Madara's student.
Disclaimer: Naruto and it's characters are owned by Masashi Kishimoto nor do I own any other materials in this story aside from my own.
Hey guys sorry for not updating, I was up in Queenland (Australia) visiting family, I was writing other stuff, and been so busy, but for the the past three days I have been writing this story, the longest chapter in the history of this story beating chapter 19's 23'000 words. this chapter has 25'000 words. and I did it all in three days. I had a lot of time on my side. anyway enjoy the chapter.
Nobody
Heavy, laboured breathing. Struggling to grasp air and and open her eyes, the sound of shouting, dulled and muffled, piercing the silence all around her. She had no perception of anything around her, aside from what she was hearing, like bells ringing in her ears. She could feel her whole body ache and quiver, she tried to move, but that proved to be fruitless as her body refused to move aside from small twitches in her arms and toes. The shouting that was growing louder and louder until it was like an avalanche of sound, she could make out a few words but nothing that could form a complete sentence.
Where was she? Was this death? It wasn't what she expected. No. she could feel it, the steady and rhythmic beating of her heart, thumping against her chest. Before she knew it, light was biting into a her eyes, annoying her to no degree, she gently and carefully opened up her eyes only to regret it as she was blasted by blaring white light from a bland white roof. She could now turn her head as she inspected her surroundings. White, that's all there was, even her hospital gown was white, matching the colour of the room, if it wasn't for her outlandish pink hair, she could easily fade into her surroundings.
Movement was coming back to her, she shakily lifted her arms and pushed herself up into a sitting position, stinging pain going through her entire body. Her breathing became more laboured as she placed a hand on her chest to steady her breathing. Her emerald green eyes, tired and drained, like the rest of her form/ she inspected her surroundings until they landed on a single figure, with platinum blonde hair, tan shirt and blue trousers. Snoring to her heart's content. She had to stifle a giggle at what she saw as when she let out a single chuckle her body racked with pain. Was something simple as laughter too painful for her? Guess it didn't matter.
She then turned her head to stare out of the window onto the vast landscape of Konohagakure, the strongest Hidden village in the five great nations. She wondered how she had got here, shock and curiosity coming over her, she tried to remember what happened to her. How long had it been? That's when it came crashing onto her like a tidal wave. Garbed in black like ebony wood and wielding a sword forged from darkness, eyes, red like roses, cold and empty like a dead fish, blonde hair that shined like gold.
"NARUTO!" wailed Sakura sorrowfully at the top of her lungs, her screaming resounding through the hospital as it woke Ino Yamanaka from her beauty nap and making her fall out of her chair with a loud thud, completely caught off guard by the sudden outburst. She wasn't the only one who heard it as the people who were arguing outside had been silenced by the scream. Ino picking herself up and ignoring the pain, saw her best friend, gazing down at her lap wearily as if she walked away from a battlefield.
"Sakura... Sakura it's me Ino. Every things alright, you're safe. You've been sleeping for a week... how you feel?" said Ino as she consoled her best friend while rubbing her back tenderly, soothing the girl before her, however Sakura didn't register her words, her thoughts caught up in a storm about a certain yellow-haired maelstrom. Was that really him? No, of course it was? What happened to him? Just how could he be alive? Were among the many questions spiralling through Sakura's mind. Her thoughts were broken however by the opening of the room's door where the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade Senju, her parents and Kakashi Hatake (whose arm was in a sling) as well as Might Guy walked through as well as an old man with bandages wrapped around his head. Sakura raised an eyebrow at the company bemused as to why they were all here, before she was engulfed into a bone-crushing hug by her mother who sobbed into her shoulder,
"My baby, thank the heavens you're alright." said Mebuki Haruno as she squeezed just a little tighter on Sakura, who carefully wrapped her arms around her mother's body, sharing in her warmth, while her father watched from her side a grateful smile on his face and a few tears falling down his cheeks. Tsunade also smiled at the scene and was glad that all the worked she poured into saving Sakura's life wasn't wasted, Kakashi eye-smiled at the scene while Guy made a 'nice-guy' pose along with a big smiled that comically glinted and was saying something about youth. No one was really paying attention to him. Tsunade then ran some tests on Sakura, and aside from reduced motor control which would disappear in a few days time, the young kunoichi was fine.
"Well, I can say with pride that I taught a tenacious pupil, there were times when things were looking bleak for you." said Tsunade as she crossed her arms under her generous bosom and smiled down on her student who tried to reciprocate it, but her mood over her attack drained her of any positive feelings, her mind confused at what happened to her.
"That's the power of youth! Nothing can trample the pure spirit shining within all of us!" yelled Guy as he cried manly tears while Kakashi seemed to sigh at his antics.
"Guy and his team were the ones that found us in the city. Guy was also the one that carried you back to Konoha to receive treatment, he had to remove his weights as he wouldn't be fast enough to make it in time." spoke Kakashi informing Sakura who nodded at her sensei.
"I want the son of a bitch who did this to my little girl! I want to flay the skin from his corpse!" yelled Mebuki making Sakura's eyes widen at what she was saying, she never pegged her mother to say anything so cruel before.
"Trust me, after this, Ryū Yokaze will be hiding under rocks to evade us." spoke Tsunade her features falling into a scowl. They had been passive for far too long, it was now time to go on the offensive and take no chances, no compromise, no mercy. "Now if you two can excuse us, we need some time with Sakura to understand the situation better." said Tsunade which Kizashi nodded at and guided his wife away who looked less than pleased to leave her daughter's side.
"Sakura, I'm sorry to ask this of you, just waking up. But we need information that only you possess, if you remember anything from your attack, tell us. You can trust us after all. what was Yokaze wearing? did he say anything?" said Tsunade placing a hand on her pupil, whose lip quivered as her fists clenched against the fabric of the hospital gown.
"It... it was Naruto. I saw him." said Sakura as she remembered the face all too well now, granted some things had changed about him, like his missing whisker marks, but he looked like an older Naruto but something about him had changed, something dark. "He's alive." the others in the room merely traded confused glances with the other, just what she was talking about was blatantly impossible.
"Sakura... Naruto is dead, he's been dead for the past two years." said Tsunade trying to make it clear to her student that what she saw, isn't truly what she believed.
"No, it was him, I know it. Tsunade-sama he's alive out there and he's with the Akatsuki, Naruto is Ryū. They might have brainwashed him or they're forcing him into their organisation, he would never join the likes of them unless he had to." spoke Sakura unknowingly making Tsunade angrier with each word, what she was saying was babble, untrue.
"Sakura... you have to accept reality that Naruto is gone, he's never coming back. He died years ago and nothing will change that. Even if he did somehow survive at the Valley of the End. Akatsuki which is made up of S-rank shinobi would have tracked him down easily and extracted the Kyūbi from him, where he would have died anyway. I'm sorry Sakura but facts are facts." said Kakashi but Sakura widened her eyes at him and was shocked that no one in the room seemed to believe her, they acted as if she was crazy.
"But Kakashi-sensei... he's alive, I just know it. I saw his face and it was Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki and Ryū Yokaze are one in the same. We have to send out search parties to find him and bring him back to Kono-" spoke Sakura practically pleading with everyone in room to believe what she was saying, however she was silenced from speaking further by Tsunade who had grown enraged at her.
"That's enough Sakura!" yelled Tsunade a stern and unyielding expression marring her features. "Sakura, Naruto... is... dead. Gone, no longer living, deceased. Sometimes when someone is in distress we see things that bring us comfort, you probably saw Naruto as a figment of distress and it manifested in your mind as comfort to save yourself from mental trauma. But what you saw is what you hoped to see, I'm sorry there's no other reason to explain this delusion. If you really think Yokaze is Naruto then look at what he did to you! the scars that will remain with you forever! if he was Naruto he would never do that to you!" said Tsunade trying to remain stoic at what she was hearing, however fragments of herself were breaking under Sakura's pressure, said girl was clearly startled by what she said, before she pulled down her gown slightly to view the scars on her chest, there were two, a large, horizontal one across her chest and the one that almost killed her in between the valley of her breasts. "We will talk later. But know we have all lost something and if we cling to it tightly we will never move on with our lives." said Tsunade who left the room with the silent Danzō Shimura on her tail, his face calm and composed, he of course believed every word the pink haired girl spoke, being one of the few aware of Naruto's current status.
As the two stood outside the room, Tsunade's face was one of contemplation, trying to come to a solution to the matter at hand.
"This is no longer the case of passivity, Tsunade. Yokaze is intent on taking action against us. He is a stain that must be cleaned, a toxin that must be purged." spoke Danzō as Tsunade's doubt washed away, she knew Danzō was correct in what he was saying. Too long had Yokaze had free reign while he killed their shinobi like lambs to the slaughter. Now it was their turn.
"Danzō, I have a mission specifically for you. Your task is to eliminate Ryū Yokaze, death is an absolute certainty. Gather your forces and hunt down Yokaze like the animal he is. Taking him prisoner is no longer anyone's concern. Just eliminate him." spoke Tsunade walking off back to her office while Danzō stood there smirking. They were right, Naruto had a profound effect on people around him, he was turning Tsunade into the Hokage she was 'supposed' to be, cruel, cunning and never one to show weakness or compromise. He would set himself to the task immediately, for Konoha. Naruto Uzumaki's days were numbered, he had certain ace's up his sleeve that would ensure victory for him.
Tsunade's thoughts were broiled with anger and hatred towards the Akatsuki member, too long... too long he had paraded around killing some of her best shinobi with little hesitation or remorse. He was just like them, the rest of Akatsuki, cruel, uncaring of life itself, no morals or conviction. Yokaze was a rabid animal that needed to be put down, a fire that had to be extinguished from the world. And they would shatter everything he held dear. First Shino, Lee and now he had attacked Sakura and almost succeeded. It was now time for him to know the fear of being hunted and to know the terror Konoha could instill. If onyl she knew how true her words were.
A few days later, in the land of spring, where warm weather and sunlight was found throughout, having melted away the eternal winter of the land to give way to a new kind of season, one that was rejoiced by all. The land of Spring was now a prosperous land full of green and a multitude of colours from flowers and light. Walking along a road were two people who wore cloaks that contrasted with the bright colours of the environment they were walking through. One didn't care for his surroundings, rather staying focused on the road in front of him and to get to his objective, while the other was enthralled with the flowers and leaves, her home environment was the exact opposite of what she saw. While her home was a bland, flat and an overall dark nation plagued with rain that never halted. This country was a nice change of pace for her.
"We should arrive in the next couple of hours. I should warn you that the company we shall be... meeting... aren't exactly the most social of people." warned Naruto Uzumaki to his partner Konan who nodded at him, knowing that when he meant something he truly 'meant' it.
"Just who are we gracing with our presence?" questioned Konan as Naruto remained expressionless at her question while he was mulling over words to say, he had to be careful with what he said as each word could send the wrong impression.
"He's a former contemporary of the the Legendary sannin. His name is Hiruko, for his entire life he devoted himself to the study of shinobi and kekkei genkai, he's been an associate of mine for a while, performing experiments and unravelling secrets for me. He's also developed a technique that allows him to assimilate kekkei genkai into his own being, making them his own." spoke Naruto while Konan herself that someone like that actually existed. But she just got this chilling feeling whenever Hiruko's name was mentioned, as if it was a forbidden word or some kind. "I've been out of touch with Hiruko for days now, we're heading to his lab in the Land of Spring to check on his progress. Once there don't touch anything, his work is fragile and you don't know where's it's been. You might actually catch a disease... Hiruko isn't the pleasant sort and not someone you would get along with. He performs... unorthodox experiments. And he's willing to disrupt the laws of nature to achieve his goal... like me." warned the blonde Uzumaki to which his blue-haired partner nodded and they continued walking into the warm country.
Back at Konoha a certain pink-haired Kunoichi was preparing herself for a journey outside of the village, she had to find him. She needed answers to her questions and she needed to see him. Everyone was against her, all of them believing that Naruto was dead. She saw him, flesh,blood and bone. It was him and she needed to tell him something.
Gathering her things, she was now fully dressed into her kunoichi outfit. She had been doing some rather sneaky things in the village, she overheard Tsunade and that old man named Danzō talking about Yokaze's movements and he was apparently heading north maybe north-east, she would head to the land of Spring, it was a prosperous trade nation and they would probably have the information she needed.
So she jumped out her window and left the village for her presumed-deceased team-mate.
As the blonde and blue haired Akatsuki members were wading through the forest, searching for the entrance to a mad genius' laboratory, they were probably looking for a cliché entrance, maybe a sign. But still, the blue-eyed man knew they were rapidly approaching their destination. He kept examining the trees and the stones, any indicator of Hiruko's presence. Naruto scraped his fingers across the wood of a tree where deep claw marks were etched into the bark.
"We're close, not much farther now." said Naruto as he turned his head to look at his partner who nodded at him before the both of them left on their way. And true to his words Naruto and Konan had found a metal door carved into the ground, it was well hidden with foliage covering it's distinguishable features. Naruto brushed away some of the leaves and searched for the door-knob, it didn't take long as he had found it in a few seconds just as he was about to grasp the handle, his head snapped to attention at the feeling of chakra and the sound of breathing, before looking at a certain direction to his right. Konan saw this before looking in the direction trying to ascertain what had caught Naruto's attention.
The blonde scanned his red eyes across the forest, but he saw nothing, no flicker of chakra or sharp gasp, he wanted to scratch his head at this, though he kept his guard up as the air around him was heavy and tense, almost suffocating. He tried to focus his sharper senses but to his surprise, found nothing, no feelings in the air whatsoever. But still he would be weary.
He then turned his attention back to the door where he opened it up and jumped down followed by Konan who closed the door on her way in. they then traversed down some stairs that led them deeper in the ground.
However Naruto's instincts weren't wrong as outside the door was a man wearing a black cloak with an Oni mask and a katana over his right shoulder.
"Target's inside Danzō-sama, shall we prepare the explosives?" said the ROOT agent as he used his short-range transmitter where he earned a response from his superior.
"Do so, we will create tomb's for Hiruko and Uzumaki." spoke Danzō through the transmitter and more ROOT agents joined the Oni masked agent and all of them prepared large scale explosives and planted them on the ground, if the earth was hollow the force of the explosions would destabilise the ground and cause the caves below to be buried with dirt and rock.
