Sasuke
When Misaki went after her sons, I followed her in the shadows. They've gone to Naruto's home and met Hinata briefly. I'm not sure what they talked about when they were inside but Misaki waited patiently outside the door. So I was surprised to see her annoyed at the boys' behaviour when they came out. Even more so when she suddenly grabbed them both and began taking their chakra.
I couldn't believe it at first but once Eiji's knees have put out and Tetsu's eyes began to close, I realised what was happening. This is why Kakashi had asked us to watch her closely, he knew something like this would happen.
Without wasting any more time, I threw my kunai at her, knowing that she would deflect it. But to do so, she would need to let go of one of the boys.
She used the hand that was holding Tetsu, her right hand, and swiftly picked her own kunai to deflect mine. Tetsu fell back with the movement but I was there behind him before he touched the ground, holding him up.
My eyes were glued to her hand. Misaki was left handed like me. I knew she could use both with equal skill but Eiji was already out so it would've made more sense to use her left while he continued to take Tetsu's.
A reaction that left no time to think about the course of action was something that one could not control.
"Who are you?" I questioned. I knew something was wrong from the moment I opened my eyes in the hospital. Everything after that was a bit off, Misaki leaving the hospital without sparing even a glance back at me, not wanting to see me afterwards, the way she protected the enemy against Kakashi, albeit it was her brother but he was still the enemy, her not visiting Tetsu while he was hospitalised, Eiji's behaviour around her and now, forcing her two sons to obey her by taking their chakra from them.
It felt like a deja vu from when Kaguya tried to take mine and Naruto's chakra by force, the chakra of her sons that had been passed to us.
"I'm Misaki, who else. Sasuke, can't you see?" She answered in a chilling tone.
"No, I can't. My dōjutsu has been compromised and now I know it was to keep me blind from your true identity."
"Stop talking nonsense. I am me. The same woman that watched over you since you were born, the mother of your nephew, the one that loved your brother Itachi unconditionally as a teenager and the same one you walked the aisle to marry Kakashi." She complained.
"Those facts are no secrets to anyone that asks, that doesn't prove anything."
"When Orochimaru brought the Hokages back from the dead in the Uchiha's secret shrine, you tried using your Mangekyō on me but I dispelled it, having gone through worse genjutsu while training with Itachi and Shisui. I'm probably the only person able to do that.
Before Madara released the Tsukuyomi he stabbed you with a katana, I was there with Tobirama and no one else. He did the same with me and I ended up meeting in the afterlife the Sage of Six Paths who told me he had already met with you and Naruto. Is that also a publicly known fact?"
I couldn't deny that. Those were pieces of information that only Misaki could know. And that left few possibilities. Someone had access Misaki's memories and was impersonating her or that someone was controlling her actions and thoughts via some sort of jutsu.
"And still, you don't believe me." She added. "What are you going to do, Sasuke? You have no proof."
Before I could come up with an answer, Tetsuya, her older brother, materialised next to her. I tensed, knowing that I wouldn't like whatever that was about to happen.
"It's time." He said low and looking to the side at her.
With a flick of her hand, Eiji and Tetsu's bodies were taken from my side to hers. I noticed the shadow of something above me was creating and when I looked up, I saw the same person I've been chasing for years floating in the air. I've never seen him in my life but I knew instantly that he was a member of the Ōtsutsuki clan, the same clan of extraterrestrials that Kaguya belonged to. His pale complexion and Byakugan eyes were unique to them. He could easily pass as Kaguya's younger brother because of his appearance.
Like Kaguya in her time, he probably had come to harvest the god tree's fruit to use its chakra to gain power and prolong their lives with no care in the world to what that would mean to the human race: it's extinction.
"Where's the fox?" The alien man questioned. "I thought I made it clear you were to gather the fox and your blood relatives. Do you not wish to pledge your allegiance to us?"
"I do, and so does my sister. I will get you the fox like I promised, he's just temporarily in a different dimension but I will bring him to you."
Tetsuya then knelt before them and Misaki followed shortly after.
