//------------------------------// // Skies Over River Country // Story: Friendship Contract // by Demeristraz //------------------------------// Sasuke exhaled, releasing the electrical field around him as the flock broke free of the metal lattice below. With a subtle gesture he banked right, leading his flock to circle warily around their airborne foe. "I never imagined that my first fight against a dragon would be in your world, Stormbringer." Ferrous remarked, keeping pace with Sasuke, behind and to his left. In the distance a great white draconian figure swooped through the air, massive wing beats disturbing the currents even from afar. "Our opponent is Deidara, an S-ranked ninja. Try to focus your attacks on him. Consider everything he throws at you to be an explosive, and I mean everything. He's missing his left arm, so use that to your advantage. The main objective here is to prevent him from bombing the ground where my teammates are fighting." Sasuke ordered, getting cries of affirmation in response. The dragon banked sharply, turning so that its back was perpendicular to the flock of approaching griffons. Almost immediately Sasuke's eyes picked up smaller movements, and he signaled the others into evasive maneuvers. The flock broke formation as dozens of clay birds shot towards them, rolling and diving, using the natural wind currents to their advantage. Sharingan spinning wildly, the last Uchiha of Konoha shot right towards the volley. He felt the familiar surge of adrenaline as he twisted and spun, narrowly avoiding brushing with the airborne explosives. The entire line of birds erupted into flames simultaneously, creating a wall of fire and concussive air that buffeted against the evading flock. Sasuke flared his wings, feeling the heat singe some of his feathers, but using the suddenly-expanding air to rocket forwards. "He's detonating them remotely, but don't rule out that they won't explode when you touch them." He called. It would be unfortunate, as the Griffons didn't have any ranged attacks to deal with them otherwise, but even having Deidara waste time and effort attacking them would be a benefit. "I destroyed his scope earlier, without it I'm guessing his eyesight isn't good enough for long distance accuracy. As you get closer, be aware that it'll be harder to dodge." The second wave of attacks were coming now, this time in two layers. If he dodged through the first, it would propel him into the second wave of explosives, likely just as they went off. Instead, the Griffons broke apart, half diving while the other half climbed over the volley. Several of the clay birds broke off to follow them, turning wide and roughly to follow after the well trained flock. Sasuke's hands crackled with electricity. Swiping twice towards the projectiles, two waves of lightning senbon shot forward. The first wall of explosives fell harmlessly from the sky, and Sasuke pulled up sharply, gripping one of the disarmed birds in his taloned foot. His wings flared outwards, catching the sudden gust of hot air as the second wave of birds exploded below. A quick glance assured him that the other members of his flock had evaded the rather slow-moving projectiles, and were falling in behind him once again. Pulling his wings in, Sasuke launched into a steep dive, gaining speed as he closed the gap between him and the dragon. Even from such a distance he could make out the small black shape on the back of the clay monstrosity, no doubt preparing another barrage. Three birds shot towards him, larger and faster than the scatter shot from before. A quick roll to the right brought him past the first, but a curse was lost to the wind as he noticed it make a much tighter turn to follow him. Pulling up sharply he spun, using the momentum to peg each of the avian missiles with a barrage of lighting senbon, grimacing as they wobbled but continued to fly. A second spin and volley sent them free falling to the ground far below. The remainder of his flock had closed in on the dragon, five Griffons circling the massive explosive beast warily. On its back, Deidara stood, head darting around quickly, single arm clutching something within the satchel at his side. Making another subtle gesture, Sasuke dove, feeling the wind whipping against him as he sped towards the Iwa ninja. Deidara must have heard him coming, as the blonde ninja looked up suddenly, and whipped his arm out, throwing a large clay bird towards Sasuke. Wings flaring to slow his descent, Sasuke kicked out, sending the disarmed explosive from before into the one careening towards him. There was a muffled boom as both explosives detonated, the hot air buffeting Sasuke's wings as he rode it to safety. "So I was right then. Your chakra is a mix of earth and fire. My lightning shorts out the earth chakra, taking away your control over it, but the fire chakra remains, so it's still explosive." Sasuke called, circling away from his opponent cautiously. "Still, a bomb without a trigger isn't very dangerous." "How perceptive. Most ninja don't live long enough to really appreciate my art. I've had this chakra my entire life. Do you know how hard it was, getting