Here we go! The next chapter! I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far! Let's not delay any longer!
Let's Get Started!
The Dead Can't Be Heard
Chapter Eight
Demons Among the Waves
Naruto dodged the first downward slash from Obito and jumped to the right, using his lack of arm as an advantage to keep his blade further away from his body. The ROOT ninja went for Rachnera and Zabuza, but Naruto was unable to get to them before Obito was upon him again, his Sharingan eyes blazing with a determination that only Naruto could match. Whipping out a kunai, he blocked another slash and tried to go under the tanto, but Obito kicked him back a few feet before pressing his assault.
While Naruto defended against Obito, Zabuza was toying with the ROOT ninja that had come for him, stepping to the side and slamming the hilt of his blade into his back before bringing his knee up and jamming it into the ninjas' stomach. Moving quickly, the ROOT looked suspended in midair as he put his foot back on the ground and sent a devastating fist connecting to his face. As the ROOT collided with the other going after Rachnera, she looked over to the towering beast of a ninja, holding her now bleeding arm and nodding her thanks. He didn't bother returning it, instead opting to continue to go after the ninja while going through one handed seals.
"Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
The area soon became blanketed in chakra saturated mist and Zabuza reacted first by grabbing Rachnera unawares and taking her back to the edge of the forest, making her mad but he held his hand over her mouth while whispering. "Keep your mouth shut. Stay here and out of the way. Wait for an opening and strike whenever they're being pushed back."
She slowly nodded as he disappeared into the mist once more. He quickly took a precise slice at one ROOT's leg, but he dodged at just the last second, getting a cut along his thigh, but ultimately ok. Going through a set of seals, the wounded ROOT silently released his jutsu, making a clone of himself to distract the Demon before regrouping with his partner.
Naruto, still defending against Obito, was having more trouble than he liked. He was still worn out from the night before and he felt each blocked shaking each and every one of his bones. The Uchiha was solemn with each strike, though. His regret was clear. "I didn't want to have to go through with this, Naruto-kun. Kakashi was right…the Kyuubi has taken too much ground. I can't let you go free."
The blonde ducked under a strike and went for a stomach slice, but Obito back away, taking a small breath while the blonde questioned him. "What are you talking about?! Kurama hasn't done anything but help me! If this is about me leaving the village then I'm sorry, but I don't belong there!" Obito, slightly shocked by his words, reacted merely a second too late as Naruto dashed in, throwing his kunai and rolling around Obito to slam his fist into his shoulder, making the Uchiha stumble only slightly but serving its purpose as the kunai connected and dug into his other shoulder.
Without a moments pause, Naruto tried to get back around to the front and push the kunai deeper, but Obito rounded and slammed a fist into the blondes' face, sending him back a good few feet before he flipped and recovered. "Damn, that hurt. Good job, Naruto-kun. You've learned a bit."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I trained myself to the bone while I was in Konoha. You know this, Obito-niisan. Where's Kakashi-niisan?"
Obito frowned as the blonde called him his brother, reminding him just who he was fighting against. "Kaka-baka will be here any minute, Naruto-kun. While he's not here, I'm asking. Please…stop this and come home. We'll strengthen the seal so the Kyuubi can no longer control you."
"He's NOT controlling me! I have a mission now and I won't go back! I made a promise! I won't leave any of them alone!" He looked to Draco, who even in her pain, still looked at him in disgust, before he looked back to Obito. "Konoha has hunted Demihumans for too long for no reason! I will show you all that there is more to them than RESEARCH! They have families, friends…they love and hate just like we do!"
Obito sighed and pulled the kunai out of his shoulder. "I already told you we'd let them go if you came with us Naruto-kun." The blonde shook his head and pulled even more of Kurama's chakra, the cloak surrounding him now forming a tail and exacerbating his foxy features. "Don't lie to me! You weren't going to let Draco or Tio go no matter what! They fear and HATE you because ninja have no remorse! You kill them and capture them for personal gain! And you're not even the only ones!"
