AN* Man, this took way longer then I thought it would to get around to this. I am very sorry about this long wait but I will try to make sure that this doesn't happen again. I am happy that so many of you enjoyed the last chapter and I sincerely hope that this one matches the expectations that so many of you have. As always leave me your reviews at the end and please enjoy.
Break Pt. 3 The Family
Moments after the Five Kage Summit
"A, I know that we have had our differences." Minato began.
"That is putting it lightly." the Raikage snorted.
"But I want to give you this." Minato continued as he handed the dark skinned man a Hiraishin Kunai.
"Why are you giving me this?" A asked with a frown.
"On the off chance that we are walking into a trap." Minato answered "There are too many unknowns and I don't know what might be waiting for you when you get there. This might be a good way for us to get an extra force to bare against them, or to get a small force out if you find yourself in a bad situation."
"Why me?"
"Because we have fought and I know what type of man you are. The Mizukage is still too new and I am unsure of what she will do when things start to go bad. I know you will stand by your men no matter what, and I know you would rather have an out for some of them then nothing at all." Minato answered.
A seemed to think on his words for a time, weighing them against the kunai in his hands before nodding his acceptance of the matter and starting away "Doubt I'll need this. Don't take to long or you'll miss out on all of the fighting."
Moments after failing to take the harbor
"Well? What do you see?" Minato asked over the comms as one of his jonin used his Eagle summons to fly high overhead.
"Looks like Kiri did double cross us." the jonin reported "Kumo has taken a beating and they are landing to the west of the harbor."
"Damn." Minato cursed "Ok, prepare to drop a kunai in a deserted location, we need to move in soon."
"Whoa! One of the enemy Jinchuruki just shot a Bijudama at them!" the jonin reproted.
"Hurry then. We don't have time to waste. Once you drop it I want you to keep monitoring the battle." Minato ordered, getting a quick confirmation as he looked back at his small assault squad. It consisted of his wife and a dozen Jonin level shinobi that would be able to use a number of powerful jutsu, along with two medic nin that had been freshly trained by Tsunade. A moment later word came and Minato put a hand on Kushina and one of the Jonin and began Hiraishining back and forth to the two kunai on opposite shores. It took a half a dozen trips and then they started moving carefully through the trees until they reached a small clearing and stopped when they received the next nugget of information.
"Sir, it looks like Yami has taken the field. He's facing the Raikage and it appears that Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuga and Neji Hyuga are with him."
"What?! Why are those two with him?" Kushina asked in shock.
"Seals controlling them probably." Minato growled out in frustration "He somehow managed to get the entire Hyuga clan... How is A holding up?"
"Not too good. He's losing ground, and whatever it is that Yami has done to his sword it's cutting through the Raikage's Raiton no Yoroi." There was a pause for a bit before he continued the play by play, stopping when A collapsed "He's dropped the kunai behind Yami!"
Minato wasted no time as he focused on that particular kunai, and appeared on the far side of the island with a brief moment to get his bearrings grab Yami and then Hiraishin back to his advance team where he faced down the young shinobi.
Present time
"No, no you can't be Naruto..." Kushina said shaking her head "No child of ours would"
"Would what?" Naruto asked with a laugh "Everything I am is what you let me become."
"Let you become?" Minato asked in shock.
"If you had taken a moment to simply look after me like actual parents should this" he paused as he moved his hand holding Aka rippā in an arc to emphasis their surroundings "never would have happened. I would have remained in Konoha, never realizing my full potential and never bringing about the means to finally end the cycle of hatred."
"End the cycle of hatred?! Do you even hear yourself Naruto?! You aren't ending it, you are only bringing about more misery and death!"
"So short sighted." Naruto chided "What I intend to do is end the cycle by bringing everything under my thumb. Once all of the world bows to my empire will the cycle be broken and then true peace will begin."
"At what cost? How many have to die for your ambition?"
"As many as it takes. I do not claim to offer the easiest road, but the path I walk will save more lives in the long term then anything that has been done in countless generations." Naruto countered.
"Naruto, it's not too late. You can stop this now, stop this madness. Come home Naruto, please." Kushina begged.
Naruto stared at her, his black eyes holding hers with uncaring intensity "You had your chance a long time ago. You failed."
