Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Claim Me	By : t69 Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 5719 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Prologue, Part 1
- 2-Prologue, Part 2
- 3-Part 1
- 4-Part 2
- 5-Part 3
- 6-Part 4
- 7-Part 5
- 8-Part 6
- 9-Part 7
- 10-Part 8
- 11-Part 9
- 12-Part 10
- 13-Part 11
- 14-Part 12
- 15-Part 13
- 16-Part 14
- 17-Part 15
- 18-Part 16
- 19-Part 17
- 20-Part 18
- 21-Part 19
- 22-Part 20
- 23-Part 21
- 24-Part 22
- 25-Part 23
- 26-Part 24
- 27-Part 25
- 28-Part 26
- 29-Part 27
- 30-Part 28
- 31-Part 29
- 32-Part 30
- 33-Part 31
- 34-Part 32
- 35-Part 33
- 36-Part 34
- 37-Part 35
- 38-Part 36
- 39-Epilogue
- 33
- 34
- 35
Sakura awoke with a start and quickly felt the bonds on her. She struggled valiantly, but the chains didn't even budge. She huffed in disbelief. Her raw strength was a thing to be reckoned with, and yet all she managed with her thrashing was make her injured neck throb. Focusing, she began to reduce the swelling. As she did, she allowed her eyes to roam.
By the looks of it, she was inside the second shrine. Despite its age, the structure seemed to be in fairly good condition save for several rotting wood panels near the roof. The surrounding forest gave the shrine an earthy smell that most ninja were familiar with. She took a deeper breath and noted that metallic smell ninja were also familiar with—the smell of blood.
And then her eyes found him just past the threshold. He was bare-chested, his clothing limited to fingerless gloves with metallic guards, jōnin pants and sandals, all of which were black. The monochromaticism was broken by a white belt, which apparently contained his hitai-ite. A small, pale brown weapons pouch was strapped to his lower back and a sheathed sword was strapped to his left hip. A blue tattoo adorned his right deltoid. "Light," the kanji proclaimed. A faint breeze tousled his soft, blond hair and the moonlight made his green eyes glitter.
Securely tied to his back, just above his weapons pouch, was a moderately sized scroll.
"Kyosuke," she growled.
The well-built man turned to face her, making the hitai-ite that he had used as a belt come into full view.
'Kumo,' the kunoichi thought bitterly. She saw him sigh and walk towards her, and she began struggling anew. With every step, despair rose within her. She had never felt so helpless in such a long time that the sensation made bile rise in her throat. Shinobi faced death at every turn and were taught not to fear it. She was damn sure, however, that placed before it, even the most hardened ninja would feel even just a tiny sliver of it, just as she did now. "Just make it quick, Kyosuke," she muttered, finally ceasing all efforts and simply closing her eyes. Despite being a medical-nin, she couldn't heal a blade to the heart or brainstem fast enough to keep it from being fatal. The only thing that could possibly save her now was her mentor's Strength of a Hundred technique. Sadly, even now, she wasn't as good as the hokage was. 'Weak,' she thought pathetically, 'So fucking weak.'
Sakura heard the Kumo ninja stop inches from her and waited for his blade to plunge into her. For what seemed like an eternity, she remained still, resignation palpable, and yet the blow never came. Confused, she looked up to meet his eyes. To her further perplexity, she saw nothing but regret in his eyes.
Kyosuke knelt before her and produced a piece of cloth. "I'm sorry, but I have to gag you," he whispered.
"Why not just kill me, Kyosuke?" the pinkette spat in false courage, emphasizing his possibly fake name.
Golden brows furrowed. "To answer your indirect question, yes, that's my real name, and do you think I didn't try to kill you?" he answered, gripping the cloth tightly. "This," he said as he motioned to her, "This goes against everything I… no, we, were taught. The village is foremost in a shinobi's mind, not petty or sentimental things such as attraction or love. I had thought I was an exemplary ninja, and until now, I have never had any qualms about doing even the most damnable things for Kumo. But you… I can't kill you. I just can't, Haruno Sakura."
Damn. "Why?"
A sad smile appeared on his lips. "I lied to you, just as you have to me," he murmured, "but not everything was a lie."
The medical-nin's heart jumped, and just as she was about to ask him to clarify, she felt the cloth wrap around her mouth. A normal ninja prisoner would have likely thrashed and screamed like a madman, but all she could do was stare at Kyosuke's powerful chest and inhale his intoxicating scent. She blushed in spite of herself at his proximity. Kami, why couldn't the enemy have been an insufferable, ugly-as-fuck obese ninja? She felt a light kiss on her forehead, and her color deepened even further.
Suddenly, from behind the emerald-eyed man's broad shoulder, she saw a flicker of movement. A Kiri ninja materialized and raised his sword but before she could even react, Kyosuke had already moved.
The blond shinobi turned swiftly, knocking the sword out of the man's hands and punching his stomach. The man doubled over. Kyosuke slid to the side and grasped the hilt of his sword. Sakura watched as the blade was unsheathed. It was a heavily polished silver tsurugi.
The Kumo ninja placed the tip of the sword his opponent's ankle. To the pinkette's surprise, the tip of the blade separated from the rest of the sword. It didn't fall, however, as if it had adhered to the Kiri ninja's foot. As Kyosuke moved along, segment after segment fell away from the blade. He continued "wrapping" his weapon swiftly but gracefully around his enemy. In but a second, a trail of blades adorned his opponent, starting from the foot spiraling upwards to the back of the thigh and buttocks, then across the back to loop over the right shoulder, then across the chest into the left arm. The blond shinobi, then, made a forceful pulling motion, allowing himself to spin in the process.
The Kiri shinobi shrieked in agony as the blades ripped through his body, producing a spiral incision that bled profusely. He dropped into a rapidly expanding pool of his own blood.
The blades floated together and reformed swiftly. Kyosuke swung it to remove any excess blood and resheathed it.
