Neji: We're getting ever closer to Tenten.
Sakura: With the dragons leading us, we'll find the Tsubaki hideout easily.
Naruto: That means I'll be back in the story soon right?
Shikamaru: God do you ever shut up? Yes you'll be in it again soon. And so will the rest of us.
Choji: I can't wait to see how I kick some butt.
Neji: Anything to add Shino?
Shino: (Shakes his head)
Shikamaru: He's sulking.
Gogeta: You asked for it and here it is, the next chapter of Kiba no Tatsu.
Sakura: Will Neji become completely corrupt?
Neji: We'll have to find out.
Neji awoke from a dreamless sleep at dawn. He took in his surroundings and found that he was in a large earth dome. The mini-Rasengans instantly formed on his finger tips and he punched his way out of the stone prison.
"I see you're awake." Doryuudan said cheerfully from the top of the dome.
"What were you doing?" Neji demanded, Shogun's eyes blazing.
"No need to get all excited. I was merely protecting you." Doryuudan explained, "No normal human can break this rock. I'm impressed."
Sakura came running out of the dome, kunai drawn, "What's going on? Are we under attack?"
Neji's eyes faded back to lavender, "No…just jumpy I guess."
"For good reason" a voice yelled followed by a powerful wind.
"Fuji?" Neji gasped.
A man alighted softly from a nearby tree and the wind grew more intense, "You know of my wife?"
"Wife?"
"Yes, Dai Fuji, the Great Wind Goddess," he said chuckling, "such an arrogant title."
"Yes, I battled her and defeated her."
"She's dead!" the man growled and the wind grew more fierce, cutting at Neji's skin.
"No, but she's in the custody of the Hidden Leaf." Neji said, shielding his eyes.
"I don't believe you…Fuji would never accept defeat. She must be dead." The man's fists clenched and the wind felt like sandpaper on the skin, "I make this vow to you, Fuji; I'll take revenge on this boy and his girlfriend for your death!"
"You'd think he'd be worried about his sister too." Rairyuudan muttered.
"Now feel the wrath of Murasaki Tsubaki."
"Chanaro!" Sakura screamed and launched an attack at Murasaki. Her fist made it to within an inch of him, but then Sakura was blown away by a strong gust of wind.
"Stay out of this little girl." Murasaki yelled, "This is between me and the Hyuuga brat."
"So you know who I am?" Neji said, getting in his defensive stance.
"Fuji told me all about you and her mission to capture your Byakugan. It always intrigued me." Murasaki said forming hand seals. "I think I'll take her mission as my own and take your eyes for myself."
Neji scowled, "Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu!"
"Fuuton: Rezakaze no Jutsu!"
The fireball and slicing wind collided and exploded. Neji leapt to the side just as the slicing wind gouged the ground where he'd just been standing.
Just like with Fuji. His wind is strong enough to cancel out fire…but his wind is even stronger than Fuji's. Neji thought, glancing at the huge gash in the earth.
Suddenly Murasaki was behind Neji. He leapt to avoid the massive attack and threw a kick at empty space. The kick connected when Murasaki appeared in its path. Murasaki fell to the ground and stared up at Neji.
"How did you know?"
"Fuji did the exact same thing." Neji said, gesturing at the crater behind him.
"Then you know what comes next."
"Pretty sure."
"Fuuton: Kazeken no Jutsu!" Murasaki slashed at Neji with his wind blade and Neji countered with the Kiba no Tatsu. "You have that sword?!"
"Why does everyone say that?" Neji asked and jabbed at Murasaki.
Neji's Jyuuken struck Murasaki in his arm and his wind blade faded.
"What did you do?" Murasaki demanded.
"Didn't Fuji tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"About my clan's secret techniques." Neji said, sealing the Kiba no Tatsu in its scroll and getting into his Jyuuken stance.
"I'm not interested in your stories." Murasaki spat.
"It's more of a demonstration really." Neji said and rushed forward with two strikes. The force of the strikes spun Murasaki around and Neji continued with four more strikes. Murasaki threw a wild punch, but Neji parried it and added eight more strikes. By now Murasaki could barely stand and Neji decided to finish it. Sixteen strikes. Thirty-two strikes. Sixty-four strikes.
"8 Trigrams: 64 Palms." Neji explained.
Murasaki fell to his knees. "I can't move."
