Rainstorm: Chapter 11

Grand Finale

Well… ehehe… It's been a while. Far longer than I expected. I didn't mean to drop off the face of the earth, I kinda just… did. Contrary to the title, this is only the ending to the current ARC, not the story. I'm surprised, and thankful, that this story was still looked at even though I hadn't updated in what, 3 months now? Geez… Anyways, as always, follow, fav, and most importantly, review!

Muu tilted his head lazily towards the tree line to his right, letting his sword hang by his side. His eyes scanned the area through the hole in his bandages, which stretched in a smile as he found who he was looking for.

"Ah, Mizukage… Took you long enough! I was getting tired of playing around," he said, addressing the figure that had just exited the trees.

Akio grunted and shakily turned himself to see, avoiding putting any weight on his amputated arm. When he saw the Mizukage, his eyes filled with a weird mixture of fear and relief. Standing in between the Momochi and the Tsuchikage, Yahiko stumbled as Konan tackled him.

"Oi… I'm injured here!" the oranged-haired kid gasped, clutching his side while trying to move out from under the girl.

Konan, who was originally trying to get Yahiko out of the way of Muu's second attack, blushed with embarrassment when she realized the Yahiko was, in fact, fine for the moment. Muttering a quiet apology, she brushed a strand of blue hair out of her field of vision and stood up, before carefully helping Yahiko up as well.

When they had recovered, attention again returned to the newly arrived figure. To their surprise, the Second Mizukage had covered the distance quickly, and was now only two or three meters away from the group. The man was quite tall, slightly taller than Muu, and was clothed in a light blue-grey cloak with a navy blue pinstripe design. His skin tone was pale, and he had long blonde hair that was combed back. His face was well defined; he had a thin moustache and no eyebrows above his brown eyes. His lips curled in a deceivingly playful smile as he greeted his opponent.

"Hey buddy. Long time, no see. Would you like me to clear the board?" the Mizukage asked nonchalantly.

Muu chuckled formally, and then waved his hand dismissively in the air. "Of course! Though I really could care less about your team, I would like you to get Onoki out of the way. Knowing him, he'll get himself killed!"

"I'll get right on it. Be prepared, however. I'll attack as soon as everyone is safe. Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

The Mizukage bit his thumb and thrust his hand on the ground. A seal of some kind extended from the point of impact, and a giant cloud of smoke erupted behind the blonde man. Konan saw silhouette behind the fog, towering like a mountain over them, but before she could get a clear look at it the fog began to thicken, and suddenly… nothing but white.

"Whoa… Konan, are you seeing this?" Yahiko whispered, an awestruck gleam in his eyes.

Konan shook her head to get back into reality and looked around, mouth gaping. "More like not seeing anything… I can't see three feet in front of me! I've seen genjutsu before… but this is insane! It's odd, but I almost want to believe it's real!"

The Mizukage's voice echoed in the fog around them. "It IS real! That's the beauty! As long as my giant clam stays intact, this genjutsu is as real as possible! Listen, you two. As I don't really want you to die, I'll ask you to stand up and walk forward. That's it. The fog will disperse once you get out of range, and no matter what, DO NOT COME BACK IN HERE!" The tone of warning in the voice chilled Konan causing her to shiver. The order carried a power she had never felt before; it killed all curiosity, and served to make her want to RUN out of the fog. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Onoki and your redheaded Sage are still battling it out. Geez, you'd think Konoha would teach its Rinnegan users better, no? It wouldn't take much effort to kidnap him right now… I won't, of course! I have some dignity! STOP JUDGING ME!"

With at last cynical yell, the voice stopped and both Konan and Yahiko felt a weight fall off of them.

"Let's go, Yahiko… I don't like this place…" Konan shuddered again, still feeling the cold, absolute POWER in the Mizukage's voice.

"Fine… wait, where's Akio?!" Yahiko jumped up and looked around. He probably would have run off, but a combination of Konan's panicked grasp and his wound caused him to stop. Catching himself with Akio's smaller sword, he turned to face her "Ow… what the heck, Ko-" Yahiko stopped mid-sentence, taken aback by the pure look of terror in the blue-haired girl's eyes.

"Don't leave me! Please… I just want to get out…" The girl reacted instantaneously, like her life depended on her escaping the fog, As Konan's mumbling kept going, and her irrational fear of the fog seemed to increase as well. Even after Yahiko began leading her out by her hand, he could feel her palm growing sweatier and begin to shake.

