And after the long wait of a month I now present to you the next chapter! :)
Sorry about the massive wait, between christmas and everything going on in my life I've not really had the motivation to write. But I really didn't want to leave you guys waiting any longer than a month, so without further ado, here ya go!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
The Champion of Clan Namikaze
Chapter 15: Rumble in the Jungle
The five Konoha shinobi stood in the clearing facing off against the three clearly visible sound nin while Tayuya skulked in the surrounding woods.
Even with Naruto's attempt to bait Sakon and his teammates into an attack nobody had moved. Looking over to his right Sasuke could see Naruto shaking with anticipation, or was that anger?
"So are we going to stand here all night? Or do you just want me to take you all back to Konoha for interrogation, it might save you the pain of losing outright," the blonde goaded again, a smile playing across his face. Yep, anticipation.
He wasn't going to take them back to Konoha, he was sure about that, there were too many innocent people around in many of his Hiraishin locations and he was sick of having stuff in his house broken. But he did want them to make the first move because he wanted to work out how strong these guys were, especially if they'd managed to take out Sasuke so easily.
"Bah! What makes you think you'd be able to get us back to Konoha so easily?" Sakon had been surprised by the pure speed the boy's clones had displayed, he loathed to admit it to himself but the blonde was definitely faster than he was.
"Actually," Kidomaru said from his position next to Sakon, "it might be that he can teleport to any marker he's placed previously. It would explain why Orochimaru-sama was so adamant about the removal of the seal on our target's arm and it would explain the kunai that he threw. Either way with speed like that the difficulty level of this match-up has increased somewhat. The odds are still in our favour however," The dark haired nin finished matter-of-factly.
Naruto went to speak, to once again try and force them to make a move. He was getting impatient and was about to go against his better judgment when he found that he couldn't open his mouth. He couldn't move a muscle. All he could do was listen to the light tune echoing through the trees.
His anger rose as his world started to fade to black, a single thought running through his head as a nightmare was set upon him.
FUCKING GENJUTSU!
xXx
As soon as the black haired sound ninja with multiple arms finished speaking Karin immediately felt the chakra around her change. Even the sword in her hand twitched as it felt its chakra start to be manipulated by the strange sounds coming from within the trees.
No doubt Tayuya's doing, the redhead thought to herself.
She quickly freed herself from the technique with the help of her sword and her near perfect chakra control so she could assess the situation. Looking to her right she found Sakura moving perfectly fine, obviously having been able to free herself once she felt the onset of the technique.
Sasuke was also free from the effects. It was Neji and Naruto she was worried about though. Both standing with glazed looks in their eyes, open to any attack that the enemy might make; they couldn't defend themselves.
xXx
Sasuke would be damned if he got caught in another one of those stupid sound genjutsu, and now that he was paying attention he noticed the subtle changes of chakra in the air with his Sharingan. One quick internal chakra manipulation later and he was free to counter any moves the sound four made.
Naruto didn't look so lucky. He really needed to work on dealing with genjutsu. It was getting ridiculous. As overly powerful as his friend's arsenal of techniques was his giant Achilles heel was that he was a sucker for genjutsu and even after he'd begun recognizing them he was still next to useless at escaping them.
Even with all the training Sakura and Sasuke had put in for him they still couldn't work out why he sucked so much at genjutsu.
Sasuke could hound him about that later though. What concerned the Uchiha was that Kidomaru was closing in on a similarly affected Neji.
Quickly blocking the advance of the strange multi-limbed nin with a heavy punch followed up by a low sweep of his leg, both of which were blocked and evaded, Sasuke jumped back, turning and touching two fingers to the Hyuuga's forehead and channeling enough chakra to break the boy from the jutsu.
"Thank you Sasuke-san," the Hyuuga said as he recovered and noticed what was going on.
Sizing up the combatant in front of his comrade, Neji could only wonder what would have happened if Sasuke hadn't been around to help him break free of the mind trap.
As Kidomaru bore down on the two of them the white-eyed genin turned to his comrade, "Go. It would seem that Naruto and Sakura are outnumbered if what Karin says about their leader is true, I'll handled this."
Neji knew that these ninja were no joke, if he could even the playing field by freeing up Sasuke to help Naruto then he would. But that wasn't the only reason behind his decision. After his humiliating defeat he needed to prove himself against an enemy, and now he had the perfect opportunity.
Before Sasuke could even protest Neji stepped past the Uchiha and engaged in a quick melee with Kidomaru. An engagement that the sound nin only barely escaped from uninjured.
The gentle fist truly is an amazing style, Sasuke thought as he watched Neji push his opponent back.
But Neji didn't let up, continuing his dogged pursuit with a flurry of strikes and forcing Kidomaru to retreat into the trees lest he fall victim to Konoha's most effective form of taijutsu.
The Hyuuga was risking his own life against a powerful shinobi in order to give the rest of them a more even fight. Sasuke could only wonder what had gotten into the boy since the last time they'd met. Maybe someone from his clan had given him a talking to after his fight in the finals?
xXx
(A few moments earlier)
Karin watched the kunai heading for her boyfriend in slow motion and she sure as hell wasn't going to let her future husband die in front of her. Luckily she had been standing next to him when the fight broke out.
Stepping forward and bringing up her bandaged blade she easily deflected the kunai only to find the large Jirobo bearing down on her with intent to kill. She had heard about his strength and as much as she knew she'd improved she wasn't exactly confident she could take a direct hit from the goliath of a man.
It turned out she didn't have to, as Sakura stepped in from the side and with one solid hit send the ninja flying across the battlefield.
Given the reprieve she needed she quickly broke Naruto from the genjutsu and turned to Sakura.
