Hey, everybody. I'm back with another long awaited update! I really hope there are no flames for this one, because it took me far too long to type. It was actually going to be longer than this, but I decided to split the rough draft into two different chappies instead. I hope that you guys enjoy my first action scene!
Disclaimer: When will everyone get it through their heads? I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Naruto, or their insane characters!
"I'm sorry, but we have to go."
Yugi opened the door, but as he exited, he bumped into a man who was standing in the hallway. This stranger had blue hair and blue skin. He also wore black robes with red clouds decorating it.
"Oh, excuse me, sir," Yugi said without looking up, and he continued to walk.
As Sasuke stared in shock at what was about to happen, Naruto shouted, "Yugi! Watch out!"
Confused, Yugi looked up. Before he could react, however, he suddenly felt himself being gripped by the neck and pushed into the wall. His old friends and his new friends gasped when they saw this happen.
The small boy took a look at who had grabbed him and saw another man who had long, black hair and piercing red eyes. He also wore the same exact robes as the other stranger. Yugi stared, afraid of that cold, merciless stare that was being given to him, and he desperately tried to struggle and free himself. However, he couldn't get away.
"HEY!" Joey yelled with extreme rage. "Let go of my friend, punk!"
He ran and tried to get out and help Yugi, but he was stopped by a huge, bandaged sword that was blocking his path. The room's occupants froze and stared at the blue man's weapon as he said menacingly, "Not so fast! If you want to help your little friend, you'll have to give us what we want first."
Joey growled with rage, furious that he couldn't do anything to help, and Tea looked at these two men.
"Who are these guys?" she thought with worry and dread. "And what do they want?"
"Who are you, and what do you want? Why are you doing this?" Sakura demanded. Her voice also had a hint of fear in it.
The blue man just chuckled evilly. When hearing this, Sakura said in a shaky voice, "W-what's so funny? I just asked you some questions."
While he enjoyed seeing them squirm, the black haired man spoke calmly, "Well, if you wish for this boy to live. . ." he suddenly tightened his hold on Yugi's throat, causing him to grunt in pain and struggle more. Also, Tea brought her hands to her mouth and gasped, holding back tears of worry, Tristan and Sakura gasped in shock, and Joey growled angrily at this evil man.
Then, the man continued, ". . . it would be wise for you to come with us. . ." He turned his red-eyed stare towards them and uttered the name of who they seeked.
"Naruto."
The Power of the Enemy and a Familiar Strength of Willpower
The air in the training building was tense at that moment
The air in the training building was tense at that moment. As the two older, cloaked gentlemen stared at the shocked and surprised faces of the younger teens, Naruto and his friends were all paralyzed with fear.
After hearing the red-eyed man's last statement, and after a period of uneasy silence, Sakura finally mustered up enough courage to ask, "Wait, what do you want with Naruto? Are you trying to convince him to join you, or do you just want to use him to get to Kakashi-sensei?"
The man remained silent. Instead, his blue comrade answered, "Neither. We would never want a child like him on our team, and there's no need for us to look for Kakashi."
This startled the pink-haired kunouchi, and she asked, "Huh? Then, why do you want Naruto to come with you?"
"Yeah, and who are you?" Tea managed to ask nervously, overwhelmed by the events going on.
The blue stranger took a moment to think while staring at the nervous, defenseless kids. Then, he said, "The name's Kisame Hoshigaki, and as for why we came for the little brat, I believe that's none of your business."
Hearing his name caused Sakura to think, "Where have I heard that name before?"
Meanwhile, Tristan asked Kisame, "And why is it none of our business?"
The rogue mist ninja just replied, "The reasons we need that child are top secret, and few people are allowed to know them. What makes you think that we would tell you kids anything? You'd never understand."
"What makes you say that?" Joey asked suddenly in an infuriated tone. "Why don't you just let go of our friend, Yugi, there, and then you can tell us all about it!"
"Why tell me this?" Kisame answered, leaving the blond teenager confused. The blue man continued, "Itachi's the one taking care of that shrimp, not me. If you want to pick a fight with him, I won't stop you."
In response to this, Joey turned his angry glares and growls to the man who held his small friend against the wall. As he did this, Tea turned to Sasuke and asked, "Sasuke, can't you do something? You, Sakura, and Naruto have to stop this before things get out of hand! . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sasuke?"
When she got no response, the brunette looked over at the young Uchiha. She was surprised to see that he didn't have that same cold stare as before. Instead, the raven-haired boy was sending death glares to Itachi filled with anger and hate. His hands were in tight fists, and he had his teeth clenched tightly.
Meanwhile, Itachi turned his gaze to Joey, who was still glaring. He calmly said in a somewhat cold tone, "If you would all just let Naruto come quietly with us, then you wouldn't have to stay in this position any longer, or perhaps you wish for this insignificant little runt to suffer?"
"WHAT?!" Joey yelled furiously, finally having snapped. "Excuse me, but that 'runt' you're talking about happens to be my best friend! Do you really think I'd let you mess with any of my friends? Now, you better put Yugi down right now, or else, I'll tear you apart!"
From hearing this, Itachi's cold stare became sharper, and he tightened his grip, causing the young boy to yelp out in pain. Joey automatically lost his anger and widened his eyes in fear and realization.
As Kisame saw the blond teen's attitude change so drastically, he only chuckled and said teasingly, "What's the matter, blondie? I thought you said you were going to tear Itachi apart, or maybe you just realized that he's much stronger than you can handle?"
Joey just stood frozen. Meanwhile, Naruto stared at the Akatsuki members in shock and thought, "How were these guys able to come back so fast, and why now of all times? I need to figure out how we can pass these guys and get help, but how? There's no way we can beat them alone!"
"So, I'm guessing you're another one of those cocky idiots that are all talk and no action, huh?" the blue man asked Joey teasingly.
The blond teenager was slowly building up with rage due to several things. One was the fact that the blue freak in front of him wouldn't shut up. Next was the fact that the two cloaked men appeared out of nowhere to, apparently, kidnap one of his newly made friends. Last but not least, he could tell how much Yugi was suffering. The tri-colored haired boy had stopped struggling a while ago, but he still looked out of breath.
All Joey knew was that the raven-haired man had to go down. So, he put his hands into fists and yelled, "All right, punk! You asked for it!"
