CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

Decisions Part-2

"Come on, breathe for me"

Moegi blinked away a tear forming in the corner of her eye and continued focusing on the person sprawled on the ground before her. Despite all her efforts, Tenten hadn't moved. To the side, a blood-stained metallic rod lay, pulled out from where Tenten's left lung was located.

"No no no…" Moegi began to panic as she noticed Tenten's already lethargic heartbeat slow down even more…

Then stop completely.

She began to deliver CPR but it wasn't working, Tenten was still motionless. Moegi's brain went into overdrive, trying to think of a way she could save her. A loud grunt drew her attention to the area she saw Sasuke take on Isshiki moments earlier. Stealing a quick look, she spotted her teammate being lifted off the ground by the Otsusuki via a firm hand on his neck. Konohamaru kicked and struggled but Isshiki's iron grip didn't budge. Turning away in a hurry, Moegi silently prayed for her friend to somehow escape from his terrible situation. She couldn't bear to take another casualty that morning. In the span of a few minutes, the group had lost three fighters and with Konohamaru defeated, it looked like it was going to be four. Already growing tired from trying to save Tenten, Moegi finally decided to call it quits.

Tenten was gone.

"I'm sorry…. I'm so sorry" she apologized to her lifeless body, struggling to keep herself together as she moved over to her next patient. Thankfully, he was still visibly breathing. Tenten s death shattered Moegi's heart but she still had a job to do. Right now, reviving Naruto was top priority. He was their only chance of turning the tide in the battle and as harsh as it was, Moegi had no time to mourn Tenten.

Setting to work by placing her hands over Naruto's chest, Moegi's mind went back to what Sakura said earlier when she dropped his body to her and returned to the main building. She mentioned something about 'critical chakra drain' and a few words about Hanabi needing treatment and she was running for the mansion again. Moegi silently wished her mentor and teammate were still okay. There was still no sign of Hanabi even though she was preparing for her arrival.

"Naruto-sensei!" she exclaimed as she finally felt him begin to stir. Replenishing even a fraction of his massive chakra reserves was a gargantuan task for Moegi, and the addition of Kurama guaranteed she was wiped out by the time he was finally strong enough to sit upright.

"What happened?" Naruto asked his former student who had collapsed from exhaustion.

"Tenten….I couldn't…." a tear dropped from her eye as she gestured towards Tenten's corpse with a finger. Naruto immediately crawled up to her to check for vitals.

"No…" he clenched his first in anger as he came to terms with his friend's demise. Without raising his head, Naruto addressed Moegi.

"Who did this?"

The chunin gathered her energy to mutter his name. "Otsusuki….Kono…"

Naruto paused to try to understand what she was saying. A second later, he realized she was trying to tell him that Konohamaru was in danger.

Slowly rising to his feet, he meditated for a moment to try to communicate with his inner beast.

"Kurama, I hope you're all right"

I'm conscious the nine tails replied. The Hyuuga's betrayal will not go unpunished, the fox growled, baring it's long teeth.

"No, Hinata is just mistaken. There's no way she would ever try to harm us deliberately"

She already has! Kurama barked at Naruto. You may share a deep bond with her but she has decided to forgo it and collaborate with the enemy.

Kurama stalked closer to Naruto in their shared mind plane. She is not to be trusted

Choosing to discontinue their argument, Naruto decided to change the topic. "When the time comes, we'll figure it out. But for now, we need to deal with the threat nearer to us"

Agreed

Naruto reopened his eyes, his pupils now taken the form of narrow vertical slits with a rectangular bar across in the shape of a cross. A bright orange chakra cloak now covered his body, leaving the darker hue of orange that highlighted his eyes barely visible. Naruto faced Moegi on the ground to address her.

"Moegi, thank you for helping me. Regardless of what happened, you've done well today"

With that, he sped off in a blur of orange towards Isshiki and his friends. As he ran, he noticed the absence of Sakura. She had likely gone back to confront Hinata, he guessed. The idea of two people so dear to him potentially fighting each other broke his heart, but Naruto dug deep and pushed forward towards Isshiki. Challenging the problem in front of him seemed a more reasonable course of action.

Upstairs in the mansion, a fierce battle raged on. Sakura and Hinata had skirted the line between life and death on several occasions….but never by each other's hands.

Perched on a wall, Sakura watched Hinata extend her arm in her direction, her dark orbs circling her hand until they turned bright blue.