Obito looked visibly hurt as he saw Zabuza still toying with the ROOT with Rachnera occasionally tripping them with her webbing and attacking from behind. "I never had a part in hunting them, Naruto-kun."
"But you never bothered to stop it. You never tried. You knew it was happening and did nothing!"
"And what could I have done, huh?! Tell Minato-sensei that what he was doing, looking for a way to help YOU, was wrong?!"
"YES!"
Naruto punctuated this blatant answer with a newfound speed that sent him forward to Obito in nearly the blink of an eye, connecting his fist to his wounded shoulder, his burning chakra cauterizing the wound and the hit sending him twirling back. Obito winced in pain, but looked at Naruto and couldn't imagine what he saw.
Naruto stood, crouched and ready to charge as the tail of chakra swirled behind him as if it had a mind of its own. His only arm hung limp at his side with gnarly claws and a rage and determination in his eyes that made Obito wonder what drove him so. "If what you say is true, Naruto-kun, and the Kyuubi isn't controlling you, then what do you want? Why did you leave?"
Naruto looked to Draco and saw her hateful gaze softened, if only slightly. "I left Konoha originally for a selfish reason. I wanted to be free of my family and live life with my new friend. But then I met Tio and Draco. I heard Nera-chan's story of her and her mother. How ninja from Konoha had terrorized them. Left them without their families. After the incident with Ryu-teme, I steeled myself for the road ahead. The peace that I will achieve."
"Peace?"
The blonde demon container nodded and looked to Obito. "Yes. Kurama has helped me, as you know from the forest when you first came after me. But this choice is my own. Humanity hunts Demihumans because they are scary and different. Well I will put a stop to it. But please, Obito-niisan. Don't get in my way."
Obito looked to the grass as he realized that Zabuza had killed the ROOT that came with him and joined by Naruto's side with Rachnera. Steeling himself, his Sharingan flared to life and he pulled his tanto back up and got into a stance. "I'm…I'm sorry Naruto-kun. I have my mission. I can't let you go."
Naruto sighed softly. "I'm sorry too, niisan."
Obito came in quickly, Zabuza blocking his initial strike as Naruto slid around him and raked his claws across the ANBU's back, making him yelp in pain, but he didn't back off. As Zabuza readied another strike, Obito kicked him in the chest, sending him back and turning on his heel, slicing Naruto across the chest, though with his influx of Kurama's chakra it healed within seconds. Naruto backed away, but Rachnera moved in to impale him on her legs before he could call her off. Obito, still using his momentum, came around and stabbed her through one of her front legs, making her scream. Naruto drew even more of Kurama's chakra and soon came a second tail adding to his cloak, but his vision soon became hazy. Rage filled his mind and thoughts as he slowly saw red.
Pulling out his tanto from her leg, he readied another strike, but was blindsided by a blur of red blazing by and catching him by the head, sending him flying into a tree on the other side of the field with a deafening boom. Naruto left no time to recover as he was upon him, grabbing him by the neck, turning and throwing him once more across the field, but this time, Zabuza came into his path and used his elbow to slam him into the ground.
Naruto lowered his body to the ground, placing his hand down and letting his claws dig into the dirt. "You…you're going to pay for that, niisan."
Obito slowly stood up and jumped away, grasping at his shoulder and trying to hold his tanto in his failing grip. "Kakashi will be here soon, Naruto-kun. Please…give up now. If you come with us now we will forget about this entire thing!"
The blonde growled as he saw Rachnera struggling with the pain that shot from her leg to her entire body. He looked back to him and bared his fanged teeth. "You hurt my best friend. I can't forget that. I can't go back to a village that disregards the lives and feelings of those different from them."
Obito got angry and glared at Naruto. "Stop it! It was to help you! Now Minato-sensei is worried sick because he's had to send out a kill squad after his own son!"
This let a silence ring out over the field. Draco looked to Naruto with wide eyes as he slowly stood up, letting his arm hang at his side with pain in his eyes. Kurama's chakra soon drained back into him. "He…he sent you…to kill me?"