'Jiton,' the pinkette thought in amazement, knowing the rarity of such a kekkei genkai. Her eyes darted to the dying shinobi and her eyes widened in recognition. 'He killed Sano!' she deduced, noting the similarity in the wound patterns, 'and given that his weapon can reform into a tsurugi, he can also make hacking wounds, so...' She seethed. 'Of course!' she thought, 'He only heard Kiba say the number but knew which shrine to go to. That means he got the map. That means...'
Though he wasn't a sensor, Kyosuke felt the surge of anger emanating from Sakura. He immediately figured out why and frowned. "We do what we have to for the sake of the mission. You know that," he said without remorse, "Had you been in the same situation, I'm sure you'd do the same. However, for what it's worth, I wish things didn't end that way for both of them." He walked to the entrance. "I guess I'll be off," he said, and then dashed outside.
The blond had taken but a couple of steps before he saw a glint of metal whizzing towards him from the side. He swerved slightly, the kunai narrowly missing his face. His right hand swiftly dug into his weapons pouch and produced two kunai of his own, tossing one to his other hand. With them, he blocked the claws that hurtled towards his chest a mere split-second later. His green eyes moved from the claws to the man who owned them. Those tattoos were unmistakable. "An Inuzuka, huh?" he murmured.
The two warriors pushed against each other and broke the deadlock. They hopped backwards so they stood several feet apart.
Kiba's eyes roved his environment quickly, easily noting Sakura, the scroll, and Kyosuke's hitai-ite. He analyzed the situation. Around a dozen or so lifeless Kiri ninja were scattered around the place, their vests indicating all of them were at least of chūnin rank. On the other hand, Kyosuke, if that was his real name, didn't even have a scratch on him, nor did he show any signs of exertion. He was, therefore, likely at least of jōnin rank, possibly even kage-level like Kakashi, considering the importance of the mission.
"Sakura," the dog-nin yelled without looking at her, "I'm sorry, but I won't be able to attend to you right now. This guy's pretty good. He managed to block even a full-speed attack from me. I'll have to at least incapacitate him first before I can get to you, okay?"
A muffled reply.
The brunet took a deep breath. His sandals dug into the soil for but a second before he tore across the field to his opponent.
The blond jōnin nimbly dodged the first blow and parried the next two. He jumped as his adversary swept low and met a second kick from the Konoha ninja meant to strike him in midair with a kick of his own. Just before he launched backwards into a somersault, he saw the Inuzuka throw three shuriken his way while still crouched.
'Magnet Style: Flux Sphere.'
A wave of magnetism emanated from the Kumo jōnin and deflected the course of the weapons.
Kiba was in front of the green-eyed man before the latter had even landed, unleashing yet another flurry of blows and evading several aimed at him. His claws locked with Kyosuke's kunai. "Jiton?" he asked with a smirk.
The blond man grinned as well. "Yup," he answered truthfully, "How about you? Where's your ninken?"
Quid pro quo. "At home," the dog-nin replied, "It was too risky to take him 'cause he might blow our cover. Not that I need him. I'm pretty sure I can take you by myself."
The Kumo jōnin's brow rose. He swerved to the left and into the pool that had been the marker for this shrine. He spun and threw both kunai at his enemy.
The brown-haired man tilted his head to the left, the kunai flying dangerously close to his ear, and then went after his opponent, who stood in the middle of the pond. He was halfway there when he felt a surge of chakra under his feet. Eyes widening, he poured chakra to the soles of his sandals, allowing him to skid to a halt.
Kyosuke formed a string of seals. 'Ice Style: Frozen Javelins.'
Kiba performed a series of flips back into dry land, narrowly evading a barrage of icicle spears that zoomed towards him from underneath the water. He landed just in time to see another set of deadly spears approach him from above. He dashed to his right and turned just in time to block the tsurugi aimed at his neck. "Two kekkei genkai?" he inquired as he pushed back against the blade, "Just who the hell are you?"
The Inuzuka ducked low, avoiding a decapitating slash. He swiped at the Kumo ninja's thigh but had to withdraw quickly to avoid a swing aimed at his elbows. He cursed inwardly. 'The length of his sword puts me at a disadvantage. I can't get close enough without risking a blow to my arms.' He parried the next two blows and, keeping the sword at bay with one hand, he slid forward to strike swing with the other but the blond jōnin managed to pull back just enough to avoid the tips of his claws.
The green-eyed ninja spun on his heel and swung diagonally, his silver blade clashing yet again with the dog-nin's claws. "You're good."
"Thanks," the brunet replied, "You too." Without warning, he removed all force from his arms and bent backwards into the beginning of a back handspring.
The sudden loss of resistance caused Kyosuke to pitch forward. "Shit!" he swore.
Kiba kicked the Kuno jōnin's sword away. While in midair and upside down, he performed several seals. 'Earth Style: Obsidian Edge.' He drove his hands into the ground. From the dirt emerged a katana and a wakizashi made of earth, hardened to steel-like levels by the dog-nin's chakra. He performed an angulated cross-slash aimed at his adversary's torso.
The blond shinobi summoned every ounce of his agility, barely managing to get away unscathed from the Inuzuka's assault. He appeared several feet away and performed a string of seals. 'Magnet Style: Imperious Field.' A steady field of magnetism emanated from him. He held out his hand and his sword flew towards him. He grabbed it just in time to ward off what would have been a fatal attack. However, he didn't manage to brace himself enough to counter his opponent's full strength, so though his raw strength was equal to his adversary's, and the dual slash sent him flying.
As he sailed several feet into the air over the pond, the Kumo ninja couldn't help but smile. Kami, how long has it been since he found a worthy opponent? How long since he felt the thrill of battle? Sheathing his sword, he prepared a counterattack.
The brunet quickly felt the shift in the air and the tremendous surge in chakra. He swore, stabbing his swords into the dirt. He performed four seals and slammed his palms into the ground. 'Earth Style: Mud Wall!'
'Ice Style: Absolute Zero!' Kyosuke slammed a chakra-infused fist into the surface of the water.
