg, hiking up the pant leg as she did.
There, right above her ankle, was a series of symbols in a circular design around her calf and spiraling upwards, pulsing and shimmering blue like an emergency light during an evacuation.
That was it! The motherfucking clone had done this to her!
Her beast like snarl returned with a vengeance, twice as loud and filled with dounle the anger.
She thrashed and howled, wildly ripping out patches of grass with abandon like the child a riled fighting dog bred with a lawnmower. In a matter of seconds she was out of breath and panting, her body physically burned out in contrast to the fury that still burned in her veins.
Tayuya used that unwanted reprieve to focus her resentment inwards. Now that she was still she realized that it was getting difficult to breathe, the numbness having crept its way up to her neck.
The curse seal now felt like a brand, a scorching island of fire surrounded by a pool of cool water. She had been warned of consequences of expending too much energy while using the curse seal, especially while in throes of stage two. Advice she had promptly ignored upon hearing it.
Tayuya locked her hate filled glare on the other young woman. Knowing she would need a clear head to overcome the both seals, she worked on fighting the spreading influence of the second one.
(Sakura)
Sakura watched with one eye propped open as her muscular opponent appeared to be having a stroke, something Sakura anxiously wished was true. She would have enjoyed seeing the sight with both eyes but it felt like much of an effort to pull of at the moment.
If the sheer miracle of the relatively painless result of her first wild landing was a favor by some deity looking on her from up high, then the she state she was in know was that deity's cruel way of withdrawing that favor without said deity directly appearing in front of the pink haired girl and telling her directly.
There was internal bleeding, that much she knew for certain, other than the fact that spine had snapped or at least misaligned since she could get nothing more than a sporadic twitch when she tried to move her legs. She prayed that the damage was only temporary and that her left arm, which at the moment felt like her bones had been replaced with glass rods then smashed thoroughly, would heal.
Her other arm seemed to be better shape, but like the rest of body (especially her midsection where the bruises were most prevalent), it throbbed and ached something terrible. She had tried focusing her chakra into it so she could try and heal the damage, but only managed to make herself woozy with the effort. To make matters worse, the very act of breathing was agony igniting the fractured hell that pulsed inside her.
"So this is it how my life ends? Alone, beaten, possibly paralyzed and talking to myself untll I die a pitiful death."
Salty tears rolled down Sakura's cheeks as she began to sob at her misfortune. The realization that she couldn't move her arms to wipe away that tear only cemented how hopeless she felt. It had been clear every since she had decided to be a ninja that she might one day die on the battlefield, a grim prophecy repeated over and over again in pamphlets, textbooks and morbid statistics, but facing the reality that she might actually die was an experience she couldn't have readied herself for through any written exam or quiz.
"I'm too young to die. I have so many things left to do. I have make things right with Ino, I have laundry to wash, I have to say sorry to my father for yelling at him, I have to go grocery shopping with my mother this Friday . . . oh Kami my parents! What's going to happen to them!"
"Sleep, and rest our body." Whisperedthe now familiar voice in her mind which, unusually quiet until this point.
"What about Sasuke? What about Naruto? Kakashi-sensei, Ino, Hideyoshi-san!
"Sleep, and I will end the pain." The voice repeated.
"Who's going to replace me on the team? Where will I be buried? What's going to happen to my stuff? Will anyone visit my grave?"
"Sleep, and I will protect us."
In her growing panic Sakura wasn't aware of the quiet voice floating through psyche, she was too busy drowning in her own sorrow and envisioning of how life would go on without her.
So it wasn't much of a surprise when her eyes rolled back into her head, overwhelmed by the enormity of it all.
However, Sakura's eye didn't remain closed for long.
A sudden jerk and a spasm later both eyelids snapped open like window shutters in the midst of a powerful hurricane then closed again just as suddenly as they opened. Once disobedient legs trembled while the rest of the body they were attached convulsed violently. A change was going on, inside of the girl's mind and body, as mental and physical walls crumbled, heralding the release of forces long restrained and now free to roam the outside world.
Moist green eyes hardened and narrowed, deepening in color until they were a muddled brownish black tinged with a touch of crimson.