[Golden wheel rebirth explosion]

The dark hallway was suddenly lit up by a bright orange beam, burning with intensity and streaking towards Sakura Haruno. The medic narrowly dodged Hinata's attack, which extended in a straight line past her. The beam of energy blasted away the wall at the end of the hallway and the room it closed off too, extending beyond the horizon outside the building itself.

So much for not trying to kill me, Sakura thought as she jumped onto the ceiling to avoid Hinata's jutsu. The Hyuuga noticed her dodge her attack and raised her arm upwards towards Sakura on the ceiling, slicing the building's construction along the way in a streak of utter destruction. In a blur, Sakura leaped onto the opposing wall and then to the floor as the orange beam trailed her all the way. Bending low, she mustered enough energy and took off with tremendous force, crumbling the floor beneath her. A powerful shockwave followed Sakura as she sprinted towards Hinata, causing the wallpaper covering the walls to peel away and destroying the few lamps that remained attached to the walls.

"This is gonna hurt!" Sakura raised her fist to deliver a blow to her friend but the Hyuuga was up to it, quickly reshaping an orb in front of her in the form of a shield.

"Dammit!" Sakura cursed as she found her way flying towards Hinata's shield which was certainly going to hurt her badly if Madara Uchiha's truth seeking orbs were anything to go by. Sakura braced herself for impact, shielding her head with her arms.

To her surprise she merely bashed against it and fell to the floor, undamaged.

"Huh?" Sakura murmured to herself as she stared in disbelief at her very much intact body.

"It didn't disintegrate me?"

Not giving her time to react, Hinata sent an orb flying at her from the side with great force, slamming into Sakura's jaw and sending her through the wall into an adjacent room. Getting back on her feet, she sought her opponent through the hole she had smashed in the wall, only to find two more orbs coming her away. Sakura evaded the first one that came flying at her and spun around to duck below the next one. She spotted Hinata make her way into the room, her arm raised controlling the spheres.

These things are quite annoying, Sakura thought as she twisted and turned away from Hinata's spheres to the best of her ability. Seeing a chance, she sent one flying out of the building with a punch and kicked another towards Hinata who promptly dodged it. Sakura sped towards Hinata in a blur aiming to catch her off guard.

[Silver wheel rebirth explosion]

A powerful whirlwind shot out from Hinata's right arm being orbited by the remaining orbs. Sakura was caught in the wind and sent flying into yet another wall. She looked behind her to find the open space of the courtyard beneath her instead of another room in the large mansion.

I have to get close to her

Sakura grabbed a curtain as she flew out of the room, nearly ripping it in half. She swung into the nearest window with sufficient force, rolling on the floor and immediately bolting right up to Hinata.

Hinata read Sakura's movement well, deflecting a punch from her and responding with one of hers. Sakura relented, sending three more blows but her opponent evaded all three of them. As Hinata prepared to counter with a palm strike to Sakura's chest, she watched her friend suddenly disappear in front of her.

She's fast, Hinata noted.

Pausing to scan her surroundings with her dojutsu, she detected movement heading towards her at blinding speed and immediately ducked under Sakura's flying kick from behind. Hinata leaped up again immediately after to twirl in the air over another rushing attack from Sakura. As she landed on her feet, she carefully monitored Sakura's movement with her Tenseigan. She watched her sprint to the wall, running vertically onto it and making her way to the ceiling.

It's not easy sneaking up on her with her dojutsu, Sakura thought as she ran towards Hinata once again. She leaped from the ceiling to the wall, jumping over to the opposite one soon after in an attempt to confuse Hinata. As she got within arms length, she watched her friend raise an arm to hit her and instantly dropped low, sliding under Hinata's arm and appearing behind her.

Sakura was about to deliver a blow but one of Hinata's spheres intercepted her, violently striking her across the jaw. She flinched in pain and raised her hand just in time to block a lion covered fist from Hinata, but she could do nothing about the next six punches that connected with her head and abdomen.

Hinata watched Sakura stagger backwards from her kick and prepared to attack her again. Her twin lion fists shaved off a decent amount of chakra from their target when they connected, and paired with the Tenseigan the effects were even more devastating. But if her lion fists were a poison, Sakura's strength of a hundred seal was the antidote. Drawing on her seal, Sakura sent a surge of chakra to overflow her shut down chakra points, forcing them back open. She threw a punch towards Hinata and hit nothing, the Hyuuga flickered behind her in an instant and struck first with a precise jab to the middle of her back.

