Author's Note: So after reading fanfics for so many years I have finally summoned the will to get off my ass to write something myself. I've had plenty of ideas over the years, but this is probably the story that I have stayed interested in creating without losing interest at some point and a general idea of where it is going to go from the beginning all the way to the very end. It should be noted that a 'general idea' of how the story is going to go does not mean I have all the fine details down. For example, at the time I am writing this I have no idea what the specific history and abilities of the Relics are, and so when I get to such a point where they become relevant I am probably going to have to put this story in hold. That being said I probably have enough to go on to comfortably get through volume 2 and possibly 3.
I'll be putting in author's notes in other chapters when I feel the need to, but I suppose I should put some general information here at the very start.
First, if for some reason you did not see it this is a Naruto and RWBY crossover fic featuring Sasuke Uchiha as the primary protagonist. I am well aware I will be on the receiving end of Naruto Uzumaki fans and Sasuke haters, trolls, etc. If I receive enough flames and criticisms of this story from said people I will of course be willing to take my entire story down, apologize on my hands and knees for my blasphemy, and throw all of my hard work away because everyone knows the opinions of people who hate my story are far more important than those who enjoy it. What makes these negative opinions even more relevant is the fact that all of them will come from people whom I have never met personally and likely never will. The previous two sentences were laced with sarcasm in case any of you couldn't tell. Anyone who doesn't like my story is not being forced to read it with a knife at your throat. If you prefer Naruto as a protagonist you have no reason to complain: literally 2/3 of the Naruto X RWBY crossover fics feature him. If you are truly pissed off enough to go out of your way to flame a story or personally attack an author or audience for liking a fictional character you do not care for; I would like to point out that if you were put in a time machine, went back to 1938 Germany and in your comment you replaced the word 'Sasuke' with 'Jew', you would likely be instantly recruited to join the Nazis. Something to think about.
Second, this is my first story so if there are any large or small issues you see grammatically or in the way the story is written feel free to offer constructive criticism. I will of course try to improve my writing as I continue, and it will be much easier if I have an "outside looking in" perspective to refer to. I should note here that before anyone criticizes any details in continuity or canon events, concepts, etc., I have taken the liberty of changing some of the fundamental characteristics of both the Naruto and RWBY series to make this story work. So if you see something that works differently or has a different origin story than it does in canon, I most likely changed it myself. One of my pet peeves when it comes to stories in general are plot devices or events that make no sense even within the realm of their respective fiction, so I will try to make an obvious effort to keep things consistent and believable.
Third, before anyone asks this will be a Sasuke harem. For all of you who think he is not emotionally ready or compatible to creating and maintaining one I have one thing to say: you are absolutely right. This is going to be a LONG way off, Sasuke needs a shitload of character development and social interaction (let's not kid ourselves, most of the latter is going to be forced) before he can even think about seriously dating a girl, much less several. I have also already chosen the pairings, so anyone offering suggestions regarding them is wasting their time.
Well that should be all for now, so read on and I hope you enjoy. I know the title is kind of uncreative but in my defense, it will be relevant to the story and coming up with names in general is not my strong suite.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or RWBY and am making no profit from either of these franchises whatsoever.
"Normal talking"
'Thoughts'
Uchiha of Remnant
Chapter 1: Mercy of the Fool
When Sasuke first gathered Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo all of them knew well before Sasuke told them that the reason he had gathered all of them together as a team was to find and kill Itachi, no matter the obstacles they may face. He had had this goal for about eight years now and anyone who knew even the slightest bit about his past knew why he wanted Itachi dead; preferably in the most painful way he could accomplish. Sasuke had abandoned his village, knocked out two of his squad mates, and left the village his family had helped forge from the ashes of the Warring States to obtain the power needed to bring down the Uchiha Clan's second most powerful criminal and traitor of all time. Sasuke wanted revenge; plain and simple. And he wanted it now.
With such a clear goal it seemed a given that Hebi would immediately try to find Itachi's trail and hunt him down without delay. Everyone who knew of his triumph over Orochimaru as well as his fellow Hebi members expected as much. Unfortunately for anyone of gambling habit who had bet money on Sasuke's first move after forming Team Hebi, finding Itachi was not the first thing on his to-do-list. If Sasuke were being honest he would be the first to admit that the task he and his newly formed Team Hebi were doing was disgustingly close to something Naruto would do, so he wasn't too surprised when his new teammates looked at him as though he had been abducted and replaced by aliens who for God knows what reason gave enough of a shit to care about diverting Hebi from their expected goal.
It was a spur of the moment decision he had made two days before in the Northern Hideout not two minutes after formally gathering his new teammates. Sasuke had defeated dozens of unfortunate prisoners who had been forcibly infused with Jugo's Cursed Seal Transformation alongside Suigetsu when they arrived at the hideout and walked past them on their way out. It was upon seeing the defeated prisoners that Sasuke remembered that the guards Orochimaru had stationed there had abandoned their posts upon hearing of the Legendary Sannin's defeat without releasing any of the prisoners before leaving. The Northern Hideout was specially designed to prevent escapes by anyone who had not mastered the tree-walking ability even without any guards; but inside the walls inmates had relatively free movement during the day with free access to water and food, only being forced back into individual or group cells at night. It was due to this supply of food and water that none of the prisoners were dying or already dead from starvation or thirst when Sasuke arrived, though even with rationing there was likely not enough food to last them another week or so if he hadn't shown up. It was after that thought that Sasuke recalled that there were other hideouts Orochimaru had built that housed prisoners and human experiments of various kinds. Some of them in which prisoners had no access to food unless it was provided to them by the guards; guards that had probably left without freeing their captives just like the ones at the Northern Hideout had.
'They are all going to die.' The thought rang in Sasuke's head with far more clarity than the more mundane thoughts that had been passing through his mind only moments before. If Sasuke were a more spiritual person, he would have instantly recognized it as his far-too-often ignored conscience. 'They will run out of food and starve to death.' Sasuke was not sure why this statement made him feel guilt and shame, he was not the one who had imprisoned them. He had been shown firsthand many of Orochimaru's experiments, almost all of which would have made most people empty their stomach at the first glance and he had certainly been revolted by the audacious disregard for morality. He had felt regret that he could not yet defeat the monster that like Itachi, had no problems causing untold suffering for no other reason than selfish gain or some "greater good" bullshit. Regret, but not guilt.