Joey began to run towards Itachi, but he was stopped before he could get anywhere. Naruto had gotten a hold of his shoulders from behind, Sakura had restrained his brought-up fist, and Sasuke got right in front of the blond teen's path.
"Get the heck off of me!" Joey yelled at them furiously. "I'm not going to let them get away with hurting Yugi!"
"But you can't fight him!" Sakura scolded with concern in her voice.
"And why not?!" the blond teenager yelled back. What he got were three different responses. . .
"You don't have any ninja skills!" (Sakura)
"He's a lot tougher than you think!" (Naruto)
"Itachi is mine!!" (Sasuke)
Sasuke's teammates stared at him with shock (Naruto) and confusion (Sakura) while Joey replied, "Okay, in order: don't care, can't be that strong, and . . . . . . . what?"
Tristan agreed and said, "Yeah, that's my question."
"What do you mean 'Itachi is yours'?" Tea asked, also confused at the young boy's last statement.
Then, Joey asked, "Yeah, and who exactly is this Itachi guy, anyways?"
At first, Sasuke was silent. Then, while glaring at Itachi, he said, "If you really want to know, he used to be a respected shinobi in our village. He was one of the most powerful members of the ANBU black-ops until he left, but not before slaughtering hundreds. Also, he is known for his skills using the Mangekyou Sharingan."
Sakura's eyes widened as she heard the last statement and exclaimed, "Sharingan? But Sasuke, doesn't that mean that Itachi is . . .?"
"Yeah," he said quietly.
Tristan looked between the two of them, and he asked, "Wait, Itachi is what?"
Neither of them answered. Getting a little impatient, Joey asked, "Well, mini-Kaiba, what is he?"
". . . my. . ." the raven-haired boy didn't finish his silent response.
"Your what?" Tea asked him.
Still, no response came from Sasuke. So, Itachi said, "It looks like he's ashamed to tell you all the truth. Isn't that right?" The next three words to come out of his mouth shocked the young teens in the room (excluding Naruto). . .
"Foolish little brother."
For a moment, stunned silence filled the area as everyone soaked in this information. Then, Joey yelled with shocked, "WHAAAAAAAAAT?!"
"What did he just say?" Tristan exclaimed, not believing his ears.
Tea uttered in confusion, "Brother?"
Meanwhile, Sakura looked between the two Uchihas and thought, "I thought there was something strange about this man. After what Sasuke said about him, I could tell he was an Uchiha, but I never would've guessed that they were brothers!"
"Hey, Sakura," Tristan asked. As the pink-haired kunouchi turned her attention to him, he asked, "How did you know that they were related?"
She answered, "Well, it was when Sasuke said that Itachi had Sharingan."
As Sasuke calmly shut his eyes and searched his pockets for a weapon, Tea asked, "Sharingan?"
"Yeah," Sakura said. "The Sharingan is a very rare power that can only be found in Sasuke's family. It can be used to see the opponent's moves and copy them in an instant."
"Wow," Tea thought. "The Sharingan must be very helpful in a fight."
"That's right," Kisame stated, butting into their conversation. As they turned their heads to look at him, he continued, "However, your friend has barely scratched the surface. The Sharingan is a much more complicated technique than that. The only way to fully and completely understand its power is to actually possess this gift or to face it in battle."
"Then I'll do just that!" Joey exclaimed.
Tea, Tristan, Sakura, and Naruto stared at him, clearly shocked at this statement. Tea said, "What? But Joey. . ."
"No 'buts' Tea. Nobody gets away with hurting my friends!"
He got ready to go forward, but he was suddenly blocked by Sasuke. This only caused the blond teen to yell, "Mini-Kaiba, get out of my way! I need to destroy that jerk and help Yugi!"
"Just stay out of it," Sasuke responded quietly in a rough voice.
"What?" Joey asked, a little bit startled. Then, he yelled back, "How can you say that? Are you just saying that we should listen to those guys?! So much for being a great Uchiha! You're just a chicken!"
Quickly, Sasuke turned around to face him and said loudly and harshly, "I said stay out of it!"
Joey went back in shock. He hadn't seen Sasuke this mad before. Plus, he and his friends were a bit frightened by the raven-haired boy's eyes. Instead of their usual onyx color, Sasuke's eyes were now a deep shade of red.
While they looked at him silently, Sasuke said in a voice that was calm but still filled with anger, "I've already told you once, and I'll tell you as many times as it takes to get it through that empty head of yours."
Then, he turned towards his brother and said, "Itachi is mine."
As the raven-haired boy pulled out a kunai, Tea uttered, "That was strange. How did his eyes turn red like that?"
"That's the Sharingan," Sakura told them.
"Seriously?" Tristan asked in surprise. "I thought the Sharingan was an actual weapon, like a sword or something."
Joey had no response to this. He just stared at Sasuke with wonder of his rare power.
Meanwhile, Itachi told his partner calmly, "Kisame, I'll leave Naruto and the others to you."
The blue man nodded, understanding what his partner had to do.
Finally, after a few more seconds of silence, Sasuke suddenly ran forward and charged straight for his older brother.
While Kisame stepped aside and left the raven-haired boy a clear path, Tea said, "Wait! This fight hardly seems fair! Right now, that man, Itachi, is holding onto Yugi with his right hand. That's giving Sasuke a major advantage! Plus, they're brothers, so wouldn't they want to avoid hurting each other?"
"Well, if they were ordinary brothers, they would."
All of them looked over at Naruto, who, at this point, looked truly afraid for his rival. Sakura asked him, "What do you mean?"
Kisame chuckled and said, "Just watch and find out."
Almost immediately, everybody's attention turned to the two Uchihas. Sasuke was closing in on Itachi, and he attempted to slash the older man with the kunai in his hand. However, at the last second, Itachi swiftly moved his free arm forward, causing his fist to slam right into Sasuke's abdomen. The young boy hunched over in pain, and he took a painful gasp of breath.
Now, Naruto's friends were filled with confusion. The only one that had the voice to speak was Tea, who only uttered, ". . . What? Why did he . . .?"
Itachi pulled his hand back after a moment, and Sasuke fell to the ground with a thud, dropping his kunai in front of him.
"Man, that's brutal," Tristan uttered as he stared at the boy on the hallway floor.
". . . Yeah," Joey agreed. Suddenly, he realized something and shouted, "Hey, wait a minute! Sakura, Naruto! I thought you guys said that mini-Kaiba over there was a skilled fighter! If that's true, how did he get taken down so easily?"
