A/N: This should be the last introduction chapter. Then I'll get to talking more about Kaori and stuff.
Read and Review!
Disclaimer: I most definitely do not own Naruto. Oh, and I also don't own that poem near the end by Mary Oliver.
Chapter 2 - The Kyuubi
Kakashi heard screaming outside. He sprinted into Minato's office, where a few other shinobi were gathered in front of the window, and gasped at the sight.
"W-Where did those boulders come from?" He thought, his mind racing. "This isn't possible…"
"It's the Kyuubi," someone announced from behind the awe-struck shinobi standing at the window. Kakashi's head spun around, as did everyone else's, to find a raven-haired woman with navy eyes standing at the door.
"Really, Nobara? I thought we were supposed to keep everyone calm," said another person, a man with a light brown hair and dark green eyes, who appeared next to Nobara, holding a small blonde-haired baby.
"Well, they're being evacuated. They'll want to know why," Nobara reasoned calmly. She was the only calm one there, save for the man standing next to her.
"S-Sozu, Nobara," Kakashi called, walking over to them as the room broke out into loud conversation. "What's going on here?"
"Long story short? The Kyuubi destroyed the hospital, and apparently he's not done yet," Nobara stated, tilting her head towards the unbelievable scene outside.
There were loud cries heard from several of the shinobi in the room, some wondering what they should do and some wondering where the hell the actual monster was.
"Relax, relax, everyone," Sozu instructed evenly. "We don't have much time. Evacuate everyone you can, and quickly. Those boulders seem to be getting bigger."
All of the shinobi simultaneously moved towards the door. Some screamed orders down the hallways to others. Books and written messages were dropped along the corridor floors as some people dropped what they were doing and ran outside to evacuate the people of the village. Chaos reigned for several minutes. Kakashi did not think that it could get any worse than this.
He was wrong.
"Rin!" he called to the kunoichi as she sprinted past him in a hurry. "Rin, wait!"
"K-Kakashi," Rin stammered, spinning around to face him. Her eyes were frantic, reflecting the fear that he felt.
"Where's Obito?" Kakashi asked, successfully managing to keep his own fear out of his voice.
Her eyes widened slightly. "H-He followed you and Yondaime-sensei to the hospital. Did he make it there?"
"I don't know."
"We need to go find him." Rin ran towards Kakashi and grabbed his arm roughly, then dragged him out of the Hokage's tower. "Now!"
They both ran to the demolished hospital, gave it a once over, and then searched desperately for Obito.
"Obito! Obito!" Rin called out loudly. She stopped a shinobi who was currently leading a few children away. "Have you seen Obito?"
"No," the shinobi answered quickly before pushing Rin out of his way and racing off with the children to bring them to safety. Unfortunately, a rather large boulder crashed into the earth right next to them. They disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Kakashi and Rin did not stop to see if they were all right. They still had to find Obito, and they both had a bad feeling that something bad happened to him.
"Kakashi," Rin said suddenly. "We should follow the others."
"But, Rin…"
"He might be with them."
Kakashi hesitantly agreed and followed Rin as she flitted across the village, dodging boulders and picking up lonely, crying children as she did. She was not the only one doing this. Several other shinobi were racing across the village on all sides of Rin and Kakashi holding as many children as they could carry.
Kakashi sighed. None of those shinobi were Obito. Where could he be now…?
All of a sudden, something caught his eye. Nimbly, Kakashi jumped off the building he was running on, dodged a couple boulders swiftly and easily, and raced up to his site of interest, hoping he did not see what he thought he did.
There was a tremendously large boulder, more than three times as tall as Kakashi was himself and just as wide. However, that was not what caught Kakashi's attention. It was what was under it.
Obito.
Kakashi knelt down on the ground next to his dead friend whose left half was smashed underneath the boulder, but whose right half was fairly intact. His right eye was still open and the Sharingan was still active, though barely so. He looked so peaceful, almost as if he were sleeping with his eyes open; however, the fact that half of his body was missing shattered that image immediately.
Kakashi carefully, slowly, grabbed Obito's right hand and held it to his face, trying not to cry.
"Obito," he whispered. "Why?"
As if answering his question, a piece of crumpled paper fell out of Obito's hand and landed on the ground below.
What's this…? Kakashi thought, picking up the piece of paper and reading it. "'Kakashi…Please take my Sharingan. It's the only way I can be of any use anymore.' What? What is talking about? And what does he mean he's sorry? Did he plan to die? Obito, what the hell are you thinking?"
Kakashi crumpled the paper in his hand viciously and threw it as far as he could down the abandoned street. He was panting heavily, nearly sobbing, and felt as if he had been running for hours. He wanted to just lie down on the street and sleep for a few hours, a few days, maybe for forever. At least until this pain stopped. What happened to the happy, joyful day that day had started out to be? There was no joy anymore.
He knelt down again next to Obito and stared at the dead man's face intensely. "Take your Sharingan? How could I?"
"Kakashi!"
Kakashi's head flew up. He saw Rin standing on a nearby building, dodging monster boulders. Behind her and the building, he saw something that looked like several red tails waving back and forth crazily in the sky that sent a shock of cold fear running through his body.