"You'll have to take care of the fat one," the pink haired girl nodded to acknowledge she understood, "assuming he can still walk after that hit. I'm going after that bitch with the flute to stop her from putting anyone under a genjutsu like that again. Look after my man!"
Karin did a quick scan while she had the chance and found the enemy kunoichi hiding off to their west. She wasn't letting that pink haired hussy get away.
"Okay, very funny, catch me in a genjutsu. Ha ha ha jokes over, now whose ass am I kicking?" Naruto said angrily once he'd gotten his bearings to find that Sakura was standing next to him and they were facing off Jirobo and Sakon.
Catching Naruto in a genjutsu was one of the only sure-fire ways to seriously piss him off, there were very few times he was fine with losing control of a situation.
"Well for a girl that was impressive, people normally have trouble even moving Jirobo," Sakon was actually surprised. That girl could pack a punch it would seem. By all means he wasn't worried, they had the cursed seals, but things were not going as easily as they should have been.
"Naruto, as much as I want to rip the throat out of that fucker over there for taking Sasuke I'll handle the fat sh-," she cut herself off when she noticed an enraged Jirobo now covered from head to toe in dark markings.
"You're JUST A PUNY GIRL!" the large ninja roared as he crossed the clearing with enhanced speed, "I'll make you pay for that!"
Sakon internally facepalmed; Jirobo was such a dumbass sometimes.
As Jirobo blurred toward Sakura, Sakon decided to take advantage of the distraction caused by his teammate's stupidity and engage the blonde.
He wasn't sure how he was going to combat his ability to seemingly teleport, assuming Kidomaru was right, but he had one idea in mind.
Activating the first level of his cursed seal he launched himself at Naruto.
The air whistled in protest of his movement before he brought a fist back and lashed out directly at his opponent.
Sakon was sure that his speed should have been enough to catch the boy off guard.
He couldn't have been more wrong.
The ground shook as his fist collided solidly with Naruto's arm, his initial attack easily blocked.
That couldn't be said about his secondary offensive though, as another arm emerged from the sound nin's forearm and lashed out at the unsuspecting and unprotected genin.
Naruto was about to flash away when he saw a flicker of black in his peripheral vision.
Just in time, the blonde grinned.
Sakon's attack was swiftly brought to a halt as the black haired genin grabbed what appeared to be his second arm.
"What kind of freak is this guy?" Sasuke said as he tried to work out what was going on with his Sharingan.
"I don't know teme, but how about we find out just how he works? Pull!" Naruto roared as he grabbed the arm he'd originally blocked. Sakon's eyes widened as Sasuke pulled in one direction and Naruto pulled in the other.
Ukon wasn't looking forward to what would happen when he was forcefully extracted from his brother's body, and rightfully so, as both of the Konoha genin launched them across the clearing each with a solid kick.
Sasuke just stared at the two ninja pulling themselves back off the ground, "So I guess he really was hiding someone. Anyway I thought you guys had some godly power. You seem to be getting your ass kicked if you ask me," the black haired boy said smugly.
Sakon was furious at having been separated from his brother so early in the fight. These genin were strong so it was better to separate than to see what would happen if they resisted. They didn't need any serious injuries like hyper-extended elbows or broken bones if they were going to complete the mission.
He should have known Karin would spill the beans on his Kekkai Genkai. These shinobi, even though were just kids were something else. They'd have to up the ante sooner or later. May as well be sooner.
"Hey brother," Sakon said with a sick twisted grin, "How about we raise the stakes a little. Show them who they're messing with?"
"Gladly," Ukon replied with a wide smile as he licked a small amount of blood from his lips, "I'm going to enjoy ripping them apart from the inside."
"Has anyone told you that you're both major creeps? Is that like a trend or something? Is it a requirement for becoming a sound nin? Even Orochimaru is a massive pedo, freaking giving me a hickey." Sasuke said, annoyed that they thought they even had a chance.
"SHUTUP TRASH! YOU KNOW NOTHING! OROCHIMARU-SAMA IS A GOD!" Sakon screamed in anger.
The two sound brothers roared as their bodies underwent the second level transformation, twisting and contorting, their physical appearance drastically changed.
They stood, their skin now red with a strange protrusion growing from each of their heads like a horn on the opposite side of the face to the others.
"I take back what I said, now you are both major creeps!"
"What the fuck happened to your faces!?" Naruto said once he'd overcome his initial shock.
"Why you insolent little shits!" Sakon screamed, sick of these brats and the fact they were still breathing.
"Now you'll see our true power, and we'll make sure you fear it before we end your pathetic lives," Ukon added in a creepy tone, trying to put the fear of god in their opponents.
Sasuke could only think that if this was what the true power he was offered looked like Orochimaru could jam it up his pedophilic ass.
Actually he'd probably like that, the black haired prodigy quickly shook his head of the thought and focused on the fight.
Naruto was thinking something entirely different as he looked around the battlefield, Where the hell did Sakura go?
xXx
Sakura couldn't say that she was enjoying the fight, if you could call it a fight. She had speed, that much was evident, and for good reason, she'd trained her ass off with Naruto to get this fast, but for some reason her monster of an opponent was keeping up.
After charging across the clearing Jirobo had proceeded to swat at the pink haired genin like she was simply a fly. Because to him that was all she was. An annoyance that he couldn't get rid of at this point in time.
She was confident in her abilities but she wasn't confident that she could take a direct hit from the shinobi. He was a monster of a man, and the cursed seal just further enhanced his powers.
With his enhanced speed and size she couldn't lay a finger on him in the open without risking getting pummeled and she knew that. Which was why she drew him into the trees; figuring she'd be able to land a hit on him if she could keep him encumbered.
