Chapter 11: Master Of Puppets
Inside Akatsuki hideout in land of waves, 6:14 PM, 3 days since Kazekage retrieval mission start
The rescue team now fully took in their surroundings, although there wasn't much. They had expected more Akatsuki members to be in this place, but they saw only two. A huge clay bird stood to the side of them and Gaara was at the Akatsuki members feet while they simply sat on earthen mounds. The rest of the cavern was bare, with only a pile of earth near the center that looked like it had just recently been placed there.
The members of the rescue team simply stood there for the moment, taking in the sight before them after the initial outburst from the blonde on the team.
"Gaara, what are you doing buddy? Come on get up." Naruto was internally pleading with Kami that they were not too late. That this was just a funny joke being played by Gaara.
There was no response from anyone or anything. It was as if the question was never asked.
"Quit fooling around man, this isn't funny anymore." He now openly pleaded out in a last-ditch effort to deny the truth that was in front him.
"Naruto, I'm sorry but he's not getting back up." Kakashi said, killing any hope Naruto had left of seeing his friend alive again.
Naruto clenched his fists in rage and started to grind his teeth. Never in his life had he felt this kind of wrath at another human being. No, no, they were not human beings, they were monsters. Naruto then felt the familiar tug of the bijuu inside himself, telling him to give over completely to his baser instincts and in exchange it would give him all the power he needed to slaughter the duo in front of him. He was tempted to give into this feeling but barely held himself back.
"You, BASTARDS!" He shouted out in defiance. Naruto wanted to so desperately to throw a kunai or shuriken in this moment. To just run up to the bastards and make them feel even an ounce of the pain he felt at this time. He kept himself under control though. Sakura's earlier words still bouncing around in his head. He didn't want to be the reason anyone else got hurt this day.
"Sasori, I think we found the short tempered one. What do you think?" Deidara mockingly asked his partner.
"Indeed Deidara, we haven't even said a thing and he's already in such a mood." Sasori commented back.
Deidara then sat up and started to reach towards the corpse of Gaara.
"Don't touch him!" Naruto shouted out.
"What will you do little boy if I do hnnnnn?" Deidara was just daring the jinchūriki to attack recklessly. He wanted the boy to make a mistake that he could easily take advantage of and knock him out of the fight early. After all, they needed him alive, and this would be the perfect opportunity to do so.
Both Hinata and Sakura then glanced towards Naruto, wondering what he might do with this provocation. Hinata would follow whatever course of action he did, while Sakura would heed her own words she said to Naruto and wait for what Kakashi had in mind.
Naruto was just about to take a step forward before he caught himself. He instead switched tactics and looked towards his sensei for guidance.
"What's the call sensei?" Naruto asked, trying his best to hold the spite he felt from his voice.
Good, it seems the lesson is finally setting in. I just hope he doesn't forget it again in the future.
Naruto, I'm here for you. I will follow you into the depths of the abyss if I must.
Before Kakashi could make up his plan, he received a call from his communication device.
"Kakashi are you there?" Gai said over the frequency.
Kakashi moved his hand to the device around his neck and activated its speaking function. "Yes Gai, what is it?" He inquired.
"My team and I are facing off against what seems to be clones of ourselves. We will be delayed in backing you up."
Cursing at his luck, Kakashi responded with "Ok, be careful and stay alive. I don't want to lose anyone else on this mission.
"...Understood."
Kakashi then deactivates his communications device and starts to think of a new plan without the backup from team Gai. Taking into consideration what he already knows from firsthand experience with Naruto and Sakura and what he has heard of about Hinata and Lady Chiyo, he comes up with a plan. He utters out to Naruto. "Jiraiya told me about a new release you have been working on. Can you use that to get Gaara's body?"
Naruto hit his fist into his palms before uttering. "For sure I can." He started converting his chakra into swift chakra and prepared for a mad dash towards his friend's body.
"Alright, when you get the body, we will split up and deal with them separately." Kakashi now said to the group. "Lady Chiyo, you will take Sakura and fight Sasori. Sakura's Iryōjutsu will be needed to deal with his poison. Naruto, Hinata, you both will be with me and will fight this Deidara character." The group all gave nods of affirmation and started to prepare for their tasks.
"Oh hoho, and what makes you think I'll just give up this beautiful corpse so easily?" Deidara declared as he reached for the body.
Right before he could touch the body, Naruto made his move. His swift release was fully active now and the world around him slowed to a crawl. He had not gone all out like this in some time and he could already feel the drain on even his massive chakra reserves and knew he had to make this quick.
He ran towards Deidara and even though Kakashi didn't say to do it, he also didn't say he couldn't do it. He gave Deidara a good punch to the face. Deidara's face now currently had an indent from the fist of Naruto and ripples started to emanate from the point of impact. Satisfied with himself, Naruto turned his attention to his main target and grabbed the body of Gaara and hoisted it onto his shoulder. Once secure, he sprinted back behind his team and placed the body of Gaara down gently before releasing himself from the strain of swift release.
"AHHHH" Deidara shouted as he was sent flying across the cavern before skidding to a stop.
"I got him sensei." Naruto barked out from behind him.
"Deidara!" Sasori was normally one to not show many emotions outside frustration and anger but here his tone carried a mighty big surprise. "What did you do boy?"
"I gave him a preview of what he can expect from me." Naruto spouts back.
Chiyo was also taken aback by Naruto's act, but she kept her composure, so no one knew.
That boy, how many more surprises do you have in store us?
"Good work Naruto." Kakashi praised his student for getting Gaara away from the Akatsuki. "Now then, I don't suppose you two would be willing to come quietly?"
Sasori was undeterred. "And give up my chance on dealing with that old bat Chiyo? You have only made my day."
Deidara had picked himself up from the dirt by now and had called over his giant bird. He then gave his own reply to the one-eyed man. "I rarely get to share my art with so many people on a personal level. I won't pass this chance up." He uttered as he rubbed his cheek from the impact of Naruto's punch and turned to address Naruto. "You pack one hell of a punch I'll give you that. Perhaps I'll share my art with you first you brat."
"Thats too bad. Everyone, get ready!" Kakashi barked out.
"Deidara, once I deal with my pests, I'll be coming to collect the jinchūriki. You already got one and now it's my turn, so don't screw it up with your so called 'art'." Sasori said to his junior.
"Master, you know how I get when I get inspired. I just can't help myself at times. Fine art should never be hindered. You of all people should know this." Deidara spoke aloud, ignoring the rescue team now.
"Fine art is made to last. It should be made eternal so future generations can look upon your master works." Sasori now too was ignoring the rescue team.
This only served to fuel the ire in Hinata. Who are they to just ignore us?
Given that Kakashi had given them the order to be ready, she felt it now appropriate to bring the Akatsuki's attention back to where it should be. Silently she nocked one of her arrows and pulled the string back, aiming at the shorter one and letting loose.
The arrow roared towards Sasori, heading directly for his head. From underneath the cloak he was wearing arose a tail of some kind. Its appearance giving off the look and vibes of a scorpion's tail, segmented and dripping with venom. In a blur, the tail swatted away the arrow as if it was nothing, allowing the two Akatsuki to continue their bickering.
"You are a little shit you know that? I try to impart wisdom on you, but it just washes away like rain on a raincoat." Sasori uttered to his junior once more, not even acknowledging the attack on him.
"We will just have to agree to disagree then, what do you say hnnn?" Deidara queries back to his master.
"Fine, just remember, I get the jinchūriki."
"Who are these people?" Sakura asked in confusion. She had expected a group of S-Class criminals to be all serious and all about business and professionalism. She didn't expect them to be bickering about 'art' and acting like children. Now that she thought of it, every powerful shinobi she knew was also excentric. Did power and quirkiness go hand in hand?
"I make no promises master; I'll be taking my leave from this place for now. I need to spread my wings a bit if you catch my drift." Deidara spouted out as he mounted his bird.
"Fine by me, gives me more room to work as well." Sasori drawls out, readying his primary puppet.