A powerful blast of sub-zero air exploded from the point of impact, sending all of the water in the pond outwards at a tremendous velocity before freezing it.
Kiba braced his back against his wall and cursed as he felt the wave of cold smash against it. Unable to withstand the attack, big chunks stone flew away with the blast, disappearing into the surrounding forest. When the rumbling had ceased, he grabbed his swords and tried to edge away from the wall but found that his left leg had been encased in ice. "Shit!" he fumed, trying to pull away.
The green-eyed shinobi stood at the bottom of the now-empty pond. The attack produced such a powerful gust that the nearest trees had been all but uprooted. The pond water, now formed into frozen spikes and tendrils, radiated from him like the petals of an enormous crystalline flower. One such tendril had encased his opponent's leg. Not wasting the opportunity, he launched his follow-up attack. 'Storm Style: Plasma Whorl!'
The dog-nin tore his gaze from his foot and saw six globes of energy appear around him, forming a circle several meters across with him at the center. A heartbeat later, they spiraled inwards, gaining velocity with every passing second. He stabbed his swords into the soil once again and slammed his palms on the ground. 'Earth Style: Upheaval!'
The earth shook violently, chunks of stone jutting out at awkward angles. The Kumo ninja was forced to resheath his sword, putting all his concentration into avoiding the slabs of rock that rose unpredictably from underneath him. As if those weren't trouble enough, the tremors themselves made it difficult to control the precision of his jumps. He bit back a curse as he narrowly avoided being crushed by two pillars. Taking a bit of a risk, his eyes darted briefly on his adversary and found that a block of earth underneath him had heaved upwards, breaking the tendrils of ice that encased his leg. The Inuzuka managed to jump off the block of stone just as the six orbs smashed into one another.
A deafening boom erupted from the point of convergence and hunks of rock went flying across the battlefield at frightening velocities. "Tch!" the blond jōnin mumbled, dodging a couple of blocks that flew his way. His eyes darted back and forth. The floating debris formed a haze that drastically reduced visibility so it was difficult to keep an eye out for the Konoha ninja while the damned doton was still active. He hoped that the explosion from his ranton had injured his opponent enough that he wouldn't be able to counterattack until the quaking had ceased.
The tremors began to decrease in intensity and Kyosuke breathed a sigh as he sidestepped slightly to avoid what he predicted was the last pillar to emerge. And then a blade appeared out of nowhere, and by the time he noticed, its tip was centimeters from his neck.
The brunet had hidden himself inside the last chunk of earth and broke through to strike at the most opportune moment!
Not having the time to draw his weapon, the blond warrior resorted to blocking the attack with the metallic plates on the dorsum of his fingerless gloves. The impact knocked him back several feet. He looked back up just in time to see a couple of kunai tear towards him. Performing the technique he did earlier, he smirked. "Those can't hit m—"
Kyosuke felt one of the kunai graze the side of his neck, producing a tiny trickle of blood.
Kiba leered. "They can if I throw them hard enough," he said simply, "The faster the incoming projectile, the smaller the angle of deflection." Who knew he'd pick up something from the trailer of that physics thriller Sakura had wanted to see? He dashed forward, dual swords at his sides.
The Kumo jōnin swerved to the left to avoid a diagonal upward slash from the katana and parried a thrust from the wakizashi. He jumped, avoiding a low spinning sweep with the katana aimed at his legs, and performed an overhead swing as he descended in retaliation, which the Inuzuka met with both swords.
The dog-nin sprung from his crouched position, pushing his adversary back a couple of feet, and then threw both weapons like boomerangs.
Growling, the green-eyed man swung his tsurugi in a side horizontal arc, sweeping the spinning blades to the side. He spun around, his acute senses hearing a deep inhalation and found his foe behind him, his hands forming the dog seal.
'Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets.' The brunet spewed spheres of wind chakra from his mouth.
The blond shinobi slid to the side, narrowly avoiding the first volley of shots, then did a series of somersaults, slides and rolls, avoiding the high-speed projectiles as best as he could and blocking those he couldn't dodge by the flat of his blade. Some of those he managed to avoid slammed violently into the ground, sending jagged bits of earth flying. One such bit flew close to one of his eyes, and he was forced to close them for a second. He cursed, knowing his opponent would take advantage of the momentary lapse in vision. Sure enough, the moment he opened his eyes, he saw three projectiles aimed at his chest. He raised his tsurugi and took them head-on, a bit surprised at how each packed quite a punch.
The Inuzuka darted forward, taking advantage of the tiny stagger his jutsu provided. He sunk as low as he can to touch the ground, producing two new swords in the split-second it took to reach his opponent. He jumped and twisted in midair, slashing with the wakizashi with enough force to temporarily knock the Kumo shinobi's tsurugi from blocking stance and deliver a flying roundhouse kick.
Kyosuke ducked and felt his foe's leg graze his head. He lashed out in an upward diagonal.
Kiba sensed the kunai in his weapons pouch react to a magnetic field. He leapt backwards a significant distance but was surprised to feel a sharp object nick at his chest. He felt a tiny trickle of blood run down his abs. "Hmm, that's quite a nifty weapon you have there," he murmured, eyeing the segments that quickly reformed into a blade.
The Kumo shinobi shrugged. "I had it designed 'cause it suits my abilities."
"Speaking of which, you have three kekkei genkai?" the brown-haired man asked, "You are unreal, man! How the hell don't we know about someone as special as you?"
The blond placed a palm over his chest. "Aw, you're making me blush," he joked. His cheeks remained perfectly fair.
The onyx-eyed man flipped him, but was unable to suppress his amusement.
Kyosuke chuckled as well. "You're pretty sharp as well. You know how to correctly counter a kekkei genkai," he complimented, "I'm sorry, but I never asked for your name."
"It's Kiba, and as you've deduced, I'm from the Inuzuka clan."
The green-eyed ninja nodded. "Mine's Kyosuke," he replied.
The dog-nin frowned. "Just Kyosuke?" he asked, "Like those big-time showbiz stars with just one name?"