"There are several obvious reasons for that, blondie," Kisame said in a matter-of-fact tone. When he had their attention, the blue man continued, "First of all, Itachi's ninja abilities far surpass your friend's, whether Itachi is busy doing something or not. Second of all, the boy was clearly blinded by his own rage, so that reduced his power drastically. And finally, when Itachi fights an opponent, he never shows mercy, not even to his own baby brother."
Curious and confused, the pink-haired kunouchi asked, "What do you mean he was 'blinded by rage'?"
"Oh? You haven't realized it yet? I would've thought that brat, Naruto, would have told you all about it," Kisame said to them.
This bewildered her and the older teens, and they looked over at the blond shinobi whose face couldn't be read clearly at the moment. Before any of them could say anything, the rogue mist ninja said, "Well, I'll tell you this. Even though they're related, those two have always shared an intense hatred of each other."
The four other occupants showed sudden shock at this statement. None of them could believe that the two Uchihas actually loathed each other! Sakura was the first to come out of this state, and she quietly asked, ". . . Hate? But . . . why?"
"It's not my place to say. You'd have to ask them about it," the blue man replied, gesturing to the raven-haired ninjas in the hall. "I'm not sure you'd get any answers, though. You could try, but Itachi would probably destroy you brats if you took one step out of this room. If you're lucky, his brother could tell you, but that's only if Itachi decides to spare him like before."
Tea and Sakura looked at him with surprise and fear. The pink-haired kunouchi looked towards her crush and thought, "Spare him? Would Itachi actually consider . . .?"
For a moment, Sasuke tried his hardest to get over the pain. He slowly opened his eyes and spotted the kunai he had dropped earlier. After taking a few intakes of breath, he moved his arm in an attempt to grab his ninja weapon. However, Itachi had spotted this, and he pushed his foot onto the young boy's arm. This caused Sasuke to yelp in surprise.
Naruto almost couldn't bear to watch this. He thought, "I can't believe this. This is just like the last time."
In the blond shinobi's mind, memories of his first encounter with these men resurfaced. He saw mental images of Sasuke's fight with Itachi: from the Chidori that was so easily blocked, to the cruel beating that his rival had received, and finally ending with that bloodcurdling scream of pure horror that was caused by the strange and mysterious technique that Itachi used. Naruto was hoping that this encounter would not end like the last one.
Sasuke was grunting in pain as he tried to pull his arm out from under his brother's foot, but he couldn't budge an inch.
While he did this, Itachi glared down at his younger brother and muttered, "You're still too weak, Sasuke. At this rate, you'll never be strong enough to defeat me."
After saying this, Itachi pressed his foot down harder on Sasuke's arm, coming closer to breaking it. This caused Sasuke to shout out in pain once again.
"NO! Stop it!" Sakura yelled with tears in her eyes. "Please, stop it!"
Finally, Naruto stepped out and yelled in an angry and fearful voice, "Leave him alone!"
"Itachi turned to face the blond ninja, and his red, Sharingan eyes stared into terrified, blue eyes. The older Uchiha male just calmly said, "Naruto, you know how to stop this."
Naruto didn't respond. Instead, he looked away from him and thought, "He's right. I do know the way to stop them. I can't just turn myself in, though! . . . . . But," he looked over at Sasuke. ". . . from the way things are going, I may have no choice."
After a period of silence, Itachi calmly stated, "Naruto, if you would just agree to come with us, you wouldn't have to see your foolish friends suffer like this. You're nothing but a burden to them, so just co . . ."
Suddenly, without warning, a foot came in contact with Itachi's face. Kisame looked over at his comrade, and his eyes widened in curiosity at the sight. Confused at the sudden silence, Sasuke also looked at his brother. When he saw what had happened, he couldn't believe his eyes. Everybody else in the room just stared with mixed feelings of shock, amazement, and confusion.
Itachi turned his gaze to the direction where the kick came from. What he saw was Yugi, tightly gripping the red-eyed man's wrists and pressing his foot tightly against his cheek. The small boy no longer showed fear in his eyes, but a sense of fighting power behind the gaze. As Itachi glared at him, Yugi managed to utter defiantly, "Leave them alone!"
For a moment, their gazes locked as Itachi tried to make Yugi back down. However, the look of defiance in the small boy's eyes didn't disappear. After a while, Yugi's foot fell back in place, but he didn't turn his gaze away.
Finally, Itachi decided to take his foot off of his younger brother, which caused Sakura and Tea to let out relieved breaths. Their relief didn't last long, however, because Itachi decided to get Sasuke out of the way by kicking him back roughly. Sasuke let out a short shout of pain and put his arm across his chest in an attempt to ease the pain.
While all the kids in the room expressed faces of shock, Yugi said to Itachi in a demanding tone, "I thought I told you to leave them alone!"
The red-eyed man only tightened his grip, causing the tri-colored haired boy to grunt in pain. He then looked over to him and said, "I believe you are in no position to be making demands. You must think that you're invincible, standing up for your friends and taking the blow . . ."
Suddenly, he moved his face closer to Yugi's, and he whispered so only he could hear, ". . . just like last time."
The small boy's eyes went wide in confusion, and he thought, "What?"
"But you just don't realize that's what's making you so weak, now," Itachi continued saying calmly. "In any case, I have no time to deal with you right now."
After saying this, he simply tossed Yugi down the hallway. The small boy's back hit the wall hard, and he slumped over in pain.
"Yugi!" the short boy's friends shouted in concern, hoping that he was all right.
Finally, Naruto couldn't stand sitting by and doing nothing. He turned to the two cloaked men with a look of rage in his eyes and said angrily, "All right. I've had enough of this!"
"It's about time you made your move, brat," Kisame thought as he saw Naruto's change in attitude.
The blue-haired man stepped into the room and said casually, "You know, I almost pity that boy. If he had just kept his mouth shut, Itachi wouldn't have treated him that way. It seems that he'll be out of it for a while, so why don't we test your strength for a while, brat? I'd like to have some fun with you and your little friends before capturing you."
In response to his statement, Naruto brought up a fist and yelled, "Well, I'd like to see you try it!"
"Aw, yeah!" Joey said with excitement. "Now, that's what I'm talking about! So, are we gonna rumble or what?"
"No, Joey!" Tea and Sakura said sternly.
"What?" Joey asked surprised. "Why not?"