Hearing these final words, Deidara's bird took off. It took off with a speed a creature that size should not possess. It used this incredible speed to make a beeline for the entrance of the cave.
"Oh no you don't!" Shouted out Hinata as she launched what would turn out to be many arrows in this battle.
Sasori skillfully dodged the arrows barely, now behind the 5 shinobi and heading for the open air.
"Naruto, Hinata, lets move!" Kakashi announced to his now sub team. "Sakura, Lady Chiyo, good luck." Before leaving, Naruto took Gaara's body and when he left the cave, set it down next to the torii gate so it wouldn't get caught in the crossfire between Sasori, Chiyo, and Sakura.
Both kunoichi gave their thanks in return as they witnessed them sprinting out of the cavern to catch their flying prey.
In the cavern there were only 3 individuals. On one side stood the present, a shinobi in their prime. On the other side stood the past and the future, one who's prime had since come and gone, and the other who's prime was only starting to bloom.
"So, Grandmother, have I finally made you proud by surpassing you?" Sasori mocked the only family member he had left.
"Oh, so you think you have surpassed me, have you? The youth of today, so arrogant in themselves. It seems I have another lesson I need to teach you." Chiyo says this as she pulls out a multitude of kunai from her waist and throws them at her grandson with deadly accuracy. Her grandson responded by getting on all fours to make himself a smaller target. He then commanded his tail to intercept each kunai, and the tail headed its masters call, catching or swatting away every thrown weapon. Sasori's cloak ripped apart with these actions, revealing what looked like a giant mask on his back and whose mouth is where the tail sprouted from.
Sakura was starting to feel a little out of place in this arena. She could just feel the experience oozing from the two shinobi in front of her and the feeling of being just a burden slowly started to creep back into her.
"Sakura do not doubt yourself. If your sensei says you are ready for this then you are. Do not let doubt cloud your mind, it will get your killed." Chiyo said to the younger kunoichi.
These words seemed to help Sakura overcome the doubt that had been creeping into her. "I won't doubt myself anymore, you can count on me." She then looked at Sasori closely and made an observation. "That's not his real body. So where is it? I don't see any strings or the like coming from anywhere."
"hmmmm, his real body is probably inside that puppet, protecting him like armor and overcoming one of the main weaknesses of puppeteers." Chiyo answered the young kunoichi's question. "We just need to break it."
Sakura lifted her brow in response to that statement. "And how will we do that?"
Chiyo chuckled to herself before responding. "Why, you will of course. The way you destroyed that boulder out there tells me you have immense strength. More than enough to destroy his puppet."
Sakura felt a little embarrassed at such praise coming from her elder, but she also felt immense pride. "Not a bad plan, the only issue I see is how will I be able to get close enough to him to smash his toy. One sting from that tail and I'll be forced to use one of our antidotes." Sakura offered her rebuttal.
"Don't you worry about that deary, between the two of us he'll be more than distracted enough for you to get close." Chiyo reassures Sakura of the plan. She then removes the cap she has been wearing and lets her hair down and now focuses back on Sasori. "I have failed you, my grandson. The fact that you are on this path is on my soul. It is my duty then to stop your plans."
"You give yourself too much credit grandmother. This is how I would always turn out. The only thing you did was introduce me to the greatest art known to man. I'll enjoy turning the two of you into my latest pieces of art!" Sasori gloats, almost cheerful at the prospect of turning his former teacher into his greatest creation. "Now if you two are done, I'd like to get this started. Waiting is the absolute worst thing imaginable."
"Don't worry about that, we are done making you wait. It's time I smash that puppet of yours to bits." Sakura confidently says while readjusting her gloves.
Chiyo took this as her queue to start this fight properly. She takes off to flank Sasori with a speed someone her age should not possess.
"You stay right where you are!" Sasori shouts out as a hail of senbons fly from the gauntlet on his hand heading towards Chiyo. She crudely dodges the hail of weapons, her age starting to show in her reflexs.
Sakura was now also trying to flank the master of puppets. She pooled chakra into her legs and sprinted off. Sasori saw this and extended his stinger to deal with her. Sakura was able to duck under the stinger but only barely. So close was the stinger to her that she could easily see the poison dripping from it. Attempting to seize the moment, she cocked her hand back and struck out at the offending appendage. The stinger curled out of the way, a testament to Sasori's control over all aspects of his puppet.
"Wind Release: Cutting gale" Chiyo said as she unleashed a super condensed wave of air towards Sasori. Sasori leaped into the air to avoid damaging his precious puppet. He was starting to feel annoyance steadily growing inside him. He used this annoyance to power his next round of senbons, this time targeting the younger kunoichi. Sakura danced around the poisonous needles with grace and beauty rarely, if ever, seen. Her time with Gai was paying off and she was able to easily read the trajectory of the incoming attacks.
"Stop mocking me with that dancing and face me like a shinobi." The annoyance once again rose inside Sasori as he tried to provoke the young kunoichi.
"How about you face me like a kunoichi instead." Sakura mocked him right back.
Seeing her grandson being distracted for the moment seized the initiative. "Earth Release: Bedrock coffin." Dual giant slabs of earth now surrounded Sasori and attempted to crush him. Sasori again jumped into the air to avoid damage to his puppet. This time though, Sakura was ready. She was already soaring through the air, chakra collecting into her fist, readying to smash the puppet. Sasori brought his tail up and sought to impale the young girl on it. Before he could do that though, Chiyo sent air bullets towards his appendage and they collided, moving the tail away just enough for Sakura to slip by.
"AHHHHHH!" Sakura screamed as she unleashed all the chakra in her fist into the body of Sasori's puppet. A loud boom shook the cavern, loose dirt and rock were pushed away on the ground. Rocks from the ceiling started to fall as well due to the intensity of the attack. Sasori's puppet was now in total disarray. The poison stinger was a mangled wreck, and the mask had hundreds of cracks all over, offering no further protection for the human inside.
"Good job Sakura, now we just need to fight his real body." Chiyo exclaimed.
From the rubble jumped a black cloaked figure. The figure landed far away from the duo of kunoichi, crouched over so neither could see its face.
"I'm impressed." His voice no longer had the gruff it used to have. Now, it was almost childlike. "Despite only knowing each other for a few days. Your teamwork is impeccable. Looks like I'll be having fun this battle after all."
Chiyo scoffed at this comment. "We already broke your main puppet; any others you have will fall just as easily."
Sasori was not moved by this statement. "True, you did beat my main puppet, but you should know Chiyo that a master of puppets has many tools at their disposal." He now stood tall; his face no longer hidden by shadows.
"Thats...impossible." Chiyo uttered in shock. She could now clearly see her grandson for the first time in over two decades, and he looked like he had not aged a day. He still had his youthful appearance and didn't look any older than Sakura despite now being almost 40 years old.
"Grandmother, you have barely scratched the potential of puppets and just how they can be made. Here, let me give you another demonstration." Sasori then unfurls a scroll from his cloak and releases the seal in a cloud of smoke. "This one proved particularly challenging to acquire but, in the end, I could not be denied."
Once the smoke cleared, Chiyo could see the new puppet that Sasori had summoned forth. "No, you didn't Sasori. How could you do that to your own Kazekage?"
The puppet that now stood in front of Sasori was no ordinary puppet. Sasori had done a most horrible act. He went beyond the line every puppeteer before him had refused to cross. He had made a human puppet. A puppet made from the very flesh and bone of a once alive human being.
"Sunagakure was never my home, the Sandaime Kazekage meant absolutely nothing to me beyond what he could provide me in materials." Not only had Sasori made a human puppet. He had been able to kill the greatest Kazekage to have ever lived and transformed him into one of his single strongest puppets.
Chiyo didn't know exactly what you could do with a human puppet. Was this just a psychological trick on Sasori's part or was there something special about human puppetry. Could it be possible that a human puppet could somehow use jutsu the corpse knew of in life? Chiyo inwardly hoped that wasn't the case. If it was though, the abilities of the Sandaime Kazekage would prove exceptionally difficult to beat.
