Chapter 91 Surprises
"This is going to suck." thought Sakura as she looked at the bear which was covered with a rock armor, she even had see though crystals covering her eyes. Harden black stones also covered her claws. The only openings that Sakura could see were around her mouth/nose and ears and whenever she had her mouth closed it was as if it was armored. Sakura slowly took a half step back as the giant bear Mai grinned.
"If you're scared little fox, you can give up." stated the bear, Mai
"I have to admit I have never seen this justu before.' stated Sakura "And I never heard of you before."
"Well I have heard of you and trust me I have no problem crushing you if you try to fight me." Explained Mai as Sakura grinned
"I don't think so." stated Sakura as lunged forward with a chakra enhanced punch, she was used to seeing walls fall apart and stones break open from her blows however to her amazement the blow did nothing more than make a small crack in the stone armor.
"Shit." thought Sakura as she rolled out of the way just in time as Mai slammed the boulder down missing her by inches. Sakura rolled over before getting crouching down with one of her arms still on the ground. Though the massive amounts of dust which was filling the air caused by Mai's boulder striking the ground. Sakura watched as the stone armor part which Sakura had hit had fallen off only to be replaced by a new piece taken from the thousands of rocks which covered the arena. "This just gets better and better, her armor can replace itself and we are fighting in a rock filled arena.'
Slowly Mai stood up, pulling another large boulder from the ground and began to slowly walk toward Sakura.
"She should be able to move faster than that." thought Sakura as she realized the reason why Mai was moving so slow. "That armor has got to weigh at least four tones and add another one tone boulder means she is carrying around five tons of rocks."
"Maybe we can use this to our advantage, she can't move. If we can dodge and stay out of range long enough we can think of a way past that armor." thought Inner Sakura as suddenly Mai through the giant boulder at her. Once again Sakura rolled out of boulder's flight path, before smashing into the arena wall, over a hundred yards behind her. "Ok maybe she has a bigger range then I thought."
Up in the stands Naruto was watching as Sakura dodged yet another attack.
"Don't worry she will be fine." said Kushina to her son.
"She won't be fine unless she finds a way pass that armor." stated Naruto "I have never seen that justu before."
"I have." stated Minato as everyone looked at him "It's an advance armor justu used by Iwagakure ANBU during the war."
"How did you get past it?" asked Naruto
"I didn't." explained Minato "It's the perfect defense, as long as the user has access to stones they can't be gotten too. We just ran and waited until they either ran out of chakra or they dropped their armor."
"So there is a time limit that she can wear that armor." Stated Naruto
"Yes, but the average was over an hour and some reports had people in that armor for five hours plus." explained Minato "The only good thing is that it slows her down."
"Does it stop justus?" asked Seth as Minato shock his head.
"No, however it does limit it to Earth base attack and it takes away chakra that holds the armor in place." explained Minato
"Crap." stated Naruto
Back in the arena Sakura had no idea about the time limit but she had already figured out that she was in trouble. Her main weapon, her super human strength seamed useless against the armor.
"Alright let's try another way." thought Sakura
"But how, we know mostly water based justus since we use them in medic but Earth is strong against water so using any of those is out of question."answered Inner Sakura
"I wasn't thinking about that." answered Sakura
"You can't run forever. I will end this now." yelled Mai as she formed a hand sign. "Earth Style hand of death."
Sakura eyes widened as a massive rock hand formed up behind Mai. The hand stretched out for a brief moment blocking out the sun.
"I will crush you like a bug." yelled Mai as the hand came down right where Sakura stood. For a moment the crowd was silent as Mai smiled under her rock armor. Suddenly out of know where Sakura appeared out of the dust from the strike, the crowd watched as Sakura delivered a blow to the side of Mai's face. Mai took a few steps to the side before regaining her footing and delivered a blow of her own. While Sakura's blow only sent Mai's back a few steps, while Mai's blow sent Sakura flying backwards hard into the wall. Naruto's heart seamed to stop as he saw Sakura land on the ground, her body was almost lifeless.
"I think I win." said Mai with a grin as suddenly Sakura started laughing a bit.
