Welcome back to another exciting episo- I mean chapter, of 'Immortalized'! I don't really have a lot to say here, other than I'm loving the feedback I'm getting from you guys, and I hope I keep doing a good enough job to keep up the positive feedback. Anyways, on to the chapter!
Chapter 9
Why We Fight
Lynx sat in the middle of the ANBU training ground designated as 'Beta', sitting cross-legged in the middle of the small pond that lie in the Northwestern quadrant of the field. The Captain of the Seventh Division was currently working on training his third affinity; water. It was well known that in Konoha that to qualify as a Jounin, you had to have obtained mastery over two elements, making the feat fairly common among Konoha-born shinobi while only moderately likely in many of the other countries.
So Lynx sat in the pond, attempting to hone his third affinity through sheer Kage Bunshin training, as he had done for his wind, and then fire affinity. He idly thought back to all the time he had spent having clones cut and then burn leaves, split homemade waterfalls, and setting ablaze drenched ropes as he sat in the water, concentrating on forming a mass of water that would rise him above the normal surface of the water, almost as if sitting upon a pillar. He briefly made it a few inches into the air, before the liquid pillar wavered slightly before collapsing in on itself, sending the ANBU Captain crashing down towards the water, who deftly caught himself by generously channeling chakra to his legs and rear.
Grunting angrily, Lynx stood up and walked over to the bank, dusting himself off as he did so, before turning back and watching his clones go through the same exercise. This was going much slower that his other two affinities had gone, with him training in wind for a mere three months before he attained full mastery of his element, and then for six months as he honed his affinity with fire. If the pattern continued, he would be training in water for the next nine months, bringing the total for his dedicated training of Suiton to a full year, at the least.
He had been initially excited and quite pleased with himself when he finished training his Katon to perfection, deciding to pick Suiton to train himself further in as he had no further natural affinities. He was at first hopeful, having passed through the first step easily, though it was just making water move around and into various shapes through sheer chakra manipulation. This second step was destroying him, though, frustrating him to no end. He wished he could say he had nothing but time to work on this new element, be time was actually something her felt he was going to be short of rather soon.
Lynx wasn't by any means a strategic genius. He was however, a tactical prodigy. While engaged in combat with an enemy he could figure them out by merely a crossing on blades one singular time, and was able to plan around his opponents attacks, setting up massive and destructive counterattacks that could decimate entire groups of enemies, and now, coupled with his very recent mastery of the Hiraishin, he was truly a force to be reckoned with.
This is what was troubling him, though. Lynx knew he was strong, especially for his age. And as strong as he was, when he crossed blades with Sasori some months prior, he had been completely outclassed. For as strong as he was, the now deceased puppeteer would have completely destroyed him without a second thought had they been in any other landscape. Lynx had known that Sasori was toying with him the entire time, even though he was going all out of the man, especially at the end. He knew he could only attribute his victory over the ex-Suna ninja to his constant underestimation of him, to surprise in his final attack, and to no small amount of sheer luck. Upon his return to Konoha and his speedy recovery from whatever toxin Sasori had managed to inject him with, Lynx had personally oversaw the unsealing of the man's two other scrolls he had kept on his back, thanking whatever deity had smiled on him that day as he looked upon the hundred puppets.
Lynx had gotten lucky, was underestimated, and held nearly every advantage he could have possibly asked for against the missing-nin, and he still only just barely walked away with his life. He wasn't strong enough to stop his enemies, and that sincerely bothered him. He was an ANBU Captain for Kami's sake! He was supposed to be second to only the Hokage himself, and here he was, facing down an enemy he had every advantage over, and he won because his enemy didn't bother to take him seriously. So upon his return and recovery, Lynx had thrown his personal training into overdrive.
Some days he would take on multiple members of his division, often sending the men and women to the infirmary in terrible condition. Other days he would spend solely practicing one of the various Ninja arts, going to far as to have one of the Genjutsu specialists in his squad put him under illusion after illusion, breaking himself out by any means necessary. The one thing that was a constant in every day of his training though was that every morning, after untangling himself from the mass of blood-red hair that would cover his chest, and performing a quick substitution with the pillow to keep the woman satisfied, Lynx would create a small army on Kage Bunshin, having them all work on various tasks, speeding his training along faster than his already accelerated rate.
In truth, others had started to notice the young Captains absurd rate of growth, and near obsession with getting stronger. However, none of the other members of the Seventh Division dared question their Captain. He had given them no reason before to question him, having led the division with distinction and honor, never asking something of one of the men under his command that he himself wasn't willing to do. Lynx was a truly respected and well-liked leader, and because of that no one would question him when he suddenly kicked everything he did into overdrive, training himself to near exhaustion every day he wasn't out on a mission, returning to his home late at night and leaving a couple hours before the sun even began to rise.
