TDS does not own Naruto.
This chapter was brought to you by Team Outback (Kakarot Son, Razamataz22 and kalebxdd)
...
Naruto Uzumaki couldn't remember the last time he had cried but that did not help the tear drops sliding down his cheek go away.
The team had returned to the location of their compromised campsite to give Fu a proper burial. Of the five Konoha ninja, to no-one's great surprise, Naruto was taking the loss of his fellow Jinchuuriki the hardest.
Years spent inside two of Konoha's most dangerous departments had long since desensitised his other Chunin teammates to the morbid nature of reality. To Sakura, it was almost poetic that the strongest of them was the one who really needed protection.
"We didn't know her for long," began Naruto as the rest of the team bowed their heads in respect, "but she didn't deserve for it to all end like this."
"Nobody does," reflected Yamato. "That's even more true for her. In life, she was a free spirit so perhaps death will provide her the freedom she truly desired."
Although he knew they were hollow words, Naruto nodded as he gripped the Shodaime's necklace. A lot of good that had done Fu.
"I'll get them back for you," he promised solemnly. "I'll make the Akatsuki pay!"
Kakashi and Sakura both said a few words, mostly for Naruto's benefit, before Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the arm and forced him to start walking. While they weren't in a rush, eventually some of the ninja from Takigakure would begin poking around and the last thing the exhausted group needed was another confrontation.
Besides, it would be nice to finally return home.
…
He had seen this place before. The memories swam in the depths of his subconscious, there but not really. They drifted in front of him so close that he could almost touch them. They moved through his mind's eye like disconnected puzzle pieces and he always missed two to fit them all together. And the pieces had sharp edges that made his fingers bleed when he tried to grasp them, making him wince and shrug away from the pictures that were now beginning to fade at the edges.
But now he was here again, in this bleak grey room with the walls that appeared to rise all the way into heaven. Plinking waterdrops directed the shuffling of his feet in a dreary march. A stale smell hung in the air that reminded him of blood mixed with sand. And his skin was crawling with pressure.
Gaara observed all of this. He stood in the middle of the room with his arms crossed in front of his chest, not moving. Water lapped at his ankles but his feet remained dry. The crushing sensation was bearing down on him. Not that it made him feel any different. He had experienced it as a child for so long that now it was nothing more than a nuisance.
And speaking of nuisances, he had viewed his companion in this large, never-ending space as one for a long time. Shukaku was only yards away from him. Gaara could hear him swishing his tail to showcase his impatience. The One Tail was still kept separate from him by the chains that bound him to his pedestal.
Gaara reared his head up to look at the beast, calm teal eyes meeting yellow orbs filled with a menace that felt like coming home. And Gaara would be damned if he wasn't smiling.
"What is so funny to you, brat?" Shukaku hollered. His voice had enough boom to it to ripple the water all around them.
"I did not expect you to be so eager," Gaara replied. "Normally you shouldn't be able to take over my physical body without my consent."
"True," the One Tail agreed. "but there are special instances where I can do whatever I damn well please. In case you were not aware, that boy with the katana had almost taken your head."
"And you know as well as I do that I had my sand armour protecting me. You were just too caught up in the joy of killing and couldn't resist coming out of hiding."
Shukaku shook his head forcefully and sent gales of wind in all directions. "Your armour would have been insufficient. As strong as it is, that boy would have sliced right through your armour and neck. The sole reason that you still have your right hand is because I added my own sand to your defenses."
Gaara absorbed this information. "I guess that is why the young should never underestimated."
"That kid was no older than you. Not that it matters, he's dead now."
"So are you going to give me back my body?"
The One Tail acted as if he were contemplating this. "You know what?" he asked, jolting forward against his chains and making them rattle. "I have a proposal for you, brat."
"Do you honestly think you are in a bargaining position?"
"Silence! We agreed that I would participate in the battle. I would rather die for a year than be harvested for the whims of mortals. Now here is my idea to you. I will use your body to rampage around the battlefield for a little while, because it might be the only exercise I will get in the next twelve months. Once I am satisfied I'll return your useless meatbag to you, under the condition that you use my powers as well as yours. Shukaku does not perish without leaving his legacy!"
Gaara considered this plan of action. "And how would I gain your full potential? And how can I be certain that you don't abandon our plan and go rogue?"
Shukaku sighed. "You're no fun, kid. Tell me fair and square, what do I have to gain from taking over your puny little form other than some mild entertainment?"
"I figure that's true," Gaara said. "Fine. So how do we go about this?"
...
"I don't get it. How come you guys took so long to come back?" asked Ino.
"Well, according to Lee, we were meant to split into two groups. One to stakeout the spot where we discovered Kankuro's body and another to carry on with the scouting mission," explained Tenten. "Kurenai-sensei decided that would be a bad idea."
"You mean she went against a direct order from the Hokage?" asked Hinata, a little surprised that her sensei would do something like that. While she had a bit of spunk in her, she was always one for following the rules.
