Fun Fact:
In this story sharingan isn't godmode.
Chasing the Eternal Dawn 3: Curse
Sasuke's hands flew together, weaving through a rapid set of handsigns to mould his chakra. He sucked in a deep breath, feeling a familiar warm sensation radiating from within him, then released it, calling out the name of his attack.
"Fire-Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
A great burst of red fire spat from Sasuke's mouth and raged toward the Sound Four, sizzling through the air and singeing the grass below. They were momentarily taken aback, not quite expecting this to be Sasuke's response to their offer, but Orochimaru's elite recovered quickly, instinct driving them to scatter from the fireball's path before they even processed that it was coming. Then they went on the attack.
Sasuke could only barely track Sakon's movements as he sped forward and around his fire jutsu and skidded up beside him to throw a heavy punch at his face. He was ready for it though. His jutsu had blocked his opponents from charging him directly, meaning they'd have to come at him from the side or try to circle behind him. Either way, it put them right where he wanted them. He twisted to catch Sakon's blow with one hand, glaring directly into his eyes with slowly spinning sharingan, then formed a fist with his other to launch a counterattack.
Before his knuckles could break the lipsticking-wearing freak's jaw however, Sasuke felt a hammerstrike against his chest and was thrown back several feet to land harshly against the ground. He groaned in pain as he wondered where the blow had come from, recalling that none of Sakon's limbs were in position to hit him, before his eyes went wide, the androgenous leader of the Sound Four leaping into the air, his leg outstretched to stomp him.
Sakon's foot smashed against Sasuke's gut, but instead of the satisfying feeling of flesh caving under the force of his heel, it felt to him like kicking a tree. There was a puff of smoke around Sasuke, a log where he once was, and Sakon scowled at being fooled by a mere substitution. He immediately tried to turn in place to search for the Uchiha, but found his movement restricted, his eyes catching a glint of thin ninja wire wrapping around him. When had...?
Sasuke jumped down from the branches of a nearby tree, pulling up on the wire and bringing Sakon up with it. He'd entangled the Sound ninja the moment they first clashed after casting his fireball, and regardless what had hit him before, this time there was nothing that could get in the way.
While he pulled on his wire, Sasuke shifted in the air, mimicking the movements Rock Lee had displayed when they first met before the Chunin Exams, forcing Sakon up right into a spinning kick.
"Lion's Barrage Kick!" Sasuke howled the name of his taijutsu attack as his sandaled heel collided with Sakon's torso, the wire around him forcing his body to absorb the full impact of the kick and being slammed against the ground.
Without wasting a moment once the blow was fully delivered, Sasuke threw his hands against the grass to push himself off of Sakon and back to his feet, anticipating more attacks from the rest of the Sound Four. The whole exhange had only taken a few seconds at the most, but Sasuke rightly suspected the rest of the team wouldn't stand by and let him get away with pummeling their leader.
Out of the corner of his eye Sasuke saw Kidomaru racing toward him, and the Uchiha knew he wasn't going to be able to dodge. He only had time to bring up his arms to guard his face as Kidomaru lashed out with all six fists at once, two hitting his guard, two hitting him in the chest, and two hitting him in the stomach. The force was enough to send Sasuke flying away, eventually landing hard on his back and continuing to slide.
Despite the pain, Sasuke forced himself to back-somersault onto his feet, still sliding backward from the tremendous force of Kidomaru's punch, and caught sight of Jirobo charging his way. He brought his fingers together again.
"Fire-Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke pumped a huge quantity of chakra into his jutsu, and the fire that erupted from his mouth was even more impressive, spreading out in all directions and increasing in intensity, quickly growing to span more than a dozen meters.
This time Jirobo was too close to Sasuke's fireball attack to escape unscathed, and he hurried to form a series of handsigns.
"Earth-Style-" he began in what Sasuke was sure was a panic, "-Terra Shield Jutsu!"
Jirobo came to a stop before the fireball could reach him, a rectangular patch of earth lifting in front of him to offer up what little protection it could. Though it held against the blast and heat, the flame spread around the earthen barrier, licking at Jirobo himself, burning his skin and starting small fires at the edges of his tunic and purple belt.
With the last of his fireball cast, Sasuke was able to assess how much damage it'd done, and he was quite pleased. He couldn't see behind the terra shield, but could still hear as Jirobo cried out in distress and slapped the fires spreading across his clothes. He would have smirked, but there was no time to gloat as he spotted Tayuya at his left with murder in her eye.
