Chapter 44

Last Time:

"Orders be damned, I'm going to kill you myself!" Tsume growled and charged towards him

Now:

Naruto watched as Tsume got closer and closer to him, daggers brandished in a downwards-stabbing position. He tried to get any part of his body to respond, but the Inuzuka matriarch's fang over fang had taken its toll. 'Shit.. Well, I had a good run..' He mused as Tsume got closer and closer. As soon as she was 10 feet away, five shuriken buried themselves before Naruto and activated, making a large firewall between him and Tsume. Tsume tried to jump over it, only to be slammed out of the way by one of the Bat summons.

"The cavalry is here!" A familiar voice yelled. Naruto turned to see Karui falling from the sky along with Samui, Yugito, and Omoi. As soon as they landed, Omoi put his hands onto a ram seal. The shuriken making the firewall then dispelled, reappearing in his weapon's pouch. "You didn't think you were the only strong one, did you?" He asked as he stared down the other two Anbu, who had drawn their respective Katanas. Karui quickly unsealed her twin daggers and began charging lightning chakra through them.

Samui unsealed her sword and channeled wind chakra to it while Yugito attached her claws and began channeling Youki into them. The effects of said element were nearly instantaneous. The clearing grew cold, a feeling of dread washed through all of the Shinobi nearby, and some of the nearby wildlife fell dead due to the pressure it was putting out. Tsume quickly shook her head and looked to the team standing before her, ready to protect their fallen comrade. She bit her thumb, went through the hand seals for the summoning jutsu, and slammed her hand to the ground.

With a medium sized poof of smoke, Kuromaru appeared under her. The dog looked like he had been mauled by a bear, but stood defiantly next to his owner. "Kuromaru, are you ok?" She asked worriedly at the dog, noticing it was now missing its right ear. "I'm fine, let's just kill the brat." The dog muttered in an annoyed voice with an involuntary whine following. Tsume turned back to the brats squaring off against her clansmen. "You're going to pay for this, you bastards!" She yelled.

She quickly took out a chakra pellet and popped it into her mouth, then tossed one to Kuromaru. The effects were instant, as Tsume's already animal like characteristics became more defined and feral. Kuromaru's fangs elongated, his fur became shaggy, and his growl became more deepened. Tsume quickly jumped onto Kuromaru's back. "Man beast clone!" She yelled as they were both engulfed in smoke. When it cleared, there were two identical Anbu captains standing there. They both nodded to each other and rushed into the standoff.

~ With Naruto's team and the last two Anbu ~

Naruto carefully watched as the Anbu began regrouping. "Shit, we don't have time for this." Samui whispered at his side. "I know, and we can't let then attack in a group. Their strength is in their pack." Naruto whispered at the group. "Then what the hell are we supposed to do?" Yugito demanded. "We split up. Yugito and Omoi, take care of the one on the left. Samui and Karui, you take care of the one on the right. And I'll take care of the twins in the middle." Naruto finished. "What are you, crazy?! They're Anbu level ninja!" Omoi shot back at him.

"It'll work, now you guys scatter to your sides so your respective targets follow you, I'll stick around and handle these two." Naruto finished. "But.." Samui began. "Go! NOW!" Naruto yelled. In a split second, the teams split up. The first Anbu chased off After Samui and Karui while the second chased after Yugito and Omoi. "It's just you and me, brat!"

Tsume said with a cocky smirk as she and her clone charged at Vee.

~ With Samui and Karui ~

Karui and Samui were running at a breakneck pace in an attempt to lead the Anbu away from Naruto. "Got a plan?" Karui asked Samui as they ran through the trees. "Not really, but maybe.." Samui muttered as she inspected the treetops over them. She sped ahead of Karui and put her hands together in front of her stomach. "UP!" She yelled. Karui quickly jumped and used her foot as a launch, managing to land at the highest treetops. Samui then quickly jumped after her.

"You wait here." Samui said as she took a handful of rocks and began hopping trees As soon as she landed, she would drop two rocks to simulate the sound of two extra footsteps. Karui quickly masked her chakra and waited. As soon as the Anbu zoomed past her, Karui began an internal count to fifteen as soon as it was reached, she ran after said Anbu.

~ With Samui ~

Samui landed on the last treetop she could move to, she was out of rocks. 'Shit.' She cursed as she saw the Anbu quickly approaching her. "Where the hell's your friend? Leave you behind?" Samui jumped down into a clearing, making The Anbu follow. She quickly held her Katana in an offensive stance and stared at the Anbu. "A final stand, huh?" He muttered and made hand seals. "Ninja Arts: Wolf's Claws!" The man yelled. His nails became larger, twisting into sickle-like shapes.

Samui wasted no time and charged at the Anbu. She slashed at his from his left shoulder to his right hip end, but the large claws quickly deflected the sword. "Shit." She muttered as the man charged on, his animalistic fighting style involving various slashes at vital organs. Most she was able to fend of, but the occasional scratch managed to get through. "ENOUGH!" She yelled and channeled wind Chakra to her sword. She slashed upwards as the Inuzuka tried to block with his claws.

