Hello Readers,
It's me LivingLie here, with another edition of "The Masked Beast". I would like to have some clever reason why I haven't been updating. Well I have worked on another story (hint: rhymes with smingdom shmarts) and I've just lost interest in this story. My inspiration for this story came from the wrestler Naruto was based on, and since he dropped the gimmick there's no inspiration. But I did make a promise not to abandon a story, I will try to stick to my word. So without further ado...
Mask of Power
Chapter 12: The Fight Heard 'Round The World
Since Last Time
As the dragon dissipated into smoke, everyone stood in awe of the malevolent power before them. However before they could ask what exactly happen, the mass shot forward and hit Anci in the gut with was presumed to be a fist. Turning, it roundhouse kicked Sasuke into the same area as his teammate, and finally grabbing by the collar of her shirt, threw Sakura into the body pile. As soon as this entity decimated team 7, it shot back to the injured Shino and Karui, it's 'face' looking at them. While the aura did distort the reputation within, it didn't however stop friends from recognizing each other.
"Naruto-kun!" The ex-Kumo shinobi shouted hugging through the shroud.
As the crowd looked on in complete shock and confusion Shino summed up what everyone thought in the deep recesses of their minds.
"That was impressive."
The sight was not the expected scene. The noble team seven in rubble as the pariah of the strongest hidden villages stood tall. Those who had hurt and cast the boy out of society could only cross their fingers and hope that he wasn't truly as evil as they made him out to be. Although those who were at the very least neutral the boy couldn't help but to crack a small smile. One reason was that the embrace between Naruto and Karui was somewhat touching, even if they were in a shroud of pure concentrated malice. Two, team seven was fairly uppity, so having them humbled was incredibly satisfying.
"Oh Naruto-kun, I'm glad you're ok." Karui said softly into the Kimosu's ear so no one else could hear.
While the two 'good' friends were having their moment, the third decided that this was the moment to truly count the cards he and his friends have been dealt.
'The possible law offences are: assault, attempted murder, treason, disturbing the peace, and I'm sure several moving violations. The best we can get out of this is exile with return resulting in immediate execution, the worst being immediate execution. Making our way out of the village would be nearly impossible if they actually mean to capture us. Looks like we have to make a break for it, before it's too late.' Shino summarized in thought.
Wasting little time decided to trudge his injured body as quickly as he could over to the shroud. But that's when another thing caught his eye and that was moving among the rubble, and not only that but there was crimson smog that leaked out beneath the fallen brick. The insect boys eyes bugged out at the sight just before he entered the ten foot diameter shroud himself.
"Karui, Naruto it's time to go. We need to leave or immediate execution is probable...Guys?..Look we need to leave!" Shino said with a slight temper. He was slightly perturbed because Karui and Naruto completely ignored him.
"I said it's time to go." The Ex-Aburame said more forcefully, but still there was no response.
That's when Shino grew annoyed with his friends impudence and forced them to pay attention. He first went over to Naruto and grabbed his shoulder, when he did he was greeted by a glares darkest pitch. Shocked he let go over his male teammate and hastily turned to Karui and repeated the action he did to Naruto with Karui .
"Karui-chan, it's time to go."
An even more unlikely event occurred, Karui's eyes were the same as Naruto's, a dark sinister filling eye rim to rim. It was then that before the feeling of dread could shoot up his spine, Shino felt a great sense of relaxation and relief.
Outside the shroud
"Ugh, my head is pounding." A male voice from beneath the rubble complained.
"Sasuke-kun, Anci-chan, is everyone alright?" A female voice also from beneath the rubble inquired.
"Yeah I can still feel my body if that's what you mean. How do you feel Anci...Anci?"
There was nothing but a low menacing growl that could be heard. Being her teammates, Sasuke and Sakura were well aware of what that meant.
So with no delay and no worry of their third teammate the two other Team Seven members nimbly made their way out of the rubble and to the rest of the viewing audience.
It was about a half-minute of uncomfortable silence until a blood curdling roar was heard throughout the nation of fire.
The area around Anci was cleared out of everything that breathed except for Sakura, Sasuke, and those in the shroud. In the fleeing the torches that lite the area were dropped and put out which made it almost completely black outside, the only exception being the one torch that fell and wasn't put out. Plus, the orange glowing death vixen with a thrashing tail shed a little light on the scene.
"Get out here you cowards, I want to paint the town red with your blood!" The Jinchuuriki said in her distorted demon voice, as she grew a second tail.
It was almost like clockwork because right when the demand was made the shroud started to shrink into nothing. In the nothingness stage all three renegades stood together in a single horizontal row. But there was the big difference.
'What is up with their eyes.' Sakura thought as she looked on all three. Even though she couldn't see Shino's eyes she assumed he was like his friends.
The dead black eyes. What only could be described as the closest thing to an abyss was staring down the closest thing to hell on earth, the nine-tailed jinchuuriki.
