Author's Note: As I said at the end of last chapter, I think XD, this will be one of those really important chapters. Also, I've decided to wait until I finish this story to start another sasusaku one, mostly because I already have Family Struggles going. One more thing. I apologize for sort of fast forwarding through some of the fighting, but I needed to fit a lot in this chapter and I still didn't get to where I originally planned. Thanks for the support! Enjoy!
The enemy had surrounded the shinobi from Konoha and Suna. Sasuke quickly glanced back and forth, trying to see how many there were. "At least a hundred. There's still more coming."
Another minute passed with no one bothering to make a move. The army members slowly continued to approach the tight group of ninja, which only got more compacted. Finally, Tenten took a step forward to gain some space and tugged at a scroll on her wrist. Her kusarigama appeared out of thin air a second later and she charged. Temari followed shortly after, pulling her large fan off of her back. Before long, everyone had split up separately or into small groups.
"Sakura-"
"I'm fine now Sasuke. I feel well enough to fight these guys."
The Uchiha and the Haruno were back to back in defensive stances, facing the enemies surrounding them.
"So what's the plan?" she asked, grabbing a kunai from her weapon pouch.
He unsheathed his chokuto. "Attack and make the bodies fall. You'll know we've won when none are left standing."
She smirked. "That seems kind of cruel."
He shrugged and frowned. "It doesn't really matter. Kurushimi will probably kill them like last time, that is, if we win."
Her mouth was set into a thin line. "Either way, let's hurry up and get this over with." With that, she punched the ground in front of her, startling the enemy, and dashed forward.
Sasuke waited for the ground to stop its violent shaking before launching himself at the other half around them. His blade clashed with an older male's, shaking back and forth in the fight for control. A comrade of his attempted to punch Sasuke from behind, failing as the Uchiha dodged and the man ended up with a kunai lodged in his leg. All the while, the last of his clan was still in a battle for control with the other male possessing a sword. Quick as a flash, Sasuke did a complete turn and slashed the man's wrist, causing him to drop the sword. He screamed in pain once again as the chokuto put a deep cut near his ankle and collapsed to the ground. "More weak ones?" Sasuke thought in confusion as he took on two at once, defeating them in less than half a minute. "What are you playing at Kurushimi?"
Suddenly, a strong gust of air nearly made Sasuke stumble. He put a hand on the ground to steady himself and watched two torpedolike objects fly around the last few enemies in his area. They took a long and slow turn prior to shooting at each other as fast as bullets. When they connected, smashing their enemies together in the process, a loud shredding sound commenced. Finally, the objects' spinning motion grew slower; they broke apart and fell to the ground. The ninjas that'd been attacked fell to the earth, not moving a muscle.
"Nice work Akamaru!" Kiba shouted with pride.
The dog barked happily in response.
Kiba tilted his head toward Sasuke and pointed. "We'll finish up here. Naruto and Sakura could use some help where they're at. They've got the most to deal with."
Sasuke nodded and pivoted on his heel while breaking out into a run, heading in the direction the Inuzuka had indicated. He saw Lee open one of the gates, a green glow radiating off of his body. Sasuke ran between the legs of a giant monster Sai had drawn and made come to life, seeing the pale ninja a moment later. A group of five enemies were in his path. He held up his sword, ready to blow through them. Kakashi beat him to it and ended them all with one burst of lightning. He gave his former sensei a nod of thanks and continued to travel toward his team members. Tenten, Hinata, and Shino were grouped together and fighting a large pack of shinobi. Sasuke helped them out by destroying about half of them with black fire. The last group he passed before finding his team was Ino, Shikamaru, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro. They seemed to be fine so Sasuke kept going.
"... Dattebayo!" came a muffled shout from nearby.
Sasuke flipped over several heads to land directly in the middle of a massive swarm. Naruto and Sakura were close beside him, giving the Uchiha a surprised glance at his sudden arrival.
Sakura nearly stumbled when she took a step backwards. Sasuke was about to ask if she was okay, but she interrupted before he began. "I'm fine. A little fatigue isn't going to stop me easily."
