The watchtowers suddenly ignited into light. Along the wall of the towers bright light directed toward the solitary figure on the ground.
Shinobi lined the walls. "It's too late for you, bastard!" one shouted, raising a kunai in preparation for an attack. "We were forewarned!"
"Hah." The silver-haired man lifted his scythe. A broad grin crossed his face. "HAHA! Come at me, you bastards! Come at me! Let's suffer divine punishment together!"
Tsunade leapt downward, her fist drawn back.
"The Hokage first, then. Same to me. Jashin-sama isn't a discriminatory god. Alive, dead, woman, man, Hidden Leaf or Hidden Grass, he'll kill you all the same!" Hidan roared with laughter.
It doesn't make sense. Tsunade stared at the cackling silver-haired man in shock. Why is he here, fighting me to the death for no good reason?
Hidan laughed loudly. "Come at me! I'll let you die however you like."
That's not too hard. Tsunade frowned. Wait. Could he be trying to distract us? But what possible reason could he have for his action? I don't understand this. What's going on?
Hidan slashed forward. The edge of his blade chopped into the side of Tsunade's neck.
Tsunade gritted her teeth. He's fast. A lot faster than most of my opponents. "You bastard!" She extended her hand. "I won't let you escape!"
Hidan pressed forward, a broad grin crossing his face. "Come now! Don't misunderstand!" His hand reached upward, licking his thumb. "My ritual is prepared. Heed my words, Jashin-sama—"
Shadows raced along the ground, rushing toward Hidan's body.
Hidan blinked. "Eh?"
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "Tsunade, this one's on me. I'm going to exterminate your life, Hidan." He lowered his hand.
Shadows surrounded the body. Hidan shifted backward, forced back by the power of the shadows. He howled. "AH, you got the right motive! You're like me. Pain. Pain, that's the trick! Share pain, and the desire to share it?"
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "Shut up. I came here to kill you, you bastard." The sky darkened, the moonlight fading from the sky.
Tsunade leapt back up onto the walls. "I need information. Akatsuki never works alone; where's his partner?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." Shikaku's eyes narrowed. "I need more information to make any conclusions. One theory is that this is a diversion, but what's the purpose there? I can't come up with any immediate conclusions regarding one."
Tsunade nodded. "I see. Well, in that case, I'll grant you permission to leave the wall. Everyone else stay alert." She stared down at the battlefield.
Shikamaru took several steps forward. His eyes narrowed as he stared at Hidan. "The information Genma recovered suggests that you can be killed straight away by a few things. One." He raised a finger. "You were never decapitated." He leaned downward, miming releasing the scythe.
Hidan dropped the scythe. His eyes narrowed. "Bastard. You'll pay for this. Jashin-sama looks out for his own."
Shikamaru remained calm. His eyes darkened. "Believe me; I'm not going to make the same mistakes. Two, you can't perform the ritual if you're outside the barrier. That's the same here, isn't it?" He drew out the long knife, his eyes narrowed. "Come on, now. Don't make me regret making such an obvious decision."
Hidan gritted his teeth.
Shikamaru ran the blade along Hidan's neck. He frowned. Shadow Bind instead, now. He gestured rapidly.
Hidan remained motionless, blood dripping from his neck. "You'll soon learn your error. Jashin-sama does not shirk his own people! You bastard!"
Shikamaru ran around the body, cutting along the edge of the head. The head sloughed off, cut away rapidly.
Hidan's body fell backward.
He's dead. Shikamaru let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. He turned back toward the wall. "Tsunade, it's taken care of. Let's go find his partner—"
The decapitated body swung the scythe in a long arc.
Shikamaru's eyes widened. What the hell?! He jumped forward rapidly. His back glimmered with crimson-red blood as the scythe slashed through his robes.
"Hah! Got you, you bastard!" Hidan shouted, his head laughing by the roadside.
Shikamaru's eyes widened. Shit! He turned around rapidly, his hands clapping together. "Exploding tags! We need to destroy his body!" he shouted.
"Heh. Better rethink that, kid." Hidan pointed downward. "See, the ritual circle has already been prepared. You aren't going to kill yourself and me, are you?" He ran his finger along the edge of the scythe. Blood trickled from the edge of his finger. "The ritual is prepared!"
I fell for such a stupid trick. I should have gotten back onto the wall, but I wanted to look like the hero. Shikamaru's face dripped with sweat. He stared at Hidan tightly. "Shadow Bind!"
