Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Shades of Crimson	By : Onileo Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 2074 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; that honor belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. My fanfiction is for entertainment only and is not intended for financial gain.

Chapter List
- 22
- 23
- 24
Chapter 23
          "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to let you go."
          As Madara spoke, he lifted his hands, removing the swirling orange mask and throwing it carelessly away. It hit the wall and shattered, the pieces dropping in a haphazard pattern on the floor. From her position on the floor, Sakura had a good view of his face as he glanced down at her. He had the classic Uchiha features, dark hair, fine facial structure, and pale skin. Except for a few deeper wrinkles around his eyes, he looked to be no older than thirty. He must have developed a jutsu to rejuvenate his body, as well as prolong his life. She wondered if it was similar to Tsunade's jutsu, or something entirely different. Sakura was brought back to attention by the sudden lightening of his eyes as he activated his Sharingan.
          "Reverse Reality."
          Tendrils of chakra burst forth, surrounding everyone in the room. Konan, Kisho and Kisame immediately froze, their eyes going blank as Madara's jutsu began to affect them. Sakura felt light headed, like she was going to pass out. It cleared as Jashin's symbol on her arm began to burn. Hidan glanced over at her, a smug look on his face. She had been right. The jutsu must have been similar enough to a genjutsu that their bond with each other kept Madara from affecting them. But what about Pein? He seemed fine as well, jumping over to his partner to help her.
          Just as he reached her, a barrier rose up, enclosing Konan in a large box of glass. She seemed to be aware again, and she dropped to her knees and started gasping for air. One by one, slips of paper began sliding off her body, collecting into a mass on the other side of the box. Similar barriers surrounded the other two. Kisame's began filling with water, and Kisho was barely visible as his box was filled with a thick cloud of dust. The three shinobi began thrashing around wildly, as if they were fighting some unseen enemy. Sakura looked up at Madara.
          "What are you doing to them?" she asked in a hard voice.
          Madara eyed her with disdain. "I see you found a way around my Sharingan. But it hardly matters. I have the tailed beasts, and the three of you cannot defeat them. Since you are going to die anyway, I will explain my jutsu. They think they are fighting against me alone in a genjutsu. Each time they perform a jutsu, their box fills with their used chakra. The more they fight, the greater the chakra inside. Eventually the pressure will crush them. They are going to die, by their own will to survive. Ironic, isn't it?"
          "Let them go." Pein commanded. "This wasn't part of the plan."
          "It was part of my plan. Your meager attempt at peace was doomed from the beginning. People can't be 'taught' to stop fighting. It's as ingrained as walking. But once the ten-tails is revived and Konoha falls as it was meant to, they will come as close to a peaceful existence as possible. The world will be united under my control, and all reasons to fight will become obsolete. I'd like to tell you the rest, but I have more important things to do than stand around talking. The world's rebirth awaits."
          "Wait." Sakura commanded, freezing him in place. This was taking too long, the others were running out of time, but she had to know more, especially if he had plans to attack her village. "Where did you really send Sasuke?"
          "Getting sentimental now, kunoichi? How pathetic. I really sent him to the Kage Summit. Call it my back-up plan. If my jutsu should fail, he will kill the five shadows."
          Sakura gasped. Had Sasuke lost his mind? "That's suicide!"
          Madara nodded. "Yes, most likely. But even if he should be killed in the attack, by the time he falls, he will have cut a swath through history. There will no longer be any doubt about the Uchiha clan and its power. And when your precious Konoha falls and I reveal myself again, the entire world will be begging for an alliance with me. Now, I suggest you stop trying to stall me. It would be a real shame if you died knowing you didn't even lift a finger to help your friends."
          With that, Madara jumped to stand on the head of the statue. After forming a long set of hand seals, he crouched down and lay both palms on the stone beneath him. A chakra barrier rose up, expanding outward until it encompassed the statue and the bound hands in front. Pein, Hidan, and Sakura, with Naruto's body in tow, were forced to retreat. Konan, Kisame and Kisho went crashing to the floor of the cave, still in their boxes. Unfortunately, none of them broke. They were pushed across the floor by the barrier, until it halted just outside the stone hands. Zetsu had somehow managed to disappear in the middle of the confusion.
          Turning to look over his shoulder, Hidan scowled at the wall directly behind him. "There's not enough fucking room in here to fight!" he complained.