No longer in the driving seat, Sakura was unaware of the great upheaval taking place in her body and wouldn't be for several days to come.
(Tayuya)
Through sheer force of will Tayuya made the final push and forced the numbness and the curse seal down to a manageable level, but the effort had cost her dearly. Nearly out of chakra, she was left exhausted in every sense of the word and the transformation had reversed itself leaving her body in its original state, albeit very sore and aching.
Her timing couldn't have been better because a dull thud alerted her to the kunai that crashed into the dirt less then a foot away from her head.
Looking up she watched as her quarry stood up on two shaky legs and took a few tentative steps forward, like a babe learning to walk.
The metaphor would have been entirely appropriate had it not been for ghastly condition the other young woman was in. Clothes ripped and bloody, dirty hair matted down and entangled with twigs and leafs, bloody left arm twisted horribly and dangling uselessly to the side even as the right arm was shaking but cocked back in preparation to throw another dagger.
Tayuya flinched as her pupils met the other girl's, no longer seeing fear but a deep hunger for vengeance anchored by bitter hatred. Her flinch became an uncoordinated dive, that proved be a wasted effort because the knife once again fell short of its target.
"You will hurt us no longer. I will make sure of that."
Tayuya scrambled to her feet nearly falling down in the process but managing to stand upright.
"Is that so?" Tayuya said with a smirk, "Well bring it pinkie . . . if you have the balls."
The other girl didn't seemed fazed by the insult and quickly turned the tables with one of her own, "With an Adam's Apple like that, I think you're the man here. Or are you some sort of fucked up hybrid?"
Tayuya growled, body weak but temper flaring. After all, the size of her Adam's Apple was a sensitive topic for her. "Oh yeah you cocksucking flat-chested piece of shit! Say that to my fucking face!"
The bloody figure didn't reply instead limping forward as fast as she could manage, wobbling but determined. Tayuya growled then hobbled onward as well, her gait just as gawky yet unwavering in its course.
Tayuya was first to throw a punch, delivered at almost a snail's pace compared to the haymaker earlier, which "pinkie" awkwardly dodged, leaning back. Her one good hand swiftly came forward, middle and index finger extended to jab Tayuya in the eyes.
Temporarily blind, Tayuya swore, stumbled back and fell on her ass. She continued spewing curses like a vile fountain when a hand roughly grabbed her by the hair and yanked hard till it threatened to come out in clumps.
Struggling, she was thrown onto her back like a common whore. The air in lungs then forced through her mouth as a kick crashed into her side for the third time that day, followed by a pair of bony knees thrust aggressively into her abdomen.
"It looks like we're back where we started."
Breathless, Tayuya couldn't respond as a fist repeatedly smashed into her face until her head rang painfully like a bell in a windstorm.
She was thankful when the beating did cease, but the pain continued elsewhere as she felt fingers wrap around her throat and squeeze, compressing her windpipe and cutting off her supply of air.
A grim and dirty face with pursed bloodless lips became the center of Tayuya's attention, "Shush. Sleep now. It will all be over soon."
Tayuya resisted, gripping the arm with both of hers, trying to shake it off.
Her efforts were rewarded with the grip around throat tightening until she could her Adam's Apple being pressed into her spine and her head ready to burst from the increased blood pressure.
"It can't fucking end like this." She thought to herself, her sight slowly starting to become dim.
Just when things were looking bleak, the hand let go, allowing Tayuya to suck in air that had never before tasted so sweet.
She heard a cry of pain, a thump then a rustling noise behind her and then two hands grabbed her by the shoulders and hoisted her up onto unsteady legs.
"Are you alright Tayuya-chan?" A light male voice said into her ear.
"Don't fucking call me Tayuya-chan, fag." She replied with a wheeze, both annoyed and secretly relieved upon hearing the familiar voice.
"I see you've still got your bite, eh? I wouldn't be surprised if you had another set of teeth in your vag." The voice snickered.
"Shut up Ukon. I like your brother better"
Slowly the blurry filter covering her eyes lifted and she was able to see that her opponent writhing a couple of feet away bleeding from a fresh wound on her right side.