The razor sharp blade quickly tore through the claws and slashed at the Anbu's shoulder. "You little bitch!" HE yelled and tried to slap her to the side. Samui back flipped away and made a series of hand seals. "Wind style: Wind Cutter!" She yelled and slashed her sword in forward. A large blade made of pure air rushed towards the Anbu, who jumped out of the way and avoided it altogether. "Is that the best you can do?" HE demanded as he held his shoulder.

Without a sound, Karui landed behind him and slashed her twin daggers together around his head, severing it from the body. " Cloud Style- Rear Beheading!" She muttered as the Anbu's head fell to the ground. Samui got up and walked towards the Anbu's head and body and sealed them both into a scroll. "Good Job Karui, I thought you only knew the frontal beheading though?" Samui asked as they both took off towards the clearing. "I made it as my own variation. Vee's always got those great stealth moves, I figured I needed a few." Karui said as she scratched the back of her head.

~ With Yugito and Omoi ~

Yugito And Omoi tried to run away and get as far away from the fight as possible, but were stopped by a large fence, signifying the end of the Forest of Death. "Shit, we have to go!" Yugito cursed. She turned to see the Anbu not approaching them, but staying behind in the tree line. "She isn't getting near.." Yugito muttered as she kept her eyes trained on the Anbu. "But why? It's obvious she could take us down.." Omoi muttered back, his paranoid mind racing.

"Maybe she can't because she isn't supposed to be here.." Yugito theorized, then turned and saw a clearing that was hidden from the fence by a thick tree line. "We need to kill her." Yugito muttered as she ran towards the secluded clearing, Omoi following after her.

~ Secluded Clearing ~

As soon as they were out of Eye's view of the chain link fence, the dog Anbu appeared before them in a fighting stance. "This is going to be difficult.." Yugito muttered as she began channeling Youki to her claws. The Anbu put her hands into the tiger hand seals and began channeling chakra to all her limbs. "All Fours Jutsu!" She yelled as she fell to the floor, becoming more animalistic and her claws grew. "Omoi, you get to those tree tops and cover me." Yugito muttered as she began channeling small amounts of Youki to her limbs.

'Not enough to trip any alarms, but enough to give me the extra boost I need.' She muttered in her mind as she tried to concentrate on the right amount. She took a deep breath and sighed. When she opened her eyes, her pupils were slit and her once brown eyes turned a dark blue. The Anbu took this as a notice and charged, disappearing in a blur. Omoi quickly jumped up into a tree and tried to locate them, but couldn't keep up with the sheer speeds.

The only way he knew they were still in the clearing was because of the occasional sound of metal scraping against nail and blue sparks flying everywhere. 'Where the hell are they?' Omoi wondered as he took out six Kunais from his pack and charged them with Fire chakra. The sudden sound of metal striking turned him to the middle to see Yugito and the Anbu at a stalemate, weapons mid strike fighting for supremacy. "You're good." The Anbu said to Yugito, long fangs shining against the sunlight.

Yugito quickly kicked the Anbu's leg, making her falter and allowing Yugito to take over the situation. Yugito quickly rammed the youki-coated hand through dog's kidney and followed with an uppercut to her face. Dog managed to roll back in time to avoid the sudden death, but the damage had been done. With severe kidney damage, she would die as soon as the adrenaline left her system and the fight was over. "Now!" Yugito yelled at Omoi.

Dog looked up and saw eight shuriken descending on her. 'Shit!' she internally yelled as they made a box shape around her. She tried to get out of the box, but the shuriken suddenly activated, sealing her into a box of fire. Dog quickly looked up and jumped upwards in an attempt to get out of the firebox. Yugito quickly appeared over the opening with her hand in front of her lips. "Fire style: Hellfire Technique!" She yelled and blew out large amounts of blue fire down into the firebox.

Dog was so terrified, she didn't even think of a substitution as the dark blue flames rained down on her. With a loud yell, she was incinerated. As soon as the yell stopped, Omoi channeled chakra into his weapons pouch and the shuriken disappeared. Where the proud Inuzuka Anbu once stood, there was now only a pile of Ashes. Yugito turned to where Omoi was in the treetops and signaled him down. "What the hell was she doing here?" Yugito asked as she poked at the ashes with a kunai.

She hit something hard with his kunai and wiped away the ashes to see the Anbu porcelain mask. She took the mask and sealed it into a small summoning scroll. "Let's head back." She said to Omoi, who nodded. As they were heading back to the clearing where Naruto was left, Yugito turned to Omoi. "Good job back there Omoi. Really original stuff with the Shuriken." Yugito complimented him. "Thanks! I figured since you have the strength, Naruto the stealth and leadership, and Samui the mindset, I'd be the trap master." He stated with a large grin.

Yugito shot him a smile, but it was quickly wiped from her face as a large explosion shot them back, blowing them off the treetops and onto the ground. "What the hell was that?" Omoi asked as he rubbed his head. 'Naruto!' Yugito quickly thought as she got up and rushed full speed to the scene of the fight.

A/N: Another cliffy, I know.