The silence among Team 7 since they were called for yet another high profile mission was unbearable. Sakura didn't want to say anything, Sasuke didn't know what to say, Kakashi stared off into nothing regretting everything, and Dosu twitched at sweet not-quite-silence being twisted by awkwardness. Members of their original composition were posted on the nearest grave to their enemy because of their greater ability and teamwork experience. Each knew Earth Style to help defend against the strange application of it reported, the newest user having learned to compliment his limited sensory abilities and ensure a certain situation never happened again. At the very least, they could hold off the enemy until reinforcements arrived, but no enemy came.
Kakashi rolled his eye. "Can you at least put aside your teenage drama for a mission concerning important village secrets?" He never felt more frustrated in his life at both parting their lips to say something yet incapable of actually doing so. "You survived an encounter with Kakuzu; how is this hard for you two?"
After a moment of honest thinking, they looked straight at each other. It really was ridiculous. One was avoiding it out of consideration while the other was out of insecurity. Nothing was being accomplished, and they did go through worse together.
Sasuke frowned. "I'm sorry for whatever I did." He almost flinched at her sad look. "I..just can't remember what."
"You didn't do anything." Grimacing, she pondered how to explain it while not making herself seem pathetic. "I… I'm just not where I want to be in life right now." A half-truth was avoiding the real cause, but it was still how she actually felt.
"Oh." He smiled. "Then you just need to learn some tracking skills and anything espionage oriented really: that will get you promoted to jonin after a few more B-rank missions."
Kakashi twitched. "It's obviously related to you, oh prodigal Uchiha scion." He looked to Sakura, who desperately wanted to be anywhere else. "Why are you still acting like a girl fresh out of the academy?"
She cowered under his disdainful gaze before squinting. "What's gotten into you?" Crossing her arms, she stood her ground. "You've been through worse than either of us and this sets you off?" Her eyes went wide at him hunching over, as if something no one should bear was on his shoulders. "...Uh?"
"There are times in your life when you're going to know something horrible is happening, but you can't do anything about it, so you should focus on the more important things and what you can do." His voice was far too tired.
Sasuke's lips formed a thin line. "We worry about him too."
"Yeah…" He looked off to where their enemy was supposedly positioned. "Him."
While they had their personal conversation, the monks that went with them could only stare at their supposed saviors being extremely unprofessional. Then the world shifted. Soil rose from the roots of trees, sending them toppling, and morphed into curving rock. All three ninja channeled earth chakra around themselves and into the ground but couldn't do anything against a massive alteration of the landscape. It pushed each far away from the others and, unknowingly to them, trapped their entire group in a grand array of not-so-natural obstacles
Sakura moved out of the earth around her, examined her surroundings, and gaped at the cave system she was now in. "No way…" Forming a half tiger seal, she disrupted her own chakra network. "How?!" The idea of it made her scoff. "The amount of chakra this would take could kill most people, and you'd only trap your enemies if not a single one couldn't use Earth Release. At best, it'd slow…" She facepalmed. "Tsunade is going to have a heart attack when we get back." Walking through the bleakness, she squinted at her surroundings.
There was a good chance the entire structure looped back in on itself, completely trapping everyone inside. It was man-made, and they weren't their objective afterall. Really, there were few reasons not to. Her only problem was digging through to find a vantage point or where the grave now was would exhaust her for little gain, especially when there were enemy sensor ninja.
"I'd yell at you, but you definitely can't hear me," she muttered, picturing a mummy man in her head. "Seriously, that is a major b—" Her hand swept at something warm and wet flicking across her cheek.
A set of feet audibly landed some ways behind her complimented by smacking lips. "I was hoping for wind." The feminine figure cloaked by darkness sighed. "I suppose I should've expected as much after running into two." She frowned. "Earth is always bitter."
Sakura, having let her talk to gain as much information as possible, blinked as she unsheathed her repaired sword. "Did… Did you just lick me?!"
"Where are my manners?" She held her hands out to the side to be as welcoming as possible. "Do you prefer a nice clean kiss or tongue?"
"What th—" A vein bulged as her face reddened from embarrassment and anger. "You are at least twice my age!" She held the point of the sword at her. "And I'm not…" Tilting her head, she realized she never thought about it. "How would I even know when I've never so much as kissed a boy?"