"No I think not." observed Sakura as she stood up holding her side as she applied healing chakra to her wounds. "By the way I know I win."
"Why would you think that?" asked Mai as she took a step only to stop in place.
"Have you lost all feelings in your legs yet?" asked Sakura
"What is happening?" asked Mai as she tried to move her legs only to find that she couldn't and to make it worst the lost of feeling was climbing up, over her body.
"Did you forget I am a medical ninja?" answered Sakura
"Poison." stated Mai as Sakura walked toward Mai with her arms crossed over her chest, up in the stands Naruto was smiling as he watched the vixen he loves strut her stuff.
"Yes." answered Sakura "See those little red and yellow flowers that some placed by that rock face, they may look very pretty but those flowers crushed down are very toxic, they cause paralyzation and without treatment death."
"But my armor." stated Mai "You couldn't have gotten past my armor. It covers every part of my body."
"Not every part, you can hear me can't you?" asked Sakura as Mai's eyes widened as she felt a small amount of blood run down her face under her armor.
"In that last attack you cut my ear." stated Mai
"And I covered my claws with the poison, one cut was enough." explained Sakura "Now drop your armor and surrender because you have only a little time before the poison runs its course and stops your heart and lungs. So do you want to kill yourself or will you give up?"
"I give up." answered Mai as she dropped her armor
"Winner, is Sakura Haruno of the demon fox she will advance to the next round." stated the referee
'Now save me." ordered Mai as Sakura grinned.
"I don't have too, the poison I used on you only last around twenty minutes and isn't deadly." explained Sakura "We use it in the field all the time when we need to put someone down for an operations or when we want to put a guard down without killing them."
"You bluffed, I could have just waited inside my armor." stated Mai as Sakura smiled.
"You could have but you didn't." stated Sakura
"Well played." said Mai as Sakura walked out as Mai was carried off the field.
"Next match will be between Kurotsuchi of the demon horses and Samui for your own panthers." stated the announcer as the crowd began to move out of the stands. Naruto was already out of his seat and halfway toward the locker rooms.
Sakura moved a little slower than normal as she held her side as she walked to the locker room door.
"Are you alright?" asked a medic as she meet her at the door.
"Just some bone bruises." explained Sakura "Give me a few minutes to heal them and I will be back to normal."
"Still great job on the fight." said the medic "Didn't think you would win."
"Neither did I for a moment." admitted Sakura as she sniffed the air, the smell caused her to smile as she turned around to see her mate walking up to her.
"Hello baka." said Sakura in a loving voice as Naruto pulled her close, wrapping his arms and tails around her.
"I was worried about you." admitted Naruto
"Now you know what I went though yesterday." said Sakura
"Well you will be happy to know that you did something that not even my father was able to pull off when you got past that armor." laughed Naruto as Sakura chuckled a bit.
"Well if it wasn't for someone putting that plant on the field I wouldn't have." admitted Sakura "Someone probably thought it was plant was pretty not knowing anything else about it."
"Sometimes luck is all you need." added Naruto as he kissed Sakura.
Around lunchtime King Gamba was currently sitting around a private dining table in the royal box, around him were the other leaders from the different nations, the only empty chair was right beside him. He couldn't help but look at the chair and think of his mate who would have been sitting in the chair.
"King Gamba have you been listening to what we have been talking about?" asked Vachan as Gamba looked at the tiger, all eyes were on him.
"Sorry, I have been thinking about something else." Admitted Gamba
"Understandable, his mate fights today." explained Caden in a rare show of support between the wolves and the felines. "We are talking about the fact that the outposts we had watching the last ninja village where all destroyed. We lost about 12 hours of observations."
"Did anything happen during those 12 hours?" asked Gamba "Any sign of anything out of the ordinary."
"No, some reports that the gates where just closing when the next shift arrived to replace those who were lost." added Malik as the fox took a drink of water "We have to assume that they came out from behind their walls and hit the outposts."
"How many dead?" asked King Gamba
"Four teams of three one team from your kingdom, the wolves, snakes and the foxes." stated the horse Kenadia, as Gamba turned to an aid standing by for any orders.
