Blind Sight

By

LigerJager

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

Scroll 14: Outburst

Neji was more than a little surprised to meet the Hyuuga Heiress when he stepped into the clan compound. Considering they almost never were in the same vicinity as each other, nor had they spoken in over the past several years, it was almost unfathomable that she would be waiting for his arrival specifically.

And it put him on guard more than ever.

Hanabi, unlike her elder sister, was the Hyuuga epitome to a tee. Everything a Hyuuga was supposed to be, she was. Hiashi had done himself proud, if that was his aim.

Because Neji was sure that even in his worst days he wasn't such a heartless, ruthless monster.

At times it felt as if the very humanity had been sliced out of her meticulously. And then she would have moments that completely baffled him and prove to the Branch member that there was a semblance of a heart still in there.

Yes, the Main House could rest assured that their legacy lived on. As did their ignorance.

He, however, could not claim such. The tense atmosphere was ripe with unresolved emotions. The Branch family was on the verge of rebelling.

He impassively greeted the heiress. "Hanabi-sama."

The diplomat made a bid for his escape and almost made it to the safety of his quarters. He knew for a fact that Main House member felt it below them to near the Branch House living complex. Unfortunately Hanabi had other plans.

"Neji-san." Her emotionless voice stopped him dead in his tracks. He waited.

Hanabi spoke again. Her voice held a slight bit of bite to it.

"You are to report to the Council Chamber, we await your presence." She then stepped past him and made for the Main House. Neji waited until she was within and he was out of range of her Byakugan before sighing tiredly.

It always happened like this and he always hated returning. Well, duty called.

He just wished he didn't feel like a man walking to his execution.

Unlike his Anbu counterpart, the Kazekage was content in keeping a rather emotionless façade. It helped in quite a few political tight spots. There were times when Gaara was more than thankful for his lack of excessive expressions.

This was one of those times.

The Kazekage watched impassively as the ceremony commenced. As with all functions of this nature, there was much pomp and circumstance…and speeches.

If there was one thing Gaara despised about being a in a position of power was the need to be politically savvy…and listening to the speeches that necessarily followed. Not that he couldn't be eloquent; the red-head was rather well read. But his soft spoken nature and his training as a ninja went against everything politics and public relations all but demanded.

His apathetic teal gaze swept over the vast crowd, taking note of civilians and ninja alike. Uchiha was going through the motions of his acceptance speech. It was long winded and mandatory, especially with the Daimyo in attendance. Gaara's thoughts drifted elsewhere.

Just beyond wall, before the barrier ended, was a single eyes made of sand. It floated above the ground and watched the horizon.

Gaara's Seeing Eye caught movement and zeroed in on it. A moment later a group silhouettes came within sight, just on the edge of the barrier. Upon seeing the tell-tale coats, and having his suspicions affirmed, he surreptitiously thrust chakra into the tag he'd slipped into his pocket. His escort must have felt the flare because they minutely stiffened. And not a moment too soon.

An explosion rocked the village. The civilians gathered below screamed and stampeded in a mass panic.

All ninja present, kage included, turned in time to see an enormous summon creature topple a building. Anbu immediately gathered around Tsunade, Sasuke had disappeared as soon as shockwave rocked the ground.

The red-haired Kazekage sighed before signaling his escort to set up tactical positions. He would need back up. Another explosion rocked the ground, this time taking down a few buildings in a spectacular eruption of smoke and fire.

…and lots of it.

The seals, placed weeks prior, began to glow.

Neji was in motion even before the echoes of the explosion died down. His first priority was the safety of Lady Tsunade and the Suna delegation. Not that they couldn't take care of themselves, far from it, but it was what protocol demanded as well as his loyalty.

A building exploded in front of him, forcing him to skid to a stop. The Hyuuga Genius threw up his arms to shield his face from the shrapnel and dust, instantly activating his Byakugan.

When he looked up again, he was surprised to see a man with short, orange spikes and multiple piercings step out of the dust and building ruins as in calm serenity. He surveyed the area with apathy before speeding off. Neji assumed the man didn't know he was being obscured by a cloud of smoke and dust.

Neji leapt off after the man. He couldn't let him get away.

Quite a few Jounin and Chuunin found themselves saddled with the task of ushering the civilian masses to safety. Considering that the village held a couple thousand easily, it was more than monumental.

And what was worse is that they were in complete chaos and stampeding everywhere.

Still they moved to intercept and herd the civilians towards the shelters. One thought primarily dominating their mutual conclusions…

'What next?'