          His words fell on deaf ears. Sakura was on her knees, studying Kisho's box, trying to figure out a way to break through without killing him in the process with broken glass. Pein was standing still with his eyes closed, hands together in concentration. Turning his attention to Madara, Hidan drew his scythe. That prick might have been able to distract Sakura and Pein from what he was doing, but not him. It wasn't his damn business whether the others lived or not. Jashin made sure Sakura would survive, and she had saved Naruto like she wanted to, so his only goal now was to help carry out Jashin's will. It was time for Madara to die.
          Rushing the barrier, he swung his scythe, only to lose his footing and fall back when the ground beneath him started shaking. Beyond the dull blue glow in front of him, he could see the statue rising from the earth. Madara had moved to stand on one now-visible shoulder as the head reached the ceiling. A loud crash sounded as it broke through, the displaced earth falling towards them. Sakura glanced up and stood, gathering chakra in her fist before smashing the largest chunk of rock into hundreds of harmless shards. By the time the dust in the air cleared, they could only see the feet of the statue, Madara far above them. Sakura looked over at him and Hidan caught her gaze.
          "Let's go, Sakura."
          "I can't just leave them to die." she replied.
          "Jashin-sama gave us a job to do." he reminded her.
          "Ten minutes and I'll be there. If I can't get them out, they won't last beyond that anyway."
          "Fine." Then he was gone, jumping up through the hole created in the ceiling by the statue.
          Sakura glanced over at Pein. He was still standing there with his eyes closed. Inside her glass prison, Konan had stopped moving, and the slips of paper had settled to the bottom in a pile. On the other side of her, Kisame had stilled as well, his body floating in the water surrounding him. Only Kisho kept moving, and through the swirling dust she could tell that he didn't have much time left. His unseeing eyes were nearly bulging, and his movements were becoming increasingly jerky and slow.
          Deciding to take the risk of having to heal a massive amount of cuts, Sakura stood and let chakra gather in her fist again. She had just pulled back to punch the corner of the enclosure when they shattered on their own. Glass, dust, water and paper flew everywhere as the suddenly released chakra dispersed into the air. Kisame and Kisho fell to the ground with a muted thud and Pein caught Konan just as she was about to collapse.
          Madara must have needed more chakra for releasing the tailed beast, and that's why they were released. Grateful for it at any rate, Sakura dropped to her knees at Kisho's side. Sweeping his crimson hair away from his neck, she checked his pulse. It was faint, but it was there. Then she checked the damage to his body. Glass was sticking out of his stomach in several places, and one small sliver was lodged deeply into his cheek. Before she removed any of it and risked blood loss, she sent a chakra probe into his body to check for internal injuries. Four large ribs were broken, and nearly all of his internal organs were damaged from the pressure of his chakra. His chakra itself was nearly gone, with just enough to sustain his life.
          Pulling back out, Sakura prepared to remove the glass and close the wounds when he opened his eyes and looked at her. "Sakura-san?"
          She forced a small smile as she met his golden gaze. "Don't move, Kisho-san. I'll have you back on your feet in no time."
          He tried to lift his hand, and grimaced with the effort. Dropping it back into the glass-strewn mud, he gave his head a small shake. "Don't."
          "What?"
          "I'm too far gone and you need to conserve your chakra. If you heal me, you won't have enough to fight Madara."
          "Kisho, if I don't treat you, you'll die. Your organs are damaged, and if one of your broken ribs punctures your lungs, they'll collapse." she tried to persuade him.
          "It's alright. I'm not afraid to die. But before I...I have something that will help you. When this is over, keep it... to remember me by." he said with a weak smile, his voice growing fainter as his chest rose and fell in shallow breaths.
          Moving his hand slowly to a clear spot on the floor, Kisho closed his eyes and concentrated. What little chakra he had left traveled to his hand. Sakura watched as the ground trembled slightly, rumbling as the crust beneath shifted. Then he lifted his hand, and beneath it, she could see a clear mineral rising from the floor. His chakra entered it, and it began to take on the form of a kunai. It was completed with the last drop of his chakra, and as the newly-forged weapon dropped to the floor with Kisho's hand, Sakura knew he was already gone.
          Sorrow rose to the front of her mind, but she pushed it back. There would be time to mourn later. Right now she had a job to do. Sliding the kunai from underneath Kisho's limp hand, she raised it to eye level and studied it. Her eyes widened as she realized that it was made from one solid diamond. There must have been a deposit of it deep below them. Kisho must have had an amazing sense of the earth to know it was there. It was worth more money than she would ever see in her lifetime, but she would never part with it.
