The Son of the Sannin
Chapter 9: The Seven Shinobi's Struggle for Survival
"Aunt Zune what's going on, where's mama?" Little Naruto asked the kunoichi, his face filled with terror and confusion.
The blond baby was scared out of his wits as he was held by his loving aunt in an attempt to calm him down. Naruto's fear was overtaking his senses; his body while in the arms of Shizune was as still as a statue. His eyes were the only part of his body that stayed in motion, scanning the area around him like flies buzzing over a rotten corpse. After a few minutes Naruto calmed down enough for his eyes to stop their stirring, the first thing he saw with focus was his big sister sitting next to him. On the surface she looked like she was handling the situation well, but like a raging forest fire the fear was spreading on her face and it didn't look like it was stopping any time soon.
Anko tried to stay strong in front of her little brother but with every passing moment the eight year old's bravery was turning to fear. Shizune's silence only enhanced the children's confusion as to what was taking place outside their tent. Prior to the battle, Tsunade ordered Naruto and Anko to be kept inside and hidden, unaware of the recent fight and the fate of their adopted mother.
Despite the fact she had fought in numerous battles with Tsunade and was fully aware of her duties as a shinobi, seeing her sensei defeated in such a manner was shocking to say the least for Shizune. The fact Jiraiya and Orochimaru still haven't made it back, only confirmed the idea that she was the last line of protection for the children. She further contemplated the fact that if the Sannin of all people could be taken out so easily, what chance would she have against this new enemy.
The Lady of Poison huddled her niece and nephew close to her chest, hugging them so tight they could hear her heart. The eight and four year old could feel her beat, pounding faster and faster with every passing second. Naruto didn't bother asking again, he knew the answer. The whisker faced boy and purple haired girl looked again into Shizune's eyes, expecting her face would match her racing heart. To their surprise it was just the opposite; her face was as calm as water, her body as still as the earth, she showed no sign of fear of what was to come.
"Aunt Zune, what's going to happen?" The little girl asked her face still full of fear.
Shizune simply smiled and smothered her and Naruto with a long heartwarming kiss, a kiss someone only gives when they're saying goodbye. But from what Anko could detect through her body language, Shizune wasn't saying goodbye but rather "see you soon". The Lady of Poison handed her and Naruto two kunai knives each; one as a last attack against the assailants, the other for themselves.
"Naruto, Anko, stay in the tent and do not come out under any circumstance, wait here until I or one of the others come back is that clear?" Shizune ordered the kids; her face was as stern as any parent would be to their children if they were in danger.
The younglings simply nodded to their aunt's wishes. Shizune's eyes turned tender again and a warm smile showed on her face.
"Aside from your brother, you two are everything I have ever wanted in a niece and nephew. I've known and cared for you both a long time and I love you as you were my own."
The brave kunoichi looked straight into their eyes as she said the endearing words. The children didn't say a word, taking every last moment they had with their loving aunt who they've considered more as a second mother over the years.
"I wish I could say more but I have to go and deal with these bad men first, when I come back I'll have a lot more to say to you two alright?" The woman asked her adopted "offspring", Shizune cringed at the thought of lying to Anko and Naruto in what was likely their last moment together.
Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Iruka were still missing, Tsunade was down for the count and they were in the middle of nowhere; no help was coming. But still she couldn't bear the thought of telling two children practically babies, they were going to die.
"Aunt Zune, who are these people, why are they doing this?" Anko innocently asked, tears falling down her cheeks.
Shizune's eyes fell to the ground, thinking the best way to explain the situation. To be honest even she didn't know the whole picture. From the tent she witnessed the fight between her sensei and the bug user but aside from that and the introduction of the masked man, she couldn't hear what they were saying. She heavily suspected it had to do with the Nine Tailed Fox but Shizune didn't want to upset Naruto. The Sannin and she promised to keep the truth from him about his destiny as a jinchuriki until he was older. Not even Iruka and Anko knew the whole story, only bits and pieces from what they experienced in the attack on Konoha. After contemplating the best way to explain what was taking place to her niece and nephew, she simply replied with three words.
