sandface: for the first time ever, this story came out ahead of the time planned! I planned on it being done tomorrow, but instead it's done today! enjoy it :)
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Ankoku stared at the three for a second, and then simply walked away like nothing. All three were frozen in horror just by the stare of the young girl. Where did she go? Naruto wondered until it clicked perfectly where she had gone. Without saying a word he chased after her. Ankoku had mentioned that her mother was near dead, so she would probably go to find the person who did that, and kill them in return. Sadly by the time Naruto had caught up to the small girl, it was too late. Karin was lying on the ground on death's door step, while Mizuru was crying beside his mother's body.
"It... it happened so quick... I couldn't do a thing" Mizuru cried.
"I... never... thought... she would find us" Karin muttered.
Naruto and Mizuru glanced at the dying ninja, and then it hit them that she might know a way to stop Ankoku. Everyone had one weakness, even a cold heartless evil person as the young child.
"You're her mother, how do you stop her?" Naruto asked bluntly. He had no time for hinting or anything of the sort; the longer this took the higher the chance his own daughter might die.
"There... is no way... to stop her. Who... do you... think killed... the rest of... the Akatsuki?" Karin replied.
Again Naruto was frozen in pure horror. Many years ago he heard that for an unknown reason the remaining Akatsuki were murdered as if a cat had ripped a mouse to bits. That incident now made more sense, since not a single person knew how it was possible for them all to die in just a matter of minutes of the one before them. Within seconds Naruto shot off to where Kina and Hinata had gone, since if Ankoku had so easily killed Ino, who's to say she hadn't already taken the lives his family?
Elsewhere.
"Now then, all of you, tell me what all you know about this" TenTen growled as she held an extremely sharp kunai against her old teammate's throat.
Tsuji had already pinned Kamijo to the tree, but now Rock Lee and Ayame were pinned to the trees beside the one Kamijo was pinned to. All three needed to give her the truth if they valued their lives. At first it seemed as if none of them would 'spill the beans' so to speak, until finally Rock Lee gave in and spilled every last thing to the scary female ninja who never once lowered her weapon.
"Back when Kosuke was born Sakura told me what her plan had been, and that she still planned to go threw with it, even though one had been lost in the group. When Ayame and Kamijo were born she said that whether I liked it or not they would also be part of her plot" he explained.
"What exactly was the plot?" Kitsune asked.
Before Rock Lee could answer, Okami growled a bit, and said "I smell blood... by the scent it seems we've lost Ino"
Not long after TenTen had pinned the rest to the trees Okami and Anju came by, thinking this was where the backup was needed. Kitsune told them the exact location, and they quickly left, but Okami wanted to stay behind in case anyone else showed up. Once he had said that all four of them glared at the three pinned against the trees; they were part of the plot, so Ino's death was also on their heads.
"According to what Sakura had told me, it was to destroy your family, Kitsune. Ever since Itachi died, Sasuke needed someone else to get revenge on, so my guess is he chose your family" Rock Lee replied.
"If that slime ball even remotely puts a scratch on any of my family... he won't live to see tomorrow" Kitsune growled.
Blood began to drip off his hands since he held his hands in such a tight fist. For a second the group had thought they had seen his eyes turn the same blood red as his father's did, but knew that they couldn't have. Kitsune didn't have a beast sealed in him, so it was impossible for him to have anything to do with that fox. Out of nowhere Okami ordered them all to hide wherever possible for some reason. All of them listened, since they trusted that he knew someone was coming. Not long after he ordered them to hide, a very small built girl came walking over to the three who were now helpless to whatever she might do.
"Pathetic... all of you! Ayame, your orders were to kill that blond brat, but did you, of course not! And you, Kamijo, your orders were to keep any of his cousins from helping him, but instead, you let one stick you to a plant. I'm not quite sure why we mixed you two into this... but, it's easy to get rid of problems" she growled as she pulled out a sharp kunai.
"Ankoku, please, we tried our best, but these guys are much stronger than us, don't kill us please!!" Kamijo begged the girl.
"I never said I would" Ankoku replied as she slashed the blade threw Kamijo's arms and legs in a couple quick swoops.
His blood splattered everywhere as he screamed in pain. Ankoku got the worse evil grin on her face as she licked the blood off the kunai. She then glanced over at the now shaking Ayame, and laughed like a crazy person. She must enjoy inflicting pain or something, Kitsune thought as he stared at the insane girl.
