Dawn's Sage
Chapter 10
Tenchi Bridge was one of the three vital pathways into the Land of Grass, and it had been built to last. The three bridges spanned the deep ravines that riddled the country's borders, providing entry for merchants and civilians. Ninja didn't need to bother with the bridges, as they could simply cross the ravines like they weren't even there, but to the less militant minded the bridges were vital paths that connected the land to its three neighbors. The Land of Rain lay to the south, the Land of Fire to the east, and the Land of Earth in the northwest.
Kannabi Bridge had been destroyed during the last war, and the Land of Grass had been glad to be rid of any connection to the nation that had occupied them not so long ago. Hozukijo Bridge passed right past the infamous prison of the same name, and was rarely traveled, especially since travelers from the Land of Rain had been scarce in recent years. Tenchi Bridge however remained a well traveled route, though it wasn't uncommon to find it empty. The Land of Grass had few reasons to visit in the first place.
It was the lack of enemy ninja presence and presence of the bridge itself that convinced Sasori that Tenchi Bridge would be a good place to meet his spy. Kabuto Yakushi had been an accomplished spy for the Hidden Leaf when he had appeared in the Hidden Sand. His alibi and back story had been watertight, which made Sasori suspicious. More digging had revealed that Kabuto, a loyal Sand ninja, had actually been a loyal Mist ninja not too long ago, and a loyal Cloud ninja before that.
It had pushed Sasori's spy network to the limits, but he had managed to track down Kabuto's origins to the Hidden Leaf. The pragmatic puppeteer wasn't one to let such talent in his field of expertise slip away, and had 'recruited' the child into his massive spy network. Kabuto had been sent to infiltrate the Hidden Rock Village, and had been good about sending reports to Sasori and the Hidden Leaf. It wouldn't do to have the Leaf grow suspicious of their spy and have him 'erased' for good.
He had done well, and Sasori had almost forgotten him when it happened. The Leaf had ordered the boy eliminated anyway, and through some contrived circumstances, he had ended up in the employ of Orochimaru. It would appear that Sasori had not been the only person keeping an eye the silver haired spy. Never one to let an opportunity pass, Sasori had tasked Kabuto Yakushi with spying on Orochimaru himself. And now he hoped that placing a mole in the snake's den would come to fruition with a lead on the Three Tails. Orochimaru was known to have spent his years after, and even before, his defection from the Hidden Leaf partaking in horrid experiments to achieve perfection.
As rare as they were, Tailed Beasts would be at least justify some looking into. These thought kept Sasori occupied as he readied his questions for his contact. He knew sneaking away from Orochimaru would be difficult, and had no wish to lose such a valuable spy, even if it meant arriving early and waiting.
He sat inside his armored puppet Hiruko, senses trained outwards and mind focused inwards until a hooded and cloaked figure flickered into existence next to him. "I trust I didn't keep you waiting too long Lord Sasori?"
"No. I arrived early. You're on time." grunted Sasori through Hiruko's armor. "I hate keeping others waiting, but I hate being kept waiting myself even more. So why don't you come out so we can start this already?"
"Kukuku." laughed a pale man as he rose from the boards of the bridge. "I thought for sure I had hidden my presence. Oh well, if Akatsuki was made of weaklings, it wouldn't be worth the effort." He stepped out of the ground entirely, long black hair cashing with his ghostly pale skin. The purple eyeliner might have been seen as feminine if it didn't draw attention to his golden eyes, the pupil a slit. The long tongue that he licked his lips with completed the appearance of a snake that had found what it wanted.
"Orochimaru." stated Sasori, as though he were interrupted by one the most feared traitors in the world on a daily basis. "Did you follow my spy here, or did he sell me out? I want to know whether there will have to be blood before we're done here, and whose it will be." Kabuto swallowed, taking a step away from his former master towards the Snake Sannin.
"No need to get antsy, Sasori." said Orochimaru. "I was just a tad interested in this Akatsuki group. They seemed like strong people, so I thought I might use them to further my own goals. Imagine my surprise when my own trusted medic was a spy for them all along. I followed him of my own accord to meet with you directly."
