An Extra Edge
Last time, Squad 7 returned to the Leaf, where Sasuke, out of spite for Naruto, revealed his status as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki to the rest of their age group, and was shocked that they thought more highly of him for containing it. After a mission in the Land of Snow, Sasuke decided that he would seek out Orochimaru.
Legal Stuff: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Just my fics and OCs.
"Lava Style: Lava Globs!" Ling briefly glanced up at the sound of Rin's voice to see her jutsu reduce a tree to a pile of goo, giving her a small smile as she ran over to him and Mei.
"Mommy, I did it! I mastered the jutsu!" Rin exclaimed happily, jumping up and down as though she were on a sugar high.
"That's my daughter! I'm proud of you!" Mei said, patting her daughter's head, mother and daughter exchanging smiles. "Alright. Time for the next one, honey." As she said this, Mei ran through several hand signs. "Lava Style: Lava Monster Jutsu!" she said, spitting a large amount of lava into the air, where it formed into a broad, thin sheet before coming down on a group of trees, melting them and producing a large cloud of steam. "This jutsu is very hard to dodge, and if the target is still alive afterward, you can attack them while their vision is obscured by the steam." After explaining how the jutsu worked, Mei taught Rin the hand signs and set her to practicing.
"She's getting a lot stronger," Ling said, turning his attention back to the puppet he was doing maintainence on. "Before long, she won't need my protection anymore."
"But I get the feeling you'll always be there to help when she needs it," Mei said, smiling at him.
Ling glanced at her to return the smile. "Lady Mizukage, you've got a little lava on your lip."
Mei chuckled and wiped it away. "Ling, may I ask you something?"
"Of course," Ling said, continuing to work on his puppet.
"Why do your clan and the Haruno clan not get along very well?" Mei asked.
Ling dripped a few drops of a special lubricant onto his puppet's wrist and tested the maneuverability of it as he thought. "Well, it all started with our common ancestors, the Hazama clan. In the Hazama clan, the next clan head was selected by the current one. But one head had two sons, and died before he could name a successor. So the two heirs got into a huge fight, and eventually, the clan split into two factions, each led by one of the brothers, and went their separate ways. Thus the Hazama name died, and in its place rose the Haruno and Osoreida clans. In time, the Harunos joined Hashirama Senju when he founded the Leaf Village, and my clan came to the Mist when it rose. Over the years the Osoreida and Haruno clans developed a stable working relationship, but on a personal level, we don't get along too well, and meetings between us more often than not end in bloodshed."
"I see," Mei said, looking back toward Rin.
"But I believe that the day will come when the Osoreida and Haruno clans will get along peacefully," Ling said.
"Wait. If you have a common ancestor, then why do they have Steel Style and you don't?" Mei asked.
"The Osoreida clan had it at first, but it eventually left our blood," Ling said. "The Harunos still have it because they resorted to inbreeding to ensure that they would all have the Kekkei Tota. These days, the only members of my clan who have access to the Steel Style are those who have a human puppet made from a Haruno in their collection. I was lucky enough to receive Lady Hisana, the strongest of the Haruno clan."
"I see. It's true that some clans with Kekkei Genkai resort to inbreeding to maintain them," Mei said.
"Though Sakura may end that tradition," Ling said.
"Why do you think that?" Mei asked.
"She and that blond teammate of hers seem rather close," Ling said. "I'd say she's falling in love with him, slowly but surely. Naruto Uzumaki... he's an interesting one."
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Anko Mitarashi was a happy woman right now. She had managed to score some Sand Dango, and it was absolutely delicious. As she was heading toward the Yagami compound to share it with her apprentice, she noticed a peculiar sight. Sasuke Uchiha was heading toward the gate, packed for a trip. This struck a suspicious chord with her, given that he had been branded with a curse mark by Orochimaru. Putting her dango back in the bag she was carrying it in, she followed him. "And where are you off to at this hour?" she asked once she caught up with him.
Sasuke stopped and turned, recognizing her. "Does it matter where I'm going?"
