Disclaimer: I don't own Daylight, it belongs to Maroon 5.
Chapter 21: The Return
Previously:
Tsunade drew a familiar three-pronged kunai from her pocket and planted it into the ground in front of her.
Before Kabuto could even utter a curse, Naruto, Jiraiya and Shizune appeared.
The blond jinchuuriki leapt towards Kabuto in a flash of orange, cocking his fist back as his right forearm glowed green.
"Kawazu Tataki (Frog Strike)!" Naruto yelled just as he plunged his fist into Kabuto's stomach.
Waves of natural energy rippled from the point of impact, throwing Kabuto back while breaking his ribs. Jiraiya cringed, knowing what it was like to be on the receiving end on that during their spars in Daishoju.
Kabuto began applying the Shosen Jutsu on his ribs, while Shizune did the same for Tsunade's injuries.
Orochimaru's eyebrow twitched as the source of his problems arrived. "Uzumaki brat..."
The sage looked up, frowning at the snake sannin. "Teme... how's your arms?" mocked Naruto.
A tick mark grew on the snake's head, until he hissed, "I'll make you pay for that!"
He lunged towards Naruto, initiating a taijutsu match. Despite him being unable to form hand seals as the chakra network in his arms were destroyed, he could still use them for taijutsu - and to say he was very flexible was an understatement.
Orochimaru literally twisted his body round and round without any repercussions that would have broken all the bones in any normal human, making him hard to predict and fight even with the Sharingan.
"Not bad," praised the sannin as he clashed with Naruto, sustaining several injuries due to the natural energy surrounding the blond's fist.
"Tsk, you're not so bad yourself," returned Naruto before he slapped away Orochimaru's arm and used the momentum to punch him in the chest.
The snake sannin flew back, catching himself on his feet. "Assist me, Kabuto," said Orochimaru as he bit his thumb and smeared the blood across his summoning seal.
Kabuto pushed chakra towards the seal, causing a large amount of smoke to billow into the air.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
A giant purple snake with slitted yellow eyes appeared next to Orochimaru and Kabuto. This was the snake boss summon - Manda.
"What did you summon me for, Orochimaru?!" the snake hissed, "I require one hundred human sacrifices after this, do you understand?"
"After this fight, you'll be full alright," Orochimaru replied. Jiraiya cursed, "Well shit. Time to roll out the big guns... Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Gamabunta burst into existence, smoking his pipe. The moment his eyes landed on Manda, the toad paused and spoke, "It's been a long time..."
"I believe so," the snake hissed. "Enough, fight him!" Orochimaru cried. The snake charged towards Bunta, who leapt up into the sky muttering, "I hate snakes..."
Among the legendary three summons - i.e. the toads, slugs and the snakes, there existed a cycle: the toads were afraid of the snakes, the snakes were afraid of the slugs and the slugs were afraid of the toads.
So naturally Gamabunta was wary around Manda. While in midair, the toad formed the Tiger hand seal. "Suiton: Teppodama (Water Style: Gunshot)!"
Water materialised before his mouth, condensing into a bullet shape that took off towards the snake below.
As it shot downwards, gravity increased its momentum and power. Manda's eyes widened and he quickly slid to the side to avoid the bullet.
The suiton jutsu slammed into the floor and exploded, causing a crater full of water in the field.
Bunta landed and Jiraiya jumped atop his head. Naruto sprinted to the crater while forming the Tiger hand seal.
"Suiton: Suiryuben (Water Style: Water Dragon Whip)!" The water in the crater rose and formed into whips which lashed at Manda, who nimbly avoided them all.
This gave time for Jiraiya and Bunta to prepare their technique.
"Senpo: Gamayudan (Sage Art: Toad Oil Bullet)!" cried Gamabunta.
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" Jiraiya shouted.
"Katon: Gamayu Endan (Fire Style: Toad Oil Flamethrower)!" both yelled. Oil burst from the chief toad's mouth towards Manda, while the fire ignited it into a firestorm.
"That's not enough... Futon: Atsugai (Wind Style: Pressure Damage)!" Naruto added. Wind chakra gathered as a hurricane which tunnelled towards the firestorm, creating an inferno which swarmed Orochimaru's summon.
After the fire and smoke was extinguished, there was no trace of the giant summon.
"Below!" alerted Naruto, who leapt into the sky after deactivating his gravity seals.
Manda burst from underground, though failing to ambush Bunta and Jiraiya as the toad summon had jumped away in time.
While falling back down, Naruto formed five hands seals, one that everyone recognised.
The moment his right palm hit the floor, a black summoning seal array spread out from it.
"Yane, Kyuubi!" Naruto yelled and in a burst of smoke, the colossal fox was summoned into the realm of humans.
Kurama easily towered over the two boss summons, being ten times larger. He roared at Manda, who slithered up and wrapped himself around the fox's chest.
Gamabunta couldn't do anything because if he tried to attack the snake he would risk attacking Kurama... and attacking the most powerful tailed beast alive which is ten times larger than you is a bad idea.
Apparently Manda didn't think so.
"You pesky snake, get off me!" Kurama roared, grabbing hold of the reptile with one of his claws and ripping him off his body.
The snake lunged at Kurama's face in midair, which was stupid, considering the immense amount of chakra that was building up in his mouth.
"Bijuu Dama!"
The ensuing explosion caused a display similar to fireworks in the morning sky. A dead Manda lay across the field.
Or so it seemed. Out of his mouth, another Manda slid out. The snake had just shed its skin.
"Fuck your dead mother!" shouted the Kyuubi, who sent a claw down on the reviving reptile.
