TO THE REVIEWER WHO ASKED IF I COULD MAKE THIS STORY CANON WITH GAIDEN: I don't intend to do that with this story. But, I will make a one shot about that and inform you when that will be published.
Author's Note: I finally finished all that crap for school. That takes a lot of weight off my shoulders. I apologize if this chapter has more grammar errors or repeated words. I didn't have a lot of time to edit and I'm still behind on writing. Anyway, enjoy!
Sakura blinked rapidly as the bright light from the sunrise hit her eyes. At first, she was surprised at the warmth from another body against hers. Then, reminiscing over last nights events, she adjusted her head so that she could see if Sasuke was awake. As expected, he was. Something was different this time though. The Uchiha actually looked like he had gotten some rest.
"I was wondering when you would wake up," he said with a small smirk.
She smiled and blushed. He still had his arms wrapped tightly around her, much to her bewilderment. Even more to her astonishment, he showed no signs of letting go anytime soon.
"How long have you been up?" she asked as she moved out of his grasp to sit beside him. The reason she moved was because she was afraid that she was bothering him by being that close.
Sasuke was disappointed at the loss, but quickly discarded the feeling. "About half an hour."
They watched in silence as the sun continued to rise. This would be the last day for them to search their area before they headed to the location where everyone would meet up. Nothing had been out of the ordinary. So far...
Sasuke was still confused about his feelings towards Sakura. Every sign she mentioned last night had been true in his case. But, he couldn't possibly be in love, right? Also, he still wanted her to be in his arms and the loss was getting painful.
"When do you want to leave?" she asked, breaking the silence.
"Later."
"That's very descriptive..."
Sasuke scratched his head and looked the other way. He was becoming extremely upset with himself because of his desire to have her in his arms again. He debated over whether or not he should give in to his desires. Every ounce of his pride shouted no, but his mind and heart screamed yes. Instead of making a decision on that, he tried to keep his thoughts off of it by chatting.
"Do you think we'll find anything today?" he asked boredly.
Sakura thought hard for a moment. "It will be good if we do, but I'm kind of hoping that we don't because it might lead to a trap or something like that."
"Hn, I guess I agree."
They looked at the rising sun for a few more minutes. Sasuke was enjoying the cool breeze that repeatedly swept his bangs away from his Rinnegan. However, he hadn't noticed it because he was staring at Sakura. In fact, if he had noticed it, he wouldn't have cared because it gave him a better view of his teammate. The wind blowing through her hair and the sunlight reflecting in her eyes made her even more attractive than she already was. Sasuke turned away again and shook his head a couple of times. If he didn't stop now, it would almost certainly lead to him making himself look like a complete idiot.
"We should eat and start searching," he stated, trying to sound casual.
"Oh, sure," she replied.
Sasuke and Sakura were walking at a slow pace through the last section of their assigned area. It was around noon and they were almost done with their search.
Sasuke constantly twisted his head around, his Sharingan active along with his bandana wrapped around his head, fully revealing the Rinnegan.
Sakura was listening intently for any sudden noises and watching for any movement that was unusual.
After a couple more steps, the Uchiha suddenly felt like something was off. He narrowed his eyes and stopped with Sakura quickly copying his actions.
"What's wrong?" she questioned quietly.
He didn't answer as he twisted his head once more. Suddenly, he gasped and put a hand protectively in front of Sakura. At first she was confused, but knew exactly why Sasuke had taken the action when she heard a laugh from nearby.
"You again?" Sasuke questioned cautiously. The tone of his voice made it sound as if he already knew what was coming.
Another chuckle was heard. Then, about thirty feet away, a man stepped out from behind a large tree.
"Kenshi..." Sasuke announced with venom.
The master swordsman's appearance was different from the last time Sasuke had seen him. He was wearing a pair of baggy black pants. His shirt was sleeveless and a dark shade of grey. Both of his arms had tape on them in the exact way that Lee's were. The male's yellow hair was still as messy as ever, his scar the same as it had been. His brown eyes were half closed, perhaps from exhaustion.
"Nice seeing you again Uchiha."
Sakura narrowed her eyes. "So this is the other one who attacked Sasuke. But, he looks like a normal ninja. How is it that this guy gave Sasuke trouble last time?" As she continued to ponder, she put on her gloves and got into a battle stance.
Kenshi had a curious look on his face as he tilted his head towards her. "You must be Sakura Haruno, the medical kunoichi I've heard all about."
She had a visible look of confusion.