Sasori prepared his single greatest puppet for battle. "Well then, lets start round two, shall we?"
XxX
Outside Akatsuki hideout in land of waves, 6:17 PM, 3 days since Kazekage retrieval mission start
"I must say, I appreciate having 3 shinobi go after me instead of two." Deidara's compliment rolled off the 3 Konohagakure shinobi. "But you are a fool Kakashi, even I have to admit that Sasori is stronger than me for now."
Deidara was still on his bird, now hovering far above the torii gate with Kakashi, Naruto, and Hinata below him.
Hinata released an arrow at the giant bird just to tell Deidara what she thought of his thoughtfulness.
Deidara was able to maneuver his bird out of the path of the incoming arrow just in time for it to whiz by. "Ah, you must be the jinchūriki's girlfriend. Itachi told me you were just as quick to anger as your boyfriend is."
Hinata was not going to take the bait and respond with words. Although for a split second, the words 'Naruto's' and 'girlfriend' caused her heart to speed up and her body to warm up. She squashed this feeling for the moment. Now wasn't the time for such thoughts. Later though...
"There's no way we are going to just let you get away with what you did to Gaara you bastard!" Naruto cried out, his whisker marks growing ever bolder on his face.
"It's not up to you if I get away with it or not. I will simply kill your friends and capture you so you can join in the same fate as the jinchūriki back there." Deidara said as he pointed to the corpse of Gaara outside the entrance. "In fact, now that I think about it, why don't I give you a first-hand experience with my art hnnn?" Deidara drawled out as his hand spit out explosive clay. He took aim at the corpse of Gaara and threw the deadly projectile.
If not for the quick hands and the byakugan of Hinata, Sunagakure would have had to mourn its Kazekage's death with no body left. Instead, before the explosive could reach Gaara, an arrow intercepted the clay and caused it to explode prematurely.
"You again girl. How dare you interfere with my art!" Deidara angrily spats out, his attention now fully on Hinata.
"Looks like we are not the only ones quick to anger." Hinata replied in a mocking tone. Her byakugan still active to prevent another such attack.
That Hyūga bitch is going to be a real problem for me to get my art off. I'll need to tire them all out to even up this fight. Let's see if they can keep up with me while I'm flying. At the very least it will make it harder for them to hit me while running.
"You will have to catch me if you want to get your revenge." Deidara muttered. His plan now formulated in his mind, he willed his creation to start to fly away, just begging the three to take the bait.
"You aren't getting away from us!" Naruto screamed out. He was about to chase the Akatsuki member on his own before he remembered his promise. "Sensei, lead the way!"
Kakashi felt pride in his soul hearing those words from Naruto. His student was finally starting to control himself in the heat of battle. He would congratulate him later though. Now, they had a mission to complete.
"Lets go you two." With this command, the three shinobi started off after Deidara, leaping from platform to platform, keeping up with the explosive artist. "Hinata, you are on guard duty. I don't want any of that explosive clay to get anywhere close to us, got it?"
"Understood Kakashi."
"Naruto, I need you to be ready with your swift release when I get my own preparations done."
"What preparations are you doing sensei?" Naruto questioned his teacher and leader.
"I need to gather enough chakra so I can use my Mangekyō Sharingan."
XxX
Inside Akatsuki hideout in land of waves, 6:20 PM, 3 days since Kazekage retrieval mission start
"Lady Chiyo, do you know this puppet?" Sakura had found the previous exchange between the two Sunagakure shinobi to be a little confusing. Why are they talking about the Sandaime Kazekage?
"Thats not ordinary puppet Sakura. That is a puppet made from the flesh and bone of the Sandaime who disappeared a decade ago. Sasori turned him into a human puppet." Chiyo informed the young kunoichi.
Sakura was finding it hard to wrap her head around the concept of a human puppet. Why use a human at all to be a puppet? Do human puppets have any special qualities to them. "Why would he do that? Is it a psychological tactic?" She managed to blurt out.
"I don't know Sakura. I've only heard about human puppets in theory. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine it would be done. Let alone done by one of my own flesh and blood." Chiyo answered before turning back towards Sasori. "You truly are the worst traitor in the entire history of Sunagakure. You have managed to kill three of your own Kazekage's."
Now Sakura was truly confused. "Wait, three times?" she questioned, hoping for an answer.
"Indeed, young one. He has directly killed Gaara and the Sandaime. Through Orochimaru, he killed Gaara's father as well." Chiyo laid out just some of the many crimes her son was guilty of.
"Now hold on there. Orochimaru may have been my partner for years before he left us, but it's my subordinate who's responsible for the Yondaime's death. I had no part in his demise." Sasori drawled out, starting to get bored with this conversation.
The name of Orochimaru awoke something in the mind of Sakura. This scum in front of her was partnered for years with Orochimaru. The same man who gave Sasuke the curse mark. The man who pushed Sasuke over the edge by promising the Uchiha the power to kill his brother.
"You...you know about Orochimaru." Sakura coldly roared out.
"Indeed, I do girl, but enough with this chit chat." Sasori says as he terminates this conversation and sends his puppet forward at Sakura.
This puppet is much faster than the last one. Sakura thinks to herself as she leaps back to try and put some distance between herself and the human puppet. From under the cloak of the left arm of the puppet came a multitude of blades attached to the forearm, all dripping with Sasori's special poison and ready to lash out when they came in range of the young kunoichi.
Before the blades could strike her, Sakura used her jutsu to bring up a stone pillar which the puppet sliced through but not before she put even more distance between herself and the puppet.
This girl is doing much better than I anticipated. I was just going to use my strings to give her a boost, but I can clearly see that won't be necessary. Chiyo thought to herself as she started to bring out the scrolls for her puppets.
So, she's finally going to fight like a true puppeteer. I need to deal with this pink hair nuisance quickly then.
The right arm of the puppet held several cannisters that opened and unsealed the fūinjutsu inside them, revealing one hundred arms and hands as it continued its charge towards Sakura. Chiyo quickly unsealed her puppets from their scrolls and sent them out to intercept the flying hands aimed at Sakura.
The puppets were able to halt half of the incoming appendages but that still left 50 hands looking to strike Sakura down. She twisted and contorted her body into many different shapes to avoid the incoming threats. The hands dug into the rock all around her, but none hit her person. Sakura made a mental note to thank Chiyo later for halving the amount of work she would have needed to do.
Once Sasori's attack was finished, green chakra formed around not just the hands of Sakura, but also her entire arms and legs as well. She made another mental note to thank Lady Tsunade for all the chakra control exercises. With four limbs of death, the young kunoichi was able to slice all the hands surrounding her and made her escape from the labyrinth that had formed around her.
"Throw everything you have at me Sasori. You can pierce my body, poison me, paralyze me, take a limb from me, but I will not stop coming for you till you are beaten. And when I do, you will tell me EVERYTHING you know about Orochimaru." Sakura promised this not just to herself, but to Naruto and Sasuke as well.
"Foolish girl." Sasori retorted back, as the remaining extra hands sent a wall of kunai at Sakura. Chiyo's puppets were able to get between Sakura and the incoming danger. With Chiyo's skills she was able to swat out the hail of kunai before they reached their target.
"I see you have brought them along grandmother." Sasori commented, now fully aware of the puppets that Chiyo had just released.
"Yes, I kept them as mementos from a better time. The puppets you made in the image of your parents." Chiyo uttered with a hint of regret.
"Do you really think you can beat me with my own creations? I know those two-inside out." Sasori derided his grandmother before sending his puppet towards the elder kunoichi.
After Sasori had lost his parents, he retreated into himself. It was a lonely existence and to help himself cope with his lose, he made his very first 2 puppets in the likeness of his deceased parents. He would control them and have them act like his real flesh and blood parents, having them hold him when he felt down. In the end though, even he knew they were just imitations. No will of their own. So, he discarded them, not wanting to look into their faces ever again.
