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
- 35
- 36
- 37
"Going somewhere?" Sakura's voice rang.
The addressed stopped and turned towards the voice.
The medical-nin's breath hitched. When she saw the unusual way Kiba's Crimson Death imploded, she had guessed that something was off. The massive chakra surge before the explosion was the second clue. At first, she attributed it to the dog-nin's powerful hiden, but upon reassessment, she realized that it... felt different. Another point that only made itself known upon reevaluation was the fact that she felt Sayuri's attacker's immense chakra fade away from her field slower than expected for someone possessing Kyosuke's speed.
It all pointed to one conclusion: the blond jōnin wasn't acting alone.
Kai stood in the clearing with a slightly amused expression. His usual casual clothes were replaced with a loose kimono not unlike the ones worn by Neji. His was a deep black, however, and had a single sleeve like Danzō's. The left side of his torso was bare, a dazzling array of black tribal tattoos adorning the smooth, tanned skin. A character could be seen on his left deltoid. "Dark," it proclaimed.
If Kyosuke's tattoo was an indication, then the pinkette was in more trouble than she had predicted. Her gaze moved downward. She mentally cursed as her gaze lingered wickedly at his groin, the looseness of his clothes unable to fully conceal the eminence of his anatomy.
'As much as I'm enjoying this, dear, eyes up,' Inner Sakura drawled.
Green eyes did as suggested and rested on the hitai-ite that had been used as a belt. "You're a Kumo ninja," she stated.
"And you're in the Land of Thunder, Haruno Sakura," the raven-haired shinobi said. "What do you want? To know my mission? It was to draw attention away from Kyosuke by being intentionally suspicious." He paused and genuinely smiled. "I must commend you two for your performance. If you Kyoko hadn't had you drugged, causing you to slip and say the Inuzuka's name, I would've kept mentally debating whether you were shinobi too."
"That last attack, what did you do?"
The tall man mentally deliberated on what to say, or if he should say anything at all. Eventually, he managed to cough up a vague-enough response. "I used meiton, and despite what you may think you know about it from your previous encounters, it's not just a kekkei genkai."
For several moments the kunoichi stood silent. How he had managed to get information about the battle with Hiruko years ago, she'd never know. Kai certainly wouldn't tell her. Nonetheless, his response gave her plenty of things to mull over.
She had wished that she was wrong, that the well-built man in front of her wasn't really involved. Alas, her intellect usually didn't make it so. Her hands tightened into fists. This was the man who had killed Sayuri. She should hate his guts. She should wish him dead.
The azure-eyed man eyed the beautiful woman as she walked slowly up to him. He tensed, eyeing her fists warily. For all intents and purposes, she was an enemy. His mind scrolled through the various tactics he had been taught in the academy on reflex, but his body refused to exact violence upon the Konoha ninja. That fist-sized organ in his chest only pumped faster as she came closer and ever closer. She stopped mere inches from him, her head bowed. He smelled the fragrance of her shampoo and felt something inside stir. He dropped his head and chuckled a little.
So this was what being lovesick was like.
He was so caught up in his little world that he didn't see the blow until it was too late.
A sharp smack echoed throught the wounds, accompanying the sudden explosion of pain on his left cheek. His left hand shot up to the injured skin. He winced slightly.
Of all things, Haruno Sakura had merely slapped him. From what he knew about her, a well-placed blow could've sent him dozens of meters away. His brows rose in confusion.
"That was for Sayuri-san," the rose-haired woman said.
Kai could only grunt dumbly. He was about to comment drolly when impossibly soft lips crashed against his own. It took him a second to realize that the enemy was kissing him. Despite the absurdity of the situation, he found himself kissing back. His hands stroked her toned back as hers wove themselves into his spiky hair. She placed her palms against the back of his head and pulled, pressing his lips even harder against hers. Their tongues lashed out at each other, caressing and stroking in the most intimate of ways.
On and on, the kiss went. Hands groped and reached and piched and fondled. Still, no matter how physically fit and conditioned the two were, oxygen was a vital thing, and so at some point the two had to part, gasping huge mouthfuls of much-needed air, the black dots danced in their peripheral vision dancing away as the hypoxia receded.
"Wow," the dark-haired hunk muttered. "What the hell was that?"
The pinkette smiled sadly. "That was me seeing if anything that happened there was real."
"And?"
One of the medical-nin's fingers rose to touch her bruised lips. "It was for me, and from what I felt, it was for you too."
