Author's Note: I have quite a few things to address: first, the warnings:
Rated T for:
Detailed violence,
mentions of cursing,
possible angst,
and various dark elements.
Now, I would like to apologize for leaving this story for so long. I will have to revise my chapters, though, as my writing style has completely changed. Oh, and I will need a beta. PM me if you are interested.
I give NO DEADLINE FOR WRITING CHAPTERS AT ALL. I write when I feel inspired.
I hope you will enjoy this tale as much as I will enjoy chronicling it.
Warriors of Water; the Start of it All
It wasn't fair.
But then again, when was it ever fair? When was she ever given a chance?
No, she had decided, they had always hated her: it had all been a facade designed to lure her into a false sense of peace, right from the very start until she perished on the assassin's blade.
The bark thudded beneath her feet as she launched off a branch of a tree, exhilaration overtaking her as she practically flew through the air, throwing her long, crimson hair into a flailing mess. She would never tire of tree-transport, she mused.
The moon shone where it could between the leaves of the dense forest, as if it was trying to find her. The last thing she wanted was to be caught now. She was the prey hunted through the woods, and everything could be her enemy. She was a target for assassination.
She just hoped he wouldn't show up- A burst of lightning erupted soundlessly, her eyes widening as she fumbled for her weapon pouch and quickly came to a halt. Slowly, carefully, she scanned the area.
A man stood in front of her. Even in the dim light, she could make out blond hair against the dark background. She smiled tightly; 'Speak of the devil and he will come.' They had told her. Her face set to create a stoic surface on the outside even as turmoil roared inside.
"Come to finish the assassination job those clan ninja failed?" Her voice was sharp, sorrowful, and rang out in the night.
"What makes you think that this is an assassination..?" The response came back, tinged with his own amount of sadness. However, she could detect traces of... confusion?
"I was attacked by three Hyūga ninja as I came back to my apartment earlier this morning. They did not have the talent to take me out, which made me assume at first that they were renegades, but..." Her eyes trailed to the ground for a moment before snapping them back up. "These weren't the Main Family Hyūga. They were from the Branch family." She let the words wash over him for a moment. "Their foreheads were marked with the Caged Bird Cursed Seal, and their eyes had faded into normal contrast when they died. That means that they were under orders from the Main Family to kill me."
She knew that would have a major effect on him; the Caged Bird Cursed Seal, as it was dubbed, was a masterpiece of sealing: first of all, it erased all traces of the wearer's bloodline upon death (hence the eye turning from white and extremely light violet to normal shades); next, it could force chakra through the cells that made up the brain, causing massive pain and disabling them for at least an hour at the activation of one hand seal. Basically, the Branch Family was all marked with this seal, enslaving them to the Main Family, and since the Main were so strict regarding their pets...
"The Branch Family could not have done it on their own accord." The man standing in front of her sadly acknowledged. "And for the reason I am the only one left that cares for you... you have my protection."
She was startled. She hadn't expected that. Perhaps he could be trusted... perhaps.
Slowly, she reached up to her forehead and grasped tightly one of her strands of hair. The man in front of her was visibly shaken by this action, knowing what it meant.
"I accept your protection, and only that." She slowly explained to him. "If you try anything... you may have been acknowledged as strongest, but I am still superior in SOME arts you haven't excelled at..." A smirk slowly spread across her face, something not shadowed by the trees. The man stared at her for a while, before nodding.
"You look more beautiful than ever." His words were sincere. She let a softer smile adorn her face, before turning and launching herself upon a new vector. She stared ahead.
The Hidden Mist Village, Kiri... Her destination.
It finally sunk in:
Her new home.
A year had passed. A year of careful preparation. A year of planning. A long, long year.
And now it was time to act.
Hovering in the air far above Kiri was a man. A peculiar orange mask covered his face, while a simple black robe with purple lining was his garb. He was so high up that he was a speck to anyone who had the skill to even find him up there.
His hands were pushed together, his sleeves covering them. Chakra channeled through them as he prepared for his ultimate attack. A summoning, but not just any summoning. Something far more intimidating than the Toads or the Slugs; far past the Snakes, even.
A low chuckle rumbled from him. His revenge would be realized, finally. Kiri had wronged him in the past, and once he was finished with this village, he would turn to his main target. Konoha.
The plan was simple: release his pet on the village, and let it wreck havoc while he infiltrated the Mizukage's office and took out the leader of the village. Then they would join their attack, and only rubble would be left.
They didn't stand a chance.
