Opening 9 - Rolling Star by Yui
X
Naruto gave a quiet, drawn-out yawn as he reached skyward, stretching. The sun was rising over Konoha, and although it was quite high above the horizon by now, he was exhausted. Still, he was determined to be there when Jiraiya, Sasuke and Itachi returned, along with Kimimaro and the other former Oto-nin who had defected to join Sasuke's growing team...
He took a moment to consider whether it should really be called Sasuke's team. The reports Naruto had read left out who actually gave orders during which missions, and although Sasuke was technically the only member of Taka with any formal rank at all in Konoha, he was still a Genin. Then there was Jiraiya, who didn't count himself as a member of the team and had actually been working alone more often than with them, as well as Itachi who currently had no rank but was a former Jounin and ANBU...
He yawned again. Whatever. When they show up, I'll just ask who the leader is and make it official.
He leaned against the left frame of the open gate. Since the weather was warm today, he hadn't bothered to throw on his leather coat or even the mesh armor vest he wore over his shirt, which left him clad only in a plain black shirt and pants.
On the other hand, he made sure to wear his forehead protector as always. It was a part of him by now. In addition, his black cutlass was sealed into his ring as always, and the custom saber he'd commissioned from Tenten hung on his left hip. On the off chance an Akatsuki member randomly showed up to fight him, he was armed, and with his Version Three cloak he was protected as well.
He ran his hands through his hair in place of a comb or brush, since he still had a bit of a bedhead. The fact that his hair was naturally so spiky hid it well, but still-
There.
Naruto grinned and waved excitedly, catching sight of seven shinobi who were approaching on foot at a leisurely pace, though it was much faster than what a civilian would consider such. He did a quick head-count, spotting the Uchiha brothers, Jiraiya, and Kimimaro. There was also a scarlet-haired girl and two boys, with orange and white hair respectively.
Yep, seven of 'em. So this is Taka, huh? I wonder who came up with the name...
"Welcome back, guys!" he called cheerfully, then blinked as he examined Jiraiya more closely, activating his Rinnegan subconsciously. "Pervy Sage, you look like crap. What happened?"
Jiraiya grinned, albeit tiredly. "The mission to Iron went bad-"
"How bad?" Naruto asked, sobering up immediately.
"Not that bad," Jiraiya quickly amended. "Yagura's alive, unharmed even. The problem is that Akatsuki knows that now. I was tailed right to his lake by a couple of them. Hidan and Kakuzu, apparently. They got away."
"The immortals," he nodded, absorbing this information efficiently. "We'll have to talk more about this... meet me in my office sometime around one-thirty this afternoon."
"You have an office, dobe?"
Naruto turned to Sasuke, casting a blank, unimpressed look at him. "...Seriously?"
Jiraiya couldn't help it, he giggled like a little kid. "No one's told him," he mouthed, since he was slightly behind Sasuke and outside his field of vision. This, of course, made Naruto grin as well.
The Hokage turned his attention back to Sasuke, this time more closely examining him. "You've gotten stronger. I heard about your Eternal Mangekyou; congrats on that by the way, both of you." He nodded to Itachi, who smiled slightly. "You're now two of the only three people ever to complete your doujutsu."
"What about you?" Sasuke asked evenly. "I never actually asked... have you managed to unlock all the Paths of your Rinnegan?"
Naruto blinked. Damn... the last time we even talked about that was way back during the Chuunin Exams... I told him I only had four Paths... It was only four, right? "Yeah, I've fully awakened my eyes too," he nodded, pointing a thumb at his active purple doujutsu. "All seven Paths. That makes me... the second person in history to do it, after... somebody Ootsuki. I never memorized his first name, ya know?"
"Was it Kaguya?" Sasuke asked, his interest suddenly piqued. "Kaguya Ootsuki?"
"...Nope. It started with Ha (ハ), I think."
"Hn." The youngest Uchiha took another step forward, and he was shortly followed by Kimimaro and the red-haired girl. "Well dobe, you were right about one thing. I've gotten much stronger, in fact..." he cracked a smug smirk, "...I'm going to be the Sixth Hokage. I'll beat you to it, Naruto."