And for a while she had the advantage in the thick woods, darting in amongst the trees, forcing the big ninja to change his momentum often in order to keep pace with her as she moved from cover to cover. She was almost ready to launch an offensive when in his rage Jirobo decided that he didn't like the trees.
So that's how Sakura found herself in the situation she was in, dashing madly through the trees in an attempt to escape the hulking shinobi while planting explosive tags behind her as her large combatant charged through the forest, destroying the foliage as he went.
The explosive tags weren't doing much, actually she hadn't heard one go off yet, when they should have. She turned to find that the large ninja was simply grabbing them as he charged through the trees and this simple act was rendering them useless. She also realized he was slowly gaining on her.
"YOU THINK SILLY LITTLE TAGS WILL WORK ON ME BITCH?"
Deciding that she'd rather not waste explosive tags she put more effort into pumping her legs and darting through the woods, trying to come up with a better solution to fighting the goliath of a ninja as he slowly gained on her.
xXx
"So you really did betray us you little slut," Tayuya's less than dulcet tones echoed through the woods, "Not that I would doubt the word of Orochimaru-sama but to see you in the flesh fighting for the enemy. Even I wouldn't stoop so low. You're nothing more than trash to me."
It hadn't been hard for Karin to find the strange flute player but fighting her was going to be a different story. Karin crouched on a branch as she sensed Tayuya moving in amongst the trees, no doubt trying to get a better angle on her.
"When someone tries to kill you and someone else shows you unconditional kindness and love it kind of adds a little perspective bitch!" Karin called back through the woods, "You should give up now, you can't run from me, and you can't hide,"
"No, I know that, to think we lost such a valuable ability," Tayuya called out, "but I don't need to hide when I can fight, and against a piece of trash like you it shouldn't be hard,"
"That's just what I was hoping you'd say," Karin said with a smile as she raised Samehada and moved toward the sound nin's location, "Because I have every advantage."
She couldn't say that she wasn't going to enjoy this fight. The adrenaline was pumping through her system and she had a bone to pick with this hussy, thinking she could come and try and take one of her friends away.
The way they all spent time together Sasuke was practically family and she'd be damned if she wouldn't punish Tayuya for trying to abduct him.
"Oh really? I don't like your chances trash," Tayuya's voice again echoed out from the trees surrounding Karin. She was doing her best to throw her voice and it would have worked, if Karin hadn't been one of the best sensors alive, "You wouldn't even have a chance against me. Let alone my precious doki. Your chances of surviving this are as bad as that dress is ugly. Wasn't that the piece of crap you used to wear all the time you ugly bitch?" Tayuya added, trying to psyche out her opponent. Needless to say with the red headed girl's short temper it worked.
Karin went as red in the face as her signature Uzumaki hair at being called out on her attire, "YOU BITCH. I DON'T EVEN CARE ABOUT YOU TAKING SASUKE NOW. HOW DARE YOU MAKE FUN OF WHAT I WEAR! MY BOYFRIEND HASN'T TAKEN ME SHOPPING YET!"
"Oh and he never will," Tayuya said with a grin that Karin could clearly see with her technique, "because you've given me the time to bring out my toys you useless excuse for a ninja,"
Karin's eyes could only widen as she heard an eerie melody begin to play and felt three chakra constructs appear in the woods, moving in time with the music as they advanced on her position.
"Looks like we might have our work cut out for ourselves after all huh Sammy?" Karin said, looking down at her bandaged sword.
The blade quivered, whether in fear of the demons surrounding them, excitement at getting some action, or annoyance at the name she just wouldn't stop using she wasn't quite sure, but she could tell her weapon was ready.
xXx
"Do you really think they'll be able to handle themselves?" Hiashi asked as he powered through the woods alongside Tsunade, looking for any sign of trouble.
"I've seen them train. They can handle themselves, if what I heard happened to Neji in the exams is true you know that they'll be okay,"
"Yes, that was a rather strange outcome, people hadn't expected the village nuisance to have such power or such heritage," Tsunade glared at the Hyuuga's labeling of Naruto before he corrected himself, "Of course he isn't a nuisance anymore, not with power like that,"
Tsunade didn't really want to say anything more about the boy she was actually growing extremely fond of. He continued to remind her of Dan and Nawaki and while the memories were still painful she couldn't help but be cheered by the boy's attitude.
As they moved silently through the trees Tsunade could only wonder how powerful this ninja was. Karin was scared, and from what Tsunade had seen of Karin, she wasn't the type to scare easily.
Coming up on an open field Hiashi put a hand out to stop her as he landed deftly on a branch, byakugan active.
"He's approaching from across the field, we might be ab- ,"
"Whoever is there, do not try my patience, I am on a mission. Stand in my way and I will tear you asunder!" The pale, white haired shinobi in the purple robe called out as he came to a stop in the middle of the wide open space, "I do not have time to play games, I must fulfill my destiny,"
She might not have known why Karin was so afraid of this mystery ninja, but she had a feeling they were about to find out.
xXx
Sakura would have continued her head long charge into the woods, if she would have gained something from it.
Running wasn't achieving anything except tiring her out, she'd just have to fight him. She couldn't rely on Naruto or Sasuke to rescue her now, she had to eliminate this threat herself.
She had to prove that she deserved her jacket.
Quickly creating four bunshin, she allowed them to disperse through the trees, scattering and drawing the attention of the sound shinobi snapping at her heels.
All five Sakuras stopped on a different tree and turned towards the still enraged shinobi, beckoning him forward with a grin. If she could keep him angry her deception would be more likely to succeed.