Chiyo sent forth both her puppets into the fray, engaging her grandson, puppet master vs puppet master. Both master's expertly controlled their dolls with precision that could only come from decades honing their craft. Every swing of kunai, every string of wire, lunge of a blade was masterfully dodged or intercepted, with no puppet taking any damage so far.
Amazing, so this is what puppeteering can do. No wonder Kankuro likes it so much. Sakura thought to herself as she took a moment to catch her breath and take in the spectacle in front of her. Eventually, the three puppets were separated and landed by their masters' side. Both masters had a look of determination on their face, wanting to be the sole master of puppets after this fight.
Sasori decided he needed to reveal one of the secrets of human puppets. He now knew he couldn't take it easy on the two kunoichi. What looked like black sand now started to flow out of the Sandaime puppet's mouth, billowing in front of it.
"I see, my earlier suspicion was correct." Chiyo stated aloud.
"What's going on Lady Chiyo?" Sakura questioned as she turned her attention to her partner.
"It seems human puppets can use any jutsu the person knew in life. What you are seeing now is the famed iron sand of the Sandaime Kazekage. It can be made into any form, any weapon, anything that Sasori would need made, it can be done." Chiyo responded.
"I see, that's why he made human puppets, it's such a huge advantage over normal puppets." Sakura added her personal thoughts to the new development.
"You are both correct, and that is why he is my favorite puppet of all." Sasori
"Sakura, be extra careful now. I'm certain he's infused the iron sand with his poison. Make sure to avoid getting any cuts from his attacks."
"Now you are just ruining the fun grandmother. I'll need to put a stop to that." Sasori aired out as the iron sand now formed into small clumps before he shot them.
Chiyo unfortunately knew she had no way of dodging the incoming iron sand. She wasn't as flexible or nimble as Sakura was, so she did the only thing she could. She brought both her puppets in front of her and had them deploy the only upgrade she put on them, chakra shields.
Sakura knew it was possible to dodge all the incoming projectiles, but it was a long shot. Instead, she flew into her hand signs and cried out "Earth Release: Tentacle fury!" From the ground around Sakura sprang forth 8 earthen tentacles. Each one reached out to the oncoming onslaught and stopped most of the sand from hitting their master. What did manage to get through was easily danced around by Sakura.
Although the initial attack failed to fully take out either of his opponents, Sasori was still pleased with the results. As soon as Chiyo tried to move her puppets, they were prevented from doing so. Iron dust particles had gotten into the joints and crevices of her puppets. Sasori now had control of the puppets.
"You should have taken your own advice about dodging. Now your puppets are useless to you." Sasori gloated at his accomplishment. "I am impressed with you being able to give them chakra shields though. Quite a good upgrade."
Chiyo only gave a light chuckle at the faint praise. She couldn't deny though that she should have dodged. Not only had his iron sand gotten into her puppets, but it had also gotten into her own puppet arm. She was doing her best to hide it, but it wouldn't be long before her grandson figured out, she was down an arm.
"Sakura, I think its best if you run and catch up with your team. I can hold him off long enough for you to catch up with them. There is no sense in both of us dying here." Chiyo sadly stated, cursing the hells of aging.
Sakura wasn't going to listen to this advice. She had made a vow to Naruto to stand by his side against the Akatsuki. If she ran from this fight, she could never face him again, and that was unthinkable to her. What could the two of them do that will turn this fight around into their favor? Then, the idea hit her. It was staring at her right in the face.
Sakura body flickered to now stand in front of Chiyo. "Lady Chiyo, use me as your puppet." She boldly declares. "If a dead human puppet is this strong, imagine a live human puppet."
Chiyo was taken aback at this request, but she didn't disagree with the plan. She wanted to let Sakura know though what she was going to be in for. "Sakura, you should know I'm currently down to only one arm. Also, iron and steel weapons are useless against that puppet due to its control of magnetism. We will be limited only to your taijutsu and ninjutsu."
"Thats alright by me. If there are two things I inherited from Lady Tsunade after all this time, it's her contempt for losing and her unmatched strength. Taijutsu will be right up my alley." Sakura proclaimed as she punched her fists together.
With Sakura knowing full well what she was getting herself into, Chiyo now had no more qualms about attaching her strings to Sakura. With Sakura's youth and her experience feeding into the young kunoichi, they could very well take down the monstrosity of her grandsons' creation.
"Well Sasori, you took round two. Lets move onto round three."
XxX
Outside Akatsuki hideout in land of waves, 6:40 PM, 3 days since Kazekage retrieval mission start
Deidara wasn't one to anger quickly on a normal day. Even if you didn't appreciate his art or were actively trying to hinder him, at most you would only annoy him. For the first time in a long time, he could say he actively hated someone with a passion.
That bitch is ruining everything! All my precious art is being destroyed! I swear I'll make her death the slowest and most painful out of them all. No one messes with my art, NO ONE!
Deidara had been flying through the sky, just out of reach of any jutsu the trio below could cast. He was not out of reach though from Hinata. She was doing quite a good job of keeping him from not pulling too far ahead of the group.
The trio had been running and jumping through the valley for a while now. A river ran to their left and rock formations of all shapes and sizes were scattered along their route. If not for their training, they would have had difficulty navigating the maze of rocks.
Deidara was brought out of his thoughts as he had to, once again, evade the incoming projectile. If his art wasn't destroyed by Hinata, then he was evading her shots towards him. Even when he sent out multiple clay bombs down onto them, she was able to pick them all off.
This song and dance between Deidara and the Konohagakure shinobi had been going on ever since he first took flight from the hide out. There were no signs it would let up either, at least when it came from the shinobi team. If anything, they seemed to be catching up to him and her shots were getting closer and closer to hitting his mount. Deidara on the other hand was steadily depleting his reserves of clay. Deidara gritted his teeth in fury just thinking about it.
Deidara was even contemplating heading back to the hideout in hopes that his master had dealt with his own problem by now. If he did though, he would never hear the end of it, so Deidara decided to keep on this path for now. He needed to come up with something. Maybe if he made clones then he could at least split them up. No, then he would have less chakra to use for his art and that would not do. Then what?
BOOOOOM
The last arrow he had managed to dodge exploded in a ball electricity right after it had passed him.
Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me! Note to self, kill EVERY Hyūga you see from now on. No questions asked, just murder them. Can this get any worse? Kami heard the challenge from Deidara and accepted it. Soon, the artist felt moisture on his head. I hate my life.
Meanwhile, the group from Konohagakure were busy leaping from rock formation to rock formation, steadily gaining ground on the bombardier above them.
Damn, missed him with that shot. Now he knows it's in my arsenal. Also, why did it have to start raining? Hinata thought to herself as she reprimanded herself on missing her opportunity. At the very least she was doing an excellent job with her main task of keeping everyone safe.
She found picking off the little explosive clays thrown their way to not be too much of a challenge. Her training with Neji actively moving the targets in erratic ways had been harder than simple gravity assisted drops. She did find it a bit more challenging though when he would send a multitude at once. In those circumstances she needed to fire multiple at a time and in rapid succession as well, her byakugan greatly assisting her in aiming.
So far, she has been feeling pretty good physically. The constant byakugan activation wasn't wearing on her nearly as much as she thought it would, and her chakra reserves were still above half.
Mentally she was also cool and collected. She needed to be to make her pinpoint shots on the clay, less one gets through and ruins the preparation of Kakashi or worse, one hits Naruto.
Kakashi was still gathering chakra to activate his Mangekyō Sharingan. At times like this, he wished he had Naruto's chakra reserves. It was taking longer than he expected to gather the chakra but thankfully he wasn't in any danger from stray explosives. Hinata was doing an excellent job keeping them safe from the clay and he started to wonder if he could bring her along on more missions with the rest of team 7.
He had been practicing with his Mangekyō Sharingan these past few years to use it more often and effectively. He had neglected training initially because of his ANBU duties at the time. Once he was done with his stint in the ANBU, he found himself with a team of genin and didn't find the time to train and recover from his training. Once Naruto and Sakura found sensei to help train them was when he finally found the time to train his gift properly.