The scarred male smirked. "You'd be happy to know that Sasuke thinks about you ALL the time. We got that just by copying a few of his memories."
Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who looked to be unmoved by the other male's words.
The swords master turned his attention back to the Uchiha. "You know, she is pretty attractive. I can see why you think about her so much. I guess that I'll let her live and take her with me."
Sasuke tightly gripped the hilt of his chokuto. "Calm down. He's just trying to get in your head."
The kunoichi behind him was still noticeably shocked. "Does Sasuke really think about me that way? Focus!"
Kenshi was amused by the whole scene. "Hm, so it still seems like I can get under his skin when I talk about her. I wonder how far I can push it."
All of their thoughts were interrupted by a twig snapping at a close distance from the two members of Team 7. Sakura effortlessly turned around and punched the attacker in the nose, sending him flying into a gigantic tree trunk.
Kenshi sighed and facepalmed. "Why did Kurushimi have to make me take these guys?"
Sasuke and Sakura were awkwardly sharing a glance. That attack had been so basic and juvenile. It hadn't even been performed right.
Sasuke wondered to himself while keeping an eye on a disappointed Kenshi. "What's with this? First, Kenshi didn't even try to do any kind of ambush. He just walked out into the open without a care. Now, his teammate just blindly rushed out like that. The guy was slow and clumsy, too."
"Is this what your army's made of?" Sasuke asked mockingly.
A sigh. "Forget about that useless idiot. Your real problem is me."
The Uchiha planned for another minute until he sensed more intruders nearby. "Sakura-"
"I know."
"There's about thirty of them," he cautioned. Looking back, he saw her with an excited expression on her face.
"I can handle them by myself. You just worry about Kenshi."
He smirked. "Thirty against one? That seems a little unfair. For them."
She returned the smirk and Sasuke turned his gaze back to the main attacker. He widened his eyes and gasped. That look on the man's face had only been visible for an instant. But, it was almost as if it was a look of, sorrow?!
Kenshi had heard everything that the two shinobi were conversing about and how they joked even when they had so many attackers around them. "That was a lot like me and... her... used to be." He mentally cursed himself for wondering so foolishly. "How can I be thinking like that?! They both deserve to suffer horrible deaths!"
When the swordsman finished straightening himself out, he slowly pulled his katana out of its sheathe.
Sakura moved away from Sasuke, giving him room to make a move. He had decided that the area where they were currently located would be too small for a Perfect Susanoo. Even though he'd be completely shielded from Kenshi's attacks, he would not be able to get a good hit in the cover of all the trees. His final conclusion was to use half of a Susanoo if possible.
Just when the Uchiha was starting to be surrounded by purple, Kenshi was right in front of him slashing with the katana. The surprised ninja quickly dodged and the purple was gone.
Sakura's jaw dropped to the ground. "So he really is that fast... I still saw the outline of where he had been standing when he tried to hit Sasuke." She turned her head to look at her bewildered partner. "Can he really take him on by himself? What am I saying?! If anyone can beat this guy, it's definitely Sasuke!"
Meanwhile, the last of his clan was going over what had just happened and planning simultaneously. "Kenshi is even faster than last time. Hmph, what he doesn't know is that I've improved quite a bit as well."
His thoughts were interrupted by a laugh from their enemy. "Do you really think I don't know what you're trying to do Uchiha? You're trying to end it quick by using Susanoo. Well I've got some news for you. I don't plan on letting you use it anytime soon. Now, are we gonna have a real fight or not?!"
A short gust of wind came, making Sasuke's cloak move to the side as he unsheathed his chokuto. "Sakura, I'm counting on you to keep that promise on not doing anything stupid."
She grinned. "I will if you do."
With this, he showed one final smirk before turning to face his opponent, putting a serious look on his face. The Mangekyo shifted into place as they stared each other down.
The scarred male twirled his katana a few times. "I've been waiting for this rematch for about a year."
Sasuke positioned himself so that he was in a battle stance. "Then stop talking and let's fight!"
After another few seconds, they launched themselves at each other.
Sakura was left to stare in awe as they battled. Their strikes were so fast that she only saw blurs whenever they clashed, sparks flying with each one. After they had distanced themselves from her, she silently wished her partner good luck before turning to face the direction of where her battle would be held.
The Haruno adjusted her gloves one last time while she smirked and waited. "Who's first?"
Right after she had mocked them, all thirty or so shinobi came out from their hiding spots, surrounding the lone kunoichi. They each hurled some kind of weapon toward her. The weird thing was that about only a third of them were thrown straight, so she was left without a single scratch as she easily dodged what had been thrown her away.