Uchiha Sasuke skid to a stop in front of, what he assumed, was an intruder. The man had pupil-less teal eyes and had most of his features covered.

He had also dispatched a few Chunin and Jounin with some black threads that appeared almost sentient. If he was a lesser man, he would have likened the being something of a horrible nightmare. But then again, compared some of the things he had seen on duty, this man hardly seemed the effort it took.

The man carried a brief case and was flipping through a book of some kind. The newly minted Hokage assessed him and found himself under the same scrutiny.

Kakuzu seemed to notice his newest opponent and flipped through his bounty book to see if there was anything relevant. After a few tense moments he snapped it shut and placed it back in his equipment pouch. With a long suffering look, he addressed the Konoha-nin who looked at him with barely concealed bloodlust.

"You know, you're not even in the Bingo Book." The nin almost sighed at the thought, "It's not worth the loss of compensation to waste my time on you. Especially, since there are bigger bounties here…"

The man stopped himself as he sent an disinterested look at the Uchiha. He, for one, was unimpressed. Oh, he knew who he was talking to. The blazing Sharingan made it hard not to.

"You do know your little ploy failed right? Itachi's in Kumo."

Iruka all but raised an eye-brow at the ninja before him. At least the man probably fancied himself a ninja, because there was nothing at all subtle about him.

The huge red, tri-bladed scythe said it all.

He had been making his way towards the scheduled rendezvous point that had been set in advance. Seemingly a select few had been made aware of the possible threats. Why the Godaime had chosen him, he could only suspect.

Most other chunin and genin ranked ninja were assigned crowd control. They would also be primarily responsible for ushering the civilians and wounded to safety while the elite headed towards the intruders.

When the Chunin arrived, rather than a squad of Tokubetsu Jounin and Chunin, he found the man he was staring at impassively. He also watched to see exactly what the man could do as there was a squad of ninja before him coordinating attacks.

Generally their strategy was fairly good. That told the teacher that there was a capable commander on hand to organize the panicking ninja. However their attempts seemed to no avail.

And it had taken Iruka a moment of wide-eyed disbelief as he watched blade after blade pierce the man's body, in all the vital points, and had no effect. That scythe had effectively mowed down the opposition in a few sweeps.

The teacher was almost caught flat footed before moving his location.

So there he was, waiting. He had found an excellent vantage and could see the ninja's movements perfectly.

And while the man had excellent technique, he also had many flaws. The teacher couldn't precisely tell if they were on purpose or not but after a few more minutes of observation he decided it didn't matter.

He had analyzed and formulated a plan, now he had to double check his supplies to be sure. He turned for a moment to gather a bit of wire when an almost hysterical laugh cut through the noisy din around him. Iruka's head snapped back and took in the situation.

It was… disturbing.

The silver haired scythe wielder had somehow turned himself into a black and white mockery of the human skeletal system. Or a very bad tattoo job.

The symbol he was standing on did not go unnoticed either.

…Nor did the large wicked looking javelin.

The teacher slunk back further into the shadows while he analyzed the ninja and the situation. He watched as some Cunin and a few Jounin warily circled the man, his mind already calculating and gauging the nin's actions and formulating a plan. As he watched, the man's patterns of attack and thought processes became clearer to him.

The Chunin almost placidly fished the spools of wire, assortment of tags and his weaponry. As he began preparing his materials, Iruka tried to ignore the action just beyond his purview which was hard, especially, with the cries of agony and rage that seemed to be never ending, as well as the ingrained motto of the Leaf when it came to defending their own.

When everything was complete he looked back at the alley. It had gone silent and still, though the man hadn't moved from his circle. He eyed the nin as the black began to recede. The academy teacher had to refrain from sneering at the rookie mistake.

Always insure that there is no more opposition before moving. Then again if he had an impervious body to fatal wounds, he'd probably be arrogant too with good reason. However there was one flaw.

He was painfully slow. So Iruka capitalized on it.

Hidan barely turned before he felt the wind whispering past him. He was just about to hunt down the next offering when he heard a thud.

And then another.

And another.

The stunned immortal watch with morbid fascination at chunks of limbs seemingly detached of their own accord in a clean precise cut. An ear here. A finger there. His hand at the wrist. A small flash of white caught his attention and he found himself staring at a high grade exploding tag.

Hanging in the middle of the air. He looked around and found himself in a web of wire and tags, it was almost laughable.

