Even with the knockout gas removed from the scene, the forest was still far from safe. Sakura had started taking care of the fires, but it had spread over a wide area. Even with her water techniques that were a bit rough around the edges, there were still more spreading around. Even in areas where she was certain the fires couldn't spread as quickly. That could only mean someone was setting these fires and with the flames blue, she could only draw one conclusion.
That turned her rescue mission into a hunt for the villains. If she could take those people down, that would assure everyone's safety.
'But I still don't know how many villains there are.' For all the trouble that they've gone it, she knew the likelihood of them leaving now would be moot. She just had to find them before they achieved their objective and since she was one of them...
'I can be my own bait,'
When her plan seemed set, a rumble in the ground turned her attention in another direction. She went to get higher in the trees overlooking the forest.
The wind whipped her hair as she peered around checking for any more abnormalities in the area. The fire was still there, then there was the camp that was still in one piece. And then there was the towering trail of ice that was peaking above the canopy.
'Shouto and Katsuki were on a team together,' and this sign of struggle didn't bode well if the villains had found him and a fight had happened. On the other hand, this left a trail for her to follow. Glancing back at the fire area, Sakura was once again at crossroads.
But she already knew what decision to make at the moment.
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"Dammit, he's too fast!" Shouto panted, craning his neck to watch the cloaked villain practically dance his way through the forest high above their reach.
"If only Iida were here," Ochaco panted.
Too much too fast. Izuku had barely gotten the message out to Mandalay before he rushed into the forest again looking for Katsuki. Only to come across an injured Mezoi that had been attacked by a villain which caused Fumikages dark shadow to go berzerk. They were chased through the forest by the monstrous dark shadow and then finally came upon Katsuki and Shouto who were battling with difficulty against the villain Moonfish. He had the ability to turn his teeth to razor blades and was proving difficult to best with his skills, but Dark Shadow had brought the villain down in nearly an instant before Shouto and Katsuki's flame-based quirks tamed Fumikage's quirk.
Even after Izuku found Katsuki they were still far from out of the woods. Trying to safely get him back to camp, they had formed almost a barricade around him. However, another villain from the league managed to slip through their defenses and captured not only Katsuki but Fumikage as well.
Izuku wasn't sure what his quirk was, but it allowed him to take Katsuki and Fumikage and trap them in small spheres that could literally fit in his pocket. Though they chased after him, he was agile and more trouble followed when they ran into Ochaco and Tsuyu on the path, also facing another villain. But she had run away as soon as the numbers were against her.
Things were going from bad to worse. But Izuku wasn't willing to give up yet.
"I have an idea,"
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Dabi waited for the rest of his companions to arrive after Compress sent the message that he had captured Bakugou. Now the issue was how they would get their hands on Sakura Haruno.
'That muscle head was supposed to subdue her, but he's apparently out of commission.' From what they were told, there were two students that would prove a challenge in the power department. That was the boy on their kill list Izuku Midoriya and the girl on their capture list, Sakura.
'What's taking those morons so long?' His clones had faced off against her, but she was better than what Shigaraki had warned.
They had already taken too much time in his opinion.
"Mr. Compress already succeeded. Took him long enough!" His comrade Twice spoke in changing tones matching the clashing statements. Everyone in this group could be assigned their own unstable mental constitution. At least they were useful in the cause.
"Don't be stupid. He did a good job. Now we just have to wait for everyone to get back here."
"You're stupid! Forgive me,"
"This place was supposed to be hard to find because of the wall of flame and gas, but the gas has cleared away,"
Twice leaned forward, his eyes visibly squinting under the face mask, "What about the girl? Ah, who needs her?"
"Muscular was supposed to deal with her, but since he isn't responding there was one-way Shigaraki said would work to get her, now we just have to wait-
"Wait for what exactly?"
Heads turned in all directions to find the voice hidden amongst the forest, Dabi's flames were already in his hands as he looked around. He didn't want to just shoot off his flames and set the forest on fire, or he would just box the two of them in on their meeting place and the others might not be able to get through.