The woman stared, shocked and offended. "I don't look that old." Putting a hand on her hip, she scoffed. "What is wrong with you city folk?" She scowled at another thought. "What is wrong with these generations of shinobi? You spend your lives waiting for the right moment, the perfect lover, and the right time just to die before ever getting close." She brushed aside a strand of her hair with her other hand. "As for your proclivities, it doesn't really matter." Her smile in the dark was all too sweet. "I'll make sure it's special, even if it might just be a kiss between girls."
"Asking what's wrong with me and saying you forcing yourself on a young girl isn't really anything." She shook her head as she formed half-seals with her free hand, noting she couldn't directly see into her eyes in the dark.
"You make it sound like I'm going to violate you." The stranger crossed her arms. "How would I even do something like that? We're both women."
"Oh my…" Finishing, she twitched. "That's your problem!" The sudden burst of a chakra she recognized froze her and her enemy for a moment. She, regaining her focus, stomped a foot, causing a cage of solid earth to erupt around her, before darting forward and slicing it in half with one fluid motion.
Hands emerged from the ground below her, grabbing her ankles. Powerful lightning streamed into her from them. She screamed and spasmed in pain while trying to escape her grasp. As she resisted, the shock only grew in strength, so she let herself drop alongside her blade.
The woman popped back up and dusted off her hands. "One-handed seals, huh?" She kicked her on to her back. "Looks like this won't be so bad." Getting on her knees, she eased her hands around the girl's face and licked her lips. "Rea—" She swerved around a headbutt, slammed her head against the ground, and laughed in her dazed face. "You adorable little girl!" Cooing, she patted her cheek. "Still so inexperienced."
Sakura turned her head just in time so she was kissing it, jabbed her straight in the liver as hard as she could, grabbed the new hilt of her sword, and struggled back on to her feet over the keeling woman. The iron taste in her mouth and feeling of something wet streaming down the back of her head told her the damage was more than she bargained for. Pulling her hands back, she thrusted toward her heart only for her hair to grow and entangle them. Forcing with all the strength she could muster moved the blade just an inch.
"Damn…Taijutsu." Her beautiful face warped in fury as she writhed. "You little..bitch." She held herself just under her sizable chest. "Here I was trying to be considerate!"
"No means no..hoe." She tilted her head and shook it, sending droplets of blood on to the ground. "You gave me a concussion."
"You punched me in the liver!"
She squinted and made seals with her hand that had the most free fingers. "That was after."
The woman sunk into the earth, her hair extending and dragging her forward somewhat in her descent. She, having neutralized whatever earth jutsu she was planning, waited to see what she'd try next. When nothing came, she correctly deduced Earth Release was her only element. Going down a foot or two deeper, she formed several hand signs and looked up.
Doing her best to stay alert and on her feet, Sakura made the mistake of staying where she was, thinking she'd try to take her by surprise in a similar way again. Wind blasting through the ground and up into her, sending her smashing into the ceiling, more than took her by it. She fell limp before she hit the ground. Gloating laughter echoed all throughout the caves and into her ringing ears.
"We could've done this the easy way, yet you chose the hard way." She emerged from the ground next to her and picked her up by the throat with a hand. "Still awake?" Raising her other hand, she gathered fire chakra in its palm, illuminating her dirtied and hazy face. "Eww." She dropped her, went through a few hand signs, and spewed pressurized water over her.
Her eyes widened as she coughed out some that got in her mouth. "All..five…"
"Rare, I know." Picking her up by the face again, she smiled sweetly. "Just like my one-handed seals."
"That's m—" Soft lips locking with her freshly cleaned cut her off.
The lines of her chakra network connected to them glowed in the darkness and grew across the rest of her body. A foreign certainty connected to her hazy mind. Guided by the alien will, her tongue lapped against the invading one, drawing a muffled giggle from the woman. Tears flowed from her blank glowing blue eyes. When they parted, a stream of pure concentrated chakra flowing from one to the other still connected them.
Her eyes could still see even with the chakra draining from them. The woman staring into hers was pleased, taking great pleasure from the forced exchange. More than that, she could feel her strange thoughts, old and cruel, as hers joined. She'd done it to countless others before, and she would keep going as long as the world existed.