"I don't know." Her tone was uncertain and unassured, it may not have instilled confidence but it was the truth.
"Remember what we taught you, remember to never give up without a fight and remember that we love you with all of our hearts."
Shizune leaned over Anko and kissed her forehead, using the backside of her index and middle finger to wipe away the tears on her cheek. She saw the same face on her nephew as she did on her little girl; Shizune placed her palms on Naruto's cheeks, wiping away the tears with her thumbs as her hands caressed the terrified little boy's face. After Naruto calmed down, Shizune removed one of her hands and placed it on Anko's cheek, trying to console their fears of what was to come.
Several seconds passed and the kunoichi could hear footsteps approaching the tent, shadows growing on its walls with every passing moment; the killing intent was off the chart. The Lady of Poison stood up and pulled up her kimono, revealing her infamous senbon needle launcher. A device able to launch armor piercing needles at astonishing speed, a weapon only used by the jonin kunoichi and only one of its kind. As she faced the entrance of the tent ready to fight to the death for her family, she glanced back to her charges one last time and smiled. Before the kids could react she left into the light of day, but not before sealing the tent with tags.
As Shizune placed the last sealing tag on the tent, two armor clad men and a third wrapped in simple robes approached her, the shielded shinobi unsheathed their katanas. As the assassins raised their swords to the sun the masked man waved his arm, ordering them to stand down…for the moment. Shoukin approached Shizune, his stance serene as if he didn't just knock out one of the legendary Sannin. He continued walking towards the jonin until her killing intent was sensed, at which point he stopped and raised his hand at her, pointing a long lone finger as if the Grim Reaper himself came for her soul.
"Stand aside girl, I have no need of you. I only want the brats in that tent, if you walk away I'll let you live."
Shizune looked straight into Shoukin's eyeholes and could only find darkness; there were no eyes to peer, no soul to see, only shadow. Her reaction to the masked villain's words was rousing to say the least; a solid smirk spread on her face and her eyes were as hard as stones.
"You know as well as I do, that isn't going to happen. I will give my life for these kids before I let you touch them." Shizune raised the sleeve on her kimono, showing her senbon slingshot shining in the sunlight.
"Shoukin is it? Allow me to explain what is going to happen. As far as I see it, you only have two choices in the matter. One; you tell me where you have the rest of my family and then simply leave. You should see this as mercy considering you knocked out my master rather than killed her, otherwise we wouldn't be talking. Or two; you and your minions come at me and we all die."
Behind his mask Shoukin's eyes narrowed in anger and impatience, taking the kunoichi's words to heart. Tsunade took out his second-in-command and several of his subordinates; if he didn't take the protégé seriously he may very well become another casualty. After what seemed like forever, the silence broke with the sound of a tightened fist and the cracking of one's neck.
"As tempting as it sounds I'm afraid I must decline. But know this, when you fall at my feet I will let you see your children one last time as I take them away. Consider it my mercy, to let your niece and nephew to be the last thing you see on this earth."
At an instance, two senbon needles pierced the heads of the sword wielding assassins. Both needles punctured their eye sockets, blood gushing from Shoukin's lackeys as they hit the ground. No words were said when the victims were given to God, only action as the two warriors charged at each other. Five minutes later, a lone scream filled the open field with fear and despair.
Meanwhile in the depths of a dungeon, the echoes of clattering feet filled the torch lighted corridors as three shinobi were making their run for freedom, their shadows casting darkness over the glowing walls like spirits dancing in the flame.
"Ojisan, how much further are we to the entrance? It feels like we've been running for hours." Iruka questioned the man leading the escape.
"The air smells fresher by the second; we should be out of here very soon." The Sannin replied; his breath filled with weight as his legs were running at full speed without chakra.
While Iruka's skill as a shinobi were considered greater than most of his peers, he still lacked the reserves of chakra to maintain the level of speed the rest of his family possessed. Both Jiraiya and Orochimaru knew that which was why they decided to use a single file formation for their escape, keeping Iruka safe in the middle while the two covered the front and rear at normal speed. Almost instantly after disclosing their location to Iruka, the Snake Sage detected an anomaly within the area; four other steps were conjoining on the fleeing prisoners.
