Chapter 10
Deidara would be hard pressed to tell anyone if there was anything that excited him more, or on the same level as, explosions. Seeing the culmination of months of hard work and planning extend across the canvas of the world in the span of a few seconds sent shivers up his spine every single time he went through with it. It always had. Ever since he was a kid, he was this way. It's what gave him an edge over everyone else in the explosion squad. It's what made him desire to steal the sacred forbidden art of imbuing clay with explosive power. It's what made him do it.
But now, there might be a worthy contender to his love. The hatred in the air was palpable. Quite literally. It assaulted his skin in waves like heat from a fire would, but this fire did not singe his eyebrows or dry his skin. No, this fire made him feel something he hadn't felt in a very long time.
It made him feel fear.
And that, more than anything else, sent shivers up his spine in a most pleasurable way. Such was the greatness of feeling that he wanted it to stay there forever. That questioning of his character by himself was such a wondrous sensation that he would never be able to articulate the hows, whens, and whys of it.
"Deidara!"
The blond man snapped out of his reverie at the snap from his partner. He blinked once and looked down at the source of the palpable hate, that wondrous fire. Covered in bug exoskeleton, but male. The seven tails was female.
Who was that?
The mad bomber smirked to himself and muttered "Doesn't really matter," before clasping his hands together and screaming "KATSU!"
BOOOOOOM!
As there was a conference of the strongest shinobi in the world at the moment, it didn't do either of them very much good to stick around after killing one of them. Even if they all turned on each other and pandemonium broke out, neither of them could risk getting caught up in it. Which is why the organization decided to scuttle that particular hideout and also why Deidara stuck his clay on the support pillars.
The two of them hopped onto the top of the statue where a disturbance in the air materialized and two hands came out of them to grab onto both their shoulders.
"Should we be questioning this?" Deidara asked.
"Count your blessings while you still can," Sasori ground out.
Deidara smirked. "Y-"
Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by the purple haze that materialized out of nowhere and vanished along with him. Sasori was only barely able to blink in the time that he vanished. He might have leapt up into action, but he was hit in the chest by a bullet of air and rocketed back across the cavern.
His back cracked apart the wall and got partially stuck in there. Turning to his left, he saw the seven tails in human form ripping his partner's guts out and screaming at the top of his lungs while he did so. Sasori was glad he didn't have human ears anymore, else he might have gone deaf from the loudness.
Curling his appendages forward like a pill bug would, Sasori slammed them all back as hard as he could and dislodged himself from the rock wall, falling to the ground. He hit the ground with the litheness of a cat and the creepiness of a spider, but he didn't have even a moment's rest to get his bearings. As soon as his feet and hands touched the ground, his chin was clubbed to the side by a giant war fan, held by the one tails' sister. There were tears in her eyes, but they were wide open and full of fury.
She hit him again in the head, this time caving in one of his eyes, before he whipped his bone tail around to pierce her chest. Without even a hint of hesitation, she deflected the blow with the fan, twirled around and pushed the blunt end into the bridge of his nose, fracturing the hard wood beyond repair.
Getting tired of this fight and very aware of the fact that the ceiling was starting to fall apart, Sasori jumped away and launched volley after volley of senbon at the girl, but each and every one of them missed their mark, clattering to the ground or getting stuck in hard rock. The girl held her fan at her side and glared at him. The look on her face was crazed. Equal parts hatred and sadness and despondency and vindictiveness.
She wanted him dead. No, not because it was her duty to kill, not because she was ordered to do so. It would be a killing of hatred. A killing of no remorse.
If it was a fan user, then he was at a disadvantage trying to kill her from a distance. He planted his feet against the wall in preparation to rocket to her and end her life, but there was an explosion from far up on the wall that unsteadied his feet. A smoking purple mass of exoskeletal material fell from the sky and landed elbow first on his back, cracking his outer shell's back and destroying much of the interior.
His partner swooped in from above and carpet bombed the area, drawing the ire of the seven tails and the sister of the one tails in the process.
"Time to go!" Deidara shouted as he darted around the falling boulder sized chunks of ceiling.
Sasori grabbed the seven tails' legs and rolled around like an alligator, entangling the creature in a web of his extending limbs, hoping that would be enough to restrain it. He then set the joints into a locked position and abandoned the outer shell, hugging the wall they were against like his life depended on it.
"Couldn't agree more," Sasori said just loud enough for Deidara to hear.