Even his somewhat unwanted 'roommate' Tayuya had come to begin to worry over the blonde shinobi that had become a very large and important part of her life, though she would never admit it to herself, let alone anyone else. However, any time she tried to bring up the young man's near excessive regimen, he either brushed her off with a wave of his hand telling her not to worry about him, and that he knew what he was doing. In reality, Tayuya was concerned for him, worried that he would burn himself out sooner rather than later. She knew that her 'babysitter-turned-friend' was strong, but the fact that he thought of himself as so weak was appalling, to say the least.
It was a weird position for the redhead to be in, having only ever been in the position to care for one other person, and that was in a strictly platonic manner. The foul mouthed kunoichi was perplexed by the emotions she had been having, and they all seemed to center around the enigma that was her electric blue eyed tenant. Over the last several months that she had been living with and spending time with him, she had found herself growing rather close to him. This feeling only was enhanced as she was allowed to start going on light missions, rated as a Chunin of her new home. Every time she had gone out of the village it seemed, she couldn't wait to return and tell him about it.
Tayuya tried to play it off as missing the house, missing the monotony of being able to laze around, anything to deny what she knew in her heart of hearts. In all honesty, the woman was scared to get close to anyone, and coming from Otogakure, under the sadistic rule of the estranged Snake Sannin, it was to be expected. The man was cruel, and was known to play on the emotions of his subordinates, so to protect themselves, many who followed the man attempted to block off their emotions, not allowing themselves to become close to other in fear of it turning on them.
But here, in Konoha, Tayuya had slowly found her mental walls slowly broken down as time passed. Sure, Naruto had initially been her enemy, but afterwards he had shown her nothing but kindness, even allowing her to share his bed, and not even once trying to induce anything other than friendly conversation. It was terrifying to the redheaded Genjutsu expert, being filled with this multitude of feelings for a man was all new to her. Imagine her surprise, when on one random day he had come home after training himself ragged, and she realized for the first time she was actually concerned for him! Him, of all people who she should have been loathing more than any other for her capture.
The blonde shinobi was an enigma to Tayuya, one that she was both thrilled and frightened to begin trying to understand.
The Sandaime Hokage was looking over reports…again. It seemed as if that was all he did these days, and briefly he thought back to the time before he had been chosen for the position, back when the position was still filled with a certain aura of mystery, power, and excitement. Had he had any idea of what the position had actually entailed, that being ninety-nine percent paper and administrative work, with the other one percent being action that actively required the intervention of a Hokage, he might have been less inclined to take the position, and may have even let the old war hawk Shimura Danzo run the whole show, instead of just his ANBU division.
Even the ageing Hokage had to admit, that while the man may have had some twisted methods, he did a very good job of running and managing the ANBU Corps. The man could recover, too. He had bounced back rather well after his ROOT program had been abolished by the Sandaime, hardly putting up a fight after he had released all of the specially trained ANBU. Yes, Sarutobi Hiruzen, while not always seeing eye to-well, eye, he supposed, did have a begrudging respect for the man.
He pulled himself slowly from his musings, there was no point in wondering what might have been, and he was too old and too set in his ways to really change now, not that it would change anything. He didn't even personally believe he had many more years in him as the Hokage, after all he had been doing it for so many years both before and after the death of Namikaze Minato that he had lost count. He cursed lightly under his breath, these were supposed to be his twilight years, dammit, lived out in the comfort of home and surrounded by family, but he supposed he was a victim of circumstance.
That train of thought set him back on the path of the report he was currently reading, an easy, pretty cut and dry escort mission through Fire Country. Normally, he wouldn't be too concerned with such a minor report, but this team had a singular member that he had chosen to keep a personal eye on, that being the redheaded and foul mouthed kunoichi, Tayuya.
The woman had been an etched slate when she first arrived in Konoha, constantly spouting off about how her teammates and 'Orochimaru-Sama' (Hiruzen coughed lightly at that) would come save her, but after a short three month stay in the cell block, and with only light interrogation tactics being used, she had gradually come to realize that Orochimaru wouldn't be coming for her, and unfortunately for the girl, it almost seemed to crush her as she realized that she was alone in a foreign land. So he had sent in Naruto, and in a rare moment of brilliance that could be confused easily with breach of protocol, had ordered the man to remove his mask to her.
It had been a slippery slope from there, as Hiruzen slowly guided the woman out of the prison lifestyle and gave her a new life in Konoha, one where she was welcomed, an her presence was even enjoyed, a sure step up from her life in Oto. And then Naruto, albeit though he had his arm twisted into it, had taken the woman in, and the two began forming a strong bond together.
