Chapter 38: The Bait

After a half hour ticked by, Seiriyu woke up to find the suite completely empty except for his students, who were now starting to wake up from their respective la la land.

"The Kazekage and Lady Sage will pay for their insolence. Let's go you two!" cried Seiriyu as he grabbed his katana and stood up from the ground. Aki and Maki nodded their heads obediently and followed the dictator out the suite and into the hallway.

"Those two probably made their way down to the main hall to regroup with their comrades" said Seiriyu with a determined look on his face as he walked over to the damaged stairwell, the twins hot on his heels. The trio ran all the way down the stairwell till they reached the floor where the main banquet hall was. As soon as they walked into the hallway, they noticed that the hallway was void of any activity. The halls were completely quietly except for the sounds of their sandaled footsteps walking on the carpeted floor.

"Sensei, don't you think it's a little too quiet around here. We can't hear any activity going on in the main hall." asked Maki, which was the most he spoken all night.

"Of course it's too quiet. They must be planning something." snapped Seiriyu as they reached the banquet hall's entrance. When they walked into the large room, they found bodies of guards strewn all around the floor and balconies; they were either dead, completely unconscious, or just tied up. Seiriyu scanned the area until his eyes locked on Izuka, who was sitting at her old seat at the main table near the dance floor staring at him intently.

"Well, isn't this a nice little surprise. You're all alone and completely powered down," said Seiriyu with a small chuckle as he walked toward the table. "Aki, Maki, search the area will ya?"

"Yes sir!" replied the two twins as they disappeared from view.

"Are you sure about that? They will be greatly outnumbered if they encounter my comrades." replied Izuka as she raised an eyebrow at the dictator's command.

"I've trained them well. They will be able to hold their own in battle." said Seiriyu as he draped his katana over his shoulder.

"Someone's very confident in his students." said Izuka as she crossed her arms.

"They're my pride and joy. Now on to you Lady Sage; why are you out in the open like this? Are you supposed to bait me into a trap?" asked Seiriyu as a smirk appeared across his face.

"That was what we were going for." mumbled Izuka with a defeated sigh as she slumped down in her seat.

"Well, good try anyway," says Seiriyu as he started to walk across the dance floor to Izuka. "Aren't you going to try to attack me?"

"Why should I? You've drained a good amount of chakra." countered Izuka as she looked away from the dictator.

"That's true. Thanks for the donation by the way." replied Seiriyu with a smirk as he walked closer to the table.

"You are not welcome." replied Izuka as she turned around to see Seiriyu standing right in front of her.

"Even though I did absorb a good amount of your chakra, you probably still have plenty more of it to expend. Can't you ask one of the tailed beasts within you for a loan?" asked Seiriyu as he laid a hand on the table.

"Not unless it's for absolute emergencies. The tailed beasts believe that I don't need their help to deal with you." says Izuka as she slowly stood up from her seat.

"I see they have a lot of faith in you." said Seiriyu as he started to walk around the table.

"Sometimes I wonder how I even gained their trust in me." said Izuka as she started to walk away from Seiriyu, who was now on the same side of the table as her.

"It's simple. Before you became the second Sage of the Sixth Paths, you were only known as the 10 tailed jinchuriki of Konohagakure. Only one other person has been the 10 tailed jinchuriki in history, and that is something in itself. If you could handle being the 10 tailed jinchuriki, then they must have though you could certainly handle them." explained Seiriyu knowingly as he began to play around with his katana.

"That was a very thoughtful answer you have come up with Seiriyu-chan." replied Izuka as she crossed her arms.

"Oh! So were now on an honorific basis now?" asked Seiriyu as he leaned against the table.

"I was only being polite." replied Izuka as she started to walk away again, but Seiriyu grabbed her kimono sleeve, stopping her in her tracks.

"Why so nice all of a sudden? Aren't you still mad that I plan to have my ninjas invade Sunagakure in a matter of hours?" asked Seiriyu as he whispered his questions into Izuka's ear.

"I'm just showing humility in defeat, that is all." replied Izuka as she continued to stare straight ahead.

"Ah, so you surrender then?" asked Seiriyu as he began to circle her with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I said that I admit defeat. I never said I was going to surrender. Defeat and surrender are two different things." replied Izuka as she looked at Seiriyu.

