Red Theater Curtain Call
Naruto dodged franticly, leaping and tumbling away from sharpened spires of metal as they chased him around the former cave. Spears of iron lanced out at him from all directions, deadly blades erupted from underfoot, and everywhere he turned it seemed he was surrounded by deadly brambles of the poisoned sand.
Sakura was faring better, her defensive technique had so far left her immune to the brunt of Sasori's techniques, allowing her to punch her way around the arena like a juggernaut, chasing down the puppet that was the source of all their misery.
Naruto drew more chakra into his Shining Armor technique. So far it had spared him from having the occasional nicks and scrapes of glancing blows turn deadly. Still, a direct hit from any attack would force him to use the antidote, and from there it would only be a matter of time until Sasori won.
The puppeteer was playing things safe, keeping his prized puppet out of Sakura's deadly reach and relying on long ranged attacks. Being a puppeteer meant he was a great multitasker, able to control dozens of branches of iron sand simultaneously, and use them to surround his prey. Even the Third Kazekage in his prime couldn't use his power to the degree Sasori of the Red Sands was able to, merely using his iron sand to simply catch and crush his victims.
Another barrage of sand spears shot towards the dodging blonde ninja as he strafed around the room, looking for a clear shot with a long ranged attack. Concentrating on his latest variation of the 'Twilight Bubble', Naruto willed the technique into existence, stopping when he formed a wall, instead of a dome. The wall of chakra took two hits before breaking, leaving him to dodge once more as even more spears shot out to grab or impale him. More walls sprung into existence slowing the rate of projectiles as he ran, jumped and tumbled around the room.
Changing tactics once again, a large portion of the sand shot skyward, only to rain down in a hail of poisoned needles. Naruto quickly threw up another Bubble, blocking the toxic rain from harming him, while Sakura instead dove to safety underground. When both emerged from shelter moments later the battlefield had changed once again, now being littered with deadly caltrops.
Leaping into the air Naruto spat a cloud to safely land on, and began peppering the area around Sasori with a barrage of Air Bullets using the lull in action to his advantage. Sasori, to everyone's surprise, shot up into the air as well, balancing precariously on an iron cord with a bladed tip. The Third Kazekage flew up to join him, and a whirlwind of iron sand began to sweep around them, blocking any and all projectile attacks.
Sakura remained stationary, planting her feet into the stone and focusing on her chakra. With a gesture she shot a small boulder towards the sandstorm, grimacing as a portion of sand broke off to bat it aside casually. Several more gestures followed, causing more and more rocks to erupt from the floor and crash against the wall of sand.
Naruto continued to dodge, using his air enhanced jumps and ability to form clouds to keep away from the whirling cone of certain death. Occasionally a jet of iron would lash out at him, demolishing a cloud and forcing him into the air, or coiling around him in an attempted grab. So far he was keeping up but each dodge was coming at a narrower margin, and the sandstorm only seemed to be picking up strength.
Suddenly the inevitable happened, the puppeteer, annoyed by the constant ineffective barrage of rocks, turned his attention on the immobile Sakura. With a casual gesture a tidal wave of sand broke off and crashed over her. Unable to dodge in time the girl chose instead to harden her defenses as the iron sand engulfed her in a crushing grip. The puppet of the Third Kazekage closed the gap, holding out a hand to better focus his chakra on the sand prison, intent to crush the Konoha ninja until she no longer had the chakra to resist.
Naruto panicked, changing his course towards his teammate to force the puppet away. This proved to be a mistake however, when another wave of sand came up to grab him. The orange ninja kicked off the next cloud hard, intending to jump clear of the strands of sand, but a single loop caught him around the ankle. A bullet of air severed the strand, but unlike Gaara's technique, the Third Kazekage could manipulate metal without contact. The strand reformed and was joined by several others, and Naruto quickly found himself bound to mid thigh in the crushing iron grip.
The blonde ninja bit back a scream of pain and flared his chakra, trying to concentrate enough to mold Yang chakra to bolster his defenses as the tendril began to swing him about. He spun about the room, whipped back and forth, through rocks and into walls, before eventually being slammed down onto the spike-laden ground. This time a cry did escape him, as the poisoned needles dug into his back, and the tendril of Iron tightened further.