"You're lucky you can even breathe."
Murasaki clenched his teeth, "Fuuryuudan!"
A purple dragon descended from the clouds and draped itself over Murasaki's shoulders. Neji folded his arms. "Give him all the power you want Fuuryuudan, it's useless. I've blocked his tenketsu."
But I've said that before and Naruto still fixed his chakra system. Neji thought. He summoned the Kiba no Tatsu again just to be on the safe side.
Murasaki felt the power flowing throughout his body and rose back to his feet, "Useless, eh?" he chuckled. Neji scowled and attacked with the Kiba no Tatsu but Murasaki countered with another wind blade. "You're quick, but can you handle two blades?" Murasaki formed another wind blade on his other hand and lashed at Neji. He leapt back to avoid the blades and then Neji rushed forward, the Kiba no Tatsu pointed at Murasaki's gut. He anticipated Neji's movement and Murasaki blocked the Kiba no Tatsu with both his blades. Neji tried to pull away, but the wind blades had wrapped around Neji's blade. Murasaki smirked and drove his foot into Neji's chest, sending him flying over the lip of the crater and down into its depths.
Murasaki admired the Kiba no Tatsu for a moment, awaiting Neji's next move. He didn't have to wait long until Neji leapt out of the crater and came sailing through the air toward him. With a bored expression on his face, Murasaki shoved his wind blade through Neji's chest.
Neji was suspended for a moment, but then he slowly slid down Murasaki's chakra blade until his feet touched the ground. He felt blood flow into his mouth and out of the hole in his chest. Murasaki began to cackle as he watched Neji die on his blade. Neji forced himself to raise his arm and he gripped the Kiba no Tatsu's hilt.
"Forget it, boy. Even Shogun can't save you now." Murasaki laughed. Neji's other hand found a grip on the sword's hilt and he looked up at Murasaki, a smile on his face. "What are you smiling about, boy?"
With his last breath, Neji muttered, "Fire Style: Fire Clone Jutsu."
The clone exploded and the fire's strength was increased by the wind chakra blade. Murasaki was blown twenty feet away, landing hard on his back. He quickly got to his feet in time to see the real Neji jump out of the crater and pick up the Kiba no Tatsu. Murasaki scowled at Neji, "Why won't you just die?" He did more hand seals, "Fuuton: Rezakaze no Jutsu!"
The slicing wind rushed at Neji but he picked up the Kiba no Tatsu and deflected it. He slowly advanced on Murasaki, Shogun's eyes blazing in his sockets. Fear flashed over Murasaki's face and he launched several other slicing winds which were all deflected by the Kiba no Tatsu. Neji was only ten feet away now and Shogun's Cloak hung around him like a black, hazy pestilence.
"I made a vow to my love and I'll keep that vow, but I suppose that's something a heartless person like you wouldn't understand." Murasaki said.
Rage exploded inside of Neji, "I'm heartless!" he screamed and Shogun's Cloak became more physical; the wings and tail becoming tangible. "It's because of you Tsubaki siblings that my love was taken from me!"
Murasaki rolled to the right to dodge a blast of wind from Shogun's wings. "You mean that girl with the scroll?" he asked, an evil grin playing across his face.
"Her name is Tenten!" Neji snarled. "And after I defeat you, I'm going to save her."
"I doubt that."
"Don't underestimate me." Neji said, a Rasengan forming in his hand.
"Sorry, didn't know the Hyuuga had a Resurrection Jutsu."
"What do you mean?" Neji said, already knowing the answer.
"She's dead." Murasaki said simply.
Neji felt like the breath had been sucked out of him. "She's…dead?" He imagined Tenten's body lying forgotten in some cave and felt his legs weaken beneath him.
"Yes. Died a coward begging for her life."
"You're lying!"
"What reason do I have to lie?" Murasaki asked, innocently.
"I don't care, I won't believe it!"
"We each interrogated her about the Kiba no Tatsu and unfortunately…I was over zealous."
