Chapter 16 - Sunagakure Under Siege!

Gaara’s sand flew through the air and sent Deidara flying. The blonde artist landed hard, but rolled up to his feet immediately, evading another helping of sand.


Kankuro’s puppets tangled with Sasori, in what was an incredible display of puppetry. Sasori was caught somewhat unprepared. He hadn’t expected another puppet master to be waiting, much less someone as skilled as Kankuro. He couldn’t use his most powerful jutsus, not just yet.

Kisame and Itachi waited. They had seen the messenger bird, and they knew it’s likely destination. And they also knew who would be coming.
“It’s a shame we have to capture, instead of kill,” Kisame remarked. “It’s always a pain leaving these people alive.”
Itachi’s Sharingan glowed as he spoke. “If we can’t possess the city, we’ll destroy it. The demon fox…it would take both of us giving our lives to kill it. Capturing it is the safer option.”
Kisame shot a sideways glance at Itachi. “I know, I know…I’ll just hope for a good fight. But if it’s those brats again…well, I can content myself with killing everyone we DON’T need.” Kisame gave his sword an affectionate pat.
“They aren’t far…they’ll be rushing if the Village is going to fall…”


“Good point!” Kakashi popped up from under the ground and grabbed Itachi.
“Now, Naruto!”
Naruto was already in the stages of using his signature move.
“Rasengan!” he shouted, driving the ball of swirling chakra into Itachi’s stomach. Itachi went sailing. He had actually been hit by that attack. With his attention diverted, he hadn’t considered Kakashi coming from underneath.
Kisame took up his sword and swung at Kakashi. The only one in position to block was Ekyt, who used the Striking Serpent Blades to do just that.
“Ah! You little bastard! You were lucky before, toying with us the way you did! We’ve got a BINGO book of our own, and you’re in it!” Kisame rolled his sword, aiming for the top of Ekyt’s head. Ekyt stepped to the side and feigned a kick to the leg. Kisame stepped back, again in line with Ekyt’s body. Ekyt had the speed advantage- or he thought so. As he stabbed with both swords, he found a foot cracking him in the stomach. It him precisely three inches below his navel, which forced him to bend over.
shoot! He must be good if he can hit that spot with an off-hand kick like that. I’m wide open. I’d better block, or something, or I’m gonna get killed A hard kick to the face sent Ekyt sailing backward. His lip was cut, but that was the extent of the damage.
“Stop the village from falling, you outnumber them! I’ll stall the guy with the little fork here,” Ekyt called to the others. Kisame was supremely insulted.
“To call my blade a ‘little fork’, you’ve just signed your own death warrant!” Kisame cut downward. Ekyt leapt up and back, making an handsign as he went. As soon as he landed, Ekyt used a new jutsu: His Triple Summoning Jutsu. Not overly clever, but useful.
Holly, Umisu, and Shuurai all landed around him.
“Get the villagers to safety, keep them away from the battle!” Ekyt ordered, while Kisame watched, apparently interested.
“What about you, boss?” Holly asked, pawing the ground nervously.
“I’ll be fine, I always am. For now, these others are at risk. Anyone without a headband, get them out of here, alright? At the first hint of danger, protect yourselves, too.”
The three animals ran/slithered/jumped off to do just that.
Meanwhile, Kisame was ready to attack. Ekyt again leapt out of the way, on top of a Sand Village building.
“Dance of the Sickle Moon!”
Ekyt and two clones raced toward Kisame at incredible speed. The clones and Ekyt moved in an intricate pattern, faster than normal eyes could follow. Kisame’s sword was long enough to block his entire body, and the most Ekyt did was force Kisame back two steps. Kisame laughed.
“You’ve got guts, kid, I’ll give you that! You’re a little short in the brain department if you think your little tricks are going to save you!”
Ekyt found himself agreeing.



