Wow, I've got over 100 readers! Thanks ya'll so much for reading this far! I really hope you enjoy it. I was hoping to finish it at the point where they lose Sasuke but since it has been a while I wanted to give ya'll something to read! Thanks again!
Kiba came to a sudden stop on one of the branches as he sniffed the air and the team stopped beside. Meng Ka was higher up in the trees as Tinktink had taken to the sky to help them track down the group that had Sasuke. Looking down, she tilted her head to the side. "What is it Kiba?" She called down but already knew the answer.
"They've stopped. Most likely to rest, if we hurry we will be able to gain on them while they are resting." Kiba said looking up at her and then back at the others.
"Meng Ka." Shikamaru called up to her, "What is the group's level of chakra?" He asked, knowing that if she could sense chakra then she could also tell how strong they were as well.
Wincing, she was hoping he wouldn't have thought of that since she already could tell that they were far beyond the level of their group's chakra. Frowning she jumped down closer to them, "Let's just say that as of right now our best bet is catching them blind and not getting into any fights with them. Basically we'll have to steal Sasuke right from under their noses and that's going to be a challenging enough task for us."
Shikamaru nodded his head as worry passed through the faces of the others but they soon recovered with determination as Naruto yelled out, "Well what are we waiting for?! Let's get Sasuke!" Meng Ka winced at his loud voice as Tinktink returned and landed on her shoulder.
Kiba suddenly smacked Naruto behind his head, "Shut up! You're so loud. What part of surprise attack do you not understand?!" He yelled right back only adding to the noise as the two of them argued with each other.
Shikamaru sighed and rolled his eyes, "Hey! Both of you shut up and get back in formation." They all nodded and quickly began to run again, "The odds are high that there will be traps or ambushes. I want you to use your visual and acoustic senses to the fullest! We need to locate these guys before we get ambushed. And if we come across anything suspicious, don't just dodge them, interpret them."
"All right! When we catch up to them I'm going to use my new justu to clobber them." Naruto said with a smile on his face as they continued to race through the trees.
Meng Ka looked back at him with a chuckle but also noticed Kiba's annoyed look on his face, those two either got along perfectly or not all it seemed. Suddenly Akamaru stiffed the air and barked, making Kiba look up shocked. "Everyone, the enemy's scent is all around us!" He yelled making every stop and land on the same tree branch.
"Paper bombs," Neji said as they looked up, "The figuration is that of a perimeter barrier."
"What's that?" Asked Choji as he looked over at Neji.
"It's one type of booby trap ninjusu." Shikamaru answered while still looking up, "Those types have a time lag and are activated when someone enters the area that has been marked by the enemy."
"It's advance jutsu," Meng Ka said softly looking over the group, "It was one of the first lessons Uncle Shi had me do when I became a Chuunin." She bit down on her lip as she looked back over the trees, spotting the paper bombs, they were everywhere.
"Darn! Our only choice is to make a detour," Kiba said as he looked down at her and then over at Shikamaru.
"Meng Ka, you still have a lock on their chakra right?" Shikamaru asked as he looked over at her. She nodded her response, "Good, you'll lead then since you're the only one here who knows how these traps works. Kiba, you'll still use your nose to detect other traps as well."
Meng Ka nodded and jumped down from the trees, landing on the ground and leading them around the trap but it was long before they ran into even more traps. "Damn! Nothing but traps!" Kiba whined as he stepped over another string that Meng Ka had spotted.
"Yeah but the enemy seems pressed for time." Meng Ka said, "The traps have noticeable flaws and they've only been taking about five minutes worth of rest before heading off again. Most likely setting more traps."
"Hey hey! Naruto! There's a wire under your feet." Kiba called out as he looked behind him.
"Yeah, yeah. I already know that." He said bored as he stepped over the wire.
"Wait! Naruto!" Shikamaru called out as another wire much thinner than the rest caught his eye. Naruto froze where he was and a panic look overcame his face. Meng Ka sighed crossing her arms as she looked back, knowing what this meant. Naruto was about to freak out but luckly, Shikamaru used his shadow jutsu to stop him and move him out of place but not before he yelled at him of course.
Once he was away from the wires the group squatted down to have a look at the new wire. "I see, one of the wires is readily visible because it reflects light." Shikamaru said he looked closely to it, "The other has been coated green."
"So it is very difficult to see with the naked eye," Neji added, "It's a double trap." A look of amazement passed through his eyes before his face became neutral once again.
"Despite the fact that they're in a hurry, that's an elaborate trap. Which means…" he trailed off as he looked up at Meng Ka knowingly.
"That they're at rest." Meng Ka finished for him, having already told them that just a few minutes ago but this time they weren't setting traps.
"Perhaps they got injured or that itself is a trap." Neji added as he looked down at the wire, and then looked up, folding his hands together, "Byakugan!" He said as he looked ahead of them. "Caught 'em."
"All right. All right. I'll drag Sasuke back without fail!" Naruto said as he stood up.
Kiba smirked and looked back at him, "Naruto, hate to tell you this, but I'm going to demonstrate my new jutsu right here!" Akamaru barking his agreement.