She was fast, just as Sasuke was coming to expect from the Sound Four, and his sharingan weren't able to fully keep up, but from the look of her raised fist he expected a punch. Instead, when Tayuya closed the distance she ducked low, using her raised arm for balance as she stuck out a leg to sweep Sasuke off his feet. And before he could even hit the ground she'd braced her outstretched arm against the grass and brought up her other leg, carrying on her attack's momentum and launching a heavy kick at Sasuke's side.
"You're coming with us!" she barked. "I'll knock you out and drag you if I have to!"
Somehow Sasuke managed to see the kick coming in time and positioned an arm to block, but he was still hit hard, and he winced as he was sent tumbling away, bouncing against a tree then landing on all fours.
'Dammit.' He was breathing heavy from the pain, but stopped himself from crying out. 'They hit like a goddamn freight train!'
He pushed himself up in a frenzy, red eyes searching for danger and spotting Kidomaru coughing a gooey-looking white ball right at him. Sasuke dived out of the way, putting out his hands and pushing into a flip as he hit the dirt, landing on his feet and breaking into a run. The spider was shooting more of those things at him, what appeared to be web now that he had a moment to focus, and he had no intention of getting caught in it.
Kidomaru kept up the barrage of web balls, presumably able to make infinitely more so long as he had the chakra for it, missing Sasuke over and over, the Last Uchiha dodging and flipping to escape the sticky projectiles, then stopped, the edges of his mouth cast down in frustration.
"The punishment we'd receive for smacking you around would be infinitely better than if we returned to Lord Orochimaru empty-handed."
The assault of web balls may have stopped, but Sasuke kept running, searching the terrain for a spot to stand his ground when he heard a slippery, venomous whisper in his ear.
"Lord Orochimaru said you'd come with us willingly." Sakon had appeared beside him, running in time with him, his usual smirk now gone, replaced with a scowl.
Sasuke hadn't even noticed the Sound ninja's presence, and his eyes went wide in fright before he skidded to a halt, Sakon mirroring him and swinging a fist into his face.
The blow was enough to send Sasuke spiralling into the grass, but he pushed himself up once more, transitioning instantly into a backward dash then into a series of backflips to avoid a followup attack, finally landing feet-first high against the trunk of a tree. He instinctively applied chakra to his feet and through his sandals, and he stuck fast against the old tree, looking down at Sakon from behind a featureless expression, masking his pain as best he could.
Sakon huffed at Sasuke's retreat and his lips curled into a sneer of derision.
"What's stopping you? Don't you want to kill Itachi?"
Until this point Sasuke thought he'd been able to keep a firm control of his expression, not letting any of this thoughts or emotions show on his face. The mention of his brother was enough to demolish that carefully crafted neutral appearance, every memory of Itachi being brought to the surface again and shredding his composure. Sasuke snarled, fury bubbling within him and a burning starting at his neck. The pain from being hit began to recede, replaced with warmth, and Sasuke felt a thrill run through him. A black, firey pattern rippled out and spread across his face, and he clenched his jaw with rage, then bounded off the tree, suddenly faster and stronger, pouncing straight for Sakon.
"Don't even speak his name!"
Sasuke felt powerful, like he could take on anyone or anything. It was the same every time he used his curse mark, and internally he grinned in mad triumph, knowing with its power flowing through him these Sound Four were doomed.
Before he could close the distance though, the warmth Sasuke felt from unleashing his curse mark vanished, a shooting pain like electricity replacing it. He gasped and winced, and threw a hand against his neck where Orochimaru had once bitten him, still flying toward Sakon.
Sakon didn't appear at all bothered by Sasuke's direct assault, nor even surprised at the sight of him activating his curse mark, and he swung a heavy kick at Sasuke, his leg seeming to blur. It landed against the boy's left forearm and sent him sprawling to the ground once more, a shiver of pain feeding back through his system, informing him in an instant that the blow had cracked his bones.
"Excuse me?" Sakon taunted, looking down at Sasuke below him, scrambling back, not taking his crimson sharingan off him. "Don't speak whose name? You mean Itachi's, weakling?"
The pain from the curse mark alone was excruciating for Sasuke, and without willing it, the black flames across his face recoiled and returned to the three tomoe and seal around them at his neck. He clutched at his wounded arm, fighting to hold back tears that threatened at the corner of his eyes and gasping for breath.
'Dammit!' Sasuke shakily got to his feet and began jogging away from Sakon, turning his back on him, focusing his senses and hearing the Sound ninja snorting in amusement at his suffering. 'Dammit, dammit, dammit!'
Approaching a large tree Sasuke turned and leaned his back against it, returning his sight toward Sakon and seeing him slowly approaching. Tayuya, Kidomaru, and Jirobo were joining him, and Sasuke shook his head in a mix of disappointment with himself and annoyance.
