"The target is vulnerable. And they are alone."
"Do we confirm extraction?"
"Confirm. The bait is perfect. Notify the capture team. We are pulling back, as Danzō sama will want a report that the plan is underway."
"Understood."
The two Root agents dissolved into the shadows, as silently as they had arrived.
*******
Naruto and Sakura turned a corner, entering a narrow alley that served as a shortcut to the Senju residence. It was empty, and the noise of the reconstruction seemed distant here.
"Ha! I'm gonna beat you!" Naruto panted, speeding up.
"Don't even dream of it, you idiot...!"
Sakura stopped.
She stopped so abruptly that Naruto, who was a step ahead, almost fell.
"What? Tired already?" he said, turning around.
"Naruto."
Sakura's voice was different, as all the amusement had vanished. She was in a combat stance.
"Sakura chan? What's wrong?"
"Shut up," she ordered in a whisper. "Don't look. There are four guys on the roofs watching us."
Naruto stopped smiling, and his hands, which had been behind his head, slowly fell to his sides.
"When?"
"For the last three seconds. They were waiting for us, which means this is an ambush."
Four figures dropped from the sky, landing in a perfect circle around them.
They all wore the same blank, white porcelain masks, along with the standard gray Root uniform.
"Wow," Naruto said, his voice now dangerously quiet. "So Danzō didn't waste any time."
"Target Haruno confirmed," one of the agents said, his voice empty and emotionless. "Target Uzumaki confirmed. The report was correct. They are alone."
"Capture protocol," said a second agent, who looked like the leader. "Neutralize the Jinchūriki."
Sakura laughed, a short, humorless sound.
"Neutralize?"
Naruto smirked. "Hey, at least they consider me a threat! I'm making progress!"
"Now!" shouted the Root leader.
The four agents moved as one. Two of them launched dozens of senbon coated in a purple liquid, and the other two threw small gas spheres that shattered at their feet, releasing a pale green smoke.
"Poison gas! Hold your breath!" Sakura yelled.
"I know! But we can't stay here!"
"We won't!"
Sakura didn't run.
"SHANNARO!"
She punched the ground.
It was the impact of a meteorite, and the entire alley trembled, while the stone pavement exploded upward with titanic force.
The shockwave was so violent it created an instant gale, launching the poison gas skyward and dispersing it harmlessly. The dozens of poisoned senbon were deflected by the rain of debris.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
In the midst of the chaos, Naruto created twenty clones.
"Go! Find out what they can do!"
*****
On a rooftop two hundred meters away, Kakashi and Shizune were watching.
"It's started," Kakashi said, his single eye fixed on the dust cloud.
"We should go in!" Shizune said, her hand on her senbon pouch. "Tsunade sama said they shouldn't fight...!"
"Tsunade sama said to wait," Kakashi interrupted her calmly. "There are always unforeseen variables in a ninja's life, and they must learn how to overcome them. Let's observe. If things get ugly, we'll intervene."
*******
The dust settled. The Root agents were unharmed, having leaped onto the alley walls. Ten of Naruto's clones had already vanished, reduced to smoke.
"Haruno's strength is anomalous," the leader said, his voice as calm as if commenting on the weather. "A Rank. Maybe S. Avoid close combat with her at all costs. Switch to suppression."
"Hey! My clones are strong too!" Naruto yelled.
"The clones are a distraction," a second agent said. "The Jinchūriki is the priority. I'll handle him."
"Containment team, now!" the leader ordered.
Two agents, 'Root One' and 'Root Two,' ran along the walls, launching metal wires from their wrists in an attempt to catch Sakura in a net. The other two, 'Root Three' (the leader) and 'Root Four,' launched themselves directly at Naruto.
"Naruto, they're yours!" Sakura shouted, leaping back to avoid the wire net.
"No problem! Tactical Fodder Jutsu!"
Naruto sent his ten remaining clones to intercept the two agents.
The Root agents moved swiftly. Every movement was efficient, precise, and deadly, using short swords coated in poison. Every time a clone got close, it was met with a clean slice to the throat or chest that made it burst into smoke.
"They're fast!" Naruto said, backing up.
"Naruto, your left!" Sakura yelled.
While Naruto was distracted by the two agents in front of him, the ambush leader, Root Three, who had been on the wall, launched himself.
Sakura, who was dodging the wires from Root One and Two, saw the move.
I've got you!
She jumped, using the building wall as a launch pad, and headed straight for the leader in mid air.
"Take this!"
The Root agent, seeing the punch coming, did something unexpected: he didn't block, but let himself be hit.
Or so it seemed.
At the last second, the agent's body dissolved into a puddle of mud.
A mud clone!
"Too late!"
The real leader appeared behind Sakura in the air and kicked her in the back, sending her speeding toward the wall of the opposite building.
"SAKURA CHAN!"
The impact was brutal, and the brick cracked and caved in.
"Target Haruno contained," the leader said, landing softly. "Now, the Jinchūriki."
The four Root agents, having dispatched all the clones, turned toward Naruto and slowly surrounded him.
"Hey, that was cheating!" Naruto shouted. "Four against one isn't fair!"
"We aren't here to be fair," the leader said. "We are here to complete a mission."
They readied themselves to attack.
KRA KOOM.
The wall of the building behind them exploded outward.
The Root agents spun around, surprised.
Sakura stepped out of the hole she had made in the building, brushing dust off her clothes. She didn't have a single scratch.
"Nice kick," she said, her voice low and furious. "Seriously. It almost messed up my hair."
"Impossible," Root Four whispered. "That kick should have incapacitated her."
