The men moved; so many Hanabi found herself momentarily lost as to what exactly she was doing. The enormity of this was only now starting to hit her as thousands of men and women marched this way and that way, preparing themselves. She found herself overwhelmed.
'This is really happening...'
When Naruto stood behind her, she didn't need to use her Byakugan to be aware of it, only he could stand there and just make you know that he was there. She turned, and was only caught off guard because he was finally wearing his armor.
She'd never really seen him using it, she realized. Always from a distance at most, the flaming red of the cloak, or perhaps just the hint of that face-mask. She'd never really been standing infront of him. Except maybe for that night when Hinata had escaped with her and half of the Hyuuga house, and her cousin Neji died.
That seemed like a lifetime ago...it was like the fading memory of a half shaded dream.
She bowed at the waist, blushing faintly when she realized she'd been staring at him. "Hokage-sama."
"Shouldn't you be preparing?" He asked, and she noted that his voice was deeper, it sounded like metal, or rock scraping against rock.
"I already have." She said. She wasn't boasting or posturing, she was simply stating a fact.
He nodded, took another moment to look around the camp, as though searching for something before he turned to look at her again.
"You're staying here." It was spontaneous, and she could swear he'd just come to that decision.
"Why?" If it was in her to shout, she would have. As it was, her expression and tone gave away her indignant surprise.
"The camp needs a captain." That was a blatant lie and they both knew it.
"The camp-" She shot back, all but gritting her teeth. "Is nearly two miles away from the village. They do not have the men to attack and even if they did a blind man can see them coming long before they get here."
He was quiet for a moment before he damn near sighed out his words. "You're staying."
Hanabi glared. "You're doing this for Hinata aren't you? You're doing this because of-"
"I'm doing this-" He interrupted. "-for your own well being."
His crossed arms fell to his sides as he stepped closer, towering almost a full head above her.
"Believe me-" He implored, staring at her pearl orbs through the shadow of his hood. "This is one battlefield that you do not want to be a part of. Stay away from it...be safe."
She glared, her jaw clenching, her teeth grinding before she turned around and all but stalked away from him, furious.
Naruto watched her leave, not saying anything more as he cut open his thumb with a mild use of wind chakra, the blood dripping from a slit in the gauntlet's thumb.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu-"
He woke in the middle of the night, seconds before the chuunin burst into his room shouting out for him
"Kazekage-sama!"
He was already up, getting dressed, the alarm on the man's face told him everything he needed to know.
"Go." He ordered. "Wake my brother, then get to the Anbu and Jounin, everyone is to get to their designated stations immediately!"
The man bowed as he turned and left the room.
As he put on the last of his clothing, Gaara looked out the window, only the very beginnings of dawn were peeking through the clouds, painting the sky with purples and oranges.
There...just slightly over the active hustle of the city's defenders he could hear it, could hear them.
'Let them come.' He thought.
He walked onto the village walls, dozens of men and women were already there, more were joining them, his personal Anbu guard were at his back as they all felt their eyes drawn to the seething mass of bodies that was gathering just at the next rise.
He heard the thudding footsteps long before the words left his brothers mouth.
"Funny..."
"What is?" he asked, and vaguely, the teal eyed village leader noted that many were paying attention to their words. Save for Kankuro, more than a hundred people were standing here and these walls were as silent, as any crypt beneath the village.
"I thought I'd be a lot more scared." His brother confessed before releasing some small laughs.
Gaara felt his lips twitch, the smile tugging at his mouth before he let it free, feeling it spreading across his face. His brother's laughter was infectious and he soon found himself joining the puppet master. Not even when he saw Manda, great and terrible, rising over the sand dunes with a hissing screech, like some sea dragon of legend, did he stop.
He and his brother laughed as though they were the only ones on that wall and no one else was standing around looking at them strangely.
When their laughter died down, the Kazekage stared out at the expanse of desert between them.
"Tell me what you see out there." He called in general, speaking to everyone, and yet no one.
When he got no response he looked to his sides, to the men and women flanking him.
Manda hissed beneath his feet, the great, ancient serpent rumbling as he shook the sand free of his scales, stretching almost languidly as the warmer air began to replace the cold, the sheer heat of the desert waking him from his lethargy.
"Sssssssunagakure." He hissed.
"Perceptive of you." He answered, thousands of ninja gathering at the great serpent's flanks.
"Sssso. Thissss isss it then."
The blond was quiet for a moment atop his head before he responded.
"Yes. This is the end of it."
"Come on...tell me; What do you see out there?"
One man answered, hesitant, unsure, it was practically a question.
"Konoha ninja?"
Gaara looked out to the plains, beginning to laugh once more. "Are you all as insulted as I am? Do you all see that this is what they're sending against us?"
He smiled, clear and bright as day for all to see as he stared at the massing enemy with humored contempt in his eyes as he shouted out to them.
"They send an army of whipped dogs and cowards, men who fell on bended knee and gave up their dignity and pride ages ago. This is what they're sending against us? We stand on the greatest city of our entire nation, shoulder to shoulder,our families and homes at our back: and this is it?
"Doesss the ssslug still live."
"She does." Naruto answered, his weight shifting as the snake's massive head moved beneath him. "Should she summon Katsuyu, focus on fighting her. I trust you can handle it, I will be dealing with the Kazekage, and my sister.
"Sssshhe will die."
"Word's are meaningless." He shot back. "Make it a reality, then you can speak.
"My people, my fellow ninja." He was shouting now, chakra infusing itself into his voicebox to carry his words as far as they would go and climbed up onto the very battlements of the wall, standing a full head and chest above everyone as he turned around to look at them, more had gathered, below the wall, on the streets, their eyes on him.. "I have heard you all say his name. Whispering in fear and curses since this war began. The Devil King of Konoha. But...I am going to ask you now, do you know who I am?"
Some said yes. Just a few among the hundreds.
"Do you know who I am!"
"Yes!" It was a chorus that answered this time.
"Let me make it clear for you. I am Sabaku no Gara, Yondaime Kazekage of Sunagakure!"
A subdued cheer. It was not enough. Not even close.
"Never again will you serve as you serve now! Nothing in your life will matter as much, no duty you will ever have will be as real or hold such consequence as the actions you achieve today! Today we will carve a legend into the flesh of every invader that dares try to come into this city! Our blood is the blood of the heroes and legends that first built this! Our city!"
