XIII Ninja
By James the Fox
Edited and Proofread by The 17th Immortal
Shadow: "Well… I'm broke."
Sora: "…Me too. Well, back to the grassy fields with me."
"And I'm back at last. Smash Brothers Brawl came out last week, as I'm pretty sure you know. I have spent much of my time before it released 'training' on Melee and much of the time afterwards playing it. It was TOTALLY worth the fifty dollars and six and a half hours it cost for me to get it at 12:01AM."
Sonic: "And he chose me as his main! WOO!"
"I don't care how annoying he is sometimes, since my play style fits perfectly into his control scheme."
Shadow: "Well… Let's get this story rolling. People have been waiting for this new chapter for months now."
"Okay… On to the Fic!"
The End of the Invasion! Tears, Regrets, and Reunions!
'Am I… dead?'
…
…
'No… I'm still alive… But not for long. Unless…'
…
…
'Wait… are those voices? Are they… the enemy?'
…
…
'Well… There's no point in not asking. If they're the enemy, then it doesn't matter either way. I'll be dead soon enough…'
"H-Hey! Is… Is someone th-there? I-I need medical attention!" The boy opened his eyes, and lay staring at the woman above him. He had seen her before… At the Exams! She was… Who was she? He noticed the symbol on her forehead protector, and inwardly screamed for joy. She was an ally!
"Fiona! I think we found him!" The girl called, presumably to a girl named… Fiona! The boy again mentally cheered. Fiona was here, too! And they'd been looking for him! That must mean…
"The b-battle… Is it…"
"Don't talk. I'm not really good at this, so I need to concentrate," the girl chastised as she started bandaging him. "Don't worry, we won."
"D-did Lady Remedi and Llednar send you… to find me?"
"Llednar did," Fiona said, finally coming into view. "He was worried about you. He has minor injuries, mostly from Rank 1 Omega, but he's fine."
"What about… Lady Remedi?"
"Well…"
Llednar ducked below a swipe from Beatrix's blade, countering with his own weapon. The Sand ninja smiled as she jumped over the blade and Llednar, swiping downwards as she did so only to be blocked by Llednar's gauntlet. The boy was beginning to take on a blue tint, but had no injuries. Llednar had been blocking and dodging every move she and Mitsurugi had made, while at the same time sending his own swift blade strokes.
"Not bad… If I was a lesser ninja, I'd be cut to ribbons by now. However…" She dodged left to avoid a kick from Llednar and slid into an offensive stance. "I am a Jōnin. Nothing is 'lesser' about me."
"Jōnin, eh?" Llednar raised an eyebrow as he dodged one of her slashing attacks while blocking Mitsurugi. "You look… a little young for that, hmmm?" She couldn't have been more than a couple months older than him, by his estimate. To be a Jōnin at that age…
"I got promoted just recently, really! We needed all the manpower we could get, you know, so I had to train really hard to reach this point!" she laughed as she grabbed Llednar's blade, careful not to let it cut her. "I'm actually surprised that you aren't a Jōnin yet, yourself! You have the skills for it!" She tried to pull Llednar to her but was thwarted in this attempt by a Gōkakyū no Jutsu, forcing her to dodge. Llednar breathed another blast of flame at Mitsurugi.
"I'm pretty good, but we in the Leaf Village don't rush our students to become Jōnin … I'll stay a Genin until I feel that I am ready… I still have a while until that happens."
"Sorry, kid, but I don't think you'll have the time for that…" Mitsurugi grinned as he dropped from above, intending to kill the red-clad ninja. Llednar smirked as he dodged.
"You want to die, then? I'll be happy to oblige… You are in range of my wrath. Fungekimaru! (Circle of Fury)" In what seemed like an eternity but was actually a second, a circle with intricate designs appeared beneath Llednar. All at once, a tangible, visible dome of killer intent pulsed from Llednar. Beatrix knew it was killer intent, even though she wasn't within the circle herself, because little bits of the dome left the circle and washed over her.
'To be able to release such killer intent dense enough to be visible to the naked eye… what the hell is that?' Beatrix watched in fascination at what happened next.
Mitsurugi was frozen under the sheer weight of the killer intent, and unable to move as Llednar prepared his next move. "And now… My rage… shall rip you to shreds! Katsuen (Ripcircle)! He threw the blade, which bounced about even while staying inside the circle, inflicting damage to anything it hit. It cut Mitsurugi many times before he finally got a hold of himself, and stumbled out of the circle, heavily wounded. As Llednar had promised, the samurai was cut deeply in numerous places.
"Well… That's something else," Beatrix marveled. "If we both get out of this alive, how about you teach me that?"
"Sorry, but it's something only my clan can use. Besides," Llednar smirked as he turned around. "You're going to die now." He hefted his sword. "Power of eradication, gather on the tip of this blade!" As it had in Neji's fight, energy stared to take physical form, flying about Llednar. Beatrix stepped back, not sure of what was happening but knowing she didn't like it a bit. She hurled kunai at Llednar, only for them to be deflected by the energy. "Hoist yourself to the brightest light…" Again, all the light, even sunlight, began to gravitate to the sword. "Then plunge into the deepest darkness!" All at once, the sources of light and darkness were reversed, and all felt their imminent death approach. Beatrix prepared to dodge. "OMEGA!" Llednar launched at the Sand Jōnin, only for her to barely dodge, a small amount of her hair trailing behind and consequently being hit. She felt some of her hair simply vanish into nothingness, and sighed in relief that he hadn't hit any other part of her instead. Of course, she noticed that parts of Llednar's arm were now exuding a blue, bloodlike liquid.