The prisoners were cut off from their escape by two armored men, slipping out from a corridor ahead of the heroes. Their masked appearance gave no indication to their identities; all that was important at the moment were the blades of a katana and kusarigama directed at them. As the opposition was reading to charge, Jiraiya made a small smirk as he suddenly vanished from his position behind Iruka, only to reappear in front of the scum that dared to harm his family. The jailors could only blink before realizing it was too late, their armor being ripped through like wet paper as two blue spiraling orbs penetrated deep into their chests, forcing further into their bodies until there was nothing left save for two holes coming out of their backs.
"Take this, Rasengan!" Jiraiya yelled as he forced the jutsu through their cavities, the enemy was dead before they hit the ground.
However there was no time to observe the effects of the A-Rank jutsu on the victims as their blood flowed like rivers on the cobbled floor. The Sannin wasted enough time scurrying around the prison, looking for a way out like mice in a maze. They already had to deal with several guards when they escaped from their cells, not knowing how many more resided within the compound, the most prudent strategy would to simply stay on the course and find an exit. But considering how much time had gone by and with every second their family was in danger of being overwhelmed from opposition, the best approach now would be to make an exit.
Jiraiya noticed before killing the guards, their weapons were giving off a certain glow as if they were shimmering light from the flames mounted on the walls surrounding them. He soon realized that the source of reflection came not from torchlight but from sunlight, indicating there was a crack along the stone wall from where they fought. The Sage found the flaw of the stonework along the wall next to him, as his hands brushed the cold damp masonry, crumbles of stone and dirt fell at his feet. His eyes narrowed in suspicion as he conjured a hypothesis in his mind. He motioned the other two to stand back, biting his thumb; he performed a set of hand signs and placed his palm on the floor.
"Summoning Jutsu." The white haired shinobi exclaimed as a puff of smoke exploded around him.
Seconds later an enormous toad smashed through the outlying wall of the prison, rocks and debris exploded out like blooming flowers in the spring. From the settled dust came the amphibian's body and underneath its stomach laid the three shinobi, safely transported to their freedom. To their surprise no opposition awaited them when they escaped the prison, as if there was no enemy to begin with. Realizing that the main force must have been sent to attack Tsunade, the men quickly exited from under the anuran's belly and finally made their way back to the family.
Thanks to Sarutobi's training and the teachings he learned from the toads among Mount Myoboku, Jiraiya's eyesight was as sharp as an eagle, giving him a vision almost as powerful as the Byakugan. The Toad Hermit scanned the environment around him and noticed a trail of smoke lingering on the horizon. Judging that it wasn't their campfire considering they put it out last night before going to bed, it was clear that wherever the source of smolder came from, that's where the fighting was taking place. The three ninja quickly made their way to the source of chaos, praying to Kami they weren't too late.
Naruto and Anko were once again on the brink of crying and running from the tent, trying to resist the urge of disobeying Shizune's orders. Every second passing felt like an eternity, the silence that followed after the terrifying scream not five minutes ago only enhanced the children's fear of their aunt's death. The purple haired kunoichi held her baby brother tight in her arms while desperately gripping the kunai knife Shizune gave her. Naruto was trying his best to remain calm but it only seemed natural for a child his age to lose his composure and cry.
As the two younglings remained silent in the tent, protected by sealing tags their aunt placed before leaving, a lone figure approached. Unfortunately to the kids' dismay, the person they were hoping for wasn't her. With a single wave of his arm the tent was suddenly being torn to shreds; ruptures appearing instantly along the sides as what looked like a wind style jutsu destroying the shelter. The younglings shuddered from the attack and shut their eyes as tight as they could. Thinking for a brief instant they could kid themselves into believing it was all but a bad dream.