What…?
"Kakashi let's go! What are you doing?" Rin yelled.
Kakashi shook the image out of his head. He glanced around and noticed that the boulder was so huge that it had created an overhang over himself and Obito, protecting him from harm. He knew that as soon as he moved from his spot, he would have to act fast to dodge those boulders. Carrying someone else while doing that would be even tougher.
Please take my Sharingan.
It was the only thing he could do for Obito. Carefully, he pulled what he could of Obito from under the boulder. He refused to look at what remained, afraid it might set his emotions off again. Then he threw his friend over his shoulder and sprinted out from under the overhang to where Rin stood.
Her eyes widened as they had done several times within the last hour. "Kakashi, is that…?"
"No time to explain," Kakashi interrupted, his tone emotionless. "We have to get going."
He sprinted off before Rin could make another statement that might very well break his heart. As annoying as she may have thought Obito was, Kakashi knew that she cared about him. He was positive that she recognized the man Kakashi was carrying over his shoulder, however mangled he may have been, but even so, they had no time to mourn over him. Not here. Not now.
Once Kakashi had come to this conclusion, he focused on his surroundings more carefully. To his left, part of the village was still standing, though barely. In front of him, he still caught the sight of a few shinobi who were just finishing up, like he was. He wondered fleetingly how far out they were bringing the villagers before bringing himself back to reality. He shook his head violently.
"Not now Kakashi," he ordered himself. "This isn't the time to space out. I have to focus…!"
A small boulder about his own size clipped Kakashi on the opposite shoulder that was holding Obito, causing him to nearly fall off a building. Rin caught him just in time and pulled him up.
"Kakashi, are you okay?" she asked worriedly.
He glanced at the abrasion on his shoulder. It did not seem too deep, thankfully. He nodded to Rin and was about to begin running again before another great sight caught his eye.
It was a giant beast, far bigger than anything Kakashi had ever seen before. The Hokage's mountain just barely reached neck-level on the beast. Its nine massive tails swung wildly in the air, throwing beams of high-energy red chakra aimlessly, it seemed, though Kakashi realized that those beams are what created the giant boulders that fell from the sky. The beast roared menacingly, its red fur bristling with intent, and…
Kakashi shuddered. That grin. Even though it was growling, combating, killing, and generally causing havoc, it seemed as if the beast's lips, outlined in a thick black, were curved into a malevolent smile. Whatever else the beast may have been doing, that scared Kakashi the most.
"Is that…the Kyuubi?" Kakashi asked, yelling over the noise of the beast.
"I-I think so," Rin answered from behind him. Panic was evident in her voice. "Kakashi, we have to get out of here."
"Y'think?" he muttered under his breath, but to Rin he just nodded. With that, they raced off again, just managing to get out of the village before the largest boulder of them all crashed right in front of the village entrance, blocking it.
They quickly made their way to where everyone was gathered, a little over a mile from the village. Or maybe it was two miles? They were not paying attention to the distance. They were both too distracted by the image of the Kyuubi.
"Hey! Kakashi! Rin! Over here!" someone called.
Kakashi and Rin stopped in front of the shinobi who had called them. They exchanged a few words and then ran for another minute before finally arriving at their final destination.
"So this is it, then, huh?" Rin asked. "Everyone is here?"
"Yeah, well, as many as we could save, that is," the shinobi replied. "Not Obito, though. We haven't been able to find him. We thought he was with you…" The shinobi noticed the mangled body hanging over Kakashi's shoulder. "Who…?"
"It's Obito," Kakashi stated flatly. "Yes, he's dead."
The shinobi's mouth hung open in shock for several seconds. He finally composed himself and gulped loudly. "Um, I'm…" Kakashi abruptly dropped the body right in front of the shinobi, causing him to jump. "Eh? Why…?"
"I need a medic, now," Kakashi continued, not bothering to let the man speak.
"W-Why?"
"I need them to give me his Sharingan," Kakashi answered.
Rin laughed embarrassedly. "Hah, Kakashi, always joking around like that. Isn't he funny?"
Kakashi stared at her. His eyes burned into hers. "Rin."
She stared back at him, her forced smile fading away. "You're serious, aren't you?"
"Obito told me to take it," Kakashi told her. He hesitated and then looked away. "He wrote me a letter. I crumpled the paper and threw it away. That's about when you came to get me."
They were silent for a long time. Kakashi was looking away, as if trying to see through the surrounding trees. Rin was still staring at him, her eyes wide with surprise. The other shinobi looked from Kakashi to Rin over and over again before backing away discreetly to go help the others. There was not a place for him there.
Finally, Rin answered him. "I'll do it. Kakashi." She grabbed his hand roughly, her wide eyes staring at him intently. "I'll give you his Sharingan!"
She looked down, tears quickly forming. "For Obito."
Kakashi nodded slowly.
For Obito.
"Thank you."
xOx
That's the Kyuubi?! Minato thought. He sized up the beast from a far enough distance that he did not have to bend his neck back to see the top of it. It was huge, he knew that much. What else was it? A killer? A skilled fighter, maybe?