Anko frowned at his attitude. "This road leads out of the village. And you're packed for a trip. Where are you going?" she asked, having an idea of the answer.
"I'm going to Orochimaru," Sasuke said calmly.
Anko's frown became a glare. "Have you lost your damn mind?" she asked. "Orochimaru is a monster! He killed the Third Hokage and did everything he could to destroy this village! Whatever you're expecting from him, he won't give it to you for free! All he wants is to use your body like a new suit of clothes! There will be nothing left of you!"
"None of that matters now," Sasuke said. "I have to sever all ties in order to grow strong enough to achieve my goal. If it means gaining the power I need, then I would give Orochimaru my body a thousand times over."
Anko gasped at Sasuke words. "What the hell makes you think you need to do that to grow stronger? You can get stronger here in the Leaf! What brought this on?"
"We of the Uchiha clan are superior to other shinobi," Sasuke said. "And yet time and again I've been outdone by Naruto and Sakura, the dead last and fangirl. They were made chunin and I, the last Uchiha, was not! They are nothing compared to me! By gaining power from Orochimaru, I can not only destroy Itachi, but I can put those two in their place beneath me as well!"
Anko's gaze hardened as she set her bag down on the ground. "Sorry, Uchiha. But I'm not like the rest of these villagers who polish you like some rare jewel. I don't care about your lineage. I won't let you set one foot outside this village."
"Too bad," Sasuke said. "But I've got some friends."
Anko gasped as Sakon appeared behind her and knocked her out before she could react.
"Let's go," Sasuke said.
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Anko woke to find herself in a hospital bed.
"You're finally awake," a voice next to her said.
Looking over, Anko saw a man in a black kimono with a blood red sash and flames embroidered on the ends of the sleeves, a pair of identical bladed bracers, a Leaf headband around his neck, and a coat that was identical to hers sitting in a chair by her bed, eating the dango she had bought. If it were anyone else, she'd have sent her snakes after him, but this one was different. "Hey there, Gaki."
"Still calling me Gaki instead of Yoshimori," Yoshimori said. "I hope you had been intending to share this dango with me."
"I was," Anko said before she remembered Sasuke and jumped out of bed, seeing that a few hours had passed. "I need to see Lady Hokage right now! It's urgent!"
"No need. I'm already here," Tsunade said, having walked in as Anko spoke, with Shizune in tow. "What happened?"
"Sasuke Uchiha has left the village to join Orochimaru!" Anko said.
Tsunade gasped. "Shizune! Get Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno in my office right now!"
"Yes ma'am!" Shizune said, leaving to send out the summons.
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Naruto met Sakura outside Tsunade's office. "Any idea what she wants?"
"No idea. The ANBU just said it was urgent and to report to Lady Tsunade immediately," Sakura said before they entered. "You summoned us, Lady Tsunade?"
"Naruto, Sakura, an urgent situation has risen," Tsunade said. "Last night, Sasuke Uchiha left the village as a rogue ninja." The news made Naruto and Sakura gasp. "I'm assigning the two of you to put together a team and bring him back by any means necessary."
"We'll need a team of chunin and jonin," Sakura said.
"I'm afraid there aren't any available. You have to make due with the genin in your age group," Tsunade said. "Now go!"
"Yes ma'am!" Naruto and Sakura said, knowing how important the mission was as they left to assemble a team.
"We'll definitely need Shikamaru and Kiba," Naruto said. "Shikamaru's really smart, and Kiba's got a sharp nose."
Sakura nodded in agreement, internally marveling at Naruto. He was thinking like a shinobi. "We could use Neji and Lee too. Neji's Byakugan can see the enemy and any traps before we reach them. And Lee's taijutsu is perfect against enemies with good defense against ninjutsu and genjutsu."
"I'll get Kiba and Shikamaru. You get Neji and Lee," Naruto said, heading off to find the dog user and lazy ass shadow user.
