Chapter 80: Surprising Victory! Double Cross?!

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Sai's / Temari's POV (Courtyard of Iron Arena - Land of Iron)

Sai often felt out of depth. The world had always been strange for him. He could scarcely remember his parents; from his small amount of memories of them, they seemed ordinary enough. Loving, kind, and nurturing, they had all the traits parents needed. Sai could not remember specifics, but he remembered being somewhat happy. He had loved his family and enjoyed experiencing life as it went. He couldn't remember it, but he had been informed that his parents and his home village had been razed by a missing shinobi. There had been few survivors, primarily children. Sai had been one of them; he was saved by a patrol of Anbu. Unknowingly, they had not been normal Anbu but Root Leaf Anbu. His recruitment had been a significant adjustment. His training had been both physically and mentally shattering. Sai knew he had been different before, though he could not tell how.

"Great Sickle Weasel Jutsu!" Temari roared angrily as she whipped her fan forward. A gust of wind flew through the forest. The force of which whipped rock with force and uprooted trees. Not to mention how much of the forest caught in her blast was sliced into pieces. Sai was glad his desperate leap had allowed him to dodge such. He drew another scroll and hurriedly scribbled a series of bunnies, squirrels, and coyotes onto it.

"Super Beast Scroll." Sai whispered as he ran through the forest; as he passed a thick tree, Sai allowed his creations to run into the forest, lying in wait with the others he had summoned thus far. He leaped backward, a series of backflips allowing him to narrowly avoid another gust of destructive wind. He quickly backtracked to keep up cover. His opponent was Temari of the Sand. She was the eldest child of the Kazekage Rasa of the Sand. She was a notable mention due to her team's track record. Flawlessly completing at least ten A-rank missions. While primarily due to her sibling Gaara, it would be foolish to assume she had just stood there.

Sai had changed; such had been necessary in his new world. His previous one had been filled with care, nurture, and enjoyment. His new one seemed full of pain and violence. While he remembered some discomfort in the beginning, Sai, as most children were, was ever adaptive. He had learned to become emotionless. To value the mission more than himself or his happiness, Sai could not hate it, for he knew he needed to do so. Necessity had a way of simplifying matters. Sai could not say he had been happy. Others informed him all the time of the damage it must've cost. Tenten did so often, lamenting the treatment they had suffered. Truthfully, Sai did not feel as strongly. He had learned to accept the cruel world as simple and thorough; he had lost much, but he still had his art.

"Super Beast Scroll." Sai whispered as he ran through the forest; as he passed a thick tree, he allowed his creations to run into the forest, lying in wait with the others he had summoned thus far. He leaped backward, and a series of backflips allowed him to narrowly avoid another gust of destructive wind. He quickly backtracked to keep up cover.

Sai had quickly discovered his intuition was well thought out. Temari was a formidable opponent, an incredibly skilled wind nature user; she used such a battle fan to unleash potent and vast techniques. She would be an interesting opponent to defeat. It would be much simpler if he could kill her. But Tenten forbade such actions if they were unnecessary. His new world was more complex than his old one.

Sai was further confused when Danzo and the root were destroyed by proxy. Not entirely, of course; organizations could be difficult to fully destroy. But enough for Sai to have been "freed." Tenten had been ecstatic; Sai was sure Shin would've also been. But Sai had felt little for it; he had come to enjoy the world as it was now. Tenten and Shikamaru seemed to make Sai comfortable merely by being around. But his world now was endlessly complex. Social behavior, morality, and freedom are all things most never truly pondered. They were considered something everyone deserved. But at times, Sai wished he was merely a tool for Danzo again. At least he had understood that world.

Sai released another volley of his creations as he narrowly dodged a more focused wind blade. 'She can do focused attacks as well. How is she tracking me?' His thoughts were interrupted as Temari shouted out another technique.

"Wind Style: Cast Net!" This time, a large net-shaped gust of wind flew forward, slicing through everything in its path. Sai frowned as he ran toward the attack, drawing his tanto as he did so. He allowed his chakra to flow through the small blade, glowing as it did, and he sliced toward the net. There was a boom as the techniques canceled each other out, sending Sai flying back. Temari smirked as dust filled the air. She sheathed her fan and started weaving hand signs. "Wind Style: Air Current-Wild Dance!" Temari said with a smirk as two gusts of wind shot from her palms. They quickly surged through the air, collecting dust and speed as they did so. Sai raised his eyes as he saw the twister suddenly surge toward him. 'My plan won't work if she can track me. A wind user somehow keeping track of me… air currents? Likely but impossible to know for sure. Enough to act on.' Sai decided as his body flickered close to Temari; he ducked, barely escaping being clubbed by Temari's fan and pretending to be caught off guard. "I'm no slouch at close-range combat! Loser!" Temari said with a shit-eating grin as she swung her fan and sent Sai careening toward the forest. Temari chased after him to pursue her victory.