Their circle of friends had been placed at various posts around the village, as per Sarutobi's instructions. They were expecting refugees from Suna as its inhabitants fled in a precautionary move executed by the Kazekage. Suna, whose population had been ravished in recent years, wasn't a big village by any means but they were still expecting around about a thousand people to make the journey to Konoha. By opening its gates, Konoha left itself vulnerable to infiltration by its enemies - who were becoming more numerous by the day - so it needed to try and protect itself.
Thankfully, having clans full of mind-readers and ninja with x-ray vision had its benefits.
"Not exactly," explained Tenten. "You see, Ame and Kusa had broken out into war so she deemed it unsafe for us to split up and start poking around."
"You can just smell it in the air these days," said Ino as she sighed. "Unfortunately, we might have to put our training into practise soon, Hinata."
"Sadly, I think you might be right," said the girl as she twiddled with her hair. "I wonder if we'll get sent to Iwa. If Gaara has evacuated the village, the situation with Iwa must be quite serious."
"Even though you could call our two villages rivals, they're not ninja that you want to mess with," warned Tenten. "Had a skirmish or two with them back on ANBU duty. I kinda miss wearing a mask, if I'm honest."
"At least this way you can carry as many swords as you want on your back," said Ino as she stifled a yawn. "It's too much of a giveaway in your ANBU getup."
"That's what sealing scrolls are for." Tenten shrugged. "So did the Hokage give an estimate of when he expects the Suna villagers to arrive?"
"No, we're dependent on Hyuuga-vision for now," said Ino as she gave Hinata a little nudge.
Hinata took the hint and activated her Byakugan. The veins surrounding her eye bulged, threatening to burst through her skin. "I can't see any movement, so I guess they're still a fair while away."
"This is going to suck," Ino complained. "I bet we'll still be waiting around by sunset!"
…
Hidan laughed maniacally as he bisected another worthless foot soldier, pulling the katana that had been lodged into his shoulder out and tossing it to the side where it impaled another shinobi who had been trying to get the jump on him. Hundreds, perhaps even thousands had already died by his hand alone and there was no telling how many Gaara had laid out. When the day was all set and done he was going to sacrifice all of those still able to draw breath for Jashin-sama. His lord would be ever so pleased at the efforts he put in to praise him.
An Earth Jutsu from an enemy launched him from the ground, all of those who had been circling him peppering his prone body full of kunai and shuriken. The majority he managed to deflect and redirect at those who had assaulted him and for those that sank into his flesh he had no care. "Is that all you fucking shitstains are worth?" he shouted before his eyes spotted another person that had been sent skyward. Or at least he had thought so until he saw that unlike himself, this person wasn't plummeting towards the ground. "A flying old man? You're going to make a fucking excellent tribute for Jashin-sama!"
Plucking several of the weapons out of his muscles, Hidan launched them at the old fart who swerved around the projectiles with minimal effort before his hands started to go through multiple seals. Sensing that this wasn't some run of the mill jutsu, Hidan swung his scythe towards a nearby building and yanked himself clear of the attack by pulling on the chain.
Well, he missed most of the attack.
"Fuck me dead," cursed Hidan as he looked at his stomach, the remains of his breakfast leaking through the gash there like a sloppy mixture of bacon and blood.. "That fucker is so going to get it!"
"The Tsuchikage gutted him!" said one of the nearby ninja.
"Whoever said that I'm going to rip out your tongue and shove it up your ass!" shouted Hidan as he twirled his scythe in his remaining hand. It seemed as if these peons believed that just because he'd lost an arm he was weaker than before. Fat fucking chance that.
Resuming his massacre, Hidan kept taking quick glances skywards to where the Tsuchikage (if the faggot was to be believed) remained floating above. While these insects attacks meant nothing to him, if the leader of Iwagakure hit him cleanly with the same jutsu as before there was no guarantee that even his immortality would get him through this. The lining of his stomach hadn't been burned or sliced off, it had been removed from this plane of existence.
It was weird thinking that he could actually die.
And it had his smile all the more vicious.
Dodging a katana that was about to skewer him, Hidan sliced the ninja's head off before quickly placing an exploding tag on the disembodied limb and lobbing it into the air towards his target. The explosion vanished almost as quickly as it was created, the Tsuchikage unharmed by such an assault. Hidan meanwhile was slowly understanding just what the old ass kage was doing. Unfortunately just because he knew a touch more didn't mean that he had anyway to counter such a technique.
All he needed was a drop of the old fuck's blood.
As he eradicated another pest, Hidan wondered just how best to go about setting up his sacrifice. He couldn't simply fly up into the air and slash the old fuck to pieces and even if he was up there there was no chance that he could get a clean hit or avoid annihilation. He needed a distraction, anything to buy him a second or two of time.
A distraction just like the giant sand raccoon that now had everyone's undivided attention.