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After a few minutes, the group of six met in front of the gate, where Kiba and Akamaru got to work picking up Sasuke's scent. Once they had it, they set out, not stopping for anything except brief breaks to catch their breaths. After a few hours, Neji signaled for them to stop.
"I see them," Neji said, focusing. "There are four of them, and one of them has a coffin next to him. Something is keeping me from seeing into it clearly, but it looks like Sasuke is in it. In a death like trance, I think."
"Why would they do that?" Naruto asked.
"Who knows. At least this way he's easier to manage," Shikamaru said.
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"Damn. We're losing time, when we didn't have much time to spare to begin with," Sakon said as they rested.
"It can't be helped. We lose too much strength fighting at level 2," Tayuya said.
"What troubles me most is the fact that we can't use our bodies," Jirobo said.
"Against two jonin, there wasn't any choice. If we had tried to conserve our strength, we might have been bested," Kidomaru said as one of the threads attached to his fingers twitched.
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Shikamaru hid in a bush with Neji and Sakura, watching them. "Seems they haven't noticed us yet," he thought before Sakon threw a kunai with three paper bombs into the tree behind them. Moving quickly, they jumped to avoid the blast, but we blown forward by the shockwave, landing in front of the sound four.
"What's this? Poked the bush and got a couple of bugs instead of rabbits," Tayuya said.
"We're not here to fight," Shikamaru said as he, Neji, and Sakura got to their feet. "We came to negotiate."
Kidomaru scoffed. "Then what are these?" he asked as he yanked his arms forward, revealing threads attached to Naruto, Lee, and Kiba as he yanked them forward.
Kiba pulled a smoke bomb and threw it down, blocking the Sound Four's view.
"That won't do any good," Kidomaru said. "These threads are thinner and stronger than wire, and harder to detect. You're a bunch of..." he would have continued had he not felt himself be paralyzed. "My body!"
"Shadow Possession complete," Shikamaru said as the smoke cleared, revealing the Sound Four to be caught in his shadow. "Thanks for falling into our trap."
"Well..." Sakon said. "We have interesting techniques too." As he said this, a volley of shuriken flew at Shikamaru, distracting him enough to break the shadow possession.
Jirobo quickly slammed his palms on the ground, sending cracks in a circle around the retrieval team. "Earth Style: Clay Dome Prison!" he said, forming a dome around them.
"Dammit!" Sakura exclaimed.
"I'll take care of these guys," Jirobo said. "I want to recover, if only a little."
"Well catch up when you're done," Kidomaru said, picking up the coffin Sasuke was in before he, Sakon, and Tayuya headed out.
"Dammit! We gotta get out!" Naruto exclaimed, holding his hand out and forming a basketball sized Rasengan, charging at the wall with it. "Giant Rasengan!" he exclaimed, slamming it into the wall and making a huge dent, which immediately repaired itself. "What the hell?"
"This is no ordinary wall," Neji said, activating his Byakugan. "He's draining our chakra!"
"We gotta get outta here before we're drained!" Kiba yelled, feeding Akamaru a food pill and taking one himself. "Beast Mimicry!" he said, becoming more feral looking. "Human Mimicry!" he said, transforming Akamaru into a identical form of him before they jumped into the air and started spinning. "Fang Over Fang!" he yelled as he and Akamaru damaged the wall and ground several times before stopping. But the damage to the wall and ground repaired immediately. "Dammit!" he exclaimed as Akamaru's transformation was undone.
Shikamaru looked around at the repairing wall before turning to face it. "Hey! Let me talk to your leader! We won't follow Sasuke anymore! So let us out!"
"What the hell are you saying, Shikamaru?" Sakura snapped.
"Sorry. But all of you are my meal," Jirobo answered, continuing to drain them.
Shikamaru turned back to his team, smirking. "Now we can let ourselves out."
"How?" Lee asked.
"I only asked him to let us out so I could determine his position," Shikamaru said. "The damage to the wall repairs at different speeds depending on the spot. The closer it is to him, the faster it repairs." Shikamaru then pointed at the wall directly across from him. "Right there is the weakest point. That's our way out. Sakura, with your monster strength, you can punch right through it and get us out."