"Me too!" Choji said as he stood up as well.
Meng Ka frowned a bit, "Don't be so hasty or cocky. You'll end up getting us all killed." She put her hands on her hips and glared over at the three of them.
"As soon as preparations have been made to implement my strategy," Shikamaru said as he stood up, "We'll make direct contact with the target."
Shikamaru finished explaining his plans to them and they soon split up into three groups. Neji with Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba and Naruto and then Meng Ka with Tinktink. Shikamaru and Neji went to one side while the others went to the other side. Meng Ka then took to the trees and watched from above as everyone moved in on the group. Tinktink chirped softly by her side, uneasy as her keen yellow eyes watched the group as they sat in a circle. With how high their chakra levels were she was surprised that it was so easy for them to sneak up on them. Even though they were trying to be quiet, they were still making a lot of noise in the bushes.
Suddenly Meng Ka froze as she looked ahead of her, there she could see a silver wire, much like the ones she had seen before but this one was thinner. "Almost like a spider's web…" She said to Tinktink as she studied it but then realization hit her hard as she looked down. The web was everywhere and they were caught right in the middle of it. Before she could call out and warn the others the blue haired guy stood up and threw daggers at Shikamaru and Neji.
Cursing she jumped down, throwing the two forward and then forming signs with her hands, "Kyūshū suru!" She called out as she made her final sign just as the blast went off and Neji and Shikamaru watched in horror as the blast swallowed her only to disappear as Meng Ka remained still, her eyes closed as the bright light of the blast surrounded her in a thin layer and then flowed into her hands, disappearing.
But before they could say anything the blue haired guy spoke as the four of them stood before them, "What's this? I poke the bush for kicks and out comes not even a snake, just three bugs."
The biggest of the four moved as if to attack but Shikamaru quickly stood up, "Wait a minute. Wait! We didn't come here to fight. We just came here to negotiate!"
The one with four arms smirked and chuckled, "Then what are they?" He said as he lifted his fists and pulled forward. The wire Meng Ka saw earlier appeared and then the rest of their group came flying through the air. Kiba was quick to act though a he throw one of his smoke bomb down, giving them some time for a distraction as the four armed guy underestimated them and stood there talking about how great his string is.
Even Meng Ka had to fight back a roll of her eyes as she continued to try her best to look fragile and scared. She looked over at Shikamaru then as the smoke cleared, "Didn't think they had such ability with them in the group."
Shikamaru chuckled, "It was a trap for sure." He said back as he kept his eyes on the group in front of them.
The four armed guy smirked, "You will be..!" He suddenly stopped as he looked down, "I can't move!" he said in confusion as his group struggled to move as well.
"Nice! Kiba, Shikamaru!" Naruto said with a smile as Choji chuckled in agreement but this one no time to be celebrating and calling out their bluff. "Shadow possession jutsu succeeded!" Meng Ka could have smacked him by now.
"But there is one with ability like this too." Shikamaru said as he smirked and looked over at the group. "Thanks for getting caught in the trap so easily." Now Meng Ka could have smacked them both, unless Shikamaru was acting cocky on purpose. She never really did know with him, he was rather good at bluffing and pretending.
The blue haired guy smirked back, "Darn. But," Meng Ka hated 'buts', "I have this kind of ability too." He said as he shifted slightly and suddenly daggers were flying at Shikamaru from behind.
He moved quickly out of the way but still got cut in the process and released his justu on the four of them. The biggest one didn't hesitated as he called out, "Earth style barrier." He then kneeled and placed his hands on the ground, "Earth dome prison!" He yelled as the ground shook and cracked around them and a dome of earth surrounded them.
"Darn!" Shikamaru said as he looked up at the earth around them. Meng Ka sighed and sat down, her feet were killing her and she figured she let the group panic for a bit. That would teach them to get so cocky and let their guard down.
"I don't know what it's made out of," Kiba said with a chuckled, "We'll just have to tear this wall down." He said confidently and Meng Ka had to admit that they weren't as cocky as they were beforehand.
"Even so, it's more dangerous to be careless. Actually it's more dangerous to be silent here." Shikamaru said as he looked over at Meng Ka, "Have you run into this before?"
Meng Ka shook her head, "No, I haven't but like you said we need to be careful."
Before she was even finished saying that Kiba was already going into action as he tried to tunnel his way through but soon they discovered that the wall was restoring itself faster than Kiba could dig. Meng Ka couldn't help but wonder what Uncle Shi would do in a time like this, most likely just use his red eye and then poof he's out. Sighing, Meng Ka stood up and ran a hand over the rock. It felt like normal rock yet it was almost like Jiraiya sensi's frog stomach jutsu.
"Neji…" Meng Ka said softly as she looked over at him but he was already folding his hands, "Byakugan!" He called out and looked around the room. "Th-this is.." He trailed off as he stared at the wall.
"What is it?" Shikamaru asked as everyone crowded around Neji.
"This is bad, chakra is being sucked up," He said as he looked down at his hands, shaking slightly.
"I didn't expect that they would just keep us in the barrier," Kiba said, "But I didn't predict that they would suck our chakra either."