As Naruto and Konan allowed their legs to guide them through the dark, murky depths of the cave system they were traversing through, jumping over rocks and crevices, little light piercing through the shadows. Naruto stopped before a great door which was presumably the entrance to Hiruko's lair. The cloaked man then placed both of his hands against the hard metal and pushed with a great amount of strength, the door was stronger and heavier than expected as it required some effort from the blonde to push open, loud scraping and the clanging of metal echoed through the halls of the earth. When Naruto had pushed the door to allow someone of his frame and size through, he spurred himself on-wards with Konan following on his tail.
They soon saw green light on the edge of their vision, growing brighter and brighter with each step they took, it blared so brightly that they had to shield their eyes with their hands, their orbs having grown accustomed to the dark. With one final push, they passed over the rocks and found themselves standing in the hive of Hiruko.
Alchemy jars, vials and tubes dotted tables and shelves in the room, the air itself had a stench of a rotting corpse that almost made one want to vomit, bodies hung by nails and wire were splayed across the walls, the dim green light barely illuminated the darkness, blood stains littered the ground and walls, and small animals from reptiles to mammals were pinned to boards, some even cut open. Electrical rods and circuits sparked electricity that added some blue to the sickly green, the ground was shrouded by cold mist that chilled bones and grasped at one's spine, making frigid chills run down Konan's spine. This was no place for humans, rather this was a place for someone that had abandoned their humanity.
They then heard the sound of clinking and mushy sounds, where Konan snapped her head to the source, seeing two benches with corpses atop them and a person standing on a stool on their tip-toes who held a syringe in their right hand and a saw in the left and both were visibly bloodied and were dripping red liquid everywhere.
"Hiruko." called out Naruto gaining the man's attention who looked over his shoulder to stare at the guests within his home. Konan could see that he was a young man, no older than a child, which off-put her to some degree, seeing an image of innocence violated in such a way. He had bone-white hair with blood-hungering red eyes, most of his body was covered in bandages including most of his face. He wore a high-collared coat wrapped in three leather straps, with the sleeves being even longer than his arms, the fact that he was handling tools made the sleeves rile up his arms, he had a single black dot on his forehead and two wind-swept bangs.
"Oh, such a shame, if I knew you were coming, I would have saved my experiment for later. Such a pity." said Hiruko as he jumped off the stool and placed his medical tools away. "I was just about to extract their bone marrow, guess that'll have to wait." said Hiruko sighing in mock exasperation. "and who is this? A friend? Lover perhaps? Maybe a new subject I can test?" questioned Hiruko as his gaze turned upon Konan who felt desecrated with his stare and had to hold back a defiled look, she felt dirty, perhaps even contaminated with his eyes. She had to literally bite back her composure just to maintain her calm facade.
"You have enough test subjects that I've provided, I expected to see some results. Though I'm disappointed with how little you have shown me, have you grown that lax in your gluttony that you failed to produce anything of value?" spoke Naruto as he took a slight step closer to Konan his body tensing and eyes burning like a raging fire.
"Be calm now, after many experiments and the intricate study of kekkei genkai I have achieved something that if used properly, will break every conceived 'bloodline' in the world." spoke Hiruko remaining calm under Naruto's threatening gaze, the Uzumaki was not someone to be trifled with and so was his master, indeed it was Hiruko who (under the behest of Madara) experimented on Naruto's body, granting him enhanced endurance, speed, strength, stamina. "I have crafted my own kekkei genkai." Naruto's eyes widened at his words... he created a kekkei genkai, an actual bloodline was made with human hands rather than inherited through lineage? "in my pursuit of a perfect body I have collected and harvested many shinobi's kekkei genkai and made them my own. However I always lacked a fifth element as you can say, while originally I had a kekkei genkai in mind, I found my thoughts wondering at the possibilities. What if we were to create a kekki genkai, injected into shinobi and granting them capabilities of those born from a clan with an inherent kekkei genkai. I soon collected samples from multiple kekkei genkai from around the world and from shinobi clans and began my experiments, most of them only succeeded in being failures, but, a breakthrough happened. Using select kekkei genkai I was able to stabilise the blood, enzymes and chakra, I soon found my subjects reacting to the new influx of power and the results were remarkable, kekkei genkai that responded to their hosts. An artificial kekkei genkai was created. But with all great discoveries there must be consequences. Shortly after acquiring the kekkei genkai the subjects bodies would break down, their white blood cells recognised the foreign power and proceeded to attack their host's body foolishly despite the fact the kekkei genkai had melded with their bodies and the process was irreversible, their own bodies were destroying them from the inside at a rapid rate. I've been looking for hosts with strong recuperative powers and life-force, preferably those from the Uzumaki and Senju clans. If only some were available... shame."
Naruto just listened to Hiruko mouth off his entire life-story, and he was intrigued and amazed, intrigued that such a thing like creating a kekkei genkai was possible and amazed at the value of such a thing. However he wasn't particularly fond of the Uzumaki and Senju bit, seeing as he was a descendant of both clans.
"Where is this kekkei genkai? And what are the survival odds." questioned Naruto as he brought his hand to his mouth in thought. While Konan merely watched from her position, her feelings were the same as Naruto though she was more affected by the deaths of others in such an ungodly experiment, not only that, she wasn't sure if this kekkei genkai was a gift or a crime against nature.
Hiruko then approached a computer and typed in a few commands where a compartment opened up in front of him where cold mist rose up revealing a single tube filled with blue liquid, Hiruko grasped the tube in his hand and inspected it, fascinated at his own work.
"Right here, the only sample left I might add, I've been meaning to create more. Survival odds... 15%" spoke Hiruko making Naruto raise his eyebrow at him in shock where the mad genius handed the tube over to the Sharingan wielder where he twiddled the tube between his fingers. "And of course not to mention the fact that if survival is ensured, subjects tend to break down mentally at a slow rate, only 50% were able to stay sane, until they killed themselves that is... such a shame, I had further uses for them."
"To think, power contained in a tiny tube. It's remarkable." said Naruto only to sense a disturbance in the force (yeah that was intentional). He could feel it, closing in all around him, ill intent. Konan noticed this and questioned as to what was wrong. But the blonde didn't answer her, just as shock-waves surged through the lab, spilling most of the contents to the ground, almost making all three lose their footing. Naruto took a step back as he was almost crushed by a large boulder, and of course the obvious came to his mind. "We're being attacked! Get to the exit!" yelled Naruto and Hiruko and Konan took flight with Naruto following from behind.
"There's only two exits, one now crushed by boulders and we'll be running straight into the enemy through the other, unless I planned on dying this is not how I calculated my death." said Hiruko as he dodged rocks and falling debris, more and more shock-waves breaking through the ground.
"We're not escaping..." spoke Naruto darkly to which Konan stopped in her stride and stared at the man with a worried expression while Hiruko slid to a halt upon hearing the blonde's words. "We'll die in this place, and the stones shall become our tombs". Konan widened her eyes at his hidden message and flew into the blonde's arms, while Hiruko hugged Naruto from the side, which looked a little awkward, Naruto then sent even more chakra into his eyes where his eternal Mangekyō Sharingan pattern appeared just as a large boulder was about to land atop them.
On the surface many explosions were going off while numerous ROOT agents were watching the attack from trees, with keen eyes and weapons at the ready, they were waiting by the only exit to Hiruko's lair, hoping to ambush them from above. Danzō himself was among them and he kept his face neutral and steady. When the explosions finally settled down, dust had cascaded across the landscape while Danzō's eyes were still passive and his features neutral.
Further away, the ground was moving about wildly and rumbling could be heard and felt through out the forest, as a single, long, bony hand burst forth clawing at the dirt and grass pulling itself up and out of the dark caverns it found itself in. The hand was then followed by a spiked rib-cage where three forms were visible through the bones. The three then exited the skeleton and landed on the soft ground and inspected their surroundings only to find no threat in the immediate vicinity.
"It would be best to split up, divide their attention among us. ROOT is powerful... I myself are hesitant to fight their full force, knowing nothing of their abilities." spoke Naruto while the other two nodded at his words. "There is a city, a few hours north from here, it's the capitol of the Land of Spring, Konan you and I will head there. Danzō wouldn't risk an international incident so the people in the city shall be our indirect hostage's. Hiruko I want to you to head to the Land of Wind, to my base, Sukaitate, there you will meet my Kokuren soldiers and they will see to it that you have a lab of your own." spoke Naruto before all three of them went in separate directions. However Naruto's mind was a buzz, he knew not what Danzō's ultimate scheme was, though he suspected that he came to finish the job he started all those years ago.
Racing through the trees Naruto lost track of Konan's chakra signature meaning that she had taken her own route to the city. Naruto sighed in exasperation, Danzō was a cunning old badger that few underestimated too much. The man never did anything without a purpose and would bend the rules to achieve what he wanted. He dabbled in such dangerous company that some would think that he was a traitor, of course without proof and evidence there was no way to convict him. His shady operations were suspected but Danzō always thought three steps ahead of someone. The only person he wasn't able to fool was the Sandaime Hokage because of their previous closeness.
Naruto then shook such things from his thoughts and continued onward, unaware of the metaphorical axe flying at his neck.
"Danzō-sama, they're heading to the city, just as we planned." said one of the ROOT sensors in the area.
"Good, now we move on to the next phase, contact Toge and have him retrieve the flower." spoke Danzō where his agents nodded and soon left, before Danzō could move himself a swirling distortion spiraled on his left appeared where out came Tobi, or by his more common name, Obito Uchiha appeared, garbed in his battle attire.
"It took a little effort to find, but I am a determined one. Uzumaki will never know what he's in for." said Obito as he handed Danzō a scroll where the elder man took it from the Uchiha's grasp and inspected it with his lone visible eye.
"You shall be the one to confront him when all the pieces on the board is set." said Danzō with his well-rounded slippery tongue mading itself clear, Obito didn't seemingly acknowledge Danzō's order and instead disappeared in a swirling vortex while the elder headed into the city.
He had arrived in the city an hour ago, pulling his hood up and phasing through any crowds, evading his hunters. He had figured that they would come after him sooner or later, but he hadn't figured this soon, Tsunade wouldn't allow it, unless she did, then that would be a surprise. He knew that by taking a life others would surely want to avenge them, he hated that. He hated how the cycle of hatred was reliant on death and misery, he was a victim and he too contributed to the cycle, he knew of this. But we all do things, some terrible things for our causes. Therefore one can say it was justified, others would say that it was an inhuman thing. But who really cared as viewpoints would never change unless drastic action was taken, which only contributed to the cycle, it was a like a dragon eating it's own tail.
He then felt a slight weight in his pocket where he reached his gloved hand inside and pulled out a vial with blue liquid on the inside, it was the artificial Kekkei genkai Hiruko created. Naruto inspected it in his hand, the chance of an early death was high if he were to drink from it. But, if Danzō in the small chance that he took it from his corpse, acquired it, the results could be catastrophic. He would hold onto it for now, until he found a purpose for it.
Moving deeper and deeper into the districts Naruto had the feeling that he was of course being pursued, which was the case, however what was confusing was the people trailing him. They had made no move or attempt to attack, he sensed no killing intent from them, it was if they were content to watch and listen. He had the unnerving feeling that something was wrong. What was Danzō's game? What was he really after?
Naruto then felt a large number of oncoming chakra barrelling straight towards him, he soon found himself surrounded by samurai, each with katanas out and ready to face him, Naruto didn't even blink and just stared at the samurai, ready to unseal the Tonbogiri in a moment's notice, he was prepared for any amount of conflict at the moment and a dying breed brought him no fear.
"Ryū Yokaze. By the orders of the current Daimyō of the land of Spring, Koyuki Kazahana, you are to be brought to her as an honoured guest within this land." spoke a samurai with a fur cloak who Naruto surmised to be the leader. Guess being with the Daimyō surrounded by her well trained guards was better wondering around the street with a target painted on his back. Naruto then nodded at the group and left with them to be brought before the beautiful Daimyō to whom he has been acquainted with, wondering how she had discovered his presence.
Konan meanwhile was traversing through the streets of the large city, wondering where her blonde partner was, she was glad to be away from Hiruko as his whole presence made her feel uneasy around him, but she wouldn't deny that lonely feeling rising up in her when the blue-eyed man wasn't around. He had at least been forthcoming with his real identity and made no excuses as to why he couldn't trust her. But whatever his past was with ROOT she was aware that one would call it horrific as Danzō was truly a monster in human skin.
"Well, well, I was told you were beautiful but the rumours don't do you justice." said a voice behind Konan where she spun around and glared at the person before her. She knew 'of' this man but she had never met him in person, he was a member of ROOT one of the cronies of Danzō himself. He was a tall and elegant man with feminine features that gave him a slightly androgynous appearance, he ad shoulder-length long pink hair with ruffles through it and blue eyes. He wore the standard flak-jacket of Konoha with a pink sash tied around his waist and a short-sleeved green shirt. He wore black gloves with stains of pink and a lapel over both of his legs which were dull pink in colour and he had a tattoo of flowers up the entire length of his arm right arm, he wore basic ninja sandals and a Konoha hitai-ate over his forehead.
Konan using the power of Koinu sealed within her activated Naruto's Sharingan eyes which appeared in her own amber orbs, the key difference being the red in her eyes being dull, almost glazed over.
"Ohh, Naruto's Sharingan, I had heard you were able to acquire it through some unknown way. From what I've been told those eyes are precious beyond measure. But please don't act like you're the only one with a piece of his power." said Toge where he cracked his neck and four black ropes burst forth form his back, each with silver blades on their ends. "Now, try to give me a good work out."
Konan then ran towards Toge where she aimed two kicks towards his head where he blocked them both with then tried to swipe at her with one of his four ropes only for her to dodge it in the air and fire off some paper shuriken, where he brought the rope together and blocked them all.
Konan followed up her offence by sweeping him off his feet where he landed on his back and she followed it up by performing an axe kick on his head, to which he rolled away in time before she could cause some serious damage.
She then sent chakra into her left eye where a pattern of Naruto's Mangekyō Sharingan appeared and ash started gathering around her. She clumped it together where she formed a wing on her back, she didn't have enough control of the ash to properly shape it and the wing was the only form it was able to take. She then sent chakra into her right eye where she used Haiton: Fūjin to fire off multiple spikes of grey ash towards Toge who back-flipped away to dodge the spikes. She then flew towards him ready to slice him apart with her ash wing. But to no avail as he used his rope to defend himself form her attacks where the two met in violent clashes, sparks flying everywhere.
