AN :The impetuous for this litle omake was born from the magnificent naruto story by Rathanel The Empty Cage. This particular scene takes place during chapter 50. It goes without saying that if you have not read the story you will probably not understand the differences betwen cannon and this AU. Spoilers warning Ahoy! if you have not read the story do not read any further! Be sure to check out his other stories Swapping the cage and Ramen Days! They are even better than the empty cage!
*OMAKE*OMAKE*OMAKE*OMAKE*
Kuushou slammed against a rock outcropping, but shook off the blow with ease as he charged forward once again, his tails spreading to attack the ninja from multiple directions at once.
"Fuujutsu Kyuuin," the man chanted as the tails closed in on him.
Kuushou's tails stabbed into his body... and were absorbed. He could feel the youki being stripped away from him, circulating inside the ninja's body and slowly converting into chakra. Even the youki around his body was being pulled him, the technique the ninja was using somehow preventing the damage that would normally occur.
"Your struggles are meaningless," the man said calmly as he stepped forward and made a sweeping motion with his free hand. This gathered the various tails into a single stream that fed into that arm, actually increasing the rate that he was pulling youki into his body. "Even the youki of a Bijuu cannot harm me. Surrendering your body to the beast within you has made you weaker, not stronger."
Kuushou paused, his eyes narrowed. Then he spoke for the first time since the man had shown up, his voice mocking.
"You really shouldn't have done that."
He leapt backwards, covering dozens of meters in a matter of moments, and the seal kicked in. The youki still within the ninja's body was torn free, spraying blood across the clearing. The arm he had been using as the focal point for the technique was ripped apart, but there were still trace amounts of youki in other areas of his body that did their own damage.
The ninja's shocked scream of pain and anger filled the air before he released a massive surge of power. Kuushou's eyes widened as a shockwave that made the ninja's previous attacks seem like the playful taps of a child slammed into him, sending him rocketing backwards. His bones, strengthened though they were, were reduced to powder as his organs were pulped. He plowed through several rock outcroppings, the protruding rocks ripping into his hide and spilling his blood across the rocky plains.
He eventually rolled to a stop nearly a kilometer away, his body unrecognizable as anything other than a pile of flesh and blood. He lay there for several seconds, stunned by the power of the assault, before he slowly began drawing himself together, blood flowing back into his body and bones reforming with cracks and snaps.
He looked back to where the ninja had been, but could see nothing but a giant column of dust and smoke. He could feel one of the signatures he had sensed before, the one that had been flying, closing in rapidly towards the ninja's position.
A deep growl left his throat; this ninja, whoever he was, was far too dangerous to let live. His powers were vastly different from that of any other ninja he'd seen, and the ability to absorb youki alone marked him for death.
The flying ninja was near his attacker now, and they were slowly rising into the air once more, heading to the northeast. The cube that contained Akkai was moving with them.
His claws scrabbled for purchase as he pursued the fleeing ninja. He didn't have time to prepare another Menacing Ball, so he would have to get physically close enough to bring his other techniques to bear.
He finally caught sight of them. His attacker was being carried by a woman in an Akatsuki cloak with large white wings. The wings weren't natural, from what he could tell, and there was a great deal of chakra running through whatever substance the wings were made of. That same substance was wrapped around the cube and the ninja, supporting both of them with ease.
The ninja Kuushou had been fighting was bleeding profusely and one arm was hanging at his side limply, testament to the damge his youki had caused. He was still awake, however, and Kuushou could see his head turning to follow his approach.
Rocks tore themselves free of the ground and were flung into the sky as he closed in, but the woman with the wings dodged them easily, even gracefully, and the few that might have made it through were batted aside by white strands of something.
The woman was gaining altitude rapidly, but she was still low enough to the ground that a powerful leap could bring him within range. He bounded to the top of the tallest outcropping nearby and launched himself forward, his youki flaring as he boosted his muscles and manipulated the rock to essentially fling him into the sky towards the retreating pair.
Eighty meters.
His eyes gleamed and his jaw dropped open to reveal his sharp fangs.
Sixty meters.
The woman began flapping her wings even harder, her chakra flaring wildly as she reinforced them. She attempted to bank as well, but she wasn't going to be fast enough.
Fifty meters.
The man raised his good arm, the movement lacking his previous grace.