'What happened to her?" Yahiko thought. 'She was just fine until a second ago, and now she's a bumbling mess!'

Even though he couldn't see it, Yahiko was making progress through the fog. It wasn't until he could suddenly see the sun above him that he realized they had made it! He quickly observed the rocky field in front of him; he didn't recognize any of the immediate landmarks, but the sight of Akio and Jiraiya sitting and facing each other right in front of him gave him somewhere to go.

"Hey, Yahiko! Konan! You two alright?" Jiraiya called out, holding his head in his left hand. Though he still moved stiffly and seemed to have a horrible headache, the sage seemed to be back in action for the moment.

Akio seemed better, as well, but was lost in thought as he stared at his freshly-bandaged are.

Yahiko grasped Konan's hand and pulled her along as he half-jogged, half-limped over to the two. "I'm fine, a bit injured-" Yahiko stopped himself and quickly turned around to face Konan. Her hand was still shaking horribly and her face was facing the ground. "Hey, Jiraiya, I think the fog did something to Konan… she seems kinda messed up."

A solemn look crossed over the white-haired man's face, but Akio stopped him before he got up. Not looking away from his arm, he asked: "Kid, did the Mizukage talk to you guys while the fog was active?"

"Well, yeah-"

"God damn it… I would ask you if she said anything to annoy him, but he has a way with… putting words into people's mouths. Either that, or he gave an order…" Akio sighed and rubbed his temple with his remaining hand. "Let me explain: Lord Mizukage laces genjutsu in his words; specifically when he's angry or giving orders. It makes the people want to obey them, so it's good for a leader to have, but he's honestly TOO good at it. He probably used too much chakra on one person, leading to increased effects and duration. That's what she's experiencing right now," Akio said, getting up from the ground. He staggered slightly when he tried to use his missing arm to get up and swore violently. At the same time, he noticed the Yahiko still had his sword, and his expression dropped from anger to that of a defeated fighter. He silently walked over to the shaking, panicky girl and touched two fingers to her forehead, making a sign and muttering, "Kai."

Konan's shaking stopped almost as soon as he said the word and she looked around as if she just got there. "Whoa… what happened to the fog?" Her gazed wandered aimlessly for a few seconds, and the rested on Yahiko's hand in hers. Slowly and deliberately, locking eyes with the orange-haired kid the entire time, she removed it, with neither a look of embarrassment or disgust. Jiraiya would look back at this day for inspiration for his novels, for he had never seen someone handle a situation like that before.

"How about you two get over each other and explain to me what happened while I was out?" Jiraiya muttered, killing whatever moment there was while at the same time reminding them he was there.

Akio snorted with a hint of sarcastic glee and raised his bandaged stump of an arm. "There's a lot for you to catch up on, toad-man."

Nagato was running out of chakra. There was no doubting that now. Each breath he took strained his body, and even seeing Onoki now was becoming a challenge.

"Seeing" used loosely. He couldn't see anything in the fog that had just appeared, but he could sense where the miniature Iwa-nin was. Nagato couldn't explain it, but he just knew where the man was, at all times. But, even so, Onoki would occasionally fade from his vision out of nowhere, leaving him to try to block the incoming attack.

Not like Onoki was faring much better, though. Any dodges he made were last-second at best, and his attacks would occasionally be completely off. Nagato was preparing for one of these attacks when a hand suddenly grabbed him by his red collar and hoisted him into the air. Nagato nearly lashed out at the man, but for some reason he couldn't move and his mind was becoming foggy…

"Now, boy, before you try anything, I put you under what's basically a tranquilizer genjutsu. Let's make the introduction quick: I'm the Second Mizukage, and you need to get off my battlefield. Onoki already got the message, so you won't be fighting anyone anymore."

Nagato still couldn't see the Mizukage from where he was being held, so he simply accepted his fate. His stillness became even more profound as the recollection of the fight he was just in returned to him, without the cloud of adrenaline.

'I was trying to kill someone…'

This was the thought that consumed Nagato's soul as he was carried out of the fog and to his friends.

Muu stood up from his seat on the ground as the Mizukage returned. The blonde man was muttering something under his breath about Onoki and his mustache, but that was normal. Onoki had a way with messing with the Mizukage.