It knew what it was doing, he was sure of it. No one could accidentally make it rain boulders from the sky unless they were a maniac or could not control their power. This beast was no maniac. Its cool sinister gaze nearly screamed, "I'm a trained killer."
The beast suddenly turned its head towards Minato as if it saw him standing there. It seemed to have no pupils, though Minato was sure that it was staring right at him. Its pure white eyes were hypnotizing, drawing him in closer and closer…
"Minato! Watch out!"
The blonde Hokage shook himself out of the trance and jumped just in the nick of time. A large boulder smashed the part of the building he had just been situated on.
Minato looked at the beast again. What could he do to stop it? He barely noticed the destruction that it had already caused. That was irreversible. What he could do was stop it from causing anymore destruction. The question was still there though: How?
"Shitzu," Minato said after a moment of thought. "We need to hit its face somehow. Preferably in the eyes, if we can."
Shitzu nodded. "Yes, that would probably be the most effective way of defeating it."
"Do you think you could manage it?" Minato asked. "I'll be the distraction, if it would help."
Shitzu nodded again. This time he smiled almost as malevolently as the Kyuubi. His pupils illuminated brighter than Minato had ever seen, causing the blonde Hokage to smile back.
They both glanced over at the beast, sizing it up once again. It was still staring at them, growling menacingly, its lip curling against its large, sharp, stark white teeth as it did so. Minato and Shitzu stepped back slightly.
It was definitely staring straight at them.
"Ready?" Minato inquired through gritted teeth.
"Ready as you are," Shitzu replied.
"Then what are we waiting for?"
They both disappeared in a flash. The Kyuubi continued to stare at the spot where they once stood, then shifted its gaze to the far left, where Minato had just appeared in midair. It growled slightly and snapped at midair. Minato quickly disappeared again just to reappear on the other side of the demon's face. This pattern continued for a little while: Appear, growl, snap, disappear, then reappear again.
Shitzu watched from a distance. To him, it almost looked like a choreographed dance. Each of their moves seemed to be timed so perfectly. They were flawlessly synchronized.
"Ah, yes, that's right," Shitzu told himself. "I need to focus."
He gazed attentively at the scene in front of him, particularly at the frustrated Kyuubi. "It looks totally distracted. Heh. Nice work, Minato." He made a hand sign, still staring at the beast. "Now, I've got to give it everything I've got." He grinned inwardly. "Come here, Beastie. Come to Papa…"
He released a large portion of the Light chakra he held as he raised his right hand, palm facing up, and yelled, "Ninja Art: Silver Light!" The silvery white chakra engulfed him. Once the jutsu was fully activated, he shouted, "Sky Shot!"
A thick white beam shot from his hand into the clouds above. Simultaneously, another thicker beam shot down from a spot in the clouds right above the Kyuubi's head, which was facing its right side currently, staring down at Minato.
"I've got you now…!"
Without even flinching or moving its head, the beast flicked one of its massive tails rapidly at the bright white beam, effectively cutting it off. Shitzu's eyes widened. It had been blocked? How?
He stared in amazement at the beast. He never knew that the Kyuubi was that powerful. This was one of the most powerful Light jutsus they were talking about, and the Kyuubi had blocked it without even a flinch! Unfortunately, Shitzu learned something else while he was at it. Since no one had ever blocked the attack before, they never had to worry about it. However, now that it had happened, it had become a problem.
Only a few seconds after the Kyuubi had blocked the attack, a bright white light flashed from the spot where it had been blocked, as if it was twilight and the sun was just sinking beneath the horizon. It was a quick flash, blinding and abrupt, but it seemed to do nothing until suddenly, the attack shot back up into the sky from that spot. Once again simultaneously, the beam was redirected, and blasted Shitzu full on. He screamed out of pain and surprise. He could not move.
How did this happen?
Why?
Can it really be true?
The beam was still blasting upon Shitzu's poor, human body even after a good, slow thirty seconds. He could barely breathe, barely think, but he knew that he had to do something. Mustering as much energy as he could, he pushed out a shield as he yelled, "Shield!"
The beam disappeared in another flash of light. Shitzu fell onto his hands and knees, panting heavily. He held his hands on front of his face and examined them. They looked and felt as if they had been burnt severely, just as the rest of his body did. The skin was peeling off in several places. He fisted his hands gently and flinched. Then he wiggled his fingers around a bit. It did not feel too comfortable to move around, but somehow, he could manage.
He stood up again, cringing slightly, and breathed in deeply. If he were not a Light ninja, he would have been killed by that direct hit. He might have been killed anyway. Nonetheless, he had survived, and therefore had to be more careful to make sure he stayed that way. That much he knew very well.
However, it was not his intention to survive this fight. He was fighting a demon after all. It was known for its power just as the Kiu Shinobi was known for his. "Or hers," Shitzu thought. "Kaori is the new Kiu Shinobi and she's a girl. But does she have the power she's supposed to have? Something like…like this?" He looked back up at the demon fox. "No. No one could have this kind of power. It's inhuman."
He breathed in again. It was likely he would not survive this fight, but if that's what it came to, so be it. For the village, for his granddaughter, and for everyone and everything else, he would fight as hard as he could until the very end.
