The Necromancer, Chapter 4:
Tsunade was in her office at the Administration Building. She was currently very bored. She was drumming her fingers on her desk while impatiently fidgeting with a pencil.
"Will you stop that?" Shizune asked, annoyed.
"Only if something interesting happens," Tsunade sighed.
A man near the Administration Building was walking by when he saw an unusual sight. A woman was slowly approaching him, and she was bleeding heavily from between the neck and shoulder, her hand pressing above the wound.
"Shit!" he swore. He ran to the woman, who collapsed. He caught her.
"SOMEONE HELP!!!" the man yelled, "WE NEED A MEDICAL-NIN HERE! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!!!"
Tsunade had a window open in her office, and she heard the ANBU man yell.
"Convenient," Tsunade said, "Wait here," she told Shizune, "I'll be back."
Shizune nodded. Tsunade quickly ran outside to where the man was. She could immediately tell things weren't going well. Blood was everywhere. She froze, but shrugged away her fear. She had to save this woman. The man had laid the woman on the ground as a small crowd of civilians had gathered around.
"Thank goodness!" the man exclaimed as he saw Tsuande approach.
Tsunade quickly examined the wound.
What the hell? she thought, This is a bite wound, but the bite wasn't caused by a beast... it was caused by a human.
Tsunade shrugged off the thought. She was just sleepy from boredom. Also, there was too much blood around the bite, so she wasn't sure if it was a human bite. It did look like it, though.
"Well?" the man asked, "She's really hurt!"
"Oh, yes... sorry about that," Tsunade said. She placed her hands above the wound and used her chakra to heal it. The people around applauded.
Tsunade was too shocked to thank the applauding civilians. Her eyes were focused on the now healed wound. The bite marks were very easy to make out now. They were the marks of human teeth.
"Why... why isn't she getting better?" the man asked.
Tsunade then noticed that the woman's breathing was becoming more rapid. The color was draining from her skin.
What!?! How is this possible? Tsunade thought. She healed the woman some more, but nothing worked. The people observing the scene were now worried.
The woman then stopped breathing. Tsunade checked her pulse. It was gone.
Tsunade slowly got up.
"She's dead," she said grimly.
The audience gasped. Partially because she was announced dead, partially because the dead woman had risen up and was now biting the man that called out for help.
FUCK!!! Tsunade yelled in her head. The people started to run away. Tsunade herself fearfully ran back to her office.
"What's the matter?" Shizune asked when Tsunade ran in the office, panting.
"Woman...! Dead...! Bit..." she had so much to say, but it was all coming out too fast.
"Calm down!" Shizune exclaimed.
Tsunade took a few deep breaths.
"Look out the window..." she said.
Shizune did, and cupped her hands over her mouth, backing slowly away from the window.
"W-w-what's happening?" she fearfully asked.
Tsunade looked out the window. Things were bad now. She could see the woman approaching a cowering child. She was walking odd, like she was drunk. Some civilians she spotted were also shambling towards other civilians. There was blood on the streets.
"Zombies..." Tsunade mumbled.
"What?" Shizune asked.
"They're acting like zombies..." Tsunade said.
They turned away as they saw the woman bite into a child's neck.
"W-why?" Shizune asked, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Something's horribly wrong here... Nobody would rip and tear and eat people! Dead people don't come back to life and act like zombies! Something's wrong!" Tsunade said.
She fearfully glanced out the window. The civilians that observed the scene with the woman were all zombies now. Three ANBU squads were approaching them.
"Dear God! If they are real zombies, the ANBU have no idea how to deal with them!" Tsunade realized.
She turned from the window and approached the door. An ANBU member suddenly appeared.
"Lady Hokage, things are bad. The cannibal woman somehow made the people she bit cannibals as well. They're all psychotic. They're not responding to anything we say. They're just slowly shambling towards us, moaning. The really strange thing is the eyes... Their eyes are like the Hyuga's Byakugan, but the whole eye is the color of the sclera and the pupil is not visible... I suggest you two go into the Emergency Room," he said.
"No! You don't understand!" Tsunade exclaimed, "They aren't human anymore!"
"Whatever they are, we'll deal with them..." the ANBU member confidently said, "Please go into the Emergency Room."
