Please read this note!!!!!
This chapter will have some violence in it. If you are a squeamish person and do not want to read about people getting hurt (not that anyone else really wants to!) then I suggest that you do not read the following chapter. I know that I have rated this as Mature, however, this is not because of the violence. I do not believe, as of right now, that anything I write will be so violent as to warrant a Mature rating. I rated this story as Mature because of certain dark themes that will present themselves later in the story. So, basically, this chapter will be violent but it will not be overwhelming. Read at your own discretion.
Thanks!
"Ino!" Sakura's shrill scream rent through the cold night air, mingling eerily with the abrupt, angry sounds of battle. He froze for a split second, cold dread lacing through his veins.
A split second was all the time the rogue ninja needed.
Naruto jerked his head back just in time, the oily steel of a poison-laden blade swinging close enough to his face to spray his cheeks with stinging droplets. Before he could clash the swinging sword with his kunai and deliver a furious kick to his attacker's chest, the heavy metal of a rounded shield collided with the back of his head.
Naruto slashed blindly in front of him as he stumbled forwards, ears ringing. Globules of hot blood splattered up at him and arced across his chest wetly as his kunai cut a jagged line through the man's thigh. Before either of his two opponents could strike again, the Jinchuuriki twisted his body into a sideways roll mid-leap. Landing in a haphazard crouch, his feet and hands sliding over the slick grass, he wasted no time in propelling himself backwards into the air.
For a split second he was suspended upside down above the hectic battle.
Everything was illuminated by the hazy glow of the sun rising majestically above the treetops, swathed in regal clouds. The small clearing below him was swarmed with tightly pressed bodies, a churning cacophony of frenzied movement. The loud clang of steel hitting steel was punctuated with harsh battle-cries and shrieks of pain. Naruto searched frantically for any sign of his teammates but was unable to discern their figures through the muddled hysteria.
He swiftly tucked his knees into his chest, using his momentum to flip three times before he fell back to Earth. He managed to drop-kick one man in the chest and clip another in the shoulder with a kunai before he landed. A thin splash of spilt blood bloomed up about his shins as his feet touched down on the battle-strewn grass.
Naruto took a deep, gasping, breath. I need to find the others! He ducked reflexively as the tell-tale whistle of sharp steel cutting through air alerted him to an attack from his right. Gritting his teeth, the Jinchuuriki quickly made some hand signs. Four shadow clones sprung into a defensive position around him, giving him a couple seconds to reach into his weapons pouch and grab some shurikan.
He panted, beads of sweat sliding down his face. The need to find his teammates pressed upon him with a heaviness that was hard to focus around. The thought that one of them could be dead or dying right now plagued his mind and filled him with a wild fear.
Kaka-sensei, we need you!
"Shikamaru, stay with Tenzou." The words came out rushed and terse, but the last thing Kakashi cared about right now was his composure.
He didn't even wait for an answering nod before springing forwards.
They had arrived at the scene just in the nick of time. Tenzou, his face pale and twisted in an uncharacteristic grimace, had been struggling to fend off a small group of the rogue Sand-ninja. The sight of his old ANBU teammate stumbling around, a thick arrow shaft burrowed deeply in the shoulder of a limp arm, had temporarily stopped Kakashi's heart.
He hadn't even been able to muster up a sliver of shame when Shikamaru had caught up with him. The younger jounin had unfortunately sprinted in just in time to see Kakashi rip a man's ear off and stab a kunai into his bared neck. The rest lay in contorted heaps of mutilated flesh about him.
But that didn't matter. Their names repeated in his head like a mantra to the beat of his heart.
Naruto. Sakura. Sai. Ino. Chouji.
Heartbeat.
Naruto. Sakura. Sai. Ino. Chouji.
Now he thought of nothing else but the burn in his muscles as he pushed them to their limit. He did not allow himself any other thought, lest his mind stray to the possibility that one of his precious people could be hurt. There was only what he was doing and what he was going to do, there were no what if's to distract him. He was the mission.
The sound of whooshing air roared in his ears and his eyes narrowed into cat-like slits against the rough wind. The sharp sting of his bare foot slapping against rough bark jolted up his shin. Sharp branches scratched and tore at his clothes. He forgot himself in the overwhelming need to protect them. He was the mission.
Naruto. Sakura. Sai. Ino. Chouji.
"Chouji!" Sakura roared, "Take Ino and go!"
Her foot slipped slightly on the trampled grass as she backed up against a tree, clutching her best friend's limp body close to her chest. Chouji slammed one meaty fist into a charging enemy, sending the screaming man flying backwards into a faraway tree trunk. He shook his head stubbornly and his thick lips pressed together in determination.
Sakura watched on in horror.
At some point during the surprise ambush, Ino had gotten nicked by the poisoned blade of a katana. Sakura, who had been fighting back to back with the girl, hadn't even noticed until the blonde had crumpled to the ground behind her. She had somehow managed to parry the furious onslaught and scoop up her fallen teammate. Chouji, who had been smashing skulls not too far away from them, heard Sakura's call of distress and barreled through the rogue-ninja ranks to help.
Now they were all backed into a corner of the clearing, enemies pressing in on them relentlessly, no sign of Naruto, and with only the tiring Akimichi to defend them.
Things couldn't be worse.
Ino mumbled something vaguely into Sakura's shoulder. The sight of her childhood friend with her head lolling weakly, eyes half-lidded and glassy, was just too much. Sakura felt her mental-state crumbling. This can't be happening! This can't be happening!
Sakura clutched the girl closer and watched with wide, panicked eyes as Chouji just barely blocked the swing of a large broadsword with his kunai. Beads of sweat dripped down the sides of his face and into his squinted eyes.
