Naruto/Gaara/Kakashi/Guy/Temari/Kankuro
The remaining six shinobi were deeply engaged with their respective opponents. Gaara continued the onslaught with his sand, followed by an enraged Naruto delivering extremely powerful punches to Deidara. He was beginning to lose more of his ability to think on a calm and rational level. This concerned Kakashi as he briefly glanced over at his former student. He was concerned that Naruto was losing his temper more and more frequently, which was very unlike the blonde. Yes, he cared for his teammates but this was beyond caring. The older shinobi then remembered that his former student had mentioned that the fox had claimed that Mina was his mate.
Could it be...?
The only possible explanation Kakashi could come up at the moment was that the fox spirit was reacting to the news of his injured mate. Obviously, he wasn't taking it well as he was pulverizing his opponent. He turned his attention back onto the red-headed puppet master, who had pulled out one of his many puppets. Kankuro and Temari were staring in shock as they recognized the jutsus being performed...that had once belonged to the third Kazekage himself. Gaara made no indication that he heard this, as he was busy dealing with an angry Naruto and the blond Akatsuki member, much to the other siblings' relief. Sasori explained how he came to obtain the third Kazekage. He had fought hard and admitted to the fact that he had trouble against the the man. He had been, after all, the most powerful Kage in the Hidden Sand Village. When he was finally successful, he kidnapped and, eventually, murdered the Kazekage.
"He's my favorite puppet out of the bunch." Sasori said with a smirk.
Kankuro prepared his puppets for an attack, about how the third Kazekage was practically turned into a slave. Temari prepared herself as well and shared her brother's anger. Kakashi and Guy carefully eyed their opponent and observed a strange, grainy substance that was forming in the air. The Sharingan user analyzed the situation at hand and prepared his next move. Sasori wondered who would die first. He talked about how he would attack them all and see who would die first.
"Iron Sand..."
Neji/TenTen/Lee
Each shinobi had been traveling through the tunnels of the Akatsuki base and eventually came across a clone of themselves. This would prove to be a difficult task, seeing that they would be facing off with those that knew their techniques. Neji would be facing off with a Byakugan user, TenTen would be facing off with a weapon user and Lee would be facing off with someone who knew the way of the Lotus. This would serve as a test for each ninja. Each of the Leaf Shinobi took their offensive stances.
"Bring it!"
"I shall not lose."
And they all charged at their respective foes.
Mina's POV
I charged the medic nin that blocked my way. He simply stood there and waited for me to get close before he sidestepped and tripped me. I immediately got up and settled myself down. I wasn't going to attack foolishly and carelessly like I had just done. I needed to keep a cool head. I decided to use the one soldier pill that I had in my pocket. I was lucky enough to find it there, considering that I completely forgotten that I even had one since all of my supplies had been confiscated by Deidara. I quickly swallowed it and prepared myself to fight the medic nin properly.
"You still insist on fighting me?" He asked. "I had no intention of harming you."
"You speak in the past tense." I noted.
The medic nin nodded before performing a jutsu that I didn't recognize. I put up my chakra shield to prepare for whatever attack he launched at me. It never came. Instead, he tried to attack me from below. Somehow I managed to dodge that attack and narrowly missed being punched in the gut. However, he managed to grab me by the neck and pinned me against the wall of the tunnel. His hand began to glow green, prepared to destroy whatever tendon and nerve that he was going for.
"I have no choice." The medic said. "You'll simply become a puppet for the master."
He launched his attack...
