The morning sun peered over the edge of the mountains, light cascading over the desert sands.
Sasori shuffled forward along the mountain path. "I see. The sentries are set up well." His black eyes narrowed. He pointed upward with one massive hand toward a high point on the mountain. "One there, one at the other side."
"How are we getting in?"
"I'll create a distraction. In that time, I expect you to engage the other sentry. Meanwhile, the others will approach the labyrinth's entrance." Sasori reached downward.
Tayuya's eyebrows furrowed. "What's that?"
"Never you mind that." Sasori's hand unrolled the scroll rapidly. Red light rose from the base of the scroll, puffs of smoke forming over the seals. "Go!"
A trail of dust formed up the mountain as Naruto sprinted upward.
Tayuya sighed. She glanced over her shoulder as she ran up the mountain.
Thousands of crimson puppets ran up the mountain. Their forms transformed, turning into copies of the running figures.
"This is the Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Thousand Puppets, ain't it?" a white-cloaked figure questioned. He stepped forward. A serrated smile glimmered beneath his lips, sharp teeth shining. "It's the first time I've seen you take it out."
Sasori's eyes narrowed. I'm not the type to show off my techniques to anyone. This technique rapidly decreases in effectiveness against strong people. Bearing that in mind, it's better used as a distraction on this battlefield. He raised his fingers. The strings wrapped tightly around the figures. As one, they charged up the mountain, aiming toward the figure at the height.
"Well, being that as it may, I'm not one to hold back no matter what my opponent." The white-cloaked figure's hands clapped together. "You can definitely take it, though. Can't you?"
Sasori's fingers tensed. Strings of crimson light strung up around the puppets, lacing up the figures with great and powerful energy.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet."
A small lake of water exploded out of the figure's mouth, blasting into the side of the mountain. Sand blasted downward, pieces of the trees on the mountain exploding and popping outward.
Naruto gasped in shock. "Whoa!" He dodged to one side, his eyes widening in shock. "What the hell?" He wiped sweat off his forehead. "That's the craziest attack I've ever seen."
"Keep moving. Otherwise we'll just get caught up in it," Sasuke remarked. She leapt over the edge of one of the rocks, her hand grasping the side of the mountain. Like a nimble monkey, she scrambled rapidly up the mountain, hand over hand, leg over leg.
This is why. Sasori's eyes narrowed. "I spent a day or more on each of those puppets." He lowered his hands to his sides, letting the crimson strings of energy fall into nothingness at his sides. "The amount that goes into them, their individual character and cast of expression, the way they look. All that was done by me. To replace them will take an enormous while if it can be done at all."
Clay pieces littered the ground.
"You really have no respect for art, do you?" Sasori continued.
Pieces of the twisting path descended to the sand, gouged out by the water. The stone rested motionless in the sand.
"I don't know about that." The figure glanced over his shoulder. "But still, you shouldn't be so confident in those kids. Telling me right here." His lips curled upward. "It's the same as inviting their deaths." He clapped his hands together in a triangle, both fingers pointing upward. In a whirl of mist, he reappeared next to Naruto.
Naruto's eyes widened. He opened his mouth, preparing to let out a yelp.
"Tell me. You seem to know a little about me, so explain why I would be so inexcusably stupid as to put these kids out in the open for you to kill one by one, when I've just explained the plan in the open." Sasori sighed heavily. "I'm not sure how it is you know me, but I do hope you would have a higher opinion of me than that."
The figure's hand passed through Naruto's body.
Naruto exploded into smoke.
"Heh." The white-cloaked figure grinned. "Guess you're not as dumb as I thought."
Sasori leapt up the mountainside. An enormous twitching tail snapped out behind his body. "I see there is no option with you but violence." He lunged forward. "Very well, then."
"Gimme a break." The figure's serrated smile faded slightly. "You seriously are a pain in my neck." His hand reached upward.
Sasori's eyebrows furrowed.
The sword slid downward, wrappings falling to the earth. Sharp edges glimmered in the light.
"I guess you really are too inquisitive to live." The figure grasped the bone hilt of the sword tightly. "So you're gonna have to die here, for the sake of the big plan."
Sasori blinked. "That sword's name. It's Samehada, isn't it?" he demanded, his eyes widening. "There is no twin to that sword of sharks in this world."
The figure's face remained still.
"Have you betrayed Akatsuki, Kisame? What are you doing here, in this situation? We made an agreement! We can never go back on a contract!" Sasori's clicking teeth darkened. Crimson light swirled around the base of the center of the carapace, light strings running to each point on the body.
"Quit yapping and get ready to fight." The man raised his arm. "You don't even know I'm Kisame, if I am." He raised the sword. But he does ask too many questions.
Sasori's body clicked. He adjusted his position on the rocks. Of course, he's not going to give it up that easily. The tail rose upward in the air. In which case I'll simply recover the information from his corpse.
