Hiya everybody! Look at this! A nice, fast update! Hurray! I told you it would be up soon. This is the longest chapter I've ever written!
Anyway, reviewers, I luv ya!: Ella Clevek, Lupanari, Lily Yamamoto, Katestar98, shadowphoenix143, EdSpikeSesshyFirl, Meira Evenstar, Prescripto13, anbu10, cardcaptor eternity, avatard/narutard, and Rambler Kaolin! Thanks a bunch guys!
I'd also like to send a special little thanks to NoNameNeeded, because her (I think) "fic" List Of Ninjutsus has, and will forever be a lifesaver for me!! She (or he, sorry if I get this wrong) took the time to find as many ninjutsus as she could, and then posted them all into a fic with a description of the English and Japanese name, what it does, and who uses it, arranged alphabetically. With a story like mine, where about 95 percent of it is going to be fighting and I'm juggling practically every character in the Narutoverse who hasn't died yet, this will really help! It's in my favorites if you'd like to use it as well.
Enjoy!
Blood rose up in Kakashi's throat and he painfully coughed it up, the blood making contact with the mask he wore, yet he did not have the energy to pull it down, so he tried to monitor his breathing with his nose so he wouldn't choke on his own blood.
Kabuto practically howled with mirth as he forcefully withdrew his hand and sent Kakashi sprawling to the ground.
"Are you wondering how I was able to strike?" Kabuto asked as he paced around the nearly unconscious figure.
"I don't care . . . how many years you have trained and fought to be able to function normally with that left eye of yours covered. You will still have a blind spot. It still doesn't matter if you can sense anything coming. While being distracted like you were, you didn't have enough attention given to that respect."
"It's just like with the Hyuuga's. Even with their 360º visibility they still have a blind spot. As soon as you closed your left eye, I was able to determine where it was by the slightest body movements you made that differed with the way you fought earlier."
Kabuto sighed in exhaustion and leaned against a tree. "That knowledge cost me though, I'll admit. Good thing I brought this along." The shinobi then reached into his pouch and withdrew a glass bottle with neon green liquid and quickly drank it. Once it was gone he gagged and let go of the bottle, causing it to fall and break on the hard forest floor, and he doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach. Soon his body glowed with an eerie green tint, and smoke slowly rose off his body as all his wounds healed with a slight hissing sound.
As soon as it was complete, Kabuto sighed with relief and pushed himself back to a standing position, the only indication that he had been fighting being his tattered clothes. Kakashi turned his head to the side and glanced up at him, gasping at how his adversary was almost completely healed, then faced the dirt again, unable to sustain the energy needed to look at his opponent.
"I got the idea for this potion from witnessing Tsunade's Souzou Saisei when she fought against Orochimaru," Kabuto explained, "Yet instead of using a massive amount of stored chakra, it is simply a collection of enzymes that stimulate the proteins in my body to exponentially increase the speed of cell division and reconstruction. It of course has a setback, but not as much as hers, I assure you," he chuckled, as if Kakashi was worried about his well-being.
"You were a worthy opponent, I must admit. Once I end your life I would very much delight in the opportunity to learn how you are able to use that implanted Sharingan eye of yours, as well as be granted the ability to create genjutsus that no other Uchiha has ever used before," Kabuto remarked joyfully.
He spent a few seconds glancing at Kakashi and then walked over to where he was sprawled out on the ground, squatted to his knees, then grasped the back of Kakashi's silver hair and none too gently yanked his head off the ground.
Kakashi winced at the pain but could make no further movement.
"I'll try and make this as quick as I can," Kabuto assured him. He raised his hand as if to strike, then paused. "How about I help you breath a little easier first?" he said, slowly and gleefully as he reached out to pull down the mask.
Suddenly Kakashi's right hand shot out and grasped the outstretched hand, practically crushing it.
"Chidori Nagashi!" Kakashi bellowed as his whole body erupted with electrical discharge. Kabuto yelped in pain and flew back, collapsing on the ground, momentarily paralyzed.
Kakashi slowly got up, pushing himself delicately off the floor, and when he was on his knees he yanked the mask down in order to breathe properly and left it here, exposing his face to the twitching Kabuto.
"How—I . . . thought only—Sasuke . . . knew—that!" Kabuto growled through clenched teeth.
"I heard the report from Naruto," Kakashi scoffed. "Even though I wasn't there I have a pretty good imagination. The Chidori is my original technique you know."
