Shout out to ElementalWolfe for correcting me in the prologue; I totally missed that Shikaku Shukaku thing. My bad! :D
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The walls came down.
Everyone rushed in.
But the Hokage was dead.
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Sakura spat curses at the uncaring sky.
She was pinned to a tree by sand. Stupid, stupid sand that she couldn't move, couldn't bend. Toph-sensei had, but she was nowhere near as good as her teacher. And now that her arms were pinned at her sides, she couldn't use them to leverage herself.
Oh, and Naruto was fighting a giant sand monster on top of a giant toad. Since when had he had even signed a Summoning Scroll? Much less the contract belonging to a Sannin.
Sakura pulled with the only part of her still free; her toes. Toph-sensei had been able to fight using only her feet (arms folded behind her back in an infuriating taunt) but even then she had been touching the ground. Sakura hissed but tried anyway. There was no way she was leaving all of the action to her teammate.
Stupid trees.
Stupid Sand ninja invasion.
Stupid EVERYTHING.
Sakura felt the sand cinch a bit tighter around her. For the first and probably the last time, she was glad that she didn't have much of a bust.
Sauske was lying on a nearby branch, hair still as stupidly perfect as when he and Kakashi-sensei had strolled in (late!) to the exams. Sakura spared a second of fruitless struggling to glare at him, then commenced her pulling.
It was only team 7 on the battlefield. There would be no one to help her, not Toph-sensei nor Kakashi-sensei.
Technically, she reevaluated, it was only Naruto on the battlefield-
A toad foot slammed down hair-raisingly close to her and Sauske.
"NARUTO! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"
"Sorry!" He called down, his voice faint from the distance. "Gamabunta, look where you're stepping! My friends are down there!"
"Little busy," the toad remarked as it caught the sand monster's- was that a raccon?- arm as it tried to slam sandy claws into the toad's head.
Sakura clenched her teeth as the sand tightened again. She reached into it, feeling the malicious being controlling it. She couldn't wrench control away from it, but if she didn't she would die.
Be firm. Immovable. Stubbornness is key to Earthbending.
She pulled, but the sand ignored her.
Stupid stupid.
Up above her, something happened. From what she could tell, one of Naruto's attacks had landed.
And it landed hard.
Both giant monsters abruptly vanished, the sand one disintegrating into crumbliness while the other puffed into white smoke.
There was a long pause, then the hold on the sand vanished. Sakura was released in a sudden rush, starting to fall but catching herself with the earth that had been killing her.
She floated carefully towards Sauske, spinning precariously until she reached his branch.
His pulse was steady, but his breathing was labored and irregular. Sakura gritted her teeth, released the sand, and pulled him up onto her back.
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Boulders
FanfictionThere are certain reasons why you should not help Aang with angry spirits..... Ever. Because you might end up in a strange place where no one's ever heard of bending and are all so light on their stupid feet that you can hardly sense them coming. A...