"I would let you two share the fun with Kamijo, but I have to see to dealing with the murdered of my brother. Kosuke, get up already!" Ankoku said as she kicked Kosuke.
When Kosuke didn't get up after three orders to do so Ankoku stomped on him as if he were a bug, and then left to wherever Kina was. Once she had left the others came back over to their three prisoners.
"That sounded like this has been planned for a very long time, even though you earlier made it a point to let us know you guys had no clue your ring leader was alive until tonight" TenTen snapped.
"When we all thought he was dead Karin became leader, that's how this has been planned like this" Ayame replied, her eyes not meeting TenTen's.
Before Ayame had even finished her sentence Kitsune ran off to find his baby sister before Ankoku did. I won't let her hurt Kina! Kitsune growled in the back of his mind as he went the short cut to where his sister was. Since she had been born the two had a slightly odd connection that would be used greatly on missions and such. Despite the distance, both would know the exact location of the other, even if they had never been there before themselves. Soon Kitsune could smell the blood of Kagai, and knew his sister would be just around the corner. Once he got out into the large clearing he found quickly both his sister and mother, but didn't expect when he saw.
Ankoku somehow beat him to them, and was already fighting them. It was obvious that Hinata had ordered Kina not to help in this fight, since she was on the other side of the clearing, watching the fight intently. Since Okami had smelled Ino's blood and knew she was dead, it must have meant Ankoku had killed her, but this time it showed on the girl's face that she was not finding the fight so easy. As fast as Ankoku could throw a punch was as fast as it was block, or even thrown back. Hinata could easily match the speed of the small girl, and even at times knock the wind out her.
"You're harder to fight than that long haired blond" Ankoku panted as she tried to dodge an attack.
"I would truly hope so" Hinata replied as she landed a hit to Ankoku's throat.
By the looks of the fight Hinata was going to win, since there wasn't even a mere scratch on her, while Ankoku was beginning to get a few injuries. The battle had already seemed won when it took a turn for the worst. Ankoku backed away from her opponent, and stared her up and down for a second. She knew she was clearly going to lose; her opponent was much, much stronger than she was. Since she knew that, she knew there would be one option left in the game. In a split second Ankoku had hit Hinata in the shoulder with a chidori. Blood splattered around the two Ankoku pulled her hand back, and laughed a bit.
"Darn, that was fun, but oh well, I have another bone to pick" Ankoku said before disappearing.
Kina and Kitsune ran quickly up to their mother, hoping what the other child had done hadn't hurt her too much. Dad said he was hit with a chidori before... and he's just fine, Kitsune thought once he got up to Hinata. Where Ankoku had hit there was now a literal hole, and blood continued to pour out as if it were flooding.
"I'll kill that little beast for this!" Kitsune growled.
"Calm down Kitsune, I'll be fine, though I don't think it helps that I just killed the best medic in Konoha" Hinata replied in a slight laugh as she glanced at Sakura's lifeless body.
"I'll kill that little beast for this!!" The three heard Naruto growl as if they had just had déjà vu of what Kitsune had said.
"We have to help Mom somehow!" Kina cried as she looked up at her father who was near going insane.
After taking a split second to calm down Naruto replied "You two find that brat and do whatever you like. I'll take care of your mom"
The two looked back at their mother, and then nodded. They then chased after Ankoku, and hoped they would find her before she found yet another person to harm. Once the two had gone Naruto leaned down and lifted up Hinata in his arms. The bleeding was beginning to get much worse, which meant there was little time to stand around.
"Maybe I shouldn't have killed Sakura... she could have been useful right now" Hinata muttered as Naruto carried her off like nothing.
"To make it worse our other medic is also dead... man medics drop like flies, I'm glad you didn't become one too" Naruto replied.
Hinata merely laughed back a bit. Many years back at the same time almost every last female ninja was in training to be a medic. Because of that she thought that she should also do the same, but at the last minute didn't. Now it seemed pay off, since the best medics they had died in seconds.
"Okami where is that creature?!" Kitsune growled to his cousin.
"For a nine year old she's fast I can say that much! I'd say a good mile away from here now, but you better hurry so you don't lose her" Okami replied.
Kitsune thanked his cousin and continued after Ankoku. He wasn't going to let her get away with this, even if he had to chase her for the rest of his life, he would. Kina tried her best to keep up with him, though it showed that she was extremely tried.
"Wait! Leave her behind, take me with you instead" The two heard.
