Guardian Angel
"Speech"
'Thought'
"Summon/Bijuu/Inner Speech"
'Summon/Bijuu/inner thought'
A/N: Been a while since I've updated this thing, but that's more my fault than anything I guess. Anyway, lets finish up this little side mission and get back on track to the real fun!
Kiki sat in her dressing room, still stunned by the events of what had happened not even an hour ago. 'Naruto saved me… and I kissed him!' she mentally squealed, her face blushing red.
Perhaps some explanation is needed.
Flashback, one hour earlier
Kiki had finally stopped thanking Naruto but she had refused to be put down, instead preferring the blond's arms. So Naruto carefully hopped down from his perch and with a large grin under his mask, had bowed to the audience, Kiki still securely held in his arms.
The crowd went nuts and soon a chant began to fill the air. Naruto was unsure, but he could have sworn that it was Kakashi who had started the chant. It didn't matter because the entire audience took it up immediately. It was a simple chant, consisting of but one word. What was the word?
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" demanded the crowd, causing both teens to turn scarlet from embarrassment. Before Naruto could scream out a protest, he felt his mask being quickly taken from his face and then a feather soft touch graced his right cheek. Naruto just stood there frozen, his eyes wide and face red. As for Kiki, she merely giggled, stepped out of his arms and placed the mask back on the still frozen Naruto's face. The crowd went nuts of course and Naruto remained there even after the last person had left the tent.
End Flashback
'I wonder if he's still standing there' Kiki thought with a smile. Giggling she made her way over her bed and sat down. Smiling, she grabbed the large fox plushie that Naruto had brought and hugged it to her chest. "This was the best show ever!" she sighed happily, falling on her back, fox still in her arms.
"It was an interesting show," said a bored voice, causing Kikioko to stand up quickly. She blinked at the person in front of her, for it was none other than Kakashi Hatake with his infamous pornographic novel in hand. "Yo," he greeted.
"Yo yourself Sensei," Kiki greeted back, "How'd you like the show? Or were you just reading porn the entire time?" she asked.
Ignoring her jab at his hobbie, the masked man flipped a page and replied, "It was… well to be honest it was amazing,"
"Really?" asked the redhead, her eyes shining with happiness.
"At least the parts I watched were amazing," his response caused the girl to facefault. Before Kiki could chew him out Kakashi continued, "I just came by to tell you good job and to give you something,"
Kiki paused in surprise, 'A gift?' "What do you mean?" she asked, head tilted to the side in curiosity. His response was to toss a scroll at her. Blinking she stared at it then she grinned, "Arigatou sensei!" she said happily with a bow. Kakashi merely offered her a wave and left, nose still buried in his orange book.
Opening the scroll, Kiki let grin come to her face, "Oh, this is going to be fun!" she declared.
In the big tent, main ring
Echo sighed as he stared at his 'student'. The blond had been frozen stiff ever since Kiki kissed his cheek. 'I've heard of being stupefied before, but this is just ridiculous!' he thought. Walking up to the boy, the messy haired man started to snap his fingers in front of the blonde's face, "Oi! Time to wake up!" he barked, trying to gain the boy's attention. Naruto just stood there, still frozen. Echo frowned at that, "Come on, it's not like you came face to face with Medusa is it?" he snapped, prodding the boy's arm.
Naruto was still frozen stiff.
Frowning, the man pulled his gun out and pointed it over Naruto's shoulder, the barrel right next to his ear.
BANG
The Uzumaki didn't even twitch.
Echo scowled, "If I have to kiss him to get him out of this I'm going to be pissed," he grumbled. Instead of doing a montage of different ways to try and wake him, the stoic man reached over his shoulder and withdrew his shovel.
Walking to stand next to the stiff teenager Echo faced the blond and twirled the shovel in his hands a few times, "Time to go for broke," he muttered gripping the shovel firmly in both hands and rearing it back to swing, "Or broken nose in this case," and with that, the man swung the common tool forward and smacked Naruto square in the face with the head of the shovel, the result was a loud and sickening 'crack!'
Bringing the shovel away, Echo watched as the fox mask slowly fell off his pupil's face and onto the floor in a dozen shattered pieces. Looking back at the blond he was surprised to see that, despite his now bleeding and broken nose, Naruto was still frozen in place. Gaping at the sight, Echo just palmed his face, "What do I have to do? Have Kiki get in a bikini and serve him ramen?" he muttered.
That got a reaction out of Naruto.
"Kiki? Ramen? Bikini? WHERE!" shouted the blond, snapped out of his stupor and now looking wildly for the image described. Blinking after not finding it, Naruto did something he should have done a couple of seconds ago.
"Gah! My nose! My nose! What the hell happened to my nose?" he shouted grabbing said body part in pain. He stopped when he noticed that he wasn't alone. Frowning, the Uzumaki glared at the man "What the hell are you doing here?" he nearly growled. At least then he didn't have to wonder who hit him.
Echo sighed and averted his eyes to the ground, "Look Naruto, I came for a couple of reasons," he started, scuffing the ground with his shoe, avoiding eye contact with the blond, "The first being… I'm sorry…"
Naruto quirked an eyebrow at that, "Come again?" he asked.