His energy pulsing reached a peak as an unbelievable amount covered his body like a cloak. His hands rapidly began forming seals, focusing and shaping the chakra until it turned red. Then he pulled one hand out and laid it in front of him, by his feet on imaginary ground.
"Summoning:" His voice, amplified and with an evil tinge to it courtesy of the chakra, rang out across the land. His mouth twisted into a triumphant smirk. "... Kyūbi no Kitsune!"
With a resonating pop and plenty of smoke, a massive fox with nine tails erupted out of nowhere and onto the village. A loud roar pierced the air and alerted everyone to it's arrival. Stifling chakra bore down on them; an aura so evil that even the strongest trembled at the feeling.
Kyūbi no Kitsune, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox Lord. And now his pet.
Slowly, the masked man raised one hand, Kyūbi copying his movement perfectly. A moment later, his fist came down as he shouted "DIE, KIRI!". In too perfect synchronization, Kyūbi slammed it's paw onto a building, crushing it even as it released another guttural howl.
Without another word, the masked man disappeared in a flicker of smoke as mayhem ensued.
It stood high and majestic; a symbol of the leaders of Kiri. The seat of the Mizukage. A large tower stretching into the sky as if to pluck the stars from it. Far enough away from the chaos descending on the village that it retained it's peaceful aura.
Yagura would never lose his admiration for it. It was the pride of the village's architecture: a beautiful piece of work, even rivaling the old Victorians in grandiose. Yet, the overblown design still proved to be efficient in times of war, acting as a storage area for the deadliest of weapons and items.
He could only hope that inside was something powerful enough to stop the Kyūbi. He also needed to alert the Mizukage of the crisis.
Yagura launched himself off the building he had been standing on and into the air, curving into an arc that would take him through the Water Tower's open window. A feat performed with the utmost precision and speed: the mark of the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad, commonly known as ANBU: the best of the best, carrying out the most dangerous missions. At least, it was the mark of a former ANBU. Yagura was now a Jōnin by choice, and had tutored a Gēnin team of his own.
A team that was now fighting on the front lines, he painfully realized. They were a team bordering on prodigy: making Chūnin on their first exam, and having mastery over quite a few high leveled skills: something rare about newly minted Chūnin. In fact, just last week, they had been conversing about possibly applying for Jōnin.
He knew they would likely not survive this ordeal: their dreams would go up in flames.
Tucking into a roll, his feet hit the ground and shot out, launching him to a standing position. He smoothly slid on his heels and turned to face one of the walls. In front of the wall was a desk. Behind that desk sat the Mizukage.
Sabita Kyoshi was a brilliant ninja: in a few years, Yagura could see him attaining a universal 'Flee On Sight' rank in the Bingo Book (a ranking system carrying information about ninja, primarily used by Hunter Ninja.), and so being the second person to ever do so. The other one was the current Hokage of Konoha, a man known as the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze. Even though his long hair was beginning to grey, he still looked every bit the formidable warrior the village had followed for so long.
"Report, Yagura." Sabita's voice was smooth, calm, but still possessed the edge that reminded Yagura of his rank, and the fact that the Mizukage was his sensei. Taking a moment to gather his bearings, Yagura slowly detailed the threat to the village.
"Sensei, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox Lord dropped out of nowhere at the edge of the village. It seems to be in a blood-crazed frenzy of sorts, and we are hard pressed to keep it back."
His words were hardly kept understandable. The Kyūbi was the vey epitome of fear; he was shaking from head to toe. His training allowed him to keep a solid front, but he felt as if he might break and run screaming into the night. And if that happened...
It was then that Yagura noticed the scroll laid out in front of the Mizukage. And what it detailed. Yagura might not have been a master of sealing, but he wasn't a Jōnin for nothing.
"Sir, you can't possibly..." His voice was cracking. Yagura cursed his fragile emotions.
Sabita Kyoshi calmly nodded and rolled up the scroll in one swift motion. He slowly got up and passed by his student, before stopping behind him.
"Yagura, you will be the next Mizukage." He spoke softly, before continuing on his march. His death march.
Yagura clenched his teeth, trying to keep what little sanity he had left from slipping away. It wouldn't do to let the Sanbi out here, to join his brother in the destruction of the village. He needed to keep his bearings. He would stay in this office until he gathered his wits.
Breathing a long, drawn out sigh, he dropped heavily into the chair behind the desk. Resting his elbows on the furniture, he rubbed his forehead, trying to cease the growing headache as his eyes closed. Suddenly, they shot open and searched the room before him.
A noise. A suspicious one. A scent of death...