The brunette reminded her blond friend, "You heard Sakura. We don't know how to fight like these guys. If you even tried to get near them, you'd be killed!"
"And plus," Sakura added. "Even if you had experience, these guys would have us outclassed!"
As Joey silently fumed from being called inferior, the pink-haired kunouchi turned to her blond teammate and said, "You shouldn't fight them either, Naruto! I don't know why these guys are after you, but if you fight them, you'll be doing just what they want you to do!"
"I don't have any choice, Sakura!" Naruto yelled back at her. While Sakura looked at him with shock and wonder, the blond shinobi thought back to what he had told Yugi yesterday . . .
"Besides, I don't want my new friends to get hurt."
"I can't let them hurt my friends anymore!" he thought angrily. "It's time I show them how strong I've become!"
"Well, will you do something already?" Kisame asked in a taunting manner. "I'm quite bored right now."
Naruto growled with rage and yelled, "Fine! Let's see you fight against this!" Then, he put his hands in the sign for his favorite technique and yelled, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Naruto, wait!" Sakura yelled with worry, but it was too late. Suddenly, there were 5 extra Narutos in the room. Seeing this caused Joey, Tristan, and Tea to drop their jaws in awe.
"Whoa," Tristan uttered. "Do you guys see what I see?"
"Yeah," Joey answered. "How did he do that?"
All Tea did was utter out, ". . . Amazing."
The other shinobi just watched the boy and his clones as if they saw this every day. After a moment, the blue man finally said, "Shadow clones . . . not bad, but let's see you back it up with an attack."
In response, the blond ninja and his replicas smirked and said in unison, "All right, but don't say I didn't warn you!"
As soon as this was said, all of the clones charged at Kisame with fists brought up. Meanwhile, the real Naruto prepared to strike the blue man after his clones.
"All right, Naruto!" Joey cheered, clearly enthusiastic about the fight. "Kick that blue freak's ass!"
Tea, however, was having second thoughts about this. Normally, she would be cheering as well, but after seeing the kind of power Itachi had, the brunette girl was worried about what kind of strength his friend might have. She wanted to make sure that her feelings of uneasiness were wrong, so Tea turned to Sakura and quietly asked, "Sakura, do you think Naruto will be okay?"
The pink-haired kunouchi was about as worried as Tea at that moment and she replied, ". . . I don't know."
As he saw the 5 Naruto duplicates run towards him, Kisame just smirked and thought, "Too easy."
Quickly, the blue man swung his sword and wiped out all of the clones at once. As Naruto watched in shock how easily his clones were destroyed, Kisame brought out his free fist, and he punched the blond shinobi in the stomach and pushed him back. Naruto was sent back a couple feet, and he fell to the floor in pain.
The girls gasped in shock, and Joey and Tristan ran over to their ninja companion. While Joey helped Naruto get back on his feet, Tristan asked, "Naruto, are you okay, man?"
Naruto glared at Kisame while keeping an arm across his chest and answered, "Yeah, I'm fine."
Then, Kisame scowled and said, "You know, you brats are a lot more trouble than you're worth. I'll teach you to stay out of affairs that don't concern you."
In response to this, Joey gave him an angry glare, the girls looked at him in confusion, and Tristan asked, "And just how are you going to do that?"
The blue man grinned sinisterly and said, "Why, thank you for asking. Why don't I show you?"
Before he could make a grab for his giant weapon, however, his raven-haired companion said, "Kisame, let's not waste our time. Please, focus on why we came here."
"Oh, come on, Itachi," Kisame replied. "Let me cut off at least a leg or two before we go."
The teens' eyes went wide at this statement, and Joey asked Naruto, "Was this guy crazy enough to suggest that when you met him last time?!"
"Yes, actually, I was. Thanks for the compliment," the blue man answered for him, earning a look of fright from the blond teen. While they were silent, Kisame said, "But seriously, Itachi, can't I just have a little more fun with these brats?"
"Perhaps you've forgotten what happened the last time we took too long to claim Naruto," Itachi told him.
Kisame went silent. He had completely forgotten about when they had gotten so close to their goal only to have their plans stopped by one of the legendary Sannin. His raven-haired partner continued saying, "We can't have any interruptions on our mission, so let's end this before anything else happens."
At that moment, Itachi heard a whizzing noise. He spun around quickly and caught the kunai that was thrown straight towards him.
"Like that?" Kisame asked, slightly amused.
Itachi only responded with a cold glare at his partner. Then, he turned to his younger brother, who weakly stood on his feet. Sasuke was glaring at him, and he angrily said, "Your fight is with me, Itachi!"
Everyone looked at him with mixed feelings. Joey thought, "What does mini-Kaiba think he's doing? Can't he tell that Itachi is too strong for him to handle?"
No one did anything for a while, waiting for someone to comment. Finally, Itachi calmly told his brother, "Why don't you stay out of this? I have no time for your pathetic attempts."
In response to this, the younger Uchiha male's fist clenched and he brought it up while yelling, "Shut up!"
He went forward to try and punch Itachi, but the raven-haired man just gripped his arm, stopping his attack. Then, Itachi kicked his younger brother back into the wall, causing Sasuke to slump back to the ground.
When Sakura saw the look of pain on her crush's face, she couldn't stand it. The pink-haired kunouchi went forward to try and help him.
"Sakura, wait!" Tea said sternly as she grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "I know you want to help him; believe me, so do I, but if you try and go out there, there's no guarantee that you'll come back all right."
"Your little friend is right, girl," Kisame said, catching their attention. "I'd make sure to cut you to ribbons. Even if you managed to get past me, you would never be able to defeat Itachi. Your fate would be the same as his."
While blocking their route of escape, the blue man asked his partner, "So, Itachi, will you actually kill him this time?"
The faces of the five occupants in the room became filled with shock, but they quickly changed to faces of confusion and worry as the raven-haired man replied, "Not now, Kisame."
They turned their heads to Itachi, and he continued, "He's not worth killing yet. However, at this rate, he'll never get stronger. Perhaps if I crack a rib or two, Sasuke will have the proper motivation to get stronger."
With this being said, Itachi went over to Sasuke and kicked him so the young boy would be lying on his back. Then, he dug the heel of his foot into his brother's chest. This caused the young Uchiha heir to cough up blood.
Seeing this caused Sakura to begin crying from fear and worry, and Joey yelled at the man, "Hey! Knock it off!"
