Chapter 3
This is bad.
That single thought raced through Kakashi's mind, over and over again. As if to justify his thoughts, a wave of violate chakra raced towards him with impressive speed. He dodged the wave with a well-executed leap, placing him directly over Naurto's head.
"Mah...you missed. " Curving his lone eye in a crescent moon, he flipped over the second arc of deadly chakra that originated from the possessed Naruto.
"THEY WILL PAY FOR WHAT THEY'VE DONE!" Red tendrils of chakra smashed against the ground where Kakashi previously stood moments before and the owner of said chakra roared in outrage.
I'm fighting a Kyuubified Naruto. How the hell did this happen? Kakashi dove to the side, and a chakra-enforced claw barely missed his head, instead swiping a chunk off of the unfortunate tree behind him.
...I really hope I don't die. Kakashi ducked from another attack and then blanched.
"Dying by a genin, my own student at that...embarrassing would be an understatement."
There was a moment of awkward silence but the chakra claw that followed was expected.
"Earth style: Mud wall jutsu!" A wall of earth burst from the ground and collided with the violate chakra, before crumbling into swirling dust, revealing the crouched figure behind it.
The demon crouched in the middle of the clearing, snarled ferociously at its opponent while Kakashi circled the tailed beast with a kunai stretched out in front as guard. Like that would do much, Kakashi thought, peering at his possessed student. The genin's face was twisted in a foaming snarl and crimson energy trailed down his arms and feet to form twisted claws. These claws scraped at the ground, leaving deep gouges in its wake. Dust flew from these sudden movements, the earth shattering from pure pressure. Kakashi questioned his sanity when he leaped close enough to gain the snarling beast's attention, which was unfortunately in clawing range, but far enough that the Kyuubi wouldn't out right flatten him.
The nine-tail's one glowing tail bubbled burning chakra and he roared once again in fury as he swept his paw at the jounin, only to meet with air. Said jounin, let out a single breath, before vaulting out of the way of another chakra strand that threatened to burn on contact. Back and forth they played this dangerous game of cat and mouse, and Kakashi felt himself pressed for time as he dodged back and forth with fast chakra induced bursts of speed. He twirled his kunai into the palm of his hand, the cool metal spinning counter clockwise until the glistening blade faced downwards. Reaching into his padded vest, Kakashi attached a slip of paper onto the end of the metal handle. With quick precision he repeated this several more times on multiple kunais in succession all the while avoiding his opponent's strikes.
Skidding to a stop, Kakashi glanced around, found the tallest tree and dashed up its trunk, flinging kunais with chakra tags at the beast. Crimson-white inked papers soared through the air, and the pointed weapons they were attached to arched silently, hanging in space for mere seconds before following the laws of physics and plummeting towards its target. The silver haired shinobi shielded his face when the resounding but expected explosion followed. Orange fire blossomed from the paper like a blooming rose, while grey smoke and wind scalded everything in its way. Shielded in a cloak of dust and debris, Kakashi alerted the shadowy figures.
"You sure took your time, didn't you?"
"..."
Of course the masked ninjas didn't respond, but tensed slightly at the comment and Kakashi chuckled internally.
"Hokage-sama told us about the situation." An ANBU said instead.
Reaching into his weapon's pouch he took out a slip of paper and handed it to the jounin.
Kakashi glanced gratefully at the simple slip of paper and let out a sigh of relief. Adorned on the square paper laid a single inked kanji within a circle and black spiral patterns on the boundary of the circle. "Thank kami she understood the situation. I was afraid that she would just send ANBU and not the seal tag because I hadn't requested for it. He glanced once again at the piece of paper clutched in his hands, waving innocently in the wind, with gratitude.
"It would've made Sakura and Sasuke infinitely more suspicious. I'm already going to have a hard time explaning what happened as it is."
"That's why your instructions were so vague," the ANBU nodded in understanding before retorting back in a sharp and efficient tone.