"That is true Izuka, but it would be much simpler to surrender to me." replied Seiriyu as he grabbed Izuka's arm and pulled her over to his body.

"Is that so?" asked Izuka as she looked at the dictator straight in the eye, noticing that he put his katana back into its sheath.

"Indeed," replied Seiriyu as he placed a hand on Izuka's chin, lifting her face closer to his. "I can make things a whole lot simpler if you and your pals just surrender to me. I may even cancel the invasion."

"Oh really? You would even cancel the invasion?" asked Izuka as she narrowed her eyes at the dictator. "I find that last sentence hard to believe."

"Because it isn't," replied Seiriyu as he moved his face dangerously close to Izuka's own. "In truth, I would probably put the advisor and the Kazekage's siblings in prison for breaking into tonight's celebration and for what they did to my guards. Your dragon Ryu can stay with you here in the tower."

"And Gaara?" asked Izuka as she raised one of her eyebrows at the dictator as she felt the dictator grab her wrist with his hand that held her other arm. He had both her wrists now in one hold.

"He will perish along with his village. I made the mistake of not finishing him off back in the arena. I will not make the same mistake twice. Once I see him again, he will die." answered Seiriyu coldly as his grip on Izuka's wrists began to tighten. "And you will be left to look for a new boyfriend my dear."

Izuka scowled at what Seiriyu said and tried to break free from Seiriyu's grip on her chin, but Seiriyu held her head still.

"There's no use. You are weak in my grip Lady Sage." said Seiriyu as his sadistic smile began to rear its ugly head.

"Let me go!" said Izuka in defiance as she continue to fight within Seiriyu's grip, but it remained iron tight.

"Why don't you call up another lightning attack, or was the first one all you can muster up with what little strength you had left?" asked Seiriyu as he continued to tighten his hold on Izuka's wrists.

Izuka stifled a squeal of pain as she started to feel a few of her blood vessels popping within her wrists. Seiriyu smirked at the obvious discomfort evident on Izuka's face and his smirk began to turn into a full blown smile.

"I know a way you can forget about your discomfort." replied Seiriyu as his smirk began to lesson. Before Izuka could reply, Seiriyu slammed his lips on Izuka's own. Izuka's eyes widened in complete horror as she let out a muffled scream of anger as she tried to break the kiss, but again, Seiriyu's hand kept Izuka's head in place.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Seiriyu broke the kiss and turned around to receive a kunai right in the abdomen, right where the Gate of Limit was located. The surprise attack made Seiriyu fully let go of his hold on Izuka as he was blown back a few feet. Izuka fell to her knees as she wiped the taste of Seiryu's lips off her mouth with her kimono sleeve while staring at the stunned dictator, who was clutching his stomach as blood began to pool out the wound, the kunai lying in a small pool of blood in front of him.

Izuka began to rub her bruised wrists when she felt the cool touch of a pair of familiar hands on her shoulders.

"I am so sorry Izuka," whispered Gaara as he kneeled down to whisper in her ear.

"For what?" asked Izuka as she looked at the redhead while making sure she kept an eye on the dictator, who was seething in absolute anger.

"I never expected Seiriyu to take things that far. I never expected him to kiss you." replied Gaara in a slightly strained voice as he stared at the dictator with cold eyes.

"Don't worry about it. Right now, we have bigger things to worry about." replied Izuka as she placed a hand over one of Gaara's own. Gaara nodded his head in agreement as he helped the Lady Sage to her feet.

"A surprise attack? Very ninja of you. Aki, Maki, to me!" called Seiriyu in his loudest tone of voice, but they never came immediately after his call.

"AKI! MAKI!" called Seiriyu, but he still saw no sign of the twins.

"There's no use for calling them cause they won't answer."

Seiriyu turned to his left to see Daisuke and Kankuro holding the twins, who were both unconscious in their grasps.

"Damn you!" cried Seiriyu as he started to move to his right, but he stopped once he saw Temari ready with her fan. Seiriyu heard a large boom and turned around to see Ryu standing behind him in her actual form, a smug smirk already playing on her lips.

"Face it Seiriyu," replied Gaara in a stoic manner as the dictator turned to him with utter disgust in his eyes.

"You're surrounded."

A/N: Please review

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ITACHI UCHIHA! (June 9)