His sharp mind clicked and he grinned almost manically. So, there was a worthy piece of trash out there he could sacrifice to Jashin. Now to flush out his prey.

A small crunch of gravel from behind had the Jashin acolyte turning around and facing…a rather unremarkable looking man. With every intention of obtain his blood, Hidan began taunting his silent opponent.

Iruka, for his part, was not impressed. Weary, yes, but not impressed. His hand fisted around the almost invisible wire as he stared down the silver-haired man.

Just as the Akatsuki member seemed like he was about to lunge (or stab), the Chunin yanked the lynch pin. Small drops of blood pooled in his hand from where the wire dug into the skin.

Hidan almost didn't know what hit him before his body fell to pieces, literally. The teacher then launched a few strategically aimed senbon and ducked behind a wall.

The resulting explosion rocked the very foundations of Konoha. When the Chunin peered around the wall, all he saw a soot covered explosion mark and scattered body parts.

Hidan's head, and slightly singed hair, had been pushed by the concussion of the blast a few meters away. As soon as he spotted the man, in true Hidan style, he cussed the teacher out.

Calmly, as though it was just another day in Konoha, the Chunin looted through Hidan's items (which weren't really anything to begin with) while the man's head cursed him from where it lay. After he was finished, the ninja almost sedately paced over to what remained of the nuke-nin and allowed a cold smile to cross his features.

He stooped to grab the scythe before turning back to the head. Hidan became eerily silent for a moment, studying the man for a moment. Had he still been connected to his spine, he would have felt a shiver of fear. The man almost seemed the embodiment of death.

It almost felt like he had fought Jashin himself. Almost.

For the first time since the beginning of the fight, Iruka spoke. His soft voice rung clearly amidst the din of the surrounding chaos that echoed through the streets.

"This is the difference between you and me. Samurai and Ninja."

The scythe flashed downwards.

Naruto stiffened felt the telltale tug at his chakra as the seal at the gate lit, causing him to start and drop papers he was currently feeding chakra into so he could read. Kankuro's replacement looked up, just as startled, when he heard folders drop.

If Naruto could see, he would have been amused at the pale shade of white the secretary was sporting. As it was, he knew his expression was enough to terrify any soul. Whether it was fear of him or for their Kazekage was debatable.

Baki had somehow chosen that moment to walk in with a roster for the Anbu candidates and a few other folders on shinobi matters. He took one look at both their faces and knew. The Jounin commander within him took hold as he ordered the Black Ops Captain in a steely voice.

"Go. We will be fine."

In a gust of wind, the Special Ops Commander of Sungakure vanished into the thin air.

Sakura stared blankly at the monstrous centipede that crashed her way.

She had bolted towards the hospital the moment the explosions rocked the air. On her way there she had been summarily stampeded over by some terrified civilians. Their body language forced her sight towards the source.

Now she had no idea about what to do. She was a medic and had precious few offensive techniques.

And none of them were large scale.

"Fuuton: Ikari no Ten!" (Wind Art: Heaven's Wrath)

A huge cyclone of fire roared over their head and engulfed the gigantic summon in swirling pillar of molten fire. The creature screeched from inside the inferno.

Sakura's head snapped to the direction the attack had been launched from. There, like some avenging spirit, stood Suna's Kaze no Touji, Mistress of the Wind. Her fan flared out behind her, making the blonde look larger than life and intimidating. The medic barely noticed the ninja behind her who still had his hands in the finishing position for a fire justu.

Temari grinned viciously before turning and roaring at the frozen pinkette. "Get those civilians and wounded out of here." The kunoichi barely had time to notice that the blond was alone before rushing off towards the medical ward.

Temari flashed out of the street just as another large creature tore through her previous position. It looked vaguely canine, excepting the fact that it had almost piercing like rods popping out from its head. And the eyes were vacant.

The Jounin almost finished pumping her chakra into her fan. It would be ready to unleash at a moment's notice. She also loosened the flexible hand Tessen in her belt. When she turned back, she allowed a feral grin to split her normally hardened features.

The giant electrical serpent had wrapped around the dog like creature, flaring its hood before plunging its fangs into the summon's throat. Its following screech echoed to the heavens as currents of electricity blasted through its body.

The wind-mistress nodded to her Anbu partner's location before they disappeared. The summoner had left and they needed to follow.

Only ashes were left in their wake.

The first seal flashed brilliantly before dissolving into thin air.

"Man, your ugly."