My eyes widened at the sight. She had chosen her side. Or someone was choosing for her.
However, the Ōtsutsuki member didn't look convinced because he began an attack against her without any warning. His katana was almost invisible as it flew side to side as if trying to cut her in half. Luckily, Misaki has been quick to react and evaded each of the swings of the sharp metal.
The last swing was a 180-degree one from the enemy's left side to the right, at the end of the strike his arm ended extended towards the back and away from where Misaki had just been standing. In the next instant, she materialised right on top of the katana as if she was floating over it before the kunai in her hand began descending over the enemy's head.
The strong opponent was somehow quicker and before the metal reached its target, Misaki's neck was grabbed by the enemy's hand, holding her up with her legs dangling in the air, his fingers tightening around Misaki's neck.
"Wait! That's my sister!" Tetsuya yelled looking between Ōtsutsuki and us. The man simply smirked.
"Is it now?" He asked while the colour of her face started to fade. His eyes narrowed slightly as he activated his Byakugan on her.
"You're partly right. I can see her, and just like you, her body is one of us, her DNA is almost like ours and her powers have the potential to match us as well. But don't think you can fool us, we don't just want the shell, we need her for it to work. You failed to get the fox and will have to pay for it.
I guess I'll just have to squeeze hard enough to…"
A yellow flash suddenly stroke the Ōtsutsuki's head from above, the impact causing Misaki's body to fly away from him but it was then caught by Kakashi who it seemed had just arrived at the scene. In his arms, Misaki coughed as the air began filling her lungs.
"Ka-Kakashi…" She called out in a hoarse voice, her hand reaching out to touch his face. He slightly leaned away from her touch as he focused on Naruto now fighting against the enemy and her hand dropped while her eyes filled with unshed tears. She turned her face towards the fight, her eyes narrowing angrily on Naruto, even though he had just saved her from choking to death.
Naruto was fighting in full Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and seemed to sense Misaki's eyes on him because he turned to look at her and also narrowed his eyes at her. He didn't like what he was seeing.
My heart skipped a beat because Naruto has just confirmed our fears. Since Tetsu's and my Sharingan has been compromised, we couldn't check Misaki's chakra. I know knew Tetsu had gone to Hinata for the same reason, to check Misaki's chakra with her Byakugan. The third possibility was Naruto on Nine-Tails Chakra mode in which he was able to sense negative emotions and chakra signatures. He had seen through her.
Alone, Naruto wasn't able to keep with the Ōtsutsuki. It was clear that he didn't have a chance to win.
Kakashi put Misaki on the ground and helped her stand up.
I made an attempt to take a step towards my friend but stopped when I felt Tetsu grabbing onto my shirt, his eyes begging me to stay and clearly also knowing that in my state, I didn't have a chance against the enemy. I knew what the result would be but I couldn't simply stay put and watch.
Kakashi seemed to have the same thoughts but no one stopped him and went head-on against the Ōtsutsuki that now had a hold on Naruto's wrists on one hand, the other was placed over his stomach and had begun taking the Nine-Tails' chakra from him.
Tetsuya decided to intervene as well and intercepted Kakashi's Purple Lighting with ease but that didn't stop Kakashi from trying. As he evaded the attacks, Kakashi kept a short distance with him as that was where the jutsu effectiveness was stronger. Having said that, his hand suddenly pierced something.
The first thing I registered was Kakashi's eyes widening in surprise since he had little hope of managing to cut the enemy's form and then, a look of panic as his eyes widened even further. My mind fought to acknowledge the reason behind it, my eyes struggling to not look at the face of the person that currently had Kakashi's hand embedded into her abdomen.
Misaki.
But somehow, she looked surprised as well. She coughed up blood and then looked down to see the hand covered in purple lightning inside her stomach, the blood staining her clothes from inside out. When she looked up, she looked completely dumbfounded as if she couldn't understand what had just happened.
I didn't understand it either.
With a last look of longing towards Kakashi, Misaki slowly lifted and joined her hands.