Naruto made a truly valiant effort to keep a straight face, but he only lasted about two seconds before he lost it, laughing hysterically. It didn't take long for Jiraiya to join in. The laughter was contagious, so even though he didn't get the joke, Juugo started laughing too. Kimimaro and Karin exchanged confused looks, while Itachi restrained himself to an amused smile.
"What the hell's so funny? This is the second time I've been laughed at about this..." Sasuke growled. "Is it that hard to believe that I can be Hokage?"
"Oh Kami stop! It's too much, my spleen! AHAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto doubled over, cackling, but Jiraiya did one better and actually fell to the ground, continuing to laugh despite his myriad injuries being aggravated by the fall.
"...Hn. Naruto, calm down for a second. Where's Sakura?"
It took the blond Uzumaki a few seconds to get himself under control. "She's..." he chuckled one last time. "She doesn't have any missions, and she hasn't for about two weeks. Things have been slow these days... anyway, I don't really know where she hangs out, but she's in the village for sure. If Hina-chan was here, she'd be able to find Sakura in like ten seconds, but she's even more tired than I am. I barely had enough energy to drag myself out of bed this morning, and this is me, the Uzumaki Jinchuuriki, we're talking about. Last night took a lot out of us."
"Oh?" Jiraiya grinned deviously. "And why's that? I thought you said things were going slowly here in Konoha. What happened last night that's got you so tired, kid?"
Naruto blushed, in fact he turned almost the same crimson color that Hinata had so frequently turned three years ago. However, he then frowned and narrowed his eyes at Jiraiya. "Pervy Sage, I swear to Kami, if you talk like that again I'll give you a choice between a session with the King of Hell, or one with baa-chan."
Jiraiya paled. "You wouldn't."
"Try me." Naruto watched his former sensei gulp nervously, then turned his attention back to Sasuke.
Or rather, the empty air where Sasuke had been a few seconds ago.
X
In the shade of a tall birch tree, one of the comparatively few trees within Konoha not counting the Forest of Death, a pink-haired teenage girl was silently reading one of her favorite novel series with a content smile.
Almost the entirety of her outfit was leather, most noticeably a white leather jacket that she wore zipped up, loose but not baggy either. Since her back was leaning against the trunk of the tree, it was impossible to see the blood-red ring emblazoned on the back of the jacket over her shoulder blades, but the mark was indeed there.
She also wore dark green leather short-shorts and black thigh-high boots. Oddly, silvery mesh armor was attached to both the shorts and the boots with zippers that circled her thighs, connecting the pieces of her outfit together. Under her jacket, even the scarlet tank-top she wore was leather.
In truth, the only clothing she wore that wasn't leather was her Konoha forehead protector, attached to a headband of dark green cloth, and the chainmail covering her thighs.
Her smile broadened slightly as she read through this passage of the novel, one of her favorite scenes in fact. This was the one where Shizuo punched a guy so hard that he shot about a hundred feet up and away, getting blown out of his clothes in the process, before the poor dumbass landed on the back of his neck with an unpleasant crunching sound.
It makes sense in context.
Suddenly, the shadow cast over her by the tree was supplemented by another shadow, and she glanced past her book to see a pair of legs clad in loose black pants with metal shinguards. Someone was crouching right in front of her, and she didn't know anyone who wore shinguards, so she naturally reacted as though this unidentified person invading her space was a threat. Not exactly an unreasonable assumption.
With her hands occupied by the book, she focused a bit of her chakra-enhanced strength into her forehead and headbutted the newcomer. "Cha!"
The black-haired boy in black clothing with grey-black eyes was thrown backward, skidding and tumbling painfully along the ground away from her. She calmly marked her page, folded the book, and set it down before standing. She sized up her attacker, taking a moment to inspect his rather handsome features and the frankly ridiculous, spiky black hair that cascaded down to his waist-
Wait.
"S-Sasuke-kun!?"
Sasuke groaned and sat up, rubbing his head. "Holy shit, Sakura, I've been whipped around by snakes the size of the Hokage monument and it hurt less than that!" Come to think of it, I haven't actually taken a look at the mountain since I got back... whatever.
"Are... are you okay!?" She asked, alarmed. That hadn't been anywhere near her full strength, and she noted with relief that his Cursed Seal was partly released, but still...