Jiribo came to a halt, taking in the view, anger playing across his face. He was still sore from the hit he took earlier and this bitch was going to pay.
Launching himself from the tree branch that he'd stopped on in a blur he quickly proceeded to plow through each Sakura until only one remained.
"I've got you now you pink haired slut," Jirobo said with a smile, not bothering to take notice of the fact that she wasn't making any effort to get out of the way.
The final Sakura faded away as a fist passed through her head.
"What! Where did you go!?" Jirobo roared.
The sound ninja wasn't going to let that bitch get away with punching him square in the face. He needed to calm down, he needed to focus if he was going to find her.
Once he did, he noticed a small amount of foreign chakra entering his system.
Meanwhile Sakura was sitting in the canopy of leaves above the large shinobi wondering why he wasn't falling prey to her technique. Her genjutsu should have taken affect; he should have been rendered immobile.
"BAHAHAHA," he roared out, "You really think genjutsu is going to work on me trash? I'm above that simple art. You can't manipulate my chakra when I just absorb all of yours before it can do anything to me! Hahahaha! But thanks for the snack," The small amount of chakra she'd extended toward him wasn't much energy wise, but it meant that she was still near, and that he could still crush her.
"I will find you. And I will crush you little girl," he said as he looked into the trees, eagerly searching for his opponent.
Fuck, if I can't subdue him with genjutsu I need another way to outsmart him. If he can absorb chakra I was lucky enough to land that chakra reinforced hit at the start of the fight.
He might have been able to absorb the chakra if he saw it coming and my attack would have done nothing, but it would seem he needs to make a conscious effort, so a surprise attack could work to my advantage. I need to misdirect him. I need his attention focused on another danger.
Sakura knew she didn't have much time before he started knocking trees down in an effort to find her but she knew that with his ability to absorb chakra she might only get one more lucky hit off before he realizes that he has to absorb chakra whenever she makes contact. She had to make the hit count.
xXx
Tayuya thought that she had the fight in the bag, maneuvering each of the Doki toward her former comrade.
Karin wasn't really worried yet; just curious as to what kind of challenge these creatures would present.
Her primary objective was to prevent Tayuya from playing her genjutsu, because if any of that blasted song got over to where Naruto was it could very well get him killed.
It seemed though that as long as Tayuya was controlling the monsters she'd summoned she wouldn't be able to play anything of the sort.
She couldn't help but stare at the bizarre creatures as they advanced towards her position, preparing to assault her from three different angles. They were massive! At least over three times her height and they looked incredibly strong.
They all seemed blind and their mouths were sewn shut but each of them possessed a different arsenal. She had no doubt that they all presented their own dangers.
The first attack came from the front, from the demon with long hair wielding a large steel club.
Karin knew that even her strength technique might not be a match against a creature so huge, so rather than directly block the downward strike of the monster she stepped slightly to the side, raising her blade.
The steel weapon collided with her bandaged blade in such a way that it was deflected, Samehada used almost as if it were a shield with the blade held close to her body.
It was a strong attack, enough to shake her, but she quickly spun through while jumping and lashed out with Samehada in a horizontal attack. The demon didn't have time to react with its monstrous club and took the full force of the strike.
Had the blade not been wrapped up it most likely would have shredded the demon straight through the middle, bifurcating it brutally.
Instead it simply sent the construct rocketing away from the red haired Konoha nin and through a number of tree trunks. She really needed to thank Tsunade for teaching her that strength technique; it was devastating.
Karin's feet touched the ground just in time for her to spin out of the way of an attack she already knew was coming. Dodging under a strike from the thorned weapon utilized by the shirtless Doki she stepped forward jabbing out with her club like blade, a blade that extended itself for a little added effect.
The tip of Samehada impacted with the chest of the huge monster and a shockwave burst out from the point of contact as the construct was sent tumbling away from her.
Only one Doki remained and it was quick to engage the Uzumaki after the fall of the others, lashing out with swift and powerful kicks. Karin was glad she'd spent time training with Naruto and then the past two weeks with Yuugao. Hell even Naruto teaching her the shadow clone technique was a godsend.
If she had never improved at the rate she had Tayuya would have minced her already.
Deftly blocking a head high kick, knocking the leg back to the ground, and ducking under a follow up from the other foot Karin let her blade drop as she swung low at the one foot the Doki had keeping itself upright. She had it dead to rights.
Until it planted it's hands on the ground and lifted the foot into the air, completely avoiding the attack.
Lashing out with that same foot Karin was unprotected, having committed to an attack she couldn't recover from quickly enough, having not expected the course of action Tayuya had the monster take.
She was durable, Uzumakis were, she knew that. But a kick from a monster like that would end her and she knew it. For a second she was afraid as the clawed appendage soared through the air toward her.
While Karin might not have been able to get out of the way fast enough however, Samehada could protect her.
Within an instant her fear was replaced with gratitude for her weapon's prowess as it moved to protect her in the blink of an eye, absorbing a substantial portion of the impact as the two of them were knocked away, stopped by a tree trunk with a resounding crash.
Tayuya herself was shocked at the display of power from a nin that had been next to useless before the chunin exams. What did they put in the water in Konoha?
"That was impressive," Tayuya said from behind cover, pausing her music for a moment, "But it still won't save you. My Doki are powerful beings and cannot be dispatched so easily. They may have some physical limitations but I doubt you'll be able to push them to breaking. Hahahahaha."
Karin stood from where she and her sword had come to a stop as the two Doki she had sent flying with strikes that would have killed people their size rose and made their way back to attack her.