"The Hokage immediately connected the dots when only two of your three genin showed up requesting ANBU aid stating that it was an order from their sensei. That, and the fact that one of them claimed-" (The ANBU seemed to roll his eyes before continuing) "-and I quote: the dammed idiot somehow got himself infected by a foreign chakra. It makes him look like an oversized glowing fox with a penchent for the color red. Oh, and Kakashi requested ANBU backup, for what I don't know. Naruto is too pathetically dumb to actually cause any damage."
"Ah." Kakashi said with mirth, slightly amused that the ANBU had remembered that word for word. "That would be Sasuke."
The ANBU glanced at the masked ninja before responding. "Anyway, she also wanted me to tell you something else."
"Hm?" Kakashi asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
"She said that if you didn't bring the brat home in one piece, she would beat you to a pulp…"
Kakashi merely blinked.
"…and burn all your Icha-Icha novels and their author for good measures."
Kakashi sweat dropped. "Wouldn't that be more of a punishment for Jiraiya-san rather than me?"
He didn't get a response.
A roar shook the forest and each ANUB tensed, dropping into a battle stance, their hands sliding to respective weapon pouches.
"The monster is far too close to the village for comfort. The chakra has not been sensed by the shinobi in the village yet, but if it is..."
Kakshi let his patented eyesmile drop to reveal the hardened eyes of an ex-anbu. "If the chakra of the Kyubbi is sensed, Konoha will go to chaos. We need to contain Naruto before things get out of hand." He gave a warning glance at the shadowed figures. "Naruto is not himself right now, remember that."
With those last words Kakashi lept off the branch with a burst of chakra, landing on the ground. Kakshi clenched his kunai with increased strength. How would he ever explain the situation to the Hokage? He himself, barely knew what was going on. For starters, how had the Kyyuubi manage to break the seal so easily and why was it just standing around? (He was glad that it wasn't charging towards Konoha, but the tailed beast hadn't even moved from the clearing.) It was very peculiar for the demon that had destroyed everything in its path and set fire to the village in its rage; to merely stand around clawing at a lone jounin.
To add on, Kakashi had discovered a few minutes after Sakura and Sasuke had left, that the Kyuubi was distracted. Or at least not focused on him, which was probably the reason why he was still uninjured. It seemed to be instead focused on an unseen enemy. Which was good because it wasn't focused on Konoha, but then bad because it had somehow escaped Minato's - the Fourth Hokage's seal. And that was very very (extreme emphasize on the very) bad.
As if sensing Kakashi had brought help, the Kyuubi let out a feral growl, eyeing the shadows with suspicion. The shinobi flickered in and out of sight with shunshin, using guerrilla tactics to confuse the beast.
"Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!"
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
"Water style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
The raging water flew through the air twisting into a magnificent dragon with its creator standing on top, before spiraling towards the Kyuubi. The latter snarled and clawed viciously, slashing at the dragon in anger. The creator of the water based jutsu tossed several shuriken to distract the beast as he fell; only to find a possessed Naruto right in front of him, a swirling mass of chakra held in clawed hands.
"Watch out!"
Kakashi's wrenched his headband up in a swift movement and dashed forward in front of the ANBU figure. Harsh lightning chakra crackled against the blasting winds of a rasengan, giving the protected shinobi behind Kakashi enough time to move out of the way. "Naruto! Listen to me!" Naruto's glowing red eyes flickered blue for a brief second almost faltering against the black and red wheel of the Sharingan. Kakashi pushed harder against demonic chakra.
"K-kakashi...sensei..." Naruto warbled out, his voice was distorted and held a hint of roughness but there was Naruto Uzamaki somewhere in there.
"Listen to me. Naruto!" Kakashi snapped as the blue faded in and out. "Rein your chakra in, slowly."
"I-it hurts. I' don't want to..."
"Naruto. Look at me." Regardless of the fiery energy emanating out of the others skin the jounin grabbed his sensei's son's shoulders canceling the draining lightning technique all the while. "You have to control your chakra. I'm relying on you to do that.
Slit-eyed pupils faltered against mismatched eyes.
So is Sasuke and Sakura." Kakashi added on in haste. He winced at the burning chakra; he wouldn't be able to hold on for long. Not if he wanted his hands to develop vicious burns.
"AGHHHHHH!"
