Chapter 2 – Revelation
Naruto pursued Yukie's attacker deeper into the village. The man had entered one of the larger houses inside the village. The house was more of a manor than the former. It was completely abandoned and aged with several visible damages showing.
"You! Stop!" yelled Naruto.
The man merely giggled at Naruto's protests.
"You have to catch me first!" said the man.
They arrived at a large wooden staircase. The man slid down the banister towards the basement. Naruto followed suit, preferring to descend via the steps. Unfortunately, due to their old age, one of the steps gave into Naruto's weight causing his foot to slide down inside the hole. It was mildly bruised by the fall but Naruto barely felt its effects.
"Careful now! Wouldn't want to wear yourself out before a fight now…" said the man jokingly as he slid down further downstairs.
The stairs ended in a large cavern with the river passing across it. A wooden catwalk stands in the cavern which cuts through the river's flow. Several small altars could be seen in the carvers, most of them mounted in a rock in the middle of the river.
"This is it! I'm almost there…" thought the man as he crossed the bridge towards the other bank.
"Hold it right there!" said Naruto as he tossed several shurikens at the man.
The man was quick to dodge the projectiles but one of them connected with his mask, knocking it off his face.
"S-SAI?!" uttered Naruto in surprise. The man behind the mask was none other than the root ANBU.
"Haha, I was trying my best to hide my identity but I guess you're too sharp for that." laughed Sai sheepishly.
"What are you doing here?! And what did you do to Yukie earlier? And what about my transport mission?" babbled Naruto in confusion.
"Sorry to upset you Naruto, but you got set up…" giggled Sai.
"Huh what?!" asked Naruto, his mouth agape in mere confusion.
"Okay, I'll explain it to you." said Sai. "Master Tsunade has ordered me to search for a missing Konoha chuunin a few days ago. I found him here in the village of Himawari but there's also one problem, he's being controlled by some sort of jutsu. I've tried several times to subdue him but he was way too persistent and skilled." explained Sai.
"So… what does that have to do with me?" asked Naruto.
"Well, I've asked Master Tsunade for some reinforcements but I never expected that she'll send someone as hapless as you…" snickered Sai.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" growled Naruto, shaking his fist in Sai's direction.
"Hahaha, relax Naruto." smiled Sai raising his hand in front of him. "Anyway, thanks to you, the missing chuunin or should I say, Yukie, was easily subdued. All I need to do now is destroy whatever is controlling him…"
"So that means… Yukie is the bad guy?" asked Naruto.
"Pretty much. Don't worry about him though. The poison I used was very mild and is not intended to kill him." assured Sai.
"Oh… uh, about that…" smiled Naruto sheepishly.
"You didn't give him an antidote now didn't you?" asked Sai.
"Uh, well…" said Naruto but he was cut off when a large stalactite fell from the ceiling between him and Sai, destroying a huge chunk of the catwalk. The stalactite buried itself in the riverbed and standing on top of it is Yukie.
"I will not allow you to go further!" hissed Yukie as he rushed for Sai. He unleashed a quick succession of swipes which the root ANBU blocked with his short sword.
"Hold on Sai!" said Naruto as he jumped across the fallen rock and ran towards Yukie. He grabbed the teen's arms tightly, preventing him from throwing more blows at Sai.
"This won't hold me…" said Yukie.
He jumped behind Naruto with his arms still firmly tangled with Naruto's. Naruto was forced the bend backwards due to Yukie's movement. With one flowing move, Yukie spun around, causing Naruto to lose his footing as well as his grip and falling to the wooden floor. Several pieces of wood splintered from where Naruto landed.
"I've had enough of your intrusions!" hissed Yukie as he readied his right middle and index finger for his attack. He was about to stab his fingers into Naruto's face when Sai's lion paintings tackled the teen into the fallen stalactite, leaving trails of cracks in the rock.
Yukie fell on all fours, the wind knocked out of him. Two of Sai's lion paintings held Yukie's hands inside their mouth while another two held his legs.
"Thanks Sai." said Naruto as hi fellow ninja helped him up his feet.
"You were very useful as well…" smiled Sai.
Naruto stared daggers at Sai for his less than gratifying comment.
"Ghh… Let me go!" demanded Yukie as he struggled from the paintings' grip.
"Could you hold his mouth open Naruto?" requested Sai.
"Huh? O-Okay…" said Naruto as he went to Yukie's side. He used both of his hands to pull the teen's mouth open.
Sai dug into his belt pouch and pulled out a black pill. He also got his water can ready and approached Yukie.
"I'm sorry but you'll be better off asleep…" said Sai as he dropped the pill in Yukie's mouth. After that, he put the water can's mouth into the boy's mouth and emptied the remaining water in it. Yukie coughed a bit and his thrashings eventually subsided. A few moments later he was completely motionless. The ink lions let go of their grip and dissipated back into Sai's scroll. "We have to find whatever is controlling him soon. That medicine is a fairly weak one and will probably wear off in a short while…" said Sai.
"I remembered him saying something about a mask…" reminisced Naruto.
"Then we have to find that mask quickly. The controller must be using him to protect that mask." concluded Sai.
"Very good, you figured it all out…" said a rickety feminine voice behind Naruto and Sai.
They turned to see who it was, spotting an extremely aged woman standing on a huge double door on the other side of the catwalk. She was dressed in a layered flowing dress and her long white hair reached the floor. Her thin bony hands ended with sharp long black nails which would jungle cats a case of jealousy.
"You! How could you have survived that encounter Lady Kaname!" cursed Sai.
"Ah… You thought that fool Danzo could eliminate me that easily?" cackled the old woman in a creepy manner. "To be honest, that fight we had did more damage to him than me…"
Naruto then remembered what Danzo looked like when he first saw the man. He looked very injured and half of his body was covered in bandages and he had to walk with a cane.