Echo rolled his eyes and finally made eye contact with his student, "I mean I'm sorry for what I did back in Konoha," he said, his eyes conveying his sincerity to the boy, "It's just that it's been so long since I've actually talked with other humans and the Kyuubi-" he snapped his jaw shut at that, but the pained and faraway look did not escape Naruto's notice, "but that's no excuse for my behavior and so I've come to apologize and to do so, I've decided it's time I taught you the Shinigami signature move,"
At this Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. He knew what Echo was talking about and the idea of finally learning it both excited and frightened him. "Do you mean…" he trailed off,"
Echo nodded, "Indeed I do, I have faith you're ready to learn it, and I hope that you will use it wisely," he responded a very serious glare directed at his student.
Naruto nodded slowly, his cold blue eyes hardening with determination and his posture becoming serious, "Hai, sensei,"
Nodding Echo reached into his sweatshirt pocket and retrieved a small black box. "Then lets begin shall we?"
The next night
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the second night of Goza's Annual One Stop Carnival of Oddities Big Top Show!" Announced the booming voice of none other than the pointy-eared goblin, whose voice was met with waves of thunderous applause. Grinning his wide grin, Goza surveyed his audience, 'Quite a bit more people here than last night, I swear it must have at least doubled in size!' he thought his mouth practically drooling at what that meant for his income. "So who's ready to see something amazing?" roared out the demon. He was met with even more thunderous applause and cheers.
While Goza was getting the crowd revved up, Kiki and Naruto were going over their routine backstage. Unlike last night, they would be opening the show. "Ok, so after you've done you're little flying act all I have to do is catch you right?" Naruto asked, making sure he knew what he was doing.
Kiki rolled her eyes at the blond, "Yes Naruto, just keep your eyes on me and be ready to catch me," she told him, 'Jeez it's not that complicated' she thought.
"Ok then, lets get going!" Naruto exclaimed, grabbing the girl by the wrist and leading her to the ring. The lights had gone out except for a single spotlight that rested on Goza. Quickly and quietly the two took their positions while Goza began introducing them, "And now ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you our opening act! Last night they closed, but tonight they open! Please put your hands together for my daughter Kikioko Atezuiryo!" with a flourish, Goza gestured upwards and a spotlight appeared on the trapeze platform where Kiki stood. Wearing the same costume as last night, the redhead gave the audience a small wave, which was met with roars of approval, "And her assistant, the fox reaper himself, Naruto Uzumaki!" this time a spotlight shone on the ground next to the ringmaster to reveal the jinchuuriki in the same outfit he wore last night, although with a new mask. Giving an energetic wave, the blond received the same thunderous applause that Kiki had, though some chuckles were mixed in with it.
"You're all in for quite the show ladies and gents, for my daughter shall be performing the amazing Flying Knife stunt!" Goza declared, the audience immediately began whispering among themselves, wondering what the flying knife trick could be. "Now I must warn you all to stay in your seats as this trick is extremely dangerous," Goza warned with Naruto nodding seriously in the background, "This trick can and WILL kill anyone who does not take the proper precautions, in fact only trained professionals are even allowed to be anywhere near the spot where it's being performed!" Goza exclaimed. Naruto nodded sagely and had the look of utmost confidence and arrogance about him, "Which is why I'm amazed we're letting Naruto within even fifty feet of the area,"
The crowd erupted into laughter while Naruto just froze, his entire body screaming shock before his shoulders slumped and an aura of depression settled over him. "Now how about we get this show rolling?" Goza declared. The crowd agreed with the ringmaster while Naruto just trudged over to stand underneath Kiki's platform.
As the crowd slowly descended into silence, Kiki withdrew two knives from her belt. They were simple daggers, but the metal of the blades seemed to gleam in the light of the spotlight, as if they were made with light itself.
Lazily, Kiki flicked her left wrist, sending the knife in her hand soaring into the air in front of her. Yet the weapon stopped, right in the middle of its flight. It just rested there, still as a statue, and simply hovered in the open air not more than five feet in front of Kiki. Smirking at the awed silence of the crowd, Kiki hopped forward and landed lightly upon the weapon. The crowd's eyes nearly bulged out of their heads at what they were seeing, but none dared to breathe and simply watched as Kiki made her next move.
Taking her second dagger, she pointed the tip towards the earth and released it. Yet like the knife she was standing upon, it did not fall and simply hung in the air. Smiling, the girl flicked the handle and watched as the weapon spun in place, the spotlight reflecting off of it causing it to become little more than a disc of spinning reflected light.
That was when the act truly started. Kiki sprung into action, tossing knives everywhere, all of them levitating in the air. Some she used as standing points to leap to and from, others became like her second dagger, while even more flew through the air like so many birds, each blade reflecting the light of the spotlight with a golden brilliance, entrancing the audience.
The only ones whose eyes were not entranced by the dazzling sight were Naruto's, who was busy catching and hiding any fallen knife as well as keeping an eye on Kiki, Kakashi's, who was grinning at his student's progress in such a short time, and a black-cloaked burly figure's, that was slowly walking down from the bleachers.
Kiki threw her final dagger forward, where it stopped dead center of the tent, twenty feet in the air. Standing still and both arms spread out to her sides, she lifted her head to the sky. All the knives in the air stopped their spinning and flying and froze, the light glinting off of their metal. The lights died down until only one spotlight was left shining on Kikioko, but the blades still glinted in their frozen places, looking like so many twinkling stars in the night sky. She let her arms fall to her sides slowly, the light changing to become a pale blue. When her arms laid at her sides, the redhead slowly fell backwards. As her heels left the knife, the knives that had hung suspended in the air fell as well, all clattering to the floor. Naruto caught Kiki with in his arms, his masked face staring into the faces of the mesmerized crowds while the sounds of the knives falling to the floor filled the ears of everyone present with a strange melody.