The roof of their tent was ripped open like a soup can, leaving the children completely defenseless. They slowly opened their eyes to the blue sky that peered over them and scanned the surrounding environment, their faces filled with shock as the campground they recognized now looked like a demilitarized zone. The two shared a gasp as they finally looked upon the face of the man responsible for this madness. His mask shining in the sunlight like polished armor, his presence as mighty and terrifying as the Shinigami himself; at least that's what the children thought when they were in his company.
The earth for a brief moment felt still as the scoundrel stood over the defenseless younglings. The kunai knives Shizune gave them was the only real defense they had; there was nothing in their arsenal except for some basic taijutsu and a few D-rank ninjutsu techniques to use against their assailant. To withstand such power such malevolence would be counted as a miracle. Shoukin approached the trembling children, his killing intent radiating off of him like plutonium. As the warrior came closer to his target, a puff of smoke appeared behind revealing three more armor cladded shinobi.
"Report" Shoukin ordered.
"Sir, we just got word from home base. The Sannin have escaped and are heading to our location, estimated time to enemy ten minutes." One of the soldiers stated.
"Dammit it all, we don't have much time. I will not leave here empty handed, for the sake of the village we must complete our objective." The masked leader commented.
Beneath his disguise Shoukin's composure was shrinking, he had been planning this mission for four years; he wasn't going to let Shikuro's efforts be in vain. If his ultimate goal was to become reality he needed the Kyuubi no Kitsune.
"My lord, what is to be done?" One of the ninja questioned.
Shoukin's fists clenched in frustration, he underestimated the Sannin's power including the Lady of Poison. Everything was falling apart; his original goal was to take the family captive for experimentation after extracting the demon fox from the boy. But now it seems, instead of possessing six test subjects to dissect for potential kekkei genkai and other means, he must only take one.
"Stay the course, complete the mission." The hoarse voiced commander issued to his soldiers.
The masked shinobi reached his arm out for the boy, his hand shaking with excitement as the idea of harnessing the power of the Nine Tailed Fox infecting his mind like cancer. However the fantasy ended with the sensation of pain as his hand was cut with a kunai.
"Come any closer and I'll kill you!" Anko shouted as her weapon dripped with the blood of her enemy.
The purple haired kunoichi faced the brooding brute, her eyes full of fierceness, her hold on the knife gripped with vitality. The daring little girl stood in front of the man that would harm her brother. Inspiring, the once terrified child who cowered before the villain, the bastard who harmed her family without knowing his face now stood before him with bravery in her heart and steel in her spine. Naruto was kept at arm's length behind his big sister, trying to grasp one of the kunai Shizune gave him with his toddler hands. Ironic, the noble idea of fighting to the end for family cannot be fulfilled when one is unable to protect himself.
"Little brat." Shoukin said to Anko as he grabbed her by the hair, holding her in midair while she screamed in pain.
"Let my sister go!" Naruto shouted to the masked ninja.
As the kunoichi was trying to land a kick on her disguised captor, Shoukin's soldiers stripped Anko of her kunai and whatever ninja tools she might have had on her.
"Are we taking her as well my lord, considering her link with the Tsuchikage?" One of the warriors asked.
Just as their leader was about to respond Anko bit into his thumb, causing the man to bark out like a dog.
"You little bitch!" Shoukin screamed as he threw her to the ground.
He then reached down to pick her up by the throat, only to knock her out with a single punch to the head.
"I'd hope to take you with us, considering the gift the Great Fence Sitter gave you, but now I think it be best for you to die here." Shoukin motioned his men over to him; two of them grabbed Naruto as the third stood over Anko.
"Leave her alone!" Naruto cried as the two subordinates grabbed his kunai.
Shoukin looked back at his primary target, his mask giving no notice to his next action.
"Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, I'd almost forgotten you were here. My goodness, it's uncanny how you look so much like your father." Shoukin stated to the blue eyed boy.
The ninja standing over Anko had a kunai on her throat as the masked villain had his hand on Naruto's, the toddler had tears in his eyes as he stared into the bottomless holes of Shoukin's mask.