'The whole reason I left Konoha was to kill Itachi, there isn't any time to be making detours. Especially when the Akatsuki get wind of my new freedom'. There was no doubt that the Akatsuki would take measures of some kind to prevent him from killing one of their own. As powerful as all their members were they were few in number. This meant that any loss the Akatsuki suffered to their ranks would be a hard blow to their overall power and could not be easily replaced. Itachi had told him that night to come face him when he was stronger, but that didn't mean he would offer himself to Sasuke on a silver platter. There was also no guarantee the leader of the Akatsuki, Pain, would not either order Itachi to avoid battling him or to send several members to ambush him and eliminate the threat he posed to one of his most prized subordinates. 'I need to start tracking Itachi down now, before he starts covering his tracks and before the Akatsuki can start tracking mine.' It had occurred to Sasuke that the Akatsuki didn't even need to meet him in battle to hinder his hunt. If they found his location or general area they could simply offer an anonymous tip to any local shinobi regarding his whereabouts. While he was not officially a missing-nin he was still listed in most Bingo Books as a wanted one, and shinobi from any village who captured him would be rewarded a modest bounty if they returned him to Konoha alive. While he was confident he could handle just about any threat such distractions would certainly delay his movements, and any shinobi village would have a more personal reason to capture him if he defeated or killed their operatives.
A slight decrease in the speed of his walk was the only manifestation of Sasuke's inner conflict. A detail so minute that only the sensitive giant Jugo picked up the shift. As usual, Sasuke's face betrayed none of his thoughts. The dispassionate mask a fruit of years of hard effort that was first planted in his humble academy days when his class first began training to hide their thoughts and body language from any potential enemies and solidified still further after the massacre when all too often he didn't have to pretend not to care about people whose problems seemed quite small compared to his own.
'Starving to death seems like a bigger problem than anything you have right now' The voice of his somehow morally superior conscience was not quieting down in the least and if anything was growing louder. 'Evil triumphs when good men fail to act; or did you see fit to forget that lesson Father taught you when his body was burned?' Fugaku Uchiha was not a man of many words, but when he did speak it was always important. The will to take action upon seeing an injustice instead of taking the easy way out and letting "someone else" take care of it was the first lesson his father had seen fit to teach him when he first showed interest in being a member of the Uchiha Police Force at the tender age of six.
Even with a microscope, it still would have been impossible to find a single muscle in the Uchiha's face that had twitched the tiniest distance since his inner turmoil had started. His footsteps slowed down still further though; enough that Suigetsu and Karin turned their eyes to try and figure out why they were suddenly shortening the distance to their leader.
'I wonder if during that night before you arrived someone had been walking past the Uchiha Compound, noticed it was a bit too quiet, but was too busy with a bigger problem to bother investigating why an entire clan compound was devoid of any sounds of life well before most people went to bed.' Sasuke's footsteps did not slow any further, but his jaw clenched shut like a bear trap. 'What would you have given for someone, anyone, to help your clan when they were being slaughtered? What would you have given for even one or two other lives to be spared?'
Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks.
Anything. He would have given anything in this world to have even a pitiful handful of his clan other than himself survive that night. It did not lead him to a particularly convenient course of action in the present, but the right choice was called the straight and narrow for a reason.
Back in the present Sasuke couldn't help but feel that maybe he had made a mistake deciding to distract himself with what was in practical terms a potentially costly detour. He had led his team to a small island a half mile off the North coast of the Land of Sound which housed the largest prisoner population of all Orochimaru's bases and were currently Water Walking the remaining few hundred feet. Dealing with the constant questioning of his motives from Suigetsu and Karin on the day and a half journey there was as annoying as he would have expected. Both saw fit to ask him "Why do you care enough about these people to save them?" in ever more elaborate variations every hour or two. Though thankfully the animosity they had towards each other was enough that whenever one of them popped said question the other would without fail interject that Sasuke knew what he was doing and should shut their mouth because nobody wanted to hear them talk. Jugo thankfully seemed immune from being dragged into this infinite loop of an argument that Karin and Suigetsu seemed to be stuck in.
To make matters worse a rather severe thunderstorm had hit them a few miles before they reached the beach and even though Sasuke had learned a rather handy trick of using a slight variation of the Water Walking ability to repel the rain from his skin it did nothing to prevent his clothes from soaking up what felt like ten pounds of rainwater. One of their number was of the opposite opinion; Sasuke would not be that surprised if Suigetsu was fighting down the urge to dive beneath the waves and breach the surface like an absurd permutation of a dolphin to celebrate his four days and counting of freedom from his water tank enclosure. Even if Suigetsu wasn't performing synchronized swimming maneuvers the rain did put him in a very good mood. And unfortunately for Sasuke and Karin the better Suigetsu felt the more he talked. They had only been in the rain for a few minutes but even that short time was enough for the new wielder of Kubikiribocho to make a notable dent in Sasuke's patience. If any one of them had started the infamous "Are we there yet?" line of questioning he would have probably shoved a Chidori-charged Kusanagi up their ass.
Fortunately for all of them they had finally arrived at their destination, and after opening the double doors at the entrance that were twenty feet wide for some reason three of them had wrung and shook the water out of their hair and clothing. Sasuke then started leading them down toward the basement levels where the prison cells were. The guards had indeed left if the lack of anyone to greet their arrival meant anything, so the inmates were no doubt still here.
"Jeez, and here I thought the place that held me was creepy." Suigetsu commented.
The Snake Sannin's favorite method of hiding his bases was burying them underground, and the Coastal Base was no exception. A low but audible rumbling from the ceaseless pounding of the surf outside permeated every inch of the base in a foreboding manner that seemed to come from all directions that tickled the fight or flight response of anyone who ventured inside. A light pink and black-speckled granite were the predominate rock in the area and it surrounded every room and hallway that out of the corner of one's eye that looking disturbingly like a solidified form of flesh that had been stripped of its skin. Like most of Orochimaru's bases there was not much priority given to putting enough lighting in the place to meet most people's standard; the only lights being small candles placed every few dozen yards or so, though with the guards leaving there had been no one to replace any that got too low. The result was a gentle orange glow alongside the wall that was patchy in appearance due to the several that had died out. A single flight of stairs traveled a little over a hundred feet down from the surface with the irregular candlelight on the light pink walls.