When the last knife fell, the room went black and silence held sway for a moment and then…
Cheers. Thunderous, raucous, and wondrous cheers rent the air as the lights came back on to reveal the bowing figures of Naruto and Kiki. The crowd was going wild! No one could calm them and no one would have had it not been for one certain figure standing behind the duo, slowly clapping.
The crowd soon stopped their cheers, their jubilation dying in their throats as this strange, hooded figure continued his slow clap behind the duo. "Very well done, very entertaining," rumbled the black cloaked figure, his deep voice easily being heard by everyone present, "Yet as entertaining as it was, I'm going to have to ask that you drop your weapons and do exactly as I say," his voice gained a warning edge to it that immediately put everyone on edge.
"And just who the hell do you think you are?" Naruto demanded, staring up at the figure with a scowl. The large figure in question merely backhanded the blond, sending him flying a few feet away before landing on his back with groan.
"Naruto! Why you piece of-" Kiki was about to attack the figure, but his next words stopped her cold.
"Make another move and everyone in this room dies," he declared. Kiki looked taken aback by the statement, "Look around miss acrobat," he ordered. Confused, Kiki did just that and what she saw shocked her.
Everyone in the tent was being held hostage by hundreds of bandits! Women were being held by knifepoint by men in ragged clothing. Children were being hidden behind fathers' backs as they stared down notched bows and arrows. Bandits surrounded even her teammates and sensei.
"Now everyone on your feet!" barked the shrouded figure, removing his cloak with a flourish. Standing before Kiki was the biggest man she had ever seen and she couldn't help the twinge of fear that went through her at the sight of the man. He was huge with muscles galore, richly tanned skin, and scars covering almost every inch of his body. He was bald with cruel black eyes. He was wearing a filthy red vest and ragged black shorts with matching worn boots, "I'm only saying this once, my name is Khan and unless you want to use your guts for pillows, you'll follow me and my men, now!" he barked harshly.
"Like hell you bastard!" Naruto shouted, leaping to cut the man in half. Khan stepped to the side and turned on his heel, bringing the full weight of his fist and strength straight into the boy's face, shattering the mask and once again putting Naruto flat on his back. Growling Naruto tried to get back up, but was unable to thanks to Khan stepping on his chest. Pressing down, Khan smirked evilly as he watched Naruto's face grimace in pain.
"You've got guts brat, not a lot of brains but plenty of guts to try something like that on me," Khan declared. He scowled though, "But if you try that again I'll slaughter every single person here," reaching out with his right hand he snatched the silently approaching Kiki around her neck and turned to face her with a malicious grin, "Starting with this little beauty right here,"
"Now everyone, get your asses in gear!" he roared.
Ah hour later
"Oi! Watch the merchandise!" Goza snapped at a bandit before he was shoved in the cage along with everyone else. The bandits had taken to putting everyone inside of the animal cages, after emptying them of said animals and taking any weapons the people might have had, of course. When someone had asked what had happened to the animals, a bandit only commented with, "Fur sells for quite a bit up in Yuki" That wasn't what had Goza angry though.
"When I get out of here I'm going to rip you people apart for messing with my business!" roared the pudgy green goblin. "You hear me? I will rip your knucklebones out one by one and play dice with them! I will use your eyeballs in my own personal roulette game! I'll skin you and craft your skin into cards and play blackjack with them! I'll turn your bodies into slot machines that eject your entrails every time it hits a jackpot! I'll…"
As Goza continued his macabre, gambling related threats to the bandits, Naruto was sitting with his team, brooding and rubbing his sore chest. Kiki had tried to console him, but the blond wanted no comfort so she was left to stare at him in worry as she wondered what would happen next. Sasuke was remaining calm, but inside he was furious that these common thugs would dare put someone like him in a cage. Sakura… She was freaking out, "W-What do we do now? How are we going to get out of here," stammered Sakura, her heart beating a mile a minute, "What are they going to do to us? Will they kill us? Sell us as slaves? I can't be a slave for the rest of my life!" she nearly shrieked.
"Maa, maa, relax Sakura-chan," drawled Kakashi's lazy voice. Turning her head she stared at her relaxed sensei, who was casually reading his favorite piece of porn, "Everything's going to be fine," he reassured the girl while flipping a page.
"You mean you have a plan then?" Sasuke spoke up curiously. Sakura immediately looked hopefully at her sensei.
"Nope," Kakashi replied lazily.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOPE?" Sakura roared angrily.
"So much for the covert rescue operation," announced a voice. Surprised, Team 7 turned to look outside the cage and beheld none other than Echo standing there, a small smile on his face. "Yo, looking to break out of that the rusty cage and run?" he asked, chuckling slightly. The blank stares he received only made him feel embarrassed.
"Now's not the time for stupid jokes sensei," Naruto muttered in a deadpan.
"Echo! You've got to get me out of here! They're taking all my precious gold!" Goza exclaimed, appearing in front of the shovel toting man.
Echo merely rolled his eyes, "I'm aware, but I think defending the civilians takes priority over your monetary income at the moment," he replied blandly.
