“Neji…no.” Rikku’s eyes filled with tears as she was once again faced with the sight of a fellow ninja lying there, motionless. It was a lot for her to handle. She didn’t know what to do for them. She wasn’t trained in the medical field. She put her hands through her hair to get herself together. She was 16 but felt like she was 12 again. She’s seen worse, but the fact that these were her friends made it worse.
She had to find Shikamaru. Out of all of them he was the one she wanted to see the most. She was afraid for the others as well but like she had told Tsunade: she’d die if anything happened to him. She marked a tree for Sakura to find out which way she went. She wiped the tears away and headed out again.
Shikamaru was still trying to put a plan together. He got in his usual formation. Fingers together and eyes closed. Sasuke and Naruto kept giving their best before he called them over, “There’s no way we can take them head on. Now, if you two keep them busy I’m sure my shadow possession jutsu will reach far enough to get a hold on them. Then, we’ll go from there.”
“Do you have enough Chakra for that?” Naruto asked
“We’ll see.” He shrugged as they broke away. Like the plan Naruto and Sasuke tried to keep them busy. As Shikamaru was getting ready for his jutsu, a sound ninja caught him from behind, shoving him in the tree a few feet away.
“You Leaf Village ninja think you’re so smart with your jutsu.” He laughed as the others joined him on a tree, “Lord Orochimaru will be happy to hear that the three of you have been exterminated.”
“Yeah well don’t count us out yet, we’ve got plenty of more fight in us!” Naruto shouted back at them. He was always the one to never give up. It was his ninja way, “You sound ninja think you’re so much better than us and I’ve had enough of it.”
They laughed as their skin began to look like it was on fire. It covered their whole body and soon they were all transforming into another kind of human, “What are they?” Shikamaru asked watching in horror.
“Beats me. They look even stronger than before.” Sasuke answered back as they stood there unsure of what to do next, “What do we do?”
In a short time there was a gust of wind that sent them all flying. Once it subsided, three more faces stood on the opposite side, “What the? What are you doing here?” Naruto shouted
“What does it look like? We’re aiding our allies.” Temari stated, “Lady Hokage asked us to come assist you.”
“Yes, it seems she may have underestimated the opponent.” Gaara said. He looked different this time. More relaxed.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, we’re still going to kill you!” The leader of the sound ninja exclaimed as they all began to intertwine.
Shikamaru was being tossed around like a rag doll. He knew he was in for. He couldn’t keep this up, he had barely any chakra left and his strength was dwindling. He stood up, barely as the sound ninja grabbed a hold of him and pushed him against the tree.
“And now… you die!” He shouted as he began to bring his Kunai towards Shikamaru’s chest. He shut his eyes but never felt the pain. When he opened them he was horrified. Everyone was. Naruto’s mouthed dropped and Sasuke’s brow was brought closer together.
There was Rikku, taking what should have been a final blow for Shikamaru. His eyes were wide and all he could hear was Lady Tsunade telling him she’d keep Rikku there, “Rikku!” Naruto shouted.
She gasped as blood came out of her mouth. She put her hand on the opponents shoulder, “Hmph, you stupid girl.” He twisted the Kunai making her shriek with pain.
“No stop!” Shikamaru yelled trying to get up. He couldn’t. Even if he did, he was powerless now.
Slowly, she put her hand on the blade and pulled it out, leaving a trail of blood following. She clutched it with her hand and pointed it towards the man who stabbed her, “You want more?” He asked laughing, Alright then, it’s your funeral.”
He charged for her, grabbing her by the hair and whipping her into the tree behind him. He threw her up into the air and kicked her, smashing her down breaking the very tree they were just standing on. He laughed as she struggled to stand up, “Rikku stop!” She heard Naruto and Shikamaru yelling.
“I can’t help her, I’m wiped out.” Shikamaru said as they continued to watch, “He’ll kill us all.”
“How did she get out here so fast? And why would Grandma Tsunade let her leave?” Naruto asked beside him.
“I don’t know…”
She wiped the blood away from her mouth. She was in so much pain. As he charged her again she stood up. He pushed and moved her backwards but she didn’t give up, she couldn’t.
“Hey Sand ninja! Get down there and help her!” Naruto yelled. Gaara was about to when Temari stopped him.
“No, this is her fight.” Naruto looked at her horrified, “She chose to step in the middle of it. Now she has to deal with it.” Naruto couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How could they just watch their friend get beaten like this? They were allies to the Leaf village but weren’t acting like it now.
Temari watched with a sort of happiness. Since the Chunin exams she always found Shikamaru interesting. She didn’t completely like him but she knew there was something about him that she liked. She had begun spending more time in the Leaf Village to get closer to him but he didn’t really give her the time of day. He was always hanging around with Rikku, Naruto, Choji and Sakura. She was angry that she couldn’t save him, that some other girl did instead. It should have been her.
“Give it up little girl, you can’t win. I’m too strong!” She was done. She knew it. She could barely stand let alone fight. Blood poured down her arms, legs and face. She was shocked that she was still conscious, “But fine, if you don’t want to surrender I’ll just put you out of your misery.”
The screaming Shikamaru heard ran throughout his entire body. It froze him. He smashed her into the ground. He just watched the only girl he’d actually cared about almost die in front of him. And he couldn’t even help. The incident sent Naruto into a fit of rage. He started glowing red.
“I already told you to not underestimate us.” He growled as his Chakra grew stronger and he produced some of his shadow clones, “Rasengan!” he shouted as he plowed into the man attacking his friend. His eyes were red and his finger nails looked like claws.
“What the?” The other Sound ninja stood there shocked that one of their teammates was down. It wasn’t possible. Naruto stood up breathing heavily.
“Shikamaru. Get Rikku and get out of here. We can handle these guys!” He commanded. Shikamaru nodded and jumped down. He scooped her up and set off back to the Leaf Village.
Temari watched as he held her tight, “Let’s hope she doesn’t make it” She thought as they disappeared from her sight.
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Chapter notes: So I know the first chapter was a bit bumpy but I hope you all like the story! Let me know what you think!
Chapter end notes: Well? Thoughts?