Now the cheers were coming, truthfully and without hesitation.
Naruto's sharp ears could faintly hear the cries coming from the wall. The chants and yells as the Kazekage rallied his men.
"The boy makessss them find their courage."
"It will do them little good."
Manda swiveled his eyes up to look at his summoner.
"Will you not speak?"
"No." He answered reaching down and gripping his blade.
"Will you stand!"
A roar was his answer
"Ninja of Suna, we are the blades of the wind, the all consuming desert dunes, the fiery heat of the sun above. We are Suna!" He spread his arms to his side, as wide as they would go, as though he were about to tip himself back and off the wall.
"This is our city! Our Home! Say it! Say it now so the bastards and dogs will hear you across the desert! Our city! Our Home!"
A wall of sound slammed against his chest and the blow was invigorating. "OUR CITY! OUR HOME!"
"Let them come we will break them here with Steel and Fire!"
"STEEL AND FIRE!"
Their cheers were louder now, so loud he was sure his own men could hear it as he drew his blade.
"Our city, our home." They cried.
His sword gleamed in the light of the rising sun, the scimitar's edge razor sharp.
"No words from me. Not for them." He said to the snake. "They have their duty, and they know what it is."
"To fight." Manda finished simply.
"Wrong." Naruto corrected staring straight ahead. "To fight...and die."
"Now! For your comrades! For your families! For Suna!"
"FOR SUNA!"
"Louder!" He demanded screaming up to the dark sky as he laughed again
"FOR SUNA"
"They can't hear you brothers!"
"FOR SUNA!"
He rounded, turning to face the expanse of desert between the city and its enemies. 'Come! Come and die against steel! Break yourselves against our resolve! Know me! For I am Sabaku no Gaara, Kazekage of Sunagakure, and I swear when the final hour is here I will throw your bodies from these walls! My sun will set and rise all the days after this, over an unconquered city!"
"GAARA! GAARA! GAARA!"
When they cheered his name, loud and thunderous; Manda finally moved.
For all his size, the massive serpent seemed to glide across the expanse of desert, closing the distance with startling, dismaying speed, as he rushed headlong to the village gate.
His yellow, serpent's eyes gleamed with the morning light. Gleeful with the promise of soon to be sated bloodlust and a battle unlike any he'd ever taken part of before. The snake could almost be said to have been smiling as he rushed forward
Jutsu, Kunai, Shuriken, they all bounced harmlessly off of his thickened, armored hide as he struck the gates full on with his massive hammer of a head that was harder than any steel.
The ancient, bronze gates, each nearly as tall as the Kazekage tower were flattened in an instant, the stonework crumbling as though they were children's building blocks rather than cut rock and mortar.
Men screamed as they were crushed, as the walls crumbled beneath them with the thrashing of Manda's massive body, as he hissed, spitting acid and poisonous smog onto the village's entrance yard, entire houses tipping and collapsing with the movements of his body.
With a cloud of smoke, Manda found himself smiling, glaring at Katsuyu and the slugs aging summoner standing atop her head.
Gaara and the others on his part of the wall had little attention for that, the Kazekage's teal green eyes watched as, just before the snake ripped through the village gate its rider leaped off, red cloak making him a speck, easy to follow through the air with his eyes as he rose high over all of them.
He shot down so fast Gaara was certain he must have used some kind of wind manipulation, his body firing down to the earth as though he'd jumped down from some perch in the first place.
The Kazekage heard the blade, the wind whipping through his cloak and at the last possible moment his sand finally rose, stopping the weapon so close to his face he could actually see the edge of it peeking through the sand that gripped it.
Naruto landed on the battlements, his feet right on the ledge where Gaara had stood just moments ago talking to his men, teal green glared into ice blue before Gaara felt the man's foot smash into his shield, carrying enough force to send him off the wall and onto the rooftop across the street.
He parted the sand, just in time to see Naruto dodge two strikes from the ninja still on the wall before he kicked one, likely killing him if the crack of his neck was any indication, before he lunged after the Kazekage, moving so straight through the air Gaara could almost swear he could fly.
He brought his sand up again, blocking as he backpedaled. "Hold the wall Kankuro!" He shouted at his brother, seeing that the puppet master was moving to fight at his side. "I'll deal with him!"
"Empty promises do not become you!" The Hokage growled as he attacked again, now forcing Gaara's full attention onto him and him alone!
Yoshihiro made his way over the dune, his entire army rushing past him to the southern walls. He couldn't wait for cobble stone streets and tiled rooftops. His sheer weight and sand did not mix well together in his opinion.
He paused, looking over his shoulder towards his Anbu guard. "You know you can take that off now."
One of the Anbu in question shifted from foot to foot, almost nervously before reaching up to the mask, and pulling it off, revealing the porcelain skin, dark hair and white eyes of Hyuuga Hanabi.
The Tsuchikage took a breath as she walked up to his side, none of the other Anbu of his guard even batted an eyelash.
"Thank you for this." She said, making him give out a sharp 'harrumph' "You're taking a serious risk."
"Only if you die." He shot back. "And the risk is worth it."
"How so?"
"You're what survives this war. Your generation needs to see what happens here...experience it. Otherwise we might just slide back. And all the people who die here today would have died for nothing."
His explanation was a somber thing, and Hanabi got the distinct impression that he was talking, in some strange way, from experience.
"I'll do my best to survive then." She didn't wait for him to speak before she rushed forward with the rest of the Iwa ninja.
Yoshihiro made a hand gesture, and his Anbu followed after her at a quicker pace than himself as he hefted his hammer over his armored shoulder. He smiled.
Every movement, no matter how minor from Katsuyu made her stomach lurch with the motion, every exchanged blow between her summon and Manda was like an earthquake.
But for all the ferocity of this battle Tsunade's attentions were not focused on the giant snake, nor the actions of her summon.
No, she was waiting for something else.
She hadn't just summoned Katsuyu. Hundreds of little slugs were scattered throughout the village, hiding in corners, under stones, they were her eyes and ears, watching and waiting.
She didn't have to wait very long.
"Katsuyu. Make sure Manda doesn't get farther into the village." She said, barely even waiting for the slug's muttered "Of course" before she leaped off of her Summon's head, speeding away through the village as Suna's eastern forces began their fighting retreat from the walls.
