Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Leaf in the Desert ❯ Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 

“I have an idea,” Aikou murmured, moving slightly closer to the blue-haired girl. “If you approve, perhaps we can be done with this quickly.”

 

Nika gave her a genuine smile, which warmed Aikou slightly- a nice sensation. “Let's hear it, before these boys decide to have us for dinner…”

 

Aikou whispered her plan to her partner, all the while keeping her eyes on their male opponents. So far the boys hadn't tried anything beyond the initial brief attack by the one named Shido on Nika. That in itself seemed a bit odd, but perhaps they, too, hadn't come up with a strategy yet.

 

“Do you approve?” Aikou asked when she finished explaining.

 

A wolf howl broke the quiet of the stadium, causing nearly everyone to glance around in confusion.

 

There are wolves this close to Konoha? Aikou wondered, lifting her gaze to the sky. That seems… odd…

 

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Shikamaru frowned as he watched the four teens stand silently in the arena. A niggling sense of wrongness kept poking itself into his awareness, but he couldn't quite place what it was. Shikazu was standing next to Shido, the two of them eyeing the girls with blank faces, but their eyes seemed… a little off. No, wait… they're staring at Aikou…

 

Abruptly the sense of wrongness finally clicked into place. He stood up abruptly.

 

Temari glanced up at her husband. “Shikamaru? What's wrong?”

 

“That's not Shikazu.”

 

Teal eyes snapped to the boy in question. She watched as Shikazu leaned over and murmur something that made Shido chuckle- and not in a good way. Why is he just standing around like that? That's not like Shikazu when he's in a battle… he always analyzes the situation and acts on the best solution. He's only lazy like Shikamaru when he's at home…

 

Shikamaru turned his head toward where Naruto and Gaara were sitting, their spouses and younger children nearby.

 

A wolf howl sent him into a cold sweat.

 

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“Your plan sounds great, Sandy,” Nika said cheerfully, as if the strange wolf's howl hadn't disturbed her in the least, “but I'm afraid we'll have to go with my plan.”

 

Aikou took a step backwards, confused. She watched, bewildered, as Nika made several seals with her hands and the water in the skin hanging on her hip slithered out and formed a huge octopus. “Suiton: Gappuri no Tako!”

 

The young kunoichi summoned her sand from the gourd at her hip, knowing as Nika did that she was at a disadvantage- if her sand got wet, she would no longer be able to control it. How would this help them to win?

 

Nika turned and gave Aikou a dark smile. “Now, daughter of the Kazekage,” she purred, “if you'll so kindly come with us…”

 

The two Konoha finalists they were supposed to be fighting came closer, their movements working in perfect harmony. They bit their thumbs and made the seals for a summoning. “Kuchiyose no Jutsu,” they murmured together as they slammed their hands on the ground.

 

A huge explosion of smoke and debris obscured everyone's vision. Two large, dark shapes flashed through the cloud on either side of Aikou.

 

Heading directly for…

 

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“Naruto! Gaara! It's a trap!” Shikamaru yelled as loud as he could, turning his whole body to run toward the dais to protect his friends.

 

The crowd immediately started to stir, with ANBU and Jounins moving quickly to look for the attackers. The immense cloud of smoke quickly settled and someone screamed.

 

Two huge brown wolves, their eyes blood red and their fur patterned with black symbols, now stood on the dais where Naruto and Gaara were sitting. The wolves each had an ANBU guard in their mouths, blood dripping from their teeth. Naruto and Gaara were gone.

 

One of the ANBU guards lifted his hand shakily. Good God- he's still alive? Shikamaru thought to himself as he fought his way through the panicking crowd. He froze in horror as he watched the scene unfold in front of him.

 

A tendril of sand slithered up and slowly tried to wrap up the wolf holding the still-conscious ANBU in its teeth. The wolf snarled and tossed the guard aside, shaking the sand off of its fur as if it were merely water. The sand collapsed to the ground, mixing with the blood of the ANBU.

 

The second wolf tossed the other ANBU guard on top of the first, resulting in a painful grunt from both guards. Their teeth dripping with their victims' blood, the wolves turned and howled, their voices echoing eerily throughout the stadium. Their chorus caused a ripple effect through the crowd, causing everyone in the stands to halt and cover their ears in a feeble attempt to stop the sound, unable to move their bodies hardly at all.

 

“Their howls,” Hinata whispered hoarsely. “It's like it's stopping my body from moving!”