"Oh shit," Karin said, wondering exactly how she was going to get out of the fight alive. She could always try and stop Tayuya from controlling them, but with the way they were positioned they'd intercept any move she'd make. That didn't stop her from trying though, "Okay Sammy, time to get serious,"
Tayuya's eyes widened for a second before she recomposed herself, That wasn't her true strength?
In the slight reprieve Tayuya had given her Karin began unwrapping her blade.
xXx
"So you look funny now, what's the big idea?" Naruto said with his signature stupid grin. Inwardly he was wary, because the more people started to look inhuman the more powerful they tended to be in his experience.
Snake face was one example while fish head was another. Both of them were S-ranked missing nin and both of them didn't look human.
He wasn't afraid of the new Sakon and Ukon, but it never hurt to be wary of what they might be capable of now.
The two disfigured shinobi just smiled before they disappeared.
Naruto could follow them thanks to training with the Hiraishin and his own high speed conditioning while Sasuke could make out their movements thanks to his Sharingan.
Both of them were still shocked at the speed at which their enemies could now travel but they weren't unprepared.
The kunai strikes the twin brothers made were both blocked simultaneously before the pairs engaged each other.
Sakon was fighting doggedly with Naruto as the boy flashed around him, always keeping a few Hiraishin kunai in the air. The sound nin couldn't quite catch him, his own kunai hitting nothing with every attempt at the blonde's life.
Ukon was engaged with Sasuke and was having the same problem only it was the boy's almost precognitive Sharingan abilities that were allowing him to stay ahead of his incredibly fast opponent.
With every strike the sound nin made they became more infuriated before without any verbal communication Sakon tried to break away from his engagement with Naruto and launch a combined assault on Sasuke.
"I DON'T THINK SO!" Naruto roared, flinging his hand out to stop Sakon from double-teaming his comrade. Sakon smiled when he realized his speed was enough to get the best of the teleporting brat, having made it past his outstretched hand in time.
That was until a blue chain erupted from Naruto's wrist and wrapped itself around Sakon's waist, "GET OVER HERE!"
As the blue chain retracted Sakon was torn from his feet and pulled rapidly toward the blonde who with a grin and a grunt buried a Hiraishin kunai in the chest of sound shinobi.
"NOOOOOOO BROTHER!" Ukon screamed at seeing his brother so easily dispatched.
"All I had to do was wait for you to make a mistake," Naruto said as the blood dripped down his hands and he prepared to toss the near lifeless shinobi to the ground.
"Ha, ha," Sakon said as he coughed up blood, "As did I," the strange looking nin just smiled as he grabbed the hand holding the kunai in his chest and began disappearing, merging with blonde Jinchuuriki of Konoha.
"AHHHHHHAHAHAHA," Ukon's screams turned into maniacal laugh as he realized just what his brother's ploy was, "Now it's time to have some fun!"
"What the fuck just happened?" was all Sasuke could manage. From what he had just seen Naruto had more or less absorbed his opponent.
xXx
Neji looked up for only a fraction of a second as he heard a scream echo through the woods but it was enough of a distraction to put a crack into his Revolving Heaven defense.
One of Kidomaru's countless golden arrows slipped through the crack and Neji cried out in pain.
He managed to maintain the technique out of desperation until the attack subsided, but when the rain of arrows had ceased and Neji looked down at his right hand he gasped as blood dripped to the ground.
"You will pay for this," He said under his breath, "You will pay for this!" He said once again, loud enough for Kidomaru to hear him.
The stray arrow Neji had let through his defense had managed to fly right into his right hand and in doing so had severed the third and fourth fingers.
"It's okay," he said, calming his breathing and resolving himself for what was to come, "I only need two fingers to stop your heart," and with that the Hyuuga charged.
xXx
"Seriously what the fuck is going on?" Sasuke said confused as to how Sakon had disappeared.
"Sasuke, this feels weird!"
"Of course it feels weird, hahahaha," Ukon spoke up from his position on the battlefield, "You now have my brother residing within you, ready to kill you from the inside at a moments notice, so enjoy your last moments on this earth trash!"
"Oh. Shit," was all Naruto could really muster in response. It wasn't every day you had someone just jump inside your body. As weird as being a ninja was this just didn't happen that often.
And then it really dawned on him what was happening.
"SHITTTT FUCK FUCK FUCK! What do I do? SASUKE WHAT DO I DO?"
"There is nothing you can do you blonde fuck, you are as good as dead now. It's just a matter of time before you die,"
"Actually Ukon," A voice sounded out as a head and neck began emerging from Naruto's back, "I don't think I'll kill him yet, I'm healing extremely quickly inside this body of his, it's strange, but now we won't be held up waiting for this wound to heal."
"Well would you look at that, I guess you get to live a little longer after all brat!"
"WHY YOU!" Naruto began to take steps towards Ukon in an attempt to attack him before he collapsed to the ground in pain.
"Tsk tsk, just because I'm not going to kill you yet doesn't mean I'm going to let you attack my brother Konoha scum, what kind of twin do you think I am?" Sakon said from his position on Naruto's back.
"Sa-sa-suke," Naruto said between bouts of yelling in pain, "J-just don't l-let him t-touch you,"
"Right. Tch, why do we always get the weird ones," Sasuke said simply before Ukon went back on the offensive with the knowledge that Naruto couldn't interfere.
xXx
"COME OUT AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!" Jirobo was seriously starting to find just hunting this girl to be a hassle and if she hadn't punched him in the face so hard he might have been inclined to just go back, have a snack and leave the bitch to run away, but he wanted revenge.
"Because I'm just a silly little girl remember," Sakura said, masking the location of her voice as best she could as she skulked around the forest, moving into position, "I wouldn't stand a chance against you one on one remember? But you're stupid so I don't even have to worry," she said from a position that seemed to be in the opposite direction to her last.