Forty meters.
Kuushou's tails were already lancing forward, crossing the remaining distance in the blink of an eye. The woman had no possible way to evade him no-
"Shinra Tensei," the man coughed, his chakra flaring wildly again.
Kuushou let out another roar of frustration as he was flung away once again, his tails whipping through the air mere inches shy of impaling both of the infuriating ninja. The power behind this attack wasn't nearly as damaging as the last one, but it was more than enough to thwart his efforts, sending him sailing through the air far away from them. He controlled his descent this time, landing on his feet and already preparing to pursue them once again. They may be out of his reach now, but they would have to come back to the ground eventually...
Another set of signatures intruded on his senses, moving underground and heading in his direction quickly – Ryuudo, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. Temari's signature was disturbed, pulsing oddly and very faint, however; it didn't take much to understand what that likely meant.
He stared after the retreating Akatsuki members, his muscles tensing, before he finally let out another low growl and turned to intercept the Suna team.
-4:00 AM-
-Ten Kilometers Northeast of Iwagakure-
Kankuro drew in a deep breath as Gaara finally returned them to the surface. It hadn't been difficult to breathe while in his undergound bubble, exactly, but it had been a little stuffy all the same. His attention still remained focused on Temari however, whose breathing was definitely starting to grow labored. Her skin was also very pale, despite the deep tan she had acquired over the last few months.
He looked around, looking for the medical tent or at least the med-nin Gaara had brought them to. He didn't see anything, though, just more of the rocky terrain – although this piece did seem a little more broken and blasted than the rest.
"Gaara, where are we? Why did you bring us here?" he asked, his voice rising. "We need to get help for Temari! She's-"
"Help is here," Gaara said calmly, his gaze focused into the distance. His eyes suddenly widened and he took a half a step back before he could stop himself. His arms nearly left their position across his chest before he slowly relaxed and resumed his previous posture.
Kankuro turned to look at what he was reacting to just in time for the large thing to land less than a meter away with an audible thump, its large, razor sharp claws digging through solid rock as it brought itself to a halt. It looked like someone had taken a fox, made it the size of a tiger and dyed its fur blood red. He felt his entire body tensing as his instincts screamed at him to runrunrun, but he found himself unable to move as its presence washed over him.
It was the heaviest, most dangerous sensation he had ever encountered in his life, feeling simultaneously like the largest chakra technique he had ever witnessed being unleashed all around him and the focused killing intent of a hundred ninja boring into his soul.
Worst of all, the thing wasn't even looking at him. All of its attention was focused on Temari, and even as he watched two of its nine tails whipped forward and into her body. Her back arched upwards and her eyes flew open as her mouth opened in a soundless scream.
He found himself moving before his mind even finished processing the fact that he was about to die horribly. Two kunai flew through the air towards the things head, followed by his puppet.
The kunai were batted aside with the flick of a third tail and his puppet was tossed aside just as easily, the chakra strings he had connected to it snapped completely by a fourth. A fifth lanced towards him, and he felt himself tumbling through the air to land with several meters away, the air pushed out of his lungs.
"Sit," came the rumbling sound from the fox-like creature, though its mouth didn't seem to move.
His mind finally started catching up with what was going on, and he saw Gaara standing next to the thing, watching sharply as Temari fell back on the ground, her eyes still wide open and staring up at the head of the creature looming over her. Her jaw continued to work, but no sound emerged.
The tableau remained the same for nearly a minute before the tails abruptly withdrew from Temari and the creature backed off a few steps before settling onto its haunches, the tails fanning out behind it and idly curling through the air.
Temari's eyes remained locked on the animal as she slowly sat up, her hands reaching up to feel her face and head. She swallowed thickly and her eyes darted at Gaara for a moment before she spoke.
"Na... Naruto?" she asked, her voice quavering.
The beast turned to look at Gaara for a moment, then back to Temari. "How much has Gaara told you?"
Temari flinched at the sound of the beast's voice, but managed to respond. "That he could talk to the tailed b- the Bijuu sealed inside of him, and that they weren't the mindless beasts everyone said. And that you could do the same."
The creature let out a sharp snort and shook its head. "If I wished to talk to myself, I suppose I could."
Kankuro felt his heart pounding. "Y-you mean that Naruto is..."