"I'll admit you caught me off guard by finding my blind spot, something no one has ever done before," he congratulated. "That is why I have grated you the opportunity to see my face—but that also means you're going to die. In combat this is an action shared by all Hatakes."
Kabuto practically snorted in disbelief. "I may have fell prey to your last attack, but all my injuries are healed and you've got a gaping hole in your chest!"
Kakashi smirked. "You may have combined yours and Orochimaru's techniques and even come up with some of your own, but do you honestly think I haven't been working on a new jutsu?" At Kabuto's bewildered expression Kakashi slowly opened his left eye to reveal a black design that no ninja had ever seen before.
"Makurayami no Sharingan."
Konohamaru swore angrily. He knew the battle would be tough, but he didn't think it would be this tough! These Sound-temes had some sort of special jutsu that would revive themselves and fix all their wounds while the Konoha shinobi tired and were drained of chakra.
Thanks to that genjutsu from that girl, he and his team were still suffering the effects of being pierced with a dozen or so shuriken. Ibiki was fighting her now, the two of them just a blur among the trees. He wasn't worried though, she would be dead in a couple minutes. His blood boiled when the medical nins were cleaning their wounds and he saw Moegi pierced with so many shuriken she looked like a pincushion. He and Udon were very concerned but like she angrily told them, they didn't look any better.
She always hated it when they were protective of her. "I am a kunoichi of this village and I can take care of myself!" was always her argument. Despite this, they still took special care around her.
Their treatment was cut short as they became under fire, a mass horde of Sound shinobi emerging from the trees. Konohamaru's team and the Baka Brothers quickly sprung into action while the medic team tried to slip into the shadows. Unfortunately, one of the shinobi Konohamaru was fighting chucked a kunai and embedded it in the back of a retreating medic nin, killing him instantly and put all the rest of them on guard.
"Team 6! Don't let anyone attack the medics!" Ebisu yelled, suddenly appearing next to the fallen shinobi. He withdrew the kunai and easily deflected another attempt on the group
"I'll cover their escape!" The three youth nodded and scanned for anyone who tried to make a move against them.
"Fuujin! Raijin! Make sure to fulfill your duty!" the special jounin added as he led the medics away.
"Ossu!" Fuujin vowed wearily. The battle was taking a toll on them and there were numerous cuts and bruises as well as bloody kunai and shuriken stuck in various places. Because of their beefy hands they couldn't take the small weapons out properly, so they stayed there, infuriating the two and causing them to act like enraged animals.
"We get a year's supply of food!" Raijin reminded his brother, snapping an unlucky Sound shinobi in half.
"That's right aniki! Let's go!" Fuujin said happily, as the prospect of their reward stood out in his mind.
"This is taking too long!" one of the Sound nin declared, stepping back from the circle of his men who were trying to attack the brothers. "Let's get rid of these kids and then focus all our attention on these idiots and get back to the real prize up there!"
On his command everyone turned on the young genin team, causing the three of them to huddle together, their backs up against each other, hands gripping their weapons. Moegi brandished a double-speared staff, Udon held a small katana with both hands, while Konohamaru held nothing. Even though he used clones like his idol Naruto, he had neither the skill nor the chakra capacity, so along with those, he tended to rely more on conventional jutsus. Besides being quick, he also had a great knack for being able to use the terrain against his opponent.
He wanted to use his uncle's chakra blades but he was nowhere ready enough. Shikamaru had been instructing him, giving tips and so forth, but this war had intervened before he had completed the training.
"It's okay guys, we can do it," Konohamaru quietly assured his team, yet he wasn't so sure if he believed it himself.
"NOOOO!" the brothers yelled simultaneously. "We have to protect them!"
The ground shook as they charged, and some of the enemy stepped back in fear. The Konoha genin couldn't blame them, they looked absolutely terrifying.
"CHAKRA FIST!!" they howled in unison, revealing their one and only jutsu. Blue chakra enveloped their enormous fists, leaving a small trail behind them due to the speed at which they were traveling at, and they drew it back behind them, and once they were about a foot away from the closest enemy nin, pushed them forward, causing an impact so great that the shinobi they hit flew backwards about a hundred feet, and a spiraling column of blue chakra followed it like an impact wave, blowing away those who were in its direct path.
The three genin gaped in amazement yet heard the leader curse.
"I can't believe I'm going to need this," he muttered to himself, tossing his kunai to the ground. Konohamaru and his team watched as he withdrew an arrow from the carrier on his back and shoved it down his throat, tail end first.