The seven tails was struggling against the puppet's limbs and had already freed one of its arms, crunching apart the hard wood like a toddler would to Styrofoam. The girl howled at Deidara and sent shot after shot of pressurized air at him. They were fast and they were accurate. The only reason he hadn't been destroyed by one was probably due in part to the falling rubble.
Luckily for them, the Mizukage intervened by grabbing a hold of the girl and preventing her from moving while the raven haired girl from hidden rock came to the side of the seven tails and started hacking away at its bonds to try and help him escape.
"We have to go!" Mei shouted into Temari's ear over the din of the room collapsing. Not listening to her response, she hoisted Temari up and started running to the exit, which was already getting clogged with rubble.
"NO!" Temari shouted with all her might, fighting against the woman's arms in a desperate attempt to obtain her revenge. "THEY HAVE TO DIE! GAAARRAAA!"
Mei got ready to dissolve what was left of the door to allow them through, but was knocked forward by a sonic boom. She had to let go of Temari to make sure she didn't fall face first into sharp rocks and turned around with wide eyes. There was a small trail of smoke going upwards that indicated where Naruto had been. Where the ceiling had been, there was only a halo of rocks flying up and floating in the air hugging the trail Naruto made. It took Mei a second to realize that Naruto had shot upwards with such velocity that he destroyed the ceiling completely and forced the entirety of its chunks upwards.
And what comes up…
"HEY!"
Mei looked down to see Kurotsuchi racing towards them with all the speed she had in her, occasionally body flickering her way towards them as she did so. The older woman turned around and saw that her way out was completely full of rocks. Melting her way through would take too long. She was almost certain to be crushed by the debris.
Thinking quickly and acting quicker, Mei scooped Temari back up in her arms and started running towards Kurotsuchi with equal speed. She soon had to dodge the smaller rocks that began falling first, then she stumbled over rocks she could have leapt over normally because of the dust and small pebbles descending over them. To her side, one of the giant boulders hit the ground, splintering apart the rocks it fell on and turning them into impromptu fragmentation grenades. Slivers of stone shot past her, scoring her across the face a few times and more critically, her knee.
She gasped in pain and stumbled over. Temari fell down, gasping for air in the dusty environment, and looped one of Mei's arms around her shoulder, then pressed on. More giants fell around them. It was like they were in a battlefield, reacting to explosions occurring without any idea where they were coming from and no idea when or where the next one would fall. They had no idea how long they were to live.
"Earth Style: Rock Dome"
And then, along with not being able to breathe, they weren't able to see either. All light was cut off from them and the sound was muffled like they were underwater. For the most part, the only thing they could hear was their own haggard breathing.
Mei managed to whisper something under her breath and that same ephemeral light that guided them through the sewers flickered back in place, showing that they were in a small enclosure barely tall enough to stand up in. Kurotsuchi was above them, literally shouldering the structure that covered them from the falling debris with a red face that had veins popping, showing the weight she must have been under. It appeared that she weakened in bits and pulses, her knees falling slightly every second or so with a pained gasp every time. Mei stood up on her one good leg and stuck her back to the ceiling too. Just like that, everything stabilized. The world still vibrated every now and then, but Mei held up their cover almost effortlessly.
Kurotsuchi fell to her hands and knees, gasping for breath. She looked up eventually and saw that Temari had nearly curled up into a ball, tears streaming from her face and wetting her knees. They were still wide open and angry, but it looked like she had regained control of her actions.
"You did good, Kurotsuchi," Mei said in an authoritarian, yet gentle voice. "If it weren't for you, all three of us would be dead."
The raven haired girl in question sat up and leaned against a rock, tilting her head back and closing her eyes. "Yeah, well… you know."
Seeing that that was the most she was getting out of Kurotsuchi, Mei turned her gaze to Temari. Her eyes were sad and sympathetic, a stark contrast to Temari's own. "I understand that you're in pain right now. Losing the ones closest to you is one of the worst things a person could go through. But unless you want to die as well, you need to get your head in the game. For all intents and purposes, we're at war right now and if we want to get out unscathed, we're going to have to work together."
Temari looked up to glare at the struggling woman and sighed, changing position until she was on her knees. For a few seconds, she didn't say or do anything. Only the sounds of rocks falling and changing position was heard outside. She looked down at Mei's feet and said without so much as a tremble in her voice "What's the plan?"
It wasn't long before the trembling stopped and a near silence reigned over them. All of their ears rung in that silence, so used to the loud explosions of only a few seconds ago. Mei sighed and glanced up. "We don't know how much rubble we're under, but let's assume a lot. I can melt my way up and out, but that could take a while. Does anybody have anything useful?"