A kunai flew overhead before another was thrown into it to be directed downwards at the woman's. She broke the stream to evade it at the last second. Keeping the girl in her grasp, she turned her toward the direction the kunai were launched and bridged what little distance was between them, stroking her face to emphasize her hostage. There were a few thoughts on who was attacking her, but she knew sticking her head out to see who it was would be a bad idea.
Sasuke's Sharingan eyes were wide in anger and even horror. "What the hell are you?!" He could see her chakra as an impossibly dense rainbow that surpassed the One-Tail and witnessed Sakura's almost disappearing into it.
"Been some time since I've come across an Uchiha." Her smile grew. "This one really wants you but can't muster the strength to do anything about it. Pathetic." She clutched her face. "That Hyuga girl, whatever her name is, was right: you'll never be with him."
He squinted at those words for a fraction of a second before extending his hand towards her exposed and sinking legs. A spear of lightning extended right into one and moved to cut through it and her other one off when she threw Sakura over towards him. While he caught her, he saw the enemy's hands form an all too familiar sign. Dozens of the rainbow chakra poofed into existence throughout the entire cavern, all bearing the same wound and crazed looks.
Those nearest, consumed by rage, charged him. He evaded every strike made by those he could see and endured deceptively strong hits to his blindspots. When a few seconds passed and reason returned to some of their minds, their hair extended around his limbs and constricted. Lightning surged straight to their skulls courtesy of the conductive fibers, dispersing them into clouds of smoke.
Sasuke's left eye shifted into the Mangekyo as the remaining clones followed, not wanting to miss even a single detail of his abominable enemy's move through the screen. Three rainbow chakras in the shape of the woman, no longer bearing the leg wound, stood side to side with their eyes closed, two completing different sets of hand signs. Knowing he couldn't jump all the way to the cavern ceiling, he concentrated earth chakra into the ground and sank with Sakura still in his arms, narrowly avoiding a rapid stream of electrified water that would've knocked the wind out of them and fried them to a crisp. And then the third went through a few he recognized from one of their sensei's many demonstrations.
Bringing a hand down, it infused the ground with its chakra, sending a huge wave of sediment forward. Mud Wave Jutsu took a great degree of chakra for just an unbalancing wave where the one it sent would force nearly an entire storied building far up. In their case, it would push them back to the surface where they'd be electrocuted to death. The original formulated the plan with knowledge that wasn't hers.
He saw no way around it. The only thing his teleporting Mangekyo could see was dirt aside from chakra. Focusing, he turned his body in the earth while he kept sinking, as if to swim. When it hit, that was exactly what he did. Every muscle he used to go against the earth wave strained from the far greater stress, but it was either that or die alongside one of the only people he'd been close to since the massacre.
The woman made more clones to check in her place and opened her eyes when they dispelled their information back to her. "Crafty boy." She crossed her arms and shook her head. "He did survive that single-minded miser." Remembering the chakra she felt, she tilted it, the image of a whiskered young man with someone else's tear running down his face coming to mind. "Oh… Oooooh." With a scoff, she turned to where it originated. "So Kazuma was right, though not in the way he thought he was."
It was foolish to go after him, so she'd wait. Her job was done regardless. Securing the contents of the graves was all but assured with minimal losses. Whoever died would deserve it in her and most of the others' eyes.
Encountering increasingly bizarre and unheard of jutsu would be concerning to any ninja. If one was renowned for their repertoire, it would be especially concerning. There was some sense as to why, but it didn't make it any better. Add in the high profile mission a little too soon after another high profile mission and potentially uncovering a deep internal concern resulted in profound stress.
Kakashi uncovered his Sharingan as soon as he could, emerged into a cavern, checked his surroundings, and punched the solid wall. "Dammit!" Suppressing his frustration and worry for his students, he created several shadow clones and spread out with them.
While the majority explored the caves, one went back into the structure and dug up to the new surface. It looked to where the gravesite should've been and found the entire area overwritten along with the rest of the Fire Temple's outskirts. The rest received the info after it dispelled itself, so they all sought paths to the grave, correctly hypothesizing one or a few existed for the enemy's comrades to retrieve the coffin. Hopefully, his students realized the same, however distracted they'd both been. He wouldn't hold it against them if they did seek to regroup first though.
