❝𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑲𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒉𝒂❞

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 32: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝑼𝒛𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊

Gazing up at the hospital window Tenzou grinned. Naruto was, without a doubt, in the room which made Tenzou's job that much easier. Tenzou glanced around to get a good view of his surroundings and any potential threats that could hinder him in achieving his goal. Finding none he smirked in satisfaction before sprinting towards the wall and, using chakra to latch onto the surface, ran up it until he was outside the window still hidden from sight. He glanced inside at the family within the room. Sakura was waving off a nurse while checking herself over. Naruto was standing between her and the baby, clearly torn on who to check on first. The dark smile that crossed his face could send shivers down Gaara's spine.

"Time to inform my dear cousin of recent events." He kicked in the glass and slid in with the momentum while pulling his blade as his quick hand was grabbing a cute little nurse as a hostage. Naruto had no time to react and was now in a bad position.

"What are YOU doing here?" Naruto growled darkly as he gazed at Tenzou with a look filled with hatred. Tenzou grinned seeing he had this effect on people, especially the source of his pain.

"Oh, I thought I'd tell you that Madara-sama has escaped. That and Sasuke Uchiha is critically injured, possibly dead." He shrugged lazily while smiling internally at Naruto's growing eyes as shock took over. "But I'm also here for you!" He slid his blade across the nurse's throat and kicked her bleeding form into Naruto to knock his opponent off balance. He swiftly positioned himself behind Naruto and placed his hand in the middle of Naruto's broad back.

"Shinra Tensei!" sounded in the small room just before the blonde shattered through the wall and flew towards the street below. He flipped over mere seconds from impact to land on his feet. Tenzou leaped out of the now destroyed wall and landed with a roll in which he attempted to bring his blade up through Naruto's chin. Naruto's own blade made its way to his hands allowing him to block the incoming threat. He began channeling his wind chakra through the blade and was satisfied when it began slicing through Tenzou's sword. The golden eyed Uzumaki noticed his sword being damaged and cursed. He tried to move away only for Naruto's free hand to shoot out and grab him by the throat.

"You're not going anywhere." Naruto grinned as his blade sliced through Tenzou's own sword and made a shallow bloody gash in Tenzou's right shoulder. Gritting his teeth in pain of the intruding metal, Tenzou shot his foot out and smirked at the satisfying sound of the air leaving Naruto's lungs. His grip loosened and Tenzou used that to spin around, freeing himself from his cousin's grasp, and kick Naruto's sword away from him. Still struggling to breath Naruto moved back only to be rewarded with a heel to his jaw. He felt his feet leave the ground for a few seconds before his backside reestablished contact with a loud thud.

"Naruto, if this is all you can do then Madara-sama will obliterate you. You're the Jinchuuriki for the Juubi yet you don't use its power?! Come on and fight me!" Tenzou knew Naruto was holding back. He hated the thought of it so he began verbally provoking the blonde Uzumaki. The two ran at each other. Tenzou blocked an incoming punch while Naruto grabbed Tenzou's incoming hand. Naruto seized the moment by running up Tenzou's body and smashing his feet into Tenzou's face forcing him to let go. The golden eyed Uzumaki stumbled backwards and nursed his obviously broken nose. Blood streamed down from his crooked nose over his mouth, seeping in to stain his white teeth. Tenzou gritted those teeth as he reset his nose. The crunching of him moving the bone back into place was sickening. The pain made Tenzou momentarily light headed.

Naruto jumped into the air to deliver an ax kick while preparing for an Asura Attack. Tenzou predictably blocked the kick and Naruto lined up the barrel of the Chakra Cannon with Tenzou's shoulder.

"Asura Attack!" The beam fired straight and true, tearing through the flesh, bone, and muscle before ripping out the other side leaving a massive hole in Tenzou's left shoulder. Tenzou clenched his teeth in pain but still had enough thought to act fast. A bladed tail came out and shot straight for Naruto's chest leaving him no time to react.

Kakashi awoke with his vision blurring in and out. His head throbbed and he couldn't think straight. He closed his eye to wait for the dizziness to subside before he opened his eye. What he saw put him into action immediately. Sasuke was coughing up blood as the precious fluid pooled around him. Kakashi stumbled over to Sasuke and began checking the wound. He revealed his Sharingan and cursed. The sword had torn into Sasuke's heart without a doubt. If he didn't get immediate help he would die.

Ever so gently Kakashi lifted the wounded Uchiha off the ground, careful not to disturb the sword still embedded in his former student's chest to keep him from bleeding out faster. Kakashi began to make his way to the hospital, completely unaware of the battle taking place there.

"Hang on Sasuke!" He stated almost as if reassuring himself. "I won't fail again." He added with a near inaudible whisper.