 

“Those damned wolves,” Kiba growled back, unable to do much more than clench his hands into fists. “They're different from other creatures I've seen summoned.”

 

Down on the arena floor, Nika had Aikou securely wrapped in a couple of her octopus's arms. In the creature's other tentacles was-

 

“Kohaku!” Sakura screamed, forcing herself to stand up and making ready to jump down into the arena- never mind it was a nearly four-story drop. Sasuke, who was closest, grabbed her by the waist before she could jump off the balcony. Safaia stared in horror at her unconscious daughter and clung to Sora as tightly as she could, unable to move or think much beyond that.

 

It soon became aware to those in the stands that the other finalists had been knocked out by a powder bomb filled with sleeping chemicals. Their bodies lay sprawled on the ground where they had jumped down in an attempt to help their friends. The parents of the teens were frantic- they wanted to make sure their children were okay, but the wolves' howls had frozen everyone in their seats. Not only that, the Hokage and the Kazekage had vanished. And now two ANBU were gravely injured. Panic was starting to build.

 

“We bear a message to the Kazekage of the Country of Wind and the Hokage of the Country of Fire!” Shikazu announced, his voice carrying over the din of terror.

 

“What have you done with my son?!” Shikamaru yelled, fighting against Temari's grasp so he wouldn't jump into the arena either. “Where is the real Shikazu?”

 

POOF! The young man was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, two Iwa Jounin stood where Shikazu and Shido once were.

 

Nika turned out to be a Rock kunoichi as well, but retained the same, if slightly older, appearance than her Mist Chuunin disguise.

 

“Transformation jutsu,” Temari growled. “We should've known.”

 

“If you wish to see your children alive again,” the Iwa shinobi previously disguised as Shikazu continued, ignoring Shikamaru's demand, “both the Hokage and the Kazekage must formally resign and surrender their countries to Tsuchikage Kanaye. You have two weeks to decide and then your children will die.”

 

“You'll never get out of Konoha alive,” Sasuke growled. “How dumb do you think we are?”

 

The wolves that stood on the dais by the bleeding bodies of the two ANBU they had mangled stepped closer, their fur on end and their red eyes glowing as they snarled.

 

The Iwa shinobi that had been posing as Shido whistled and the wolves leapt down from the dais, racing for the trio on the ground next to the watery octopus. The two men got on the wolves' backs and turned their attention back to Sakura and Safaia, who were both shaking with rage.

 

You must change, Safaia! Together we can defeat those assassins!

 

No, Gobi- I cannot! the lovely Jinchuuriki mentally replied, clenching her fists. The people of Konoha must not know you are inside me- I fear what they would do to us, regardless of Naruto Hokage's pleas for tolerance. We must wait for now, and pray that Naruto Hokage and Gaara are safe…

 

…They are not, Safaia.

 

WHAT?

 

Her attention was captured by the two men on the wolves. The creatures let out a blood-curdling howl and seemed to disappear back into their summoning seals with the Iwa shinobi still on their backs. The lone woman made a few seals with her hands and stepped inside her water octopus's body, sealing herself inside, seeming to need no air to breathe.

 

The octopus spun itself around several times, contracting itself into a condensed ball of water, then the three people and the octopus vanished in a large splash of liquid.

 

Abruptly everyone regained their ability to move and a great cry went up throughout the assemblage as what happened began to sink in.

 

“What the hell?” Kiba hollered. “Where the hell did they go?” A movement caught his attention and he turned to see Shiromi, Teiru's ninken, whining as she nudged one of the two injured ANBU with her nose.

 

Teiru turned concerned eyes to her father as they and their friends hurried over to check the injured guards.

 

Safaia was already kneeling by the other ANBU- her dress covered in sand and blood, with tears streaming down her face. The ANBU's mask had been taken off and tossed aside- something that was the ultimate taboo of the elite shinobi to anyone not of their ranks. But she had good reason.

 

The ANBU in her arms was Gaara.

 

.oOo.oOo.oOo.oOo.

 

A/N: Sorry it's been so long. Didn't really have great inspiration as for the next step in this, but then suddenly it hit me today on the way to work (go figure). So although it's shorter than I prefer, I like this part and it ends the chapter at a good spot for me to continue with the next installment. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and commented and stayed with me throughout this dry period. Now that I'm writing again, hopefully I can finish this soon.

 

And then it's on to fanart for my two stories! -dances-

 

Suiton: Gappuri no Tako- Water-type: Grasp of the Octopus

 

Kuchiyose no Jutsu- Summoning Jutsu