Were the first words that popped out the young Sarutobi's mouth before he could rein in his tongue. After all, it wasn't everyday that some freakishly, pierced ninja crash out of a building. Regular ninja, yes (he Uchiha's temper for those occasions), but ugly, foreign ninja cutting down Konoha ninja like tissue paper? No.

Which figured.

They were probably trespassing too.

And did he mention tail-ish thingy that looked suspiciously like it was supposed to be a sword? Though, he did have to admire the man's technique (just a smidge).

A grin worked its way onto Konohamaru's grim features. It seemed the intruder was a weapons connoisseur. That, he could do. He summoned Enma and had him transform. He wasn't a fool after all. Just as he was about to engage the ninja…it sped away.

The Jounin gaped a moment before taking off after his prey.

"Get back here!"

The second seal flashed before dissolving of the surface of the stone it was attached.

Folds of origami paper clamped onto the terrified ninja's face, muffling his curses. Konan looked down at her latest victim with mild disgust before noticing small black insects crawling over the colorful squares.

Her apathetic gaze shifted over towards her company, a quartet of heavily cloaked ninja. Aburame if her sources were correct, which they most likely were. The group was led by a rather high ranking ninja, though there were only the barest hints to discern this from. Next to him was a younger man, still in the midst of his prime. Konan waited for them to finish their brief inspection, all the while subtly maneuvering herself to a slight advantage.

The eldest of them frowned slightly as he took in the intruder. Without turning his head, he addressed the younger ninja at his side.

"Shino."

"I know."

They unleashed their swarms.

The third seal melted off the tree trunk when a small, blue flash of chakra erupted from it.

Kakashi panted, slightly out of winded from his latest crash. He had just been sent flying again by some strange jutsu the man used. His eyes strayed towards his help. Luckily he had back up.

Neji had shown up shortly after the man with spiked, orange hair. They went on the offensive…only to be blown away by the arrival of another ninja with the same ringed eyes.

Unfortunately, neither he nor Neji could do anything. The young genius was trying to stave off the attacks from another. It wasn't working out well as Jyuuken was rather useless against it. The ninja had some sort of technique that absorbed chakra.

Kakashi unleashed a lightning wolf at the nin and charged. His protégé did something similar with the ninja he was facing.

Both strategies proved failed.

Somehow, the pierced man in front of him dissolved the jutsu. The Copy-Nin was knocked out of his speculations when the young Hyuuga crashed into him. They both landed in crouches and stared.

Another ninja with the same eyes appeared between them and Kakashi's target.

Both ninja took one look at the third Akatsuki to arrive and began, uncharacteristically, swearing. Considering they were fairly paralyzed by the first two, their chances of coming out of this battle alive drastically lessened. Especially, when the newcomer tore off its cloak and revealed an almost tail like blade.

Then the almost Naruto-ish looking one, with the magnetic field, began pulling them in. Both Jounin merely managed to throw their lifelines to save themselves from being impaled.

The pull, though, overpowered them and both Neji and Kakashi went flying.

A clang and the recognizable vertigo of a kawarimi met their ears. The men looked up just in time to see the chakra-absorbing ninja fly through a wall (and into pieces) and the see the blade being stopped with relative ease of an adamantine staff. A mischievous grin looked up at them while the 'leader' looked on impassively, measuring his newest opponent.

Konohamaru raised an eyebrow at the two worse-for-wear men. "You don't mind if I cut in, right?"

Not even waiting for their replies, he returned his gaze towards the front of and raised an eyebrow at the orange haired ninja. His gaze sharpened and the tenor of his voice was laced with cold humor.

"Care to dance?"

The fourth seal dissolved into dust as the bushes it was hidden behind rustled.

"Damn it!"

The puppeteer swore viciously as he yanked his Anbu partner out of the way of the incoming blast with his strings. Once the man was safe, he quickly moved to another cover. It seemed like neither of them could get the needed edge.

He turned and prepared for another ridiculously strong assault. No matter what they seemed to do, the damn thing regenerated somehow and got right back up.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Well that and the fact that the…puppet? could literally rip the souls right out of people. Both he and the Anbu could attest to that, which was why they were keeping their distance. Not that it helped.

Kankuro knew for a fact that his partner and he were getting low on chakra. The puppeteer jumped away as the thrice damned Akatsuki crashed down upon his position. Whatever else it maybe, the thing was fast. He could see why this ninja was considered S-Ranked in the Bingo.