through the academy when every technique I do explodes? Even a transformation technique becomes suicidal." Deidara laughed, grabbing more clay from his pouch. "How do you explain the extra mouths though?" Sasuke asked. He knew Deidara was stalling, but this gave his allies time to get into position. It was a gamble of who benefited more from the extra time. "They come hand in hand with the explosion release bloodline." Deidara shrugged. "But enough talk, let's kick things up a notch!" His hand whipped outwards, throwing a small, streamlined dragon towards Sasuke. Three Griffons shot in, trying to take advantage of the opening, but the great dragon that Deidara rode on spun, pulling the ninja out of reach and beating away the attackers with mighty wings. Sasuke went into a dive, once again cursing as the mini clay dragon pursued with precision. It seemed the more chakra and detail Deidara put into his sculptures, the better their reaction times. Still, it was merely a sculpture, he doubted even Deidara himself had the same knowledge of aerial combat that even rookie Griffons possessed. Feeling a current of cool air at his left wingtip Sasuke rolled, pulling in his wings and shooting downwards as the explosive struggled to keep pace. Around him he could see his flock performing similar maneuvers, attempting to gain distance between themselves and the explosives. He had to bite back a laugh as he noticed Ferrous spin past Deidara, narrowly missing the ninja's throat with his deadly talons, and forcing the Iwa ninja to fall to the side to avoid his own missile. Ahead he could see another of his Griffons heading perpendicular to him, and he made a few gestures. As the Griffon sped past, Sasuke charged up lightning chakra into his feet, a front flip brought him into position to plant a double kick to the back of his ally's pursuer. It struck with a thunderclap, disabling the explosive even as Sasuke pushed off of it, rocketing upwards. His ally grabbed his arm with a talon to slingshot him even higher, as his own missile crashed into the dud below. No longer forced to dodge, Sasuke sized up the situation, taking note that Deidara's great dragon seemed to be spitting even more of the draconic missiles into the air. Reaching into his pouch for shuriken and wire, he gave a quick order to the nearest Griffon. "Dragon formation T, the little ones will tow the cable." The Griffon nodded, swooping off to relay the order to the others, as Sasuke let fly with the shuriken, pegging each of the homing dragons in the back. A quick tug ensured they wouldn't come loose. Finding a rising air current, Sasuke rose high above the battlefield, grinning as the flock below continued to lead the projectiles on a merry chase. With each swooping pass the Griffons took around the dragon, the clay explosives that trailed behind wrapped the beast in more and more tangled wire. Gathering up his chakra to the point where he couldn't hear past the humming electricity, he finally let loose, bolts of lightning shot down the wires, disabling the smaller missiles and sending the great dragon into a downward spin. Deidara grabbed hold of his mount tightly, cursing as he shook the tingling out of his body. With as much concentration as he could spare he forced more chakra into the dragon, trying to regain control of the thing before it crashed to the ground that loomed far below. His reserves were limited after such a prolonged mission, and losing his trump card would set him back even more. With a great mental heave the wings flared, pulling out of the dive into a steep angle as the wind buffeted the clay structure. As he strained to bring it out of the dive, he looked ahead, swearing as he spotted a glowing streak shooting towards him. Sasuke shot after the falling dragon, unable to keep a grip on the wires as the massive construct fell. He let out a growl as he spotted it begin to move once more, bringing down the beast was a key part of the plan, he doubted Deidara would have much more left in him after that. Charging himself once more with lightning chakra, he angled himself to speed his descent, one hand gripping hard on the hilt of his sword. As he neared the same altitude as the Iwa ninja he righted himself, using the momentum to rocket towards the white dragon. His sword came free of its sheath with a snap and a hiss, lightning chakra running down its length and extending outwards. He focused, lengthening the blade even further as the target loomed ahead of him, and with a single sweeping strike he cleaved it, shoulder to hip, in two. Deidara threw himself headlong over the side of his clay dragon, cursing the loss of his weapon but thankful he hadn't lost another limb. Fighting down the panic of freefall he drew one of his backup sculptures, throwing the large bird out so he could ride it to relative safety. The air shook from the impact as the two halves of his former mount impacted the ground below. The Griffons began to circle once more, and no longer possessing a distinct size advantage, Deidara began to worry. He banked sharply, avoiding a salvo of shuriken and responding with a barrage of sparrows. Twice