"What's up with this?! Most of them can't even throw a shuriken of kunai straight! Is this some sort of strategy?!"
She returned to reality when three of them charged towards her. She swiftly dodged the first's punch and he nearly fell over from the effort. The second did the same as the first, but he ended up nailing his teammate in the face, making him fall to the ground.
Sakura quickly turned on her heel and nailed the second in the back of the head with a chakra filled punch, sending him sailing. The first got up and attacked again, the third joining in. Even though she was taking on two of them at the same time, it was so easy to dodge every punch and kick they threw. When one tried a slow punch, she grabbed his arm and twisted it, making him fall to his knees as she caught the other's leg. Holding them both with a tight grip, she forced chakra to both hands as she began to spin around at a fast rate. After she had decided that she had enough speed, Sakura let them both go and they crashed into the ground on opposite ends.
"Something's not right. That was way too simple."
Just as the words crossed her mind, a paper bomb went off behind her, but not close enough to actually do damage. However, it left her stunned, causing her to be oblivious to five more attackers jumping towards her. Each hit their mark, making her collapse to the ground and rethink her strategy.
A hail storm of kunai came next, forcing the kunoichi to weave around. After that was over, she threw down a smoke bomb and found cover behind some bushes to catch her breath. She only got a few seconds before the ground began to shake and all the trees, boulders, and everything that made the terrain uneven started to crumble away.
Hopping high into the air, she turned to face the sky and was caught by surprise when a wall of earth blocked her way. Before she could slam into the blocked spot, she twisted her body so that she landed on one of the walls that had formed on the sides. Sakura gasped when she saw that her and all of her attackers were completely closed in. Some of them had made special places that were ignited with fire, the only lights in the dark space. Gazing into the very back, the kunoichi had her eyes locked on the one who had cast the jutsu. He was currently holding it, a ram hand sign in place.
"Now I know what they're trying to do. They want to keep me busy so that I tire out. That's why he performed an earth style jutsu that keeps us all in one area. Unfortunately for them, I don't quit that easily!"
Sasuke huffed and glanced back to see the gigantic block forming around where Sakura was fighting. He didn't have anytime to do anything because, in the short instant that he looked back, Kenshi kicked his stomach and put a deep gash in his side with his blade.
"You shouldn't be worrying about her right now Uchiha. Your fight is with me!"
Sasuke held onto his side with one hand, the other holding the chokuto out threateningly. He tried to put his worry for Sakura out of his mind at the moment, deciding that she was perfectly capable of handling herself. He slowly moved his hand away from the wound on his side, anger starting to surge through him. The smirk on Kenshi's face only made his fury grow. Not hesitating any longer, Sasuke launched himself at his opponent with full force. The master swordsman managed to block every strike, struggling with each one. After a couple more strikes, their blades were locked together in a battle for power.
"I'll admit it Uchiha, you've definitely improved in terms of your speed. There's still no way you're gonna beat me though."
Sasuke pushed harder with his blade, forcing Kenshi to slide back a few inches. "You know, I've fought a swords master that can use eight swords at once."
The male with the scar put more force into his katana, evening out the battle once again. "Well, I only need one sword to beat you."
With this, they separated and Kenshi made a break for the trees, Sasuke close behind. Both put their blades back into their sheathes. As they jumped from branch to branch, they had a battle of taijutsu.
Kenshi continued to struggle with each dodge and block. He became even more frustrated when Sasuke swiftly blocked and dodged all of his attacks. "He can keep up with everything I do now! This stupid kid has even copied my speed if he's able to keep up with my movements like this! I CAN'T WAIT TO STAB OUT THOSE EYES OF HIS, ESPECIALLY THAT SHARINGAN! That's the only reason that he's keeping up with me..."
The light haired male finally managed to get his head straight, focusing more intently at the problem at hand. He had managed to stay calm and block the blows with more ease. They finally dropped to the ground and continued their battle of taijutsu. However, Sasuke was the only one on the offensive, not giving his opponent one opportunity to strike. He thought to himself, "This isn't working. I have to come up with something else."
A few strikes later, Kenshi smirked when he saw that the Uchiha's next move was a simple kick to the gut. He huffed in surprise when, in just a very short instant, the direction of his kick changed. The brown eyed man squeezed his eyes shut along with gritting his teeth as the foot connected with his chin, sending him flying.
Sasuke gasped for air and smirked with delight as the male landed, holding his bloody mouth and growling in pain and frustration.