Naruto skittered away from the startled jounin like a cornered animal, clutching his head with undisguised pain. He let out another tortured scream and his chakra flared in response, coating the clearing with red. Muttered sentences erupted from his mouth and chakra bubbled out to form another tail.
No!
Kakashi palmed the seal tag and shushined in front of Naruto slapping the chakra suppresing seal across his head. The black symbols of the seal pulsed lightly before activating in a flare of blue light. Sensei and student met eyes; the slitted glowing eyes of the Kyuubi burned into a cold grey eye and a blood red eye with three rotating tomoes.
"Why is there so much anger...?" Naruto's voice slowly trailed off in undisguised fear and agony. The two stood still for a brief moment before rotating winds burst from the ground and a single flare of chakra lit the earth in an eerie red. The red slowly drained from a pair of glazed, crystal blue eyes and chakra flickered out as the genin came crashing towards unforgiving earth. With light movements Kakashi caught his student and set him on the ground. He let out a pent up sigh and brushed his hand through messy grey hair. The ANBU approached warily while Kakashi watched in silence.
Before the figures could speak, Kakashi held his hand in the universal "stop" motion. "Report back to Hokage-sama. I'll bring Naruto back."
The elite ninjas glanced each other before nodding. "The Hokage will want a full report."
Kakashi merely glanced up at the darkening sky, lone eye narrowing in thought.
"Yes she will. She's definitely going to want to know what happened."
The ANBU squadron sped through the thick forest as they headed back. Like dancing shadows, lithe figures flickered in and out of sight, their ghost-like presence disturbing only the most astute of wildlife.
Kakashi had left with his student (piggyback style) and the squad trailed behind a few minutes later, still cautious of the monster contained inside the yellow haired child. Although they traveled in silence, the malicious chakra had brought unwanted memories of that night hammering to each and every one of their thoughts. This mission would be marked as a sucess, but not one shinobi would escape without their already damaged mentality fracturing a bit more.
"Stop."
The group halted and the only female of the four reached down to the forest floor. Pale fingertips brushed lightly through flaky dirt. The surrounding ANBU waited patiently in the shadows for their comrade's discovery, only the wind interrupting frosty silence.
"As I thought, " murmured the masked female, and when she brought her hands back up, crimson stained her fingertips. The crouched warrior lifted stained hands, revealing the puddle of blood at her feet.
"Someone's been here before us. And they're most likely injured."
"It's possible it was Hatake, or the Kyuubi container, Raven."
Under the porcelain mask, a frown marred the woman's usually stone face. (Not that her teammates could even see it) "Hatake-san wrapped his hands before he left and Uzamaki retained no injuries."
The ANBU ninjas waited in tense silence, each elite spreading their chakra like a web over the desolated forest.
"Nothing."
Raven's frown deepened in thought. "How can this be?" She peered at the forage; crushed plants and smeared scarlet handprints suggested a deep if not fatal injury.
Eagle nodded in agreement. "This blood is fresh and with this much spilt in one place...
"What if they're masking their chakra? "(1) Panther suggested in a flat tone.
"It's a possibility, " an ANBU retorted, this one had the snarling face of a tiger etched onto the porcelain mask. He gripped poison laced senbons hidden in gloved hands, resisting the urge to twirl the deadly needles. It was a childish habit, but Tiger couldn't help but feel comfort from the simple motions. "Looks like we have no choice." Cold eyes from within the shadows of a mask peered at each member of the beta squad. "We'll track down the unknown anomaly. Treat them as a threat and if you can't succeed with capture, eliminate and dispose of the body.
With the perfection of an oiled machine the four members leaped into action. Each one going in a different direction of North, East, South, and West, the origin point; the spot of blood that Raven had found. It was a basic search pattern that was drilled into even the lowest of ANBU cadets. Each ANBU member searched a quadrant of the forest sweeping back and forth. They would all meet at the origin point when they were done. It was quick and efficient in a search and retrival/rescue mission. Of course the circumstances were slightly different and not actually a mission, but ANBU were adept shinobi. Their sole duty was the protection and order of the kage, which also extended to the safety of their village. That meant that this unknown probably bled out anomaly still needed to be found...