The ANBU cursed himself, but knew he had gone too far and couldn't take it back. "Y-yes…if you resist too much, we have orders to kill you. You're too dangerous to be left alone. Iwa or someone else could find you and take you for themselves and then the Kyuubi would be in the hands of the enemy."
Naruto shook away his hurt and replaced it with anger. "You don't care about me…you care about your beast. Would this matter so much if I didn't have Kurama? Would he care so much?"
Obito looked to the ground. "Of course! You're Minato-sensei's son!" The blonde scoffed and let Kurama's chakra come back into his one-tailed cloak, baring his claws and fangs. "That may be so…but we both know that my dad thinks more in the interest of the village than me. Now…I have to send another message."
Zabuza, taking that as a que, he threw his blade at Obito, but he jumped over it only to meet Naruto in the air, the blonde grabbing him by his leg and throwing him into the ground. The Demon of the Mist was on him, his blade back in hand and raised high for a killing blow, but the ANBU was able to roll out of the way only to roll into Naruto once more. He grabbed him by the shoulder, his claws digging into his skin and drawing blood before throwing him away. Before he could continue the assault, though, three more people showed up.
Kakashi came into the clearing with his two trailing ROOT only to find Obito being thrown by Naruto using the Kyuubi's chakra. "Obito!" He dashed to his friends' side and caught him, only for him to be sent sliding back by the momentum. Naruto glared at him and flexed his only set of claws. "The second assassin shows up."
Kakashi set Obito down and his hand soon sparked with lightning. "Kyuubi."
Naruto scoffed at him and hardened his glare. "No. This is not Kurama. This is me, Kakashi-niisan. Kurama has only helped me to stay away from Konoha. He is helping me on my mission."
The platinum-haired ninja readied his Lightning Blade, but did not strike just yet. "What do you mean 'mission'?"
The blonde looked solemn and let more chakra come to make his two-tailed cloak. "I will bring peace. But I will cut down anyone who stands in my way. And right now, unfortunately…you block my progress. I'll give you one chance. Stand down and return to Konoha. Don't come after me. Two of you are already dead and Obito can't continue to fight. Zabuza can easily fell the other two while I hold you off long enough to let him come to my aid. Don't do this."
Kakashi flinched as he realized the two dead ROOT not far away and he saw Zabuza ready to go after the other ROOT ninja's. His Lightning Blade soon died out as he went to grab Obito. "*cough* Gah…what're…you doing?! We have a mission!" The ANBU shook his head and picked him up. "The Kyuubi is lending him more of his power than we anticipated. We aren't enough to stop him. We need to get back and report this."
Naruto glared at the mans' back. "Rethink that. If you come after me again, I won't let up. I only continue to get stronger. I will spread peace throughout the Nation's and I WILL NOT let anyone stand in my way. Should you come again…I'll be forced to kill you…"
Kakashi froze in his tracks, the dark tone of the words catching him off guard as he turned to face the empowered blonde. "If the Kyuubi isn't controlling you…how can you say that? We were a family! We are your brothers!"
Naruto looked away. "I made a promise to never leave Near-chan alone again. I promised that I would make the world safe for Demihumans' to walk among Humans without fear. I must do whatever is necessary. I…regret that I have to make this ultimatum…but for the sake of peace I must."
Kakashi turned away, the pain evident in his voice. "I believe that the Kyuubi isn't controlling you…but you're not the Naruto-kun we knew in Konoha. Do you hate us that much that you would kill us for wanting you back?"
The blonde container looked back to Kakashi with hurt in his eyes, but the heat from his chakra wouldn't allow him to cry. "I do not hate you…I love you all. But this is a choice I must make for the sake of an entire race."
Before the ANBU left, he had only one thing left to say. "Don't start a war you can't finish, Naruto-kun. You have no idea what you'll start if you continue down this path. You have no idea who you'll become."