Sasuke returned his attention to the crowd of shinobi surrounding them. "Kiba was right. There are a lot more of them here than anywhere else." He couldn't resist stealing another glance at Sakura. "She's still tired from healing all of us." The Uchiha motioned for Naruto to come closer. "Watch her back," he whispered.
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What are you about to do?"
Sasuke's frown grew wider. "I'll take care of this side. You and Sakura handle the rest."
Normally the Uzumaki would protest. The thing stopping him from doing so was that he saw a newly found determination in his best friend's eyes. Naruto smirked. "Alright then, have it your way. Just don't come crying to us for help. Let's do this Sakura!"
"Right!" she shouted. Within an instant, she was already rushing towards the first enemy in her path.
Naruto did a backflip in the air and drew his arm back. He flung it back out and a Rasenshuriken came flying through the sky.
Sasuke kept his deadly glare directed toward the shinobi in front of him. To his satisfaction, some of them seemed to become more terrified by the second under his unwavering gaze. "Kurushimi... I will NOT lose to you..."
Kurushimi squeezed his eyes shut and pressed two fingers to the side of his head in concentration. He had linked his mind to a couple of the shinobi he had sent out. One was fighting, the other was currently watching from a short distance away, well hidden in the trees. The ninja fighting was staying at the back of the group for the moment, as instructed by the mastermind himself. Kurushimi was waiting for the right time to send the signal to him. The hidden ninja's part would come later in the operation.
"As expected, they haven't quite yet fully recovered from their battles in the caves. Perfect. That makes this even better. Everything has gone smoothly so far and I intend for it to stay that way." Kurushimi smirked. "Your story will draw to a close very soon Sasuke Uchiha." He wiped sweat off of his forehead with a free hand. "Although, I didn't want to end my fun so soon. I wanted to toy with ALL of you for longer, but it seems that this whole operation is more strenuous than I thought." He snorted out loud, thinking about Kenshi's actions when he'd told him of the plan earlier. "I don't know what's wrong with him, but he better not screw this up. This part of my plan is crucial."
Sakura held her arm and let her head rest against the tree she was leaning on. "We can't last much longer. They just keep coming. It never seems to end." They had been fighting for who knows how long. The enemies they faced had been fairly weak, but they had not gone unscathed by the skill lacking army. It was the numbers disadvantage that'd been a huge factor in this. Sakura breathed a mental sigh of relief as she looked around. "I think we're finally almost done." It was true there were few enemies left to face, but one in particular was acting peculiar. He noticed her stare and stood still for a second. Sakura frowned and pushed herself off the tree while moving into a battle stance. The man was the size of the Raikage and had no wounds whatsoever. She was prepared to take him on, seeing as how his comrades hadn't been much of a challenge. "Why has he been staying back this whole time?"
Kurushimi gave the silent signal that only he knew was coming. The man rushed toward the kunoichi and pulled out a gigantic club.
Sakura's eyes widened at the man's speed. He was in front of her in a second, swinging the massive club down. She barely managed to dodge in time and leaped further away, wincing at the pain in her side from multiple minor wounds she had received earlier. She was alarmed at this. The pain had finally begun to set in and she wondered how the others were holding up. Her thoughts were brought back to the present when the large man lunged at her again with great speed. This time his attack had been with a long and heavy sword. It'd missed its mark, instead ripping a small section of Sakura's clothing.
"I've never seen anyone as big as him move like that before except the Raikage himself!" she screamed inwardly out of disbelief.
The large man chuckled. "You're pretty quick on your feet, but this fight won't last much longer." With this, he made a series of hand seals and the ground beneath them began to shake and crumble.
Sakura hopped from shaking rock to shaking rock, laughing when she got out of range of his attack. "You know, I can do something like that without using any hand signs."
"Really?" he asked curiously. "I'm not so sure about that."
