Chapter 25
"Hello princess, it's been awhile, hasn't it?" Madara smirked. His face was unmasked for the first time in front of Kisame. He seemed so very proud of himself. "I've missed my little play thing."
I growled at the comment. "I'm not some play toy!" I shouted at him. He had the nerve to laugh. I had to restrain myself from attacking him right then and there.
"Oh, did I hit a nerve, princess?" he snickered. He scanned the area. "I see the gang's all here. We're just missing that Hatake brat, and we all can have a happy reunion." I felt Mitchell next to me flinch slightly. I was going to ask him what was wrong, when pain shot through the mark on my upper stomach.
I bit back the scream that clawed at my throat from the pain. Had I not been sitting already, I would've fallen to my knees from the pain of it. My senses numbed, so Madara's laughter sounded so faint. I felt the crystal orb of the Junibi heat up as if it was trying to fight its way out to protect me.
"Ah, so it affects the Takeo brat as well. This makes things so much easier!" From my blurred vision, he looked like he was going insane. Suddenly, the pain increased ten-fold. The scream I was holding back finally broke free from my throat. I heard both Mitchell and my own voice mix in the air.
A voice resounded in my head, "Put chakra into the scream." I could not recognize it, but I did as it said. Mitchell must have heard the same voice since I sensed him doing the same as I was. My vision was still blurred, but I saw Madara kneel slightly holding what seemed to be his ears. The pain in my stomach began to recede.
My senses slowly returned to me as I stopped the scream. "You bitch!" he screamed. His Sharingan glared straight at me. Thankfully, I had activated mine, so I managed to break the Genjutsu he was trying to put me in.
Seeing that the attack failed, he charged toward me, drawing his sword. Kisame and Itachi cut him off before he could reach me. While those two had him distracted, which wasn't for long, Sasuke charged from behind. There was nothing I could do to stop him from attacking.
With the power of the Rinnegan, he pushed Kisame and Itachi away from him. Itachi was thrown into Sasuke. The two crashed into a nearby tree. I struggled back to my feet to avoid the oncoming slaughter awaiting me. I barely managed to move in time to avoid the swing of his sword. But, he still possessed the Rinnegan.
"Not so fast, princess!" he growled, using the Rinnegan to pull me towards him. His sword was raised as if awaiting my impalement.
The voice I heard before returned. "Trust your instincts. Trust me," it said. I closed my eyes and allowed instinct to take over.
At the very moment, my eyes opened and I heard several gasps around me. I grabbed the sword and positioned it facing Madara. Instead of impaling me, he ended up impaling himself. Since I hadn't had much time to position it anywhere fatal, it had gone through his side.
Gasping in pain, he threw his sword and me away from him. When he adjusted to the pain, his eyes, wild with hatred, glared at me. I stumbled back onto my feet. His eyes widened for a split second before returning to the glare. He charged again.
Once again, I let my instincts take over. His eyes pushed me towards him again but this time he used Amaterasu against me. Instinctively, I performed Suiton: Mizurappa (Water Release: Water Trumpet). I used my own Mangekyou to get rid of the Amaterasu. When I finally impacted Madara, I drenched him with the water.
I jumped back as Sasuke hit him with a Chidori powered fist. The electricity plus the water made contact and Madara began to scream in pain, which was weird because normally he would've just let that faze through him. He seemed off for some reason. It seemed Itachi sensed that, too.
I retrieved my sword quickly as he recovered from the shock. However, I could tell that he was recovering faster than normal shinobi. I looked to the place where I stabbed him only to find that it had been healed. Despite the fact that Madara was nowhere near his average level of power, it did not mean that this battle would be easy. It probably made it easier, but I'm still not sure I can make it out of this battle alive.
Mitchell and I began our tag-team at this point. I raced towards Madara behind Mitchell. When Madara began pushing Mitchell away, I grabbed Mitchell's hand and felt the push that came with it turn into a pull. He was trying to pull me in and push Mitchell out, but the thing was, I had chakra-powered grip on Mitchell. I swung Mitchell and threw him towards Madara at a much faster pace then he was drawing me in.
Mitchell used his own sword and stabbed it into Madara's shoulder. Madara's grip on me fell and I hit the ground with a thud. I quickly scrambled onto my feet and stabbed my sword forward to go through his other shoulder. But, as the tip met his skin, his body left its solid form and I fazed right through. Mitchell, along with his sword, hit the ground. He solidified and kicked Mitchell away.
"You can't win, princess. No matter what you and your little boyfriend try, you won't be able to defeat me. Not until I'm dead will this battle end," Madara sneered. He began to cough, and I noticed blood coming up as well. "…Impossible…" he just about whispered with wide eyes.
"That's a little gift from me to you," Itachi finally piped up from Kisame's side behind Madara's back. "Did you honestly think that during all those years by your side I didn't have a plan?"
"What is this?" Madara snapped. He wheeled around to face Itachi. While his attention was focused elsewhere, I went over and helped Mitchell back onto his feet.