"Damn curse mark," he swore to himself in a strained whisper. "It never works when I need it!"
Come to think of it, Orochimaru's curse mark had only helped him once, and that was when it first activated, coincidentally against the snake's own Sound genin. His control over the mark was almost non-existent, and it seemed to hurt him more often than not, leaving him drained of chakra and almost crippled for the rest of a battle.
"It's more trouble than it's worth!" he spat.
What good was a powerup if it couldn't be counted on to actually help? It could grant Sasuke all the power in the world but it would still be worthless if it malfunctioned in the heat of the moment and got him killed. He was lucky the Sound Four apparently wanted him alive, or else Sakon would've done more than crack a few bones. If his opponent had been Itachi instead...
Why wasn't he strong enough? He wasn't strong enough to beat Itachi, and before that Gaara had thrown him around like he was nothing. Naruto meanwhile, that obnoxious blond who always defied expectations - he'd grown stronger than Sasuke ever could have believed, and he'd never relied on some outside force for that strength. He had an inner power, like he was fueled by sheer determination. He had no curse mark, and if he did he would surely shun it. That was just the way he was. He'd rather struggle pointlessly on than take the easy way out - than to accept a handout.
Sasuke frowned. How had he strayed so far from the path he'd set out for himself? He'd decided long ago that he would become powerful enough to defeat Itachi, and he'd do it by his own hand. It was his duty as the Last Uchiha. He couldn't accept any help. It had to be him and him alone. If he defeated Itachi with borrowed power, then it may as well have not been his victory at all.
Returning to the moment, Sasuke took a deep breath to help take his mind off the pain in his arm and at his neck. What a fool he'd been to lose his patience like that. If he'd just kept his temper under control and focused on using his eyes - his kekkai genkai that he knew he could rely on - he wouldn't have gotten himself hurt and backed into a corner.
He felt something in his eyes - a tingling sensation.
His sharingan was his greatest asset, and he would be best served by using it to its fullest rather than pulling out an unreliable power like the curse mark.
He felt as though the world seemed to be coming into greater focus, every detail becoming sharper to his vision.
And besides, the curse mark was forced on him at the point of Orochimaru's teeth. The damned snake could probably control when he was able to use it - could maybe even control him with it! Using it for his own gain in the short run would probably only lead to trouble in the long run, if it didn't just outright refuse to work.
The Sound Four were drawing closer, grinning at him and cackling at his weakness, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes and spat.
"To hell with it, then!" They paused at his outburst, watching him questioningly. "I don't need this stupid thing to be strong."
Sasuke thought of Naruto, always rising to every challenge with a grin and unwavering confidence in himself, and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"I'm an Uchiha - I already am strong!"
Unknown to him, Sasuke's eyes flared with power, glowing just a bit brighter and one tomoe in each eye splitting into two, becoming a total of three black teardrops against a curtain of piercing crimson. The Sound Four saw the change though, and in quick response they charged faster than ever.
Sasuke's sharingan had slowly been spinning since he activated them at the beginning of the fight, and now they sped up, faster and faster, and his brow furrowed in confusion at what he was seeing.
'Why are they so slow?'
All four of Orochimaru's elite guard descended on Sasuke, but he weaved around them, blocking and countering their attacks like they were standing still. Jirobo threw a heavy punch at Sasuke, but he saw it coming - saw the outline of his fist before Jirobo even starting swinging it. Sasuke dodged underneath and around the attack, reaching out one hand to simply push the punch aside.
"I can see," he muttered to himself in bemusement.
At the same time, Sakon came from the other side with a punch of his own, and Sasuke caught it with his free hand. Then the most peculiar thing happened. Another fist appeared, popping out of Sakon's chest. That must've been his trick that was giving Sasuke so much trouble. How he hadn't seen it before, he had no idea, but he saw it now, and Sasuke tightened his grip on his opponent's clenched fist and threw him aside before the mysterious extra limb could hit him, following up with a roundhouse kick into Sakon's back.
He was in awe of this sudden turn of events, and he repeated triumphantly:
"I can see!"
Sasuke leapt back to escape being surrounded by his foes, the four of them scattering again to try to press their numbers advantage. Sasuke only smirked.
"That hardly worked on me before. It really won't work now!"
Kidomaru had remained in his position, and with his sharingan Sasuke could see he was about to vomit out another ball of webbing, so in response he flung his fingers together, weaving through a rapid set of handsigns then charging at the spider, his left hand bathed in crackling, chirping blue and white lightning.
Sasuke dodged aside as Kidomaru targeted him with a web ball, tracking its trajectory before it was even launched, then swung his lightning-enhanced fist, shearing through another web ball aimed at his head, then leapt over another directed at his legs, never slowing as he sped toward his spidery foe.