A smirk. "Be careful what you wish for." She started to reach back and get ready to deliver an earth shattering punch to the ground below the tree where she was currently perched. The kunoichi gasped and halted her movement. The earth that had been cracked and shattered was moving together in large clumps, forming figures. After another minute, they had formed rock warriors, all facing her in battle stances. She looked around and noticed Naruto at a not so close distance from her. They had been seperated quite some time ago. "This shouldn't be too hard. There's only ten of them and if I hit them with a chakra filled punch, they should be destroyed." With this, she jumped down toward the closest one and prepared to strike.
Bam!
Wind flew out in all directions from the force of the blow. She opened her eyes and gasped. The rock warrior was still looking straight at her, unmoved. Sakura had only managed to put a crack in the figure. "What is this?!" Before she could think further, the warrior drew back its arm and aimed at her head.
As the battle raged on, Kurushimi watched every moment with great anticipation. He smirked in satisfaction at a struggling pink-haired kunoichi. Nonetheless, he was very impressed by her will to go on and keep fighting. There was one rock warrior left to stand against her. Kurushimi knew that it'd taken a lot out of the woman to defeat even one of the warriors. One of the ninja he had his mind linked to was fighting against her. He'd sent this specific person to fight for a reason. He gave another signal to the man.
Sakura breathed heavily, getting ready to strike the last one. She was nearly out of chakra from the effort she'd put into this fight. She had to use every bit of strength she had left to destroy the only rock warrior in her path. With a forced running start, she cried out while her fist connected with the hard surface, creating a defeaning sound.
The dust cleared to reveal its shattered body.
Sakura blinked and fell onto a nearby tree for support, breathing even heavier than before. "This guy definitely isn't like the others. What's going on here?" Her eyes shot open. "Wait, where is-?!"
A foot hit the side of her head. The next thing Sakura knew, she was back into the middle of the clearing.
"Sakura!" Naruto yelled. He started to go and help his friend, but was delayed by more enemies attacking him.
Everything that'd happened in the last few seconds was all a blur. It took another moment to realize that her opponent was speaking.
"I'm surprised you managed to destroy all ten of them. It doesn't matter though, seeing as how I'm about to kill you!"
She got to her knees as fast as she possibly could. Sakura caught the man's fist in one of her hands.
He was shocked that she still had enough strength left to fight. He drew his long sword and swiped.
Sakura did not release his hand. Instead, she swung her free fist toward him. "I know that I'm going to get a nice new wound after this, but it's the only chance I've got at beating him. He's in a completely different league than the rest."
Everything went in slow motion. Her fist and his sword were halfway from each other.
The horrific sound of ripping flesh followed.
Blood spattered on Sakura's face and clothing, a baffled expression on her features. The man was equally bewildered. Both had stopped moving entirely. Ever so slowly, the man looked down at his bleeding chest. A hand was sticking out of it, glowing brightly with lightning surrounding it.
Sasuke removed his hand from the enemy's chest and heart, letting him fall to the ground, dead in an instant.
Sakura hardly dared to breathe. She had never once seen the Uchiha as livid as this. The kunoichi heard the footsteps of their comrades coming closer. They too stared at the scene in shock. Sakura flinched slightly when Sasuke turned his purple and red gaze to her.
He leaned down and grabbed her shoulders with a tight grip. "Are you okay?"
She relaxed and nodded when his voice softened. "I-I'm fine," she said hesitantly.
The Uchiha studied her for another moment before setting a furious glare on his features once more, this time directed at Naruto. He stomped over to the Uzumaki, who had been rubbing the back of his neck in relief. The whiskered male looked up just as Sasuke was taking the last few steps to close the distance between them.
Sasuke yanked his best friend forward by his shirt collar. "I told you to watch her back!" he growled.
Naruto shoved him away. "We got separated and she doesn't need me or anyone else to babysit her!"
"I know! It's just..."
Sakura and the rest of their comrades watched as they argued. No one made a sound when Sasuke froze. The Uchiha opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off when an explosion rattled the forest floor from nearby. Everyone fell to the ground as more went off.
"Kurushimi must be doing whatever he did last time to kill the shinobi from his army!" Kakashi shouted over the loud noises.
The booms and bangs went on for several more minutes. They were beginning to become more distant; supposedly, the enemy shinobi further away were exploding.