"Cut it out, it hurts! Why are you doing this?" The toddler questioned his captor as the grip on his throat tightened.
Beneath his mask Shoukin had a smirk on his face.
"You may not realize this but all of this is because of you."
Naruto's eyes widened with shock and disbelief, disbelieving that the concept of the demise of his family is his fault.
"I don't know what your wards have told you but allow me to share with you a lesson about your past."
The boy stopped squirming as the two-faced shinobi released his hold, allowing Naruto to focus on Shoukin's words; the other soldiers also paused to their master's words; interested in hearing what was so special about this kid.
"Four years ago, The Village Hidden in the Leaves was attacked by a demon entity known as the Nine Tailed Fox. This fox was of immense size and power, able to level mountains and reduce cities to dust, no power on earth could match it's might save for one, Minato Namikaze."
"My father stopped it?" Naruto questioned.
"Ah, I see the Sannin told you that much about your birth parents. Yes, the Fourth Hokage was the man who stopped the Fox from destroying Konohagakure. Without the Yellow Flash, the village would have been obliterated as your father was the only man capable of defeating the monster. However, the irony in this story is that the Nine Tails cannot be killed; it is a living concentration of chakra therefore making it indestructible."
Everyone around Shoukin was fixated on hearing the end of the story. Everyone conscious that is, Anko, Tsunade and Shizune were still lifeless if not dead.
"So how do you kill an immortal? You can't, you seal it in a person."
Naruto's eyes widened in suspense, despite being a child he was rather bright for his age. Shoukin didn't have to spell it out for him; it was obvious where his captor was going with this.
"So the monster is, is?" The jinchuriki couldn't even finish his thought in disbelief.
"That's right, the Kyuubi no Kitsune was sealed within you by your own father!"
Shoukin's shinobi looked at each other in silence, cocking their heads in confusion like animals. From what their master told them, they thought the boy was to be used as a bargaining chip to force the Sannin to give them the location of the Fox, they never imagined the boy was the demon itself.
"For years I have been searching for the greatest power the Hidden Leaf ever possessed, for years I have been scouring the earth for the monster that maintained the balance of power between the Five Great Nations, and now I have it."
Shoukin stepped away from his prize and stood over where Anko was lying, the masked man nodded to his subordinate and from behind his back an enormous sword wrapped in bandages was shown.
"Naruto, my original mission was to take you and your family back to my laboratory, have your blood and organs extracted for any secret abilities you might possess. Now it seems I can only claim you as my own, your mother and aunt proved to be a challenge and your father; uncle and brother have escaped their cells where I was holding them."
The wind style user snapped his fingers and the wielder of the giant blade held the sword in a downward spiral, not a foot away from Anko's head.
"Before I rip the beast from your body I want to show you how cold and unyielding life is, by ripping your sister's head from her body. Samehada, it's time to eat."
As soon as Shoukin said its name the legendary Shark Skin sword unsheathed itself from its wrappings, drool started to fall from its mouth as it hovered over the defenseless girl. Naruto's fear was consuming him; words couldn't describe what the toddler must have been feeling as everything he knew and loved was being taken away from him. It wasn't the fact that he was just told he had a monster sealed away within him; it was the fact that this man this "monster" was taking away practically his entire world, his life so to speak. The boy's mind was trying to comprehend what was happening around him; a torrent of emotions was raging through him like waves in a storm, sadness and pain, fear and anger were fighting out amongst each other, trying to claim Naruto as his reaction to the madness. Anko's execution was imminent; Naruto's soul was splitting in two, all that he was feeling now was a seething primal rage that came out of thin air. And like an evil flood it washed over everything that was innocent in the child.
"Do it." Shoukin ordered the man holding Samehada.
As the blade belonging to the infamous Seven Swordsmen of the Mist was raised high to the sky, just high enough to cut through Anko's neck with a single thrust, a most sinister growl was heard on the open field. Behind his mask Shoukin's face froze with fear, the pupils in his eyes shrunk with terror as the thought he dreaded most coming to fruition was upon him. The once innocent blue eyed toddler had started to transform into what was sealed within him four years ago, the jinchuriki has lived up to his title.