Unfortunately for him, he could only use his power three times. When he does though, he's usually out of commission for two weeks due to the chakra depletion and physical strain of using it. It had to be used though. Even with Hinata more than evening the playing field with her long-range attacks, at best it was just annoying Deidara for now. He was simply too far up and away to get a reliable shot on Deidara.
"Kakashi sensei, how much longer until your prep is done? I've got my chakra ready for another swift release burst at a moment's notice now." Naruto articulated to his teacher. He was having a hard time keeping the rage he felt under control. He knew he needed to follow his sensei's plan, and he would. Once he was off his leash though, he would make the blonde Akatsuki pay dearly.
"Soon Naruto. I don't have the chakra reserves you do. It takes time for me to build up the necessary chakra levels to activate my eye. If I were an Uchiha I would be done by now." Kakashi replied, still jumping from rock formation to rock formation.
"Speaking of the sharingan, you never told us how you got the eye. I was always curious, but I didn't want to push the issue till you were ready." Naruto stated as he looked towards his sensei.
Kakashi thought back to that tragic day. The day his life changed forever and how he lost his best friend. In a melancholic voice, Kakashi turned to his student and answered back with "I appreciate that Naruto. It's... a though story to tell. One that's deeply personal to me. I promise though, I'll tell you and Sakura and Sasuke how I got it when I'm ready."
"Alright, now then, let's hurry this up please. I'm itching for some action. Hinata is doing such a good job destroying his clay that I don't even need to evade." Naruto grumbled out, not noticing the slight color change on Hinata's face.
"Be thankful we have such a good defender on our side. It makes our mission that much easier." Kakashi reminded him.
"I could always let one of the smaller clays fall your way Naruto if you want some action." Hinata teased the young shinobi as the rain started to come down harder now.
"Nah, I'm good Hinata. Keep up the great work and we will have this wrapped up in no time."
Indeed, I'm getting close to activating the Mangekyō sharingan, just a few more minutes and we can end this little farce.
XxX
Inside the Akatsuki hideout, 6:40 PM, 3 days since Kazekage retrieval mission start
For the past 10 minutes, Sakura and Chiyo acted as a perfect puppet and master. Chiyo with her decades upon decades of experience to draw from and Sakura being in peak physical and mental conditioning. Separate, they were quite formidable. Together, they felt like they could beat any obstacle in their wake.
That didn't mean beating Sasori was a cake walk, quite the opposite in fact. Through his puppet, he was making all sorts of weapons and constructs that he expertly wielded against the kunoichi duo. He had initially tried to just simply go after his grandmother, but Sakura had made that line of attack unattainable. When he switched tactics and focused on Sakura, he found himself hitting only earth or air.
Chiyo's experience feeding into Sakura proved to be quite a combo. The best Sasori could get at this point were near misses. He did notice a change in her. The girl tried to hide it, but he could see her starting slow down if only slightly.
"Sakura, how are you holding up girl?" Chiyo asked her living puppet.
"I'm right as rain, just keep directing me and victory will be ours soon." Sakura replied squinting her eyes and giving a thumbs-up gesture reminiscent of her blonde teammate.
The thing Sakura had not realized is that Chiyo had slowly been doing less and less directing of the young kunoichi's body. This girl doesn't even realize she's been dodging his attack on her own for a while now. At this point I barely need to give her any help. Tsunade, you choose well in an apprentice. This girl is one of the finest kunoichi I have ever seen and to think she's not even in her prime years yet.
Despite the bravado Sakura was showing, inwardly she could feel the fatigue starting to take a tool on her. At least I caught onto how to read his puppet. To make his puppet do anything, he needs to move his arms and fingers. It's the biggest weakness of any puppet user. Still though, I need to take a risk. I'll tire out faster than him. I need to smash this puppet but how?
Sasori meanwhile was busy gathering his iron dust, thinking about what next he could throw at the two of them. I thought grandmother would be the biggest problem here. It seems Konohagakure is training their kunoichi well. I can't let this farce continue though. Every second I waste here is another where Deidara could fall and then I'll have to deal with all of them on my own. If my conventional tactics won't work, I'll just need to improvise.
"I applaud you both. I never thought the two of you would push me to such measures, but you have. Take pride in that before I take your lives away." Once the iron sand was in front of him, he sent it out to do its task. The sand wasn't aimed at the kunoichi though. It was aimed at the ceiling. "Time to bring down the house." Sasori almost giggled out.
The sand formed into an ever-branching structure as it traveled forth. This tree of sand struck the roof of the hideout with a thunderous crack. The force of the impact caused the roof to start collapsing all around them. Boulders both large and small started to fall from the ceiling, forcing the two kunoichi to begin evading the falling debris less they be crushed. Sasori had kept a small amount of iron sand near him and put a dome over his and his puppet's head. The hardiness of the iron would provide more than enough protection against the falling debris.
As Sakura was busy staying alive, out of the corner of her eye she saw the iron sand start to move again, specifically towards her. "Iron Sand: World Model." She heard it come from Sasori. The branches of the tree twisted and turned as its 100's of limbs converged on the girl. So numerous were the branches that they blocked all hope of escape.
Now's my chance.
"SAKURA!" Chiyo cried out. She knew Sakura couldn't both evade the collapsing roof and the iron sand at the same time on her own. Despite the risk that she might be crushed, she still tried to help Sakura through her strings. She felt resistance in her strings attached to Sakura.
What?
Chiyo didn't have time to think much further, the roof was closing in on her fast and there was nothing else she could do for the girl except hope for the best. What stones she couldn't dodge she used earth release to destroy. Eventually she could see fresh daylight starting to shine inside the cavern from above. Right behind the sun came the rain.
The roof was now fully collapsed. The cavern was now simply an extension of the open valley now. Jagged rock and stone littered the area creating a hazard for those who would traverse it.
Chiyo coughed out as she breathed in a layer of dust into her lungs. She shut her eyes to the world to keep the particles out of her eyes. Her remaining good arm hung by her side, any attempt to move it causing sharp pains to radiate throughout her being. Eventually the dust finally started to settle and Chiyo was able to breathe normally again. She slowly opened her eyes and sought out her younger cohort.
She spotted her and found that Sakura was very alive and kicking. Except, she now had a few cuts on her body and was bleeding.
"Sakura, are you alright?" Chiyo shouted to the girl. She got no verbal response. Instead, Sakura now slumped over and hit the mud face first. The poison trying to take effect on her.
"Well then, now that she's been dealt with, lets finish this, grandmother against grandson." Sasori declared, seeing victory in his grasp. He commanded his puppet to fly forwards. Dodging both the terrain and the iron sand that went at odd angles.
This is the end. I failed you Sakura. I failed myself. Most importantly, I failed you, Sasori. Chiyo thought to herself, closing her eyes in recognition of her defeat and imminent death.
CRACK
A loud boom suddenly erupted from the battle ground. Chiyo opened her eyes to see what could have caused this. To her astonishment, Sakura was now fully standing, the remains of Sasori's puppet around her. A dome of air surrounded her free of any rain, the force of the impact pushing away all the moisture for just a few seconds. Once again, the young kunoichi defeated Sasori's puppet with a single blow.
"Sakura ho-" Before she could finish her sentence, Sakura answered. "I injected the antidote into myself while the roof was caving in and deliberately let myself get hit. It was the only way I could get close enough to this freak show puppet to smash it."
Bold idea girl. Risky but bold. I like your guts. Chiyo thought to herself, amused at such a tactic working.
"Lady Chiyo, you are hurt!" Sakura said seeing the blood come from the elder kunoichi's arm. The younger kunoichi weaved her way through the terrain and iron sand to get by Chiyo's side. Once there, she surrounded her hand in green chakra and began to heal up Chiyo's arm. "You didn't get hit by the sand, did you?" Chiyo shook her head in denial which eased Sakura's mind a bit.