"Kisame has the right idea. Akatsuki needs you alive, but you don't need your legs to live. I'll let you keep them though, I wish to make human puppets from each Jinchuuriki, it would be a shame to leave you permanently damaged."
Spikes of iron shot from the crushing tendril into his legs, punching through skin and muscles, leaving them mangled wrecks. Seemingly satisfied, Sasori turned his attention to Sakura, moving the sand so that it kept a solid hold on her while revealing her head and torso. "You've been quite the resilient pest, with your earth technique. A defense like that requires a whole other level of power to compete with it. For that I'll show you my puppet's ultimate technique."
The sand around his legs loosened, and fell lifelessly to the ground around him. Naruto let out a pained gasp, and quickly suppressed the pain. Reaching into his supply pouch he unsealed the vial of antidote, which came in a prepared hypodermic needle. His legs were mangled, and bleeding freely, so instead he jabbed the syringe into his arm, and pulled himself to his knees. It hurt to move, but Sakura needed his help.
The puppet of the Third Kazekage seemed to open up, the arms unfolding into two long, thin projections and the mouth opening wide. A large puck of metal floated out of its mouth, coming to rest across the distance between the arms. "This technique take's all of my concentration, I can't manipulate another scrap of metal while I do it. But the results make all of that worthwhile. By manipulating the electromagnetic field along these two rails, I can fire this one Kilogram shell at the speed of electricity. Feel honored to witness such a technique."
Sakura tried to move, but was barely able to gain any momentum at all. While her hits were stronger than any ninja she'd ever read about, her raw strength was still only high-Jounin level. Still she thrashed against the bonds, using even fractions of an inch to struggle towards freedom, slowly gaining ground against the now-inert metal. The humming noise emitted by the Third Kazekage reached a peak, and it prepared to fire.
A sudden twitch in the puppet saved the day, as the shot went wide by several feet. Instead of killing the pink haired ninja it blew passed her at mach 10, trailing a cone of fire behind it as it obliterated a large section of the cave wall and the forest behind it. Sakura let out a deep breath and continued struggling, as Sasori turned his attention towards the intruder.
"Meddlesome old woman. Are you really so eager to die?" The red haired puppeteer asked, staring down at the diminutive old woman. "If that's the case, I'll grant your wish."
Chiyo stared her grandson down as a swarm of sand emerged from the ground, anchoring her feet so she couldn't move. Her prosthetic arm was useless, as would be her puppets in this situation. She had emerged from her hiding place because she believed the other two ninja could win, given one more chance. If it cost her life to buy them that opportunity, well... she had lived a long time for a ninja.
Another metal slug was loaded into the rails, and the puppet began to hum once more, building power for the attack. Chiyo took a deep breath, prepared to face her death with eyes open, full of dignity. She was forced to blink spots from her vision when the area became noticeably brighter.
Naruto was in front of her, body shining with visible chakra, kneeling on the ground. His legs were in bad shape, even past the armor of chakra she could see the blood dripping onto the rocks. Still he ignored the pain and slammed both hands against the ground, bringing up a barrier in front of the two ninja. "Don't be a fool boy, I'm giving my life for you to have a chance at beating him, not so you can die alongside me."
"Nobody has to die today!" Naruto growled, pushing even more chakra into the technique. Several more barriers sprung up between them and Sasori, looking like walls of solid light. The hum increased in volume as more and more walls emerged, until eighteen barriers stood between the Third Kazekage and the two ninja.
"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, finally breaking free of her prison. She dashed forward, squinting against the light as she caught sight of him in abundant radiance. Time seemed to slow to a crawl, she could barely see, the light was overwhelming. She could barely hear, the hum of Sasori's ultimate weapon vibrating the very air around them.
Step. Step. Step. Almost there. Five more feet. Three more feet. Turn. She roared, pivoting on her lead foot and swinging her right arm. Every ounce of control she could call upon forced chakra into her entire arm, reinforcing it to levels beyond even what she had managed those months before. Her fist shot forward blindly, arcing towards the shot she knew was coming.