'Looks almost like a blood trail,' Suigetsu mused 'and the single-file width of the damn stairs is making this whole trek way more claustrophobic than it needs to be.'
"Have you met Orochimaru?" Karin retorted in response to Suigetsu's comment, stunned as to why her teammate seemed surprised in the Sannin's choice of décor.
"I suppose I shouldn't be," Suigetsu conceded, "but I still think he should have put in a bit more light. The floor is slippery enough from all the sea spray that finds its way down here. Is enough visibility to see where I'm placing my feet too much to ask for?"
Jugo was inclined to agree, he had almost slipped several steps back on a small puddle on one of the stairs. Being both the physically largest of their group and bringing up the rear of their party, any loss of footing on his part on the downward incline would turn all four of them into a set of human dominoes.
"It doesn't matter, we won't be here for long." Sasuke interjected.
There was an unnatural quiet ahead of them. Though the low hum of the waves above could still be heard Sasuke had been able to make out some broken sounds ahead of them about halfway down the stairway that had mysteriously ceased.
Hebi reached the bottom of the stairs and after releasing several locks opened the extremely heavy-set door to the large room of cells behind it. It was not as faint as the hallway the had emerged from but still depressingly dark.
'I don't remember there being half this many prisoners last time.' Sasuke thought. 'I guess the experiment was enough of a success to warrant further testing. Of course, the kidnapping and bodily mutilation of the test subjects wasn't something Orochimaru was concerned with.'
Staring at their group were over two hundred prisoners of various ages in four separate group cells who had been unfortunate enough to be experimental test subjects. They were all huddled together in various small groups; mostly near the rear of their cells in a subconscious attempt to put some distance between them and any guard that happened by. There were even several groups of families with the larger adults sitting in front of the smaller children in a vain attempt to protect them from the attention of the individuals they heard approach not a minute earlier. None of them were in a good state; there was not a shred of clothing or an inch of skin seen that was not infested with grime and damp earth. It was clear Sasuke's assumption of the inmates not being fed was correct; every one of them was noticeably thin. A handful of them seemed to be sickly, covered in cold sweat and having a looser grip on consciousness than their peers. Sasuke supposed that the lack of food and nutrients had weakened several of their immune systems enough to trigger infections that otherwise would have been mild. One thing all the prisoners had in common, or didn't depending on one's perspective, was the addition of one or more animal limbs or organs. Gills, various tails, antlers, paws, hooves, horns, a few wings, and everything in between was represented in at least one individual; though ears seemed to be a particularly common trait.
"Sasuke, are these people more copies Orochimaru made of my Sage power?" Jugo inquired referring to the test subjects of the northern hideout that had been infused with his Cursed Seal.
"Partially," Sasuke responded "both yourself and the vast majority of those who possess Cursed Seals exhibit both physical and mental instability, which results in problems with short and long-term physical health as well as extreme psychological stress and mental breakdown. Orochimaru wanted to eliminate these drawbacks, so he came up with the idea of infusing humans with various animal genes along with weaker Cursed Seals."
"Wait a second, how would putting animal DNA in people help them handle Jugo's power?" Karin asked.
"Jugo's power is a natural form of Sage Mode which involved absorbing Nature Energy around the user" the Uchiha explained. "All animals do this subconsciously to some degree depending on where they are and their awareness of their surroundings. Haven't any of you ever wondered why every Sage Mode user in recorded history was taught by an animal Summons of some kind? It's because animals on average have a far higher sensitivity to their environment than humans do and makes learning and wielding Sage Mode much easier for them."
"It makes a lot of sense now that you bring it up, it explains why I'm able to talk to birds and have them trust me so easily" Jugo concluded.
Amongst the prisoners small noises of chatter started after the identity of one of their visitors was revealed.
"Sasuke? As in Sasuke Uchiha?"
"What is someone that high ranking doing down here?"
None of the prisoners had the nerve to directly ask the Uchiha the nature or reason of his visit despite being the obvious question on everyone's mind. All the imprisoned souls had long ago learned by hard experience or by observing the punishments of their looser tongued members that they had no right to ask anyone on the other side of the bars for anything.
Sasuke was not willing to take the time to explain himself when he had already lost a lot of time coming to free the people before him. If that bottom feeder crime boss Tenzen Daikoku had heard of his triumph over his former teacher all the way in the Land of Waves there was no way in hell the Akatsuki had not heard of Orochimaru's death at his hands by now.
The eyes of the prisoners in the room all drew toward the Uchiha as he approached the nearest cell, then widened in fear when he wordlessly drew his Kusanagi. One of the larger inmates, a youth a bit older than Sasuke with a crown of antlers on his head, rose to challenge the aggressive move even if everyone knew it was a waste of time. Sasuke poured a small amount of chakra into the blade, activating his weakest version of the Chidori Katana to produce a blue-white glow on the blade's surface accompanied by small chirping bolts of lightning. Just enough power to cut through the chakra reinforced bars of the cell.
Two horizontal cuts too fast for anyone who wasn't a shinobi to see were enough to remove a five-foot-wide section of the enclosure. The people in the cell spared a glance at the bars that no longer imprisoned them before returning their gaze to the Uchiha.
"Orochimaru is dead" Sasuke informed them, their faces morphing into disbelief. "You're all free."
Those six spoken words were ambrosia to the ears of all who listened. Eyes widened in disbelief, smiles began to form, and deep intakes of breath were taken to heave a sigh of relief.
Sasuke wasted no time in moving to the next cell, with Jugo and Suigetsu moving to break open the other two holding cells behind him.
"I know all of you are starving, but there should be some food leftover in the kitchen or the storage area in the mess hall to start fixing that. It's up the stairs and on the first right turn. The guards all abandoned this base days ago, so you don't have to worry about being caught."
The victims of Orochimaru's scientific minded curiosity wasted no time in getting to their feet and putting as much distance between them and the cells that had almost become their tombs as possible. Sasuke merely waited for the crowd to pass through the cramped passageway along with the rest of Hebi, feeling on no mood to elbow his way through the mass of people that were slowed down by the bottleneck in front of the single-file stairway to the top. Karin actually had to do a bit of crowd control at the door to prevent some of the smaller individuals from being shoved into the wall or pushed to the ground by the haste of those behind them.
