(Even with two demons, Sasuke isn't exactly invincible. Kurama makes sure of that.)
Last Chapter:
His voice cracked, "Give her back!" He substituted Sakura with himself, appearing in Zabuza's arms in place of Sakura. In the moment of surprise, Sasuke slammed his forehead protector into Zabuza's chest. The missing-nin lost his balance and the Uchiha leaped backwards.
"I can see how those so called Demon Brothers lost to you lot, might as well take this more of a tad bit serious."
Chapter 5: Costs
Something didn't seem right.
Was all Minato Namikaze could say. Being the Hokage had him indulged in politics, naturally he would come across an interesting rumor or two.
Minato did catch one that was rather grim,
the Land of the Waves were falling under a tyrant named Gato.
He scribbled a few more words before stopping mid sentence on the piece of parchment.
"Iruka!" The Yondaime barked frantically, "Get me the mission description of the one we sent a team on earlier!" The Chunin's snot bubble popped. He leaned onto the Hokage's desk, and shoveled through some documents.
"That was… the C-rank mission, am I… correct?" Iruka blinked the drowsiness out of his eyes, squinting to read a slip of paper.
The Namikaze sighed impatiently, "Yeah, the one my son went on. Don't forget Sasuke too."
"On it Hokage-sama."
O.O.O
GET UP KID. HE'S COMING. Kurama roared, it was a wonder how Naruto ever got up over and over when facing an enemy twice his skill level.
Rin snorted, "Yeah, yeah, Zabuza. Nice trick up your sleeve." She laid back in her water prison.
"Even though you are a master in water jutsu, you still forgot who came from the land who practically worships it," The missing-nin watched his clone fight the Leaf Genin, "If it wasn't for you sparing my life, your head wouldn't be where it originally was by now."
"I'd like to see you try," Rin pronounced airily. She tried kicking out of the prison again with no such luck.
DUCK. NO. ROLL UNDER THE SWORD. WHY ARE YOU- GOOD, HIT HIM THERE- NO! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING- well, great. The Kyuubi bashed it's head against Sasuke's mind.
I know what I'm doing! Sasuke gritted his teeth. He leaped back as Zabuza's clone swept the sword under his feet. It's just been a long time since I faced someone… someone…
Stronger than you? Pfft…
No! Uh… He threw a couple of shuriken tied onto ninja wire, it snaked around the clone until it was completely wrapped like a Christmas gift. Let me concentrate!
Naruto blurred through his hand seals, exhaling a torrent of air. Disfiguring the water clone greatly, it expelled.
The blonde then proceeded to attack the real Zabuza, launching a barrage of ninjutsu range attacks and charging into a frontal approach.
"Naruto!" Sasuke hollered, "This guy can take Rin-sensei on and win! What are you thinking?!" The Uchiha made his way to the Namikaze, wading through the water although he thought this was a bad idea. If worst came to worst, he would shunshin out.
Naruto let lose a battle cry as he formed a somewhat disfigured Rasengan.
O.O.O
"This is bad, this is bad, this. Is. Bad." Minato muttered, the mission description at hand, "And you said some guards at sentry duty found a Demon Brother?"
Iruka bit his lip, never had he seen the Hokage this worried, although it was his son and Sasuke he was talking about, "Yes, Hokage-sama."
"Meaning this mission is a notch higher than before if my suspicion is correct…"
"Remember, we also have Rin, a formal ANBU, on the team," Iruka attempted to reassure himself that Sasuke would have been alright and not maimed beyond recognition.
The Namikaze grumbled, "The more likely they'll be killed. You see, Rin has two personalities, a masked, calm and collected one. Then there's the cocky, overly positive, insane side. Whether she is wearing the traditional ANBU mask decides all this, and I thought she'd be able to change for once."
The Umino paled at this.
O.O.O
Haku stood silently on a tree in the distance, focusing on the battle between her master and some Genin.
Zabuza was making great use of the terrain by pulling the boys down into the water. Of course, the blonde surprised him with the flashy wind move, but Zabuza blocked the brunt of the attack with his sword.
The battle continued with the cocky blonde charging a frontal assault with his opponent, his master preparing to split him in half. Uchiha substituted in place of the blonde when the missing-nin heaved his blade up from below, the sharp edged point facing the sky.
Kubikiribōchō ripped through the Genin's right waist, stretching all the way to the left shoulder blade. The screech of the pink haired girl was heard. Seemed like Haku was no need for his master after all.
O.O.O
You freakin' idiot, what the heck was all that for? Kurama hovered over Sasuke's portion of the shared body's mind.
The Uchiha's conscience wheezed, laying in his own blood. If… Naruto… took the hit… he would have definitely… Sasuke grasped his stomach, releasing part of the Kyuubi's seal, the boundary between Kurama and Sasuke's minds collapsed just a bit. This allowed the demonic chakra to stitch the wound back together faster than a normal human.