It was Kyosuke's turn to make a rude gesture. "And just to answer you other question... You know, the one about why you have no intel about me," he said, his voice becoming serious, "Nobody who has fought me has ever lived to tell anyone else about my abilities."
A brown brow arched. "Ah, but you see, there's a first time for everything," he responded with a smirk.
"I guess we'll just have to find out, eh?"
Kiba saw his enemy's sword break apart and shoot into the ground. He rushed towards Kyosuke and felt the ground erupt behind him. He didn't need to look back to know that the blades would have impaled him had he been but a fraction slower or had he moved an instant later than he had.
The blond ninja's sword withdrew quickly but didn't reform. He made two diagonal lashes, which his opponent deftly evaded. The segments came together just in time for him to parry a thrust attack from the katana. He swung his left leg inwards to avoid a downward slice from the wakizashi. He pushed the katana away by swinging his tsurugi in an arc over his head and then used the raised foot to perform a crescent kick. His opponent pulled back to avoid the blow.
The dog-nin heard a loud swish as the kick came dangerously close to his face. The singing of metal alerted him and he swerved to elude a rising lash. He was about to counterattack when his opponent brought his own hand into the blades' path and skilfully hooked it by the flat side, changing the direction of the attack mid-lash. Caught off-guard, he ducked awkwardly into the path of a kick. Cursing, he brought he arms up to protect himself. The full force of the kick sent him flying. He managed to land on his feet and flipped backwards as he heard the blades whiz towards him. The last segment of the Kumo shinobi's tsurugi stabbed the spot he had initially landed on. He looked up to see the floating blades form a rainbow-like curve originating from his foe.
The onyx-eyed man grumbled. 'In whip form, his attacks are a bit slower but more unpredictable. Not to mention his attack range is absurd.' He readied a long-range attack of his own.
'Oh no you don't!' the emerald-eyed warrior thought, thrusting his sword forward.
Too concentrated on his seals, the brunet slid to the right a moment too late and felt the edge of the blades graze his left flank. 'Just a scratch,' he thought. He saw his foe pull the hilt to the left and he did a side somersault to dodge the blades as they whipped sideways. 'Wind Style: Vacuum Wave Barrage."
Wide arcs of sharp wind chakra poured forth from the Inuzuka's mouth with varying angulations. Kyosuke grit his teeth as he evaded the high-speed projectiles, suffering from a few nicks here and there as he did. Curiously, the last three blades seemed a bit too high to hit him.
His enemy too focused on the blades of chakra, Kiba did another series of seals and placed his palms on the floor. 'Earth Style: Mobile Core.'
The green-eyed warrior swore as the ground beneath him rose sharply like a platform at the last second, placing him in the path of the last three projectiles. Without enough time to dodge, he raised his tsurugi and braced himself. He managed to block the first two without being swept away, but the moment the last blade slammed into his sword, the wind chakra exploded, producing a small maelstrom of razor-sharp air currents. He dashed off the platform as fast as he could, but was unable to get away unscathed. He landed on his feet and grimaced at the numerous small cuts he had incurred.
For a few moments, neither shinobi moved.
The blond smiled and shook his head as he sheathed his sword. "I didn't expect to have to resort to this," he said.
The Inuzuka tensed. He saw his opponent weave a series of seals.
"Light Style: Luminescence."
Bright light emanated from the Kumo ninja and everything faded to white.
The brown-haired jōnin cursed out loud but was surprised to hear nothing. He smelled nothing; saw nothing. He licked the back of his hand. He tasted the saltiness of his sweat and felt the ground beneath him.
"Yes. In this genjutsu, all but the contact senses remain. I'm just slightly above average, really, but this should be enough for someone like you, who doesn't seem to be very skilled with genjutsu either," came Kyosuke's voice, emanating from everywhere at once.
Kiba bristled. "This is exactly what Sakura said she felt in Gran's restaurant, but this time it isn't darkness, but light…" he thought out loud, though he didn't hear his voice, "Speaking of which, did he say 'Light Style?' How can a technique like this be yang element?"
"Actually, when I said 'Light Style,' I meant just that. This is a light element jutsu.'
"I've never heard of such a kekkei genkai!" the dog-nin replied, realizing his opponent could hear him while he, himself, could not.
A small chuckle echoed. "That's because this isn't a kekkei genkai," the Kumo shinobi replied, "This is a kekkei tōta."
The brunet's eyes widened. Based on the kekkei genkai his opponent had been using…
"Yes, kōton is a combination of lightning, the purest chakra nature which is exactly half yin and half yang, and the two yang-oriented elements, wind and water. You see, despite yin and yang being elements themselves, every other basic chakra nature polarizes to either being more yin or more yang."
'Fuck,' the onyx-eyed man cursed mentally. He thanked the kami that he knew doton. He formed the snake seal. 'Earth Style: Stoneskin.' Immediately, his entire body turned into a darker shade of brown. He knew an immense burst of chakra could break him from such a genjutsu, but considering his enemy, he wanted to conserve as much energy as possible. He had taken a gamble using this technique. He had assumed he would use up less chakra sustaining Stoneskin while figuring out a solution compared to a sudden titanic surge.
"Ah, that jutsu. You really are quite good. But…"
Kiba saw just the tiniest spark of blue centimeters from his face and managed to dodge what was most likely a lightning-boosted attack. Apparently, chakra was still faintly detectable. 'Every technique has a weakness,' he recalled Sasuke telling him.
"I should've known you'd have the speed to evade a point blank attack. I guess I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way."
Kiba staggered as several lashes landed on his body. Protected by his technique, his skin remained intact. The force of the blows still caused him to rock back and forth, though.
"Impressive," Kyosuke commented, "but you can't keep that defensive technique up forever. Though your chakra pool is immense, it's not limitless. You'll eventually run out and when that happens…"
Another volley of attacks landed on the dog-nin's body, creating gashes in his clothes. As he thought of a strategy, he thought about something that's been nagging him. "You know, I've been wondering," he grunted as more attacks landed on him, "I get why you'd wanna kill Sayuri-san, but why Sano as well?"