Sasori fired. The slug left the puppet at mach ten, trailing a cone of fire behind it as it tore through the shields like rice paper. In not even a fraction of a second all eighteen barriers were gone, leaving a clear shot at all three ninja. There was a tremendous explosion, a cone of smoke plumed up from his enemies positions.
He waited, eyes scanning for any signs of survival. There, movement, a blinding light shooting right for him.
The puppeteer leapt backwards, throwing his prized puppet in the way to block the attack. The tempered metal rods that were its arms crossed to parry the oncoming blow, already drawing more power to once again switch to using his iron sand. A grinding sound pierced the silence. Against the blinding light the former Suna ninja could make out Naruto, standing despite his injury, driving a spinning ball of energy into the crossed rails of the Third Kazekage.
Sand shot up from the floor like a tidal wave, rushing forward to engulf the stubborn Konoha ninja. It loomed forward, mere feet from the boy, poised to grab and crush him into submission, when he first heard it. A crack, soft at first, then deafening, as the puppet's last defense began to give. "Solar! Rasengan!" With a last shove the arms snapped, and the ball shot forward, grinding into the torso of his prized puppet. The sand wavered, and then crashed to the floor lifeless as the ruined remains of the former village leader flew back and crashed loudly against the cave wall.
Sasori was stunned. Not only had someone survived his ultimate attack, but his favorite puppet was beaten. Ruined. Pulverized beyond any hope of recovery. The smoke finally cleared, revealing his grandmother pulling herself from the metal restraints, and the pink haired ninja. She was panting, pale and sweating while clutching at her right arm. It was still dark, hanging heavy and uselessly at her side, and it looked as though she may pass out from the pain. Even from this distance he could pick out the spiderweb of cracks that crisscrossed the length of it. He had nearly shattered her arm.
"Sakura... That looks bad." Chiyo said, stating the obvious.
"Hn." The pinkette grunted, wobbling slightly from shock. "I wouldn't dare turn off the technique 'till there's a medic around. Who knows what'll happen."
"Will you be able to fight?" The old lady asked, impressed by the girl's perseverance.
"Better than that. I'm going to kick his ass." The girl boasted, seeming to stand a little straighter.
"It has been a long time, since I have had to use the full extent of my own power. I will show you my greatest performance. Behold the Red Theater. Performance of a hundred Puppets!" Sasori threw off his Akatsuki cloak, revealing that he himself was merely a puppet. A scroll unfurled, sending a hundred puppets flying up into the air around the tired ninja. From his chest a hundred strings shot out, each one attaching to a single puppet.
"Sasori... What have you done to yourself?" Chiyo asked, pulling out a small scroll of her own.
"I have taken my art to its furthest level! In this body I do not age, I do not hunger, I do not feel pain. I feel neither pity, remorse or fear! I have become art itself, enduring, living on through generations as a glorious creation!" Above him one hundred puppets stood at attention, wielding various bladed weapons.
"You have thrown away your humanity. You are no longer my grandson, merely a puppet without a wise puppeteer. White Theater! Chikamatsu's Collection of Ten Puppets!" Chiyo called, revealing her own assortment of puppets.
"Ah, the first 10 battle puppets to ever be created. Chikamatsu was a true artist. I wonder how they'll fair against me. Come, let us see who's the better puppeteer!" Sasori taunted, and his hovering army desceneded.
"Mass Shadow Clones!" Naruto called, joining the fray alongside hundreds of orange clones. Sadly each one was as injured as the original, and their movements sloppy as a result. They were defeated in large numbers, only managing to destroy or disable a single puppet for every ten that fell.
Changing tactics he fell back, ordering his clones to begin throwing wind enhanced shuriken. The blades had greater effect, and Naruto dropped away from his clones, once more slipping into his Cloak of Shadows technique.
He felt the strain of the technique immediately, warning signs that he could only keep it up for another five minutes or so. Shrugging it off he attached a strand of Yin Chakra to five prepared shuriken, willing them airborne and directing them around the room. Rushing into combat he shot around the room, spinning and twisting around the wild attacks aimed at the dark blur. The blades rotated around him, lopping off wooden body parts as he darted past.