Sasuke uncovered his ears and cautiously looked up while the explosions continued to distance themselves. He glanced around and saw tons of blood on the ground from the enemy. His comrades were beginning to take the chance and move. Sasuke returned his gaze forward, only for his jaw to fall to the ground a moment later. In the trees he saw movement, human movement. It wasn't just any person either. The male twisted his head to the side to meet Sasuke's disbelieving gaze. The Uchiha knew this man's appearance all too well by now. "Kenshi..."
Sakura watched as Sasuke stumbled to his feet and ran into the woods. She was about to go after him or call his name, but another explosion went off closer than the others had been. The kunoichi covered her head and waited, dirt and blood hitting her back. After things around her had settled once more, she tried to pull herself to her feet with no luck. "I'm low on chakra and injured. It's no use. Sasuke... whatever you're doing, please be careful."
Sasuke ground his teeth together at the massive effort he was making. He could feel blood dripping from earlier wounds he'd received, pain coming with each movement. Nonetheless, the Uchiha seemed as if he hadn't noticed. He was too focused on pursuing the male in front of him. Kenshi was also hopping through the trees at a fast pace, making Sasuke struggle to keep up. There was a small clearing up ahead and they would be forced to hit solid ground soon. "I'll attack then," Sasuke decided silently.
Sure enough, Kenshi dropped down from his spot in the trees and landed at the edge of the clearing.
Sasuke drew back his fist and launched himself at the scarred male. To his dismay, Kenshi disappeared as the punch hit him. "It was a clone. Where's the real one?" He scanned the area, trying to pick up a chakra signature. One flashed across from him, quick as lightning. The figure was right in front of the Uchiha an instant later, landing a punch to the jaw that made Sasuke topple over and gasp for air. "What?! It's almost like the first time I fought him when I couldn't keep up with his movements. Did I use too much chakra?" A foot buried itself in his side. Sasuke rolled over multiple times and came to a stop when he smacked into a tree stump. However, he had caught something this time. His Sharingan had gotten a small glimpse of Kenshi. There was a light blue glow coming from the male's body, very faint. "I've never seen that before. Did it happen in any of our previous fights?" His thoughts were cut off when he stood up and heard a rustle behind him. Sasuke quickly turned to face Kenshi. Before the Uchiha could react, the master swordsman stabbed him in the arm with a needle like object and disappeared the next second. A grunt of pain filled the area as Sasuke pulled it out, his hand shaking slightly. A black substance was on the needle where it'd pierced his arm.
"That's poison," Kenshi explained indifferently.
Sasuke's entire body was beginning to shake and his vision was blurry. He collapsed to the ground as the needle and the poison on it vanished. Sweat rolled off his entire convulsing body as he slowly twisted his head to the side to face Kenshi. He was seeing double, the figures going in and out of focus.
"It affects your mind as well as your body," the scarred male said.
The voices echoed in his ears and he could hardly move his body without it violently shaking by now. He began to pant rapidly; all air had seemingly left his lungs.
"Sasuke Uchiha," another familiar voice sounded, echoing just like Kenshi's had.
Another figure appeared right beside Kenshi.
"Kuru... shimi..." Sasuke croaked out.
A laugh. "Yes. This me is merely an illusion or, as I prefer, a message." He watched in amusement as the dual dojutsu user failed to move. "You saw how many members are in my army and that's not even half. I know for a fact that Sakura Haruno's fight angered you. That ninja she faced is just a small taste of what is to come. I can send any of my army out at whatever time I want. You and your comrades are all injured."
A sliver of confusion slipped into Sasuke's pained expression.
Kurushimi continued. "The reason I'm telling you this is simple. Do you remember our little talk after you defeated your clones?" A wide and serious frown placed itself on his features. "I will give you this one chance. None of your comrades will have to suffer if you cooperate." A long pause followed as Sasuke continued to struggle for air. "Sasuke Uchiha, you have until tomorrow night to give yourself up. You will come to the cave wall that is nearest here and it will open once you reach it. Before you even consider refusing or planning a counterattack, think about what I said a moment ago. It's either you or your comrades along with you."
