Author's Note: OBSERVER01 pointed out something I kinda overlooked. The whole if we reveal the Edo Tensei to Sasuke, Sasuke would in fact request an Uchiha Clan Revival, which will lead to some really awkward moments any way you answer it. Only three real options: actually do it and trust his parents to be loyal to the village now and hope for the best (or force them to be), major therapy no jutsu, or send Sasuke into broody hateland even faster than canon.
Darn, a Sasuke-focused chapter. Now I'm like canon. Well throwing in a side mission at least.
Disclaimer: don't own Naruto or Elder Scrolls blah blah blah...
Chapter 13: Dur Do Irkbaan (The Curse of Hate)
"What do you mean, he can't revive my parents?!"
Sasuke turned his back on Kagami and clenched his fists. Kagami made a sad and sympathetic face.
"Sasuke, the Edo Tensei Jutsu requires a human sacrifice for each person revived. Hokage-sama can't just use it to revive everyone who dies. He had to pick and choose the shinobi that would be most effective in defending the village, and from what my descendant said I'm stronger than your parents were."
Sasuke spun around and pointed angrily at Minato and Kushina.
"He revived both of Naruto's parents! Yondaime Hokage I can understand but what about her?!"
Kagami looked to the couple and then back to Sasuke.
"Uzumaki Kushina possesses a powerful innate ability that allows her to single-handedly subdue a biju. The Hokage believed that ability would also be useful against the dragons."
Sasuke turned away and leaped into the distance. The other shinobi move to follow but Kagami put up a hand to stop them, and then leaped after Sasuke.
He quickly found Sasuke on the branch of a tall tree, sitting against the tree and holding his knees while he cried.
"Sasuke, do you know that the Uchiha once had jutsu that could revive the dead?"
Sasuke jumped up, desperate hope in his eyes.
"What?! Really?"
Kagami nodded.
"It is the most powerful jutsu available to a Sharingan user, Izanagi. It is a jutsu capable of re-writing reality."
Sasuke smiled.
"Then, we can..."
However, he met eyes with Kagami and stopped as he saw the serious look in Kagami's eye.
"And it nearly destroyed the Uchiha clan in a massacre much like this one."
Sasuke stopped completely, utterly shocked at that statement. Kagami sat down.
"You might as well get comfortable, I'm going to tell you the history of the Uchiha clan. Do you know how we gain the Sharingan?"
Sasuke nodded.
"It activates when our lives are in danger, right?"
Kagami nodded.
"That is one way to activate it but not the only way. Did you know our clan feels emotions more powerfully than any other?"
Sasuke shook his head, surprised.
"We especially feel love very strongly. However, when that love is taken from us, our brains release a special kind of chakra. This chakra reacts with our eyes and activates our Sharingan. You can gain the Sharingan if you experience great personal lost as well. And if you experience extremely deep lost, such as the loss of a best friend..."
Kagami closed his eyes. When he opened them, his Sharigan had transformed. Instead of the three tomoe it now had a four-pointed pinwheel around the pupil.
"You activate the Mangekyo Sharingan, a far stronger version of the Sharingan with special abilities. But there is a downside to this. The feelings of great loss are all too easily turned into hatred by our clan, you may even say we are predisposed to do so. Nidaime Hokage even described it as a 'curse of hate' as he believed the same chakra that created the Sharingan also changed our emotions from positive to negative. That hatred leads to the kind of arrogant lust for power that has destroyed our clan over and over again. This is one story of how it did.
During the Period of Warring States, the Uchiha had gathered their entire might to face an enemy clan. It was a battle the Uchiha could not afford to lose. But it was a trap. The enemy knew what was coming and prepared for the Uchiha, and most of the clan was wiped out within seconds of the start of the battle. It was now that the leader of the Uchiha, Uchiha Rai, revealed a technique previously known only to him."
Sasuke knew where this was going.
"The Izanagi I'm guessing?"
Kagami nodded.
"He reversed the outcome of the trap and the whole clan returned to life. The enemy was caught completely off guard and crushed. However, this began a chain of events that devastated the clan."
Sasuke looked confused.
"How could a jutsu that restores us to life destroy the clan?"
Kagami sighed.
"It is said that the Uchiha are blessed with power, but again we are actually cursed with it. Our ability to gain the Sharingan and the incredible power it offers causes us to grow arrogant and negligant, especially since that power is often accompanied by hatred and despair from great loss. So we look down upon and neglect those without it, even within the clan, and we hate weakness for allowing those we love to die."