She then saw an opening in his defences where she kneed him in the chin which sent him flying back only for him to regain his footing and to rub his chin, grinning at her. He then lunged two of his long chakra ropes towards Konan who jumped up and stared down at him where she landed on the ground a but away from the ROOT agent, she had some inkling on what was going on, the real reason as to why he was here, so she then sent more chakra to her eyes and waited for Toge to attack.
Said man did so and mentally ordered his strong chakra rope to attack Konan where she jumped in the air to avoid it, but he merely sent the rope barrelling upwards to attack her where she spun around in the air to avoid it before using said rope itself as a platform and jumped away, landing on the roof of a small building, she then ran across the tiles, her plan in place, and jumped off the roof and aimed a punch at Toge who flicked her away with another of his rope.
She then landed on the ground with a skid and quickly spun around where the two met in a flurry of taijutsu. Where they continued to block and dodge the other, while Konan's moves were appearing more and more sluggish by the second, possibly indicating that she was running low on energy. She kept using her ash wing to her advantage, attacking Toge when there was a open area to attack, though his chakra rope was becoming increasingly annoying.
She then jumped away and fired off more ash spikes from her wing to which Toge blocked with his rope, he then, moulding handseals spat out a large wave of water at her to which she shielded herself with her wing, effectively cancelling out his technique, he then sent all four of his rope soaring towards Konan with their blades ready to kill, she brought up her defences quickly that she was able to save herself from being skewered but she suffered wounds on her arms, legs and side. Taking advantage of this she ran towards Toge who had little to no defence however the pink-haired man smirked as he called back his rope so quickly that the blades attached to them sliced through Konan's muscles in her shoulders, legs and sides, causing her to bleed everywhere and cough up blood and fall to the ground.
"Well, that was harder than I thought, you're quite persistent aren't you?" said Toge as he stared down on the defeated Konan who folded her arm into many sheets of paper and had them fly towards Toge where he took a step back to avoid the paper but his flak-jacket and shirt wore torn up because of it. Konan however widened her eyes at what she saw as right there on his chest, was a face of a young boy, a boy with a similar face to Naruto's. "Why yes, this is 'the last Uzumaki', Naruto was once my subordinate with ROOT, I took his cells and his power and made them my own, he's quite the extraordinary individual, wouldn't you say?" Toge with those words wrapped his chakra rope around Konan's body with her being unable to fight back. "Danzō-sama's plan is in effect. If Naruto truly loves you, no matter the danger. He will come for you."
Naruto meanwhile was being escorted through the royal palace of the Daimyō by an entourage of samurai armed to the teeth, knowing well-aware who he was, even though he was hand-cuffed he was pleased that he wasn't being paraded around like a trophy or treated like a common criminal. He passed by many colourful buildings and windows, taking notice of the warm sun through the gilded panes.
Finally he passed through a door leading to a large chamber with a balcony and a small table with treats and drinks being served. He then saw the Daimyō wearing her head-dress proudly and currently fanning herself.
"The restraints won't be necessary. I won't be in danger." spoke the Daimyō Koyuki Kazahana, to which her samurai guardsmen undid the cuffs allowing Naruto movements in his wrists where he rubbed them, enjoying the feeling of air on that part of the body again. "Please have a seat Ryū Yokaze, unless that's the name you're using at the moment. Would you prefer me to you use your real name, Naruto Uzumaki? Or would you prefer to use my stage name Yukie Fujikaze? Perhaps we can call each other friends, maybe acquaintances. Lovers, maybe? But those things tend to not matter." Naruto merely listened and narrowed his eyes at the former actress and did very little that could warrant action from the samurai. He sat down in a small wooden chair next to the table served with sweets where he was then presented with a cup of warm green tea, where he drank it somewhat eagerly. "Names are rather important things, they can sum up someone's identity with just a few choice words. Or the name itself can be a mere shadow of a person. But the fact that you use the power of blackness in your name is something to be be admired. Fear, is such a primal thing. When your false name is spoken, it resonates fear, while your real name resonates hope. Just how is that so?" spoke Koyuki as she took a seat next to Naruto who kept his red eyes upon her. "I brought you here to talk, I will be straightforward, no mazes to navigate or puzzles to solve. You who were a proud shinobi of your village, now wishes to instead rip away every ideology that village holds. And yet somehow that feels so natural saying it like that." spoke Koyuki while Naruto still kept his eyes trained her her, knowing that she was dangerous in her own.
"It's good to see you gain Koyuki."
"If only I could extend such a sentiment. but you look well, and the years have been kind to your appearance. So handsome. I would ask how and what you have been doing these past years but I will get straight to the point."
"How did you know it was me. If I may ask?" questioned Naruto as he stared into the cup of tea seeing his reflection in the liquid.
"My spy network is a strong one. As a Daimyō I can pull the strings without question. Though I didn't discover your true name until you first arrived in my country. When one of my agents reported to me, the resemblance was too stark, too uncanny, but I still needed proof to which you yourself, stated to being Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto met her gaze, she was clever as a fox this one, she had him confirm it through his own words, she figured it out, he would have to be weary of people addressing him with his name from now on.
"I wish to know how Danzō is related to my past? Who was I before? In ROOT. What happened to Uzushiogakure? Those are just the tip of the mountain of questions I have. If you call yourself a spy master you should know the answers." spoke Naruto intent on understanding just who he is.
"Let me tell you a story. It's a story about a wondrous princess-" said Koyuki making Naruto raise his eyebrows at her, bewildered that she was skirting around the questions and playing this game of hers.
"I didn't come here to listen to-"
"She, like most other ladies of court and royalty, was given everything she desired from her wishes and denied nothing that she couldn't get herself. However she always kept a ray of humility and respect for those she ruled over. Because of this she was much beloved by all, from the lowly farmers to even her friends, to the bakers and the weavers, their wives. Knowing her as much as she knew them. She was safe behind windows and monoliths of stone, seeing the world from her home in the sky, gazing down at the people below, hiding in her castle alone, hungry for histories and stories and to carve her place among them, to be them, memorise their faces, heedless of the gift that it is to be them. hough despite having everything, she lived in solitude, alone, nothing she saw became familiar to her, there was little reason to remember ones prison." spoke Koyuki starting off her story making Naruto raise an eyebrow at her.
"Then one day, her eyes befell a wondering soldier, once their eyes locked love had bloomed between them. She would sneak out of the castle against the advice of her servants and family, but she didn't care, she had hoped, dreamed to escape from her prison in her own home. She despite being a solitary and introvert person who had never opened up to anyone, found that this soldier could colour her entire small world with just a single word. She allowed her heart to beat once more. All the while never telling the soldier of her identity. That soldier then discovered everything about her, her fears had come to pass. She had no choice but leave him, but the loyal soldier fuelled by duty stayed with her, understood her and cherished the princess even more. She was happy, she found someone that made her empty world full and whole. She soon fell pregnant with the heir to the kingdom and was gifted with a silver mirror adorned with gems from all around the world, everything was perfect." to Naruto this started to sound like some child-like fairy tail, silly and untrue.
"But fate is a cruel thing indeed. A witch came and stole the heart of the soldier, the love he had for the princess became love for another. The witch thrived upon the love of the soldier who was at her beck and call, fulfilling her whims and she in-turn treated him with disdain and scorn, though the soldier couldn't see beyond his desires for the witch, who had grown gluttonous from the soldier's 'love'. The princess understood her dilemma and resigned herself to her fate, or so one would think. In an effort to gain back the love of the soldier, she performed a 'miracle'. She did the unthinkable, she sacrificed her unborn child to fuel a jutsu to kill the witch." ok now this story just took on a darker mood and feeling, this was a children's fable?
"And it was done, the witch had died a truly horrific death to which she suffered greatly. She then approached the soldier again and told him of everything she did, she even told him of their never to be born child. while she believed he would accept her again his features said otherwise. For his face was filled with horror, grief, fear and hatred, towards the princess. The witch to whom she believed, was a medic, who healed the sick and treated the injured, the only one in the kingdom. The soldier was merely assisting her with the sick, and the disdain he was treated with was nothing more than playful banter between the two. The princess to whom the people loved, was hated from then on, children died and people suffered without the aid of the medic." ok this story had gotten quie melancholic suddenly.
"The princess grew empty, she became cold, her emotions had died. People began to forget about her, not even recognising her. She was what one would call 'a nobody'. The first nobody, she lacked emotions and she lacked dreams, she had shattered her own life and now she had nothing to regret, as she was now incapable of regret. The only thing the princess kept was the mirror the soldier gifted her. She cared little for anything else and in the end, she had nothing to live for. People had forgotten her, she could no longer recognise herself." recounted Koyuki while Naruto listened intently.
"So she climbed to the tallest tower of her castle, no clothes on her back, naked for all to see. The only thing to accompany her was the mirror. In that moment she jumped off the tower and unto the rocky cliffs below, the people who watched her. Didn't care, they didn't even know who she was. She survived the fall and she lay there, bloody and broken, for months on end, staring at the untouched mirror, not even chipped from the fall. Birds feasting on her body, their beaks carving into her flesh. In the end she stared into the mirror once more, and having nothing in her life, she decided to end it. She repeatedly smashed her face against the glass chanting 'ugly, ugly, ugly' her blood flying everywhere and the glass cracking, the shards embedding themselves into her face. She died, chanting 'ugly', the masses and history may have forgotten her, but some still know of her story. The first nobody." recited Koyuki while Naruto thought over the sotry, having never heard of it before.
Such a thing was truly brutal, a woman who loved her partner so much that she tripped over the lines of depravity itself and experienced something worse than death. She was empty and had nothing to live for and at the end, she didn't have anyone who could support her, the world abandoned her just as it abandoned him.
"I was similar to that princess. I too was a 'Nobody' lacking emotions not caring for anything. I can see you are the same. We can replicate emotions to their greatest extent where we can fool everyone around us. But lile the princess, our progenitor, we have nothing to live for, nothing to cherish. It's only when we have everything, do we lose it. Though you saved me. Naruto." spoke Koyuki while Naruto listened, not saying a word, just his head hanging low. "You gave me something to live for, and now I have everything once again." said Koyuki as she rubbed her belly, treasuring the life that was growing inside her. "Naruto, just as you saved me, I don't want to see you fall into depravity and lose sight of everything in front of you... and I believe Konoha has the answers. You are a person who must decide his own place in the world. The thing you're trying to throw away, whatever that may be, is only half of what makes who you are. There's still time for you to choose, you walk a thin line between happiness and emptiness but you should give it some thought. It could be good for you, to help those like yourself, and some day, my child as well. Will you return to Konoha? Naruto?"
So now said blonde was wondering the streets, it was an unusual meet and greet to say the least. Koyuki knew of his problems and she tried to help him in the only way she could, encouragement and her words. But he didn't know if he was ready to forgive a life of abuse and hatred, he didn't know if he would ever be ready. Konoha despite it's appearance, is one of the most ghastly places in the world (From his perspective). What could he find in Konoha that could help fill the hole in his heart? And would he be accepted with open arms as an equal and a person? That he doubted. But some nagging feeling at the corner of his mind was telling him otherwise.
He could also understand the story Koyuki told. That love could push someone to do the unthinkable and how it could blind us all from the truth. Eyes shrouded in darkness, unable to see the light. Love really is the most powerful thing in the universe, as it could turn the kindest soul into an empty vessel.
He was broken from his thoughts where he saw a man screaming through the air and landing right in front of him.
Five minutes earlier
She had made it to the land of Spring, after few hour Journey she had reached her destination, she had met many information brokers and informants and all said the same thing, he was travelling Northeast, possibly to the Land of Spring. If he wasn't then he was surely heading for the Land of Iron, if he had crossed over the border of the samurai nation then there was nothing she could do without risking an international incident and being branded a criminal for disrupting the neutrality of the Land of Iron.
As she was walking on the street, an information broker had told her of a club where knowledge tended to flow through. If Naruto was in the Land of Spring, that club would probably have the answer. Walking up and through the large door, Sakura was stopped by a burly strong man with his arms crossed and staring down at her with a sneer.
"Get lost little girl, you're not on the list, so go home and play with your toys." said the burly man adopting a grin while Sakura scowled at him, she had come too far just to be pushed away by some idiot who guards the door. The pink haired kunoichi didn't say anything in return except kneed the man in his family jewels where he dropped on the ground and held his wounded pride while she walked over him, pushing her way into the club.
When she walked in, she was immediately beset by music and dancing, flashing lights and specially chosen colours. The club was large and extravagant, there was black, white and red everywhere, even some traditional Japanese trees dotted the club as her eyes wondered across the scenery. People were out on the dance floor, doing exactly what it was designed to do, with drinks in their hands and potential one-night stands in the other. She had to find the owner, he was the one with the information she needed, she wouldn't stop until she fond him.
Making her way through the loud music and multiple bodies, she found the owner, an middle-aged fellow with two ladies by his side, wearing revealing dresses and the best drinks in their hands. It didn't take long for her to figure it out that he was the person she was looking for. He was currently by a bar, talking to his employee's. Sakura knew she was going to have to use a kunoichi's art of seduction on him, a man surrounded by beautiful women daily was either a hardened gentlemen, or a giant pervert. She approached the bar, standing on the owner's left who immediately took notice of her, before shooing away any other young ladies around him.
"Sake, the strong stuff." said Sakura as the bartender nodded at her while the owner raised his eyebrows in intrigue at the girl.
"You're a little young to be in this club, pinkie." said the owner as he turned to face her while Sakura smirked at him.
"Aren't you a bit flashy to have a name like Himitsu." rebuked Sakura as the man scooted closer and closer to her.
"Well, good to know we're on the first-name-basis. Though I don't think I caught your name." spoke the owner known as Himitsu.
"Oh, you know, people like me have several." said Sakura trailing her hand down his chest, earning a large grin from Himitsu who made it known that he was enjoying it. "But you can just call me ma'am." said Sakura crushing a certain part of the man's anatomy making him squeak like a mouse. "You're the guy that knows everything about anything that's worth knowing. Tell me where I can find Ryū Yokaze and I'll leave."
"Bitch." said Himitsu but Sakura squeezed just a little tighter on his pride. "M-ma'am, I don't know where he is, he could basically be outside this club right now. Look all I know is he travels with a partner, a woman with blue hair. Even if you can't find him, she'll probably know where he is." just as those words left his mouth, multiple men with swords, kunai and overall sharp weapons approached with sneers on their faces and ready to attack at any moment.
"Oh this must be embarrassing for you. You might not do well in front of a large crowd and audience, this is quite awkward. Well, I'll just be leaving now. I have everything I need." said Sakura where she let go of the man's sacred stones and left where he fell on his knees clutching his wounded ego.