"Nonsense! I can already see you've secured the location using nonlethal force and have more than likely come to break us free to drive these bandits out," Goza sniffed. Blinking in surprise, the genin looked outside their cage to see that, sure enough, the bandits that had been guarding them were all unconscious, "Besides, as long as these people are alive they can always give me more money, but the money those bandits are taking I'll never see again! So stop sitting there and go save my money slug jockey!"
Echo merely flicked the goblin's nose in response; "I haven't cared about money since I became a soldier, why would care about it now?" he asked.
"Because root beer costs money?" Kiki supplied with a giggle.
The dirty blond merely smirked in response before he became serious, "Look you guys, you need to get serious, we're not dealing with normal bandits here," he stated seriously.
"And just who exactly are these guys?" Sasuke asked in annoyance.
"The Genghis Gang," Echo replied with a scowl, "They're the largest organization of bandits I've ever met, and that's saying something,"
"Pff, they're just bandits! The only one we need to worry about is that big guy! Just get me back my scythe and I'll bring you his head," Naruto snapped.
Echo shook his head at the boy, "So powerful yet still so much to learn," he muttered, "Listen and listen well Naruto, information is a vital thing in any form of combat or operation, so take it," growling the Uzumaki just sent a halfhearted glare at his teacher. Seeing as that would be his best response Echo continued, "The Genghis Gang is a small army, there are about five hundred of them in total, all of them now here,"
"Five hundred? How are we going to take on five hundred enemies at once?" Sakura nearly shouted.
"By being very careful and skilled," Kakashi spoke up.
Echo chuckled slightly at that, "Yes, of course, now, since you know the numbers, time to know the motivation," Echo became deadly serious, "These men are scum; they're thieves without honor, assassins without codes, mercenaries without morals. They will do anything for just one cent, that's all they want. Money, but Khan, he's a different monster," snapping his figures, a smoky apparition of the man appeared behind Echo, "Stronger than ten men, mind sharper than any blade and wielder of a sword said to be forged in the heavens, Khan is not an opponent to take lightly,"
"So what are we going to do? Just sneak up and slit his throat?" Sasuke asked, his eyes calculating.
Echo frowned, "While that is an effective way of doing it, Khan's no idiot. He's most likely hidden himself somewhere and won't come out until his boys are finished looting the place,"
"So what do we do then? Split up and search for him? This place isn't exactly small," Kiki spoke up.
"Which is why you five will have to split up and search for him," before the ninja could shoot holes in his plan Echo continued quickly, "But not alone! Sakura go with Sasuke, Kiki go with Naruto while Kakashi goes solo. While you guys are looking I'll defend the civilians here,"
"That's a great plan, but in case you didn't notice, there's a couple hundred bandits out there! What's to stop them from attacking us when we actually do find Khan?"
A cough interrupted anything Echo might have said. Turning towards the sound, they beheld the sight of Goza, Tetsol, Damian and a myriad of the other carnival workers all standing with grins on their faces, "Oh don't worry about them, if Echo is going to hold the fort here, then it's only right we lend a hand,"
Sakura frowned slightly at that, "But Goza-san, what will you guys do?
At that inquiry Goza's smile seemed to become a little more sinister, "Oh don't worry about that, just give us a couple minutes then get going,"
A few minutes later
"So what's in this thing?" a bandit asked his companions, referring to the wooden trailer that they had been sent to investigate. Him and a group of seven other bandits had been ordered by Khan to take inventory of all the stuff that Goza had brought. Once they were don't, they were to report back and to their leader who would determine whether it was worthwhile to keep or just leave behind.
"How the hell would I know? If I knew what was in it we wouldn't be here!" another bandit spat in reply, the others snickering at the stupidity of their fellow bandit.
"I mean what do you think is in it?" the first one snapped back.
"Again, how the hell would I know? These freaks probably have all sorts of weird things," replied the second, the rest muttering in agreement.
The first shrugged and walked up to the back door of the metal trailer, the others trailing behind him slightly. Sliding back the bolt that kept it shut, he flung the doors open. The contents inside surprised the group.
"Fireworks?" one of them asked stupidly. Another came forward, a torch in hand and brought it close to inspect the contents.
"Whoa! Look at all this stuff!" he breathed, "There's enough gunpowder here to blow up a village!"
"Baka!" the first bandit yelled, smashing a fist into the head of the torch wielding one, "Do you have any idea how stupid it is to bring a torch into a trailer full of fireworks?"
"Sorry! I just figured-" before he could continue the torch wielding bandit was hit again, this time by the second bandit, who joined the two in the trailer.
"Moron! Use your brain next time! If you have any anyway!" the second shouted, "Do you have any idea what might have happened if those went off while we were in here with them?"
"I can guess," growled a voice behind them. Surprised the three whirled around just in time to see the doors slam close while their torch was snatched from their hands by a clawed hand.
"Your friend has a point," spoke the voice, the torch illuminating the speaker to be Hito, his glowing red and yellow pits of eyes glaring at them. His sharp white teeth glinted in the torchlight as he brought it close in order to light the cigarette clamped between his teeth. Immediately, smoke began to fill the room, a dense black cloud that burned the lungs of the mere humans who dared to inhale it. Sucking on the cancer stick hard, the bakuma expelled the black smoke out of his nose into the faces of the petrified bandits as he spoke, "Fire, pretty as it is, is dangerous, and a single spark," here he grinned a predatory like grin, "Could set off an explosion of epic proportions,"
"Fire bursting through the sky and land, a glorious blaze of destruction that scorches the eyes and skin in a pleasing way," Hito began speaking, a strange glint entering his eyes, "Black smoke rolling through the air, infesting the lungs with the smell of smoke and leaving a taste of ash on your tongue like a dollop of honey," he licked his teeth with a disgustingly green tongue, saliva drooling out of the upturned corners of his mouth, "And the sound, that glorious single sound," he shuddered in seeming pleasure as the veins on his visible skin began to glow a fiery orange, "That's my favorite part, the thunder that robs you of your hearing, the single clap of power that makes your teeth shake and leaves that single high pitched note ringing in your ears,"
The bandits were trying to escape the monster in front of them, but the only way they could go was further into the trailer, into the fireworks. They were stuck, stuck in front of an orange and red glowing monster whose eyes were shining with barely restrained power.