"Never better." he stopped rubbing his head and looked up at her, smiling. It was a genuine, warm-hearted smile, which shocked her even further. "You look good, Sakura. I like the leather outfit, by the way." He stood, dusted himself off, and withdrew his Cursed Seal.
"You seem really different," she observed, almost accusatory in her tone. "You're cheery. When the hell did you get cheery?"
"It was a gradual process. First I reunited with my brother, then I made a few more friends, kicked Kabuto Yakushi's ass twice, and then I came homeand found out that my girlfriend..." he paused, waiting for her to object to the term, but she simply blushed faintly, "...is strong enough to throw me a good twenty feet with a headbutt... frankly, I find that kind of hot."
Her blush simply darkened, and she remained silent.
"Anyway, I'm usually more serious than this. I guess I'm just giddy, seeing you again for the first time in three years. It's really nice to be home, but I missed you, Sakura."
Sakura opened her mouth to say something, anything, preferably in a coherent language. It didn't necessarily have to be one she or Sasuke spoke, as long as it wasn't indecipherable mumbled gibberish. However, she stopped herself before actually making a sound since she knew that was all she would get.
And then he kissed her.
He noted that her lips tasted slightly sweet, possibly with a hint of lip gloss she'd applied hours ago, all but worn away but still with a subtle hint of the flavor left. It took him a moment to recognize the taste. Cherries.
She hadn't even seen him move, and as far as she knew, he didn't have a movement jutsu. She briefly mused that it was possible he'd simply moved while she was distracted by her futile attempts at saying something, but then she decided that it didn't matter, and she started kissing him back.
It is, of course, worth noting that neither of them had spoken to or even seen the other, much less shared a kiss, in three whole years. This inevitably meant that both of them were very eager to make up for lost time, but on the other hand, it was far too early for them to rush things since their relationship was so young, not counting its three-year hiatus.
It took until Sakura, with her vastly greater strength, accidently pushed Sasuke down to the ground and sprawled on top of him in the grass, that they actually decided to stop before things escalated. Even this, however, was mostly because of Sasuke's sudden shout of pain from his previous injuries and Sakura landing on top of him with all her weight.
Before she could ask, he answered, "I'm okay," with a wince that said otherwise. "I think. Well, I might actually have a concussion... I feel really tired."
Sakura sprang into action, clasping her glowing green palms to Sasuke's temples to administer a quick Healing Jutsu before moving on to the rest of his injuries. "Allowing yourself to pass out when you have a concussion is a really bad idea," she told him. "You might slip into a coma, or even die. The urge to fall asleep is really strong though, and in some cases it gets worse over time. You're lucky I'm a medic-nin now; I've just dealt with holy crap I fractured one of your ribs!"
"Hn. I hadn't noticed," he remarked lightly. "So..." he glanced around. "How's Lee doing?"
"...He's a Jounin now," she replied, surprised and slightly amused by his lack of concern over his injuries. "Which is damned impressive, considering Jounin are usually required to have proficiencies in all the ninja arts, including ninjutsu. The fact that he made that rank with just taijutsu is amazing."
"What about you?" He questioned, interested. "What's your rank now?"
"I'm a Special Jounin," she replied. "Jounin-level or higher with taijutsu and medical ninjutsu, but below Jounin-level with my other skills." she paused, then giggled as she continued to heal him. "I just realized, you're still a Genin."
"Which is absurd," he answered. "I'm probably strong enough to be the next Hokage already. Which reminds me, why is everyone laughing when I say I'm going to be the Sixth?"
Sakura stilled. "...You're kidding," she deadpanned, as the green glow over her hands dimmed out.
"No. That's the problem; I'm dead serious and no one will tell me why that's funny."
She sighed. "Okay, come on over here." She stood up and leapt onto a nearby rooftop easily, glancing around until she stopped with a clear view of the Hokage monument. Sasuke shortly followed her, and his onyx eyes went hugely wide.
Next to Tsunade's stern gaze, the stone likeness of the Sixth Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, smiled warmly out of the mountain, watching over the village with pride.
"...Dammit."
