Naruto:

Still standing there frozen, I couldn't believe that Kabuto belonged to Orochimaru and was therefore a Missing-Nin. Only one person had been too convinced that Kabuto could not be trusted. I was struck by lightning. Why hadn't I listened to her? I had been blinded too much. From all the friendliness, the helpfulness...

I looked at him angrily, but he returned my gaze with an expression of apathy that made me feel more and more aggressive.

„Tora was right. And that's exactly why you wanted to turn me against her. So that I wouldn't believe a word she said," I exclaimed, and an ugly grin appeared on Kabuto's face that had nothing at all in common with the friendly smile I was usually used to from him.

It reminded me of the snarl of a predator about to strike.

„Also finally got it Naruto. It took you a long time, didn't it? And even though Tora didn't trust me from the beginning? I'm disappointed. Too bad she can't help you now that she's in Konoha."

He didn't know. Kabuto had no idea that Tora had gone with us to look for Tsunade. If I could only guess where she was. Maybe she could actually help us..., although when I looked at our opponents like this... all hope was already fading.

The snakes behind the two of them were approaching threateningly and the little frog, which I had just unintentionally summoned, could unfortunately do little against it. We needed something big and strong. With teeth. If only I could manage to summon the Gamabunta and that damn summoning jutsu, as I had against Gaara.

But it seemed to me that nothing would come of it today, especially since the snakes were not our only problem. Their masters were also still there and ready to fight.

The head of one of the snakes retreated, only to dart straight at us. Jiraya and Shizune made a few finger signs, but somehow, I knew that their jutsus would be too slow.

The earth shook and something large threw itself into the snake's path to grab its neck. Orochimaru and Kabuto dove out of the way. No one had heard the creature coming, let alone seen it. It had a long straight back, pointed curved claws, wide paws. Gray-brown fur, interspersed with single black dots and stripes. Its belly was as white as snow. Around his chin the hair was a little longer, funnily enough reminding of a short beard. But most extraordinary were the eyes.

In a piercing silver they stood out from the entire body, giving the animal a dangerous and at the same time wise appearance.

For a brief moment I had thought it was a tiger, but the tail was too short for that and the ears too ... too ... brush-like?

Firmly it bit itself in the neck of the snake, which tried in vain to shake off the attacker, but in vain. Its pointed teeth had bored deeply into the scaly skin and only let go when the second one prepared to help its partner.

Aggressively he bared his teeth and only now I noticed the small figure sitting up there between his ears. That was...

Tora:

My hands firmly clawed into the fur of the lynx, I looked at our opponents. One of the snakes was for a short moment out of action.

„Now that's a really appealing fight." The deep voice of the predator made his entire body vibrate.

„But don't get carried away Drakar," I said softly, and he snorted in amusement.

„Nonsense. I'm a few years older than you girl, so I know when to call it a day."

A smirk spread on my lips. That might be true, but the lynx still tended to overestimate his own abilities sometimes, which had often amused me when training with Sarutobi. I liked the lynx very much.

Drakar let out a dark growl before running toward the giant snakes. Both seemed to have learned from his previous attack and ducked away under the bite, intending to attack from below. But they had made this calculation without Drakar's enormous paws. There was a loud crack as they met the head of the First Snake, forcibly pinning it to the ground.

A sound escaped it, as if from a balloon that had run out of air. Truly. It certainly wasn't comfortable there under the Lynx's big paws.

When I noticed a movement at the edge of my field of vision, on the ground near Drakar's foreleg, I turned my head and caught sight of Kabuto, his hands glowing a strange blue. Immediately I remembered the fight with him and how he had drained my chakra.

Whatever he now intended to do with Drakar. I would prevent it, although he also wanted to lure me down from him, but that was only right for me, I still had a bill to settle with him.

I quickly created a shadow clone and made myself invisible. Raiton chakra flowed through my body and the other before I jumped off the shoulder of the lynx into the depths. Wind tugged at my clothes, stinging my ears, but my gaze remained focused on Kabuto, who was fending off the shadow clone's attack a few feet below me.

