Fire style: Burning Love Jutsu

Chapter 48: It's time

"Ino. You can't fight her. She's pregnant." Shikamaru said. "No. She's fine. This fight is already over." Azamuku said. "You're so cocky!" Ino shouted. "I hate it." She said. "I HATE YOU!" She screamed, charging at Azamuku. She refused to move until Ino began to throw a punch. A loud smack was heard as Azamuku caught her fist without a problem. Ino cried out as Azamuku squeezed her fist. "My turn." She said. Drawing her arm back, she threw a punch, connecting it to Ino and sending her flying back into the wall. Ino fell to the ground and coughed a bit.

"So strong..." I heard Kiba say as we all watched from the balcony above. "Ino! Just stop! If you continue, she'll kill you!" Shikamaru yelled. Ino got up and stood in one place. "Already giving up on physical attacks?" Azamuku taunted. "You're literally a waste of time." She said, walking away. "Don't turn your back on her!" Kiba said groaning. Azamuku jumped off to the side as Ino's body went limp. "What happened?" Kiba asked. "She missed." Shikamaru said. Everyone watched as Azamuku just stood there and watched Ino's body fall to the ground. "Why isn't she attacking?" Shikamaru asked, confused.

"This entire fight is a game to her. She knows Ino isn't going to win. Ino will be lucky if she realizes that before it's too late." Shikamaru said. "What do you mean 'too late'"? Sakura asked. "That woman down there isn't the same one we trained with. She's darker, colder, and even put fear into Gaara." I said. "She shows no mercy when she fights, anymore. She fights to kill." I told her. "But she's not fighting." Kiba said, confused. "No. She's not. But Ino is." Sakura said, understanding. It clicked in Kiba's head quickly. "She's going to run Ino into exhaustion..." He said. "Or until she expends her chakra too much and kills herself." I said.

"Ino! You have to stop!" Kiba shouted. "SHUT UP!" She screamed regaining consciousness. Azamuku's mouth turned up into a grin as Ino charged her again. She formed a hand sign and replicated herself into 10 other clones. "Come on, Lee." I said to myself. "Hey, yeah. Where DID Lee and them go?" Sakura asked. "I sent them to get the brother. Her mood is way beyond what I can stop." I said. "You sent him to bring back that Sand kid!?" Kiba said. Akamaru whined and sunk to the ground, next to Kiba. "Either that or Ino dies." I said.

He sat down and watched through the railing bars. All the clones jumped away and continued to jump around, mixing themselves up. They landed in a circle around Ino. "Which one is her?" Sakura asked, confused. "Sharingan." I whispered to myself. I looked at each clone then chuckled. "Seems she learned a bit of something from the chunin exams. All of them are clones." I said. Ino quickly figured that out when she attacked them all and they went up in smoke.

"Fire style: Fireball jutsu!" Azamuku called, falling from the ceiling. The attack hit next to Ino as if it was purposely aimed there. She jumped away from the fireball and came to a halt. "Isn't this hurting the baby?" Sakura asked. "No. she's using so little chakra it's like she's using none at all. Her body can handle so much that this is all just like a walk in the park." I said, watching.

Time passed as Ino continued to attack, her movements becoming slower. "I'm getting bored." Azamuku said, a strand of chakra flowing out of her index and middle fingers. "Lee! Where are you?" I said. "She's getting impatient... She's going to kill Ino, herself." I said, gripping the railing. Shikamaru placed a foot on the railing, ready to jump. "Don't. I said." You see that?" I asked, nodding to Azamuku. He looked at her. "The wire? Yeah. What about it?" He asked. "It's not wire. It's her chakra." I said.

"I remember seeing this." Sakura said. "But I don't know what it does. I've never seen her use it." She continued. "I know what it does..." I said, staring at her and reading her thoughts. "It acts as a whip. If it makes contact with the opponent, it'll tangle itself around the opponent. As the opponent tries to escape, it begins to drain their chakra, eventually emptying it and killing the shinobi." I said. "And given her skill..." I began. "She won't miss." Kiba said.

Azamuku drew her arm back. "You've bored me enough. It's over." She said whipping her arm forward, the strand wrapping around Ino's torso. Her screams of pain began to echo throughout the room as she fell to her knees. Shikamaru tried to push forward again. "Stop!" I snapped at him. "Go near her and it'll branch off and pull you in, too." I said. He backed down just as Lee ran in with Gaara following. Kiba immediately ran and hid behind everyone. "Why hasn't anyone tried to stop her..." Gaara asked, looking down at the battle. "I can't. I've tried before when she got like this. You're the only one who can." I said.

"Is this what she sees when I'm like this?" He asked himself, realizing how horrifying it is to watch someone ruthlessly kill. "Yes. That day you tried killing me? I saw what she saw." I started. "She put your hand to her throat, terrified that you were actually going to kill her. But at the same time hoping that not giving you a choice would wake you up." I finished.

He sighed and jumped down to the lower level and waked over to Ino. The strand of chakra began to branch off and went for him. She had realized what was about to happen as she quickly snatched her hand back, disrupting the flow of chakra and breaking the line. "She refuses to hurt him in such a way." I explained to Shikamaru, knowing he was about to question me.

"Muku. You have to stop." Gaara's voice echoed. "Why? She tried to harm my baby..." Azamuku said, glaring at Ino's motionless body. "She's not dead is she?" Sakura asked. "No." I said. "There's no way she could kill. That's not the girl I competed against." Shikamaru said. "Do you wanna know terrifying?" I asked. "Insult her mother, laugh, and tell her she deserved what happened to her." I said. Only then will you understand the meaning of true terror." I said, remembering what Deidara was put through.

I watched as Gaara spoke to her while talking to everyone around me. "If you have secrets about you that you've never told anyone. She'll know them. She'll use them against you." I said. "It's kind of how she trained me when we were kids." I said. "We were sent on a mission one day that ended up being a mission of protection. I almost died during that mission." I said. "Looking back, the feeling I got was her getting into my head and pulling everything about me that she didn't know." She purposely over exerted herself to make me feel like I was nothing." I said. "In getting that feeling, I strived to get better and train harder." I continued.

"I sky rocketed faster than Naruto did. All because she used myself against me." I said. "In all my years, I have never met anyone that's half the sensei she could be." I said. Azamuku picked Ino up and jumped onto the railing in front of Shikamaru. She looked at him then handed Ino to him and hopped back down before doubling over and grabbing her stomach. Just under her, the ground grew darker as if it were wet. Gaara grabbed Azamuku and jumped onto the balcony. "Sasuke. It's time." He said. "Time?" Kiba asked. "Sasuke! The baby!" Sakura shouted, resolving everyone's confusion.

I looked at Azamuku, her breathing getting heavier and quicker. I ran out the doors, Gaara leading the way. "We don't have time to go back to Sunagakure. It'll have to be here." Gaara said. "Take her to my house. You can see it from here. Only one on it with my clan's symbol. I'll be there shortly." I said, running off. "Sasuke!" Sakura called after me. I had ducked and hid behind a building as Sakura skidded to a halt and walked over to me.

"I don't know if I can do it. I'm so scared." I admitted. "Sasuke. It's a terrifying thing but I know you'll be fine. You can't back out now. It's too late. All you can do, now, is go in there and be there for her." Sakura said. "Be there for your child. It needs you." She said. I looked at her and took a deep breath, exhaling. "You're right." I said. "Let's go."