Sakura grinned in understanding. "I get it."
"A brilliant plan, Shikamaru-san!" Lee said.
Sakura turned to where Shikamaru pointed and pulled one of her gloves on. "Stand back." After charging chakra into her fist, Sakura ran at the wall and punched it with a yell, making a hole big enough for them to get out through.
"Sakura-chan, you're the best," Naruto said, grinning at her once they were free.
Jirobo glared as he released his jutsu, making the dome fall apart.
"How do you like that?" Kiba yelled as he gave Jirobo the finger.
"So you got out..." Jirobo muttered. "Not bad."
"Please, allow me to face him," Lee said, stepping to the front of the group. "You cannot waste time here. You must pursue Sasuke-kun! Leave this one to me. With your chakra depleted, you will have trouble with him. But I do not use chakra. So I am the best choice to face him," he said as he took a stance.
Naruto nodded. "Alright. Be careful, Lee."
Sakura reached into her medical pouch and pulled out a bag. "Everyone eat these," she said as she opened the bag, revealing food pills. "They're my clan's special food pills."
"Thanks, Sakura," Kiba said as they took the pills, feeling their chakra and energy return.
"Let's go, guys!" Naruto said. With that, the group went off to follow Jirobo's team, leaving him alone with Lee.
"Come, let us fight!" Lee exclaimed, charging at Jirobo and jumping into the air. "Leaf Hurricane!" he yelled, kicking at Jirobo's head, only for Jirobo to catch his kick and smash him into the ground before throwing him away. "You are strong," Lee said as he got to his feet, taking his stance again before charging.
Jirobo easily blocked and parried Lee's blows. After a few minutes, he punched Lee in the face, sending him flying back. "You can't beat me!"
Lee stood and glared defiantly. "I will never give up!" he yelled as he reached into his leg warmers and unlocked his weights before throwing them away "No matter what happens, I will defeat you!" he vowed as he cross his arms in an X in front of him. "The Eight Inner Gates. First Gate: Gate of Opening, Release!" As the gate opened, veins in Lee's forehead bulged, and he disappeared from view.
Jirobo was caught off guard by Lee's increased speed and was unprepared for the kick that knocked him into the air, breaking his nose and cracking his jaw. But that was the least of his worries as Lee appeared behind him and wrapped bandages around him before turning them toward the ground and rotating fast.
"Primary Lotus!" Lee yelled as he piledrove Jirobo headfirst into the ground, making a crater as he jumped away from the sound ninja, panting.
"Not bad," Jirobo said as he rose from the crater, red triangle marks spreading over his body, as he ignored his bleeding head wound. "You made me bleed," he said as the marks stopped and turned black.
Lee, still panting, barely blocked a punch that sent him flying into a tree. "He is much stronger now," he said as he stood. "The Eight Inner Gates. Second Gate: Gate of Rest." As the second gate opened, the veins in Lee's forehead bulged more as his strength and energy returned, allowing him to trade blows with Jirobo on an equal level, but it wasn't enough to beat him, so he knocked Jirobo away again and crossed his arms. "The Eight Inner Gates. Third Gate: Gate of Life. Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain. Fifth Gate. Gate of Closing: open!" As the gates opened, Lee's skin turned red and his sweat turned green, evaporating immediately.
Jirobo moved to block a strike with his arm when Lee disappeared again, only for the blow to be strong enough to break that arm. His cry of pain was cut of as Lee pummeled him fast and hard into the air before wrapping a bandage around Jirobo's waist and pulling him toward him, poised to strike.
"Hidden Lotus!" Lee yelled as he drove his fist and foot into Jirobo's midsection at the same time, sending him crashing into the ground. "Surely he did not survive that," Lee muttered as he landed, the effects of the gates still going. He was thoroughly surprised when Jirobo stood from the crater, in the second stage of his curse mark, having red skin, warts on his forehead and upper arms, and yellow eyes with black scleras.