With a final spin he landed, letting the blades go flying off into the crowd. Concentrating he formed a Rasengan in his hand, mentally lifting it as he had the shuriken before forming another. When five spin in orbit around him he fixed his sights on Sasori, and charged once again.
His time was almost up, both for using his technique and the timer on the antidote. The battle needed to end soon, or else they'd all eventually die from the poison. Fifteen feet to reach the puppeteer. He's spotted, the puppets began to attack. Leaping the first, ducking two more. The first Rasengan obliterated the next one to get in the way. Two more flanked him. He leapt over the attack, sending two more Rasengan into their torsos, head shots didn't take the puppets down for long.
10 feet now. Sasori was beginning to move away from him. His control on the puppets was slipping in his panic. Three more attacks, all easily dodged. A tumble diagonally to the right avoids a brace of kunai, and brought him up right in front of a burly puppet. The fourth Rasengan blew it away.
Five feet. Sasori leapt backwards, blindly trying to evade the Jinchuuriki. Naruto leapt as well, kicking off a final puppet and soaring after the S-ranked ninja. His arm reached out, the Rasengan rocketed forward, like its namesake, shooting like a spinning ball of light towards the container lodged in his opponent's chest. Feet become inches, he's almost there...
The technique winks out.
Cursing. Naruto fell to the ground, too exhausted to keep up the Cloak of Shadows, and unable to control the Rasengan without Yin Chakra. Before he could rise, a dozen puppets pounce on him, pinning him to the floor with various sharpened weapons.
O~O~O~O~O
Naruto opened his eyes to a familiar sight. The Royal Canterlot Gardens stood before him, complete with hedge maze. Biting back a curse the blonde boy stormed forward, walking the marked path to the center of the maze. "Discord! You'd better come out her right now or so help me!"
"You'll what?" A taunting voice echoed from over his shoulder. Naruto didn't even bother turning around, instead looking up at the large marble statue of the Kyuubi. There were cracks running along its entire surface.
A pop and flash signaled the Spirit of Disharmony's appearance on the head of the massive fox. "What's your game this time Discord? I've been asking for your help all day and instead you let me nearly die, over and over! What happened to our deal?"
"You happened! I told you months ago that you needed to practice controlling the Kyuubi's power, but instead you threw a temper tantrum. 'I'll rely on my own power. I don't need your help. I'm not even going to acknowledge all the times you saved me from my own stupidity!'" He mocked, glaring down at the boy. "News flash for you kid. You. Need. Me. Period, end of story. Today has just been me teaching you a lesson."
"You were going to let me die to teach me a lesson!" Naruto yelled, his anger rising. The cracks along the Kyuubi began to pulse rhythmically with orange light.
"Oh no, not you. If I let you die, the story ends. Your friends however... They're out there fighting, getting hurt, possibly even dying because you aren't strong enough. Because you won't accept power when its offered to you on a silver platter! Your arrogance is making them bleed you stupid human, are you willing to throw it aside yet?"
Naruto grit his teeth. As much as he hated to admit it, perhaps Discord was right. The Kyuubi was a powerful weapon, one he had taken for granted even for things like his rapid healing. Refusing to use it really was a stupid idea. "Fine."
"Fine what?"
"Fine, I'll start training to use the Kyuubi's power after this mission."
"And?"
"And... I'd like to use some of it now... please."
"Wish granted. Now hurry along, your friends interest me, it wouldn't do to let you get too many of them killed."
"I won't forget this Discord." Naruto vowed, the surge of chakra from the Kyuubi amplifying his already present anger.
"Then I'm doing my job properly." The spirit taunted.
O~O~O~O~O
Sakura wobbled, taking a moment to catch her breath. Her right arm was useless, and keeping the technique going was not only taxing on her chakra reserves, but made it weigh several hundred pounds. He balance was off, her movements were sluggish, her vision was blurry, and she was forced to fight with her left hand and legs only.