"Akatsuki is not a tool to be used, snake. You'd be the one more likely to end up dead if you crossed us." warned Sasori.
"I have no intention of fighting you. I was just wondering why I wasn't included. I think I'd be a good addition to an organization hunting jinchuriki." said Orochimaru, examining his nails in feigned disinterest.
"Akatsuki only has ten members at any given time. And while some are full with idiots and fools, they are all full just the same. There is no room for you in Akatsuki." growled Sasori.
"Shame. I even tracked down my Tailed Beast too." said Orochimaru as he looked up from his right hand to gaze intently at Sasori with an infuriatingly cocky grin on his face. "But if Akatsuki doesn't want to know where the Three Tails is, I suppose I could find use of it for myself. Perhaps it would make a tasty soup…"
"As I said before, Akatsuki is not accepting new members. However, in exchange for the information on the Tailed Beast's whereabouts, Akatsuki will assist you in your goals, and you will be immediately inducted as a member should one of the current ones die." offered Sasori.
Orochimaru's smile got wider, if such a thing were possible. "I had hoped you would see things my way Sasori. I'll give you back your spy; Kabuto will show you where we've found the turtle. And I'll be waiting for that letter of acceptance with bated breath." Sasori would have to be deaf to miss the sarcasm and arrogance in his voice as Orochimaru's pale skin slowly turned brown and he collapsed into a puddle of mud.
"I'll have word with you about checking to be sure you aren't followed later." grunted Sasori. "For now, take me to the Tailed Beast."
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Sasuke usually hated the rain. It was wet, good for farmers he supposed, but to him it was just one more hindrance in battle. But today he didn't mind. Today, it seemed appropriate that the universe share his feelings. He stood facing the memorial stone of fallen heroes of the Hidden Leaf, staring in mute horror and agony at the name freshly carved onto it. Sakura Haruno. It was only a name, but it was a name that meant so much more than just a name, in a place it shouldn't be.
Part of him blamed Ino for not being a good enough medic, but the argument was mostly a hollow excuse to push away and wallow in his own guilt. If he had only been stronger, able to defeat Akatsuki and not be fooled by some juvenile trick like that, she might still be alive. If only his attacks had been as powerful as a sage's, he might have been able to do…something!
Lightning flashed in the background and the resounding boom of thunder shook Sasuke to his bones. His eyes, previously shut with tears, shot open in a moment of realization. He hadn't been strong enough then, but he would become stronger. Stronger than Naruto, stronger than Itachi, stronger than all of Akatsuki combined! And he would do it with the fury and power of a bolt of lightning.
The youngest living Uchiha ran off to find someone to teach him about summoning, more determined than he had been since his academy days, where he lived for Itachi's dying breath. From the trees around the memorial stone, one eye watched on, glad that his adorable little student was taking the opportunity to better himself rather than give up in despair. He had been prepared to inspire Sasuke and motivate him to beat Akatsuki, but it seemed the young Uchiha had that bit covered by himself. And Kakashi had bothered to sneak out of the hospital when he shouldn't have even been awake just for this. He would have to talk to Sasuke about needing too much surveillance later. For now, he would focus on the burning pain coming from his broken bones.
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"If I ever become a traveling hermit, I want you to kill me." complained Kisame. "This whole 'traveling where the wind takes me' crap makes it way harder to find someone that it should be."
"If you became difficult that to find I wouldn't bother hunting you down." countered Itachi. "Besides, we've found him now."
Itachi gestured to the canyon they overlooked from their vantage point. They had been traveling the Land of Earth for some time now, eager to prove themselves once more after their debacle with the Mizukage. They had managed to track Roshi, the jinchuriki of the Four Tails, across the countryside, always one step behind the wandering hermit. But now, looking down into the canyon, Kisame could see the small campfire giving off a warm light. It was the same fire that betrayed the jinchuriki's position, though Roshi probably had confidence that he could beat any simple bandits that found his campsite.
Unfortunately for him, Akatsuki was no group of bandits that had stumbled across some traveler. They were competent warriors that could decimate entire armies single handedly, coming in with full knowledge of their opponent's unique partner.