"Get me the names of those we lost and arrange a meeting with their families for tomorrow morning." ordered Gamba as the aid nodded his head before moving off to carry out his king's orders.
"So are you worried about your Queen?" hissed the snake high chancellor Val as he glared at Gamba
"My mate can handle anything that is thrown at her." stated Gamba "However I wonder who this Lin Lee is, we couldn't find her on any list of those turned."
"Trust me she is a former human." stated Val "We provided her information to the independent council which runs the tournament."
Gamba's eyes narrowed a bit, he knew that there were some of his feline subjects on that council but he also knew that he couldn't order them to tell him anything and if they did tell him something the kingdom would be kicked out of the tournament.
"However I will tell you, she was handpicked for this fight by our top doctor." stated Val with a grin.
"Handpicked by Orochimaru, that isn't good news for your Queen." stated Malik "From what my son told me about that snake when he was sealed inside Naruto, he is one of the most dangerous persons he as ever met."
Unknown to the demons leaders gathered around the table and those watching from outside the giant walls of the village hidden in the Mist was the fact that the village was in reality totally empty. Homes and shops where empty even the guards which moved up and down the walls in sight of the demons watching outside where nothing more than holographic projections created by demon ape technology. In reality the last transports carrying the last humans from the last human village in the human world was arriving in the demon ape mega city.
Standing on the tarmac as the last transport came to a stop was Kakashi Hatake, his uniform had changed so much in the past few days. He still had what seemed to have his jonnin jacket on only in reality it had been modify with demon ape technology. He still had ninja tools in some the pouches but he now also carried demon ape fire arms. A demon ape assault combat rifle was hanging from a strap across his back and a pistol was attached to his hip, a spot where ne normally kept kunias.
"So this is the last transport?" asked Shizune as she walked up to Kakashi.
"Yes, we will give them a day to rest up before we vote on what to do next." explained Kakashi "Either way it's about over."
"I know.' said Shizune "You know if we do decide to stay here, we will have to relearn everything."
"What do you mean?" asked Kakashi
"I mean I got a tour of the main hospital and I couldn't believe most of the things they had." explained Shizune "If we stay here, it will at least two or three generations for us to learn how the technology works yet alone work on new technology."
"Maybe that is for the best." stated Kakashi as Shizune looked at him "It may stop our children from going to war against the demons."
"Our children?" asked Shizune
"You know the children of the human race." stated Kakashi as the last transport finished unloading
"Ah…you want to grab something to eat?" asked Shizune
"I am not really dressed for a sit down lunch." said Kakashi as Shizune lowered her head a bit "How about dinner instead."
"Works, how about you pick me up around eight." said Shizune with a smile
"Where do you want to go?" asked Kakashi
"Somewhere nice, I am tired of eating and running." explained Shizune
"I heard about some five star chef setting up a restaurant by a lake in one of the parks, I'll see we if can get a seat." offered Kakashi
"See you at eight." said Shizune with a smile as she walked away with Kakashi watching her.
"I think I just set myself up for a date." admitted Kakashi to himself as he looked at his cloths "I better take a shower."
It was just after noon in the demon feline capital as the stands filled up for second match of the day. Finding his seat in the horse section was Rock Lee, the defeated fighter had a warm welcome as he found his seat.
"I am sure everything will be fine and your mare will be safe." reassured the stallion next to him. It was well known throughout the grand demon horse herd that the Lee and Kurotsuchi were sleeping together. Under demon horse custom there was no marriage, instead couple cohabitated together and if they wanted either the stallion or the mare could take the last name of their mate. This was partly because the under demon horse culture at any time they could split up and start living with another with no problem.
"Still doesn't stop me from worrying." stated Lee as he watched his mare walk out onto the field followed a few seconds later by Samui for the panthers. Referee the fight was a bear who like all the ones before her relating the rules of the fight.
"Begin." stated the referee as instantly Samui ran though hand signs. Everyone watched as Samui's right and left pointer finger claws began to grow out until they formed two natural swords.
"Oh Great." stated Kurotsuchi as she looked at the two razor sharp claws which could cut her in an instant.
"I couldn't bring in weapons so this will just have to do." stated the calm and cool blonde panther Samui as she started her assault on Kurotsuchi. Quickly the demon horse mare ran though hand signs before slamming her hand to the ground.
