I do not own these series, nor do I make any money off of this.

"talking"

'thinking'

Chapter 97: Fluttering Revenge

A loud explosion shook the cave and Akuji was forced to still as he wondered what happened. Usagi and Inu were behind him, also stopped in confusion. Then they saw Sasuke, Naruto, and Kurama running past them. A rumbling noise followed and Akuji's eyes widened as nearly three dozen goblins came running towards them. He cursed and ducked behind a large stone. Usagi and Inu quickly joined him.

"Are they crazy?" Akuji asked.

"What if they lead those goblins back to the village?" Inu asked.

"That's their problem," Akuji said. "But maybe they have a plan to take them down. We have to go after them if we want to take all of those cores."

"What if they put up a fight?" Usagi asked, shaking as she already knew the answer.

"Then we'll kill them," Akuji said. Without another word, the three of them followed the goblins.

They came to a stop to see several goblins looking around, confused. Akuji's group looked around, but Sasuke, Naruto, and Kurama weren't anywhere to be found. Inu took a step back, accidentally stepping on a stick that snapped. Akuji turned to tell her to be quiet, but it was already too late. Usagi called out to him in warning. The goblins charged at them. Akuji got into a fighting stance. "Inu, send out some fireballs! Usagi, get behind Inu and be prepared to heal. If too many get past the fire, we'll run."

Usagi and Inu's eyes widened. "But town," Inu argued.

"We can just blame it on that party," Akuji said. Inu did as Akuji ordered, fearing what would happen if she didn't. She chanted something and several balls of fire flew out of her staff towards the goblins. Cries from the goblins filled the air. Some goblins made it through the smoke and flames. They charged at the humans. Akuji did his best to fend them off, but a few managed to hit him. "Usagi! Hurry up and heal me!" Usagi whimpered. She put out her hands and chanted. Akuji began to glow as he was healed. "We are getting out of here!" He grabbed Inu and Usagi's arms and dragged them after him.

"They are following us," Inu said. "We aren't going to make it!"

"We will," Akuji said. He then let go of Inu's arm and shoved her towards the goblins. She screamed, but Akuji didn't look back.

"Inu!" Usagi yelled. She turned towards Akuji. "We have to go back for Inu!"

"We don't," Akuji said. "She's not needed anymore. Her sacrifice was necessary." He glanced over his shoulder. "And so will yours." Usagi only managed to let out a gasp before Akuji tossed her aside. She landed wrong and looked up in time to see several goblins lunging at her. Akuji ignored her scream and kept running. He reached the town, yelling out a warning. People stared at him for a few seconds before the panic sunk in. Some began to run to their houses to grab whatever they could, while others were smart enough to go to the guild house. But the goblins never came. A brave adventurer went to check on things only to find several dead goblins just outside of town. He gave the report to the guild master who in turn calmed everyone down.

Eyes turned towards Akuji who swore up and down that he didn't know how the goblins got defeated. The answer came in two girls covered in blood. Inu and Usagi made their way over to the guild master's wife. They cried as they told her that they'd been saved. Akuji looked on in anger and confusion as to what exactly was going on.

"That was fun," Kurama said. All eyes turned to him, some widening. He had a lot of goblin blood on him. He looked at Inu and Usagi. "I see you two made it back safely."

"Are you the one that saved them?" the guild master asked.

"Not really," Kurama said. "That was the Kit's, Naruto's thing." He grinned. "I just enjoy a good fight." He glanced at Akuji when he said that.

Akuji saw it and he shivered. He carefully backed away, until he was able to run to his room. He began to pack his things. There was a knock on the door before Inu and Usagi stepped into the room. He looked up. "Ah, good! Get packed. We're leaving."

"We aren't going with you," Inu said.

"What?" Akuji asked, his anger rising.

"You abandoned us," Usagi said. "How could you just throw us to those goblins?"

"It was a necessary sacrifice," Akuji said. "How else would I have gotten here in time to warn the village? I didn't think we'd all make it." Inu and Usagi looked at each other. "Those three may see us as enemies, so hurry up and pack."

"You'll have to leave without us," Inu said.

Akuji looked at them. Seeing the seriousness in their eyes, he turned back to his things. "If that is what you want, then fine. But don't come crawling back to me!" He tossed one last thing into his bag and swung it over his shoulder. He jumped out of the window to avoid coming into contact with anyone. Inu and Usagi didn't follow him. Finding a safe place, he set up camp, struggling the entire time. He cursed. Without his beast women, he had a lot more work to do. Naruto, Kurama, and Sasuke popped into his head. He glared. If it wasn't for them, he wouldn't be in this mess. A smirk formed on his face. He just had to get rid of the problem.