The man stopped a short distance from Muu and sighed, rubbing a hand down his face. "You need to teach your subordinates manners. I mean, really! You don't insult my facial hair!"

Muu merely shrugged and reached back to grab both of his blades. The bandages in front of his mouth stretched in a smile of anticipation and he leaned into a ready position. "So, down to business, I presume?"

The Mizukage threw back his head and chuckled heartily. "Of course! Why else do you think I'm here?" he said as the fog thickened to a point where Muu couldn't see him anymore.

However, after multiple battles with the Mizukage in the past, Muu was ready for his tricks. He knew that closing his eyes wouldn't work; the Mizukage's genjutsu was simply too strong, it effected all of his senses. The Tsuchikage drew both of his blades and crossed them in an X-shape in front of him. Gathering his chakra, he prepared his technique for destroying the stupid hypno-clam that had caused him so much trouble in the past.

"Ryushi Buredos Parudo no jutsu!" the bandaged man yelled. A sphere of light gathered at the cross mark in his blades, and when he pulled them apart, each blade kept a glowing shine inside of itself. Taking a step to steady himself, Muu spun himself in a complete circle and released the energy in his swords. Two crescent-shaped pulses erupted from him, covering a complete circle around him and expanding, cutting whatever they went through.

Including the giant annoying hypno-clam.

The fog released slowly, letting Muu see for sure that the clam was cut in half horizontally, and had a small explosion crater lining where the strike had hit. The Mizukage sat on top of his summon, looking amused, annoyed and indifferent.

"That took you at least two minutes less than usual… It's a completely new record!" the blonde jumped down from his perch, his cloak billowing out as he fell. He landed lightly, laughing quietly. "Now that we've got the formalities out of the way… let us begin the true fight! Joki Boi!"

Slowly, a form seemed to ooze out of the Mizukage's body. It moved with a liquid agility, before forming into what seemed to be a copy of the man himself. The face seemed a bit off, though, a bit more impish. It cracked its neck and lashed it's right arm in a quick, jerky movement. A sickening slicing sound resounded and a weird liquid axe-blade thing formed from its arm.

The being's speed surprised Muu, to say the least. It jumped at him and was slashing at him almost immediately, leaving him little time to react. He brought up one of his blades to block the overhead attack and smiled to himself. Contrary to the Mizukage's belief, he hadn't used all of the energy that had been charged in his blades, and it was this energy that caused a violent explosion that tore up the area around him, devil-clone included.

The Mizukage put both of his hands on his cheeks in mock-screaming. "Oh no! You destroyed my infinitely exploding clone! Whatever shall I do?"

"'Infinitely exploding?'" Muu thought, perplexed. He hadn't seen an explosion, nor was the clone still alive from what he could tell. He nearly continued his confused thought process, but was already too late to avoid the stab coming from behind him. Luckily, Muu was able to get off a quick Fission Technique to create an arm to divert most of the attack, but wan't able to completely avoid it, taking a shallow wound on his right shoulder. The cut on the created arm also stayed on Muu's back as the appendage receded. 'Dammit!' he thought, 'How was I not ready for that!? This is the Mizukage I'm fighting! Master of deceit!'

The Mizukage himself just stood and observed his minion fight Muu, from a hidden location, of course. The chakra it took to maintain that thing was huge! But, all in good fun, because now he wouldn't have to worry too much about the fight. The man chuckled as he heard a loud explosion; Muu had survived, yes, but it was always fun to see his enemies surprise. And that cycle would continue until Muu gave out, seeing as he was already panting and slowing from fighting the clone. Now he just had to wait.

This was annoying. Like, worse than the giant hypno-clam. This exploding clone wouldn't stay DEAD! He could fight it for a while, and right as he saw and opening, the pressure that built up in its liquid body would cause it to explode! Then the steam would condense into hail, and the hail would reform and the process would start over again! Even when Muu was able to 'kill' it, the steam that was left would just do the same thing. He had been going for at least fifteen minutes when the mummified man nearly facepalmed in his stupidity.

He just had to destroy the steam with the clone! He had only been using his charged blades for the first part of the fight!