"Sorry dearies. I'm afraid this is the end of the line for you…" said Kaname as she made a quick swipe with her right hand, splitting all of the catwalk's support from the riverbed. Naruto quickly picked up Yukie and jumped to the safety of one of the altars. Sai also jumped into one of the altars, avoiding the river's dangerous flow.
"You okay?" asked Sai.
"Yeah, we're fine over here!" replied Naruto.
"Fools! You cannot hope to accomplish what Danzo could not!" spat the old woman as she did several other swipes with her hands.
The altar where Sai and Naruto stood was cleanly cut in half along with the rock where it stood. The two ninjas transferred into another altar.
"Be careful Naruto. She may not look like it but Lady Kaname is a highly skilled ninja. She has the ability to split anything with her chakra at great distances…" warned Sai. He pulled out his scroll and drew several lions in it. He made some hand seals and brought life to his paintings.
The lions galloped towards Kaname but they were quickly dispatched by the old woman.
"Kekekeke… You may be a root ANBU but you are still no match for me!" said Kaname.
"Grrr, using other people to do your bidding. You're the most disgusting person I've ever seen! I can't forgive you for what you did!" growled Naruto as his eyes reverted to its flaming crimson hue. The marks in his face started to become visible and his fangs and nails grew.
"Ah… The boy who carries the Kyuubi in his body. All this time I was looking for you, only to have you coming to me in the end…" laughed Kaname.
Sai then remembered something. He remembered that the reason why his master Danzo had fought with Kaname was because she wanted to abduct Naruto for her own purposes.
"NARUTO, GET OUT OF HERE!!" yelled Sai. Sai didn't notice that Kaname had slashed the altar he was standing on, causing him to fall into the rushing current of the river.
"SAAAAI!!" screamed Naruto as he saw Sai get carried by the river downstream. He sat Yukie down near the altar and went after Kaname.
Kaname reached down her sleeve and pulled out a wooden mask with two gems placed in its eye socket.
"Better you than that brat Yukie…" said the old woman as she wore the mask and gazed at Naruto.
Naruto had jumped from the altar and into the remains of the catwalk to where Kaname was. He had an angry scowl in his face but one his eyes met with the mask's gems, his angry expression was replaced by a dazed one.
"Good… I finally have you under my grasp." laughed Kaname maniacally.
Yukie stirred awake, the effects of the drug that Sai gave him finally wearing off.
"Unh… Wh-What happened?" asked Yukie as he gripped his head which hurt a bit. He saw Naruto and Kaname standing on the other end of the cavern. He also spotted Sai who had managed to cling to a rock.
"Ah, I see you've finally awoken!" cackled Yukie.
"Grandmother, what have you done?!" asked Yukie, observing the destroyed catwalk and altars.
"I know that this place is a sacred one, but I had to make sacrifices. I've finally caught him Yukie! Our clan will finally be rise from the ashes!" proclaimed the woman. Naruto turned around to look at Yukie, his eyes empty and dazed.
"Please stop it grandmother! The Yata has lost! Just accept it and move on!" cried Yukie.
"You ungrateful child! After I took care of you! After I gave you everything, this is what you repay me?!" snarled the old woman accusingly.
"You never took care of me grandmother. You used me as your peon!" replied Yukie.
"You're just like your father. Fools!" shouted Kaname as she pointed her fingers at him.
Unbeknownst to Kaname, the fox demon's chakra was starting to manifest itself. Bubbles of red chakra started appearing all over Naruto.
The old woman raised her hand like a deranged preacher and began relating her plan. "With the kyuubi in my grasp, I will destroy Konoha and in it, rebuild the Yata clan. I will…"
Her rambling were stopped when a thick splatter of blood sprayed out in front of her. Naruto had stabbed his hand through the old woman's body.
"Uch… Impossible. How could you escape the mask's control…" gurgled the old woman as her head hanged from her neck. The mask she wore dropped into the floor with a clank that echoed across the cavern. Naruto pulled out his arm and Kaname's body fell lifelessly into the cold ground.
Yukie's mouth hung open, stupefied at the events. He wanted to move but his body wouldn't.
"Run! He can't control his chakra! He'll kill anything and everything in his path!" yelled Sai.
Naruto turned towards Sai and a grin crept in his face. Like an animal gone berserk, he strode towards Sai but before he could land on top of him, Yukie met with him in midair, tossing him away with a well placed kicked to the abdomen. Naruto landed in his original spot with Yukie landing near him.
"No! You can't take him!" said Sai as he pulled himself into dry land.
Yukie didn't respond and merely concentrated his gaze on Naruto. Naruto went for another round of attack to Yukie. Countless punches and kicks were thrown by Naruto, most of them connecting on Yukie's body. Yukie shakily retreated away from Naruto.
"I'll distract him long enough for you to escape…" said Sai who had joined the battle.
"I know what I'm doing!" said Yukie. He ran towards Naruto and attempted to land a falling palm on Naruto. Naruto dodged the blow and countered it with a roundhouse kick that sent Yukie flying to a boulder.
Sai tried to subdue Naruto with his lions but they proved worthless to the rampaging jinjuriki. Yukie recovered from the blow and went in for another try. This time, Sai had caught up with what he was trying to do. Sai drew several snakes and used them to bind Naruto's arms and legs. Yukie held one of Naruto's arms and pointed his fingers towards the ceiling.
"Chakra redistribution technique!" yelled Yukie. A stream of thick red chakra fired from his fingertips and into the ceiling. The stream of chakra carved a hole through the thick rock of the ceiling and into the surface.
The fox demon's chakra dissipated from Naruto as he collapsed, the chakra drained out of him.
Hope you like this chapter. Please R and R.