Kurushimi slowly vanished.
Sasuke ground his teeth together as Kenshi placed a foot on the side of his head. "How long did he give you?"
The Uchiha was completely bewildered by the question, but he was in too much pain from the poison combined with the male's foot to not give an answer. "Tomorrow... night..." The last of his clan thought he had seen a small bit of relief in the swordsman's expression, but he decided it was an illusion from the poison. His attacker ran off, leaving him alone on the ground writhing in agony. It kept getting worse by the second, even to the point where he was about to scream in pain.
"Sasuke!"
Naruto and Gaara were approaching his frozen form. The pair immediately crouched beside their comrade and studied the shaking male.
Naruto shook his best friend's shoulders. "Sasuke! Sasuke, what happened?!" His best friend did not respond, his eyes squeezed shut and teeth clenched together in pain.
The Kazekage quickly checked the environment around them for danger, finding nothing peculiar. He then returned his attention to Sasuke. "Naruto, we have to get him back to the others."
"What's wrong with him?! Why isn't he answering?!" the Uzumaki shouted frantically.
"I don't know, but we have to hurry," Gaara said with a sense of urgency. The ground below them changed into sand and floated above the earth. They were off a moment later, flying through the trees.
Sasuke hardly had any idea what was going on around him. His breathing came in harsh pants, sweat rolling down every inch of his petrified body. His mind had momentarily been occupied by Kurushimi's warning. The Uchiha cried out as a sharp pain shot through him. He opened his eyes this time, finding Naruto and Gaara staring down at him. They were apparently flying and Naruto was saying something that was deaf to his ears.
Suddenly, the Uzumaki's pupils morphed into a blood red color, the rest turning black. They almost looked like Sasuke's eyes in the second stage of the curse mark. Naruto was seething with anger as he spoke. "All you've ever cared about is yourself! I did everything I could to save you! Now I regret it! All you ever do is hurt people, you-!"
The rest of his best friend's words were drowned out by Sasuke's desperate yell to stop. Naruto's words only added onto the frustration he was feeling. The Uchiha forced his head to turn away from the Uzumaki. His mismatched orbs landed on Gaara, who had the same expression as Naruto, eyes also a copy of Naruto's. The Kazekage viciously gazed down at him. "I should have taken my chance to kill you at the Five Kage Summit! It would have saved us all some trouble!"
Sasuke gathered enough strength to cover his ears and once again squeezed his eyes shut. Their voices grew more and more distorted by the second, but the pain shooting through his body only got worse. He howled out loud, not being able to hold it in anymore. The last thing he remembered prior to blacking out was the warning. He didn't have enough time to consider it right now, but the one thing he did get to think about was that he only had until tomorrow night. If he decided to go, then he had until then to say it...
"Sakura..."
Kurushimi took the rag out of the water and put the wet cloth over his eyes. A quiet sigh of relief escaped his lips when he sat down. "This is why I had to go ahead with my plan and make a few changes. I didn't expect this to happen." His thoughts once again drifted back to Kenshi's reaction earlier.
Kenshi closed the door and waited for Kurushimi to explain the plan. His friend spoke with complete seriousness.
"Kenshi, very shortly Sasuke Uchiha will give himself up."
The scarred swordsman raised an eyebrow and frowned. "I thought you wanted to toy with him and the rest of them longer. Also, why would he willingly turn himself over to you?"
Kurushimi revolved around so that his back was to the other male. "I'm going to send one of the elites out with the next group and link my mind to his. I will also send you."
Kenshi's lips seperated slightly. "Me? Why me?"
"I will also connect my mind with yours. You are to give Sasuke the final warning. The elite will attack Sakura Haruno after she has been fighting for a while, leaving her to think that he is just another one of the weaklings and be caught off guard. After a time, I predict that Sasuke will see this and reach a higher level of frustration. In the meantime, I want you to stay hidden until I give you the signal. The group I send will eventually be defeated and I'll trigger the explosives on their bodies and you know what happens next. My signal will come around then and you must run through the woods in no particular direction; just make sure that Sasuke sees you and pursues."