Sasuke decided to wait for the crowd to fully disperse before heading up the stairs, a decision his teammates copied. It would still take a few minutes for everyone to get through the narrow passage, and all four members of Hebi were receiving numerous 'thank you' and 'bless you for your help' from various ex-prisoners.
"I cannot tell you how grateful we all are for your actions, young man." An older male with what appeared to be Leopard ears was the latest person to come to the young Uchiha to thank him for his aid.
"I must admit I am surprised you of all people not only killed Orochimaru but also saw fit to aid in the escape of strangers. I am aware you joined the Snake on your own free will, so I thought you were either indifferent to the suffering that monster caused or were an active and willing participant."
At least the man was willing to do more than just blindly accept the help of someone who had done nothing to aid their plight in over two years.
"I joined Orochimaru to gain power to achieve my goal in the fastest way possible, not fulfill some twisted desire to enjoy the suffering of others" Sasuke shot back.
While he was certainly the type of indifferent asshole who would normally be hard-pressed to help others solve their problems, inflicting pain on people who did not deserve such treatment was something Sasuke was never going to willingly do. Itachi had done more than enough of that to him eight years ago. Turning around and inflicting that kind of torture on an innocent even to achieve some greater goal would be a sin Sasuke would never be able to forgive himself for. The no-killing rule he had set for all members of Hebi was there for a reason even if it made situations more difficult than they otherwise would be.
"My apologies, I did not mean for my assumptions to offend you" the man negotiated, trying to placate the Uchiha.
"Hey Kohta," a young woman that looked to be in her mid-twenties with what appeared to be a red monkey tail and a set of much larger than average canine teeth interrupted, "you coming up?"
The now named Kohta excused himself from Sasuke's presence and followed the rest of the crowd up the stairs. The rest of Hebi followed, Karin in particular grateful to leave the room that smelled far too strongly of body odor and excrement for her liking.
The sounds of more than a hundred mouths working overtime to ingest as much food as their shrunken stomachs could handle could be heard well outside the bases' mess hall and kitchen where bread, clean water, and dried meat were being divided up and passed around. Even these relatively tasteless rations may as well have been worth their weight in gold for the crowd that was now practically inhaling the sustenance as fast as they could, with several of the older members going around and making sure none of the younger ones ate too much for their gut to keep down. It was a task Jugo decided to aid, quickly intercepting a young child around eight years old from devouring a rather large slice of what appeared to be the remains of a birthday cake he had found.
"Everyone," Sasuke announced, a bit taken aback by how all present in the room stopped talking and chewing immediately after they heard his voice. "none of you will be able to handle a large meal right now, so don't spend too much time eating. Just take a quick snack and start gathering up whatever food, clothing, or whatever else you can find. Take only what you can carry, it's a three day walk to the nearest village for a healthy traveler and your group will be lucky to make it in a week."
The malnourished group gave affirmative nods or grunts in understanding with most of them having a bolus in their mouth preventing them from answering his assertion verbally. They resumed their impromptu meal, though several of the adults started moving around gathering baskets and bags to carry what would likely be an impressive quantity of food and any other useful items they would be able to find.
Twenty minutes later everyone in the base was gathered at the front chamber ready to finally leave the Hideout that would be the subject of many of their nightmares for years to come. Though the pace of the sizeable group would still be painfully slow, Jugo had been sufficiently moved by their plight to use his curse mark to revitalize the bodies and the chakra of some of the individuals who were particularly hard hit from their starvation. The slowest moving member of their group would be setting the pace, so Jugo hoped that his assistance would shave a bit of time off their journey. Makeshift stretchers and large sacks were filled with bread, rice, various foodstuffs, clothing, rope, shinobi wire, toiletries, and a small assortment of shinobi shuriken, kunai, and even a handful of katanas and axes.
"I believe we are ready to finally leave this place." The now named Kohta stated. The Leopard-eared man was now clearly identifiable as the leader of the crowd of people waiting to exit. Sasuke hadn't noticed before in the basement but he was the one all the others deferred authority and judgement to when they were organizing their efforts to gather supplies.
"About time" Suigetsu mumbled under his breath from his position at Sasuke's side, so quietly that even Sasuke's chakra enhanced hearing had difficulty picking it up.
Thankfully the hearing enhancement that came with being infused with various animal DNA did not seem to be sufficient to pick up Suigetsu's barbed comment if the lack of reaction on anyone's face was anything to go by. Still Sasuke agreed with Suigetsu's point, it was time they headed out.
Sasuke and Jugo both pushed the double doors of the entrance open, only to be greeted by the sting of thousands of wind-driven rain drops and the crack of thunder that assaulted the ears of all who heard it.
'Somehow I completely forgot it was raining outside' Sasuke puzzled, quickly focusing the chakra on his skin to repel the water pelting him like a miniature hail of kunai.
The reactions of the animal-themed group behind him were not so casual. Faces in the crowd turned to expressions of exasperation and frustration very quickly.
Kohta cursed loudly, glancing above at the storm clouds that would have been pitch black had it not been for the lightning showing the true shape of the cumulonimbus above them. Turning around he looked in concern at four of their number who were being carried on stretchers they had made. The individuals in question were the ones that had started to become ill and sickly during the last few days and were unable to walk with the group on their own. They had all been among those infused by some of their larger savior's chakra and were now expected to make a full recovery. That being said it was decided that it would be better to have them carried while they moved until their sickness started to leave in earnest.
Normally a storm like this would have only slowed them down or would have forced them to make a less than effective but better than nothing impromptu shelter. As it was the four people in question would be at serious risk of catching pneumonia or flu in their current condition. And with no real medications or treatment available for them death was a very real possibility. Kohta quickly placed his hand on the young Uchiha's shoulder to get his attention and told him as much.
"We'll have to wait here until it passes, I will not risk their lives to save our group a day of travel time" Kohta asserted, his tone leaving no room for compromise.
Sasuke stole a look with his Sharingan toward the edge of the horizon, his clan's bloodline piercing through the darkness with ease even from miles away. The storm was traveling head-on toward them but at a frustratingly slow pace.