Sasuke suddenly thought back to his childhood, the years of being ignored and constantly compared to Itachi by his father, all because he lacked the abilities Itachi possessed. He thought of how he hated himself for being helpless during the masscre.
"I can see it in your eyes, you know this is true. The inevitable outcome of this is tragedy. Once the existence of the Izanagi became common knowledge among the clan, everyone wanted its power for themselves. And unfortunately, for all its power it is surprisingly easy to learn. A Sharingan is all that is required. And once they learned the Izanagi, they stopped considering the consequences of their actions, pursuing power at all costs."
Sasuke thought of Itachi, how he killed the clan just to test his own power.
"Uchiha Baru started the process. He challenged Rai for leadership of the clan. He did not think of the consequences, for with Izanagi he could change the outcome if it wasn't in his favor. Using the Izanagi, he killed Rai. But his success inspired others, and he was killed by the rest of the clan and there was a major power struggle within the clan. When the dust cleared, the jutsu was forbidden."
Sasuke looked downcast, but Kagami wasn't done.
"The story doesn't end there either, Sasuke. Unfortunately, Itachi was not the first Uchiha to murder his clan."
Sasuke looked shocked again.
"Some time after the founding of Konoha, there was an Uchiha named Naka. Naka rediscovered the Izanagi and became obsessed with it. It led him to become obsessed with his own power, and he eventually slaughtered much of the Uchiha clan."
Sasuke grit his teeth. This was exactly what had happened with Itachi. Was this the Uchiha clan's fate?
"Well, what happened? Someone must have killed him, avenged the clan."
Kagami shook his head.
"Actually no one did."
Sasuke was angrily surprised.
"What do you mean?! He massacred the clan! They let him get away with it?! How did the clan survive if no one stopped him?!"
Kagami put up a hand.
"They stopped him by saving him."
Sasuke looked utterly confused.
"There was a second ultimate jutsu developed by the Uchiha in order to deal with issue of an arrogant Izanagi wielder. It is called the Izanami. It is a genjutsu utilizing all of the senses of both the target and the caster, one that is nearly impossible to break. To begin the technique, the caster selects an arbitrary moment and uses their Sharingan to remember the physical sensations both of their body and that of their opponent's during that instant. Let's call that moment A. The user must then intentionally replicate the same sensation and in the same way and then memorize that instant with their Sharingan as A'. Izanami overlaps and connects these two identical bodily sensations (A and A'), as well as the flow of time between them, creating an infinite loop of events that entraps the opponent's consciousness. The user can also use their Sharingan to remember multiple sensations, (represented as B, C and so forth) and those sensations will also be used when Izanami is activated. The user also doesn't need necessarily to replicate A with A' to initiate Izanami. They can also replicate B with B' or C with C' as well. The more sensations they memorize, the better their chances would be to initiate Izanami on a person and the more sensations the victim will experience each time they repeat a loop."
Sasuke's eyes widened.
"So you can trap an opponent in an eternal genjutsu, using any of your five senses?"
Kagami nodded.
"Almost. However, this jutsu was never used in combat."
Sasuke looked surprised again.
"Why not?"
"It is a jutsu with a built-in escape route. Izanagi is a jutsu that allows the user to rewrite reality, to choose whatever reality they want. But Izanagi cannot be used to escape Izanami. Izanami can only be escaped through the opposite of Izanagi, when you stop running from the original reality. You must accept yourself and accept reality for what it is, the past for what it is, and take responsibility for your actions, learn from the past, and move forward. When you do that, the Izanami loop is broken."
Sasuke shook his head.
"Why go to all that trouble for a jutsu that can be escaped like that?"
Kagami nodded.
"This is where our story picks up. Remember, Izanami was designed to save an Uchiha comrade. After wiping out much of the clan, Uchiha Naka was confronted by his friend, Uchiha Naori. Naori trapped him in Izanami. Eventually Naka accepted himself, giving up the Izanagi and taking responsibility for the blood he had shed. He stopped taking the easy way out and set off on the harder path of accepting his strength for what it was and relying on others instead of the Izanagi shortcut. Naka and Naori would go on to rebuild the Uchiha clan together."
Sasuke shook his head.
"Surely it can't have been as easy as that."
Kagami had a sad smile.
"No, it wasn't. Though the clan was rebuilt and Naka accepted back in, the incident set off a chain of events in the village as a whole. It was this incident that led the Hyuga clan to establish their Main House Branch House system, so that the leader of the Hyuga would be insurmountably stronger than the rest of the clan and thus no one would ever be tempted to try and take power themselves. In addition, this incident separated the Uchiha from the rest of the village."