Equally bruised lips pulled into a tight smile.
"It was also a kiss goodbye," the emerald-eyed beauty stated. She gathered his larger hands in hers and squeezed. "I know it was kind of cruel to do this, but I wanted you to know that despite all the layers of deceit we've created for the mission, I really have fallen in love with you. It embarrasses the hell out of me, but I have for Kyosuke too. Still, Kiba is my man."
"Sakura…"
"Also, I'm very sorry about what happened to you."
"Hm?"
The lovely shinobi blushed. "You know when, uh…"
"When your boyfriend fucked the cum out of me in front of an audience against my will?" the well-built man offered.
The blush deepened further at the rather blunt words. "Yeah, that."
The ebony-haired hunk stared deeply into the kunoichi's eyes. "I'd endure a thousandfold more if it meant I could make love to you again," he said without batting an eyelash.
The medical-nin exhaled sharply. Again, why couldn't the enemy have been an insufferable, ugly-as-fuck obese ninja? She had to end this soon. Otherwise, it would only become more difficult to say goodbye. Gathering her wits, she tiptoed and planted a much gentler, close-lipped kiss on the tall man's mouth. "I wish you the best, Kai. I really do. You'll find someone one day that'll make your heart beat faster than when it does for me."
"Nope, I won't," the ebony-haired hunk said without any trace of hate or bitterness, "Not that I'll be searching, anyway."
The medical-nin bit her lip. "Kai..." She paused. "It is Kai, right?" she inquired.
A nod. "It's my choice to make, you know?" the azure-eyed ninja said, putting on a brave smile. His blue gaze swept up and down one final time, lingering on her face, memorizing every graceful line. Finally, he let go of her hands and stepped back. "Goodbye, Haruno Sakura."
"Goodbye, Kai." Sakura smiled at the handsome man and concentrated.
And then she was gone without even the barest of sounds.
'Flying Thunder God Technique,' Kai thought. He touched his left cheek and smiled. She might've held back, but it still hurt a hell lot. For a few seconds, he allowed himself to muse, and then straightened his back and eased the smile off his face. He turned around. "You can come out now," he addressed the trees.
"And here I thought we were concealing ourselves well," a voice came.
Twenty shinobi appeared from behind trunks and branches. The Kumo ninja regarded them with mild disinterest. He noted the tell-tale maroon outfits and distinct stone-shaped engraving on the hitai-ite. He allowed his eyes to rest on one of them who stood at the highest tree branch. "Hello, there Shinta," he drawled, "or should I call you Takumi?" His eyes roamed over the others, noting the familiar faces—patrons of The Three Kings, a couple of girls who sold tickets just a block away from the establishment, a couple of drunkards who went from bar to bar, et cetera. He smirked and turned back to Takumi. "So tell me, what brings you here?"
The Iwa ninja bristled at the fact that his enemy knew who he was, whereas his intel on this particular Kumo shinobi was essentially non-existent. "As if you don't know, Kai," the Iwa ninja said with annoyance.
The ripped hunk crossed his arms. "No, I don't," he explained honestly, his brows furrowed in confusion. "The Konoha ninja have the scroll, so what use is there in hunting me down?"
One of the maroon-clad squad spoke up. "Ōnoki-sama's pissed at us for failing such an important mission," the brunette growled, "He knew how powerful the Nidaime Hokage's techniques were and he really wanted that scroll. Takumi was planning to use Sano as a way into The Three Kings. Once he's in, he could've abducted Miyako and use her as leverage to get the scroll, but then you and Kyosuke ruined that."
"I knew about Sano," Kai confessed with a leer, "I was there."
Takumi swore. "I knew I felt someone watching..."
Blue eyes lit up in amusement. It was always so much fun when he and his partner inadvertently ruin an enemy's best-laid plans. "Why didn't you just get the scroll from Kyosuke, then?"
"We saw him and the Inuzuka fight. We knew it was suicidal to take either of them on at full strength," Takumi grumbled. "Also, if we attacked at the outset, there was the tiniest chance they'd team up and deal with us first. So we waited and watched those two monsters demolish the landscape with their jutsu. It was ridiculous! They could probably take on kage! Still, they'd eventually run out of juice, and that would've been when we'd strike."
"And then Haruno Sakura used Flying Thunder God Technique on herself and the Inuzuka," a tanned, brawny male with brown hair and hazel eyes rumbled with a deep voice. "With the scroll in Konoha, there's no fucking way we'd be able to get it anymore."