Sasori was a little surprised at this newest development but more than that, he found himself enjoying this fight. "You were able to come up with that plan to destroy my puppet, and you are also a medical-nin. You have once again surprised me. I haven't been entertained this much in a long time. You will make a fine puppet after this battle is through."
Once her arm was healed, Chiyo thanked Sakura for the assistance which the young kunoichi accepted. "We don't have much time lady Chiyo, the antidote only works for 4 minutes, and I only have 2 more vials left. We must finish this fight before the last antidote wears off." Sakura uttered as she wiped her wet hair from her eyes and did her best to wipe the mud from her clothes.
Chiyo wasn't surprised by this assertion, Sunagakure didn't have the right materials to make enough of the antidote against Sasori's deadly poison. When she returned to the village, she wanted to change that. Chiyo didn't know if they could end this fight in time though. She could see that Sakura was exhausted now. After shattering two puppets, dodging, and healing both of them, Chiyo would have expected Sakura to be hunched over due to fatigue and chakra exhaustion. Yet, there she stood tall and proud, if a bit winded and muddied.
It's a shame I won't be able to pick her brain after this is done. To be able to come up with an antidote against my most powerful poison in such a short time is remarkable. Nevertheless, time to show them my next trick.
Sasori undid the strap holding his cloak on his shoulders, shrugging off the piece of wet clothing in the process.
"It's been a long time since I last had to use myself in a fight." Sasori had not only made human puppets. He had also turned almost the entirety of his being into a puppet as well.
"Let's continue this then, round 3."
XxX
Outside the Akatsuki hideout, 7:10 PM, 3 days since Kazekage retrieval mission start
Deidara was now starting to get just a tinge desperate. He would never admit it to anyone, especially to his master, but it was there. It didn't help that he was cold and wet as well.
Fine, if simply dropping multiple on you won't work. Perhaps I can bury you.
He made several more explosive clay bundles from his hand and tossed them down. This time though he wasn't aiming at just his pursuers but the terrain in front of them as well. Just like every other time he had done this, Hinata caused all the explosives heading towards them to detonate prematurely. This did give cover for the clay aimed at the terrain to hit its mark though. Deidara FINALLY felt some satisfaction that he had made some art the way he wanted.
Pillars of rock and stone all started falling through the canyon below. Platforms were being destroyed both by the falling debris and the exploding clay.
Dodging and weaving through the field of rubble wasn't too difficult a task for Kakashi but it did slow him down and forced him to open his sharigan eye, thereby forcing more chakra usage.
Naruto and Hinata were both together. Dodging and destroying all obstacles in front of them. What Hinata couldn't hit in time, Naruto was able to clean up. The two acted as if they had been working together for years when in truth this was the first time on a mission together.
Once all three of them made their way past the field, they were greeted by a swarm of clay insects. Deidara had used the chaos caused from his last maneuver to deploy 100's of the buggers.
That ought to buy me time at the very least. Deidara thought to himself.
He thought wrong. Before the swarm could start moving, Hinata's hand was a whirlwind of activity. Arrows flew left, right and center, exploding in huge fireballs that completely engulfed the entire swarm. This served as a chain reaction and soon 100's of tinier explosions filled the valley. Through the smoke came the charging shinobi, not losing a single step.
Amending my earlier mental note, don't kill every Hyūga you meet. Make them suffer THEN kill them!
"Great work Hinata! That was amazing!" Naruto stated aloud as he looked towards the girl next to him.
"Thank you, Naruto!" Hinata says back as she too looks at him.
It was only now that both realized something important. Both were soaking wet. The rain had not stopped for 10 minutes now, in fact it had increased in intensity, and both teens had not a single dry spot on them.
Wow! Either Hinata had a growth spurt while I was away, or she hid her figure well before I left. She's drop dead gorgeous!
Oh Kami! Oh Kami! Oh Kami! Just look at him. I thought I had a good look at him before but now I see just how truly wonderful he looks! And He's only going to look better from here on out!
Both teens' eyes met momentarily before each looked away, both embarrassed at having been caught looking. Each of them felt a fire on their cheeks and could swear they saw steam come off them. Naruto's anger he had feeling was completely forgotten at that moment.
The trio continued for a few more minutes with an awkward silence falling upon the 2 younger shinobi. Kakashi hadn't missed the way the two looked at each other and couldn't help the tiniest smiles form underneath his face covering.
I hope you two both find love and comfort in this life. Become the shinobi I wish I was strong enough to be.
Despite trailing just a bit further behind now, the group were still well within striking distance of Deidara. Good thing too, because not too long after the stunt, Kakashi reopened his eye, revealing the Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Ok you two, I'm ready."
XxX
Remains the Akatsuki hideout, 6:45 PM, 3 days since Kazekage retrieval mission start
Sasori was now displayed in full view of the two kunoichi. On the right side of his chest held a compartment with a mechanism that allowed him to control his numerous chakra threads. From his stomach a large cable protruded that he could use for offense and defense. On his back were numerous scrolls that held his various puppets. From his hips came two poles that both had numerous blades attached to them that could spin at a rapid rate.
Unlike the previous rounds of combat, he didn't allow the duo the time to marvel at his creation for long, instead each of his palms parted, revealing a pipe in each which shot out flames directed at the two who each ran behind a fallen bolder for cover.
Sasori did not let up his fiery assault as he sent out the sharpened cable to strike at Sakura from behind her cover. She saw it coming at the last second and used her kunai to deflect the cable past her.
Close one!
Sasori was expecting this though. He had the cable continue further until it embedded itself into a rock behind the two kunoichi. Once it was firmly attached, he reeled himself in and was launched directly at his grandmother with his blades spinning by his side.
Chiyo moved into her defensive stance, ready to face Sasori head on. Once he was a foot from reaching Chiyo, his momentum suddenly stopped. Both puppet masters' eyes widened at this turn of events. Both twirled their heads to the end of the cable and found Sakura was reeling Sasori in.
Thank you, Lee and Gai. I wouldn't have had the strength to do this without you.
Sakura tugged Sasori towards her with all her might, sending him flying. She then rushed forward and prepared an attack combining what she had learned from Tsunade and team Gai. "STRONG FIST!" She yells out loudly.
BOOOOOOM
Sakura scored a direct hit. Breaking the puppet that was Sasori into his individual components which now lay scattered all around her. She looked up to the elder kunoichi, huffing and puffing as she did. "We did it Lady Chiyo, and with a minute left on this dose."
Their victory was short lived. Behind Sakura, Chiyo saw that Sasori was reforming behind the young kunoichi.
"Sakura, move!" Chiyo shouted out. Sakura didn't need to hear it twice; she could already see the pieces in front of her starting to move and so she moved next to Chiyo.
Once the two were together, Chiyo brought out her final scroll. Now that the Sandaime Kazekage puppet was out of commission, she was free to use her other arm again and so could use her trump card.
"I promised myself I would never use these puppets again. You leave me no other course of action grandson." Chiyo exclaimed before she undid the seal. "Secret White Move: Chikamatsu's 10 Puppets" In front of Chiyo were now 10 of her strongest puppets. Each individual puppet could take on one thousand puppets easily, combined they could take down a whole castle.
"So many puppets. You really are a master of puppets Lady Chiyo." Sakura praised her elder, thinking there was no way they could lose now.
Sasori by this point had fully reformed his puppet and stood across the battlefield unamused at the display. He held his head in the palm of his hand, disappointed.
"Is this the limit of your abilities Chiyo? Here, let me show you both a TRUE master of puppets!" He shouted out, as he unfurled a scroll from his back and released the seal on it. The right side of his chest opened, revealing the multitude of chakra strings from within. Once the smoke cleared, Chiyo and Sakura were now staring down 100 puppets. Both kunoichi stood aghast at the display of mastery in front of them.
"To think I would be pushed to use my ultimate technique. Be happy that I have deemed you worthy of such a technique. Fear not though. You two will make fine additions to my collection when this is done and will live on for eternity as my puppets."