Sasuke looked surprised.
"What do you mean?"
Kagami sighed.
"No one really trusted the Uchiha clan after this. And with good reason, if the Uchiha turned on their own kin over and over again, how could you trust us not to betray the village? From that point, Nidaime Hokage kept a close eye on the Uchiha. This is why he appointed us as the police force. It would give us enough power to sate our ambition, but at the same time kept us a hands length from the rest of the village, keeping us from amassing too much power."
Sasuke looked stunned. He had never noticed before, but now that he thought back he remembered hearing about tension between the clan and the village.
"Wait, weren't you one of Nidaime Hokage's right hand men? And you were an Uchiha!"
Kagami nodded.
"There are exceptions to our clan's fate, Sasuke. Not everyone in the clan became obsessed with power. If you learn to love others, to think of others before yourself and try to work for the benefit of your comrades instead of your own personal goals, you can escape the curse of hatred. I saw myself not as an Uchiha but just another shinobi of Konoha. Uchiha Naori was another. There were two more."
Sasuke bent his head, curious.
"Who were they?"
Kagami took a deep breathe.
"My descendant, Shisui...and your brother, Itachi."
Sasuke went ballistic at this and slammed Kagami in the stomach.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ITACHI?! HE KILLED EVERYONE! HE HAD THIS CURSE OF HATE MORE THAN ALL OF US!"
Kagami waited as Sasuke wailed on him, tears flowing down his eyes.
"Sasuke, I haven't been completely honest with you. I've spoken as if Itachi was consumed by the curse of hate. But it was actually the opposite."
Sasuke just glared at Kagami, as if daring him to speak more. And so he did.
"Sasuke, do you have any idea of the relationship between the clan and the village around the time of massacre?"
Sasuke grunted.
"Now that you mention it it was a little tense, but what does that have to do with..."
Kagami cut him off.
"Everything. You were too young to know, but it was complete hostility."
Sasuke looked surprised.
"You see, the Uchiha were suspected of being behind the Kyubi attack, as our Sharingan is capable of influencing biju. The Uchiha responded badly, becoming much harsher and brutal in their duties as the police force. They started giving in to their ambition and hate, becoming arrogant towards the rest of the village. Before the massacre, your father was planning a coup."
Sasuke jumped again.
"No way! There's no way my father or the clan would do something like that!"
Kagami looked sad.
"Unfortunately it's happened more than once. Madara, Naka...many Uchiha believed they deserved more because of the power they were born with. But this time, the whole clan was in on it. Only two members of the entire clan opposed it, though in secret: Shisui and Itachi."
Sasuke was watching Kagami warily, but said nothing.
"At first they just reported on the situation to Sandaime, who wanted to negotiate an agreement. But the situation was growing worse faster than Sandaime could negotiate. They came up with a plan to stop it. Shisui was going to use his Mangekyo Sharingan to convince your father to negotiate with Sandaime. However, before he could he was killed. From there the situation got worse and worse, and it looked like a coup was inevitable. Against Sandaime's wishes, one the councilors convinced Itachi to do something..."
Sasuke's face contorted in rage.
"Are you saying Itachi was ordered to kill everyone?! And how do you know all this?! You were dead!"
Sasuke though, suddenly noticed Kagami had tears in his eyes.
"Sasuke...Sandaime told me everything that happened. Itachi had asked him not to tell you, but he told me since I'm an Uchiha too, I could decide for myself whether or not to tell you. I think you deserve to know the truth of what happened to us. So, do you realize what would have happened if there was coup?"
Sasuke stopped for a moment.
"The ANBU would have burned the Uchiha quarter to the ground, but not without a fight. There would have been a civil war between the village and the clan. But Konoha's too big. We would have lost, and every last Uchiha would have died. But it gets worse. The damage we would have inflicted would have been too great. Konoha would have been fatally weakened, and the other villages would have responded. All out war would have broken out, and Konoha itself would likely have been destroyed."
Sasuke grit his teeth and clenched his fists.
"It can't be true! Itachi...he was crazy! He told me he killed everyone to test his own power! That's exactly what the curse of hate does! And he made me relive it for days in a genjutsu!"
Kagami put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
"Sasuke, Itachi loved you. He sealed his own heart and killed the rest of the clan. But he couldn't kill you."
Sasuke grunted but had a flashback to that night. He suddenly remembered something he hadn't before. He chased after Itachi and knocked off his forehead protector. And before he blacked out he had one final image...it was of Itachi weeping.