Once the tip disappeared from sight he drew a large breath, tilting his head back as he did so, then expelled all the air, aiming it at the duo. The arrow shot out, visible sonic waves encircling it.
Raijin abruptly stopped in his tracks, facial expression frozen in place, and just stood there. After a few brief seconds the genin realized why.
There was a clean, round hole right where his heart should be. The arrow that pierced him lay embedded in a tree, the heart attached.
"ANIKI!!" Fuujin screamed as his brother fell face first into the ground, never to move again. Udon turned away, looking green while Moegi fell to her knees, vomiting on the ground. Konohamaru bent down to comfort her, yet found he couldn't look away.
He watched as the Sound nin deposited two more arrows down his throat, one after another, then shot them out again, where they collided with the last brother, killing him as well.
As Konohamaru stared at the bodies of the two brothers, he became vaguely aware of someone walking towards them.
"Killing off so many men with their brute strength; what a joke," the man muttered angrily. He paused and stared at the genin hungrily.
"There's no one left to save you now, gakis," he sneered. "Time to die."
Konohamaru found he couldn't move as the shinobi slowly withdrew another arrow and brought it up to his mouth. All that he could think of was, there is no way we can beat him.
We're dead.
As soon as Ibiki made sure Ebisu's team and the brothers were safely in the care of the medics, he turned to the rest of the group.
"I'll get her," he informed them, pointing to Lily, "and you cover for me!"
"Ossu!" they yelled before engaging in battle.
You're mine.
"That may have been a nice little trick you did there," he mocked, suddenly appearing at her side in the high trees. "But you'll soon find that I am the master of messing with people's minds."
"You think a simple genjutsu is the only thing I can do?" she yelled incredulously, apparently insulted.
"What I'm thinking," Ibiki responded, careful to stress the appropriate words, "is that no mere girl could defeat someone like me. Especially not one who is still a child and sings as her weapon."
The interrogator took note of the way her face grew red, her eyebrows furrowed together, and her hands clenched furiously.
She's a piece of cake, he noted happily, yet his thinking was cut short as she took a deep breath and let out a shrill shriek. It seemed to surround him completely, drowning and suffocating him in it. He could tell if he stayed in it much longer he was in trouble, so he closed his eyes and cleared his mind, focusing on a place out of danger and jumped to it.
Once he was out of range Lily stopped her jutsu and turned to him.
"That was pretty good, but I already knew girls could scream, I just didn't know you were the most annoying. You'd even give Anko a run for her money."
Lily's frustration grew, and Ibiki calculated that she'd be ready to defeat in the next five minutes.
"You're going to regret that," she growled through her teeth. Ibiki just stood there patiently, waiting for what she'd do next. Nothing happened for a minute, and he was worried that she had seen through his ploy and was trying to calm herself down. Just as he was about to say something there was a loud rumbling and the tree he was standing on stared to shake. As he tried to adjust his footing there was a large "CRAAACK!" and he glanced up to see the top of the tree splinter off and start to fall on him.
He jumped out of the way just in time to land on another tree where the exact thing occurred. For the next two minutes he dodged tree after tree until finally the onslaught ceased.
Lily finally opened her eyes and smirked when she glanced at him.
"Like that? I hummed and used an ultrasonic frequency to sever the wood wherever I chose and—"
"Did your precious 'Kabuto' teach you that?" the interrogator chided, apparently not impressed.
"Kabuto-sama is the greatest shinobi in the world!" she retaliated, her anger back and with a vengeance.
"He is kind, caring, and always makes sure his subordinates are well taken care of! There is no one who is greater than him!"
"I wouldn't be this great if it weren't for Kabuto-sama!!"
"Well then you're a poor reflection of your master, because if his worth is placed by your skill I could defeat him with my eyes closed."
Prepared for it this time, Ibiki jumped out of the way as she emitted her shriek once again.
"One of our jounin, Kakashi, is fighting him right now. Do you know who he is?" he asked as he landed off to her right.
Choosing not to answer, Lily unveiled a long string of kunai. She leaned closed and seemed to whisper something to them, then touched one and it shot towards the Konoha jounin. It traveled faster than he thought and grazed his shoulder before colliding with the half of the tree that wasn't destroyed and obliterated it.
Glancing back, he noticed that the cause was the fact that the kunai was vibrating back and forth quickly, almost like a tuning fork.
One more minute left. Time to put on the finishing touches.
"Is this seriously all you can—" he stopped and switched on his walkie talkie. "Morino Ibiki . . . Hai . . . really? . . . all right. I understand."