All of a sudden, it occurred to him that he had not seen Minato since he tried to attack the Kyuubi. He shot forward, panicked, but suddenly heard a noise from behind him.
"I'm right here, Shitzu-sensei," Minato said.
Shitzu turned around and darted back. "Minato! Are you okay?"
"I should be asking you the same thing," Minato muttered, giving Shitzu a once over. "You're not dead?"
Shitzu blinked out of surprise. "Of course not. I'm a Light ninja. We have a sort of…immunity to our own power. Sort of." He glanced at his burnt hands again. "I still could have been killed. That was a direct hit."
"Yeah, I know," Minato muttered again, this time glaring at the beast behind Shitzu. "This isn't going to be very easy, is it?"
"Did you expect it to be?" Shitzu replied back, shrugging. "It's a demon, Minato. It has all sorts of tricks up its sleeve."
"If it had a sleeve." Yondaime laughed. Then he smiled, evil intents glistening in his eyes. "Instead, I think its hiding those tricks in its tails."
Shitzu looked at the beast again as well. "Ah, yes, so you noticed too? Its tails seem to be the source of its power." He laughed, almost a hysterical sound. Maybe he was going crazy. "What say we cut off its tails? Give it a little haircut? Those tails must be awfully heavy to be lugging around everywhere. We'll be doing it a favor."
"The Kyuubi doesn't take favors," Minato reminded his friend.
"Then it won't be easy, will it?" Shitzu responded, still smiling. "Just the way I like it."
They both disappeared suddenly again. Somehow, it seemed, they both knew exactly what to do. They had to give it everything they had until the very end if they wanted any chance of defeating the monster. If they died? They will not have died in vain.
Shitzu went first. He appeared slightly behind the Kyuubi on the left. The silvery white chakra that engulfed him drew in tighter around him as he shouted, "Full Body!" With a flash, he disappeared again, just to reappear directly behind the Kyuubi, where its nine tails were connected. His whole body was covered with a thin layer of the shimmering high-energy chakra as if he had covered himself in some sort of glittering plastic wrap. He whipped out his katana and swung straight at the connected spot. Abruptly, one of the tails brushed him away, causing him to fly several hundred yards to the left.
Shitzu landed gracefully on the edge of a building and smirked. He was unharmed, having activated the special Light Full Body shield. Thank God for that, or else that tail would have sent him flying back at least another hundred yards. It's not like he was not expecting that to happen, though. In fact, he had specifically prepared for that menacing tail by activating his special shield.
Shitzu glanced up at the sky. He noticed that it was not raining boulders anymore; instead, the Kyuubi was focused intently on the two shinobi. He smirked again. It was time to get serious.
He sprinted across the buildings as he ran straight up to the beast and activated another jutsu. "Minato, can you hear me?"
"Shitzu-sensei? How…?"
"A Kiuno clan specialty. Sort of like a mind reading jutsu. Can't really provide the details for you though 'cause it's top secret." Reaching the beast once again, Shitzu jumped and disappeared again just before another tail hit him. "So where are you?"
"Right here."
Shitzu reappeared on the other side of the Kyuubi and saw Minato standing next to him, grinning childishly. They both disappeared suddenly.
"So, what's the plan now, Shitzu-sensei?"
"You're having too much fun with this, aren't you? You sound like a kid again!" Shitzu sighed inwardly. "Find its blind spot. Everyone has one."
"Okay then. Attack from all sides. Got it."
Minato appeared directly above the beast's head, landed on it, and then jumped and disappeared again as the beast growled and snapped at him. A few seconds later, he reappeared again above the beast's head, but this time he brought a few of his shadow clones with him. One clone stayed on the Kyuubi's head and attempted to attack it from there only to be destroyed with the flick of a tail. It disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
The other shadow clones dispersed, running along the length of the beast. The chakra that surrounded the beast burned their skin slightly, but it did not prevent them from performing their task. In ten different spots along the Kyuubi's back, the ten shadow clones attacked simultaneously. Unfortunately, before they could, one of the Kyuubi's tails wiped them all off. They disappeared in clouds of smoke.
From his position a hundred or so yards away, Minato sighed heavily. He had wanted to see if more people than there were tails would impede the Kyuubi at all. It seemed, however, that was not the case. One tail could easily defend the Kyuubi from almost anything, Minato realized. Then why were there nine of them?
"Think of it this way, Yondaime," Shitzu though, surprising Minato who had forgotten about the mind reading-like jutsu. Minato caught sight of Shitzu and a few shadow clones directly underneath the beast. "What do you do if you cannot fit everything you want into a box?"
"Um…get another box?"
"Exactly. With the amount of power this demon has, there's no way all of its power can be stored in just that body and one tail. So it has more than one."
Minato sighed again. "Nine, to be exact. So nine times the power it would have without all of those tails."
"Pretty much."
"Geez, why weren't humans born with nine tails?" Minato laughed to himself. "Oh, that's right, 'cause we aren't freaks."