"But he thought you wouldn't be able to handle the truth and the pain and hatred would destroy you like it did the clan. So he did the only thing he could to help you survive: he became the enemy. He became the focal point for all your rage, all of your hatred. It is his hope that he will absorb your hatred, so that when you finally avenge the clan, he will take your hatred with him into the grave."
Sasuke just shook his head.
"It can't be true. He...murdered everyone...tortured me..."
Sasuke began crying. Kagami just watched him for a while, and finally Sasuke began speaking.
"Then...I'll kill them! I'll kill those who made Itachi do this, who destroyed our clan."
Kagami looked at Sasuke with such a strong look that Sasuke flinched.
"Sasuke...that's the very thing that destroyed our clan. Yes, there are those in Konoha who did not help the situation, those who weren't sad about the Uchiha's destruction. But ultimately, it was our hatred and arrogance that destroyed us. Remember, even before this happened, we nearly destroyed ourselves without anyone's help, multiple times. The only difference was this time we planned to drag the village into it. If you are going to destroy anything, destroy your hate. Learn to love again.
Kagami placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, and knelt so his eyes were level with Sasuke's.
"Sasuke, the way out of this is not vengeance or hate. The reason Nidaime trusted me when he feared the rest of our clan was I learned not to look down upon those outside our clan, but to view them as our comrades, as important to me as the clan. Just because they are not Uchiha does not mean they can't become like family to you. Naori saw past her hate, the pain of losing her entire clan, and was thus able to save both Naka and the whole clan. Shisui and Itachi tried to do the same, but they could only overcome their own hate and not the clan's. Sasuke, you are the last hope of the Uchiha. If you give in the hate and vengeance, then our clan truly is lost. But if you fight, if you strive, if you find a better way, like Naori you can save the Uchiha clan, not just from destruction, but from its own fate. You can start a new Uchiha clan, one free from the curse. But only if you escape this curse yourself."
Sasuke wiped his eyes.
"How can I? How can I possibly let this go? Do you want me to just forget?"
Kagami shook his head.
"Don't forget. Don't forget your family, the love, the pain. But don't let it control you. Let it inspire you. Find new family, new friends. Find comrades you trust with your life, and begin to build bonds, let others in. Only then can your heart begin to heal. Sasuke, trust me. Look at my eyes. You only get these eyes when you lose one of the most important people in your life. I've been where you are now. Give my way a try."
Sasuke looked back at Kagami.
"What if you're wrong? What if I can't let this go? What if Itachi really is a monster?"
Kagami again put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder.
"Then as an Uchiha, I will help you defeat him. And I'm stronger than he is, at least that what's Sandaime tells me Shisui thought."
Sasuke nodded, satisfied at least with that. He stood up, took a breath, and leaped into a new world.
Sasuke returned to the training field to find everyone looking at him, worried looks in their eyes. He looked especially at Yondaime.
Yondaime Hokage. You represent everything this village stands for. If it's all true...can I really forgive you, forgive the village, for what it did to Itachi? My family?
But as Sasuke was pondering these things, he was suddenly tackled in a hug by Kushina.
"I'm so sorry, Sasuke! Our generation wanted to protect yours but all we did was cause you pain. I wasn't there for Naruto, but now I've been given a second chance. Mikoto was my best friend, Sasuke, so I'll be here for you too! Please, Sasuke, don't let the pain consume you. Let us be your new family."
Sasuke closed his eyes, a tear falling down it.
Find...a new family? Not alone anymore...
Sasuke hid the tear, but he let Kushina hug him for a bit more, Minato and Kagami smiling. Kushina let go and Naruto walked over to Sasuke. Sakura was expecting some sort of outburst over his family showing such love to his greatest rival. But to Sakura's great surprise, Naruto just stuck his hand out to Sasuke.
"I guess that makes us brothers! But there's no way I'm losing to my younger brother, Sasuke!"
Sasuke smiled and grabbed Naruto's hand.
"Dobe, I'm older than you!"
Naruto pointed angrily at Sasuke.
"Teme! I know that! But I'm my parent's first kid and you just joined the family! That makes you the younger brother!"
Everyone chuckled at the pair's antics, though Sakura's happiness quickly turned to jealously at not being a part of Sasuke's family. Kakashi stepped forward, smiling.
"Well, I'm glad we're all one big family now. So who's ready for training?"
Team 7 looked around again at the vast array of legendary shinobi around them and determined smirks grew on their faces.
-Hokage's Office, some time later-
Sandaime looked up at the visitor he had.