Labyrinth
The trees trembled in the high wind. A frail and easily destroyed underbrush, rooted in the easily-blown soil, covered portions of the ground.
Tayuya wiped sweat off her brow. "Shit. This place really is dead, isn't it?" She stepped over one of the sandy dunes, her feet placed at an angle to the mountain. "This back way ought to work."
A dark shadow fell across the sand. The edges of the sand darkened under the weight of the shadow.
Tayuya glanced upward. Her eyes widened in shock as the figure rested against the tree.
"You recognize my face." The figure adjusted their hat. The white robe glimmered in the light as the sand blew upward.
"It's the eyes." Tayuya gritted her teeth. Her fingers reached downward, touching the edge of the flute. Should I surrender here? No. He looks like he's going to kill me either way. Her eyes narrowed. Besides, if I die here, I lose everything I want to protect. He's not going to spare us, if he couldn't even spare the Uchiha clan. She glanced upward. Her eyes tracked small plumes of motion along the more sloped side of the mountain. She raised the flute toward her lips.
"You shouldn't be so easily frightened, Tayuya-san." The man smiled faintly. His lips curved, but his eyes remained uncrinkled.
"How do you know my name?"
"I make it a point to keep myself well informed on the comrades of Sasuke-san." Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Is this so surprising? It's merely prudent on my part. But I said it before. Simply avoiding my eyes will not cure your fear."
Tayuya's eyes narrowed. She kept her eyes firmly focused on the forest floor. "You say I'm frightened. You're only Uchiha Itachi, one of the scariest people I've ever heard of. It's only rational."
"I see. Yes, I suppose I have acquired such a reputation. To me, though, that is irrelevant." Itachi's shadow disappeared, a plume of sand shooting upward.
Tayuya's eyes widened.
"My point isn't that, though. If you keep watching for everything you expect to occur." Itachi's foot drove into Tayuya's face. Blood poured down from the impact. "You will without a doubt crumble into oblivion."
Tayuya's eyes widened. She stared at the blood. This taste. It's just a little off. This hint of honey. "KAI!" she shouted, clapping her hands together.
The forest scenery returned, without a single drop of blood on Tayuya's fingers. A series of colors melted together for a brief moment before joining again into a single type. She stared at the forest floor, swallowing tightly. "Emperor. I'd heard you were a good genjutsu user, sure. But this is a whole different level of fucked up. If I get caught again, you're not going to do something so stupid as making blood taste like honey, are you?"
Itachi smiled again. His eyes glimmered in the faint light. Both eyes, black, studied the figure before him. The brim of the hat shaded Itachi's eyes.
"Just by meeting your eyes you're able to do that much." Tayuya gritted her teeth I'm at a disadvantage on all fronts. Strength, taijutsu, ninjutsu, speed, stamina. Even the areas where I usually have an advantage, genjutsu and intelligence, are out. I am well and truly fucked on every account. For now, the only thing I can do is this. Tayuya clapped her hands together. A log surrounded by smoke replaced her body.
Itachi's eyes narrowed. He turned his head briefly from side to side, his crimson and blue eyes studying the space briefly.
I have to somehow outlast him and cast an aural genjutsu. Even Uchiha Itachi won't have an instant counter for that. Tayuya's eyes narrowed. The trouble is going to be outsmarting him. I don't see that happening easily. I'll need some kind of trick. A surprise, maybe? Some kind of unexpected action. She groaned. Shit. Okay. Think over your matches with Shikamaru. If you can copy him even a little right now, you can pull off something.
The sky brightened. The clouds faded slightly as golden light edged the clouds brightly. The few sparse and scattered trees shone in the light.
As of right now I still haven't won even one match. If I can't even beat Shikamaru, there's no way in hell I can beat this guy. Tayuya gritted her teeth. She reached downward, pressing her body further into the dirt. If I can take him by surprise. That's the only chance.
For a long moment Itachi remained motionless. At last he began to move, his sandals drifting over the sand.
A Shadow Clone? No, not enough chakra. If I summon the mongoose maybe they'll do something. Tayuya frowned. No. Even if I wanted to do that, and even if I did sacrifice them, they would reveal my position in an instant. I can't take an advantage like that. It's risky to me too.
The sun rose over the edge of the mountain. Light rays pierced through the clouds, striking the edges of the rocks briefly.
But simultaneously, the more time I take thinking about this, the more likely it becomes that I'll have my position revealed by the light. In other words from here on out this fight is on a timer. If I can't win in a certain amount of time, I'm dead meat. Tayuya gritted her teeth. She crouched in the underbrush. There must be some way to take him off guard completely. Something to overturn his conditions of winning.
Itachi turned his head to one side. He walked forward through the underbrush, the twigs cracking under his approach.
Shit! Goddamn it, you stay still! I have enough problems without you looking for. Tayuya paused in the middle of her thought. Her eyes widened. Wait. That just might do it. The only issue is the timing.