Chapter 19 Realization, second truth revealed
'Today you die kyuubi Kitsune? What the hell is this guy saying...and why did he call him a.....'
Shikamaru's eyes suddenly widened in realization, as that name rang many bells to another individual he knew.
'Temari told me about this during my mission to Suna, but I wasn't listening much to the troublesome women's bickering...I do recall her directing her venting towards Gaara and that word, this Jinkuriki....no way....Naruto can't be....'
Shikamaru was forced out of his thoughts when a high pitched screech was heard from underneath them, he also could feel the vibration from the source through the cement of the bridge.
Shikamaru's attention changed to his view at the ANBU in front, where a strange yet terrifying laugh came from. A Second ANBU had appeared next to the other one with the katana, he appeared noticeably shorter and had a blue fox mask.
"It seems Wani is feeling hungry from the scent of their chakra...this is amusing indeed." The ANBU chuckled. Naruto hadn't moved or said anything after being called a Jinkuriki from the taller ANBU, it almost seemed as if Naruto was lost in another world.
'W-what is going on?'
Naruto cried to his mind, only to be rewarded with silence. The blonde did receive glares and harsh remarks from villagers in Konoha, and even on a couple of rare occasions was beaten, but never did an ANBU raise his sword at him with clear intent to kill him. It was obvious it was because of the Kyuubi, but why?
"Naruto snap out of it and get ready!" Sakura's shout finally woke Naruto from his deep musing as he nodded and lowered himself into his stance.
Lee was already in his stance with the spear across his back, ready to make a move if necessary.
"Shikamaru-kun, orders." Lee said without shifting his gaze. No response was heard from the Shadow user, who was still in shock from his realisation.
'That explains why Sakura's expression earlier was of pure worry and concern, she knew about this before the mission even began...maybe she was told during that time when Tsunad-'
"Shikamaru!" Sakura shouted, briefly glancing behind her to see if he was still there.
'I don't have time to sit here and dawdle, not when the enemy is standing in front of us...this is seriously so troublesome!'
Shikamaru quickly thought of a few strategies, cringing how most of them had too many variables to guarantee success, especially since he knew nothing about these guys, or whatever that thing was underneath the bridge, until something clicked.
"What does he mean Naruto?" Shikamaru said, slowly walking towards said stunned blonde, with no emotions portraying in his face or emotion.
"Shikamaru, ther-"
"WHAT, does he mean Naruto?!" Shikamaru snapped over Sakura, who suddenly went wide eyed. Thomas was about to throw his hand full of kunai, but Araiki put a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Wait." Whispered Araiki with sickening pleasure reeking with his single word command. Thomas questioned his teammates motives, but brushed it off with a shrug.
Naruto looked wide eyed and terrified at Shikamaru's lack of expression, and the seriousness clear in the shadow users eyes.
"H-He m-means." Sakura barged in front of the Shadow user glaring hard at Shikamaru.
"Shikamaru, now is not the time fo-" She suddenly went wide eyed, and her whole body began uncontrollably shaking. Sakura knew what this meant when her entire body refused to move, and was slightly horrified in realization of what this was when Shikamaru continued to move and she didn't imitate.
'This...is Kage Shibari!!!'
"Shika...maru...leave him alone!" Sakura whispered, still in shock. The shadow user completely ignored her as he casually walked by her. Sakura looked to Lee but gritted her teeth when she saw he was too caught.
Naruto tried to move as well, but was also caught in Shikamaru's hold. Shikamaru walked straight up to Naruto and pulled out a kunai that he was gripping tightly.
"I'm not going to ask you again." Shikamaru whispered, holding the kunai against the stunned Naruto's throat. Sakura was furiously trying with all her power to break out of the hold, but met with no luck when two shadowy arms gripped tightly onto her ankles, resulting in her to emit a loud agitated grunt.
Naruto couldn't meet the shadow users face but he whispered.
"He....he means that I...I am the vessel of the kyuubi Kitsune." Naruto then looked straight into his friends cold eyes to show he was being serious, which flickered causing him to wince.
"...How troublesome." Shikamaru ignored Naruto's surprised gasp, and then threw his kunai straight at the amused pair of ANBU, soaring straight past them. The blue masked ANBU caught a glimpse of a tag and released a surprised gasp, but before he could make a move, both him and his partner were blinded by a bright light.