The feeling of an unmistakable chakra only spurred him and his clones forward. Who it belonged to was the absolute last thing he needed at that moment. Guilt, frustration, and anger buried deep inside him, as he often used to. It was the only way he could go on.
A giant of a man with chakra concentrated across his entire body sat in the middle of a cavern path ahead of a clone, hands together as if in prayer, surrounded by still monks. It drew and threw a kunai straight at his throat. To its surprise, it hit its mark. Sharp metal dug a centimeter in and then fell to the ground.
"It's a wise thing to attack an unaware enemy, but to attack someone paying respects to the dead..." He rose to his feet and gave a bow, hands still together. "I am Tarou, former guard of the Rice Daimyo Tadanaga Akio.
Caring little for his identity, it drew shuriken. "You and your group are robbing graves." It channeled lightning chakra into them and aimed for vital as well as tendons.
He inched away from them all. "It is a grim thing, but your village would do the same, if not worse." Shaking his bald head, he sighed. "I thought myself finally free of this never ending cycle only for my lord to lose his senses and the land go with them." Not once did he lose focus of the observing clone. "Why do we claim to protect those weaker than us as we lord over them? What do we fight for if not to pursue a change so many of us are too weak to achieve directly?" The questions were honest.
It scoffed. "Not this again." Forming hand signs, his next moves were in its mind as well as in sight of its Sharingan. "Do you have any idea what you're even talking about?" Several mud walls erupted around him as it slammed its hands down. "All you traitors do is run away and blame the system for being imperfect while making the same mistakes you criticize it for!"
"Exactly!" He spread his hands, welcoming whatever it did. "We are broken tools who seek to dismantle the system that created us as we perpetuate it!" The pillars of earth emerging from the walls around him, aiming to restrict his movement, were beneath his notice. "All of us are mad but have deluded ourselves into thinking we're sane! Those who can't mold chakra do not think of desecrating the dead or constantly fear it!"
For good measure, the Kakashi clone put him under a custom Sharingan genjutsu of countless chains weighing down his body. "You st—" His hand broke through all bounds, real or otherwise, and grabbed its throat.
"It seems I'm only ever talking to myself these days." His grip tightened, breaking its neck and turning it to smoke. "...And the shadows of others." Bringing his hands together again, he breathed deeply. "Endurance breeds obstinance… Endurance breeds obstinance."
The rest of the Kakashis received its remaining chakra and the information it accumulated. His presence in that location couldn't have been a coincidence. Either he was retrieving the remains or guarding the path while another person did. It wasn't where the gravesite was supposed to be, but his team was forcibly split and moved by the landscape change. Restraining himself to a single shadow clone would preserve his chakra and leave himself better prepared while letting him pursue both possible locations, so he dispelled all he had before making another.
Tarou was accompanied by a shorter, albeit still muscly man with earth chakra reinforcing his entire body in contrast. "I hope you are your true self rather than a shadow."
"So it's just this weakling." The stranger frowned at the clone. "Is this really the best the Leaf could send?"
"He's distracted by his objective."
His frown shifted into a toothy grin. "I already moved the coffin and the others are likely clear too." It died as Tarou held up a hand in his direction.
"Whoever wins gets to fight him, Fudo."
Blinking, he tilted his head at the gesture before shrugging and taking his hand. They stood there for a solid minute, testing the strength in the other's arm. Slowly his began to overtake. When he full brought him down, he laughed, knowing there could be no other way.
The clone eye-smiled as they turned to it and dispelled itself with a sign. Fighting two unknown jonin, one of which resisted the Sharingan's genjutsu or just brute forced himself to act against it from what it saw, was a horrible idea, their arm wrestling match being innately untrustworthy. While it could gather more information, informing the original and securing the remains was more important. Its Sharingan let it know he was telling the truth about the state of things.
Only two remained.
Kazuma's plan was risky to say the least. They had the upper hand and would have seized all the graves when they made their first moves had he not just ordered the one snatched. Reason to why was simple, however hazardous: to draw the highest response the Leaf could immediately muster. If the majority of their group survived, they could destroy the most prosperous of the Great Villages when they moved on it. He was keeping something from most of them though.