„I noticed you long ago, it's no use," he said before his hands hit the latter's stomach. His eyes widened, however, as he realized his mistake, the clone fizzled out, giving me a clear path. My kunai bored into his shoulder blade and for a brief moment the blue glow around his hands subsided.

Probably from shock. Then he grabbed my arms and threw me from him. I was lucky that he didn't use his chakra scalpel at that moment, otherwise I would have been really finished. Deftly spinning in the air, I braced one hand in the ground to catch myself and landed on my feet a few steps back. Right next to Tsunade.

Who looked at me with an inscrutable look. Shizune was staring at Drakar as if she couldn't grasp something at all, while Jiraya started a fight with Orochimaru.

Naruto, meanwhile, hadn't been able to contain his rage and had run at Kabuto, who was already coming to his defense with a terrible grin on his face. Not good. I had to be quick, because the yakushi's hands were already glowing that strange blue again.

Kabuto's shoulder was bleeding, but the kunai was long gone from it. He held it in his hand. Blood ran down it and dripped into the grass. A dark spot had spread on his shoulder, but the wound seemed to stop bleeding.

How could that be. My puncture had been very deep after all.

Before I could react, Tsunade had rushed forward, her fist raised in a punch. The grin on Kabuto's cheeks deepened. My eyes went between Naruto and Tsunade. There was no way this was going to end well. Both of them had run off completely headless.

And me? I had let too much time pass, standing planlessly on the spot. Too much distance was now between us for...

„Hayyaaaaa...Ouch."

Naruto had lunged at the gray-haired man, whereupon the other's hand had struck him in the stomach area and flung him away. Dazed, he remained lying on the ground. My horrified gaze swiveled to Tsunade, who had begun to attack the gray-haired man with punches. Almost simultaneously, they each landed a hit. Her hand hit his stomach and the kunai hit Tsunade's chest.

Horrified, I looked at the scene. Kabuto, standing there as if the San-Nin had never hit him, knife in hand, as if he was about to strike again. An eerie cruel grin on his lips, almost as if he enjoyed seeing her so helpless.

Shizune came rushing over to take the blonde out of circulation, but paused when she noticed my invisible shadow double, bringing the seemingly airborne Tsunade over. With a grateful look, she turned to the trembling woman and began to examine the wound with unsteady fingers.

My hands clenched into fists with the realization that I now stood alone. Tsunade was injured, Naruto kept failing to get up, Jiraya had summoned Gamabunta to join the giant frog and Drakar in defeating Orochimaru. The black-haired Sannin, however, didn't really look like these would put him in distress.

Once again, I turned my gaze to Kabuto, who was standing there, facing me, and seemed to be just waiting for an attack. And then I knew that it had been his goal from the beginning of this fight to fight against me. This realization caused a huge nausea. Of course. I had embarrassed him in front of everyone, but had also doubted his authenticity, had been his enemy even during the chunin exams, since his point of view could have come out at any time.

But at the same moment I also realized something. Kabuto Yakushi was the first and only person I hated from the bottom of my soul. And not only for his actions during the chunin exams, but also the ones afterwards. For serving the murderer of my sensei, who had only ever wanted the best for the village. For his ghastly ways and... just everything.

He was the first person I really considered an enemy. So now I also knew the piercing, angry and vicious feeling of abysmal hatred, which, strangely enough, I did not feel towards my father. With him it was rather fear. Kabuto, on the other hand, triggered an inhuman level of rage in me that was very difficult to control.

My raiton chakra raged through my body, faster than ever before.

I saw his smile, knew that this fight would not be an easy one, but also knew that Kabuto might have been a little too confident of victory. Although he had not given his all against me in the elimination round, the full force of his abilities would now hit my body. But I had not stopped either, I had also learned. Maybe I would still be able to surprise him. One thing was for sure: Kabuto was not invincible either, although there were years of experience between us. But the hit I had landed on him earlier gave me hope. And maybe I could distract him until Tsunade, or Naruto were back on their feet and could support me.