"I can make quicklime," Kurotsuchi offered. "And then turn that quicklime into cement. And I'm good with a sword and can make simple earth barriers and domes. That's it."
Temari glanced at her, brain whirring at top speed. "How in tune are you with your element?"
"Earth, fire, or lava?"
"Earth."
She shrugged. "I don't know, a little bit. I kinda focused on lava."
"Would you be able to sense what's under us right now?"
Kurotsuchi scrunched her brow together. "Not specifically. I don't think excavating for gold is really on the timetable right now…"
Temari blinked and shook her head slightly. "No, no, would you be able to sense if there were any caverns or tunnels?"
"Yeah, easy."
Mei narrowed her eyes. "The cave system."
Temari nodded. "That's what I was thinking. If the sewers were originally made from natural caves, then chances are, there are more crisscrossing under us right now."
Kurotsuchi got to her hands and knees with a pained grunt and said "Worth a shot," then planted her palms on the hard stone and closed her eyes. They shot right back open almost immediately with surprise. "We are… right on top of one. Can't be more than fifteen feet under us."
"Do you know if it leads back to the sewers?" Temari asked.
"Goes in the general direction. We can always reexcavate if have to."
"If that's the case," Mei said. "This shouldn't take much longer than a few seconds. Could you hold the dome up for a little longer?"
Kurotsuchi got to her feet. Her knees were shaky at first, but they steadied a few seconds later when she put her shoulders up against Mei's. "Call it."
Mei took a deep breath. "NOW!"
00000000
Yugito fell on the ground in a roll, already throwing kunai at the few puppets still chasing her. Her fire attacks had little efficacy other than stripping them of their 'skin' in some places, showing off their internal workings. They were unlike any enemy she had seen or fought before. The only thing she could liken them to would be to elemental golems with far greater tactical minds and even more suicidal zeal. They were fearsome alone and downright intimidating in groups.
Nothing she couldn't take care of, however.
They all dodged or parried away the kunai and continued running at her. She stood in place, smiling at them and waiting for their imminent arrival. Just as the first one jumped at her, something caught its leg and it tripped into the air, suspended for a few tense moments before getting shredded to medium sized chunks, small lines glinting off the sun was the only sign of the wire she had laid there with her kunai.
The other two puppets were already in the air by the time the first one got shredded apart, so they too shared its fate, albeit in larger chunks. A desiccated head rolled its way to her, jaw hanging open with a too realistic tongue lolling out. Its eyes still worked and were staring at her intently. Yugito felt her nose curl up into a snarl. It had to be one of the most distasteful things she had ever seen. It might have even sent shivers up her spine if she weren't largely desensitized to it by then.
She took a deep breath looked at the stone monuments in the distance. There was a stream of civilians up to it with shinobi circling around and eyeing for danger. From what she could tell, the danger was largely passed, but she couldn't knock them for wanting to be safe.
Yugito turned on her heel and started walking forward into the burnt out remains of the shopping district. Her chakra sensing wasn't the best, but she knew she could sense-
"DUCK!"
Acting on pure instinct, Yugito's knees buckled and she pitched forward, catching herself with her hands. There was a whizz of air that tickled her back and a solid thunk from behind her. Scrambling, she launched herself forward and landed turning around, elongating her nails as she did so. What she saw was the upper torso and attached legs of a puppet standing at a still with a long purple javelin sticking out of its chest, clogging up the machinery inside. It fell to the side and didn't even explode.
Breathing heavily, Yugito turned around to see Fu, holding onto a beam for support with one arm and the other one hanging almost uselessly at her side. Her face was clammy and her breathing irregular. Yugito wouldn't have been surprised if a strong breeze could push the girl over.
As it was, Yugito ran forward and supported Fu by draping her useless arm over her shoulder. It was at that moment that she realized just how light Fu was. And she had always been a very solid girl. Despite her flitty and light-hearted take to most things in life, she always had a sort of dynamism to her that made Yugito wonder if she could win against the girl in a fight. Now, it was like she was wasting away.
"What happened?" Yugito asked.
Fu blinked a few times and winced as she was being sat down. "Uahrm… We got attacked, Naruto and I and… Gaara. Naruto got hurt. Kurama wouldn't heal him. I gave him some of Chomei's. He took more than he should have and lost control. The other three showed up and followed him into that hole over there. It seemed like he got a bead on the akatsuki guys."
Yugito's head was swimming with questions, but she settled on the one she thought was best. "And what about you? Are you okay?"