Kurama groaned, Now look what's happening.
The remark was met with silence.
Hey, oh COME ON! WHO'S GOING TO HEAR ME RANT NOW?! It poked a claw in his partner's unconscious cheek. The fox sighed, You better be thanking me for this… brat. Kurama gingerly stepped over to Sasuke's side, making sure to at least not damage the boundary, Alright, how do you walk on two legs again...? The Nine Tails glanced over the complex controls of the Uchiha's body. Screw it. I'm crawling.
O.O.O
Rin gaped in horror, the water dyed pink was not going to end well. Sure, she saw tons of gruesome sights, but having Konoha' jinchuuriki sliced into a foxy dish… Well, she didn't want to finish that thought.
Yet he was rising once more, a shocked Naruto standing at his side. Except, this Sasuke seemed more… demonic.
Red slitted eyes arrogantly surveyed the world around them. Radiating the calm before a lightning strike.
"So, this is what it feels like to be human?" The low and ominous growl filled the audience's ears.
The Nine Tails…
O.O.O
Kurama blinked.
Then blinked again.
The Kyuubi flicked his eyes toward Zabuza, feeling the air with his shorter fingers. "Eh heh… heh… ow…" His hand was drenched with scarlet.
He wiped it off on the wide eyed boy next to Sasuke, "There."
(Dang it. Kurama twiddled with the leg controls. His insides can't take two active demons at once. Gonna have to release some of the other me's chakra to repair some of the damage… and keep a controlled amount of chakra… dangit)
It had Sasuke stumble into a feral crouch. Moving Sasuke similar to a limp doll, the other Kyuubi's chakra surrounded every inch of his body. Three bubbly tails swished agitated over the bloodied water, the Uchiha still maintaining the Stage One appearance.
Sasuke whipped into the air, grasping Zabuza's arms with his tails, drawing in as close as he possibly could. Snarling, he formed a pint sized bijuu bomb in the palm of his hand. The missing-nin jerked backwards, causing the possessed Uchiha to lose his balance and throw the bomb too early, the bomb broke through the water prison. Most importantly, freeing Rin from her cage.
"Haku!" Zabuza roared, sensing the battle was going down hill.
Senbons whistled, only to be stopped by the chakra tails.
"PUNY HUMANS! AS IF KNITTING NEEDLES CAN STOP ME!" Sasuke laughed inhumanely, his throat strained and blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth and down his chin. The sword wound closed at an incredibly fast rate, insanity mingled with the slit pupils of the Uchiha's.
He reared, bringing his clawed fingers straight at the terrified missing-nin's heart. "You shall not harm Zabuza!" A thick shield of ice froze between the two, barely preventing the deadly contact, the claws instead smashed into the obstacle. Shards showered the surrounding area, the corrosive chakra ate away on the frozen water.
Haku panted, "Z-Zabuza, this boy is a j-jinchuuriki," He sprinted as fast as humanly possible to reach his master's side, "And the b-blonde is a… Namikaze." He pulled his master as far away from harm as possible.
"Dang straight, girl," Rin nodded sagely. She wrenched out a couple of sealing tags.
Instead of a mortified reaction, Zabuza arched an eyebrow, "Are you telling me, you almost sparked an international war just because you wanted to play?"
"We have to retreat quickly," The ice user concluded briskly, "These people are insane,"
Zabuza whined, "B-but, can't I just amputate someone?"
"SQUEAL IN PAIN!" Sasuke screeched, he swiped the missing-nin aside, having them cascade into the woods.
Naruto yelped, actually yelped, "W-what are you?"
Kurama wheeled the body around, "I'm the- god dangit…" Sasuke puked even more blood, splattering scarlet across the dirt. The chakra cloak slowly dissipated.
(The Kyuubi's chakra is now damaging his stomach and heart tissues. Kurama bit his lip, red lights flared in Sasuke's mind. Ffffffff... )
Collapsing, the jinchuuriki wheezed, "Shouldn't do this too often… burned insides… a little help here...? Gah… fragile humans… " Rin's sealing tag made contact with Sasuke. The Uchiha's eyes clouded, fainting on top of the blonde.
Naruto pushed Sasuke backwards, having him hit the ground with a hard thump.
Rin closed her own eyes and counted to ten, opening them, she groaned, "Man, of all times to black out, I'm not much of a medic after all, we're going to have to get you to somewhere safe before I begin."
Sakura tugged Rin's arm, "Sensei? Tazuna wet his pants…"
O.O.O
Kyuubi was slammed against Sasuke's mental fences.
Kurama, you… you JERK, a giant chibi sized Uchiha roared, towering over the mentally scarred fox.
I-it was only to save your teammates! Never in it's life had the Kyuubi ever been so fearful. Inner Sasuke truly was a force to be reckoned with.