A distinct red aura began glowing from Naruto like a human torch; his eyes went from sapphire to ruby, the whiskers on his face grew making him look like a wild animal. Fangs started showing out of his mouth, his hair started sticking full up as if electrocuted. The two men that were holding the jinchuriki were the first victims to feel the wrath of a vengeful son. In the blink of an eye chunks of flesh were flying into the sky like an open blender. The pleads of mercy from the suffered were mixed in with the roars of vengeance, all that could be heard were the screams of terror and fury synchronizing like an orchestra of chaos.
Shoukin and the last soldier he had with him stood from a distance as the "little demon" put on a horrific show of carnage and savagery that has never been seen before, not since the days of old before the villages' founding. After the slaughter of the boy's captors was finished, the monster turned his attention to the would-be executioner of his sister. Naruto's eyes gleamed with hatred and mindless rage, his hands had morphed to claws and his gaze was fixated upon the poor soul that wielded Samehada.
"I'm gonna kill you!" The jinchuriki thundered to the masked swordsman.
His voice despite being a child's had been infused with the malice of what has now possessed the boy. The last subordinate belonging to Shoukin was paralyzed with fear and rightfully so, never before has he seen as what could be described as unfathomable. Sadly before he could react, his gaze suddenly shrunk six feet as his head fell to the ground. Luckily as his body went limp the sword he was carrying missed Anko's head. It seemed fate had smiled down upon the family at last as the only one left to die was the mastermind himself, Shoukin though shaken at first, regained his cool by the time Naruto killed his last man.
"God damn it." The ninja said under his breath as he grabbed the Shark Skin blade.
Everything had fallen apart for the wind jutsu user. First Tsunade knocked out if not killed his second in command, then the other Sannin with Iruka escaped, and now the Kyuubi no Kitsune has been awakened within Naruto and killed the last of his men. All that he has strived to accomplish for the last four years was being washed away with the blood of his warriors. All that he could hope for now was to make a tactical retreat before the Tailed Beast took his life. Behind his mask the man was gritting his teeth, sweat dripping down his forehead, whatever he was going to do he'd best do it now or suffer the wrath of either the Fox or the Sannin.
"Alright you damn fox, you may have taken my men but mark my words you fucking demon, I will take you. Oh yes, your power will be mine." Shoukin threatened the kitsune, he wasn't sure whether or not the beast heard what he said, but after everything that has happened he just wanted to get that out of his system.
Naruto locked on his sight at the man, drool escaping from his mouth as the insistent growling he made varied. The disguised shinobi raised Samehada up behind his shoulder, twirling the tip of its blade like a baseball bat waiting for that perfect pitch to slug. The two monsters stared each other down in what would determine the outcome of the mission, success or failure. In a flash the fox charged full on at his target, unless the man was a sealing jutsu specialist, Shoukin was about to meet his maker. The man whose name meant redemption waited patiently as the creature leapt into the air ready to tear him limb from limb, his hands holding his salvation lied perfectly still as he only had one shot to do this right. As if Kisame Hoshigaki was swinging the sword himself, a perfect shot of the Shark Skin blade at Naruto's head connected, draining or rather eating away the demonic chakra that consumed the boy. All at once the living weapon gorged itself on the life energy that was the Nine Tails, depleting all the negative energy of the Fox from the boy until at last the child returned to his original form, lying still on the ground as if soundly asleep.
"I may have lost all the men I took with me, but I'll be damned if I am going to leave here empty handed." The relieved man exhaled as his approached Naruto.
"Then you are damned it would seem." The wielder of the Kusanagi said as he pointed it to Shoukin's back.
Shoukin's spine stiffened for a moment when he heard the Snake Sage's voice. His focus was justly fixated on Naruto, unaware of the Sannin's presence.
"Orochimaru, it's been a long time." The now disadvantaged man replied as he retracted his hand.
"Before I pierce my sword into your spine, you will tell me who sent you." The grey skinned shinobi demanded from the man that attacked his family.