Fu gulped and looked up to the sky. "I don't know. Chomei's chakra isn't coming back fast enough. And I had to help out a little with the puppets. I… I want to help," Fu said helplessly.
Yugito smiled a little bit and grabbed her shoulder. "But you need rest."
Fu huffed and looked down. "I hate that so much. I hate being useless."
"I do too. But right now, you'll only get in the way if you try to help."
A small, almost gurgled chuckled came from Fu's mouth. "Saved your ass though."
Yugito almost laughed at the girl. How she could find the energy to make humor, Yugito would never know. "Careful, I still don't know you that well," she said, half joking.
Though pained, Fu's eyes were expressive and jovial and just knew more than she did. "You know me well enough… Enough to look for me," she emphasized the last sentence with a wide open smile, much like a certain blonde she had come to know.
Yugito sat down as well. Perhaps it wasn't the time for a heart to heart and it wasn't even her intention to begin one, but she sat down anyways. Because, in truth, being around and talking to the other five members of the contract was some of the most carefree time she had ever had in her life. In youth, she was kept at an arm's length and was almost beginning to be revered in adulthood. There hadn't ever been a buffer where she could laugh with people. At least not for any extended period of time. They all had their problems but they all… they all tried their best.
That was the thing that stood out to her above all else, it was the fact that they all did their best. And it had only been a few days. It was hard not to be sucked into their frame of thought and feelings. They were so infectious with their happiness that she was starting to let her guard down around them.
"Well, if you die, then the whole treaty is over," Yugito said, looking off at the charred buildings.
"And I thought you were warming up to me," Fu said, tilting her head to Yugito.
"Warming is a strong word."
"You know you love us."
Yugito bit back a smile and laid her head back. There weren't any hostilities, the air was peaceful. It was nice. "We should probably start looking for the wonder trio, huh?"
Fu nodded. "By the way, you're probably going to have to subdue Naruto."
Yugito's brow crossed. "Huh?"
Her question was interrupted by the sudden eruption that came from behind them. Yugito was the first to turn around and saw that some ways away from the monument was a growing cone of rock and dirt fanning out from a focal point and at the very top was a purple dot growing larger and larger. It wasn't long before she could make out more of it. Wings and fangs and exoskeleton and fur and compound eyes and slit eyes and a horn and arms and…
All the tailed beasts had a sort of elegance to them. A sort of nature that they adhered to. Many would dispute to say that they were all beautiful, but at least they all had a symmetry to them. At least you could tell what it was.
But this… no, this was a monster, plain and simple. A beast from myth and legend. A combination of the chakras of the seven tailed beetle and the nine tailed fox. Just looking at it made her stomach drop. She couldn't imagine what a civilian must feel if they looked at such a beast. Or really, anyone other than her.
"Oh, no," Fu whispered. "I think… it might be too late."
"What's going on?" Yugito harshly asked, worry creeping into her throat.
"I… told you. He took Chomei's chakra and it looks like he needed to be stronger for… whatever reason. We…" she tried to get up, but failed. "You… have to stop him."
'Mata…?'
"He looks to be acting and reacting with no thought. Without the ability to reason or think tactfully, I'm sure we can subjugate him."
Yugito couldn't help but stare at the wretched horror. It had begun to move and attack. Explosions began to litter its body which only seemed to enrage it more.
'How sure?'
00000000
As they pressed on, Mei could tell that Temari was thinking about something. She rarely responded to stimuli. Her eyes were unfocused. And whenever she did reply, it was clipped and offbeat. Mei had seen shell-shocked soldiers before and Temari wasn't fitting the bill. She wasn't distracted by the death of her brother, no, she was thinking something else.
"Okay," Kurotsuchi said, hand to the walls and eyes closed out of concentration. "We burrow up here and we should be in the sewers. After that, it's smooth sailing to the surface."
Mei glanced at Temari and sighed inwardly. Whatever she was planning, Mei didn't think she'd be able to stop her. Her hurt leg and the amount of chakra she had expended during the main fight, keeping track of Naruto, and making sure Kurotsuchi and Temari survived was starting to take a toll on her. "How far up?" she asked.
"Three or four feet, whereabouts."
Sidestepping Kurotsuchi and Temari, Mei put both her palms to the low ceiling and aimed her breath in the space between her thumbs. Taking a deep breath and molding her chakra, Mei expelled a stream of corrosive gas that instantly melted the rock, causing it to drip down in great amounts. What might have horribly burned the common person had no effect on her. Kurotsuchi and Temari, however, would have to take great pains not to touch the edges, lest they burn their hands off.