Another pulsing kunai was thrust in his direction and he leapt to safety.
"Looks like your Kabuto-sama just got defeated. Kakashi informed me he killed him."
Lily just stood there, staring at him. "Yo—you're lying! There is no way that he could lose!"
"I'm telling you the truth. It was a hard battle, but Kakashi was better. He told me on this channel—"
"YOU'RE WRONG!" In her fury she released all the kunais at once and Ibiki quickly became surrounded by the explosion.
"You lose," he whispered behind her before effectively snapping her neck. She fell down and Ibiki laid her delicately on the tree branch. He hated killing with a lot of blood, so he preferred a faster approach. It was just regrettable that her mind was so warped by this Kabuto person.
The interrogator didn't know the exact story, but he knew that the medic kid was under the direction of Orochimaru for a couple years, and that Sannin was skilled at twisting people's minds so there was no telling what this kid had learned.
Before the Sannin had betrayed Konoha, Ibiki had almost tried to press for Orochimaru to become the main interrogator instead of him, because he had an almost respect for his methods.
He looked off into the distance and sighed. I hope what I told this girl turns out to be true. Be safe, Kakashi.
Just as the Sound leader was about to expel the arrow, there was a blast of wind and the three genin had to close their eyes. When they opened them again, there was someone standing in front of them.
"Picking on little kids? Now that's just mean. What's even worse is picking on them with such a pathetic move." Their savior stuck out his hand and held out an arrow before snapping it in half and letting it fall to the ground.
Suddenly there was another gust of wind and a few remaining Sound shinobi fell down dead.
"Ah, there you are, Izumo."
"Got a little caught up there, but now I'm ready to help, Kotetsu."
The two chuunin turned to glance at the genin for a second then focused their attention back to the leader.
"You guys all right?" Izumo asked.
"Y—yeah," Konohamaru stuttered.
"Good. We're sorry to have separated you from the group like that, but we didn't think there were this many more Sound nins, and that they could have defeated Fuujin and Raijin," he continued.
"Just because you caught my arrow once doesn't mean you'll defeat us!" the leader shouted, half convinced.
"Really? I think different," Kotetsu protested, withdrawing a scroll. "I don't know if you know this, but we're not letting another Sarutobi die if we can help it."
Konohamaru gasped as he realized why they said that. They of course were there during the invasion almost three years ago, yet they were also there when Asuma was killed by that Akatsuki member. Neither death was their fault, but he could see why they felt that way.
"You three just step back and let us take care of them," Kotetsu finished as an incredibly large weapon that resembled a fish head appeared and he charged towards the leader. Izumo stayed there and did his best to fend off the six that were left.
The battle that ensued was one of the most amazing the genin had ever seen, partly because Kotetsu's weapons was so—unique, and they had only seen Izumo sit at the entrance to the village or walk around carrying stacks of paperwork for Tsunade.
Izumo's sword techniques were amazing and within two minutes he had already killed two of them. However, he was tired from the previous battle before this one so his movements became slightly slower. What made it even worse was that a few other shinobi appeared, never granting Izumo the opportunity to rest.
"How dare you defy me!" Kotetsu's opponent screamed. "I am the great Hishugi, captain of Kabuto-sama's squadron!"
"I'm honored, I'm sure," the chuunin mocked. "My only question is, do you actually have some talent to back up that position, or is it all talk?"
"Bakuhatsu no kinzoku! (Exploding Metal)" Hishugi stuffed a bagfull of what appeared to be metal shrapnel down his throat then jumped into the air and spun around, aiming his mouth at Kotetsu. Before the chuunin could move, hundreds of tiny pellets erupted from Hishugi's mouth like gunfire and left the chuunin with nowhere to run or hide. He tried to bring up his weapon as a sort of shield, but the shrapnel was too fast for him and he simply had to do his best to protect his vital organs.
Once the onslaught was over, Kotetsu slammed against a tree, sitting on a sturdy tree branch and did his best to catch his breath and do a mental check of his injuries. He was able to prevent the deadly assault from attacking his heart, but the rest of his body didn't fare so well. He was still able to fight though, yet his weapon had slipped from his hand and crashed with the floor below.
Kotetsu spared a few moments to see how his partner was managing.
"Fukumikuchi Hari! (Hidden Mouth Needles)" Izumo charged towards his opponents and spit out a fury of senbon needles, effectively killing two via damaging puncture wounds and injuring at least three others. Kotetsu was beginning to seriously reconsider having him and Izumo switch opponents, because it looked like the two were made for each other.