The Jounin suddenly felt himself being yanked out of the way and displaced with something. He didn't need to look to know his Anbu partner saved his life, again. They both watched the strange ninja from their hidden perches. He didn't know how much longer they could tag-team before making a mistake.

He just didn't have time to pull out his puppets. He really hoped that Gaara activated the seal.

The two jumped in opposite directions just before the building they were resting on exploded. Kankuro grimaced when he caught a few Anbu being crashing into buildings as though thrown out of the corner of his eye.

It looked like Konoha wouldn't be helping them in the near future. His thoughts desperately yelled while he substituted himself with a boulder before the monstrosity crashed through the building where he'd be resting.

'Taicho, get your ass here, now!'

The fifth seal flashed and vanished in a wisp of smoke.

As if on some unannounced signal, all the Paths disappeared in various versions of the Shunshin or Body Flicker jutsu. The ninja defenders looked around in confusion at the sudden silence.

The Suna ninja flashed back to their Kage only to find him looking up. Seeing the look on Gaara's normally impassive face drained all the blood from their tired features. They followed his gaze and spotted a figure which shouldn't have been there.

It was a man who seemed to defy gravity, overlooking them.

The Anbu slid into defensive positions as did the two elder siblings. Each one was leaning ever so slightly, betraying their weariness. They all looked to their leader in anticipation. Gaara remained almost statuesque in his composure, his gaze riveted upon the floating figure.

Suddenly without warning the Kazekage hissed and threw his arms out. Sand slithered past with the force of hurricane winds. His barely audible command was heard as it cut through the thundering roar of his sand.

"Get Down."

The Sand ninja dove for the protective cover of the sand shell Gaara hastily summoned. When he was sure they were safely inside, Gaara returned his attention to ninja above him. This was what he was afraid of. And he knew for a fact that Konoha had no way of defending from such an attack.

He glared. He'd just have to stall for time.

The seal in Gaara's pocket began to heat as it slowly glowed in brightening in intensity.

From the sky, overlooking the Hidden village of the Leaf, twin Rinnegan orbs glanced down impassively. He had long awaited this day. With slow, deliberation the Deva Path raised both arms in the air and paused.

The silence of the world reached him as though it waited with bated breath. Slowly, an almost imperceptible smile slid across his features, highlighting the vindication he allowed himself. The god path threw its arms downward in a fluid motion.

"Shinra Tensei."

:Tsudzuku:

A/N: Yes, yes some of the fights featured are (pitifully) short. I leave the rest to your imagination…and I doubted you wanted five pages of one fight full of jutsu-slinging Saiyans. Ninja (as by my understanding) are quick, devious, and shouldn't draw out fights…

…

Alright, I (whole-heartedly) approve of the focus on Kabuto. He makes a much better, much more sinister, much more familiar, much more focused villain that either deranged-hallucinating-psychopathic Madara or I-Fail-At-Life Sasuke. I think you will all agree that Kabuto is a villain worthy of respect, yes?

Now, if only Sasuke could have an aneurism… (Dreams happy thoughts…)

…

About Kakashi getting off easy…no not really. I'd say it's punishment enough to have your greatest failure slapped in your face every time you turn around (it's also what happens in real life). That's what happens to Hatake every time he sees, hears about, or has to interact with Sasuke. A constant reminder is one hell of a conscious.

As for Sasuke, don't you think he'd be a just a tad bitter if Naruto had succeeded? Hmm? And we all know that resentment, bitterness, anger, hatred, etc. They all turn someone poisonous, vindictive, and unreasonable. I've seen it happen to a couple of friends of mine, it happens.

…

Now about guilt-tripping Konoha…that would be so easy and completely unrealistic and ridiculous. I've seen many authors go that route, too many in-fact.

Naruto is banished/leaves for reasons: X/Y/or Z, and suddenly there are widespread, international repercussions (I actually had to force myself to watch the movies just to understand a few references, not fun (btw: I reject everything not of MANGA canon-verse)). The populace finds out and repents, Naruto returns and there is a celebration, forgiveness, and happily ever after.

Most fans don't realize that most of the cast in Naruto are not that close to him, not even Sasuke (no matter how much Naruto deludes himself that he is). It is also consensus that the entire village will repent, never mind that most of them probably don't know anything about him except his reputation. So it doesn't make sense, to me, to punish the whole when only a few actually have personal contact with him anyways so whether or not he is missing, it won't matter as a whole to the village.

…

Has anyone read the latest Team 8 chapter? (Holy Crap!)

LJ 3/27/10, 4/8/10

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