Tsunade clenched her teeth.
Stubborn bastard, she thought, All of them are stubborn bastards! They wouldn't listen to me no matter what I said!
"Let's go in the room..." Shizune said quietly.
"Fine," Tsunade sighed in anger.
Tsunade reached under her desk and pushed a section of the desk. It moved up. She slid the tile over and pushed the button the wooden tile covered. A bookcase slid over to the right, revealing a heavily reinforced steel door. Tsunade and Shizune were used to this door. Everytime a threat, major or minor, occurred, they were pretty much forced to go in here. Tsunade opened the door. The door was very loud and creaky. They went inside. Shizune followed, and they shut the door, which made a boom as it shut. Tsunade picked up a torch near the door and went down a deep tunnel. It sloped downward deep into the ground. They saw lights in the distance, and soon they arrived in the room itself.
The room was fairly small, but it had lights and furniture and several things that were in a normal house. It actually felt like a normal home, besides the steel floor and walls and the deep, dark maw of the tunnel behind them. Tsunade placed the torch in a torch holder nearby. She sat down with Shizune on a couch.
"Do you think they're okay?" Shizune asked.
"I don't know," Tsunade said, "I honestly don't. We just have to wait for the sound of that steel door being opened."
The ANBU were in front of the Administration Building. The zombies approached them slowly, moaning for their blood and flesh. The ANBU had their weapons ready.
"Don't be fooled by the enemy," an ANBU captain said, "They look human, but they're not. Now wait for my signal before attacking."
The zombies inched closer and closer. There was little noise besides the moans and the heavy footsteps of the zombies.
One new ANBU member was too impatient. He charged forward and stabbed a man in the chest with his katana.
"Fool!" The ANBU captain shouted.
"Don't worry! I got him! C'mon!" the new ANBU member said, looking at the others behind them. They were taking a few steps back. Some even dropped their weapons.
"Huh?" the new ANBU member said. He then felt the man bite into his arm that still clutched the sword.
"AHHHH!!!" he yelled in pain. The man then forced him to the ground. He was digging deep into his arm. It hurt so badly! He could see the sword in the man's chest. The man didn't even react to it. No blood even fell from the wound.
What... the hell... he thought. He saw a woman in a torn kimono and a small child approach him. They had the same eyes as the man, who now had moved to biting the ANBU member's chest.
Why am I so hungry all of a sudden? the ANBU member thought as he slipped into death.
"What the fuck?!?" the ANBU captain yelled. The other ANBU had seen the sword and how it had no effect on the man. They stared in horror as the woman and the small child joined in on the feast. They suddenly got up and resumed approaching the ANBU.
"What? Why are they...?" one ANBU member said out loud.
They then saw the foolish ANBU member rise up. His mask was torn from his face, and most of his shirt was ripped up, revealing his bloody chest with several pieces of skin missing. He had the same eyes as these creatures. He then approached them.
"NOW!!! ATTACK THEM!!!" the ANBU captain ordered. The ANBU members charged forwards with their weapons. Their blades ripped and teared through flesh, and they horribly mutilated the zombies. But they didn't yell in pain. They didn't bleed. They didn't react. They continued moaning and trying to bite the ANBU. Some were bitten in the fight and had reanimated as zombies. Eventually, out of the fifteen ANBU members, three were left standing in front of the Administration Building's door. The rest were zombified. Twenty civilians with mutilated bodies, several newly animated civilians that were bitten during the chaos, and thirteen ANBU members approached them, moaning for flesh.
"DON'T LET THEM IN!!!" the captain yelled. They pulled out their blades and threateningly held them in front of themselves. They knew it was futile. As the zombies approached them, they backed up, getting closer to the door, until they felt their backs up against it. The zombies were now inches away. The other two ANBU members bravely fought and were eaten. The captain, however, turned around and threw open the door in a pathetic attempt to escape. He was grabbed by cold hands and pulled into a horde of teeth and hands. He tried to close the door so they wouldn't be able to get in, but the pain hurt him too much. All he could do was lie there being ripped apart by the zombies. He coughed up blood.
"J-Julia..." he said before he died.
Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura were running down a main street in Konoha. It was the fastest way to the Administration Building. Kakashi stopped dead in his tracks, holding his hand up as if saying, "Hold on." Sakura and Naruto stopped.
"Why'd we-?" Naruto began, but Kakashi put his finger up to his mouth. Naruto stopped talking.
It was deadly silent. Nobody was around. No noise could be heard at all, save for some soulless moans in the distance. Kakashi lifted up his headband. His Sharingan instantly observed several things in the street, such as haphazardly shut curtains, a cup on the ground that had water coming from it, some blood marks on the ground, and a child's stuffed animal. People were recently here. Something happened. Due to the haphazardly shut curtains, he guessed the people fled and ran into their homes.
"I think everyone's hiding in their homes... I see some patches of blood. Zombies were here..." Kakashi said quietly, "Let's continue..."
They took a few steps when Kakashi suddenly threw a kunai on a rooftop to the left. The clang of metal was heard, and Naruto and Sakura looked in the direction of the sound. They saw a man wearing the Akatsuki robe on the rooftop. He was holding a large katana with a thick and long blade, and he was grinning. They could see the swords strapped to his back and the odd yellow glow of his eyes.
"That's him!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing to the man, "He's the one that knocked me out!"
"The name is Kenokami," the man said. His voice was gruff and tough.
"Why'd you knock me out?" Naruto asked angrily.
"You can't warn the village. You especially can't tell the Hokage. I'm afraid you have to die now," Kenokami said. He suddenly vanished from the rooftop. He reappeared behind Sakura.
"Watch out!" Kakashi warned. Too late. Kenokami had his blade at Sakura's throat.
"SAKURA!!!" Naruto called out, "I swear, if you kill her, I'll... I'll..."
"What?" Kenokami taunted Naruto, "What will you do? Stain my robe with your tears?"
Kenokami was grinning. Naruto and Kakashi could clearly see the wolf-like canines he had.
Kakashi did some hand seals and formed a Chidori. He suddenly charged at Kenokami. Kenokami's eyes widened and he quickly leapt to the left. Kakashi gasped and swerved to the left, barely missing Sakura. Sakura ran quite a few feet away. Naruto decided to back up, too.
Kakashi nailed Kenokami in the right shoulder with the Chidori. He dropped his sword as his arm holding it fell limp. Blood ran down the wound (and his arm) like a waterfall set in slow motion.
"Damn Sharingan users..." Kenokami spat.
Kakashi let the Chidori fade out, confident he had finished this Akatsuki member.
"Letting your guard down? A measly wound like this won't effect me!" Kenokami yelled. He reached down, picked up the blade, and thrust it into Kakashi's chest with just as much agility as if he wasn't wounded at all!
Kakashi grunted in pain. Kenokami withdrew the blade and leapt back, sheathing it.
"And why are you letting your guard down?" Kakashi responded. He vanished and reappeared behind Kenokami. He eyed a normal katana and unsheathed it. He stabbed Kenokami in the back and withdrew it quickly, dodging a counter slash from Kenokami.
"How dare you take one of MY swords!!!" Kenokami fiercely roared. He dashed forward and did a vertical slash. Kakashi held up his sword horizontally and blocked it. They both tried forcing the other blade off of them.
Naruto clenched the fist on his working arm. He had completely forgotten about his other arm that he used the rasen shuriken with yet again. He could move it up and down and move some fingers, but that was about it. Anything else he tried resulted in immense pain. But he had to do something!
Naruto growled and ran towards Kenokami.
"Naruto! What are you doing?" Sakura asked fearfully.
Naruto leapt up in the air and slammed the heel of his foot on Kenokami's head. Kenokami's blade scraped against Kakashi's as he fell to the ground. There was blood coming out of his scalp. Naruto stood over him, grinning.
Kakashi's eyes widened.
"MOVE!!!" he yelled.
Naruto tried to react fast enough, but failed. A huge gash was cut right across his chest.
"Little bastard!" Kenokami fiercely yelled at Naruto. Kakashi took this moment to run up and deliver an equally powerful slash across Kenokami's chest. The robe had a huge cut on it, revealing Kenokami's muscley and fit chest. Kakashi nearly dropped his blade in shock. Instead, he took a few steps back.