Deep beneath the ground, Fuen worked her proverbial magic in an underground complex she shaped. The lone shinobi left at the Fire Temple had to be some kind of sensor type or special ninja, so she followed the directions of her two assisting ones to skewer him to no avail. And then they reported three new noticeable signatures. One beelined straight for the temple after the explosion of chakra while the other two sank towards her. She twisted the land around both to trap and kill them, but they were capable enough in Earth Style to avoid death.
She drew a quicker exit for them on her diagram scroll before rolling it closed. "Let's go." Immediately, she took the lead.
Daichi took his shocked long time comrade by the arm and followed after. "I promise we're not lying."
"I believe you." If she weren't ahead, they would've seen her smile. "You've both done a fantastic job."
Tadashi groaned. "Yeah, we get it. You…" Drifting off, he realized her appreciation was earnest. "Huh…"
His partner ran close next to him. "She's so nice," he whispered loud enough for him to hear him as they ran.
"I'm just waiting for the backhand, but it's not coming."
"Older women, man."
Nodding, Tadashi gave a small smile. "She is hot."
"Didn't mean it like that." He paused. "...But she is."
She looked back to them, nearly making both jump. "Can you sense Furido?"
Daichi made the tiger seal and concentrated as best he could while moving. "He's…" The still and fading chakra of someone who just died distracted him for a moment. "He's running." He almost laughed at the short stop that could only be stumbling. "Trying to at least."
"What happened?" Her lips formed a thin line.
"Flower Cu—" Shaking his still attached head, he cut himself off. "Reina is dead."
"Oh no," Tadashi deadpanned.
Fuen glanced back at him. "And Aya?
"Cradle Robber's being dragged off by the one who went after that evil chakra." He scoffed, still in disbelief at what came after.
"Just what did you two sense? How did it happen?"
"It just did." Daichi frowned. "We would recognize that one anywhere. It wasn't nearly as bad as it was, but that…hatred?"
Tadashi hummed. "Disgust?"
"That 'feeling' was there. He got Misao talking and Ryota feeling like something was off. I never saw someone with that much chakra until you guys came with Fuka."
"She feels really weird, by the way. Neither of us can place it though."
"Speaking of weird," Daichi said, concentrating on the earlier enemy's chakra. "This girl feels like she's having a mental breakdown, but she's somehow keeping it all together." He gave a small laugh. "She wants to murder the fuck out of Aya."
Fuen squinted somewhat. "They know each other?"
"She never told anyone where she was from," Tadashi said.
Daichi nodded. "Tadanaga came across her while we escorted him through some town one day, and he liked what he saw."
With that info, Fuen furrowed her brow. There was far too much happening at once. It didn't seem like the Leaf was prepared, but neither were they. She could retrieve the distant coffin with them both now that it was undefended. Fudo, from what the two reported to her, seemed to have retrieved his, so they could join together at the final one since Kazuma's group was taken out.
Nearly losing one of his only remaining precious people had Sasuke's mind racing. He had no idea what he would do if he lost her. Already, there were so many deep wounds needing healing and resolutions to seek. The second the woman was gone and he was sure he could move his body, he tunneled under a cavern wall and up until they were out of it entirely. He took a bandage roll from his pouch and began wrapping it around her bleeding head wound.
Sakura's eyes inched open at the tightening feeling, catching sight of his face illuminated somewhat by the moonlight.. "...Sasuke."
"Hey." He smiled. "Take it easy: you've been hit pretty hard." Tears welling in her eyes sparked worry.
"Getting saved again…" They fell down the sides of her head. "I'm just a burden."
He wiped the next ones away. "We were up against Kakuzu." Frowning, he looked to where the fight took place. "And that wo—" He stopped himself. "That 'thing' isn't normal at all." Narrowing his eyes, he grit his teeth. "Dozens and dozens of different chakras all swirling in one body.
"She..had all five elements." Sakura shivered. "She said earth tasted bitter but my one-handed seals would be worth it." It worsened. "D-Did she take them? I… I felt like I was her and she was me for a second but… But I would stop being me."