"It looks like bit off more then you could chew? Losing your touch maybe?" He handed her a soldier pill, lips carefully painted with turquoise lipstick upturned in mirth.
Tayuya decided to keep her mouth shut and swallowed the offered pill with a wince, appreciating the rush of energy she felt course through her. She could verbally rip him a new one later.
Putting aside the thought for later, she focused on the body lying in the grass. She wished that she time to really beat the shit out the scrawny cunt good and proper, but she was injured and there was the mission to think of.
She moved towards the soon to be corpse, but was stopped when finger tapped her on the shoulder.
"Let me take care of this one. I think you've seen enough action for today."
"Fuck you."
Sakon didn't get a chance to reply when the ground beneath their feet erupted in an explosion of dirt and sand.
Thanks to her excellent chakra control she had detected the subtle shift under her feet before the explosion and promptly leaped back.
Her partner however, wasn't so lucky.
The sand came alive and grabbed him by the feet, shrugging off his attempts to free himself before casually tossing him across the clearing like a rag doll in the hands of a sadistic child.
"What the fu-" was all Tayuya managed to say before she was submerged up to her nose in sand; the finely crushed grains pouring into her mouth and ears.
Before the mound of sand covered her head completely, she observed a girl with long red hair, chest heaving and muttering to herself while twitching erratically, walk over to the downed female she was moments from killing and crouch, staring at the body.
"I swear, if I live through this, I will kill every last fucking redhead on the planet."
(Somewhere Else In The Forest of Death)
The tiger, as big as a large rhino, roared as the shadow leaped high off of its branch up in the canopy.
When the figure was half way to the ground the massive feline took a leap of its own hoping to catch the two legged invader in its maw and promptly tear it to bloody chunks.
He was king of the northern section of the forest, and questionably the entire the forest, or at least he thought he was until the two monsters far above him on the food chain entered his territory and fought each other.
Weary of the monstrous presences he felt clash on his hunting grounds, Khan as he was called by his pride, had ran like a frightened kitten with the rest of the animals.
Initially the giant cat had been thrilled when it smelled the scents of many young "Two Legs" enter the forest; their scents flavored with fear and nervousness giving away their inherent inexperience and by default how weak they truly were.
All predators know weakness equates into easy pickings come mealtime.
And Khan had indeed enjoyed devouring the frightened younglings, three at a time, fifteen overall. He proved why he was master of all tigers by gracefully avoiding the hail of metal, fire and lightning thrown at him and then crushing their skulls without mercy.
Then the demons came and immediately destroyed his home, their epic struggle leaving behind a path of splinters and burnt remnants of a once beautiful clearing, causing the tiger king to flee in search of cover and ensure the safety of his pride.
That duel had reached the apex of intensity a short while ago and now two demons, "Two Legs/Snake Hybrid" and the "Two Legs/Fox Demon" had toppled to the ground mortally wounded.
And upon seeing his opportunity Khan had stalked over the unconscious "Two Legs/Fox Demon", avoiding the twitching snake monstrosity, its blood surely tainted with a variety of toxins.
Either way, he couldn't afford for the "Two legs/Fox Demon" to recover and return to steal his place as ruler, so killing it now would solve problems later down the road. Not to mention he might receive some of power infested in the mighty predator through devouring its flesh thus making him stronger then ever before . . .
However, before he could wrap his jaws around its skull, another "Two Legs", this one "normal" and seeming hardly more powerful than the younglings, had appeared ready to pounce and that's how the cat found itself in its current predicament.
Presently, the two fighters reached the point of colliding, Khan opening his mouth revealing an intimidating set of teeth each as large as a grown man's forearm and sharpened over years of hunting the a nearby wildlife, including giant bears and super sized centipedes.
Thoughts of victory were still coursing through the tiger's mind when "Two Legs" twisted its body in midair and unsheathed a long blade, which it stabbed into the tiger's stomach, allowing momentum to do the rest.
For a moment the two hung in midair, frozen in time and unaffected by gravited. Then the tiger continued rising while the "Two Legs" fell. They both eventually dropped to the ground, the human elegantly and the cat clumsily in a broken heap while it's innards along with a large measure of blood came crashing down around it, covering it's body and the surrounding area in thick red viscera.