"I love that feeling, that euphoric ecstasy that flows through me when I explode," Hito whispered. That's when the bandits realized something. They weren't stuck in a trailer with a demon.
They were stuck between a powder keg and a living bomb.
And it was ready to detonate.
"Wait! Don't! Stop!" the three screamed in fear, but it was far too late. Hito gave them a demented grin and stare as he slowly whispered one word.
"Boom,"
There was a beat of silence, then an explosion akin to that of a volcanoe's eruption came from the trailer, killing all eight bandits nearby and setting off a cascade of fireworks that launched into the sky with the orange and black mushroom cloud, painting the night sky with blinding flashes of colors, cascades of sparks scattering across the air, like rainbow shooting stars. The sound was heard from every man woman and child within the festival area and a good distance out of it as well. The light show was also seen by any who looked towards the source, and not a single eye was focused elsewhere.
At ground zero of the explosion, Hito stood surrounded by ash, scorched earth,debris of both human bodies and the trailer and all the while he had a content smile on his face.
"There's the signal, I better get out of here," Hito muttered as he slowly walked off. He inhaled deeply from his cancer stick, and sighed out of his nose, black smoke billowing from his nose like smoke from a coalmine, "I don't even get to admire my work," he grumbled.
The Big Top tent
Khan sat silently on a chair in the middle of the big top ring, his eyes closed and his bulky frame not twitching a muscle, even his breathing was silent and shallow, his chest barely rising and falling. He had heard the explosion, had seen the fireworks and had calmly dispatched a fourth of his troops, about 125 bandits, towards the explosion while another fourth went to check on the prisoners. He kept fifty with him at the big tent while the rest patrolled the festival grounds and rounded up anyone or anything of value.
Standing slowly, the giant stood and picked up the scythe that had been resting against the chair he was in. He laughed silently to himself as he beheld the thing; it was barely a weapon in his hands!
While it was tall, easily six feet when stood up straight, it did not even reach his shoulder. His hand easily wrapped around the shaft of it, and he felt that if he wanted to, he could easily snap it in half with his hands like a toothpick, or an average man's spine. The blade was the only thing that concerned him, while it was incredibly small to him; about as long as his hand and a third as wide on the top as his little finger, it was still incredibly and terrifyingly sharp.
It made him wary, not that the great Khan would ever admit it, but there was just something about the scythe that made him feel… mortal. As if despite being a leader of an army of bandits, despite having defeated and killed hundreds of enemy guards, ninja and samurai, he was still easily killable to that scythe.
"Bah!" he scoffed, shaking away his thoughts, "I am Khan! Leader of the Genghis gang and slayer of men! Let any who dare come and try to dethrone me, they will only meet their end!" he proclaimed, "Not even the Shinigami would dare try to take my soul! In fact, I DARE him to try!" with the proclamation, the large man threw his head back and roared with laughter.
A mortal should know better than to tempt the inevitable, because while his soul is already his, the reaper may come to collect early…
Back outside
It was chaos outside in the festival grounds. The explosion from earlier seemed to be a kind of signal, because no sooner had the mushroom cloud appeared then did all hell break loose! A tall madman was cutting through bandits left and right while humming some funeral dirge while bats, rats, spiders and other creatures of that nature poured out of his hat and swarmed whatever man was unlucky enough to be nearby! A giant dragon was conjured by some floating man in robes and was attacking them from the sky, sometimes landing to flatten the bandits then gobble them up like snacks. Then there were the explosions orchestrated by the red skinned demon smoking a cigarette, the guy was making it rain blood, organs, limbs, ash, fire and other debris everywhere he went! Then there were was that pudgy green goblin. The damn demon just kept grinning as his knives skewered any bandit foolish enough- or unfortunate enough- to catch his eye. There were a hundred and fifty of them when they got there and now they had maybe two thirds of their force left.
"This is more fun than the Massacre Ball!" laughed Damian, ripping out the throat of some bandit as he continued his demented humming.
"Don't you mean 'Masquerade'?" Goza asked, tossing another knife into they left eye of a bandit.
"No, he doesn't" Tetsol answered, directing his dragon to swipe at a couple of bandits.
"I just hope those shinobi find that big guy and quick," Hito barked out, incinerating a man who tried to attack him with a club to the head, "We can't keep this up for very long,"
"Oh come now," Damian called out merrily, watching with glee as his hat conjured vermin swarmed a man and began to devour him, "You underestimate our powers!" he cackled. The madman never noticed the axe that beheaded him.
And the bandit died with confusion on his face as the headless body ripped his stomach open.
"And you underestimate our enemy," Tetsol said in a monotone, casually picking up Damian's head and giving it a baleful glare. The head of the scary man just smiled back in response. Tossing it over his shoulder, the head landed once more back on the neck of its body, the skin immediately stitching together. Glancing back at the bandits, he blinked when he saw them regrouping and beginning to surround him and his allies.