True, the woman had seemed to do a complete one-eighty, and she appeared to be enjoying her life in Konohagakure, and it wasn't long before (under Naruto's personal recommendation) she had been instated as a full Kunoichi of the Leaf, and began running missions in their name. As Hiruzen closed the report, noting with mild satisfaction that it was successful, he sent for Tayuya, deciding it was time to end her probationary status.
Naruto waked down the streets of Konoha, for the first time in a long time, not wearing the ANBU armor that had become like a second skin to him, and without the mask that usually covered his face. As he walked down the street in his usual shinobi attire, minus the katana he had come to carry nearly every day, he looked down to the woman that was currently walking alongside him, listening to her current retelling of something that had happened on one of her more recent missions, and smiling genuinely.
"…And then the lazy bastard that is Shikamaru looks up at the rest of us and goes, 'This it too troublesome to deal with. I'm going cloud watching.', and the best fuckin part? The smoking fucker just lets him go! Doesn't say a goddamn word!" The former Oto-nin finished, looking over her shoulder and meeting the eyes of her now closer friend expectantly. The blonde just laughed, placing both of his hands behind his head and chuckling softly as he led the way for the redhead, speaking softly, but no less firmly than he normally did.
"Yeah, that sounds like Shikamaru, all right. You know, he and I were in the academy together before I was drafted." The taller shinobi followed on to her story, stopping her as they found themselves in front of a small, unassuming ramen stand. Tayuya looked quite skeptical about the place, but she didn't have time to dwell on it as she was quickly pushed/pulled inside by the now slightly hyperactive blonde. "Come on, Tayuya, we're here. Time to show you why this is the best stand in Konoha…" the bond trailed off as he pulled her down onto a booth next to her, a small, unassuming woman walking up to take their order.
The redheaded woman found herself generally enjoying the atmosphere of the stand, which she had leaded was call 'Ichiraku's', and was surprised at first to find herself with tears in her eyes more than once, laughing at the stories their waiter Ayame told her about the clueless blonde's youth. She even found herself laughing alongside the blonde as more often than not, instead of being embarrassed over the situation, he would join in, readily making jokes at the expense of himself.
After the two had finished their ramen, Naruto and Ayame quietly excused themselves, both people blushing furiously amid Ayame's and her father's peals of laughter when they had "wished the young couple goodnight", while they tried to hide it from each other. Glancing once more at the girl he had taken out to celebrate her newly announced citizenship, he decided it was time for their final stop of the night. He stopped in his tracks a few paces outside of the ramen stand, and after the woman came to a halt as well, she turned and looked at him, walking back towards the frozen blonde with a questioning look in her eye. He spoke softly, but this time there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice, if only for a split second. "Tayuya, do you trust me?"
The typically hot-blooded woman stopped in her tracks, looking up at the wavering steely blue eyes that she'd come to know were filled with compassion and kindness over the last several months, taking in the visage of the man who had become her caretaker when she had come to Konoha, and who had quite literally, bent over backwards to make her stay comfortable, while still maintaining his own harsh regimen. "Yeah, Shithead…" she teased at him, calling him by the nickname she had taken to calling him, at first to irritate him, and now out of….something else. "…you know I do."
"Then hold on." That was the redhead's only warning as he took a step forward, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her close to him, allowing her only a brief moment of surprise as they both disappeared from in front of the ramen stand in a flash of deep, midnight blue. The foul mouthed aspect of the kunoichi made a return for the first time in several minutes as the couple reappeared on the top of the Hokage monument, still holding onto the very surprised, and blushing furiously woman in his arms as she attempted to curse him to no end for surprising her like that.
Surprising her yet again, Naruto simply ignored her rant, waiting for her to calm down as he turned his back on her, walking towards the edge of the monument itself, before leaning down and taking a seat on the top of the Yondaime's head. Tayuya, for her part, at least had the humility to look slightly ashamed as she slowly ceased her cursing, walking over and sitting down next to the blonde shinobi, her breath hitching in her throat as she overlooked her new village at night. To say it was beautiful was an understatement, and in the many months that she had known the young ANBU Captain, she would never have pegged him as one to enjoy taking in the sights like this.
The young couple sat in silence for several minutes, simply taking in the sights, with Tayuya unconsciously scooting closer to the blonde and the natural body heat he seemed to radiate. "Of all the places in the village, this one is my favorite. I used to come up here all the time when I was younger, before I knew where I belonged, before I had friends, and I would just sit up here and talk with the Hokage's like they were here with me. I'd ask questions, tell stories, and although I never got an answer, I would always leave feeling better, like they had actually listened to me when no one else would. This village…it's special to me, Tayuya. Not because of the buildings or the sights, but because of the bonds that I've formed with so many of the people who live here."