Kenokami had a seal mark on his stomach that looked exactly like Naruto's. Kenokami stared at Kakashi with a mix of shock and anger, then at his stomach. He growled and ran forward with greater speed than before.
Sakura had ran up to Naruto. She was trying her best to heal the large wound across his chest.
Kakashi barely dodged the initial thrust from Kenokami's sword, and his sleeve was grazed by the second slash. Kakashi did a diagonal slash with his sword, and Kenokami blocked it. They tried to force the other blade off of them again.
"Why... Why are you doing this to the village?" Kakashi asked, "This isn't very Akatsuki-like."
"Fuck Akatsuki. I joined them because I thought they'd treat me like a human. How wrong I was. They just used me. I've officially left them. My partner has, too," Kenokami replied. He summoned up some strength and thrust his sword forward, making Kakashi stumble back and fall on his back.
Kakashi saw Kenokami above him. He was holding his sword, blade pointing down. Kakashi noticed that somehow the wound his Chidori caused had healed! The most shocking thing was the ring Kakashi spied on his left middle finger. It was the same ring Kakuzu once wore.
"What?!? You have Kakuzu's ring? How! His body was guarded by several ANBU members!" Kakashi exclaimed in surprise.
"Ha! ANBU!" Kenokami laughed, "They are so pathetic. I easily killed them all. I heard that our creations also killed three squads of them. The rest of the ANBU, like this village, will soon fall."
"Before you kill me, please tell me why you are doing this," Kakashi said, hoping Kenokami was forgetful enough to disregard Naruto and Sakura and just say the plan.
"Well..." Kenokami began.
"That's enough! Retreat!" they heard a woman order.
"WHAT!?!" Kenokami yelled, "I was just about to kill him!"
"And you were just about to tell our plan to those two behind you seemed to have forgotten about!" the woman responded. Kenokami clenched his teeth and his cheeks reddened. He obviously forgot.
Kakashi, Sakura, and a now-healed Naruto looked up on a roof. A person wearing an Akatsuki robe with a baggy hood covering her face was standing menacingly.
"FINE!" Kenokami spat at the woman. He then looked at Kakashi. "You're fucking lucky. Don't expect this to happen next time we meet. I'll be looking forward to it..." Kenokami picked up the sword that Kakashi took from him and sheathed it along with his other sword. He vanished and reappeared on the roof next to the cloaked woman. They then vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Are you okay, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.
"That man... Kenokami... he has a tailed beast sealed in him..." Kakashi said.
"WHAT!?!?!?!" Naruto and Sakura yelled in disbelief.
"When I cut his robe... his stomach could be seen. I saw the seal mark. He looked at me in shock and anger and tried to cover it up," Kakashi said.
Kakashi got up.
"Let's worry about it later," Kakashi said, "We need to reach Tsunade very quickly now."
Kakashi covered his Sharingan with his headband, and they resumed running to the Administration Building.
That man... he was like Gaara... except he's much older... Naruto thought, This is bad... perhaps he caused this to get revenge on the world?
Naruto sighed in annoyance. All he could do was speculate. He knew none of the answers.
"Where are Kenokami and The Necromancer?" Itachi asked, "I haven't seen them around the base."
"Good question," Zetsu said, "I think they're disobeying orders..." his other half said.
"They are," Deidara said, "The Leader told us not to leave after discovering Hidan and Kakuzu were killed until further orders were given, yeah."
"I will investigate," Zetsu said.
"No, let me," said the newest Akatsuki member. He walked in the room where everyone except the leader and Konan were in. He had long black hair and a sound village headband with a deep cut across it was tied around his eyes.
"They're in Konoha," he said.
"Excuse me, Otoshi, but, you're too new to go," Kisame said, "What makes you so sure they're in Konoha? Plus, you can't see. That won't help..."
"Don't underestimate me just because I'm blind..." Otoshi said, with a small frown that shortly flipped itself, "I went into Orochimaru's base and took his ring!" He said this proudly, holding up his right hand, little finger extended, to show them the ring. This resulted in mumbled laughter by the rude members of Akatsuki, "and it's just a hunch. I'll deal with them."
"But you were in the Sound Village already... I say you leave it someone else... like me," Itachi said.
