𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐇𝐘𝐔𝐆𝐀 𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐍

The Akatsuki Base

Hanara and Kakashi-Sensei rushed in, Hanara sending visible chakra threads in front of her. She heard a gasp from Lady Chiyo but ignored it in favour of focusing on her opponent. Kakashi-Sensei sent a punch that Itachi blocked with an open palm. She saw movement to her left and found a shadow clone running to Naruto. Naruto just sent a Rasengan at it, causing it to explode in a puff of smoke.

'Damn shadow clones... still can't tell the difference.'

And then Naruto went extremely still, concerning Hanara. She focused harder and saw Itachi's chakra spreading near his brain.

'Genjutsu? Naruto didn't look in his eyes... damn Itachi's good.'

"Sakura, Lady Chiyo, it's genjutsu!" Hanara yelled, still sending chakra threads towards her opponent.

'Dodging both of us? So damn good, but even making the threads invisible won't matter... Guess I gotta get close.'

Sighing, Hanara used her threads as wire, taking shuriken out of her weapons pouch and tossing them with her threads as a distraction. Obviously, with an Uchiha as an opponent, that was easily dodged, but it gave Kakashi an opening that he used to get in close. Then, Hanara did something she had been practicing with Asuma-Sensei for a while. She abandoned her chakra threads and quickly weaved the handsigns for the Replacement Jutsu, replacing herself with Kakashi-Sensei and sending a Gentle Fist strike Itachi's way. As expected, Itachi caught her wrist before her hand made contact with his stomach, but she had a plan. Smirking, Hanara sent a burst of chakra to her wrist instead of her fingertips. It wasn't as effective as it would've been had she hit Itachi's stomach instead, but it still numbed his fingers a bit.

Now Kakashi-Sensei and Hanara had switched positions, Hanara attacking Itachi with her Gentle Fist and Kakashi creating openings whenever he could with kunai or shuriken.

'I can't do anything too chakra-intensive, because then I won't have enough energy to face Deidara and Sasori... That man is too damn good at dodging. I just need one hit c'mon.'

There was a sharp intake of breath and Hanara saw Naruto finally released from the genjutsu.

"You alright there, Naruto?" Hanara called, still attacking Itachi.

Or, attempting to.

The man had such great reflexes, and soon enough her first strike would wear off. Feeling desperate, she kicked off a sandal, added a burst of chakra to her foot, and kicked instead. The Gentle Fist style didn't use high kicks, so that caught him off-guard. Hanara learnt from her mistake and focused enough to block one chakra point. Panting, she used Itachi to kick herself backwards, created some space between them, and put on her sandal.

"Hey! Pull yourself together!" Sakura exclaimed, slapping Naruto, who was completely out of it.

"Naruto," said Kakashi-Sensei seriously, "We'll show you how to handle him."

Itachi started weaving handsigns that Hanara recognized for a fire jutsu, and she immediately unsealed a scroll filled with water that she grabbed from her weapons pouch.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball!" Itachi exclaimed, exhaling the largest fireball Hanara had ever seen.

Dragon. Tiger. Rabbit.

"Water Style: Raging Waves!" Hanara countered, using the water she had just released to spit out a wave of water.

The fire and water collided, creating a hazy mist that only Hanara could clearly see through. She was about to rush in and harm Itachi's chakra system for good when she saw Kakashi-Sensei about to explode from the ground. Knowing that he had good reflexes and a sense of smell that was good enough to know where she was, she continued and prepared herself.