Sakura and Lee suddenly felt lighter, as the binding from the shadow was released and they turned and went wide eyed at the sight. Shikamaru had caught both of the ANBU in his shadow.
"Kage Shibari succe-"
'poof'
The ANBU with the red mask turned into a log.
"My eyes don't miss anything, including the concealed marking of a flash tag." Said an amused voice from Shikamaru's side. Shikamaru turned his head to see a katana aiming straight towards his head.
"Konoha Senpuu!" Lee shouted as he jumped between the two shinobi and flicked his Nun-chucks, releasing a shockwave sending the offending ANBU member stumbling backwards before quickly recovering and throwing an exploding kunai at the still kneeling Shikamaru.
The ANBU grunted in annoyance when a shadows hand grabbed the projectile mere meters from colliding with its target, and casually tossing it over the bridge, where the kunai exploded, causing a surprised cry from the creature below.
"Lee, handle him."
"Hai!"
"Sakura, cover me as I deal with this one."
"H-Hai!"
"Naruto....NARUTO!" Shikamaru turned to see the still stunned Naruto sitting on the ground next to him. The shadow user gave him a casual smirk.
"Do something about that troublesome creature below us." Naruto slowly recovered and returned the gesture with a wide smile.
"A-Ahh, ill beat the crap out of whatever that thing is Shikamaru, dattebayo!"
"Wani!" The blue masked ANBU shouted. Several Large tentacles towered out of the water, with three on the left and four on the right side of the bridge. Naruto snapped to action by jumping over the edge of the bridge, forming his favourite seal.
"Taju Kage bunshin no jutsu!" The air was then filled with hundreds of doppelgangers as they landed on the water surface. Judging by how the tentacles suddenly retreated back to underneath the bridge, Shikamaru assumed Naruto was doing his job very well, and then turned his attention back to his captive.
"It seems your pet cannot save you, he seems a bit busy right now." Shikamaru said, his voice full of sarcasm. Shikamaru was about to begin running through the seals for Kage Nui, until his eyes narrowed on the kunai's that the ANBU had dropped just before he captured him. They appeared to have tags wrapped around them with a strange type of seal. The feature that had caught the shadow users attention was that they were glowing. Shikamaru's eyes suddenly went wide as the tags began to glow brightly.
"Wani can help me whenever SHE knows I need HER assistance." The ANBU replied, emphasising the fact that his 'pet' was a girl. Just when the ANBU finished talking, several smaller tentacles lashed out from the tags, shooting in a straight line for Shikamaru. Shikamaru didn't need to hear Sakura's confirmation that she couldn't stop that, and was forced to let go of his hold and dodge to the side along with Sakura to avoid getting impaled.
Sakura did not see it coming though when the tentacles quickly adjusted and almost like a whip, lashed at her and entangled her in a tight ensnare.
"This is what you get for attempting to interfere with our mission to destroy the failure of a Jinkuriki." Thomas whispered as his hands formed a hare seal, causing the tentacles ensnaring Sakura to shoot out small fine spines impaling all over her body.
'poof'
The same log that Araiki used earlier appeared in Sakura's place, although now it was more akin to a Katie. Thomas's eyes widened behind his mask, as he felt the girl's presence next to him.
"HIS NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO SHANNARO!!!" Screamed Sakura as she punched Thomas square in the middle of the face from his side, smashing his ceramic fox mask to pieces, combined with the loud snap of bones breaking. Thomas was sent flying over 30 meters back, occasionally colliding with the hard cement as he continued his course. Shikamaru inwardly winced when he saw the head of the ANBU positioned in a way impossible normally when Thomas finally lost speed and came to a stop.
"Sakura, I will go help Lee, you go down below and help Naruto with whatever that thing is."
Sakura turned and nodded responding with 'Hai'. Shikamaru already turned at started heading for Lee, who was fighting further down the bridge. Sakura was preparing to jump over the edge when a voice from behind made her go wide eyed.
"You will pay dearly for that." Sakura spun her head around to meet the emotionless gaze of the ANBU she thought she had killed. He was standing up from his spot where he was once lying dead at.
'Impossible!...I felt it, I broke his neck, and the front of his skull....HOW IS HE STILL ALIVE AND STANDING?!'