The moment she made her way over the walls she activated her Byakugan.
Her sight expanded, became whole again as she saw everything.
Especially all of the traps
"Stop!" She shouted, her voice lost amidst the screaming of nearly a thousand Iwa ninja rushing past her to the fight that awaited them.
The first of the traps were sprung.
Men died left and right, some dodging one trap only to spring another they weren't quick enough to escape. She tried to shout more, to bring them to their senses, to make them stop but she was not Yoshihiro nor anyone that they knew or respected, they surged forward and her voice was lost.
She knew that most, if not, all of the Hyuuga were on the eastern force, they were most likely keeping their people safe but how much would this side suffer? How much would Kiri's division circling up to the north of the village if the entire area was like this?
She moved to rush forward, it wouldn't take the smarter Iwa ninja long to discover that they were walking through a field of traps and take better caution.
That did not mean that she couldn't help spring or disarm some of those traps safely however
She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned. She expected Yoshihiro, she was infinitely surprised to find, Shino instead!
"Aburame-san?"
He nodded. "You were told to remain at the camp."
She set her jaw, glaring at him with an active Byakugan. "I am going to fight."
Shino sighed through his nostrils. "If I would have been able to, I would have stopped you. As it stands, I must settle for protecting you as best I can."
"I'm not a child."
"I don't rightly care."
"How did you even find me?"
"My clan members and I have spread our insects throughout Suna and to nearly every ninja within the army. We are acting as the couriers and information managers so that the captains and the commanders are aware of changing battle conditions and updated orders should Naruto-sama give them. The process of syncing our thoughts to the hive mind as a whole, rather than controlling the individual hives within ourselves, clouded the messages the Kikaichu I placed on you was trying to send to me. By the time I became aware that you were within the army, it was already too late."
She shrugged, "Fine, if you want to help, then help. But don't pretend to stop me."
Shino nodded, though a blind man could see it was a reluctant thing. Hanabi said nothing more before she turned and rushed through the city seeing more traps going off, triggered by those too stupid or too inexperienced to see them while others were disarmed or avoided when they were sprung.
Her eyes could see it, she could see all of them. Some survived, but most were being killed.
She could see it but she could not stop it so she put it out of her mind.
It was dismayingly easy to do so.
Kakashi landed behind his target, pivoting quickly, his kunai blade dug into the side of the chuunin's neck before he'd ever realized the copy ninja was at his back.
Using that same momentum, he continued to turn, dragging the slacking body into the path of three shuriken thrown by another ninja down the road.
Pushing the chuunin away he formed his handseals as his fist struck the ground and a spike of rock shot out right in front of his long range adversary, impaling him through the gut and leaving him to hang in the middle of the street like some macabre display as Suna continued its retreat and Konoha's ninja rushed past him in pursuit.
He looked up, Sharingan slowly spinning as he watched Manda and Katsuyu fighting behind them, their massive, titanic shadows casting themselves darkly over the village.
He could never say what warned him. There was no distinctive sound, nothing seen along his peripheral...nothing...wrong. All he could say was that even before the building next to him was crumbling, wood, stone and mortar flying outwards with so much force mere shrapnel was causing injury to those too slow to dodge it, he was already jumping away, and even then the fist almost caught him, regardless.
His sharingan spun rapidly now, and even it could barely identify the blur of motion that sped towards him through the cloud of dust. It allowed him only the ability to dodge by a hairs breath and when he jumped onto the second story of a nearby rooftop was he able to get a look at his adversary.
Tsunade.
Kakashi's sharingan eye narrowed, his mouth forming a grim line beneath his mask while hers burned with fury and her lips were curled back in a snarl.
Yoshihiro cursed as another explosion ripped through the streets about three blocks ahead of him.
"We're getting nowhere fast." He growled to himself as more experienced veterans tried to move forward and disarm the traps safely. Momentum was key to any victory, and every second they were bogged down here meant that more and more traps were being built, or that the enemy was preparing greater defenses, or getting into position for a counter attack. It was unlikely, with the numbers arrayed against them but the last thing the Devil Shimazu wanted was to loose more men.
There were screams to his right and Yoshihiro felt his teeth grind together at the thought of some other fool getting caught because he was just too stupid to wait, until he realized that there was more than one, and unlike the quick scream of a sprung trap this was the opening chorus of men moving to kill eachother.
He turned his head finding that Suna ninja had just entered the fray with his own men.
He moved to join, when an explosion nearly tipped him forward from behind and he swiveled his attention there instead.
Suna ninja were crawling out of the woodwork, dozens of them pouncing on the surprised and flabbergasted Iwa ninja. Yoshihiro noted that the majority of his men here were chuunin. The smarter, stronger ones having moved forward to help disarm or otherwise bypass the traps.
He found himself laughing. 'Avoid the teeth and claws to aim for the softer underbelly.'
When he found himself unable to move, he smiled a bit more, looking down to his shadow which was extending unnaturally.
The Tsuchikage stared at the Shadow wielder. "Been a long time boy."
Shikamaru's lip curled, likely in distaste. "Troublesome." He muttered. "Didn't want to fight you." His shadows multiplied, dark wisps slithering across the ground, Yoshihiro saw his brow bead with sweat, his chakra capacity as useless now as it was before. He froze more and more soldiers that were quickly and effectively killed by other Suna ninja in their paralysis before Shikamar's shadows slithered off towards their next victims.
The Tsuchikage saw a shuriken spinning his way ready to lodge itself in his skull until a kunai speared it through the ring in the center knocking it away.
Shikamaru cursed under his breath again, he hadn't seen where the thing came from.
"You should know better-" The Devil Shimazu smiled. "-a Kage is never without his men." As though they were emerging from smoke the Anbu guard, a dozen of his most elite, dispelled their Genjutsu, engaging the superior force of Suna ninja around them.
"Tsuuga!"
A spinning dervish hurdled towards him from behind and Yoshiro felt himself smile a little more.
Predictably, at the last minute the Nara's shadow retracted, and gouges tore themselves across the armor on Yoshihiro's back as the Tsuchikage was thrown forward.
Shikamaru's shadow warped again, moving to find the old man quickly but found little more than crumbling dirt.
The Nara tensed. 'Son of a bitch is fast!'
