-1Rising
Chapter 7-Tsunade's Suspicions Confirmed!
Tsunade was pacing the confines of her office. Hmm…Raven is becoming too much of a liability. If the true phoenix dominates him, Raven will die and so will the village. Should I take a preemptive strike? Yes…I have no choice. Shizune walks in, carrying Tonton as usual. "Lady Tsunade…what's wrong?" Tsunade sat at her desk and sighed. "Shizune, Raven is coming too close to releasing the true phoenix. I'm going to carry out an Anbu strike." Shizune looked grim. "Lady Tsunade…are you sure?" Tsunade nodded and called for an Anbu squad leader. He appeared instantly. "Lord Hokage…what is your request?" "I want 10 of your best soldiers to pursue and kill Raven Ashcrest." The squad leader winced. "Lord Hokage…He has not only evaded every assassination attempt on him, but he has killed the assassins and the contractor." "I thought you were the best…oh well." The squad leader regained his composure. "We will do it, Lord Hokage!"
Raven Ashcrest is heading to the clearing to clear his head (no pun intended) when he notices a kunai out of the corner of his eye. Raven immediately whirls around, blocks the kunai, and performs hand signs. "Ram-Snake-Ox-Horse-Rooster-Snake-Rat-Ox-Tiger! Water Style: Typhoon Storm Jutsu!" Immediately, swirling clouds form above the Leaf Village, bringing down torrential rain and high winds. The rain washes out his would-be killers. 10 Anbu!?! What the f!?! Raven follows up with "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" A giant water dragon roars up out of the water and sweeps away three of the Anbu. 7-to-1. My kind of odds. One of the Anbu performs the Paralysis Jutsu. Raven is frozen in his position. Another Anbu leaps out and decapitates him. Then they release the Jutsu.
Raven is actually hiding underground, waiting for the right time to strike. "Genjutsu: Infinite Darkness Jutsu!" All of a sudden, the Anbu are surrounded by total blackness. "What!?! I can't see anything!" Raven grinned. Perfect. One of the Anbu falls to the ground, dead. "What the hell?!? AAAAAGHH!" Raven stabs another one in the stomach, unseen. Three more Anbu flood in. "Where are you, Ashcrest?" "Right here." With that, he stabs that Anbu in the heart, then swings his body into one of his comrades. Raven grabs the one comrade's head and pulls him underground. "Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!" That Anbu suffocated to death. Excellent. That leaves the squad leader. With that, he dispelled the genjutsu and reappeared behind the leader, his sword to the leader's neck. "Alright, we're going to play a game. You're going to guess a number between 1-10. If you guess right, you get to live. If you guess wrong, the number that you picked is how you die. Now, what number am I thinking of?" The squad leader is clearly shaken. "Uh…4?" Raven grinned. "You're right! Now, tell me what I want to know or we'll play another round. First off, who sent you to kill me?" The squad leader replies, "I-I don't know!" Raven becomes angry. He presses his sword to the leader's neck, causing blood to trickle out. "Now: who sent you to kill me!!!" The squad leader refuses to answer. Raven then impales him with his sword. "Alright…it was…the Fifth…Hokage." The leader's body slumps to the ground. The Fifth Hokage…grrrrrrrrr! She'll pay for this! Right now, I need to dispose of the bodies. Raven plants exploding tags on each body, then blows them up. He jumps away from the charred scene.
Later that evening…
It is about 8:30 pm. Raven is walking down one of the pathways when someone taps him on the shoulder. He looks to his right, then hears "I'm over here, genius." He turns around…and is met with Sakura kissing him. At first he's shocked, then he returns it. Raven is thinking…This feels so right! It lasts for about 10 seconds, then they part. "Sakura, I got something to show you! Come on!" With that, he starts running towards the place. "Raven! Wait up!" Sakura yells in a playful tone. When they're almost there, he tells her to close her eyes. "Raven, where are we going?" "You'll see-oh, wait, we're here! Open your eyes!" Sakura's hands flew to he mouth.