"I am going to kill you!" Jirobo yelled, pissed that he couldn't suck any chakra from Lee.
"No. I will kill you," Lee said, crossing his arms again, focusing. "THE EIGHT INNER GATES! SIXTH GATE: GATE OF JOY! OPEN!" As the gate opened, a massive surge of power coursed through Lee's body before he disappeared and reappeared in front of Jirobo, kicking him into the air with such force and speed that Jirobo's neck snapped and Lee's leg caught fire from the friction on the air. He quickly followed Jirobo into the air and started punching him with flaming fists. "ASA KUJAKU!" With the final punch, he sent Jirobo crashing into the ground, making a large crater. The effects of the Inner Gates wore off as Lee's appearance returned to normal, leaving him exhausted. "Guy-sensei, I hope I have made you proud," Lee said as he got to his feet and limped over to Jirobo's prone form, where the curse mark was receding, leaving the corpse in its normal form. "My friends, I fear that I will not be able to help you further in this mission." With that, Lee fell back, exhausted and badly injured.
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Neji caught sight of the remaining members of the Sound Four. "I see them."
"Alright. What's our next move?" Kiba asked.
"I'll transform into their teammate and approach them," Shikamaru said. "They left him alone to deal with us, expecting him to kill us. They've underestimated us, which is good. So they won't suspect us of coming after them."
Sakura nodded. "Alright. Do it. We'll be close enough to back you up, but far enough away that we stay hidden."
Shikamaru nodded and made a hand sign, transforming into Jirobo and heading toward the Sound ninja.
"What took you so long, Jirobo?" Sakon asked.
"I wanted to get every bit of their chakra," Shikamaru said, deducing it as an expected response from Jirobo's jutsu.
"Typical reason, you gluttonous fatass!" Tayuya said. "Now take back the coffin from Kidomaru! Carrying it is your job!"
"Right," Shikamaru said, moving to take the coffin from Kidomaru, internally smirking. They were just giving it to him. Before he could take it, however, he had to dodge an attack from Sakon. "Why'd you do that?" he asked as he landed on a branch.
"You're not Jirobo," Kidomaru said.
Knowing that they had seen through it, Shikamaru undid his transformation, prompting his teammates to join him. "How did you know?"
"The real Jirobo was always scolding Tayuya about her language," Kidomaru said, tossing the coffin to Sakon. "Sakon, Tayuya, go on ahead. I'll deal with them."
Sakon nodded before he and Tayuya headed off.
Kidomaru built up something in his mouth. "Ninja Art: Spider Web Net!" He spat spider webbing from his mouth, pinning Shikamaru to a tree before he could react. A shadow appeared behind him, revealing six Sakuras coming at him. Jumping off the branch he was on, Kidomaru spat a bunch of webbing into a ball in his hands. "Ninja Art: Spiral Spider Web!" He extended the webbing into a web that caught the six Sakuras. The one next to Naruto turned into mud and fell apart.
Kiba and a transformed Akamaru came at Kidomaru while he was in the air. "Fang Over Fang!" They started spinning like drills as they neared their spider like opponent. Kidomaru simply smirked and used threads attached to his hands to dodge them and land safely on another branch.
Naruto came at him from above, a Rasengan in hand. "Rasengan!" Kidomaru barely dodged the attack. Naruto, Kiba, and Akamaru tried to go after him, but found that they were stuck in webbing. Neji came at Kidomaru from behind, but was dodged and entangled in a web.
"Dammit! He got all six of us!" Shikamaru said.
Kidomaru smirked at the struggling Neji. "Let's see how you like the inside of an airtight cocoon." He then wrapped Neji in a cocoon of silk like a spider would a fly.
"Dammit!" Sakura cursed, reaching into her medical pouch and pulling out a kunai, trying to cut the web she was in. When that failed, she tried ripping it with her monster strength, much to Kidomaru's amusement.