With a wave of his hand, Tetsol dismissed his dragon and retreated until he was back to back with his allies. The bandits had encased them in a circle and were preparing to charge.
"Any advice? Plans? Ideas?" Goza asked, knives in his clawed hands.
"Just one," Tetsol spoke, his hands becoming encased in a blue glow as he stared down the approaching enemies.
"And that would be?" Hito demanded, hands glowing yellow.
"Don't die," and they braced themselves for the onslaught.
With the shinobi
While Goza and the others distracted the bandits, the ninja were making their game plan. Kakashi had a serious face on as he glared at each of the genin, "Team, we need a plan in order to stop these guys," Kakashi stated simply, "I'm all for Echo's plan and I agree with the teams, but taking out Khan isn't going to be enough,"
"How so?" Naruto piped up, a scowl on his face, "Don't we just have to take out Khan then we win?" he asked.
"Baka, it's not as simple as that," Sasuke replied coolly, his onyx eyes fixated on a plan only he could see.
"Sasuke's right, there are hundreds of bandits here, and killing one person, even if that person is their leader, won't leave them defenseless," Kakashi spoke, quickly stopping any comeback Naruto might have had, "These guys are ruthless killers, and all of them together could easily overwhelm us,"
"So what do you suggest sensei?" Sakura asked, a bit of worry in her emerald eyes.
Kakashi closed his eyes for a moment, his mind formulating a plan, "Sasuke, you take Sakura while Naruto goes with Kiki. Both teams begin thinning out the numbers some of our bandit friends, do anything you can to make the odds more in our favor," Kakashi ordered, "I'm going after Khan,"
"WHAT? I want to go after that teme!" Naruto exclaimed in outrage.
"Your not ready to go against someone like him yet," Kakashi replied calmly, his eyes still closed.
"I don't care, ttebayo! That bastard took my scythe and I'm getting it back!" Naruto declared, glaring furiously at his sensei.
"Baka! Do you want to get yourself killed?" Sakura scolded the boy, standing and glaring at the blond.
"No, I want to make that big jerk pay for what he did to me!" Naruto snarled back.
"Naruto, please-" Kiki began, trying to soothe him, but he brushed her off and glared at Kakashi, "Let me go after him," he demanded.
Kakashi merely glared back and said, "You can either obey my orders or you can go guard the prisoners with Echo, those are your choices Naruto, and if you go against either one, I'll charge you with insubordination," Kakashi replied, a warning edge making its way into his usually lazy voice.
Naruto scowled even further and for a moment Kakashi thought he saw his student's eyes flash red. He sighed in relief however when Naruto just huffed and sat back down. Standing up, his students mimicking him, Kakashi gave the order to go and the four vanished into the night.
As the genin began to hop from structure to structure, Sasuke began to lay out their plan of attack, "Since Naruto doesn't have his scythe we need to be quick, find a small group, attack, then move out. Sakura, you go ahead of us and scout out some targets, but stay in sight! When you have a potential target, stop and signal us, got it?"
"Understood," Sakura answers, pushing more power into her leaps as she moves ahead of the rest.
"Kiki, you be our long range support and clean up, pick off any targets as we go in and leave. Stay out of reach of the bandits if you can and pick off any stragglers as we move out," Sasuke ordered the red haired girl, his eyes still trained on Sakura's form that was now looking for potential targets.
"Mm!" Kiki grunts in response, dropping back a bit behind the Uchiha.
"Naruto, you and I are the main attack force. I know you don't have your scythe, but you'll just have to manage with kunai and fists," Sasuke barks out, not once looking in his teammate's direction, "We go in, do some damage and get out, you got that?" Silence is the Uchiha's only response. Sasuke scowled at that, 'Probably moping about that bandit still' "I said, do you understand? Or are you too stupid?" Sasuke called, knowing the comment about his intelligence would get a reaction from him.
Still nothing.
Growling, Sasuke stopped next to Sakura and whirled around to confront his teammate. What he saw only made him pause for a short minute before he sighed in annoyance.
"Sakura, Kiki, change in plans," the Uchiha declared, "Naruto has gone after Khan," he announced.
"WHAT? That idiot! He's going to get himself killed!" Sakura nearly screeched.
"Calm down Sakura, I'm sure Whiskers-kun knows what he's doing," Kiki soothed, but Sasuke could easily tell she was just as concerned for the boy, if not more so, "Sasuke, what do we do?" she asked.
Sasuke merely rolled his eyes, "Isn't it obvious? We continue what we're doing,"
"But Naruto-"
"Naruto will be fine," Sasuke replied coolly, dismissing any protests Sakura might have had, "All we can do is our job, when Naruto and Kakashi-sensei are done, I doubt they'll be up to facing an army of bandits,"
The others could only nod in agreement, and pray that their blond teammate survived.
While his teammates battled bandits, Naruto drew closer to Khan. The boy had changed out of his show attire and was now clad in his usual wardrobe. He knew where Khan was, could feel his corrupted soul.
"I'm coming to take what's mine," he growled under his breath.
Big Top
Kakashi, hidden in the darkest corner of the big top, studied his target carefully, wondering how best to take out this giant of a man, who was now armed with a sword the likes of which the one eyed shinobi had never seen.
