Naruto : Venom

”Good idea. Summoning Jutsu: Spider Clones!” Ten clones pop into existence and instantly sprint towards the anomaly. ”That’s a start. We’ll see how long they delay it for. Really wish I knew how to make a shadow clone. Then I could at least know what happened.”

...

The next minute passes in a tense silence.

”The clones should have been there by now.” I say. ”Jiongu, update? Has it slowed?”

~For maybe twenty seconds. It caught back up instantly, it’s keeping the same distance from us. It could have caught us by now. It’s waiting for something.~

”Aw fuck.”I know what it’s doing.

”What?” Tayuya asks. ”What’s going on?”

”It’s matching our pace. It isn’t trying to catch up to us, it’s following us. We can’t lead it back to Sound.”

”No, we can’t.” Tayuya agrees. ”Ideas?”

”Yeah, it’s a really bad one. But it’s also our best shot of everyone getting out alive. Neither of you are going to like it and I really hate it.”

”Let’s hear it.” She urges. ”A bad plan is better than no plan.”

Not really sure if that statement is true, but I don’t have time to ponder it. ”It’s rather simple. I’m the best suited to run away from it, so I’ll stop running and stall it while you two get to Sound. Once you both get there, get reinforcements. Hell get Orochimaru, I bet he’s the only one who can stand up to this.”

”I don’t like it.” Tayuya says.

”No.” That’s all Sasuke can manage right now.

”Do either of you have better ideas? I’m the one with overwhelming jutsu, I’m the one with limitless stamina, I’m the one that can take a ridiculous beating and still walk away, I’m the one with five lives. Hell there’s one hundred other affinities there, I can grab spare hearts if I have to. Come on, I’m perfect for this. The bigger the numbers I go against, the more lives I can have.”

”... You’re right. I still don’t like it.” Tayuya grumbles.

”You don’t have to like it, I hate it and I’m the one doing it.”

”You better” gasp ”come back.” Sasuke huffs out between huge breaths. ”If you don’t” gasp ”I’m killing you.”

”Deal.” I toss Tayuya in the air and she gracefully lands next to Sasuke. ”Do hurry, I don’t know how long I’ll last.”

”We will.” Tayuya says as both she and Sasuke sprint towards my salvation.

”Alright. This is going to suck. How long till it’s here?”

~Minutes.~

”Well, if I’m going out, I’m going out with style.” Using earth jutsu I mold two thrones on either side of a rocky table. I make two stone cups and fill them with a small water jutsu. ”I’ve always wanted a throne.”

”And now for some traps.” I pull out all but two of my kunai and attach strings to various trees around the clearing and push the other end into the kunai themselves. Each one flies into a different spot. I’ve upped the number of kunai traps I can keep at once, I can maintain around fifteen now. I’m getting really good at multitasking and fifteen different kunai should give me a good angle no matter what.

”Final touch.” I shrug off my coat and lift my shirt. My earth and wind monsters leap out of me and disappear high into the treeline. Better to have some mobile jutsu cannons just in case. I still have three hearts, I can always pull the other two back if I have to. Or just take it from one of the possible one hundred shinobi that should be here any moment.

I nervously wait the next few minutes in my impromptu throne. This is a terrible idea. Why did I do this?I shouldhave just kept going to back to Sound. I’m sure Orochimaru would have defenses in place for something like this.

~Host, it’s here.~

”My my, how amusing.” A gruff voice says as it’s form lands in front of me. It’s hunkered over on all fours. It’s hair has the weirdest style ever and a bandanna is covering its mouth. ”I never thought you would be so bold.”

It’s wearing a black coat with red clouds. I know who this is.

”Sasori, never expected to see you of all people.” I calmly say to him. This explains so much, the Jiongu is sensing all of his puppets that he has sealed away. That’s why it felt like hundreds of people, because in a way it is. This totally ruins all of my plans. Even if I had a week to set up the battlefield to my advantage I still wouldn’t be ready to face an opponent of this level.

He tilts his head in mild surprise. ”You know me? It isn’t often I get recognized in this puppet. It’s one of my more popular creations, quite a few others use it.”

”Of course I do.” I wave at the throne opposite me. ”Care to join me? If I knew it was you I would have made the chair more accommodating for Hiruko.”

”Why should I?” He asks.

”Come, let us talk. We may be able to settle this with words instead of fists. I may not be able to kill you but I can probably trash the puppet you’re in. Wouldn’t it suck to have to repair that?”That and now talking is probably my best hope to get out of here unscathed. Or alive. I’d settle for alive.

”You’re one weird kid.” He hobbles over to his throne. ”I can honestly say I’ve never had something like this happen to me before.”

”I can honestly say that if we fought I’d lose. So I figured I might as well try to talk things out first before I tried running for my life again. I’m assuming you were following me for a purpose?”

”Not you specifically.” He takes a water cup. ”Either of you Oto shinobi from the exams would do.”

”Hm.” Does he not know who Sasuke and I are? I thought he was Akatsuki’s spymaster, surely he should have figured out my identity. ”You have one at your disposal. What do you plan to do next?”

”Get eyes and ears on Orochimaru. I will have my revenge, but I won’t go in blindly. I want his defeat to be assured.” He informs me in his gravely voice.”You’re one of his new pupils. Who better to spy on the man than those he’s constantly around?”

”Sorry, but I’m not up for switching teams.” I take a drink of my own water. Surprisingly my hands aren’t shaking.

”You misunderstand, you don’t have a choice. I’m going to make you into one of my puppets. You’ll do it whether you choose to or not.”

”See, now that is what I was afraid of. I already have one voice in my head, I don’t need another.”

”Like I said before, you don’t have a choice.” He sets his water cup down.

”Is there anything I can do to make you not do that?” I ask. I really don’t want to fight him. Right now he’d win against me, the best I can hope for is stalling till Orochimaru comes and saves me. Kami that is a depressing thought.

”I suppose you could actually run away, if you do somehow manage to escape me then I won’t be able to impose my will on you.”He comments offhandedly.

”Interesting. How about if I told you Kisame wants me as a pet? Would you not mess with my head then?”

”Sorry what?” He asks in confusion.

”Kisame Hoshigaki, big blue sharkman, missing nin of Kiri, has the world’s most broken sword ever, and is partners with Itachi Uchiha? They’re both a part of your group, you’re wearing the same coats. Seriously, you’d think you would know each other.”

”I know who he is! How do you know him?” Sasori demands. He is suddenly on guard, the casual air he had about him is gone.

I pull down my hood, I take off my mask and I unwind my scarf from around my neck. ”Maybe he mentioned me? He did cut my head off after all.”

”Oh, you’re the mini Kakuzu. You’re Muffins.” He groans out. ”Dammit. It just had to be you didn’t it? We’re done here.”

”Did you just call me Muffins?” It’s my turn to be confused.

”That’s what Kisame calls you. No idea why.”

...

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