Sakura landed a little ways from the two villains.
"Ah, it's her! Who is she?" Twice pointed.
"So you followed us, risky move when you're a target,"
Actually, she considered this the best move to make. The target of the villains was far away from the reach of the other students and teachers which meant they wouldn't get caught in the crossfire and also, they wouldn't be able to interfere with her.
Well almost. To her right, Sakura had seen Yuga hiding in the bushes where the two were going to cross and she'd rather they not find him. He was trembling trying to keep his breathing soft by covering his mouth. Not exactly, someone, she would deal willing to fight, hopefully, that also meant he would keep out of her way.
"Let's see how you do this time," Dabi motioned for Twice to get her on the other side.
"Let's," Sakura leaned forward, ready to strike but she pivoted out of the way as a strong bloodlust came at her from behind. Footsteps were crunching softly into the ground, but the presence was gone. Only in that last moment, did Sakura sense that overwhelming thirst for blood. Still, the blade grazed her side.
A girl came into view, she was wearing a school uniform. Ash blonde hair in two messy buns, golden eyes that were wild and untamed. Already telling Sakura that something was off with her.
"Aw, only a little," She looked at the blade, pouting, "No one else is here yet?"
Himiko Toga had stepped through the shadows while Dabi and Twice were taking Sakura's attention, with an unusually wide grin and wild eyes like she had just been on a killing spree. The girl was one of the most unpleasant in Dabi's opinion, and also one of the more unstable.
"You lunatic, we have to bring her back alive,"
Sakura shrugged off the sting, it was nothing compared to a sword to the gut. That girl did however seem to know where the vitals were because she had grazed that particular spot. They weren't trying to kill her and yet it seemed they weren't completely able to handle themselves either. At least mentally, she would have to take into account they might not have the stability to follow through with their goals.
Three-on-one didn't make that much of a difference to her though.
"I know, but I can still cut her a little," Himoko stated with a bright grin.
Dabi shook his head, "We have our orders, just follow through. This is the last chance,"
"Try it," Sakura provoked.
No one was able to move from their positions before a scream caught their attention, and turned heads into the sky as one of their members Mr. Compress (the alias he introduced himself with) arrived, but he was not alone. On his back, crushing him into the ground was Izuku, Mezou, and Shouto.
"Izuku, Shouto, Mezou!"
"Out of the way Compress," Dabi instructed, throwing out his arm.
Understanding their dilemma quickly, Dabi took action, releasing his flames to get them away from the villain that was his comrade. Shouto had managed to dodge but Izuku and Mezou were both burned on their arms while the villain they were on top of seemed to vanish into thin air after Dabi had warned him of the oncoming flames.
"Ahh!" Izuku threw his head back in pain. Sakura barely had time to do the bare minimum of healing his injuries, but it helped with the pain, now he was forced to experience a whole new degree of it. Almost a hundred degrees, as the heat of the flames, bit into his flesh and bones, evaporating his blood, pulling his skin tight, and making it turn dark as it boiled.
"Izuku!" Sakura was in the air, making quick hand signs before circling her fingers and placing them at her mouth. With her cheeks puffed, she blew out a gush of water that came out fiercely with the intent of extinguishing the flames. A mist came to life as the two opposite elements were met.
"Well that's a surprise," Dabi said holding up his flames against the water, both attacks canceling each other out. But it was keeping Sakura from helping her classmates.
That's when Twice and Himiko took to attack as well. Tomura had given a kill list along with their capture list and Izuku was one of the main targets for the former. Shouto was trying to freeze Twice, but the villain was just as agile as his companion and even broke through the ice using nothing but a measuring tape. He hopped along spouting nonsense all the while.
These villains were different from the ones Tomura brought to the USJ, that was certain. They were like an elite team, though small in numbers, they made up for that in their skills. It was a smart tactic and far more perilous than the League's previous attack.