Clenching her teeth in pain, Sakura spun around only to catch a roundhouse kick to the temple.

And another.

Two more overhead kicks landed on the back of her head as she slouched forward. Hinata completed her assault with a devastating uppercut that sent her opponent tumbling to the floor.

Wincing in pain and feeling disoriented, Sakura struggled to get back on her feet.

She almost gave me a concussion….. Sakura struggled to focus on her opponent a few metres away from her. She was starting to get outclassed, and taking on Hinata at close range wasn't looking like a viable tactic anymore. Atleast I've gotten rid of some of those annoying spheres of hers, She thought, noticing the Hyuuga was down to five orbs.

"Had enough Sakura?" Hinata asked as she watched Sakura retake her stance. "Are you going to stand down and let me finish what's best for all of us?"

Sakura forced a smile. "You don't get to decide that, and I'm sure most people won't happily submit themselves to you."

Hinata took a deep breath and as she raised her hand, three more orbs manifested in front of her to replace the ones immobilized by Sakura.

Ah crap

Effectively back to square one, Sakura decided on a new plan.

Running.

The courtyard outside was a shattered landscape of elegant marble and swirling dust, the air crackling with the raw energy of intense fighting that had raged throughout the morning. Naruto Uzumaki stood firm, his eyes blazing with determination, facing Isshiki Otsutsuki, whose cold, calculating gaze promised destruction.

"So you're the jinchuriki"

Isshiki addressed the new face that came to challenge him. Naruto stood across him, fixing him with a glare.

"I'm guessing you're here to capture me, Otsusuki"

Isshiki smiled and moved towards Naruto. "That's right. I'd much prefer to end your pitiful existence, but I have orders from my superior, you see"

Naruto felt a smile appear on his lips. "I already know you're a Mama's boy, no need to explain it to me"

Isshiki ignored his comment and spoke. "That being said, I still intend to have my fun. I can only hope you won't be as disappointing as the one before you."

Naruto glanced towards Konohamaru's motionless body on the ground and inhaled, "I'm going to stop you right here invader, that I can promise." With that, he raised his hands in preparation.

The battle began with a furious exchange of blows, each one powerful enough to level houses. Naruto's body was enveloped in the golden glow of his chakra, while Isshiki's strikes carried the devastating force of his god-like strength. They moved with blinding speed, the ground quaking beneath them, shockwaves radiating from every impact.

Naruto unleashed a barrage of Rasengan, each one a swirling vortex of concentrated energy. Isshiki countered effortlessly, shrinking the attacks with his dojutsu and closing the distance with terrifying speed. He delivered a series of bone-crushing kicks that sent Naruto skidding across the battlefield, crashing through several statues like a ragdoll.

Naruto, get yourself together! This one is stronger than any you have ever faced

Naruto picked himself up with a pained groan. "Yeah, I can kinda tell y'know"

Kurama close his eyes deep in thought. It pains me to say this but you might need to call on the power of my siblings

Naruto made a one sided smile. "Never thought I'd hear that from you, fox."

No time to gloat, idiot! Kurama barked at him.

"Yeah, yeah….let's get to work"

In the real world, Isshiki approached Naruto calmly. Killing him was out of the question, lest the nine tails died, so he had to be careful. So far, the jinchuriki had put up a decent fight but his mission was going smoothly regardless.

But Naruto was undeterred. He drew upon the power of Kurama, the Nine-Tails within him, and his form was enveloped in a more intense cloak of seething chakra. With a roar, he summoned the power of Sage of Six Paths, his strength magnified to an unimaginable degree.

"Oh, you still have more tricks to show me?" Isshiki smirked at Naruto.

"You don't even know" Naruto replied. He charged at Isshiki, their clashes now creating fissures in the earth beneath them.

The two combatants seemed evenly matched for a moment, each countering the other's moves with precision and ferocity. Isshiki's rods pierced the air, aiming to skew Naruto, but the Jinchuriki leaped into the air in time to evade them, his danger sense warning him of the incoming attack. Isshiki roared towards him, his fists swinging with power and precision but Naruto held his ground, evading and deflecting with a finesse born of years of battle. Parrying a punch from Isshiki, he responded with a fierce blow of his, following up with a right hook that sent the Otsusuki backwards.

"Not bad" Isshiki smiled before rushing into battle again.

