I May Not Be Human, But You're Definitely a Dog

"The Third Hokage is really strong? How could he die?" Pakkun glanced at Naruto. "Konoha has had its share of chaos before, but everything turned out fine."

"But I already bought flowers," Naruto said without context.

He thought to himself, If the Third doesn't die, wouldn't the flowers be wasted? 

"Huh? What flowers?" Pakkun looked confused.

Naruto didn't reply, only muttering inwardly about how he'd specially bought the best white chrysanthemums for 30 ryo.

"Enemies are pursuing us from behind—about eight of them," Pakkun suddenly announced.

As a ninja dog and Kakashi's partner, Pakkun's sense of smell was exceptional, even among ninja dogs. When the pursuers appeared, he easily detected their presence and numbers.

"Pakkun, can you sense their strength?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm a sensory ninja dog, not some fortune-telling toad sage."

"If we don't deal with them soon, won't we risk being caught in a pincer attack?" Sakura asked.

"Right. We need to take them out first," Sasuke said. "The terrain of the Konoha forest works to our advantage. If we set up an ambush, we might catch them off guard."

"Then it's decided!" Naruto said with a serious nod.

"Pakkun, you stay here to ambush them."

"What?!"

Sasuke: "..."

Sakura: "(T-T)"

The lush forest stretched endlessly, its towering trees blocking out most of the sunlight. The group of three humans and one dog moved quickly, leaping between tree trunks.

Pakkun shot a disdainful look at the blond in the group, who showed no guilt and even smiled earnestly.

"Thanks, Pakkun."

"Damn it! I'm a sensory ninja dog, not a combat dog! If you want wishes granted, go to a shrine! Brat, you're the real dog here!"

"So what? You won't die anyway."

"It still hurts, damn it! How did Kakashi end up with a disciple like you?"

"Ninja dogs are ninja too, right? Isn't endurance a virtue?"

"Be a human for once, I beg you!"

As Naruto and Pakkun bickered, Sasuke's face darkened. He interrupted coldly.

"Enough. Pakkun, how far are they?"

"Less than three kilometers."

Sasuke stopped, leaning against a tree and turning to Naruto and Sakura.

"We'll wait for them here."

The dense branches and leaves made the area dim, with towering trees blocking nearly all light. Only faint beams of sunlight pierced through, illuminating wisps of nearly transparent smoke.

Before the battle began, Naruto suddenly spoke.

"Sakura, prepare a genjutsu."

"These Sound ninja are strong. We need to be cautious."

Sakura nodded seriously, acknowledging the command.

Nearby, Pakkun looked tense. During the previous mission in the Land of Waves, Zabuza and Haku had died too quickly for Kakashi to summon his ninja dogs for combat. Thus, Pakkun had no clue about the strength of Kakashi's three disciples.

Glancing over, the handsome boy with a stoic face already had blood-red eyes, looking terrifyingly intense.

On the other side, the blond had somehow pulled out a katana.

A katana?

Wait, where did this kid get a katana? It looks suspiciously familiar. Isn't this the kind of blade Kakashi used during his Anbu days?

Sakura's mind was in chaos, overwhelmed by nerves as the battle approached. Random thoughts filled her head.

She remembered how medics often performed surgeries with chakra scalpels while casually chatting. It was normal for a pot to be boiling a patient's leg bone while the medics debated which Konoha restaurant served the best bone soup.

After a month of training in the medical department, she thought her nerves had toughened. But the more anxious she became, the more random her thoughts turned.

During that month, she had often feared Sasuke might get hurt. But ironically, strange ideas would pop into her head, like hoping Sasuke would get gravely injured so she could see him.

Three kilometers wasn't far, leaving the group little time to prepare.

"They're here!" Pakkun warned.

Sakura became alert, watching shadows flicker as several figures descended from above. She quickly formed seals, activating her genjutsu in advance.

The surroundings shimmered, and the forest seemed unreal. The eight Sound ninja, all masked and wearing Sound Village forehead protectors, noticed something was off but reacted too late.

The eight formed a triangular formation upon landing, scanning cautiously.

Suddenly, kunai whizzed from the trees, sharp and deadly as arrows under a full moon. But the ninja merely smirked and dodged.

In that moment, a trap sprung.

Almost imperceptible wires tightened in the air. Four of the Sound ninja, dulled by the genjutsu, didn't notice the wires until they were bound tightly to tree trunks.

"That's... the Uchiha clan's Windmill Triple-Blade technique!" Pakkun was stunned.

The Uchiha clan wasn't just famed for their Sharingan and taijutsu but also their mastery of ninja tools. The Windmill Triple-Blade, a more advanced shuriken technique involving wires, was a testament to this.

Sasuke, holding wires in both hands and gripping another with his teeth, yanked them taut. Dropping the wires, he quickly formed the Tiger seal.

"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

The C-rank fire ninjutsu engulfed the bound ninja, and Sasuke immediately rushed forward with Chidori to finish them off.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sakura took advantage of the remaining four's brief hesitation caused by the genjutsu.

Naruto's blade pierced one's throat, blood splattering.

Before the blood even touched him, Naruto vanished. A Flying Thunder God kunai landed above two others, and he teleported. Storing the blade, he unleashed Lava Release, scalding the two ninja with molten attacks.

The final ninja fell as Sakura's kunai struck their throat, ending their life.

In an instant, the eight Sound ninja were annihilated. Hidden in the shadows, Pakkun nearly spat out dog blood in shock.

"This is what you meant by the Sound ninja being strong?!"

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