the Griffons darted in with coordinated attacks, once even forcing him to jump from his perch and barely regain his footing. All the while he fled downwards, trying to reach the right distance from the ground. A third time the Griffons attacked. This time Deidara made no attempts to stay on his bird, instead leaping into open air and pointing a palm downwards. A massive plume of smoke parted to reveal a statue of Deidara himself, as large as the Hokage's tower. Sasuke flew back warily, almost bracing himself for it to begin stomping about like some kind of colossus, but instead it gave a rumble, and began to expand. He watched it happen, nearly in slow motion thanks to his Sharingan. The great clay Deidara expanded outwards, slowly, as if it were a balloon rather than an explosive. When it reached the breaking point it ruptured, like a deflating pool toy, rather than with fire or shockwaves. His eyes widened, picking up the bluish tinge of chakra permeating the air as the statue deflated. He could see it seep outwards, like a poisonous gas into the surrounding area. In a panic he dove forwards, towards the cloud as his flock circled about unaware of the danger. At the very edge of the expanding cloud he sent out a pulse of chakra, unsummoning his allies before they could breath in the unknown substance. Holding his breath he dove to the ground, feeling the foreign chakra surround him. Gritting his teeth in preparation for what he was about to do, he placed both hands against his chest. The world seemed to explode in slow motion. Grass, trees, rocks, the entire surrounding countryside broke apart bit by bit, dissolving into dust before his very eyes. Throughout the horrifying ordeal Sasuke continued to pump lightning chakra through his hands, back into his body. His muscles clenched, his nerves screamed in agony, and his vision crackled with bursts of light and color. When it finally ended he slumped to his knees, gingerly removing his hands from the burnt handprints on his chest, and wiping blood from his nose and mouth. "That was C4. Microscopic bombs, so small and fast moving that just breathing them in sends them all over the victim's body. It's not my usual flashy style, but seeing a village swept away in billions of tiny explosions has a charm worthy of being called art all on its own." Deidara called, rising up from the ground. "Heh, electrocuting yourself to defuse the bombs, you really are a genius aren't you? I wonder though, how much damage you caused yourself, just to survive." Slowly, body still twitching and vision still sparking, Sasuke rose to his feet, fumbling to grab his sword. "Are you really even capable of fighting? You could have just ran you know. I wasn't even intending to catch you in the blast, I just wanted to get rid of those pests." Ignoring the conversation, Sasuke stood, leaning on his sword as the world around him spun. Slowly, steadily, with patience born from years of mastering his seal, he worked and tested his muscles. With deliberate motions, he took a step forward, noticing distantly that Deidara was reaching for his pouch. Another step, quicker this time, he could almost hear the sickening sound of the hand chewing the clay. Two more steps, he was getting there, not up to his full speed yet but certainly closing in. The hand was out of the pouch now, drawing back into a fist. Five steps, he was running, sword out to his side, ready to swing. The arm shot forward, throwing a clay spider towards him. He was already airborne, sword already coming down towards his opponent. A hand gesture, the spider grew in size, lashing out with eight thin legs to wrap around his torso. He was on his way down, prepared to execute the missing ninja, and win the fight. Another hand gesture, he smirked, he'd seen it enough throughout the fight to know the exact delay between signal and explosion. The spider began to glow, 1.68 seconds later it would explode. 1.5 seconds, he landed from his jump, the sword was inches from Deidara's face. 1.3 seconds, Dediara dodged to the side, his head pulling away as the blade passed before his eyes. 1 second, the sword cut through the Iwa ninja's only remaining arm. .8 seconds, momentum carried the two ninja apart. .4 seconds, Sasuke tumbled to the ground, the explosive on his chest was almost too bright to look at. .2 seconds, Deidara's arm hit the ground. .1 seconds, the built up lightning chakra releases, flooding the explosive. Sasuke took a deep breath, laying still as he tried to get control of the shaking. Reaching a hand up, he grabbed the dead explosive and threw it to the side, pulling himself into a sitting position. "You think this is it? That I'm done?" Deidara's voice snapped Sasuke out of his daze. To his side the Iwa ninja was lying on the ground, struggling to stand without the use of his arms. "I've dedicated my life to my art. My art... My art is an explosion!" "You've got to be kidding me." Sasuke muttered, climbing to his feet as Dedara's skin began to darken. "You, your friends, everyone around here. All of you will spend your final moments witnessing the greatest masterpiece the world has ever seen!" Deidara