Chapter Eight: Tsukuyomi – The truth Revealed
For a second it seemed as time had stopped for the Kunoichi. Like everything spun and changed for a second. She stopped and was just about to look around when she heard a voice.
"In the world of Tsukuyomi… I control space and time… and even the mass of objects," Itachi's voice startled the woman, as she looked his way and her eyes widened. The entire sky was a dark red color and a bloody moon hung above it all, but safe for that everything else was black and white.
'N-nani… Tsukuyomi… That's the Genjutsu he mentioned. But… when… how…' Akai couldn't get her thoughts straight as she stared at the Uchiha in disbelief.
"All I need to put a person in this Genjutsu is eye contact," Itachi's voice was calm and somehow made chills go down the woman's stomach.
In a moment she realized how wrong charging straight at him had been. That mere second in which their eyes met had been the worst thing that could possibly happen in the fight. The one thing that would make the battle end before it had started was that single look that could take her life right now. Just the thought of what this Jutsu did to her brother in a second made her even more worried.
"What is this Genjutsu?" she asked, wondering weather Itachi would actually answer her.
"In this place I control space and time, and even the mass of objects. What people see in here is different for every person," his voice echoed around the place. "Starting now, you will see the deaths of your closest people for 72 hours."
"The… deaths…" the woman stared wide eyed at him. Suddenly everything around her changed.
There was not a clue to where Itachi went, as the world spun around the bloody moon. The colors remained the same – absent everywhere except in the red sky, but the place was completely different.
The place was a rocky valley where she could see three very familiar figures. The thoughts of what Itachi had said and the people before her made her realize what was about to happen.
Kakashi, Rin and Obito were standing in the valley as the Uchiha had his goggles pulled up and the Sharingan was burning in his eyes. On the other hand Kakashi's left eye was bandaged and some blood could be seen on the white material.
Suddenly a voice cut trough everything.
"Doton: Iwayado Kuzushi! (Earth Element: Rock Lodging Destruction)"
The Iwa Nin could be seen between the rocks that started falling towards the trio. The sound of rumbling boulders was the only thing that could be heard in the entire valley. Dust arose, following the rocks that chased the team and in a second nothing could be seen.
The rocks had all fallen, except for the biggest boulder. The dust was settling down, as Akai could clearly see how her brother fell in the way of the rock, probably hit by another. In mere moments Obito stopped in his tracks, and turned around. His next actions were just an act against all hope. In a moment he was next to Kakashi, throwing him out of the way of the boulder, the next, he could not escape the rocks and as dust was brought up once more, not a word could be heard from him, until…
"Are you ok… Rin… Kakashi…?" it sounded as the young Uchiha was saying every word with effort.
The two ninjas were just getting up and both of them looked at their teammate with horror and disbelief. Only half of his face and his left arm could be seen from under the rock where he was lying. Blood had gone down his mouth and his one visible eye was looking straight towards his two teammates. Two identical yells of his name could be heard, as they rushed towards him.
Kakashi cursed, as he tried to move the boulder away from his fallen friend, but it looked like he could do absolutely nothing about it, for the rock was too big.
"That's enough… It's ok… Kakashi…" Obito's voice was really weak and unsteady. "It looks like it's over for me… The right side of my body is almost smashed… There's no feeling in it…"
Hearing those words, the young Jounin stopped his efforts, panting and looked towards the Uchiha with his only visible eye.
"No… this… why…" Rin was starting to cry as she watched her friend just lie there, under the boulder.
Obito coughed and spit out some blood that had been choking him. Seeing this, the Medic called his name and went next to him, as Kakashi's fist met the ground with a curse – the boy was now on his knees.
"I… From the beginning if I'd gone along with what you'd said and went with you to rescue Rin… Something like this wouldn't have happened!" his voice was shaking with fury and anger, directed towards himself. "What kind of commander… What kind of Jounin…"
"Hey… no… Forget it…" The words that came from the dying boy's mouth startled his two teammates as they stared right at him. "I'm… the only one… who didn't… give you a present… at your Jounin celebration… Right… Kakashi… What would be good… I was thinking… And… now… I've come up with it… What… Don't worry… It's not… useless… baggage… It's… this Sharingan… of mine…"
His words left both of the other Leaf Nins speechless. None knew what to say, none knew what to do.
