Fight with Sasori

I deflected the tail, my sword melting part of it on contact. Isamu slammed his hands onto the ground, sending a wave of mud along the floor. Ayame exhaled a stream of flames toward Sasori, limiting his paths of escape. Sakura found cover from the puppeteer's storm of weaponry. Chiyo did the same, but not before launching multiple chakra-enhanced blades in Sasori's direction.

Sasori was still calm, retracting his slightly melted tail to spin it around himself, deflecting Chiyo's knives and dispersing the flames with the wind pressure. The mud wave washed along the puppet's limbs and hardened, hampering its mobility. Seeing a chance, Sakura rushed Sasori's immobile form, hoping to land a hit with her immense strength.

As she closed in, multiple nozzles sprouted from the puppet, knocking the Akatsuki cloak off his back. Poison gas poured out and Sakura had to abandon her attack. It was enough distraction for Isamu to once again place his hands on the ground, creating an eruption of earth spikes below Sasori's puppet.

The machine detached from its limbs that were stuck in the earth, jumping into the air. Ayame and I weren't standing idly by, though. I sent a recently formed Shakkaho and Ayame spit a few fireballs at Sasori. Unable to dodge, he ejected from the back of the puppet, landing on the ground a short distance away. The puppet exploded from the force of our jutsu, the burning remains showering across the ground.

Sasori grunted in annoyance at the loss of his artwork. Chiyo gasped at seeing his youthful appearance.

"I liked that one," he said, still disturbingly serene.

He slid a scroll out of his sleeve that erupted into a cloud of white smoke. As the smoke started to dissipate, I heard an eerie clacking of wood and a click. The smoke fully disappeared, the Third Kazekage puppet appearing in all its glory with gray sand pouring out of its open mouth.

With a flick of his fingers, the sand gathered above us. Sasori's gaze traveled over us impassively.

"You will make fine additions to my collection," He said evenly.

Chiyo tried to yell out a warning of some sort, but Sasori was too fast; the slightest movement of his hands sent spiked branches of sand at us. Everyone tried to back up, but there was nowhere to go.

Isamu flew through hand seals as he and Ayame moved toward each other. A dome of earth formed around them to defend against the iron sand. Sakura and Chiyo were too far away, so they had to do their best to weave between the strikes.

I, on the other hand, did not need to hide. My sword flashed through the air, followed by a trail of white-hot fire. The flames surged forward, spreading over the sand and stopping it in its tracks. I kept moving toward Sasori and his disgusting human puppet, reigning in my flames once more.

Puddles of melted metal spilled onto the floor. Chiyo had successfully evaded the attack while Sakura had a couple of scratches. Isamu and Ayame emerged from the earth dome.

I gripped my sword with both hands and lifted it above my head, flames swirling around it like it was the eye of a tornado.

"Back up!" I yelled out toward Chiyo and Sakura since my teammates had recognized this move and were already retreating.

"Hitotsume: Nadegiri."

An arc of fire, compacted into one slash, flew forward at blinding speeds. Sasori pulled all of his sand into one shield and positioned the Kazekage's puppet in front of him. The flame slash melted through the sand easily and continued on to slice the puppet in half. Unfortunately, it slowed my attack down enough for Sasori to evade at the last second, singing his cloak.

Sakura just gaped at the molten trench along the ground and the remains of the Third Kazekage. Chiyo was surprised, but she handled it better as she only narrowed her eyes.

Sasori brushed some dust off his now slightly burnt attire.

"It's certainly been a while since I've been pushed this far," he stated in the same tone he's kept since the beginning of the fight.

The cloak fell from around his shoulders, revealing his modified body.

"It's also been a while since I've used myself."

Chiyo grimaced, "So this is how far you've fallen…"

Sasori just shook his head, "No, not fallen. I've been perfected."

Chiyo stepped in front of us, revealing a somewhat large scroll.

Where has she been keeping that the whole time?

"Let me deal with him," she said grimly, "Allow me to fix my mistakes."

She tossed the scroll on the ground, unrolling it in the process, and activated the seal. Smoke rose as ten figures appeared, each one looking bizarre.

Sasori's eye's lit with recognition, "The Chikamatsu Collection. Rumored to have enabled you to take down a fortress in your prime."

He ejected a scroll from the container on his back while a flap swung open on the right side of his chest, revealing a significant number of chakra threads.

He caught the scroll in his hand and opened it. Puffs of smoke went up as puppets filled the sky, blotting out the sunlight.

"But I've taken it a step further. Akahigi: Hyakki no Soen"

The puppets started to spread out around us as the chakra strings from his chest connected to each one. Most likely because I could destroy them all at the same time if they were grouped.

My comrades grimaced at the sight of the hundred or so puppets, getting ready for an intense fight. Chiyo moved to engage with her own puppets, but I stepped forward.

"Sorry, Grandma. I'll be the one to finish this."

Sasori, for the first time in this fight, showed some emotions.

"You, alone, won't be enough. I've reached the pinnacle of my art, while you are still a child." He said condescendingly.