"It's useless. My spider silk is so strong that not even a pair of elephants could pull it apart. Hmm. This girl can use Earth Style Shadow Clones," Kidomaru said as he jumped down to a branch. He reached into his mouth with all six of his hands. "Ninja Art: Sticky Spider Thread!" He pulled out six strands of gold colored silk that solidified into crude, hooked throwing knives. "Let's make the first kill entertaining. I'll play a little game and find out which girl is the real one."
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, worried for his crush.
"Let's try the one on the end first," Kidomaru said, throwing one of his weapons into that Sakura, which melted into mud. "Oh well. Next." He threw a blade into another Sakura, that one melting into mud as well. "You're lucky. Let's try two at once and double the odds in my favor!" Another two Sakuras were pierced, both becoming mud. Kidomaru laughed at that. "You are one lucky girl! But this time, it's 50/50!" he exclaimed as he threw a blade into one of the remaining Sakuras, turning it to mud. "So she made it all the way to the end. Well, weakling, time to die!"
Sakura glared at the weakling comment. "I trained under Lady Hokage, I held my own against Ling, I became a chunin!" she thought as she brought her hands together, weaving hand signs. "I can't let it end here," she thought as Kidomaru threw his blade at her. Time seemed to slow as she finished her hand signs. "I'm not... going to die here!" Kidomaru's blade struck her, but was deflected off her chest.
"What?" Kidomaru gasped as Sakura formed a chakra scalpel on each hand and cut through the web, freeing herself and removing her damaged vest, revealing a tear in her dress. Just large enough to reveal black skin. "It can't be!" He had heard stories of this power from Orochimaru.
Sakura smirked at his shock as she landed on a branch. "Steel Style: Ultimate Shield."
"No way! The Steel Style Kekkei Tota?" Kidomaru asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. I'm Sakura Haruno, heiress of the Hidden Leaf Village's Haruno clan!" As Sakura spoke, Neji came out of nowhere and freed Naruto, Shikamaru, Kiba, and Akamaru.
"Thanks for stalling him, Sakura," Neji said.
"No problem," Sakura said, undoing her Ultimate Shield. "I'll fight this one. You guys go one ahead. If we all stay put here, we won't be able to catch up with Sasuke in time. Wherever he is, Sasuke is in the darkness. We can't allow Orochimaru to have him."
"Be careful, Sakura-chan," Naruto said.
Sakura could hear the worry in his voice, and turned to look at him, giving him a smile. "Don't worry, Naruto-kun. I promise I won't die." Her smile then turned to a frown. "Now get going! We don't have time to waste!"
"Right!" Naruto said with a scared voiced, heading off with Neji, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shikamaru in tow.
Kidomaru spat out spider silk tipped in sticky thread and threw it in a web at them. "No you don't!"
Sakura quickly formed chakra scalpels on her hands hand cut the web apart before it could reach her teammates. "To get to them, you go through me," she said, taking a stance and armoring her hands with the Ultimate Shield.
Kidomaru grinned and started spitting web after web at Sakura, who deftly sliced them apart with her chakra scalpels. But eventually, Sakura got hit and pinned against a tree. "I see. You use your chakra to make scalpels on your hands, and use them to cut through the silk. But without being able to move, you can't use that ability, and without hand signs, you can't use that Kekkei Tota of yours. I was going to play with you for three minutes before killing you, but I'm bored after just a minute. So I'll finish you off now." Kidomaru started molding silk in his mouth after he finished talking.
Sakura took a breath to calm herself. "Easy, Sakura. He's underestimating you. That means you have the advantage. I need to focus my chakra into multiple points throughout my body," she thought as she started focusing her chakra.
Kidomaru finished molding his silk and spat out a spear of his Sticky Spider Thread at Sakura. Much to his shock, the web holding Sakura was blown away from her, freeing her just in time to dodge the spear and let it hit the spot on the tree where she had just been.
Sakura landed on the spear and ran along its length to Kidomaru. "You thought I couldn't escape without my chakra scalpels. But I'm a medical ninja, meaning that my chakra control is top notch, allowing me to release chakra from any of my chakra points!" As she spoke, Sakura formed a chakra scalpel on each hand. "Now you die."
