(A/N: Here's chapter 7! I would like to start everything off by wishing a Happy New Year to all my readers. Have a wonderful 2011! Thanks for sticking by this story into the next year!
This chapter finally has some action. Rasputin shows his face, and some mysteries are on the way of being solved. Naruto is going to need some help, and is going to receive some special training to get prepared for this situation. Some new characters will show up soon, if you looked at the previous chapters carefully, as well as remembering what happens in "Anastasia", you'll know who they are.
Thanks to all my alerters, Amber Ice Fox, angelrey, Burning DragonSword, D-trav, DIGIFAN99, Dream-Fighter-1556, Glennis, jArCaLvIn0o9, JoshRand1982, Kyuuki-sama, LinkOOT,Maelynae, matsumotomoon, ragnrock kyuubi, ranger5, RasenShuriken92, serin2, shawndeep, suntan140, Uchiha Kiara, and wolfey141.
Thanks to all the people who favorited, chaos uzumaki, Chaotical , Dark Signer, Dear Agony1996, dracohalo117, Dragonblaze66 , Dream-Fighter-1556, EdelyneElric, Ethial, jArCaLvIn0o9, Kine X , Kronos Titan of time , kyuubi233, locolycan777, nn-9, notgonnasay09, odin 1eye, Princess Lena aka Lady Kittuna, ragnrock kyuubi, RasenShuriken92, shikarimon, stc-dragon, Uchiha Kiara, will1by2 and xXImperfectionXx7.
Thank you Diablo200030002002, notgonnasay09, Uchiha Kiara, KaliAnn, Dream-Fighter-1556, Kidan Yoshilda, Randomized, and Laxarius for reviewing! They are a great way of motivating me to write more.
Here we go…Enjoy!)
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Anastasia. If I did own Naruto, Madaraa would be eaten by a rabid Chihuahua and everybody would live happily ever after (Sasuke being released from Madaraa mind control.) So it's probably a good thing that I don't own it.
^^^Indicates scene change^^^
Once Upon a December: Uzumaki Style!
Chapter 7: Encounter
Naruto leapt right into the fray. There was no time to think, only time for action. And that's what Naruto did best.
Thrust, parry, leap, stab…
Their current opponent was tall and skeletal. His face was lifted in a self-satisfying smirk, and he'd brought what looked like an entire army of green-faced, mindless minions. Even though he himself was one of them, he seemed different. More intelligent, more independent. He was definitely the leader here.
The army started towards the group, walking like they were the living dead. Each step was labored and cautious, as if not sure where to go. They were fierce when they started to attack, though. And if the bright flashes of light in the distance were any indication, more were coming.
And that's what put Naruto on destroy-all-that-moves mode.
Dodge, leap, slash, parry…
They were bringing out numbers? Well, two could play at that game.
"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"
Over fifty clones popped into existence and started contributing to the immediate termination of the army. This was one of the many times Naruto was thankful for them. They were definitely useful in this situation.
Kakashi-sensei appeared to be dueling with the leader. Naruto knew how skilled his sensei was, and it seemed that his opponent was truly strong to be able to match blows with him. So far, they seemed to be in a stalemate. Although, nobody could really tell, as the battle there was moving so quickly it was a blur.
Sasuke was fighting furiously, wiping out the zombie-like shinobi en masse using his katon jutsu. He was tiring, however, if the perspiration shining on his face was anything to go by.
"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"
About a hundred clones puffed through a cloud of smoke, and leapt into battle as one.
Jump, duck, kick, slash, punch…
Sakura was gasping for breath, her hands tightened around her kunai as if to keep her balance. She'd never had much stamina, and Naruto could see that she wouldn't last much longer.
It didn't look like the zombie-army would be stopping anytime soon, their numbers were multiplying drastically. It seemed like they were pouring out where the seal was situated. That made sense, but there were so many of these things. Where would you get all the chakra to transport all of them? If you had the amounts, how could you control all of that? What were they, anyway?
Naruto gritted his teeth, bringing up his fingers into the cross-shaped seal. He had to end this. Now.
He concentrated all the chakra he had left onto the seal. He felt the pressure on his mind, the chakra that was pouring into the jutsu was going to explode out from it…
"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Naruto yelled, for the third and final time.