Itachi took a step forward to move in on the campsite, but was stopped by Kisame's large arm on his shoulder. "You take a nap or something, I got this." Kisame smiled at his partner's impassive face. "It's my fault that Yagura ate it anyway, so I'll handle this guy by my lonesome."
"Yes, it was your fault." despite Itachi's condemning tone, Kisame simply laughed. "I'll see you when you're done for the sealing."
"Sure thing." Kisame hefted Samehada over his shoulder and trekked into the valley to get his target. The Land of Earth's hot climate had left the canyon destitute of any plant life bigger than a shrub, and the jinchuriki spotted Kisame from some distance. Apparently news of the Kazekage's death and Akatsuki hadn't reached his ears yet, and Roshi simply sat eating his dinner as Kisame drew near.
"So, Akatsuki has found me already, eh?" Apparently word had reached him then. "I hope you'll let a doomed man finish one last meal? It'd be a shame waste a perfectly good fish." Kisame didn't reply, but he did simply stand there for a minute as Roshi finished off the last bit of his dinner.
"So are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard way? Doomed man and last meal don't sound like the words of a man who'll fight for every breath." asked Kisame, though he would eat his Akatsuki cloak if it were as simple as that.
"If it were my life on the line, I'd go quietly. I've lived longer than most people in this world have any right to." said Roshi quietly before looking up, his eyes showing his inner resolve. "But I don't think you're collecting Tailed Beasts to store in a pretty showcase. I can't allow the lives of those important to me to be endangered, so I trust you understand why I'll fight with all I have."
"Yeah, no hard feelings." said Kisame before he leveled Samehada and inch from Roshi's nose. To the red haired hermit's credit, he didn't move at all. "Just hard blows!" With that Kisame lunged forward, Samehada almost going through Roshi's face. The old jinchuriki managed to jump out of range at the last second, running through hand seals as he flew backwards.
"Lava Style: Exploding Hell Balls!" Roshi stomped his foot on the ground, causing several circles of rock to rise to eye level. Kisame hated Earth Style jutsu, because even if Samehada ate all the chakra behind the technique, you still had a large boulder hurtling towards you. The circles of earth bowed in the middle and launched at Kisame once they had collapsed in on themselves, leaving Kisame to stare down the balls of rock shooting towards him.
Samehada cut through the first one, and while his sword couldn't talk, Kisame could sense it complaining about the hot lava inside the sphere. The next two hurtled past him on either side harmlessly, striking where he would be if he hadn't of dodged. Kisame knew that it couldn't be that easy, and his suspicion was confirmed when the spheres of lava filled rock exploded next to his head, sending lava and rock shrapnel flying in every direction.
Kisame winced in pain as the molten rock hit the sides of his face. The burns and cuts were quickly healed by Samehada, but there was nothing stopping them from hurting in the meantime. When Kisame opened his eyes, he saw a wave of lava bearing down on him. He tossed Samehada into the air and sprinted through the hand seals of his own technique. He finished, and didn't waste any time balancing his chakra for maximum chakra efficiency.
"Water Style: Exploding Water Shockwave!" Thousands of gallons of water were vomited out of Kisame mouth, and he was soon standing on top of a tidal wave of equal size to the molten death coming towards him. Kisame caught Samehada and balanced the deadly blade on his shoulder. The two waves collided with a hiss of steam. Kisame was trained to fight in the mist though, and that gave him a distinct advantage.
Or so he thought. Kisame ran at the jinchuriki, drawing back Samehada to drain his chakra. He went for the legs, and was shocked when Roshi jumped. The old man's foot became cloaked in a noxious red chakra before it shot out at Kisame's face. The shark managed to get a hand between the blow and his face, but he still went flying back. Kisame dug Samehada into the ground to slow himself down and landed on his feet.
"How were you able to sense me in the mist? I'm one of the best in the world at Silent Killing." asked Kisame. The Four Tail's chakra had receded almost immediately, which made Kisame think that perhaps the old man couldn't use the chakra for more than a second.
"The earth is my ally, and you might have well been an earthquake heading towards me." answered Roshi. "But I see you aren't an opponent I can hold back on…much." With that, Roshi was engulfed in a torrent of red. When the aura around him died down somewhat, Kisame noticed that he had one tail sprouting from his lower back. On top of that, his skin actually appeared to be made of lava.