He saw every detail, could follow every one of Kidomaru's moves clearly, and could even tell that something was oozing out of Kidomaru's skin, coating him like armour. To his enhanced sight, it appeared to Sasuke to give off a pale blue glow, just like Kidomaru's webbing, indicating it was filled with chakra, and internally Sasuke laughed. A defence like that wouldn't stop him.
As Sasuke descended on Kidomaru, his left hand sparking with power, he shouted the name of his attack and thrust it ahead of him.
"Chidori!"
Sasuke's jutsu connected, his hand slicing right through Kidomaru's hardened web shell and slashing one of his arms off at the shoulder, a gush of blood spurting from the wound followed by a scream of pain and shock, Kidomaru collapsing to his knees as Sasuke skidded to a halt behind him.
"Kidomaru!" Tayuya called, seemingly more in astonishment than concern.
Sasuke glanced around to find her standing a fair distance away, and he fell into a combat stance expecting her to assist her comrade. But strangely his sharingan didn't pick up any sign of her moving to attack, instead noticing by her posture that she was tense, as if waiting for something.
The Uchiha dashed farther away from Tayuya and Kidomaru to get a better view of his opponents, noticing from the corner of his eye that Kidomaru was spitting a bundle of web onto his arm stump to stanch the bleeding. Then he saw what Tayuya was waiting for. Jirobo was approaching, his hands coming together to form a set of seals.
'A jutsu like that?' Sasuke smirked as his fingers flew together once more, copying Jirobo's movements exactly. 'That's child's play for these eyes!'
In hardly a second Jirobo's jutsu was prepared, and he raised his arms intending to slam his open palms against the ground.
"Earth-Style Barrier," he declared, "Earth-!"
"-Dome Prison!" Sasuke finished, completing the technique before Jirobo.
Sasuke hammered his palms against the ground and it trembled beneath him, responding to his chakra and causing great chunks to sprout up to surround his opponent. Jirobo was only able to gasp a confused "What...!?" before the dirt and rock completely closed around him, locking him inside the massive dome of earth.
There was no time for rest though as Sasuke spotted Tayuya and Sakon charging him from either side once again. They apparently quite liked that tactic. Unfortunately for the Sound ninja though, Sasuke was ready for it this time, and he glared in Tayuya's direction, their eyes meeting and the hypnotic power of his sharingan dazing her, freezing her in her tracks.
Sasuke wasted no time and bounded at Tayuya, Sakon running after him, and drove his fist into her gut, snapping her out of her trance in an instant. She doubled over, the wind driven from her lungs, and Sasuke snatched out, grabbing her by the head, a hand on each side. His fingers dug into her temples and her hair and he pulled, his knee coming up to meet Tayuya's face with a sickening crunch.
He let go and spun, knowing better than to watch her falling onto her back, and raised a hand to effortlessly catch a full-force punch from Sakon. The strength behind it would have been enough to crack Sasuke's skull, but he'd seen the move coming a mere fraction of a second before it was too late to react. And just like before, when he'd gotten an advantage over Sakon, an appendage shot out from his chest to strike at him, this time a foot.
This time Sasuke was ready for the surprise attack, and he shifted his stance, no wasted energy in his movements, guiding Sakon's momentum to continue straight past him, then reaching out his other hand to grab the phantom kick by the ankle. He lashed out with a kick of his own, releasing his hold on Sakon's arm as he did, throwing the Sound ninja away and pulling on the strange extra limb.
"Well," Sasuke began, his cocky tone mixed with curiousity, "what have we here?"
Sakon landed on his back a short distance away, but something had indeed come out of him. The leg was attached to a whole person, another Sakon, a mirror image of him, and Sasuke had pulled him clean out of his hiding place and thrown him to the ground. Sasuke couldn't help but notice with his sharingan active that he wasn't a clone of any kind either. Neither of them were chakra constructs which could only mean they were both individual people; probably another one of Orochimaru's experiments like the spidery Kidomaru.
Sasuke jumped back to gain some distance as Sakon and his twin began picking themselves up off the grass and smirked.
"That's a strange jutsu you've got there. It must be a kekkei genkai."
The two Sakons only looked to each other and frowned, then one touched his hand onto the other and melded into him, his head protruding from the back of the other's neck.
"You're quick-witted, little Uchiha," Sakon hissed, all traces of his earlier cruel arrogance completely gone, replaced with seething irritation. "My brother Ukon and I share very special bodies indeed. Each of us can fuse ourselves with the other at will. But maybe you'd like to see-" Sasuke's eyes went wide in alarm as trails of inky black spread up from Sakon's neck and over his face, "-what our jutsu can do when we use our curse mark?"