POOF
The whole battlefield erupted in a torrent of smoke. Fights were halted, and every ninja was blinded for a few seconds by the sheer amount of thick, gray smoke.
After a few second's disorientation, everybody shook out the smoke from their eyes and watched apprehensively to discover the source of it. The smoke cleared slowly and revealed what it had hidden to a rather startled crowd.
There were over a thousand clones standing around the battlefield. They were easily the largest number Naruto had never made.
The original seemed to be in the middle of it, bent over a little and breathing heavily. He straightened up after a second and raised his arm, a fiery sort of light burning in his eyes.
"ATTACK!"
And with those words, the world resumed its movement. The zombie army tried to reassert itself as the main body of chaos, but the clones outnumbered them twenty to one. They were like a wave of destruction, and mowed down almost half the zombie-like forces instantly. They weren't very hard to destroy, but there were so many that it was nearly impossible for them to be wiped out.
However, total destruction was not the only plan.
The leader of the zombie army had realized this a few minutes later. He turned, twisting his mouth into a snarl as he figured out exactly what Naruto was planning to do. "No!" He growled.
Kakashi backhanded him around the mouth before he could get any further than a simple denial, however.
Naruto's clones had seemed, up to this point, to be only taking out as many of the enemy as they could. A decent amount had been converging in the middle of the battlefield, unseen, and had grouped around the cause of their enemy's current advantage. They paired up, one making a series of hand gestures over the palm of the other. Only those who had seen it before knew it was the Rasengan.
Rasengan formed, half the clones raised their arms, while the others disappeared in a puff of smoke…
"NO!" Snarled the green-faced leader again, suddenly slashing at the palm of his right hand. Blood trickling down his fingers, he slammed his hand face down on the ground just before the shadow clones lowered their arms.
"RANSENGAN!"
BOOM
The explosion was phenomenal. Almost twenty rasengans slammed into the earth at once, completely obliterating the ground and the seals that marked it. Sasuke blinked, and then understood that what Naruto had just done had won them their victory. That was a strangely cunning thing to do, although it was done in the most dobe-like way possible.
A shadow clone (presumably, it was hard to tell which one was the original) stepped out of the crowd, and grinned at the livid green-faced leader. He grinned. "Well, no way to bring out anymore, huh?"
The clones had completely destroyed what was left of the seals. The seals that had summoned them all to the Whirlpool Village, the ones that were transporting all these zombie creatures back and forth, were utterly destroyed. The symbols had disappeared, they were beyond saving now.
The green-faced leader clawed at the ground, leading Kakashi to quickly restrain him and win the battle. The man didn't seem to care, however, and only cried "I'm sorry, Master! Please forgive me!"
Slightly alarmed at this behavior, Kakashi scanned the battlefield, watching the last of the now-leaderless zombies get destroyed by his team and shadow clones. Thanks to Naruto's tactic of halting their numbers, they were now much easier to kill. If they were even alive to begin with. And, as they had exploded into white goo as they were stabbed, Kakashi very much doubted that they were human at all.
Done with their work, the shadow clones disappeared, leaving the original in the middle of the field, hunched over and face gleaming with perspiration. He was breathing heavily and looked exhausted. Kakashi wasn't surprised, really. Naruto had summoned more shadow clones than he had ever thought humanly possible, and formed about twenty rasengans doing so. Kakashi strongly suspected the involvement of Kyuubi-chakra, but decided to confront him about that later.
Suddenly, the green-faced man in his grasp stiffened slightly. Kakashi shot him a quick glance, and was startled to see a large grin spread across the skeletal face.
"Got you." He whispered, and then melted into a puddle of white goo. Kakashi jumped up immediately, only to see a small, dark shadow dash under him and disappear.
Kakashi did not like the look of this. "Team!" He barked quickly. "Let's…"
"There'll be no need for retreat, Kakashi Hatake."
The cool voice sounded from somewhere behind him. Kakashi whirled around, kunai at the ready, his heart beating frantically. He hadn't sensed anybody come up behind him.
Standing there, framed by the light of the noonday sun, was a tall, thin figure. His stature wasn't much to gawk at, but there was rather distinct aura of menace and power surrounding it. His face was hidden behind a brown woolen cloak, and his voice was raspy, yet held a tone of command and arrogance. In short, this was not a person to be messed with.