"Hey, wait!" was the only thing Mei heard before she was shoved aside roughly and with no warning. She might have righted herself properly had her wounded knee not gotten in the way. As it was, she fell over inelegantly and righted just in time to see Temari's legs disappear up the hole and the padding of footsteps leading off into the sewers. Drawing her attention downward, Mei saw that Kurotsuchi got much the same treatment as her.
Kurotsuchi was the first one up and offered Mei a helping hand. "What was that about?" she asked, dusting herself off. "It's not like there's anything dangerous in the tunnels anymore, right?"
Mei's brain was whirring, trying to come up with a reason why Temari would want to go up so suddenly that she would shove both of them out of the way to do so. What could it have been?
"Close the hole," Mei said suddenly, eyes wide open with first realization, then terror.
Kurotsuchi blinked. "Wha-"
"USE YOUR QUICKLIME, NOW!" Mei shouted, prepping a water jutsu as she spoke.
The raven haired girl's mouth clacked shut as she rapidly went through the handseals for her jutsu. Within fractions of a second, there was a ready-to-go cement mix pouring from her mouth and mixing with the water coming from Mei's own. It rapidly solidified, creating a plug in the hole. Once that was done, Mei knelt down to rest. Her vision was getting blurry from the chakra exhaustion and pain.
There was a hand on her shoulder and suddenly she was face to face with Kurotsuchi. "What's going on?" she asked, a tremor of fear in her voice. "Why did we do that? What's Temari doing?"
Mei fell over so that her back was supported by the wall. "She's doing something only she can do, I would suppose. If not, then I guess I just made a fool of myself."
Kurotsuchi grabbed the bridge of her nose. "What, exactly, are you talking about?"
A sigh belted from the Terumi's lips. "What's dangerous about the sewers?"
Kurotsuchi fell opposite her with a harrumph. "I don't know, it stinks."
"Why does it stink?"
"Because it's full of shit."
"And what does shit produce when left to ferment for long periods of time? Why did we have to be careful not to set off any sparks while we chased after Naruto?"
Kurotsuchi's eyes widened. "She's not gonna… but that'll destroy Konoha!"
Mei shrugged. "Methane is a gas, you know, air. And she's an expert of wind jutsu. I'm assuming she'll try to redirect it in a way that would kill the akatsuki members. Whether that will or will not be effective or have unintended consequences on the city at large will be anyone's guess."
"But… that's…"
"Insane? She just lost her brother, mind you. I'm not sure I can blame her for the insanity that crept in."
"Then… we should have gone after her! We should have stopped her! She could die! She probably is going to die!"
Mei shook her head. "Neither of us have the energy. All that would have done would have been to trap us in the explosion as well."
Kurotsuchi shook her head. "Then what are we supposed to d-"
She was silenced by the earthquake-like tremor that shook the tunnel they were in along with a heavy whoosh of air going above their heads.
"We're supposed to have faith," Mei finally said after the rumbling stopped and silence reigned again.
00000000
Yugito didn't know what the people down below might have been thinking when they saw her, engulfed in flames and at half the size of what Matatabi is capable of leap headlong into the air behind the monument and grab ahold of the monster that Naruto was inside of. Surely, they were losing their minds out of confusion and fear. That was truly the only acceptable option. Because if they were any less, where did that leave her? In truth, going up against that monster left her with a feeling she had all but forgotten.
It was the feeling of being outclassed. Like a child going up against an adult.
But she did it anyway.
Why?
She was still figuring that one out.
A particularly large explosion rocketed his back at the same time she grabbed a hold of his legs and bathed his stomach in flames. The double attack hindered his ability to fly and grounded him almost immediately. That victory was short lived as he completely disregarded her and turned his attention to the sky. His misshapen mandibles opened and a dull black and red orb started to come into being. Thankfully, it didn't get very large due to the huge rush of water that hit it directly in the middle and pushed it back into its gullet.
Yugito looked upwards as well and saw that the two akatsuki members were floating around on a giant white bird. The one with red hair held its arm out, which had turned into a sort of water cannon. While the one with red hair had a look of indifference, the blond one next to him was smiling like a child on a roller coaster.
She was surrounded by monsters.
And if this point was not driven in hard enough to her by then, it would be as soon as the monster on the ground next to her opened its gaping jaw and vomited out lasers that created whirlpools of the clouds above them. They were largely inaccurate, but one managed to clip the bird that both of them were on and set it careening down.