-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-

He didn't really target either of them in particular, he just knew not to mess with Kurama. In fact, he thought Naruto would be the best choice since he thought he was stupid. But it was Sasuke that Akuji found first. He had just finished gathering cores from some red-eye beetles and was now trying to take their eyes. Akuji stayed out of sight. He wondered if Sasuke really didn't notice he was there or if he was just pretending. Picking up a rock, Akuji tossed it several meters away. The noise caused Sasuke to turn towards it. He stood on guard for a few seconds before turning back to the red-eyed beetle. Believing this was his chance, Akuji used an invisibility spell and quietly approached Sasuke.

Feeling eyes on him, Sasuke looked up. He frowned. There was no one there. Shaking his head, he finished separating an eye before moving onto the second one. It was his instincts that allowed him to dodge the attack. He unsheathed his sword, eyes roaming the area. He cursed. Someone was clearly using an invisibility skill. Without his sharingan, Sasuke wasn't able to see his attacker. He tried to listen to the attacker, but whomever it was was a pro at stealth killing. It reminded him of Zabuza, only this person didn't need mist. Again he dodged an attack on instinct alone, only it managed to cut his side. Sasuke held his side as he looked up to see some blood dripping to the ground from out of the air. He swung his sword at it and heard a familiar clang of another sword meeting his own. His movement was a little slowed due to his wound, but since the foe's sword still had his blood on it, he was able to parry.

Akuji held back a growl as Sasuke was able to fight him easily. He glanced at his sword and finally noticed the blood. It gave him away. He swung hard enough to push Sasuke back slightly before he slammed it into the ground, letting it go. Akuji wasn't a mage, but he could still use some minor spells thanks to Inu.

A ring of water appeared out of nowhere and surrounded Sasuke. He raised an eyebrow at it since it didn't seem to do anything. Then spikes of water charged at him. He jumped, only for a fireball to slam into his back. He cried out as he fell towards the spikes that were now pointed upwards. Sasuke tossed his sword into the center of it and landed on the hilt. He then used some lightning to burst the water. The water splashed up at him, drenching his body. He welcomed it as it helped his burned back. Sasuke quickly took out a potion and drank it. It was the only one he had, so he had to be more careful.

Akuji saw Sasuke use a potion and cursed. He knew Sasuke would be more on guard now. He was going to have to end this quickly so Sasuke wouldn't be able to drink another one. Realizing that his mana was running low, he drank a mana potion, making a face at the bitter taste. He tossed the vial on the ground, shattering it. He then formed water balls, each with a broken piece of the glass in them. They flew at Sasuke.

Sasuke defended himself with lightning. The water burst, but the shard of glass didn't stop. Several hit his body. Luckily, nothing vital was hit. Another fire ball came flying at him. He dodged it only to see it curve. He cursed. The fire ball had a tracking spell on it. Lightning wasn't going to stop it. The only way for the fire ball to stop following him would be if it hit something. Sasuke's eyes fell on something on the ground. He lunged for it, missing the fire ball. It swung back around and Sasuke held up what he grabbed. The fire ball hit the dead red-eyed beetle. The beetle wasn't big enough so Sasuke's fingers also got hit. He flinched at the pain, but held strong until the fire was gone. Sasuke panted. Whomever his attacker was, they were clearly at a higher level than him. He knew that if this fight continued, he wasn't going to win.

Akuji waited a few seconds. Sasuke didn't drink another potion. He grinned. He grabbed his sword and walked over to Sasuke. Akuji swung the blade toward Sasuke's neck. Sasuke brought up a hand and caught the blade. He grunted at the pain before he threw a punch at Akuji. It landed. Akuji released his sword and fell back, his invisibility spell dropping.

Sasuke glared at Akuji. "You."

Akuji spat out some blood before he smirked. "I'm going to kill you."

"Why?" Sasuke asked.

"Simple," Akuji answered. "You're in my way." He took out another mana potion and drank it. "Well? Get up." He paused for a second. "Or are you giving up?"

"Like I'd lose to you," Sasuke said as he got to his feet. He held onto Akuji's sword with a bleeding hand. Akuji grinned as he stepped back and grabbed Sasuke's sword.