Kidomaru bit his spear off and moved to dodge Sakura's attack, but Sakura proved too fast, and struck him multiple times, knocking him through a tree to the ground.
Sakura landed across from the spot where he landed. "Got him." Her look of triumph turned to shock as the smoke cleared, revealing that Kidomaru was still standing. Though his body was covered by some sort of armor.
Kidomaru grinned as the armor cracked and fell off his body. "That's right. My Sticky Spider Thread is a type of metal. It hardens on contact with the air, and doesn't allow chakra to pass through it. So it's perfect protection against a medical ninja's chakra scalpels. And as you can see, not only can I secrete it from my mouth, but also from every sweat gland in my body," he said, armoring his wrist as a demonstration before letting the armor fall off.
Sakura stared him down, neither of them blinking. "If he can protect himself from my chakra scalpels with that armor, then I'll have to use my monster strength to smash through it." Sakura then noticed that Kidomaru had vanished from sight, and readied herself for attack.
Kidomaru watched her from a nearby hiding place, hooking his finger around a silk thread wrapped around another of his fingers. "The attack will come without any warning," he thought as he released the thread from around his finger.
Sakura heard the kunai coming and dodged it, seeing a paper bomb tied to it. When it didn't detonate, she realized what that meant. "The paper bomb is a decoy!" she thought as she jumped into the air, a number of Sticky Spider Thread kunai hitting the ground where she had just been standing. More came at her in the air. Putting her evasion training to use, Sakura twisted through the air to dodge and deflect the kunai, landing in a clearing.
Kidomaru moved to a spot above the clearing. "Not bad. You're pretty good at dodging. You might be more challenging than I first thought." As he spoke, Kidomaru activated the first level of his curse mark, which spread hook shaped marks over the left side of his body, particularly his left arms and left leg. "So let's take this game up a notch," he said as he bit his thumb and ran through hand signs before spreading those hands, revealing a small spider web held between his fingers, which he slapped another hand on. "Summoning Jutsu!" After the puff of smoke cleared, Kidomaru was standing on the back of a giant spider, which laid an egg sack as long as its body.
Sakura paled a bit before screaming. "Why did I stay and fight this guy? I hate spiders!"
A vein bulged on Kidomaru's forehead. "Hey! What's to hate about spiders? They're more scared of humans than humans are of them!"
"Say that after you wake up and find one staring at your face!" Sakura yelled. "So hairy, and crawly, they're just so disgusting!"
"Alright! You just made this battle personal!" Kidomaru yelled as he made a Sticky Spider Thread kunai from his mouth and used his silk threads to swing past the spider's egg sack, cutting it open, revealing countless spiderlings the size of small dogs. Sakura nearly screamed at the sight, until Inner Sakura slapped her. Figuratively.
"Get a grip! We have a mission to complete and a battle to win!" Inner Sakura snapped.
Sakura calmed down after her inner self did that. "Right. Besides, this is the perfect chance to conquer my fear."
"Atta girl!" Inner Sakura said.
Sakura took a stance as the spiderlings jumped out of the egg sack, attacking Sakura, who ran through hand signs before taking a deep breath. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" The fireball she exhaled killed the whole wave of spiderlings quickly. As she finished exhaling the fireball, a wave of Kidomaru's kunai came at her from several directions, which she dodged, save one that grazed her right shoulder.
"I see. Her evasion isn't perfect," Kidomaru thought as he unleashed another wave of spiderlings, which Sakura began killing with her chakra scalpels before dodging more kunai, but grunted in pain when she felt one lodge itself in her back. Kidomaru grinned as he unleashed his next attack. "Let's see if we can get two kunai through." As he expected, Sakura managed to dodge the bulk of the wave, aside from two kunai joining the one in her back.