Sasuke gulped and he felt a bead of sweat run down his brow at the sight of Sakon's own curse mark. He checked his surroundings briefly and found that Jirobo had broken out of his earth barrier, similar streams of black flowing from his neck. Tayuya was just getting up, apparently having been knocked out of the fight for a few brief moments, lines of sharp black extending from her neck underneath the blood and bruises of the injuries Sasuke had dealt her. Kidomaru was stumbling up to join them as well, curls of black twisting out from his neck and over his face, apparently giving him the strength to stay conscious and not go into shock from losing an arm and far too much blood.
'They have curse marks too?' Sasuke's whole body tensed as he glanced back and forth between the Sound ninja. 'What's it going to take to put these guys down!?'
"Did you think you were Orochimaru's only pet?" Sakon rasped. "We all have curse marks just like you. And unlike you, we can control them."
Sasuke's ears pricked up at the mention of being able to control the curse mark, and as if Sakon knew just what nerves to hit, he continued.
"Come with us and you can obtain that same power for yourself. You're more than worthy."
Power. That's what this was all about. Sasuke needed power - power to defeat Itachi, power to restore the Uchiha Clan, power to...
"No."
Sakon's frown only deepened at Sasuke's sudden refusal.
"No?" he echoed mockingly. "You're telling us no?"
"It's about more than power now. I have more to worry about than just defeating Itachi." Sasuke's face hardened and he eased into the traditional Uchiha taijutsu stance. "I also have to go find Naruto and bring him home. So no. I can't go to Orochimaru, even if I wanted to."
"Hm!" Sakon scoffed, and each of the Sound Four leaned in, as if Sasuke were their prey and they were readying themselves to pounce. "Not impressed? Maybe you'd change your mind if you saw 'Stage Two'..."
Sasuke breathed in and narrowed his eyes, watching carefully and preparing for the inevitable assault. They'd be stronger now with those curse marks active. He was just starting to turn things around and now he found out they could get stronger - as much as ten times stronger each, or maybe even more. Sasuke would fight as best he could, but he wasn't convinced he could take them all out with that much sinister power coursing through them.
The Sound Four moved to attack, but before they even took a step they paused, then leapt back to regroup a long distance from Sasuke. He couldn't hear what they were whispering to each other, but he could see it. He watched the movements of their mouths with his sharingan and knew instantly.
'Reinforcements from the Leaf...!'
A number of figures sprang down from the trees to land protectively in front of Sasuke, and he looked them over, not feeling especially impressed with his saviours. For one, none of them appeared much older than him, and on closer inspection he realized he recognized them. One of them looked to Sasuke like he was wider than he was tall. Another one had a dog resting on top of his fur-trimmed hood. Then there were two Hyugas - Sasuke could tell from their deep, soulful eyes - one boy and a girl with short blue hair. Last was the apparent leader of the group, the only one wearing a flak vest and the crest of the Nara Clan on the shoulders of his shirt.
"Sasuke," their leader greeted lazily.
Sasuke frowned as he tried to place where he'd seen these Leaf shinobi before.
"I know you..."
"I should hope so." The chunin spoke slowly in a drawl, but it was clear he wasn't as carefree as he seemed. Out of the corner of his eye he was watching the Sound Four, standing back and waiting, watching the Leaf ninja just as intently as they got into a tight defensive formation around Sasuke and their captain. "We went to the Academy together. 'cept for Neji."
"Yeah," Sasuke agreed, looking to the genius from the Uchihas' rival clan, "Neji Hyuga - from the Chunin Exams. I remember you."
There was a pause and the Nara waited for Sasuke to continue, and when he didn't he groaned.
"Wow, thanks for remembering the rest of us." He pointed to himself then the others in his team one at a time, stating a name then moving on to the next. "Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Hinata. We're here on the Lady Hokage's orders."
NNNNNNNNN
Earlier that day Shikamaru received a summons at his home from Tsunade and was escorted to the Hokage Tower by Kotetsu and Izumo. He wasn't sure what the fuss was all about, but could tell whatever she wanted from him it was going to be a drag.
Upon entering her office Shikamaru was introduced by Tsunade's two aides, who then promptly stepped out, leaving him completely alone with the Sannin, not even Shizune anywhere to be found. She seemed tense, leaning her elbows on her desk with her fingers locked in front of her mouth, eyes narrowed, glaring into his own.
"Shikamaru Nara," she addressed purposefully. "What we're about to discuss is top secret - S-class."