With that he flickered from sight and appeared in the middle of the Jonin squad, his blade flashing in quick strikes as he cut down the medics first, along with three other jonin before they realized what was happening. His next two strikes killed another four men before he stepped back to avoid one of the jonin's hasty slash with a kunai as he swung Aka rippā and let it take down the last five men before they could react, along with a few trees that collapsed against their brethren as Kushina and Minato had leapt clear and now the red headed swordswoman rushed Naruto, her own blade flashing towards him as he ceased using Gurētā seishin ken and let their blades ring out as they clashed. As he held her he sensed his father leaping towards him, Rasengan formed and he just dropped into a crouch that let Kushina tilt off balance as he knocked her over him as he rolled forward to get clear of any potential counterattack before twisting around and seeing the Hiraishin kunai heading for him as he blocked it upwards and made his own Rasengan in a free hand as his father appeared above him and attempted to use the element of surprise to blindside his son. The two attacks collided making a crater underneath Naruto and sending Minato flying into the air before he disappeared in a yellow flash again and appeared at a kunai he had dropped near Naruto, swinging the second blade at the blonde who blocked it with a quick strike from his blade before moving back a step and using the same motion to block Kushina's attack.
Stepping around her he struck and let their blades dance in a flickering pattern that would be far to deadly for anyone to get close to. Or anyone that wasn't a master of the Hiriashin as Minato sent dozens of kunai near the fighters and used them to flash close and launch a sneak attack that Naruto saw coming each time and managed to block as his intricate duel with his mother continued. Neither had managed to land a blow against the other but not for lack of trying on Kushina's part but she could sense that Naruto was indeed playing with her as the easy going smirk never left his face, even while Minato tried to get the upper hand against him with his hit and run tactics.
Taking a step to the side Naruto saw the flicker a moment before it was too late and launched a kick that caught Minato in the chest just as he appeared but the man took the blow with a grin as he teleported again and used the moment that Naruto was disoriented from the sudden shift to slam a fist into his chest and tried to apply the Hiraishin seal onto him only for his hand to phase right through Naruto like he was a mirage, but the fist connecting to the side of his head was anything but.
"How?" Minato asked in shock as he saw Naruto grinning.
"You can thank my dearly departed benefactor Tobi." Naruto replied as he revealed the Sharingan eye spinning in his eye socket "He took me from Konoha and made me into what I am today. He trained me, gave me every single tool that I now have, and to ensure that my plans would succeed I took his eye and have spent the last few years ensuring that I have mastered it to a greater degree then he ever did. Your little seal trick won't work on me like it did him all those years ago."
Minato's eyes widened in shock at this bit of information, remembering well the masked man that had nearly killed Kushina and his infant children that night. He had never known what had become of that masked man but to hear it now, it would seem that he had stayed close enough and waited for a moment to spirit away one of his children in order to turn him into a weapon to destroy his own family.
"Naruto" Minato began.
"Save it." Naruto said his smile starting to disappear "I am here on my own power, not under some orders given to me by a dead man, or one that should be dead. I am here to realize my own plans." Flickering from sight Naruto appeared in front of Minato and slammed the hilt of Aka rippā into Minato's face before kicking him across the length of the clearing where he slammed into one of the fallen trees as Kushina moved back in and the pair resumed their deadly dance, but now Naruto was starting to take the advantage as he would let her blade pass through him on occasion to land a small wound against her that he would normally have had to use his blade to divert. Pushing her back with several minor wounds Naruto leapt backwards when his senses warned him that Minato was about to strike, and indeed he did leaping from overhead he had tried to send a few different kunai down into him but when that failed Naruto realized that the purpose had been to get him to dodge as he was in between a few different kunai and his father had Kage Bunshin helping him with a Rasengan.
"I never thought I would be using this against you, Naruto." Minato said "But I can't let your ambition continue!" flashing from sight and warping between each kunai again and again until Naruto wasn't sure which way the attack was going to come from he appeared on his right side and thrust the yellow colored Rasengan at the black eyed blond.
"Raiton: Rasengan!" Minato shouted as he slammed the electifried Rasengan into Naruto who blinked in surprise at the hit as he was sent flying and could feel that his body's nervous system wasn't working properly as his right leg had given out when he had tried to move his left arm to stabilize himself. Frowning now he used the full intangibility as his mother had tried to follow up and found her blows passing right through him.
"Impressive. I hadn't realized that you had managed to add an elemental release to it yet." Naruto remarked.
"I've had years to tinker with it. I'm more curious as to how you learned the Rasengan." Minato replied.
"Jiraiya of course. He saw through the Yami disguise right away, though not even he knows the full truth. He taught it to be during the Chunin exams. Once he told me of your plans to add an Elemental release to it it was childs play to do it myself. But then again, after what Orochimaru did for me I find most things to be exceptionally easy." Naruto replied.
