Wow, I really can't believe the response to this story. It's this chapter where the minor Spawn crossover comes in. Well, Here's Chapter Two.
"Talk": normal speech
"Talk": flashback sequences
"Talk": demonic or deity speech
"Talk": demonic or deity speech
Disclaimer: I own neither Bleach nor Naruto. They both belong to Tite Kubo and Masashi Kishimoto. I don't own Spawn either. Spawn belongs to Todd McFarlane.
Chapter Two: Rescuing an old friend Part 1.
Tsunade sighed as she drank what was possibly her third or fourth bottle of booze. Three years had passed. Three years since she had given the order to execute Naruto. And what was gained from it? Other than the ire of every other village that had allied with them due to Naruto, nothing.
When the council had demanded Naruto's execution, she had been the first to be against it. Why should they kill Naruto? He hadn't done anything wrong. If anything the council should've been removed for that spectacle they pulled in the village. However, she had decided to do research on the seal itself. What she found out was that the seal was weakening. Not as bad as people were saying it was, but it was weakening. The reason the seal was weakening was because Naruto had used a lot of the Kyuubi's chakra. What she had gathered from the notes left by Minato, the seal wasn't made to expel a certain amount of demon chakra, but rather it was made to have Naruto's body absorb it gradually. She had Jiraiya to thank for teaching him how to access that chakra.
As for the execution, Tsunade asked them why execution and not banishment? The council had told her that if Naruto was banished, then any other village would swoop down and ask him to join up, which would cause a lot more problems than fix, at least according to them. Eventually they had worn her down, mostly with threats.
Of course, there lied the problem. After Naruto was executed, it seemed to create a split in the village. Most ninja and a small amount of civilians had protested about Naruto's execution, the Ichirakus and surprisingly enough, Sakura's mom. Others outside the village protested as well. Of course, she had Gaara to thank for that. When she had AnBu take them out of the village for their own good, she expected them to lead them out of the village. What she didn't expect was that they attacked Kankuro, broke his puppets and pretty much threw them in the desert. After Naruto was dead, the Suna council had ended all relations to Konoha, a gutsy move by some. Gaara telling their allies what had happened to Naruto was probably Gaara's way of getting back at them.
Jiraiya had been a different story. Rather than hearing from her mouth as she had planned to do, he had heard it from one of his sources reporting it to him. If there was one thing she didn't want, it was Jiraiya being very unhappy. Of course, she had tried to explain to him that there wasn't anything anyone could have done, but the old pervert had called those reasons idiotic and said she was even worse than Sarutobi. And of course, that was when Tsunade made the biggest mistake of saying that if Minato was alive and in the same predicament as she was, he would've done the same. As soon as she said those words, she instantly regretted them. Jiraiya stood there for a while before telling her "If Dan or Nawaki could see you, they would be very disappointed." After that, Jiraiya left.
And if that wasn't enough, someone she had thought dead long ago had came back, and she was not happy about what happened to her son. She remembered it all too well.
Flashback
"Hello, Tsunade."
Tsunade looked up from her paperwork. It had been two years since Naruto's death and so far things weren't looking good for Konoha. Most of their allies had broken off their alliances when they had heard what happened to Naruto. The only alliance they had left was with some smaller countries, and Waterfall. Waterfall had been ready to break off their alliance, had it not been for the council to have her send some ninja down there. When the village's leader protested, Tsunade had pointed out that since their village wasn't an official ninja village and didn't offer anything useful for trade other than the Hero's Water, which would not leave the village, any attempts at protest would fall on deaf ears. A bluff, but they had bought it.
"Do I know you?"
"Don't you remember me? Surely you remember the face of the Yondaime's wife?"
Tsunade froze. "K-Kushina? But you're supposed to be dead! We saw your corpse and everything."
It was indeed Uzumaki Kushina. But there was something a little bit off about her. It looked as if she hadn't aged in a while. Sure her hair had started to gray, but her body didn't look any older. As for her chakra, something was off, like she could sense something wrong with it.
"So Tsunade, this is the welcome I get back? No hi, no how are you doing? I guess being dead means I have no rights. Or that's just me talking nonsense."
'Something's not right, she looks too calm," Tsunade thought to herself. "Kushina, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
Kushina smirked. "Well, it's the strangest thing. While wandering around, I happen to run into Jiraiya. Since he thinks I'm dead as well, he freaks out, so I have to calm him down. After that I ask him about Naruto."
Tsunade knew this was coming. "What did he say?" She asked, bracing for impact.
"He tells me that you had him executed. Decapitation by the last Uchiha. And you want to know what else he said?"
The Fifth Hokage knew what was coming next but said nothing.
"He told me that if Minato was in your place, he would've done the same thing." At those words, Kushina's smile instantly turned into a scowl. "How dare you! You have the gall to say that, knowing damn well that Minato would've fought tooth and nail if he was ordered to kill his own son. And yet you said it like that would help your case. So why was Naruto killed?"