The raven-haired Kumo ninja yawned. "So you want payback? Is that it?" he inferred boredly.
"At first," Takumi said, "but when we saw you two lovebirds, we figured we could either use the pink-haired bitch as a hostage to get the scroll from the hokage or use you to manipulate her. Hell, we would've taken you both if she didn't teleport away. That bitch has a score to settle with me. I'd take my sweet time using her as a punching bag while her mentor decides what to d—"
A large figured appeared before the Iwa ninja. Thankfully, his reflexes were at least above average, and he managed to bring his arms up to meet the brunt of the punch. He flew backwards several meters and crashed into the ground. Once the dust cleared, his seated, pain-wracked form appeared, both forearms and several ribs broken. A female medical-nin was beside him instantly, healing his injuries.
Kai stood upon the branch Takumi had occupied before. "Nobody threatens Sakura in my presence. Nobody," he growled, his chakra spiking to ridiculous proportions.
The other shinobi eyed him fearfully. Then surprisingly, he laughed—a deep, dark chuckle that made everybody else's hairs stand on end. "You've seen Kyosuke and you're right. He is strong enough to defeat even A-sama. However, he isn't the only one in Kumo who can do that," he stated. His left hand reached over to his right shoulder and disappeared into the unearthly black of his kimono. Ignoring the shocked gasps, he pulled out a wicked-looking scythe made of a lustrous pitch-black metal from within the shadowy depths of his clothes, defying the logic of space-time. A black orb was situated in a recess just below the blade. His face became utterly serious. "I'm sure you know how partnerships and tag teams are selected in Kumo. The two shinobi…"
"…are equal in power," the brunette who had spoken earlier finished in a frightened whisper.
"Shit!" Takumi said, struggling to get up.
It was the last thing he would ever utter.
The black-haired Kumo shinobi rushed forward and, with a single horizontal swipe, cut the arrogant young man in half at the level of his heart. His attack took the medical-nin's head with it as well. The two bodies slumped, blood rapidly pooling underneath them. He turned towards the rest of the party. "Based on what I felt, he was probably just a chūnin," he said, "I sense a jōnin among you, but the rest are chūnin-level, just like that pompus fool. The Sandaime Tsuchikage must truly be going senile if he thought a pathetic group like yours would be able to accomplish such an important mission. Any one of the ninja sent by Konoha and Kumo could've destroyed you pathetic lot in a heartbeat."
All but one of the remaining Iwa shinobi roared and charged.
'Ah, chūnin, so easy to provoke,' the azure-eyed jōnin thought smugly. He performed a series of seals with his right hand. 'Explosion Style: Enblast.' He gripped the handle of his weapon, empowering it, then spun around and swung upwards in a diagonal, neatly bisecting a foolish kunoichi who thought she could catch him unaware. He lowered his weapon, blocking slash aimed at his neck with the sturdy handle.
A powerful blast shook the battlefield. The male who had attacked him with a kunai exploded a second after his weapon touched the Kumo warrior's scythe. The chūnin behind the man who exploded shrieked as blood and entrails splattered his entire body. He put his arms over her his eyes to avoid being blinded. He lowered them a second later and saw blue eyes staring straight at his hazel-colored ones. He felt a sharp jab at his stomach. He immediately looked down and saw the end of the handle touching his midsection. He, too, exploded into oblivion a moment later.
"He's enchanted his weapon with bakuton!" the brawny male shouted. "Anything it touches and doesn't cut explodes! Keep your fucking distance!"
The azure-eyed shinobi gazed at the Iwa ninja who had shouted, identifying him as jōnin. He rushed towards the man, knowing that without him to lead the group, it'd be far easier to pick them off one by one.
He swung in an upward diagonal, forcing the well-built man to duck, then did a follow-up attack with a downward jab of the handle, which his opponent evaded by summoning a slab of rock from which he kicked off. The chunk of rock exploded upon being touched by the scythe. He spun his scythe, the handle rolling along his wrists, arms and torso, skilfully using both the blade and staff to attack the other jōnin. The brunet dashed from side to side and came close to being hit several times, but he managed put some distance between him and the Kumo ninja. Kai had to smile. His opponent was at least quite fast, he'd give him that. He performed a couple of seals. 'Lava Style: Brimstone Salvo.'