Sakura then noticed some strange liquid smudged all over the ANBU's scarred face.
'Is that...ink?!' Thomas gave a fake smile.
"Wani indeed is an amazing summon, her ink has regenerative properties that can even bring the recently deceased back from the grave."
Sakura's eyes narrowed 'Basically as long as that summon is still in this realm, taking him down is going to be extremely hard.' Her mind concluded. She quickly formed the tiger seal and released the weights pull on her wrists.
'The others lives are at stake, I need to finish him off as quick as possible.'
Sakura then quickly slid off her left glove, letting it drop to the cement as she bit her thumb, drawing blood, and began running through the seals that Tsunade had taught her.
-
Flash back, one year ago, Hokage tower
-
"Haruno Sakura, due to your outstanding performance in the chuunin exams, showing your intelligence and strength, I hereby promote you to the rank of chuunin." Tsunade spoke in her official Hokage tone.
Sakura bowed in respect. "I am eternally grateful, Tsunade-sama."
"I told you to stop doing that!"
Tsunade rose from her desk and went around to her apprentice and gave her an embrace like a parent would to their child.
"You make me proud." Tsunade whispered to her apprentice. Sakura genuinely smiled and returned the embrace. Tsunade broke it after a short while and smirked. "I assume you are not going to wear the chuunin vest?"
Sakura chuckled and flushed slightly ."N-No Tsunade-sama, it's not really my....style."
She stuttered "Hmmph, fair enough then."
Tsunade then retreated to the side of her desk and lifted a large scroll, catching Sakura's interest.
"This is my present to you as congratulations." Tsunade unrolled the scroll revealing several names, Tsunade and Shizune being at the bottom of the list. Sakura's eyes widened and she gasped.
"T-Tsunade-sama...is that-"
"This is the slug contract, once you have written your full name here in your blood, you will have a blood link with the slugs, allowing you to summon them in battle." Tsunade spoke proudly.
"Slugs are known for their strong medical abilities, but that doesn't mean they cannot put up a fight either. One such attack they can use is using their highly acidic saliva as a weapon, if the slug wishes to, this acid can even burn straight through steel."
Sakura was dumbfounded still at her presented gift but nodded in awe. Tsunade continued, "While you currently do not have enough Chakra to summon Katsuya, queen of the slugs at her full size which is as large as this tower, you can summon her in lesser forms, as well as her smaller sub ordinates."
Tsunade smirked. "Now drop that clueless expression and sign it already, we will then begin your training in summoning a slug once your done." Sakura quickly shook off her expression of shock and approached the desk and biting her thumb, drawing a small tickle of blood and wrote her name clearly on the scroll .
'Haruno Sakura'
-
Present time
-
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" She shouted as she slammed her hand into the ground. A large smoke cloud appeared next to Sakura as the silhouette of a slug was seen through the smoke. The smoke cleared quickly to reveal a single slug, which was 6 feet in length and stood roughly at Sakura's waist in height.
"How may I be of assistance, Sakura-sama?" The slug said with its mystical feminine voice.
Sakura smiled and looked at the slug. "Katsuya-sama, I need your help defeating this ANBU here, who is threatening the life of my friend, he appears to use some summon called Wani."
The slug didn't make any motion in recognition, but Sakura could tell Katsuya was in thought, then the slug spoke.
"Wani...she is the head summon to that of the squid contract, she is known for her ability to summon portions of her body through small seals that can be placed on anything, without the requirement for the contract signers blood. The squids also are known for their ink which can be used to regenerate anything they come in contact with."
Sakura nodded in understanding. "The noise I am hearing from underneath the bridge, is Wani herself I assume?"
Sakura suddenly listened to the noise, she could clearly hear the creature letting out loud cries, as well as the sound of numerous explosions and the sound of clones dispelling.
"Hai, Naruto is currently dealing with Wani underneath right now."
She said, although the worry in her voice was clear, Katsuya turned its body slightly to face Sakura.
"You're friend is strong, Sakura-sama, once we have defeated the summoner then we will go to his aid."
Sakura nodded in understanding, as she reached down for her discarded glove and slipped it back on tightly.
"Yosh, lets finish this creep off and go help Naruto!"