"The people in the village…" continued the Uchiha, "What they have been saying… That you're… a great Jounin… That's… how I feel… Please accept it… Rin… with your Medical Jutsu… Please take out my Sharingan… and implant it… into Kakashi's left eye…" as he said that the girl dried her tears and looked towards the silver hared boy.
"Kakashi, come over here! So we can start quickly!" her voice was shaken with emotion, but her eyes were full of determination to make her dying friend's last wish come true.
"I'm already… going to die…" said Obito again, "But… I can become your eye… And from now on I will see the future…"
His words were followed by nothing but silence and Akai could not break it. She was on the edge of tears and nothing from the picture actually registered in her mind any more. Just the image of one of her closest people dying in front of her eyes repeated again and again.
She could hear a few voices and sounds. Birds… thousands of birds chipping… And then it came… more rumbling. The image of Kakashi pulling Rin away from the place, and the rocks burying Obito stood in her mind like it was painted there and would never go away.
She was hurting deeply inside, just thinking of her friend and what she had just seen. Her eyes were wet and a few tears started going down her cheeks, but she quickly brushed them away, when the place started spinning again and she appeared in a completely different place.
It was in the middle of a forest. The darkness surrounded everything. There was a group of Nins, fighting in the darkness. Between all of them, the woman could recognize two familiar figures. Rin was standing with a kunai in one hand, as her other one was loaded with Chakura. Next to her, Kakashi was fighting away the enemies.
Save for them, there were six more Konoha Shinobi, defending themselves from the furious attack. Their enemies – all Iwagakure Ninjas - were in big numbers and they were attacking with everything they had. Many of them were falling to the ground, as the small group began to loose members. Two Shinobi had already fallen and even from the place the woman was, she could clearly see how the others were getting tired.
Two kunai managed to get trough Kakashi's defense and went straight to Rin, who dodged one of them and hit the other one with her own, protecting herself. She looked at her teammate with worry as he was starting to get slower. Many wounds were already opened trough out his body and there was a lot of blood.
"Kakashi, please! Let me heal you!' said the girl. "You can't fight like that!"
The silver haired Shinobi ignored her and just continued the fight.
A little to the right another one of the small group fell to the ground. The Medic Nin rushed towards him, and as she saw that he was still alive, she rushed her Chakura on his wounds, trying to save his life. In a while his condition was stabilized, but another one had fallen, this time dead.
Rin was just about to go to him, when she heard a yell from her other side. In a second, she swung around, only to see how Kakashi hit the ground with a terrible wound on his chest. The girl yelled his name, as in an instant she was next to him, trying to save his life.
From the side, where Akai was, she watched the scene, shaking. Everything that she had seen until now could never match the terrible things that were being shown to her now. Every shock she had felt until now could never match what she was feeling now.
The way her brother was fighting like the only thing that mattered was for Rin to be ok. The way the Medic tried to help him, but he didn't listen to her. The way her female friend tried her hardest to save his life, like that was the goal of her life…
It all seemed so different than anything the woman had ever imagined. Just now she realized how wrong she had been.
Many things had probably changed after Obito's and her mother's death and her disappearing, but in a completely different way than she imagined.
But the surrounding scene did not let her space out. Rin continued doing everything she could to save Kakashi, as the remaining two Leaf Nins were fighting with all they had, to defend themselves and the Medic. It was like the enemies actually became fewer and fewer. That gave them strength and hopes, as each of them ate a Soldier pill and rushed in with new power.
The Kunoichi refused to stop treating her teammate's wounds, even when a kunai flew a few centimeters from her face. She didn't even shudder. She had concentrated at the almost fatal wound on his chest that was bleeding really badly. It seemed as every passing second his hart could stop because of the blood loss. Tears started going down her cheeks as she concentrated all of her remaining Chakura at his wound, and finally it stopped bleeding.
Kakashi slowly opened his eyes and after he blinked a few times to see what had happened he met with Rin's smiling face.
"Kakashi! Thank Kami! For a moment I thought…"
She never got to finish as a gasp escaped her lips. A little blood found itself going slowly down from the corner of her mouth as her eyes became glassy. She fell down, on top of the shocked boy.