Shitzu laughed with him as he and his shadow clones attempted to attack from the bottom. Minato, feeling left out, distracted the beast by appearing and disappearing randomly on all sides of its face. A couple tails prevented Shitzu and his clones from going through with their attacks; however, Shitzu noticed that the tails were not hitting the people who were making the attacks this time.
"Weird."
At that moment, an idea popped into Shitzu's head. He grinned maliciously and disappeared again, reappearing a few hundred yards back.
"Minato, over here."
"Coming."
Minato reappeared next to Shitzu. "Well, so far, nothing seems to get by him. There's got to be a way…"
"Did you notice that while you were distracting it," Shitzu interrupted, "the tails did not hit my shadow clones or me? They did block the attacks, but they did not attack us. Also, the Kyuubi used more tails this time."
"Ah, I get it. It seems the stomach is its weak spot," Minato stated, echoing Shitzu's own thoughts. "And maybe it's the beast's blind spot too. If it can't see you, then why would it risk attacking you?"
"Exactly," Shitzu said. "That's my point. If we can somehow hit it in the stomach…"
"It's the only chance we have," Minato finished, gazing intensely at the beast. "Got it. So what's the plan?"
"This time, I'm going to attempt to distract it," Shitzu explained. "I'll also try to attack it as well, just in case I somehow get an attack by. Increases our chances." He shrugged. "I'm sure I can distract it enough. While I'm doing that, you, Minato, have to prepare the strongest Rasengan you have ever used. Ever. Any less wouldn't affect this damn beast very much." He scowled. "When I say go, you have to attack. I'd suggest preparing yourself underneath the beast. He doesn't seem to notice if someone's there, as long as they aren't obvious about it. Y'know. 'Cause it's the blind spot."
"Okay. So go underneath it. Prepare Rasengan. Attack when you say go."
"That's the plan in a nutshell."
"Okay then," Minato said, gritting his teeth. "Let's go."
They both disappeared again. Shitzu reappeared first right in front of the Kyuubi's large nose. He made a face and disappeared again, infuriating the Kyuubi. Minato took this opportunity to make his way discreetly to a spot directly beneath it. He looked up, gazing in amazement at the wide expanse of its stomach.
"Focus, focus, focus, Minato," he told himself, shaking his head. "Right. Prepare the Rasengan. I can do that."
He held out his hand and waited a few seconds before saying, "Rasengan!" as quietly as he could while still being loud enough for the beast to have heard if it were not so distracted by Shitzu. His blue chakra spun rapidly in the palm of his hand, compressing itself to fit perfectly in it. The rapidly spinning ball of energy radiated a small light from within it just barely noticeable to the naked eye, especially compared to the glowing red chakra that the Kyuubi was whipping around more wildly than before. Minato thought of Shitzu. How was he doing?
He could not check on his dear old sensei, as he had to pay focus intently on his own task. Still, he could not help but wonder if he was doing okay. The Kyuubi seemed to be more angered than before and for what reason would that be? Shitzu could not be doing anything worse than what Minato himself had been doing to distract the beast earlier, or so Yondaime thought.
Minato tried to focus himself again with a bit of difficulty. Why was it so hard to focus? It was almost as if the beast had some sort of hypnotizing power that distracted his opponents.
"Minato!"
Minato looked up, surprised by the sound of his old sensei's voice. Why did he sound so panicked?
It did not take him too long to realize that Shitzu must have seriously angered the malevolent beast, as he was now hanging by his throat from what looked like a hand made out of the Kyuubi's red chakra.
"Now! Go! You have no time to lose!"
The Kyuubi's head suddenly turned towards Minato, who had been hesitating, but now was preparing to jump. The beast growled and tried to whip him away with a flick of his tail. Minato expected this and took the time to respond in kind. He suddenly flipped towards the oncoming tail and aimed his Rasengan at it. At the speed the tail was going, Minato would not need any more speed to power the Rasengan, and neither would the beast have any time to change the direction of the tail.
The tail rammed into the Rasengan, causing a large power struggle between both attacks. Large blasts of white light shot out from the point of collision in all directions creating a ripple effect. Minato held his place, grunting, and shouted, "Go! Now!"
All of a sudden, another Minato, the real one, leaped out of his hiding spot a few yards away. In his palm, a perfect Rasengan was already formed. He soared up with a loud battle cry, aiming at the beast's vulnerable stomach, while his shadow clone counterpart that held off the tail disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He knew he had this one.
He successfully slammed his attack into the middle of the beast's stomach. A large growl of pain erupted from the beast's mouth. It swung its tails wildly and lifted its nose towards the sky. Minato attempted to dodge the flailing tails only to run right into one and get thrown back all the way across the village. He landed on his back on a small blunt object. He gasped and curled into a semi-fetal position as he rolled off of the building on which the small blunt object was located and crashed onto the ground below.
Shitzu! He thought suddenly, his mind frenzied, barely registering the pain. "Shitzu-sensei, are you okay?"
There was no response. He crawled to his hands and knees with difficulty and breathed in and out heavily. "Shitzu-sensei! Answer me!"
"…Minato…"
He sighed with relief. "Ah, there you are. Are you okay?"
"I'm…Minato…please…"
Yondaime stiffened. "Where are you?"