          Climbing to her feet with the kunai still in her grip, she turned to where Kisame was lying on the ground. She thought he was dead until she approached him and he opened his eyes. "Kisame! Are you okay?" she asked as she checked his pulse and looked him over for any sign of injury.
          "Heh, it takes more than that to get rid of me, Zombie Chick." he said, his voice sounding gravely as he brushed bits of glass off and struggled to sit up.
          "I'm surprised there's no physical damage. Did you find some way out of Madara's jutsu?"
          "Not quite. That bastard just forgot who my partner was." he replied with a grunt as he removed an embedded shard of glass from his arm. "Itachi used to let me train inside the Tsukiyomi. He never trusted Madara, so he allowed me build up a resistance to the Sharingan in exchange for keeping an eye on Sasuke whenever I could. I never learned how to break free, but I did learn how to fight the nightmares inside. Once I realized that my jutsu were having no effect on him, all I had to do was stop fighting."
          "Keep an eye on Sasuke? But I thought-"
          Kisame smirked. "You thought they hated each other? Sasuke hated Itachi, but that's what he wanted. Itachi never actually told me, but trust me, it wasn't fate that kept his brother alive the night his clan was slaughtered." He narrowed his eyes as he looked past her to where the statue had been. "If there's one thing you should know by now, it's that nothing should ever be taken at face value with an Uchiha."
          Climbing to his feet, Kisame looked around until he spotted Samehada, lying several yards away. He started to retrieve it when he passed Kisho's body and paused. "Didn't make it, huh? Too bad, and I was just starting to like the kid."
          Hidan's distant shouting reminded Sakura that she had very little time left. Standing up, she headed over to where Pein was standing, his hands on Konan's shoulders. The kunoichi was facing his chest, so Sakura couldn't see the expression on her face, but it was obvious that she was still recovering from the effects of Madara's jutsu. Stopping a few feet from them, Sakura met Pein's gaze. "Is she alright?"
          "Yes."
          "Thanks to you." Konan said, looking up at Pein who was concentrating on removing the glass from her hair. "If you hadn't reached out to me with your chakra, I would have died trying to kill him."
          "How did you manage to do that?" Sakura asked.
          Konan turned to look at her, a small smile on her lips. "You and Hidan aren't the only one with bonds. Both of our piercings are actually chakra receivers. Pein can reach me no matter where I am." Her look suddenly turned serious. "But if you tell anyone, we'll kill you."
          "But if both of you are receiving chakra, then who's..."
          "There's no time for this." Pein interrupted her with a hard look at Konan. "We still have a fight to finish."
          "Right." came Kisame's voice from behind her. Sakura turned to see him standing there with a smirk on his face, Samehada balanced on his shoulder. "Let's go dance."
          Sakura stepped back, placing the diamond kunai in her weapons pouch. With the help of her chakra-infused muscles, she easily lifted Naruto to her shoulder. Kisame jumped to the ledge above first, followed by Pein and Konan, with Sakura bringing up the rear. When they reached the surface, the sight that greeted them made them freeze for several moments. Madara was once again standing on the head of the statue, surrounded by the globe-shaped barrier of blue chakra. It encompassed both the head and arms of the ten tails' body. Chakra slowly poured from the opened mouth to coalesce in a pool above the Uchiha's head, bending to his will as his jutsu continued. The sight of Hidan jumping into the air to attack the barrier again broke Sakura out of her stillness. They were running out of time. She couldn't afford the luxury of gawking.
          Turning as she broke into a dead run, Sakura headed for the tree line, feet squelching in the sodden earth. Warm rain poured down the back of her neck, forming rivulets that soaked into her clothes. Ignoring it, she counted the distance as she ran, hoping she could get Naruto far enough away to be safe until he woke up. When she found a fairly well protected section of the woods, she stopped. Sakura laid him behind a large boulder, checked his vitals one more time, and then turned to rejoin the others. She hadn't even regained her feet when his arm came up, holding her in place with a tight grip.
          "Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, a mixture of relief and confusion in his voice.
          "I'm glad you're awake, Naruto-kun. How do you feel?"
          He didn't answer her right away, a look of realization, morphing to bewilderment, appearing on his face. Suddenly he sat up, letting her go, to yank his shirt up and stare down at his stomach. The swirling black marks that had lain over his belly button were gone. He looked back up at her. "What the hell happened? The Kyuubi..."