His plan went into action when the clone reformed once again. When it charged at him, Muu thrust both of his blades into the ground. The resulting explosion broke the land in front of him, forming a crater for both him and the clone. Next, he waited for the clone to charge. After fighting the bomber-clone for the time he had, Muu had a general gauge of its speed, and the land around him was already dotted with smaller mini-craters from the explosions he had avoided.

As soon as the clone took a step, Muu threw his blades aside and slammed both hands on the ground. A stone wall erupted in front of the clone, which he broke through easily.

As expected.

However, the coffin he broke into was not nearly as forgiving. Muu made sure to make the walls as dense as possible, and grinned under his mask as the wall shuddered, but didn't break against the clone's constant attacks. He stepped back and put his hands in front of him, yelling, "Jinton: Genkai Hakuri no Jutsu!"

This time, instead of a small, concentrated laser, Muu made sure this shot was wide enough to consume the entire coffin. The blast disintegrated the coffin and continued until finally petering out as Muu's chakra dispersed. What was left was a slightly ripped up ground, containing no coffin and no steam.

Muu jumped when he heard clapping from behind him; the Second Mizukage walked out from behind a giant boulder stading straight but shakily.

'So… that technique drains a lot of chakra…' Muu smirked with success, picking up both of his swords. 'I've won this!'

"Well done, my rival! You've fought well! Shall we finish this?"

Muu tilted his head in thought before he replied. "Yes. Though I've enjoyed our little skirmishes of the past, one of us must be crowned victor."

"Of course. Let's be done with it, then. I want to get home soon!" the Mizukage replied formally, grinning as he shakily waited.

Muu obliged him and sprinted at the blonde man, charging his blades in the quick dash to the genjutsu master.

"Muu!"

The Tsuchikage looked to his side to where the voice was coming from: Onoki. The short man was flying over the desolate battlefield towards them. Muu disregarded him and stabbed at the Mizukage, but turned his full attention back to the battle when he realized the he had hit something. The Mizukage was impaled on both of his blades, looking down on him with a smirk.

"I had enough chakra for one technique… that would either end in both of our deaths, or both of us living," the Mizukage muttered, coughing up blood onto Muu's forehead. "It's been fun, my friend."

Only then was Muu aware of the fading image of Onoki far off; the distracting genjutsu that slowed him for just one second, and the chill of condensation behind him. He knew, then, what happened. He hadn't destroyed the exploding clone, and now Muu had him stuck.

"Yes. It's been fun. See you in the afterlife, my friend."

A blinding explosion of heat, and the sound of panicked voices was the last thing Muu heard.

"LORD MIZUKAGE!" Akio yelled, finally closing the distance to the fight, followed by the Ame orphans and Jiraiya. He had been holding them back to let the Mizukage have his fight out of respect, but they had been watching since the fog had been dispersed and Nagato had been dropped off. The only thing the Mizukage had said to Akio was not to interfere in the fight, which was an order he honored.

Once the explosion went off, however, Akio made his move.

Muu had been able to create a fission clone before the explosion went off, but he knew he was dead anyways. The only difference was that Muu's body was intact enough to be buried with respect; exactly what he wanted.

Akio jumped over the last few craters to the Mizukage's body. The blonde man took a shuddery breath, and Jiraiya put himself between the orphans and the carnage. The Mizukage was bleeding badly from two stab wounds, not to mention the general cuts and burns caused by being so close to the explosion.

"Hey… Akio… I won! Hehehe…" the man doubled over in a coughing fit, ending with one final hack of blood. "I killed him first… Akio. I'm going to die."

Akio's expression of sadness didn't change, but an air of resignation fell over them as he kneeled down. "Jiraiya, take those brats away. Let me talk to him."

"Wait… before you go… Where's Mei? The Terumi girl?"

Yahiko rubbed the back of his head with a obviously faked grin; he was on the verge of tears for a guy he didn't even know. "She wanted to fight… so we kinda tied her up. She's alive, over behind a rock. Jiraiya had one of his summons move her out of the danger zone!"

The Mizukage coughed again. "Well, at least you did your mission. Good job! And… seeing as Kage were involved, you could… note this as an S rank mission… as your first mission… how unexpected… Now you can leave us… Please."

The light genjutsu that laced his voice didn't cause the panic it had to Konan, instead it was calm and pleading. Jiraiya turned and led the kids towards Mei's hiding place to retrieve her and wait for Akio's return.

"Akio… Huh. It's funny. I was planning on giving my title to someone else, but… I think you can handle it."