The figure pushed down the hood of his cloak in a fluid motion, revealing his face and narrow, skeletal features. At his shoulder sat a small bat, who was gazing maliciously at the group surrounding them. The figure turned his attention from Kakashi to the stiffened figure standing a fair distance behind him.
The skeletal face lit up with a strange expression. "Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto looked up into his face, and his own features were suddenly full of a raging fury.
^^^POV change^^^
Naruto had known the instant he'd the heard the voice. He'd been frozen for a second, wondering how because he'd been so careful to destroy that barrier so that nothing else could get through…
Then it had said his name, and he looked up to see the skeletal features that had haunted his dreams. (Memories, it had turned out) The thin lips were stretched out into a small smile, and long-fingered hands stroked his lengthy, dark beard thoughtfully. The dark, piercing eyes were staring right into his own, shining malevolently with some fervent light that Naruto did not understand.
He didn't need to understand, however. The minute those eyes locked with his, he filled up with a horrible, indescribable anger that seemed to take over his body. His chakra churned with a bright power, nearly all the stores he had access too were already drained, and his mind reached out for more, the dormant power he knew existed down there somewhere…
He was running down a sewer, his rapid footfalls echoing across the walls. He didn't, couldn't, think of why he was here. He didn't even consider wanting to be here. He just ran for the source of power he could feel radiating off a short distance away. He rushed straight for it, and arrived at an enormous cage, the depths of which were glowing with an eerie red light that illuminated the evil, crimson eyes. They seemed to beckon him forward.
Naruto took one step forward. Then another. He continued to make his way across to the bars of the cage, all his being focused on arriving there and doing…
Doing what?
For a moment, Naruto hesitated. For a crucial second, he paused, foot partly lifted from the dripping water, unwanted thoughts of doubt and worry invading his mind.
"NARUTO!"
The voice echoed through the chamber. "Naruto! It's him!"
Sasuke…
All other thoughts vanished from Naruto's mind. With renewed vigor, he took another step towards the dark cage, and that final step brought him inside. A glowing red light surrounded him. It hurt, but he didn't care. His whole being was screaming out one name, the one he'd come to hate the most…
"RASPUTIN!"
^^^POV change^^^
Sakura watched in horror as Naruto's face contorted into an expression of hatred and fury. He still had his eyes locked to the man in front of him, and they were burning with something Sakura had only seen in Sasuke before…
"NARUTO!" Sakura jumped slightly and whirled around, only to see Sasuke staring fiercely at Naruto. "Naruto! It's him!"
Sasuke's expression scared Sakura almost as much as Naruto's. It was almost passionate, ignited in a flaming anger and rage and...something…Sakura didn't recognize.
She heard Kakashi-sensei murmur a "Not good!" somewhere beside her. Naruto's eyes snapped up and, to her alarm, she saw that they had turned a blood red, with slits where his pupils were supposed to go. The stranger, however, did not seem affected by this. He merely watched, something of an amused smirk gracing his lips.
An ominous humming noise filled the air, and Sakura suddenly couldn't breathe, choking on an aura of hate and evil…
Red chakra was swirling around the spot Naruto was standing in. It was twirling above him in spirals, forming nine long streaks above him. Another strong burst of chakra blew everybody a few meters away. Everybody except for the stranger, who was still calm, watching.
Naruto lifted his head back and roared, teeth suddenly lengthening as he screamed out a single name…
"RASPUTIN!"
An explosion of red chakra blew Sakura off her feet. Looking up, she saw that the chakra had covered Naruto like a cloak. It was as if it had a mind of its own, thin tendrils of red chakra were crawling over Naruto's skin and clamping down on him. He looked absolutely feral.
Sakura would never normally admit it, but she was terrified. Utterly terrified.
^^^POV change^^^
Damn it!
Kakashi watched on with growing horror as the scene unfolded. Sakura was rooted to the spot, eyes wide and trembling. Sasuke had snapped out of the state he'd been in moments before, looking stunned.
How could things have gone wrong so quickly?
Naruto looked like he was being covered with the Kyuubi's chakra. It covered him like a cloak, and even included a tail.
Has this ever happened before?
It was surreal. Kakashi had never seen anything quite like it before.