          "The extraction was successful." Sakura answered him in as even a voice as she could muster. "Madara has control of the ten-tails now."
          The mass of chakra pouring out of the statue caught Naruto's attention and he looked up, eyes wide in surprise. "What the hell? That's Shukaku's chakra! What's the Akatsuki thinking? If Shukaku is released without a jinchuriki to control it, innocent people could die! Don't they even care?"
          "It's not us. We were…" she fell silent for a moment, her hands fisting in her damp cloak as she continued "we were betrayed."
          Naruto looked down at her arm, as if he just noticed the way she was dressed, then back up at her face. Meeting his gaze, she nearly cringed at the hurt look in his eyes. She knew this moment would come eventually, but she had hoped she would have more time to prepare for it. “Naruto…I'm-"
          "Don't apologize to me, Sakura. I just want to know why. Why didn't you come back?"
          "I couldn't."
          He grabbed a handful of her cloak in his fist. "Then why this? You betrayed Konoha, just like Sasuke. How could you?" he asked, the anger in his voice making her flinch.
          A loud shout from behind them caught her attention. The battle was beginning in earnest now. "There's no time to explain, Naruto. You have to go after Sasuke."
          "Sasuke? You've seen him?"
          "Yes. He's working with the Akatsuki." She paused. "No, he's working for Madara. But you have to go after him. He's going to try and kill the Kages at a meeting they're having. Please, Naruto."
          "You're coming with me." he commanded. "Even if I have to drag you and Sasuke both back to Konoha."
          "I can't Naruto. I have to stop Madara. If he wins here, he's heading straight to Konoha to destroy it. You go save Tsunade-sama. I'll protect Konoha."
          Naruto tried to stand up, but only managed to get halfway before he landed back on the ground. Sakura pressed a glowing palm to his chest. "Extracting the kyuubi damaged your chakra points. Let me heal you."
          As her warm, tingling chakra flooded his system, Naruto watched her face. She looked different somehow. Her eyes looked older, sadder, the way Tsunade's looked when she was deep in thought and didn't know anyone was watching her. And the stern expression on her face as she concentrated made her look stronger. There was no uncertainty at all coming from her. Whatever happened to her while she was with the Akatsuki had changed her. Whether it was a good or bad thing was yet to be seen. But if there was one thing he knew about his friend, it was that she cared about people, and never tried to hurt anyone she didn't have to. He would just have to trust that she knew what she was doing, even if every part of him screamed to knock her out and race back to Konoha, consequences be damned.
          After she finished, Sakura stood and Naruto climbed to his feet. Indecision crossed his face as he looked at the statue, with its growing mass of chakra, then back to her. "Sakura-chan, I can't just leave you alone."
          A small smile formed as her eyes met his. The violet flecks he had never noticed before seemed to glow. "I'll be fine. Besides, I'm not alone. I have four of the world's best shinobi helping me. But you need to hurry now. Sasuke is fast and it will take a lot to catch up to him." she said as she pointed him in the right direction.
          He was just about to go when she squeaked and grabbed her side. "Damn it." she cursed. Then she suddenly looked better as she noticed him stalling and waved him off. "Go on, Naruto! I have to get back to Hidan, he needs me." Turning, she took off, towards the statue.
          After she was gone, Naruto stared in the direction she had indicated. Then he looked back at the eye in the center of the statue that he instinctively knew held the kyuubi, the monster that had shared his life for as long as he could remember. He might trust Sakura to do the right thing, and she might be strong enough now to handle the chakra monsters, but there was no way in hell he was letting her do it alone. Forming a seal, he took off running, as driven as the rain that soaked his hair and threatened to blind his eyes.
          "Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

          By the time Sakura made it back to the rest of the Akatsuki, she found that her problems had gone from bad to worse. One of the eyes in the statue was completely closed, the chakra that it once contained rapidly forming a physical body. The barrier still held, unaffected by all attacks, which meant there was no way to get to Madara yet. A second eye was starting to droop as an even stronger chakra began emerging from the statue's mouth.
          Sakura's heart leaped into her throat as the familiar sight of Gaara's demon materialized, sand separating itself from the creature to drift around in little suspended streams. Madara formed another seal, and the barrier suddenly dissolved to make room for the large body of the raccoon dog. As soon as it did, Hidan and Kisame halted their attack, withdrawing to reassess their strategy. Attacking a completely freed tailed beast was far different from facing one subdued within a jinchuriki. Unfettered, Shukaku was twice as dangerous as when he was released by Gaara, and the icy look in his star-shaped eyes promised death as they fixed on Sakura. Did it recognize her from before? Or was Madara's control so strong that it repressed all of the demon's memories as well as its will?
