Lol. I literally got two more reviews right after I posted the last chapter. I was half-joking, you guys. Don't take everything I say too seriously.
The others rose too and formed a circle, their backs to the center. However, the defensive measure wasn't needed. The Akatsuki members stepped out from shadows of the forest into plain view.
"Found you!" Deidara grinned.
Tobi jumped up and down behind Sasori. "Ningyou-chan! Are you all right? I'm sorry my companions were so mean, but Tobi is a good boy!"
Itachi and Karasu were basically having a stare down.
"I told you it was true," White Zetsu said.
"Done treating us like an exhibit yet?" Sakan growled.
"Not yet," Sasori stepped forward. "Our leader sent us here to ask you something."
Itami hesitated. Glancing at her companions for support, she nodded. "Go ahead."
"Leader-sama wants to know if you're going to be a threat to us in the future, hmm," Deidara cut in.
None of the copies wanted to explain the reason of their existence to the Akatsuki. Itami looked at her group again, her eyes asking them a question. Should I…?
Her friends knew what she meant. One by one, they shrugged, and Itami asked Karasu for the files.
Karasu tore her gaze from her original for the first time. "I have them here." She drew the papers from a pocket inside her cloak and handed them over to Itami.
Itami walked forward a couple of paces and held out the file for Sasori to take. Before Sasori could touch it, Tobi snatched it out of Itami's grip.
"What are these?" Tobi exclaimed happily. He started flipping through them. "Oh, that's you, Itami-chan! Let's see…it says that your original is Pain, and you possess all of his abilities with some additions! Does that mean you're stronger than Leader-sama?"
Before Itami could say anything, Karasu warned them, "There are enemies here."
"Isn't that what you said before?" Sutetchi's forehead crinkled.
"I didn't mean the Akatsuki. You misunderstood," Karasu stated. She moved into the center of the clearing. Forming a couple signs, she slapped her palms on the ground. Earth Style: Dual Stone Dragons!
Two stone dragons erupted from the ground. One encircled the replacements, and the other wrapped itself around the Akatsuki, protecting both groups from a volley of kunais and shurikens. The dragons crumbled to reveal a mass of sound ninjas coming at them with murderous intent and an exhilarated Tobi.
"Wow, Karasu-chan! That was awesome!" he squealed.
"Talk later!" Karasu yelled. Two sound ninjas lunged for her. She dodged one attack, but ended up getting slashed on the arm by the other.
"Her Sharingan hasn't activated yet," Itachi murmured. He positioned himself so that he was close enough to help her if she needed it.
"Stay in groups!" Itami's yell was barely heard over the sounds of battle. This isn't going well. We didn't have as many enemies in our first battle. She ducked to avoid an attempt to slice her head off. A sound ninja faced her, "You're not going to survive to see tomorrow. Kabuto-sama ordered us to kill you all."
She almost snorted. "Shouldn't you be obeying Orochimaru rather than Kabuto?" she hissed, before shoving him away with Deva Path. Jumping back to avoid the next wave of enemies, she almost crashed into Tenchi, who was fighting beside Sutetchi.
Now that she was a part of a group, she found it easier to look around. She picked out Karasu, who was fighting a couple yards away. Karasu's arm was bleeding heavily, but Itachi, Ningyou, and Kuroi were near her. They could help her if she was in trouble, although the idea of Itachi helping his replacement seemed absurd to Itami.
Sakan, Shiro, and Sasori were standing back to back. Shiro had somehow multiplied himself, which was actually doing his group a big favor. Sasori's fingers were moving so fast, they were a blur. His puppet was taking out enemies left and right. Sakan was relying on his blade to absorb all of the chakra from his enemies before they could hurt him. He was doing fine so far, but his luck could run out anytime.
Nendo, Deidara, Zetsu, and Tobi were attacking from the air. Nendo and Deidara threw bombs into the mass of sound ninjas. Black Zetsu was using deadly vines to crush and lash at the enemies that surrounded them. Tobi was performing some kind of jutsu that made him look as though he was dancing.
Of course, Fumetsu was fighting alone, obviously taking advantage of her immortality. However, Itami didn't want to risk anything.
"Get to Fumetsu!" she shouted to Tenchi and Sutetchi. They glanced around, nodded, and started making their way to where Fumetsu mercilessly slaughtered her foes, looking like a porcupine due to the kunais and shurikens sticking out from her body.
Ningyou was getting really tired from trying to fend off all of her adversaries while keeping an eye on her friends at the same time. Beside her, Kuroi was panting from the effort. Karasu's teeth were gritted from pain and exhaustion. Itachi didn't look tired at all. Ningyou's leg ached from where a sound ninja kicked her a few seconds ago. She wanted the fighting to stop.
Turning around, she noticed a sound ninja take something from his pocket while sneaking up behind Karasu. Ningyou shouted out of instinct.
"Karasu, look out!" Luckily, Karasu heard her and whipped around just as the sound ninja threw the object. A flash bomb! Damn! Karasu would have been better off if she didn't turn around.
A bright light emanated from the bomb. Karasu, who failed to shield her eyes in time, was temporarily blinded. She dropped to her knees, covering her eyes with her hands. Her position left her vulnerable, and the sound ninjas wasted no time attacking her.
Suddenly, Itachi appeared and threw kunais at the attackers, hitting them square on. After the sound ninjas lurched away, Itachi crouched beside Karasu, who was still covering her eyes. Ningyou rushed over, followed by Kuroi.
"Is she okay?" Kuroi asked.
Ningyou grabbed Karasu's hand and moved it away from Karasu's eyes. Karasu's pupils had become tiny, making her unable to see. Karasu blinked a couple times, but there was no change in her eyesight. Ningyou was merely a blur, even though she was standing right in front of Karasu.
"Her eyesight will be ineffective for a while," Itachi explained. "Sound ninja actually specialize in their flash bombs."
"Should we take her out of the battle?" Ningyou asked. Itachi nodded and seized Karasu by her arm, avoiding the still-bleeding wound. The group led her to the cover of the trees and stayed in the vicinity to keep an eye on her.
Deidara sent Shiro underground to plant land mines. After Shiro was finished, Deidara created three more birds out of clay, one for each group. After everyone was settled on a bird, the birds flapped their wings, rising high into the sky.
"Watch this, hmm," Deidara told Nendo. "This is true art!" Katsu!
The explosion was large enough to be heard miles away.
Once the smoke had cleared, the birds landed. Everyone got off to assess the damage. The house was reduced to rubble, and there was a large crater in the earth.
"Thank God that's over," Ningyou sighed.
Karasu faced Ningyou. "Ningyou…"
"What?"
Karasu lunged forward with a kunai in her hand. For a wild moment, Ningyou thought Karasu had gone insane and was going to kill her. However, Karasu shot past her and drove the point of the kunai deep into the throat of a sound ninja who had been sneaking up behind Ningyou.
Everyone was surprised, but no one was as surprised as the sound ninja.
"How did…you know?" the sound ninja asked. "The flash…bomb…should have…been…able to…obscure your vision…"
"It did…for my normal eyes," Karasu answered.
Her eyes had turned red and had black patterns on them. Her Sharingan had been awakened.
There are a couple things I would like to mention. First, I'm going to start updating weekly instead of whenever I have time. Second, I am thinking about creating a sequel to this. I would like to hear your opinion, so please tell me what you think when you review. Thanks!