"Kai (Release)!" She said to everyone's surprise. At the same time, Kakashi deactivated his jutsu and slowly removed his hand from Misaki's abdomen, catching her body as it was falling onto the floor. He quickly lifted her shirt and applied pressure to the wound but the overflowing blood spilled from the sides. His anxiety was almost tangible.
"Kakashi…" She repeated but this time her tone was different. Kakashi's eyes quickly locked on hers, his fear now reaching extreme levels. The pressure from her hand intensified but the blood didn't stop from spilling.
"You're back." He said as he had registered something.
"You should know I would always come back to you, no matter what." Misaki said low, repeating the words Kakashi had said to her before we went on our mission to rescue Sakura.
I realised we finally had Misaki back but then...
My heart, alongside Kakashi seemed to drop on the floor, it was almost as if I could hear the organs splatter on the ground.
Tsk. It was Misaki who had made the noise.
"What's with the long faces, boys?" She asked as if nothing had happened, looking from Kakashi to me and once again, Kakashi's face mirrored my look of astonishment.
She moved Kakashi's hand away and with her other hand activated a fire jutsu and pressed it onto the wound, sealing it to stop the bleeding. She acted as it was nothing but I noticed her stopping herself from rolling her eyes from the pain when her wound was being sealed. It only took a few seconds but I could only imagine how painful that was.
"It's a blend of my basic medical skills with my fire nature." She explained. "Are you really forgetting how many times I've been stabbed in the abdomen?" She asked Kakashi pointing at her stomach. "Once it was when I stood between you and the Anbu during Orochimaru's attack, another when I stood between Itachi and Tetsu.
After all these times, this area has lost most of its sensitivity, it doesn't even hurt that much. Sakura will be able to heal the internal bleeding without a problem. You two shouldn't look at me like I'm about to die, although it helped to fool that woman Funami. I knew she wouldn't be able to cope with it." Misaki explained.
"Funami? It was her all along?" Kakashi asked.
"Yes, from our fight during the Sakura's rescue mission. From the moment my eyes zeroed in on nii-san, I knew it was over for me. He messed up my chakra and disabled my sensory skills leaving me defenseless against Funami.
After she beat me to a pulp, I couldn't stop her from invading my mind and taking over my body until that Ōtsutsuki almost choked her to death, it was only then when I realised I could win my body back. After that, she was too weak to fight me so I managed to move my body right in front of Kakashi's attack and as expected, she had to release the jutsu when she saw what Kakashi had done involuntarily. If I did while she was still taking over my body, her mind would've died along with me, her body following shortly after."
"Why did you do that, Misaki?!" Tetsuya, who had been hovering around her yelled.
"Why do you even care?" She retorted.
"Ah…" The Ōtsutsuki threw Naruto to the side as if he was a mere doll, his Nine-Tails chakra mode now completely depleted. In the next instant, he had grabbed Misaki's arm and pulled her away from Kakashi, her body colliding with his. "To think this stupid boy believed he could keep me away from you…" He seemed to see Misaki with new eyes.
The hand on her arm applied more pressure, causing Misaki to wince in pain first and then scream when a curse-like seal began to extend from under his hand, going up her arm and disappearing under her shirt. However, a part of it was visible under the collar of the shirt.
The marking was enormous and, unlike the curse mark Orochimaru gave me, its design was full of straight lines and sharp corners. And while the one I received could be fit inside a palm, it almost killed me during the process but gave me enough power to match Naruto's tailed form at the beginning.
I couldn't begin to imagine the pain this one could bring, and the power it could provide if Misaki survived.
Misaki's body was dropped on the floor, her form rigid as if she were being electrocuted while she bit back a scream that was clearly building up inside her. She seemed to like hiding her pain from us.
Kakashi moved to her side and touched her forehead. Misaki coiled like she had been burnt by his touch. She opened her eyes slightly and with her look, she begged Kakashi to not touch her. The pain must've been excruciating.
"What have you done!?" Tetsuya questioned while his eyes remained fixed on his sister.
The Ōtsutsuki started laughing in such a way that it brought a chill to my spine.
"Just getting some insurance." He answered.