The ground gave out beneath his feet and Shikamaru reached out, grabbing onto Kiba's hand as the Inuzuka rushed by, catching him as he saw what was happening and leaping onto a nearby rooftop.
The two men stood on the slanted tiles, staring down at the sink hole about six feet in diameter before they were joined by a blond. "I take it you didn't kill him." She said.
"What was your first clue." the shadow wielder muttered, eyes scanning this way and that way, searching for the older warrior.
It was Kiba who heard the thunk beneath their feet his ears twitching as he looked down, seeing a kunai blade just peeking up from between the tiles. "Tag!" He yelled and all of them jumped apart, Shikamaru going in one direction while he and Ino went in another.
They landed beside eachother before Kiba's hearing again alerted them to the incoming attack. "Move!" He yelled at her.
"Kaiten!" The swirling ball, nearly the size of an average room smashed between them, all but destroying the section of roof they'd been standing on before it dissipated and Kiba felt his teeth gnashing together with rage.
He almost believed her to be Hinata before he took a closer look. The hair was longer, but not as full, her face thinner, sharper almost to the point of looking unhealthy. She was shorter than Hinata, though her legs were proportionately longer.
She glared at him with those damnable eyes as a swarm of insects converged behind her, materializing into that accursed Aburame he remembered from Sakai. The bug user glared at Ino who stood across from him.
"Don't remember inviting you two to the party." Yoshihiro said, standing down on street level as he smiled, his hammer slung over his shoulder.
"Deal with it."
The Tsuchikage chuckled.
She looked down onto the sands beneath her, knees bent, legs tucked under her body. She felt the warmth of the grains through her clothes, her war-scythe resting upon the hot surface at her side. The wall before her was devoid of soldiers, as were the rooftops save for the five or so puppeteers.
She reached down, running her hands through the fine grains.
Suna's sands were so soft. Like a sheet of gold silk. It was strange. Not as coarse as she would have expected. Strange that she never noticed that before.
Would she die upon them today? To join her husband? To join Yugito? Akina? Would she walk on silks of spun gold or be ensnared in drapes of dark red.
The screams were beginning to rise through the buildings the dust from the gate was still billowing upwards, now joined by whatever was being kicked up by Manda and Katsuyu, no doubt Tsunade would need to keep Manda away from the inner village. The traps would be useless if the snake all but demolished them before the ninja could get a taste of the surprises Suna's puppet masters had placed for them.
She forced it away from her thoughts. Those that died today, here in this place. They were no longer her concern. None of it was.
She had one duty here now.
In either victory, or death, she would find her end and she wished it'd come on swift wings.
But...
She grasped at her weapon, rising languidly to her feet.
To dance the dance of battle one more time. To bring Blood and Fire.
To war.
Always war.
She slipped her chakra down. Down down through her body, into the ground, and finally onto the dark seal beneath her feet, beneath the grains, beneath the silk of spun gold.
And so her mind came alive and her thoughts became real. She spun the threads of their death, and weaved the strings of their doom as Kiri's detachment finally circled the northern end of the village and each one of their ninja walked one by one into the spider's web that was her trap.
Toushiro's feet slipped on the desert as though it were covered in slick soap water, sand billowed up and blossomed outwards in an explosion of movement before his eyes as he drew the second of his twin axes to block the strike.
"Puppeteers!" Someone shouted.
Struggling to blocking the scything blades of the creation that had sprouted from the sand infront of him, the thought came unbidden to his mind. 'No? Really!'
The sand gave way under his foot abruptly, he lost his footing and the things weapons converged in an instant.
He raised his axe, blocking two, but not the other pair on this one's side.
He grit his teeth and visibly flinched, waiting for a pain that did not come.
'What?'
His eyes flashed, the world becoming bright before returning. Only now he was not holding off some Suna puppet.
A Kiri headband was tied over the man's forehead.
It took him a second to put the pieces together.
'Genjutsu!'
He pushed the man away, and with a blink the man was a puppet once again.
'Kai!' He said, and the world around him seem to waver and crumble before reasserting itself, and the battle around him continued after only a brief flash of clarity.
And for that instant he saw that Kiri ninja were fighting Kiri ninja.
'Zhuge Liang must be behind this!' He determined. The illusion was powerful, whenever he tried any of his techniques for disruption the illusion would just assert itself almost faster than what he could catch. If he didn't already know that he was in a Genjutsu he would never have suspected anything was amiss. Only the Raikage had the power to do something like this.
But how could he do this to so many? No one had the mental will or power to enforce so many complex illusions on so many ninja. How many others had already determined that they were trapped? Did they determine it? Or were they still oblivious?
He danced around two more strikes from his opponent backing away with all the speed he had. Hoping his hesitation, something completely unheard of in Suna puppets would tip off his enemy.
But after almost a full minute Toushiro could see the man was not breaking out the caster's hold.
None of them were, the fighting continued around him and more and more men continued to die.
Was he the only one that could see this?
Why?
Or was he the only one caught?
What was this?
A dragon, earth and stone, rock and sand smashed into the puppet's side and Toushiro could hear the cracking of wood and the screeching of metal and knew that just beneath it those sounds were really the breaking of bones and the screams of a dying man.
"You looked like you were having trouble there, Toushiro-san!"
A man, the first to speak, the first to recognize him. Toushiro stepped forward, clasping at his shoulders.
"We're caught in a Genjutsu Kosu!" He yelled struggling to be heard over the cacophony the illusionist was half projecting, half allowing. "Its some kind of mass illusion, its pitting us against each other, the puppets are other Kiri ninja!"
The man, Kosu, looked around. "Toushiro-san, I-" Whatever he was about to say was stopped by the person he was addressing as Toushiro swung one of his axes with inhuman speed, earning a glancing blow to his left arm. "Are you mad!" Kosu shouted, scrambling away.
"You've taken his face." Toushiro answered. "But you don't know his name. Its not Kosu. Its Hachiro! You've made my job of finding you a lot easier!"
'Hachiro' stood, glaring at the son of Guan. "How are you resisting this?" He muttered before body and face melted away in wisps of gray smoke to reveal a woman. A woman in white. "It maters not. You are the only one. The others are snared within the web. Soon they will be dead to the last man along with you."
"Not if I kill you first."
The woman's eyes flashed pale silver, and Toushiro saw her literally vanish before his eyes, then he saw his countrymen surge forward to scale the walls, he saw them swinging at empty air for a moment before the illusion reasserted itself on him, and he saw hundreds of Suna ninja being cut down by fellow Kiri ninja.