The two men ran towards each other, Kisame drawing back his sword and Roshi preparing a simple punch. A punch coated in lava, but still a punch. Once they reached each other, Kisame swung downwards in an overhead strike that Roshi easily dodged. Kisame used Samehada as a lever to lift himself up and over the punch that Roshi threw, though he was unprepared for Roshi's new tail to swing up and give him a smack in the face.
The lava armor burned, and the impact from the tail launched Kisame backwards, Samehada barely staying in his hand. Roshi stepped forward, hopefully to gloat so Kisame could have time to heal his injuries. "You don't stand a chance against a jinchuriki at one tail, and this isn't even my final form. You'll need to send someone more experienced to deal with me." Roshi rushed forward, but Kisame's burns had already healed. Expecting his opponent to be writhing on the ground in pain, Roshi was taken by surprise when Kisame leapt up and hit him in the stomach with Samehada.
The shark sword was stopped by Roshi's Lava Armor, but Kisame quickly flipped the jinchuriki, using his beloved sword like a common bandit's club. Samehada still ate all of Roshi's spicy chakra though, and the jinchuriki landed without his cloak of lava, though relatively unharmed. "That's one nasty sword. Let's see how much chakra it can absorb though!" Roshi's chakra flared once again, the sheer force cracking the ground beneath him. Four tails emerged this time, and Kisame readied his Water Prison Shark Dance, though he was still hoping to avoid using it.
"Flower-Fruit Mountain!" Roshi slammed his hands on the ground, and the ground beneath Kisame began to buckle upwards. The Akatsuki member's eyes widened as he felt the heat from the ground a moment before it broke. The area had temporarily been turned into a volcano, and the eruption sent massive quantities of lava shooting upwards.
Kisame ran spat up a massive dome of water as Samehada fused to his body. A tail emerged from the Tailless Tailed Beast's back as his hands developed webbing. Fins grew from his arms and head and his whole demeanor became more shark-like. The volcanic eruption below and the small ocean above canceled each other out in a massive amount of steam. The two monsters didn't wait for it to clear up before they attacked though.
"Water Style: Aqua Jet!" Kisame shot a jet of concentrated water from his mouth as Roshi ran at him, covered entirely in his Tailed Beast's chakra. The Hidden Rock ninja rolled out of the way easily, a testament to his years of experience. Roshi finished his seals as he righted himself.
"Lava Style: Fire Pledge!" a plume of lava erupted from the ground in front of Roshi. Kisame was confused by such a useless attack, when another pillar of lava shot up from the ground, this time a little bit closer. Within seconds, the columns of fire had shot towards Kisame, swerving before they hit him to encircle him with the flames. Kisame felt the ground beneath him flare with chakra, indicating a finishing plume much more powerful than the ones meant to entrap him.
It burned like hell, but Kisame leapt through the ring of fire that surrounded him. Samehada healed his wounds; or rather he did, since he and Samehada were one being at the moment. The sizzling stopped as the final burns were healed. Kisame looked up to see a lava armored jinchuriki in his face, jaw opened to unrealistic proportions and about to take a large bite out the Akatsuki member. "Fire Style: Fire Fang!" Somehow Roshi managed to call out his attack even when his mouth was open wide enough to swallow Kisame's head. The shark man acted on instinct, and his thick tail smacked Roshi away. The Lava Armor left some bad burns on his tail, but Kisame ignored it. The burns would heal soon enough; right now he had to get the momentum of the fight back on his side. While Roshi was still recovering from the blow, Kisame formed a quick seal and spat out a small volume of water.
Roshi righted himself to land on his feet, though the speed of his travel had him skidding short distance. He looked at Kisame to see the man rushing him with Samehada back in his hands. The sword had seemed vital to Kisame's fighting strategy, which is why Roshi wasn't expecting Kisame to throw the sword at him like a large shuriken. The strategy was effective though, and Roshi was smacked across the face with the blade. Kisame rushed in immediately afterwards to press his advantage, delivering a solid blow to Roshi's face, which had been robbed of its protective and destructive chakra by Samehada's appetite.