raved. He was beginning to grow transparent, thick black vein-like lines spread from his body, and were being drawn to the heart on his chest. Gathering what chakra he could, Sasuke lashed out, hitting the strange smiling face over Deidara's heart with as much electricity as he could manage. Disturbingly, the process didn't halt, and the Iwa ninja began to laugh. "That won't work. There is no trigger to defuse. Once I've gathered enough chakra, I'll explode, and the entire countryside will go up in a blaze of glory!" Cursing, Sasuke reached out and grabbed the black smiling ball, grimacing as it and the mass of black lines came free from where the Iwa ninja's body should be. Looking around quickly, he decided on the best course of action, and took to the sky. It was tense, more-so than anything he'd ever been through. More than facing down Ibiki's final question, or Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. In his hand he held certain doom, not only to himself but his friends as well if he failed. As he shot skywards, he kept an eye on the explosive, timing the threads as if they were a fuse, trying to shake the feeling that the disturbing smile on the black mass was taunting him. Mile after mile shot by, as he rose even higher. The ball continued to grow, expanding and bulging as the last of what must have been Deidara's chakra system collected into the center. When at last he saw it crack with shining light, he spun, throwing the bomb as hard as he could upwards, and pulling into a steep dive. His wings held firmly to his sides, Sasuke was in complete freefall. The miles that had passed by with agonizing slowness now shot by as he plummeted. He saw his peripheral vision brighten long before he heard the boom. The wave of force pushing him downwards even harder as the searing heat lapped at his heels. The ground loomed closer and closer, urging him to pull up and take his chances against the trailing wave of destruction. With a final prayer his wings flared to slow his descent, catching the wind and struggling for dear life to hold on. His scream was lost in the howling wind as the air buffeted against his wings, eventually breaking them from the strain. He spun, the feathered appendages flailing wildly in the wind as he tumbled end over end towards the ground. Mere feet from the treetops he was struck by a horizontal force that knocked what little air remained from his lungs. He glanced back, watching as the remnants of the explosion high above shook leaves from the trees below and sent branches flying like a horrible storm. High above the clouds distorted as the explosion vaporized the cloud-cover for miles around, and the hot air drew what remained upwards like a giant mushroom. He could only think, in his pain induced delirium, that it actually looked rather friendly. "You know." Came the voice of the pegasus that carried him. "We have to stop meeting like this. Ponies will begin to start rumors." "Could you imagine." Sasuke muttered. "Our fan clubs would join forces. Akatsuki would run in fear." Chuckling slightly, Rainbow Dash slowed down, angling the two towards the ruins of the cave where the rest of team seven and the reinforcements were gathering. Touching down, Sasuke flopped forwards, the toll of the day truly setting in on him. It was agony to let the broken wings return to the seal, and likely would be to bring them out later, to have them healed. Rainbow Dash was already listing off books she could bring him, if he needed to stay in the hospital. Naruto shot him a questioning look, glancing between Sasuke's thoroughly beaten form and the strange cloud formation in the distance. "He self-destructed." Sasuke muttered. Naruto grimaced. "I hate when they do that." "I've found him." Chiyo's solemn shout drew the attention of everyone present, just as Kakashi and the rest of the Ponies and Diamond Dogs arrived. The old lady reverently laid out a large scroll and unfurled it. "If he's in a scroll that means..." Twilight trailed off, tears welling up in her eyes. Things like death were a fact of life, even in Equestria, but every death was felt with a much greater impact to the peace-loving quadrupeds. Especially when it was someone so young. A plume of smoke later, and the body of the fifth Kazekage lay before the assembled group. Most looked down in solemn respect, even Sasuke, who didn't know much of the boy beyond his fights after the chuunin exams, still respected the young boy who'd become such a loved leader. Naruto was openly crying, with the ponies moving to console him. The orange-clad ninja was quick to adopt people into his own makeshift family, and even after only a few conversations, he felt that Gaara deserved a spot on his family tree. The somber gathering was interrupted by Chiyo, who was staring down at Gaara's face. "I don't know if you ever could forgive me, for sealing the Ichibi inside of you. I knew, going into it, that it would make you a pariah, and deny you the chance to ever meet your mother. It was my duty to the village, and sometimes the hardest decisions are borne from conflict, between village and family." Silence. Even the sounds of