Kakashi pushed himself up to a sitting position, holding her carefully. He called her name, but she didn't move. Suddenly he felt something warm drop from her. It was blood. Her blood.
In a second Kakashi saw the kunai that was sticking out of the left side of her back. His mismatched eyes widened at the realization that the blade had gone straight through her hearth, killing her instantly. He could feel himself shaking. He called her again, knowing she won't answer. A tear escaped the Sharingan eye as it slipped down his check.
And he wasn't the only one crying. To the side the red haired woman tried to stop her tears, but she couldn't take it anymore. She closed her eyes, but nothing changed. The bloody image of her friend was still in front of her.
"Stop!" she said, knowing Itachi could hear her. "Stop it! That's enough! Stop it!"
But no response could be heard. Not a voice or a sound from around, and before she knew it everything started spinning around the red moon again until it settled down in a completely different place and time.
Akai could not mistake this place. It was Konoha, but not the Konoha she knew and loved. The place was completely destroyed – the forests were on fire; the houses – turned into ruins; blood covered the ground. The villagers were running towards the stone faces. Children were crying, women were screaming.
An earthquake appeared out of nowhere, as another building crashed on top of a running family as their screams stopped forever.
A demonic roar echoed somewhere from behind her. The woman turned around and the sight made her eyes widen. A giant red fox with nine tails stood in front of hundreds of ninjas. Many bodies covered the ground and blood was everywhere – on the ground and the trees, around the monster's mouth, and even on the defending Shinobi and Kunoichi.
Akai stood there, the tears still fresh on her face, and watched in disbelief. So this is what that night was like. That terrible October night in which Konoha lost so much. She started trembling, realizing what was ahead of her to see.
A flash of yellow went between the many people, as a certain figure stood before them. The Hokage was holding a blanket in his arms and from it the head of a baby could be seen – the same blond hair and blue eyes as his own.
"Get back!" his voice was serious and full of determination. "I'll handle things from here on!"
The people listened to their leader and started retreating back to the burning village. Many of them though just took a few steps back and stood there to see what their hero will do.
Putting the baby in a more comfortable position, the Yondaime made a few hand seals and then he spoke the words for the Kuchiyose no Jutsu, as he slapped his one free hand on the ground. A big cloud of smoke surrounded him and the baby as seconds later the man was standing on Gamabunta's back.
The sky was dark. Clouds hid the red moon as lightning struck and for an instant everything could be seen perfectly. A few small drops fell from the sky and not long after the rain became really strong.
In the light of another lightning a flash of grey could be seen. Akai turned her gaze and saw Kakashi, who had just arrived from the village. His face was dark and the girl could see sadness in the visible black eye. The young Jounin stopped in the front of the crowd, which was watching the Yondaime.
Hearing another roar, the woman turned towards the battle again. The Kyuubi looked terrifying, but neither Gamabunta, nor the one on his back showed any fear. The Yondaime put the little child in front of himself, as he bit his thumb and started to paint some signs on the newborn's body. When that was ready he stood up and looked straight at the Demon.
Lightning struck again and his face was lighted by it. His blue eyes beamed with determination as he stood straight in front of the terrifying creature. The usual smiling and carefree expression on his face was gone, and now he looked deadly serious.
The noises had come down to the minimum. No more screams could be heard neither from the village, nor from the patching people. The only thing that broke the silence was the rain, as the fire had already disappeared under the drops of water that fell from the sky.
And then it was time for the Hokage to do his final attempt in stopping the monster. He raised his hands and with admirable speed made the needed seals and it was like even the rain went quiet at the moment he spoke the words for the technique.
"Shiki Fujin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal)"
Akai's eyes widened as she saw the figure behind the Yondaime. The creature had white hair with two horns a little above its forehead. It was wearing white robes that covered its entire body and it had a knife in its mouth.
'So… This is the Shinigami…' the woman shivered in front the symbol of death.
But the thing that startled her even more was that from the Yondaime's stomach a blue, almost invisible arm appeared and stretched towards the Kyuubi. Just a moment after, it grabbed the monster and with a deafening roar everything exploded in light. Nothing could be seen in a few minutes, but the girl could hear her old Sensei saying the names of two seals: "Shishou Fuin (Four Symbols Seal)" and "Hakke no Fuin Shiki (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style)".