'I'm not waiting for this storm to pass, it goes clear over the horizon and at the rate it's traveling it will take several hours to clear at the very least.' Sasuke and his team were already spending a lot of time pulling this animal-themed group out of the hole Orochimaru had dug them in. And he would be damned if Itachi's life was lengthened by a fraction of a second because he was stuck for a few hours waiting for a storm to pass.
Fortunately, he wouldn't have to. A small smirk made its way to his face as he slowly stepped out through the doors to the rain-soaked rocks outside the Hideout. He wasn't going to force the group to go through the storm, he was going to force the storm to shatter.
The remaining members of Hebi as well as the crowd behind them could only stare in bewilderment as Sasuke Uchiha walked ever further into the pouring rain. He stopped about ten paces out, solidly planting his feet. The hundreds of faces watching him sharing looks of puzzlement, having no knowledge of his purpose.
They watched as Sasuke at first brought into being in his left palm a very small and faint mass of chirping lightning chakra, and began to raise his hand.
His arm had barely reached the level of his navel before the entire sky above them was transformed. There had been several bolts of lightning seen somewhere above them every second or so, but now the entire face of the storm above them was lit by a web of moving and shifting discharges of lightning. Hundreds of arms and hands were raised to protect and shield the eyes of their owners from the brilliant light that now blanketed the area in an intensity that surpassed that of the Sun.
Sasuke's hand was raised still further to his eye level, and the heavens obeyed his wordless bidding. The hundreds of bolts becoming thousands as the lightning spread and rippled further from their position, awakening the raw power of the storm in an ever-larger area.
It was then that the thunder produced by the first deluge of bolts reached those witnessing it below. It was not just a noise that temporarily deafened those who heard it, the thunder of so many electric discharges more akin to shockwaves. The waves of power were felt in the very flesh and bones of those watching it, the travelling pressure wave colliding with everything and everyone in its path with enough tangible force that all present apart from the shinobi were forced to their knees to avoid being pushed over.
The Uchiha's arm was raised straight up. The web of white ribbons and streaks that had spread from horizon to horizon now stopped their outward movement.
The mass of diffused power then began to gravitate back inwards, coalescing itself towards the Uchiha that had mastered it. The shapeless mass then started to churn, becoming alive with movement and activity. In a few seconds it transformed from a mass of jumping and crackling lightning into a sight none who witnessed it would ever forget.
The apparition of lightning that was formed could not be described as a monster, it was a Titan. The form of a colossal dragon appeared in the sky, writhing and twisting in a serpentine manner. The dragon's body was composed of neither flesh nor chakra but by the pure and focused power of nature that lit up the earth below so completely it forced all shadows under it to shrink, and then dispel completely.
The beast opened its mouth and released an explosion of sound that travelled through every medium it encountered without effort. It did not roar by bellowing vocal cords of living tissue but by heating the air in the cavity of its mouth to temperatures over twice as high as the surface of the Sun. The energy released was so great the shockwave of sound was visible to the naked eye as it traveled through the rain and air before it impacted the ground so forcefully a blind and deaf man would have mistaken it for a small earthquake.
The dragon's eyes glowed an intimidating shade of red that mirrored the hue of the Kekkei Genkai possessed by the youth who had created it. The dragon turned its head down and gazed upon the Uchiha, waiting for his command.
Sasuke clenched his hand into a half-fist, then rotated his wrist. The living mass of lightning obeyed the command without pause, the dragon's body twisting around to form a rotating helix across the sky. A few moments later and the dragon started to travel around itself at speeds no one without a Sharingan had a hope of seeing. The clouds, rain, and air within and around the vortex of lightning whipping around with the dragon in a whirlpooling orgy of movement.
Sasuke then gently threw his hand forward.
In a final mighty roar, the dragon launched itself in the direction of Sasuke's thrust. Then, it exploded. The tail and lower body of the beast were still directly above the hideout, but the force of the lightning releasing all its energy simultaneously formed a concussion of power that forced the storm clouds around and above it to flee and evaporate in seconds. The rays of the Sun were finally able to touch the ground below the titanic hole formed in the storm clouds that continued to grow until it reached a size of almost eight miles in diameter. The upper body and head of the dragon were turned into a spear of light that travelled straight into the oncoming thunderclouds, unzipping them and revealing the clear and bright light of day above.
Ten seconds had passed since Sasuke had first started raising his hand in the dark shadow of the storm above him, and he now lowered his hand to a clear sky. The storm was dead.
Hundreds of jaws were now hanging down to reveal mouths open in awe and disbelief as to what they had just witnessed. All who were present knew that shinobi were capable of superhuman feats compared to ordinary civilians. But this, this was something on a completely different level. Such power seemed almost… Could possibly even be…
The last of the rain fell to the earth as the thoughts of those who witnessed the spectacle froze upon seeing the body of the Uchiha turn to face them.
"There is no reason to wait here. We are all leaving this place now."
The words were spoken nonchalantly, even softly. Yet every soul present heard every syllable of it with perfect clarity. It was not a demand from a superior party to an inferior one, nor was it a command from a more powerful being to a weaker one. It was spoken as a statement of iron fact and solid reality.
Leaving this island in this moment was as pre-ordained as the Sun rising every morning. It was destiny.
Without a word they slowly began to move forward to follow in the Uchiha's footsteps out of the hideout. There was still a half mile of ocean to cross before they reached land, but there was no hesitation to approach the breaking waves. None of the animal-themed crowd knew how they would cross, but not one of them doubted they would all be making the journey to the freedom of the mainland immediately.
They were proven right as Sasuke gave a small nod toward Suigetsu that prompted the aquaphilic teen to wade waist-deep into the ocean before launching into the hand seals for the Water Wall jutsu. The white-haired teen's palms slammed into the seawater and thrust the mass of water forward and up to lay bare a section of seafloor. Suigetsu activated his clan's Hydrification technique to extend the length of his arms to maintain physical contact with the surrounding Water Wall he created. Eventually a section of ocean roughly one hundred feet long and thirty feet wide was removed from the seabed it covered.
"Alright, we're ready to go! Just stay within the pocket of empty ocean around me and we'll be at the other side before you know it" the ex-Kirigakure shinobi stated.