Both stopped and turned around to see that their other cousin, Anju, had been following them. Beside her was her dog, Hanabi, named after her deceased mother. Only a week after Anju and Okami were born their mother had gotten horribly sick, and within a day had died. When Anju gotten her dog, for an unknown reason she said the large black Sheppard reminded her of her mother, hence why the pup was named after her.
"I may... be tired... but I'm not letting you and Kitsune have all the fun in killing that scum" Kina panted.
"No, Kina, you stay here. I'll only take Ankoku to death's door step and then drag her back so you can deal the death blow" Kitsune said as he glanced down at his little sister.
Kina glanced up at her brother and only could nod. The look in his eyes chilled her to the bone; his eyes had taken on that tint. Before she could blink her brother and cousin were gone. Now that they were gone she could now show that she was ready to pass out. Kina was nearly drained of chakra from battling Kagai, since she had used so many rasengan.
"Ah, poor girl's tired, would you like me to put you to sleep forever little girl?" Kina heard.
She span around, only to see Ankoku right in front of her; her hand covering her mouth so that she couldn't scream for help. She knows I killed Kagai, now she's going to kill be in turn! Kina thought as she stared helplessly into the eyes of Ankoku. The sound of metal being pulled out of a sheath told Kina that this was the end. She had no energy left to struggle; she could only take what was coming. The icy cold metal hit her in a single swoop and stuck out of her back. Out of the corner of Kina's eye she could see a blurry mess of brown and pale skin color flash by before everything went dark.
"Was killing my mother not enough to fill your sick need for blood you creep?!" Mizuru growled as he knocked Ankoku to the ground.
He glanced down at Kina's body, and pulled the blade out of her chest. I came too late, he cried on the inside. Kina had been his friend for so many years, and to see her dead killed him just as it did when his mother was murdered.
"I've killed twenty two people in a day before, and lately I've been trying to break my record... so far that's four" she replied.
"Four?!" Mizuru gasped.
"Yep, my stupid excuse for a father, your mother, that girl, and probably in an hour her mother" Ankoku said like nothing.
Mizuru grinned a bit from hearing that from her, since it now meant he had an even bigger reason to kill her. When he was little his parents taught him not to kill someone without a good reason; there couldn't have been a better reason right now. He reached to the back of his coat and gripped the hilt of his sword. The blade looked as if it had been cut in half, but it was all he needed at the time. Ankoku slinked over to her own sword, and lifted it slowly, making sure that her opponent was truly pulling out a sword. In the blink of an eye the two clashed swords, and because there was more length on Ankoku's blade she was able to use the tip to cut Mizuru's arm.
He winced from the pain and also from the bit of blood trickling down his arm. Mizuru backed away some, and quickly slashed Ankoku's legs. Blood flew as he pulled his blade back to him. Ankoku growled like and animal and jumped back from her opponent. Before he had time to even move Ankoku sliced Mizuru's legs clean open.
"A life for a life, a leg for a leg" she laughed as she sheathed her bloody sword.
"You... you... I'll get you for this!!" Mizuru growled back at her before she vanished.
Blood poured from his legs, and when he looked at them he thought he could see the bone. Luckily Okami had heard Mizuru scream and came running over to the edge of the forest where the quick battle had taken place. Before he even helped Mizuru, Okami went running up to his small cousin.
"Kina... stay with me!! Come on... come on" Okami cried as he picked up the small girl.
Her body was limp in his arms, as if she were a rag doll tossed aside by a spoiled young child. Mizuru dragged his gaze away from his destroyed limbs to the two cousins. He knew that all five cousins were quite close, so it had to be hard on Okami to find Kina dead.
"I didn't come fast enough" Mizuru rasped.
"No, you didn't know... but I promise if Kitsune finds out about his sister, Ankoku wouldn't live past this day. I know how he got when Ayame would just push Kina, he would all but kill her, and this time I know he won't let that beast live. I just hope he makes it out alive as well" Okami said as he stared at Kina's body.
Not too long after that Tsuji found the three and tried to help Mizuru to walk as best as possible. Very quickly the two cousins switched roles, since Mizuru was much heavier than little Kina. Poor girl never even got to graduate, Tsuji cried to herself.
Elsewhere...
"We've gone the wrong way! Ankoku's scent is stale here" Anju said as she and Hanabi sniffed every last corner of where they were.
"She must have just come this way to lead us the wrong way, for a kid she's beyond smart" Kitsune replied as he glanced around, hoping to find the dark haired girl.
"Well standing around here won't help- no... no... no!!" Anju cried as she fell to her knees in tears.
