Ch. 16: The Final Battle Begins

Adrenaline is coursing through the Animas body. The thrill of a battle is thick in the air. This day had so far been a tumultuous one, but no casualties yet, and they wanted to keep it that way. Jiraiya scanned the area for the two targets, but to no avail. Naruto is getting frustrated with all this waiting. He wants to finish this fast so he could get back to Hinata. Shikamaru's face held its usual disinterested look on it, but inside he was secretly looking forward to this fight. He was not much of a fighter, but after everything that this Serpent Leader did, it was necessary to take him out. Gaara smiled at the prospect of fighting. He used to be a derange killer when he was younger due to his own power called the Shukaku. The power made him crazy for blood; anytime the boy saw blood, he would go into killer mode until Tsunade was able to find a way to extract it from him; however, she could not do the same for Naruto. Naruto's more powerful than Gaara's and therefore harder to get rid of. Choji was the least excited out of all of them. He was not a fighter, and he had no desire to fight. He was the peacekeeper among the boys, but now he would have to fight to defend his love ones. To defend Ino…yes he will fight, for Ino.

Jiraiya abruptly stopped when he picked up a trail that was left behind from Orochimaru. He motioned for the group of boys to follow him. Jiraiya is a little nervous going into this fight due to the fact that there was more than one trail. That could only mean that it was not just Orochimaru and Sasuke there. Where the other enemies were, he did not know, but he figured that they would discover soon enough. After all, Orochimaru was most likely planning a surprise attack on them, but there was only one way to find out. Go straight into the trap.

Shikamaru figured out already what Jiraiya had discovered, but he did not say a word. It was better this way. He looked at the group of his friends that were with him. He knew they would all be fine. The best of the fighters are in this group; there is no way they could lose. Not to sound cocky or anything.

The forest sped past them as they ran faster and deeper into the forest towards their destination. They needed to get there fast in order to save Sasuke and utterly destroy Orochimaru. This is going to be fun.

Anima Village

The two Anima women ran as fast as they could through the forest to complete their part of the mission. Temari was in the lead, but she could tell that Ino's heart was not into heading towards the village. Temari pondered over what could possibly be bothering the pig Anima, but her thoughts were interrupted when the Anima Village border came into view. She had no time to fool around, so Ino had better get serious and fast. Ino must have received the message because she became extremely focused when they went through the gate. Before the two had a chance to head towards the council building, a slug Anima ran frantically towards the duo.

"Ino and Temari, so glad I found you guys!" The slug Anima yelled when she approached the two women. Temari looked over the brown haired woman. She looked much like Tsunade-sama with the slug parts, but the difference was her hair and eyes. Her eyes were a deep chocolate brown, almost black, her hair a short and sleek brown that framed her skinny face.

"Shizune, is something wrong?" Ino asked. Ino was usually the first one to engage into a conversation, and for once Temari was happy about that trait. Temari was too busy thinking about Shikamaru and if he would be safe fighting against Orochimaru. In fact, she was worried for all of them, so she had no desire to talk.

"Many of the Serpent Clan members have disappeared with Kabuto early this morning, and no one has seen them since." Shizune reported. Ino's and Temari's face paled. This was really not good!

"Shizune, Tsunade-sama gave us an order to put the entire Serpent Clan under house arrest. Please do so. I have to do something." Ino said as she began heading out of the village.

"INO GET BACK HERE!" Temari yelled in frustration. She was about to run after her friend, but a hand grabbed her wrist before she could get far.

"Temari, I need you here to help me get things settled here. Once the Serpent Clan is under house arrest, the entire village will be in a confused uproar, so I need someone they trust and that's you."

"Alright, I'll stay, but Ino is so dead when she gets back here!" Temari yelled loudly hoping Ino would hear her anger.

Hyuga Hiashi's Den

Tsunade stood in unknown territory, and that drove her insane! She hated being somewhere where she had no influence, and especially in a place where people were wary of her. Tsunade huffed as she sat waiting for Hiashi to finish the business he had with his youngest daughter. The only thing that kept Tsunade seated where she was, is the fact that she is about to do something that will benefit everyone, humans and Animas alike. She scanned the room. She still felt uncomfortable. How she yearned for the earthy colors of her office instead of the whitewashed wall of the room she currently found herself in. Her nerves began to get the better of her, so she decided to do what she always did when she could not handle her nerves. Drink sake! "Tch...no sake in this boring room..." Tsunade mumbled in an annoyed tone. She decided to do the next best thing. Count sake bottles.

99 bottles of sake on the wall, 99 bottles of sake.
You take one down, pass it around.

98 bottles of sake on the wall!

Tsunade kept singing that in her head to calm herself down, and it worked! Now she was simply doing it because Hyuga Hiashi is taking his sweet old time getting back to her. This is so...for lack of a better word...troublesome.

2 bottles of sake on the wall, 2 bottles of sake
Take one down and pass it around
1 bottle of sake on the wall.