He reached out grabbing one of the Kiri ninja by the arm, the man, some chuunin, turned around and Toushiro saw the attack projected through his gaze before he delivered it, and his axes came up to block the strike.
He must see him as a Suna ninja. Or a puppet.
When the man swung, Toushiro lashed out, ready to strike with the pommel of his axe on the man's temple to knock him out.
Then of course the man had to move.
It was the lower, point of the axe head that found his temple instead, cleaving into the side of his skull with a wet squelching sound.
The Genjutsu did nothing to hide the sensation of the man's blood splattering over his face.
He pulled his weapon free, guilt clawing at his insides before he pushed it back down and looked up to the wall again where the men were rushing over it now, unimpeded, sure of their victory.
The lady in white looked down on him from on high, the wind ruffling her clothes as she stood on the battlements. He rushed to her, hoping to end this quick.
He reached the battlements and the world darkened, shifting and turning in a dizzying vertigo as she vanished.
And he was left with nothing more than a completely deserted village, its streets dead, the screaming soldiers vanished, the cacophonous battle on the eastern side gone, his fellow ninja gone, not even the wind howled through this barren place.
A voice as smooth as velvet, and as toxic as any poison slithered through his thoughts.
"Let us contend on a higher, battlefield."
It was strange really. Shino found himself deciding.
Just how much hatred he was gaining for Suna's puppets, in the scant few minutes he'd been fighting with, who he recognized vaguely as Yamanaka Ino by how his Kikaichu said her chakra tasted and of course, her appearance.
Regardless, back to the point, it was very strange. He'd never hated puppets or their wielders overmuch in all his years as a ninja, despite having faced one or two.
To be fair however none had ever been as bothersome as this one was proving to be.
There were three puppets, one was coiled around her body, resembling a snake, the other two resembled birds, one crackled with electricity, the other was wreathed in fire. Both were doing an excellent job of killing any of his insects that got too close.
And he couldn't even drain her chakra by placing his kikaichu on her because of the snake wrapped around her body, it was emitting a sound in supersonic levels that was abhorrent to his partners. Most likely on the offensive the thing would be able to rupture eardrums or interfere with human inner ear function. Dangerous.
Luckily for him, it was being delegated to a more defensive role while the other two puppets sent him on a dancing game throughout the village rooftops avoiding and dodging them.
He stood on the side of a building, and the fire bird came swooping over him, opening its bladed beak, fire shot out towards him as the Aburame backpedaled to escape the blast; his hive buzzing in fear of the flames.
He jumped off, feet touching the sand covered road as he saw both puppets circle in the air before swooping down for the attack.
His hands formed a seal before earth, rock and sandstone rose up from beneath the cobblestone street, cocooning him in an earthen shell as the puppets reared back, flapping their razor edged wings in fury before Ino threw a simple explosive tag onto the jutsu.
The explosion cracked the shell right down the middle like an egg and it parted just in time to reveal itself as empty.
The Yamanaka's eyes narrowed before she heard the buzzing above, raising her eyes just in time to see thousands of kikaichu converge and reform the body of Shino, diving down to attack her.
She tensed her foot and then brought it up in an incredible high kick, attacking almost straight up her foot connected with Shino's jaw before the Kikaichu dispersed and re converged behind her as she was still bringing her foot down.
She felt the sharp pain of an elbow slamming into her spine, making her stumble forward, off balance before the insects again dispersed and converged damn near underneath her as the Aburame clan head delivered a perfect upper cut. The only thing that stopped her from biting off her own tongue was that her teeth were already clenched.
Ino reeled, her concentration nearly slipping on her puppets with the pain as Shino's insects dispersed and re-converged.
This time the back of her fist found the Aburame's throat.
Shino cursed, jumping away from her as her puppets resumed their attack, sweeping in close, lightning and fire prickling his skin and singing his clothing.
Kikaichu could not reform weapons such as kunai and shuriken. Its why no Aburame ever carried any with them. If he could, he would have killed her twice now.
The lightning bird fired out pulses of electricity as it flew, the electric discharge arcing through the air right towards him as he found himself dodging and weaving again. The Fireballs soon joined the volley.
He ran, his speed carrying him through the attacks as he ducked and weaved his way past them. He jumped into the air, his body again dissolving into millions of tiny insects that twisted and curved through the puppets and their elemental threats before rushing again at the master.
His attack was projected, obvious, it was meant for her to dodge.
She didn't.
She didn't need too.
The screech was so sudden, so piercing, so agonizing Shino found his body reforming against his will, the Kikaichu shrieking in pain as they crawled back beneath his skin in a futile effort to escape the sudden assault on their senses.
It took him a second to determine the culprit.
The snake puppet.
She'd been holding it back as a trump card.
Only the flash of a blade gave him enough presence of mind to move and even then the weapon found home in his side rather than his neck as he jumped away
The moment he was out of range the Kikaichu aided his escape, a haze of millions of flies veiling his retreat as he hid within a building while his hive swarmed and dodged the bird like puppets pursuing them through the air.
Shino breathed heavily as he cradled his injury, sweat beading at his brow. He cursed, ignoring the sensation of his insects returning slowly from their aerial duel to distract the puppet mistress. He needed a moment to catch his breath.
And hopefully find a way out of this.
It was strange just how much he was growing to hate puppets.
She rolled forward, the clawed hand coming so close she felt it actually brush her hair as she flipped over the edge of the house, off of the roof and onto the wall. She leaned to the side, her active Byakugan allowing her to see enough of the Inuzuka's attack to dodge it as he followed her.
She flipped forward, rolling and twisting down the wall as he tried over and over again to strike at her. Then she landed, feet on the ground she was facing the wall before she spun around with a kick that would have done Naruto proud, kicking Kiba hard enough in the face to send him into the wall of the building across the street.
She lunged after him when a clone, half formed and emerging from the ground beneath her grabbed a hold of her ankle. She channeled chakra to her heel, kicking the thing's head clean off.
She turned back in time for Kiba to drive his claws right across her throat.
Chunks of meat, and muscle splattered wetly across the floor, blood fountained from her torn jugular before she vanished in a cloud of grey smoke, replaced by a log.