There was no response again. Minato quickly stood up, ignoring the searing pain that shot up his spine, and rapidly jumped up onto the nearest building. Once there, he saw the Kyuubi lying on his side on the ground all the way across the village. The blonde Hokage dashed forward, attempting to get a closer view of the scene. It only took him a few hundred yards to see what was happening.
Though the Kyuubi was lying on the ground as if it were dead, its tails were still flailing crazily in the air. Its chakra was also flying around just as crazily and aimlessly, except for a small bit of it which was shaped into a hand that was holding a man by the neck, leaving him dangling helplessly in the air.
Minato's heart nearly stopped. That man was Shitzu.
"Shitzu-sensei!" he bellowed, racing forward as fast as his legs would carry him. He did not stop to think about how he would save Shitzu. It did not occur to him until some of the chakra that was flying around smack him in the face. He fell backwards, flinching. Quickly, he recovered and hid behind a boulder that had smashed one of the buildings nearby down.
"Damn it! I can't get by," Yondaime thought. "How am I supposed to save him?!"
He suddenly darted out from behind the boulder and ran towards Shitzu, preparing his Rasengan as he did so. However, he did not get very far before being knocked back again. This time, he did not get up. He did not know what to do.
"Someone help me.
"Please…"
xOx
"Huh? What's this?" She opened her eyes. At first, her vision was blurry. She saw a blurred image of a large grey mass above her, and some green on the outskirts of the image. "What…?"
The image became clearer after a few seconds. "Oh. What's that? It's so grey and dark and…"
Suddenly, a bright white light flashed from within the dark grey mass above her. It disappeared instantly, but she still saw stars afterwards. "Wow. So bright. So…pretty…
"I want to see that again."
A strange feeling was coursing through her veins. She squirmed. She heard a low, manly voice shout, "Hey! Look over there!"
Another voice, higher and lighter than the first, yelled, "Oh my goodness. What's wrong with Kaori?"
"Kaori?" She thought. "Is that…me? I feel as if I've heard that name before…"
Everything was so different now. She suddenly understood the words that were being said around her, and she could finally see and think. Before now, well, she could not even remember what it was like before being able to think, see, and understand. This was a totally different feeling.
"I like this," she thought. "I really like this."
She explored her newfound understanding. She realized that she could move something that seemed to be attached to her body. She lifted it up to her face and examined it. "My hand? It's glowing…so…pretty…"
Her hand began glowing even brighter, a silvery white light that took her breath away.
"Someone, get Kaori! I think something's wrong!"
Next thing she knew, she was being carried off in somebody's arms. She squirmed again, still staring at her hand. Its light was dimming ever so slightly, ever so gradually.
"No! No! Don't make it go away!" She thought, panicked, but the light continued to dim until it was nothing more than a ghostly shimmer on her skin. "No! I want to see it again!
"I want to see it again!"
As soon as she thought this, the brightest white light she had ever seen glowed in the palm of her hand. She heard the screams and shocked gasps from the surrounding people, but she ignored them, completely mesmerized by the glowing white light she was holding in her hands. The person holding her dropped her instantly out of shock, but she did not fall. Instead, she floated in midair, still holding that enthralling white ball of light.
"Pretty," she thought, staring into the white light. "I want to see more. More."
Then, the white light expanded rapidly, engulfing everyone and everything in its blank nothingness. Nothing could be heard, nothing could be seen, nothing could be felt.
She blinked. What was this? It was almost as if she was within the ball of light she had been holding only a few seconds before. It was completely quiet. She opened her mouth, trying to make a noise, but failed in doing so. She tried to move. That she could do.
"Kaori…"
She blinked again. She swore she just heard someone say her name. She also swore she could see a small golden light in front of her, getting bigger and bigger with each passing second. Within a minute, she realized that it was a tall, white-haired man surrounded by some sort of golden light. Her eyes went wide. Golden light…
The man smiled warmly at her. She just stared back, still mesmerized by this new golden light.
"Don't worry. You'll get your chance to use it."
She nodded and did not question the fact that this man was talking to her without moving his mouth. Then she reached out her arms towards the man. He laughed. It was a loud, booming sound that caused her to grin broadly. It was as if she actually knew this man. In fact, she felt certain she did.
The man smiled warmly again and held out his hand to her. "You want to try it out now?"
She nodded vigorously, her arms still reaching out towards this man. He reached forward and took her hand. He closed his eyes and breathed out, then let go of her hand.
"Go ahead. Try it."
She looked at her hand, which was glowing with the same golden light that surrounded the man. She did not know how she knew what to do, but somehow she did. She held up her hand, palm facing upwards, and grinned when the golden light shined even brighter, expanded, and then engulfed her once again.
The man smiled before disappearing into the bright golden light.
"We'll see each other again someday."
Then, everything went dark.
xOx
Minato opened his eyes.
"Was I asleep?" He wondered. "No, I don't think so. But then, what was that flash of white light? And what was the golden light? And…what was with that scene between that little girl and that man?!"
He sat up quickly and felt around, swaying slightly and waiting for his vision to clear. "That little girl looked a lot like Shitzu-sensei's granddaughter. Kaori, was it? But what would she be doing there? Geez. I must've been dreaming."