The blow sent Roshi flying back head over heels, but his decades of experience wouldn't been beaten that easily. His tails quickly righted him as the burning chakra covered his face once again. The rage of the Four Tails was telling him to rush recklessly, but he had been using the Tailed Beast's chakra for decades now and had gotten pretty good at suppressing his more primal instincts. Still, he would have to end this quickly before he became unable to use his demon's chakra. It gave him strength and stamina, but it also robbed him of a clear mind and slowly burned away his body.
Kisame had decided to end it as well, and was running through the seals for one of his most powerful techniques, a jutsu he had actually developed to kill the Mizukage. It was only after developing the technique that he realized that Yagura would have brushed off a Water Style attack like it wasn't even there. Roshi noticed that Kisame no longer had Samehada near him to heal his wounds and eat the chakra of his enemies. Realizing this was his best chance, he rushed at the Akatsuki member. Just as he started running, Kisame finished the seals for the technique, now he only had to charge it. He brought his hands to his hips and started the final steps of the technique. Cupping his hands together, he channeled all his chakra to the space between his hands. "Tuuuurrrrrtle…"
A small blue orb of flame vaporous, unaltered chakra formed between Kisame's hands as Roshi closed about half of the gap. Kisame ignored this to focus on the next part. He concentrated on converting the massive amount of chakra into Water Chakra. Nature transformation of this scale was difficult in the extreme, but the orb took on a deeper blue hue and felt more solid than it had a second ago. "Destruuuucctiiiiooonnn…"
Roshi had him. Kisame was unarmed a few feet away, and Roshi swung his arm to deliver a blow strong enough to decapitate the shark man before him. He was surprised when his hand passed harmlessly a few inches from Kisame's face. Looking backwards to check what had stopped him, he saw Kisame atop his sword, which had been driven through one of his tails. The blade was drawing his chakra out, and Roshi's other three tails shot out to impale the Kisame holding the sword. The appendages succeeded, but Kisame simply dissolved into water grinning as they ran him through. Roshi's dulled mind felt happy that it had killed the Akatsuki member, but as Samehada continued to rob him of his demonic shield, his senses cleared. But not soon enough.
Kisame finished his technique with the easiest of all the steps. He simply released the energy built up in a directed beam of death. Figuratively of course, since Roshi dying would be very bad. Kisame thrust his hands out in front of him, palms facing his opponent like his signature Super Water Shark Bomb. "WAAAAAVVVVVEEEEEEE!"
The orb of condensed Water Chakra burst outwards at Roshi, hitting him point blank and engulfing him completely. After several seconds, the beam subsided to reveal that Roshi had been blasted several hundred meters. The jinchuriki had been driven into a wall of cooled magma, from his first attack of the battle ironically enough, leaving a human shaped imprint around the unconscious, or dead, jinchuriki. Kisame really hoped it was the former.
The Akatsuki member took a step forward and almost collapsed from sheer exhaustion. The Turtle Destruction Wave was a powerful technique, but it was slow and took almost all of his chakra. He managed to catch himself on Samehada's handle, and stolen chakra flooded into his system. It was no substitute for a good night's sleep, but it would keep him up and running for a while longer. He walked up to his Akatsuki cloak, which he had discarded sometime in the course of the heated battle to fuse with Samehada more easily.
After donning the article of clothing that declared his allegiances like his headband used to, Kisame walked up to the bearded jinchuriki and poked him in the stomach with Samehada. The light touch was enough to dislodge the body from the rock, and Roshi fell onto Kisame's blade. He groaned as Kisame swung the sword up over his shoulder for easy transport of the body, reassuring Kisame of the jinchuriki's continued life. For a little bit longer anyway. This manner of carrying the body had the fortuitous side effect of constantly draining the man's chakra to keep him sedated.
Kisame trekked back to the ridge where he had left Itachi, and wasn't surprised to see that the Uchiha had only moved to sit down on a large rock. Kisame decided to inform Itachi of the painfully obvious, just to annoy his stoic partner. "Well, I got the old geezer, but he sure put up a fight." Kisame punctuated the sentence by tossing Roshi's body onto the ground in front of Itachi.