Sakura took this brief respite to give herself the second to last dose of the antidote before she handed over the last one to Chiyo. "Here is the last one, I've got four minutes now for us to end this. You ready Lady Chiyo?"
As confident as she could say, Chiyo answered back with. "Of course I am, I'll deal with crowd control, you go for Sasori and this time, aim for the canister in his left chest. That's where what's left of him should be." Sakura nodded in approval of the plan.
"Well ladies, here it is, the final round. I'm going to enjoy this." Sasori shouted with an ounce of excitement in his voice.
Before the final battle could commence, Chiyo pulled out some type of small contraption from her pocket. "Sakura, catch." She said as Sakura turned and caught the incoming device. "When you get close enough, throw that at Sasori." Sakura gave her acknowledgement and turned around to meet her second toughest challenge in her young life.
Both Kunoichi readied themselves for the toughest part of this fight. Then, Sasori struck out with all 100 of his puppets. Chiyo's 10 puppets and Sakura all charged out to meet the challenge.
Chiyo's puppets were all not the same. The taijutsu puppets were smashing Sasori's puppets to bits with their mechanical fists and feet. The kenjutsu puppets were hacking and slashing a path straight through the middle of the onslaught. The ninjutsu puppets were burning, electrocuting, and blowing away the puppets in front of them.
On an individual level, Chiyo's puppets had the advantage. Unfortunately, the numbers were catching up to them. Try as she might, Chiyo was finding it impossible to deal with every single one of Sasori's puppets. She was now starting to lose some of her puppets due to shear overwhelming adversity. She prayed that Sakura would be able to get to Sasori soon.
Sakura was dodging, ducking, dipping, diving, and dodging as much as she could on her road to the enemy puppet master. Those that proved to be an obstacle in her way she was able to destroy with either a single punch or single kick. Sweat from her body mixed with the heavy rain that poured onto her, washing away much of the mud that remained on her body and clothes.
"AHHHH." Sakura heard Chiyo scream from behind her. Sakura swung her head around to see if Chiyo was alright. The puppet that had gotten to Chiyo had been dispatched but not before it got a cut on the elder kunoichi.
"CHIYO, use the antidote!" Sakura called out before her attention switched back to her main target. She rushed forward, destroying even more of Sasori's puppets until she found a clear line of sight towards her enemy.
Sasori was standing still for her, he couldn't move much while he was controlling so many puppets at once, another weakness to the art. With all the strength she could call forth, she chucked the device Chiyo gave her at her target. As it soared through the air, it transformed into a mask of some sort in the shape of a demon's head. Razor sharp teeth started gnashing as they headed for Sasori.
The mask device hit its target straight and true, its momentum not stopping as it stuck itself into the wall with Sasori still in its clutches. All of Sasori's puppets at once ceased all activity.
"We've won Sasori, that sealing jutsu stops all chakra from flowing out." Chiyo painfully said as she started to feel the effects of the poison start to take hold. She clutched her side with her arm to try and take away some of the pain.
Sakura was hunched over, panting, trying to catch her breath and regain some lost chakra. She took this momentary breather to also think about what just happened. Something feels off about this. Even controlling that many puppets, he should have been able to attempt to dodge my throw. At the very least he should have had some puppets just on defense. Why didn't he?
A thought suddenly came to her, a terrifying one. No, it can't be! She then looked up to where the device and Sasori were. There was no canister in its left chest. Sasori had used the same trick that Sakura used to defeat the Sandaime Kazekage puppet. Sakura whirled herself around and saw Sasori with a new body between her and Chiyo, readying his blade to strike at his grandmother.
Sasori charged forward, ready to strike down the final living member of his family. Sakura opened up somethings inside her and ran faster than she ever had in her life to try and intercept the incoming attack. Chiyo was in no shape to either dodge or defend herself. The poison robbed her of most of her options to escape the situation.
Chiyo closed her eyes, knowing this would most likely be the end of her. Her only hope was that it would be quick death. An eternity flew by for Chiyo. All the moments she shared and cherished of her grandson came to the forefront of her consciousness. The first time she laid eyes upon him. When she taught him about puppetry. Him making the puppets in the likeliness of his dead parents. Him trying to replace his parents with said puppets but only becoming sadder. Her grandson deserved better than what he got.
Curiously, death did not come for her. She cracked an eye open and saw between her and her grandson was Sakura, who had managed to catch the blade between her gloved hands. Sakura thanked Kami for wearing cut resistant gloves. The blade was mere inches away from impaling the young kunoichi, but the blade would not budge.
"I will NOT let you hurt Lady Chiyo any further!" Sakura declares in fury.
Sasori was not moved by this outburst, he had another trick up his sleeve, or in this case his arm. While Sakura was busy holding the blade from going forward, Sasori detached the arm holding the blade, making the girl lunge forward due to the sudden lose opposite pressure. From his other arm another blade came out resting on top of his hand and he moved to finally strike down his grandmother. Why is she moving her fingers?
He soon got his answer. From the corners of his eyes, he saw the puppets of his mother and father barreling towards him. Without his Kazekage puppet, he couldn't stop their movements toward him. Instead, he summoned a few of his remaining puppets to tackle Chiyo's puppets.
Your last trick grandmother. I'm insulted at how easy you made it for me to see. This is the end of you. Do not worry. I'll carry on the puppeteering legacy and transform it into its ultimate art form.
Before he could make the final blow on his teacher and grandmother, he took a last look at her face. He didn't see regret, sorrow, or sadness in her eyes. No, he saw pity. Pity at how low he had sunk himself. Pity at the mockery of human life he trounced over with his human puppets.
Pity at how easy it was to trick him when he thinks he has won.
A blade struck true, right through its target. A killing blow. The blade came from Sasori, but not the one he had control of.
Sakura had managed to regain her footing and seized the arm that been trying to stab her just mere moments ago. She had turned the arm around and dove towards Sasori from behind, piercing the last human bits remaining of Sasori.
This girl, one who he initially had thought of as nothing but a gnat at the start. This girl, who he had begrudgingly started to see as a minor threat at best. This girl, who he thought would be useless in this fight. It was this girl that finally put an end to his madness, not his grandmother. It was the girl who he underestimated from the start that had defeated him.
"Pathetic"
XxX
Outside the Akatsuki hideout, 7:15 PM, 3 days since Kazekage retrieval mission start
"Finally, what's so special about this new sharingan sensei?" Naruto quizzed his teacher.
"You will find out very soon Naruto, now be ready for when I bring Deidara down from the sky, both of you. Hinata, I need you to hold your shots for a few seconds. I can't have him evading while using this." Kakashi answered.
"Ok got it." She replied as she lowered her weapon. She had no idea what Kakashi was about to do but if Naruto trusted him, then she would as well.
For the first time this entire battle, there was silence. No bombs were thrown, no one talked, no explosions from either side. Just the solitude of nature to accompany all of them. A calm before the storm.
Hnnnn, what is this? The bitch finally stopped firing. Did she run out of ammo or perhaps she's simply exhausted? And what are the other two doing now?
Deidara then felt a small pull come from behind him. At first it was weak, barely worth a look. He was too distracted by his own thoughts to get out of the way before it was too late. The pull he felt suddenly increased in power one thousand times over, shocking the Akatsuki member. Barely clinging onto his mount, he spins his head to look towards the source of the pull and saw a sphere in the air, taking in air all around it. Deidara tried to will his creation to move away from it, but it was too late. In a fraction of a second, Deidara felt his leg separate from his body below the knee before it was sucked into the sphere to be lost to him forever.
"AHHHHH, BASTARD, MY LEG!" Deidara shouted out, blood squirting from the stump. Deidara tried to use what little fire jutsu he knew to cauterize the wound, less he dies from blood loss.
Damnit, I missed. I've got two shots left or else he might escape. Kakashi thought to himself, cursing his bad aim. He needed to work more with this new power in the future to make it more reliable.