"This is a nice weapon," Akuji said. "I guess I'll take it as my prize." He swung it towards Sasuke.

Sasuke blocked it with Akuji's sword. It was hard to do since the Kusanagi wasn't so easily stopped. It was clear that Akuji was skilled in Kenjutsu, even more so than Kurogane. But Sasuke wasn't going to give up. He used his free hand to pull out some wire. He managed to wrap some of it around the Kusanagi's hilt. Sasuke yanked on the wire, managing to pull the sword from Akuji's grasp. He then turned both blades on Akuji.

Akuji cursed. He didn't know how good Sasuke was at dual wielding, but he wasn't about to test that. He quickly made another fireball before jumping back. Sasuke handled it much easier than before. This meant that the tables had turned and Sasuke now had the advantage, even more so since Akuji was now swordless. Using just his fists would be too dangerous. Then he remembered that he wasn't weaponless. He still had his old weapon since he hadn't gotten around to selling it yet. Akuji ran to where he left his pack. Sasuke tried to follow him, but he was starting to get woozy from the blood loss. Akuji pulled out a folded Sansetsukon from his bag.

Akuji lunged at Sasuke. Sasuke did his best to defend himself, but Akuji's hits were harder than before. The man began to laugh. "I knew it! You were just a cocky newbie! You and your friends thought it was ok to interfere in my plans! Well now I'm going to teach you three a lesson!" He spun wildly, slamming one end of the Sansetsukon into Sasuke's sword while pivoting the other into Sasuke's side. Sasuke coughed out blood, dropping to his knees. Akuji raised his Sansetsukon in an attempt to bash in Sasuke's head, but with some surprising strength the raven managed to jump away.

Sasuke stood with a hand to his side, Akuji's sword left forgotten on the ground. His vision was darkening. 'Not good,' he thought. A concerned Naruto flashed in his mind. He pressed a bloody finger to his bracelet. Before he could say anything, Akuji laughed and went on a monologue that Sasuke couldn't really hear. He'd been put into this state only once before when he managed to anger Orochimaru enough that the man lost it. Sasuke had only been with the snake bastard for a couple months when he let his mouth run a little too much. Kabuto had to heal him and Orochimaru only approached him once he calmed down. The man showed a little remorse at nearly killing his future vessel.

Sasuke looked at Akuji. He hadn't given up then and he wasn't about to give up now. Using a lightning heated palm, he cauterized his wound. The smell was nauseating, but Sasuke ignored it. Akuji stopped his monologue when he saw Sasuke step forward. "Do you honestly think you can fight me like that? You can barely stand!" He clenched his teeth in an evil grin. "Just die already!" He lunged at Sasuke. Sasuke managed to defend himself, but he knew this wasn't going to go anywhere if he couldn't go on the offensive. If he only had his Sharingan, he'd be able to win. Then Sasuke remembered that even without Susano, there was a way he could defend himself. It would also be offensive.

Akuji flinched and jumped back. He watched as lightning surrounded Sasuke like armor. He was baffled that the raven still had that much strength left, especially since his own was beginning to falter. Using so much mana even with the potions was tiring. If he didn't end this battle soon, he'd be the one in danger. One of his trackers had gone off to let him know that someone was coming here. They'd arrive in about five minutes. Just as Akuji raised his Sansetsukon, his other tracker buzzed. He cursed. Both of Sasuke's teammates were coming and this second one was coming a lot faster. He decided to use almost all of his remaining mana, only leaving enough to flee. Droplets of water flew into the air, surrounding Sasuke. They were smaller than before and sent out needles instead of spikes. Sasuke's lightning armor protected him. But the attack didn't stop. Soon, the water needles found cracks in Sasuke's armor and pierced his body. It was similar to Haku's attack, only Akuji meant to kill him. Seeing that Sasuke was still alive, Akuji used even more mana, forgetting his plan to flee. The armor cracked, shattering into the air as it dispersed. Akuji laughed as Sasuke fell to the ground. He walked towards him, grabbing his sword on the way. Sasuke could no longer move as Akuji stood above him.

A flash of red was all Sasuke could see as Akuji was suddenly thrown back. A loud crack managed to reach Sasuke's ears. Akuji screamed in pain as the new attacker pummeled him into the ground. Sasuke tried to keep his eyes open, but his body didn't listen to him. Akuji's cries stopped and Sasuke heard someone approach him. He knew who it was and he couldn't help but smile.