"Oh, bitch you're not leaving this place alive. I'm a sensitive person, and you just hurt my feelings. Get her boys." said Himitsu as he signalled his men who all charged at Sakura with their weapons at the ready. One of them ran up to Sakura's back and was about to slice her in two, but she merely responded by turning around and punching the man square in the jaw, sending him flying across the room and crashing into some glass, the people in the club then ran out afraid for their own lives.
Just as the rest of the thugs circled around, Sakura jumped in the air where she channelled chakra into her heel and then slammed it against the ground, causing a shock-wave on impact that sent all the men flying back and landing roughly on the ground as glass flew everywhere.
Just as one of the men picked himself up off the ground, he saw Sakura flying through the air where she smashed her heel against his shoulder where he was sent back into the ground, breaking even more of the glass floor. However all the men seriously underestimated the strength of the Konoha kunoichi, a lesson they will learn the hard way.
Sakura then upper-cut another sending him flying up into the air while she roundhouse kicked two other's and all three of them landed on the ground with large crashes, and pain racking their entire bodies, it felt likes they were just hit with a battering ram. Sakura followed up her attack by kicking another in the stomach and punching one in the face at the same time where they impacted against some of their comrades, toppling over like domino's.
She then tripped over another by sweeping her feet where she followed it up by a punch in the gut that sent him in the air which was followed by a similar punch that sent him back towards the floor. She then ran over his body and kicked another in the face sending him flying into the bar, alcoholic beverages leaking everywhere. She then she punched another in the stomach, almost making him throw up his lunch.
Another thug rounded on her, but she kicked him in the leg, jabbed him in the stomach and gave him an upper-cut that sent him soaring up into the roof. Another gang member than tried to attack her from behind but she merely elbowed him in the chest, winding him and then kicking him away where he would probably have a few broken bones. Another slashed at her with a katana but she caught his arm, where she gave him a back-hand punch, then elbowed him in his thigh where she spun around and gave him another back-hander in the chest followed by two kicks that sent him skidding across the ground and into a wall.
She then ducked under a slash from a large knife and jabbed the man in the face, before giving him a flurry of punches to his chest and upper-cut to his chin and a kick to his stomach that sent him flying into another thug, knocking both of them out. The DJ of the club who was wearing a large smiling face over his head, just happened to fire multiple kunais (seriously where did he get them?), however from training under Tsunade, Sakura knew how to expertly dodge all the sharp weapons, she then jumped up, over the Dj's equipment and kicked him in the head, dazing him, Sakura then elbowed him in the gut, slammed his face against his equipment and threw him onto the dance floor, where she saw two girls, around her own age.
"Hidari who is this bitch?" asked one of the girls, they were both wearing expensive and ostentatious strapless dresses that did little to hide their figures. They had long black hair with pale blue eyes, and both had feather scarves around their necks. The only difference between them was one was wearing purple and the other was wearing green.
"I don't know Migi, but we should fuck her up."
"She wants Ryū-kun, when she should know he's mine."
"Perhaps we should remind her on who he belongs to."
'so they're Naruto's contacts. Meaning... they know where he is!' thought Sakura where she channelled chakra into her fists. She then pumped more chakra into the tips of her fists where they were beginning to take the shape of blue lotus' over her fists with rotating petals. 'Sakura Hasangeki (Cherry blossom mountain crusher)' thought Sakura as the two lotus' hovered over her fists. This technique of hers improved upon the jutsu she learned under Tsunade, making her chakra enhanced strength greater, by coating the tips of her fists with multiple layers of rotating chakra that created considerable force on impact. Only someone with her level of chakra control could utilise such a technique. But there was one added bonus to the jutsu. They could be fired like bullets. This technique is actually based on Naruto's Rasengan though being notable for having less shape transformation.
Sakura then launched herself and fired off multiple Sakura Hasangeki towards the twins, completely breaking apart the ground with her unique jutsu, but the two girls back-flipped away to avoid the certain death jutsu. Sakura landed on the ground and fired off more blue, rotating lotus' towards the two girls that were trying to surround her. The one wearing the purple dress skidded around her and tried to kick her in the face, which Sakura ducked under her kick, while the one wearing the green dress tried to punch Sakura in the face to which she ducked under the attack again and fired off another lotus towards the girl, to which she dodged and cracked the ground upon impact.
The one wearing the purple dress suddenly appeared before Sakura and kicked her in the chest in which Sakura was able to lock by bringing up her arms to block it, but it did send her skidding across the ground. Sakura then fired another lotus towards the girl who kicked her, who just barely ducked under it, where it destroyed a large glass mirror used for decoration.
The two girls then nodded at each other where both charged towards Sakura, where the one wearing the green dress took out some kunai and spun around, trying to slash Sakura who was able to block and dodge the attacks, her sister, wearing the purple dress then did a double-roundhouse kick on Sakura which broke her defences and made her movements predictable and easy to follow, she then fired off another lotus to no avail as the close-quarters combat made it difficult to attack, the purple wearing girl tried to sweep her feet to make Sakura tumble over but Sakura strafed away at he last minute while her green wearing sibling tried slashing at the pink-haired girl where the Konoha kunoichi was having trouble defending herself. The two girls then punched, kicked and slashed at Sakura where their attacks landed perfectly, making Sakura tumble away.
However the disciple of the Godaime Hokage wouldn't be beat by brats such as these, she then regained her footing and flew at the girls, where she landed a perfect blow with her powerful Sakura Hasangeki sending the purple one away and leaving Sakura to contend with the girl in the green dress. Sakura sent two jabs toward the sole girl who barely blocked and dodged the attacks and watched the blue lotus' over her fists, careful not to be struck by them. Sakura then performed a back-hander followed by a roundhouse kick and shooting a lotus towards the green garbed girl who was able to dodge them and block them expertly, Sakura kept sending a flurry of rotating, blue lotus' towards the girl who left herself open to a kick to her stomach where Sakura followed by punching her repeatedly in the stomach with her chakra enhanced strength, before giving her an upper-cut and then a double-punch to the chest which sent the girl slamming into a wall, where she coughed up blood at the feeling of her bones and organs breaking under pressure.
Sakura flipped over to the purple covered girl, the last twin where where sent two lotus' which the girl dodged, before kicking Sakura in the chest and making her skid away. Sakura regaining her composure performed a roundhouse kick which the girl ducked under and both sent kicks to each other at the same time where both blocked their respective opponent's kicks, easily. The purple dressed girl then tried another kick to take Sakura's head off, which the pink-haired girl strafed way from. Her opponent then tried to kick her multiple times on the torso which Sakura blocked with a single arm, before sending a Sakura Hasangeki right into her chest which made her cough up blood and be dazed from the attack, the girl in a desperate attempt, kicked the kunoichi away.
The two then met in a game of feints, with both pretending to attack, seeing which one would strike first. The girl in the purple dress, then kicked Sakura twice which she blocked and sent more kicks her way where the kunoichi kept defending herself before seeing an opening. Sakura then elbowed the girl in the stomach, grabbed her arm, twisting her around and performed a round-house kick right into her cheek, knocking her out.
Sakura then fell to her knees, exhausted from all the fighting, she was breathing hoarsely taking sharp intakes of breath so to steady her heart. She wasn't noted for her stamina though it was something she was working on.
However she got the sneaky suspicion that it wasn't over. She then looked over her shoulder to see the owner Himitsu, wielding a massive axe and a noticeable scowl on his face.
"You're gonna pay for this bitch." said the owner of the club, while Sakura stood to full height, and channelling chakra into her fists where the blue lotus's appeared, ready for a fight. Though she wondered how long she could keep this up.
Himitsu then took out a few woven balls from his pockets and threw them at Sakura who jumped back to avoid them where they exploded on impact, she then jumped to the right to avoid more, the two kept this up as more and more explosive balls kept flying towards her, she then launched her chakra lotus' at the balls where they exploded in mid-air and created a dust cloud where nothing could be perceived.
Himitsu then flew through the cloud, trying to cleave the pink-haired girl that crushed his nuts and destroyed his club. Though he was able to whack her a few times with the blunt end of the axe, which sent her skidding back and becoming dazed from the strikes. She then took out a kunai where it was able to block the axe just in time before she was sent hurtling back into panels of glass where cuts and bruises had formed over her body.
She then got up and smirked as her hair became longer and what appeared to be cherry blossom petals fell from her locks. She then charged at Himitsu who threw more explosive balls her way, while she ducked and weaved under the explosions. The owner of the club kept swinging his axe hoping to hit her but his attacks had become too slow for her, where she repeatedly slammed his body repeatedly with her blue flowers over her fists. And with one last punch she broke the axe in two and sent Himitsu flying away.
However he was able to regain his footing before a crushing presence overwhelmed him and before he knew it he found a blue flower plummeting to his face which sent him crashing through his club and out onto the street where he landed right in front of a black cloaked person.
Now
Naruto stared down apathetically at the fallen man, who was groaning in pain and had lost a fare amount of his teeth, he turned his gaze back up at the now ruined club, dust rising out from it and spreading over some of the street, his red eyes were scanning for life before spotting a shade of chakra leaping out of the building landing a bit away from him, he widened his eyes slightly at the shadow's appearance, not expecting to ever see her again. Nor to meet under these circumstances.
"Didn't I already kill you?" spoke/questioned Naruto to which Sakura snapped her head at attention, seeing a cloaked individual stand before her, she narrowed her eyes at this person, unable to see their face below the hood. Though a thought came to her, just a thought. "Unless who I killed was a different person, that could explain... but that seems unlikely... This is not quite the reunion I had in mind, I was certain we would never see each other again." said Naruto where he slowly removed his hood with Sakura's eyes widening and her lip quivering at the sight before her, like a magnificent painting. It was him. Naruto then whipped his head from side to side, freeing his long hair from their restraints, his low ponytail swaying in the wind. "Sakura...-chan."
"Naruto..." said Sakura as tears streamed down her eyes, but she made no whimper, no sob, she only let the tears fall like the rain. "You're, You're really alive."
"And so are you. funny how fate tends to give people second chances. As I was sure you were dead also." said Naruto sharply, causing Sakura to slightly gasp at him, there was something strange with his speech pattern, it was empty, cold... like a morning winter's breath. There was something very... wrong with him, almost as if he was a different person. "so, try to help me understand this, you attempted to track someone all the way across the continent, someone who barely a week ago, tried to kill you. I'm not seeing the logicality in all this. And for what? Self-satisfaction? I wonder if Konoha sent you? Or do they not know you're here?"
"I... we all thought. I just needed to know. If you were real. I-if this was some cruel dream or a forgiving nightmare... But, it really is you. And yet it isn't you as well." said Sakura, trying to find the right words to say in this situation. Her heart was pounding in her chest, like a hammer hitting metal, though she was so happy and yet as afraid of the person in front of her. Just what sort of person did he become, what happened to the happy go lucky idiot she fell in love with. "I-I came, Naruto... I never really got the chance to say this before, and my feelings haven't wavered, not in the slightest." spoke Sakura while the blonde kept his eyes solely trained her and stepping over the body of the groaning man beneath his feet, taking a few steps closer to the pink haired girl but still remaining two arms length form her. "Naruto... I love you. I have from that moment you made me that promise."
"Do you now?" queried Naruto unfazed by her words and not shaken in anyway. Sakura just kept staring at the ground, slightly afraid of looking him in the eye.
"I do, and all the times we spent together. I remember when we first became Team 7, when you offered to have lunch with me. During a teamwork exercise when I fed you. When you congratulated me and cheered me up for successfully climbing that tree in the Land of Waves. How I almost backed out of the Chūnin exams because I didn't want to see your dream crushed, or how you gave me confidence to continue on. How you cheered for me during my fight with Ino. How you protected me from Gaara and saved the village when we were invaded, again. Or how you brought Tsunade back to the village and turning me into a real kunoichi. How you had always been there for me, making promises which you would keep. Treating me like a person, someone that mattered... Only you understood how I felt. And through that, I fell in love you." spoke Sakura, but Naruto remained stone-faced and aloof, not sure whether to believe what she was saying.
"Naruto do you know there's this theory going around. It's called 'the multiverse'. Well the apparently, all of time, space, matter and energy is all happening at once in different timelines in different universes: it's the idea of a parallel universe. Right? So okay, lets presume the multiverse is real. Maybe there is a universe where you try to act like a gentleman and give me your cloak even though you're feeling cold too. Even though you end up sick and you still try to convince my you're fine and that it's not my fault, and act tough. Instead I laugh, shake my head and give you a small smile, and say 'you are an idiot'. Maybe there's a universe where we fall asleep next to each other every night like spoons. Like two innocent bunnies- my face buried in your neck, hugging your warmth- and we both don't want anything or anybody else. Where we don't want more, we just want each other. Maybe there's a universe where you hold my hand while I give birth to our child in a white hospital room with pink flowers and fuzzy teddy bears on the windowsill. Where we take family vacations and pose for dorky pictures. Where we curl up to watch a cheesy movie at the end of a long day in our big house once the kids have fallen asleep." Naruto kept narrowing his eyes at her. While he listened to her mouth off. Just what was the point she was trying to convey. "Maybe there's a universe where that's the life I want. Where I don't second guess everything and I'm not afraid of commitment and of the future and of love. Maybe there's a universe without all the noise in my and the pride that makes me so fierely independent and the coldness in my heart that I can turn on and off like a light bulb. Maybe there's a universe where I'm the right person for you, where I adore every nice thing you did for me without starting to resent you. A universe where we're happy- without wondering if that happiness is some wrong messed-up Jenga game ready to topple at the slightest quiver. I want that universe so badly, I want to make things right. Naruto, I want to be with you and no one but you. I love you so much it hurts. And I want this universe to be the right universe."
"Well... when you put it like that." said Naruto softly, his face neutral and impassive. "You just found me in the wrong universe. Because you could have loved me forever. And maybe in another universe, I let you. But in this universe. I don't even have a shred of 'love' for you." said Naruto harshly making Sakura widen her eyes and quiver at his words. "If you love me, then you would have saved me on that day. If you loved me, you wouldn't have detested my presence and treated me like a sick animal. If you loved me... if you loved me maybe... I wouldn't be what I am... a Nobody. There is no life for me with you, only a reminder of what happened to me. there is nothing 'real' between us, there never has and never will be." spoke Naruto breaking Sakura's heart, who cried more, but she still made no sobs or hiccups, she continued to allow the tears to fall. "I met with Koyuki. And she talked... a lot. I have a feeling that it was the first time she told that kind of story. She told me to return to Konoha." Sakura, just continued listening to him, since it was his turn to talk.