Naruto paused, momentarily, as he blinked his eyes, their electric blue nature somehow only becoming more enhanced in the moonlight as Tayuya looked at him in abject wonder, her eyes wide as he regaled her in tales of his upbringing, the beatings he endured, and finally, his rescue by Jiraiya before his return. The blonde laughed, before turning his head towards the woman at his side, and continuing, "I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't let your past experiences define you. You can have a life, and a good one at that here, all you have to do is give us a chance. And here…" He paused, pulling a small box out from inside one of the many pockets before handing it to Tayuya, watching her expectantly. "…is a gesture of goodwill from me, and by proxy the village, to you. I had it reforged to the exact same way it was before I, well you know, destroyed it."
If Tayuya hadn't been so shocked by the small box in her hands and the words he had said, she might have shed a tear or two at the thought of the blonde haired shinobi being so thoughtful, that he had gone through the trouble of fixing her weapon of choice. As she pulled her gaze from that of the grinning ANBU Captain and down to the box in her hands, she still couldn't quite believe it. She had only just begun to slowly open the wooden case when there was a large just of wind behind the two, followed by a gruff "Taichou".
And just like that, gone was the face of the blonde knucklehead that she had come to know and whether she would admit it to herself or not, grown quite attached to, and in a small puff of smoke his trademark Lynx themed mask was in his hand and placed around his head, his eyes becoming the cold, steel blue instead of the bright and lively ones that had been there a moment before. She watched in mild fascination at the transformation of the man happened before her eyes, in mere seconds standing before her the respected and feared Captain Lynx who had turned and spoke to the Boar masked ANBU Operative standing off to the side, looking on in mild satisfaction as he disappeared in a shunshin.
Lynx turned back to the redheaded woman he had been enjoying one of his few nights off with before he sighed to himself, walking towards her and kneeling down to get on her level, already knowing she wasn't going to like this. "I'm sorry…" he began, leaning back towards the edge of the cliff, beginning to tilt over the edge, before resuming speaking in his clipped, metallic tone that defined the use of his mask. "…Duty calls." The blonde haired shinobi finished, lifting his hand off of hers, and falling back over the edge of the Hokage Monument, flashing away as soon as he was over the side, so when Tayuya looked down, she saw nothing but the streets below.
Frowning to herself, the kunoichi who had sworn that she would never get attached to anyone other than her special connection in Oto remembered the box in her hands, looking down and opening it fully, and softly gasping, even though Naruto had practically told her what was inside. Inside of the case, laid upon a soft blanket of velvet, was an exact replica of the flute she had thought completely obliterated when she fought her last battle in Orochimaru's name. She didn't even notice the tear that fell down her cheek as she held it in her hands, but she did take not of the way her heart had fluttered when she held the small piece of metal in her hands, and blew upon it gently, a soft and comforting tune leaving the end of the musical instrument.
'Damn you, Shithead.'
Lynx sped across the rooftops of Konoha, his division spread thin across their sector of the village, the ever present guardians of Konohagakure on high alert after the emergency briefing they had received from their Captain, and his orders coming directly from the Hokage himself. It was rare to see the ANBU out in force like this and even though there were many of them flashing and speeding through the village and out into the forest beyond, there weren't enough of them, not nearly enough to cover every single nook and cranny of the village. That isn't to say that they weren't doing their damndest, though, and even Lynx himself had a massive horde or Kage Bunshin that had taken to the streets, aiding in the massive search for the traitor in their midst.
It had come from one of the most likely places, yet at the same time, from the last place many would have ever suspected. Shimura Danzo was defecting. In a motive that wasn't quite clear, and with a method that was still largely unknown, the old and seemingly crippled man had broken into the Hokage's vault, and stolen the summoning scroll that contained the Sanbi that Lynx and his team had captured nearly a year prior. Lynx grit his teeth behind his mask. He had no idea why the man would do something like this, and he honestly didn't give a damn. All he needed were his orders, and he had them. Lynx was pissed enough about his night being cut short, so this was bound to get ugly.
Lynx sped through the trees before he stopped, flashing in mid-step to the Hiraishin formula that one of his clones had placed on a tree before being forcefully dispelled, arriving in the exact spot his clone had been, before performing the most rapid series of shunshin in his life, narrowly avoiding the hail of beetles that clouded the area he had been mere seconds before, before he flashed into existence in front of the fleeing trio, led by none other than Danzo himself. Lynx cocked his head to the side, before speaking in the short clipped tone that was the trademark of the ANBU masks.