It's a lake with a reflection of the full moon on it. There are trees surrounding the lake. There are chairs at one end of the lake, because it overlooks Konoha. "Raven, it's beautiful." "Just like you, Sakura. Welcome to my hideout." She blushed at the compliment. "I come here to get away from the world, and my family." She smiled. "I can understand that." They both end up laughing. Raven laid down on the grass, with Sakura next to him. "Raven, look at the moon. It's awe-inspiring, isn't it?" Raven was feeling happier than he had been lately. "Yeah." "Hey, Raven?" "Yeah?" "When were you going to tell me you were an assassin?" Raven looked as if he'd just been hit by an 18-wheeler, then tazered at high voltage. "Aw, crap, you knew?" Sakura nodded. "Yeah, Aoi told me." Raven grimaced. "Dammit! I was going to tell you, but…" "But what?" "It's tough for an assassin to be in a relationship, because they put themselves and their loved ones in danger. I let my feelings get in the way! Aw, hell, Sakura, I'm sorry. I never wanted to put you in this position." Sakura became concerned. "You mean…" "Yes. You're in grave danger as well as your family. I'm sorry, Sakura." "Raven, wait!" But he had already leapt away. Sakura walked over to one of the chairs, and sat down in it. Raven…
Tsunade was in one of the casinos at the Leaf Village. "7-7-7! Yes!" Shizune had a worried look on her face. This isn't good… Just then, someone punches Tsunade, sending he flying through the machine and the wall, and crashing into a building. She rubbed her head. "What happened?" She heard a shout pierce the air. "You tried to have me killed!" Raven jumped down from a roof and nailed Tsunade with an axe kick. She hit the ground, hard. She got back up. "You…you're still alive?!" Raven rushed at her. She nailed a punch in his stomach, sending him reeling. Ouch…that hurt. Before he could tell what was going on, Tsunade axe-kicked the ground, creating a massive fissure. Raven backflipped to avoid it, but Tsunade had a clone hiding. The clone aimed a kick at his spine. He pivoted so it hit him in his chest. He felt at least three ribs crack. Raven coughed up blood. "Had enough?" Raven glared at the Hokage. "I never know when to stop trying." He made hand signs. Tsunade looked shocked. What jutsu is this?!?
Electricity started crackling around Raven's hand. He sprinted towards Tsunade, leaving afterimages. "White Lightning Blade!" Tsunade barely got to the side, but Raven managed to pierce through her shoulder. She made the signs for the Healing Jutsu, but Raven had a preemptive strike planned. He rushed toward her, then stopped. The world became black-and-white, with a circle similar to Neji's 8 Trigrams. "Earth Style: Hawk Palms Jutsu!" "2 Palms!" Raven struck 2 of Tsunade's chakra points, shutting them off. "4 Palms!" Raven struck 4 more of Tsunade's tenketsu. "8 Palms!" Raven and a shadow clone struck 8 chakra points. "16 Palms!" Tsunade is visibly shaken at this point. Raven and the clone shut off 16 chakra points. "32 Palms!" Tsunade suffered some internal damage, while Raven and two clones shut off 32 chakra points. "64 Palms!" Raven ruptured her spleen while shutting off 64 tenketsu. "128 Palms!" Raven and three more clones shut off 128 of Tsunade's tenketsu and sent her flying back. She got up and tried the healing jutsu again, but she couldn't focus her chakra.
"What?!? My chakra…I can't focus it!" Raven, meanwhile focuses chakra in his palm. "Take this!" He rushes to the right of her with his palm outstretched. "You missed by a l-my aorta! It's been severed! Wait…a chakra scalpel." Raven nodded. "Bingo. By inhibiting your chakra, I've left you unable to heal major injuries, like…" "A severed artery." Raven chuckled. "Unless Shizune or Sakura can find you soon, you're dead." Tsunade clenched her fist. "You'll have to live with the fact that you killed the Fifth Hokage." This nailed Raven. "What would the village think of you? What would Sakura think of you?" Tsunade smiled. This had clearly struck a chord with him. Raven looked unsure of what to do. Shizune happened to walk out of a nearby building. "Lady Tsunade! Where are you! There you are, Lady Tsunade!" Raven turned into liquid so Shizune couldn't see him. "Shizune…I need…medical attention. My aorta…is severed." "What?!?" Shizune started using the Healing Jutsu on Tsunade.
Sakura was about to leave the lake when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She looked to her left. "Over here, Sakura!" "Raven…what happened?" He embraced her and whispered, "Someone made me think about how my actions affect everyone. Love is a gift from God, meant to be shared with others. And if I'm going to be a jerk about it, it's better to have loved than not at all." Sakura smiled and whispered back, "Raven, that was deep. I never knew." Raven chuckled. "Hang on, Sakura. I got something for you." He brought up a column of water, froze it, and then cut it with several kunai until he made an…ice swan. "For you, Sakura." "Wow, Raven, it's amazing. How can you control ice?" Raven looked shocked. "I can control ice? Awesome!"
Next time: How can Raven control ice? Is Tsunade dead? And how will this affect Raven's standing with the Senior Council? Find out next chapter!