"Heh. You're running pretty low on chakra, aren't you? That's a real mistake, you dumbass."
Shikamaru gritted his teeth. I have time. Think. I can't force him out of the circle that easily. What should I do here? I could try to destroy the circle myself, but that's not too likely to work. And there's no one down here capable of interfering—
"Human Bullet Tank!"
Hidan burst out of the circle, slamming hard against a nearby tree.
Shikamaru coughed loudly, blood staining his robes. He rubbed his temples.
"Sorry, Shikamaru," Chōji remarked, his face chagrined. "But at least you're alive, right?"
"Ask me once I've gotten through these shattered bones here." Shikamaru glanced toward Hidan. That being said, well—it does seem like he's having trouble. If we can get him here, we'll have a huge advantage against his partner, wherever she is. He leaned heavily against the wall. "Make sure the circle gets broken up."
Ino raised her hands, preparing a mental technique.
"Shit." Hidan's eyes widened. "I guess I really am going to be on Jashin-sama's shit list. It wasn't my fucking fault, man! These Leaf ninja—"
"Who's he talking to?" Tsunade questioned briefly.
"At a guess, whoever it is is probably part of a delusion he possesses. On the whole we're probably better off not asking too much. Ino?" Shikamaru questioned, leaning against the wall.
"Ready." Ino exhaled. "We may not be able to kill him, but imprisoning him isn't going to be much of a problem if the Lotus Technique goes off." She stared with utmost concentration at Hidan.
"Get ready to restrain him, Chōji." Shikamaru ordered. He leaned forward from his position on the wall.
Hidan glanced around with furtive eyes, his gaze suggesting intense anger.
Chōji inclined his head.
That's one thing I guess you didn't count on. Hidden Leaf is filled with a disparate variety of talents. That, more than anything else, is our most dangerous feature. We'll capture you and interrogate you about the doings of Akatsuki. With that in mind, your coming here was a mistake. Shikamaru exhaled.
Tsunade lowered her arm.
Shikamaru's eyes widened suddenly. …Which, hold on a minute. Something's wrong about this scenario. Would anyone seriously go into battle expecting to get captured this easily? Who'd make that kind of mistake? "Stop! We have to find his partner!" he shouted commandingly.
Hidan snorted. "Bit late for that. You guys fell for this fucking plan hook, line and sinker!"
Tsunade swallowed tightly.
"What is the plan?" Shikamaru leaned forward.
Hidan smiled. Suddenly, he gasped in shock. "Wait! Hold it! You bastard!" He held out his hand. "You know I don't want to do this shit!" His grey eyes narrowed.
Shikamaru's eyes widened.
Black tendrils raced through the woods, pulling Hidan rapidly back through the forest darkness.
The Leaf Ninja ran into the forest, weapons raised.
Shikamaru stared blankly into the darkness. I lost. His fingers rested motionless against the ground. I lost bad.
Loss
The sky glimmered, light pouring downward and striking the bed darkly. The window shades were drawn.
Naruto lay motionless in bed, staring at the ceiling. The black shadows crept along the walls and the ground. "Hey, Sakura. What's this all about?"
Sakura glanced over her shoulder. "Protection. Nothing big to worry about."
Naruto turned his gaze back to the ceiling. "Protection, huh?" He sighed. "I wish you guys would stop worrying about this thing. I'm not going to let the fox take over or anything."
"That's not—" Sakura hesitated. "Well, anyway, don't misunderstand. This isn't about that."
Naruto frowned. "Then what is it about?"
"I think that someone may be trying to kidnap you."
"I'll beat the stuffing out of them."
"When you can't even form a Whirling Bullet properly?" Sakura asked skeptically.
Naruto frowned, concealing his anger behind a shuttered look of weariness.
"I get it, believe me. Feeling powerless is something I have way too much experience with. But there's probably not anything going on."
Naruto nodded, accepting this. He touched his forehead briefly. "So you're protecting me?"
"It was what I wanted to do." Sakura paused. "I know that there are more like me. More people who share my skills or are even better than me at what I do. I understand that much. But even so—" She hesitated. "This is something I wanted to do for myself. Something that belonged to me, a decision that I wanted to make."
Naruto blinked.
Sakura exhaled. "I felt if I let someone else do this I'd be losing something important to myself. A piece of my own nature." She exhaled. "I don't want to lose to you. Not this time. I really want to change things, rearrange the outcome, things like that. I don't want to lose to you."
"Lose to me?!" Naruto laughed loudly.
