Konoha's Prodigies || Naruto [Sasuke x Sakura x Neji]

Chapter 38

Suddenly, Sasori smiled. The shapes stuck together as he said, "Iron Sand: World Order!"

Sasuke gasped, "Not good!" He looked at his teammate urgently, but they were too far away before iron sand formed a forest of thorns quickly. Aka and Sumire transformed back into smaller forms for higher agility to avoid the thorns. "Sakura!" He yelled when the thorns grew further and almost stabbed the heiress.

She barely missed it, earning a scratch on her arm. "I'm.. fine." She gasped before collapsing onto the ground headfirst.

"Looks like the poison took its effect." The redhead smiled, moving his fingertips to shift his puppet and give the pinkette a finish blow.

Much to his surprise, Sakura rose from the ground and stabbed the puppet's head with a kunai. Her chakra were transmitted deep into the puppet before it exploded into cherry blossom trees, tearing his body apart.

Cold brown eyes narrowed at her ability to stand as he pondered, how can she still move? Then he realised, where her wound was supposed to be, the skin was peeling off; or rather, they were flower petals made to look like skin falling off her arm. That wound was a set up!

He pressed his lips in bitterness, slowly unbuttoning his cloak. "It's been awhile since I used this. The last time was my fight with Akatsuki." When he dropped his cloak, the duo looked at him in disgust.

Complete puppet body parts. Five blades on either side like wings and a torso that stomachs a roll of rope.

That wasn't human.

"Myself." He uttered.

Knowing fire probably won't work with an Uchiha on their side, his hands were built with a metal hose in the middle. Water shot out in extremely high pressure, cutting everything in its way. He slashed at all the rocks and chased them around while they evaded his attack. It was impossible to block it, it was too much of a risk.

Quickly analysing the situation, Sakura looked at Sumire, the tigress immediately read her thoughts and bit on the rope attached to the puppeteer. She pulled it hard, unropping it from his stomach. When Sasori couldn't move any further, Sakura did her hand signs while running to him as did Sasuke. "Petals Punch!" A ball of white pink petals shaped into hundreds of fists crushed the puppeteer and broke it into parts.

Sasori smirked, he was not dead yet, of course. He is not human, he can live without his body parts connected. However, what Sasuke did next was not something he could expect.

"Amaterasu!" Black flames engulfed the puppet as he burned down into nothing, no traces of Sasori was left behind aside from his dead warriors. "Let's return." The Uchiha said, his eyes turning back into that obsidian shade.

The heiress nodded and they quickly departed after releasing the genjutsu casted in the area. They figured something urgent happened in their village since the Hokage suddenly called them back not long after they began their mission. They could only hope Gaara would be alright fighting the other Akatsuki member alone.

==

Team Asuma was the last to arrive, but the came with a devastating news. As they stepped into the office with solemn looks, wrinkled clothes and a missing mentor, everyone could guess what happened. All three remaining members of Team Asuma wouldn't dare raise their heads. The pinkette gazed at them with eyes full of sympathy, she could not understand their pain, but looking at them hurts. She walked toward her childhood best friend who grew a lot taller than her over the years; with an arm around his neck and another on his back, she gently pulled him into her embrace.

Behind them, perhaps the saddest of all is the woman with scarlet eyes that seemed to have turned dull. "No." She whispered, but she knew. Her lover was gone and as a kunoichi, she must accept it. It's a news you knew would come one day if you're involved with a fellow ninja in any way.

"Kurenai-sensei!" Hinata screamed as the said woman collapsed. The Hyuga caught Kurenai in her arms, worried sick about her mentor. Tsunade squat down as Hinata gently have Kurenai seated on the floor. After checking her pulse, the blonde haired sannin ordered her to be rested on a couch nearby.

Shikamaru recomposed himself and wiped his tears, breaking the embrace and walked towards Kurenai. "How is she?" He asked so softly, it sounded almost like a whisper.

"She needs as much rest as she can and avoid giving her any heavy duties." Tsunade noted. "She's expecting a baby."

Their eyes grew wide, definitely not expecting such a news, especially on a day like this. Perhaps this was Asuma's last gift as he left the living world.

Minato stood up, "Alright, we'll mourn later. We must prepare ourselves before more people sacrifice themselves."

The harsh, cruel world as a shinobi. Leaving no space to be a human being, prioritising the fate of our people and family—for a greater cause..is it?

==

Dedicated to LucasDeityOfStars for voting for my story in Angelic Anime Awards!

Hey guys! It has been such a long time, I'm so sorry. This story is coming to an end, two chapters left for the first series! The storyline for the second series is already in mind, but I'm wondering if there's anything you're interesting in seeing in the second series. Anything you want me to include?

Also, what do you think about having a discord channel to discuss about this story and sharing tid bits of spoilers and progress?

~Joelle

Published: 17th March 2019