She had Jirobo spinning now, spinning and angry.
He spun; searching for the girl he wanted to crush into dust and it wasn't long before he finally caught a glimpse of the pink hair belonging to the little slut that hit him in the face.
"I SEE YOU BITCH! NO GETTING AWAY THIS TIME!" Jirobo was getting tired of all this running and hiding.
Charging through the forest he began gaining distance on the now fleeing Sakura before she simply turned and disappeared. The goliath of a man went to stop on a dime, now wary of a trap, but it was too late.
He planted his foot on a branch only for the branch to completely give way and for him to tumble; he never reached the ground.
"I told you that you were stupid, but you didn't want to listen," Sakura said in a singsong voice as she looked down on the man struggling in the thick net of ninja wire she'd managed to set up while he was searching for her and chasing her bunshin. She started going through hand seals before holding up a bundle of ninja wire to her mouth, "See ya,"
Flames erupted from her mouth and roared along the ninja wire toward the contained Jirobo, before he began transforming amidst the flames that were burning away at his body.
"I AM NOT GOING OUT LIKE THIS! NOT TO SOME TRASH LIKE YOU!"
It's now or never Sakura thought to herself I don't know what's happening with his body, but between that and being on fire I don't have a better opening.
Leaping down from her vantage point she brought her fist back. She could feel the flames licking at her as she entered the range of her technique, but it was necessary.
She landed on the chest of the burnt and partially transformed Jirobo before slamming her fist into his neck, channeling chakra and expelling it in the form of a disc from her fingers.
A blade of pure energy erupted from her knuckles and immediately met with the sound nin's neck, finding little resistance.
Jumping away from the flaming headless corpse she landed in trees that weren't knocked down or on fire and started to make her way back in the direction of the others. Part of her hoping she'd been the one to finish up first, after all with Naruto and Sasuke on her team she could always use something else to brag about.
Speaking of Sasuke. She was definitely going to have to pay him back for teaching her some of his fire jutsu during their one on one training, even if her idea of showing gratitude involved quite a different kind of one on one interaction. She wasn't leaving that open for debate.
xXx
Tayuya wasn't quite sure what was wrong with the blade Karin was using but it seemed to quiver even more when it was released from its bindings. She'd seen some weird weaponry but never something that seemed so alive.
From her position in the woods she could clearly see the razor-sharp scales covering the blade and the wide mouth full of sharp teeth. It was a rather terrifying weapon if you were on the receiving end of it. Luckily for her she still had her Doki and wouldn't be losing the fight anytime soon.
Karin was ready for the return of the Doki only this time she was lacking the element of surprise. Tayuya had some idea of what she could do now and would most likely be upping the stakes. She needed to be extra careful, and even though she still had a monstrous amount of chakra left she didn't want to draw out this fight any longer than necessary. If this was what Tayuya could do, who knew what the others would be facing.
This time two of the Doki attacked at once. The demon wearing the spiked bracers made a strike for her head while the monster with its arms bound came in for a low sweeping kick in the opposite direction.
She could feel the third Doki hanging back, but she wasn't quite sure why. Maybe it didn't have the room to attack?
She ducked under the head high strike but in doing so left her no way to dodge the kick coming from the other direction, aimed at the lower half of her body.
Bringing Samehada up in a defensive stance, braced against her shoulder, she managed to sustain minimal damage, with the kick doing nothing but knock her backwards along the ground.
Which was exactly what Tayuya wanted as the third Doki descended from the trees with its large metal club, ready to crush the girl into the dust. Karin of course knew the attack was coming and was prepared. She forced chakra to her feet to get maximum traction before pushing off to the side, barely dodging the strike.
Chances were if she knew it was coming she could block it or get out of the way. If Tayuya was going to win, she wasn't going to win easily.
But now it was Karin's turn.
Changing her momentum once again she dashed back toward the creature that was only just now lifting its weapon from the crater it had created.
Raising her sentient blade she jumped, bringing it down heavily on the Doki's outstretched arms.
The weight of the strike and the extra forced added by her descent was enough to snap the arms of the large creature. The scales of the blade also did substantial damage to the muscles of the demon, flaying the arms almost to the bone.
Jumping backwards and raising her sword defensively she waited to see if it would lash out in retaliation.
If the creature could feel pain and didn't have its mouth sewn shut she was sure it would be roaring, but it just stood over its club trying to retrieve the weapon.
When it became apparent to Tayuya that the body of the beast wasn't going to allow it to be of any more use she de-summoned the Doki. The sound nin still had two more Doki, and she knew exactly what she was going to have them do.
A change in the melody was the first thing Karin noticed, the chords were harsher and the music darker, and then she noticed what was happening to the Doki. Strange ethereal worm-like spirits began emerging from their mouths, squirming as they wormed in the direction of Karin, prompting their Doki hosts to move with them.
"What the fuck is that?"
"You'll find out soon enough bitch," Tayuya said with a smug tone. She didn't stand a chance now.
Karin didn't bother with a response as she charged down the Doki with the spiked arm-wear. It jabbed low at her in response, trying to injure her on her approach but she was able to jump sideways away from the attack before it landed.
She continued, wanting to rid Tayuya of another of her pieces before she could utilize whatever those spirit creatures were. It only took a few more steps before she was in range of the beast's legs. It's body towering over her. If she could severe one of its legs at the knee or damage it badly enough that it couldn't walk she could focus on Tayuya and the last Doki.
The small girl from Konoha wasn't going to get that chance though.
An arm came whistling down to strike at her from above; she hadn't been fast enough.
In response she raised Samehada to deflect the blow but it still managed to stop her in her tracks, giving the creature time to attack her with the sickly looking worm writhing from its mouth.