"Koukou no ya! (Sailing Arrows)" Kotetsu was drawn back into the battle as Hishugi released a torrent of arrows; he apparently stuffed the rest of them down his throat while the chuunin checked upon on his friend.
"Kuso!" he cursed as he realized that there was no way he could deflect all of them, yet he did his best, but was unable to prevent one from slashing through his right shoulder. He screamed out in agony as the spinning arrow cleanly cut through his bone, ligaments, and skin, leaving nothing but a bleeding hole in its wake.
"Finished yet?" Hishugi taunted.
Kotetsu grimaced from the pain but faced the Sound-taichou with a mischievous and dangerous grin he had seen on the infamous Uzumaki Naruto once while saying, "Oh no; I'm just getting started."
Kabuto gasped as everything around him was plunged into darkness. It was so dark that it was practically tangible. He could taste it and it felt like it was almost suffocating him. He also couldn't tell if he was lying down, standing up, or floating in the air.
"What is this?" he shouted, fascinated in spite of himself.
"My new jutsu," a voice echoed through the darkness.
"Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique)
"I'm sorry, but that just won't work."
To his amazment, Kabuto found that to be true. It seemed as if the darkness was blocking his ability to create jutsus as well as any sources of light. Suddenly, there was a strange sensation in his toes, and after a moment of reflection, the medical shinobi realized why.
Somehow (he did not know how) but the darkness was destroying each of his cells, one by one. It creeped through each plasma membrane with tiny, thin tendrils that destroyed the nucleus.
As the darkness moved up his body, Kabuto watched his feet completely disappear.
"How is this possible?" he wheezed, fear gripping his throat for once.
An outline of Kakashi appeared, where all the lines and contours of his body and jacket were outlined in white, his Sharingan eye red against the black.
"This is my version of Amaterasu, where instead of a black fire that doesn't go away until it has destroyed everything in its path, this is a palpable darkness that doesn't disappear until it has destroyed every living cell I enter into it."
Kabuto smirked dryly. "I can see now why Orochimaru always wanted that Sharingan. There's nothing that can compare . . . " All of a sudden, Kabuto's face froze, then started to melt away, revealing a face Kakashi knew all too well.
"Orochimaru."
"I am quite impressed with how well you have learned how to use that Sharingan of yours. You would have made an excellent test subject," the man hissed.
"So everyone keeps telling me," Kakashi rolled his eye.
"If you can, I highly suggest you go after the newest Akatsuki member, Tobi. You'll find him with an orange mask, and very . . . interesting," the demon chuckled. As the darkness reached Kabuto/Orochimaru's shoulders, Orochimaru stuck out his tongue and wrapped it around the figure in front of him.
Kakashi groaned then disappeared with a faint "pop!" Orochimaru then hissed and howled in agony as his face began to disappear into nonexistance.
"When you're in my jutsu, you have no power."
Kakashi sank to his knees as the darkness that had surrounded Kabuto/Orochimaru disappated, leaving nothing behind. His eye exploded with pain and he grunted in discomfort. As he brought up his hand as if to wipe away the pain from his eye, he noticed there was blood on his fingertips.
Looks like this jutsu has some repercussions, he observed with slight fascination. He had of course practiced this jutsu before, but it was only on the small animals he was able to find in the forest. He had never gotten this reaction before.
After he pulled down his Hitai-ate over his bleeding eye, he stood up then doubled over in pain onto his knees again.
Oh yeah, I forgot about that, he thought dryly as he glanced at his bleeding chest wound. Guess I should take care of it.
The jounin paused for a moment, then ripped the bottom of both pants up to his knees, and tied the cloth tightly around his waist.
That should stop the beeding for a while.
With a final glance at where Kabuto used to be, Kakashi took off in the direction of where he originally came.
"So, looks like the Sound made an appearance after all," Tsunade sighed. "I figured it would happen, one way or the other."
Shizune nodded, then frowned.
"Ano . . . Tsunade-sama—what are you doing?" The Hokage was currently going from fallen Sound shinobi to shinobi, holding some typed of three-pronged amulet necklace over their chest that glowed a blue color, and once it stopped she would move on to another one.
"Nothing, you'll find out soon enough," she said absentmindedly, intently focused on her task.
Shizune sighed and turned to the matter at hand, looking for survivors of the first group. While their duty was comprised of waiting for a distress signal, it also consisted of overseeing the aftermath of each battle, seeing who was fit for more action, who was dead, and who needed to be sent back to Konoha.