crying had stopped, as the old lady began her speech. "I can bring him back." She said, to no one in particular. "It was a forbidden technique, developed to give life to the unliving. It started as a way to turn puppets into real people, but it never worked. The technique can only give life to someone who by medical standards should be alive. No sicknesses, no injury, no reason for them not to be among the living." "Like a Jinchuriki who's lost his Biju!" Naruto exclaimed, perking up immediately. "What are you waiting for?" "It takes the life of the one who uses the technique." Chiyo explained. Silence, once again. "I once took the life of a mother, and doomed a child, on orders of a tyrant Kazekage. I feel, it is only fitting, that I make amends by giving my own life for that of a true leader. I've seen him change, in these past few years. I've seen him rise above adversity, to continue living through such hard times when he was only a child. That's the kind of leader that our village needs." The old lady took a deep breath, and began making hand seals. Out of respect for her decision not a single soul present moved to stop her. Sasuke watched in fascination, red eyes spinning as the old lady completed the lengthy set of seals. Sakura, cradling a badly cracked arm, gave him an odd look but said nothing. When Chiyo began to run out of chakra, Naruto stepped forward, offering his own. O~O~O~O~O It was two hours later when the reinforcements from Sand arrived to find their Kazekage unharmed, quietly talking to the Konoha ninja and their summons. The rejoicing was cut short, as the group paid respects to the elder Chiyo. The ponies in particular knew Pinkie would take the loss particularly hard. The leader of the reinforcements approached Kakashi for a debriefing, both agreeing that the circumstances behind Gaara's 'miraculous' survival needed to be kept quiet. The rest of the report was rather standard. "One thing though. Some of the 'prisoners' you tagged were already dead..." The Sand Jounin gave him an odd look. Kakashi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I know. But... Try telling the ponies they killed someone. I just don't have the heart." The Jounin spared a glance over at the group of colorful ponies, who were clumped together, talking with the two that had followed his own group of ninja. "Yeah, I can see your point. Whatever happens to the prisoners, this is the last they'll hear about it." "It's for the best." Kakashi said, smiling softly to himself. "Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash practically pounced on the yellow pegasus when she emerged from the group of ninja, along with Sweetie Belle. "You totally missed an awesome fight! We kicked major tail! They were all like 'Rawr, I'm a monster ninja!' and I'm like 'Oh yeah? Woosh! Pow!' " "M-monster ninja?" Fluttershy stuttered, looking to Twilight for an explanation. "Sweetie! I told you to stay in the village! What if we had still been fighting? Honestly, I know you are worried about Gaara, but we had things well in hoof." Rarity scolded, relenting only when her younger sister gave her the 'look'. Fluttershy, broke away from Rainbow Dash's story to tend to Sakura, at Sasuke's insistence that his wings could wait. Surprisingly it was Sweetie Belle who was the first of the group to approach Gaara. "Gaara! You're alright!" The unicorn shouted, rushing up to hug the Kazekage. "I am indeed, thanks to my friends." He replied, patting the white filly on the head. "I told you! Friends always come to the rescue. Especially ones like Naruto." She beamed, turning to sit next to the boy. "I wrote a new song for Shukaku." "Shukaku... isn't with me anymore. He was taken away." Gaara replied, seemingly at a loss for how to feel about the situation. "Oh." Sweetie was likewise confused. "But. Since I've been with him since birth, I'm practically his best friend, and we have the same taste in music." Gaara added, smiling slightly at the Pony. "So I can sing for you then?" Sweetie asked, grinning once again. "Any time you like." O~O~O~O~O Two figures touched down in the ruins of their River Country base. Identifying each other easily by their black and red cloaks. "Both of them are dead then?" Kabuto asked, pushing his glasses farther up his nose while taking in the surroundings. "Pity." "I was able to observe Sasori's battle. I'll relay what I know about the Kyuubi Jinchuriki's host and his allies to the rest of the organization." Zetsu replied, looking quite impassive about the events. "Well, I've got what I came for." Kabuto shrugged, clutching the severed arm of Deidara in his left hand. "I suppose I'll be wearing this ring from now on?" "Tobi will wear Sasori's old ring." Zetsu agreed, causing the Kabuto to chuckle slightly. "He'll be disappointed that 'Deidara Senpai' is dead." "'Leader' will probably pair him up with you then." Zetsu replied, sinking into the ground. "I'll likely be in the lab for a few weeks working on this." Kabuto gestured to the severed arm. "But you know how to reach me." With those parting words, the two ninja parted ways, leaving the shattered cave as if they'd never been there.