Yugito felt hope in her heart that the monster wasn't feeling any animosity to her and that it was still Naruto inside, until one of its tails wrapped around her body and flung her away at random. It was such a sudden change of being that Yugito wondered what was happening while it was happening. She didn't even know she was in the air until she hit the ground.
"Kitten!"
'I'm alright,' Yugito thought back, scrambling to her legs and getting a feel for her surroundings. All around her was scorched and gouged earth of what might have very recently been a nice little forest. Trees were uprooted and burnt into unrecognizable husks, there were no animal calls, all was silent.
It was a dead place.
Not too far away, Naruto was still fighting the akatsuki members with a zeal that only a beast could achieve and she was still wondering where she was.
"Are you so unaware? You were here not days ago. This place is what's left of yours and Naruto's little squabble."
Yugito blearily looked around. 'Really? But… it's so…"
"Yes, well, I'm sure you're aware of how destructive the battle between Jinchuuriki can be."
But this felt different. This felt more… wrong? Why did it feel wrong? Was it because it used to be a peaceful, serene place. Was it because it was something that belonged to her? Was it because it reminded her of her shame? Was it because it reminded her of Naruto?
Naruto.
She shook her head. What was wrong with her? Why was the world spinning? Why did she feel the urge to puke, but not know how to? Why was she angry?
"GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF!" Matatabi screamed in her head. "YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH WORSE! WHY ARE YOU LOSING CONTROL NOW?!"
It appeared that the mental screaming was enough to jostle Yugito's brain back into activity, as she righted herself and started running on all fours to Naruto. 'I… What's wrong with me?'
Matatabi knew, of course, why Yugito was starting to lose control so early. Why the darkness in her heart was widening?
It was because her chakra latched onto feelings other than rage. Yugito was losing herself to something almost unknown to her. She was starting to be lose to despair. Despair that Naruto might die.
'Oh, you poor girl.'
00000000
Naruto stood in front of giant iron bars holding back the might of one of the greatest beings in the entire world, the nine-tailed fox. A single swish of its tails could topple a mountain or create a tsunami. Its roar could petrify the hearts of civilians. An impossible existence.
And yet, why did it look so sad?
Kurama's breathing was irregular and his eyes shaking. In truth, he didn't mean to take Chomei's chakra. It just sort of… happened. He didn't… He had always imagined that when he took control of the boy's darkness that he would burst free to the world, unshackled and able to do all that he wanted. The lives of humans were of no consequence to him. They were worthless and without meaning.
"Hey… why do you look so sad?"
Kurama got up and paced around. He didn't like it. He didn't like it even a little bit. Was it doubt? Was it fear? Was it disgust? He had wanted freedom for so long, but he didn't want this.
"Hey… why do you look so sad?"
At every turn, his existence had been denied. By his creator, who died. By his sons, who failed. By humanity, who feared everything and tried to warp everything they feared to their own sensibilities. One by one, even his siblings left him. And he was alone. And he liked being alone.
And then one human found him, fought him, chased him, bound him in chains, and forced his actions. And now… he was only hatred. And hatred couldn't look sad.
"Hey… why do you look so sad?"
Kurama closed his eyes in disgust and averted his head. In front of him, separated by the bars, was Naruto. Except it wasn't him. Chomei's chakra had latched onto him and his own chakra and had distorted not only the boy's form, but also his mind. He was left speaking that one last sentence over and over again, in an endless loop. No amount of screaming or threats cowed the boy. Nothing he could do even slowed him down. He might even be broken beyond repair.
Why did he feel bad about that?
"Hey… why do you look so sad?"
Kurama put his hands to his ears to block out the noise. It haunted him. It had been for a while. It was the last thing Naruto said before his mind had been completely taken by the chakra. It was like… a growth of sorts. A mass of conglomerated chakra that grew on his stomach and rapidly overtook his entire body. At the current, he was a congealed blob of extraneous exoskeletal bodies and materials, like something from a nightmare. The only thing that peaked out at the top was his head, looking eternally forlornly at the fox.
"Hey… why do you-"
"IT'S BECAUSE I AM! OKAY? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW? YOU CAN'T EVEN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE! WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE REJECTED AT EVERY CORNER! TO BE SEEN AS SOMETHING THAT SHOULDN'T EXIST! SOMETHING THAT CAN ONLY BE USED BY OTHERS! NOT EVEN A THINKING THING! JUST A TOOL! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND MY PAIN! WHY DO I LOOK SAD? IT'S BECAUSE I AM!"
His sudden outburst shocked even himself. It even silenced the infernal repetitious speak of the boy. His eyes were now closed and the growth had stopped growing. Somewhere, on the fringes of his awareness, he could sense explosions and blue fire in the physical world, but he cared not for the physical world. He was too focused on the boy to understand anything else.