"And?"
"I don't know if by rejoining Konoha I will get what I want. Or if I can't... though I'm unsure of everything. The way she said it, made me question what I'm doing. I've been, feeling things I haven't felt in a long time. I don't even know what I want any more." spoke Naruto, revealing his inner most thoughts.
"So what exactly do you want? Any fair guesses."
"I don't know. For the past few months now, I've been working towards a single goal, to correct this wrong world and change it for the better. This world created a thing like me... and I don't want that fate for anybody else. What I'm doing is for peace, a true lasting peace where nobody has to hate each other and the dreams in their hearts come true." said Naruto looking up into the sky, dreaming of what things could be. "I want to start things over, a new life, a new world. All I want is the things I never had. Yes. Yes. That's what I want. I've sacrificed too much for this world. That's why I shall pull out it's roots."
"But, that isn't your choice to make, to decide whose dreams come true or not. Why are you going to 'pull out it's roots'. Is it because of Konoha, the ninja villages, the five nations, shinobi, samurai, all of them? Me? To throw yourself into the chaos for peace? To wage war and destroy lives. All for the sake of peace? People aren't your tools to be used and discarded when you have no use for them. It isn't your place to toy with them like a god and decide things for them when they can choose for themselves. There is no reason for this, if you wish to bring this idea of yours to fruition than it can only be done with open arms and with help from others. You pretend to care about this world and it's people, you intend to make it better for all of us. But in the end, you hate solitude, you hate being alone. That's your greatest weakness and act of selfishness. You do these things so you won't be alone. What you want is nothing more than to wake up with smiling faces all around you. To prove that you are a person, not some empty thing." said Sakura making Naruto widen her eyes at her, as somehow, no matter how he would deny it, she was right. He was a selfish being, who doesn't want to live in solitude by proving he was a person that mattered.
"What you say is both true, and false. You may be right about me, but I know the hearts of men and they hold shadows darker than any tainted creature. There are things hidden in the shadows of this world, Sakura, which you couldn't begin to guess. Because I laugh at a world full of stupid humans, who ignore these shadows and abandon their vigilance to pursue selfish goals. What I pursue may be selfish, but I have not abandoned my vigilance nor will I fail like the shadow's that came before me. I know the hearts of men even before the shadows came to me. It is why they came to me. The people of the world do no want the truth, they wish to live in lies they tell themselves. And I am but a shadow, lingering in the sun." said Naruto with hidden meaning in his words, almost as if he was prior to knowledge no one else in this world possessed.
"You think, you know me better than I know myself?" claimed Sakura to which Naruto narrowed his eyes at her.
"I do, you're just a little girl, seeking a fairy tale fantasy. Living blissfully in a world full of hypocrisies, there can be no peace when the world is consumed by rage. You're misguided, living off this world of lies. Well that will change, when the time is right." spoke Naruto as he took a step to leave. Having had his fill of today. However Sakura ran after him and tried to punch him in the face to which he caught the fist.
"You would just cast away your friends and loved ones so easily to pursue this godly idea of yours." said Sakura as she tried to punch him again to which he dodged it easily. "People's fates aren't yours alone to decide. You wish to discard everything you ever knew in favour of something that only you could possibly want. Getting scars all over yourself. Acting like some shitty tragic hero is an insult to the Naruto that died at the Valley of the End! This world isn't filled with lies! You're lying to yourself!" yelled Sakura as she kept violently wailing at Naruto who was visibly shaken by her last piece of dialogue. "Trash like you... trash like you should stay out of KONOHA!" screamed Sakura as she aimed for one more punch, but missed and instead fell to her knees. "Why... why do you hurt yourself for this. why do you continue to stab yourself with these dreams of yours?" she questioned before getting up and leaving, never wanting to see Naruto Uzumaki again. She would return to Konoha and live out the rest of her days in heartbreak.
Naruto meanwhile stared at her retreating form, he didn't care. She would come to understand his reasoning in time. So he turned on heel, pulled up his hood and left, not bothering to ponder her words.
While Sakura was walking away she was stopped in the middle of the road by Danzō who was staring at impassively.
"You shall not remember any of this. So rest and forget." said Danzō as a ROOT agent appeared and knocked Sakura out and took her away form the Land of Spring.
As Naruto was walking along the road, he caught the signatures of powerful chakra sources all around him, he stopped in his stride where he slipped the Tonbogiri out of his sleeve, it's black colour able to devour light itself. Naruto scanned his eyes across the rooftops, attempting to locate the ROOT members shadowing his movements. He knew they were there, with his sensory skills he was able to locate them efficiently. But they made no moves, no attempts to take his life like all the times before, Danzō was growing bold indeed. The blonde knew that the Konoha elder had the upper-hand somehow, but as to what remained a mystery to the Sharingan wielder.
Naruto then suddenly snapped his head to the direction in front of him when he felt the presence of a particularly large chakra signature, up ahead on the road. Naruto narrowed his eyes dangerously at the chakra, who knew who it was as they were casually walking up to him without a care in the world. This was Obito Uchiha, the feeling of the chakra revealed that much, and he was currently garbed in what appeared to be war attire the Uchiha clan used to utilise and now wearing a unique mask and strapped to his back was a large Gunbai which Naruto recognised as Madara's.
Naruto then gripped his cloak and threw it off his body revealing his black armour and coat underneath, his blue rope belt dancing with the wind. Obito smirked underneath his mask and pulled out the gunbai, inspecting it, making sure there wasn't a chip in its wooden frame.
"It's been too long Naruto. You don't write any more, it's really disconcerting." said Obito as he swung his gunbai creating a large gust that drifted towards Naruto where the only thing it did was making his cloak, belt and hair whip back and forth as if it was dancing to a tune. "I know, I know, we promised each other that we would settle this at a later date, but who has that sort of time. I'd rather just kill you now." said Obito as he rushed towards Naruto where the blonde whipped out kunai and through it at one of the last remaining Uchiha who simply phased through it much to Naruto's astonishment. The blonde then remembered the words Konan told him and how Obito could phase through objects as if he wasn't even a solid being.
Naruto then launched himself at the Uchiha who brought down his gunbai ready to cleave Naruto's head in two, just as Naruto brought up the Tonbogiri to block it, the weapon and Obito phased right through it, once Obito became solid again he tried to slice Naruto across the back with the gunbai if it wasn't for the blonde spinning around, blocking the strike making sparks and splinters fly everywhere and both to skid away from the other.
The ROOT agents that were hiding on the rooftops then unleashed explosive tags on the blonde who dodged them all but with trouble as Obito was unharmed by the explosions because of his abilities and he chased after the blonde as if he was a carrot on a stick. Then more soldiers jumped down from the rooftops to join in on the fighting below. Increasing Naruto's workload, as Obito was giving him one hell of a workout. Then it all made sense to Madara's student. This was planned from the very start.
More and more soldiers came joining in on the fray, Naruto wouldn't be worried if it was just the soldiers but with Obito here whom he continued to clash with, it would certainly make things difficult if the blonde's attention was divided. Naruto at the last minute braced himself as Obito smacked him away with his gunbai where the younger Sharingan wielder rolled across the ground before placing his clawed hand on the ground, grinding to a halt. Naruto then had to defend himself from descending ROOT forces with their weapons at the ready. He then made a few handseals for a wind jutsu.
"Fūton: Tenran (orchid sky)!" said Naruto as he held out his hand and a rotating tornado like wind surged forth, blowing every ROOT agent off their feet while Obito remained steadfast and stoic under the pressure of the wind, the force was so strong that it managed to create a dust cloud in the immediate area which Naruto used to escape and plot his next move.
Naruto was running through the streets, with ROOT still on his tail, he currently wondered as to where Danzō and Obito were, but he had bigger things to worry about as he was searching for his partner, the blue haired angel known as Konan, he then crossed into a street where lord behold. Danzō was waiting for him.
"Danzō!" yelled Naruto disgusted with the man's appearance before him.
"Naruto Uzumaki. We meet again. Pity that we would have to face each other as enemies where we would be better allies instead." spoke Danzō with that calm and yet dangerous voice of his. A Konoha extremist, Danzō wouldn't appear so casually before Naruto without having an ace up his sleeve. Naruto merely took a combat stance at his words, ready to face the Konoha elder without qualm. "Now Naruto, don't be too hasty, you wouldn't want anything to happen to this one, would we?" said as he dropped a scroll on the ground with a seal on it, where smoke soon sprouted from the seal and a form revealed itself. On top of the scroll was the the restrained and battered form of Konan whose limbs were bound and her mouth gagged.
However, he could detect something, it didn't appear as if she was in peril or calling out to him. She seemingly appeared to be calm, whatever this meant was unknown to him. Danzō then took out a katana and hovered it near Konan's neck, almost making Naruto spring into action.
"Don't worry now, I won't hurt her, not while she still has some use to us." spoke Danzō which made Naruto widen in his eyes at him. Did they come for Koinu? For his eyes? If they ever obtained his original eyes then the result would be catastrophic. Danzō then dropped another scroll on the ground where he then grasped Konan by the neck and threw her over his shoulder. "If you survive, come and find me. Until then enjoy the gift from your clan."
Smoke then arose from the scroll blanketing the entire area where Naruto had to shield his eyes from it, before gasping in shock at what Danzō had unleashed, it was easily the size of a building, covered in gold and bronze, it had winged shoulders and four arms, two heads carrying a large axe and a spear. Naruto just couldn't believe his eyes, he never thought he would see such a thing in his life. A Kōken (guardian) one of the ancient structures that protected Uzushiogakure. He thought they were all destroyed when Uzushio was wiped off the map.
Before he could awe at it some more the guardian hefted it's great axe and tried to smite the blonde where he stood, Naruto didn't know how to combat a giant such as that, it was deceptively fast despite it's large size as Naruto was basically a small bug buzzing around and jumping from place to place. the black clad man then blocked an attack from it's axe but took notice of the spear heading his way, Naruto then brought up the Tonbogiri and blocked the spear (just barely) and was sent hurtling into a building.
The blonde then fired off some lightning jutsu that had little to no effect on it, as it merely brushed off any attack the S-rank swordsman threw. It's armour was tough and it's weapons were strong, how any shinobi could overcome such a thing amazed the last Uzumaki. His clan really did develop such weapons that many thought it was necessary to wipe them out.
The giant then tried to crush the blonde with it's spear where Naruto blocked it with the Tonbogiri. The Sharingan wielder had to put all his physical strength into blocking the spear that it forced him to his knees, he was only able to push away at the last minute when he was almost forced onto his other knee. Seeing no alternative to defeat this thing and Danzō Naruto knew of only way we he could skirt around the construct. Taking a vial containing blue liquid Naruto gulped it down, eagerly taking in Hiruko's artificial kekkei genkai and making it his own. Just as the giant swung it's axe at Naruto, the blonde dropped the Tonbogiri onto the floor and made a a few handseals, just as the axe was about to split him in two. A resounding shattering sound was heard all through out the area as the blonde closed his eyes at the last minute. Naruto opened his eyes, and saw the axe of the Kōken inbedded in... glass.
'glass' thought Naruto at what he saw and was surrounded by and when the giant pulled out it's axe, fragments softly rained down on Naruto where they cut his cheek by accident. 'I see, mixing fire and earth chakra, together can one make Lava release but it can also create glass release.' thought Naruto where he brought his hands together again, kneading fire and earth chakra together. However he remembered the side-effects that Hiruko told him about, he would have to get Konan back and quickly if he was to ensure that she was safe.
"Garasuton: Banshi Hahen (Glass release: certain death shards)!" said Naruto (he came up with the name in the heat of the moment) where he hovered his hands and multiple dagger like glass projectiles appeared before he sent them flying towards the Kōken where it stunned the giant through it's sheer speed and force. The Kōken then mustered it's strength and swung it's spear at Naruto who dodged it and sent more glass shards towards the giant where it toppled over. The blonde Uzumaki then went through more handseals for a Glass release jutsu.
"Garasuton: Shingai suru geijutsu wana (Glass release: encroaching art trap)!" where the blonde made a ball of glass and smashed it against the giant's chest where glass spread out form it's body, effectively trapping it, and impeding it's movement. Naruto swiftly and with deadly accuracy, cut off the arms of the giant just as the last of the glass broke. Naruto looked back at his handiwork taking note of the devastated state the colossus was in, he then stared down at his left hand and gave it a few test squeezes, he didn't notice any negatives drawbacks, but that didn't mean they wouldn't show themselves. Focusing hard he found Danzō's chakra signature, heading east, with that Naruto raced after the leader of ROOT intent on rescuing Konan. But he didn't take notice of the moving head of the behemoth he had just slain, detach itself and create spider-like legs which followed after him.
Just as he began decreasing the distance between him and Danzō, Naruto had suspicions that the Kōken wasn't defeated just yet, as he landed on a roof. Naruto was beset by multiple golden shuriken and spears which he blocked with the Tonbogiri before looking up to see the mechanical head of the Kōken, staring down at him.
The mechanised head than fired off more golden shuriken at Naruto from it's head which Naruto dodged and was growing more annoyed with it's persistence, coming up with a quick plan to finish it, Naruto threw his sword right at it''s head where it pierced it 'forehead' followed up by Naruto flying at it and sawing it in half. Thus finishing it off.
He then continued running after Danzō not too eager to let him escape.
Danzō carrying the squirming body of Konan over his shoulder was making his way to the rendezvous point where the next phase of his plan would begin, unless he received confirmation that Naruto Uzumaki was truly dead and defeated. He could feel the woman in his arms struggle vehemently against him, but that was no concern of his, he just needed to get Naruto on either train. He then saw the sight of trains being loaded by his agents and the tracks leading into a vast mountain ranges. The Land of Spring was reputed for it's train system, a system other countries have tried to adapt, allowing for national transit around a country. With that said, Danzō approached one of the two trains and made his way to the front of the train with his hostage in tow. He then ordered the trains to start moving, where their thunderous wheels began turning and they slowly began moving on-wards upon the tracks.
Naruto had just appeared from the corner running so fast that lightning was arcing from his feet. He took notice of the two trains leaving their stations and quickly made haste so to at least reach one of them. He then slammed his hand roughly on the ground, his armoured claws digging into the concrete where sparks flew on contact and making a sharp turn where he was now running alongside the trains. Not losing any momentum, Naruto jumped onto the side of a building skirting along it's length before jumping off with all his strength and flew through the air and braced himself as he crashed through the window of a train, glass flying everywhere as he slammed against the hard metal wall of the train, it was a very small window, and a tight squeeze and if the blonde had made a single mistake he might have killed himself.