Jumping back gave Karin the space to bring her blade up in the hopes that whatever it was Samehada was able to stop it.
Tayuya grinned as she watched the situation unfold from her position in the trees. She had her now. A mere blade wouldn't stop her technique from draining all the chakra from her body.
Her Doki were going to be fed tonight.
That was what she thought until the head of the worm collided with the blade, and disappeared. The rest of the spirit promptly followed it as Samehada quickly drained all the mental energy that comprised the worm like creature from the Doki.
The monster stood above Karin twitching, frozen in place. She wasn't sure what she had just done, but she figured that having any sort of energy drained from your body as quickly as that wasn't a pleasant experience.
Before the other Doki could pounce on her she once again stepped forward and lashed out with her blade, only to hit nothing but air as the summon was dismissed. Tayuya didn't need to have another of her Doki injured.
Only one Doki remained between Karin and Tayuya. One final obstacle lay between Karin and her target.
Tayuya now knew what kind of power she was up against. With that sword that treasonous slut was capable of standing toe to toe with her Doki. Even in her second stage cursed seal, going up against a sword that absorbed chakra wasn't something she was even sure she could do. A sentient sword that absorbed chakra.
How did that girl even come by such a monstrous weapon?
Tayuya could only wonder as she dispelled her final Doki and began her transformation.
Karin could feel and see in her minds eye what was happening to the girl as she began changing into a much more powerful combatant.
"I see you've given up looks for power, getting desperate are we? Now whose the 'ugly bitch'?"
Tayuya response was to roar in anger as she jumped down to face her combatant.
She couldn't fail Orochimaru. Failure meant death.
xXx
Sasuke was really starting to feel the pressure. It was one thing fighting an opponent that had incredible speed. It was another to fight an opponent with incredible speed who you couldn't touch. A single touch would mean death it would seem.
He couldn't even help his friend who was intermittently screaming with pain as Sakon kept him in line.
"Oh look, times up," Sakon said from Naruto's back, "That was quick, you are quite remarkable for a piece of trash. But now that I'm healed I have no use for you. Time to die."
"What? NO!" Naruto screamed as he lay on the ground. He began to feel his body changing, dying.
He knew that if he were to die here and now, Sasuke would soon follow him to the grave. Worse he knew that if he were to die here and now, Karin would suffer the same fate.
"Oh how cute," the booming voice of the Kyuubi rang out through Naruto's head and subsequently Sakon's, "You human scum are pathetic, but if you want to survive boy draw on my power, do it now!"
"WHAT?" Sakon said, only moments before he had been confident and assured of his victory, "Who is that?"
"Hahahahaha you've invaded the wrong body, and now you're going to pay for it. I can't make my host suffer, but I can make you suffer as much as I want, enjoy!,"
Naruto was reluctant to draw on the hateful power of the imprisoned fox but he figured he didn't have a choice. If he didn't do something he was going to die. There were no ifs or buts about it.
He figured it would be harder, but with emotions running high all he needed to do was draw on the power slightly and a torrent of demonic chakra poured forth, flooding his chakra coils and generating a red aura around him as it was expelled into the environment. It only lasted a moment before he got it back under control. But a moment was all he needed.
Sakon never saw it coming. The rapid influx of demonic energy also flooded his chakra coils, as they were interconnected with Naruto's at the time of the event. Chakra coils that weren't used to demonic chakra never stood a chance.
The sound shinobi screamed. Screamed louder than Ukon had ever heard his twin brother scream as he fell from Naruto's body to the ground, a twitching mass of flesh.
He clawed at his skin as blood began to pour from his ears and all over his body massive patches of red indicated bleeding under the skin. Uncontained demonic chakra was never going to do anyone any good, and that was evident in Sakon as it slowly killed him from the inside.
Sasuke could only ponder the irony as he and Ukon stood watching the scene. Someone with a technique that could be used to kill someone from inside their own body was killed by something from inside theirs.
"WHAT ARE YOU? YOU FREAK!" Ukon roared, pointing at Naruto.
And then Sasuke realized he still had someone to fight.
Quickly going through hand seals, using Ukon's brother's death as the distraction he needed he inhaled. The remaining living sound nin saw it coming and went to move out of the way. Only to find he was bound by chakra chains.
The sound nin had to stand and watch as the black haired Uchiha exhaled his death. A fireball three times his size that he had no means to protect himself from.
He screamed for only moments before the heat of the technique melted the flesh from his bones.
xXx
From the screams she'd just heard she knew that Sakon was out of the fight. She'd never heard him scream like that before. That was the scream of a dying man.
Which meant that their chances of winning just dwindled to zero.
She needed to escape, and hope that Orochimaru would spare her life. Spare her so that she may prove she wasn't useless.
They were better chances than she had against this traitor and her monster of a weapon. She had no doubt that she'd be able to take her without it. But it was if she was fighting a two on one fight. As if it had a mind of it's own.
Ever since she started engaging Karin the sword would always make up for her lack of speed, or strength. It wasn't that the girl overly lacked speed or strength, but her natural power should have been nothing compared to the second level of the cursed seal.
Yet with this blasted weapon she was keeping up.
And now they'd lost their so called leader. As much as Tayuya hated to admit he was the strongest of their group. If he was dead they didn't stand a chance. At the very least she had to make it back to Orochimaru-sama and report the situation.
She almost never got the chance.
Karin stepped into range with her sword once again, swinging at chest height.
Using her improved speed Tayuya managed to back pedal out of the way only for the handle of Samehada to extend, giving the weapon a longer range. It clipped her shoulder as she turned to flee and spun her, knocking her to the ground.