That being said, she'd taken down fifteen puppets so far, and she had no plans to stop any time soon. Part of he wished she could summon Master Patch to deal with this for her, but there was limited supply of the antidote, and she couldn't risk getting the old dog poisoned. Instead she braced herself yet again as three more puppets swooped towards her.
The trio of wooden adversaries hesitated when the dog-pile on top of Naruto exploded outwards with a deafening roar. From the corner of her eye she could make out three red tails swishing back and forth in a crater. 'About time.' she thought, leaping at the stunned puppets and dispatching them with two kicks and a headbutt. It wasn't graceful, but the Diamond Dogs had a saying. 'There is no beauty in rock-slides, cave-ins, or earthquakes. That doesn't stop them from killing.'
Chiyo's puppets were doing the lion's share of the work after Naruto's heroic charge failed. Sakura had no doubt the blonde idiot was still alive, Sasori had claimed to need him alive and not permanently harmed.
Still, those 10 white puppets danced around the battlefield, bashing, crushing and slicing enemies to tiny pieces, seemingly with relative ease. It was really no wonder Chiyo was considered Suna's puppet master.
More roars signaled Naruto was going on a rampage, flailing wildly at the puppets that floated forward to stop him. Seeing an opening, Sakura began fighting her way towards Sasori. The puppets seemed to get stronger the more they defeated, as the puppeteer had fewer and fewer to split his attention on.
Twenty feet, two puppets dove down at her, bladed talons poised to tear into her. A white puppet spun past with a glint of steel, chopping both dolls in half diagonally. Sakura dove past the falling weaponry, punching another puppet into splinters as she rose to her feet again. Another five feet passed, another puppet hit the ground from a spinning kick. Two volleys of Kunai shot at her from ahead. A single gesture blocked them both with two raised stones, not slowing her momentum.
A moment later three kunai dug themselves painfully into her back. She stumbled, falling to a knee from the force and pain of the impact. Digging into her supply pouch she pulled out her antidote vial, proud of herself for lasting this long into the fight without needing it. Pushing herself into another sprint she shot passed two more puppets, leaping between upturned rocks to evade them as they turned to pursue her.
Sasori was only ten feet away now, and sent five more puppets in her direction. A chakra infused roar from Naruto sent everyone in the area flying sideways for a moment, and forced Sakura to grab hold of a rock to steady herself. Reaching out with the remains of her chakra she managed to catch Sasori's legs in a prison of rock as he climbed back to his feet. Before the Puppeteer could find a way to break out the pink haired ninja was already upon him.
The right arm of his puppet body shot forward, and Sakura caught the wrist, directing the tube that emerged from its palm over her shoulder as a gout of flame shot out. A sweeping kick shattered the wooden legs where the earth locked them down. A shoulder check sent the puppet into the wall and snapped the right arm off in her grasp. Behind her every remaining puppet in his control turned and rushed in to stop her.
His left arm came around at her. She grabbed it, palm to palm with her left. A jet of water shot out, met her impenetrable skin, and found nowhere to go. The arm exploded in a shower of water.
"We must all face the curtain with a bow." Sasori muttered, realizing his puppets wouldn't reach him in time.
Sakura, too exhausted to come up with a witty response, merely drove her good fist into the cylinder. At once each and every red puppet shuddered, and fell to the ground.
It was over.
They had won.
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yay
Naruto... hasn't killed anyone yet, has he?
Oh gods, he has become a heroic dumbass... Had he attacked Sasori instead of stupidly rushing to defend Chiyo he could have killed Sasori, who was using an attack that left him completely open to surprise attacks and no way to defend himself, which would have caused the attack to fall apart before it had the chance to fire.
While it's easy to see that Naruto is a better human being because of his life amongst ponies, if he doesn't overcome his desire to protect others and accept that not only will people die regardless of how hard he tries to save them but also the need to kill certain people, he is going to lose much more then that.
