Darkened Paradise (Naruto Fanfiction)

Chapter 13:Parade of a Thousand Demons

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The first clue that something was wrong was that the closer they got to the bridge, the thicker the fog became. The second was that when they got to the bridge, there was a pile of unconscious workers. Reacting quickly they all moved into formation around Tazuna, weapons drawn at the ready.

Sasuke took out his twin short katana and getting into a low crouch with his feet spread apart, ready to start his rotation. Hinata checked the straps on her gauntlets while Shino kept his hidden in his sleeve in case of a surprise attack and at the same time sending out his bugs to assess the area. Kurenai took out one of her kunai, having learned in their first encounter with the Demon of the Mist that her Sharp Shooter was not as effective without her genjutsu to support it. Kakashi and Sakura both took a kunai in each hand while Kiba got into his clans stance with Akamaru.

They stayed like this for several minutes, waiting for Zabuza to make his move, the mist swirling around them as they stood as still as statues.

Just when the tension was getting too much for them to take they saw two shadows appear in the mist, calmly walking towards them. The closer they got the clearer they became, until finally they were both fully visible, revealing them to be Zabuza and the Hunter-nin from before, standing together and confirming their suspicions.

The two opposing forces stared at each other for a moment, sizing each other up, until Zabuza stepped forward and locked eyes with Kakashi.

"This can all end now if you just hand over the old man."

The way in which he said this showing that he clearly didn't expect them to comply.

"It could also end now if you both leave."

No one moved throughout the short exchange of words, and they stayed like that for some time. Shaking his head the Demon of the mist turned towards the young hunter-nin standing next to him and gave him orders.

"The blondes not hear, so pick another brat to entertain yourself with while I fight Kakashi."

"I understand."

The reply that came surprised the Konoha nin, not the reply itself, but the fact that it was clearly female, and without another word they both vanished into the mist.

Sasuke, getting inpatient with the games, ran after them in the direction that he had seen both ninja disappear in an attempt to catch them before they could get too far, blocking out the shouts that followed him as he ran, but he was too slow.

He heard the sounds of battle behind him but before he could run back to help the others a senbon needle found itself imbedded into the lower part of his right leg. Gritting his teeth in pain, he pulled out the needle and turned around in an attempt to find the one that had thrown it.

But before he could find them another needle shot into his left forearm, then another into his right, realizing that he was a sitting duck when he stood still, Sasuke started to spin. It wasn't easy, the needles didn't stop and it took him a full minute to build up enough momentum to start countering.

One of the first things Naruto had tort him when he had gotten used to spinning was how to block. It wasn't like most styles, were each time you block a strike you come to a brief standstill, this kind of blocking required you to just skin the opponents weapon in order to redirect where it would hit. The blonde had tort him this by throwing rocks at him until he could block.

For several minutes Sasuke continued to spin and block most of the senbon that were being aimed at him. Then it stopped, just in time because the young Uchiha couldn't spin for much longer without stopping, and the hunter-nin came into view.