Temari's POV

Temari's life was nothing less than complex. She was the eldest child of the Kazekage himself, a prodigy in wind nature, yet she was not the favored child. Nor was their Father anything close to someone who resembled a loving parent. Temari could remember little before except for her siblings, but she remembered it being often tense and cold. Their mother had been a loving and caring woman, but even back then, Rasa had been cold. He had children to secure his legacy, not out of love. His love for his wife had been confirmed but limited to her only. Rasa was a man who loved out of convenience, it seemed. Nothing had changed much with the birth of Kankuro. Rasa had been somewhat happy to have a son yet seemed doubtful of him from the start. No things had only truly changed when Gaara was born.

Temari knew she could not afford to show mercy here. Becoming Chunin would offer her many opportunities. It would be necessary to keep an eye on Gaara as well. So she pursued the strange man she had been battling as he crashed into a tree painfully. She nearly flinched as the bark shattered from the impact, and his black blood splattered around the area… wait for black blood? She looked at what she expected to be a broken man only to see ink stains.

Gaara had been chosen to be a jinchuriki, so desperate had their Father been to consolidate power he had insisted they not wait but seal the beast within Gaara even as he was within his own mother. It had worked; their mother even managed to give birth. The cost had been significant, though. Their mother, the only light they could see in their dark life, died that day. With it, the only compassion Rasa had seemed to have died as well. He had become somehow colder and focused solely on his job as a Kage. As if that wasn't enough, Gaara slowly became the monster he was today…

"An Ink Clone." Sai's voice echoed throughout the forest. Temari flinched. 'He led me into the forest and is somehow hiding from my air currents. Can't even use his voice to lead me to him. He's good.'

"Next up, Super Beast Scroll: Critter Ambush." Temari tensed and felt a minor disturbance in the air. She leaned out of the way and dodged a blur of darkness. A bird. Before she could ponder further, she dodged a speeding rabbit, a lunging coyote, and several rapid squirrels. 'He's summoned a whole damn forest of murderous art! I'd already be tagged if it wasn't for my Current Sense.'

"Enough!" Temari yelled as she raised her palms. "Wind Style Air Current Repulsing Dome!" A large dome of swirling aim seemed to emerge from Temari's very being, destroying all the ink creations that attempted to attack Temari. She felt a twinge in the currents around her as she did so. 'He had been sitting completely still!' She smiled as she drew her fan and shot off another unfocused blast. It tore through trees and stones as it smashed toward her target. She felt grim satisfaction as she saw Sai fly with the debris before he suddenly burst into ink. 'Another Ink Clone?' She flinched as she heard a crumble of earth behind her. She raised a palm and fired off a desperate blast of wind, which managed to smack Sai out of the air and skidded away from her.

Sai's POV

Sai rolled against the ground to slow his roll and avoid breaking anything. 'She's capable of one-handed jutsu and has great instincts. Danzo would've ordered her death or somehow integrated her into us. I suppose I should try to end things before they get ugly.' Sai decided as Temari swung her fan to send him flying again. Wisely forgoing a more robust technique to ensure he would be hit again. But Sai jumped into the air and summoned a more enormous creation than his previous ones. "Super Beast Scroll: Robin Steed." Sai signed as the air sent him flying. Luckily, his art came to life, turning his flight into a controlled flight path. He saw Temari seething before she joined him in the air, riding her fan.

'Limits her options.' Sai thought as he began to throw a litany of kunai and shuriken at Temari. He smiled as they were casually deflected. 'Needs to be a more powerful attack. Likely one she does not see coming.' Sai willed his creation to turn back and readied a lunging stance. He saw Temari scowl at this as she started to weave hand signs. Sai did the same as a random thought occurred to him. 'She's amusing.' Temari finished her technique first.

"Wind Style: Pressurized Air Beam," Temari said as she closed her hands, and a beam of air raced forward. Sai could only gasp in pain as it pierced him just above his left shoulder. "Sorry, art boy, but I don't play nice! Wind Style: Wind Cutter!" A blast of wind blades raced forward as Sai finished his own technique.

"Super Beast Scroll: Armored Steer!" Sai yelled as ink surged through the robin and formed into Samurai-like armor. The blast of wind sliced through this with ease, as well as his armored bird. Temari smirked as the creation burst into ink, and Sai flew off of it cut and falling to the earth below. Temari flinched as she realized it had been too easy she whipped her palm behind her surprising a closely approaching Sai. Without a word or seals she blasted him with wind. But the Sai burst into ink as well. 'He wasn't on the bird or flanking me? Then where?'