X
Distracted from the sights to be seen in Konoha, Kimimaro flipped through a small book bound in brown leather with his right hand, while holding up his left arm as though wielding a shield. A 'heater shield...' Apparently this design would fit better with my lance and platemail... hm...
He got a few odd looks from civilians and an off-duty Chuunin wandering the streets when he grew an appropriately designed shield out of his left arm, shaping his bones with precision he could never have matched before finding this book in Oto and properly learning to wield the Shikotsumyaku as his ancestors did.
This new one was much smaller than his old kite shield, a bit larger than the front of his torso. The top edge of the roughly triangular shield curved downward twice, giving three shallow points to the top edge of the shield. He moved his arm around with it experimentally, but resisted the urge to pair it with a lance since he was surrounded by civilians and the occasional Konoha-nin. Even though he was wearing a Konoha headband, he was a stranger to them and he knew they wouldn't take kindly to him preparing a weapon in public, let alone one of such size as his Clematis Flower...
"Karin, what do you think of this one?"
"Huh?" She turned to him and inspected the heater shield. "That one looks easier to work with, but I've never used a shield in my life, ya know. I'm not the best person to ask."
"'Easier to work with' is exactly what I'm going for, so thank you. I want to redesign my lance and armor as well, to make it all more maneuverable. Besides, I've been using the larger kite shield because I haven't bothered to design armor for my legs. It's about time I got around to it."
"Hn..." Kimimaro and Karin both blinked when Itachi spoke up, walking ahead of them. "If you're going to take the time to design leg armor for yourself, and your lance is already a weapon unique to you, then maybe you'd be better off designing a shield to complete the set. You should create a shield to suit your own unique skill set."
"I... suppose..." Kimimaro glanced back down at the heater shield on his arm before allowing it to crumble into white dust that then evaporated completely. "You're right. There are certainly improvements I could make to it, and it felt a bit too small as well. I can do better with a shield of my own design."
He shut the book in his right hand, but hesitated to tuck it away as he noticed Itachi stop walking. He glanced at Karin, noting that she was equally perplexed by this, then he turned his gaze ahead of the Uchiha, where he saw two ninja he didn't recognize, apparently confronting each other.
The younger of the two was a teenage boy with shaggy, spiky brown hair and a triangular red tattoo on each cheek, and he stood with a huge white dog at his side. Both he and the animal were baring their teeth threateningly, and the dog was growling. He looked very vaguely familiar, as though Kimimaro had met him briefly years ago.
The other ninja, however, didn't look familiar to him at all. She was a blonde kunoichi wearing a Kumo headband and a dark purple, almost black outfit with an oddly slim grey flak jacket, who was glaring back at the younger ninja and his dog.
"...Who are they?" he asked hesitantly. "What's a Kumo-nin doing here?"
"This is bad," Itachi murmured quietly. "That's Yugito Nii, the Jinchuuriki of the Two-Tailed Cat. That boy, Kiba Inuzuka, is possibly the worst person for her to have met here. Of all of his clan, he's the one most likely to give her a good fight... Stay here; I'll handle this to the best of my ability."
Kimimaro and Karin both nodded reluctantly, and watched as Itachi strode forward. After taking a few brisk paces toward the scene, he whistled sharply and activated his Sharingan. Kiba and Akamaru both turned toward the sound curiously, and he cast a genjutsu on each of them. He chose to show them the fully unleashed form of the Two-Tails, towering over them and wreathed in crackling blue hellfire, which scared them off quickly enough. The two Inuzuka took off running, and Itachi shook his head sadly. They'll likely hate me for that, even once I apologize...
"Thanks," Yugito sighed in relief. "A few more seconds and that kid would've attacked me outright... it's not his fault though. I should've known at least one Inuzuka would go feral when they saw me."
"Hn," Itachi allowed a slight, friendly smile. "Not the best welcome Konoha could've given you."
"Hey..." she inspected him more closely. "You just used a genjutsu on him through eye contact... I recognize you! You're Itachi Uchiha, aren't you?"
He nodded. "I recognize you as well, Yugito-san."
Yugito smiled, almost but not quite suppressing a chuckle. "It's just... in a dark way, it's a bit funny when you think about it," she explained. "If you hadn't left Akatsuki, one of us might've ended up killing the other by now. Our fight might've taken less time than this little chat."
"That's plausible," he agreed. "But not all twists of fate are cruel."
She nodded. "So here you are, and with perfect timing too. I just got lost, and I was about to get into a pointless fight as well. You wouldn't happen to know the way to the Hyuuga Clan compound, would you?"
Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly. "Forgive me, but I have to ask. Why are you headed toward the Hyuuga compound?"
Yugito gave an oddly catlike grin. "I'm just here to deliver a formal apology for the Hyuuga Incident. I'm also supposed to meet with the Hokage and talk about this mess with Akatsuki, but personally, I don't think the Five Kage are gonna be able to sort this out without all of 'em meeting in person." she paused thoughtfully. "On the other hand... this guy Naruto Uzumaki has the best possible chance of convincing the other villages to ally with him."
"We can only hope." Itachi smiled softly. "The Hyuuga compound is due south of here. You should be able to just walk in, and with that Kumo headband you should be approached by at least one Hyuuga. They'll be able to direct you from there, in fact you'll likely be... escorted to Hinata-sama immediately."
Yugito chuckled. "Thanks for your help." A moment later, she set off, leaping south along the rooftops. Itachi resumed walking, shortly followed by Kimimaro and Karin.
X
Sakura led a scowling Sasuke into the Hokage's office the next day, noting that Hinata was waiting for them as well. Both she and Naruto were standing over his desk, across which a scroll was partially unfurled.
"You wanted to see us, Hokage-sama?"
Sasuke twitched as Sakura said this, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Naruto. The Sixth tried to remain stone-faced, but failed miserably and degenerated into a fit of laughter. Hinata managed to stay calm for a bit longer, but she shortly began giggling as well. She snorted, which prompted her to blush deeply and clasp her hand over her mouth, even as she continued to laugh.
"...Alright, dobe, you've made your point. You told us to come here for a mission." His scowl deepened. "Don't tell me you just wanted to laugh at me some more."
"N...No," Naruto took a moment to calm himself down. "It's not that. Actually, I called you here to take a Chuunin Exam."
Sakura blinked in surprise, and Sasuke's eyebrows slid upward. "A... Chuunin Exam?"
"Yep. The next one is over four months from now, but I have a special scenario in mind for you. Sakura, since you're already a Special Jounin, your part in Sasuke's exam is gonna be considered a mission. You'll get B-rank pay for it."
"Okay... but what exactly is this 'special scenario?' And what do I do?" she asked.
"Simple. You and Sasuke are going to take a 'mission' together in a controlled environment. Specifically, inside this storage seal." he tapped one of the unfurled scrolls with his finger, and Sasuke's and Sakura's eyes widened.
"There's a castle inside this artificial environment, and your mission is to infiltrate it and retrieve a Flying Raijin kunai from the throne room. Since Hina-chan and I will both be in that room, you'll probably have to fight us to get to the kunai. Once you have it, just get out of the seal with it and your mission'll be complete."
"Hn..."
"Oh, right, there's more... neither one of you is actually in charge of the other. So, Sakura, the fact that you outrank Sasuke doesn't matter. You have to come up with a plan together, and act on it together."
"Huh," Sakura considered this. "So when are we doing it?"
"Well, you two came here expecting a mission, so you should be ready to do it right now. Isn't that right?"
Sasuke adjusted his sword where it was sheathed on his lower back. "I'm ready. What about you, Sakura?"
She pounded her right fist into her left palm. "I'm all set too. Let's do this." She laid a hand on the storage seal, shortly followed by Sasuke. She flared her chakra, and the world churned around her while she remained still.
She closed her eyes instinctively, and when she opened them she was standing in a field of neatly trimmed grass. She looked around, at first thinking that they were smothered in darkness because it was night. She quickly realized, however, that the boundaries of the storage seal weren't in the likeness of the real world's sky.
Instead, the dome-shaped pocket dimension was encased in a wall of smooth, dark brown stone. Where the moon would be in the night sky, a jagged formation of glowing blue crystals gave them enough light to see. She jumped slightly when she and Sasuke heard Naruto's voice call, "Begin whenever you're ready." His voice resonated throughout the entirety of the pocket dimension.
"Hn," Sasuke murmured thoughtfully, looking around at the terrain. At the center of the dome there was a tower of dark stone. Sasuke estimated that it was four to five stories tall, but it was hard to tell from such distance, and with such dim light. "That's not much of a castle," he noted, "but I guess it wouldn't make sense to build something much more complex. We're probably about to destroy it anyway."
Sakura blinked a few times, hoping to get used to the gloom more quickly. "There are probably gonna be traps in there too. Some of 'em might warn Naruto and Hinata that we're coming, or even where we are in the castle."
"I'm sure we'd be able to slip by those," Sasuke decided. "The real problem is the throne room. From what I've heard about them from Jiraiya, we don't stand a chance fighting them head-on. There's no way we could get in, take the kunai, and get out again fast enough to avoid a fight; not with Naruto's Empty Wind."
"Hinata knows it too, by the way," Sakura threw in. "Apparently she's not as fast as Naruto though."
"Hn... what else do you know about their fighting styles?"
"Um..." she considered this. "Well, Naruto can make himself a suit of armor made from chakra bone, but it's actually more like a Jinchuuriki's chakra cloak the way it enhances his strength and speed. He can regenerate from wounds that would kill a normal person... he actually grew a whole arm back once. He still uses the same kenjutsu he knew before you left, and that giant blade attack, but now it's stronger. He covers it in half-demonic chakra and throws it harder and faster."
"What about Hinata?"
"She still uses mostly water-based jutsu, but now she has Sage Mode... you know what Sage Mode is, right?" he nodded. "Well, she can make a giant version of herself with water, sort of like a Hinata-shaped mecha... It sort of looks slow and hard to move around, but don't let it fool you; she's fast. Actually, that reminds me, Naruto can do something similar with his chakra, but his is shaped like a giant fox."
"That gives me an idea," he decided. "Susanoo." Sakura's eyes widened slightly in surprise as glowing purple chakra began to surge upward around her and Sasuke, filling the air like mist. Within seconds, the chakra shaped and solidified into the form of a spectral warrior garbed in demonic-looking armor, with four arms.
"Oh, that's freaking awesome."
"Shadow Clone Jutsu," he went on with a slight smirk at her reaction, giving control of the chakra avatar to his clone. "Actually... Lightning Clone Jutsu." although he hadn't seen Ginjou using any hand seals, he had seen the jutsu flowing and forming inside the snake's body with great detail, and he'd been able to come up with his own seal sequence for it. "You," he pointed to the shadow clone, "Give control of the Susanoo to the lightning clone, and then Transform into Sakura."
"So you've got a plan, huh?" Sakura grinned. "Alright, let's hear it."
"The lightning clone is going to attack the castle, to draw out Naruto and Hinata while we sneak past the traps. The shadow clone disguised as you will intentionally get itself dispelled to return its memories to me. That'll be the signal for us to enter the throne room and take the kunai, since at that point we'll know for sure that Naruto and Hinata have taken the bait. We should be able to get out of this seal before they catch us... wait, how do we get out of the seal?"
Sakura turned around, and was relieved to see a very clearly visible ripple in the air, glistening but not glowing. "I'm gonna test it; I should be right back." he nodded, and she stepped through the ripple, vanishing entirely. Almost immediately, she returned with a smirk. "That was simple enough; let's go."
"Hn," Sasuke murmured along with both of his clones, prompting her to giggle. He cracked a smirk as well, then took his first step toward the castle. "Let's go, Sakura."
"Hell yeah." Her grin turned wicked, and they set off.
X
As they heard the sound of a jutsu smashing a hole in the walls of the tower, two floors down, Naruto and Hinata blinked. "...They're not just attacking us head-on, are they?" she asked, surprised.
"Jeez, I knew Sasuke would want to fight us at some point, but you'd think Sakura would be a bit more subtle," he replied, then shrugged. "Should we go fight 'em?"
Hinata considered this, then nodded. "Yes. That's what a real enemy would do, if they were being attacked like this. Still, they wouldn't leave the rest of the castle unguarded... Water Clone Jutsu!" three copies of her rose upward out of previously-nonexistant puddles on the floor, then took up defensive positions around a Flying Raijin kunai laid on the seat of an otherwise empty chair of elaborately carved wood.
"Okay, let's do this," Naruto announced and drew his sword, vanishing through an open window with his Empty Wind. Hinata caught up quickly with an Empty Wind of her own, appearing next to Naruto in the dimly-lit field of grass.
Ahead of them, a significant distance away from the tower, Sasuke and Sakura were floating inside a chakra avatar comparable in size to Naruto's fox and Hinata's Water Deity. The demonic figure was clad in twisted, sharp-looking armor of the same purple chakra, and it lowered its bow to draw forth a curved saber in its lower right and left arms.
"Not bad," Hinata couldn't help but admit, then closed her eyes. "Naruto-kun, can you buy me a few seconds?"
"No problem, Hina-chan." he raised his sword arm, charging the curved blade with his chakra before sweeping it downward. "Banshou Karu!" A huge crescent-shaped blade of dark steel wrapped in a perfectly smooth aura of black chakra shot forward from his sword's arc, extending to almost twenty feet above the ground it was ripping through.
Susanoo crossed its swords, catching Naruto's attack. The blades of chakra were chipped and cracked, but they could be easily repaired. The shadow clone disguised as Sakura took note of the attack's size, almost half as tall as his Susanoo even when halfway buried in the ground. Susanoo pushed the Banshou Karu back a short distance, then freshly brandished its swords as they regenerated.
Both the lightning and shadow clone then noted with surprise that Naruto was no longer standing next to Hinata.
Oh shit-
"Banshou Karu!"
The lightning clone panicked, unable to block four of these blades, each coming from a different direction, with only the two swords wielded by his Susanoo. "...Go!" it ordered the shadow clone, who abandoned its doomed counterpart to make a beeline for Hinata.
With a rather impressive imitation of Sakura's voice, the clone roared as its punch struck home. "CHA!"
Hinata opened her glowing white eyes and cast an unimpressed look at the clone. As Naruto's attacks tore into Susanoo, Hinata struck back at the shadow clone and dispelled it instantly. The lightning clone within Susanoo noted this before emerging from the cut in the left side of Susanoo's armor. The other three blades had been blocked, but the lightning clone had allowed one to cut through for this purpose. It drew its copy of Sasuke's sword and lashed out at Naruto as the latter appeared before him with an Empty Wind.
Naruto grinned, and their swords rang loudly as they met. Without Naruto using his chakra cloak, or Sasuke using his Cursed Seal, the two were reasonably matched in their skill with kenjutsu. While it wasn't a one-sided fight, not entirely, Naruto did have the clear upper hand. He had been training with a sword longer than Sasuke, and he had personally learned from the Demon of the Bloody Mist.
It didn't take long before Naruto landed a hit, and the lightning clone allowed itself to explode with a thunderclap. Naruto shrugged off the blast of lightning chakra, but he was momentarily blinded by the flash. After that, he turned to Hinata who was also standing alone. Sakura was nowhere in sight.
X
"Now!" Sasuke threw open the doors to the throne room, scanning over the room quickly with his active Sharingan. Unlike the rest of the castle, which left bare the stone walls and floor, the throne room actually looked livable, with assorted furniture and a warm red carpet laid over the cold stone floor. He tuned all of this out, however, once he spotted the Flying Raijin kunai on the seat of an ornately carved but otherwise ordinary wooden chair, and Hinata's three water clones guarding it.
Sakura reached into her pouch with a lightning-fast, carefully practiced motion. She pulled out a black-painted egg and whipped it toward the nearest water clone, who effortlessly spun up a Revolving Heaven. Sakura grinned as the egg exploded into a dull pink mist that was churned and spun around by Hinata's defense, forming a roughly circular cloud that innocently drifted around the three clones once Hinata dropped her Revolving Heaven, unaware that she was still in danger.
The clones dropped, and splashed apart when they hit the floor. Sakura dashed forward and plucked up the kunai. "Let's go," she prompted, and Sasuke followed her out of the room.
"What the hell was-" Sasuke was cut off by the sound of a thrown Rasengan exploding and blowing a hole in the wall of the throne room. He wasted no time in fully activating his Cursed Seal, spreading his bladed wings and drawing his sword. "Sakura, take the kunai and get out!" Naruto appeared in front of him and slammed his sword down on Sasuke's own. "Run!"