"Kagami is that you? What can I do for you?"
Kagami had a serious face.
"Hiruzen...I told him...I told him everything."
Sandaime looked worried.
"And? Is he all right?"
Kagami smiled.
"I think he will be. I'm sure he's confused and has a lot of hate to get rid of, but he's at least going to give the village a chance."
Sandaime breathed a puff of smoke.
"Kagami, did you...?"
Kagami shook his head.
"I'm good but not that good. He had to come to this decision himself, who knows what would result if I tried to force him to accept it. I did use my Sharingan to keep him a bit calmer during the conversation, but only so he could think straight. He has Sharingan now too, so he would have noticed if I was doing anything more anyways."
Sandaime smiled.
"Kagami you had more faith in him than any of us did. I'm glad you're back."
-Town in Hi no Kuni, nighttime-
Ino stretched as she waited on the roof. As a vampire she wasn't sleepy, but she was getting bored just waiting here. She looked at the kunoichi around her.
"Kurenai-sensei?" She asked with a barely audible whisper.
"What is it Ino?"
Ino pointed to her teammates.
"Well I know why I'm here, and you're a jonin, but why did they send Tenten and Hinata to fight vampires? Especially Hinata, won't she get infected up close?"
Kurenai looked at the genin. It was a good question, maybe Shikamaru was rubbing off on the girl? But she also seemed bored, so Kurenai wasn't sure.
"Tenten is the best long range fighter out of you genin, so she can keep her distance. And Hinata was on the team that got turned into werewolves, remember? Serana told us werewolves are immune to the vampire pathogen, so she should be fine, and her Byakugan evens the odds at night."
Ino nodded. The team made a lot more sense now. As Ino tried thinking of another question, she sensed someone walking down the street. Someone with chakra, but who did not feel alive.
"Hinata, I feel someone coming."
Hinata nodded and activated her Byakugan and gasped.
"Behind us!"
The kunoichi leaped forward at the building exploded behind them. As they landed in the street a group of shinobi landed in front of them, the man Ino had sensed walking into the light of one of the street lamps.
"So it's true, you Konoha shinobi are catching on to us. And four lovely ladies no less! Excellent, we were preparing to feed soon anyways."
The shinobi bared fangs and prepared to leap forward, but Tenten immediately threw kunai with explosive tags in front of them, forcing them to leap back and obscuring them in a cloud of smoke.
"They're coming at 3 and 10 o clock!"
Tenten launched a wave of kunai into the smoke cloud in the directions Hinata called. She heard hisses and growls as the vampires were forced to dodge. Ino suddenly saw a dark figure appearing in the cloud directly in front of Hinata. She gasped and was about to call out a warning when Hinata suddenly sprang forward.
"HA!"
Hinata slammed her palm into the figure's chest. There was a gasp and the figure took a step back, then collapsed.
Wow, Hinata's really good! I didn't expect that from her, I always thought she would be really scared in combat.
"Ino! Behind you!"
Ino suddenly felt weaker and was surrounded by red light. She turned around and saw a vampire smirking at her. Ino just yawned and stuck out her hand, a stream of her own red light appearing and canceling the effect. The vampire looked shocked.
"What the? Are you...?"
Ino grinned.
"Yea, and you waited too long by the way."
Ino made a handsign and was quickly transferred into the vampire's body.
"Quick Tenten!"
Tenten through a kunai at the captive vampire. As the kunai got close Ino released the jutsu. The vampire had no time to respond and the kunai slammed into its head.
As the dust cleared the genin saw Kurenai walk up to a vampire who seemed as if it were tied to an invisible tree, and calmly slit its throat. They were all somewhat frightened that Kurenai did so very casually and naturally. The four then turned to the man who had spoke, the last of his comrades. He just sighed.
"Oh well, always hated them anyways."
The shinobi pulled out kunai, Kurenai in the lead.
"You seem pretty relaxed given the situation."
The man chuckled.
"Well you see..."
The kunoichis' eyes all widened as the man appeared behind Kurenai.
"They don't really compare to me."
Kurenai barely had time to lift her hands and block as the man's fist flew towards her. She grunted as it hit her arms, and was sent flying into a wall. The man turned to the stunned shinobi.
"Now, where were we?"
The kunoichi gulped. If he could take out Kurenai, what chance did they have?
"I think I'll let you play with my friends for a bit while I stretch out."
The man performed some handsigns.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
With that several skeletons appeared and surrounded the three. Ino gulped as she stood with her back against Tenten and Hinata.