With that, he and the ROOT left with Obito and the bodies of their comrades in tow. As they left, Naruto let Kurama's chakra slowly seep back into him as he walked towards Draco on the ground while Zabuza cut Tio free. "Draco-chan…I didn't mean for you to leave…you weren't listening…"
She grumbled as she tried to stand despite her injury. "Don't apologize for that. Apologize for not telling us about him when you came back." She sent a hateful glare at Zabuza who only returned it as he helped Tio to her feet. "You got a problem with me, you flat-chested lizard?!"
Draco growled, but then flinched as pain shot through her once more. "Gah! You're lucky I'm hurt…ugh…or I'd show you how much of a problem I have."
Naruto, still hurt from the assassination attempt sent by his father, was not ready to deal with more confrontation. "Enough! This is what got us into this situation in the first place! Zabuza, you know she doesn't like you so don't goad her! And Draco, we are officially fighting for peace and the simple right to live! I want you to be with us, but you need to learn to let go and accept things. Zabuza isn't our enemy for now. Let that be it and we can continue with our mission."
She growled at the Demon of the Mist and he did so in kind, but ultimately she conceded. "Fine…only because he helped you save me. But I'm still pissed about what you said and what he did to Mizuno."
He nodded. "I understand. I won't leave you uninformed again. Now I need to help Nera-chan. Head back to Kaiza-san's as soon as you feel ready."
Naruto turned and rushed over to Rachnera who was still nursing her wounded leg and he dropped to the ground right beside her. "Is the pain starting to numb, Nera-chan?" As he asked this, his hand began to glow green and red as he held it over her leg. Slowly the pain began to subside as she rubbed her tears away. "I-it is, Naruto-kun. But that…ugh…doesn't matter. We saved them. Are…are you ok?"
Naruto knew what her hidden question was. "How do you feel about your dad trying to kill you?" He shook his head as he watched the wound slowly close up, the exoskeleton that showed up being slightly lighter than the skeleton around it. "I'm…I'm not. Just…let's not talk about it right now. Let's get you home. I don't want anything else happening to you…"
She blushed as she stumbled to stand, her multiple legs still quivering from the slight pain as he held her up. "Naruto-kun…about what you did…last night?"
He blushed as he walked her slowly through the forest back to Kaiza's. "I'm sorry if you didn't want me to do that." She shook her head. "N-no…I liked it. I just didn't want it to be to just calm me down."
His blush encompassed his face. "I wanted to do it…I like you, Nera-chan and I'll stand by your side no matter what." She smiled as she held her arm. "Promise?"
He smiled at her with his dazzling teeth. "It's the promise of a lifetime. Nothing will ever take me away from you."
The rest of the trip was spent in blissful silence as they came into view of Kaiza's home to see Zabuza sitting by a tree with Tio thanking him for helping her and Draco while the latter bandaged her up. "Thank you, Momochi-san. Had you not come to help Naruto-kun, I don't think we would've been able to get away."
The Missing Nin shrugged his shoulders and leaned his head back. "Just helping the kid. Wouldn't do me any good to offer to help him learn if he's dead. Plus if his friends died then he wouldn't want to learn anyway. Call it incentive. I'm here to make sure he doesn't get himself or anyone else killed. I'm a ninja, I'm not heartless. Not to mention he has potential."
She smiled softly as she winced lightly while Draco applied a dressing and bandage that Kaiza had given her. "Regardless, thank you again, Momochi-san."
He looked irritated as he got up and walked away. "Stop calling me that. The name is Zabuza. Just keep that lizard away from me and we won't have any issues."
Draco looked up from her bandages with a spiteful look. "I'm a Dragonewt, stupid ninja."
He waved her off as he approached Naruto and Rachnera. "Whatever. Listen kid, you better not do anything like that without a plan again. That's the quickest way to get yourself killed."
Naruto rolled his eyes as Rachnera sat near the other two Demihumans with her blissful smile still in place despite her pain. "I had a plan, Zabuza-san. Save Draco and Tio."
The massive ninja huffed. "That's not a plan. That's an objective. You jumped in without surveying first. They could've killed you the moment you stepped out of the cover of the forest. Not to mention they actually HAD orders to kill you that you only found out about halfway through. You can't act recklessly unless you WANT to die."