"Don't complain. You were the one who wanted to go alone. If we had gone together, he wouldn't have lasted a second." said Itachi, his black eyes betraying no emotion. Kisame's partner looked down at the body in front of him. "Shouldn't you show a bit of respect to the elderly?"
"Hah! Don't let his age fool you. This old guy isn't one to be taken lightly. I almost had to use a tenth of my full power against him." His bragging managed to get a light groan out of Itachi. It wasn't much, but Kisame would take what he could get from a former ANBU captain.
"Let's get a move on. We have a jinchuriki to seal, then we take out my target. Luckily the Five Tails is also located in the Land of Earth, so we won't have far to go." said Itachi as Kisame lifted Roshi once more with Samehada. The duo walked off, sending a message that they had procured one of the targets.
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Sasori and Zetsu were rather annoyed. Orochimaru's tip had proven accurate, but the location that it had led them was rather frustrating.
"Soooooo," began Zetsu, beating around the bush, "I don't suppose… do you have any puppets that can swim?"
"No. And I'm guessing your underground transportation won't assist in getting the Three Tails out of the lake either." grumbled Sasori, who was grumbling even inside Hiruko.
"No." responded Zetsu. "I may have something that could help, but I'm still ironing out the details." The Akatsuki team stopped arguing and stood intently listening to something in perfect unison. A second or two passed, and they both relaxed once more.
"Ponder it all you like over the next three days." replied Sasori as he emerged from his puppet shell. He pulled out a scroll and began to tinker with one of his newer puppets, installing the hidden weapons. "We have some time to burn apparently."
"Who do you think it was?" asked Zetsu, though in typical fashion, he answered his own question. "It doesn't matter who got which jinchuriki. We got one, that's all that matters."
"Just be ready to capture the Three Tails after the sealing." interjected Sasori. After listening to Zetsu argue with himself for hours when they had first been paired together, Sasori had learned quickly to stop the… two? one?... if he didn't want his time being wasted. And he never wanted his time to be wasted. Sasori pulled a scroll out of his cloak and opened it to remove one of his backup organs. "Here."
Zetsu reached over and grabbed the juicy spleen and began to eat as Sasori worked on his puppet, the two passing the time until the sealing began.
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"Damn it Kakuzu! Why you old fuckers so slow all the time? We should already be done with this shitty 'take them alive' business, but nooooo, you just have to stop and kill anyone with a bounty on their head big enough to buy a bowl of ramen! Now someone else got another jinchuriki, and we're still trekking to the Hidden Cloud." complained Hidan.
"Hidan. Shut up, or I'll kill you." said Kakuzu, not bothering to hide his annoyance.
"Ha! If you could kill me, I'd welcome it! Besides, you're just pissed because you know I'm right." said Hidan. "Say, who do you think it is this time?"
"I do not care."
"Shame, I recently came across a hefty sum of cash off of a gambler's corpse. I was hoping to gamble it away on bets and the like to keep the spirit alive, but I guess no one wants to take a gamble around here. Even if it means winning… large… amounts… of cash." said Hidan, drawing out the last word for emphasis.
"I'd wager it was Kisame and Itachi, now how much money are we talking about?" answered Kakuzu.
"Hah, I knew you'd come around! For a very large amount of dough, my guess is Sasori and Zetsu. He'd hate to be the last one to catch his target, since it would mean making others wait." laughed Hidan. "I don't want money though. If I win, I get to mutilate the next bounty we find, beyond recognition. It's been too long since my last complete tribute, and my life depends on Lord Jashin's favor."
"You're insane to think anything could be more powerful than money, but I'll accept those terms. Now let's find somewhere out of the way to be during the sealing." retorted Kakuzu as he and Hidan made their way towards the Land of Lightning. Hidan's target was the Two Tails, and Kakuzu would pray to Jashin before his team was the last to collect their Tailed Beast.
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Ino was inconsolable after Sakura's death. She spent most of her time crying in her room or visiting Kakashi at the hospital. The jonin's ribs had been shattered and his internal organs had practically been liquefied; it was only because of Tsunade's unparalleled medical skill that his ninja career had survived. She had been so furious at him for sneaking out of the hospital early, the Hokage had almost forgotten the loss of her apprentice temporarily. But Sakura's death was inescapable.