"What did he do to you?" Kushina asked quietly, already terrified of the answer.
"He gave me power." Naruto chuckled now as he started to rise "He unlocked my hidden potential and gave me so many useful skills that I am was already a deadly shinobi by the time I was 8. Now... now I am a walking army and capable of fighting off the Hokage and his wife at the same time. And after having defeated the Raikage before that." his laughter increasing as he flickered forward and slammed his blade into Kunshina's sending her skidding backwards as he then turned and stabbed Aka rippā into the ground as he used both hands to start making a new Rasengan, this one taking the shape of a green pinwheel as he held it over his head.
"Enjoy this father, I have ascended beyond you once again. Futon: RasenShuriken!" Naruto laughed as he sent the ninjutsu flying at Minato who blinked in shock at the attack before Hiraishining away and appearing near the edge of the slowly expanding clearing and watched as the attack decimated the surrounding trees before falling into little better then tinder. Naruto grabbed Aka rippā and had the tip making small circles as he glanced left and right at his parents, both of them looking winded and both of the also showing the beginnings of fear. This sight alone pleased Naruto more then anything else as he contemplated who he should attack first, debating between ending his mother's life first and thus focusing all of his attention on his father and his meddlesome Hiraishin, or kill his father and allow a more enjoyable kenjutsu duel to continue. Before he could decide his father Hiriashined next to him again and struck, attempting to disarm Naruto quickly while Kushina rushed in, trying to strike at the soon to be disarmed side. Naruto grinned as he let him disarm him and then allowed the intangibility to take over, noting that Kushina stopped her strike just short of impaling her husband and with a grin he slammed his left hand into her stunned face before grabbing Aka rippā and stepping clear.
"By now you should realize that you can't beat me." Naruto chuckled.
"We have to. You won't listen to reason." Minato said "This is called tough love."
"Like you would know how to show me love." Naruto scoffed "You barely even knew I existed. I was just a little blond haired shadow that lived in your home, you never cared about me, never took an interest in me. All you cared about was your Jinchuruki daughter and how she would change the world. Well guess what, she'll be nothing more then a side note in history, the sister to the emperor that died in his rise to power!"
Minato and Kushina's eyes widened at this as they realized that he did intend to kill Naruko, and likely them as well.
"We failed you Naruto. And we are sorry." Minato said quietly.
"But we can't let you do this. We can't let you kill your sister and all of those innocent people out there." Kushina continued.
"You're sorry?! HA! You're only sorry because I'm a threat!" Naruto shouted.
"No." Kushina said shaking her head "We have searched for you for years, we never gave up hope that you would come home."
"Liar!" Naruto shouted again "It took you almost a day to realize I was gone! If you had really cared you would have noticed I was gone within the hour! You could have stopped me from crossing the border long before Tobi and I got there! You chose to ignore my absence because it had nothing to do with Naruko! Well guess what, all that is going to happen is your fault! And now, now I am going to break you both, and leave you alive long enough to see the new world I am going to build. Maybe I'll even let you live long enough for old age to claim you, long enough to see everything that you know and love die before you eyes!"
Before Naruto could monologue any further Minato struck with a kunai that Naruto deflected and saw his father hiraishin in and slam a fist into Naruto's stomach, knocking him back a step as his father continued to fight him hand to hand, keeping Naruto off balance as he dropped Aka rippā and pushed him further and further away from it. After a few moments of this Naruto managed to counter and knock Minato back across the clearing and realized that Minato was the distraction as Kushina had grabbed Aka rippā and a grin spread on her face as a red chakra coating appeared around her. Flashing from sight she brough her sword against Naruto who realized that despite her previous skill, with Aka rippā in her hands she was something even more. Her strike fazed through him but the remnants of the Kyubi's chakra that she was drawing upon added a windstream to the strike that threw him off balance as he stepped back a bit and the smile that had been on his face for most of the fight was now gone, leaving only a scowl now as he knew that things would become increasingly complicated if he allowed her to continue pressing him like she was.
Leaping forward Kushina brought Aka rippā up into a guard that Naruto just fazed through as he rolled past her and grabbed the abandoned katana that she had been using and noted that this weapon was indeed inferior to Aka rippā as he struck with a slash that Kushina blocked with contemptous ease, and he felt the blade shake from the blow. Blocking each strike and countering in turn Naruto's mind ran through possible scenarios until he realized that he was going to need to start getting serious if he wanted to best them, especially once Minato returned to the fray and found that while Naruto was still exceptionally dangerous the change in weapon had thrown him off a few beats and left a small opening that the two more experienced shinobi intended to exploit. Lashing out with a twin kunai style Minato pushed Naruto back step by step as Kushina moved past her husband's strikes to keep Naruto's guard up and keep him on the defensive, even when he went intangible they pair never slowed or stopped, keeping the black eyed youth on the retreat until he felt the blade in his hands shake one more time before his mother's next strike came with a loud crystal clear shattering noise as the blade broke from the power of her Biju enhanced strike.