Shikamaru hesitated to speak, his eyes widening and his new green flak vest, awarded to him for passing the Chunin Exams, all of a sudden feeling especially heavy against his shoulders. His mouth opened but no sound came out, his mind racing and failing to determine what the purpose of this meeting happened to be. Of course he had only to wait a moment longer before Tsunade revealed it to him.
"Naruto Uzumaki has left the village."
"He what!?" Shikamaru responded without thinking. "Naruto's gone rogue!?"
Tsunade let out a defeated breath, despite her outward appearance of youth seeming suddenly very old and tired.
"I'm not going to classify him as rogue just yet. We don't know why he left, only that he did sometime last night. His teammate Sasuke Uchiha has already begun to pursue him with the intent of retrieving him. I want you to assemble a team and move out immediately to support his efforts and bring Naruto back."
"You're putting me in charge?" He was a chunin now, but Shikamaru hardly expected he'd be leading a team so soon, if ever.
"I am. As I said, it is of the utmost importance that this matter remain secret. That is why I selected you. This mission I'm assigning you is of A-rank importance at least, but I'll post it as a C-rank."
Shikamaru saw the logic in Tsunade's choice. If she assigned a squad of ANBU to get Naruto it would certainly be noticed. If she sent out jonin or even chunin, once again it wouldn't go overlooked by whoever the hokage was so worried might be interested. Sending Shikamaru meant the operation could be safely dismissed by onlookers as an exercise for him to get acclimated to being in charge. And if anyone still found it suspicious, the records would state that it was a C-rank assignment, probably even with a false description. Why she was being so careful though, Shikamaru didn't have a clue.
He cleared his throat.
"Alright. But you said for me to assemble a team. I don't know many chunin to bring with me."
"Only bring genin with you -" she commanded, much to the boy's apprehension, "- the most talented you can find on short notice. Bringing chunin for a C-rank mission would draw too much attention."
Shikamaru supposed it made sense. Besides, Orochimaru's attack on the Leaf depleted much of their manpower, and even a casual observer could tell every chunin and jonin in the village was running constant missions to keep up the illusion of the Leaf's strength. The hokage probably didn't have anything above a genin to spare anyway.
"What a drag..." Shikamaru frowned, but his posture stiffened, and he looked Tsunade in the eye with conviction and the most professionalism he could muster. "I'll see it done, Lady Hokage."
"One last thing before you go." Tsunade's brow furrowed and she sat back in her chair. "Remember, the details of your deployment will be altered in the records. You must carry this mission out with absolute secrecy, and can therefore expect to receive no reinforcements. Rendez-vous with Sasuke and track Naruto down, then return as if nothing happened. As far as anyone in the village will know, Naruto never left. Understood?"
"Understood."
With that, Shikamaru bowed and turned to leave.
He didn't know for sure why Naruto would abandon the village, but he had a good idea. He acted aloof, but Shikamaru was no fool, and over the years he slowly began to notice the way adults treated the orange-loving troublemaker. The other kids had picked up on the social cues of their parents and neighbours, and for years had taunted him relentlessly. It was possible Naruto's excitable exterior was just a way to cope with the mistreatment, and underneath it all he was really hurting. Or it was possible that he got angry about something and, in typical impulsive fashion, overreacted and left. Not that Naruto was well-known for giving up...
The first place Shikamaru went looking for a genin to add to his team was the household of the Akimichi Clan. There he found Choji, his teammate under the tutelage of Asuma and his best friend in the whole world. They worked well together, so it was only natural, Shikamaru figured, to ask him to join the team.
Kiba Inuzuka was walking his dog Akamaru nearby at the time and overheard the two talking, and instantly volunteered to come along. He wanted a rematch with Naruto after losing to him during the Chunin Exams, and he'd never get it if the knucklehead didn't come home. His sense of smell would simplify tracking him down too, so Shikamaru accepted his help without a second thought.
On the way to the main gate they came across Neji Hyuga and Rock Lee, and though Lee was still recovering from surgery and couldn't join them, Neji volunteered in his stead. He owed Naruto a lot for the words he'd said in their own fight during the Chunin Exams, the brash blond changing his perspective on life, and allowing him to repair his relations with both his uncle and his cousin. It was only right that he do the same for Naruto and try to talk him down from leaving the Leaf and becoming lost in rage and despair, just as he had once been.
Finally, the team arrived at the gates and were ready to leave. They couldn't afford to waste time searching for more genin, so had to go with who they had. Shikamaru ordered a quick review of everyone's equipment and found it acceptable, then turned to face the forest beyond the village walls.
"Here we go," he muttered, more for himself than for the benefit of his team.
He was about to take his first step out of the village as a chunin, a team of shinobi at his back, when he was stopped by a cry to wait.