"Lava Release Lave Geyser!" yelled Kurotsuchi as a ground rumbled a bit before a giant wall of molten lava shot out of the ground between herself and the panther. Samui jumped back as the wall came crashing down over where she had been. The problem was she wasn't fast enough and a small amount of lava splattered on her leg burning off her and torching her skin. The lava was now spread out in front of her like a giant lake near the center of the arena. To Samui's amazement Kurotsuchi was standing on top of the lava as if it was nothing more than water. Kurotsuchi wasn't done as she ran though hand signs once again as the lava began to rise around her forming a spear which somehow Kurotsuchi was able to hold in her hands without burning her.
"Take this!" yelled Kurotsuchi as she sent a spear of lava toward Samui who rolled out of the way only to have to duck as the spear came flying back into Kurotsuchi's hand.
Up in the stands people where amazement as the sight, lava was suppose to be next to impossible to stand on and impossible to hold in one's hand.
"How is she doing that?" asked Adria
"I don't know." admitted Naruto "But it's a great attack and defense stance, she can just stand in the center of the lava pool which is too hot for Samui to cross while throwing attacks at her."
"Samui is favorite to win though." stated Seth
"Doesn't mean she will win." stated Minato "I mean it isn't a perfect defense."
"But it's hell of a good one." stated Kushina
"Add to that Samui is a sword and fire justu master means most of her weapons are taken away." added Naruto "Only way to put out a lava justu like that is a strong water justu."
"Luckily water justus is where my strength is." stated Sakura
Back on the field it was clear Samui was in trouble. Her leg was burnet and bleeding, she couldn't get to Kurotsuchi who was protected by a lake of lava as she attacked her from a distance however seen by everyone apart from Lee Kurotsuchi was in trouble.
Flashback
"So you can stand on lava?" asked Lee as he ran his hands though Kurotsuchi's mane as the two of them rested in bed the night after the opening ceremony.
"Yes, my father came up with a way to do it." explained Kurotsuchi as she breathed in the scent of Lee's fur "The problem is that the poisonous vapors from the lava will knock me out if I stay too long."
"Then you will just have to be careful." reassured Lee as he moved his hands from Kurotsuchi's hair to her shoulder and down her arm. "I don't want to lose you."
"I am fighting Samui; you have to deal with Sasuke. I am more worried about you." stated Kurotsuchi.
End Flashback
Lee noticed that Kurotsuchi was slowing down as the vapors were having their effect; she needed to end it fast.
That fact was even better known to Kurotsuchi as she prepared to launch her final attack. She threw the lava spear on last time toward Samui you like before ducked to avoid the hit however this time instead of remaining in the center of the lava pool Kurotsuchi ran toward Samui reaching her chakra covered hand into the lava pulling up a giant ball of lava which the chakra molded into yet another spear.
"Take this!" yelled Kurotsuchi as she stabbed Samui in the other leg with her lava spear, which disabled Samui, at the same moment the first lava spear returned to Kurotsuchi's hand as she held it so close to Samui's neck that the fur war burning.
"Winner and advancing to the next round to take on Sakura Haruno of the demon foxes is Kurotsuchi of the grand demon herd." Stated the referee as the crowd remained silent for a moment before the horse section erupted in cheers however most of the stadium was disappointed in a surprising lost of one of the feline fighters in their home tournament. With the lost of Samui, there was only three felines left in the tournament, Itachi, Karui and their Queen.
Up in the stands Sakura watched as teams moved onto the field to cool down the lava so that it was cleared for the next match of Karui vs. Raeni Uchiha.
"Looks like you are taking on Kurotsuchi, Sakura-chan." stated Naruto
"Looks like I will have to plan on a way to deal with her lava attacks." stated Sakura
I hope you liked this chapter, I am sorry to inform you that I am taking the next week off from writing. I have some very important things that need to be done and I want to take a break. Who knows if I finish what needs to be done early I may have a surprise for you all, with a new story. In the mean time you can go to my profile and see a new long clip of the next story. Now until next time which will likely be the 8th, please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75