It was giant of a thing, easily as tall as Khan was from hand to tip. The handle and cross guard was a simple thing of dull black iron with red leather rapping, but it was the blade itself that drew the eye. For one, it was gray and looked to be made of granite or concrete. It had was harp on both ends, a dual edged sword that was at least six inches wide before coming to a pin like point at the tip. The edges seemed to gleam in an eerie way, like a star in the night sky.
'I could beat him in a straight fight, but it would be better and easier to just take him quickly' Kakashi though to himself. Slowly lifting his headband, the jounin prepared to use one of his deadliest techniques.
"HEY OX BREATH!" the shout caused both Kakashi and Khan to halt in what they were doing. Out of nowhere, Naruto came flying in with his fist already on a collision course with the surprised giant. With a cry of rage, Naruto decked the giant in the face, sending him staggering back a few steps.
Naruto stood in the spotligt of the ring, his face set in a scowl and his fists in front of him as he jumped on the balls of his feet. "I'm back for my scythe and to kick your ass!" Naruto declared simply.
Khan glared at the blond, but he couldn't help the smirk on his face, "Heh, just like I said, you got guts kid," he wiped his lips and seeing the blood on his hand, his smirk seemed to grow even wider. 'Brat actually managed to split my lip' he thought, "Too bad I got to rip 'em out of ya,"
"Ha! Come and try it, dattebayo!" Naruto challenged, still bouncing on the balls of his feet.
"You asked for it! HYAH!" With a cry, he lunged forward, bringing his sword done to cut his opponent in half. Naruto sidestepped the giant sword, but Khan immediately backhanded the boy with his left hand. Naruto saw nearly sent tumbling back, but was able to keep his footing long enough to dodge the big man's next swing.
Ducking under the horizontal cut, the Uzumaki leapt back up to deliver and uppercut to Khan's jaw. His fist connected and cuased the giant to grunt in pain, but before Naruto could follow up, Khan's giant foot kicked Naruto away, sending the blond tumbling.
Naruto got back to his feet groggily, a hand clutching at his ribs. He wasn't given a chance to attack, because Khan was pressing his advantage to the fullest. Barreling forward like an ox, Khan tried to run the genin through. Naruto quickly rolled out of the way and into one of the main poles of the tent.
"DIE!" Khan roared, Yrlping in surprise, Naruto did the only thing he could and leapt straight up, his feet sticking to the pole as he got out of Khan's reach.
The pole, however, wasn't out of reach.
The sword cut through the pole like it was nothing. Perhaps cut would be the wrong word here, because this was more like searing or burning combined with cutting. When the sword connected with the wood, it literally burned through it!
And now the flames were about to consume him!
"Shit!" Naruto swore, running straight up the pole, 'What the hell kind of fire is that?' thought the blond as he chanced a look behind him. The fire was easily burning the wood up, burning it faster than a normal fire should. It was as if this fire, these flames, were wild and ravenous beasts, all working together to completely consume all that they touched.
Knowing the pillar would not last long, Naruto doubled his speed and leapt off of it, a good thirty feet in the air. As he fell, the boy looked on in horror as Khan was right below him, sword raised and ready to impale him.
Khan watched in triumph as his target descended onto his waiting blade. While the genin had proven himself to be tough, he had messed with someone out of his league and would now reap the consequences. He allowed his smugness to rule over him then, and closed his eyes. Khan would not even bother to watch and instead relish the sound of his body spearing itself on his sword. He awaited and braced for the coming extra weight, but something was amiss.
Something did fall on his sword, yes, but it did not truly fall so much as whatever it was now looped around his arm. Surprised, the man opened his eyes and beheld a most peculiar sight.
Wrapped around his wrist, resting innocently on his bracer was a necklace made of purple prayer beads.
'What the-?' he did not have time to wonder long as a warning signal went off in Khan's head. Whirling around and jumping back, Khan was able to avoid the worst of the attack, but it did not stop the long gash from being cut across the center of his chest. Wincing in pain Khan looked up and was shocked then angered to see a smiling Naruto, scythe in hand and the blade dripping blood. HIS blood.
"What the hell? How did you escape?" Khan demanded.
"You're not the only one who has tricks up their sleeves mister fire sword," Naruto replied with a grin, "What? Never heard of the substitution jutsu?"
From his vantage point, Kakashi could only smile lightly at his student. So far. The boy had proven himself perfectly able, even with that sword's fire ability. He had seen how Naruto took off his necklace, tossed it out of harm's way and substituted with it. The tactic allowed him to avoid death AND retrieve his scythe from where Khan had left it. Kakashi had decided to intervene should things become too much for Naruto and so far, Naruto had proven more than capable. 'Let's see what you've learned Naruto'
"Ha, that scythe won't save you from my sword," Khan laughed, "No one escapes the fames of Khan's Wrath,"
"You named the sword after yourself?" Naruto asked incredulously, "That's just lame," he deadpanned.
Khan merely grinned, "This sword was forged from the metal of a meteor, it's imbued with the very powers of heaven itself!" he declared, "This blade has burned down more villages than I care to remember, and it's what's going to make me king of the world!" he rushed Naruto, attempting to cleave him in half once more. Naruto merely leapt out of the way and watched in surprise as a wave of fire erupted from the sword, "It is only natural that such a blade be named after its greatest wielder!"
Naruto didn't even bother to respond and instead moved in with his own attack. 'Just need one good hit' thought the blond. Khan laughed at his approach and swung once more, sending a wave of fire at him.