"Who sent me? Nobody sent me, I am my own man. And if you want to find out why I did this just look around and you'll know."
Orochimaru was seething with venom, his eyes piercing with anger as he saw the bodies of Tsunade and Shizune.
"You stinking mother-"
"I've always wanted to know which sword would win in a duel, the Sword of Kusanagi or the Samehada?" Shoukin nonchalantly challenged the Sannin as he swung behind him with the Shark Skin.
The two legendary blades clashed for a brief second, the would-be captor ducked under a swing from Orochimaru and jumped back a distance. For a brief moment the fight led to a chase where the masked fighter raced over to where Tsunade laid comatose. The grey skinned Sannin thought for a second the man was going for his comrade but in fact he didn't, he stopped and faced him only when he stood next to Shikuro.
"As much as I would like to conclude our duel I'm afraid this is where we must part ways. To be honest if you wanted to see the full ability of the Samehada then I wouldn't do it justice, I had it on lend from a friend and I promised to deliver it back to him." Shoukin said while picking up his comrade off the ground and hoisting him onto his back.
"Rest assured this will not be the last time we'll see each other. I will not stop until I have the Nine Tailed Fox at my disposal. Give my regards to the rest of the family; tell them their deaths will be a noble sacrifice to the sanctity and preservation of the world." Shoukin bided farewell as he made the hand signs to perform the Body Flicker Technique, causing a puff of smoke to appear and disappear along with him.
There were no words to be said in that moment, for only fear of the possible departed overtook Orochimaru's senses. Just as he was about to check Tsunade's condition the other two males of the family arrived to his location.
"Were there any others?" Orochimaru questioned Jiraiya.
"It was as you said, with the breakout we were bound to attract some opposition. Luckily there were only a few, otherwise we'd run out of chakra." The Toad Sage stated.
Iruka was about to say something relating to the enemy they faced but was overtaken with the chaotic scenery that surrounded him. Seeing so many bodies displayed so horrifically on the open field reminded him of that dreaded night four years ago in Konoha. The two men quickly tended to the women as they were the first to be found while Iruka sought out his little brother and sister. Jiraiya thanked God to find Tsunade with a pulse and even more so to find her coming to. Shizune unfortunately was not so lucky, while she did possess a heartbeat her body was a limp as a fish. Her eyes were open and judging from what could be examined, she had suffered severe psychological trauma. Orochimaru deduced that she must have succumbed to a powerful genjutsu to experience such pain. Thankfully he possessed enough skill to break the jutsu, releasing Shizune from her mental prison.
Iruka scanned the battlefield, only to find nothing but craters and casualties sprawled all over until a little glimpse of purple and yellow poked out in the distance.
"Anko, Naruto!" The scarfaced shinobi cried as he raced over to find his siblings buried in bodies.
Anko was under a decapitated corpse while Naruto was covered with chunks of flesh. Iruka quickly tended to his sister while Jiraiya went to Naruto. Prays be to God that Anko appeared to have a slight concussion from Shoukin's punch while the jinchuriki seemed to have just run out of chakra. Silent pleads came from Jiraiya's lips as it seemed everyone came out of this fiasco alive. Orochimaru and Shizune returned to their family with a now groggy Tsunade, recovering from the paralysis poison she took from Shikuro's bugs.
The Sannin and the Lady of Poison looked around them once more, realizing how close their family came from being annihilated. Orochimaru set Tsunade down by Jiraiya as they held their youngest son in unison. Shizune kneeled down and embraced Iruka while Anko was carried in her uncle's arms; no one said a word for several minutes as they watched the sky in silence.
"Who was he, why did he want the Nine Tails inside Naruto?" Shizune questioned out in the open, not expecting an answer from anyone.
"I don't know, but before he fled he promised me we'd meet again. Judging from his voice, he meant every word." Orochimaru explained to the group.
"And we'll be ready." Tsunade said as she took one of Jiraiya's hands into her own.
"The next time we face him, we won't be alone." Jiraiya stated with a smirk.