Otoshi frowned. He untied his headband.
"What are you doing?" Tobi asked, trying not to laugh more.
Otoshi's headband fell to the ground with a clink. The other Akatsuki members stared at his face, More specifically, his eyes. His eyes enthralled them. Otoshi's eyes had a blood red sclera, black irises, and blazing red pupils. Their arms became limp, their faces became expressionless. Such was the power of the Ryuukugan.
"Now, you will let me go, and none of you will follow me!" Otoshi commanded, "And you will forget the whole pinky thing!" He picked up his headband and tied it around his eyes again. The other Akatsuki members regained their senses.
"Okay, you can go. We trust you. You better be damn sure you'll find them," Itachi said.
"Thank you... I am sure enough..." Otoshi said, trying to hold back laughter. He then left the base and headed towards Konoha...
"I can't believe you almost blurted out the plans," The Necromancer said. They were in their secret outpost in Konoha, "Moron."
Kenokami glared at The Necromancer.
"So... why did you never talk before this?" Kenokami asked, "And why exactly are we doing this to Konoha? You never specified that."
The Necromancer didn't respond.
"Typical..." Kenokami spat.
"Look," The Necromancer said.
Kenokami looked at her. She slowly removed her hood. The face underneath was that of the most beautiful woman Kenokami had ever laid eyes on. Her hair was long and black and she had shining jade green eyes. He could see a headband wrapped around her neck. It had a symbol of a sun on it with a gash through it.
"Do you recognize this symbol?" she asked.
"No..." Kenokami said.
"Nobody does except The Leader," she said, "Well, he's not my leader anymore, but I had to tell him my past to join. This village was in a fairly small country that was an island. The Hidden Village in the Sun. I lived there. It was a fairly large town. Being on an island, several boats came by to trade."
Kenokami nodded, "Continue..."
"Yes," The Necromancer said, "I only had my older brother left. I was five at the time. He moved away and took me with him. My older brother was a bit of a... nut job, I guess you could put it like that. He was a legendary ninja in our village. He was only eighteen, but he had developed several new jutsu! He was a genius and he was amazing! Nobody could ever defeat him! He was just as strong as, probably stronger, than a Kage! Anyways, he taught me many of his jutsu, and I had begun to develop expert chakra control and manipulation. My brother said I was becoming just as powerful as him!"
"Your brother sounds like a real douchebag," Kenokami said. He was slapped across the face by The Necromancer.
"DON'T EVER INSULT HIM!" she yelled.
"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" Kenokami exclaimed.
"...Anyways, one day, he told me to meet him at an abandoned house at midnight. I asked him why, but he said he'd explain. He told me to bring nobody. So I waited until midnight, and I went in the abandoned house. I saw my brother there. He said nothing, he just started walking. I followed him and he led me to the basement of the house. He opened the door, and entered. The basement was very dark. He turned on the light and I followed," The Necromancer continued, "Downstairs..."
The Necromancer looked sad all of a sudden, and some tears rolled down her eyes.
"Necromancer, what's the matter?" Kenokami asked.
"Please don't call me that anymore... I have a name. I trust you enough, Kenokami. My name is Reiko," The Necromancer said.
Reiko... a lovely name, Kenokami thought.
"Reiko, please continue," Kenokami said.
"Okay," Reiko said. She wiped the tears from her eyes, "I saw some people restrained in there. Their hands and legs were chained to the wall. Their eyes were completely white, and they snapped at us, making this unholy moaning noise. I instantly recognized them as zombies, for my brother loved that genre of horror stories."
"'Aren't they beautiful, sister?' my brother said, 'I did it. I made zombies a reality. I think you are powerful enough to use this jutsu. Here, let me teach it to you.'"
"'No!' I shouted, 'How could you do this? These are innocent people! You turned them, against their will, into mindless monsters!'"
"My brother just stood there dumbfounded, 'Is there something wrong with that?' he asked me. I felt an uncontrollable rage build up inside me, 'Think of the possibilities of this jutsu. You and I, sister. We can rule the world with this jutsu. Starting with this pathetic village.' Something had gone terribly wrong with my brother. He used to be so kind, but now his face was fixated in an evil, maniacal grin."
