Of The Five Elements

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Kishimoto-sensei.

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"Yes! We're here. Now the only thing I have to do is to contact my comrades," exclaimed Rat. After an intense journey in the twisty passageway, they had finally gotten to the outer hallway. Rat visibly let out a sigh of relief. However, the same couldn't be said for Kurotsuchi. She looked quite dazed, probably still disturbed by what she had seen earlier.

Before Rat could reach for his radio coms, however, the ground began to shake violently. The two scrambled to their feet, struggling to keep their footing by leaning on the wall so that they wouldn't fall. The tremor continued for a couple more seconds before balance was restored.

"This is not good. I really have to rendezvous with Boar." Rat uttered in panic. There was a high chance that the enemies had been alerted of intruders by the spectacle earlier and were probably on their way to capture them. They could seriously get sandwiched, and there would be no way out. Rat pulled out his coms and called for Boar one more time, but once again he got no answer.

"Wait. Did you hear something?" asked Kurotsuchi while Rat was constantly clicking on his device.

Rat focused his ears and listened for any sound. Lightning! Captain! "That's my team! Come on! This way!" The ANBU quickly grabbed the girl's hand and ran toward the sound of lightning.

"Where are you going? The game isn't over yet," said a voice from the shadow.

Rat and Kurotsuchi flinched in surprise before spinning around, looking for the speaker. Rat frowned in apprehension as he didn't sense any presence a moment ago.

Soon their answer was revealed when the speaker walked out into the light. It was a dark-skinned man with shaggy hair tied into a ponytail, and black eyes. He was wearing a black, sleeveless shirt and black skin tight shorts although his six arms were what caught the two escapers' attention.

Next to him was another ninja who was comparably much bigger and taller. That one had brownish-reddish skin, and spiky orange mane that reached his shoulders. He was wearing a beige-colored, sleeveless tunic and a pair of black pants.

They were Kidomaru and Jirobo, Orochimaru's elite bodyguards, namely the Sound Four.

That was not all, however. A few meters behind the two stood a full squad of 15 peculiar-looking ninja. They were wearing the same set of uniform, white sleeveless shirts and black pants. They didn't seem to use any weapon either if their enlarged claws were anything to go by. But what was even more strange was that there were strange markings all over their skin, albeit in random, zig-zaggy patterns. A purple robe-like belt tied around their waist further confirmed their affiliation to the Sannin-turned Criminal.

"Shit. They all have cursed seals," Rat cussed out quietly, his frustration visible through his words. Kurotsuchi frowned in confusion after hearing that.

"Cursed seals?" she asked.

"No time to explain. Is your condition better yet?" Rat responded while at the same time preparing his chakra for a technique he was about to use.

"Not completely yet, but I'll help you where I can," answered Kurotsuchi.

"Good to know!" said Rat before immediately performing a set of hand seals for an attack. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! (Fire Style: Fireball)"

A giant fireball was formed before it flew toward the enemy ranks in a surprising speed. If he wanted to make it out alive, he would have to land first blood on them. With his sickles readied in his hands, Rat quickly dashed at the closest ninja. Hopefully, his surprise attack would stun them long enough and buy him some time to craft a plan. And luckily it did as one ninja who couldn't jump out in time got incinerated by the fireball.

Then, all hell broke loose. The squad full of curse seal-enhanced ninja quickly advanced on their target while their two 'leaders' stayed behind. They were ordered to only observe from afar.

Rat ducked under a claw of the first ninja then kicked the second one in the stomach before turning back to swiftly behead the first one. He then evaded to his left and struck another ninja in the back. Looping his hand around that ninja's neck, Rat then turned the guy around to block claw attacks from two more ninja. Pushing the lifeless body toward those two, Rat immediately jumped away to find himself some space. No matter how good he was, fighting multiple enemies full-on like that was suicidal.

The moment he landed, three more ninja headed for him in quick succession. Rat gritted his teeth in frustration by their relentlessness. They had gotten too close for him to react in time. It seemed he may have to use that jutsu. He was thinking of keeping it as the last resort, but the situation had forced his hands.

Just as the three approaching ninja were about to swipe their claws at the ANBU, they promptly stopped in their tracks, confusing everyone. Kidomaru, Jirobo, and Kurotsuchi widened their eyes in shock as those three ninja were then lifted off the ground, each by a golden chain.

Rat grinned in satisfaction, three chains which were materialized out of his back hurling away those three corpses. The shock effect lasted a second before the fight resumed and seemingly intensified. However, the table had turned, and it was Rat who now had the upper hand.

He dashed forward and, with one of his chains, pierced a ninja who was still eyeing the three dead bodies. Two more chains flew toward three unsuspected ninja, grabbing them tightly and breaking their ribs before throwing them at the wall. They didn't stand up after that.

Rat spun right, blocking a claw attack from another mutated ninja with his right sickle before striking that ninja in the throat with his left sickle.