He wasn't going to last much longer. Sakura knew that it was only a matter of time before he was struck as well. And then, Sakura struggled to breathe evenly at the thought, then she would have to somehow protect the both of them. She knew that was impossible, they would all die. The simple fact of the matter was that Chouji had to take Ino and leave the battle.
Even though the Yamanaka was deteriorating rapidly, Sakura knew that she stood a better chance of survival outside of the merciless violence of battle.
"Chouji! Take her and go!" Sakura tried to reason with him, desperate.
"No, I-" he grunted as he grabbed a rogue-ninja's wrist, stopping a dripping kunai an inch from his face, "I won't leave you!"
Sakura wanted to cry. If he didn't leave now, she was certain he would get hurt and--
"Chouji!" She cried out in horror, wide green eyes following the path of a poison-slicked axe as it swung powerfully towards his unprotected side.
Chouji, both of his arms occupied with wrestling away a double-bladed sword, could only peer over his shoulder at the incoming attack as it swung--
The black-garbed figure of her sensei, tall and imposing, stopped the rogue-ninja's swing with one lightning fast grip to the wrist. Sakura's breath caught in her throat, her mind sluggish in it's inability to process what had just happened. So fast!
Before the man's face could even register shock, his unkept features illuminated with the light of approaching dawn, Kakashi broke his wrist. There was a loud howl of pain and disbelief as the splintered edges of broken bone ripped through skin, sending a light spray of red mist into the air.
The Copy-nin's mismatched eyes were cold and intense, boring into the man's shocked face with a tremendous rage and ferocity that could barely be described as human. Sakura's heart leapt into her throat and she couldn't move.
Silently, without any hesitation or change in expression, her sensei tightened his grip on the dislocated man's wrist and kicked him solidly in the chest.
Judging by the audible pop and frozen expression on the rogue-ninja's face, Sakura could guess that Kakashi had simultaneously dislocated the man's shoulder and stopped his heart. She watched with a horrified fascination as he proceeded to dispose of their remaining enemies with a brutality and savageness she had never thought possible. It was all she could do to stand and breathe. She had never been confronted with such viciousness in her life.
Even the rogue-ninja faltered at the sight of the Copy-nin. Any slight hesitation in their blows was anticipated and taken advantage of. A growing uneasiness pooled into the clearing and, underneath it, there was the almost tangible buzz of a nameless, primitive fear.
It started as a gradual backing away and soon evolved into a panicked retreat. Sakura's heart leapt with joy as her eyes caught sight of Naruto's orange-striped jumpsuit through the chaotic limps and bodies of fleeing rogue-ninja. He was stubbornly fighting a group of rogue-ninja who had refused to run with the rest of their comrades. Relief washed over her with such intensity it was almost crippling.
Just when everything seemed to be turning to their favor, a harsh command echoed over the small clearing.
"STOP! YOU WILL STAY AND FIGHT!"
All eyes honed in on Hijame. He was standing, irresolute and furious, in the midst of the retreating ninja. "You will stay and fight like men!" He roared. Enraged at the faltering morale of his soldiers, he swung a large fist into the face of one of the fleeing men.
They continued to break apart from their ranks in a mindless panic. Kakashi whirl-winded towards him, cutting down men mercilessly as he went. Hijame's mouth set and his eyes darkened, following the Copy-ninja's movements with a resentful, malicious glare.
He reached into a hidden pocket in his vest at the same moment that the cry of a thousand birds echoed through the clearing. Sakura could only watch with wide eyes, everything happened with a speed that was nearly impossible to comprehend.
Kakashi charged towards Hijame, his fingers curled around the flickering and snapping mess of raw electric energy. Hijame clenched a small glass vial in one hand, some dark liquid sloshing around inside. In the matter of milliseconds it took for Kakashi to appear in front of the rogue-ninja leader, Hijame had opened the bottle and poured it into his mouth.
The next moment Kakashi's fist was buried somewhere deep inside Hijame's chest and blood was everywhere. Sakura felt a rush of relief resound within her, everything was going to be okay. Her sensei had shown up and saved the day, everything was how it was supposed to be.
Hijame's legs buckled beneath him and he started to fall backwards. His face was contorted into an expression that looked strangely like he was holding his breath.
But before he could completely fall to the ground, the man clapped both of his hands together in front of him with as much strength as he could muster, effectively catching Kakashi's head between his large palms. The Copy-ninja staggered under the sudden weight, one arm buried deep in his enemy's entrails and the other pin-wheeling frantically for balance. Hijame, his arm muscles quivering with the strain, pulled himself up so that his narrowed eyes were less than an inch from Kakashi's.
Sakura, Naruto, and Chouji could only watch on in disbelief as the impossible happened.
With one quick jerk, Kakashi's mask was pooled around his neck. Sakura could hardly see his bared face because of the distance between them, but she thought she could make out wide, surprised eyes, a straight nose, and a slightly parted mouth. Hijame partly puckered his lips, almost like he was going to kiss her sensei, and a cloud of black, coiling mist tumbled out of his mouth and into Kakashi's gasping one.
Sakura stared, a deep feeling of wrongness and fear filling her, as her sensei breathed in some of the black vapor.
Woo cliffhanger!
I wanted to warn you guys that I probably won't be able to write much more for a while cause Thursday I'm leaving on a trip where there shall be no writing of fanfiction. So, if it takes a while for me to update it's not because I'm giving up on this story, it's cause I'm too busy. Anyway, it shouldn't last for more than a week or so :) So please be patient with me and don't stop reading! Reviews are always received with much celebration and happy dances.
Thanks!
~Flintyminty25