The slashes halted. For a few moments, silence reigned.
"It seems your hokage and our raikage, or at least his advisors, thought of the same point of entry—the club which Lord Hisoka's daughter frequented. We formulated a plan with that as the main focus. However, your appearance and subsequent appointment as Platinum King messed up our plans. Our intel noted that Miyako would only hire the Platinum King, so the only choice we had was to wait for you to succeed in extracting the information, get the data from you, then arrive here before you do. In a way, the success of our mission depended on you. If you had failed to get the information, then everything would have been for naught. Now, Sano was scheming to get rid of all the three kings to reassume the position of Platinum King, and that would've been bad, so I got rid of his meddling ass."
"I see," the brunet said. He was panting now. Another barrage of attacks sent him to his knees.
"You're not looking well, Kiba." The Kumo shinobi unleashed yet another wave of lashes. His opponent grunted and slouched pathetically. His arms were no longer crossed in front of his face. Instead, they hung limply at his sides.
And then he saw a small window of opportunity. A patch of skin at around the area of the left shoulder and chest had returned to its normal tanned color. He lunged forward.
And then felt a powerful hand grasp his leading arm. His green eyes widened in surprise.
"Gotcha," the onyx-eyed ninja said with a smirk. He hurled his opponent and tore towards the same direction a heartbeat later. 'Passing Fang!'
Kyosuke winced as his back hit what remained of the platform that had been raised earlier with such force that it created a small crater. His eyes flew up to see a cone of destruction headed his way. He grit his teeth and raised his tsurugi. The impact between his blade and the twister caused his back to dig into the platform. Multiple cracks crept across the surface of the stone slab. 'F-fuck!' he thought. He poured all his might into his Imperious Field, strengthening it to the maximum attainable level, and prayed it would be enough.
It was subtle, but Kiba felt it. His entire body slowed enough to significantly decrease the attacking power of his Passing Fang. He felt his foe push with all his might and he was slung back. He skidded backwards several meters. As he did, he was glad to see the brightness fade until what remained was the natural light lent by the moon.
The two men panted slightly, the battle starting to take its toll on both warriors.
"So you faked fatigue and partially dispelled your jutsu to get me to attack a specific point on your body and then took the opportunity to grab me," the blond man murmured, "Well done."
The brunet smiled. "Well, it was a bit of a risk. Just a small mistake in the timing and I would've died," he confessed, "And you… You magnified your magnet jutsu to affect the iron in my blood to slow me down."
The green-eyed warrior huffed in disdain. "It took a lot of chakra to create a field strong enough to get you to slow down enough, given that the human body has just around three grams of iron. I've heard of your prowess, but I never would've believed that you had the raw strength and speed to make a D-rank taijutsu possess that much destructive power. You—"
The Kumo ninja's eyes widened and slid to the side just in time to avoid an axe kick from behind. As the attacker's heel touched the ground, the very earth shook and broke apart. Kyosuke reappeared several feet away.
Haruno Sakura stood amidst the destruction and smirked before walking slowly to her partner.
"Sorry I couldn't get to you, love," the raven-eyed man said.
"Don't worry, I know. I've been watching by the sidelines, remember?" the kunoichi replied. "Who knew there existed another kekkei tōta other than Ōnoki-sama's jinton?"
The blond warrior eyed both foes warily. Haruno Sakura was lacking in terms of speed, but most certainly not in strength. Still, he didn't expect her to break free from those chakra-enhanced chains. He analyzed the situation. Dodging her would be easy enough, but with the Inuzuka attacking at the same time, he could get overwhelmed. He cursed his luck and performed four seals. 'Storm Style: Laser Circus!' A bright halo appeared around his clasped hands, then multiple pale blue beams burst forth, rushing towards his targets.
The Inuzuka growled in frustration. Though he was quick enough to evade those beams, he couldn't say the same for the pinkette beside him. He didn't know any wide-range fūton to counter such an attack and he knew that Sakura didn't either. He wove the seals necessary to summon another wall of earth. He was about to slam his palms into the ground when his partner placed a hand on his arm.
"Not yet," the medical-nin whispered, eyes on the approaching beams of light, "He can change the direction of those beams. Summon the wall at the last moment."
With bated breath, they waited. Muscles tensed as the beams moved closer and closer. Seconds from impact, the rose-haired kunoichi yelled. "Now!"
'Earth Style: Mud Wall!' The ground rose briskly beneath the pair, putting them out of harm's reach.
Despite the green-eyed man's attempts to redirect his jutsu, the beams slammed into the slab of earth, unable to make a sharp enough bend in their path to pursue their targets. They exploded on contact, a loud boom echoing across the battlefield.
As Kiba expected, fissures immediately appeared on the stone wall, what with lightning being one of the elements comprising ranton. He nodded at his companion.
Sakura punched the wall, completing what the laser beams had started. The block of earth splintered under her fist and began to collapse. She and her partner leapt off the back of the wall. As she fell, she selected the largest chunk. She planted her feet on it and pushed, sending the massive hunk of earth hurtling towards the Kumo shinobi.
The dog-nin clapped his hands. 'Wind Style: Gale Palm.' A blast of wind sent the smaller pieces of rock flying towards Kyosuke as well.
The blond jōnin rolled sideways as he avoided the blocks of solid earth that sped towards him. As expected, aside from the initial one sent by the pinkette, the biggest slabs were the last to reach him. Unable to evade such large projectiles, he took out his tsurugi and lashed out, slicing the chunks neatly in half. When he bisected the last, his eyes widened as he saw the brunet's form shooting towards him, fist extended and darkened with Stoneskin. He cursed. Given his opponent's raw strength and the offensive magnification offered by that particular doton, a direct hit could finish him. He pushed his arms into the earth. 'Ice Style: Ice Wall!'
A block of solid ice sprang from the earth in front of the emerald-eyed man.