Getting up and dusting himself off, he had to hold back hoarse coughs as held his hand against his mouth. When he pulled the limb away he was shocked to find blood smeared across his hand, his blood. But he wasn't so wounded by the crash through the window that he would cough up blood? No, these were the effects of the artificial kekkei genkai. Gripping his fist in anger, he knew that he had to get to Konan quickly before his own body destroyed itself. He could feel it, he felt weaker, heavier. He guessed that prolonged exposure and active use of the Glass release hastened the negative effects.
He began taking note of his surroundings, surrounded by dark metal, he knew that this train was designed to transport supplies and soldiers across the country, there were very few windows and that meant it wasn't available to the public. He then heard the sound of clanging metal coming from a different carriage on the train. He then looked up to see a hatch that led to the roof of the train, which he jumped through to escape from the eyes of ROOT. As the agent scoured the carriage looking for the intruder Naruto was calmly walking atop the train, hardly making a sound.
As he was about to jump over to another carriage, a swirling distortion made itself known behind Naruto, where the blonde man turned his head to see Obito with his gunbai at the ready.
"Mind if I drop in?" rhetorically asked Obito as he sent a large gust Naruto's way that blew him off his feet and onto an empty platform upon the moving train. The younger Sharingan wielder then landed on his feet and primed the Tonbogiri ready for combat. No matter where he went there was always something in his way.
The two then rushed at each other where they met in a clash of wood and metal, but Obito's intangibility was becoming an issue for the blonde as whenever he tried to strike a blow towards Obito, his parents murderer would only phase through the attacks as if he was a ghost. Naruto sent a couple of shuriken towards Tobi who blocked it with his gunbai.
However only at the last minute did Obito notice that attached to the shuriken were strong cables which were also attached to his opponent's hand. Naruto then yanked on the strings with such vigour that the gunbai came flying out of Obito's hand and into Naruto's own, and since there was a chain connected to the gunbai, the blonde theorised that Obito could not phase through objects connected to his body. Naruto then slammed the gunbai over Obitos shoulder and where a loud cracking was heard before kicking the Uchiha away.
"Not bad, not half bad." said Obito as he rolled his shoulder and cracked his neck while standing up after receiving the blow, while Naruto readied himself for his next attack. "though are you prepared for this?" Said Obito and with his large war fan, created a swirling tornado that came soaring towards Naruto who readied his Tonbogiri and sliced it in half, only to see with his Sharingan, Obito flying through handseals where he (through his mask somehow) spat out a fireball the size of a horse. Where uniting with the remnants of the tornado was set ablaze in a fiery explosion.
Naruto however leapt out of the flames his coat a little singed but otherwise unharmed, where they met again in a swift clash of weapons. Seeing an opening in Obito's defence, the blonde held his black blade in a reverse grip the chain attached to the pommel whipping back and forth under the pressure of the speeding train. Gave the older man a palm strike to the chest, followed up by a downward slash from the Tonbogiri with a jab right after it. A kick to Obito's temple whose impact was absorbed by the mask and then two slashes across the chest, an elbow to the left pectoral, as slash to the left leg and a strike across the side where Naruto was facing his back. Obito with his great speed had only barely dodged his sword strikes where only his clothes were torn but other than was a little hurt from the impact of the blonde's strikes.
Obito then took out a kunai and did his own onslaught of attacks, where he sliced Naruto across the shoulder and slashed him two times horizontally across the chest, smacked him with his gunbai where he was sent scathing across the ground, followed up with a gust of wind that sent him even further away where he crashed into the hard metal wall of another carriage, Obito then threw his gunbai hurtling it towards Naruto where it struck him in the chest, winding him. And then attached multiple explosive tags to his kunai and threw it towards Naruto who tugged on his hand revealing that he actually tied shinobi wire around Obito when he himself was attacking him. Using the metal Naruto channelled his lightning chakra through the capable just as the explosive tags exploded right in front of him. Naruto was blown away by the explosion while Obito was convulsing and grunting from the lightning surging through his body.
The force of the detonation was strong that Naruto almost felt his rubs breaking under the force of the impact. However he found Obito kneeling on a single knee, lightning still coursing around him, and having gone numb from the electricity. Naruto in a burst of speed, grabbed Obito from the back of his skull and slammed his masked head right into the metal ground of the platform they were fighting on. Before Naruto could stab the Tonbogiri through Obito's head, the older Sharingan wielder kicked Naruto away where the blonde attempted to slice him again, only for Obito to phase through the attack and slammed his gunbai against Naruto's spine, making the blonde silently scream in pain, despite his tolerance for it. Obito then grabbed Naruto by the neck and threw him through the metal doors of another carriage. Where the blonde tumbled into a heap.
He had underestimated Obito as he actually put effort into this fight, it was like the time he fought Muku at the Blood Prison. The older Uchiha was a more experienced fighter than Naruto and knew the ways of the Sharingan well, Naruto would have to use his cunning mind to gain the upper-hand in this fight and to save Konan. However he was broken from his thoughts when he coughed up a large amount of blood onto the ground that wasn't the result of Obito's attack.
When Madara's student picked himself up, he found a large array of ROOT agents in front of him who were preparing their kunai ready to attack him. Naruto noticed a window to his right and quickly jumped through it to avoid the rain of kunai. However even more kunai pierced the metal armour of the train as he was hanging on it's side forcing him to constantly move to avoid injury, he then travelled up to the roof of the train, his footsteps revealing his location through the resounding metal. Then more kunai followed him as they hailed through the roof of the train making Naruto run back across the carriage to avoid it's fire. The blonde then jumped off the carriage and landed on a empty platform, the one he was battling Obito on previously, and who still happened to be there.
Naruto, crouched on the ground, saw a ROOT agent trying to detach a carriage form the rest of the train. Channelling chakra into his left eye where his eternal Mnagekyō Sharingan pattern appeared, Naruto used Kamiyonanayo: Suteppu no Shinigami (Steps of the death god) to slow down time around him, where his form was cloaked in black smoke and shadow. Rushing past the time-frozen Obito, Naruto threw a kunai at the ROOT agent who died immediately just as the jutsu wore off, and just as the capable connecting the two cars broke. Causing the carriages behind Naruto to shake and clatter violently, while still running on the empty platform, the blonde jumped off with all his strength and latched his hands onto the the steel carriage, his feet scraping against the ground as he tried to hold on. The two carriages that were detached fell off the tracks and down into a certain death as they were over a bridge. Naruto still had to hold on as his grip was loosening under the strain, the train itself was jostling back and forth before the carriage Naruto was holding onto had slackened and was no longer rolling on the tracks where it was freely grinding against the metal road, sparks flying everywhere. Naruto then twisted his body and grabbed a pole where he was now standing on the side of the car using his chakra and having to squint his eyes from the force of the wind.
He ran along the length of the near doomed carriage, but he had to make haste as he was approaching a tunnel, climbing up to the roof, Naruto kept running before making a jump just the carriage was blown off it's hinges when the loose platform hit the tunnel and was blown off it's hinges. Now there were only two stable cars left on the train, and Naruto walked forward to stop it, before he was suddenly swept off his feet by Obito using his gunbai who had appeared behind him.
"You didn't think it would be 'that' easy." said Obito to the downed Naruto who swung the Tonbogiri at him, to which the Uchiha blocked the blade cutting deep into the wood. The two kept parrying the others blow where they locked weapons and and pushed against the other, trying to get an edge over the other. "I see, you don't care about all this, ROOT, me, Konoha. You just want the one person who makes you feel that you have a purpose. She's your ecstasy, you need her. Otherwise all you'll ever be is a Nobody, empty and alone." Naruto gritted his teeth at his words, but couldn't comment further when he was struck with a blinding light. Four lights, showing the path through the mountain they were travelling in were etching closer and closer until they would smack the blonde right off the transport, and the blonde wasn't ready to get off the train just yet.
Putting his foot on Obito's gunbai, Naruto kicked him away and used the force to fall off the edge of the train, flip over it's frame and land through a window, right into the carriage while Obito smirked underneath his mask before making a handseal. When Naruto got a better look of his surroundings, the entire carriage was covered from head to toe in explosive tags. Which had just been activated by Obito, running towards the door, Naruto braced himself as he burst through the metal just as the explosive tags went off, singing his hair, giving him a nasty burn on his face and causing his form to be burnt slightly all around.
Naruto landed and on the roof of the last carriage, hoping to surprise Obito from above, but he felt something tighten around his leg and pull him down into the car, where he landed with a thud on the ground, where he found Obito's gunbai pressed against his neck.
"I killed the driver. Now you're going to crash and die." said Obito while Naruto glared at him with his red eyes. Naruto then kicked Obito away where the masked Uchiha skid across the ground. Naruto threw the Tonbogiri at Obito who simply parried it away with his gunbai. Then Obito rushed towards Naruto where he kicked him in the stomach, disappeared into a swirling distortion, reappeared above Naruto and punching him atop his head, created sharp branches form his arm and pierced the blonde's chest, summoned a large shuriken from his pocket dimension and slashed the blonde twice across the chest, disappeared in the same manner and reappeared from above by firing multiple large vajra at the blonde who dodged them all. And tried to throw shuriken at Obito who merely disappeared and reappeared behind the blonde and swung his gunbai at his spine where it easily smacked the younger man. Naruto gritted his teeth at Obito out pacing him, but the small scratches he received he would repay in full.
Naruto then sent chakra into both of his eyes where they began to bleed. He held out his hands as black flames taking the appearance of a sword manifested in his left hand, while ash clumped together in his right hand and created the appearance of a blade. The blonde respectively was using Haiton: Fūjin (ash release: Fūjin) and Enton: Kagutsuchi (Blaze release: kagutsuchi) to form two weapons in his hands. He attacked Obito with his ash sword, just barely cutting him with the blade before kicking him in the mask slicing him across the stomach with the ash blade, slicing his shoulder with the black flame sword and then slashing him diagonally across the chest with the Kagutsuchi then slashing him again with the ash blade and the flame sword at the same time across the chest, before spinning around in mid-air and slashing him twice, downward and then launching both swords as flaming/sharp spikes towards the Uchiha. Where he caught on fire and was bleeding profusely from all over his body.
And before Naruto's very own eyes, Obito disappeared from sight altogether, not falling through a distortion or using a teleportation jutsu, he disappeared as if he was never there to begin with, as if he was a genjutsu. Naruto quickly checked his chakra and found that he wasn't placed under any genjutsu leading him to the conclusion that... Obito used Izanagi. When Obito came back, fully healed, no wound on his body, Naruto swiftly and violently slammed his masked head against the metal wall of the train. The Uzumaki was bleeding and covered in bruises and burns but the wounds were superficial and wouldn't hamper his fighting capabilities.
"I shall be the one who lives forever." said Naruto while Obito smirked under his mask, while Naruto's fingers were cracking the mask with his great strength.
"Not today, I think." said Obito where he pulled out a tag with a seal on it and slammed it on Naruto's left arm causing the Uzumaki to cry out in pain, and for him to let go of Obito. Soon black seal like markings travelled apart Naruto's arm, upon his skin, under the armour, and covering the left side of his face while the student of Madara fell to his knees. "Danzō gave me that, half of your power as been reduced greatly and it will continue to seal the other half as well. Soon you won't be any more dangerous than a rabbit. It's an activation seal, used when the original caster of the seal is unavailable, it does exactly as it's meant to, activate the seal on your left arm. Well at least one of the seals. So long." said Obito where he disappeared in a swirling vortex. Naruto taking action, jumped out of a sole window just as the train hit the end of the line where it crashed into a station and exploded with Naruto rolling across the ground, the seal burning his skin. The carriage was immediately beset with fire as well as black flames as it continued to tumble through the narrow tunnel, while Naruto picked himself up, the Tonbogiri just happened to coincidentally land next to him, where he picked it up.
As Naruto stood to his full height, gritting at the pain. He could hear the rumbling of a train and Danzō's chakra signature approaching swiftly, running ahead through the pain, Naruto found the train coming towards him and he could sense Konan's chakra as well.
Just as the train was about to pass him by, Naruto latched onto the last carriage but his coat's frayed end was spotted by a ROOT agent who activated an short distance transmitter to warn Danzō of the stowaway.
"I think he's on-" however he was silenced from speaking further when a black blade pierced his throat and his body was kicked off the train. Naruto then scurried to the top of the train where he had a clear path towards Danzō as this tunnel was wide enough for him to stand and fight. However those plans were tossed out the window when multiple ROOT agents climbed out of the carriage and faced Naruto who sneered at them all.
He then prepared the Tonbogiri and to took action, one agent tried to punch him but even with his power cut in half Naruto was still a formidable opponent as he blocked the punch, swept his foot and kicked the soldier in the chest where he was sent hurtling into his comrades. The blonde then became a black blur as he sped past the ROOT agents who were dying from cuts, bleeds or were pushed and kicked off the train. He even backhanded another who was sent flying away. He then spun through handseals and prepared a jutsu for his new kekkei genkai.
"Garasuton: Ketsugō mado Ryōiki (binding window field)!" said Naruto as he slammed his hands on the ground where glass burst forth blanketing the entire carriage and trapping the feet of everyone caught in it. Naruto then unsealed numerous kunai from his wrist seals and swiftly and skilfully threw them at the ROOT agents in a flurry too fast for their eyes to see before they dropped dead on the ground, their blood staining the glass.
Others merely jumped over them where Naruto dealt with them easily. He then used a wind jutsu that swept all of them off their feet and dropping down besides the train, in bloody heaps of twisted limbs and bones.
"Unleash the Dorei (slaves) upon him!" ordered a ROOT agent where others nodded and unsealed scrolls in the blonde wake, while Naruto widened his eyes at what he saw, smoke burst forth revealing the golden form of large men, made of metal, with cloths around their waists and sorrowful expressions upon their faces, they were moving as if their limbs were broken as they shambled their way towards the Sharingan wielder. These were also autonomous guardians of Uzushio but they were weaker than those of the Kōken.