Kiba cursed and turned just in time to put his prosthetic hand in the way of her attack.
The light tap made the arm go slack, the chakra strings constructed to make it move, shattering with the strike as he leaped back to get some distance.
She charged after him, her hands nearly glowing with chakra.
He blocked her strike, his fist striking at the inside of her forearm as he jumped onto the side of the building, still trying to gain some distance as he reformed his chakra strings and his prosthetic arm regained its mobility.
Hanabi followed, Hyuuga hand strikes and deft kicks flying towards him.
Kiba cursed and blocked as best he could, feeling every time as though a hot iron poker was striking his arm wherever she touched it.
He leapt onto the other building across from them, twisting and turning in mid air to keep his eyes on her. She just moved, able to see him from any angle as she just threw out attacks that no ninja could ever hope to deliver accurately without her eyes.
The moment he touched the wall he jumped back to the rooftop of the other building, she didn't have to pause and look like another ninja, she jumped almost as soon as he did.
He cursed again.
He landed on the very edge of the rooftop, damn near feeling the strike at his back; he didn't think, he just jumped up, back flipping in mid air, he fell back to the ground head first, seeing Hanabi and her outstretched hand where she failed to land the killing blow.
His prosthetic arm shot out, the bladed fingers firing towards her with the rattle of a chain.
"Kaiten!"
And like that the attack was deflected, his clawed hand shooting out somewhere else, he just barely managed to twist himself in mid air to avoid landing on the spinning wheel of defensive chakra.
It didn't save him from the solid kick that smashed into his jaw though, powered further by the momentum of the rapid spin
Kiba went sailing. He smashed through a window on another building, his jaw thundered with pain and it was the sound of glass crunching underfoot that alerted him to his pursuer.
He opened his eyes when he landed on his back, seeing another window on the other side of this house before he rolled with the motion and leapt through the thing, feet first.
This time, when she followed he was ready.
She lunged at him, her palm open and glowing with chakra again and Kiba thrust his clawed arm forward again.
He didn't aim for her.
When the chained claw latched onto the rooftop of the building they'd just vacated, he pulled himself up and he saw her eyes widen with alarm as he rose right above her.
"Doton:Kengan!"
His fist was suddenly encased in rock, sharpened spikes along the knuckle as he punched straight down on the young woman.
Hanabi drew two kunai, crossing them infront of herself at the last moment, it was a feeble defense, but it was a defense.
One that she became infinitely grateful for when the attack finally struck, her arms lanced with so much pain she was terrified they broke, when her back struck the floor she was almost as certain her ribs had snapped.
The blood that was literally driven from her body and out of her mouth didn't help her opinion.
She'd been hit by Naruto before...but this hurt just as bad. Maybe even worse.
Through her closed eyelids she saw Kiba moving to finish her.
With a surge of adrenalin she forced her body to move! Rolling to the side she managed to twist herself on the floor to reach her feet, she was about to form a technique when the Inuzuka was already on top of her.
When had he gotten this fast? Or had she just gotten that slow?
Two feet smashed into her sternum, driving out whatever air she'd managed to get back into herself before she was smashed against a wall. She pushed herself off, hoping to catch him off guard with a quick recovery but he dodged her attack, moving around her, she could see him, but wasn't fast enough to react. Another kick connected with the small of her back and she rolled forward only to feel a fist smashing her across the face and another kick striking her across the ribs.
She rolled and got to her feet, stumbling after the reflex motion until her back hit the wall.
He attacked again, his claws brandished, ready for the fatal blow, and Hanabi felt a calm settle over her.
Then she dodged.
His strike was fast, simple, a thrust to the neck, it looked like it would have connected...even to her.
Then she moved, and her open palm raced up and struck against his chest solidly.
Kiba's eyes went wide, backing away as he clutched at his chest, blood spilled from his lips as he cursed and Hanabi glared, the calm she'd previously felt vanishing as all the aches and pains of her battered body returned to her.
He wiped the blood off his lips glaring at with fury and determination, even through the pain of the damaged lung and the subsequent labored breathing he now bore.
The dumb dog just didn't know. He would never win this...he couldn't.
She was the edge of the sword. She couldn't loose.
The destructive path they carved through the village was finally brought to an end when that familiar, pillar of eldritch energy emerged from the center of Sunagakure, two blocks, maybe four blocks distance .
If it was in Naruto to smile, he would have. But then the expression would have died a quick death when Gaara raised his hand up, speaking onto the communication seal at his wrist "All commanders, cease the retreat. Begin the counterattack.
And like that Suna came alive around him.
His sharp, inhumanly good eyes saw the Konoha, Ame, Taki and Kusa ninja momentum grind to a flat, dead halt as battle was finally fully joined, his ears twitched as the sounds of shouts, footsteps, rattling armor and drawn blades was bring carried up from the south, getting closer and closer. He could guess the north would suffer the same fate.
He saw Gaara gathering chakra, felt it sinking into the sand below, gathering power like he did in Konoha not so long ago.
Not this time.' he thought.
He went to attack when he found himself ducking beneath the swing of a sword, twisting his body to avoid the thrust of a blade before back flipping to dodge a hail of throwing knives.
When he looked back up four Anbu were at Gaara's side likely hoping to stall him long enough for Gaara to complete whatever he wanted to do.
He stepped forward and the first two attacked. All four of them would have done better.
He dropped a smoke bomb at his feet.
The two rushed forward, heedless, at least until they inhaled the smoke.
The gasped and choked, clawing at their burning throats as their wind pipes sealed.
They did not readily have the advantage of his healing.
He rushed the other two before they could gather what was wrong with their friends. He punched the first one, his fist shattering the porcelain mask of the Anbu at the Kazekage's side before Gaara raised his sand shield to block at the Rasengan being thrust at his chest. The wall before his eyes burst onto his face, grains of silica falling into his mouth, nose and eyes as he felt the shockwave slam into his chest as though he'd taken a direct blow.
His concentration was broken.
The Kazekage fell back, rolling down the tiled roof with a gasp of expelled air.
The Rasengan dissipated, and Naruto drew one of his blades slashing once at the second Anbu's own weapon, parrying the blow before offering a counter riposte, skewering the man through the chest.
Gaara caught himself before he went over the edge of the roof, looking up in time to meet Naruto's eyes before the Hokage leaped, spun in the air and swung his blade down onto him.