Kenshi glared at the Uchiha when he looked up, still holding his jaw. "He's even copied some of my moves! Curse that Sharingan of his!" His eyes widened as he came to another realization.
"Using my own move against me huh... hehehe. You might be able to do that kind of thing for a little bit, but I can see it. It takes up a lot of stamina for you to do this, doesn't it?"
Sasuke hesitated to move for a moment. His breathing was very heavy. Kenshi was right about this taking a lot out of him, but... There was still a lot of things that the swordsman hadn't figured out yet. He was brought back to reality when Kenshi took his chance to attack.
The male smirked with pleasure when he made the man with mismatched eyes begin to struggle. "Ha! He's already worn out!" Next, he threw a punch that Sasuke caught with one hand. The moment Kenshi was about to throw another punch with his free hand, his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at a terrifying realization. He fell to his knees as the Uchiha tightened his grip on the hand. "H-He's stealing my chakra?! It's that Rinnegan of his!"
Taking out a kunai, Kenshi stabbed Sasuke's arm that was gripping his hand. The Uchiha cried out in pain and let go, pulling the weapon out of his flesh. "I knew that something like that was going to happen. It was worth the risk though." He noted the last part as Kenshi stumbled away, gaining a short distance for time to breathe. Sasuke gritted his teeth as lightning formed in his hand. "Let's see if he has enough left in him to escape this."
Kenshi rested against a tree and turned his head when he heard the sound of chirping birds. "What's he gonna do with that?! I'm too far away for him to get me." His relief quickly changed into disbelief when Sasuke flung his arm, shards of lightning coming straight for him. "Chidori Senbon?!" Kenshi shouted inside of his head as he attempted to jump out of the way. "No! I'm too slow!"
Sasuke's breathing finally evened out as his frown grew into a wide smirk when he saw some of the lightning shards hit their mark.
Kenshi screamed out in pain and retreated behind a boulder for cover. "At least I moved far enough that none of them hit a vital spot. Only a few hit, too." His brown eyes widened once again when another chirping sound filled the area. Jumping up, his jaw dropped to the ground as the gigantic piece of rock shattered into a million pieces. His opponent flew past the rubble, Chidori still shining brightly. Kenshi was getting more frustrated by the second. When his feet touched the bark of a tree, he launched off of it, going straight for Sasuke.
Chidori disappeared and Sasuke calmly stood where he was, not looking like he was going to block at all.
Drawing his arm back getting ready to strike, Kenshi narrowed his eyes. "What's this idiot doing, giving me a free shot?!" An audible gasp escaped him before he could stop it. A wall of black fire had appeared directly in front of Sasuke, right where Kenshi was heading. "Blaze Release, too?!" Thinking urgently, the swordsman took out a kunai with a short string attached. Burying the handle deep into the ground behind him, he tugged on the string, causing him to change directions just before he hit the wall of fire.
"What's wrong Kenshi? Had enough?"
He rubbed his bloodly lip. "No, far from it."
Sasuke was going to retaliate, but stopped and twisted his head around when a booming sound was heard. "Sakura!"
Bang!
Kenshi cackled sadistically when his paper bombs went off, dust crowding the area.
Sasuke coughed as the air cleared. His arms and legs shook beneath him as he struggled to make it his feet. He could feel the blood flowing from his new wounds. His vision blurred for a few seconds, blood dripping into his eyes. He had taken a sharp hit from a piece of earth slightly above his forehead.
"Hahaha! Still worried about her are you?! You underestimate me quite a bit if you think that I'm done this early!"
Sasuke angrily lifted his gaze up to his attacker. "I have to end this! I still have a bunch of chakra. Hn, I think now is the time to put this to the test. I've copied all sorts of moves from all the chakra natures..."
Kenshi looked to be ready for anything. "Kurushimi told me about him having all of the chakra natures. He's probably about to use some moves that he's copied. This is where things start to get serious..."
Sakura let the woman fall to the ground. "That was way too easy..."
Looking over her small, minor wounds took only a second. She tried to catch her breath as she stared at the last enemy left standing. It was the one who had cast the jutsu that imprisoned them inside this block of earth. The male was her height and size with long, wavy, jet black hair. He opened his eyes and released the hand seal, but nothing else changed.
"Looks like I'm the only one left."
Sakura stood up and repositioned herself so that she was aware of everything happening in front of her.
He chuckled. "You definitely are strong, I'll give you that. Nonetheless, you don't stand a chance against me."
She raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"
He chuckled again. "While you were busy with the others, I was infusing chakra with this entire block of earth. I know wherever you are at any time."
Sakura was confused. "That sounds like a waste of time to me. What's the use if both of us can still see each other with our eyes?"
"That's exactly my point." He glanced at the lit fires around them. "You fight well with the light, but can you see in the dark?"
After the words left his mouth, he extinguished the fires one by one. Sakura didn't have time to react because he put each one out at a fast rate. Not long after, she was surrounded by complete and total darkness. She exhaled sharply as she was hit by a combination of punches and kicks. She slammed into the ground and struggled to get up, dazed by the sudden attack.
A few seconds after she had managed to get back on her feet, he attacked once again. For the second time, she collapsed and winced in pain. He had used weapons this time, leaving cuts all over her body. When she got up again, Sakura hopped off of the ground and landed on one of the walls. This time, the wait was longer before she was met with more attacks. Falling down and landing on her feet, she stumbled across the flat terrain.
Shaking her head to try and focus, she thought to herself, "He really does know where I am at all times. But, that last attack..."
Footsteps interrupted her thoughts and she threw a chakra filled punch in the direction of the sound. Missing, the enemy took the opportunity to punch her stomach and perform a leg sweep. He retreated and she was left on the ground, panting and thinking of a plan.
"I think that I've come up with something. Just to test it out though..."
Waiting after his next ambush, she jumped as high as she possibly could into the air. No footstep, punch, kick, or slice of a weapon gliding through the air was heard.
Sakura smirked. "Just as I thought!"
Her feet hit the ground and a wave of confidence surged through her. He still did not attack after she had landed. Waiting for a short time, she silently listened. A footstep from behind and she stood there until the very last moment possible. Flipping into the air, Sakura flung a paper bomb to where she had been standing. It exploded and she heard his body hit the ground a short distance away. Her hand locked around his wrist before he could escape.
He was shocked. "How did you-?!"
"You leave a space of exactly ten seconds in between the time that you attack. I figured that out after only a couple of ambushes. Then, when I landed on one of the walls, it messed up your timing so you waited ten more seconds to strike. I wanted to make sure, so I jumped into the air after that. It proved me right. I didn't only figure that out though. I wondered why you didn't attack while I was in the air. It's because you can't 'see' me in the air. This jutsu is designed so that you can sense the person's chakra when they're touching the ground or any of the walls. Not while the person is in the air..."
She heard him gasp loudly. Even he knew that he was done for. She drew back her fist and punched him with full force, sending him into one of the walls. The man's body hit the ground and she drew back her fist once more. This time, Sakura was going to hit the wall to make an exit from the block of earth. Getting a good start, she ran at top speed towards the spot where the man had hit the wall. The fist connected with earth, shattering a large hole through it.
Breathing heavily, she sauntered through the hole and plopped down next to it. A rumbling sound made her turn her head back to the prison. It collapsed and buried whoever was inside. She waved away the dust and began to heal herself.
Getting up after she was done, Sakura looked around for any sign of Sasuke. Only small traces of his battle with Kenshi could be seen, so she ran and followed the trail.
Sasuke twisted his head around when another crashing sound came from where Sakura was. A mistake. Kenshi took the opportunity to send a hail storm of shuriken after him. The Uchiha grunted when most hit him. Quickly taking them out, he still wondered about Sakura's safety.
Both men were a mess and so was the environment around them. They were bloody and battered, tired and panting. Trees were burnt and twisted, rocks and boulders cracked or destroyed.
Kenshi had made sure to keep Sasuke from using his Susanoo. At the same time, he had to dodge or block most of the Uchiha's attacks. Sasuke had used up a lot of chakra by doing a bunch of ninjutsu he had copied, but one time, he had gotten another opportunity to steal Kenshi's chakra, and he didn't let it go to waste. Both had gotten some critical hits on the other, whether it was taijutsu, ninjutsu, or even with their weapons.
Sasuke had pulled all of the shuriken out of his body. He looked around and made his way through the the trees once again, trying to get some distance. To his dismay, Kenshi was still close behind. "Hn, fine. I guess I'll just have to come up with something else..."
Sasuke slowed down so that him and Kenshi were right beside each other, matching speed. The Uchiha pulled his sleeve up and put his hand on one of his armbands. Two giant shuriken with strings attached appeared with a puff of smoke. As they were thrown, Kenshi dodged both easily. The first shuriken was pulled back and once again, he dodged effortlessly.