The mass of people slowly began to trek down and fill the empty space, some of the younger and more curious ones taking a few moments to walk up to and touch several starfish, shellfish, and other shallow-water ocean life they had never had the opportunity to see before. When the entire group was present Suigetsu began to slowly walk forward, forcing the void in the ocean to follow. He set a slow pace to account for the weaker members and those carrying large amounts of supplies to keep up.
After a twenty-minute trek the last pair of feet treaded upon the sands of the far beach, the sea rezipping behind them as though they had never crossed. The faces in the crowd showed a collective sense of relief and optimism, chattering amongst themselves excitedly about their escape from certain death and the journey back to their respective villages and towns of origin for a small number of them.
Not all of those present, though, had such positive thoughts. It had not passed Kohta's attention that Sasuke's companions, particularly Suigetsu and Karin if he was recalling their names correctly, were giving not-so-subtle glances to their leader. Their body language reeked of impatience if the addition of tapping index fingers and the crossing of their arms were anything to go by.
"I take it your group will not be traveling with us" Kohta stated bluntly, causing several of his peers to turn in their direction and take heed of the words being said.
"No, we will not" Sasuke confirmed, destroying any hope of a powerful escort many were expecting. There was no time to be babysitting these people for who knows how long until they got their footing. The mass of people ceased their conversations, all of them having heard the declaration.
"You have all been freed from your prison and your lives have been spared. What you do now is up to you. My team and I have another goal to accomplish and must take our leave."
Dozens of nervous voices began to voice their fears, "What kind of protection from bandits are a handful of kunai wielded by novices going to give!?"
"What's to stop another group of shinobi running low on supplies from stealing what little we have?"
"How are we going to defend ourselves from people who think of us as monsters!?"
That last question immediately drew everyone's attention and had them exchanging looks of apprehension. Not many had thought of it when they were in what was essentially a biological experiment, but the fear was now brought to the front of their minds – what if they weren't accepted?
The terms 'filthy animals', 'mindless beasts', and the like had been tossed to them in no small quantity by Orochimaru's guards. Now that they knew they had a chance to see their friends and family again, not much consideration as to whether their previous bonds would weather their sudden change in outward appearance. But now the question arose - even if their closest kin were able to see past the physical changes, would hundreds and possibly thousands of strangers be as understanding?
"Do not speak of such things!" an older member admonished. "We are still human, and we will remind anyone who doubts it that our appearance does not define who we are."
"Don't delude yourselves."
All heads turned toward the Kubikiribocho's wielder who had interrupted them. The teen was wearing an annoyed and serious expression, the folly of their hope too much for him to hold his tongue.
"People don't treat groups who are different from them very well. My home village of Kirigakure made it a national policy to track down and kill anyone with a unique bloodline trait for several years out of fear of them attempting a military coup. And even if they don't ostracize you, what's going to stop someone interested in researching you from sticking you in another cell? Do you seriously believe Orochimaru is the only guy who's going to look at you like a sample of cells on a petri dish?"
The eyes of everyone started to widen, not having considered that they might be put back in chains if the wrong people found them. The mood of the area began to sink like a lead weight, bringing down the earlier optimism.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Suigetsu" the only female of Hebi admitted. "Even if you are accepted at first, if one of you gets angry and looses your temper on someone your entire group will be judged. You will not be looked at or treated as individuals until you have established real trust with those who live alongside you. That is going to take years even in the best-case scenario."
For his part, Sasuke watched the exchange of fearful and apprehensive glances amongst the now-freed people. It wasn't supposed to be this complicated! Go to the hideout, free the prisoners, everyone goes their separate ways. End of story. Instead, the only thing that seemed to be greeting him were more problems. He had handled the storm just fine, but there was no jutsu that was going to help them jump this hurdle.
Some of them could go to their local villages again by themselves, but most did not have a home to return to. To keep as low a profile as he could the Sannin usually took either individuals or isolated groups that were already so remote their disappearance would not raise alarm. He had also made sure that the few he had taken from villages were all surrounded by peers that did not have the financial or social means to mount any serious search. Most of the group in front of him would have to make one of two choices: find a new village for everyone to settle and hope they were taken in with grace or create their own colony from scratch and hope they were not disturbed.
The Uchiha crossed his arms in thought. He could just take his team and leave. They had given these people their freedom, it was up to them to do something about it. The unfortunate problem with this line of thought was the same one that brought him to their aid to begin with - these people did not have freedom. They were no longer restrained by bars, but that did not mean they were not still at the complete mercy of their non-metamorphosed peers. There was no real point in granting them the ability to choose their own destiny if there was only one option available. Suigetsu and Karin brought up valid points, and Jugo reluctantly agreed with them if the bitter looking grimace on his face was anything to go on.
He couldn't let them go without something to better their chances, but an actual escort was out of the question. Naruto probably would have made a few hundred shadow clones if he had been here but Sasuke did not have that option. He could make shadow clones no problem; he had seen Naruto use the technique so often he would have been able to duplicate it even without the Sharingan to help him. However, he was not able to make a clone that would last more than a few days, and the traveling crowd of refugees would likely need several weeks of protection.
Sasuke took a breath in, calming himself. It was tempting to just tear off the band-aid and tell them they were on their own, but he hadn't come all this way to free these people and not give them a chance.
'Think this through logically. If we can't go with them, the next best thing would be to give them something.' But what? His team needed all the assets they could muster if they were to stand a chance of achieving their goal. Any item useful enough to assist these refugees would by default be useful for his team. Giving anything to them that Hebi could not use later could come back to bite them. It would be easier if they had a duplicate of somethi-
'Oh wait, we do.' Or more specifically, he did. The item Sasuke had in mind would need to be wielded by someone with the chakra capacity and control of a powerful Genin or weaker Chunin at the very least. Onyx eyes turned scarlet as Sasuke searched the crowd for anyone with a developed chakra network. A fraction of a second later his gaze had zeroed in on someone who fit the bill. It turned out to be none other than the young antler-crowned man that had stood to defend his brethren in the prison cell before Sasuke had revealed his intentions. The quantity of chakra he possessed was a bit wanting, but as he filled his belly and rebuilt his muscles and body mass it would increase greatly.
'He has a passable chakra network and is willing to fight and die for his comrades. Perfect.'
The crowd silenced their fearful muttering as the Uchiha walked into the group toward his target, his eyes flaring red for all to see. For his part the Uchiha's target, though obviously nervous at the attention he was receiving, did not take a step back despite the intimidating Sharingan-enhanced glare being sent is way.