Kisame smirked for Itachi. "Thanks to the few missions I took with Sasori. I transferred some of my diseased blood into you. You now have my disease. The more damage you take, the more painful the disease will become. Thankfully for me, I've been cured," Itachi explained. I had no idea he had done this.
Madara roared in anger. His eyes held the look of a crazed rabid squirrel. He was slipping. I was sure of it. I made brief eye contact with him and found myself thrown into a dimly lit room.
Where am I? I scanned the room to the best of my ability. The only light present was a small night-light sized ball of fire burning in the corner of the room. The room was entirely white. I had to admit, the room did not seem threatening, and I almost felt at ease in the room. But, coming from the fight, I still had adrenaline pumping through my veins simply from the look he gave me.
"Ah, you have finally stepping into my domain. It's been years Bailey. The last time I saw you, you were just a baby," the voice I heard in my head said. This time, however, it wasn't in my head.
"Who are you, and what am I doing here?" I called out loud. An elegant woman in an all white flowing gown entered. She had flowing white hair as well.
"You're a smart girl. You should guess who I am," she replied. Her eyes were a blue with a pale yellow ring around the outside of the iris. It reminded me so much of Mitchell's Senkengan. Still, I found myself knowing exactly who she was.
"Junibi no Ookami…" I breathed out. A gentle smile graced her beautiful features, and I found myself captured simply by her beauty.
"I know you're wondering why I brought you here, especially at such an important point in that fight. However, I must explain to you one thing first. It's about your mother," she informed. "Please come and take a seat." She motioned to her left. The room seemed to brighten just with that gesture.
There was a grassy field to my right now. A white blanket lay on the grass. I hesitantly made my way over to it. I knew I shouldn't be nervous, but who isn't when in the presence of a demon, good or bad.
Now, Ookami did not look like a wolf. In fact she looked like what I would expect a goddess to look like. There weren't any furry ears or bushy tails. She was just a regular woman. But, I could sense that deep down she could probably kill me with just a snap of those delicate fingers of hers.
She came over and sat down next to me, summoning up a plate of small sandwiches. "You're mother was such a nice woman. Had she been my host, I don't doubt I would be used for good. And you are so much like her," she reminisced.
"I've been told many times," I replied taking a bite out of one of the sandwiches.
"It's all thanks to your mother I chose to except you as my host," she began to explain. "Hiruzen wished to improve the relationship with the Uchiha clan. Of course Fugaku instantly jumped at the opportunity. I had been sealed away by the Sage of the Seven Paths for many years. Not once had I been given a host. I was given to the Uchiha. I swear Fugaku was slightly relieved Mikoto was pregnant even though you weren't his," she continued.
I could definitely see that happening. My stepfather would always jump at the option of power. He had run the Uchiha uprising, even though I had a fair idea that it was Madara who had put the idea into his head. My mother, on the other hand, was an independent woman, but her love for me, for my brothers, and for my stepfather could not see that he was going to cause them to fail.
"When Fugaku told her about what he planned to do with me, your mother begged him not to. She did not want you to go through the same thing she had already seen Kyubi's host- I'm sorry- Naruto go through. When he refused to see reason, she took it into her own hands. She knew I probably wouldn't accept you, so during the sealing, she entered my domain and begged me to," she continued to explain. "I'm not a mean demon. I pitied her, I admit, but it's thanks to her you are here. And I've never regretted it."
She reached up and gently caressed my face. "If only your mother could see you now. After spending 15 years with you, I've come to see you as my pup and me as your mother. I know I can never truly be your mother, but I will never betray you. You can trust me. And as long as there's still life in me, I won't let you die," she leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "Just remember that."
I opened my eyes. Madara was once again charging at me. "…Trust me…" echoed through my head. I caught the fist thrown at me. I felt the crystal orb heat up once more. I knew not to break it. A demon is still a demon, and unleashed can cause great destruction to everyone around.
"Mitchell, please help me…" I called over to him. Madara and I continued our hand-to-hand combat. He really is slipping. I'd never seen him so angry, and so off. I saw Mitchell be pushed away from me. His head connected with a nearby tree. I could tell he lost consciousness. I saw him di the same to my three brothers, Itachi, Sasuke and Kisame. This was now my fight and my fight alone.
His anger finally exploded out onto me. He grabbed me by my neck and slammed me into the trunk of a tree. I literally heard a crack. Of what, I don't know, but it didn't sound pleasant. I screamed out in pain as I felt chakra explode. I'm not quite sure if it was my own or his. All I know is that it hurt like hell.
I began to see white spots in my vision. I heard him cry out in pain. He continued to scream, and his hold around my neck loosened and I fell to the ground. My vision began to fade into black. My legs could no longer support me. Ookami, why aren't you helping me? You said you wouldn't let me die.
I can feel my life slipping away. Ookami, you liar, you said you'd protect me. All my senses faded to nothing. Is this the end? Is Madara dead? Mitchell, please… help… me…
"…Trust me…"
This is not quite the end. I just have the epilogue to write and finally after three years, I am done with this. I hope you're all as excited as I am. I wrote this entire thing today, so I hope it meets the standard. Anyway, please review!