The eyes opened again, showing disgusting compound eyes, like that of a fly's. But they still saw. They could still understand the world around them. And they were looking straight at Kurama in the eyes. "You're wrong. I do understand your pain."
And then the growth consumed the boy entirely. Like he had held out for long enough to deliver that one single sentence and that as soon as that happened, all energy had left him.
And Kurama was alone again, sitting in the complete and utter silence. There was no dripping. Not even the water flowed. His ears were assaulted by the relentless pounding of that infernal silence.
"I think I preferred it when you were talking."
00000000
"WE'RE NOT DOING ENOUGH DAMAGE!"
"AND WHO'S FAULT IS THAT?"
Tsunade's eyes were set and focused. She knew what she had to do and if she let any doubt show on her face, it would only demoralize those around her. Not that they could be easily demoralized. All the strongest shinobi from all their respective nations were taking part in subjugating Naruto. Well, all except Mei. No one knew what happened to her.
Jiraiya was next to her, beginning to lose his cool and launching jutsu after jutsu at the clay dragon circling above them. Subjugating Naruto was all well and good, but they also had to keep an eye on Akatsuki.
The best thing she could compare the situation she was in was when three shinobi nations squared off against each other on the battle field. Everyone had to look out for their own while doing damage to two fronts. It was a rare situation, granted, but not unheard of. And she, unfortunately, found herself at the commanding role.
Yugito was at full beast mode and was engaging Naruto by the front, but even at her greatest size, he dwarfed her the way a hound would a kitten. Zipping around his head was the Raikage and the Tsuchikage, trying to do damage without killing the boy inside. Some of the high ranking Konoha shinobi were running around his legs, doing interference, almost completely confused as to the situation at hand.
"Nothing's hitting them!" Jiraiya shouted. He and she alone were 'squaring off' against the akatsuki, if it could even be called that.
"I can help!"
The two Sannin turned around to see Shibuki running towards them, arms encased with water swords. Though his face showed nervousness, his hands did not shake in the slightest. "Too dangerous," Jiraiya said roughly, turning around to try some more.
Not taking 'no' for an answer, Shibuki, grabbed his elbow and said "If you can get me up there, I can ground them."
Jiraiya and Tsunade shared a look. Despite being from a minor nation, he was still the leader, the strongest of his region.
But was he strong enough against the akatsuki?
Jiraiya growled and did a few handseals before slapping his throat. A sealing array spread out on his neck and he turned around to see Shibuki. "Keep a hold of yourself," was the only warning before the bear of a man vomited out a giant toad's tongue that wrapped around the lesser man's chest.
Shibuki couldn't say anything before being thrown almost haphazardly in the general direction of the clay bird.
"You could have tried something a little bit more conventional," Tsunade muttered.
"They would have seen the conventional a mile away. This way, we have the element of surprise."
Tsunade still had reservations, but she kept her tongue bitten for the time being.
Shibuki landed on the dragon's stomach by stabbing his swords through them. Using them, he started climbing the beast almost like a spider and hopped to the dragon's wing, severing it at the base before Deidara or Sasori even knew what was happening. The blond artist's eyes went wide with anger before making a sign with his hands. "KATSU!"
The wing exploded next to them, but he was already gone and they were about to dive back into the fold. "How many more puppets do you have?!" Deidara shouted, trying to get the dragon to regrow its wing desperately.
"Two," Sasori answered.
"Great, we have three puppets then," Deidara said sarcastically.
"I was counting myself," Sasori said dryly, looking to the ground for a good jump-off point.
"Well, ain't that peachy, yeah?"
For the briefest of seconds, the battlefield went silent. Everybody stopped throwing jutsus. Naruto paused and so did Yugito. Rather than spiraling through the air, Deidara and Sasori almost felt like they were gliding through a single frame of a picture, it was so still.
Deidara looked to Sasori. "Wha-"
And then the ground erupted in flames and explosions. Deidara might have even appreciated the sight had the flames not risen up and disintegrated him instantly, leaving not even the appreciation for such a momentous explosion behind.
The fire was somehow self-directed and sought after Naruto and the akatsuki only. All the leaf and foreign shinobi were relatively untouched by the fire that came from the earth endlessly like water flowing from a tipped bucket.
It assaulted Naruto over and over and nothing he could would allow him to get away. It ate at his joints, his wings, his eyes, his everything. Any attempts he had at swiping it away only let the onslaught into him. He opened his mouth to roar, but the fire went into him and scorched everything inside. It ate and ate and ate like a gluttonous monster.