          "Shukaku! It's me, Sakura. I'm a friend of Gaara's. If you can hear me, you need to fight Madara. He's the one trying to kill you. Don't let him control you!" she yelled up at the demon before holding her breath for a favorable response.
          Madara laughed at her, his concentration on his jutsu never wavering as Shukaku echoed the sentiment. "Nice try, but futile. Not even the kyuubi can resist me. What makes you think a weak thing like this can do it?"
          The second stream of chakra that was now pouring from the statue collected in a mass beside the raccoon dog. It appeared as the two-tailed cat for only a moment before its form became unstable. Its image wavered and blurred, the far side becoming almost ghostlike. The visible chakra around it was being drawn to Shukaku, and slowly absorbed. As it gained in strength, the tail behind Shukaku grew larger, two small splits starting to appear at the very end. His body also took on a more bluish tone, and Sakura could almost swear the swirling navy marks on his massive belly were beginning to shift and change.
          "Well, what now?" Kisame asked, wiping moisture from his brow even as more raindrops gravitated towards him.
          "Sit back and watch." Hidan replied smugly.
          "No." Pein said quietly. Everyone turned to look at him expectantly, and Hidan frowned. "We attack together. The faster he is defeated, the easier it will be."
          "I agree." Sakura said. "We need to keep Shukaku and the two-tails from merging. If that happens, he will be at least as strong as the three-tailed turtle, if not stronger."
          "What are we standing around for, then? Let's get to it." Kisame said with a smirk as he swiftly unwrapped Samehada. The great sword was vibrating violently, evidently excited by the presence of the demon's chakra.
          Pein seemed to fall deep into concentration for a few seconds before he fired off everyone's attack positions. "Konan, take the eyes. Keep him blind. Sakura, disable the legs. I'll deflect his attacks while Kisame uses Samehada to attack. Hidan, you've got the tail."
          "The tail? What the fuck do you want me to do with his tail?" Hidan questioned, obviously displeased.
          "Keep it from hitting us so we can do our jobs." Pein replied sternly.
          By the time they had their plans made, over three quarters of the two-tails' chakra had been absorbed. Shukaku was definitely blue now, with tan streaks dispersed throughout. His forked tail twitched wildly, like an agitated cat, the three ends falling in different directions. The sand that had circled him now spun and twisted, creating small tornadoes that danced around him.
          As a unit, Sakura and Pein rushed forward, closely followed by Kisame and Hidan. Konan stayed where she was, pulling a handful of paper out of her pouch. As she folded them, her wings manifested, lifting her into the air. Her chakra kept the rain from soaking into the sheets and sinking her back to the ground. By the time she had reached the height of Shukaku's face, she had a dozen paper sparrows in her hands. She released them, and they took flight, heading straight for Shukaku's face. The chakra demon hadn't noticed her, his attention drawn to the ground where Sakura was punching the ground repeatedly, ripping gaps in the earth and forcing him to keep moving to stay upright.
          The sparrows reached their target just as Hidan's scythe came down on his tail. Roaring, Shukaku swung his clawed arms in an arc, sending a wall of hot sand forward as he opened his mouth and incinerated the sparrows with a blast of fire. Pein jumped in front of Sakura, lifting his hand and focusing his chakra.
          "Almighty Push."
          The sand hit a barrier of energy, halted, then reversed direction, heading back toward Shukaku. Breathing harder than normal, Pein dropped his hand and stepped back. Sakura resumed her task of trying to knock the chakra demon's legs out from under him. It was frustrating, because not only was he large enough to easily move out of her attack range, Madara could see her attacks coming and direct the beast out of harm's way. But she had to keep trying. Eventually there would be an opening, and they had to be ready for it.
          That opportunity came sooner than expected. A blur of orange and black and familiar chakra raced past Sakura and Pein, around the distracted demon, and right up the body of the statue. Realizing what was going on, Sakura turned and yelled at Kisame, who was preparing to launch water missiles at Shukaku. "Kisame! Go now!"
          Stopping mid-jutsu, Kisame took off like a bolt of lightning towards the chakra demon, Samehada securely held in one hand. Praying they both made it before Naruto's clone was destroyed, Sakura pumped chakra to both fists before slamming them to the ground. Twin fissures raced towards her target, widening until it was one large gap in the ground. Above them, Konan had seen Kisame rush forward, and was relentlessly pounding Shukaku's face with paper bullets from her wings. Sakura held her breath and waited.
