CHAPTER 11: THE AVENGER ASSEMBLES
"Hey, I know them…It's Asuma Sensei!"
Team 10 had arrived at its first stop, meeting up With its current members and some new additions. Asuma didn't tell them much. All they were told was that Sasuke had fled the village and that they were being sent to retrieve him, no motivation or trigger was given. "Alright, last time he fled he went after Itachi. So, he should be looking for him again, right?" asked Naruto. "Yeah, Naruto that's right. With that being said, we have no idea where either one went," responded Asuma. "Do you need us anymore, or can we leave Hiruzen's son?" questioned the blond Sannin. Asuma answered, "You should probably head home, we need a Hokage". The Toad sage cut in with: "Alrighty then, I guess we're off. Good luck Naruto, Sakura, Ino, Asuma!". They all split up, the Sannin and co heading toward the village, Team Asuma staying in the area to start a sweeping search.
—-
"Hey Naruto," said Asuma. "Yeah, Asuma sensei?" replied the boy.
"Those shadow clones, you know what they were invented for, right?"
"For fighting, I think."
"No. Lord Second made it for reconnaissance. Haven't you noticed when a clone dies you learn what they saw?"
"Not really. I just use them for fighting, never had the time to notice ya know."
"Well, that's what it's for. Now then, can you make a bunch of clones?"
"To find Sasuke? I'll do it!" said Naruto. "Shadow clone jutsu," he said releasing hundreds of shadow clones.
—-
Miles away in Orochimaru's base the Sannin smirked. "It's all going according to plan. Sasuke has left the village and is running towards me.
"Kabuto, send the sound 4 to retrieve Sasuke."
"What about Kimimaro?"
"Keep him here for now."
"And if Sasuke doesn't cooperate?"
"He'll cooperate after all, he's desperate."
—-
Sasuke ran, never stoping. No plan set, no strategy. Only a blank Idea of what he wanted. 'Kill Itachi' flashed through his mind. After hours of running, he started to calm down. Once the scowl on his face began to shift to a more neutral shape, the sound four jumped from the forest to surround him. Sasuke screeched to a halt, stopping in what he hoped was an offensive position. A figure approached him asking,
"Uchiha, how badly do you want power?"
"Who's asking?"
"The sound village. We want to offer you the power to defeat Itachi. You aren't powerful enough yet, you know this."
"Hmph, I'll kill you right now!"
Once Sasuke said this, Jirobo Hit him from
behind, knocking him out.
"What the hell Jirobo?!"
"Don't worry about it. This just makes him easier to carry."
"He is gonna be pissed when he wakes up! Carry him Jirobo."
"Dammit."
After kidnapping Sauke, the Sound Four start to head straight for Orochimaru's base. With no regard for the safety of their captive, they moved as fast as possible until they ran into an orange shinobi in a clearing. Without thinking much of it, they attack the random shinobi. 'He isn't putting up much of a fight,' they all thought until he puffed out of existence. "Oh crap that's a shadow clone! Now that guy will know where we are!". The team began to speed up towards their target.
—-
"Who were those guys, and what was the big one caring? SASUKE!". Quickly Naruto ran to find the rest of his team, disengaging his jutsu to learn all that his other clones learned. Doing so, he was quickly able to find the rest of his team. After informing them of where his clone had seen Sasuke, they headed to cut off the enemies. Asuma and Choji would come up from behind to push the enemies toward the trap where Shikamaru would be. An army of Narutos would line the sides to keep them from escaping. His shadow possession jutsu will be used to hold them in place.
—-
Asuma and Choji approached the Sound Four without warning. The sound four however attacked them back with a godless fury. They started to push the pair back when suddenly Kimimaro appeared. "Keep going!" he yelled, allowing the sound four to pass him. "I cannot be Lord Orochimaru's vessel, but I will not allow you to take his new one." Kimimaro began to use his bone jutsu to stop either shinobi from escaping. With a dome forming over their heads, Asuma needed to get them both out of there. No matter how hard they pushed, they could not escape from the calcium-rich dome. Outside they heard the pounding on the dome from the Narutos outside of it. Then they noticed, Kimimaro had been inside the dome the entire time. In an act of desperation, Choji eats the spinach pill. With the added strength he was able to break the dome. He begins to call for Asuma to vacate the dome with him, but he is declined. "Run Choji! Help everyone else! I'll fight this guy.". So, Choji ran. He ran towards the next part of the plan with an army of Narutos behind him.
—-
The Sound Four had been making up for lost time when they ran into the trap. Suddenly they froze, shadow possession jutsu had taken hold of them. The Narutos gathered around them to hold the enemies down when the Jutsu was released. Once this had occurred and the jutsu was dropped, Sasuke woke up. After stumbling around a bit, he began to talk with Naruto.
"So Naruto, I guess you helped huh?"
"Yeah, I've gotten really strong! Maybe as strong as you!"
"I don't believe it."
"Well it's true, I can prove it!"
"Oh yeah, my Chidori is stronger than your Rasengan!"
"Prove it!"
"Gladly"
Both shinobi began to charge their signature jutsu, preparing to charge at each other. They charged. Running at each other at full speed to defeat the other. "Naruto!" cried Ino, "Sasuke!" cried Sakura. Suddenly Choji appeared and broke up the conflict throwing both shinobi into separate trees. Sasuke looked around at the trees, 'Hah, the tree I hit has a larger gash in it' he thought, until he paid more attention. In front of the tree he thought Naruto hit was a stump with a large tree fallen in front of it, almost as if it had been hit by lightning. 'What?!' Sasuke thought, 'That is insane! Naruto knocked that tree down!'. Sasuke began to get up and leaped into the forest. "Wait Sasuke!" Naruto yelled behind him, keeping up the chase. Sakura began to chase after them but was stopped when the Sound Four used the distraction Naruto and Sasuke provided as a chance to break free and began to attack the INOSHIKACHO trio. This caused her to stop and help her friends who were under attack. 'Please Naruto, bring Sasuke back.' she thought.