Itachi just ignored him. The blond teenager glared at him and thought, "Man, no one deserves to be treated like that, not even a jerk like Sasuke! How can Itachi do that without any emotion, and to his own brother? That bastard!"
Naruto acted differently than everyone else, however. In an act of frustration and fear, he ran straight for Itachi and yelled, "That does it! I've had enough of this!"
"Not so fast!" Kisame shouted as he faced the blond shinobi and went forward. He then brought out his free arm and pounded Naruto in his side, causing the young boy to be sent to the opposite side of the room.
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled with worry in her voice as she quickly ran over to him.
As she checked her teammate and friend to make sure that he wasn't injured badly, Kisame told them, "Look, why don't you kids stop resisting and hand that brat over to us? Your lives are in our hands, so it would be smart for you to listen."
"Well, we're not gonna!" Joey yelled furiously at him. "After what you've done, how can we?!"
"Joey, don't push them!" Tea pleaded with him. Then she told the two men with desperation in her voice, "Please, just stop this, and leave Sasuke alone! Whatever it is you want, he has nothing to do with it!"
"Actually, he does."
With tears held back and a look of confusion in her eyes, the teenage brunette looked over at Itachi. The red-eyed man continued, "In fact, you, Sasuke, and everyone in this building has something to do with what we want. The one we seek, Naruto, has come in contact with many people in his life, and they all have a part to play in our mission. Some help us while others are nothing more than a nuisance. Those that get in the way of our mission have to be dealt with accordingly."
"Dealt with accordingly?" Tristan asked in a confused and curious tone. "What does that mean?"
Joey added in an irate tone, "Are you saying that you would kill us if it meant getting Naruto to come with you guys?"
"Well, if things reach that extent, then yes," Itachi responded calmly, earning a few surprised faces looking up at him.
Kisame, who was enjoying their looks of fear, added with a smirk, "That's right, but Itachi will spare all of you if you decide to let that brat come with us right now."
Everyone went into an unnerving silence. While Sasuke tried at vain attempts to get his older brother off of him with whatever strength he had, the rest of Naruto's friends tried to think of what to do. After a minute or two, before they could do or say anything . . .
". . . Coward."
Almost immediately, the eyes of the leaf shinobi and teens went wide with shock. Even Kisame's face changed in amusement and surprise for a brief moment before he looked in the direction of where the statement came from. Itachi's face could not be read, however, although he clenched his hands into fists slightly.
The blue man looked down the hallway, and he saw that Yugi had gotten out of consciousness a lot sooner than everyone thought. The small boy had one arm resting against the wall while the other was across his chest. He had his head down and was panting heavily.
Shortly after Yugi's statement, Kisame chuckled and said, "Hey, can you repeat that, shrimp? I didn't quite catch it."
"Oh, Yugi. . ." Tea silently whispered, both shocked at what he said and awed by her friend's bravery.
When Naruto stood back up and heard Yugi's comment, he was dumbfounded and asked, "Hey, Joey, did he just call Itachi a . . .?"
"Yeah," he replied, equally bewildered. "I think he did."
After a minute of no response, without even moving, Itachi asked coldly, "Come again?"
For a while, Yugi didn't answer, taking deep breaths. Then, he said, "You came to get Naruto . . . . . right? You could have gotten him whenever you wanted, but instead of facing him alone, you torture those close to him until you convince Naruto to come without a fight . . ."
The small boy paused for a brief moment. Then, he brought his head up, and his face was not one normally on Yugi's face. His amethyst eyes were filled with a deep anger that was only reserved for truly evil foes. After burning his glare into Itachi, he continued, "That's pretty low. Right now, you're acting no different than a bully. Itachi, you're nothing but a coward!"
The young ninja couldn't believe their ears. Sakura thought, "I can't believe he said it again!"
"Whoa," Naruto thought. "I've never heard Yugi this mad before. He sounds so sure of himself, but he has no idea what kind of man he's dealing with!"
Meanwhile, the tri-colored haired boy's declaration had also caused Sasuke to freeze as well. The young raven-haired boy thought, "What does he think he's doing? Doesn't he know that he'll make things worse?!"
After a minute had passed (although it felt like an eternity), Itachi closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "Fine, then."
Only Kisame could catch the slight change in the raven-haired man's tone, and he smirked to himself and thought, "Well, this kid is officially screwed."
As Yugi looked at the older Uchiha, wondering what he would say, Itachi said, "I was just going to leave you there while I took Naruto, but now, it would appear that I've changed my mind."
Then, he took his foot off of his little brother and turned around to face the small boy with his eyes still closed. The raven-haired man dug around in the pockets of his cloak next. When he brought his arms up across his chest, there were three small shuriken in each hand. Finally, after a short period of time, Itachi's eyes opened, having a hateful aura in them, and he stated, "Now, you're a target."
While Yugi's eyes widened in confusion, Sakura asked herself in confusion, "Target? What does he mean 'target'?"
No one responded, but they all knew that this couldn't be a good thing. A few seconds after making this declaration, Itachi threw his shuriken down the hall and towards the small boy. Yugi instinctively shut his eyes tight and brought his arms in front of him in an attempt to block the small weapons. Quickly, the shuriken had become imbedded in the wall.
"Oh no!" Tea shouted as she witnessed the shuriken being thrown, fearing the worst for her friend.
"Yugi!" Sakura shouted. "Are you all right?"
After coming out of his shock, the tri-colored haired boy opened his eyes slowly and replied, "I. . . I think so. I think Itachi missed."
All of Yugi's friends in the room took relieved breaths after hearing that he was fine. Sasuke, on the other hand, was surprised at what he heard. As he lay on the ground, the raven-haired boy thought, "How's that possible? I know Itachi's skills involving shuriken, and he doesn't miss often. What was Itachi's reason for that?"
Itachi began walking towards where Yugi stood. The small boy froze as he saw the red-eyed man moving towards him. As Naruto saw this, though, the blond shinobi got into a panic and yelled, "Yugi, RUN! Get out of here now!!"
The tri-colored haired boy got out of his frozen state, a little surprised at what his new friend said. He started protesting, "But, what about . . . ?"
"No, Yugi!" Sakura shouted back. "Naruto is right! We'll be fine for a few minutes. Just hurry and get help!"
"O . . . okay, I will," Yugi replied. He tried to move, but something kept him from doing so. Startled, the small boy looked around to see what was keeping him rooted to the spot. As he looked at his arms, he saw that Itachi's shuriken might not have missed.