          Swearing eloquently, Madara dispatched Naruto's clone with a well-aimed kick to the head. He knew what they were doing, but knowing didn't stop it. He returned to standing just in time to see two of Shukaku's legs fall into the new crack in the earth. Blinded by Konan, he could neither dodge nor counterattack on his own. Before his body could hit the ground, Hidan landed on Shukaku from above, sinking his scythe deep into his neck. Kisame repeated the action from below, and in one fluid motion, they beheaded him. Time seemed to slow as the bluish head of the raccoon dog rolled forward and hit the ground. Then there was a deafening roar as his whole body exploded.
          Sakura watched as Kisame and Hidan were blown in opposite directions. Without anything to brace herself with, Konan was sent tumbling up and back. Then the world went tilted as the shock wave hit her and she went sailing through the air. She crashed into Pein, who caught her and deflected the loosed energy at the same time. A sharp pain went racing up her spine as she felt Hidan land hard on the ground. Automatically, her mind wrapped around the sensation, pulling it in, holding it close to her until it no longer hurt, but felt good. Warmth flooded her as she felt Hidan's approval. Then an enraged shout broke her momentary distraction.
          Hidan was standing where Shukaku had been, shaking his scythe at Madara. "Is that all you've got, dumb fuck?"
          Madara's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to crush you all."
          Pein stepped around Sakura to watch their altercation. "This is good. I've never seen Madara this angry. Dispersing Shukaku and the two-tails' chakra must have thwarted his plans."
          "It will take years for them to manifest again. And when they do, no one will know where they will be." Sakura added.
          'Good', as Pein said it, was put into relative terms when Madara slammed his hand onto the head of the statue, and with a blast of chakra, split it in two. He teleported out of sight as the whole thing began to crumble. Hidan had to retreat as well, to avoid being crushed as large chunks of stone rained down around him. Chakra poured from every opening, separating into seven pools before condensing and forming individual bodies. The air grew heavy with the presence of so much energy, the rain slanting at an odd angle away from them. By the time the last piece of ruined statue lay still, the remaining seven tailed beasts stood where the trees had once been, eyes trained on the Akatsuki. From his new perch on the nine-tails' head, Madara gave them a wave.
          Hidan, Kisame and Konan quickly regrouped with Pein and Sakura. The two kunoichi exchanged worried looks. It had taken all of them plus Naruto's interference just to take down two of them. What were they going to do against seven that were even more powerful?
          As if hearing the unspoken question, Pein stepped to the front of the group and turned to face them. "If any of you wish to withdraw, do so now."
          Hidan and Sakura immediately shook their heads. "Jashin-sama wants Madara fucking dead. I'm not trusting you heathen pussies to do it for us." Hidan snorted.
          "You know I'm not going anywhere." Konan said in a soft voice.
          Kisame grinned, a feral light making his eyes gleam. "No offense, Leader-sama, but I'm not walking away from the one fight that will overshadow any accomplishment the other ninja villages can achieve."
          Hidan grinned. "Damn, Fish-Boy, It's not like the world won't remember its only blue land-faring shark. Who can fucking forget that?"
          "Piss off, Zombie Dick."
          "Bite me."
          "Gladly." Kisame retorted with a loud snap of his sharp teeth.
          "If we’re going to do this, we'd better get started." Sakura said, interrupting their colorful banter and pointing to the tailed beasts. "Because they are starting the party without us."
          Sure enough, the four-tailed monkey and the eight-tailed ox were on the move. But they weren't heading towards the Akatsuki. Instead, their path took them right towards Amegakure. "Pein, the village." Konan said, trepidation slipping through into her voice.
          "I'll go after them." Pein stated. "Hidan, Sakura, go after Madara and the nine tails. Since you both can't die, you will have the best chance against him. Konan, Kisame, keep the rest of the chakra monsters off of Hidan and Sakura. Defeat them if you can, but remember, once Madara is down, they will be even more dangerous."
          After a round of quick nods, they split up, each heading in their targets' direction. Sakura said a swift prayer for courage, and reaching into her pouch, pulled out Jashin's scroll and Kisho's dagger, ignoring the slight flare of Naruto's chakra emanating from the clone behind her.
- 22
- 23
- 24
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Shades of Crimson