Several chunks of burning rocks flew towards the retreating shinobi. The well-built male ducked and rolled, avoiding the deadly projectiles. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a woman rush forward. "Megumi, don't!" he shouted, but it was too late.
"Water Style: Water Wall!" the onyx-eyed kunoichi shouted, using the water from a stream several meters away to form a barricade. She smiled before one of the brimstone projectiles broke through her jutsu with ease. The fire had been somewhat doused, but the hunk of rock didn't even slow down. She managed but the briefest of screams before being crushed to death.
"Isamu-san," the brunette who had spoken earlier addressed the jōnin, "we should retreat. He's too strong."
Kai stared at the kunoichi, causing her to flinch. "Do you actually think I'd let you? I'm a sensor. I can track you down no matter how far you run." His gaze drifted over the others. "None of you will live for but a few more minutes."
Isamu nodded at the brunette. "Akane," he muttered giving a signal of sorts. The female nodded.
The Kumo shinobi performed a series of seals. 'Explosion Style: Remote Mines.' He subtly tapped the ground with his scythe just before a large shuriken came hurtling at him from behind. He slid to the side then zigzagged across the battlefield, effortlessly evading the kunai and shuriken tossed at him by the remaining Iwa ninja and tapping the ground at every brief stop. A chūnin came to retrieve his large shuriken and promptly exploded as the raven-haired ninja activated the jutsu with but a thought. He barely got a scream of surprise out before what remained of his body rained across the field like grisly confetti.
"Fuck!" a young man cried, trembling a little. He directed his gaze at his superior. "I-Isamu-san!"
The stocky male's frown deepened. "He's enchanted the ground with bakuton! Avoid any patch of land he's stepped on!" he commanded.
The young brunet frowned. "But we can't rememb—"
'Lave Style: Melting Apparition.'
A broad sheet of lava sailed over the thirteen remaining Iwa shinobi. They scrambled away. One was too slow to get to safety, though, and she melted away into nothingness the moment she came in contact with the molten rock. A faint hiss erupted as the angry red mass came in contact with the ground. A haze covered the battlefield, drastically decreasing visibility. A couple of brief shouts told the Iwa ninja that another two had perished. Akane spotted them as the haze faded, cut cleanly in half.
The azure-eyed jōnin shouldered his weapon. "And then there were ten," he declared.
The brunette hissed and performed three seals. 'Earth Style: Mud Wave,' she thought as she thrust her palms into the ground. The soil trembled slightly as the earth rose before her, arcing into a wave that hurtled towards her foe. Much to her bafflement, the man didn't even move, and her attack slammed into the ground, throwing a tremendous amount of debris into the air. Her brown eyes narrowed. There was no way someone so strong would die so easily.
Her supposition was proven correct when the earth below her glowed red. She jumped to the side, but she moved a moment too late.
'Lava Style: Lava Geyser.'
Akane screamed as both her legs were consumed by the sudden upsurge of lava. The pillar of molten rock lingered for a moment longer before subsiding. The stumps didn't bleed, as the heat cauterized them shut, but fire quickly spread through the kunoichi's clothes. Still screeching, she rolled back and forth so as to put out the flames. As she did so, the ground below her blazed an angry red. The temperature rose sharply. The woman's eyes darted towards her superior. "Isamu-san!" she cried, her nails digging into the scalding earth as she tried to crawl away, "Help m—"
She never got to finish her statement, as a second pillar of roaring lava consumed her.
"Akane!" the hazel-eyed shinobi howled. He scanned the battlefield and saw the raven-haired ninja standing several meters from where the Mud Wave struck the ground. He didn't even have a scratch on him. "Kiyoshi, Akio, Nori," he growled at three Iwa ninja, "Formation A."
The three looked towards the well-built man. He returned their gazes with one of his own. He nodded grimly. Formation A was a one-shot, all-out attack that either destroyed the enemy outright or damaged him enough for the party to fall back. Despite their own fears, the three nodded. They knew this was their best bet at escaping. For an enemy as powerful as this one, a decoy or two simply wouldn't suffice, not when he could probably deal with them in seconds.
The brawny man formed the snake seal. 'Earth Style: Dropping Lid.'
A huge lid made of greenish stone appeared above Kai, hovering ever so briefly before plummeting downwards to crush him. He looked upwards for a moment before making several swift arcs with his scythe. The hunk of rock broke apart and rained down around him. He looked back down just in time to see three chūnin emerge from the ground several meters from him. They slammed their palms into the ground and summoned three soaring walls of solid rock, boxing him in save for one open face.
'Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullets.' Mud rose beside Isamu, forming a dragon's head. Its earthen jaws opened, firing multiple balls of mud at tremendous velocities.
'Wind Style: Vacuum Wave.' A redhead spewed wind chakra from her mouth, forming a narrow arc that hurtled towards her foe.
'Water Style: Water Trumpet.' A black-haired male inhaled deeply before spouting a cone-shaped torrent of water.
The three attacks tore towards the azure-eyed jōnin. Instead of being alarmed, however, he merely smiled. He formed the horse seal with his right hand and stood perfectly still.
'Dark Style: Inhaling Maw.'
The raven-haired warrior raised his right hand showing overlapping diamonds tattooed on his palm. The edges of the upper diamond shone a bright red, as did the edges of his tribal tattoos. The balls of mud, the blade of wind, the cone of water—all of them spiraled inwards, disappearing into the depths of the tattoos.
"What the fucking hell!?" the suiton wielder exclaimed.
The Kumo ninja turned to the right, facing one of the stone walls.
'Dark Style: Judgment.'
Pale blue flames erupted from the lower diamond on his right palm. It punched right through the Mud Wall, as if it were a mere illusion, and engulfed the chūnin behind it. The flames spread at a rapid pace, leaving nothing in its wake, not even ashes.
Kai spun on his heel, aiming the stream of fire at the other walls. The other two chūnin vanished without a trace just like the first. He faced the six remaining Iwa shinobi and rushed forward, scythe at the ready.
"Shit!" the hazel-eyed Iwa jōnin cursed. He wove five seals. 'Earth Style: Earth Dragon.' The dragon head beside him closed its jaws and surged upwards revealing the entirety of its serpentine form. It surged forward in a head-on collision course with the raven-haired warrior.
The Kumo shinobi grunted in annoyance and dove to his right at the last moment. Mud swooshed perilously close, but he didn't even flinch. He raised his scythe and neatly sliced the earthen monstrosity in half horizontally while still running towards Isamu. The two halves crashed pathetically into the ground behind him.
Metal glinted at his peripheral vision and he was forced to alter his course. The two giant shuriken collided with a resounding clang. While still in midair, the azure-eyed jōnin deftly hooked both shuriken by the central hole with the blade of his scythe and sent them flying towards one of the throwers, who narrowly managed to avoid being decapitated. From behind him, the black-haired, suiton-wielding chūnin broke from the ground, kunai in hand and aimed at his nape. He spun briskly and caught the young man's wrist before landing a powerful kick towards the latter's stomach. The chūnin flew backwards and landed on one of the Remote Mines, which was activated a heartbeat later.
Another explosion rocked the field, startling the remaining Iwa shinobi. They had almost forgotten about the Remote Mines.
Kai used the opportunity to reduce their numbers even further. 'Dark Style: Ribbons of Night.' From the edge of his sleeve sprang three strips of chakra, the color of which was just as unsettlingly black as the rest of his kimono. They whipped forwards, attempting to ensnare three Iwa ninja, but Isamu once again managed to slink away, much to the raven-haired jōnin's exasperation. Two chūnin screamed and raised their kunai to stab at the fabric only for their appendages to sag uselessly the next instant.
The three remaining Iwa ninja watched in horror as the captured chūnin dried up like mummies before their eyes, their chakra sucked into the depths of the ebony ribbons.
'Wind Style: Giant Vacuum Bullet.' The redhead spewed a large ball of compressed wind chakra at the shadowy strips in an attempt to free her comrades. As expected, the ball simply vanished into the ribbons. She cursed, her fists shaking in fury as she watched her friends breathe their last. The dark bands loosened eventually, dropping the corpses callously, and slunk back, disappearing into her foe's sleeve.
Isamu stared hard at the ridiculously powerful man before him. "You have a kekkei tōta, just like Kyosuke. Just like Ōnoki-sama."
Kai snorted. "Of course I'd have one as well. As I've said, tag teams in Kumo are formed with ninja of equal power," he scoffed, "If nobody else had a kekkei tōta, then Kyosuke would've gone solo until one appeared." He regarded his adversary with derision. "Are you amnesic? Surely you were eavesdropping earlier on the conversation between Sakura and me. It's meiton—a combination of lightning, the most ambivalent nature, and the more yin-oriented elements, earth and fire. I'm sure you've heard about some missing-nin from Konoha several years back who managed to get his hands on it by the Chimera Technique."