"There was no other choice. If we had banished Naruto, he would've fallen into the clutches of another village and he would've gotten revenge on us. As for the reason he was killed, the seal was weakening, and it was thanks to Jiraiya that it was weakening. That seal was meant for Naruto to absorb the demonic chakra gradually, not use it in huge bursts. A couple more and he would've broken the seal. And truth be told, we wouldn't be able to handle another Kyuubi attack. We have no Uzumaki other than Naruto and apparently you now that you're not dead. Another reason is that Akatsuki was after the other Jinchuuriki. The Akatsuki were made up of nine S-class criminals, Kushina. We're not equipped to deal with them. As for the Uchiha, he would've received the Mangekyo Sharingan if he killed Naruto, seeing as they were friends and all, so we let him kill Naruto.
Kushina shook her head in disbelief. "I hear your reasons, and already I can pinpoint the holes in them. Number one, if the seal had been weakening nothing bad would've happened since there were some fail safes put in. Number two, do you actually think the Akatsuki will leave you alone after getting rid of the strongest Bijuu of them all? Regardless of what you did, they would've killed you and everyone else in this village. Three, killing a jinchuuriki wouldn't mean that Kyuubi would die; he would reform a few years later. Four, do you really doubt Minato's sealing techniques? And finally, the fifth reason your reasoning sucks and Sasuke didn't receive the Mangekyo was that if he had told anyone the requirements of getting it, they would instantly stop being his friend. So what do you say to that?"
Tsunade sat there for a while. Finally she spoke. "It doesn't matter what you think, because what's done is done. I don't know how you're alive, but you are and that's what matters. So now, we are going to decide what to do with you."
"And what makes you think I'll come quietly?" Kushina asked her.
At those words, Tsunade allowed herself to smile a little. "You think you can just leave after you barge in here without permission? Not to mention you're alive, and I can sense something off about your chakra. We'll need to turn you over to our interrogators for questioning. After that, you'll be back in active duty. If you refuse, let's just say it won't be pretty."
"So you noticed my chakra, didn't you? Well, let me show you something the Shinigami gave me. In return for returning to the living, he gave me a gift." With those words, Kushina expelled some sort of chakra. Only this chakra was black, and didn't look quite like any chakra anyone has ever seen. The chakra covered her like it was some sort of suit. A moment later, the chakra solidified. What Kushina was wearing defied all logic. Kushina was in some sort of skintight suit which was mostly black. The only sort of color was the white v-stripe that was on her chest. They were also markings on her hands and most of her arms that were colored red like they were supposed to be gloves with a white band around them. She was also wearing a cape, which was connected to her by skull like coupling that looked like they were alive. The mask was awe-inspiring. Like the suit, it was black, but with white markings around the eyes. The eyes were green in color, and it felt like they were staring into her soul.
"Like it? The Shinigami said he won this suit from some uppity demon. This suit is what keeps me alive. The Shinigami fixed it up a bit. It's pretty useful, since I can't use my chakra as well as I used to. However, I can do this!" And with those words, Kushina shot out a sickly green colored beam of energy and flew out. By the time the Godaime got over her shock, Kushina was long gone.
End flashback
After that spectacle, Tsunade put Kushina in the bingo book as an A rank criminal, to be returned back to the village.
As she kept thinking about the past, the secretary poked her head in and said, "Team Seven reporting for duty, Hokage-sama."
"Send them in."
Team Seven walked inside the Hokage's office. Sasuke hadn't changed much; he wore pretty much the same outfit he used to wear; only he wore a jacket with the Uchiha crest on the back. He still talked about killing his brother. Sakura had changed a lot. She trained under Tsunade, but the biggest change was that she didn't chase after Sasuke like she did three years ago. She mostly avoided her crush nowadays, only talking to him if she needed to. Sai was an enigma however. The old war hawk Danzo had sent him over to fill up the spot of third team member. Sai freaked a lot of people out. He talked about a lot of inappropriate stuff, gave nicknames to people, and all he did was draw.
Their sensei was different however. After Naruto's death, Kakashi had resigned and went back into AnBu. She tried everything to convince him not to quit, but to no avail. So she got a new sensei, Yamato. Yamato had one special trait. He was able to use Mokuton, a result of Orochimaru's experiments. Originally, he would be able to restrain Naruto so he wouldn't go wild, but with him dead, it didn't really matter anymore.
"Team Seven reporting for duty, Hokage-sama." Yamato said.
She nodded. "Good, now Team Seven I have a mission for you. I've gotten a messenger hawk that says Suna has been attacked. Their Kazekage has been captured. Your mission is to rescue their Kazekage and bring him back alive. As for any Akatsuki, you are to engage them only when necessary."
At those words, Sasuke added in his two cents. "Why should we help them? They abandoned us when we killed the loser, so we should do the same."
"Because if we rescue them, we could get in their good graces once again." That was Sakura. She gave him a look that pretty much asked if he was stupid.
Not wanting a fight, Tsunade said, "You know your mission, now go. Yamato, I need to talk to you about something."
After the team had left, Tsunade handed Yamato a scroll. He opened it and read the contents. After putting the scroll in his pocket, he asked, "Is what it says true?"