"It was you!" Neji roared and felt an anger fiercer than anything he'd ever felt before pump through his veins. "I won't forgive you!" Shogun's Cloak returned to its haze form and began to migrate toward the Rasengan in Neji's hand. It turned from its calming blue to a seething mass of black and red. "This is for TENTEN!" Neji roared and hurled the Rasengan at Murasaki. He launced several powerful Fuuton Jutsu, but they all just bounced off the Rasengan and it collided with his chest. For a second nothing happened, but then light began to spew out of the Rasengan and Murasaki screamed in pain and fear. The area around the Rasengan began to warp and fluctuate; as if the very fabric of time and space were being manipulated. Then everything within a five foot radius began to be sucked into it. Soon only Murasaki's upper body remained in existence. Fuuryuudan fled, leaving Murasaki to be sucked into oblivion alone. The last thing Neji heard him say, "Tell Fuji I love her!" and then he was gone.
Neji collapsed to his knees, completely exhausted. Sakura came stumbling out of the forest, "Neji! Are you ok?" he was in too much pain to answer, and shook his head. "Let me check you over."
Sakura helped Neji roll onto his back and then he was unconscious.
Neji opened his eyes and found himself standing before Shogun again. The great dragon lashed out at him and Neji had to back up as the chains restraining Shogun were greatly weakened.
How dare you! Shogun growled.
"What do you mean?" Neji demanded.
You used up a large amount of my chakra with that last attack.
"It was necessary to defeat Murasaki."
You also almost killed Fuuryuudan.
"But I didn't." Neji said glaring at Shogun.
Cocky little brat!
"So did you call me here just to scold me, or did you have something important to say?" Neji demanded.
Merely to warn you. The only remaining Tsubaki sibling is Aka; the first one you ever faced.
The night Tenten was kidnapped flashed through Neji's mind, "You don't need to tell me twice. Aka will be hard to beat, but I will defeat him."
Such confidence. Shogun purred, or possibly…naivety?
Neji was about to retort, but he was suddenly conscious again with a worried Sakura leaning over him.
"Oh, you're awake." She said, her hands glowing with green chakra.
"How am I?" Neji asked weakly.
"You've exhausted your chakra reserves." She said folding her hands in her lap. "You just need rest." Neji nodded and said nothing. His mind kept going back to Shogun's warning and Tenten's possible death. "That was an amazing Jutsu." Sakura said, breaking the slience.
"It's probably what drained me." Neji said. I can't use that Jutsu again, I'm lucky it didn't kill me.
"Neji…"
"Yes, Sakura."
"Are you sure you're still you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Neji said defensively, his hand moving to the Kiba no Tatsu's hilt.
"That's what I'm talking about." She said indicating Neji's response, "You're not behaving normally. You're becoming more blood thirsty and vicious."
Neji scowled, "These people stole Tenten from me! Do you really expect me to treat them with forgiveness and pity?"
"No, that's not it." Sakura said, taken aback.
"Then what is it, Sakura?"
Sakura said nothing for a moment; choosing her words carefully, "It's just…once…Naruto…"
At the mention of Naruto's name, Neji softened, I owe him my life. Neji remembered how Fuji would have killed him if not for Naruto teaching him the Shadow Clone and Rasengan. "What happened to him?"
"It only happens when he gets angry…but the Kyuubi's chakra leaks out and constantly hurts him. Just to see him in that much misery and anguish…" Sakura's voice trailed off and though she tried to hide it, Neji saw a tear build in her eye.
Neji reached up and put a hand on her shoulder, "It doesn't hurt when Shogun's Cloak is around me."
"That's not the point!" Sakura snapped, "When that happens to Naruto, he loses control of himself…he even attacked me." Sakura said, tears streaming down her face. Neji was at a loss for words. "I'm just thinking of Tenten…what would happen if she saw you when Shogun's Cloak was wrapped around you; saw his eyes in place of your's."
Neji's eyes went wide and a tear formed in his, "What if I attacked her?"
"Exactly." Sakura said. "I know you're worried about her, Neji, but don't use Shogun's power anymore. You're strong enough to beat them on your own."
The two stared at each other, tears in both their eyes. Then Neji smiled, "Help me up, would you Sakura?"
She nodded and helped him to a sitting position. Neji pulled out Tenten's scroll again and sealed the Kiba no Tatsu. Without the supply of power from Shogun, Neji felt even weaker, but with Sakura's help, he was back on his feet.
"Do you want me to carry your pack?" Sakura asked.
"No. I'll be fine." Neji said weakly.
The four freed dragons gathered in front of them.
"Thank you for freeing me." Fuuryuudan said, bowing deeply.
"Only one remains." Doryuudan said.