"Do you have Bakugou?"
Mr. Compress appeared from the single marble that had been left in his presence after the fall, showing off his quirk "Yes,"
"Then take care of our other target already," Dabi ordered, aiming his flames at Sakura who dodged. But came up from behind her.
"Don't let him touch you!" Mezou warned. He was crouched in front of Izuku after saving him from getting stabbed by the female villain.
Sakura pivoted out of the way, grabbing the guy's wrist but he was agile, and immediately attempted to touch her with his left so she jumped out of the way.
"We need to leave!" Mezou called to all of them.
"Didn't they just say they have Katsuki?" Sakura asked. She couldn't think about running away if that was true, if it was this particular villain who seemed to be able to turn himself into a marble, that might've been what had happened to Katsuki.
"I have your bird friend too," Mr. Compress said, digging in the right pocket of his long yellow coat. However even though his face was covered by a mask, Sakura could see that he seemed surprised.
"What?"
Mezou held up two marbles between one of his gloved hands, "Looking for these? I had a feeling that's where Tokoyami and Bakugou were after you kept flaunting those pockets,"
"Shoji!" Izuku cried with a big beat-up smile.
"As expected of someone with six arms,"
Shouto created a wall of ice to stop Twice from pursuing, as Izuku and Mezou started running over to him. "Let's get out of here now!"
"Sakura come on!" Izuku called after the pink-haired girl.
However, Sakura didn't make any move to retreat. Though the situation changed, she was intent on finishing the League or at least thinning out the ranks. She had questions about many things that were lingering in her mind and she wasn't going to waste the chance to get them.
"Sakura, don't face them alone!" Izuku cried, recognizing the girl moving to a fighting stance.
"If we don't put a stop to this now, they're just going to keep on pestering us!"
Shouto interjected, "Don't be stupid, they're after you, and if you fight-
"I won't let them capture me," Besides, there was still one more student present that the others weren't aware of and Sakura didn't want to give away his position. She had seen Yuga hiding in the bushes a little ways from where the villain was. Even if they escaped, Sakura wouldn't know if he was spotted.
On top of that, she didn't want to leave. If she could bring in the rest of this group then they might at least let the authorities know what their intentions are and where the rest were residing including their leader.
Because at this rate the attacks might not ever stop.
"Is that a Nomu?!" Izuku spotted the creature behind the tree trunk, exposed brain and bulking figure, with few distinctions of its own.
"Izu-
Her attempt to reach them was blocked by a wall of black mist, attempting to engulf her. She managed to jump back in time. Izuku, Shouto, and Mezo were being towered over by the wall of black that glared at them through familiar yellow eyes.
Kurogiri opened warp gates of black mist near the villains. "It's been five minutes since the signal, let's go,"
'This guy,' Sakura gritted her teeth. Now she wanted to put an end to this. Two of the villains had already slipped through the warp gates. Only leaving Dabi and Mr. Compress.
"Hold on, we haven't completed the mission yet," Dabi said boldly as he glared at Sakura. He wasn't going to leave until they obtained Katsuki and Sakura.
Mr. Compress smirked behind his mask, "Don't worry. They seemed so happy to rush out here, so I thought I'd give them a present,"
That aloof statement took their attention, but Compress didn't intend to leave them in suspense for long. "It's the basics of magic. If I flaunt something, it's because there's something I don't want you to see,"
Mr. Compress removed his mask, though he was still wearing another underneath it was slightly less concealing, showing off his eyes and mouth which he opened to reveal two marbles.
"No way!" Shouto and Izuku were quick to realize what or rather who was in those marbles.
With a snap of his fingers, the marbles Mezo had been holding released what had been inside, to reveal shards of ice.
When Mr. Compress had taken Katsuki and ran to escape, Shouto tried to stop him with his ice and created a large trail that Sakura had seen as well but it wasn't enough. He had taken the chance to create decoys and flaunted placing them into his pocket to make Izuku and the others believe that's where their classmates were being held captive when it was meant as a fake out.