By this time, Sasuke was able to roll over to his side. When he looked down the hallway to where Yugi was, he saw that the shuriken that his older brother had thrown had not only been caught in the wall, but also in the upper sleeves of Yugi's jacket. The raven-haired boy thought with realization, "So that was Itachi's plan!"
When she saw the slight look of shock in the raven-haired boy's eyes, Tea asked, "Sasuke, what's wrong?"
He answered, "It's Yugi; he's not moving."
"What?!" Sakura yelled in shock while the other teens got shocked looks on their faces. "He should know that we need help! Why isn't he getting out of here?"
"For one very obvious reason, girl: he can't."
As Kisame stepped back into the room once more, Joey asked angrily, "What do you mean 'he can't'?"
The blue man stared at him, sighed and asked, "You really are a moron, aren't you?"
"Just answer the question!" The blond teenager yelled at him.
The older man answered teasingly, "All right. Take it easy, blondie."
Joey's anger once again reached a boiling point as the blue man had emphasized his new nickname. His face turned red, and he nearly screamed, "And would you STOP calling me BLONDIE?!"
Then, he tried to pounce on Kisame only to have Tristan hold him back and say, "Take it easy, man! Calm down!"
After things were a little calmer, the blue man continued, "Anyways, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, Yugi can't leave. Itachi's attack wasn't supposed to hurt the shrimp. It was meant to pin him in place: to keep him from running away."
"Why would he do that?" Tea asked nervously, afraid of the answer she would get.
Kisame just told them calmly, "Well, you see, if Itachi . . . wait. If either of us declares someone a target, then that means one of two things: either we capture them, not likely in this case. . ."
He paused for a slight moment. As everyone stared intently at him, waiting for Kisame to finish, the blue man finished, ". . . or, most likely, we kill them."
Everyone's eyes widened in surprise and fright as they heard this. No one could believe what they heard. Naruto, in particular, was put in a frantic state of mind, and he thought, "No way . . . . . we have to hurry and get out of here! If Yugi doesn't get away soon, he'll die!"
Meanwhile, Yugi had been struggling to get out of his jacket. As he worked on getting his right arm out, Yami told him through their minds, "Yugi, this situation is becoming too dangerous! Let me take over."
"No!" Yugi answered through their mind link. "I don't want you put in danger, too! Besides, Itachi is Sasuke's brother and if Sasuke was already suspicious about the puzzle . . ."
"Of course!" Yami responded, realizing what point his partner was making. "Itachi would automatically know that something has changed if we switch! Our secret would be exposed!"
As Yugi finished pulling out his right arm, he thought, "Exactly. I'm sorry, Yami, but I have to do this alone."
". . . . . Be careful, Yugi," Yami told him before retreating into the confines of the Millennium Puzzle.
After taking a quick glance down the hall and seeing Itachi about 20 feet away, the small boy quickly focused on pulling his left arm out of the jacket. As he got it out, he ignored the small sting on his arm after moving it past the shuriken. Now freed from the shuriken and exposing his sleeveless black shirt, he moved to run out of the area. However, he felt his recently freed arm get grabbed roughly. Then, he was pulled back and pushed against the wall.
Yugi turned his head to see Itachi glaring back at him. Then, the raven-haired man said, "You're a fool for what you said. Now, I'll teach you not to make smart remarks like that again."
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Meanwhile, in the streets of the hidden leaf village, everyone went through their lives as if it was a normal day. Well, this was true for most. On the borders of the village, the ANBU black-ops were frantically searching for a trail to find the two rogue ninjas.
As the ANBU did this, Kakashi was moving swiftly and silently through the village. He had been on edge ever since his brief meeting with the Hokage . . .
"What is it, Lady Hokage?" the silver-haired man asked as soon as he entered her office. "Shizune told me that you had to see me for something."
Tsunade looked at him with a sense of urgency in her eyes and said, "Yes, I do. I want you to find your squad immediately!"
Kakashi gave her a quizzical look after hearing the urgency in her voice, and he asked, "May I ask why you sound so demanding, Lady Hokage?"
"Kakashi! This is serious!" Tsunade growled angrily at him. "Itachi has come into the village, and Naruto could be in danger!"
This got Kakashi good. "Itachi came back again? If Naruto is with his teammates, he won't be the only one in danger," he thought as he thought of his star pupil, Sasuke.
He asked Tsunade, "When did he get into the village?"
She didn't hesitate in her reply and said, "About an hour and a half ago. There is the possibility that he might have found Naruto already, so you'll have to move quickly."
". . . Right," Kakashi stated, and before anything else could be said or done, he left the office in a puff of smoke.
"I hope I'm not too late," Kakashi thought to himself as he stopped in front of Sakura's house. The silver-haired man was confused because of the fact that he couldn't find his squad anywhere in the village. So, he cut his finger, performed some hand signs, and cried out, "Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!"
The silver-haired man pressed his palm down onto the ground, and after the smoke cleared, Pakkun appeared in front of him.
"Yes, what is it, Kakashi?" the brown pug asked him.
Kakashi told him, "Pakkun, I need you to track Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke for me. It would seem that Itachi has come back to the village, and they may be in trouble."
The dog's eyes widened slightly at the mention of Itachi, and he answered, "That's news to me. Well, I'll see what I can do."
The brown pug began sniffing around, but after a while, he said, "Kakashi, I can't find any of their chakra signatures. For some reason, it's as if they've disappeared."
Kakashi's visible eye widened at this. As Pakkun continued to look for a trail of some sort, the silver-haired man thought, "Why would they try to hide their chakra? Did they think that Itachi would find them? . . . No, they wouldn't know that. Even if Naruto and Sasuke had their suspicions, Sakura wouldn't have any reason for it. I really hope Itachi didn't . . ."
"Wait, I think I found something," Pakkun said, bringing Kakashi out of his thoughts. "It's Sakura's shampoo, but the chakra signature attached to it is one I've never smelt before. I won't be able to tell who it is."
Kakashi briefly wondered who this person was that the small dog smelled out, but told Pakkun, "That will have to do. Let's go."
With this being said, the man and dog quickly moved through the street.
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Once again, Naruto tried to make it past Kisame, but he failed miserably as the blue man just swatted him away.
"Give it up," Kisame said with cockiness in his voice. After knocking away Sakura's shuriken with his sword, he continued, "There's nothing that can save your little friend now."