Unfazed, the brown-haired ninja sped forward and but a second later, he smashed his fist into the impediment before him. He heard the satisfying sound of breaking. He roared and put more strength behind the punch and the thick block of ice shattered, revealing his smirking foe. He gasped at the tremendous rise in chakra.
'Light Style: Prismatic Beam.'
From the center of Kyosuke's palm shot forth a beam of white light. Unlike the beams of a ranton, it traveled in a straight line, but was far faster.
Without enough time to dodge, the onyx-eyed man managed to summon a clone and had himself kicked to the side milliseconds before the clone itself was consumed by the attack. He landed unceremoniously on his back and flipped back to his feet just in time to see the beam thin out and fade. His bit back a curse as he viewed the aftermath of the attack. The ray of light simply didn't destroy or blow apart all the rocks and trees it had hit. It seemed to have erased them from existence—vaporized them with intense power.
Such was the power of a kekkei tōta.
Kiba swore. 'Shit! At top speed, I can barely avoid it. If Sakura gets hit by that…' Unable to stomach the thought, he rushed towards his lover, who hurried towards him as well.
The green-eyed male trained his eye on his adversary and then performed a string of seals. 'Light Style: Pillars of Radiance.'
The dog-nin was distracted when light appeared from the earth upon which he was about to step on. An elaborate circular array appeared, and an instant later, a beam of light several feet wide erupted from the spot. Had he been any slower, the light would have consumed him. He had just landed when another array appeared and he was forced to dash again in another direction. After the fifth beam of light, there was a pause, and he risked a glance at his opponent, who was eyeing him closely. From the looks of it, the jutsu worked like Amaterasu, meaning it attempted to destroy any target that was in the field of vision. However, it was limited to five beams at a time, pulsed at regular intervals. He had just caught his breath when his opponent began another salvo.
The brown-haired jōnin jumped out of the way as the pillar of light threatened to consume him. The singing of metal alerted him and he twisted in midair to avoid an arc of blades aimed towards his midsection. Unfortunately, his midair dodge made him land awkwardly, and it was by sheer luck that he managed to roll away just before the next beam erupted. Feeling the tremors underneath him and knowing he had no opportunity to dodge, he activated Stoneskin once more to protect himself as blades erupted from underneath him and struck his leg. He managed to swing his foot away in time to avoid being entangled by the blades as he flipped sideways to avoid the third and fourth beams. He was preparing himself for the last pillar of light when a flash of pink appeared in his peripheral vision. "No!" he screamed, "Stay back!"
The Inuzuka's yell caused the blond jōnin's vision to stray towards the pinkette. 'Shit!' he thought. He managed to redirect his gaze but it was too late, as the array appeared under the kunoichi.
The raven-eyed shinobi summoned all the speed he could muster and rushed towards the medical-nin. He barreled into her, pushing her out of the way just as the beam descended. "Fuck!" he bellowed, as the lateral portion of his leg sizzled, caught by the edge of the pillar. He produced a clone, who wove a series of seals. 'Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!'
A large wall of powerful flames rushed towards Kyosuke, obstructing his vision. He summoned another wall of ice to stop the attack. Despite the fact that hyōton supposedly weren't weak against katon, several cracks appeared on the block of ice due to the sheer power of the technique. 'To be injured and still conjure a clone with enough chakra to use a jutsu this powerful… You really are quite something, Inuzuka Kiba.'
Sakura was beside Kiba in a heartbeat and began healing his injuries. The flames his clone was spewing should buy them several seconds at the very least, maybe half a minute at most.
"Sakura," the dog-nin whispered, "you have to hide. Go to the clearing and—"
"What!?" the addressed shrieked, "I'm the hokage's apprentice, Kiba! What'd they say if word got out that I ran away from a battle!?"
"Listen—" the brunet tried reasoning.
"I'm not fucking weak, Kiba! I can help—"
"No, you can't, Sakura!" It was the Inuzuka's turn to raise his voice.
"Don't treat me like I'm worthless! I can—"
"I'm not! For goodness sake, you're healing my leg!" the brunet ground out. He sighed and took on a more controlled tone. "Listen to me. Just because you choose not to engage doesn't mean you're weak. This is an enemy that you can do nothing about, Sakura. His speed is too much for you to handle. Your strength means nothing if you can't land a hit. My skill set just happens to be a better match for him than yours. That's all. To insist fighting him would be foolish on your part. You know that." He stood just as the flames started to recede. "Hide in the clearing," he whispered. "If... If anything should happen to me, use the Flying Thunder God Technique Naruto taught us to get away from here."
The kunoichi nodded absently. She knew he was right, of course. It just sucked that she had to fall back like this. She hid behind a large tree trunk and waited.
A poof signaled the clone's dispersal. Sensing the flames go out, the green-eyed man emerged from his barrier and saw claws mere centimeters from his face. He cursed and ducked, dodging and parrying a flurry of blows. 'So he's back to using his claws. Though riskier due to the fact that a wrong move can mean loss of limb, his attack speed is greatest in this mode. He aims to stop me from using whip mode or my kekkei tōta.'
The onyx-eyed jōnin growled, unleashing all of his fury into his swipes. He put all his might into a horizontal swing, knocking the tsurugi out of the way. He used the momentum to execute a butterfly kick, which his foe tried to block with his left arm. Suddenly, he dropped low and continued his rotation around the long axis of his body, doing a low sweep with the same foot.
Caught off-guard by the feint, the blond warrior was almost too late in jumping to avoid the low attack. As he descended, he attempted to stab the sweeping foot. However, the Inuzuka managed to withdraw his leg fast enough to avoid being impaled.
The brunet dug his claws into the ground for leverage, then swiveled deftly closer to his opponent. He slashed upwards and the taller man was forced to let go of his sword to dodge a blow to his right arm. Kiba performed a follow-up kick which his adversary blocked with his forearms.