"Naruto never was, really. Unlike Gaara, that child did not survive the sealing. I have been forced to make do ever since that day."
Kankuro and Temari both turned to look at Gaara, who just gave a small shrug and a nod. "I knew," he said quietly.
They both nodded dumbly as they looked between their brother and the Kyuubi made flesh.
Temari sucked in a deep breath, her eyes widening. "What about Ino?" she asked suddenly. "Does she-"
She cut off as the Kyuubi began laughing to itself, the sound sending a shudder down their spines.
"Ino knows," it said, "more than anyone." Its head turned back to Gaara. "How did this happen, anyway? I would have thought you would never have allowed things to come to this point."
"It was Akatsuki," Gaara said, his face darkening. "Three of them, though I only fought one directly."
"There was a blonde man riding a bird of some kind," Temari volunteered. "He could create smaller birds and spiders that would explode."
"Deidara, missing-nin from Iwa," the Kyuubi said, nodding. "I had not known he had joined Akatsuki, however."
"I was winning against him," Temari continued, a scowl growing on her face. "I would have killed him myself if I hadn't been attacked from behind. I didn't get a good look at who it was, but I think it was a female, and I definitely saw the six green wings she was using to fly. She-"
Temari was interrupted again as the Kyuubi's presence flared and a menacing growl escaped its throat.
"Fuu," it snarled, its lips bared to reveal a mouth full of sharp fangs, "jinchuuriki of Seijyou. To think that I was going to allow her to live."
Temari nodded uncertainly. "She hit me from behind, throwing me off of my fan and leaving me to fall. I barely managed to slow down enough to survive." She looked uncomfortable for a moment. "Thank you for healing me," she said finally. "How... how bad was it?"
"Several of your ribs had shattered and punctured your left lung,"the Kyuubi stated, its tone even. "Even assuming you had managed to surive that, your spine was broken in three places – without prompt and extensive surgery you likely would have remained paralyzed."
"Oh," Temari said faintly, her face pale. She fell silent after that, her eyes slightly wild as she processed just how close she had come to dying.
"The other was a tall, blue man, a missing-nin from Kiri," Gaara said after a moment. Kankuro didn't know if it was intentional or not, but he was grateful for the change in topic.
"That would be Kisame Hoshigaki, one of the few members of Akatsuki we have managed to confirm."
Kankuro startled slightly at that, though he didn't say anything. He didn't know who the Kyuubi was referring to with that, but he got the distinct impression that it wasn't Konoha, or Gaara for that matter.
"He is strong," Gaara said flatly. "His sword has the ability to absorb both chakra and youki, and he can use that to fuel his own techniques. He was also able to cleave through Ryuudo's form with that same blade."
The Kyuubi's eyes narrowed, though it didn't growl again. It was clear that play time was over.
The jinchuuriki abruptly froze, staring fixedly at nothing. His tails fanned out behind him, shrinking down to a length more proportional to the body and curling lazily in the air behind him.
Temari blinked as she thought she saw something pass over the jinchuuriki's form, rubbed her eyes to clear the last of the spots that interfered with her vision, then looked closer. She hadn't been imagining that after all; the jinchuuriki's current form was changing, the red hue of his chakra fading and growing darker. It was like watching rain wash away the sand from the streets as the red color bled away and streaks of black appeared, flowing down the tails and spreading across his body. In a matter of seconds his entire form had become pitch black, so dark that it seemed to be eating the light around it and growing darker still. After a few more seconds she could no longer make out the jinchuuriki's form clearly; it was like he was hidden in a deep shadow despite the sun that blazed directly overhead.
" So...So! The clever little monkeys have trapped my brothers have they not!? With their clever jutsu and their clever seals... They believe that some blood and a few scraps of metal is enough... enough to trap us... Enough to bind us... ENOUGH TO KILL US!"
The jinchuuriki's form abruptly snapped back into focus and the red hue of his chakra returned, revealing the jinchuuriki's fox-like form as he staggered sideways and weaved about drunkenly for a moment. Once he had recovered from... whatever that was, he tilted his head back and stared upwards, an angry snarl on his canine face. His tails bristled and his entire form quivered as he opened his jaws.
"CLEVER LITTLE MONKEYS! AND THE OH SO CLEVER OUTLINGS! LETS SEE IF YOU ARE TRULY READY TO REAP WHAT YOU SOW!"