"Shimura Danzo. A-Ranked Nuke-Nin of Konohagakure no Sato. Wanted for murder of fellow Leaf shinobi, theft, breaking and entering of the Hokage's vault, and treason. You have been tried and judged by the Hokage, your sentence is death." Lynx spoke candidly, as if he were telling the one eyed man the day's weather, as he drew his sword from his back, a Hiraishin kunai falling into his left hand as he fell into a stance. "Surrender now, and I will make it quick and painless."
Danzo stood still, the summoning scroll on his back as he fixed the man in front of him with his ever present condescending glare. As Lynx stood there, facing down the man he was suddenly very compelled to let the man simply leave, being filled with the promise that Danzo's actions were for the greater good. He slowly and shakily dropped to one knee, falling into a modified kneel in front of the three wayward shinobi, his head, as hard as his mind fought against itself, falling forward in a full bow of submission. "Lord Danzo…you are…free to go…." Lynx coughed out, his body shaking.
Danzo merely grinned, his Kotoamatsukami (Distinguished Heavenly Gods) technique working perfectly on the young man who, despite being quite powerful, had no talent to fight back against such a high level Genjutsu. He and he two bodyguards walked past the kneeling Captain Lynx, who still knelt on the ground, but right as they prepared to take to the trees a kunai sailed angrily through the air, Danzo dodging the knife at the last second, though the subsequent blue flash was too quick for him, and the spinning heel kick caught him full in the shoulder, sending him skidding to the side as his bodyguards moved to intercept the back on his feet and spun into a dimension of pissed off he had never been before in his short life, Lynx.
"You didn't let me finish my sentence, Lord Danzo…"The mask clad shinobi practically spat the title at the man, who was recovering and moving to stand on his feet. "You are free to go to Hell!" Lynx stated, coldly, his steel blue eyes narrowing behind his mask as he blocked the tanto the slashed at his side with his own sword, jumping over the tandem strike that came from behind him at his lower body. The blonde shinobi pivoted in midair, lashing out with his foot, and catching the black haired guard in the side of the face, his body shimmering lightly before dispersing into the multitude of kikaichu that moved to latch onto the Lynx's foot, though he was able to deftly dodge by flashing to his kunai which was still embedded in the nearby tree.
Seeing what he believed to be his opening, Danzo made a jump for the trees, not anticipating Lynx to flash to Hiraishin he had unknowingly placed on Danzo's shoulder from his earlier attack, an already charged Rasengan spiraling into life in his outstretched hand as he forced it into the War Hawks abdomen, watching with satisfaction as the man crumpled to the dirt below, Lynx landing with his back to him, already re-engaged into combat with the other two members that were attempting to desert the village. He dodged a blow coming from the red haired man on his left, moving to counterattack with his sword in a spinning upwards strike that would have caught the man in the chin had he not been forced to curb his blade into deflecting the tanto strike of the strangely dress guard on his right, catching it in the cross guard, and completely unprepared for the voice he heard behind him.
The voice of the presumed dead Shimura Danzo boomed to his rear, the ANBU Captain barely able to perform a substitution in time. "Fūton: Renkūdan! (Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet!)", the compressed blast of air destroyed the log and the following trees behind it as it smashed through them. Danzo didn't have time to lament on this though, as Lynx had jumped high into the air, using chakra to boost his leap, and throwing out a rain of tri-pronged kunai, before calling out the name of his jutsu is his ever present metallic voice, his hands a blur of seals.
"Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shuriken Shadow Clones!), Futon: Diatoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)" Lynx shouted, the various kunai being accelerated beyond their already impressive velocity as they multiplied from some twenty odd blades to over sixty, littering the area in the familiar blades of the Yondaime Hokage, Danzo's visible eye going wide in the process, as he began the process of channeling his chakra for another one of his miracle jutsu. It was as the Shimura heir's chakra spiked, and Lynx fell from the from the sky that he noticed the man's mangled right arm, released from the bandages that had been concealing it for as long as he knew.
Wasting no more time attempting to figure it out, Lynx opted for his tried and true think-on-the-fly method, flashing in between several of the kunai on the ground before reappearing behind Danzo, his hands already finished flashing through seals as he built his chakra and forced both of his hands out in front of him, mere inches from Danzo's back. "Fūton: Fuujin Seiken!" (Wind Release: Divine Fist of the Wind God!).
