Naruto One Man Team by Ackdam

Chapter 32: Clash of the Titans

Immediately the Konoha ninja switched to guarding against this new threat as well. If the pale guy simply showing up was enough to scare the chick then he was obviously the bigger threat. That didn't mean they knocked Tayuya completely out of the picture though.

"Who the hell are you?" Kiba shouted as he readied his claws. He ignored Akamaru's whining from inside his coat as he tried to gauge the guy's intentions.

Kimimaro merely looked at him, dismissed the boy, then turned back to his previous conversation partner. "Orochimaru-sama has been waiting for too long for this prize. Now he has run out of time and patience. Even so, I shall take it to him."

It was at that point that the group realized exactly where the man had landed. Kimimaro was standing right on top of the container that held their mission goal. Tenten and Naruto both rushed him, but their weapons were blocked as the man simply leaned back, causing the coffin to tip up into the path of their strikes. With an amazing feat of aerial acrobatics, Kimimaro flipped backwards and kicked the barrel away from the group. They could only watch in awe as it went sailing up into the air, only to be caught by the Oto-nin after he recovered from his flip and jumped after it.

He landed next to Tayuya with the coffin safely in his hands and looked at her out of the corner of his eye with what could only be disgust. "Because of your incompetence, Orochimaru-sama had to switch to an undesirable host. I don't know where your teammates are, and I really couldn't care less, but when you all get back you will face my full wrath."

"Wh-what do you think you can do, y-you half dead piece of shit! You shouldn't even be able to move!" Tayuya called out with what little confidence she could muster.

"For Orochimaru-sama, I will go beyond my own limitations and succeed. My muscles are no longer what moves my body, I function on his will alone." Kimimaro leapt forward one branch before half turning his head back to her. "You haven't outlived your usefulness to me yet though. Keep them busy while I deliver him to Orochimaru-sama. Once you're done, come back to Oto and receive your punishment." With that he was gone.

Tayuya clenched her fists and lowered her head. 'Fuck. If I go back they'll kill me for failing. If I run away, they'll hunt me down, torture me, then kill me. Dammit. If I'm going down then I'm just going to have to take as many as I can down with me, starting with these little fucktards. Maybe if I stop them and catch up fast enough they'll at least let me live...' She lifted her head up and glared at the group of four in front of her. "Alright you little wannabe fodder. Let's see just how long you think you can last against someone of my caliber."

Despite her thoughts, Tayuya still doubted the length of her life in the future. Even so, she would take this fight seriously. 'If I had to guess, the blond with the swords or the guy with the ponytail is the leader. Judging from the slices they made, the blond and the bun-head are weapon specialists in training. The brat who's shirt is whimpering is from that Inuzuka clan that uses animals and would be a close range fighter. Now...what about Mr. Pineapple guy? What's his specialty? Oh yeah! Shadow manipulation. That's why I couldn't move.'

While she was assessing their strengths and weaknesses, the Konoha team was coming up with their own plan of action. Shikamaru turned his head slightly to hide his mouth from the enemy. "Well this is just getting better and better. Right when I thought we'd get an easy fight another one shows up that seems to be even stronger, so troublesome."

"Hey if you're just going to stand there and gripe, I'm going to beat this chick myself and go finish our mission." Tenten was annoyed at the Nara's lazy attitude.

"Go ahead and rush in without a plan then, see where that gets you." Kiba shot back.

"Oh like the great Inuzuka would do any better. I swear your dog has more upstairs than you do."