"Doton: Doryuheki! (Earth Style: Earth Wall)" A mud wall suddenly rose up behind Rat, just in time to block a golden sticky arrow shot from afar by the six-armed ninja.

While his chains were lashing out at the surrounding ninja, Rat briefly glanced at the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage to see her kneeling down and breathing raggedly. The damage on her chakra network was worse than he expected if erecting the wall already exhausted her that much.

Flicking blood off his weapons, Rat continued his attack. For the next five minutes, he decimated the rest of the squad with the help of his chains which seemed to be working autonomously whipping and running through the berserk shinobi with ease.

Curse mark-enhanced or not, the squad were not well-versed with their new power at all. Every move was overreached, leaving glaring mistakes to be capitalized on. Plus, their numerical advantage was completely useless when there was no cohesion as Rat was able to separate them one by one with no effort. The blond ANBU proceeded to cut them down like a hot knife through butter. His adrenaline-filled frenzy continued for a few more grueling minutes before the fray of battle died down when the last of the cursed Sound squad was impaled in the gut, left hanging in the air before being decapitated.

Gore and body parts littered the wall and the floor, a result of a gruesome battle. No, it was less a battle and more of a massacre. Kurotsuchi gazed in awe whereas the two elite bodyguards of Orochimaru shook with anger and fear.

Kidomaru gritted his teeth and pulled his bowstring once more, readied to shoot another arrow. He had carefully chose the right window of time when Rat turned his back at them. Unfortunately, the earlier attack failed, but it didn't matter. The real game started now. Suddenly, his curse mark lit up. It was a message from his Lord calling him to be elsewhere. He had seen what he had wanted to see. The archer huffed in annoyance, but order was order. "We'll meet again, pests."

It was Jirobo who left first. The imposing guy had chosen to stay quiet throughout the whole course of events. He was just there to keep Kidomaru in line in case the six-armed ninja got tempted and toyed with his enemies again.

Before leaving though, Kidomaru mocked loudly with an impish grin on his face, "Although Kabuto will be having fun cutting up the guy with the boar mask …" With that, the six armed ninja withdrew but not before hearing Rat's roar, and proceeded to laugh wickedly just to further torment Rat.

A chain soared through the air toward where Kidomaru once stood, its talon dripping with crimson blood, but it dug into the ground instead as its target was already gone. The golden chain then retreated back to its owner.

Rat dropped down onto the floor and growled in anguish. That today had not been good on him was an extreme understatement. First, he was nearly swallowed by a giant fucking snake monster. Then, he fought against a bunch of crazy mutated ninja. And now he had been told that Boar had fallen. A comrade who had always been there with him and for him. It was true that the older man often picked on him, but it was out of good intention. Boar had helped Rat so much with adjusting to the life of ANBU. They always bantered with one another, but they were very close. Deep down Rat considered Boar as a brother he never had.

Also stunned and confused by the shocking news, Kurotsuchi walked up and sat down next to Rat. She lightly patted his shoulders, albeit awkwardly, while Rat was silently weeping. She had lost her mother as well, so she could understand what Rat was going through right now.

They stayed like that for a few minutes before Rat stood up, having recovered his composure as much as he could. "Let's get the fuck out of here," he said before walking away.

Kurotsuchi nodded and followed her savior, holding her comment out of respect. But, she knew his emotional state was unstable at the moment. She could notice that his voice was weak, and his hands were shaking.

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(Elsewhere)

Being the right-hand man of Orochimaru was no simple achievement. Only the strong and loyal ones could be selected by the Sannin. To be allowed to directly serve him spoke volume of one's capability and superiority over other 'lowly' subordinates. Hence why it was quite a surprise to Dog that he could defeat the adversary before him that quickly.

With his right shoulder bleeding profusely, Kabuto was breathing raggedly. The reason Kabuto could remain standing at all was because a pack of dog summons were currently biting the medic-nin, holding him down for the ANBU Captain to finish him off.

Ox, Rabbit, M-

A cry of pain stopped Dog from finishing his set of hand seals. He immediately looked behind in alert. Cat!

The female ANBU was blocking a constant barrage of bone projectiles although there was a huge bone impaling her left leg. In short, Cat was in grave danger right now. Facing the Kaguya turned out to be a big mistake. Against anyone else might have been fine, but not this particular opponent. She could only keep this up for so long.

Kimimaro dashed forward in surprising speed which nearly caught Cat off guard. He continuously thrust his bone sword at Cat from different angles, his speed so fast that it created afterimages.

Her reaction was getting slower, in part because of exhaustion and her gaping wound. The remnant of a miniature field of sharp bones further limited her movement. If her captain didn't finish his fight fast enough, she could seriously lose her life.

"Cat!"