Kyosuke skidded a few feet and produced a kunai from his back pocket. He fended off a couple of slashes with the weapon before throwing it point blank at the brunet's face, making the latter duck as he dashed to the other side of the his Ice Wall. 'It's time to end this,' he thought, weaving the seals for a kōton while he strengthened his Imperious Field.
The dog-nin rounded the other end of the block of ice and dashed towards his foe. He was impeded, however, by several glints of metal that came at him from different directions. 'He's controlling them with the jiton he used earlier,' he thought. He skidded to a sudden halt, and then flipped and ducked, avoiding the floating blade segments. When he felt a spike in chakra and the blades flew away from him, he knew he was in trouble.
"Light Style: Photon Vortex!" the emerald-eyed male roared.
Several rays of light erupted from the blond jōnin's hands at different angles. The floating blade segments caught the beams and reflected them randomly towards the Inuzuka. That the Konoha ninja managed to avoid significant damage from the ridiculously powerful jutsu for several seconds was astounding, but the tiny nicks and burns he sustained from the rays eventually accumulated, slowing him down. The moment one leg was directly hit, it was over. He was quickly overwhelmed by the multitude of beams that went to and fro between the blades that danced and spun around him like a tornado. After the hit to the leg, it took two seconds flat for him to be riddled with holes. Finally, the blades angled all the beams into a single blade floating above the ravaged warrior. A concentrated beam shot downwards at the ebony-eyed man, resulting in a fantastic explosion of light that far exceeded anything thus far.
Sakura's breath caught in her throat. It couldn't be. Kiba was one of the strongest ninja in Konoha. For him to fall was… Tears began to cloud her vision and her entire body trembled. Kiba. Her Kiba… He couldn't be…
The beginnings of a wail of anguish formed within the medical-nin throat, but as soon as she let it escape, a rumbling sound drowned her out.
'Earth Style: Granite Tomb.'
Two halves of a dome of slid rock snapped shut over the floating segments of Kyosuke's tsurugi. Without the ability to gain kinetic energy by tearing through the air, they couldn't penetrate the slab of rock easily without the Kumo ninja increasing his magnetic field exponentially.
The blond's brows rose in bafflement. "What the f—"
'Fire Style: Triple Helix!'
The green-eyed man saw three streams of fire in helical formation zoom towards him from his left. He jumped backwards to avoid the jutsu and felt the smallest of tugs at his waist. He looked behind him and saw the Inuzuka grabbing the scroll for but a split-second before disappearing. 'Shit!' he thought.
Kiba stood several meters from his opponent, scroll in hand and and a weary grin on his face. "That jutsu was damn powerful," he said, "I doubt even Naruto could've gotten away from that scratch-free."
"A clone? When did you—" Kyosuke began, but was interrupted by his own thoughts. He recalled running behind his wall of ice to perform the seals for the Photon Vortex. "It was then," he murmured to himself.
"I neutralized your blades, and then sent the flashiest and most distracting jutsu in my arsenal your way," the dog-nin explained, "With the trees to your right and my katon coming from your left, you only had two choices, and I just followed you to snatch the scroll while you were too focused on my jutsu."
The Kumo ninja fought the urge to clap. From his knowledge, this particular Konoha ninja wasn't particularly stellar when it came to theoreticals, but his combat savvy was remarkable. "I suppose I'll just have to take it back," he said confidently, producing a kunai from his weapons pouch and assuming a fighting stance.
"I don't think so, buddy," the brunet growled. "Sakura!" he yelled, "Catch!" He threw the scroll with all his might behind him and turned back around briskly.
The pinkette emerged from behind the nearest trunk and held out her hands to catch the item they were sent to retrieve. She snatched it deftly from the air and began to run in the opposite direction.
The emerald-eyed male paled. He ran towards the medical-nin at top speed. "Sakura, please don't!" he managed to yell before a punch sent him dozens of meters away in the opposite direction, his displacement only stopped by a huge tree trunk. He slid down, his consciousness waning at the power of the blow.
The onyx-eyed jōnin stared at his opponent in surprise. He didn't expect to hit the man so easily, and so squarely. His adversary wasn't even able to raise his forearms in defense, nor did he exhibit any evasive maneuvers. Did the scroll really distract him so? The panic in his voice when he pleaded at Sakura left a tingling sensation at the base of his spine.
Something was off.
And then the scroll shone so brightly, even the Inuzuka, who was dozens of meters away from the scroll, had to shield his eyes for a moment. A white line delineated a large sphere with the scroll, and subsequently Sakura, in the center. The chakra rose sharply at a fantastic rate.
"Light Style: Nova," Kiba heard the blond mumble faintly. His eyes darted towards the fallen shinobi. "It's the most powerful kōton I know. That one's channeling. You have... two seconds..." His foe closed his eyes held both hands outward.
The dog-nin's eyes widened. Sakura couldn't possibly get away from it in time. Channeling jutsu could only be dispelled two ways: first, if the caster canceled it, and that took quite a bit of concentration which he doubted his adversary had at the moment given his decreased sensorium; and second, if the caster's chakra disappears either from death, drainage, or teleportation to a far away place. There was no time to think. All that was left was the overwhelming need to protect the woman he loved. Out of pure reflex, his hands formed a single, unique seal. 'Secret Tradition: Crimson Death.'
All of the brunet's tattoos glowed for a split-second before arcs of red light flew from them. The light formed a canine silhouette that tore towards Kyosuke at beyond-light velocities. 'Please make it in time,' he pleaded to all the kami.
A black implosion occurred, which somewhat puzzled the Inuzuka. He had only heard of this kinjutsu from tales the elders told so he really didn't know how it would look like. When the implosion receded, only a large crater remained, leaving no trace of the emerald-eyed Kumo ninja. From behind him, he saw the light fade. "Thank goodness," he muttered, before his knees gave out.
"Kiba!" the kunoichi screamed as her lover fell. She ran as fast as her feet could take her and knelt beside his prone form. She looked for external injuries, but found no significant ones. She used the Mystic Palm Technique and tried to search for internal injuries. Again, she only sensed minor problems. So why was he like this? She turned him over and gasped.