Kitsune went up to her, and asked her what was wrong. He knew she could scent if someone had died, and by her reaction, someone must have. Finally Anju managed to tell him, though he could barely understand her words.
"Ki... Kina's... de... dead" she had managed to say despite the flood of tears.
"Can you tell me which way she went?" Kitsune growled.
"Huh?" Anju asked as she looked up at his eyes.
"Which way did that killer go?!" he snapped back.
"It smells like she might have gone back the way we came, but there's a scent similar to hers up ahead. You go back to look I'll go forward" she replied.
Kitsune merely nodded and ran off to find who had taken his sister's life. Anju got to her feet, and glanced around, half hoping to find Ankoku; half hoping she would find nothing at all. After a few minutes of her glancing around someone showed up, and luckily it wasn't Ankoku.
"I'm in shock you're alive" Anju growled as she backed away a bit.
"Your cousin isn't that strong" Kosuke replied.
"I've fought him tons of times, and I have yet to win, you just must be pretty weak" Anju laughed back.
Kosuke growled at her, and then charged at her mainly out of anger. He had no plan of how to attack, and because of Kitsune's attack he still couldn't use the sharingan. Once he was near hitting Anju she jumped onto his back and then leaped off him while kicking him to the ground. She turned around quickly and stared at her enemy for a second, waiting for him to get up so it would be a fair fight. Kosuke struggled to his feet as fast as possible and glared at his stronger opponent.
"I'm in no mood to have this drag out so I'll get down to kicking you butt and leaving, ok" Anju said as she got ready to attack.
Hanabi ran up to her owner, and got ready for the attack. She knew exactly what to do, and then Kosuke being so weak stood no chance.
"Fang over fang!" Anju growled before her and Hanabi barreled into their enemy.
Once the smoke cleared the two were quite happy with what has happened. Kosuke was beyond near death, and if he got even an inch closer he would be six feet under right now. Hanabi tilted her head a bit, and then ran over and bit Kosuke's arm. Because of her extreme sharp teeth blood became to fill her mouth. She then let go and returned quietly to Anju.
"You know... I can easily copy that attack" Kosuke said, trying to buy time for the final attack.
"There's only one of you but two of us, and that attack requires two" Anju replied while in the back of her mind laughing.
"Or... is there truly only one?" she heard.
Ayame stood behind her, her arm locked around Anju's neck, ready to kill her in second. Her other hand held Anju's arms together so that she couldn't fight back. Hanabi lunged at Ayame, only to have Kosuke hold her back. If this is the end, at least I pulled Kosuke very close to death, Anju told herself, hoping it would calm her down some. Ayame put her foot on Anju's back, and in a quick push had snapped her back in half. Before she could snap her neck a large blur of gray fur shot past and snuck its teeth into Ayame's throat. Since Kosuke wasn't holding Hanabi down very well anymore she took that chance to sink her fangs into his throat.
"Anju... Anju say something!" Okami begged as he picked his sister up.
Ryomi, Okami's dog, let go of Ayame's throat and ran up to his two owners. Hanabi also then let go of Kosuke and ran back to the others, hoping Anju was ok.
"Sorry... brother..." Anju managed to say.
"It's ok, come on I'll get you some help" Okami said as he carried his twin sister to where he had left Tsuji and the rest.
Ryomi walked up to Kosuke and sniffed him for a second. He then grabbed Kosuke's leg and began dragging him while following Okami. Despite the attack the boy was still alive, and in a way that was a good thing since Naruto still wanted to ring information out of him.
After chasing her for over an hour Kitsune found the dark hearted girl who took so many lives. The small girl had stopped for an unknown reason in front of a huge body of water and continued to stare down at it for some time, giving Kitsune a chance to plan his attack.
"If you call yourself a ninja then that village has problems" Ankoku said.
"Where exactly do you think you're running off to?!" Kitsune growled back at her.
That time she turned to face him. "This is the best route home" she replied.
Kitsune slinked a bit closer, and then noticed exactly where they were. He had heard so many times over about this place and the two unforgettable battles fought there.
"Strange, you just happened to take me over here. This place is where the first Hokage and Madara Uchiha fought, and also, this is the same place our fathers fought" Kitsune said as he pointed out the figures of them carved out into the stone that held the place together.
Ankoku stared for a minute at the place, and then it must have clicked that he was right. "So what about it? Are you wanting to have another battle put into history?" she asked smugly.
"Sure... just this time... I win, and you don't see daylight again" Kitsune growled as his eyes turned blood red.