...even when it started to rain.
Grey darkened skies rumbled and with howling winds, most anybody would be inside to wait out the coming storm.
The pelting rain drenched Raven and to the bird's discomfort the relentless drops of water even seeped beneath her bone white armor. With the standard ANBU cloak water logged, the additional weight pressed heavily on the female. To make matters worst, the steady curtain of water distorted her surroundings. Raven scowled in disgust, she could only see about a foot of land in front of her, making her search that much harder.
Whoever they were searching for was most likely dead, anyway.
Green, brown, more brown...wait white?
Raven came to an abrupt halt, squinting as best she could through the pouring torrent of water. She vaulted off a tree branch, landing on the muddy forest floor with a light thump.
Hidden in the cover of an ancient oak slumped a pile of black and white. Raven prowled in the cover of darkness, gloved hands sliding to her katana's smooth hilt. She drew her trusty blade with a deliberate steadiness approaching the white and black thing with apprehension. As she neared she realized that the unmoving lump was a white-haired man sprawled face first and motionless. Stepping closer to observe the rather short man, she dimly noted a black kanji 10 surrounded by a rhombus embossed on the man's white cut-off sleeved haori.
His clothing was far removed from her own ANBU clothing, or even that of a shinobi's normally tight fitting style. A loose kimono under his white haori adorned the man's upper body and instead of bandages wrapped around the lower legs to keep pants close, the man wore loose black hamakas usually only donned for formal events. She noted that he wore white tabi and warajii straw sandals, which were commonly found on citizens. An unsheathed sword with crimson blood running from blade to hilt rested next to they boy. She gently picked the sword up and examined it. A cold shiver rushed through her at contact and her eyes widened and she felt as if the temperature had dropped even lower. Curse this rain, she thought sourly.
Peering at the sword, she found it to have a detailed and decorative guard. The guard was made up of a bronze, four-pointed star and the handle was wrapped with blue cord. The long sword seemed much too stylized and oriental, resembling more of a samurai sword than a standard ninja katana.
Movement from the corner of her perspective caught Raven's attention. She swung around, katana at the ready, only to see a thoroughly soaked scarf wrapped around a branch. She sighed in annoyance before yanking the article of clothing from the tree limb. She stuffed it into her pocket, figuring that it probably belonged to the person lyingface down on the ground. Padding back to the figure, she flicked her sword upwards, ridding the accumulated water in a sweeping slash. With the blade safely sheathed, she knelt down and rolled the unconscious man over, only giving a simple arch of her eyebrow when she realized the man was a boy.
"How curious," she muttered under her breath, fingers ghosting over a long jagged wound that ran diagonally from shoulder to hip.
The gash was a horrific bloody mess of mud and dirt, and Raven briefly wondered if the boy would die infection rather than blood loss. Kneeling besides the fallen figure, constant droplets of icy liquid running down her porcelain mask, Raven found herself amid a puzzling decision. This boy was obviously a citizen, albeit dressed oddly, and no harm to Konoha. It would be simple enough to drop him off at the nearest hospital to recover, though the wound was bleeding quite freely; she doubted he would survive the night if an infection were added into the equation.
However, Tiger had ordered them to capture and retrieve, eliminate only if needed. Perhaps the boy had been attacked by enemy nin -(That certainly explained why a small child sported such a fatal injury) - and could shed some light on the perpetrators. The only part left unsolved was the bloodied sword. Perhaps it had been the weapon used to inflict the boy's wound? Or perhaps it was the boy's possession, used to defend himself? Either way, it would be much easier to find out what happened if the boy were to explain.
With that in mind, Raven's hands hovered over the boy's chest, ready to perform a standard healing chakra. Green light illuminated in the darkness of the storm and the anbu gently molded her chakra around the ghastly wound with extreme precision only to gasp in unhidden disbelief. She jolted away, the green chakra sputtering away like a dying flame. As if a bolt of lightning had struck her, she clutched her hands to her chest, staring at the unconscious figure.
"This isn't possible..."
(1) - The grammar sounds really awkward...
(2) - Tabi: tradiotional ankle length, split-toed socks
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