Sasuke stopped when he was arms-length away, eyes taking in the smallest details from the man before him.
"Do you remember when you first saw me back in the prison cell?"
The young man furrowed his eyes, confused at the question, but nodding in response.
"What would you have done if I had attacked you or one of your cellmates?"
The youth's eyes narrowed as he steeled his jaw and his resolve, not willing to sacrifice his honesty to obtain a favorable opinion with the Uchiha.
"I would have tried to kill you."
"Even knowing you would fail?"
"Whether I could beat you or not was never important!" The deer-themed youth exclaimed angrily. "I am the strongest among this entire group, so it falls to me to be the first one to protect them. And if their defense comes at the price of taking the lives of those who threaten us or by giving up my own, I will do it!"
Sasuke did not immediately reply, only staring in an appraising manner before turning the corners of his mouth into a small smirk.
"What is your name?"
"Takashi Hirano" the now named youth stated, a small gulp betraying his tension.
"Hold out your dominant hand."
'At least there is only one more base with a prison to check on. I can't afford to waste any more time playing rescue. Since when have I been such a bleeding-heart?' The question was only answered by the soft chirping of crickets and hum of nocturnal insects as Sasuke contemplated the actions he had taken earlier that day. The rest of his team were fast asleep, recovering from their travel that had been hastened to compensate for their detour while Sasuke took the last watch of the night. They would have to keep up the double-time pace for at least two more days to make up for lost time.
Not that Sasuke regretted his haste. He was proud of it in fact.
Abandoning his peaceful village and replacing it with a series of human experiment-infested holes in the ground had not been a trade-off Sasuke had wanted to make. But he had buried his moral compass and gambled that the long-term payoff would outweigh the immediate cost. Sitting idly by while lives were snuffed out before his eyes by the Sannin and Kabuto had certainly been a hefty moral price.
But now Sasuke was certain that his decision to ignore the advice of his Konoha brethren and train with Orochimaru had been the correct one. For all of Naruto, Tsunade, and Kakashi's lecturing about how he needed to stay in the village, for all the moral elitism that dripped from every word they spoke to him, the fact remained they had absolutely nothing to show for it.
Orochimaru had defected from Konoha over ten years ago and had been performing illegal activities well before that. What had their efforts to capture and kill him amounted to? Nothing. How long had it taken for him to become powerful enough to defeat the Sannin? A little over two years. Sasuke: 1, Konoha: 0. How many bases and human experiments had Konoha cumulatively managed to find and destroy since Orochimaru defected? Out of over a hundred hideouts, they had managed to find and destroy nine. How many bases had Sasuke neutralized or forced Orochimaru's lackeys to abandon? All the rest; in six days no less. Sasuke: 2, Konoha: 0. How many prisoners had Konoha freed from the Sannin in almost 15 years of trying? Twenty. How many had Sasuke freed in six days? Two-hundred and twenty-six. Sasuke: 3, Konoha: 0.
Who had defeated the Snake Sannin and ended his cruelty? Who was looking into the eyes of Orochimaru's victims as they were set free? Who had rolled up their sleeves and done something instead of just talk about it? Who was actually fixing the problem? It wasn't the Hokage, it wasn't Jiraiya, it wasn't Kakashi, it wasn't Naruto, it was Sasuke. The same person who knocked one of his teammates unconscious and shoved a Chidori through the chest cavity of the other. Irony at its best.
'Shit talkers, all of them.'
Sasuke's inner monologue was abruptly halted when a subtle sensation made its way to the edges of his senses. It was incredibly fuzzy, not relatable to anything he had experienced before. It didn't stop his neck hair from standing on end. The sensation was…wrong, unnatural somehow.
'We're being watched'
He was not the most talented at sensing chakra, certainly nothing compared to Karin. He was nevertheless still capable of detecting weak to moderate signatures up to almost two hundred feet away. Still, even actively trying to sense whatever had set off his more dormant instincts revealed nothing. He wasn't the only one to fail to sense the intruder, however. The nocturnal life continued their quiet routines without pause, unaware of anything out of the ordinary.
'Sharingan it is then.'
The surrounding forest flashed from murky darkness to a vibrant array of indescribable detail as his bloodline activated. Every vein of leaf, every movement by the smallest of creatures, every wisp of chakra on the surface of every living thing revealed itself to his dojutsu. And just a bit less than fifty yards away about ten feet up a nearby tree was the culprit responsible for intruding their campsite.
It had the shape of a man's head, but that was where the similarities ended. Solid dark yellow spots with no pupil to be seen took the place of the creature's eyes. The left side of its body was a pasty, chalk-like shade of white in stark contrast to the charcoal black that covered the surface of the right half. Two extensions that reminded Sasuke of a Venus Flytrap extended from the shoulders to surround the head, no doubt ready to snap shut in defense. But the most important detail the Sharingan revealed was the black cloak the creature wore that was embedded with red clouds.
'Akatsuki'
Less than a second after Sasuke activated his Sharingan, he had already identified and targeted the no longer hidden Akatsuki member and had crossed the distance with his Chokuto drawn back and ready to swing.
Zetsu barely managed to phase back into the tree he was fused with, the blade slicing clean through the entire trunk without effort where his head had been not a second before. Unfortunately, his luck ended there. The Uchiha twisted his body in midair after the attack to face his foe who was now attempting to shift through what remained of the tree trunk and escape into the ground. Sasuke tensed his leg muscles and shot back the moment his feet touched the earth, activating his Chidori Katana. Sasuke proved to be the faster one as he pierced Zetsu's torso two feet above the ground, the paralyzing lightning chakra preventing any chance of escape.
The Akatsuki member Sasuke had at his mercy was certainly not human, but there was no mistaking the look of absolute terror Zetsu held. It was the same look he had no doubt had the night of the massacre when he had thought his life was about to be taken. The same look that too many of Orochimaru's victims had before their lives were sacrificed in the name of science. Fear. Fear of death.
Sasuke deactivated his Chidori Katana and pulled it out of its victim but brought his left hand around Zetsu's throat in a vice-like grip before plucking him from the remnants of the tree and ground like a weed, lifting him to eye level. Sparks of lightning chakra flew across his arm, ready to discharge with enough force to blow Zetsu's head apart with a single command.
