Chapter 31: Blood versus blood

Lucas was shaking. As for why, he wasn't so sure himself. Was it because he was enraged? Or was it because he was frightened?

Uchiha Madara was standing tall and proud right before his very eyes. Despite being outnumbered, he demonstrated such an air of confidence and indifference that it rattled him even further.

"What do you want?" He demanded. His words were laced with so much hatred.

A laugh was heard in reply.

"What the hell is so funny?" Griselda's eyes were wide and furious as she yelled. Her knuckles were beginning to turn white due to her firm hold on her daggers. Yue and Mifuyu stayed silent but both looked like they were out for blood.

Lucas tightened in hold on the hilt of his sword as he narrowed his eyes. "Answer me."

Another flash of lightning engulfed their surroundings followed immediately by a loud roaring thunder. In that short amount of time, all four were able to see the devilish smirk that was forming on Madara's lips.

"What I want…" Madara paused to chuckle slightly after reiterating Lucas's question with amusement laced in his tone. "Is it not obvious?"

Madara took a few steps forward causing all four to tighten their stances, ready to charge when necessary.

"Take one more step and we won't hesitate to attack." Lucas warned. "I'll ask again." He paused as repositioned his sword so that its tip was pointing right at Madara's throat. "What do you want?"

Madara smirked slightly at the attempted threat. "My daughter." He paused momentarily to savor the reactions his words had created. "I'm here to claim my daughter."

Lucas was shaking once more. But this time he was sure why. He wanted to slit the bastard's throat so bad it was making his entire body ache. "There is nothing…" He began, his voice shaking as well. "Absolutely nothing here…" He paused once more to change his stance into that of an offensive one. "For you to claim!"

In the blink of an eye, Lucas was right in front of Madara, swinging his sword from his right with every intention of slitting his enemy's throat. Without even flinching, Madara raised his left arm successfully blocking the attack with his arm gear.

"That…" Madara began. His eyes were covered by his hair. "Was a big mistake." Lucas watched in surprise as Madara's initial pleasant but dangerous demeanor turned into a serious and threatening one.

Madara forcefully pushed Lucas away and was ready to counterattack when he suddenly sensed another presence to his right. Raising his right hand to block, he turned his attention towards the direction of the assault. Two daggers were the first things he saw before his female attacker came into full view. Madara narrowed his eyes in annoyance. With his left hand, he swiftly unsheathed the sword resting behind his back, ready to delivering a finishing blow.

After fully unsheathing his sword, however, Madara found that he was unable to move his arm any further. Redirecting his attention towards his left arm, he found it to be tightly bound by a whip whose wielder was a few good meters away from him.

Madara prepared to attack both females who had arrogantly tried to detain him when yet another presence alerted him of an assault. Snapping his head up to look above him, he was surprised to see a large wooden staff aimed at his head brimming with infused chakra.

Lucas watched as the staff collided with Madara causing the entire room to collapse. Pieces of wood were flying in every conceivable direction. Smoke and dust were heavily interspersed in the air.

Yue coughed slightly as he clutched his staff and heightened his senses for any possible ambushes. Yue raised his staff in front of him before pulling it outwards creating an air pressure that forced the smoke and dust to dispel. He cautiously scanned the area in search for any human presence. Not soon after, two simultaneous loud crashes were heard followed by desperate coughing.

"Griselda! Mifuyu!" Yue called out as he carefully approached them, still weary of a surprise attack.

"You idiot! Were you trying to get us killed? Some sort of warning would have sufficed!" Griselda angrily scolded as she punched Yue upside the head.

Yue clutched the back of his head in pain as he looked at the enraged earth bender incredulously. "You survived anyway didn't you!? And besides, do you expect me to yell 'This is a strong attack so brace yourselves' before I actually strike?"

Griselda was about to argue further but another loud crash silenced her.

"Lucas!" All three simultaneously yelled in relief.

At the mention of his name, Lucas immediately took his defensive stance and scanned the area for any possible attacks. "Where's Madara?"

"I can't sense him anymore." Mifuyu began. "It's either he's left or…"

"I doubt he's dead." Yue scoffed as he scanned the area nonetheless. "Bad pests are hard to kill."

"Are you alright?" Mifuyu asked worriedly as she inspected Lucas for any wounds.

"I'm fine." He replied as he glanced at the rest of them. Not once did he let his guard down. "Are any of you hurt?"

"No, we're all fine." Griselda replied. "Except for the fact that one of us tried to kill all of us."

"Hey! You're all alive now, right? Who's trying to kill anybody?" Yue annoyingly replied.

"Well isn't this a nice scene?"

All four froze.

"I find it insulting that you're this lenient despite my being here."

All four directed their gaze at a figure standing idly up a tree a good twenty meters away. Without wasting time, all four of them took up their stances once again.

"How?" Lucas managed to blurt out.