Deidara dug into his bag for more clay, finding himself running low.
“Almost out, un? Well, I’ll make do.” The mouth on his remaining arm (Other was destroyed by Gaara) lapped up the clay greedily, infused it with chakra, then spat it back out. Deidara formed a small bird, and sent it at Gaara. Nonplussed, Gaara’s sand blocked the explosion.
“I won’t let my Village fall,” Gaara told Deidara.
“As if you had a choice in the matter, un,” Deidara responded cockily. Then he saw Gaara hold his hand out in a familiar way. Like when he ruined my arm. It was then Deidara noticed that sand had crept up around his legs.
“Desert Coffin!” Gaara closed his hand. In the nick of time, Deidara used a replacement jutsu. As soon as he could, he molded three more birds out of clay. Faster ones, harder for that sand to hit.
“Katsu!” he called, causing the birds to explode. Gaara’s Ultimate Defense sand flared up, protecting him from harm. He followed up by manipulating his sand to attack from below and right, forcing Deidara to back up or go to the left and up. Either way, Gaara was ready for him.
“Sand Shuriken!” Countless sand shuriken filled the air. Deidara hadn’t anticipated this. He covered up and tried to make sure nothing vital was hit. He felt a lot of stings, but none vital.
Unfortunately for him, he was out of clay. Where is Master Sasori? He’s the one whose late this time! If he doesn’t get here soon, I’ve got to pull out. Deidara already knew that if Sasori hadn’t come yet, he wouldn’t in time, and probably needed help. He ran from the room, evading Gaara’s sand one more time. Gaara’s chakra was almost drained, so he didn’t pursue. He had taken the threat out of the man, Baki could finish Deidara if they crossed paths. Most anyone could without that clay and zero chakra.



Sasori hadn’t expected another puppet master. Kankuro had improven greatly, and was wielding the Crow and the Ant at the same time. While Sasori tried to find an opening, he was hit from behind by a short, blunted sword, cracking his puppet body.
“You are an artist as well!” Sai said, smiling his insincere smile. “Your works are very nice. I would like it very much if you saw mine.” At that point, Sai’s drawings came to life and leapt on Sasori. The ink became blotted when Sasori’s puppets counter-attacked. But the chakra-infused ink also inhibited his puppet’s movements. The ink sunk into the joints, forcing Sasori to use more force to make them work, and even then, the puppet’s movements were delayed. Soon, he was overcome by Kankuro’s skilled puppetry. In anger, he threw a smoke bomb down, allowing him to escape.




Ekyt cut toward Kisame, then drew back across the same line. Kisame simply blocked down with one hand, and tagged Ekyt with the other.
“Time to end this…you’ve been fun, kid, but you’ve got no demon to save you, and your chakra isn’t going to help. My ‘little butter knife’, as you called it, can absorb chakra. Game over, and checkmate, wimp!” He slashed Ekyt across the stomach as Ekyt leapt backward. He missed anything vital, and didn’t get deep, but it gave him the opening he needed. With his huge amount of chakra reinforcing the strike, Kisame backhanded Ekyt one more time, sending him through a wall of sand and rocks. The rocks crumbled, then fell on the unconscious Leaf Shinobi. One arm stuck out of the rubble, and it wasn’t moving.
“That’s one of those little punks down. Now, I- what?” Kisame turned at the sound of running.
“RASENGAN!” Naruto hit Kisame full-force. He didn’t even stop to see what damage he had done. Kisame skidded 50 meters away. Naruto’s anger at a friend being hurt had lent him some power from the demon fox.
“Sakura! Over here! This is important!”
Sakura stabilized her current patient and ran to where Naruto was pointing.
“Who-who’s under there?” Sakura stammered. Naruto didn’t reply.
“Shadow Clone Jutsu!” Naruto and the clones, along with Sakura, began to clear away the rubble. In horror, Sakura soon saw who was buried. Ekyt’s mask was torn away, with blood flowing close to freely from his mouth, along with a slash across his stomach. In a panic, she leapt down next to him and felt for a pulse.

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