Danzo had no time to react as he was impacted directly on his spine by what felt like a gigantic fist slamming into him, throwing him across the clearing, wrecking several trees in the process. Naruto landed on the ground, and watched in clear surprise as Danzo laid upon the ground for a moment, his spine splinted and his intestines hanging out along the ground, before he blinked, and then the Shimura traitor was on his feet, rushing in to engage the blonde in three-on-one combat with his two subordinates, the damage he had sustained having been undone. Lynx grit his teeth as he took a hit in the small of his back, seallessly creating three Kage Bunshin to cover him as he flashed through hand seals again before sinking into the ground, calling the name of the jutsu as he moved. "Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu! (Earth Release: Hiding like a Mole Jutsu!).
The three turncoat shinobi made short work of the clones, and were about to move to escape when four large walls of purple flame appeared at the edges of the clearing, and Lynx himself appeared from under the ground uppercutting the short, black haired shinobi in the jaw, calling out "Ninpo: Shishienjin! (Ninja Art: Four Flames Formation!) Engaging in a brief Taijutsu match against the taller red haired man, his Hachidori (Hummingbird) style proving too much for the man, forcing him to fall back. Lynx jumped back from his opponents, now that he had them cornered, he could take all the time he needed. It had taken his clones longer than expected to disperse unseen and unheard to the four corners of the area, and then longer for them to set up the barrier technique.
Lynx allowed himself a small pat on the back for his genius in sealing, before thanking his heritage for the absolutely gargantuan chakra supply he had. While normally this particular barrier required four separate people to hold the technique, Lynx had discovered a way to keep it going through mere clones. He had taken a rough chakra sealing matrix and modified it to be able to store and release chakra instead, and after having his clones perform the barrier sealing formation, he had them pull their chakra directly from the scrolls, which he had been storing for weeks for just an occasion like this, give him access to a trapping method that halted an enemies escape, and only drawback was the three minute setup time required.
Lynx stepped back, watching in mild amusement as one of the three traitors moved to touch the barrier recoiling before he was able to make contact from the heat. He evaluated his options. He had already 'killed' Danzo twice, and though it annoyed him, he couldn't figure out how the man kept returning from mortal wounds. It didn't matter though, he would kill him again and again until he stopped coming. But first, he needed to take care of the man's support, they were getting in the way. Lynx smiled to himself under his mask, the beginnings of a plan forming in the tactical genius's mind. He would have to be careful though, he couldn't risk the destruction of the scroll, so his first priority was to get it away from Danzo, and then he could really go all out.
Lynx stepped forward, his hands already a blur of hand seals as he flashed out of existence, disappearing and reappearing between multiple kunai before appearing directly in the center of the three men, them already recoiling or moving to counter attack as he slammed his palm into the ground. "Raiton: Jibashi! (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!) Watching in satisfaction as the three turncoats moved to dodge the multitude of lightning strikes that flashed out from his hand in all directions, before he turned to the airborne form of the shorter of the two guards, disappearing in a shunshin, and then reappearing to the left of him, his sword already poised like a spear, which the man took in the shoulder, effectively turning the man's body towards Lynx, as the Captain brought a Rasengan to bear directly into the man's chest, caving in the man's ribcage and reducing his organs to much, before launching him off of the blondes fist and into the barrier itself, burning to death whatever was left of the man in the violent indigo inferno.
Lynx had barely touched foot on the ground before he was caught in a powerful combination jutsu from the two remaining members of the attempted escapee's. Danzo had finished flashing through his seals and called out "Fūton: Renkūdan! (Wind Style: Drilling Air Bullet!)", while his partner finished and practically screamed "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!). The two techniques combined blasted the area Lynx had been, and for a moment, the two assailants believed they may have done it, before a battered Lynx appeared behind Danzo, grabbing the scroll and flashing away, disappearing from view, before he returned to their view, but this time only for a moment, flashing to the kunai at the side of Danzo's only remaining guard, moving in for the decapitating strike.
Only to have it blocked by the man's tanto, before the 'Lynx' looked at the man dead in the eye, before uttering a single word. "Boom." Right as it exploded Danzo leapt back, looking for his opponent desperately, before he watched his subordinate fly across the clearing, and stared on watching he could do nothing as Lynx flashed to the spot where the man would land, holding Kaze no Karitoriki out like a pike, and impaling the man straight through the heart as the unnamed man flew into his blade. He had maintained eye contact with Danzo through his half shattered mask the whole time.
It was then that the lone Shimura was able to get a good look at the blonde haired ANBU, and he noticed that the man was definitely looking worse for wear. His mask had been shattered, leaving a jagged cut down the center of the mask that exposed half of his face to the word, blood seeping from several wounds on his face alone, his hair matted down with the sweat and blood of the battle so far. The blondes ANBU armor was no longer pristine, and had borne the brunt of the damage from the crushing wind enhanced fire jutsu sustained earlier, missing bits and pieces of all over, the edges no longer smooth, now being jagged and unrefined. He was even missing the entirety of his left arm guard, but the thing that Danzo was focused on were the blonde's eyes.