The calm faced figure didn't hesitate to see that the tiger was dead instead running to the giant pale snake with a vaguely human face profusely bleeding black ichor through the gashes in its opaque white scales. The "Two Legs" ran its hands along the surface of the serpent beast, noting the missing right eye and smashed bottom jaw, probing for something within.
Convulsing the snake coughed violently and vomited a stream of smaller dead white snakes from its broken jaw.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on one's viewpoint, one tiny snake stirred among its dead fellows, weakly hissing before it lazily slithered up the new arrival's leg and wrapping itself around their neck.
Satisfied, the human adjusted its round pair of glasses and turned its attention to the other living creature in the clearing, a very large snake bite clearly displayed on its twitching torso, over its heart. What little surface area on the shaking body that wasn't exposed to open air was either burnt and peeled back or rapidly decaying and oozing puss and blood.
The stranger crouched down and was about to finish what the tiger had started when the snake hissed loudly in their ear, causing them to stop.
The person nodded as if understanding the serpent's "words".
"You're right Orochimaru-dono. He's as good as dead anyway, let him suffer for his arrogance."
A moment later both the snake and figure disappeared in a small whirlwind of leaves, leaving the blonde jinchuuriki to writhe and shudder on the scorched forest floor.
Five minutes ticked by before a crunching sound could be heard coming from behind a nearby tree. Then, like a timid mouse, a frail girl, lithe of frame and somewhat short in stature, stepped out and slowly approached the thrashing body, flinching when it unexpectedly jumped into the air due to a particularly severe spasm. She wore a black cloak with long sleeved, draw strings pulled tight so that that hood obscured her features similar to the figure that had stalked the area minutes before.
Finally, after coming within three feet of the shaking body, the female closed her eyes and extended her chakra, trying to find anyone in her immediate vicinity.
Relieved that she was alone, she gazed wearily at the sharp canines that glistened with discolored saliva under lips curled back in agony. Thin wisps of red chakra began to manifest around the body as she approached, content at first to lazily float like seaweed stirred about by ocean currents but then thickening and drifting towards her as they sensed her presence.
"Orders are orders." She thought grimly to herself.
Reluctantly, she put her hand forward, bearing the searing pain as the inch thick threads of chakra melted the fabric of sleeves and made contact with her pale skin.
Her delicate fingers were mere millimeters from touching the jinchuuriki's decomposing left cheek when a bloodshot eye, pure crimson obscuring the slitted black pupils, shot open and a grisly hand clamped down on her outstretched arm.
She screamed and struggled but the hand didn't let go, what little remaining muscles untouched by the corrosive venom bulging with effort.
The glistening set of teeth that had entranced her earlier suddenly filled the entirety of her vision framing a grotesque shrunken tongue, mushroom white in color and dry like a autumn leave.
Hot breath reeking of sickness and rotting meat assailed her nostrils, but, like a certain female before her, she was helpless to stop what happened next.
Ignoring her screams, a murder of giant crows descended from the sky and began to peck away at the carcass of the dead tiger, their pleased caws alerting their brethren to the feast at hand.
Yup, another cliffhanger. Sorry.
Now I've got good news and bad news . . .
The bad news is I'm uncertain when I'll be able to post the next chapter of A Deal With A Devil due to some time constraints in my schedule and some personal matters I have to deal with (I rushed to put this out early and tell you).
The good news is that I already have a very rough draft of the next chapter so you won't have to wait so long as I anticipate, in addition to some other stories I'm working on.
Oh and I have a new poll on my profile to help me decide the idea for my next story, so go and vote, every vote matters. I mean it!
P.S Thank you to all the people that took a moment to review my story. I know I haven't replied to all of them but I still appreciate the support.
Q: What's going to happen to Naruto?
A: He's okay for know. He'll (probably) pop up in the next chapter.
Q: And Sakura?
A: She's got her own problems to deal with.
Q: Why didn't Naruto receive memories of fighting the Sound Team?
A: Because he was too busy fighting Orochimaru to properly acknowledge the influx of new information.
Q: Who's the "Two Legs" and the girl?
A: Take some guesses, you may be right or you may be wrong. PM me your ideas.