"I've also reached the pinnacle of an 'art,' if you can call it that," I responded, the flames around me disappearing.

"The art of incineration? Burning my enemies to a crisp?" I pondered, "Meh, I'll think of a better name for it someday."

"Zanka no Tachi, Higashi: Kyokujitsujin."

The air instantly dried up and the ground beneath my feet began to melt. Sasori narrowed his eyes, sending about half of his puppets toward me. He popped another sealing scroll off his back as well, inserting it into one of his arms.

As the puppets descended, Chiyo and Sakura moved to help defend me, looking panicked. They wouldn't reach me in time, as more puppets descended from the sky to cut them off.

My teammates were also assaulted, but I knew they could handle themselves.

"Zanka no Tachi, Kita: Tenchi Kaijin."

And, suddenly, there were no more puppets in front of me.

If he wasn't a puppet, I'm pretty sure his eyes would've widened in surprise. He didn't stay shocked for long, though. He pointed the nozzles on his palms at me, shooting out pressurized jets of water at me. They didn't even make it a meter from his hands as they turned to steam and disappeared.

His right forearm split into four spinning blades and detached from his body, tearing through the air in an attempt to slice me to pieces. It was connected to a large spool of wire located where his stomach would've been.

I paid little attention, simply tapping it with my sword as I advanced. It was burned out of existence in short order, catching a good portion of his cable as well. Sasori immediately abandoned attacking the rest of my team, converging the rest of his puppets on me.

I also popped another scroll out of his back and tried to unseal it. Keyword: tried.

"Hitotsume: Nadegiri."

The top half of his body clattered to the ground, the scroll he was going to unseal reduced to atoms.

"How?" He asked, disturbingly calm for someone about to die, "How are you so powerful?"

I let my Bankai disperse as I moved toward him, "Luck. A lot of luck and a little bit of elbow grease."

He chuckled slowly for a few seconds before it turned into full-blown laughter. It was a disturbing sound and sight since his puppet body couldn't convey genuine emotion properly.

"An honest answer," he said.

I shrugged, glancing over to where a shocked Chiyo and gaping Sakura stood.

"You have anything you want to ask him before I end it?" I asked, mainly to Chiyo. I'm pretty sure Sasori is her grandson or something like that.

Chiyo shook her head slightly, overcoming her surprise quickly due to her experience.

"Where did I go wrong?" She asked bitterly.

Sasori stared at her with those emotionless eyes of his, "This was my only path; it didn't matter what you did. It was the only way."

She sighed, before turning her head away, "That's all I have to say."

"Ok," I said, turning back to Sasori's remains, "Any last words?"

Sasori looked up at me, "I have a spy in Orochimaru's ranks." He said, shocking the rest of the group. I wasn't that surprised since I remembered something like this.

"I was going to meet them in ten days at the Tenchi Bridge in Kusagakure. Do what you will with that information."

"Why tell us, your killers?" I asked, genuinely interested.

"Orochimaru's art… Disgusts me."

"Heh, that I can agree with."

I stabbed my sword down, piercing his gross imitation of a heart. I would say I watched the light fade from his eyes as he went still, but he had never moved from the start. His eye's stared blankly just as they had during the whole fight and his puppet body never made unnecessary movements.

I sighed, before turning towards the rest of the group.

"Good job, guys. The mission is a success."

"Didn't really do much.." Isamu muttered.

Ayame had a complicated look in her eyes that I couldn't understand.

Sakura, who had gotten over her shock, looked annoyed.

"Why didn't you just do that from the start? I was busting my ass over here!"

I looked back at her, before pointedly ignoring her as I walked towards the exit, my teammates falling in behind me.

I mean, it's not like she would understand that I knew Sasori had a spy and he needed to tell us about it.

She looked ready for a fight at that, a tick mark forming on her head. Chiyo just put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head. Sakura huffed before following us out of the cave.

As we got back into the forest, Team Guy and the rest of Team Kakashi also returned, hauling Gaara's body and another one that I didn't expect to see.

Looks like they were able to kill Deidara with the help of Team Guy. Naruto gently set down Gaara, who he had been carrying on his back.

"Sakura, Chiyo, he's still breathing!" Naruto shouted.

They immediately rushed over to heal him. At the same time, I was lost in thought.

Gaara survived?

It made sense, considering that my team was also here. Which means that they were able to interrupt the ritual. This changed things. Hopefully, not for the worst.

It might mean the Akatuski will get more desperate since the One-tail's sealing was pretty important.

"He's stable. But we need to get him back ASAP for better treatment. Naruto nodded and carefully picked up Gaara in a princess carry. We didn't waste words as we headed back to Sunagakure with haste.

We arrived in a couple of hours with Sakura, Naruto, and Chiyo immediately heading for the hospital.

Once they were gone, I turned to the rest of the group.

"So, how did it go on your end?"

Guy stepped up to answer, "Splendidly! I've never been more proud of my students and their youthful teamwork!"

Kakashi stuck his nose into a book.

"Oh, before I forget. Sasori informed us of a spy he had in Orochimaru's ranks."

