The Power to Heal and Destroy by Phoenixsun

Chapter 26: As a Leader

Sakon cursed under his breath. The mission that Orochimaru had assigned to them with the outmost importance had completely gone off rails. Kidomaru had pretty much asked for this outcome, and now that he was taken out, Sakon had to deal with this mess himself. Seeing the blond separate from the group, the pale teen decided that it was now time to act.

Out of all the Konoha shinobi that had interfered, the spiky aired one was the one that Sakon had been the most worried about, and now this was his chance to take the younger boy out as he was distracted.

The remaining Sound nin jumped off his branch to the ground and dashed after his target, a kunai already in hand. However, Sakon only managed a couple of steps before his body came to a complete halt. "What the hell is going on?" He asked as he looked around.

"I'm not letting you attack him from behind..." A serious voice caused Sakon to turn and look behind. There stood the only Leaf nin from the group wearing a chunin jacket, the Sound shinobi could see that their shadows were connected.

"You're a Nara..." The Oto nin commented offhandedly. Suddenly, the blue haired teen realized that one of his hands was shaking. "What the hell is this...?" He pondered. "I'm not afraid of this guy..." He thought as he glanced at the Konoha shinobi.

Shikamaru's fist was shaking out of sheer anger and the same action was being forced on Sakon through the chunin's Kagemane technique. "I will be your opponent." The Nara stated as his eyes narrowed menacingly.

Sakon gritted his teeth in frustration. "Back off kid! I've had just about enough of you and your little friends..." He warned as he glared at the Leaf nin.

"Really?" Shikamaru responded. "Because I've been sick and tired of your little group for a long while now." The brunette stated in a firm voice.

A scoff escaped the Oto nin. "I have studied your stupid village and I know that Nara do not specialize in direct combat." The blue haired teen pointed out. "You are more suitable for stalling... Just one big clan full of hindrances." He taunted, trying to get a rise out the chunin so that he would break his concentration, allowing Sakon to free himself from the Kagemane jutsu.

Shikamaru for his part simply shrugged off the comment with a smirk. "You let me worry about that... But first..." The young man said as he raised one of his fists, forcing the Sound nin to do the same. Suddenly, the Konoha shinobi drove his fist right towards his face with tremendous force. "There..." Shikamaru said with the smirk still in place as he watched Sakon recoil back from his own self-inflicted attack. "If I didn't punch you in the face soon I wouldn't be able to think clearly."

"Damn you...!" The humiliated Sakon growled at his opponent as a trickled of blood ran down the side of his mouth.

Smirking a little wider, the Leaf nin charged.

The Kagemane technique forced Sakon to do the same. The young man tried to fight off the control of the jutsu but to not avail.

As the two shinobi got closer, Shikamaru made a thrusting motion with his left hand, causing the blue haired teen to send the kunai he had been carrying flying forward, but with very little strength.

The Nara kept his arm extended as he compelled his opponent to move towards him, grabbing onto the traveling kunai as it flew close to him.

At the very last moment when the two ninjas were about to collide with each other, Shikamaru ended his shadow jutsu and swiftly spun his body around the Oto nin, getting a clear shot to drive the kunai right into Sakon's spine. "Gotcha..." The chunin said as he directed the blade to its target.

Suddenly, a pair or arms shot out of Sakon's back and stopped the kunai just before its tip could puncture the blue haired teen's back.

"What...?" It was all that Shikamaru could let out before the hands holding his arm threw him across the field with surprising force. The brunette's flight continued until his back hit a tree and his body fell to the dirt. Trying to recompose himself, the young man glanced at his opponent. The sight that greeted him caused his eyes to widen in a mixture of shock and horror.