Joey came from the ninja's right side, ready to punch him. However, the blue man just punched him back with his free arm. The blond teenager panted heavily, tired from the hit, and glared at him.
Despite the odds against them, everyone still tried to get out and escape, afraid for their small friend. Kisame just thought to himself, "I guess I'll be busy for a while. Oh, well. I was really hoping to see what was going on with you and the shrimp, Itachi."
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Meanwhile, Itachi was busy holding said shrimp against the wall. The red-eyed man just stared at Yugi, waiting for a response from the small boy. Finally, Yugi said, "What are you waiting for? If you want to get away with Naruto, you'll have to get through me first."
Itachi stared at him, seeing the truth behind his words. In reality, Yugi was scared to death, trying not to show it to the red-eyed man. However, the small boy was more worried about his friends than himself. Itachi thought, "Should I even waste my time with this runt? We came for Naruto, and the goals of the Akatsuki should always come first. However, this boy needs to learn a lesson."
After the short silence, Yugi was worried that Itachi would head back towards Naruto. So, to have Itachi make up his mind, he shouted at Itachi with a determined tone in his voice, "Well, give it your best shot!"
Before anything else could be said, Itachi pounded his fist into the small boy's chest quickly. Yugi gasped in pain for air, and Itachi let him go, allowing the small boy to fall to the ground. Yugi brought himself onto his hands and knees and coughed up a small bit of blood. Seeing this, the tri-colored haired boy thought, "Incredible! Itachi's so strong that he can make his opponents cough up blood after one attack? He's not someone to take lightly."
Itachi bent down to Yugi's height calmly. Then, he grabbed Yugi's chin roughly and brought the small boy's head up to meet his gaze. He then asked him, "Look, I don't want to fight someone who's too weak to even defend themselves, so I'll give you a choice. Will you fight back?"
A long period of silence followed his question, and crimson red eyes gazed into deep amethyst eyes. Finally, the tri-colored haired boy was able to calm himself and answer with defiance, "No."
Itachi had decided not to respond, feeling that Yugi had something else to add. The small boy continued, "I won't. I won't become a bully like you!"
The raven-haired man closed his eyes and released his grip on Yugi. Then, Itachi shook his head and said, "You understand so little. Let me tell you something, Yugi."
Unseen by Itachi, Yugi's eyes widened. The way that Itachi had said his name made him feel uneasy, somehow. It was as if the raven-haired man's voice held loathing in that simple word, at it put the small boy on guard.
Itachi then continued, "There is a major difference between bullies, as you call them, and ninjas. Bullies, although they seem strong, are really dimwitted humans. They only face those that can't defend themselves, and their moves are too slow to cause any real damage. . ."
At that moment, Itachi grabbed Yugi by the front of his shirt and brought the small boy back on his feet. Still tightly holding onto him, the red-eyed man said, "Ninjas, however, are on a whole different level. They'll fight any opponent they find worthy of their time, and they have the common sense to take out those that are threats to their being. Also, a ninja's strikes are conditioned to be powerful and swift at once. Like so . . ."
Before Yugi could make any type of response, Itachi let go of him and punched him across the face in the blink of an eye. The small boy quickly collided with the wall to his left and fell to the floor, coughing up more blood.
As Yugi panted and looked up at Itachi, he heard Yami say through their mind link, "Yugi! This man could kill you! Please, you must let me take over! We may be revealing our secret to him, but I can't just sit by and watch you get hurt!"
Then, the small boy actually began pulling off his puzzle and replied, "I said no! Like I said before, I don't want to risk you getting hurt as well. You have to trust me on this. I can handle this!"
Yami really disagreed with his friend's decision, but if Yugi was taking off the Millennium Puzzle, there would be nothing that he could do about it. All the spirit of the puzzle could do was wait and hope that his partner didn't get himself killed.
Meanwhile, Yugi's actions hadn't gone unnoticed. When Itachi saw the tri-colored hair boy remove the golden object from around his neck, he decided to kneel down next to the boy. He asked more to himself then Yugi, "What do you have here?"
Itachi grabbed the chain that was connected to the object, but Yugi just gripped the chain tighter and tried to pull it away from the red-eyed man. The small boy cried out, "Don't touch it!"
The raven-haired man just moved his free hand towards his opponent's outstretched arm. Then, he squeezed Yugi's wrist hard. The small boy's reflexes kicked in immediately, and he let go of the chain while wincing in pain.
Itachi held up the object and inspected it. Apparently, it was an upside-down pyramid made of small golden objects. As he looked at the strange eye on one of the faces of the pyramid, he could sense what seemed to be another source of chakra, and the raven-haired man thought, "I have a feeling this object is more than it seems, but for now, it means nothing to me."
"How is this important to you?" Itachi asked the small boy. "It's just a regular antique. You'd be better off without it."
With that being said, Itachi gently tossed the puzzle behind him. Luckily for Yugi, it didn't break as it made contact with the floor.
"Be careful with that!" Yugi yelled at Itachi. "It's very fragile!"
The raven-haired man just glared coldly at the boy. Slowly, he put his hand around the small boy's neck, and then he proceeded to slam his body into the wall. It seemed as if he was almost done with torturing him and that he would soon finish things . . .
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Kisame was getting infuriated. The blue man had already blocked against 13 punches, 9 kicks, 5 dashes, and 20 shuriken, and the teens still weren't giving up. He thought, "No matter what I do, these brats just keep coming back for more. I guess it's time I took things up a notch."
Right at the end of his thoughts, Joey came running for the exit again. Instead of pushing him away, the blue man swung his sword in an attempt to slice the young teen.
"Joey! Watch out!" Tea yelled from the sidelines.
Luckily, Joey had enough time to get out of the way. The mighty sword was swung just a few inches away from his left cheek. After putting some distance between him and the blue man, the blond teen bragged, "Ha! You missed!"
"Oh, did I?" Kisame asked with a smirk.
Joey just looked at him with confusion. Sure enough, a few seconds after the blue man's statement, a cut made itself visible on the blond teen's cheek.
"Wait a minute!" Tristan said. "That sword clearly missed, so how did Joey get cut?"
Suddenly, Sakura gasped in realization, and the pink-haired kunouchi said, "Wait, I remember now. You're Kisame Hoshigaki, one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist Village! Kakashi-sensei told us all about you!"