He was fighting like a man possessed, and though the war hawk was able to get his arm up in time to block the sword strike, he was unable to dodge to the side as the man flashed around him in a flurry of Hiraishin kunai, stabbing a kunai inside the man several times, before flashing a distance away, watching the paper bombs he had attached to the various kunai explode in a beautiful fireball. And then he rolled his eyes as once again, the damage he had done to Danzo was undone, the man standing up on his feet once again to face him, grinning like a madman. "How many times am I going to have to put you down…?" He wondered to himself as he flashed forward, flashing around the man in a flurry of movement that was almost impossible to track, slashing with his sword before appearing above the man, throwing his sword into the man's brain, letting it lodge there as he landed once again a distance away.
As once again the Lone Traitor stood, Lynx assessed his situation. He was going to lose if this kept up. He still wasn't as proficient with the Hiraishin as he needed to be, and he was taking damage from Danzo every time he killed him, be it a chakra enhanced punch, or a swipe with a kunai, or even a well-placed jutsu, even with his healing factor he wouldn't be able to keep this up forever. Lynx was so focused on killing the turncoat that he hadn't even noticed the crowd of ANBU that had formed around the barrier, with the Hokage himself in attendance. Lynx grit his teeth. He needed to end this, whatever it took.
He flashed back under the guard of Danzo, spearing his hand right through the man's heart, his fingers extended and joined in a knife hand, his fingers easily piercing the man's flesh as he coated them in the virulent wind chakra. As Danzo died yet again, Lynx now visibly winced as the falling Shimura stabbed a large kunai into the man's stomach, piercing his armor and wounding him gravely, as he flashed away, watching as, for the sixth time that night, Danzo stood up, shaking off the damage he had sustained, and that's when Lynx finally noticed it. One of the symbols on Danzo's arm… it was an eye! The man had eyes implanted in his arm, and six of them were now closed, leaving four open.
"What the fuck did you do to yourself, you senile old fool…" Lynx questioned, more to himself than anyone else as he formed one last plan in his mind. Maybe if he could sever the arm from the now clearly insane man, it would stop his ability to regenerate? Or if not, he'd kill him until he stopped coming back. Lynx steeled his gaze on the laughing man, watching as he threw his head back and roared, having clearly lost his mind, from the trauma of dying six times in rapid succession, if he had to guess, before Lynx began flashing around the man again, making two Kage Bunshin as he did so who also began moving a rapid speed around the man, seeing as how a clone couldn't flash through the Hiraishin.
All movement rapidly stopped as the two clones appeared on either side of the man, latching onto his arms and holding him wide as Lynx activated the seals on his either one of his wrists, unsealing a large Fuuma Shuriken in each hand, launching them towards the man, flashing through hand signs before exploding a large gust of wind from within, shouting out "Fūton: Reppūshō! (Wind Style: Gale Palm!) Boosting the two windmill blades towards the pinned man, severing both his head and his arm in a single stroke. Lynx stood behind the man, watching as he fell, and then in the next instant was on his feet screaming towards him, moving with a vengeance as he dropped a kunai into each hand, not even bothering to attempt any jutsu any more, his mind so far gone as to lose any semblance of reason.
Lynx, once again on the defensive, leapt back, two clones popping into existence next to him, each one blurring through hand seals, finishing one at a time, one right after the other, and all locked on the ragdolling form of Danzo Shimura. "Doton: Retsudo Tenshō! (Earth Release, Seismic Upheaval!)", "Katon: Karyū Endan! (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!)", "Fūton: Kazekiri no Jutsu! (Wind Release: Wind Cutter Jutsu!)". The two clones he had summoned popped out of existence before they even hit the ground, Lynx himself falling to one knee as he watched the effects of his jutsu take place.
First, Danzo rushed straight into the flame bullet of the dragon, being incinerated from the inside out as he fell, before once again rising to his feet, flames still licking at what remained of his clothing as the ground below him imploded, send fragments of rock and stone everywhere, and pummeling the man into oblivion, before once again, the man stood, turning to face the kneeling Lynx as the multiple blades of his wind jutsu cut the man to literal ribbons his arms flying off of his body, completely separated, and his forehead sheared clean off. Lynx didn't dare close his eyes, not once believing that it was over, and he swore loudly as once again, he blinked and the damage to Danzo was undone.