A blank look. Surely Iwa's intel gathering was better than this…
The fūton-wielding kunoichi shook her head slowly in bafflement at the techniques she was witnessing. "I... I don't understand how..." she muttered.
"Kekkei tōta deal with the most fundamental aspects of matter and energy," the Kumo shinobi explained, "Your kage's jinton uses chakra to destroy the bonds holding matter together, splitting them into atoms. I've heard you can go further and split them to subatomic particles, but given how old your leader is, I doubt he'll get to learn and master it."
The three Iwa ninja growled at the hint of disrespect towards their kage.
"Kyosuke's kōton shifts the very fabric of reality. His chakra changes matter into antimatter," the azure-eyed man continued, gesturing with his right hand not unlike an academy professor in front of an attentive class, "He, then, allows them to annihilate, releasing a tremendous amount of energy in the process. Finally, he shapes that energy into beams, pillars, whatever strikes his fancy."
He showed the overlapping tattoos on his palms. "My meiton focuses on matter and energy transformation. I can absorb any form of ninjutsu and transform it into my trademark blue flames that burn anything it touches out of existence. I can also do the opposite of what Kyosuke does, that is, I can transform energy into matter." He gestured at dark orb in his weapon. "This orb right here contains ten times the mass of the sun and can expand into a stellar black hole with a thirty-kilometer diameter. The only thing controlling its gravitational field is my chakra."
The brawny Iwa jōnin's eyes narrowed. "Why are you telling us all this?" he asked.
Kai shrugged and then tipped his head towards the sole remaining kunoichi. "She asked," he replied. "You managed to stay alive up to now, so I thought you deserved to know a little about what's going to kill you in the next couple of minutes."
The three stiffened.
"Now, it's time to end this," the raven-haired jōnin said darkly. He formed the necessary seals. 'Dark Style: Eclipse.'
Pitch-black darkness enveloped the forest, numbing the senses.
'This is the genjutsu he had used at the restaurant,' the redhead thought. Instead of panicking, she focused all of her chakra into breaking the technique. She cursed inwardly. The man's genjutsu skills were just slightly above average, but she was no expert in the field either, and the longer she worked on freeing herself, the longer she was a sitting duck. After a couple of seconds, the dark haze lifted and she breathed a sigh. Her eyes immediately found Minoru, the only other chūnin left and found him cut vertically in half several feet in front of her. She swore loudly and readied a fūton.
And then she felt the slightest of nudges at small of her back.
She didn't even have the chance to turn around before she exploded.
Isamu was on one knee and panting heavily, having exerted quite a considerable amount of chakra just to break free from the enemy's illusion. From the corner of his eye, he saw the raven-haired jōnin walk slowly towards him. He stared hatefully at the man and threw a kunai. The man merely tipped his head slightly to one side, the sharp weapon flying millimeters from his face. He stopped a couple of feet from the hazel-eyed shinobi.
The sole Iwa ninja gazed into cold blue eyes. "You're a monster," he murmured.
Kai's lips formed a thin line. "You angered me," he said, "The moment you involved Sakura in your schemes, you had sealed your fates."
The brunet stared at the ground. "Go ahead, finish me."
The black-haired shinobi paused for a while and wondered. "No," he said, baffling the exhausted man before him. "No, you will return to Iwa and tell them that if any of your buddies so much as break a strand of hair on Sakura's head, then they'll face my wrath." His and Kyosuke's existences have been kept secret from other villages for years, but he paid the idea of others knowing no heed, being solely focused on protecting the woman he loved.
"We've seen her boyfriend fight against Kyosuke," Isamu said with a sneer, "The guy managed to hold his own against someone with a kekkei tōta. Hell, he almost defeated your buddy. The whore doesn't need extra protection from a lovesick fool like you, not with a lover as… gifted as Inuzuka Kiba."
The Kumo shinobi stiffened slightly at the provocation. His left hand tightened on the handle of his scythe. The man apparently had a death wish. Not surprising, as the tsuchikage would likely execute him for his incompetence anyway. He returned the smirk with one of his own. "I'm feeling generous today, so I'll let that one slide," he said. He turned around slowly and went on his way.
'Earth Style: Stone Fist.'
Solid rock enveloped the Iwa jōnin's right fist and he threw all of his remaining strength into a single punch aimed at the back of the cerulean-eyed man's head.