"How?" Madara repeated with a chuckle. "How did I get from there to here?" Madara jumped down from the tree and began to walk towards the four, who only tightened their defenses. "Why I've been here the whole time."

Yue narrowed his eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You lot are not very bright are you?" Madara stated with a bored look on his face.

"What did you-" Griselda began but was cut off. "Did you already forget what you saw the very instance I showed myself to you?" Madara smirked.

Lucas's eyes widened in understanding. "The Sharingan…" He replied silently but vehemently as if cursing it with all his might.

Madara's smirk grew. "Now you're getting somewhere."

"So the one we fought…" Mifuyu began but couldn't bring herself to say the next words. Yue finished it for her. "Was a fake."

Griselda gritted her teeth as she spit out the name of the technique she hated the most. "Genjutsu."

Lucas mentally cursed. How could he have allowed that to happen? He gripped his sword tighter when he heard Madara chuckle in amusement.

"So…" He paused to point at himself. "Am I the real Madara?" He smirked as he glanced at the frustrated faces of his opponents. "Or am I another fake?"

"I came to issue a challenge."

Tenten looked at Sasuke with wide eyes. Out of all the ridiculous things he did and said, this one definitely took the cake. If he were a normal comrade, she would have laughed at his ridiculous attempt at humor. But no. He was Uchiha Sasuke. 'Joking' was not in his vocabulary.

"Have you gone mad?" Tenten replied with mirth evident in her eyes.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in annoyance. "I don't believe I said anything funny. Nor did I say something that would serve as an instrument to question my sanity."

Now it was Tenten's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You are aware that I am currently confined in the hospital right?" She paused before a look of understanding crossed her face. "Oh! Well, Uchiha, this place? It's called a hospital. And a hospital is where sick and injured people usually stay in so that-"

"Don't. Mock me." Sasuke's eyes were now narrowed in anger. "Think you're funny?"

Tenten folded her arms in front of her chest as she glared at Sasuke. "No. I wasn't trying to be funny. But I do admit I was mocking you. Want to know why?" Tenten paused for a while as she tilted her head to the side. "Because I don't know what's going on in that head of yours that actually makes you want to challenge someone, who isn't even able to walk properly, into a fight."

Sasuke scoffed. "I never said it had to be right now."

That got Tenten to shut up.

"I came here to tell you that I want to fight you. Anytime. Anywhere. As long as you assure me that it will happen." Sasuke stated in a low but menacing voice.

Tenten brought her arms down to her sides and clenched her hands into fists. "Why the hell do you keep pestering me to fight you? What's your reason? Your motive?"

Tenten received no answer. The Uchiha prodigy was simply looking at her straight in the eyes with a calculating look. His eyebrows were furrowed slightly and his eyelids refused to blink. Tenten, not wanting to have her question left unanswered, refused to back down from the avenger's gaze.

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, Tenten began to grow tired.

"Well?" Tenten paused as she swiftly looked Sasuke up and down. "Aren't you going to answer my question?"

Not once shifting his gaze off her, Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What are you trying to hide?" He paused to study her reaction. Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second but immediately returned to their narrowed state.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Sasuke crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What are you so afraid of?"

Wanting to annoy the Uchiha prodigy, Tenten imitated his pose. "Again. What the hell are you talking about?"

"Why do you keep avoiding fighting me?" Sasuke asked once more, this time more forceful than the others.

"Why do you keep answering a question with another question?" Tenten replied equally frustrated.

Sasuke closed his eyes for a few seconds to keep his cool. Why was it that every time he was dealing with this girl he felt to utterly murderous?

"Do you accept?" He stated slowly.

Tenten raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What?"

"All I want… Is a yes or a no." Sasuke reiterated. He was losing his patience.

Tenten scoffed in annoyance. "Didn't I make it clear?" She paused for a second to glare at Uchiha prodigy. "No. I won't."

Tenten braised herself for an outburst but received nothing. She narrowed her eyes at the suddenly quiet figure of the Uchiha prodigy. His eyes were concealed by strands of his hair and he remained immobile for what seemed like the longest time.

"Look. If you have nothing more-"

Sasuke snapped his head up to reveal bloody eyes. Tenten began to panic. "What the hell are you-"

Not even given the opportunity to finish her question, Tenten suddenly felt her entire body falling down what seemed like an endless pit of nothingness. She raised her hands in front of her face in defense as a strong gust of wind blew against her small frame. Black. Everything was black. She couldn't see even her own human figure. Where was she? How did she-

Tenten let out a grunt as she landed on solid ground harshly. The seemingly endless fall fell to a stop. Ignoring the aches of her muscles and joints, she forced herself up into a standing position. She glanced around in search for anything, anything at all that would give her eyes a break from all the darkness that engulfed her. But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Tenten bit her lip and cursed. She was careless. Now she was trapped inside Sasuke's Genjutsu – a Sharingan wielder's genjutsu to be exact. She desperately closed her eyes in concentration as she formed a seal with her right hand. "Kai!"