Sand came again to the Kazekage's defense. Wind chakra dug harshly into the shifting surface but more and more sand was poured into the shield, a cleft was dug into a slab that was denser than steel.
Then the shield shifted. Its form, immutable as it was, reaching up and striking the Devil King in the sternum, driving him up before he righted himself, slamming his feet onto the edge of the same roof. Tiles shattered and wood cracked but he remained on his feet.
Gaara barely had time to reach his own legs before he was on him again. His forearm came forward, a bracer of sand hovering half a foot before his flesh , stopping the kick before pushing it off.
Gaara stood up straight, his hands lashing out, spikes and blades of sand seeking Naruto's flesh while the very sand beneath the village began to rumble and shift as more was submitted to his will.
Naruto blocked one strike with his forearm, as he rushed forward, the sand pulling back as its shape transformed and changed to serrated teeth, cutting through his clothes and biting at his skin. He spun with the motion, turning so fast the sand was unable to rise before his elbow struck at Gaara's temple, knocking him onto a knee.
Naruto raised his one drawn blade in both hands, bringing it down for a strike before a sheer wall of sand got between him and his opponent again.
He backpedaled, feet reaching the edge of the roof as the sand shot towards him in spikes and barbs that converged as they were propelled from the wall.
The wind blade slashed and struck, lashing out with blinding speed. He cut what he could, dodged what he could not.
He somersaulted, one hand gripping the very edge of the roof as he flipped himself backwards
Spikes of sand were lodged in the roof and Naruto, stabbed his blade into the wall before using it to swing back onto the roof. His feet touched down as he pulled the weapon free and slashed the air infront of him, a crescent of wind Chakra sailing towards Gaara.
Gaara leaped over the attack, rushing towards his enemy in a headlong charge that all but swallowed the distance between them before his feet had even touched the ground again.
The Kazekage's forward momentum was brought to a screeching halt as he dug his feet into the tiled roof, stopping as he thrust his hands forward infront of Naruto's body
"Futon: Daitoppa!"
Now Naruto was the one who felt the blow to his chest like a solid hit. His feet abandoned the tiled roof, his body sailing through Suna's streets.
He looked below, eyes widening as a forest of sand spears was rushing up from the very ground to impale him mid flight.
He turned, free hand stretched out towards the earth and the onrush of deadly projectiles.
"Futon: Shoha!"
It was as though the fist of a God had plunged down into the earth. It shattered Gaara's attack like so much dust, smashing into the cobblestones streets, digging a shallow crater into the ground.
Landing on another roof, he charged again, dozens of feet crossed within the blink of an eye while an ocean of sand began to billow up from the ground, ready to reach up and consume them both.
'Foolish boy.' He thought, landing on the roof, shattering tiles with the harsh soles of his boots, stabbing his blade between them he reached down with both hands into his satchels, pulling free two scrolls he unrolled them, tossing the bunched rolls to either side of the Kazekage. They were unfurled, revealing blood red runes on white parchment.
Gaara erected his barrier around himself, tightening his hold and control over the sand, ready for the attack.
But none was forthcoming, and he felt only a tug, and a nauseating sense of vertigo.
He dropped his shields, and found he was no longer within the walls of Suna, no longer fighting on its leagues upon leagues of sand. Rather he stood far above, at the top of the village's Kazekage monument the sheer sandstone cliff shooting up from the ground to tower above the village, granting him an unobstructed view of the entire village as it was slowly engulfed in fire.
Too far to help. Too far to do anything from here!
"No more distractions." He heard.
His eyes found Naruto who pulled his weapon free from the ground with a flourish. "No more feints. No more strategy and guile. No more!" Hateful, glacial blue met storm green and Gaara found himself agreeing with his words despite himself.
"Come" The Demon of Konoha growled out harshly through the grille of his metal facemask. "Come and let us finally bring an end to this! Sabaku no Gaara!
The sandstone cracked and splintered beneath the Kazekage's feet, hissing tendrils of gold grains snaking up his body as his fists clenched.
'Yes.' He thought 'Lets.'
Yoshihiro was laughing as he walked into the house. His hammer periodically striking at the wooden walls. "Come on out boy. We're still not done with today's lesson."
From his hiding spot Shikamaru threw his voice, the multiple projections making it seem as though his voice was coming from everywhere. "I'd rather skip the part on dying." He'd been counting on this, to a degree.
The moment he saw Yoshihiro on the field he knew the old man would fight in a certain way.
The Kage had pride, and he could bet the old man wanted to indulge him by fighting here, where he was choosing the terms. The Tsuchikage, with his techniques, hell, with the Hammer alone, he could probably tear this whole house down in short order.
This was more sport than anything for the old man.
He wanted to savor this.
Shikamaru needed to plan and he needed to plan fast. The chase might amuse him for a little while, but testing his patience would just have him destroying this building in short order.
'He'll kill me at close combat. He can probably take the mid range jutsu I know with no problem. My long range ninjutsu is less than effective here, not that he couldn't dodge it anyway...'
The hammer struck again as the older man continued his search.
'Its getting harder and harder to hold him with my shadow...every time I grab him he escapes faster...'
The hammer struck a third time and Shikamaru heard his mistake.
He was leaning on the other side of the wall.
He pitched himself forward, rolling over a low table as three hundred pounds of armored behemoth plowed through plaster and wood, grinning like a mad man as he stalked forward. "Found ya."
Shikamaru got on his back and kicked at the table, launching it at his opponent and scrambling to his feet as a backhanded gauntlet smashed the oak table to slivers and bits of mashed wood.
He jerked his body to the side as the hammer smashed into the wall, the head going, almost completely through it before Shikamaru drew a kunai and went to slash Yoshihiro across the face. The older ninja hiked up his shoulder pauldron the thick steel deflecting the blade with far too much ease before Shikamaru felt the air leave his lungs twice. The first time by an elbow that struck him in the chest, the second time by his back hitting the wall.
He saw Yoshihiro's weapon ripping through the plaster beside him as the old man didn't even bother to pull it out for the swing it careened towards his head, ready to smash it into pulp.
Shikamaru closed his eyes, his body melting into black before it slipped beneath Yoshihiro, reforming at the other side of the house.
He heard the Tsuchikage laugh as his stomach rolled, his body thoroughly unused to doing that. "Strength from Desperation" the old man growled with that fanged smile. "That can be the best kind you know?"