The blue man suppressed an amused chuckle and said, "Well, it seems that one of you isn't as dumb as you look. So, girl, if you truly know all about me, then you must know about my sword, Samehada, as well."
She remained silent while Tea, Tristan, and Joey stood in confusion. In reality, Kakashi had only told Sakura and her teammates the general information. After a while, Kisame was able to tell that she wasn't going to say anything, and he said, "No? Well then, allow me to fill you in."
He presented the massive sword before them and said, "This is no ordinary weapon, as you can already tell. My sword, Samehada, is known for shredding its foes and absorbing their chakra. Knowing this, the opposite is true as well. My sword can also use that stored chakra to lengthen the blade. So, I don't even have to hit you with the blade itself to cause damage."
Everyone looked at him with wide eyes. While the older teens wondered about what chakra was and how they would be able to go against a weapon like this, Naruto remembered the last time the blue man had used his weapon and thought, "We need to be more careful now. If me and Sakura get swiped by that thing, we're done for!"
After a few seconds, Kisame asked with an evil smirk, "Well, let's continue, shall we?"
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As Itachi gazed at the small, worn-out boy, he thought, "Well, I've wasted enough time with this boy. It's time to end this."
Suddenly, he heard Yugi ask, "What is it you want with Naruto, anyways? Why are you and Kisame working so hard to get him?"
The raven-haired man only gave him a cold look and replied, "Kisame already told your friends, didn't he? Our reasons are top secret, so no one must know our motives."
He turned his attention away from the small boy to let him digest this information. Yugi thought, "No one must know their motives? But . . . I still don't understand. If Itachi is this strong, why would he go after Naruto? As far as I know, he doesn't have anything that they would want him for."
Suddenly, something dawned on the tri-colored haired boy as he remembered his conversation with the blond shinobi, and he thought, "Unless. . ."
"You know, this will be the first time I've ever told someone about this. Most people don't know about it, not even Sakura and Sasuke . . . . . I don't really know most of the details, but apparently, thirteen years ago, our village was being attacked by a demon called the nine-tailed fox. According to Iruka-sensei, though, the fourth Hokage saved the village by trapping that stupid fox inside a human vessel, and . . . well, I'm guessing you can figure out the rest. . . . ."
". . . Unless that's what they want!" the small boy thought in realization.
By this time, Itachi decided to pull out one of his kunai and finish his fight. He said to Yugi, "Well, it seems that there is no use for me to attack you now. It's time to end this."
Then, he moved his arm forward with kunai in hand, ready to pierce the small boy's chest. Before the kunai made contact, though . . .
". . . You're after the nine-tailed fox."
That sentence came out of Yugi's mouth barely above a whisper, but it was enough to cause Itachi to stop his attack. Although he didn't show it, he was quite surprised at what he heard, so to make sure that he heard it right, he asked, "What was that?"
The small boy whispered out, "It's not Naruto you want. You're only after the demon sealed inside of him. Why? What is it you're hoping to accomplish?"
There was an unnerving silence between the two of them for quite some time. After coming to a decision in his mind, Itachi pulled the weapon away and said, "I don't know how you learned of that, but it would seem you have changed my mind again."
Yugi stared back at him in bewilderment, wondering what Itachi had in mind now. His question was answered as the red-eyed man said, "Yugi, it seems you'll be coming with us."
The small boy's eyes widened with shock and fear. He attempted to move away, but Itachi managed to get a tight grip on Yugi's left arm before he could do anything. As Yugi struggled to break free, Itachi said calmly, "You're not getting away that easily."
Then, the red-eyed man pinned the small boy's arm roughly against the wall. He said, "You will come with us, even if we have to use force. However, before I forget. . ."
Yugi gasped in fear as he saw Itachi's kunai get brought up again, and the raven-haired man finished, ". . . you'll have to pay for that 'coward' comment earlier."
Meanwhile, Sasuke had been observing all of this from his place on the floor. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could clearly see the weapon held by his brother.
"No! I can't let Itachi get away with this!" the raven-haired boy thought angrily.
He tried to get up, but since his body was still in pain, Sasuke was moving at a very slow pace. The young Uchiha heir just urged himself to move and began to stand.
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As all of this was happening, Naruto, Sakura, Tea, Joey, and Tristan were in a standstill with Kisame. Before anyone could try any escape attempts, the blue man yelled out in frustration, "Augh!"
"What's the matter, Blue Man?" Joey asked tauntingly. "Are you disappointed that your sword hasn't swiped anyone yet?"
"Oh, please," Kisame responded in an annoyed tone. "I could kill any of you brats whenever I feel like it. It's just that Itachi's working slow!"
"What do you mean by that?" Tristan asked.
The blue man growled furiously and said, "Usually, when he deals with someone, he always causes them to scream one way or another."
Naruto shuddered when he heard this, remembering the last battle Sasuke had with Itachi.
After a few seconds, Joey asked, "So? What's your point?"
In frustration, the blue man swung his sword sideways and caused everyone to back up to avoid being hit. Then, he growled out, "My point is that it's been a few minutes since he began dealing with your friend, so all I ask is . . ."
He paused for a moment. Then, Kisame yelled, ". . . where is the bloodcurdling scream?!"
"GYAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"
Kisame flinched a little bit from the sudden scream, but other than that, he wasn't fazed. When the scream ended, he sighed happily and said, "Ah, that's more like it."
Everybody else just froze with fear. Their blood ran cold, and they all became filled with worry as they recognized that voice. One name came across their minds.
Yugi.
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Sakura: What just happened?
Tea: I don't know! All I know is that Yugi's hurt and we need to help him!
Tristan: Yeah, but how? These guys are on a whole different level, and we could never beat them!
Joey: We don't have to beat them! All we have to do is get out of here.
Sakura: Well, that's obvious, doofus!
Naruto: Be quiet, guys! I've got a plan to bust us out of here and save Yugi!
Next time - Racing Against the Clock: The Great Escape!
Well, there you have it, folks! Man, that was exhausting. Once again, I fail to make a good chappie title. Before anyone complains, I am aware that I'm using the Japanese name of Kisame's sword instead of the American version. You have to admit, though, the Japanese name is cooler. I'm also aware that I may have gotten Itachi out of character, but he's tough to keep in character! I'm not even gonna say anything about the twist. You guys should know by now not to tell me about it. I expect at least five reviews before I beging typing the next chappie, so please review! See ya later!