Chapter 28: Next Move
"You think Sasuke was always the target?!" Haruka grumbled, wincing as Shizuka continued to work on her wound. "And why the hell do you figure that?"
"The cat girl has a point," Kankuro grumbled, looking away before the brunette could scowl at him. "Is it for his Sharingan? He comes from a clan filled with them! What makes him so different?"
"It's not that he has a Sharingan," Naruto started as his eyes returned to their normal blue hue. "It's the potential that his Sharingan holds that makes Sasuke such a highly sought out target."
"His potential?" Gaara murmured as footsteps could be heard quickly approaching the room. Everyone, even those that were awake and injured, prepared themselves for a fight only to relax when a disheveled Nanami ran in with her sword in hand. The blade was already covered in blood.
"Nanami, are you okay?" Shizuka asked as the purple-haired swordswoman approached them.
"Looks like you had some fun on the way here. . ." Haruka added as Nanami started wiping the blood off her sword with one of the bed cloths.
"Well, that's what happens when you walk up on a few Sound ninja trying to be subtle in the hallway," She mumbled as she looked down at her now-clean blade. "I had to chop them down once I realized they weren't friendly."
"Sound ninja you say?!" Kankuro asked, not liking the news. "Why would Sound ninja even be in the village? It's not like they have anyone to root for left in the Showcase. Their reason died with the mummy man that was killed days ago."
All thanks to us, of course. . . Shukaku reminded them, though only Gaara heard his commentary.
"I didn't have enough time to ask them," Nanami explained. "As soon as they saw me, they didn't hesitate to attack. . . Left me with no other choice but to fight back."
"Looks like they didn't give you too much trouble. . ." Shizuka mused as she finally stopped Haruka's wound from bleeding, her hands moving swiftly as she pulled a roll of bandages from the pack strapped to her waist.
"I don't know about that," Nanami mumbled. "They were definitely ready for a fight, but they didn't really take me seriously because I'm still a genin . . . A fatal mistake on their part of course."
"It's stupid to not take your opponent seriously, regardless of their ninja rank. . ." Gaara pointed out, shaking his head.
"My brother's right. It was their stupidity that got them killed," Kankuro reasoned with a smirk. "Plus, if they had been paying attention to your match against Bug Boy, they would have taken you a lot more seriously, guaranteed!"
"Kankuro makes a good point," Shizuka mumbled as she finished bandaging Haruka's wound. "If they had been watching your match, those Sound nin that you faced would have known what you were capable of."
"They were probably more occupied with scoping out the arena than paying attention to the actual fights," Haruka mumbled as another explosion could be heard going off outside, as well as the faint sounds of people screaming. "They could have been tasked with checking for weak points in the building's structure, or planting bombs to cause maximum damage. I wouldn't look past the Sound to try either option."
"I think it was more for scoping the place out rather than to bomb it. I checked their kits and packs. All of what they had was standard stuff. No excess amounts of paper bombs to be found," Nanami mumbled. "So, what's this about Sasuke's Sharingan potential I heard you guys talking about as I was running over here?"
"Naruto believes that the Sound took Sasuke because of the potential that his Sharingan possesses." Shizuka answered as Naruto walked over to the still unconscious Sakura.
"Well, that makes sense. . ." Nanami mumbled, shaking her head.
"Um, how exactly does it make sense?" Kankuro asked, voicing the question before Gaara could even think it up. "Care to fill us in on some missing details here?"
"You know how most clans are split between the main and branch lines?" Shizuka asked, turning to the brothers. When the two nodded their heads, she continued. "Well, the Uchihas fall into that thinking as well, however, unlike most of the others, the Uchiha main line is very small compared to its branches."
"How small are we talking?" Gaara decided to ask.
"Well, with Lord Fugaku's death and Lord Itachi's disappearance, Lady Mikoto and Sasuke are all that remain of the main branch, which is a shame considering that particular line are descendants of some of the greatest warriors the world has ever seen . . ." Shizuka explained. ". . . A line that includes Madara Uchiha."
Both Gaara and Kankuro stilled at the princess' words, knowing full well who she was talking about. Lord Madara was one of the strongest and most feared shinobi of his generation, only being surpassed by Hashirama Senju, his close friend and the reigning Fire King at the time. The two were originally close friends, but a falling out between them that revolved around how Hashirama ruled led to their friendship ending on a sour note.
When he tried to take over the kingdom by manipulating the power of the Nine Tails, he was beaten by his former friend, but the battle is rumored to have gone on for hours before it reached a conclusion. At the end of it all, not only did Madara die at Hashirama's hand, but the Nine Tails fell under the Fire Kingdom's control from that day forward.
It also served as a dark day for the Uchiha Clan. Though they did respect Madara for his power and intellect, they couldn't look past the fact that the former clan head willingly attacked the kingdom, and with a tailed beast no less. It damaged their reputation within the kingdom for years to come, but they have managed to regain much of that luster since then.
". . . A descendant of Madara Uchiha? Hell, Sasuke has a lot to look up to," Kankuro mused, bringing a hand to his head. "The good stuff of course. The bad stuff we can all do without."
"You're not wrong about that," Naruto mumbled as Sakura's face started scrunching up. "Sakura! Can you hear me!?"