The sound nin was in true panic mode now. She needed to retreat; needed to inform Orochimaru-sama of the status of the mission. If only so that he didn't have someone sent after her when he found out she was still alive. If she even survived this battle.
Tayuya scrambled along the ground, trying to recover her speed as Karin closed the distance, reaching into her supplies pack and grabbing a slip of paper from it.
The hit she landed had allowed her to get within an arms reach of the retreating shinobi and launching herself forward she was able to plant the tag on the back of Tayuya, activating it with a stream of chakra.
Now she's finished. Karin thought to herself.
That explosion would kill her. A point blank explosive tag was definitely going to be rearranging some of her features.
Only as Karin watched the much faster nin flee she was surprised; the tag never exploded. What was going on?
Looking into the supply pack she noted something odd. There were two bundles of paper. She only remembered packing one bundle of explosive tags. Picking up the one she took the tag she used from she looked at the seal.
NARUTO! She was going to kill that boy when she found him. In her hand was a bundle of Hiraishin seals tags, the kind that Naruto had used on Neji in the finals. She wasn't even sure how they'd managed up in her pack but she was definitely going to find out.
The only consolation she had was that they could find the fleeing sound nin if she didn't take her clothes off or the seal wasn't somehow destroyed.
Dejected that she hadn't been able to eliminate her target Karin made her way in the direction of Neji. She could feel that Naruto was okay, but Neji was injured. She didn't waste any time in arriving on the scene.
As Tayuya fled the battle she couldn't help but praise her lucky stars that the tag that had been planted on her back had been a dud. Kami must have been watching out for her.
xXx
Sakura arrived at the location of Naruto and Sasuke's fight and could still feel the heat of the fireball, as their opponent was burnt alive.
"Sasuke-kun!" she shouted to get their attention as she entered the small clearing, "are you okay?"
"Yeah, Naruto was the one that copped the most, are you okay though? I'm assuming if you're here the fat one isn't a problem anymore?"
Sakura just shook her head in response, not really wanting to go into the details of how she beheaded a man.
"That being said I definitely need to thank you later," Sakura said as she walked over to him and kissed him square on the lips before he could do anything about it, "Without your fire techniques I'd have been done for,"
Naruto was stunned. Sure Sakura and Sasuke had been getting along but since when were they dating? For that matter he couldn't help but notice Sasuke had been just as surprised.
"Hey since when are you two dating! THIS IS NEWS! Think of all the hearts you're breaking Sasuke," Naruto said jokingly.
"I don't know?" the black haired boy said quizzically, "But I'm not complaining, if that's what I get,"
"Well there's more where that came from, I owe you," Sakura said as sexily as she could get away with given the situation.
"HEY GUYS I'M STILL HERE!" Naruto said trying to remind Sakura that she wasn't alone with his best friend and couldn't rape him just yet, "Still…" Naruto continued as he just walked past Sasuke and casually high fived him without saying a word.
That reminded him. OH SHIT! KARIN!
"You two can canoodle later, we need to help Karin and Neji," Naruto said, his head back in the right space.
"Actually you don't," Karin said as she jumped down out of the trees holding a very injured Neji, "AND WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING PUTTING THINGS IN MY SUPPLIES WITHOUT TELLING ME!"
In her rage she almost dropped Neji, "If I wasn't carrying someone who might well die if I drop him I'd be smacking you over the head right now," She said with a glare directed his way.
"Hey! I just wanted to make sure you were safe. We don't know when someone might work out how to get rid of the seal on your arm. Just look what happened to Sasuke, I slipped them in before we left to come out here in case you got captured and I couldn't use your other seal."
Her expression softened a little at hearing the reason but she was still angry, "And because of that I didn't end up killing Tayuya. That being said we can always go find her later if that seal stuck to her,"
"Girls, calm down," Sasuke said derisively, "Seriously, we need to look after Neji then you can continue your couples spat,"
Both of them looked a little ashamed before Naruto spoke up, "Hey! You were just making out with Sakura, you can't lecture us on priorities,"
That being said he was right so Naruto walked over to his girlfriend and took his injured comrade out of her arms before disappearing and reappearing without him.
"I just dropped him off at the hospital with Shizune. She was still looking after Hanabi. It just doesn't seem to be a good day for the Hyuuga clan does it?"
"Guys," Karin said to get their attention, "Tsunade and Hiashi are fighting Kimimaro, let's go, they might need our help."
xXx
Jiraiya was really impressed with the quality of women this village had to offer. He was also disappointed with ANBU. The ANBU in Konoha would have definitely let him continue perving on those hotties in the hot springs.
These ANBU were just downright squares. It didn't help that from what they were wearing he could tell most of them were women. He was lucky he was well known enough to not have gotten a beat down. He just had to remember not to hit on them. It was hard, because his imagination was running wild as to what wild curves each of the Kunoichi possessed under their standard issue robes.
And that was how Jiraiya found himself sitting outside the Raikages office late at night waiting to be shown in by his two ANBU 'escorts'. He guessed he could get a lecture on perving from the Raikage, if that was what he was going to get at all, if it meant he got to get his message across sooner rather than later. Sometimes every second counted.
xXx
Karin was the first to arrive at the edge of the clearing and peer out at the spectacle. When the rest of them caught up she held a hand up to keep them from going any further. They didn't need to be told twice.
They could all see the fight.
This was not something any of them wanted to get involved in.
So don't forget to read and review! Tell me what you think, or put in some suggestions if you have them :) I'm glad to hear from anyone about anything :) Hopefully the next one won't take a month, but if it takes ages I'll try and get it up before a month is up anyway. Thanks for reading, until next time.