He abruptly stood up, remembering what had happened before that flash of light. Shitzu, his old sensei, had been dying, grasped by the neck by the hand of death that had been formed from the Kyuubi's chakra, and Minato had been trying to stop it. Funnily enough, the hand was not there anymore, and neither was Shitzu.
"Shitzu-sensei!" Minato shouted, desperately. He ran closer to where his sensei should have been, but froze when he saw one of the Kyuubi's tails move. Wait. Why were the other tails not moving then?
Minato finally realized that the Kyuubi really did seem dead. How had this happened? It was alive, thoroughly so, only moments before it seemed! What had caused it to fall like that? The flash of light and the scene with the Kaori look-alike and the man flickered briefly in his mind. Could that really have happened? Could that flash of light have caused this? Could the Kaori look-alike and the man have something to do with this? Or maybe…that actually was Kaori?
His head started hurting. This was too much. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before.
"M-Minato…"
Minato's head swiveled towards the source of the sound. "Shitzu-sensei?" He saw Shitzu lying on the ground a mere ten feet from where he was standing. He dashed over to him and kneeled by his side. "Are you okay? Are you okay?!"
Shitzu groaned and coughed. Some blood dripped out of the corner of his mouth. "I-I don't think so…"
"Don't worry, I'll help you," Minato interrupted, looking around. The truth was, he really had no idea what to do to help. "Where's a medic when you need one?"
"Minato," Shitzu continued, his eyes opened to small slits. He looked barely alive, and it worried Minato. "Minato, you have to finish this yourself."
"Shitzu-sensei, what are you going on about?" Minato retorted fiercely. "Go ahead. Make one of your jokes again. You know you want to."
"Minato…" Shitzu said again, but he did not finish. He coughed loudly again and rolled over onto his side, grasping his sides.
"Stop playing around," Minato pleaded desperately. "This isn't funny you know…"
Shitzu suddenly opened his eyes wide and stared at Minato with intense determination, as if he was fighting battle with himself to stay alive. He grasped Minato's hands roughly. "Minato, I saw something. I swear I saw it. Kaori and…" He flinched and coughed again. Once he finished coughing, he immediately continued. "Kaori and…some man…who I'm sure was Kakuzai. Kakuzai Kiuno. I'm sure of it. And…and he was showing her how to use the golden light power, since she'd already somehow used the silver light power. I don't quite understand it, but I'm sure…I'm sure that's what saved us. That's what made the Kyuubi fall. It's giving us some more time…" He went into another coughing fit and did not continue.
"Giving us more time for what?" Minato persisted, shaking Shitzu lightly. "For what, sensei?!"
"To…" He panted heavily and attempted to get a good breath. "To figure out how to win. Minato. You can do this. You know what to do. You just have to…find it…"
"Find what? What?! Sensei!"
Shitzu's pupils illuminated faintly as he stared past Minato. When he spoke again, his voice was barely above a whisper. "You know what it is. You'll find it. I'm sure of it.
"You can do this."
All life in his eyes dimmed away as his eyelids slid closed. Minato shouted at him to stay alive, to keep living, to keep fighting, but he did not hear. With a final smile, he felt his heart and soul lift higher as if something in the sky was pulling him closer and closer until he finally reached the clouds. For one moment, he thought he heard angels singing.
Then, he died.
Minato hung his head over his dead friend. "Shitzu…sensei…what do you mean I can do this? I can't. Not without you. This…why?" He said that last word with a passionate intensity equal to the deep sadness weighing down his heart that left him feeling hollow. He could not move. What was the point? It was all over anyway. It was all over.
Or was it?
"YMinato-sensei!"
Minato turned around to see Kakashi sprinting towards him, holding something in his arms. As he came closer, Minato noticed that Kakashi was holding not a something, but a someone. He wiped his dripping eyes with right forearm, determined not to show weakness in front of his student again. He stood there, his stance radiating determination, fighting with his emotions on the inside. However, as soon as he could recognize the face of the child Kakashi was carrying, all of that went out the window.
"Naruto!" Minato yelled, running to meet Kakashi. "Kakashi, why are you carrying Naruto?" His eyes widened as he got a good look at Kakashi. "Kakashi, what's with your eye…?"
Kakashi shook his head, and then held the sleeping blonde-haired baby out to Minato. "I-I really don't know. I was heading out here to help you guys, after Rin gave Obito's Sharingan to me. I'm sorry, sensei, he's dead, I couldn't do anything…" Kakashi stopped and then took a steadying breath. "All of a sudden, there was this flash of light, and next thing I knew, I was carrying him in my arms."
"Obito's…what?! I don't believe this, what's going on…oh." Minato's widened eyes lit up with understanding.
It's giving us some more time…to figure out how to win!
You know what to do.
You just have to…find it…
Suddenly, Minato knew what to do.
He turned his back to Kakashi and faced the beast. Its chakra was just beginning to swirl around again as it began to recover. Even as the evil red chakra swirled around him, he did not flinch.