Ino had gotten better though. The pain was still there, but it wasn't as raw as it had been. The blonde Yamanaka had decided that morning to check up on her other teammate, and console Sasuke as best she could. This was more difficult than she had thought, since Sasuke had apparently not just been sitting at home like she had. Kakashi had only seen the Uchiha when he had barged in and more or less interrogated Kakashi on all he knew about summoning. Kakashi had referred him to the retired Third Hokage, and Sasuke hadn't been seen since.
The Third Hokage had been about as much help as Kakashi had on Ino's search. Sasuke had approached the elderly 'God of Ninja' several days ago and asked once more about summoning. The old man had summoned a small monkey for the last loyal Uchiha, as he did then for Ino. The critter was absolutely adorable, but Sasuke hadn't been looking for a cute pet. He was referred to Tsunade, as she was the summoner of the slugs, a near indestructible, acid spewing, absolutely massive summon.
Tsunade had seen the Uchiha the same day as her predecessor. He had told her that he was doing summon research to avenge Sakura, and she had told him everything he wanted to know and then some. The slugs were strong, but they were mostly healers. At this rate, Sasuke had apparently despaired of inheriting a summoning contract that fit him perfectly. When Sasuke asked how Tsunade had procured her summoning contract, he was disappointed to learn that the Slug Summoning Contract was a Senju clan heirloom. As the only living Senju, Tsunade had inherited it from her ancestors.
Ino had then traced Sasuke to Jiraiya of the Sannin. Tsunade had mentioned that she had no idea how here orphaned teammate had procured his summoning contract. When Ino found the pervert, peeping at the hot springs no less, he had treated her to a story about how he found his summoning contract in return for her silence on the matter. Sasuke had apparently gotten the same deal earlier today, and had upheld his end of the bargain. She had still punted him over the barrier into hot water, both literally and figuratively. Still, the story had been interesting, not that she planned to summon herself to the lair of some deadly summon creature. But she knew someone who might just be that desperate.
She headed to her team's training ground, where she saw Sasuke practicing some jutsu or another. She couldn't name it, but something held her back from making her presence known. Perhaps it was Sasuke's look of sheer concentration, or maybe the fact that she had some idea as to what he was up to. Sasuke finished the short series of seals and slammed his palms on the ground. Even from across the training ground, Ino heard the name of the technique he had just used. "Reverse Summoning Technique!" Ino finally gained the courage to approach her teammate, but by then he had disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
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Sasuke opened his eyes, Sharingan spinning. He remembered Jiraiya's warning, and as despicable he was as a human being, he was a damn good ninja. Just because Jiraiya had befriended his summons within minutes of arriving, Sasuke may have entered the lair of some deadly beast that wanted no relations with him past dinner. Several seconds passed, and Sasuke allowed himself to sheath his sword and take in his surroundings.
He found himself with very little to look at beyond the sky. On and impulse, he looked down, and his eyes widened in wonder. He was at the peak of a large mountain that rose above the clouds. Mountain was generous though; the rock he was standing on was better described as a spire, jutting up from the earth to awe inspiring heights. Looking around, Sasuke saw smaller spires shooting up out of the cloud cover several hundred feet below him.
A loud cawing noise drew his attention upwards once more. Sasuke wondered briefly what could possibly be higher than him, and his question was answered a second later. A large hawk swept down at him, striking out with razor sharp talons. Sasuke managed to block the strike with his sword, but the impact still drove him off the edge of the rocky pinnacle. Deciding to cut his losses, Sasuke let the hawk carry his sword off as he landed vertically on the rock face.
His Sharingan noticed the otherwise invisible blades of wind coming to chop him into mince meat. There were many blades arrayed in seemingly no order at all, which would have made them impossible to dodge. Unless one had all seeing eyes. Sasuke weaved and dodged around the rocky peak, avoiding every blade of wind that left deep gouges in the rock. He looked up to see the hawk from earlier beat its wings once more with a loud cry. He dodged all of these ones too, but they distracted him from the hawk moving upwards.