Sakura forced herself to stay on her feet despite the fact that her wounds were bleeding. The kunai wounds weren't bleeding as badly since the kunai were still embedded. Most people would have pulled them out, but Sakura knew better: that the bleeding would worsen if she pulled out the kunai. Taking a breath, she dodged another wave of kunai and killed more spiderlings before the giant spider dropped down in an attempt to crush her. Sakura watched the spider bulge and burst into silk after she struck it with a chakra scalpel. Her feeling of victory was short lived, as three more kunai lodged themselves into her back, knocking her down.
Kidomaru laughed out loud. "I told you before, girl! You're a weakling! Nothing but a trash character! You were Sasuke's teammate, right? No wonder he left the Leaf! Who could blame him when he had to deal with being slowed down by weaklings like you and that blond kid?" That struck a nerve. Sakura ignored the pain she was in and forced herself to stand. "Still alive. I need to work on my aim," Kidomaru thought as he activated the second stage of his curse mark, his skin turning red, his muscles bulging more, spikes growing on his elbows and forehead, knocking his headband off as a third eye on his forehead opened. He then formed a bow from his Sticky Spider Thread, along with an arrow. As he pulled back the bowstring, he carefully aimed his shot before letting the arrow fly.
Sakura heard the arrow coming and tried to dodge, but only managed to move to where it went through her left shoulder. "Those arrows are fast," she muttered as blood ran down her arm.
"So she was able to move and change the arrow's trajectory," Kidomaru thought as he made another arrow, this time attaching a silk thread to it in order to be able to change its trajectory mid-flight. Sakura started running as he aimed, trying to make it harder for him to hit something vital, and to buy time to heal herself.
"Gotta keep moving," Sakura muttered as she started healing the hole in her shoulder, only managing to staunch the bleeding before she heard the arrow flying and tear up a tree. Thinking fast, Sakura dodged behind a tree, which the arrow tore through, nicking her temple and knocking her headband off, allowing her bangs to fall over her forehead. As she reached up and started stopping her temple's bleeding, Sakura noticed the thread connected to the arrow. "I won't be able to dodge the next one, but if he's using a thread to control their trajectory, then I can use that against him." Her plan in mind, Sakura started running again.
"She's stubborn," Kidomaru muttered as he made another arrow, this one having a drill head. "Well, if the trees are throwing off the trajectory, then I'll put some spin on this arrow." Kidomaru carefully aimed his shot before letting the arrow fly.
Sakura heard the arrow tear through several trees on its way to her. Waiting for the right moment, Sakura turned and allowed the arrow to pierce the lower right side of her abdomen, missing anything vital and knocking her into a tree with its momentum as it tore through the tree and into the ground. Sakura bit her lip to avoid screaming in pain. Her lip ended up bleeding before she stopped biting it. But despite the pain, Sakura couldn't help but smirk as she grabbed the silk thread with both hands. "You little..." she muttered as she pulled the thread taut, surprising Kidomaru. "GET OVER HERE!" she screamed as she yanked Kidomaru toward her with all her strength, smirking at the shocked look on his face as she cocked her fist back, coating it in chakra and punched Kidomaru in the chest, knocking him into the ground and making a crater.
Kidomaru felt like his body was on fire. Sakura's punch had caused a number of his organs to rupture, and a broken rib had torn open one of his lungs. "How?"
"By focusing chakra into my fist and releasing it just as my punch connects, it increases my already considerable strength tenfold," Sakura said, forming a chakra scalpel on her hand, severing the thread from the arrow before tearing Kidomaru's heart to shreds, killing him. Sakura stumbled out of the crater and started healing her wounds. When she found that she didn't have enough chakra, she released the Reserve Seal and used the extra chakra to heal her wounds and replenish her chakra reserves before reapplying the seal. "Ling will want you," she muttered as she pulled out a scroll with a blank sealing array and sealed Kidomaru's corpse in it. "Alright, now to catch up with the others." With that, she headed off in the direction her comrades had gone.
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Finally finished the chapter. Sorry to keep everyone waiting. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Until next time, I bid you all a most respectful farewell.