Kai spun and blocked the blow with the handle of his scythe.
The hazel-eyed shinobi closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the sensation of his body being torn apart in an instant. Two seconds passed, then another three. He peeked with one eye and was surprised to see the man staring at him with an unreadable expression.
"You've got guts, I'll give you that," the black-haired man said. He pushed against his foe, sending the brawny man skidding back several feet. "I know what you're after," he said, once again shouldering his wicked-looking weapon, "You want a swift, painless death. Considering all the threats your little band of misfits aimed at Sakura, you'd have to be pretty daft to think that I'd give it to you."
"But it was Takumi's plan, not m—"
"Irrelevant," the Kumo ninja interjected, "You were the leader of this party, while Takumi was just a chūnin. Whatever his plans were, you approved them. The way your eyes gleamed while Takumi was rambling about how he was planning to hurt Sakura, I'd say you were all for it." He did a series of seals and the orb floated into his palm. "This is goodbye, Isamu. I would've wanted someone to relay everything to your kage, but I suppose you and your entire party vanishing altogether should do the trick either way. After all, you're not really weak. I'm just that much stronger." He raised his hand and the orb flew forward.
Isamu instinctively ducked as the dark orb flew in his direction. It traveled much faster than expected.
It sailed over him, however, and then stopped and hovered several feet behind him. It flashed a deep purple. A purplish line delineated a large sphere, of which he was at the very edge of. This was just like the tsuchikage's…
"Fuck!" he cursed. He was about to dash away when he felt a large, powerful hand grasp his neck, preventing escape of any form.
The dark orb expanded in an instant, swallowing everything within the large sphere.
The gravitational pull snapped the Iwa jōnin's body backwards, dislocating every joint. His skin and hair began to tear themselves away from his body. His muscles and tendons followed. He felt every fiber rip itself off his body and fly into the sphere, disappearing forever. He cried and cried at the overwhelming pain.
"Dark Style: Black Hole," the blue-eyed man proclaimed over the wails of anguish. "Anything within the vicinity of the delineated zone is compressed by the massive gravitational force exerted by the orb. If you'd been inside the sphere, you wouldn't have felt a thing. You would've simply been crushed in an instant and absorbed. But you happen to be on the event horizon, the line that delineates that area beyond which even light cannot escape the gravitational force. Here, the force will painfully tear your body apart piece by piece."
Isamu's eyes began to glaze over and his screams began to decrease in intensity as his life ebbed away. "P-please…" he whispered, "L-let me… go…"
Kai's eyes narrowed and he took in the man's frayed form. Both arms had already been ripped off, the blood that would've been spurting arcing into the pitch-black sphere. One thigh clung stubbornly to the pelvis, but the tiniest fibers of muscle clinging to the femur. The man's innards had torn themselves inch by painful inch and had disappeared into the darkness. The Kumo ninja's eyes softened and his grip relaxed, allowing what remained of his foe to vanish into the Black Hole.
After a few seconds, the massive sphere receded, the black orb remaining in its wake. It floated lazily towards the raven-haired shinobi. With his right hand, he guided it back into the recess on the handle of his scythe. He stared at the massive concavity on the ground that his jutsu had created and shrugged. He pointed his blade towards his right shoulder and watched his weapon disappear into the darkness of his kimono. He smiled. "You can come out now," he said in a slightly louder voice than what he usually used in regular conversations.
A few claps echoed across the clearing, making the blue-eyed hunk look over his shoulder.
"You certainly lost your temper there," the tall man said, "I don't think I've ever seen you that ruthless."
"Whatever, Kyosuke," Kai said with a roll of his eyes. Once his scythe had completely vanished, he turned to face his companion fully. "Why didn't you lend a hand?" he asked.
One of Kyosuke's brows arched. "Well, it certainly didn't seem like you needed help," the other jōnin replied, "Besides, that was payback for sending me all the way to the northwestern edge of the Land of Earth. I mean, that was way overkill!"
The raven-haired stud blushed. "I panicked, okay? If I didn't send you far enough, your Nova would've…" he trailed.
The emerald-eyed man mulled for a few seconds. "Yeah, I guess so," he murmured. "By the way, what was that technique used on me? First you got some Chibaku-Tensei-like shit as if you have the rinnegan. Don't tell me you managed to learn some space-time ninjutsu as well. That's totally unfair, man!"