Naruto seeing them coming channelled fire chakra into the Tonbogiri where it was engulfed in flames as if someone poured oil upon it. Though it dawned on him, just how did Danzō get a hold of the ancient weapons of the Uzumaki clan. He then threw the flame covered Tonbogiri at a slave statue where it toppled over onto it's knees and fell off the train. Another came up towards Naruto who spat out several fire balls at it before giving the statue a powerful kick that hurtled it off the side of the train. There were only two left now and Naruto used Garasuton: Banshi Hahen to create multiple dagger like shards of glass which he fired it at the slave statue's were they easily pierced their bodies and destroyed them.
Naruto knowing that he couldn't use the roofs of the trains as his passage, found a hatch that led to the carriages below. He jumped down and inspected the area, feeling no close presence of any ROOT agents. So he raced forward along the train before he felt a strong presence just up ahead, directly facing at him and giving him a small growl.
He was a massive man easily taller than Naruto himself. He wore a black leather jacket that could somehow fit his bulky form, he wore black pants with large black boots and leather gloves along with a mask to hide his face with white markings on it. Naruto knew of this person as Hametsu a missing-nin known for his tendency for violence and one of the assassin's after his head.
"Finally I get to kill a fabled Uzumaki." said Hametsu as he cracked his knuckles as Naruto glared at him, the black seals on his body spreading even more.
The two then met in a clash of taijutsu that lasted for a few minutes, with Naruto having to give his all to defend himself from the heavy attacks, Hamtesu was fast, even though he was slightly slowed because of his great size. He then punched Naruto right in the chest which sent him skidding back and onto his knees where he coughed up blood from his own body destroying itself.
Just as Hametsu was going to crush Naruto with his foot, the blonde Uzumaki made a handseal to block the attack.
"Dankū (Splitting void)." said Naruto as a translucent barrier formed before him, taking the appearance of a rectangular wall, that protected him against Hametsu's strong kick, he then leaped over the barrier and then punched Hametsu twice in the stomach before giving him a roundhouse kick to the face, the giant then tried an axe-kick on the blonde who strafed to the side and gave him another roundhouse kick, which followed with the Uzumaki soaring through the air like he was dancing on ice, and then gave a palm strike to Hametsu's head.
The masked man then swiped his fist so to knock Naruto's head off his shoulder which the blonde duck under and gave him two upper-cuts in return. Which tumbled Hamtesu over, the gargantuan man then got back onto his feet, getting angrier and angrier at the fast blonde, Naruto however could feel the effects of the seal spread over his body. Suppressing more and more of is power. Naruto knew one tactic that would finish the fight quickly, the new space-time ninjutsu he had been working on, based upon the concept of the Hiraishin.
With that said, Naruto threw multiple kunai, shuriken and any other assortments of weapons at Hametsu who blocked them all, but didn't quite understand what was happening. Naruto then rushed towards Hametsu and then in a wild flurry like an rapid animal.
"Ūrnā (Fine white hair)" said Naruto where suddenly all his weapons return to his hand one by one, where he completely overwhelmed the larger man with the lightning like blades that would appear and disappear from his hands, instead of Naruto being teleported to a marked location, Naruto instead brings mark objects to him, in a similar fashion, meaning he can never truly lose a weapon and can surprise the enemy when they think they have the upper hand, it can also work on people but Naruto had yet to mark Konan. It also allowed him to use new and versatile creations and when marked on a person it was impossible to escape his reach.
When he finished his assault Naruto watched as blood exploded from Hametsu's wounds he then leapt up in the air to finish him off but was surprised when Hametsu grabbed him by the head and slammed him into the metal floor of the train roaring as he did so.
"With your death there shall be peace, I will will savour that peace." said Hametsu as Naruto was dazed and in pain from such a strike, in which he correctly guessed the man's strength. Naruto then used Ūrnā to summon the Tonbogiri to his right hand and a kunai to his left. Just as Hametsu reared his right arm for a punch that would shatter Naruto's ribcage, said blonde channelled wind chakra into the kunai where both launched their arms at the same time, but Naruto's kunai ripped right through Hametsu's arms arm, severing it completely in two, where the behemoth screamed in utmost agony, blood spilling everywhere. The masked man crouched down still screaming in pain, which proved to be his last mistake as Naruto rolled to the side, swiping the Tonbogiri across Hametsu's neck, decapitating him. the body slumping towards the ground and blood leaking everywhere.
Naruto took deep and calming breaths as he lay on the ground, the cursed seal Obito placing on him spreading across his body until it covered every inch. He coughed up more blood as the red liquid dripped down his chin and neck, staining his now loose hair that had broken through it's bandages. He then picked himself up though with great effort and continued onward.
When he made it to the next carriage with the Tonbogiri sealed within his wrists, he came across another person in his way, he'd just love it for once, FOR ONCE! For someone to just say 'hey, yeah do whatever you want, we won't stop you!'. Fate is cruel that way.
She was a slender woman who appeared to be a little older than him, she had blonde slicked back hair with a shade that rivalled his own, with two long strands styled into distinctive antennae which were pointing backwards. She had vivid green eyes with a light coat of pink lipstick. She wore black opera style gloves with spikes on the knuckles and long skin-tight leather pants with high-heeled shoes. She wore a kumogakure flak jacket with a leather bikini underneath and a tattoo on her right shoulder with kanji for 'violence' on it. And a spiked choker chain around her neck. Naruto also know of her, Ninfu Boruto. And she was smirking dangerously at him with a hand on her waist. Naruto knew he was in a precarious situation, the seal spreading across his body was hampering almost all of his power, he had to come up with a stable plan so to rescue Konan, he could use the same tactic as Hametsu or he he just has to touch her and she'll be dead.
Naruto walked up to her, unafraid of the woman before him. He stood before her, his body shadowing hers.
"Well this is going to be fun." said Ninfu to which Naruto gritted his teeth and aimed for a palm strike to her face, which she easily dodged under and kicked him away, where he recoiled in pain. "Is that all, I was promised something more spectacular.".
The blonde scowled at the woman and tried to use Ūrnā but found that the seal was preventing him, and he doubted he could use even his strongest jutsu in fact he found he was having trouble even maintaining his Sharingan. He then launched himself at Ninfu where he tried a flurry of punches and kicks where she easily dodged or blocked them all, and the Kumo ninja found herself smiling at the pitiful attempts, his movements were slow and because of that, they were easily predictable.
He kept attacking just having to touch her once. But to no avail as she kept dodging around them and blocking each attack with expert precision. She then roundhouse kicked him in the face, which sent him falling to the ground where he quickly picked himself up and threw a kunai at her where she caught it from mid-air and threw it back at him, where it pierced his right shoulder.
She then tried an axe kick on his face to which he barely rolled away in time. Getting back on his feet and pulling the kunai out of his shoulder he tried to punch her again but she caught his arm and kicked him in the face and threw him over her shoulder and stomped on his ribs. She was then jumping and skating all around him while his offensive strikes were barely touching her and he was on the defence from her feints and attacks.
However he was growing more and more frustrated at the woman who was making him look like a fool, if it wasn't for the seal, she'd be dead already.
He then tried swiped her with kunai and jabbing at her face which she ducked under the attack and elbowed him in the stomach, back-hand punched him and elbowed him in the thigh and tried to kick him in the chest to which he strafed away. She kept redirecting his attacks as if they were child's play to him, like he was one of her toys she could play with and break at any moment.
She then sent a lightning jutsu aimed straight for him that he barely ducked under, still smirking at him. Having had enough of her bullshit, Naruto tried to kick her which she blocked easily, and spun around on her hands disorienting the blonde-haired man with her flayed out limbs. She kept cart-wheeling around him, trying to kick him from above to which he took steps back to avoid. However she then punched him in the gut that sent him scraping backwards.
He then rushed forward and tried to land one final blow on her which like all the previous times failed. She then having had enough took to the offensive and gave him multiple punches and kicks which he couldn't avoid and barely blocked. Dazing and stunning him. She then tried a roundhouse kick to the face which he caught and tried to punch her in the throat by pulling her towards him. She merely placed her hands on the ground and broke free from his grasp and then caught his arm, pinning him, and slamming him face first into the ground, the impact was strong enough to almost knock him out, but he was left in a state where he couldn't fight back.
As he was lying on the ground Ninfu took out a single kunai and was prepared to pierce his throat. She was just about to kill him, the sound of shattered glass caught her attention where a black and red shadow attacked her by unsheathing a red sword and aimed for an upward cut before the shadow tried to cut her stomach to which she dodged before sheathing her sword.
Ninfu didn't know what happened next as the shadow appeared right before her, Ninfu could tell that this person had large and strong chakra, even larger than her own. She couldn't contemplate further as the shadow aimed for an upward kick that the kumo nin barely blocked and was so strong it caused her elbows to bleed, this was followed up by a powerful elbow-strike to the neck that sent her crashing to the ground. She then got up off the ground and tried a round-house kick on the red and black blur which the shadow jumped over easily. Not content that her opponent was defeated the shade then did an axe kick on top of Ninfu's head which plummeted her skull to the ground, where the blur followed up by doing another axe kick on her spine.
Just as Ninfu recovered and got off the ground she was punched so hard in the gut that she practically vomited blood. Before any more harm could come to Ninfu she quickly disappeared in a bolt of lightning and was gone. The shade stood to full height and stared at the spot the kumo nin was in, before turning their gaze onto Naruto. Who had watched the whole thing transpire.
Their appearance from what Naruto could see. Was a woman (judging from her figure) wearing a black and red kimono-style short dress with a red belt-girdle with imprints of mountains, trees and birds upon it. She had multiple necklaces with beads laced around them. She had a furry appendage tied to her skirt that was similar to a wolf's tail and some armour on her right hip and scaled armour on her arms and hands. She wore black, thigh-length boots with a red splatter pattern upon them and a sheath with a red sword on her left hip, probably signalling that she was right handed. But her most notable feature was a mask over her face which took the appearance of a white raven with red marks on it, the mask had four eye slits giving it a fearsome appearance and whether it was part of the mask or not, the person had long black furry hair that travelled down to their waist.
"Who are you?" questioned Naruto as she stared up at her, however she didn't respond to his question and just simply walked up to him, where she removed what appeared to be white powder from a pouch on her side. She dabbed her fingers in the powder and spread the white substance over Naruto's forehead and chin, she then removed the armour on his left arm and dabbed more powder onto it. She then made a single seal, where the black cursed seals all over Naruto's body began to converge on the seal on his left arm. Once they had gone back to their original appearance Naruto pressed himself up where he was sitting on the ground and squeezed his hand noting that it was back to it's previous strength.
The red and black figure then began to walk away. But before she left, walking through a door that led to the outside, she uttered four words.
"A survivor, like you." and she disappeared through the door and that was the last the blonde saw of her. Not understanding what just happened Naruto got up onto his legs again and traversed through the train, heading back for his original goal.
As he made his way to the next carriage, Naruto came face to face with the one who made his life the way it is. Obito.
"Naruto, oh I've missed, we really have to stop meeting like this. What will people think?" said Obito but Naruto unsealed the Tonbogiri and rushed at Obito where Naruto sent chakra into his left eye, no longer inhibited by the seal, thanks to that mysterious girl. Just as Obito was about to to smash his gunabi on top of Naruto, the blonde slowed down time, encased in black, he then appeared behind Obito where his blade phased right through the Uchiha's body. Obito kicked Naruto away where the blonde blocked the attack.
They both jumped into the air and their weapons clashed against the other, Naruto won that little bout where Obito was pushed back towards the ground, followed by his younger opponent who tried to stab him through the head, if Obito hadn't back-flipped away. Naruto chased after him, where he became a whirlwind of black steel, where the masked Uchiha was having trouble keeping up with his raw speed.
Naruto then unsealed a kunai from his wrist seal and engaged Obito in a violent clash, Naruto tried an upward slash with the Tonbogiri which Obito barely dodged though received a cut in his robe from it's special ability only for Naruto try to slice him with the kunai, the Sharingan wielder then threw both the kunai and the Tonbogiri which Obito dodged with skill. Naruto followed up his offence with a combo of punches and kicks which Obito predicted with his Sharingan however what he didn't expect was the two weapons Naruto threw, suddenly returning to his hand without any indicator whatsoever. Naruto then sliced another part of Obito's robe where the older man was thoroughly surprised at what happened, his enemy was nothing but a whirlwind of weapons, throwing them and spinning around, only for the weapons to return to his hands? Without even touching them.
Naruto then unleashed a mighty blast of wind that sent Obito off his feet and tumbling to the ground. The Uchiha tried to get up only to find a pressure against his chest where he saw his skilled opponent pressing his armoured, clawed foot against his chest and pointing the Tonbogiri at his face.
"Has it ever occurred to you, have you ever had the thought 'why' we are fighting. Naruto you know that both of us want the same thing, and you know it." said Obito but that only made Naruto glare at him and inched his sword closer to the mask. "Hmm, ferocious, just like a wolf. So what 'are' we gonna do now. You could kill me, take your revenge. Or is my death simply not enough to quench that? But do you really think that some little girl will make you and people forget what you were... what you've done, all the lives you took and ruined. And they call me a monster. So who are you going to choose, if you kill me you'll never see her again and after Danzō's done with her, you will never want to to see her again. Though there is still time, be that dashing white knight and save the damsel, but you may die doing it." said Obito with a grin beneath his mask, Naruto didn't say anything other than removed his foot from his chest and let Obito go, he was right of course so Naruto knew that to save Konan some dreadful people must be spared.
Obito's body disappeared a spiralling vortex and Naruto ran through the carriages until he came across an empty platform with the only people there were Konan, Danzō, Obito and Naruto himself. Konan was bound and lying on the ground at Danzō's feet.
"See told you he would come." said Obito sitting casually on the ground, is gunbai in front of him.
"Naruto Uzumaki, on the orders of the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade Senju. You are to be put to death and never will you nor any of your descendants threaten the stability, safety and peace of Konoha." spoke Danzō as he approached the blonde who kept glaring daggers into his skull.
"Give me Konan. And I won't even take a single step in Konoha. This can all end, if you don't hurt her." spoke Naruto but was then forced to his knees and covered his hand with his mouth as he coughed up copious amounts of blood.
"You don't look too good. Perhaps it would be wiser for you to walk away, this one has too much information on the Akatsuki to merely allow her to be set free again." spoke Danzō as he took out a sword and pointed it at Konan's face. Danzō pulled away the cloth around her mouth allowing her to speak. "Last Rites."
"Naruto, don't worry about me. Everything will be alright. I won't leave you alone. I'm coming, just... so wait for me. ok." said Konan as her final words before Danzō stabbed her in the head, swiftly and without pain, killing her.