"How do I give him the 'warning' then?" Kenshi questioned.
Kurushimi motioned for him to follow and he complied. The two men walked to a table with tons of liquids in containers scattered across it. The male with strange eyes studied the bottles, looking for a certain one. "Here it is," he muttered quietly.
Kenshi watched with fascination as his friend held out his hand and a blue needle like object appeared out of thin air. From what he already knew, the thing was made from Kurushimi's chakra. His eyes followed the needle as Kurushimi poured a very small bottle of sticky liquid onto it.
"Whatever you do," the dark-haired male explained, "do not even prick yourself with it. It's a poison that I invented and this is the only bit I have. Use this to stab Sasuke. It doesn't matter where or how deep it goes, just make sure it gets into his system. Also, I want you to use your speed."
Kenshi carefully took the needle and stared at his friend in surprise. "Sasuke didn't see it in our first battle and in the second I didn't have enough control on my copy to do it. This time he'll see it for sure, even if it's only a glimpse."
Kurushimi sighed lazily. "It doesn't really matter at this point. Anyway, once the poison gets into his system, he will start seeing illusions of varied sorts. However, I prepared a specific one of myself. I will give him a warning and threaten to send the rest of the army out if he doesn't come, including the elites. To add to that, I will order them to kill his comrades. In the end he will give himself up in order to save his friends."
Kenshi looked down and tightened his grip on the needle. "How long?"
"Hm?" Kurushimi asked, clearly confused.
"How long are you giving him to do it?" he questioned.
Kurushimi thought he heard a slight sense of urgency in his voice, bur discarded the idea. He shrugged. "I was thinking I could make you drag him back here if he agreed right off."
"That's a stupid thing to do!" Kenshi shouted abruptly.
Kurushimi frowned. "I didn't say you had to carry him."
He slammed a fist on top of the table. "No! That's not what I mean at all!"
Silence.
The scarred male was getting very irritated. "I can't let this happen again. It can't go the way it did with me and her... But, they're supposed to be enemies. WHY CAN'T I GET THAT THROUGH MY HEAD?!" He punched the cave wall in frustration, his friend watching on, utterly confused. Forcing himself to calm down, Kenshi thought of something to say. "Wouldn't it be better if you gave him say, until the night after he's poisoned. That way he'll be miserable suffering its effects, and..." A smirk slid across his features. "Just imagine how hard it'll be on him when he leaves. Heck, he'll be crying like a baby."
Kurushimi appeared to be a little bewildered by his friend's mood swings, but a matching smirk played onto his lips. "You're right. Okay, I'll give him until then. Whatever causes him more pain will do. Oh, by the way, there's a reason I'm doing this. I didn't expect to be so exhausted from the entire operation and it's beginning to take its toll."
Kenshi's lips were set into a thin line. "I understand. Just tell me when we're going to be sent out later." He walked to the door and exited the room.
Kurushimi snorted aloud as he remembered their conversation. "Kenshi's been acting very peculiar as of late. I have no idea what's wrong with him. It almost seemed as if... Hmph! Just whose side are you on Kenshi?" He inwardly laughed after a minute. "What am I thinking? Kenshi has always been a loyal friend and follower. Nothing will ever change that."
Kurushimi stood up and removed the wet cloth from his eyes. "Now back to the task at hand." He smirked. "Soon it will be over Sasuke Uchiha..."
Author's Note: So everything on the enemy side seems pretty weird, am I right? That'll be explained soon. Oh gosh, next chapter is going to be tough for me to write. It's because that's probably the most important chapters so far and I've been waiting forever to write it. Get ready for some major feels! Also, I've said this before but in case you don't remember, I'm going to have marching contests nearly every Saturday in October. I'll make an effort to get time to write and update during that month. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Please review!
OTHER UPDATES
I published an Uchiha family oneshot some time ago if any of you are interested.
I'm going to try and get the next chapter of Family Struggles out by next Saturday.