And there's the lack of combat experience talking again. Good fight scene, and you did an excellent job showcasing not only the level of training that Sakura and Naruto have attained, but also giving us a pretty good view of the points where they were overshadowed by a more experienced, higher power ninja. Still, the good thing with this version of Team 7 is that they learn from their mistakes in a much more expedient manner, and (Naruto especially) will buckle right down and begin working on ways to correct the deficiencies. Of course, that is a premature statement on Sakura's part, since that one battle is far from being the end of the conflict. They are lucky that Chiyo is there to throw in some hopefully quick battlefield patches, because the mission's not complete yet. (I'd imagine that Zetsu's hanging around somewhere monitoring things, and there's going to be a ring recovery off camera, so they are giving their foes intel right now, anyway.)
Still, background topics aside, this was an excellently scripted combat scene, and you did a very good job capturing the flow of the combat and snapshoting various points in the fight that deserved a higher level of detail so that your readers could really get into the scene. By all means, keep up the good work, and now I'll be waiting for the next installment, when we find out how well Sasuke and his flock faired against the Mad Bomber of the Red Dawn.
OMG your battles are so much better than the originals.
Does anyone else hear this song in their heads when Sakura summons the Diamond Dogs?
now to see how goes the deidara fight!
Great fight! Its nice to see the heroes getting some real battle damage. You are usually good with the battles, but the Sannin fight left me worried since Orochimaru wasn't able to land a single good hit in the entire fight.
Keep it up!
732591
My justification for that was Orochimaru not believing them when they said they weren't holding back. They'd fought so many times in the past he was like "Yeah right, we'll exchange a few blows, they'll yell at me for being a monster, I'll throw in a few quips, stab someone, and run off into the sunset." When they busted out their Aces on the first hand he was like omgwtfbbq.
Maybe it didn't work out well in translation, but that's how I sort of wanted it to go down. Either way, I'm not about to go back and fix it. Onwards and upwards and all that sort of stuff.
Woohoo!! Have I said that I love this story? 'Cause I do. Keep it up.
Discord is such a troll, but that doesn't surprise anyone really.
Thus fell Sasori of the red sand, and good riddance. Naruto's only tapping the 3 tail-state? I am disappoint... also, did Gaara really get killed already?
733076 Hold your ponies, Chiyo still has the resurrection technique.
And now we're into full-on unique shit. After this, Canon had Naruto going 4-tails and nearly offing Orochimaru solo, but Orochimaru's already dead here.
731783 WOLVERIIIIIIIIINES!!!!
NEEEEED MMOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR
This is at least 200% cooler than the original series.
I loved it, especially the little grudge that Discord had, brilliant!
You know, I applauded the author for his originality with the characters' emotions and the changed elements of the story.....but then you kept using events from the show. If you're going to make an original series about Naruto, fine go ahead. Just don't use the plot from the show as a crutch.
OMG!!! You know when you've succeeded at a Fan Fiction when it beats the original to a pulp a thousand times over. Your idea is original, dialog near flawless, fight scenes thrilling, and character development believable and still true to their original personalities. I mean come on! Who would have thought that Naruto and Ponies would go so well together!! This is the most epic FanFic I've read yet!! Maybe Ever!![img]rainbow_dash_seal_of_approval[/img]
Best FanFic I´ve read so far.
I still watch Naruto, but this story is much better
Please keep up this good work
818369 For some reason wasn't working right that day. So I had to make do as I didn't know how to write it in code.
*Pants heavily* I finally made it. I'm caught up. This fight was epic. Need moar.
Well that was an awesome 40 chapters!
732984 Discord. God of Chaos. The most predictable troll around. ... LOL!
IIRC, the Chikamatsu's Ten (secret white technique) were created by Enzaemon.
Sasori refers to them as "Enzaemon's Ten Masterpieces" - perhaps they're named for something other than their creator?
EDIT
A quick double check indicates I typed too hastily. Enzaemon and Chikamatsu Monzaemon are the same thing.
My mistake.
Why the sudden 3-week hiatus? Have you abandoned the story?
Best. Crossover. EVER!
I just caught up...
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!
Something just hit me err huge spoilers for those that are not at the big(er) war arc.
gone yet?
Will the fight vs the bunny fox be replaced by a fight against DisQord?