Tsunade had one more verse to her song to go when Hiashi finally entered the room.

"I am so sorry for having you wait for so long. There were many matters I had to attend to before we discuss things, since I am sure this discussion will take good chunk of the remainder of this day." Hiashi bowed in respect for his apology. Tsunade nodded her acceptance as the man took his seat across from her. A branch member came into the room and served the two some sake. Tsunade smiled in satisfaction. After singing about sake, it was so nice to actually have some.

"It is quite alright, but let's get down to business. We need to form a treaty between our two kinds, so nothing like this happens again." Tsunade sips her sake with a serious face. Hiashi nods his agreement.

"Yes, but a simple document will not suffice as a treaty. My people will be angered, and I am sure so would yours."

"So what do you propose, Hiashi-dono?" Tsunade says with a very polite tone. Hiashi smiled (as much as a Hyuga would).

"I propose this, Tsunade-sama." Hiashi pushes forward an official piece of paper towards Tsunade. She stops drinking in order to pick up the document. A sly smile appears on her face as she places the document back down on the table.

"This could work." She answers as she signs the paper. Hiashi signs as well with a similar look on his face. The two continue to drink their sake with the feeling of peace, accomplishment, and anticipation in the air.

The Forest

Sasuke tumbles along the ground due to Orochimaru swinging his tail into Sasuke's abdomen. Sasuke slowly got up as he held onto his stomach. Orochimaru let out a very amused chuckle before swiftly going into his next attack. Sasuke barely got his sword up in time to block the purple tail coming towards him from his bottom right corner of his peripheral vision. The Uchiha boy skids back a few feet from the force of the snake's attack. The ebony haired man stands up barely hanging on. Orochimaru could feel his victory so very close at hand. He smirks as he sends his tail to deliver the final blow. A blur of yellow and orange intercepts the blow…

"Orochimaru-teme, your plan is OVER!" Naruto yells as his claws dig deep into Orochimaru. Orochimaru looks slightly shocked, but only for a few moments.

"I see the calavary has arrived, but no matter. I too have my own army." Orochimaru hisses out. A group of Serpent Anima clan members come form out of the bushes to surround the group.

"Shit…this is not good." Jiraiya curses under his breath.

"This is so troublesome…"Shikamaru sighs.

"This is not going to go over well." Choji says as he gets into his fighting stance beside his Deer Anima friend.

"Well, if we are going to fight, no one better hold me back." Gaara commands. Everyone took a step away from the red head. The last thing anyone wanted to do is cross Gaara while he is in fighting mode. Doing so was a danger to one's physical state.

Everyone began engaging into their respective battles except for Sasuke and Naruto who stood off to the side. Jiraiya took on Orochimaru while Gaara began to obliterate ten snakes. Choji and Shikamaru tagged team to defeat the remainder of the snakes.

"Why are you saving me? Don't you hate me?" Sasuke asks as soon as he regained his breath.

"Of course I do, but Hinata-chan, would want me to help you. So for her I will do anything…even helping a teme like you." Naruto answers while keeping his eyes on the unfolding battles. It was obvious that his friends are winning, but Orochimaru did not seem worried…that's not good.

Sasuke looks down at his hands in disgust…These are the hands that killed my beloved Hinata-chan…They will redeem themselves by spilling Snake Anima blood….Orochimaru you crossed the wrong Uchiha. Sasuke thought as he slowly made his way to the battle. Naruto attempted to stop him, but when he saw the look in the Uchiha's eyes, he could see that the man wanted blood…and there was no one in all the world or even Hell itself that could stop him from getting it.

And get it he will…

Me: GOMEN FOR THE MAJOR DELAY!!!!!! I had school work and some college stuff that needed to get done, and whenever I had a free moment…I had such major writers block for this story!
Naruto: You have been having such major writers block for this story huh?
Me: I think its cause this story is almost done.
Everyone: NANI?!?!?!?!
Me: Yeah…I think this story will prob have like 20 chapters total so that's …let's see carry the one…
Hinata: 4 more chapters?
Me: Oh yeah haha *sweatdrop* four more hehe hehe but good news is that when this story is done I will begin my Naruto Disney Collection story! So look forward to that! Plus updates will be sporadic due to school stuff, but I felt soooo bad for making you all wait this long for this chapter that I decided to hurry it up so I can post it (the ending sucks…sorry about that)
Hanabi: ONTO THE QUESTIONS!
Tsunade: What have Hiashi and I planned?
Orochimaru: Will I ever be defeated?
Sasuke: Will I get my revenge?
Naruto: Will Hinata and I be together?
Shikamaru: Will Sasuke ever find out that Hinata is alive?
Ino: Why did I run off?
Temari: Will I kill Ino when I see her next?
Hanabi: FIND OUT NEXT TIME ON ANIMA TROUBLE!
Hinata: Please review