He got to his feet, drawing a kunai from his weapon pouch as he stood. Yagura wouldn't be bested by whoever was attacking him.
He spun at a shadow and launched the knife into it... only for a painful sound of metal being destroyed to reach his ears. The kunai flew back towards him, landing at his feet... totally shattered.
The shadow stepped forward, the harsh light suddenly brought his features into visibility.
And his eye.
Yagura's own eyes widened.
"No..."
Several Water Dragons flew towards the creature ravaging the village, only to dry up in a massive cloud of steam when they came into contact with the chakra surrounding the fox. The Kyūbi's element was fire: the opposite of water and, while water was technically stronger, was no match for the millennia of experience the demon had.
The tails of the beast raked the ground, burning and crushing many. It felt hopeless, and the village was quickly falling.
Suddenly, a rather large hole opened in the ground, and a burst of mist shot out of it. The Kyūbi didn't bother to dodge it, feeling the attack was insignificant. When the smoke impacted, the Kyūbi let out a pained roar: the mist seemed to be solid, and actually lightly burning the beast! A fan of a tail, and the smoke quickly dispersed. Angered, it continued on it's rampage with doubled efforts.
More holes opened, but they weren't directed at the Kyūbi. They shot a distance ahead of him, collecting their steam into a single cloud. It twisted and distorted, slowly morphing into something.
The Kyūbi paused for a moment. The form looked familiar to him...
A horse... No. A dolphin... No.
His slit eyes widened slightly. One of his brothers was here.
Gōbi, the Five-Tailed Dolphin Horse Lord. Evidently against him.
At that instant, two flashes of different colors shone from the top of their heads. On top of the Kyūbi, blood red and bursting with flames. On top of the Gōbi, it was a sea blue and shimmering with waves of water. An instant later, they disappeared and two figures stood in their places.
The masked man from earlier, and the Third Mizukage.
"Tobi." Sabita claimed. His best spies had been following a lead, and he had hoped it wasn't true, but apparently...
The masked man tipped his head slightly in acknowledgement. "Sabita."
"Why are you doing this? I thought you loved this village... Your village." The Gōbi beneath him stirred restlessly.
"That night they chose you. They attacked me. I left. This is not my village." The Kyūbi glared at his brother.
Sabita would not carry this conversation further. He slowly shifted his stance.
Tobi nodded slightly and took his own stance... when a salvo of pointed Water Bullets impacted him from the side. His form flickered for a moment, before the projectiles suddenly passed through like he wasn't even there.
Tobi smirked as he canceled his perfected space-time technique. It had taken a lot of practice, but now he was essentially immortal to any attack that took less than approximately five minutes. However, his senses were slightly blurred when he used it, an inevitable effect of existing between dimensions.
When he came out, he was surprised by a wave of water twisting into a vortex in mid air. It hit him, driving him back, and before he could activate his space-time technique, he was knocked off the Kyūbi.
He mentally willed the creature to catch him, but as the tail swung close, he underestimated. The tail slammed right into him, sending him into a burning spiral to the ground. He crashed into a building, and was hidden by the flames sprouting there.
Sabita began a set of hand seals as the Gōbi leaped into action, engaging the massive fox. He shouted to the ANBU down below, watching this titanic battle; "Bring me the child! Now!"
As he finished the set of hand seals, he felt an ANBU blur into existence beside him. Sabita nodded a quick dismissal as he diverted some of the excess chakra to make a bed for the child on air, in front of him. The ANBU quietly placed the baby on it before leaping off the beast.
He then fully charged the technique with chakra... and a chill filled the air. His hair stood on end. A moment later, he gasped as an ethereal fist passed through his stomach area. The hand proceeded to pass through the child's gut, and the kid let out a piercing shriek.
Sabita's world slightly darkened. All sound drained out of his ears, and all he could hear was the thunderous thumping of his heart. His vision began swimming.
The fist flew through the air and attached to the massive beast in front of him. A moment later, it pulled back, and the Kyūbi let out a roar as he was rapidly reeled in.
It condensed into a stream of red chakra that follow the line of the fist. As soon as it impacted the baby, it disappeared. Pulsating dots flew into Sabita's vision.
The last of the chakra was finally drawn in. A moment later, a complex design appeared on the child's stomach area. The baby let out one final shriek as the fist drew out of him.
Sabita felt the impact like a load of bricks. The chill disappeared, and a lot of mist suddenly condensed into water. The fires were put out.
When everything cleared, not a soul could be seen. Not even the beast.
A lone cry pierced the air.