"How dare they!" Naruto yelled as he started to get in his panic mode again, "They need to let us out of here!"
Meng Ka bit her lip and quickly went into action as she sat down once again and folded her hands to meditate. "Meng Ka! This isn't a time to meditate! What are you doing?!" Naruto yelled at her, "Hey! Leave her alone. If anything she can get us out of here!" Yelled Kiba as he stood in front of Meng Ka, blocking her from Naruto. The two continued to argue for a while but Meng Ka ignored them and instead concentrated on keeping her own chakra from being absorbed.
"Man, I feel like my body has been sucked up." Naruto said weakly as he sat against the wall on the other side of Kiba. Meng Ka even stayed still and unmoving as Kiba and Akamaru tried again to knock down the wall but it was useless and a waste of energy.
"Meng Ka." Shikamaru's calm voice floated over to her ears, "What are you doing?" Meng Ka opened her eyes to see the group looking over at her and she stood up, stretching a bit.
Looking over at Tinktink she smiled slightly, "Do you think he's had his full?" She asked and Tinktink chirped as she spread her wings a little. Looking over at the group she smiled brightly, "If it's chakra he's after I'll be more than happy to give it him." Looking around she followed the chakra and then stopped in the spot that was right on the opposite side of where the guy was. Making more symbols she quickly pressed her hands against the wall and concentrated all of her chakra into her hands.
As her hands began to glow white she suddenly opened her eyes and called out, "Hanashi!" Suddenly a bright burst of light shot out around her and there was a loud cracking sound as the dome burst open and sent the guy flying back into the dirt. As the light went away, Meng Ka stood there breathing heavily and smiled back at the boys, "Looks like his teammates paper bomb back fired on him." She joked.
Naruto was the first to react, "What the hell did you do?!" he yelled as he ran up to concerned if she was hurt or not and was quickly followed by Kiba.
"She sent chakra right into his system." Neji said calmly as the others walked out of the dome. "The paper bomb that you absorbed earlier, you used as part of your own chakra. Though you waited until you knew that his body couldn't handle anymore chakra so that you wouldn't have to use as much." Neji was now looking at Meng Ka in a new light. For a small child, she was dangerous.
The guy soon stood up and stared over at them, "They escaped my barrier jutsu…" he seemed to say to himself as he stood there.
"He's the only here, seems the others went ahead." Meng Ka said as she looked around and locked back onto Sasuke's chakra. They hadn't gotten too far but still they were wasting time standing here.
"Yeah, they aren't around here anymore." Neji backed her up as he looked around as well.
"Darn, just when we thought we had caught up." Shikamaru said as he sighed.
Suddenly Naruto and Kiba ran after the guy and Neji called out for them to wait but Kiba didn't listen as he attacked with Akamaru. It was like they didn't learn from the first time they had gotten cocky. He easily defeated them with one punch and Meng Ka rubbed her eyes as she sighed again.
"You guys will be my meal!" The guy finally said as he glared over at them. Kiba and Naruto ran at the guy again but like before he defeated them easily. "Not even enough for an appetizer." He chuckled as he looked at the two.
He suddenly tried to do the earth dome once again but Choji stepped up and did his expansion jutsu to keep him from doing that. They were able to hide because of the dust it kicked up and they sat in a tight circle a distance away. "We'll have to split up into two." Shikamaru said shocking the group a little.
Neji looked over to where the big buy was stand nodded his head, "I see now, even at six against one, with our chakra taken away, he's not someone we can easily defeat." He said the last part looking over Meng Ka who nodded her head, having warned them earlier about that as well.
The guy suddenly found them and attacked again, knocking over trees and earth as they quickly moved out of the way. "Naruto and I will stay and handle this guy." Shikamaru said as he folded his hands.
The guy laughed, "I don't need to see that street performance more than once."
"And who was it who got tricked by the street performance earlier?" Shikamaru called back.
"I will take care of him!" Choji said quickly as he stood in between them, shocking everyone.
"What are you saying?!" Naruto asked as he looked at him, "He's not the kind of guy you can handle on your own!"
"I will do it!" He said again, getting angry now. He then pulled out something and handed it to Shikamaru, "Take these food pills for everyone."
"What?" Shikamaru asked as he looked at him, "You aren't…" His voice trailed off as he looked at him.
"That's right." Choji nodded his head, "I have that secret weapon of mine."
"Losers." The guy said, "I won't let you have your way!" he yelled as he charged at them.
"He's coming!" Naruto yelled as they looked back at him.
"I'll get rid of all of you here!" He yelled but Choji quickly got in between, 'Go, everyone!" he said as he pulled something out of his pocket and ate a green ball. Suddenly able to hold back the guy as he slammed into him, shocking everyone.
"Shikamaru, take everyone and go!" Choji called over his shoulder.
Everyone stood there reluctant to leave Choji with this guy alone but Shikamaru straightened his back, "Alright! Everyone, let's go!" he yelled and turning to look back at him they agreed. Taking the lead, Meng Ka lead them back into the forest, turning her head to look back at Choji one last time and then she focused on following Sasuke's chakra.