Shikamaru looked back behind him, Choji, Kiba, and Neji doing the same, and found a small girl with short blue hair and pale eyes running up to meet them.
Kiba was the first to say anything - a bark of recognition.
"Hinata?"
Hinata stopped before the team, cheeks red and her breathing heavy.
"You're going to find Naruto, aren't you?" she wondered to no one in particular, though Shikamaru swiftly rushed over to silence her. Their mission was top secret, and it wouldn't do to speak so openly about it.
"Shh!" He held up an urging hand and Hinata hurriedly covered her mouth in embarrassment. "How'd you find out about that?"
"Oh! Well... I was just... I happened to see earlier..."
Neji's jaw dropped and he stepped forward, whispering a quick rebuke.
"Lady Hinata!"
It was all he had to say for the girl to understand what he was upset about. Their shared byakugan was a powerful dojutsu, and in a confined area like the Leaf it rendered privacy nonexistent. As a result, using the kekkei genkai within the village was heavily frowned upon by non-Hyugas, and the clan did their best to be polite and keep their enhanced sight out of others' affairs.
Hinata's face turned a shade redder and she shook her head frantically.
"I didn't use byakugan! I just..." She paused and looked at her feet before continuing, a hint of shame in her tone. "I just happened to be walking by the training grounds this morning and overheard that Naruto was missing."
Shikamaru was not convinced by her story, but Neji and Kiba seemed to react with understanding, reassuring him that whatever she was trying to hide with her convenient alibi, it wasn't serious.
Before speaking again, this time Hinata looked round to make sure no one was listening, then continued in a hush.
"Please let me come with you! I want to help find Naruto."
"Hm." Shikamaru frowned, his face taking on a hybrid expression of boredom and annoyance. "Alright, but we have to get moving. The longer we wait the farther ahead of us Naruto and Sasuke get. Remember: Naruto may be a drag for the most part, but he's a Leaf ninja, the same as any of us. This place is as much his home as it is ours. So let's bring him home."
The others in Shikamaru's hastily assembled genin team nodded one, resolve sharpening their discipline, and with a chop of his hand to signal the start of their operation, the five shinobi bolted out the Leaf's gates and into the forest beyond.
NNNNNNNNN
Sasuke glared with his sharingan eyes into Shikamaru's own beady grey ones.
"How'd you find me?" he questioned roughly.
Kiba's dog woofed with pride and Sasuke let out a hum of understanding. They'd tracked him by his scent, then.
Kiba himself spoke up next, though not moving from his spot with the rest of his comrades, eyeing the Sound Four.
"Lady Tsunade sent us to help you get Naruto. How'd you know where he was going?"
"So," Sasuke began, the ghost of a smirk starting at the edges of his mouth, "I was right. He was going this way."
Choji broke formation to whip around and gawk at Sasuke.
"You mean you didn't know for sure?" His disbelief was shared by Shikamaru, but the Nara stayed silent, watching Sasuke carefully, observing his every move as if there were some hidden meaning behind them. "You just started running in a random direction?"
"I had a hunch," Sasuke answered shortly, his nose wrinkling at the sight of the Akimichi. "I know Naruto."
If Sasuke was correct, Naruto felt abandoned by the Leaf, for whatever reason, so he in turn abandoned it. He likely wanted to get away from everyone and everything he knew, for what reason Sasuke couldn't yet fathom, though he intended to find out, and combined with his adventurous, boisterous spirit, it seemed most likely Naruto would be going somewhere completely foreign and new to him. He'd been east of the Land of Fire before, in the Land of Waves, south, to the Land of Tea, north to the Land of Snow, but never west, so that was the first direction Sasuke thought to go looking for him.
By Sasuke's reasoning, there was only one path that led him to Naruto.
Shikamaru raised a brow at Sasuke's words, then nodded his head at the Sound ninja standing a distance away, watching them and waiting.
"And who're these guys?"
"Orochimaru's personal guard, apparently. I was planning on killing them since they were in my way, but now that you're here I'll leave them to you." The glow of Sasuke's sharingan faded and his eyes returned to their usual black. "I'm going after Naruto."
"Fair enough," Shikamaru sighed with a shrug. "We were only sent to support you."
Shikamaru looked back to his team. As expected they were still observing the Sound ninja for any trace of movement - that is, all expect one. Shikamaru's eyes locked with Hinata's, peeking back to watch his exchange with Sasuke, and she jerked in surprise and embarrassment that she'd been caught not paying attention to their enemies.
Was she curious about Sasuke? Or did she want to know more about Naruto's situation? Shikamaru pondered it for only a moment.
"One thing though," he added slowly, his eyes lingering on Hinata before turning back to Sasuke. "Bring Hinata with you."