"Based on your appearance, you must be Zetsu, the Akatsuki's spy and messenger. Am I wrong?"
It was a rhetorical question, but the answer came regardless.
"Yes."
"I would like you to send a message to my brother for me." It was not a request, it was a demand. And Sasuke and Zetsu both knew it. Zetsu nodded his head in acknowledgement before Sasuke continued, "Tell him I am ready to face him, and that neither of us will be running away. Not this time."
Sasuke then threw Zetsu to the ground, not caring how he grunted in discomfort. "Now get lost."
The plant-based Akatsuki didn't waste any time in doing just that, phasing into and disappearing into the earth in the time it took to blink. The Uchiha vaguely registered the rest of his team coming up alongside him, having no doubt been disturbed from their sleep from the scuffle.
"What on earth just happened?" Jugo questioned, looking at the fallen tree Sasuke had cut down.
"Nothing important. Just sending a message."
"Well did you have to make so much noise?" Suigetsu asked, "I was having a fantastic dream about slaughtering a bunch of swordsmen that all had anglerfish lures on their foreheads until you ruined it!"
"Shut your mouth, nobody cares about your stupid dreams!" the Uzumaki snapped. She calmed herself down before addressing her leader, "Do you really think it was a good idea to let him go? I got a quick look at him and even if his chakra signature was nothing serious he was still an Akatsuki member based on the robes."
"Zetsu is only a spy and messenger, killing him would be meaningless. We want the big fish."
Suigetsu sighed loudly before replying "Sasuke you really need to rethink this whole 'no killing' thing. I know you want to kill Itachi and leave everyone else out of it but showing mercy to one if his allies just means you might have to face him later."
"It doesn't matter if we have to face him later, he is not a threat to us. For now, he is more useful to us alive until he delivers the message to my brother." Suigetsu clearly still did not agree with his decision but turned away and left it at that. Sasuke continued to stare at the horizon where the Sun's rays were just starting to peek over. 'It doesn't matter if Zetsu lives. Mercy is what separates me from him. I refuse to sink to his level to achieve my goal.'
'Mercy is for fools.' The thought crossed Sasuke's mind as he began to consider that perhaps he should have taken Suigetsu's advice more seriously. The reason for his change in opinion being the form of the defeated but not dead form of Deidara in front of him who was preparing his chakra to perform one last attack. 'I should have just killed him when I had the chance. Should have known his last resort would be a suicide bomb.'
"In death I shall become art itself, no one's seen an explosion like this! One that shall leave behind a scar on the very earth itself! And then, I'll receive more admiration for my art than anyone has ever seen before!"
According to his Sharingan, Deidara did have enough chakra left over to create an explosion that could make do on his boast. He was a bit beat up from the battle, but he still had a decent chunk of chakra left to play with. But how to use it?
The Teleportation Jutsu was out of the question, there were too many trees and flora to travel around to make a single jump that could get him out of what was going to be a colossal blast zone. He could summon Manda and either hide in his mouth or have the serpent reverse summon himself and Sasuke to the Ryuchi Cave to escape. Suigetsu had the vial of his blood and the summoning scroll to bring himself and Manda back to avoid the trouble of journeying on foot from the residence of the snakes to reunite with his team. Unfortunately there was a risk to this plan; summoning Manda would take most of the chakra he had left. This would not leave him in a favorable position if Deidara's partner returned to fight them.
He did have another familiar that did not require such quantities of chakra to summon though. The Uchiha wiped a few drops of blood from one of his wounds onto his fingers before slamming his palm into the ground. From the smoke the form of an enormous hawk stood before him, only taking a moment to assess the situation his summoner was in and lower himself to the ground to allow Sasuke to climb onto his back.
"HAHA! Trying to fly away? Too late for that! This explosion will cover over six miles, you can't run or fly away from this one!"
'Shit!' Deidara's body was now being sucked into the odd black face on his chest. The Sharingan revealed his chakra was being packed, tightened, and coiled like a spring, almost ready to burst. He was going to blow in only a few seconds.
Sasuke no longer had enough chakra to summon Manda, but there was another slightly smaller snake he could summon that was large enough to pull off the same plan with. It would be a tighter fit but desperate times called for desperate measures.
Sasuke threw his palm to the ground again, this time his whole body was raised several stories above the ground as the serpent Aoda was summoned directly beneath him.
"Open your mouth!" Sasuke shouted, the race against time being cut much too close for his taste to bother explaining anything.
Aoda complied instantly, not yet aware of the danger they were in but able to understand Sasuke's desperate tone and know this was no time to ask questions.
The Uchiha wasted no time in jumping into the massive maw, ignoring the saliva that coated every surface inside. He was forced to hastily move to one side as Garuda dove inside with him, desperate to escape the Akatsuki's final move. With both passengers inside, Aoda's mouth clamped shut.
"Reverse Summon!"
It was at that very moment that Deidara reached the end of his fuse. With a brilliant flash, an explosion that would later be proven to be comparable to a Tailed Beast Bomb from the Juubi began to annihilate everything surrounding it. If the blast had reached them a millionth of a second earlier, they would have been caught in the blast before they could escape. A millionth of a second later, and the Reverse Summoning would have gone off without any problems and the shockwave would have hit empty space. As fate would have it, the blast wave reached Aoda at the exact moment the Reverse Summoning was activated.
The result? The explosion hit Aoda; both adding a significant force to the chakra surrounding Aoda to prepare to launch the Space-Time technique and pushing him with enough force to shift him from his targeted path.
Someone throwing a kunai or shuriken would not hit their target if someone or something hit their throwing arm before they released the projectile. Deidara's blast produced similar interference with Aoda's body, forcing his trajectory to take an unplanned detour. Aoda, Sasuke, and Garuda could only tumble helplessly as they were forced to travel through the unexplored void of space-time.
AN: Alright, hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. Took me a bit longer than I thought to finish but who know? Maybe with enough positive reinforcement (wink-wink) I can get the next chapter cranked out. Like I mentioned earlier this is my first story so constructive criticism is welcome. Flamers, I'm going to tell you in advance to go fuck yourselves.
You should be able to get some general idea about where this is going but don't worry, I have a few curveballs planned.
Read and Review!