"Ha! Does he think that he can fool me with a simple trick like that?" Time seemed to go in slow motion as he twisted to escape the second one. At the last moment, Kenshi's eyes shifted from Sasuke's dojutsu to the huge smirk that had formed on his face. For a split second, a sliver of light hit a third piece of string in his mouth. The male's jaw dropped as he fully turned around, escaping the second. Sure enough, a third had formed out of nowhere, but there was no time to dodge it. He cried out in pain and crashed into the ground, dirt flying everywhere. Struggling to pull the weapon out of his chest, Kenshi gritted his teeth and groaned.
Standing up slowly after he had extracted the shuriken, he huffed when he saw something that nearly made him think he was crazy. A few feet in front of him stood, himself?! Leaning on a tree for support, he attempted to grab a weapon, but discovered that almost his entire body was paralyzed. "What is this?!"
The other Kenshi advanced and threateningly held his katana out. The real one's heart thumped out of his chest. After another moment of the fake taunting him, he began to stab the paralyzed one. It had been nearly ten new wounds to count before the real Kenshi straightened his thoughts. "This has to be a genjutsu! I have to release it now, I can't take anymore!"
With this, he forced his hands together in a hand sign. "Release."
The other disappeared and he breathed at a rapid pace. Squinting with his brown eyes, the swordsman surveyed his surroundings. "Where did Sasuke go? Wait, that was definitely a genjutsu. He was using it as a distraction so that he could-!"
Before he could even finish his inner thought, his prediction was proven true. A purple fist came from behind, almost smashing him flat. Kenshi barely got out of the way in time. He winced in pain when he landed on the ground. "No! I was trying to stop him from using Susanoo this whole time!"
As the messy haired male cursed himself, Sasuke gritted his teeth and Susanoo swung the large purple sword. Once again, his opponent barely dodged. However, this time he hadn't gotten away without a scratch. Kenshi cried out as blood dripped down his arm. Before Sasuke could go for another swing, he retreated through the trees once more. The Uchiha stayed close behind with a purple rib cage covering him. He had let part of his protection disappear, deciding that it would only be a burden.
Their chase went on for a few more minutes. Both were exhausted, but neither looked ready to give.
Sasuke let his eyes widen and another smirk crept its way onto his lips. He stopped and dropped to the ground, part of Susanoo still there.
Kenshi slowed down and looked back in confusion. "What is he doing?!"
A battle cry was heard and the terrified male twisted his head around, only to be met by a fist to the nose. He was blasted back towards the Uchiha's direction. Sasuke caught the man's body with Susanoo and slammed him into the ground. The critically injured male coughed up blood and was motionless under the purple hand.
"Nice hit," Sasuke panted as Sakura walked over.
"Thanks," she gasped out.
They both looked down at their defeated enemy.
"Before I kill you," Sasuke started, "I want to know where Kurushimi's hideout is."
A strained chuckle. The pair standing narrowed their eyes as they continued to look down at him. "So you think that you've actually beat me?"
They shared a quick glance.
Kenshi squeezed his eyes shut and was silent.
Sasuke and Sakura made their way closer so that they stood right above him on either side, the Susanoo still in place.
"I've got news for you." He opened his eyes. "The battle has just begun!"
The pair gasped when they saw that the eyes were exactly the same as Kurushimi's. The next instant, both grabbed theirs and held on. Sasuke knew the sensation. All of their memories were coming back to them in a split second. After it was over, they stood still and panted, sweat shining.
"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted.
His eyes flew open and he gasped when he saw what was wrong. Kenshi turned a light shade of blue and pieces of his body came off and flew with the wind. Even his blood and weapons did the same. Before long, the blue pieces completely disappeared, leaving nothing behind.
"A clone?" Sakura asked in disbelief.
He slowly shook his head. "No, there's no way. Clones usually disappear after a hit or two. I hit him several times and saw real blood. Even that's gone, too."
They looked in every direction to see if they could pick up any sign of their enemy. Nothing.
Sasuke tried to see if anything from their fight would explain what just happened. "It definitely wasn't a clone. But, how then? I had... I... Had..."
His eyes slowly shut and he collapsed to the ground.
Sakura watched in horror. "Sasuke?!"
Author's Note: I apologize if this chapter seemed too rushed. As I said in the first note, I haven't had much time to edit recently. I will have much more time to edit now that I've gotten all the big loads of schoolwork out of the way. Only two more weeks until summer. Also, I'll definitely explain what all this "Kenshi disintegrating" stuff is about. That and a ton of other stuff will be explained later. Just be patient with me. Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites!