The Two-Tails jumps to the guard, who evades and sends dagger after dagger at her body. They pierce into her chakra covered body, but do nothing to deter her attacks.
The blue cat jumps and runs after the guard, who has to evade with sharp movements that look desperate and out of control. The moment he realizes Naruto is charging toward him too, he can feel his heart in his throat.
This is worse than he had been told.
His hands move fast and he mutters the seals under his breath with desperation. Faster, faster. The ground shakes and his breathing is already labored. He barely evades the Two-Tails who lunges at him before he can bite at his thumb, draw blood and call forth his hawk summon.
Naruto brings forward his skeleton claw and slaps the summon away. The bird shrieks and stands immediately after, and the Two-Tails is already on its tail.
The guard looks up at the Nine-Tails and Naruto steals the quickest glance he can muster, before he remembers he can't look the guard in the eye.
He's a child.
He's the same boy that made him lose control in the Summit.
"Oh." It's the only thing that leaves his mouth. His red chakra shoots forward and grabs the boy, pinning him to the ground. There is a cloud of smoke that signals a body replacement technique. But Naruto scoffs, and as he looks towards the Four-Tails, lo and behold, the boy is there, grabbing the old man by his scalp and forcing eye contact.
The Two-Tails comes back, with the giant summon in her mouth. The bird looks worse for wear and as soon as the Four-Tails starts emerging she drops it to the ground.
"I'll take care of it."
"You sure?"
The monkey-looking Beast roars as it frees itself from his vessel. His hands playing drums on the ground.
"You can come help me after you're done with the child."
She flashes in front of his eyes before he can even answer. Her Beast is smaller, but it only makes it easier for her to cut and hit before the monkey can retaliate.
The boy jumps back, hoping to put some distance between himself and-
"Hey!"
Naruto has the biggest smile in place, the look of distress on the child only making him more euphoric.
"You think your friends will come when you scream?"
A red claw flies past the boy, who manages to dodge it. He gives a quick glance to the Four-Tails, but the Beast is too busy swatting away at the Two-Tails, whose blue Beast runs and dodges the monkey's attacks with ease.
Fuck.
Naruto sends red claw after red claw as he comes closer, and the boy can't do much but keep his eyes focused on evading the bubbling red chakra.
If only he could make direct eye contact-
He is too concentrated on evading the red claws that come at him one after the other. The Nine-Tails' skeleton claw snatches him middair, squeezing his body and making him scream to the sky.
"Oooh, that's a good one," Naruto crushes the boy against a tree, the skeleton claw grabbing the trunk and digging into it. "You think they'll come fast?"
The boy doesn't answer. Can't answer. The Nine-Tails pushes him into the tree, and he can feel his bones cracking under the pressure.
Naruto stares at the legs of the child. His screams fill the air but there seems to be no movement near them. The guards have begun filling the place, but they keep their distance, moving closer to their lady than Naruto.
If the enemy doesn't come now where there is still a sliver of surprise in their favor…
"Come on," Naruto urges, as a chakra claw engulfs the kid's leg. The boy grunts as he gets used to the tension in his body, but then Naruto snaps his leg in half and a shrill scream reverberates around them.
Naruto expects something to happen. Wants something to happen. But aside from the boy's huffing and puffing, and the whines that follow, nothing comes.
The boy falls to the ground and he can't even try to get up before the Nine-Tails is on top of him. The man holds one of his arms with his feet and the other with his knee. The boy looks at the Nine-Tails directly into his face, dribble falling from his mouth as the pain grows with each passing second. The Nine-Tails' eyes stubbornly fixed into the boy's chest.
"You monster," the boy spits.
Naruto punches the boy, his hand then rips the child's cloak for a makeshift blindfold. "Go on, when are they coming?" Naruto punches him again, his frustration growing. "You think they'll care if you die?"
"You- You-" The boy sputters, but Naruto has had it. He covers the boy's mouth with his hand and then covers his eyes with the broken piece of cloak.
"Fucking-" Naruto starts again, "you wanted us all here, didn't you? Here we are, fucking come."
The boy tries to bite his hand but Naruto presses his knee into his stomach. "Shut the fuck up." He calls for a couple of guards and hands the kid over to them without a care for his injuries.
"Don't let him get away, don't take his blindfold off, and don't give him away to anyone but me, got it?"
The guards salute Naruto before moving the boy out of his sight, his legs dragging on the ground.
The Two-Tails slides as she jumps away from the Four-Tails, his palm strikes near her and the sound is enough to make her wince.
"Need any help?"
The Nine-Tails doesn't wait for an answer as he walks forward. He grabs debris near him and launches it at the monkey.
"Stay away," shouts Naruto, "this will get rowdy."
The Four-Tails raises his arms to protect himself from the falling rocks, grabs a few to send back to the Nine-Tails. The fox is in the middle of covering his skeleton with red bubbly chakra, and the Four-Tails screeches and throws whatever he can get his hands on to the now forming Beast.
Naruto concentrates on forming his four-tailed form, and grabs the debris launched at him with chakra claws that spring from whatever part of his body is closest to the rubble.
It has been a long while since he was able to reach this form without his father or Jiraiya watching over. Their instructions resonate inside of him, and Naruto's body is now buried deep down into the Nine-Tails body.
Four tails are enough. Four tails he can manage.
The Four-Tails beats the ground with its hands before screeching and lunging itself at the red Beast.
Naruto raises on his hind legs, launches a claw to the monkey's head and roars as the hit connects. His mouth opens and he concentrates chakra in front of him, a black orb that makes shrill noises as the energy accumulates.
The monkey thrashes under him, bringing its hands and feet to the Nine-Tails head, feet, whatever it can catch. The moment Naruto is about to set off his attack the monkey twists around and manages to cover the Nine-Tails mouth with its arm.
The two Beasts thrash about and the ground trembles.
•····························•····························•
The Beasts roar and screech at each other and the destruction brought by their fight reaches even the other side of the forest.
"Lord Naruto's four tails form." Ino can't help but steal a glance at him, the red chakra bubbles everywhere and his beast bomb shoots up to the sky as the Four-Tails hand manages to cover the Nine-Tails' snout.
The clouds disperse and the air that whooshes out of the fight is enough to rattle the birds nearby.
"Are we close yet?" Lord Gaara asks. His sand following right behind him.
"Just a little more," Shino confirms.
Ino takes her gaze away from the lord's fight, empties her mind as they get closer and closer to their objective.
She has one shot at this.
"Rest assured, I will help." Lord Gaara keeps his face blank as always, but his voice is filled with reassurance and Ino nods at him.
"At our four o'clock, 700 meters ahead," shares Shino and everyone becomes quieter. Their steps softer against the ground and branches they use to advance.
"Ready?" Temari steps next to Ino, her fan on her hands. The weapon is long enough to reach below her knees when attached at her back, and is now semi-open, ready to call forth her summon and level the trees in front of them.
Ino brings her hands together, making a triangle. She breathes out, stares in the direction Shino shared. "Whenever Lord Gaara is ready."
"I have one in reach right now," he answers, his sand following one of the enemies hidden in the forest, almost touching their heels.
Temari opens her fan and the group spreads to give her space. Her bloody thumb swaps at her weapon and her hand does seals as she mutters the names under her breath. "Incoming!" she screams, as she fans the air in front of her, where her summon starts cutting down everything and anything it touches.
They hope her scream will give the enemy a chance to evade her attack and let survivors in its wake. But Gaara frowns as two of the ones near his sand fall down, unable to stand again.
His sand searches, his chakra touching and prodding as they enter the clearing Temari has made. "There," he whispers, his sand keeping an enemy in place, mouth covered in sand, limbs unable to move.
He turns his head to Ino, to let her know who's ready for her technique, but her body lays limp against Sai's chest and Gaara lets his sand go the second after.
Shino and Sai leave immediately after. Temari stays as Gaara brings forth his One-Tail in the open, sending attacks to the many enemies running away from this place. Ino follows behind the enemy, now one of them, and Gaara does his best to keep her away from his attacks.
Soon after, Gaara's attacks become mere sounds and the Nine-Tails heat is but a mirage.
Ino blends into the group as they begin to congregate again. And she follows.
•····························•····························•
Ino mimics the behaviour around her. They don't talk much and they keep on the move with barely a break.
They whisper, worried about what happened back there.
Sasuke couldn't even put up a fight, they whisper.
Did the boss know he was leaving Sasuke behind when he ordered them to retreat?
Did you see that Beast?
The Nine-Tails…
Monsters. Monsters all of them.
Ino stores all and every bit of information she catches on. She chimes in when necessary, and her presence remains dull and unnoticed.
They keep on moving.
You think the other group succeeded?
Sure as hell hope so, or this whole thing was for nothing.
Ino wonders whether to stop her technique now and inform her lord, but her orders are different, so she stays.
They run, and they run some more. To a place where the clans have little power, to a place where no one really comes. There are 12 of them when they arrive. 7 died, as she learns from the people around her. She commits every detail she can to memory. She focuses on the names and faces around her.
She comes into a practice ground and sees red eyes. She has to fight the urge to look away.
A man comes to her and asks her why she has taken so long to report. She apologizes and follows, she rummages inside this brain for knowledge she can present.
She wonders if their leader will realize she's a spy the moment they lay eyes on her.
She has practiced her movements, she has practiced her speech. She is one more of them, and although she is nervous she steels herself and gives her report to a man whose face is buried in papers.
She waits for him to dismiss her. No one around her says nothing about her demeanor, no one around her stares at her too long. They keep on their chores, moving papers, and whispering plans in front of their boss.
The man in front of her nods to no one in particular and waves his hand once for her to leave. Ino bows like she has seen others do and turns around. The man hasn't looked at her.
"Wait."
She does as told.
"Turn around."
Red eyes greet her, and although she very much would like to evade his gaze. She paints a confused look on her face. "Yes, boss?"
The man looks old like Lord Minato, his eyes are redder than most and the black markings inside circle around, making her dizzy.
"Who are you?"
He's tall too, tall like Lord Jiraiya.
"Boss, I don't-"
The man brings his hand to her neck and Ino chokes on her saliva. Her hands clasp at his arm in an attempt to release his hold, but he doesn't let go.
"Interesting technique, body exchange or mind exchange, huh?" His hand presses harder and Ino starts to lose consciousness. "A member of the Kirikage's? the Okosu? the Yamanaka?"
The man lets her go and Ino coughs into the ground, her eyes filled with tears.
"Doesn't matter, go tell your master what you've seen." His eyes are full of contempt, of arrogance, "I do hope your technique handles the mind, child, I really do."
His fist comes down to her head, chakra enveloping his limb and Ino wakes into her own body, coughing and clasping at her neck in pain.
"My lord!" she coughs in between, still feeling the man's hand wringing her neck, "my lord the clan- an attack."
Sai helps her steady herself, his hand at her torso. He brings his own waterskin to her lips. Her lord is a few meters away, all menacing and intimidating.
"See? Now you know I'm telling the truth."
In front of Lord Naruto stands a man with straight black hair in a low ponytail, his voice soft, his stance unassuming. The lord refuses to look the man in the eyes and Ino avoids his eyes immediately after.
An Uchiha.
Hello, everybody!
Sasuke really didn't have much of a chance, really, I mean who would!? (●ˇ∀ˇ●)
Have a good one and see you next week!
Also, we have some new guests around here so shoutout to the new guest(s)!
They complimented the emoji faces so (づ￣ 3￣)づ, also thank you very much for sharing your lovely thoughts!
One wondered about Hinata's age, she's younger than Naruto! She's 21 as of now (❁´◡`❁)