A much needed reprieve finally came. She glanced at her captain and saw his signal for a pincer attack. Luckily, the Kaguya also paused his attack. Using the split-second window of opportunity when Kimimaro was distracted, Cat swiftly slashed diagonally at her assailant's abdomen. Although it practically did nothing to Kimimaro whose Kekkei Genkai allowed him to withstand the impact, Cat's intention was not to hurt him in the first place. She just needed to divert his attention for a moment.

Indeed, Kimimaro failed to notice the lightning chakra that was forming around Dog's right hand. The Kaguya grunted in annoyance, readying his bone sword to gut Cat. Just then, he heard the sound of a thousand birds chirping; however, it was too late.

"Raikiri! (Lightning Cutter)"

Kimimaro silently gasped in pain before glancing down at where his heart was. A fierce lightning coated hand was protruding from his chest. Normally, a simple chakra-enhanced blade could do nothing to Shikotsumayaku (Dead Bone Pulse), but this time it was an S-class piercing attack that could even pierce a bolt of lightning. With his already failing body, the last Kaguya knew he could not escape death.

As loyal of a servant he was, Kimimaro decided to give his all even at his dying breath. That was because Orochimaru-sama had willed it. So, with one last attempt, he brought together both his hands and concentrated his chakra for a final and suicidal attack. However, fate didn't seem to answer his call as his chronic illness chose that time to act up. Blood rushed up his throat. Pain spread throughout his body for the umpteenth time as lightning shocked and burned his body from the inside out.

Kimimaro, the last member of the vicious Kaguya clan, slumped down as his life was slowly slipping away. Life was cruel, but sometimes, life could be merciful as well. He had found his beacon of life, someone he would protect with his life. Even though his lord could not use his body as a host, at least Kimimaro had done what his lord had ordered him to. Thus, with that, a clan known for its fierceness and savagery in battle was no more.

Dog pulled his hand out of the lifeless body of Kimimaro before lying the corpse on the ground. He then helped Cat stand up, putting her arm around his shoulders.

An explosion of cloud alerted both ANBU agents. They glanced up and saw that Dog's pack had been attacked and dispelled. However, Kabuto was nowhere to be seen. Only a broken pair of glasses was left behind.

"Your order, captain?" asked Cat, gritting her teeth in pain from her injury. The wound had to be dressed, but not now, not here.

No doubt noticing that, Dog decided they would have to abort their mission at once. The mission had been compromised anyway, so it was too risky for them to stay any longer. "We're getting out of here, but first we need to reunite with the other two. Let's go."

The pair began to make their way back to their rendezvous point, with Dog supporting his injured comrade.

Around 10 minutes later, they arrived at the intersection. They saw Rat standing and looking at their direction, but there was also a girl next to him. Upon closer inspection, Dog recognized the girl was the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage. Short black hair and pink colored eyes were the distinctive appearance enlisted in her profile. After all, it was their protocol that the black ops ninja were given information on important figures in every village, ally or not. Of course, the information was regularly updated for maximum efficiency.

However, the second-in-command of the ANBU squad was absent. "Where is Boar?" asked the captain, but he didn't receive any reply. Rat looked away with his hands clenched tightly and his shoulders slumped down.

Both Dog and Cat stopped in their tracks, a lump in their throat. Death during mission was no news, as such was guaranteed in this line of work. But, for a squad to have a good synergy, there had to be a close connection between the members. Simply put, Boar was an important member, so losing him affected them just as much as it did Rat.

The mood was dreary, but they had to carry on. Rat swapped with Dog in carrying Cat while the captain devised an impromptu escape plan. They still had to leave this place alive, and most importantly, deliver the tragic news to Boar's family. That was the least they could do for him.

Turning toward Kurotsuchi, Dog asked, "Since when were you kidnapped?"

"I don't know."

"Supposing that it had been a couple of days, there should have been a rescue party looking for you by now, correct?" Dog deducted.

"I guess so," replied Kurotsuchi, frowning at the implication. Her grandfather should have noticed about her disappearance and dispatched teams to locate her.

"Be that as it may, we are leaving right now, and you're coming with us. After we've gotten far enough, you'll be on your own. Understood?"

Kurotsuchi nodded in acceptance.

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Groggily opening his eyes, Boar was greeted with a blinding bright light. Taking a few seconds to regain focus, he could recognize a light bulb dangling under the dull grey ceiling. He tried to move his body, but couldn't do so as if there were straps binding him down onto a bed. Bed?

He looked around in mild panic. There were a dozen of metal beds covered with white clothes, and an ample amount of bloodied scalpels. Directly to his right was another bed without the same white cloth, so he could see what, or who, was on it. That person too was strapped like him, except there was no chest movement that indicated breathing. He couldn't identify the gender of that person either as the face was hidden by a red mask. Red mask? An Iwa ANBU?!

Realizing that he was in quite a bind literally, he thrashed about harder in a hope that the strap would get loose enough for him to free himself. He abruptly stopped when there was a sharp hiss coming from above. Slowly looking up in trepidation, he swore to god today couldn't get any worse.

"Ah Fuck."