Soon, the fire came into full being and at the very top was the head, pointed like a bird's and with eyes that spoke of pain. It was like a fiery phoenix rising forlornly from the earth.
Only when Naruto stopped moving did the phoenix's head dive down and sever its neck into two clean pieces. It fell to the ground with a thunderous boom, shaking the ground and everyone in the general vicinity.
The phoenix rose to the sky and let out a scream of unbridled emotion. Pain and sorrow, hatred and loathing, vindication at revenge. Everyone's eyes were glued to such a scene.
"Wha…" Jiraiya whispered.
"I don't know," Tsunade said. "But we have to count our blessings while we can. Let's go."
The phoenix floated to the ground and disappeared from the tail to the top, leaving naught but a head until the fire burst away and only the perpetrator of the phoenix remained, Temari no Sabaku.
Cradled in her arms was a chunk of orangish purple goo that stiffened and broke apart in her arms. There was a shock of blond, a feeble hand, whisker marks, and a rising chest. Temari knelt down, set Naruto the ground, and stiffly walked over him.
Tsunade was the first on the scene and felt her stomach tighten at the sight of the two of them. "T-Temari… what happened?"
The girl didn't answer. Her face was blank, like that of a doll's. She moved like there were lines at her joints and a puppeteer above her. Her eyes didn't even swivel to acknowledge Tsunade. Even so, she continued to walk on into the forest. Something drove her forward. Something moved her feet.
Tsunade tried to stop the girl out of concern that she would collapse dead at any moment, but the writhing body of Naruto took her attention away from her. Before going to Naruto, she paused to look at Temari one last time.
There were burns racing up almost all her visible skin. It was either red and irritated or gone entirely and wet with pus and sweat. In her arms was the weight of her war fan, which caused them to sag down almost unnaturally.
Tsunade looked away from the girl. Burns could be healed. New skin could be synthesized. You could survive with those injuries. But Naruto was a toss-up. She briefly considered making a clone to follow her with treatment, but her own chakra levels were dangerously low.
By the time the rest of the shinobi floated in, Temari was gone with the wind, vanished into the forest, guided by an unknown force. While everyone waited with baited breath to see if Naruto was okay, Temari was finding her own fight.
00000000
The clay dragon was big enough that it flattened a small copse of trees when it fell to the earth, itself breaking apart on the stones and returning to its softer state. The only thing that remained of the mad bomber was a few tattered robes and his miniature telescope. Sasori, however, still remained, dysfunctional as he was.
His entire lower half had been melted away by the fire and his joints rendered mostly inoperable. The only thing he could do was to turn his head and remaining functional eye her way.
She stopped in front of him with her war fan in both hands. Looking at the burns racing all around her body, her calm visage, her disjointed posture, he couldn't help but to think of her as a demon. Like she was sent from hell specifically to drag him down into it.
"It's a shame," he said to no one in particular. "You would have made such an excellent work of art."
"Still am," she said, shocking him with her ability to speak. Her glazed-over eyes betrayed any presence of intelligence. "I'm a real piece of work. And so are you."
His head turned away, creaking as it did so. "I'm glad someone thinks-"
"Why did you kill him?" Temari asked, not caring for any answer he might have given.
"…He was our target."
"Yes, but why did you kill him?"
If he had the ability to sigh, he would have. "If you're here to kill me in turn, they you may as well do so. I'm naught but an empty shell full of nothing but air. The only thing I had was my art and now I don't have that anymore."
Temari blinked. "Why did you live? Why did you kill?"
"I lived for an everlasting existence. I killed for that reason as well."
"An everlasting existence? You're just a wooden doll, destined to fall into ruin once the strings are cut. You will be nothing. You will make nothing. Everything you touch turns to ash and you don't even realize it."
"And you-"
CRACK!
His ability to speak was taken away when her war fan crashed on his chest and splintered the wood. It came down again and hit his 'heart', forcing it to leak blood and creak in protest. His arm feebly moved up, as if to ward her off, but to no avail. The fan fell one last time and completely crushed his 'heart'.
His eye lost its luster and his limbs settled into place.
Temari was left alone in that clearing, surrounded with nothing but death and destruction. She felt numb, both emotionally and physically. She couldn't make sense of up and down. She couldn't make sense of right or wrong. The world didn't make any sense. There was no meaning. There was nothing. Not if such a thing could happen so simply. Not if death was always around the corner.
Temari fell to the ground.