I need to get out of here NOW! I'm down one arm and one leg. I need to regroup with Sasori and come up with another strategy. If I can't get out thought, I still have my ultimate trump card, the C0. Deidara tried to fly higher into the sky to make his escape. Once again, he felt that same pull from earlier above him. Oh, fuck me.
Deidara forced his mount down to avoid being sucked into whatever sphere that was. This time, he was able to put enough distance between him and the object to avoid losing anything this time. He was now right above the tops of the trees, a perfect opportunity for Naruto.
He unleashed the stored swift release energy from inside himself and felt the familiar sense of the world slow down around him. When he looked towards Hinata, he could see her blink in slow motion, his mastery of this technique was improving. He sprinted away from his group, making a clone to help him with making his rasengan. He made his way up to the tallest tree near Deidara and both Naruto's sprinted up its trunk, emerging up above the canopy.
The clone Naruto poofed out of existence, its job completed in forming the sphere of chakra. The remaining Naruto leapt up from the tree, the sphere of death still in his hand. He reached out and was able to hit the bird from underneath. Once he contacted his target, he cut off the swift release from his body, allowing himself to feel the normal flow of time once more.
BOOOM
The rasengan did its job, tearing through the bird with a titanic force, separating the thing into 2 chunks. Deidara was launched from the force of the explosion on its mount. What the hell was that technique from that blonde freak? I've never seen such a thing before. As for that stupid vortex trick, no doubt about it, that was a doujutsu on par with Itachi's. He's the one I should have been worried about, not the jinchūriki. Although that sphere does pack a mighty punch.
"Kakashi sensei, are you alright?" Naruto asked as he looked towards him with a sense of worry.
Kakashi was sweating profusely, his normal spikey hair now fell down across his face and forehead. He moved the hair out of his eyes and spoke to his student. "I'll be fine Naruto as long as I don't use that again soon. Now you two, finish him off." He directed the two young shinobi.
Deidara now found himself on a thick branch of giant tree. The force of impacting the branch had knocked the wind out of him and he was struggling to get his breath back. Too preoccupied with getting his breath back, he didn't notice the yellow flash that appeared in front of him until it was too late. He also didn't see the look of pure wrath on his attacker's face.
Naruto impacted Deidara's face once again, this time with a roundhouse kick that sent his foe flying away from him. Deidara righted himself in mid-air and was attempting to do one handed jutsu, but he was too slow. He felt a pain emanating from his back. Hinata had managed to get into the perfect position to catch him, her bow now stowed on her back. She too kicked Deidara with all her might, sending him back towards her teammate with a move she picked up from Neji.
Naruto was grateful for the assistance, now he didn't even have to move to hurt Deidara more. Once the Akatsuki member had flown close enough to Naruto, he reared his fist back and punched Deidara right in the stomach, sending him crashing downwards through the branches below. Naruto followed him down but had to wipe the rain from his eyes before he made his 3 clones.
The 4 Naruto's jumped down and caught Deidara before he could smack the ground, 2 grabbing his cloak and the other 2 grabbing into his remaining limbs. All 4 swung downwards, sending Deidara to the ground at an incredible rate.
He landed with a thunderous crash, causing him to cough out at the sudden impact. The Naruto's above him descended, looking like angels of death.
"U!"
"ZU!"
"MA!"
"KI!"
"AXE KICK!" All 4 Naruto's shouted as they brought there heals down and struck with a bone breaking force. Or it would have, if it was the actual Deidara. The clay substitute started to glow upon being impacted by the Uzumaki's strike. Sensing the incoming explosion, the clones as one grabbed onto their boss and chucked him away before he could be caught in the detonation.
BOOOOOOM!
The clones stood no chance and were poofed out of existence. Earth and tree debris flew through the air as the real Naruto covered his face to avoid any lasting injuries. A newly formed crater now adorned the forest floor. A couple dozen feet away from the center of the blast was the original Naruto, currently on all fours and seething in anger. His canines started growing larger. The whisker marks on his cheeks grew in thickness. His eyes now appeared like a fox's.
On top of all these changes, the teen was surrounded by a red chakra. Off his head the shroud appeared to give him elongated ears and from his back sprang two tails of chakra. He sprang up right, appearing to grasp towards the setting sun. The Kyūbi was starting to take over.
Despite the fatigue he was feeling after using the kamui twice, Kakashi sprang into action. This is bad, I can't let the nine-tails take over Naruto. He thought to himself. He dashed towards his student, pulling out the seal that Jiraiya had given him before they left on the mission. As he got close to Naruto, he could feel immense heat coming off the boy. The heat was so great that any rain drops that fell on him evaporated, causing him to be shrouded in a fine mist. This better work Jiraiya, or we will have an even bigger problem than the Akatsuki.
Kakashi felt his arm burn as he placed the seal on Naruto's head, ignoring the sensation to finish what needed to be done. Once it was set in place, the effect was immediate. Gone was the raging heat and chakra cloak. Naruto's facial features returned to their normal state. It seemed to work a little too well though. Naruto was currently in a daze, swaying back and forth on his feet until eventually he started to fall over.
Kakashi caught him before he could finish his fall and asked him. "Are you all right Naruto?"
It took a few more moments before the blonde regained his senses. He saw that he was currently being held up by Kakashi. "What happened sensei?" He queried.
"The nine-tails was trying to take over. You should be good now with that seal in place." Kakashi answered back.
From Kakashi's communication device, a static started to come through. Soon, a voice could be heard coming through, but it was a garbled mess.
"Ka...shi...here?" The garbled voice of Gai could be heard.
With his other arm, Kakashi reached for the device around his neck and replied. "Gai, can you hear me?"
Gai's voice started to come through clearer now. "Yes...can...did...defeat...akat..."
"Not yet, but he's on the run."
"Good, we...be there...Sakura and...are here."
"Sakura and Chiyo defeated Sasori?"
"Yes, we picked...up on our...back."
Turning off his receiver for just a second, he addressed his boy he was propping up. "Sakura and Chiyo won." He said with pride in his voice.
"They did it." Naruto had little doubt they would beat that freak. While he couldn't speak on Chiyo's abilities, from what he witnessed Sakura accomplish even during just this mission had forced his trust in her to grow more. She said she had changed for the better and she was proving it.
That old hag and that pink haired bitch actually beat master? Damnit, now I'm really screwed. I need to get out of here NOW while they are distracted.
Deidara was lying in the bushes just far enough away so he could barely hear the two shinobi talk. He was keeping a low profile after he had switched himself with a clay had fashioned himself a clay prosthetic leg so he could move at his full speed again. It was a very crude design, but he counted himself lucky he was amputated below the knee and not above or else he would have been screwed. That would be the last of his clay except for the C0, he was now completely spent. If he wanted to use any more of his art, he would need to get to his bird and consume some of it. He slowly started to crawl in the opposite direction of where the shinobi were.
"And where do you think you are doing?"
FUCK ME!
Author Notes
Song title is from Metallica (don't think I needed to say this but just in case)
I go from my shortest chapter to my longest chapter. I was thinking about splitting this chapter up into 2 but I figured you all would rather not wait for the second half of the fight to get released a week later. I can't guarantee that future battles will all take place in a single chapter but this time I could.
I hate that I had to focus a lot on Sakura again but the Kazekage rescue arc was her time to shine and so I was forced to put a big spotlight on her this chapter. I hope you all liked the changes I did with not just that fight but with Deidara as well. Deidara's fight isn't over yet but it's almost there and I felt that little cliffhanger was a good spot to end the chapter. Next chapter will see the aftermath of both fights.
I hoped you all liked those little moments between Hinata and Naruto. I really enjoy writing them together, it's such a blast. The rain idea I'll admit I put in initially just to spice up the environment and add a cool effect to a blow, I then realized I could use that rain with Hinata and Naruto and push them along even if just a tiny bit. As another note, I use these sections for my ramblings and as well to catalogue my thinking process while writing these chapters so I can go back and see what I should change in the future.
Anyways, Valentines Day was yesterday so I hope you all go out today and get your discounted chocolates! Until next time yall!