That got everyone to look up at me again, even Kakashi.

"I figured I would let you know before I give my report to the Hokage."

They asked a couple of questions, mainly Kakashi, but I said I didn't want to repeat myself multiple times and that they would know when I handed in my report.

There was some grumbling, but no one pressed me for answers. Seeing that this conversation was over, I started thinking about lunch.

"Do any of you guys know where to get some good food?" I asked, not really expecting a great answer.

Guy scratched his chin, "Maybe we could ask the locals? I'm sure they can direct us."

It was then that a Suna shinobi stepped forward, overhearing us.

"It's the least we could do," He said with respect.

I guess saving their Kage got us some brownie points.

We were led to a relatively well-maintained restaurant. The staff pulled together some tables for us, obviously not expecting a big group. The Suna nin didn't linger and dismissed himself, informing us that they would send someone when the Kazekage woke up.

We ordered our food and drinks shortly after, chatting lightly. We shared stories, mostly from Guy and Kakashi since they had the most experience. I tried to start a conversation with Ayame, but she kept giving me single-word answers or nodding her head.

Weird.

I glanced over the table and met Isamu's eyes, but he just shook his head. I mentally shrugged and finished the rest of the meal in silence. Not before agreeing to spar with Lee when we got back, though.

I could use a little stress relief.

After our meal, we left for the hotel for an early night, most of us being pretty tired. Before going to my room with Isamu, I turned to say goodnight to Ayame, be she was already gone.

This was getting confusing.

I walked in with Isamu, flopping onto the bed.

"What's up with her?"

Isamu sighed before following my example and flopping onto his own bed.

"Now's not a good time. Just talk to her once we get back home, ok?"

"That's a really vague answer, man. But sure, I'll talk to her."

I turned over, before looking at my stats.

I smirked.

[Fire Release

Skills:

Sword: [Shikai, lvl 15 (max)] [Ennetsu Jigoku, lvl 10 (max)] [Jokaku Enjo, lvl 5 (max)] [Taimatsu, lvl 5 (max)]

Bankai: [Zanka no Tachi, Nishi: Zanjitsu Gokui, lvl 1 (max)] [Zanka no Tachi, Higashi: Kyokujitsujin, lvl 10 (max)] [Zanka no Tachi, Kita: Tenchi Kaijin, lvl 5 (max)] [Zanka no Tachi, Minami: Kaka Jūmanokushi Daisōjin, lvl 1 (max)]

Kido: [Itto Kaso, lvl 1 (max)] [Haien, lvl 15 (max)] [Soren Sokatsui, lvl 15 (max)] [Sokatsui, lvl 10 (max)] [Shakkaho, lvl 10 (max)] [Fushibi, lvl 10 (max)]

Progress: 100%]

I finally did it. I maxed out the system and got the final skill. I was about to close my eyes when I heard the system ding.

I sat up and looked at the stat screen. It was slowly disappearing. I started to panic, but I couldn't stop everything from vanishing.

What was going on?

I got my answer soon, as a message popped up.

[Congratulations! You've completed the system! Through hard work, you have learned everything I had to offer. Now, it's up to you to find your own path. You have the strength and the resolve; all that's left is to take the first step. Find your place in the universe with your own two hands. And who knows, the multiverse is a large place. Maybe we'll meet again someday. For now, though, good luck with the rest of your life!]

And then the screen was gone.

Status? Stats? Hello?

…

Nothing happened.

I hadn't lost any of my knowledge or my skills, but the system was gone. Like it was never there in the first place.

"Kaen, you ok?" Isamu asked, looking at me strangely.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired, I guess."

"Ha! I didn't know a freak like you got tired."

I shook my head at his antics before turning over in my bed. I had so many questions bouncing around my head.

The system was given to me by a person?

Who are they?

Why me?

He mentioned the multiverse. Is that something I can explore someday?

I shook my head clear and stopped thinking about it. As it was now, I still had problems to deal with in this world, much less an entire multiverse of problems.

I would do things like I always did; one step at a time. And maybe, when all this was solved, I could think about things like the multiverse.

With those thoughts, I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.

///// A/N /////

Hello all. Sorry for the late release. I have been experiencing what I think people call writer's block for the first time. And not because I have no ideas or no passion for the story; it's the opposite. I have too many ideas that I can't just choose one. I also got into Rwby fanfiction and that stuff is awesome. Some very talented writers are in that fandom and it makes me want to join them.

Basically, I have too many ideas for ending this story and for writing new stories that I'm having trouble keeping focus. I want to finish this story first before starting another, but my resolve is weakening.

Also, I added some system lore. This won't be important for this story much, but it will be if I write a sequel. I just wanted to leave the option open for when I am a better writer. Like, this story was a fun concept; can you imagine how much cooler it will be once I can write better?

I've also been stupid about how to end this story. I realized today that if I can't think of anything, I can just ask you guys. So what do you think? What do you want to see in this story? What are some interesting ideas y'all have had but haven't written down?

That's pretty much it, so leave a review please and let me know what you think!