He produced a staff in his hand and attacked Naruto who tried his best to evade his attacks. Isshiki aimed at his head, swinging his weapon with ferocity. Naruto skillfully dodged it and produced a Rasengan in one hand, slamming it into Isshiki's staff and breaking it in two. He quickly produced two massive chakra arms, slamming them into Isshiki with relentless force.

Dissolving his chakra arms, he found nothing in the crater his attack left.

"Where is he?" Naruto said to himself, searching for Isshiki. Before he could react, Naruto found himself impaled by four rods that materialized in his arms and stomach. Wincing in pain, he saw Isshiki appear in front of him to deliver a powerful blow, knocking him into the ground.

Blood dripped from Naruto's wounds, his breath coming in heavy gasps. His healing factor was significantly weakened from the chakra drain he had experienced both from Hinata's betrayal and his battle with Isshiki.

"Naruto, don't rush into things"

The blonde looked over his shoulder to find Sasuke there, clutching his side.

"Took you a while bastard" Naruto said through clenched teeth.

Sasuke glared at Isshiki in the distance. "We're going to have to work together if we're to stand a chance"

Naruto picked himself from the rubble and pulled out Isshiki's rods. "Agreed, this guy's not going to go down easy"

Come on Sakura, think of something….. was the thought in her mind as Sakura raced for the hallway she had entered previously in the mansion. She still had the third inner gate open, although she had started to feel fatigued. Behind her. Hinata gave chase, not intending to let her out of her sight. Sakura made for the corridor, looking for something in particular.

She felt something approaching from behind and jumped in time to avoid three dark orbs aimed at her legs. Falling to the ground, she spotted a brown backpack and felt a rush of excitement.

"Yes!" she grabbed the bag with glee and took off with it. She scrambled through the bags contents, smiling to herself as she found what she was looking for.

Hinata flew up to a door she had seen Sakura run into. As she stepped inside, she noticed a distortion in the air, resembling a faint cloud of chakra.

"Genjutsu won't work that easily on me, Sakura" She narrowed her eyes in focus, easily spotting Sakura's chakra through the walls and interfering genjutsu and raised her hand. Four of her orbs took on the form of a battering ram and smashed the wall separating herself from Sakura, and the Hyuuga sidestepped in time to avoid a barrage of kunai.

She redirected her attention to Sakura in the next room who had a determined expression on her face, watching her projectiles fly past her.

Then she froze

In a fraction of a second, Hinata worked her dojutsu and caught a glimpse of the projectiles that were now a few inches behind her.

Explosives?!

Sakura had taken advantage of the interfering chakra to mask the lingering chakra traces on a few explosive tags she produced from her backpack. Attaching them to some kunai, she launched them at Hinata mixed with some regular kunai. Hinata had ignored the entire barrage, interpreting them as low threat ninja tools and only detecting the explosives once they were already in close proximity.

I need to perform the protective 64 palms!

Hinata began to move her arms around to spread the potent chakra streaming out of her body.

[Eight trigrams: Protective 64 palms]

In the nick of time, her jutsu shielded her from the effects of the explosion. Hinata dissipated it just in time to catch Sakura mere inches from her, fist clenched and raised in front of her face. The medic gritted her teeth and drew on immense power from her seal as she extended her arm.

"Shanaroo!"

Hinata braced for the impact of the punch but it never came, instead her friend's fist stopped mere centimeters from her face. Instead, what hit her was a powerful shockwave, launching her, along with every piece of furniture in the line of fire, through the wall and tumbling into the next room which turned out to be a library.

Sakura watched Hinata crash into a bookshelf and collapse on the floor, motionless. She sighed in relief and collapsed on a knee, finally closing the third inner gate. Carefully, she drew power from her seal and healed herself to nullify the after-effects of accessing the eight inner gates.

"It actually worked" she laughed to herself, not believing her luck. What was a crazy last ditch plan ended up settling the battle in her favour. Timing her attack to sync with the duration of the explosion was difficult, and she expected Hinata to counter her mid attack. That would've definitely been it for me, she thought to herself, but she was interrupted from her thoughts by a pained groan from the next room.

"Hinata!" Sakura hurried into the library over to the bookshelf where Hinata lay, her chakra cloak and the accompanying orbs dissipated. She knelt beside her to examine her and upon discovering her broken ribs and dislocated shoulder, her heart sank.

"I'm so sorry Hinata, but you left me no choice" Sakura lamented as she set to work healing her injuries.

"It's...okay" Hinata managed to let out along with a faint smile. "I don't hold anything against you, you did what you had to"

Sakura wiped a tear from her eye and continued, "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"