"You bastards think your tough shit, well then bring it!" The demonic blonde roared, as she grew another tail, totalling three altogether .
Without delay the trio appeased the fox demon, by sinking into the shadows and out of sight . Anci scanned the area but nowhere could her opponents be found, they just disappeared into the shadows of night.
"Show yourselves your worthless maggots, if you have the slightest fraction of dignity you will fight me face to face!" The girl roared once again, but was greeted with nothing but silent night.
Fed up with waiting for a fight Anci started to look for it. Skulking about, her orange florescent glow dashed its paint upon the ground and nearby buildings. However this still didn't deter the evasion tactics of Naruto, Karui, and Shino as they were still nowhere to be seen, heard, or detected by any of the senses.
"I'm fucking sick of this!" Anci shrieked as she noticeably grew another orange tail. Hell personified was the illumination of Konoha. Her naturally horrified teammates looked on at what was even unusual to them, a genocidal blonde. That's when something caught the eye of the Uchiha.
It was like an amoeba that oozes shadows from its body, and it was slowly stalking behind the hellish vixen. Luckily for 'it' the vixen was only seeing the rage delusions, so her mind wasn't truly on her surrounding. But unluckily for 'it' the demon fox had an eagle-eyed partner looking out for/at her behind.
"Anci, behind you!" Sasuke yelled out trying to be relevant in this situation.
Quickly she turned around and was greeted by a sight that only could be conjured up in a horror novel. Three dark-eyed creatures from the bottomless deep stared down the devil herself.
"Heh, now you die." Anci said with devilish distortion as she lifted up her claw.
A claw crackling with hate dropped itself down on what looked to be three defenseless kids. Like before however the three disappeared seaminglessly into the night. Unlike before they didn't stay hidden for long because Karui came back out of the darkness with her flaming short sword, surrounded in...Black fire?
'What's this...Hellfire?' Anci thought as she narrowly dodged the sword that went directly by her face.
As the sword went by Anci's head along with the rest of Karui's body, said sword wielding monster spawn disintegrated back into the black pitch. Infuriated by the brazen act of violence Anci swung wildly at the last known position of her foe. Due to her rage she missed the subtlety in a certain lore about certain six-legged miniatures.
Still her rage was misguided because again a sneak attack was launched this by Naruto. A simple bony fist launched at the back of the head, but this was quickly blocked by the cloak covered female hand.
A nasty smirk etched itself on the lips of Anci Uzumaki-Namikaze. Suddenly the boy's head shot forward, with the mask anticipating impact shown by the condensation formed on the inside. The move was seen before however, so again the attack made by the non-orange and demented blonde was blocked by the remaining hand of the female U-N (uzumaki-Namikaze). This is when Anci started to laugh a wicked laugh.
"You have been a plague on the name of Uzumaki and Namikaze. I will happily rid you of this world." Anci said as she slowly crushed her brother's head in her hand. The sound of the mask being slowly crunched under pressure was identical to that of bones cracking.
It looked as if doom for the Kimosu was certain until Anci noticed something very odd, her grip was weakening. It was incomprehensible, somehow the entire power that the kyuubi granted the girl since she was born was being sapped away seamlessly. Then it hit her.
"Damn you Aburame!" She screamed to the heavens until her grip was released on her brother and her fierce orange glow was turned into a pathetic glint in the night.
Her thoughts almost became reality before she could finally feel the tiny feet scampering down and off her body. A sound that eerily replicated that of flimsy metal rung out and with the sound came three figures. Their eyes were still of the blackest pitch but their voices made not a proved to piss of the girl even more.
"Heh, so are you going to gloat now? Is this what you want, the destruction of your family? Well you can get it. Do it, kill me. KILL ME!" Anci said as she finally snapped, and like her brother dived deep into insanity.
Still the three figures remained silent, unmoving, and unsympathetic. The middle part became untrue when the red-headed figure took out her sword and used it against the forehead of the deeply insane female. With the blunt end of course...
The ravenous raving revenger fell to the ground without any hesitation after the impact with the handle. With her fall brought new light to the eyes of Naruto, Karui, and Shino for the darkness then retreated from their eyes like shadows during a sunrise. As they returned to their usual form, they couldn't recover themselves before being berated by more antagonists that appeared from a smokescreen.
"This will stop now!" The voice of an elderly man displeased with the latest events shook the ground on which the target of his rage shook.
"Ugh, what happened?" Karui complained gripping her scalp in pain.
"I don't know, but I imagine this is what someone who drank much for the first time feels like the morning after." Shino replied blinking repeatedly behind his glasses to regain his vision.
"Oh, I just had the best dream where I beat Sasuke and Sakura in one hit, and then Anci was sapped of energy by Shino and finished off by Karui. It was so awesome." The Kimosu drearily stated with an euphoric smile on his face.