Kiba's tattoos had become a deep, almost unearthly black.
"His chakra..." the medical-nin mumbled, "It's leaking away. Was it because of—?"
"Sakura, be a bit more vigilant of my son. Despite having matured over the years, Kiba can still be a tad impulsive. Given the profile of this mission, he might get a little carried away and do stupid things. Hell, he might even use the tattoos and—"
And then Sakura recalled lectures about the history of various clans of Konoha. Legend has it that the Inuzuka clan members possess remarkable senses and unmatched base speed because within each is sealed a fragment of the spirit of Inugama, the dog kami, becoming part of the member's very soul and life force. The size of the fragment of Inugama that comes to reside within an Inuzuka clan member is completely random, and it ultimately decides the end-point power of that shinobi.
"That's 'cause I'm part divine, babe."
"I thought that was just a legend. We've bugged him about it in history class but he never really confirmed that it was real. If that legend's real, then when Kiba used that jutsu..."
'Yeah, he utilized the actual spirit of the dog kami that resided within him. Doing so, he doomed himself to wither away and die,' Inner Sakura said.
A tear ran down the kunoichi's cheeks. "You fool!" she shouted. She poured her chakra into him, but even that leaked away. "You fucking idiot! Don't you dare die on me! I won't let you!"
'And crying is helping how?' the imaginary being inside her drawled.
'Can you cut the sarcasm!? I'm breaking down here!'
'Sorry.'
Her inner self was right, though. She had to think of something else. Pumping him full of chakra wasn't doing squat. Sure, it replaced what he was losing, but eventually, she'd run dry as well. She mulled for a few seconds, and was struck with inspiration. "Maybe the elders of his clan can seal a new fragment of the dog kami within him!" she whispered excitedly. "Now I just need to—"
A hand shot up to lightly touch her forearm.
"Don't…"
"Kiba!" the medical-nin blurted out.
The dog-nin's eyes remained closed and spoke in barely a whisper. "You've never… teleported more than… just yourself…" he muttered, "You might…"
The pinkette didn't let him finish. She lowered her lips onto the brown-haired jōnin's.
The kiss lacked tongue and the usual accompanying roving hands, but it carried with it every ounce of love and tenderness the green-eyed beauty could conjure. She smiled past the tears that were forming. "Have a little faith…" she murmured.
It was then that the Inuzuka realized that it had been instances like this that had incited all the self-doubt. He recalled that all the guys, particularly he, Naruto, Sasuke and Lee, had always tended to be overprotective of Sakura whenever they were together on missions. And so, even when the main target had skills that she could take on and triumph over, they had always jumped in to finish the job in what could be described as a misguided sense of chivalry. This caused her to question our belief in her, and probably spurred her to doubt herself.
The current situation was a test of skill, something she could actually accomplish unlike the impossible task of her landing a punch on Kyosuke given the vast disparity in speed. He didn't regret his choice to leave her out of his battle with the blond ninja, but he lamented his decision in stopping her from trying to use the Yondaime Hokage's jutsu. She would never be able to revel in her strength if he always held her back.
Kiba tried to touch her face, but found that he couldn't raise his arm any further. Instead, he squeezed her forearm and mustered a smile. "I do… I always have…" he whispered, "Go for it…"
Sakura's brow wrinkled in concentration. 'Flying Thunder God Technique!'
The dog-nin felt as if the had floor suddenly disappeared underneath him. The distinct smell of asepsis that invaded his nose told him the rose-haired jōnin had succeeded in teleporting them to the small alcove in the emergency room where Naruto had left a marked kunai. He forced his eyes open and saw that his beautiful lover was somewhat pale and was sweating profusely, but otherwise okay. Her face broke into a heart-stopping smile.
Pride swelled in the brunet's chest. Praise formed in his mouth, but he found that he had no energy to let it roll off his tongue. The edges of his vision darkened, but he fought with the last of his strength to maintain his gaze upon Sakura. If this glorious sight was the last vision he would see, then he would pass a happy man.
The kunoichi's breath caught in her throat when the Inuzuka's grip on her forearm loosened. She looked down on him and saw the brightness ebb away from his eyes. She placed a hand on his wrist. His pulses were thready; his heart bradycardic at just over forty beats a minute.
He was dying.
"Someone get me a motherfucking gurney!" the medical-nin screamed, alerting the staff of their presence.

Author's Notes: I originally planned on splitting this battle into three parts, but with the call for the "mission [to] be over soon" from another site, I decided to just go and post the entire thing. There's no point in delaying any further. Besides, I know how frustrating the wait can be... *recalls the fight against Sasori*
Now, I'd like to discuss some points about kekkei genkai that I'd created for the purpose of this fic. I suppose most of you guys know that water + lightning = storm and wind + water = ice. Magnet style has been introduced in the manga, and I've decided to use lightning and wind as its constituents, considering a fluctuating electric field (lightning) can produce a magnetic field [propagated in the air (wind)].
Now, I assume you guys also know which element is weak against which. Now, a kekkei genkai is comprised of two elements, but it doesn't mean it's weak against each of the elements that are strong against its composites. To better demonstrate, ice = wind + water. Wind is weak against fire while water is weak against earth. However, water is also strong against fire, so the weakness is canceled out. Therefore, ice style techniques are only weak against earth style techniques, but not against fire style techniques (as was demonstrated in the fight against Haku). Still, a jutsu of any element, even fire, can overpower it if it outranks the technique in terms of raw power.
Each element having yin and yang orientation is an idea I just came up with. Lightning is pure energy, so I put it as the most ambivalent nature. I considered putting earth and water in the "more yang" category, but that would make Kyosuke have wood style, and we all know how overpowered Senju Hashirama is with it, so I scrapped that grouping.
As for kekkei tōta, well, there will be an explanation somewhere in the next few scenes.
Oh, and ass-pull (Kiba's hiden) FTW. If Kishimoto can use them time and again, why can't I?
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