Tsunade nodded. "I'm afraid it is. In order to return things as they were before, the Subaku blood must end. Your mission is S class and top secret. You are to kill Gaara if he survives. Temari and Kankuro are to be dealt with too. If anyone tries to stop you, then kill them. Do not let anyone see that scroll, do you understand?"
"Yes Hokage-sama." And with those words, Yamato left the Hokage's office. What they didn't know was that by accepting that mission, Konoha's fate was sealed.
Deserts of Kaze no Kuni
As Gin traveled towards the city of Suna, he thought about how he was going to explain who he was to Gaara. If he had gone anywhere else he probably would've been disbelieved, or worse attacked. Konoha was out of the question. He hoped that Suna and Konoha weren't allies anymore, or if they were, he hoped Gaara didn't turn him over to them.
Of course, at first he had a little problem. Because he was reborn as Gin Ichimaru, he discovered he had no chakra anymore. His reiatsu on the other hand, he still had it but the problem was since he was alive, it wasn't as strong as it was supposed to be when he was a Shinigami. That meant his Shunpo wasn't as fast as it was supposed to, but it was fast enough for him to get to Suna.
By the time he got to Sunagakure, he felt something was wrong. Most of the buildings looked like they had been blown up, puppet parts were strewn across the sand, and he had tripped over a body.
Gin picked himself off the ground and spat out some sand. 'I hate deserts.' He thought to himself. He then looked down. The guy's face was covered in makeup, but right now he looked as if he was in pain.
"Kankuro, is that you?" Gin asked him.
"Who the hell are you? I don't remember seeing some grey haired dude in Suna before."
"Oh my, looks like you've been poisoned. Better get you to a hospital." Gin said as he lifted Kankuro onto his shoulder and started to run towards the gate, easily bypassing the stunned guards stationed there.
Inside Suna, it was a lot worse. Suna looked like as if it had been bombed. Especially one with high grade explosives. Whoever had done this probably thought 'to hell with planning it out' and bombed the whole village. He kept running around a while until he saw the hospital and pretty much barged in and demanded a doctor.
With Kankuro being taken care of, Naruto turned toward who he thought was Baki. "What happened here?"
Baki, the man that had taught Gaara and his siblings replied, "Well as you can see, we've been attacked. It was by some people from Akatsuki, one named Deidara and another that had betrayed us named Sasori. By the way, who are you?"
Gin gave him an innocent smile. "I'm an old friend of Gaara's. My name is Gin Ichimaru."
"I don't believe that. One, I've never seen any grey-"
"My hair is silver; I'm not an old man, yet."
"Whatever. I don't who you are or where you came from. For all I know you're probably from Konoha. If you are from Konoha, I'll have to ask you to leave."
Gin smiled. So Konoha and Suna weren't allies anymore. "I'm not from Konoha, if that's what you're thinking. I'm just a lone swordsman traveling around the Elemental Nations."
Baki cocked an eyebrow. "Either you're a good liar or I'm getting old. The point is our leader had been kidnapped. We'll probably have to send a team out to get him back."
"I'll do it."
Baki turned right back towards Gin, disbelief written all over the man's face. "Are you kidding me? These men are S class criminals! A Kage would be hard pressed to fight them, much less beat them. And you, a swordsman, who we have no idea of, wants to fight them?"
Gin smiled. "Of course I do. I'll get him back, and I'll do it for free. Besides, what choice do you have?"
Baki froze. He was right. They had no other choice. One of their elders, Chiyo would be able to beat them, but she was getting in on her age. Maybe this guy would be able to get Gaara back.
River Country, Akatsuki base
"That was too easy, hm." Deidara boasted as he threw the Kazekage's body in front of the statue. The Kazekage had put up a fight, but in the end they had won. It was too bad the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was dead, but their leader had promised them the Kyuubi and Konoha afterwards.
"Calm down Deidara, we're not out of the woods just yet. We have to seal the Shukaku up first. After that we have to get out of here." Sasori said to his partner.
"Precisely," their leader stated as he and six others appeared. "Congratulations on capturing the Shukaku. Soon our dream shall be realized."
"Of course, but what about…" another person, one that looked like a Venus flytrap said in one voice, smooth as silk, and then another voice, rough finished the sentence with, "Konoha or Suna? They'll probably send a team after us." At those words, a rumble came from the rock that had blocked the entrance. Then another, and then another, until a resounding crack erupted from the rock and broke it, revealing to be a silver haired man, with a smirk on his lips and wearing a white outfit. In his hands was some sort of wakizashi, with the hilt in an S-shape. Besides him was an older woman.
"Oh my, look who I have found. Two known criminals with the Kazekage along with six other criminals. Last time I checked, kidnapping is illegal, is it not?"
For a moment, no one said anything. They Deidara asked, "Who the hell are you?"
The silver haired man smiled. "My name is Gin Ichimaru. And you, my friend are trash."
TBC
That's it for the second chapter. Next chapter will have the big fight scene that everyone's waiting for. And as for Kushina's new ability, yes she is the new Spawn, only one from the Elemental Nations. So I'll see you guys next time!