Chapter 17: Them that Die will be the Lucky Ones
(This chapter is no different than the first. I still do not own Naruto.)
"Damn it, Sakura!" Shikamaru shook the medic roughly. "You'll be no help to anyone if you don't snap out of it!"
The group of shinobi dragged her across the rubble-strew ground and to the safety of a narrow alleyway. There they rested; regrouped while the last member of team ten fought to bring Sakura out of her shock-induced coma.
"Haruno!" His own grief threatening to surge to the surface, Shikamaru balled his hand into a fist. Releasing his sorrow and rage into the punch, he soundly landed a hit into Sakura's stomach. The breath escaped the medic's lungs completely, and her body slumped to the ground as it fought to regain proper oxygen levels.
Shikamaru watched as she wheezed on the cold ground, knowing as tears sprung to her eyes that she was with him again.
"Sakura," he whispered. "Grieve later. I need your strength if we're going to beat this enemy." He expected her to cling to him regardless of his advice to mourn their friends after, but she did not. The tears lingered in her eyes, unshed, and she pushed herself up, nodding.
"Ok, Shikamaru. Tell me what you want me to do."
Resignation. That's what he heard in her voice. He studied her eyes for an indication of her mental state. If she were suicidal, it'd be no good to have her on the field. But Sakura's green gaze was unreadable—a first for the medic. For once, Shikamaru had no idea what she was feeling. Normally full of life in one way or another, his classmate's green gaze was almost cold.
An involuntary shudder raced up his spine.
He motioned for the other shinobi to gather around. "Ok," he said. "We know we're up against the Rinnegan. This is the opponent that killed the sannin Jiraiya. Our problem is we don't really know just what the Rinnegan can do. We've all heard stories, but all we can know for sure is its scope of power is beyond that of the sharingan. So, dealing with an enemy who uses eye jutsu, what should be our first goal?"
The Nara youth waited patiently for one of the other shinobi to answer him.
After a few moments of silence, Sakura's soft voice replied, "Blind him."
All attention turned to her, and Sakura did not meet any of their gazes. Instead, she sat, drawing in the dust at her feet, eyes fixated on the ground. "We blind him, one way or another. Take away his sight, and we're free to attack."
Shikamaru nodded. "We have two summons creatures to worry about, but the real danger is the summoner himself. If we can strike at him, the summons will vanish after."
"Are there enough of us for this?" A female shinobi asked. "I've never seen a shinobi take down as many ninja single-handedly as this guy has."
"If we can't do this, there's no hope for Konoha. There are five other breached areas. There's no one else to help us."
At that, Sakura looked up, her gaze hard and unforgiving. "We can't bank on anyone helping us. Relying on others is over rated. I'm ready, Shikamaru. Tell me what you want me to do."
He nodded. "Sakura, you're my key piece, so you're going to be in the most danger. Everyone else, you're goal is to make sure Sakura gets to each designated area."
"How are we supposed to get her close enough to blind him?" another ninja asked.
Shikamaru shook his head. "We don't need to get her that close to him." He tapped his finger on the wall next to where they stood. "These buildings are in the old part of Konoha. They're composed of a mixture of clay and red sand." His finger scratched the surface, and a fine powder drifted down. "With the right amount of force, they'll send a thick cloud of dust into the air."
Sakura nodded, remembering the how dusty the air had been after she'd seen one of the walls knocked in.
"Sakura, do you think you can focus your chakra enough to do this?"
She nodded. "I'm pretty sure I can kick up enough dust to do the job."
"Good. Now look," he explained, drawing a map in the dirt, "we're here. The summons are here, and the Rinnegan user is here. Sakura, you'll need to create dust clouds here, here, and here." He pointed to three areas surrounding the Akatsuki. "The dust won't remain airborne long, so you'll have to do this as quickly as possible. The rest of us will create a diversion to keep his attention off of you."
"How much time will I have, Shikamaru?"
He glanced at her and frowned. "I'd say three minutes. Tops."
Sakura nodded. "Do you think you can catch him in your shadow technique?"
He shrugged. "That's what I hope. Once he can't see us, I'll have a better chance of catching him."
"And if this doesn't work?"
He sighed. "Then we retreat back to the hospital."
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From his vantage point, Sasuke watched as the six forms of Pein advanced through Konoha. They left only death and destruction in their wake.
It was not as satisfying as he'd hoped.
This was not his revenge, anyway. He would let Pein and Madara weaken Konoha. He would let them break down its hardest defenses. Then, when the only ones left were the cowering council, a few elite shinobi, and the Hokage, then he would make his move. Let Pein and Madara find the nine-tails.