He heard him chuckling as he slipped past to find another hiding place.
Then the house lurched, the entire floor rising up like some beast was trying to push its way from underneath the floorboards.
Window's shattered and Shikamaru only had half a second to hear the rush of water before the wall of water slammed into him, smashing him into the wall.
He wanted to scream, but had enough sense to realize that he would just be swallowing water. He grit his teeth, closing his eyes, blocking out the water blurred images as he felt the wall give way behind him with a loud crack of wood.
When he opened his eyes again, it was to the decidedly strange sensation of being on a beach. He hadn't even seen a beach in forever.
The Nara groaned, pushing himself up on soggy, wet sand that clung everywhere on his body as he reached his feet.
He blinked to clear the fuzziness out of his vision. The sting of salt in his eyes clearing away with every tearful closing of his eyelids before he looked around.
Three homes were gone, he wasn't sure how much water had been thrown here but if it traveled much farther into the village then a good chunk of their traps must have gone off already as well.
He could only pray that it hadn't gone much farther than he himself. The ninja were standing up again. Battle reigniting all around him as he saw Yoshihiro pull himself out of the rubble. He looked around again and this time, his cleared eyes found the most likely culprit.
Ino appeared at his side, and he found her helping him fully reach his feet. "Are you alright?"
He noticed the Hyuuga having joined Yoshihiro as well, breaking off her fight with Kiba where the Inuzuka was circling around to regroup with him.
But even though both the Tsuchikage and the Hyuuga were standing there, Shikamaru found his attention drawn back to the blue skinned behemoth standing just a couple dozen feet down the road.
Or more specifically to the slew of dead ninja now crowded around him. They were bearing Iwa and Suna hitai-ate.'
The appearance alone was unmistakeable.
"Hoshigake Kisame." he heard Yoshihiro breathe out like a curse.
"Been a while old man. Maybe this time you'll listen to your old age and just die properly." The Monster of Kiri smiled a wide and feral smile full of razor edged, white teeth.
"Maybe this time I'll skin you like I did your mother."
The Kiri nuke-nin chuckled again.
"Kisame." They heard and Shikamaru felt his ears twitch at the familiar tone, trailing his eyes behind the massive ninja to a slip of a woman, barely at her partner's chest, her features were obscured by the hood of some drab grey travelers cloak. But he knew he'd heard that voice before. She was upwind of them...he would have asked Kiba otherwise.
Kisame looked over his shoulder at her and he spoke purposefully loud to interrupt whatever she was about to say.
"Go on girl...you have better thing's to do..."
When she hesitated the Kiri nin smiled. "Tell ya what...you stop him, and you stop me."
She hesitated again sweeping her head as though she was looking over the six of them before she nodded, giving each a wide berth as she sped away.
Shikamaru extended his shadow, fully intending to capture this woman of dubious intentions before she escaped.
He didn't notice Kisame throwing an explosive tag behind himself, the fiery burst of light directly behind him warped his shadow, extending it until it met Shikamaru's.
Immediately the Nara felt himself being punched in the gut, the air left his lungs as a pressure fell on his shoulders as though it had the weight of the village's monument. He staggered like he couldn't keep his legs and only Kiba and Ino grabbing him underneath the arms kept him upright as he retracted his shadow faster than a man retracting his hand from an open flame
"What the hell!" He was practically shouting out the words.
"What happened?" Kiba barked out, glaring at the still smiling Kiri ninja.
"I've never felt this much raw chakra in anyone?" He panted, gulping down air in huge suctions of breath. "Its as bad as the Devil King!" He admitted.
"Hehehehehe, not quite but close enough I think." The Monster of the seven swordsmen boasted. "So whadaya say? All six? Or do I rip you apart three at a time.
It only took Shikamaru a second to decide as he caught his breath. "Iwa...truce?"
Yoshihiro nodded. Unlike everyone else, he'd actually fought this beast before. "He hits like a damn bull, and can take more damage than a bulwark. The power of his water Jutsu are insane, get caught in any of them and you're not walking back out, in a hurry, if at all."
"I'm weak to lightning, and earth is always a good defense against me." Their enemy supplied, still smiling as he pulled the massive greatsword from his back.
'Is he so powerful that he's just throwing that out like its nothing?' He thought to himself before signaling Ino and Kiba to spread out.
Beside him, he heard the Hyuuga hiss at Yoshihiro.
"You're going to cooperate with them?"
"Kisame isn't an enemy we can beat alone-" He responded. "Quite frankly I'd tell you to run if I didn't think we'd need you."
He's right, the Aburame said at his side. As we speak my Kikaichu are feasting on his chakra. But its like trying to empty the ocean with a bucket...his power cusps on the scope of the Jinchuuriki.
Shikamaru risked a quick glance around him, Suna and Iwa ninja were still fighting, with Suna now slowly drawing the Iwa nin further into the village and through the field of traps while the bulk of the Suna elite pulled away to encircle the leaf forces in the center.
Half of him was tempted to abandon Iwa to take care of this problem. But there was always a chance Kisame could instead target Suna's forces instead, an even bigger risk was having him flood the entire southern district with an area attack like this one that leveled almost a whole city block. This would destroy so many traps, it would all but demolish the entire southern defense.
This blue freak was like Manda. They had to keep him as far out of the village trap perimeter as they could.
They were going to keep him out. Even if he had to work with his enemy to do it. He could kill the Hyuuga, Aburame and Tsuchikage, the one's who weren't one man demolition teams, afterward.
As Yoshihiro finally convinced the Hyuuga to cooperate, and his, now six, opponents began to surround him, Kisame threw his head back and laughed lond, loud and utterly carefree.
This was going to be so much fun!
He landed, stone and sand kicked up around his ankles with the impact of his feet, his blue eyes left Gaara for a moment, looking down to the village. Pockets of flame were sprouting up here and there as more and more ninja sought to simply burn away the obstacles Suna had put in their path.
Stupid really, the flames would dull their hearing, the smoke would blind them, the ash would choke them. They were simply making the battle more dangerous for both sides than the traps could ever be.
Stupid. But that was not really his concern.
No...She was here...she was coming closer.
Good... He thought. Come, now and let us find an end sister.
He returned his eyes to Gaara, brandishing his wind coated sword.
Yes...let us find an end.