The Path of a Shinobi (Reader x various)

Last Two Hearts

The fighting had ensued for quite some time now. Luckily, you and Kakashi Sensei had managed to destroy one of the creature's heart. The one with the Lightning nature was out.

Shikamaru had gone off with Hidan to who knows where. But we had faith in him and knew that it was part of the plan he came up with beforehand.

We just had to wait and see if he could pull it off.

Ino and Choji were working together to handle one of the other creatures, the one with a wind nature. They were faring okay but were beginning to show signs that they were struggling.

But the one with a fire nature was still going strong and shooting a row of fireballs at us. Kakuzu stood watching from the sidelines but would attack every once in awhile.

Running up one of the trees, you were evading the series of fireballs that were slowly about to singe you. As you were about to leap to one of the tree branches, you felt a hand clutching itself around your ankle. You were forcefully hauled down and made impact with the solid, dirt ground.

A small groan of pain escaped your lips as you stared up at the small, cloud of dust that was forming around you and clouding your vision. You propped yourself up on both your elbows but you felt your back began to slightly ache.

'Come on Shikamaru, how much longer.' You shifted your weight to your left and used your left elbow to prop yourself up. With your right hand, you used it to make a quick hand sign and create a shadow clone.
"Go check on Shikamaru." Your clone nodded her head and quickly disappeared in a second from the cloud of dust.

Kakuzu unclasped his hand from your ankle but you felt the black like threads start to wrap itself around your body and lift you up midair. The threads had a tight crushing hold on you all the way from your mouth down your knees.

"I intend to replace the hearts I've lost with theirs. You'll watch them die in an instant." He extended his hand outward and sent the black threads to hold down Kakashi Sensei and the others to the ground.

Watching them struggle to undo or loosen the threads from their wrists and ankles, made you want to go to their aid and help them escape.

'Damn it. It's so hard to move and make a simple hand sign.' Squirming around had only caused the threads to tighten around your body even more.

From below, you heard a muffled grunt come from Kakuzu and he started to clutch his heart in pain.

At that moment you knew Shikamaru's plan came out a success.

The threads that were crushing your body had started to loosen. You grabbed one of your kunais from your pouch and slashed the loosening threads that were wrapped around you. Kakuzu had slumped onto his knees and had fallen forward hitting the ground with a loud thud. A few seconds had gone by and there was no sign of movement or breathing that indicated he was alive.

That's another heart gone.

"Get the others!" You yelled out towards your Sensei and friends.

The two remaining creatures had noticed the fallen body of their host and simultaneously spewed out a Jutsu towards you to separate you from his body.

You leaped back onto a tree branch but used that force to push off the tree and slam your elbow right into one of the creature's mask. The mask started to crack a little and you knew the perfect way to finish it off. A bright blue Rasengan had started to form in the right palm of your hand, "It's over for you now."

Right when you were about to slam your Rasengan onto the mask, a piercing blade of air had hit your left arm and sent you skidding to the ground.

"(Y/n)!" Ino had noticed the force of the attack that was sent towards you and quickly ran over to you. She gently sat you upright on the ground and saw the deep gash of blood that was trickling down your arm.

Right after that attack, the wind nature creature had returned back inside his host as well.

"No! Damn it!" You slammed your fists on the ground once you saw that it had returned back inside him. However, you winced a little at the pain that was coming from your left arm.

"(Y/n)! You're hurt, don't do that!" Ino placed the palm of her hand on your arm and it started to glow green.
"Thanks Ino, but you know I can heal myself too."

"Nonsense. You've used up more chakra than I have, so save that up and let me heal you." You didn't bother to argue with her and let her have her way. Kakashi Sensei and Choji had made their way over to you and made sure you were okay.

Everyone heard a small chuckle and we all saw Kakuzu stand up to face us. The only different thing about him now compared to before was that he had threads flowing around his body.

"I really need to stock up on hearts now." His green pupil less eyes darted over to you. "I don't care if you're the Jinchuriki, I'll rip out your heart if I have to."

"I'd like to see you try," you said with a small smirk tugging at your lips.

The last remaining creature had now joined his side and looked like it was ready to breathe out another fire style Jutsu.

In the middle of the ground, you saw a small shadow that was slowly getting bigger and bigger by the second. You looked up at the sky and noticed the one color that made that person stand out. Pink.

"Shannaro!" Kakuzu had leaped back once he saw her coming from above and avoided being pummeled to the ground with her chakra infused fist. A debris of dirt had filled the air and blocked our view from Kakuzu.

Your (e/c) eyes had subconsciously changed to your Sharingan in case of an incoming attack through this debris. The breakage of the solid ground had created a small crater and uneven surface where Kakuzu once stood.

"Sorry we're late."

Appearing right in front of you was your blonde haired teammate who had his head slightly turned over his right shoulder to look at you with a small smile. His ocean blue eyes met with your blazing red Sharingan for a second until his eyes traveled over to the still evident gash on your left arm. His eyes hardened for a split second and it remained that way even as he turned his head back to face Kakuzu.

Sakura, Sai, and Captain Yamato stood alongside him as well, staring right at the enemy.

"The Nine Tailed brat is here as well. Well, now I have two Jinchurikis to capture, but your life will be the one to end soon." He extended his arm out and pointed a finger at you.

"You'll have to get through me first. Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha's future Hokage," he said while pointing a thumb towards his chest.

'I'll always be here to protect you even if you don't need protecting, (Y/n).'