"Yeah. . . Owww!" The pinkette mumbled as she started to sit up, only to fall back as she clutched the side of her head. "What happened?"
"To put it simply: The Showcase went to hell!" Haruka announced. "The Sound has decided to make a mess of things and well, like I said, it's gone to hell!"
"Spoken like a true poet Haruka. . ." Nanami mumbled, earning herself a punch to the arm from her teammate.
"Do you remember what happened here before you went unconscious?" Shizuka asked as Naruto started searching for an ice pack.
"I was talking to Sasuke when I saw a piece of paper fly into the room. Didn't think anything of it . . . Big mistake," Sakura grumbled, scowling at the memory. "It was a flash bomb, and a powerful one at that."
"They must have used it to make sure that Sasuke wouldn't be able to properly use his Sharingan," Nanami mused, bringing a hand to her chin. "Taking out his most powerful technique from the start would certainly weaken him."
"The flash bomb wouldn't give him a chance to even try to activate it," Sakura corrected as Naruto finally walked back over with an ice pack in hand. "It definitely wasn't a normal one, likely a more advanced version."
"The Sound has a reputation for being a land of experimentation," Kankuro mumbled. "Experimental jutsus and tools can be a hit or miss . . ."
"Well, it definitely was a hit," Sakura grumbled as she took the offered pack from Naruto's hand and placed it on the side of her head. "I couldn't see a thing, but I could hear multiple footsteps, some shouting . . . and then everything went black."
"They must have knocked you out before you could even get a sense of your bearings. . ." Naruto grumbled, taking a moment to look around the room. "Not only did they take Sasuke, they took out the medics here while they were at it."
"Not all of them. . ." Haruka mused. "Yes, some of them are dead, but the majority were only knocked out. I can still hear their hearts beating."
"You can hear their hearts beating?" Kankuro asked.
"It's a family thing . . ." said the brunette, shrugging off his question. Kankuro scowled, but decided to not ask any further, figuring that the girl may have a cat themed kekkei genkai of some kind. "Right now, we need to figure out the next steps."
"Haruka's right," said Nanami. "We can't just stand here and wait for everything to blow over. The Sound is attacking and they already took Sasuke. . . I say we go after them."
"It's not like they're going to get far. . ." Naruto mumbled as he turned around.
"And how are you so sure?" Gaara decided to ask, turning to the blonde. "For all we know, the ninjas that took your teammate could be far from this village by now."
"Hmm, that's a fair thing to say, but remember, the Sound has been on our kingdom's radar for a while now, so much so that our father made sure to put in some contingency measures for anything that could happen," Naruto explained as he turned to his sister. "The barrier. . . Do you think it's up by now?"
"It's been operational since dawn. . ." Shizuka mumbled. Noticing the confused Sand princes' expressions, she explained a little further. "Ma and Pa had the Sealing Corps working on overdrive these past few days on a barrier that would effectively cover the entire village. It was supposed to go into effect one hour before the finals started."
"What is it supposed to do exactly?"
"Keep out anyone that tried to get into the village while also preventing anyone from leaving it. I don't know the exact details except that it also has some sort of disorienting effect on anyone that comes close to it." Shizuka explained, shaking her head.
"Is there a possibility that the enemy could break the seal?" Kankuro asked.
"Not really; the seal is supposed to be brand new, one not seen by anyone except by those that worked on it in the Sealing Corps," Shizuka explained as a rumbling noise managed to reach their ears. "Sounds like it's starting to get quite busy out there."
"The fighting is only increasing. . ." Naruto mumbled. "We need to move. NOW!"
"We can't just leave the unconscious ones on their own here. . ." Shizuka pointed out as she gestured around the room.
"You can, if you leave some of us behind," Sakura pointed out as she sat up. "I can stay behind with the medics. Maybe I could get some of them to wake up. . . I'll be a better help here than out there anyway."
"I might as well help you out," Kankuro mumbled, his words immediately catching everyone's attention. "We may come from different kingdoms, but the Sound is no friend of the Wind. Besides, I'm in no condition to fight at full power, but I might as well do some good while I'm here. Gaara, what about you?"
Fleshbag, don't even think about sitting this one out! Shukaku threatened his vessel, finally putting his two cents in. This is a prime opportunity to see some bloodshed and I will not let you pass it by!
"Hmm, and here I thought you didn't even care. . ." The redhead mumbled in return as he looked around the room. When he looked at the royal twins, the looks on their faces were knowing, as if they knew he had been talking to the oversized tanuki. "I'll come along. My long-range attacks will be useful to you."
"Your father won't mind?" Shizuka decided to ask, her right eyebrow going up in intrigue.
"At this point, I really don't care what my father thinks." Gaara was quick to say, a hint of malice in his tone.
"It's true. Gaara and our dad really don't have the best relationship right now." Kankuro added, wincing as he shrugged.
"I wonder why . . . Haruka?" Shizuka asked as she turned to the brunette. "You coming?"
"My wound still hurts like a bitch. I would only hinder your progress," Haruka mumbled as she stood up. "I'll stay with Sakura and the Puppet Prince. Besides, someone has to watch over them in case another enemy gets any ideas."
"Fine; we'll send any spare shinobi back here if we run into them," said Naruto as he turned to those who were able to go. "Let's go! We've already wasted enough time as it is."
A/N: Please review!