The blonde begrudgingly nodded. "I get that, but what was I supposed to do? Tio and Draco were captured."
Zabuza walked over to where the fire had been the night before and sat on a log, motioning for Naruto to sit across from him. "This is your first lesson. When outmatched with an opposing force, you need to figure out a way to compensate for it. If you have the numbers, maybe you can overwhelm them, but if numbers aren't an option, then you either need to separate them or have a plan to take most, if not all, of them out quickly. Your spider friend got hurt because you didn't have a plan. She almost got killed. You seem to like her so I can only imagine how that would affect you. But…if she had some training of her own, she'd be able to help without you having to worry about her getting hurt."
Naruto eyed him warily. "No offense, but I don't think she'd be able to learn much from you. You have stealth, but according to your Bingo Book, that's almost solely reliant on your Hidden Mist Jutsu. She can't use chakra like us. She also learned how to hunt from her mother before she was killed."
He shook his head as he impaled his sword in front of him and slightly to the side so Naruto could still see him. "I'm not talking about me teaching her. You're the only student I'm taking. Call it a professional courtesy from one Missing Nin to another. I have another person, call them a ward, that can teach her how to move silently and attack vital points, knocking someone out or killing them. They can teach her how to use senbon needles and other basic weapons that her form could handle."
Naruto looked intrigued, hearing that Zabuza had a ward. That was never mentioned in his entry. He was labeled as a lone Missing Nin who despised to work with anyone unless the pay was good enough. He was also slightly irked at being called a Missing Nin. "I'll have to run that by the group. You saw what happened when you showed up without anyone knowing. Also, I'm not a Missing Nin. I never had any really formal ninja training outside of one of dads' friends helping me train my body."
The Demon chuckled. "Well you have Hunter Nin after you trying to kill you. I don't know what you did, but they want you back or dead, bad. Your threat will only make them come for you harder. For all intents and purposes, you'll have to move with the fact that according to your village, you are a Missing Nin."
The blonde looked to the ground and sighed. "Fine, whatever. I'll talk to Nera-chan and the others about your partner coming to train her."
He got up, his worry skyrocketing at the thought of being a Missing Nin. "You didn't honestly think that that would be the end of it. You played a part in the deaths of three Konoha ninja. You're now their enemy. It will only get worse from here and it will impede your progress. You haven't thought this through as much as you want to say."
'Just…don't right now, Kurama. We can get through this. For now, our focus should be on getting as much help from Zabuza. We'll worry about Konoha when we can.'
"It's not that simple, kid. You can't ignore this problem until it goes away because it won't. You hold me inside of you. That makes you VIP number one to Konoha. Be happy that this time they didn't expect Zabuza to be with you. Next time you run into them, you'll need stronger allies…and I have an idea of where to find one."
Naruto sighed as he came up to Rachnera and the others. 'Ok, we'll talk about this tonight when I go to sleep.' Smiling at Rachnera, he sat down. "Hey, Nera-chan. I need to talk to you three about something that Zabuza suggested."
Draco sneered at the Demons' name. "What does that ninja want?" The blonde huffed. "Now…keep an open mind about this. He believes a friend of his, another ninja, can come and help Nera-chan with her combat and stealth skills. He told me that you got hurt because I rushed in without thinking or doing any proper recon. And he's right. But it's also in part to the fact that we don't really have any actual fighting skills. He wants to bring his ward to teach you while he teaches me."
The Dragonewt looked ready to yell until Rachnera spoke before her. "I'm fine with it. Zabuza-san helped us save Draco-chan and Tio-chan. If his friend is willing to help me, then I would gladly accept."
Draco huffed and mumbled under her breath. "Are we sure that this person is going to be safe?" Naruto shook his head. "I can't guarantee that, but I'm sure they would both be fine with staying outside of the house. If they step out of line, then I will give Kurama complete control to deal with them."