Knowledge of the Infernal Gateways, combined with his painfully gained sealing knowledge , came together in his mind and moments later doorways stood open around him, in the sky, on the ground doorways to hell. Demons raved and tortured souls cried out in unending agony.
Temari clapped her hands over her ears and fell backwards, curling into a ball. The very air around her was alive with a spiritual wrongness... A corruption she had never felt before. The killing intent coming from the Kyuubi was suffocating, threatening to snuff her out there and then. It was only when Gaara hugged her, covering her with his body that her body went limp as she finally passed into blissful unconsciousness.
"COME FORTH!" he commanded, his voice booming, the air around him humming with
crackling energy waiting for release. He gave the energy its freedom,
using it to increase the power of his demonic prescence a hundredfold.
"COME TO ME!" They had no choice but to obey.
"This... what is this?" Kankuro asked shakily, barely able to keep his wits about him, from behind Gaara's protective aura.
He looked on as they came, a horde of ravening, soul-starved beasts. A thousand
demons attempted to pile through the tears in reality. He only allowed
the strongest, the most sadistic to cross. The price of the Hellborn
is high. Someone was going to pay.
He looked on as the clawed,fanged,flying horrors by the hundrends surged through the portals, each of them a match for a Kage and more. He watched as they all turned their attention to the monster... The Archdemon in their midst.
He watched as Kuushu, the Burning Sky released tiny almost invisible streams of youki to all the monsters gathered. and he finaly heard the death knell of yet another nation.
"KNOW THEM! FIND THEM! BRING ME THE ONE KNOWN AS PEIN ALIVE! BRING ME THE ONE KNOWN AS KONAN ALIVE! THE REST KILL SLOWLY! LET THE MEMORY OF THEIR FATE LINGER FOR A THOUSAND YEARS IN THE MEMORY OF THE DENIZENS OF THIS REALM! FREE MY BROTHERS! LET NOTHING AND NOONE STAND IN YOUR WAY! OBLITERATE EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING THAT TRIES TO STOP YOU OR HELP MY ENEMIES IN ANYWAY! NOW GO!"
The roars of the gathered fiends rattled the world as they turned as one and took the road to Ame...
-April 22nd, 348 NE-
-Gaikai (The Outer Realm), Myobokuzan (Exquisite Tree Mountain)-
"Why is this suddenly so urgent?" Jiraiya asked as he followed the Toad Elder. He had been summoned to Mount Myoboku right after the barrier surrounding Iwagakure fell only to be informed that the final stages of his Sage training had to be completed immediately. "I'm still trying to help sort out that mess in Iwa, not to mention figure out where half their damn ninja disappeared to."
"We received word from the other tribes," Fukusaku said grimly. "There is a situation that you are required for, but first you must complete your Sage training and fully become one of us."
"Why couldn't I help out as I am now? I mean, it's not like the change is going to make that much of a difference."
"There is information you must have first."
"Then just tell me."
"We ca..."
Their movement came to a screeching halt when a wave of... something... passed over everyone present... and then the sky turned red.
'No... Nonononono! This cannot be!" choked out the Toad Elder. "We havent broken the accords! How can this be happening!?" only to be stunned to silence as a giagantic apparition made itself known in the sky over Mount Myoboku and portals begun to snap open.
"GREETINGS TO YOU FROM MY MASTER KYUUSHU THE BURNING SKY DENIZENS OF THE OUTER REALM! HE OFFERS YOU HIS SINCERE ADMIRATION ON YOUR PROGRESS AND INGENUITY IN GOING AROUND THE ACCORDS! CONGRATULATIONS! A FEAT WORTLY OF THE BIJUU THEMSELVES!"
The apparition paused for dramatic effect.
"HOWEVER MY LORD IS MOST DISPLEASED THAT HE CANNOT EXPRESS HIS THANKS IN PERSON FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF SEALING IN THE HUMAN REALM! INDEED HE IS MOST DISTROUGHT! HE THEREFORE HOPES THIS LITTLE TOKEN OF HIS APPRECIATION GOES A LONG WAY IN... OFFERING YOU THE SMALLEST GLIMPSE OF HIS FEELINGS TO YOU."
The apparition dissapeared... And then the portals begun disgorging their winged unholy load in the outer realm.