Mr. Compress began stepping towards the warp gate, taking a final bow but then a beam of light struck the villain not long after he placed his mask on. It shattered and the marbles fell from his mouth.
"Get them!"
"I don't think so,"
Kurogiri made an effort to block Sakura's path, but Shouto and Mezo moved. Izuku had stumbled back, his injuries slowing him down.
"I won't allow you to interfere again," the warp villain stated. Mist of tendrils reaching out for her, Sakura sharply avoided the attacks, but the second was enough to give the villains time to escape.
Mezo managed to capture one of the marbles that had been freed, but Shouto was beaten to the punch by Dabi who held it up flauntingly like a prize. An unusual glimmer of satisfaction as he watched the boy fall and stumbled over himself.
"Confirm it," Dabi ordered Compress who released the marbles.
Immediately from Mezo's hands Fumikage appeared completely dumbfounded as if he hadn't been aware of his capture, and Katsuki emerged only to be grasped by the base of his neck by Dabi. Threatening to burn him up if he showed any sign of resistance.
His face was rigid, taut but his eyes wide holding fear, as he was pulled back into the darkness.
"Kacchan!" Izuku cried rushing over.
"Stay back, Deku!"
"This is an invitation Sakura Haruno," Dabi stated as he vanished into the darkness, "The door won't stay open for long,"
With that, he vanished completely. Sakura understood their intentions when the gate hadn't gone yet. They were leaving it open for her to step through. Inviting her to take the initiative. This was their way of capturing her as well using Katsuki as the hostage. If she refused she didn't know what might become of him.
This group was different than that rag team that had attacked the USJ. They were a more elite group of individuals. With the damage they had managed to cause with such a small group, Sakura knew they had to be prepared and waiting for her on the other side.
This didn't leave her with a choice.
"The gates still open, we can go-
"No Izuku!" Sakura placed herself in front of the gate. "The invitation wasn't for you,"
His eyes widened, "Sakura?"
She glanced back, it wasn't growing smaller but they hadn't told her how long they would wait for forh er to make her decision. "They're after me,"
Shouto gritted his teeth, "You can't be serious, you're not really thinking of-
"I'm going to make sure everyone stays safe," She was still keeping her back turned from the group, her eyes still on the gate.
"Not alone-
"It's better like this"
"We can help you-
The dry chuckle silenced Mezou, "No, there isn't anything you guys can do. Not the way you are right now. If you go with me, you would just get in my way. I can't fight them and protect you all at the same time,"
Shouto raised his voice, "You don't have to! We can help you! You don't have to face them alone,"
Sakura turned away from the gate, with a sight that caught everyone's breath. Her eyes squinted with her lips stretched wide, a sweet smile, sincere with strong eyes. She held up her fist.
"I promise, I'll protect you all….even if it costs me my life. I'll bring Katsuki back, so don't worry!"
With a cheerful smile still on her face, Sakura stepped into the abyss, and as soon as she had it vanished behind so no one else could follow through.
"SAKURA"
Everyone watched completely shocked, at the sight, their eyes wide and mouths hanging as their hearts beat as if trying to escape their chests.
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It felt like she was being pulled forward through the darkness, Sakura held strong as she finally caught sight of light on the other end and held up her guard as the dark began to vanish and the sight of a dimly lit room emerged.
Her enemies are in her line of sight. The villains attacked the camp, with Dabi holding strong onto Katsuki in a clear warning. And on the side, sitting on a bar stool, Tomura Shigaraki.
"Welcome Sakura Haruno,"
Sakura knew that behind that hand, there was a smug smile for the villain who felt victorious and she made a promise to herself. This was something she was going to make them all regret. Not as Sakura, hero in training but as a kunoichi of the hidden leaf.
She didn't need the others to see her. Because this time it wouldn't be the student that attacked.
It would be the ninja.