"Ibi—" Suddenly the interrogator appeared right in front of her, startling her slightly. He looked to be out of breath, had a few injuries from kunai and shuriken, but other than that he appeared fine.
"How did it go?" she asked, becoming serious.
"We ran into Kabuto and the Sound, and they had this girl use a genjutsu that trapped Ebisu's team and the Baka Brothers, but we were able to get them out before we were separated. I took after the girl, so I don't know what happened to everyone else."
"Over here!" Sakura's voice called out, and the two jounin came to her position.
"We've got Ebisu and Idate here, both fine," Ino informed them happily. Said two were on the ground, panting heavly while they were being attended by their group's medical team. Ebisu's head was wrapped in bandages with some blood starting to seep through, and Idate was wincing as one of the shinobi was working on a broken arm.
"So far, so good," Shizune smiled. "What about the others?"
"There were fighting in that clearing over there," Ebisu informed them slowly, trying not to upset his head too much.
"And Kakashi?" Sakura asked hopefully.
"He went after Kabuto," Ibiki said, pointing off to their right. "Once you're done up here you need to go check up on him."
"Well, I'm done," Tsunade remarked as she joined them. "This clearing, you say?"
Ebisu nodded, and Tsunade, Ebisu, Sakura, Shizune, and three medic nins went to the area specified. As the Hokage leapt into the clearing, she stopped dead.
I hate war.
The clearing was littered with about 30 Sound shinobi, all strewn out in various places and positions, felled by many random causes, with one off to her left stuck up in a tree, impaled on a broken tree branch.
What drew her attention the most was the sight of Fuujin and Raijin's bodies, their ripped hearts lying a few feet away and skewered by an arrow. It's not like she realy cared about them, but they were there by her orders and were instilled to watch the kids.
She gasped, the kids!
The sight she sought was not a happy one. Moegi lay over Udon's lifeless body, sobbing uncontrollably, while Konohamaru was standing between Kotetsu and Izumo who lay on the ground, slowly staring at one, then the other, then the other, as if he didn't know what to do.
"How are they?" she asked softly, afraid of the answer.
Konohamaru just stared at Kotetsu. "He saved us from the shinobi who killed Fuujin and Raijin," (he turned to Izumo) "and he saved us from the rest."
The young Sarutobi finally glanced at Tsunade, tears running down his face, "They wanted to protest us, they really did! They both said they wouldn't let another Sarutobi die on them!!"
"But then we were stupid and didn't stay alert of our surroundings! One of the shinobi was hiding, and then he killed Udon!" He started crying harder so Tsunade draped her arm around him to help him continue.
"They felt horrible, but Kotetsu was fighting the leader so Izumo quickly killed the person he was fighting and then fought him! I could see it in his eyes; he was so tired and felt completely responsible, but he wouldn't stop fighting until all of them were dead, and he just . . . j-just fell over, and he was dead!" Konohamaru wailed.
"He should have died a different way, he can't just fall over like that!!" At this point he could talk no more so Tsunade gently patted his back and motioned for Shizune to take care of Konohamaru. Her assistant obediently did so, a couple tears falling down her face as she saw the bodies of the two chuunin.
Izumo was lying on his face, with a couple kunai and shuriken embedded in his back, so Tsunade gently yanked them out before turning him onto his back. She was startled for a second as she realized that he was smiling.
At least he died happy, she thought as she tried to console herself. He appeared to have died from loss of blood, chakra exhaustion, and too many vital points struck by weapons.
Her prognosis finshed, she moved on to Kotetsu, who seemed to have a hole in his right shoulder that was similar to the one the Baka Brothers had. His hair was matted, blood was trickling down the left side of his face, his left leg was twisted in an unnatural way, his chest was moving up and down unevenly . . . wait!
"Kotetsu! Kotetsu" she shrieked, kneeling down at his side and gingerly shook his left shoulder. "Can you hear me?!" she pleaded.
"L—loud . . . and clear . . . Hokage-sam—ma," he wheezed before being overcome by a series of coughs that were very painful for him, blood dripped past his lip and beads of sweat ran down his face.
"Don't worry, we'll save you! It'll just be a minute," Tsunade promised as she began working on his chest, the familiar green glow reflecting in his dull eyes.
"I'm f-finished . . . that guy—got shrapnel . . . in my—vital o-organs," he said quietly.
"NO! There's still time, I can help you—"
"I-It's okay, I'm all right—with that . . . are the—the kids safe?"