"Unfortunately, he's the strongest of us lesser dragons." Rairyuudan said.
"The dragon of fire, commanded by the oldest Tsuabki sibling." Suiryuudan said.
"Ryuuka." Neji finished.
"Where is the sword?" Rairyuudan asked.
"It's back in its scroll." He glanced at Sakura, "And I'm not using it anymore."
"Why not?" the dragons all demanded.
"Because Shogun is consuming him." Sakura explained. "We don't want him to lose control of himself."
The dragons all exchanged looks. Then Rairyuudan sighed, "You doubt him, eh?"
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"You really don't think that this boy can handle Shogun's power." Suiryuudan said, baring his fangs.
"No, it's just-"
"You want the power for yourself don't you?" Doryuudan said, stepping closer to Sakura.
"What?" Sakura was stunned that the dragons would accuse her of such a thing.
"Don't try to hide it." Fuuryuudan said, "We can sense your lust for power."
The dragons all advanced on Sakura, trying to separate her from Neji. His mind began to race and Neji's stared at Sakura.
"They're telling the truth aren't they?" Neji demanded.
"What? No!" Sakura said indignantly.
"Then why did you ask for my pack?" Neji asked, his voice deepening, a scowl playing across his face.
"I was only trying to help." Sakura said, tears flowing down her face again.
"You've healed me." Neji said sliding his arm off Sakura's shoulder and standing on his own feet. "Go home, Sakura."
"I knew it! You aren't yourself anymore are you?"
Something at the back of Neji's head was nagging at him but he ignored it, "It doesn't matter who I am. All that matters is that the Tsubaki siblings die."
"So Tenten doesn't-"
"Stop using her to control me!" Neji shouted and slapped Sakura's cheek.
Sakura fell to her knees, holding the place she'd been struck, "You're a monster now."
"A monster that will save these dragons." Neji said, glaring down at Sakura.
She tried to hold his gaze, but Sakura looked away from Neji and he knew she was crying. He turned his back on her and with the dragons leading the way, ran toward the Tsubaki hideout. Neji looked back once with his Byakugan at the sobbing Sakura then put her completely out of his mind.
"Pathetic creature." He mumbled and pulled out the Kiba no Tatsu, Shogun's eyes and Cloak becoming visible once more.
Neji: Not long now. Soon I'll fulfill my destiny and free the dragons from the tyranny of the Tsubaki siblings. Soon Shogun shall be free along with his brothers and they'll return to their world. And soon, I shall be rewarded for my service and be the most powerful ninja in the world. Yes…very soon.
Sakura: Seems he truly has become corrupted.
Shikamaru: Of course he has. That's the first thing he said about the sword; "that it could corrupt the purest soul."
Sakura: is there any chance of saving him?
Shikamaru: First we'll have to get close to him.
Sakura: Good luck doing that.
Naruto: Booooooring. Seriously, I'm getting tired of not being in the fanfic!
Choji: Really? I'm liking this one so far. It's so dark and thrilling.
Shino: Gogeta, stop complimenting your own writing.
Gogeta: You know I could make you eat some more of that laughing poison from the filler episode 186.
Shino: You wouldn't dare.
Gogeta: Oh yeah?
Neji: Stop arguing and make your announcement!
Gogeta: Fine. God you don't have to be an ass about it. To all my fans….yeah all like 15 of you, here's your chance to help me out. As you may have noticed in the last chapter, I said I was going to make a new chapter for Sakura's Long Night…well I haven't even started on that. But that leaves an opportunity for you guys. If you have some ideas for pairings or stuff you'd like to see happen, just write it in a comment on this chapter. I have some ideas so far, it's definitely going to include Sakura and Hinata (I don't know why I like that pairing so much but it works for me) but give me some ideas on other pairings. Hell I'll even do cross-over if you want. The only requirement is that I know the anime. Here are some I'm familiar with:
Dragonball (entire franchise)
Pokemon (preferably the original)
Elfen Lied (if you haven't seen this I recommend it)
Avatar the Last Airbender (I know it's technically not anime, but I'll do it)
Well there you have it. That's at least 100 characters to choose from so let me know ok. I'll wait a week then look at all the comments and choose from the best. Thank you for all your loving support.
Shino: Come on! I don't get any lines but he gets a 200 fucking word announcement?!
Shikamaru: Well he is the author.