The giant snake darted away, only to come face to face with Gamabunta's tanto as it was swung towards his face.
Manda bit down hard on the sword blade and stopped it in its path. The chief toad snarled and swung the sword as hard as he could, making the snake swing with it and fly towards Kurama.
"Kyuubi Kosen!" Naruto shouted. Chakra concentrated into a beam in front of Kurama's mouth shot off and hit the reptile, causing it to dispel in a poof of smoke.
"Shit, Manda's down... Kabuto, retreat!" Orochimaru called. "Hai, Orochimaru-sama!" responded the iryo-nin before he pulled out a smoke bomb and detonated it.
When it cleared, they were gone. Kurama dispelled, as did Gamabunta. Jiraiya let out a sigh, "This snake won't stay dead, will it?"
"It won't," stated Tsunade, who had just fully recovered. "Well, time to get you back home, Tsunade-sama," said Naruto.
"Home," she repeated. Then the sannin smiled. "Ikuzo."
On The Road To Konoha
The four had packed up and left Tanzaku-gai. Tsunade gave her necklace to Naruto as promised.
The two females caught up on the latest issues in the village from Jiraiya and Naruto, who also listed things he needed her to get done as Hokage.
Such as signing the Kumo alliance, his marriage contract and allowing him to claim the Namikaze compound.
"I'm already starting to feel the paperwork even though we are about a mile out from Konoha," complained Tsunade jokingly.
"Don't worry," Naruto smirked, "It'll only get worse."
Konoha Gates
By the time they arrived at the giant village, it was already dusk. The sun was just slightly above the Hokage Monument, casting the last of its rays across the purple sky.
Beautiful orange clouds dotted the sky, as if heralding the arrival of the new village leader.
Izumo nudged Kotetsu awake from his sleep. "Oi, Tsunade-sama is back," he whispered.
"Hmm, oh really... I'll inform Sandaime-sama about this," said Kotetsu before he body flickered away.
Tsunade walked into the village, receiving tremendous applause from the villagers around who spotted her.
Naruto yawned as he waved at the rest of the group. "It's getting late, I'll go back home. Ja ne."
The rest of the entourage waved back and split up, with Jiraya reporting to Hiruzen while Tsunade and Shizune found a temporary accommodation.
Apartment
"Tadai-" he was cut off by a bone-crushing hug by Mikoto before he could even complete his sentence.
"Welcome back," she greeted in a motherly tone, a tear sliding down her cheek.
"Konbanwa... Kaa-san," replied Naruto awkwardly, not knowing how to respond to this sudden outburst.
"I knew as soon as the new Hokage was back she would give you the Namikaze compound," explained Mikoto who wiped away her tear.
"I won't be moving in with you, so you can enjoy your life with your new wife," she said.
"What about Karin?" Naruto asked.
"She'll be staying with me, I intend on training her into a fine kunoichi."
"Alright then. Thanks, Kaa-san for all these years. I'm going to bed now," replied Naruto with resignation in his tone.
He collasped, weary of the day's activities. Just before he went to sleep, he decided to play a song on his koto.
Here I am waiting
I'll have to leave soon
Why am I holding on?
We knew this day would come
We knew it all along
How did it come so fast?
This is our last night but it's late
And I'm trying not to sleep
Cause I know, when I wake, I will have to slip away
And when the daylight comes I'll have to go
But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close
Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own
But tonight I need to hold you so close
Oh-whoa, oh-whoa, oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-whoa, oh-whoa, oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Here I am staring at your perfection
In my arms, so beautiful
The sky is getting bright, the stars are burning out
Somebody slow it down
This is way too hard, cause I know
When the sun comes up, I will leave
This is my last glance that will soon be memory
And when the daylight comes I'll have to go
But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close
Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own
But tonight I need to hold you so close
Oh-whoa, oh-whoa, oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-whoa, oh-whoa, oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
I never want it to stop
Because I don't wanna start all over
Start all over
I was afraid of the dark
But now it's all that I want
All that I want, all that I want
And when the daylight comes I'll have to go
But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close
Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own
But tonight I need to hold you so close
And when the daylight comes I'll have to go
But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close
Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own
But tonight I need to hold you so close
Oh-whoa, oh-whoa, oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-whoa, oh-whoa, oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh-whoa (yeah), oh-whoa (yeah), oh-whoa (yeah), oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh (yeah)
Oh-whoa (yeah), oh-whoa (yeah), oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
The blond stopped strumming his instrument and sealed it back. He lay down on his mattress, sighing as he closed his eyes.
Naruto's chakra began infusing, replenishing his chakra pools while he slept for the rest of the night.
The Next Morning
A beam of light hit his face, staying there till the heat got to his brain and he woke up.
"I should really invest in curtains," thought Naruto. "We have curtains at the Namikaze compound," replied Minato cheerfully from the mindscape, startling his son.
"Didn't know you were a morning person, Tou-san," the sleepy blond said, groaning as he stretched.
"Don't mind me," said Minato before cutting off the connection. Naruto sighed and went out to the kitchen for breakfast.
"Ohayo, Kaa-chan," greeted Naruto. Mikoto looked up and smiled at him before her eyes widened.
"Naruto-kun! Your eyes!" she cried.
"What?!" he asked frantically, running to the toilet. He looked into the mirror.
Staring back at him were a pair of Rinnegan.
Author's Notes:
Again, no omake due to the delay. Sorry I'm late once again. My exams are next month, so I'll have to start studying. Do not expect punctual updates, but if you want to find out just PM me.
Until tomorrow,
Ja Ne