"Yes, they're all safe," Tsunade lied.
"I'm right here," Konohamaru interjected, his voice shaking.
"G-good . . . now I can face—the Third . . . and Asuma," Kotetsu wheezed happily. He grunted and used most of his remaining energy to turn his head towards Izumo's lifeless body, a few tears sliding down his face.
"I—I'll tell . . . Izumo . . . an-and the others . . . you say hi . . . "
"KOTETSU!" Tsunade sobbed, vainly trying to restore a heatbeat, but the chuunin's eyes slowly closed, his last breath left his body, and all that was left was a tiny grin on his face.
"No, please! Please! PLEASE—!"
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune barked fiercly, the sharpness in her voice as effective as a slap across the face. The Godaime stared at her assistant, whose eyes were glistening with tears but a resoulte conviction was etched in her expression.
"We have to help Kakashi, and many others before the day is over," she said a little softer.
After pausing for a few moments Tsunade slowly withdrew her hands from Kotetsu's chest and stole a last glance at Izumo before hardening her expression.
"Let's go," she said as she clutched the amulet she had been using earlier.
Kakashi was now reduced to a stumbling walk, his chakra almost depleted, but he had to get to Tsunade. He needed to keep fighting.
What did Shikamaru say her channel was? Better yet, what's my channel? He wasn't even sure he was going the right direction. The jounin was tempted to use his ninken, but that would be suicide and his sense of smell and direction wasn't working too well at the moment.
Must be the blood loss. The makeshift bandage he had created was all but drenched in his own blood now, he had to get that fixed.
I wonder what Orochimaru meant by I would find this Tobi interesting . . .
Without warning he found himself surrounded by Tsunade and her medic team.
"Thank Kami we found you," she smirked.
"Ibiki told us where you were," Sakura said happily, grateful they were able to find her former sensei in time.
"Really? Good," the jounin sighed before fainting from exhaustion.
In all respects, Kakashi looked horrible. It had taken them longer than the Godaime would have liked to find him, only because he had gone so far off from where the first group was, and because his chakra levels were so dangeroulsy low. For a moment she was afraid he had perished in the battle.
When they found him however, he almost looked dead; his right eye was unfocused, his clothes were torn, small droplets of blood were dripping from a makeshift bandage around his chest that was no longer doing the job, and he had fainted on them almost as soon as they arrived.
As he fell Tsunade caught him in both hands and set to work, first laying him on his back.
"Kisho! Mamorou! Hisa! Leiko! Shizune! Takai! Form a hectagonal shield around his body! Ino and Sakura, I want you to work on repairing that chest wound of his while I restore his chakra!" she ordered as she withdrew the amulet.
"Restore his chakra? But how—" Sakura began.
"Just do as I say! It will work best if you can see the wound so I need you to take off his vest and undershirt!" Tsunade yelled as she began forming a series of hand seals.
Sakura raised her eyebrow. Of course she had undressed countless shinobi before in order to fully treat their wounds, but Kakashi was her former sensei! And almost like a father at that. That would be way too awkward—
"Sakura!"
"H-hai!" The two kunoichi quickly tore off his vest and pulled the shirt over his head, wincing at the bruises and wounds infecting his body. It wasn't just the fresh wounds either that drew their attention, it was the series of scars and old battle wounds that made them shiver. There was just so many of them!
"Now, take off his Hitai-ate and begin the healing process! The rest of you, be prepared!"
The moment the forehead protector was removed, everyone stared at the blood that came from his Sharingan eye, momentarily intrigued.
"Looks like he succeeded in the task," Tsunade muttered, then completed the seals and held the amulet over his left eye.
"Begin!"
Suddenly the amulet glowed a bright blue and those forming a shield grunted as they began containing the energy. Sakura and Ino valiantly worked on the chest wound, all the while watching what Tsunade planned to do.
Now the amulet had a narrow beam of light that was connected to Kakashi's left eye, now open, and it burned as blue as the energy that was connected to it. Tsunade was sitting cross-legged near Kakashi's head and forcibly directed the energy into his eye. After a few moments Kakashi started crying out in pain and began to thrash around in an attempt to get away from the energy being inserted into his eye.