Not deterred in the least, Naruto responded by cutting through the flames with his own weapon and continued his charge. Surprised, Khan barely had time to react as Naruto scored another hit on the giant. The blond was able to leave a long and shallow cut along his upper right chest, before he was once again swatted aside by Khan's vicious backhand.
"You're starting to piss me off brat!" Khan growled. Naruto just rose back up from the dirt, leaning slightly on his scythe. While he hadn't taken a lot of hits, Khan's attacks were taking a toll on Naruto.
'Like being hit with a brick wall' thought the Uzumaki, a hand coming to rest on his bruised ribcage. He looked at his opponent one more time and observed the cuts he had made. 'Too shallow, need to make a deeper one' that's when he noticed the prayer beads that were at Khan's feet. Sometime during their fight, they must have slipped off of Khan and landed on the ground.
Naruto grinned at the opportunity, 'Perfect'
Going through handseals, the blond disappeared in a poof of smoke, as did the beads at Khan's feet. Khan coughed as the smoke enveloped his vision and wondered what the heck just happened. Waving a hand to clear the smoke, he barely had enough time to widen his eyes before Naruto had plunged his scythe into Khan's chest.
Roaring in pain, the bald bandit leader ripped the scythe from his chest and swung it down, slamming Naruto in the ground with tremendous force in the process, as the boy had refused to relinquish his hold on the weapon. Khan then kicked the blond away, one hand now clutching the deep wound on his left pectoral while the other swung forward sending a wave of fire at the ninja.
Naruto was only able to cover his face and take the brunt of the attck. Luckily, he didn't catch fire, but several of his ribs had definitely been broken thanks to Khan's attacks. However he'd gotten the one strike he needed. Switching his scythe back from spear position it had been in when he attacked, Naruto leaned against it and began to focue energy into his free hand. Ultimately, this pissed Khan off to no end.
"That's it! I'm going to kill you, you little shit!" Kan roared. Taking the sword into both hands, he rushed Naruto's still form and brought the weapon up to slice the genin in two. He was at the blond now, close enough that when he did cut through him, he would feel the spray of his blood on his body.
"DIE!" roared the giant, bringing his flamind blade down on Naruto's head. Up in his hiding place, Kakashi was rushing to protect his student's life.
SHINK
Time seemed to stop as Khan and Kakashi watched in horror and shock respectively as Khan's sword fell to the ground. The blade was gone, but the handle was still in Khan's hand. 'How?' thought the leader. The answer came to him when it buried itself into his back and pulled him down to eye level with his opponent.
Naruto smirked at Khan, one hand using his scythe to hold the giant in place, the other in a clawed form and glowing with white energy, "Long live the king," he muttered darkly, blue eyes flashing crimson as he thrust his clawed hand forward and buried it into the wound Naruto cased earlier.
Kakashi watched in horror as his student plunged his hand into the bandit's chest and could only stand in awe while said bandit began screaming in pain. This didn't seem to bother Naruto at all as he continued his technique. Soon, Khan stopped screaming and his body began to grow pale as his eyes slowly dimmed and rolled into the back of his head. Apparently finished, Naruto released the corpse and stared at a small white orb that sat in his hand. Kakashi blinked in confusion at what he saw, 'What the hell is that?'
Naruto knew what was in his hand however, and was now trying to come to terms with what he had just done. He'd done it, done what every reaper did.
He'd taken a soul.
The fact that this was his first kill didn't register as heavily as the fact that he had actually taken someone's soul from their still living body. Echo had warned him that stealing the soul from a person was nothing like taking it out of a box, but Naruto had just thought he meant it would be harder.
Now… he understood the meaning behind what his shovel toting sensei had said.
"Bravo! Very well done Naruto-kun!' Kyuubi's voice purred in his head, snapping him from his thoughts, "I knew you could do it,"
'Thanks Kyuubi-chan, but I really don't feel like I should be congratulated' Naruto responded. It was true, if anything, Naruto felt like he should be ashamed, terrified even, of what he had just done.
"Nonsense! You fought well, defeated a tough opponent and were successfully able to take his soul. I'm so proud of you Naru-kun!" Kyuubi gushed.
'I suppose… but what do I do now?' he wondered.
"Well, I think that's obvious enough," Kyuubi answered, 'Time for the victor's feast,"
Naruto's body literally spasmed in surprise at her words, He knew what she was talking about. She wanted him to eat it. Naruto stared at the soul, unsure of what to do. Slowly, ever so slowly, he brought it to his lips. He began to open his moth wide and was just about to devour it when he stopped.
No.
He couldn't eat the soul, not yet anyway.
Instead, the blonde retrieved his prayer beads and touched the soul to one of the many urple orbs that made up the necklace. Almost immediately, the white orb was absorbed into the necklace. Replacing it around his neck, Naruto heaved out a sigh and stared at the corpse of his enemy.
He didn't stare long as a hand on his shoulder grabbed his attention. Surprised, Naruto looked up to see the proudly smiling eye of his sensei, "Good job Naruto," he complimented.
For a moment, Naruto just stared back in surprise but then grinned back. The two left the tent to finish clearing out the bandits, neither one bothering to give the empty body of Khan a second glance.
The bandit king was dead.
A/N: And this is the end of my very own arc! Not as long as I wanted, but I figure I've kept you all waiting long enough. Now the ball should get rolling a little more easily. Be sure to leave a review!
Ja ne!