NOVEL WEB Arc XII Chapter 25
XII
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Arc XII Chapter 25
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Asami opened her eyes, her purple orbs once again announcing her presence. The fight had ended and she had returned. The sealing had meanwhile proceeded. Residual, floating chakra saturated the cave, the air heavy, enriched with the familiar chakra of the One-Tail. Considering the quantities involved, such was to be expected. The sealing was ... an arduous procedure. Unsurprisingly, it took its time. After all, she spoke from experience.
Pain had come to notice her presence. His flickering shadow emerged from the veil of darkness, the iron gaze of his Rinnegan directed at her. As usual, the man was trying to assert his dominance and authority. “... ... ...”
“...” The good girl she was, Asami chose to comply, of course. She lowered her gaze in respect, to please, ever eager to please, ever the loyal servant of his Most Divine Excellency. No need to put her fealty into doubt. At least, not at this point. “...”
Though it went unsaid, Pain appreciated her gesture. His face remained unyielding like stone, hardly batting an eyelid. As usual, he pretended not to care, but she knew better. Pain spoke, “Asami, ... you have returned ... I hope your mission was graced with success.”
Asami returned a smile. “More or less, considering the circumstances and the subpar quality of the material provided ... The enemy had proven ... tenacious, not to say troublesome, but manageable, overall. They have taken quite the beating. After getting mauled they should be out of commission for a day or more.”
Kisame grinned from the shadows, flashing his shark like teeth. “See, Itachi, I told you our little princess knows how to fight ... Not a single hint of remorse, even when being turned against her former comrades. Will of Fire ... Comrades ... Friendship ... Maybe I was wrong, after all, Itachi? Maybe all of you Konoha guys are secretly cold blooded killers like you two?”
“... ... ...” Itachi ignored his teasing partner with his usual taciturnity. Truly a man of few words and divine patience. Not a single motion. Not a single reaction. Not a single sarcastic comment. Only uncaring, apathetic silence. It even worked.
Pain eyed his trusted spy and intelligence service. “Zetsu ...”
Zetsu had answered Pain’s summon. Surprisingly and unlike usual, it was black Zetsu who took the word, raising his deep voice. When it came to her, it was often him to speak. And it was noticeable. Was it a coincidence? Was it deliberate? It was hard to tell with Zetsu, or whatever the thing was supposed to be. “Her performance was ... admirable. Her strength ... Her speed ... Her precision ... impressive. Truly impressive. Certainly for a girl of her age. The enemy will probably regroup and cease their operations until tomorrow.” Zetsu praised her. Black Zetsu, no less. What an uncommon occurrence. Unlike his white brethren, black Zetsu was decisively less moronic.
Pain nodded, satisfied with the results, his eyes remaining fixed on her. “I am pleased to hear so. Especially, considering that you are responsible for this whole mess ... All the little breaks you took along the way, your sleeping hours, they put us severely behind schedule.” He glared at her, almost accusingly.
“...” Asami was tempted to grumble, but chose not to for the sake of maintaining harmony. In her defence, her beauty sleep was of supreme importance and the stolen chakra of the One-Tail was not processed in a day. Not that she could say so openly. And it was not her fault that Sasori was the lamest duck in the ninja world no matter how much he constantly complained about hating to have to wait. Apparently, he did not hate to make others wait.
Yet everyone understood and the sealing continued. They were close to being finished. Even so, another long night awaited them. What a delight.
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The once raucous battlefield had now fallen eerily silent, only the whisper of the wind and the ragged breathing of those left standing disturbing the silence.
Kakashi staggered forwards, each step heavy, his breath panting. “Heh ... Heh ... Heh ... Heh ...” It was over. The fight had ended. They had won ... Or rather, they had survived ...
It was the moment that the weight of the battle, the tension, the strain, the stress, the exhaustion, came crashing down on him at once. Kakashi stumbled and collapsed, falling to his knees. His vision blurred as the adrenaline finally began to ebb. His hand still trembled. His Chidori had taken its toll. It was only his ironclad discipline that allowed him to soldier on.
“...” Kakashi raised his head, his gaze falling on Naruto and Sakura. Unconscious and battered, Naruto lay sprawled on the ground, his orange clothes torn, blood seeping from his wound. His wound was deep. Luckily, he was alive. His chest slowly rose and fell.
Kneeling beside him, Sakura continued to tend to his wounds, her hands glowing with the soft, pale green light of her healing chakra. Her face streaked with sweat and grit. There was determination, there was a fire in her eyes.
The sight filled Kakashi with pride. Sakura ... The little girl that he had once known ... She had grown so much, hadn’t she? Her skill, her resolve, her focus, sharper than ever. But also with guilt.
“...” Kakashi clenched his fists. They were his team. They were his responsibility. The fight ... It was close. Far too close, for his liking. To think that they would meet her, of all people, the princess herself. It was a rendezvous he would have gladly foregone.
“Sakura ...” Kakashi rasped, forcing himself. “How is he?”
Sakura turned, responding immediately, “His body, his breathing, they are both stabilising, Kakashi-sensei. He will live. His wound is deep. Abdominal region. Lateral. Dexter. Severe trauma. Severe blood loss. He has experienced a heavy hypovolemic shock. His state is stable, though. He is recuperating.”
“Good.” Kakashi pretended to understand half of it. At least, there was some good news after such an ordeal.
Sakura interrupted his thoughts, “But there is more, Kakashi-sensei. The red chakra ... His wounds ... They are healing on their own ... His rate of regeneration is astonishing ... This is incredible. I have never seen anything like this before. It’s his red chakra. The chakra is healing him.”
“...” Kakashi listened in silence. So it was true, after all. It was just like Jiraiya said back then. “This is the chakra of the Kyuubi, Sakura. Apparently, it possesses extraordinary healing properties. As it turns out, it was true.”
“Does that mean ...” Temari asked, puzzled yet hopeful. “Does that mean he will soon be back on his feet?”
“Probably”, Sakura confirmed with certainty in her voice. Her predictions were well founded. Judging by what Jiraiya had told him, the chakra of the Kyuubi allowed him to shrug off even the heaviest wounds.
Kakashi concurred, “Yes, probably. It will be a few hours, but he might be back on his feet by tomorrow. I hope so. Because we can’t continue our pursuit. Not like this. Not in our condition. Not in our current shape and form. Whether we like it or not, we must abort the mission. We must gather our forces first.”
“...” Sakura merely nodded, signalling her agreement.
“... ... ...” Temari clenched her fists, her blazing anger showing. Annoyed, irritated, exasperated, yet Temari agreed with his course. Not that she had much of a choice. She was not angry at him. She knew that he was right. She knew that this was the right choice. Even so, he understood her desire to save her brother no matter what. It was only natural.
Everyone understood. Everyone agreed. Even Chiyo. “The son of the White Fang is right, we had better take a break for now. It makes no sense to continue the mission. It would be foolish to press on. The fight cost us much strength and chakra. We had better halt and recuperate.”
“Exactly.” Kakashi nodded.
“Tsk.” Temari crossed her arms, clicking her tongue in annoyance. “Well, we made some progress, I guess. In the end, the crazy bitch ... offed ... herself ...” Temari trailed off. Temari fell completely silent.
Kakashi had a bad feeling. A very bad feeling. He followed her eyes and his gaze fell on Asami’s corpse ... Her presumed corpse. He understood immediately. He did not like what he saw.
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