After all, Naruto was part of Konoha. He was their weapon. That was, of course, what the tailed beasts were intended for.
They were weapons.
Next to him, Madara inclined his head toward the nearest battle. "I have always admired Konoha for this reason." Sasuke followed his attention to where a pink-haired medic raced toward Pein's blonde form. "They never give up, even when death is imminent."
Sakura? What are you up to? The Uchiha watched as she sped toward her enemy, the other Konoha shinobi spreading out behind her. He noted Shikamaru in the background. Don't be foolish. For a moment, he thought she'd lost her mind and her comrades were racing toward her to stop her.
When she hit the first building—he knew.
Dust billowed into the air, blocking all but chakra signatures from his view. Then, as he watched, those signatures replicated until there were double what there had been. They spread throughout the area, making it almost impossible to distinguish one shinobi from another. All the while, Sakura raced around the area, pounding nearby walls and buildings into powder.
The nearby summoned creatures stopped their advance and turned back toward where their master was under attack.
"They're trying to eliminate his field of view," Sasuke watched with more interest than he cared to show.
Madara nodded. "A novice attempt given the enemy. They don't understand the Rinnegan enough. It is a futile attempt."
Three forms materialized behind Sasuke. The other members of Sasuke's team stared down at the burning buildings in Konoha. Suigetsu leaned on his sword, watching as Sakura came full circle, her mission completed. "Hey, Sasuke, isn't that my pet down there? She's gonna get herself killed!"
"Hn" Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
"So what if that worthless girl dies?" Karin sidled up next to their Uchiha leader. "She outlived her purpose anyhow."
"Perhaps not." Uchiha Madara turned to the newest members of Akatsuki. "Pein has telepathically told me the nine-tails is not in Konoha."
"Who cares? Destroy the city anyway. Naruto will come to us once he finds out." Sasuke continued to watch as Sakura and the others below dodged attacks from Pein's summons. He saw one shinobi fall and then another.
"They might just be hiding him," Juugo interjected. "He's too valuable to put on the front line."
Sasuke shook his head. "You don't know Naruto, Juugo. He wouldn't be hiding. He's not here."
The Pein below them sent a nearby shinobi flying backwards. He moved through the settling dust toward the battling group who was focused, with the exception of Shikamarua and Sakura, on defeating the summoned creatures. Sasuke's eyes searched the chaos for his two classmates. They were no where to be seen.
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"Ready, Sakura?"
The exhausted medic nodded. She'd come too far to turn back now. Too many lives were at stake. If they didn't make their move, they might never get another chance.
She watched from her hiding spot as the enemy shinobi slowly walked toward the raging battle with his summons. Her eyes watched his every step as he entered the narrow section between two buildings. Any dust remaining in the air created deep shadows in the narrow space, filtering out the sun. Suddenly the Akatsuki stopped as if stuck in place.
Sakura smiled as he glanced down at his feet.
Way to go, Shikamaru!
She leapt out of hiding then, arm back, fist glowing with the last of the chakra she could spare. Odd, multi-ringed eyes looked up at her as she barreled down on him, and her fist plowed through layers of clothing, skin, and bone into his chest cavity and out of his back.
She pulled her fist out as the body of her enemy fell to the ground, her fingers curled so tightly they hurt. Sakura wiped the blood onto her pants. The adrenaline left her, and she shook with the effort it took to stand. She was almost out of chakra.
"Well done, Sakura." Shikamaru hopped down next to her. "Let's regroup."
Sakura nodded absently, stepping around him and heading toward the area they'd last seen the other Konoha shinobi. "Shikamaru, do you think the other Rinnegan users were defeated? Shikamaru?"
When he didn't answer, she turned around.
Held by his neck, her companion dangled from the grip of the newly-risen Akatsuki member. The hole in his chest was still blaringly open, but he moved as if it wasn't there.
Wide-eyed, Sakura stared as Shikamaru was tossed away from them, leaving her and the Akatsuki member alone in the confines of the alley.
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"I wasn't going to take any prisoners," Madara seemed thoughtful. "However, if you insist, Sasuke, I'll reconsider."
Sasuke, whose eyes were on Sakura as she struggled to escape Pein, replied, "Someone might be able to tell us where Naruto is. And if not, then captives will give him another reason to come to us."
Sasuke hopped down from the Konoha gate as Sakura's limp body rolled across the roadway in front of him. He walked over to her and nudged her with his foot.
"Sakura, you would have been better off dead," he whispered as he scooped her up.
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Coming soon: Chapter 18: Aftermath