"Kakashi," Minato said, his tone not betraying any emotion. "I want you to put Naruto down on top of that large boulder way over there." He pointed to his left. "Then I want you to run straight back to where everyone else is and tell them that I want them to pray for Obito and Shitzu and everyone else who died because of this. After about half an hour, they can return to the village and begin repairing it."
"B-But why…?" Kakashi started.
"Please, Kakashi," Minato whispered softly. "Do it as a final favor for your sensei."
Kakashi's eyes widened. "Final…?" He put his hand over his mouth and stared at the back of Minato's head. Finally, after a few moments, he nodded slowly. "I…I understand, sensei."
Minato turned around and grinned. "Thank you, Kakashi."
Kakashi smiled back, his eyes betraying his grief but also reflecting a deeper understanding of the situation than Minato had given him. The blonde Hokage smiled wider. He had taught his student well.
Then he turned back around to face the awakening beast. "Go Kakashi. Now."
There was no reply, only the shuffling of feet as Kakashi sprinted off in the direction he had come from. Minato closed his eyes for several moments. He dug up memories of his times as the student of Shitzu, back when he was only a naïve little Gennin. He dug up memories of his first missions, the Chuunin exams, becoming a Jounin, spending time with the Third Hokage, training Kakshi, Obito, and Rin, watching them grow up, becoming Hokage, marrying his wife, having his first child…
All of these memories held a special place in his heart. He felt a tear slip down his cheek and drip off of his chin onto the ground below. Oh, how he would miss everyone so much. He stayed still like that, crying silently for several more moments. Then he stopped crying, an odd calm falling upon him.
"I'm ready."
He opened his eyes as he slowly began performing the hand signs required to execute the task that he was about to do.
"I'm sorry."
The beast growled, having fully reawakened, and flicked its tail in Minato's direction.
"I'm sorry for everything."
Minato stared into the beast's eyes with a cool indifference that caused the beast to lay its ears flat on its head and take a step back, hissing quietly.
"Please. Trust me."
Minato kept staring the beast in the eye as he held the final hand sign. "You're finished," Minato whispered. "I'm going to seal you inside my child. Forever. And you'll never kill anyone…" A bright light began to glow in front of him.
"…ever again!" he yelled, finishing off the jutsu. "Auuuggghhh!"
All of a sudden, he felt nothing. He saw nothing but a blank white nothingness that surrounded him. Was this what it was like to die?
He could deal with this.
He could accept this.
He could die like this.
"Everyone," he thought. "Everyone, please. Don't let our deaths be in vain. Don't make all of this a waste. Please. Protect those who are important to you and keep this village safe. Keep my son safe. Keep Shitzu's family safe. For the future of the shinobi villages, I beg of you. Please."
He reached forward, felt a hand grab his own, and smiled as he recognized the touch as his wife's. He had finally made it home.
"Goodbye."
When it's over, I want to say all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it's over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don't want to end up simply having visited this world
-Excerpt from "When Death Comes" by Mary Oliver
Kakashi stood at the Hokage's office window in the Hokage's tower, which was the only building that had survived the Kyuubi's attack. He stared outside at the clear blue sky and sighed heavily. It had only been a few weeks since the attack, but already it seemed like years.
"Kakashi?"
Kakashi turned around and bowed to the man. "Sarutobi. Er, I mean, Lord Hokage."
Sarutobi nodded back to him. "Kakashi, I have something that I need to talk with you about."
"Yes?"
Sarutobi sat down at the chair behind the desk that had once been Yondaime's. Kakashi clenched his fists, an action that did not go unnoticed by the old man sitting in the chair.
The old man chuckled. "Kakashi, relax. This is my desk now, and it was even before Minato became Hokage, remember?"
Kakashi nodded and sighed again. "Yes. I'm sorry. It's just…this is hard…" He hesitated and turned his head away.
Sarutobi nodded as well. "I see. Turn around, please." Kakashi swiveled around slowly, tensely, and looked Sarutobi in the eye.
"In any case, I have to ask you something." The old man leaned forward on his desk, his eyes fixed intently on Kakashi's. "Kakashi, are you planning to leave the village?"
Kakashi stiffened. He remembered how upset everyone had been when Rin announced that she was leaving the village to take care of some important business only days after Minato had been found dead. Kakashi had known even then that she was not leaving the village for the reason she told everyone. She had wanted to leave just to get away from the pain, to start anew. Kakashi considered following her, at one point, but then he decided that he was needed in the village.
He shook his head. "No, I have no plans to leave," Kakashi stated confidently. "That's a promise."
Sarutobi sighed with relief. "That's good. We need you here." Then Sarutobi stood up and walked over to the window. "One more thing."
"Yes?" Kakashi asked again.
"I want you to keep a close eye on Naruto," Sarutobi instructed him. "You know how the people act around him now, since he has the demon sealed inside of him. Even Minato's wishes for him to live peacefully with the others cannot change their minds about him."
Kakashi nodded and then replied, "And Kaori? What about her? I heard some pretty amazing things about the day of the attack, and what she did…"
Sarutobi held up a hand to stop him. "I'm afraid that won't be necessary." He looked up at the sky and smiled.
"She has her own guardian angel."