I need to stop this. Immediately.
Naruto had indeed straightened up, his now-red eyes flashing dangerously. They were fixed with the stranger's own eyes. Apparently, this was Rasputin. Kakashi had seriously underestimated Naruto's reaction to the whole thing. This was bad.
Rasputin chuckled. "Interesting. Very interesting. You have resorted to using this so quickly." He didn't seem fazed in the least.
Naruto growled again, and with a speed none could discern, slammed his arm into the ground, causing a ten-meter wide crater to form around him.
Damn it!
Kakashi turned to the other two. "Get out of here!"
Too late.
An explosion blew them off their feet. The two before them had started to fight, and nobody could make out exactly what was going on. Both opponents were a blur of red and black and gray, and the landscape around them was starting to change dramatically.
Kakashi looked on hopelessly. He couldn't think of anything he could do now. It was too late to take action. A sudden chuckle at his heels distracted him. He looked down to find the bat-creature that had been on Rasputin's shoulder grin up toothily at him. "Let's continue, shall we?"
Kakashi leapt into a battle position. The bat smirked, and crouched down on the ground, making…hand signs? It sneered once more, before driving its paw into the ground. An outpouring of smoke filled out before Kakashi's eyes, and when it had blown away he saw the distinct shapes of many people…
Uh-oh.
They could do not a repeat of this battle. Not without Naruto. The shadow clones had been the advantage last time, and they had lost it now. Sasuke grimaced, taking out a kunai. Sakura, however, remained frozen.
As the figures converged on them, Kakashi heard her scream out a desperate cry of "NARUTO!"
Everything went black.
TBC
(A/N: Well, what do you think? Was it good? I know it was a little short, but the action has definitely begun.
I have to apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I have my semester exams coming up soon, so it will probably take a while for the next chapter to come out. I'm sorry! This isn't going to be abandoned, however, so be on the lookout for more!
Oh yes, and the whole thing with the zombie army? That will be revealed next chapter (as well as some of the mysteries of Rasputin)
Please REVIEW, they're much appreciated. Thanks!
Review Responses:
Diablo200030002002: Thanks! And I know what you mean, I couldn't believe it in canon that all these people had known his parents and had never said anything about it. I guess it's because he's such a forgiving guy that he didn't comment on it. And yes, if he finds out about his dad at this stage in this story, it would be messy. Very messy XD
notgonnasay09: Thanks for the advice! :) I have worked out Sakura's role in the story. It won't be big (at least, there won't be a huge effort on her part) but it will be essential to the plot. Because even though she isn't very important here, she is a big part of the canon universe and she's Naruto's love interest (thus far…) I'm planning out a sequel, but I'll have to see the overall reaction to this story to decide to write one or not. Thanks again! XD
Uchiha Kiara: Thank you! XD The action has begun, how was that? I love cliffhangers, by the way. Just a warning! *cackles evilly* XD
KaliAnn: Heh, thanks. I guess he would act slightly differently if he was that conflicted. Also, yes, he fears he's turning into Sasuke. Sasuke is encouraging the revenge option, and he respects him a lot, so he doesn't quite know what to do at this point. Poor guy! :D By the way, I watched your youtube video. It's quite good, where did you get that version of the song?
Dream-Fighter-1556: Yay! You're back! :D No problem on not reviewing, I'm happy to hear from you now. On Sakura, I like the way you think XD (I'm not a big fan either) but unfortunately, I don't think I will kill her off. Although, sending her to the hospital is so very tempting…XD. By the way, your English is quite good, so don't worry about it. I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Thanks for the review! :)
Kidan Yoshilda: I suppose you're right, Naruto is just changing according to the situation. And yes, this is very much Alternate Universe. (imagine if it happened in canon…wow.) Thanks for the review! XD
Randomized: First of all, love the pen name. XD. As for Naruto seeing his mother again, I doubt it will happen. At least, not blatantly. (Yes, I'm being mysterious…you'll see what I mean in later chapters! XD) Thanks for the compliments! :)
Laxarius: Thanks for the idea! I will definitely be planning something along those lines, and she will play an important role in a while. It's going to be a whole mental battle of Sasuke vs Sakura. (There might not be a winner, Naruto usually does not pick between friends :D)
See you all next time!)
