His Gift to Her (Mary Sue Series)

Chapter 25

"Konoha has been attacked!"

Everything was in undiscernable chaos. Ninjas were fighting, no matter the rank. Genin level pitted against Jounin Level, Chunin against Jounin, and some hateful ones ganging up on a mere civilian.

"Get reinforcements!"

"Guys, gather together and follow Sasuke!"

Qui had been holding hands with Naruto, running after her blond-head teammate, when in the next moment, she was split by a ninja wearing a black long coat, an animal mask, and a no sign of what village he came from.

"Qui!"

"Naruto!" she shouted back, getting ready in a fighting stance. Naruto angrily lunged at the stranger, however, the falling pillar clouded the area and prevented Naruto from attacking the stranger. When the dust cleared, both Qui and the stranger were gone.

"Qui!"

"Naruto!" Said boy whipped around to see Shikamaru and Sakura waving to him. "Over here!"

"Sakura-chan, Shika--wait, Qui's gone! She was taken by a stranger!"

"No time to worry about her, we've got bigger problems," Shikamaru groaned, pointing at the hole in the wall. "Sasuke is in trouble. He's with that giant beast from Suna. We gotta either stop Sasuke or help him."

"What about Qui?"

Shikamaru gritted his teeth, crossing his arms. "Dunno. We're only Genin; we can't afford to split up."

"So we're just going to sacrifice Qui?" Naruto seethed. "She's our teammate!"

"Well, her chances of survival are at 32% at best, whereas Sasuke's survival chance is probably at a whopping 5%. I really hate to give you guys the ultimatum, so you have ten seconds to make a choice. We can all go save Sasuke; we can all go save Qui against this stranger, or split up and try to save both and epically fail," Shikamaru said grimly. Sakura twisted her clasped hands uncertainly, thinking over the odds.

"There's only three of us and a dog Kakashi Sensei left us. Plus, we don't know how strong that guy is. If we just send one person, Qui will most likely die. If we send two people, Sasuke will most likely die. Plus, we don't know where that stranger took her."

"Naruto..." Sakura glanced at her teammate. Her words seemed stuck in her throat and she couldn't quite swallow them.

The Genin couldn't discuss this issue forever. They had a mission to complete and arguing further only served as a major distraction.

"So, Naruto, Sakura. Both are your teammates. What do we do? Actually," Shikamaru sighed, "Who do you want to save?"

Sasuke's curse mark was acting up, but even that amazing power was still causing him more harm than aid. He was in danger of dying if no one came to his side. He quickened his pace, trying to catch up to the monster Suna sent.

Qui slammed one of her puzzles on her kidnapper's hand, preventing him from weaving double-hand seals. As soon as she broke free, Qui leaped away and coiled the wire that was connected to the puzzle with one hand.

"Fireball Jutsu!" Qui blew a blast at her opponent, using the wire to steal Chakra at the same time. However, the enemy snapped off the wire with his free hand and lunged at her with a kunai. Qui retaliated by blocking the attack with her own kunai.

Block, he's coming from the left...catch it, ow, he cut my hand. Right side open...go!

Taking care to read the enemy's movements and respond accordingly, Qui rushed forward and got in a few kicks that were sharp enough to make him pause, even if it was only a little. Qui grounded herself as her opponent dashed forward, intending to cut her with his free hand. 

"I can't let you do that, now," an older man called out. Qui watched as the intruder suddenly flung himself toward them both. Qui and the opponent instantly tried to put distance themselves from each other and the newcomer. However, in one swift movement, the newcomer wrapped his arm around Qui's stomach, bringing her toward him, then pivoted on his foot to slap a paper bomb on her opponent's face, effortlessly killing him. 

"Are you alright, Qui?" he asked, putting her down. Qui could only stare as she recognized the stiff white mask covering his face. "Qui?" he cocked his head to one side.

"Uncle Igo!" she all but screamed in joy as he laughed and swung her up in with an elated cry. 

"Qui-chan~!" Uncle Igo sang happily, stepping forward towards her airborne body to evade another attacker. However, just as he switched hands that gripped Qui's waist, he conversely turned around to slam his foot into the attacker, the force of the push shoving the ninja several meters away from himself. 

"No attacking my niece! We just saw each other after weeks, and you want to tear us apart? No siree! Not on my watch! Now, with the power of Qui-chan, we shall defeat you!" Uncle Igo caught Qui and let her grip onto his back for support. "Let's go!" 

"Funny as always Uncle," Qui beamed. Her uncle was extremely childish at times, like now, but that didn't make him any less loveable. He was also very reliable. 

Shikamaru sighed. They had been standing there far too long. "Alright. Let's go get Sasuke. He's the one fighting an enemy who can annihilate an entire village. We can't afford that. Better one casualty than many."