Turning his back to her, he grasped her sides and hefted her over himself. "'That Hyuga girl.'" He stared straight ahead as he walked, not seeing her confused and flinching face. "What was she talking about?"
"..I ran across Hinata the other day." The slight stiffness in his form made her regret saying it. "I asked her so many questions and brought up Naruto.. And, like an idiot, I said something that made her think I meant they weren't going to be together anymore."
Sasuke, having minimal experience with female communication and dynamics, tilted his head. "But you obviously didn't mean it like that."
"I still said it, and it was an obviously touchy subject."
"But you…" He drifted off, incapable of grasping why.
"She had sex with him and let him betray the village..after she beat him." Her face was as red as his at the thought. "Like I told her, I should've realized it all the way back then: she's crazy for him, way crazy."
"Then she brought m—" His eyes widened, remembering something important. "Did you feel that chakra earlier too?" Looking in the direction of its origin, he debated the merit of activating his Mangekyo and thought whether or not she'd be teleported with him. "It can't belong to anyone else."
She managed a small nod. "Orochimaru…" She whined. "He took Naruto away."
"We're going to get him back." He looked around, thinking of what everyone's moves would be. "First, we regroup with Kakashi. The others are definitely having a worse time than us without Earth Style." Frowning, his gaze cast downward. "If they're all as strong as that one, they might be dead and the coffins all stolen already."
"Focus on..the mission." Her eyes eased shut. "I'm..sleepy." She grumbled, feeling incredibly off from her concussion. "..Stupid Dosu."
"What about…" He blinked. "Dosu, what's happening?" He grit his teeth at the silence. "Oh dammit." Picking up pace, he headed straight for the temple.
It was unaffected for whatever reason and remained the origin point of the Nine-Tails' chakra. There was a grave near it he could help defend, something Kakashi would put together if he scouted out the cavern top. No safe place to put Sakura existed at the moment with the enemy skulking about with superior sensor ninja. When danger loomed its head, he would use the unique power of his Mangekyo. Stakes were far too high at that point for him to hold back and preserve its vision.
When he arrived, there was no one to be seen and nothing to be heard. He checked the battlements and found the monk Chiriku seemed to be keeping an eye on unconscious with a deformed arm, the unmistakable Tailed Beast chakra growing deep within his network like a cancer. A quick investigation of the interior revealed the decapitated remains of a woman he didn't recognize with a human shaped crater someone created with the impact of their body in the wall. It all raised far more questions than answers.
"The hell happened here?" He stepped out of the hall and found his sensei examining the monk with his own Sharingan. "Kakashi."
He looked up from him to give a relieved eye-smile. "Hey." Expression turning serious, he focused back on the young man. "I don't think Asuma or Chiriku or both of them were completely honest with us." Once more, he looked to where the grave closest to the temple was supposed to be. "And our coffin was stolen."
The situation escalated far beyond anyone's control. Both sides would have an exhaustive report waiting. What came after would likely be even worse. No one would know what would succeed even that.
AN: This took a bit longer than I wanted it to. Was thinking over how things should go and who should fight who, you know. And then I wondered if these should just be full on fights or just short skirmishes. Overcomplicating the little things while I have other huge things going on. Ugh. On the other hand, I like thinking over these little things.
Next chapter will wrap up this sort of intro to the arc. The chapter after will be a bit of a special one. It's where I do my best to tie in certain ideas and elements in canon that are absurdly huge yet just kind of exist with my very own fanficy not-quite-fixit lore stuff. Don't worry if you think I'm going for some kind of wuxia or even Lovecraftian thing. I don't want to do something crazy like add a completely unforeshadowed and ridiculous faction/backstory to the setting that completely invalidates and rewrites the entire series...Fucking Boruto. Fucking Black Zetsu too.
I had thoughts of Fuka almost draining Hinata to give a better description and insight into how scrambled her mind really is from everything, but I couldn't see it happening with her capable of killing most people with a single touch and having the ability to disperse or absorb jutsu as she pleased at this point. Speaking of her, she's not a hair golem in this because that was ridiculous and unnecessary. Like Naruto really needed his main enemy for the arc to have a wind training specific weakness.
Feel free to leave your thoughts in the form of a review or PM.