"Sakura! Hold him down while Ino finishes the repairs!" With no time to argue, Sakura quickly left Ino's side and placed both hands firmly one each of his shoulders, rendering him unable to move. She tried to ignore her sensei's yelps of pain, but after a while she had to cringe at the sound. In all her years of going on missions with him and her teammates at her side, she had never heard this sound from him before. Whenever he was in pain it was a dull moan, not a shriek like this. She could only imagine how much whatever Tsunade was doing hurt him.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the amulet's blue glow faded and Tsunade snatched it out of the air before it poked Kakashi in the eye. His red eye returned to its normal color and Kakashi involuntarily shut it painfully before passing out, but Sakura wondered if he was even really awake in the first place.
"Finished," Ino panted gratefully as she wiped some sweat from her forehead and after tying a knot in the bandages she had tied around his waist. The six who had formed the shield fell back in relief, trying to restore their own chakra.
"Good work everybody," Tsunade praised, placing the amulet back in her pouch and withdrew some water which she drank gratefully, while everyone else followed suit.
"What exactly did you do, Tsunade-sama?" Leiko asked.
"With the amulet, I gathered the chakra of fallen Sound shinobi and stored it there. Then I just put it all into Kakashi's body via his Sharingan eye, since it depletes him of chakra too easily and this way he is completely ready for another battle," she sighed in exhaustion.
"Could you do it to other shinobi?" Kisho wondered in amazement. "Think of what this could do in a battle! Our warriors would be able to fight endlessly—"
"No," the Hokage interupted. "It will only work on him because this Sharingan of his is connected to his chakra system in such a peculiar way. In all honesty, I'm quite amazed that it worked. When he came to me I was highly skeptical and warned him of the dangers but he insisted, saying that he did not want to be forced out of the battle so easily. I told him I'd only do it once though, because we have no idea of the repercussions it will cause on his body."
At that moment Kakashi stirred and Sakura and Tsunade moved to help him sit up.
"I take it the process worked?" he wondered aloud as he clutched his Sharingan eye before pulling the Hitai-ate over it. "My compliments to your ever impressive abilities, Tsunade-sama." He paused and touched the bandage that covered his chest wound. "And yours," he praised the two kunoichi, who smiled happily. When he grunted and tried to stand up Tsunade placed a firm hand on his shoulders.
"Not so fast," she said sternly. "Your chakra may still be restored but that chest wound needs to heal a little longer or you'll put all of Ino's hard work to waste."
Sakura smirked as she could sense the scowl underneath the mask. "Can I have some water then?" he croaked.
"Here's your pouch," Ino offered as she held it out to the jounin. He mumbled his thanks and snapped the lid off before drinking it directly through his mask. All who were present slightly pouted at this, wishing they would have been granted the chance to see him without the mask.
He apparently didn't seem to notice, because he eagerly finished and placed the water back in his pouch, then grabbed his shirt and vest. Once he was finished he glanced at Tsunade who sighed and nodded her approval, then helped him stand up. He was a little wobbly on his feet for a second, then took a deep breath and gained control of his balance.
With a small smile and slight wave, he took off into the trees, ready for the next battle.
"You're sure he'll be all right?" Sakura worried.
Tsunade sighed. "He should be. Just know that he owes me the right to confine him to bed as long as I say when this is over," she added with a devilish grin.
Yamato was busy listening to a report from Shikamaru about Kakashi-senpai and his group, when all of the sudden his own group encountered what was supposed to be a clearing, but instead it was as if they had suddenly landed next to an ocean.
He noticed the Hyuuga jounin named Neji tense at the sight as well as Konoha's Weapon's Mistress.
"Something wrong?" the ANBU captain asked, puzzled by their behavior.
Neji sighed. "We've fought him before."
So, that's the end of the Kakashi-Kabuto fight! What did you think? It was so hard to think of a new Sharingan technique, but I knew I wanted to do something like Amaterasu, but not the exact same, and at first I thought of a type of black hole, but that was too much like his first one, and then I thought of the whole darkness concept. Makurayami means 'total darkness' if my sources are correct. I wanted 'Eternal darkness' but I couldn't really find anything like that, and the words I did find weren't cool enough. This also sounds like Mangekyo, so that's a plus.
NOTE: If you want to see a drawing I've done of what the eye is supposed to look like, then check it out on my deviantart account. (Remove all spaces of course):
gaaraluver1313(dot) deviantart(dot)com /art/ Makurayami-no-Sharingan- 86274050
Anyway, here's the beginning of the cry fest. (sob) It was so hard to kill off Izumo and Kotetsu!! I really luv those guys, and think they deserve more screen time. I did my best to make them as cool as I could, because they just seem like those kinda guys, you know? :-( However, this is just the beginning. More and more of our favorite people are going to perish, so keep those tissues handy!
Oh, and Udon as well!