The blue-eyed ninja snorted. "Black Hole is different from Chibaku Tensei, dude. Someone with the rinnegan can actually control the gravitons themselves. Even I don't have that power. As for that technique, it's a wormhole-like thing that's not quite up there with space-time ninjutsu. It transported both you and Kiba's technique, and the gravitational distortion changed the trajectory of the attack, causing it to miss. It was experimental, really, and I—"
The blond's eyes widened. "You used an experimental jutsu on me!? You asshole! I could've died!" he ranted, his beefy arms waving around in aggravation.
Kai became serious for a moment. "As if you weren't prepared to," he said. "The moment your channeling jutsu activated, you raised your arms in surrender. You knew Kiba didn't have a technique that would take you far enough to let your Nova fizzle, so you let him take a fatal shot. It would've worked too, had I not interfered."
Kyosuke stilled.
"Thanks."
The emerald-eyed jōnin huffed. "It wasn't for you, you know."
The raven-haired hunk knew very well that his best friend had been as taken with the pink-haired medical-nin as he was. "Of course, but thanks nonetheless."
The blond backed away slightly, his face scrunching up a bit. "You're not gonna hug me, are you?" he asked with the tiniest bit of fear in his tone.
The blue-eyed shinobi flipped him. "No, asshole."
Kyosuke visibly sagged in relief. He straightened up and looked pointedly at his companion. "So, where to? I don't think anybody noticed, but you were walking away from Kumo. What're you planning?"
Kai paused for a little, thinking deeply. "I'm going into Uchiha Obito's former lair when he was masquerading as Uchiha Madara."
"Hm?" the blond murmured in askance.
The dark-haired ninja uttered but a single word. "Izanagi."
The green-eyed hunk whistled low, immediately understanding his friend's plans. "So you're gonna get one of the eyes allegedly stashed up there, have it transplanted, train it until it's strong enough, and then use the true Izanagi to breathe life into something born from your imagination—your own Sakura—an exact copy, but one whose heart beats for no one but you."
"In a nutshell, yeah," the azure-eyed warrior said with a shrug, as if executing top-level yin-yang jutsu were as easy as beating eggs for breakfast.
"You've got it bad, man," his companion said with a snigger, earning the taller man a whack on the shoulder.
Kai blushed. "Shut up, dude."
Kyosuke's chuckle faded. He regarded his companion seriously for a moment. "You do know it could take years before you can use Izanagi, right?"
The dark-haired man squared his shoulders and looked at his friend. "She's worth the wait. You know that."
The blond inhaled deeply. "She is," he whispered. He smiled dejectedly. "Kami, we sound like protagonists from some tragic melodrama."
The cerulean-eyed hunk grunted in exasperation and started walking east.
The taller jōnin followed, walking briskly to catch up before adjusting his pace to keep in stride with his friend.
"You know, your cousin's gonna be pretty pissed if we just disappear. He's so uptight. He'll probably send someone to 'fetch' us."
Kyosuke rolled his eyes. "As if there's anybody in Kumo that C-kun could send to force us to return against our wishes. They could label us as missing-nin, but what good will that do for them? All that'll accomplish is piss us off, and even A-sama has enough brains to know that it's not a very good idea to antagonize two kekkei-tōta-weilding shinobi."
"Still, I can do this by myself. You really don't need to come with me."
The blond grinned. "Well, I heard there are dozens of sharingan stored there…"
Kai shook his head and chuckled.
"Hey, you can't be the only one who gets a chance at a happy ending."

Author's Notes: For all who are getting frustrated, the fate of Kiba and the scroll are coming up. Just two more parts and it's all over.
Now, just a few notes about Kai's kekkei genkai. I couldn't decide which elements would comprise explosion style. It was either earth + lightning or lightning + fire. The second pair, however, has been associated with Sasuke's inferno style, though I myself like to think inferno style is more of shape manipulation of Amaterasu's flames, making it an offshoot of dōjutsu more than anything else. Still, just to keep it safe until Masashi Kishimoto releases his official statement about those kekkei genkai, I just left it a bit vague.
Oh, and points to those who recalled the small movements in the shadows that caught Sano's attention in Part 14. Indeed, that was Kai.
This scene is more gruesome than the previous fight because of a single reason: Kyosuke and Kiba are so skilled that they barely hit each other. If they were against a group of lesser ninja, they'd have broken bones, decapitated, sliced off body parts and such. It has nothing to do with being nice. Ninja are supposed to kill swiftly and efficiently without holding back and I wanted that shown here.
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