"It seems that I underestimated you." Naruto remarked as he dodge around one of Minato's slashes "If I had known that having Aka rippā would have given you such an edge I would have taken better care to keep it out of your grasp."
"You may have been able to use it extraordinarily well, but this blade knows who it's partner is." Kushina said as Naruto phased through another strike.
"Partner." Naruto sneered as he managed to disengage from the fight by phasing through them in a flicker of movement, landing in a crouch as he looked at the broken blade and tossed it aside "It's a weapon, nothing more."
"And that's why you can't do this." Kushina said as the Kyubi chakra covered the blade and the metal began to let out an otherworldly wail "This is the true power of Aka rippā, it's Chi no nakimushi(Blood Wail)." Rushing forward Kushina brought the blade against Naruto in a flash that Naruto would never have been able to follow if not for his heightened senses and his Sharingan eye as he managed to lean back to avoid the initial slash and then blinked in shock as he felt the slash go across his chest and felt a spike of fear hit him as he had no idea what had happened. Leaping back he tried to phase through the slashes but found that the strikes were too fast for him to do this accurately and the collection of wounds started to appear on him as he backpedaled and tried to come up with a plan to counter this new ability only to have Minato appear as Kushina had managed to push him into a cluster of Hiraishin kunai and the Hokage landed savage blows against his son who leapt back and quickly realized that this battle was turning against him, and that his parents were indeed getting their second wind. That was when he started to laugh.
Minato and Kushina both blinked at this as Naruto began to laugh hysterically before collecting himself and his grin was something twisted with madness and hatred.
"Oh how I have longed for this. I always thought that Pain would be the only real challenge to my ambitions but you have proved me wrong."
"Pain? The leader of Ame?" Minato blinked in confusion.
"I haven't felt this rush in so long, the rush of fighting for my life." Naruto continued to laugh "The rush of knowing that I could die, that not everything is within my control. I enjoy these moments more then anything, especially when I still manage to triumph."
With his grin spreading wider he flickered from sight and let Kushina's strike pass through him as his hand caught her arm and while the chakra coating burned him he only laughed louder as he snapped her forearm and forced her to drop Aka rippā as he slammed his forehead into her face a few times before kicking her away as he turned and faced Minato who looked stunned as Naruto held up his right hand and began making an all new type of Rasengan.
"Do try and survive, I haven't tested this one yet and would love to know the longer lasting effects that it should have." Naruto said as his right hand made a claw like shape with a slightly smaller then normal Rasengan appearing over his palm while over each finger appeared another Rasengan, each about the size of a marble and each a different color representing one of the five elements "Sōzō Rasengan(Creation Rasengan)!" Naruto said as he flickered from sight but not heading for Minato, instead appearing in front of the kunai that his Sharingan had shown him that Minato would appear at a second before he did, slamming the attack home to an anguished shout from Minato as the attack tore into his stomach, sending him flying backwards as the six spheres bore into him and the conflicting elements tore into him. Minato landed in a heap a short distance away as Naruto looked at the defeated forms of his parents and the maniacal glee faded and he focused on the task at hand. While tempting to leave them alive for various reasons he knew better then to leave such a dangerous threat alive and he grabbed the barely conscious form of his father and threw him into the slowly rising Kushina who managed to catch him with a wince, the Kyubi chakra gone but the wounds remaining.
"It's over." Naruto said calmly as he drew Aka rippā once more and walked towards them "You could try and draw on what little scraps of the Kyubi's chakra remain in your body but we both know that if you draw on any more of it you will die, and Naruko isn't around to give you a transfusion and our dear Hokage is in no condition to even stand, let alone Hiraishin you out of this situation. I'm afraid that this is the end of the line for you both."
"No. Naruto." Kushina began but saw only the cold glint of determination as he stood over them, blade raised to end their lives.
"Goodbye mother." was all he said as he brought the blade down.
And was thrown across the clearing as an iron grip had grabbed him by the back of the neck and sent him flying. Blinking in shock Naruto looked up to see Jiraiya standing there, anger on his face as he stood between Naruto and his defeated parents.