"Such a noble effort. Though I expected her to say something else. Well no matter, what's done is done. Toss her body over the side." said Danzō while Obito did just that, her bloody remains being broken upon impact with the ground. Naruto didn't say anything other than dropping the Tonbogiri, eyes wide with horror and grief. The Tonbogiri clattering by his side. "He's your problem now Uchiha, finish what you started fifteen years ago." spoke Danzō but before the two could do anything, three seals upon Naruto's left arm began flashing blood red. It was pulsing like a heart, becoming faster and faster until, the seal itself cracked, falling to the ground like ripped pieces of paper.
From Naruto's waist burst forth four long black ropes with silver blades upon the ends. However that was not the end of their troubles, Naruto's hair fell over his eyes, shrouding them from view he mouth was agape and he was breathing hoarsely while it seemed like his eyes were glowing red. The three seals that were broken were enough to bring fear to Obito. Before he even knew it, Naruto disappeared from sight where he suddenly appeared above Obito and flung two of his ropes at the Uchiha who barely blocked them with his gunbai, however Naruto wasn't done as he tried to cut the older Sharingan wielder with two more of his ropes.
"Dark, desperate, death to make myself alive. Worm, crawling on ground. Broken body, bleeding hands, stone ground and guts gripping, dead like spoiled fish." spoke Naruto clutching his head, while Obito knew exactly what it was. Before he was in ROOT Naruto was special case, from all the abuse in the dark recesses of his mind, a second personality was created to protect the other, only the most traumatic of events could force this thing out. The thing known as 'Hon'no (instinct)', it made it's first appearance one one tragic night when the blonde was attacked by a drunk and since then the Sandaime Hokage sealed it away with one of the seals on Naruto's left arm. The other two seals that were broken Obito had a good guess about, but that didn't matter. "Flesh, tasty juicy, everywhere. Voice says stop, no, need to die, he hurt us. He has to hurt too."
Naruto then jumped towards Obito where the rope and the gunbai clashed together, Danzō disappeared when black ink covered his body and leaving Obito to contend with with the crazed boy.
Obito swung his mighty gunbai at Naruto again and again but the animalistic blonde kept dodging and jumping around blocking each attack like it was a fly to be swatted. Obito slammed his gunabi against the rope but it didn't budge, then Obito broke the defences and jumped into the air, and slammed his gunbai against Naruto's shoulder who cried out in pain only to flick Obito away with one of his chakra ropes. The train was still running and running it's wheels thundering as they enetered a narrow tunnel, and Naruto was jumping all over the place like a grasshopper. Obito could barely keep track of him.
Obito had to roll away when Naruto attacked in a blind raging flurry. The Uchiha had to phase through multiple attacks and deadly slashes. Whatever semblance of intelligence the Uzumaki had was gone, replaced with a ravenous beast, Naruto roared in anger almost as if he was an animal. As another rope was slithering it's way towards Obito the Uchiha had to defend himself constantly from the attacks, the blonde was really giving him a workout, using his hands as a means of speed and flexibility made him agile and swift beyond measure. The two then locked themselves in as Naruto kept battering his black chakra rope against Obito, again and again they kept striking each other never gaining an advantage over the other, Naruto then jumped into the air and struck Obito with a more powerful blow that swept him off his feet.
Naruto then stabbed his ropes into the metal of the train, using it like a spring-board to outmanoeuvre the Uchiha. He then, growling like an animal, sent one of his four ropes towards Obito hoping to cut him with the silver blade ornament. But Obito ducked under it, and slammed his gunbai into Naruto's stomach making the younger Sharingan wielder cough harshly at that and blood to pour from his mouth, he had little time remaining until he could no longer fight because of the kekkei genkai eating his body.
The rope he had summoned from his back, began retreating into his body once again. He held his head in his hands as a flood of images came swooping into his mind, clawing at the edges of the abyss. Things he did or had done. They were jumbled mess and he didn't know how to make it, he wanted to scream, no, he wanted to claw out these memories flooding him. He couldn't ponder it further when Obito came flying over him and tried to break apart his skull with his battered gunbai. Naruto rolled forward and gripped the Tonbogiri once more where he blocked a horizontal attack from Obito and jumped back from the Uchiha, his mind still a mess and he was coughing more and more blood while shaking his head continuously from the memories battering against his skull.
Obito attacked again, this time putting more strength in his swings which Naruto barely had the strength to block. The two of them still aboard the moving train, entered a narrow tunnel shaped into the mountainside. There they kept meeting each other in violent clashes where sparks and splinters flew abound.
Naruto sealed the Tonbogiri away and went through handseals for a jutsu.
"Ranton Ōgi: Rankiryū (storm release secret technique: Demon Dragon Storm)!" said Naruto as he gathered dark thunderclouds all around him and then ordered the storm to sweep forward towards Obito where the entire tunnel was filled with thunder and electricity. Obito tried to blow back the storm with his gunbai to no avail and instead was sucked into his pocket dimension to wait it out. It took several minutes for the conjured storm to disperse and for Naruto he had lost sight of his enemy once again, but his coughing was becoming more laboured and he was spitting up more blood. He was even having trouble standing.
Obito then appeared behind him, and both locked their respective weapons together.
"To do all these things, is something, only special, only few shinobi can accomplish but still." said Obito. Naruto then tried to flip over Obito and slash him across the chest at the same time, but the Uchiha kicked him away and across to the other end of the train. Naruto caught himself by stabbing his blade into the roof of the tunnel only for Obito to swat him began down with his own large weapon. "I can feel it, your body is becoming weaker and weaker as we fight. You won't be able to keep this up for much longer."
Naruto then charged at Obito with his sword in hand and tried to cleave him in two with the Tonbogiri but the older Sharingan wielder stepped to the side and kicked Naruto away into the stony wall of the tunnel, but Naruto braced himself and landed against the tunnel, his feet clawing into the stone before he jumped back and engaged Obito where he swung his sword across the Uchiha's chest where the attack phased right through. They locked swords once again and traded respective blows again and again. Obito then used the handle of the gunbai to whack Naruto in the face who was looking more and more weaker by the second. Obito's cheap shot dazed Naruto for a split second where Obito disarmed from the Tonbogiri where it landed sharply in the train a bit away.
Obito then tried to slice Naruto's head off, but the blonde merely dodged the blow by bending backwards. Before flipping over and grabbing his sword once again. Naruto through a stroke of genius or idiocy ran up along the length of the tunnel, building up momentum before launching himself at Obito and tried a vertical slash, but the Uchiha blocked it with his gunbai, but then Naruto released his weapon from his grasp, grabbed Obito by the mask and rammed his head against the stone of the tunnel, sparks flying away upon contact. Obito's mask would have been destroyed and what little remained of his face would be gone, if he didn't elbow Naruto in gut and kicked him away.
"Very good, very good, but you should probably know, I haven't even used my full strength, but at this pace you will be too weak to even fight back. You only hasten the inevitable." said Obito as they locked weapons again. Obito then broke the lock, smashed his gunbai's shaft against Naruto's face stunning him where the blonde barely blocked his next attack, only for Obito to follow it up by slashing Naruto's face with the gunbai, causing a large gash in his face and almost destroying his left eye. Naruto jumped away and held his bleeding face while he glared at Obito through his fingers, his eye was untouched thankfully, but still that was only a warning strike. "You deny yourself and your blade it's true nature, you both yearn to bathe in the blood of our fathers and enemies. But you suppress it, you hold back that savage nature of yours. I remember a boy who could spit in the face of death and laugh. Where he killed anything that moved and was unafraid to hurt himself if it meant hurting his enemies." Naruto didn't respond to him other than falling into a combat ready stance once more.
Obito then channelled fire chakra into his gunbai setting it ablaze with flames. Naruto had to step back or else he'd be consumed by the fire. And now Obito's attacks were more focused and ferocious, constantly striking the metal of the Tonbogiri. Naruto was forced to jump away and sent an explosive tag towards Obito where it blew up the train from behind, but out came Obito, completely unharmed and about to bring the over-sized war fan down on Naruto. The two clashed again with neither giving in or backing out, though Obito noticed that Naruto's movements were becoming sluggish, a full day of fighting and his body destroying itself wasn't healthy for a person, obvious sarcasm.
Again and again, flames and metal struck each other, and Obito saw an opening in Naruto's defences where he slashed the Uzumaki across the stomach, making blood explode from the wound and pour down like a waterfall. Naruto held his bleeding gut and coughed up more blood.
Naruto wouldn't give in he wouldn't lose, he rushed towards Obito and swung his blade but in a single moment, in a single second. The two weapons clashed once more and probably for the final time, as the black metal of the Tonbogiri shattered into several black shards, the only thing unbroken was the hilt of the blade, Naruto could only stare in shock that the legendary weapon, famed for it prowess was broken, fractured into numerous pieces, probably damaged beyond repair, the shards clattering on the ground and flying everywehere. However he couldn't contemplate it further as Obito rushed past him and swung his gunbai.
Naruto didn't feel any pain, he didn't even notice the attack until the last minute, time slowed down for him as he turned to his right, to see his right arm flaying freely in the air, disconnected from his body, he had lost his most of his right arm. Most of it, gone, he watched as it fell lifelessly to the ground, blood spurting out of it, while Obito grinned under his mask. Blood kept pouring out of the wound and staining the metal ground of the train Naruto was standing on, before he could think of anything further the blonde haired man was swatted away to the very ends of the train where with what little strength he had, held on for dear life, though he lamented that with 'her' gone, it wasn't much of a life.
"This is what happens when an ant lifts a mountain." said Obito as he hovered his gunbai near Naruto's face. "Say hello to your father for me." said Obito as he was about to strike the finishing blow as they exited the tunnel and Obito felt a disturbance in the air, he lowered his weapon and inspected the sky. And then he saw it, large wings like a bird flying straight towards him, where their wings slammed against his gunbai, cracking it under the impact and multiple projectiles were launched his way which he simply phased through. Taking this opportunity the winged being grabbed hold of Naruto and flew off, leaving Obito behind on the train as he stared at them. his prey having escaped.
He was high in the sky for who knows how long, fading in and out of consciousness, his senses were dulled, he felt like he was going to die at any minute, it had been a horrid day for him, confronted with ghosts, pain and death. Challenging what he thought as well as the limits to his body, he now had so many questions that needed to be answered, and the flood of memories, of his past self, the one that worked alongside ROOT. He could remember it all now, what he did, what he ruined. All of it. At first they were flashes, now it was like an inescapable view of the world.
His eyes were heavy and his Sharingan was no longer active. Soft hands wrapped around his torso, cradling him as he flew above the clouds, he couldn't see what was carrying him, though he guess it was some kind of bird, as he saw the strong wings push against the weight of the world. From his point of view, it was a wondrous sight, being above the clouds, fully embracing the sun and it's warmth. He had never felt so content before, so at peace. He must have thought he was in heaven, as it certainly could be mistaken for such a thing. He could hear a voice calling out his name, it was melodious and tuneful, like a symphony from an orchestra.
His eyes drifted to a close as he allowed rest to overcome him, dreaming for the first time in years. His dream, well it was simple.
Just sitting on a porch during a cool winter's morning, being suddenly embraced by his two children who practically wrestled him into the ground, whose features he couldn't see but he knew he loved them anyway, his wife was knitting something in their house before coming out of the hourse, through the door, a smile on her face which was the only thing he could see before she too came out and embraced her family in a warm hug. His oldest child then threw a snowball in his face giggling loudly while he threw one back in a playful manner before all of them joined in even their mother teaming up with her two children against their father.
He was awoken softly form his dream when he was gently laid onto something soft, and sweet smelling. He opened his eyes tiredly perceiving everything around him, he was surrounded by soft pink flowers and bright green grass with white birds flying over him, chirping in a chorus to the music they played in the sky among puffy cream clouds. His eyes adjusted to the light all around him, until he picked up a familiar colour, bright blue hair, and amber eyes looking down on him worriedly. He smiled as he saw her face.
"Really fooled me there for a moment. I actually thought you were dead." said Naruto with some trouble but still with a goofy smirk on his face. "I'm... glad you're alright."
"I did say I was coming, but you had to go ahead and do something stupid. Idiot." choked Konan as she held his head in her lap, while her fingers stroked his eyebrows, a move that calmed him, she herself was on the brink of tears, seeing his wounded state, that cut over his eye, the gash across his stomach and not to mention his missing arm. "I made a clone of myself, the one using your Sharingan. I was going to kill Danzō and Obito in one swift move so you wouldn't hurt yourself trying to do so yourself."
"Well... I'm glad I have you to discipline me... when I do something dumb." said Naruto his weary smirk widening and his eyes on the brink of collapsing again, Konan almost had the urge to slap him upside the head for his recklessness and stupidity, it was at that point she let out a few tears that fell on Naruto's face. "Shh... don't cry, you only cry when your happy... and when you cry... I hurt." said Naruto as he wiped away her tears with his remaining arm, before softly cupping her chin his smile soft and warm. He pushed himself up with all his remaining strength as their lips pressed together tenderly, like fireworks going off, the effect was instantaneous. His bottled up feelings for her were unleashed in that kiss. But still, there was confusion, upon his lips. He didn't know what it was, but he hoped to find the answer.
Konan kissed him back in full force savouring the taste of his lips and enjoying the emotion conveyed through them, it was chaste, innocent, nothing more than an expression of one's feelings. When they finally separated Konan saw that he had the same smile on his face. However his eyes were closed and his chest was softly heaving up and down. Her lip quivering, she cradled his head into the crook of her neck with some tears dripping down her eyes onto his neck, as the colourful wind blew through the wondrous flowery field.
Today was only the start of things to come. The dogs of war, shall be unleashed upon the world.
My god, the Tonbogiri was broken! Naruto was defeated by Obito! I tried to give good reasons as to why without using a solid reason other than Obito was strong, Naruto was saved by a mysterious girl! Sakura won't remember a thing that happened! Tsunade going down a dark path! Danzo has Uzumaki weapons! three of five of Naruto's cursed seals were broken! one of the assassin's is dead! Naruto has a new kekkei genkai! Hiurko is working with Naruto!
What a chapter, originally Naruto was going to erase Sakura's memories but it didn't work well so I had Danzo do it. ok next we have the three flashback chapters, detailing Naruto's life before, during and after ROOT and how he lost his emotions. some of the scenes in the chapter were inspired from scenes of RWBY as a tribute to Monty Oum (whom i'm a fan of) who has died recently, R.I.P rest in peace Monty. and any and all references made in this story don't belong to me
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the mystery girl and uzumaki statues.