The bird fell into a steep dive at Sasuke. The Uchiha's Sharingan was all that allowed him to track the fast movement. He managed to jump off of the rock face in time to dodge the speeding predator. He locked eyes with the winged beast as it passed him, and time seemed to stop as he gazed into the golden eyes of the brown bird. Deciding that slicing off one of the hawk's wings wouldn't earn its respect as, Sasuke settled for a simple genjutsu. Simple for the Sharingan anyway; it was likely no normal genjutsu user would achieve a genjutsu of this level in their lifetime.
The bird's eyes had three dots come into being, making it closely resemble a golden version of the Sharingan as it swooped around to catch Sasuke on its back. The bird then flew off to carry Sasuke off to the tallest of the spires, which was amazingly carved into a tower at the highest levels. The bird landed on the top, which was a large nest. Sasuke wondered why the bird flew him here when it flew away. The bird had the decency to leave behind his sword, which he appreciated.
Sasuke had no idea what he should do when a large mound on the other side of the nest moved. The mound revealed itself to be an enormous hawk which simply gazed at Sasuke for a short time. The Uchiha was really hoping the bird didn't attack him, since he was still winded from his previous fight at such a high altitude. Luckily, the hawk made the first move, and it wasn't one to eat him.
"I can't remember the last time the hawks had a visitor that was anything more than a tasty snack. Why have you come here?" asked the bird. Sasuke was taken aback, both because the hawk had talked, and because it sounded distinctly female. He had known summons could talk, but the previous hawk's simply screeches had led him to believe the Hawks were less intelligent than other summons like the Toads or Slugs.
Sasuke started when he realized that the large female hawks was waiting for his response, and looking hungrier every second she was kept waiting. "I need a summon capable of matching the level of the opponents I face. A summon that can teach me about Sage Mode." answered Sasuke.
The hawk's eyes narrowed. "Sage Mode is one of the most guarded secrets of the summons. Only a few know of its existence, even fewer know how to use it. Besides, you would have to be the summoner of whatever creature decided to teach you."
"So do you know how to use Sage Mode? I'll agree to be your summoner if you're willing to teach me." responded Sasuke, allowing a tinge of hope to seep into his voice.
"You are in no position to be taught anything except what the inside of a raptor looks like!" shrieked the large bird of prey. Their high pitched calls did not lend themselves well to low tones and shouting. Sasuke placed his hand on his sword, ready to retreat at a moment's notice. Luckily the female hawk calmed down rather quickly as seemingly became lost in thought. "Still, Takamaru attests to the sharpness of your eyes. Out of respect for your prowess, I'll offer you a deal."
"What kind of deal?" asked Sasuke warily, though he took a step away from the edge of the nest towards the hawk.
"If you agree to be our summoner or not, we will let you go. If you become our summoner though, we will teach you Sage Mode if we know it. You run the risk of simply getting one of the hundreds of summons that know nothing about the workings of Sage Mode, but you will not sign another contract until death. That is the deal. Do we have an agreement?" asked the hawk. She reached into the tangled mess of twigs and feathers and withdrew a scroll with her beak. It was tiny compared to her, but was probably a meter across and who knew how long.
Sasuke looked down at the scroll, and raised his hand to his mouth. He bit down hard, and blood ran freely from his thumb. "Where do I sign?"
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A/N: Chapter ten up! Woooo! See, I told you I had plans for Orochimaru, just not big ones. Props to anyone who gets the reference that is Kisame's attack. Given who he was fighting, I thought it was appropriate. Question time. Sora is kind of like canon Naruto, but that's who he is. Changing Sora's personality would just make him some random OC, and I'm not going there. As for why I included him at all, it was him or Kinkaku and Ginkaku, which would be incredibly convoluted to stitch together. As for why Sage Mode Naruto hasn't been killing people by breathing, people in Naruto survive incredibly powerful blows all the time. Look at Deva Path Pain. The Preta Path got destroyed like it did because it was a direct hit that was also a surprise attack. Head shots are also more dangerous than body blows, but they still hurt, ergo Kakashi's wounds. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and reviews are always appreciated. See ya!