"Forget the Jinchūriki!" the leader yelled, realizing his mistake. "She is the primary threat! Suppression protocol! Use the seals!"
The four agents lunged at Sakura.
"Hey, don't forget about me!" Naruto yelled.
He created fifty more clones, which flooded the alley. "Let's go, guys! A real fight!"
The battle resumed, but it was different this time, as Naruto's clones weren't trying to win, but to get in the way.
"Paralysis Seal Formation!" the leader ordered.
The four agents split up, each taking out a scroll.
"Don't let them finish!" Naruto shouted.
"I won't!"
Sakura launched herself at the nearest agent, Root One.
He dodged, but she wasn't aiming for him; she punched the ground at his feet, and the pavement exploded, launching him into the air.
Root Two and Four threw kunai with explosive tags at her.
"Not so fast!" Naruto created a Rasengan and slammed it into the ground, creating a small crater and a shockwave that deflected the explosions.
"Thanks!" Sakura yelled.
"You're welcome!"
The leader, Root Three, took advantage of the distraction and appeared in front of Sakura.
"Now!"
He pulled out a specialized kunai, one with a nearly invisible metal wire tied to the handle, and threw it at Sakura's feet. The wire tangled around her ankles.
"Damn it!"
Root Three pulled hard, yanking Sakura off balance, and she fell to one knee.
It was the opening they were waiting for.
"She's mine!" Root Four shouted, lunging at the kneeling Sakura. His hand was aimed straight at her forehead, a paper seal in his palm.
"Mind Suppression Seal! Secure her!"
Sakura was off balance, and the hand was closing in. She couldn't bring her strength to bear in time.
"SAKURA CHAN!"
An orange flash.
Naruto appeared, getting between Sakura and the Root agent.
The blow meant to apply the seal to Sakura's forehead struck Naruto square in the chest, making a dull thud. The Root agent stumbled back from the force of the impact, but Naruto remained standing, motionless.
"What?" the agent said.
"Bad move," Naruto said.
He looked down. The paper seal was stuck to his jacket, but it wasn't glowing; it hadn't activated.
"Rasengan!"
A sphere of blue chakra formed in his hand, and he slammed it into the Root agent's chest.
Unlike before, the agent was so close he couldn't react, and the impact was total, so the Rasengan threw him backward, smashing him against the far wall of the alley. He slid to the ground, motionless.
"One down!" Naruto yelled.
Sakura, free from the wire, leaped to her feet. "My turn!"
She turned toward Root One, who was still in the air from the previous explosion. She jumped, her fist glowing with green chakra.
"SHANNARO!"
She hit him in mid air, and the Root agent shot skyward, like a black dot disappearing over the roofs of Konoha.
"Two," Sakura said, landing.
The two remaining agents, the leader and the one who had used the mud clone, looked at each other.
They analyzed the situation. Target Haruno had S Rank strength and S Rank reflexes. Target Uzumaki had S Rank jutsu (Rasengan) and Jōnin level tactics (use of clones, feints). They were in a two on two, but they were outmatched. They had lost two members. The mission has failed catastrophically.
"Mission failed," the leader said. "Withdrawal protocol. Now!"
Both threw smoke bombs at their feet.
POOF!
The alley filled with thick, black smoke.
"Don't let them escape!" Sakura yelled.
Sakura used the force of a punch to disperse the smoke, but no one was there.
They were gone.
*******
On the rooftop, Kakashi and Shizune saw the two Root agents flee in opposite directions.
"I'll go for the one on the left," Kakashi said. "You take the one on the right."
"Got it!"
Shizune leaped away, following the agent fleeing over the market rooftops.
"Stop! Surrender! You're surrounded!" Shizune shouted, loosing a rain of poisoned senbon.
The Root agent dodged most of them, but one grazed his arm. He landed on a flat roof and staggered, as Shizune's poison acted fast.
He stopped and turned to look at her, but then he quickly brought his hand to his mouth. He bit down on something, and immediately a convulsion wracked his body, making him fall to his knees as foam poured from his mask.
Shizune stopped, horrified. "No..."
******
A few blocks away, Kakashi cornered the leader in a dead end alley.
"It's over."
The Root agent looked at Kakashi.
He bit down on the same pill and collapsed.
Kakashi sighed. "What a drag."
******
Back in the battle alley, the silence was deafening. The place was completely destroyed.
Naruto and Sakura stood, back to back, panting.
"Whoa..." Naruto said. "That was... intense."
Sakura looked at her own gloves, which were smoking slightly from the friction. The adrenaline was fading, and she started to tremble.
"I'm... shaking." Sakura swayed a little. "That was... too close."
"Hey!"
Naruto caught her before she fell.
"I think... I'm gonna... sit down," she murmured.
She slid down the wall, ending up seated on the rubble strewn floor. Naruto sat down next to her, so close their shoulders touched.
Sakura, exhausted, let her head fall onto Naruto's shoulder.
"I'm... beat," she murmured, closing her eyes. "Suddenly I'm craving that cinnamon bun."
Naruto laughed, a tired sound. "That's the spirit! But I don't think I can walk this time!"
"Me neither."
Kakashi and Shizune landed in front of them.
"They're all dead," Kakashi said. "All four used poison pills, so they left nothing behind."
Shizune looked at the two genin, sitting on the ground, leaning on each other. "They're... insane. Sacrificing themselves like that..."
"It means Danzō is terrified of Granny finding out," Naruto said.
"Well," Kakashi said. "Mission accomplished. The trap worked, and you two are still alive. Good job."
"Great," Naruto said. "Hey, Kakashi sensei! Can you carry us? We're wounded heroes!"
Kakashi sighed.
*
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