Sai smirked as the real him flew free from the cloud of ink tanto drawn. Temari could only widen her eyes as Sai sliced through her fan and cut a line through her front. She screamed out in pain before falling, losing control of her wind jutsu. Sai blinked at this. Briefly debating whether to save her. 'An incident for the Leaf perhaps, but not one that couldn't be dealt with. Besides, she might become a threat in the future…

"Sai, sometimes we gotta act in ways that may betray logic." Shikamaru had told him. "Remember, sometimes you just gotta act impulsively, though it is a real drag."

'Well, she is interesting…' Sai decided as he formed another bird and caught Temari. She frowned at him before nodding once, apparently too proud to thank him. 'Things were much simpler before.'

As they landed and Sai allowed Temari to walk away, Kakashi poofed back in. "I assume?" Kakashi asked.

Temari growled. "He almost cut me open. Then saved my life; I'm beyond done here!"

Kakashi nodded coyly. "Sai?"

"All done here," Sai replied with a smile.

"You're rematching me one day, art boy!"

Kakashi shook his head, amused as he raised his voice. "Sai of the Leaf Village wins! Next match will be Shikamaru Nara VS Suigetsu Hozuki!"

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Kabuto cracked his neck as he inwardly processed his damage and spent chakra as the right-hand man of Orochimaru, a former Root operative and even a mole for Sasori. He had become quite the threat, dangerous even. His loyalties were to Orochimaru due to his genius and only that. It had been painful and annoying to become a Genin to keep an eye on Sasuke. He had been thankful for the emergency; it gave him a reason to break his cover. His butchering of the Genin Team in the exam had been for his amusement. Orochimaru had correctly assumed that the Sound Four may fail. Though he doubted, he had expected what had happened. Tayuya Uzumaki apparently had turned herself in and aimed to give them information. Annoyingly, she had quite a bit of dangerous info to offer. Somehow, it had resisted the installed kill switch in the curse mark. An Uzumaki countering Fuinjutsu, go figure.

His freedom of movement gave him time to find her. It had been demanding; he had jumped a Chunin to get the info. Oh, he had tried to hold out but had given up once Kabuto had severed both Achilles Tendons. Luckily, Kabuto offered him the mercy of slicing his heart in two. It had led him to the home of an Anbu; a bit more creative torture had led him here. Of course, there were guards, even with a significant amount of shinobi present at the exams. Chunin, Jounin, and even a few Anbu had met him at the entrance. Oh, they were spirited; they had shattered his ribs, severed an arm, even slit his throat.

But in the end, they all lay dead on his feet. As they often were, they were bloodless. Looking as if their souls had simply been plucked from their bodies. His Chakra Scalpel was quite the technique indeed. He marched forward, looking into cells and ignoring the inhabitants. He saw a locked unit and smiled. As he opened the door, he did so to meet an inferno. The flames raged through the door, melting his skin and even causing his bones to pop due to heat. But Kabuto marched through the pain and flames. Trusting his chakra to heal and keep him alive. He saw two Genin and a Chunin look at him fearfully. Kabuto offered them a smile before dashing forward and killing the Chunin with a mere tap to his chest. The Genin, losing their nerve, turned in an attempt to run. Kabuto allowed it as he reached into the kunai case of the downed man before him. He drew two and calmly aimed and threw both. Watching with mild amusement as the adult Genin was struck and killed instantly from kunai piercing the back of their skulls.

Kabuto laughed as he entered the unit, seeing a large furnished cell holding Tayuya and two more Chunin, who glared at him grimly.

"There you are, Tayuya. We were hoping to find you. Orochimaru sends his regards, of course." Kabuto chirped as one of the Chunin stabbed a spear into his midsection with a roar. He froze when Kabuto barely reacted, not even when blood squirted through the wound. "For a second, I thought a bee stung me." Kabuto joked as he tapped the throat of the Chunin in front of him. The man gasped and stumbled back breathlessly. The second attempted hand signs, but Kabuto brutally ripped the spear from himself and shot it into the second Chunin. He watched as both slowly died, Tayuya doing so with a scowl. "Finally, all alone!" Kabuto yelled theatrically.

"Great, they assigned a bunch of pussy shit guards. And now I have the pleasure of being killed by your creepy ass. At least you creeps can't kill me remotely." Tayuya snarked from within her cell.

"Indeed, such is the price of betraying Orochimaru. Now, please be patient; I cannot make this quick or painless." Kabuto said as he unlocked the cell and arrogantly allowed Tayuya out of it. "No need to worry. We both know you're no match for me, even with that mark."

Tayuya merely laughed, a heavy belly laugh that made Kabuto frown.

"What pray to tell is such a funny dead woman?" Kabuto was annoyed; she seemed to be attempting to take control.

"How much chakra are you wasting going all psycho killer on the guard's dumbass." Tayuya said in between laughter.

"Hmm, I'll admit a fair bit of it; I won't need much at all to kill you, though." Kabuto countered.

"How about me, then, old friend?" A female voice called out as Kabuto heard a familiar set of heels draw closer…