Opening her eyes, she clenched her fists in frustration. She was still greeted by the same dark and gloomy atmosphere. She cursed again as she tried to release the genjutsu once more but to no avail. She knew it was pointless. His Sharingan was way too powerful. Kakashi's Sharingan would fail to even compare despite the fact that the copy ninja was holding back during their previous spar.

Tenten clenched both of her fists. There was only one way to get herself out of this situation. But that would mean-

Tenten screamed as she punched at nothing in particular. She was trapped alright but she would never reveal her secret. Not to anyone and especially not to him. She had no idea how long time had passed in the real world but if he was going to be stubborn about things, then so was she.

Tenten plopped herself down comfortably on what she would consider as the floor. She was going to wait until someone found out about the Uchiha's presence in her room and stop him from proceeding any further. Tenten sighed. She knew that was asking too much. But she would not, in her life, reveal to Sasuke her true abilities. Death would have been a better choice.

But before Tenten could even begin to consider the prospect of dying, her surroundings began to melt. Black drops of goo enveloped her and before she knew it, she was drowning in a large melting pot of black gunk. It would have been tolerable of course, if it only hadn't begun to boil.

Tenten screamed as she struggled against the scalding viscous liquid. She watched in utter shock as her skin began to melt and peel off. She let out a strangled cry. "Stop it…" Bubbles began to form on the surface of her skin before bursting out oozing blood. She fought back the tears but failed miserably. She had to endure. She wouldn't, shouldn't lose to the Uchiha. Never! She clenched her hands but gasped in pain and horror when she saw that they had lost most of their skin and muscles, leaving nothing but bones enveloped in blood and remnants of what used to cover them.

"Stop it!"

Tenten let out a strangled cry. How dare that bastard!? How dare he do this to her!? She let out another scream as she felt her face melting off. She raised her bony hands up to cover her face wishing that it would take away the pain only to fail miserably. Her hair began to fall off flowing down her face and shoulders, mixing together with the black goo and her own pooling blood.

"Make it stop!"

Lucas embedded his sword on the ground leaning on it for support as he fell on one knee. He struggled to catch his breath as he glared at his enemy. He was standing a few good meters away from him but the look of boredom and disinterest was evident in his face.

Lucas cursed. He was much stronger than they had anticipated. He glanced to his right to see Yue standing beside him. His breathing was ragged and he was struggling to keep his body upright and ready for battle. His eyes, filled with hatred, were glued on the enemy and the grip of his right hand on his staff was tighter than ever. His left hand lay limp and immobile on his side bleeding profusely.

"Yue, can you still fight?" Lucas asked as he struggled to get on his feet, eyes darting back to glare death at his enemy.

Yue grunted in annoyance. "What kind of question is that?"

Lucas glanced momentarily to his left and shifted his attention towards the two female members of their clan. Directing his gaze back to the enemy, he took his stance once more. "Will she be alright?"

Mifuyu let out a desperate breath. "It was a pretty deep wound. Most of her vital organs have been hit. I'm doing the best that I can. But I don't think she'll be able to fight any-"

"Shut the fuck up Mimi…" Came Griselda's silent but forceful hoarse voice. "Death is the only thing that will stop me from fighting."

"If you do keep on fighting you really will-!"

"So be it Mi!" Griselda paused to cough out blood. "I'd rather die knowing that I was fighting for everything I believed in rather than to live only to have my pride sullied."

An amused grunt was heard.

"The hell are you laughing at moron?" Griselda struggled to raise her head slightly to glare at the idiot who was stupid enough to find their situation amusing.

Yue simply grunted in reply.

"We'll buy you sometime." He began as he took his stance. "You better be up and kicking by then or else there'd be nothing left for you to beat up." He paused before giving Griselda an arrogant smirk. "You see, I got dibs on his head."

Griselda snorted. "Airhead."

Yue directed his attention back to the Uchiha adversary as he grinned widely. "You better not die on me till then."

Before Griselda could reply, Yue was gone in the blink of an eye charging towards their sworn enemy. She grunted in annoyance. "As if I'd die that easily."

"Lucas-" Griselda began.

"On it." Lucas disappeared in a flash, joining Yue back in the battlefield.

"Is there any way that you can hurry Mimi?" Griselda began, her eyes not leaving the fight. "They're both pretty beat up. If we don't get back there…"

"Give me five more minutes." Mifuyu stated firmly, momentarily garnering the Earth bender's undivided attention. Determination was shining in her eyes. "We'll be back and ready to aid them in five minutes."

Griselda shifted her attention back to the fight only to see Yue and Lucas thrown back against a tree; their joint attack failing to even scratch the Sharingan master. Griselda clenched her fists in desperation. "I don't think we have five minutes."

Blood met blood.

Sasuke stood frozen, unable to mask his shock. This couldn't be real.