"Don't worry you two, I've fought these before. They were really weak last time!"
Tenten gasped as one of the skeletons suddenly appeared in front of her, a kunai in hand, barely blocking with a kunai of her own. The man laughed.
"Oh please, you must be referring to those relics you can find in caves, right? Those are ancient, haven't been updated in millennia. These are of my own creation, they use an, updated template shall we say?"
The kunoichi scattered, doing their best to dodge the skeleton shinobi. Ino got a few scratches here and there but as a vampire she was immune to minor injuries and so far was able to avoid major damage. Hinata seemed to be dodging the attacks, her natural flexibility and Byakugan aiding her immensely. But Tenten was having trouble, and gasped as a kunai grazed her cheek. And even though Ino and Hinata weren't taking much damage, they also weren't making much headway. It appeared as if they were going to be in trouble very soon.
"Guys, we need to get out of here! We aren't going to last very long!"
To her surprise, it was Hinata who seemed to have a solution.
"Uh guys, try to get out of here! I'll hold them off!"
With that Hinata lurched forward and started growing, fur appearing on her now huge muscles. Soon the transformation was complete and she let out a roar. She grabbed the two nearest skeletons and slammed them together, then went into a fury, slashing at everything nearby. The vampire stood up.
"Ooo, a werewolf? You cute little thing? You shinobi are just full of surprises, aren't you? It's been too long since I've killed a werwolf!"
With that the vampire vanished, planting a kick into Hinata's chest. She staggered back, then roared and leaped at the vampire. He deftly rolled under her wild swipe and slashed at her leg. Hinata roared in pain. Before she could respond, he slammed an uppercut into her chin, sending her flying back. Ino watched in horror as the vampire walked up and planted his foot on top of her, holding her down as he took a kunai and moved toward Hinata's throat. Hinata slowly reverted back to human form...
"Well, I suppose even a young werewolf is still young. Still, not bad for one your age. I think I'll even keep your hide to remember you bye."
"HINATA!"
Ino had tears in her eyes when Tenten grabbed her.
"Ino! Get around the corner, quick! I have an anti-vampire weapon!"
Ino didn't know what Tenten meant but was too shaken up to argue and jumped for the nearest alleyway. As Ino leaped away, Tenten pulled out a scroll, unsealed the sword inside, and lifted it high. Ino closed her eyes in pain as there was a blinding, burning flash of light from the direction of the street.
The skeletons burned to ash around Tenten, and the vampire hissed and took a step back off Hinata, trying to shield him face from the light with his hands.
"GAH! W-where? Where did you get that?!"
Tenten took another step forward, as she did Dawnbreaker seemed to shine even brighter, causing the vampire to his and stumble backwards, falling to the ground.
"Oh just a little relic I found in a cave. Hadn't been used in millennia or something like that. I wonder if I can update it though?"
With that Tenten began channeling chakra toward the sword as she stepped toward and over Hinata.
"Dawnbreaker: Kurenjingu-en no Jutsu (Cleansing Flame Jutsu)!"
A huge wave of fire shot out in all directions from Dawnbreaker. The vampire cried out in terror before vanishing in the flame. Tenten let out a huge sigh as she resealed the sword. Ino stepped out from the alleyway she hid in, rubbing her eyes.
"Wow, what was that Tenten?!"
Tenten was practically beaming.
"Oh, some legendary anti-undead weapon I found!"
She pointed around at the small bits of flame all over the street and even on the buildings.
"I can't really control it yet though, so I didn't want to use it while you were here."
As they spoke, Hinata stirred.
"Uh, w-what happened?"
The other two kunoich crouched down and held Hinata as she sat up.
"Careful, you got knocked out by the vampire, but then Tenten saved us with some special weapon she had!"
Hinata looked up at Tenten.
"Wow really?! It must be really strong, Tenten! That guy even beat Kurenai-sensei!"
Tenten at first was beaming until Hinata mentioned Kurenai. Then all three kunoichi leaped up at once.
"Kurenai-sensei!"
With that, the three leaped into the rubble to try and find their lost sensei.
-Oto no Kuni (Land of Sound)-
A shinobi gulped as he descended deeper into the underground hideout. He grateful for the asylum, but he would never get used to his benefactor.
"O-Orochimaru-sama, a new report."
A snake moved out of the darkness and took the scroll from the shinobi's hand. He tried to repress the urge to shiver.
"Kukuku, an interesting toy. This year's genin are an interesting bunch. Who knew such things were just lying around, waiting to be discovered?"