The two men stood on opposite ends of the obliterated field, staring down at each other, before the mad beast that had been Shimura Danzo let out a blood curdling scream, charging at Lynx head first, mouth agape and frothing. The wounded and kneeling Lynx was at his end, he was holding on now to the last bits of his consciousness, so he knew this was it. The barrier he knew, would fall as soon as he was knocked unconscious, so he could only hope that someone else could put the beast down if his final attack failed. As the insane and lost man charged him, Lynx stood shakily to his feet, his shattered mask falling from his face as he produced eight kunai, four in-between the digits of each hand, crossing them over his body before letting them fly, instantly dropping to a knee again in pain, holding his right hand out in front of him and beginning to for a Rasengan.
The kunai he had thrown flew true, flying to either side of the feral man, impacting the ground on either side of him, the strong and durable ninja wire tied between them holding the man back briefly, before snapping as he once again began his crazy charge at the young Captain. Lynx stood his ground, the Rasengan in his hand sprouting four large blades of chakra on all ends of it, reminiscent of the windmill shuriken he was so fond of. He held the jutsu behind him, and began a sprint of his own towards the lone man, bringing the large chakra construct to bear in front of him, contacting with the crazed man as he called out the technique in a soft, broken voice, his world going briefly white.
"Futon: RasenShuriken! (Wind Release: Spiraling Shuriken!) When the dust cleared, Lynx was on his knees, his right arm looking as though it had just been ran through a meat grinder, all of the armor and clothing upon it disintegrated during his attack. He knelt a mere three feet from the fallen form of Shimura Danzo, if one could still call him that. His still bleeding corpse was so thoroughly destroyed that it would be hard to identify the body if you hadn't been watching the fight. Lynx waited, and he watched, and this time, Shimura Danzo did not rise. Laughing lightly to himself, Lynx allowed a smile to grace his lips as he fell forwards onto his face, the purple barrier around him falling, his consciousness slipping through his fingers as he desperately tried to hold onto it. He was aware of two things as he slipped into the blissful unknown, one was of the ANBU and the Hokage keeling around his body, calling for a medic, and the other, the other was something he didn't like at all.
His last memory was of a strange man wearing an orange spiral mask, dressed in the same black cloak with red clouds he had seen before on his mission to Water Country, taking the Sanbi's scroll from his dispersing clone.
With this last vision, Lynx passed out.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked over the sleeping body of his ANBU Captain, Lynx. The teen had taken an absurd amount of damage during the long, drawn out battle, and unfortunately he had been able to do nothing to help aid the young man in his fight. He sighed, the young man was as stubborn as his father, and twice the fighter, if what he had witnessed the earlier night was anything to go off. The Sandaime had arrived on the scene soon after Lynx had dispatched with the first of his the enemies, all of which were easily A-Rank, if you didn't take into account that Danzo had somehow resurrected himself not once, but a total of eleven times during his battle with the young captain.
Still the man had gone in against impossible odds, blocked off his enemies escape, and then engaged an absolutely superior force before eliminating all of them. The only missing piece of the puzzle was the missing scroll, of which he would most likely have to ask Jiraiya about, now. The young man had woken up earlier, and briefly informed the Hokage of the man he had seen 'killing' his clone and leaving.
If he was being honest with himself though, he wasn't too upset over the loss of a Biju that he had no intent of using. He was however, worried at who had taken it, and what they were planning on using the beasts for, if any reports of this "Akatsuki's" motives or movements were to be believed. The old shinobi looked out the window of the hospital, staring out at the moonlit night as the clouds parted over Konoha, the shadows on the streets below dancing to the rhythm of the wind in the leaves. There was a storm coming, of that he was sure, and he knew he was going to need every one of his shinobi active to help the village weather it.
At that thought, he turned back to the bed-ridden and bandaged blonde, before shifting his gaze to the smaller, redheaded woman that was fast asleep in the seat closest to the young Captain, her hands clutching one of his in her lap as she slept. The fiery-persona that was Tayuya had rushed to the hospital as soon as she had found out what had happened, and had steadfastly refused to leave the Naruto's side. Hiruzen couldn't help but chuckle to himself, happy at how this had managed to turn out for the blonde, but finding it ironic that while so many things in the world seemed to be going wrong, that at least the young blonde shinobi had at least one thing going right.
Hiruzen Sarutobi exited the room, content to let the two sleep to their hearts content. They'd certainly earned it.
Authors Note:
Holy fuckin shit! That was a doozy of a chapter to write. I hope you guys liked the fight with an insane Danzo as much as I did. Anyways, I'm at a bit of a crossroads on something, so maybe you guys can help. Should I put in a full lemon? Or just leave the story as is, having it allude to the actions but not actually writing them out? Poll's up on my profile, so go vote and well see what happens.
That's all I got. Out.