"Like hell!" she threw back. "There's no way I'm gonna miss this, cha!" she stowed the kunai in her pouch and dashed forward as Sasuke pushed Naruto back a bit. She ducked under his next swing lithely, then struck home with a punch to the Hokage's sternum.
Naruto flew backward, but he was shortly replaced by Hinata who aimed for Sakura with her double-bladed spear. Sasuke intervened, curling his left wing around Sakura and taking the hit for her. He then unfurled his wing with the weapon still piercing through it, pulling it from Hinata's grasp with some difficulty, since her strength was enhanced by senjutsu just as his was.
She vanished in a cloud of smoke, replaced by the spear he'd just taken from her. He realized what this meant a moment too late; she had Substituted with the blade to reappear behind him, where she promptly delivered a flying, spinning kick to the back of his head.
As Sasuke was sent flying into and through the nearest stone wall, Sakura snatched up Hinata's weapon and swung it at her with tremendous force. Hinata dodged, forming a Rasengan in her right hand almost instantly. She lashed out with the legendary jutsu, forcing Sakura to retreat a short distance.
It was then that Naruto made his return, appearing behind Sakura with an audible gust of wind that alerted her to his presence. She yelped, and spun to frantically block Naruto's strike with Hinata's weapon. Although she successfully saved herself from Naruto's attack, she lost her grip on the spear and it was sent flying.
Her gaze darted toward the hole Sasuke had smashed in the wall, and she dashed through it in search of her teammate. She found him slumped against the next wall, dazed. She snatched him up and hefted him over her shoulders before taking off again, fleeing through several more rooms. "Sasuke, wake up! They're probably right behind us!"
He groaned, blinking rapidly. "...Dammit, did I just get knocked out that easily?"
"Looks that way," she nodded, and deftly set him down on his feet. "She did fly-kick you in the head though, so it's understandable."
"Hn," he replied laconically, and noted with a measure of surprise that his shashka was still in his hand. "...Sakura, why aren't they still attacking us? They both have movement jutsu and they can see our chakra silhouettes. We shouldn't have been able to get away."
"I... don't like the sound of that," she murmured warily. "Come on; let's get the hell out of here!"
They were too late, however, and Sasuke realized this when he quickly scanned through the walls in all directions in search of Naruto's and Hinata's chakra silhouettes. He saw Hinata holding a ball of chakra that glowed vividly through the walls to his eyes, larger than a normal Rasengan. He reacted as quickly as he could, scooping Sakura into his arms despite her shocked protests, and then cast his gaze upward while activating his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.
"Amaterasu!"
Her eyes went wide at the sight of the otherworldly black flames eating through the stone roof above them, and Sasuke pounded his wings downward to soar through the hole he'd burned in the castle roof. Since they were already on the top floor of the castle, he was able to safely escape the building before Hinata's Oodama Rasengan exploded, destroying enough of the tower that what remained began to collapse.
Sasuke landed in the field that surrounded the now-ruined castle, gently putting Sakura back on her feet. He glared up at Naruto where the Hokage was now floating inside the head of a spectral black fox that bared its teeth back at him.
"Holy crap," she breathed. "She just blew up the whole castle... if we hadn't made it out..."
"Actually, it looks like the explosion didn't take out the room we were in, so we would've still had time to escape the tower while it was falling..." his eyes narrowed. "Wait. Why did Hinata do this in the first place? And... where is she?"
Both of his questions were quickly and eloquently answered by the ground under their feet dissolving into a chakra-laced swamp that shimmered under the dim light inside the storage seal. Both he and Sakura nearly sank into the swamp, but they each focused chakra to their feet to remain above the surface just in time.
"Sasuke, listen to me," she addressed him in a low voice. "No matter what happens, don't fall into this stuff. It catches you and holds onto you like glue. Only Naruto and Hinata can move around in it freely, sort of like Kakashi-sensei's Headhunter Jutsu. They can pop up from any direction, and then disappear just as easily."
"Thanks for warning me," he replied, then moved to stand behind her with his back to hers, covering her blind spot while she did the same for him. "If we keep our guard up like this, they can't sneak-attack us. Get ready."
"Right!"
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