Akio said nothing, in shock. "Me? The Third Mizukage?"

"Yup!"

"Are you sure? I mean, I couldn't even challenge Muu… and now I'm missing an arm…"

"Yeah, I'm sure… I only have a minute or two. My last order: Keep Konoha as an ally. I could go completely the opposite direction and tell you to take that kid's Rinnegan, but you know… friends are good in this world. Keep them. Now, for your initiation…" The Mizukage pressed his hand to the ground and winced. A small puff of smoke erupted from the spot and a small clam appeared. At first, Akio just thought it was a normal summon, but as the Mizukage turned it over he saw it. Kirigakure's seal of leadership, the same wave-y seal that was on his hitae-ate.

"Hold your hand out, Akio…"

Akio did as he was told, and winced in pain as the Mizukage placed the seal on his hand. The burning sensation was soon over, and the Mizukage placed his hand on the ground again. Another puff of smoke revealed a larger clam resembling a conch shell. On it was the Mizukage's hat.

"Akio… As you know, I'm from the Hozuki clan… If Muu hadn't charged his swords, I could have just turned into liquid and avoided it… but that didn't happen. When I die, my body will melt. Make sure the water makes it into this shell, okay? To show the clams my gratitude for my friends…"

Akio sighed sadly. "Of course, sir."

"Don't call me sir… you're my equal, now. Take the hat. Good luck with the paperwork!"

"We just watched two Kage DIE!" Yahiko screamed, seemingly caught between sadness and the adrenaline from the fight.

"Good job, kid. You've seen history in the making," Jiraiya mumbled. Sarutobi was going to kill them! Konoha could be in deep political trouble for being present here.

Konan and Nagato seemed to be taking the death similarly. Nagato showed a bit more emotion compared to Konan's emotionlessness; he sulked and seemed to be followed by a cloud of sadness. Mei had been angry, but when she heard the news she had shut up and separated from the main group to mourn.

It was at least ten minutes before Akio returned, and when he did everyone watched the man intently and curiously. The first thing everyone noticed was the Mizukage's hat on his head, and the way he walked with a new pride. He had his single, large blade sheathed on his back. When he spoke, his tone was strong and mature, with but a hint of mourning.

"The Second Mizukage it dead. He gave me, Akio Momochi, the title of Third Mizukage. His body has been sent to the land of his summons. I will carry out his dying wish…" the dark-haired man turned to Jiraiya. "Jiraiya, please tell your Hokage that Kirigakure would like to work out an alliance." Akio looked at each of the children individually, addressing them all. "Mei… we will return to Kirigakure today, after we disperse. Konan, Nagato. I thank you two for your help with the fight against Onoki. He was able to retrieve the Tsuchikage's body, and I can assume that they're going back to Iwagakure. Yahiko…" the newly appointed Mizukage kneeled in front of the orange-haired orphan, looking him in the eyes. "Thank you, especially. You saved my life, and for that you have my gratitude. Also… hold out my old sword."

Yahiko, who was truly awestruck at getting such personal attention, held up Akio's smaller blade. Akio took it from him and put it in his sheath, before unstrapping the sheath and handing it back to Yahiko.

"You can have it as a token of my thanks. Furthermore, seeing that your form is atrocious, I'll do this…" Akio placed his hand on the blade's sheath, and it glowed blue from the Seal of Leadership. When he removed it, the seal was imprinted on the sheath. "Show that to the guards if you're ever in Kiri. I'll find some time to teach you some things."

With that, Akio motioned to Mei and they both jumped towards the tree line, making their way back to Kirigakure.

Solemnly, the new swordsman, his sensei, and his friends turned and also left the battlefield. They went the rest of the day without speaking, too shocked by what they had seen.

Author's notes: Aww snap. I really got into this chapter. Fancy stuff. It might be a bit rusty, seeing as I haven't written for a while, but that's why I have reviewers! Just a few notes:

Insta-clam-kill: I didn't really want a boring genjutsu fight, and seeing as Muu and the Mizukage had fought before, I figured he would know how to beat it.

Not naming the Mizukage: I don't know why I didn't… Oh well.

Konan's panic: Paranoia genjutsu. Why not? Overwhelms some people while barely affecting others.

Anything else? Nope. As always, review, fav and follow! Until next time!

Nayod.