"'No! I can't do that! It's wrong!' I said. I then used a jutsu he taught me. I slammed my hands on the floor and pillars of flame burst from the ground. My brother easily dodged it and countered with a jutsu that fired several bolts of lightning from his hand. I dodged them. He then did several hand seals that were in an order I had never seen before. A yellow gas emerged from the palm of his hand. I knew something was wrong with that gas. I ran out of there. 'Run! Run! RUN!' I kept telling myself. The gas had emerged from the abandoned house and was lofting over some houses. I stopped and looked at the houses. Soon people in their nightwear emerged from their doors they knocked down. They slowly approached me slowly. They were zombies..."
Kenokami was listening intently. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly open.
"I continued running," Reiko said, "I don't know how long I ran, but I eventually collapsed from exhaustion. I saw feet in front of me. I looked up and saw my brother, grinning insanely."
"'How does it feel?' he asked. Something was wrong with his voice. It sounded... demonic. 'To have your entire village destroyed by one man? I will let you live. Live. Understand? Live and become stronger. Let your hate manifest inside of you. Hate me. I will be looking forward to our next encounter, sister...' I then fell unconscious. When I awoke, I was in the middle of my town. I heard thousands of moans. I got up and looked around, horrified. Every person in my village had become zombies! I... I didn't know what to do. My brother probably made the zombies not attack me. I... I probably went crazy, because I don't remember much after that. I remember meeting with the Akatsuki Leader. I don't know how I found him, I honestly don't. That's when I joined Akatsuki. It was my only option left," Reiko finished. She wiped a lone tear from her eye.
Kenokami's mouth moved, but no sound came from it.
"Damn..." he managed to say. He then realized a fault in the story, "Wait... you said you had never seen your brother's jutsu that made zombies before, but you can use it now? How?"
"Did you look at my eyes? I've changed them," Reiko said.
Kenokami looked at her eyes and gasped. He took a step back in disbelief.
"My name is Reiko Uchiha," Reiko said, "My brother, Madara Uchiha, kidnapped me from my family in Konoha, which are all dead now, as I'm sure you know..."
Kenokami couldn't believe it, She has the Sharingan? No way! he thought.
There was silence for a moment.
"Madara... he... he was feared by... by... him..." Kenokami said, saying 'him' with extreme detest.
More silence.
"Wait, you hated your brother for using the jutsu, but you use it now? Why?" Kenokami asked.
"Two reasons," Reiko said, her Sharingan penetrating Kenokami's being, "One: Vengeance. My childhood and future was destroyed by Madara. Several people here have had a good life. Friends, family, happiness; things I have never had! I want them to suffer through what I have suffered through! You want vengeance too, right? You've had a similar experience, right?"
Kenokami stared at the seal on his stomach.
"Yes," he said, "I want vengeance."
"Good," Reiko said, "Two: Maybe by using his jutsu on a major town, I will attract Madara's attention. He will come here, and I will kill him. With him out of the way, Akatsuki will remain. They will try to eliminate us for betraying them. Then we will command our huge zombie army and take over the entire world! Anyone left alive will suffer for their happiness!!! Will you join me, or will I have to kill you?"
Kenokami stared at Reiko in disbelief. She was dead serious. He had never expected the silent cloaked person he was partnered with was capable of this. Still, he agreed with her plan.
"I will help," Kenokami said, "I want them to feel my pain!"
"Okay... we wait. Those three you fought are not threats just yet. They'll probably die, anyway. Only a small portion of the town has been zombified. We can't be seen until a majority of Konoha is zombified," Reiko said, "Understand?"
"Yes," Kenokami said. All of a sudden he gasped.
"What?" Reiko asked.
"Otoshi. He's coming. I smell his scent. It's very faint, but it's gradually becoming stronger each second. He is about two days from here," Kenokami said, "Oddly enough, I only smell him. No other Akatsuki members."
"So? We'll kill him. He's just blind, anyway. Akatsuki has to be stupid for sending him to kill us," Reiko said.
Otoshi was slowly walking towards Konoha. A sense of disappointment fell over him.
"Why do I get the feeling someone just underestimated me because I'm blind?" he asked himself.