The moments went by and the light disappeared. Voices started to cheer when they saw that the Kyuubi was gone, but two people in the crowd looked more sorrowful that happy – Sarutobi and Kakashi. It was clearly obvious who knew about the Hokage's decision.
Then another wave of happiness went above the place and everybody rushed towards the giant frog, but the people stopped in their tracks when they saw the figure of their leader falling lifelessly from its back. The Sandaime caught him, before he hit the ground and laid him carefully on the ground, as the other ninjas started to approach him slowly in disbelief.
But Akai didn't see that. She couldn't see anything now, safe for the Yellow Flash' lifeless face. His glassy eyes could not leave her mind as she clenched her eyes, while the tears were freely sliding down her cheeks.
Suddenly Itachi's figure appeared in front of her again and his voice sounded above everything else.
"71 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds left."
The woman's head shot up as she stared in him with disbelief.
"This was all… All of this… one second…"
Her body was shaking. She didn't think she could withstand all of this. Seeing the closest people to her being killed one after another, over and over again… Akai knew she won't be able to stand it. No matter what she did and how much she tried. Just from this one time she was left crying and wishing with her entire hart that she had never charged at him.
But nothing could stop the illusion. Absolutely nothing. In her mind every one of those scenes started to repeat again and again, as she had the feeling that her heart was breaking into millions tiny peaces every single time. The pain was more than she could stand…
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As Akai was running towards the Missing Nin, suddenly it looked like she tripped and fell flat on her face in the water. Hardly keeping herself from loosing consciousness, she felt the need to breath, but couldn't allow herself to inhale water. However her limbs were so heavy that she couldn't move a finger.
Even now, when she was finally out of the Genjutsu, she could still see those pictures in her mind. Obito's half crushed body, Rin's shocked expression and the Yondaime's lifeless face haunted her, as she sunk deeper and deeper in the cold water.
Was this going to be her end? What a way for a Kunoichi… no, for a Jinchuriki to lose her life – by drowning. Her body protested against the los of oxygen as she finally gave up and opened her mouth, letting the little air go to the surface in the shape of many bubbles. Her eyes started closing and in a second everything became black.
'Is it like this when you die?' she thought, 'It's so peaceful…'
'No, bakamono! This is when you're too lazy to move your body!' growled the Bijuu from the back of her mind, but Akai ignored her completely. This was not a time which the woman wanted to spend arguing with Rokubi.
Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a hand that caught her and pulled her out of the freezing Hell that the water was for her. Being finally taken out of there she gasped for air and felt relief as it filled her lings. The slight wind blew trough her now soaked hair as she felt the heat of the sun on her face.
Finally knowing, that she was safe, Akai relaxed and let herself fall into unconsciousness, hoping that it will take away all of the terrifying visions in her mind…
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Chapter Nine: A Double Surprise – Sasuke's Departure… And More
Akai looked at the figure of her young friend. How could somebody do this… to one of the few people that actually cared for him…? How could somebody just leave his life, his friends, his love ones behind, just so he could seek power…? It was beyond her power to understand that…
Author's notes:
Ok, if there's actually a person, reading this, who had read my other Fanfic he would clearly see the way the same theory about Rin's death repeats. Well, it's just that I believe that theory and I'm sticking to it (Dattebayo!!!)
Wow, I actually made it on time. Ok, soit's 3 am in the morning on Saturday and I'm still writing the Author's Totes, but I can't believe I wrote it on time! And I had actually done half of it last week… Yare yare… I'm so lazy… (No, actually, I'm not it's just that I have a lot of other work and all… -.-)
Ok, I officially say that I don't know weather I can keep the updates on time from now on. I'm really sorry, but you see I started playing this RPG and I just can't force myself to leave it and it's taking over almost all of my free time. There had also been rumors that I may go on a holiday for a week (I repeat, rumors) but there is such a possibility. And things are going to get really bad once I start school again… But let's not worry about that now.
I haven't forgotten!!! Thank you so very much, for reviewing once again my work, Hikari The Emo Queen of OCness!!! And thanks to you too, DemonTsunaru!!! You are awesome! Both of you! And people, please review . I've had over a hundred hits after I posted the last chapter and only two reviews. . It makes me think my story is not even worth reading falls into depression