Tio smiled softly as Draco finished up her bandages. "I'm ok with it too. I know that what happened before isn't what you meant to say, but you are right. We want people to accept us and give us a chance, so we have to do the same for them."
She never let her smile drop as Draco huffed once more. "Ughhhh…fine! Let him come! But if anything goes wrong then I'm going to kill all three of you."
Naruto rolled his eyes and stood, turning around while giving a smile to Rachnera. "If you say so, Draco-chan."
He walked back to Zabuza and sat across from him. "They're fine with it, so if you want to go and get him, then that's ok. Just…make sure he doesn't do anything out of place, or Draco threatened to kill him."
Zabuza shrugged and stood, sheathing his sword. "Don't worry. She won't do anything I don't tell her to." He then began to walk off, leaving Naruto to his own thoughts, realizing that Rachnera and the others had gone inside to clean themselves up. 'This is going to be insanely stressful.'
"It will always be stressful. But you can't forget that you chose this. Now, you have time and this can't wait for later. We need to talk about gaining allies."
Naruto sighed and laid back on the grass. 'Fine…who do you have in mind?'
"Before I was resealed into you after you were born, I was able to ascertain the locations of the other Tailed Beasts. One of them isn't that far from here actually, and who he's sealed into is actually very fortuitous for you. It's Isobu."
'You told me about him. Who's he sealed into?'
"The Mizukage."
-X-X-X-
Kakashi soon slowed to a stop. He had been running with Obito for almost three hours and fatigue was beginning to set in. Laying his friend down against a tree, the Uchiha coughed as he began to bandage him up. "Kaka-baka, we need to tell Minato-sensei to stop this…"
Kakashi shook his head as he slung his arm. "Stop what?"
Obito let his head lay back as the platinum haired ninja got around his shoulder. "He needs to stop these hunts for Demihumans…you heard Naruto-kun. That's why he won't come home. If Minato-sensei stops, then we may be able to convince him to come home."
"…It's too late for that. He killed Ryu and helped kill two of the ROOT. He threatened us should we pursue him further. He's officially an enemy of Konoha and a dangerous one if he learns to fully control the Kyuubi. He already had two tails under his control. I want to believe that the threat came from its influence, but he had more control than anticipated. It's not controlling him. It's worse. They're working together."
Obito sighed as he tried to lean forward, but the pain kept him from doing so. "He said he wanted peace…maybe Konoha could help him? We could get him back and do some good at the same time. Would that be so bad?"
Kakashi groaned at his friend. "No, it wouldn't, but you know just as well as I do that it's impossible. Iwa would never listen to us because of what happened during the war. Relations with Kumo are still shaky at best ever since the failed abduction attempt on the Hyuuga's. Mizu is still in unrest from the attempt on the Mizukage's life from Zabuza. And Konoha is still trying to get back to normal after the Kyuubi's attack. We still haven't figured out who that woman was that was able to pull it out of Kushina-sama. So right now, with trying to find her and also trying to get Naruto-kun back, we have too much to worry about. If she gets to him and is able to control Naruto-kun, then he becomes one of the most powerful weapons against the village. We can't let him go around trying to play peacemaker because that'll just make him more of a target. He may have good intentions, but he's naïve. What he wants, he can't have."
The Uchiha resigned to his pain and tried to stay comfortable. 'Maybe…maybe we're the fools…we started hunting Demihuman's to help him…now he is fighting for their equality and if R&D's progression is anything to go off…they won't stop. Damn it…'
A deathly silence permeated the air as Kakashi took up post on the branch above him. "Get some rest, Obito. We need to move out as soon as possible. This information needs to get back to Minato-sensei."
"I know, Kaka-baka. Wake me up when you're ready. I'll be fine."
As he closed his eyes, his mind was chaotic. His thoughts a swirling typhoon of important and useless knowledge. As he slowly drifted off to sleep, he found one thought coming to the forefront of everything.
'I just hope that Minato-sensei understands…'
END:
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! I can't wait to have the next one up and to hear everyone's ideas!
Elemental Shadow Out!