Hidan made his move and with insane amounts of speed he found himself airborne, rocketing skywards with his weapon swinging precisely on target. "You think me so weak!" Hidan knew that he'd fucked up as the Tsuchikage avoided his strike, his scythe cleaving nothing but air and leaving him completely vulnerable as the old man went through his handseals once more.
Perhaps it was strange that in his last moment of existence Hidan's mind was torn between two things. Firstly was of Tayuya and Shinja, the two things that actually mattered to him in this world. He would never get to fuck that pussy raw again and he'd never get to teach his daughter how to properly sacrifice heathens to their lord. The other thing was that he'd managed to successfully impale the Tsuchikage with a kunai with an exploding tag on it.
Hidan laughed as he was disintegrated.
The Iwa shinobi could only watch as the monster that had slain many of their comrades was erased from this world, every particle vanishing into nothing. This was followed moments later by a large explosion and the body of their leader plummeting towards the ground.
"TSUCHIKAGE-SAMA!"
...
Miles away from the carnage and bloodshed that was going on behind them, Shikamaru finally let go of his Kagemane no Jutsu and braced for the inevitable. It happened not a moment later when Temari's bare hand crashed across his face, the sound of the slap scaring several birds out of their nests. She didn't say anything because her tear stained face said enough.
She knew that Shikamaru had saved her life, she knew that he had done the right thing and knew that it was hard for him to do. It just hurt so much.
Temari collapsed to her knees and lifted her face towards the heavens as she wailed, her strong persona of a shinobi shattered as she cried her heart out. Shikamaru sat by her side and draped a comforting arm over her shoulders.
They would remain like that for almost an hour until Temari's voice had gone hoarse and her tears had all dried up. That didn't mean the pain was gone but she knew that at the speed they could travel they would soon catch up to the rest of the refugees and she would have to put on a brave face, no matter how hard it was. She couldn't afford them to see her as a pitiful little girl. She needed them to see her as the next Kazekage.
"Let's go," she said in little more than a whisper, Shikamaru simply nodding in understanding as the two of them got to their feet and resumed their pursuit.
…
This was it - his last hurrah. One last chance to stick it to the world before his body spent a small eternity reforming from the chakra that would be released upon his host's sacrifice. One last rampage.
It had been so long since the boy had handed him the reigns like this that the power at his disposal felt almost foreign to the sand demon. All the destruction occurring around him and he wasn't even able to enjoy it properly. The sensation of feeling blue balled - of feeling sober when he was promised a drunken feast - only made him that much more eager to lay waste to the village that had imprisoned him for generations. It was just too bad that there weren't any of his imprisoners left, now.
He would just have to take it out on the pesky ninja that had driven them to flee, he supposed. As per his agreement with Gaara, he would bathe the sands of Suna with so much blood that the red would remain hundreds of years after the village's ruins sunk back into the earth.
He began his crimson portrait with a stroke of his right arm which unleashed a gust of wind and sand with such force that it simply tore through the bodies of annoying ninja that had managed to survive Gaara's previous attempts to consume them with sand. Thousands of sand particles cleaved at their flesh until it eroded away to leave nothing but bone.
Shukaku frowned. How disappointing. The thrill, the destructive lust that had spurred him on for centuries seemed to have gone missing just when he needed it most. He unleashed a maddened roar to the heavens in anguish, whilst simultaneously whipping up a sandstorm around him.
If he couldn't find the hunger to lay waste to his surroundings within him, then he would personally pluck each limb from the bodies of the clusters of Iwa nin that surrounded him until that flame was reignited.
But then the world pulsed, a throb pounding its way through Shukaku's vision. The horizon's edge began to turn black. And the headache was unbearable.
Yellow eyes turned towards a sandy muzzle. Gaara had never allowed him to consume him completely, not even now. The Kazekage was perched just above his nose, a step down from his usual spot on the One Tail's forehead. This way Shukaku could actually keep an eye on the brat. Only he hadn't been as watchful as he had wanted to be.
A man with a mask was standing next to Gaara. Half of his body was submerged in the sand Shukaku was comprised of, yet the Bijuu could not feel the man's physical body. A red eye turned to Shukaku. The man knew he was being watched.
Shukaku wanted to holler at this man for being so insolent, so daring. But the words died on his dusty tongue when the man flicked a finger across Gaara's forehead. The Bijuu screamed in rage, thrashing around, whipping up bodies and sand and boulders and so much more. Then he just crumbled.
Gaara fell to the earth with a bloody sand shower as his company. Hands and eyes rained down next to him, creating gore-spattered dunes topped with flags of bone. The Kazekage wasn't conscious as Tobi stepped up to him, nor did he wake when he was pulled into the dark realm of the Sharingan.
Gaara's final dream was of his good friend Naruto. Oh, how great it would have been for them to lead their villages as friends. That would truly be...
The end.