Sakura smiled faintly. "I feel like I already lost to you once. It's not just Ino that I'm trying to beat here." She folded her hands together. "I really want to beat you." She extended her hands, her eyes narrowed. "But if I backed down from protecting you here, I feel like I'd be losing that bet."
Naruto fell silent.
Sakura leaned back. "That's the way it's always been, though, right? We push each other up because we disagree with each other. We always push upward, force ourselves upward."
Naruto exhaled. "That's not wrong." He leaned back in the bed.
"But you know something?" Sakura demanded, her voice suddenly sharp. "You're better than me right now. Yeah, I'll admit it. You're better than me. You have a better position. Sure, your chakra network got screwed to hell, but you're still doing all right, aren't you?" She briefly punched the arm of the chair. "I mean, I wish I had your luck."
"Luck? The village ostracized me for the first thirteen years of my life." Naruto leaned back against the bed. "I don't think there's a single jinchūriki that can claim to have been 'lucky'. Only a few that were better off than others."
"However things used to go, look how well you did after that!" Sakura replied sternly.
Naruto fell silent. He finally stated, "It may seem like luck looking from outside, but if everything that happened went well or poorly without any basis in my ability, I'd have to be frank; it has nothing to do with my luck. Nothing at all. If I'd been less focused, I'd be screwed."
Sakura frowned. "I guess," she muttered, her voice somewhat sullen.
"Do you really want to do this?" Naruto questioned, his blue eyes narrowing.
"Of course. You're my friend, Naruto. I wouldn't take this kind of action if you weren't." Sakura sighed. "I guess—I guess I just feel a lot of envy of you sometimes, you know?" She leaned back in the chair.
A silence remained between the two.
Sakura glanced upward. "Do you—"
Naruto's bed was empty. The window lay open, the blinds flapping in the wind.
Sakura gasped in shock. "Naruto-kun!" Rushing over to the window, she pulled open the blinds.
Naruto's body rushed across the ground, tugged by an unseen force. He screamed loudly.
"Shannaro!" Sakura jumped out the window. Drawing back her fist, she grasped Naruto's leg.
"AH!" Naruto yelled in pain.
"Come out of hiding, you bastard!" Sakura roared loudly.
"It seems that you'll be a pain in my neck. But really, do you have the right to make a choice in that matter?" Kakushiro's hand rose in the air. "You've been nothing but an impediment to him, haven't you?"
Sakura's eyes widened. You did have that conversation! You bitch! She drew back her fist. I'm going to tear you apart!
Kakushiro's hand rose in the air. Lightning crackled around her fingers. "The conditions are very good for a Lightning Style release." Kakushiro's hand drove into the ground. Lightning crackled along the edges of the grass. Flames rushed upward along the ground. "Lightning Style: Erumeto!"
The lightning burst through the air, a crack of thunder sounding as the sound impacted the body heavily.
Sakura gasped. She flew backward through the air, a scar of blackened tissue covering her chest.
We don't have the time to hang around. Kakushiro lowered her hand. She caught Naruto, the tendrils retracting as her hand returned to her body.
Sakura grasped her chest. My heart isn't working. I need to get my heart working now. I have to force it to work again.
Kakushiro retreated into the forest. A darkness surrounded her body as she faded into the deep mist.
Naruto's finger trailed along the ground. He glanced downward briefly. His hand reached toward his side, seizing at an empty spot. I really don't have a single kunai. That old lady was pretty careful—seems like a dumb oversight, really. He glanced over his shoulder. His eyelids shuddered. Poison? He glanced downward at his back. Black tendrils pierced through his flesh into the back of his jacket. If I can at least figure out some way to leave a trace for them. He glanced downward. His lips curled upward.
Scraps of orange cloth lay along the ground, caught on small sections of branch and bramble.
Looks like I have my own trail. At least part of the way. Naruto's eyes closed as the anesthetic took its toll, leaving behind no recollection.
Sakura drove her fist into the earth. Tears ran down her face. Damn it. She looked upward, her eyes darkening as she stared at the figure before her. Damn it! I lost to him again, and now I won't ever have a chance to prove my worth against him. I've completely lost. My will, my skills—they just weren't enough! Damn it! Her eyes filled with tears. Useless! Completely useless! All I've done! All I've aimed for—it's useless!
The rain descended downward, uncaring, unconcerned with the plights of entirely mortal and ordinary men. There was a difference—to those not favored by heaven, there was a distinct difference.