Sarutobi Hiruzen grew angrier with each comment as he slowly realized he was being ignored. But he was soon backed up and heard by one of his two star pupils.
"Listen boy, or you'll learn what castration means." The medic nin Tsunade threatened. Naruto Looked at his potential mutilator and the aforementioned sister as he put all the pieces together.
"So that wasn't a dream...Oh shit." The last sentiment was shared verbally by all three assault participants.
"Yes, but you're lucky however. Since it was Anci who attacked you first, what you did is considered self-defense. I must say however I would like to learn about that shadow technique when you return from your training. Jiraiya, Tsunade please take Anci-chan and the rest of her teammates to the hospital. I have to get Naruto, Shino, and Karui acquainted with their new teacher." The wise Hokage ordered, and the orders were completed with little resistance.
The three genin nin quirked an eyebrow at the news of a teacher being assigned to them. That's when Naruto and Karui noticed the purple haired ninja that stood by the Hokage.
"IT'S YOU!" They both pointed slacked jawed anime-style at Anko.
"Oh I remember you, you're the girl that I paraded around the town. And I'm going to assume that this is your boyfriend from the prison." The woman known far and wide as the snake mistress gleefully said with a sadistic glint in her eye.
"You know Anko?" Shino inquired.
"Yeah she's the evil witch who took Karui away from me and sold her to the Hyuuga's." Naruto the Kimosu said with a horrid snare.
"Oh I'm flattered. You captured my reputation well." The purple pineapple haired ninja said with sarcasm.
"In any case, I'm assigning Anko to be your team leader. She will be training you until she see's fit that you can progress to becoming chunin. It is fair punishment for what you've done to Anci and her team on two occasions now. I wouldn't complain or it would be much worse." Sarutobi told his audience.
Without delay Anko captured her pupils. Sending a snake from inside her trench coat to constrict Naruto, Shino, and Karui into a tight circle. With that and the snap of her fingers both her and the trio were gone in a smokescreen. Sarutobi was left in the silent night streets with his own thoughts.
'I was lucky that Tsunade and Jiraiya decided to come to me during the fight between Team 7 and Naruto's gang. If they didn't I couldn't have used the crystal ball to see the progress Anci has made along with Naruto, Shino, and Karui. It was good to see Anci could control her demon as well as she did as young as she is. But whatever that new power of Kimosu's is, it's got me perturbed and we need to keep an eye on it. Good thing I told Anko about it, if there's anyone besides Ibiki, that can get information out of people. Tsk, Tsk, this is going to be quite the handful.'
Forest of Death 3 miles away from battle field
With a puff of smoke the four people reappeared on top of an abnormally large tree branch.
"So my kiddies say hello to your new home." Anko said as she recalled the snake that coiled itself around her team back to her coat.
"Wait, you can't leave us here!" Karui said horrified
"Oh I can, and I will." Anci said as she used a Shunshin (body flicker) technique and disappeared in a vortex of snakes.
And with that, they were alone without any place to go. Or so two of them thought.
"Well this should be interesting, and very good." Shino said as he adjusted his glasses.
"What do you mean interesting? We're stuck in jungle doom and that's your reaction 'interesting' and 'very good'! Are you mad!?" Naruto screamed.
"Like you?"
"...Touche. But still what do you mean 'very good'. What part of this situation is good." Naruto inquired twitching due to the uncomfortable environment he's in.
"For me anyway, all the varying insects in the forest of death here is an epic amount. Nonetheless, I'm aware of our situation and I have a plan."
"Well I'm listening, cause I have nothing. I only heard stories about this place, ugh." Karui said cringing due to all the bad press the place has gotten.
"Yeah I much prefer the city and an industrial setting to that of nature. I can't believe I'm actually missing a place like Konoha." Naruto muttered the last part to himself.
"Who would think that Naruto the Kimosu would actually be afraid of something." Karui taunted.
"I'm not afraid, just cautious." Naruto defended himself.
"Bullshit, you're chicken."
"Am not!"
"Are to!"
"Am not!"
"ARE TO!"
"AM NOT!"
"Would you please stop bickering." Shino said with annoyance in his voice.
Both immature parties realized their fault and immediately stopped. But not before they both noticed the intimate proximity they were in during the heated debate.
"So Shino do you know where to go?" Karui said with slight blush on her face.
"Yes, well...I do know a place." Shino stated with a smile behind his shirt.
Authors Corner:
Well I thank you for reading and I'm sorry for the long wait. It's just that I lost interest in the story but it's coming back. I would appreciate some reviews on my other story. But I do have an announcement. I apologize for anyone who voted for Alex Mercer in the poll but I just don't know the character or his story enough to put him in a story. So I'm going to go with Kakuzu to be another addition. Don't worry however because I will be damn sure every chapter is entertaining enough for my followers. Thank You.
-LivingLie
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