From behind them Hinata let out a small gasp of surprise and Neji and Kiba's eyes darted briefly in her direction. When Sasuke's frown deepened, Shikamaru decided a clarification was needed.
"You may be going in the right general direction, but you have no way of accurately tracking Naruto. She can be your eyes."
Sasuke's first instinct was to take the Nara's words as a slight against him, and worse, his sharingan. But, he supposed, she was a Hyuga, the cousin clan of the Uchiha and the bearer of the only kekkei genkai he perceived to be on equal footing with his own. The way he understood it, the Hyugas' byakugan had overall visibility on its side while the Uchiha sharingan excelled at perceiving details - quantity against quality. And if Naruto happened to be nearby but simply behind something, he'd never see him. The byakugan would have no such trouble.
"Fine," Sasuke huffed, then pointed to the Sound ninja, still waiting for a chance to get at him."The big guy can do Earth jutsus. That guy can shoot web. That one is two people that attack from the same body. The girl hasn't done anything yet and is the weakest at taijutsu."
With that information passed along, Sasuke shoved past Shikamaru and approached Hinata, getting altogether too close for her liking, his eyes boring down into her own, black against white.
"Come." Hinata shivered at his commanding tone. "Let's go."
Sasuke's eyes went blood red as he reactivated his sharingan, and he turned his back on Hinata to leave.
"Ah...!" she gasped in surprise, then nodded, focusing her chakra and activating her byakugan. "Right!"
They bounded off, one after the next, but the Sound Four clearly had no intention of letting them go so easily.
"Not so fast!" Sakon snarled, breaking into a run after Sasuke, disregarding Shikamaru and his genin completely.
Jirobo followed after him, Kidomaru and Tayuya lagging slightly behind from their injuries.
"Where do you think you're going!?" Tayuya called to the Uchiha. "You little punk!"
Before they'd gotten more than a few steps though, they stopped dead in their tracks.
"A better question," came the breezy cool voice of Shikamaru, standing with his team, his hands clasped together, "is where do you think you're going?"
Each of Orochimaru's elite guard struggled, exerting every effort to move their limbs, but finding they wouldn't cooperate.
"What is this...?" Sakon growled.
Shikamaru's expression didn't change. He showed no pity for them nor any sign of pride. To him, this was all just another chore, and he spoke the name of his technique.
"Shadow Possession Jutsu."
His shadow was dark and merged with his opponents', and he stood still, letting them wrestle against his jutsu's control. After all, he was only there to support Sasuke, and that meant stalling his pursuers. He wouldn't fight them if he didn't have to - he'd seen how worn out Sasuke was, and according to him they still hadn't shown their full power yet. As confident as he was about his own team's strength, Shikamaru still couldn't be sure if they'd stand a chance against them.
Choji, Kiba and Akamaru, and Neji all stepped up to stand alongside their chunin leader, an assortment of feelings displayed on their faces as they took note of Shikamaru's prisoners, struggling against their own shadows.
"You know," Shikamaru began wistfully, "I never really got to know Sasuke. In fact, I never liked the guy."
He paused to collect his thoughts before continuing.
"But Naruto's not so bad, I suppose. And since Sasuke's going after him, I guess I gotta cut him some slack." Despite his earlier hope to not engage the Sound Four, Shikamaru could already tell they were breaking out of his jutsu. Black marks were extending across their faces from their necks, and the more area the marks covered the stronger they seemingly became. "I don't know what business these guys have with Sasuke, but the way I see it, they're in the way of him finding Naruto."
He turned his head back and forth, looking upon each member of his team - the first team on which he could call himself captain - gauging their expressions.
Choji was as imperturbable as ever, one hand supporting a bag of barbecue potatato chips and the other snatching and shoving the snack into his waiting mouth. Neji's brow was low over narrowed white eyes, and Shikamaru figured he was thinking about Naruto and mentally preparing for the battle that was fast approaching. Kiba's stance was easy and unconcerned, and his lip was peeled just far enough back in a smirk to show off one of his razor fangs.
With one last effort the Sound Four broke free of Shikamaru's power, forcing him to pull his shadow back and watch as they directed their hate at him and began to approach, absolutely furious with him for interrupting their fight with Sasuke. It seemed he'd gotten their attention. Now he would just have to hold it until Sasuke and Hinata found Naruto and escorted him home.
"And," he said finally, "I'm not going to let them interfere. Are you?"
The genin looked to Shikamaru and then each other questioningly. Choji grabbed his last chip then stuffed the empty bag into a pocket. Neji nodded once and smiled proudly. Akamaru yelped his agreement and Kiba scoffed.
"Not a chance."
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