Nebula's Echo (a Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter 39

AN; Hello my freundinnen! So, I've arrived safely in London... but this place is so confusing! So many railways! And metros! And underground and overground, how am I supposed to keep track of which to use where?! I'm so lost TT^TT I honestly don't know how you Britts keep track of all the different lines! Gosh!(╯'□')╯︵ ┻━┻

Well anyways, I think I'm going to figure it out... said I never! Happy Valentines day btw lovelies~ (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤

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Third person POV

Shikamaru was standing in front of the sound shinobi, panting heavily. He was flanked by Ino and Choji, both equally tired. Behind them was an injured and exhausted Sakura, her hair chopped short and body and face full of bruises, as well as an unconscious Naruto and Sasuke lying on their backs behind Sakura. Both were out cold, their bodies littered with dirt but strangely, no bruising. From a strange mark on Sasuke's neck, purple chakra was seeping out, lending the situation a creepy vibe. Lee was also unconscious and hurt, lying a little ways away from Sakura.

Sakura was mentally and physically exhausted. After they fought the creepy guy that called himself Orochimaru that beat Naruto and bit Sasuke, causing both to fall unconscious, Sakura had been left to protect her teammates on her own. Just as the kunichi had managed to drag both her teammates into a clearing and laid them comfortably on the ground, they'd been attacked by a team of sound shinobi. Sakura had fought with all her strength, but even so, if not for the interference of first Lee and then team 10, she doubted she would have made it, nevermind protected her helpless teammates.

The pink-haired girl gave a shuddering sigh, as she watched the struggling team 10 with worried eyes. The sound shinobi were ruthless. Ino had taken over one of their bodies, only for the sound ninja to ruthlessly hurt their own teammate to get to Ino. And it worked.

Sakura's eyes were starting to tear up, watching the friends that had come to their rescue, risking their own lives.

Shikamaru had just grabbed hold of Ino who had suffered a backlash steadied himself, gritting his teeth, preparing for the next attack. The leading sound ninja made a move to charge at them, kunai raised to kill, but before he reached them he suddenly froze, his gaze shooting to the two shinobi that suddenly landed on a tree branch on the edge of the clearing.

"That chakra..."

All the genin present followed his gaze to Tenten and the young Hyuga, whose pale eyes were ferocious, the veins around them pronounced. Tenten and Neji had just arrived at the clearing, following after their teammate Lee who had completely irresponsibly ran off on his own earlier. The sound ninja looked at them and stuttered.

"Those eyes... he's not just looking at us, he's seeing through us!"

Neji's gaze quickly moved towards the unconscious Lee before he fixed his gaze back at the enemy shinobi,  silently yet quickly judging the situation at hand. The young Hyuga was silent for a moment, before making his decision and sending an order at Tenten.

"No time to play around. Tenten, full power!"