"Okay, I take it back… THAT'S something else," she said, staring at how close she had come to death. Llednar simply stood straight again and continued to fight.
Hinata dodged yet another large slash from Astaroth, and then substituted herself to avoid being cleaved in two by the follow-up attack. She gasped for air, tired out by the constant fighting. She KNEW where to hit him, but couldn't get an accurate attack in from that close. She slid down to a sitting position, only to feel something in her back pocket…
She remembered the light-emitting tags. Of course! She smiled, thinking herself quite the prankster. Perhaps Naruto-kun was rubbing off on her? She pulled out a tag and attached it to a kunai she found stuck in the tree she was on. She then jumped, activated the tag, threw the kunai, and closed her eyes. She heard screaming and cursing from the monster she was fighting.
'There! My chance!' Hinata jumped faster than she ever had in her life, making one final stab, hoping she was able to finish it. She stabbed Astaroth in the chest, and as soon as metal met flesh, she launched as many Hanesenbon as fast as she could, and pushed as much chakra as she could into the blade, damaging him as much as she could. Astaroth's laughter turned in screams, and finally into nothing. Hinata stared into the monster's eyes.
Astaroth, Satetsu no Banjin of Suna, was dead. She pulled Yoshitori from him, and let him fall to the ground below. She jumped down herself and, picking up Sasuke on the way, walked back to the village, dazed. Eventually, she came across a river. She smiled remembering it as the river that her team had cleaned up as part of a mission one day. She wearily walked to it and looked down, only to stare at her reflection.
She had seen, but not really registered the blood that had come out of Astaroth, just like she had ignored the blood on her blade. But now, looking at her dust-covered, bloodstained clothing, she looked nothing like the kind genin that had been here before to make it a better place. Instead… She had taken on the form of a soldier. A warrior. A killer.
A Shinobi.
Sasuke suddenly seemed heavier. She turned from the river, unable to keep looking at herself. She walked a while longer, before finally succumbing to exhaustion…
Naruto stood at last, and made several observations.
One, everything in his mind had become clearer. Certainly, those questions were still there, but.. He knew they could wait. He had his friends to help, and he wasn't going to let any stupid mysteries get in his way. He narrowed his eyes as he noticed Orochimaru beating at the Hokage, who seemed defenseless. As he gazed at the old man, Naruto noticed something. There seemed to be a slight haze of darkness around the man, mixed in with… chakra? Naruto wasn't sure how, but he KNEW that it was chakra mixed in with that darkness. He then realized that the mixture was coming from Orochimaru.
"Naruto? You okay?" Larxene asked.
'Never better,' Naruto replied. After all, he knew now, more than almost ever, just what it was that he had to do.
However, there was still the problem of how to do it. He was, for lack of a better word, wiped from his other battles. His chakra was as low as it could get, even with the Kyuubi's chakra… He had to move quickly and decisively. He reached into his pouch and withdrew a single kunai.
"You senile old man! You, the main pillar of this village!? Hah! I guess that pillar must be old, worn, and feeble, with so many termites inside it!" Orochimaru taunted. "Face it, Sarutobi-sensei, you're dead! You, not to mention Konoha, are both about to fall!"
"Not yet, they're not!" A kunai embedded itself in Orochimaru's back, and the Sound ninja stopped in his tracks. He looked behind him to see Naruto, hands engulfed in dark flames. However, now there were yellow ninja armguards which released a strange sort of light that mixed with the darkness. Naruto vanished and reappeared behind Orochimaru. "Dark Firaga!" Naruto launched a single flame from his hand which connected with the shocked Snake Sannin in the back, launching him forward and activating the pouch of explosive tags attached to the kunai lodged there.
"What was that?" Roxas asked incredulously. "That's not going to kill him!"
'Yeah, but it gives me time…' Naruto replied, turning to the Hokage as Orochimaru was recovering from the explosions. "He's right, you know, old man… I am a child born in darkness. Quoting Neji, I'd say it was my fate. Born just in time to have a thousand-year old demon sealed inside me… all these dark powers of mine… But it doesn't matter. I made a promise to myself: I'll never turn my back on my friends. So just wait a second… Let me do what only I, as a creature of the dark, can do…" He reached his trembling, tired hand out to the dark energy and, with all his remaining will and power, began to unravel it. "Let me guide you to the light…" As the last of the genjutsu faded away into nothingness, Naruto collapsed once more into unconsciousness..
Remedi gazed interestedly at the creature before her. The battle had gone about as she had expected, Ivy and Remedi each trying to land a deadly blow on each other. However, Siegfried had stayed behind, only watching, as though afraid to fight. However, when one of Remedi's attacks actually got through to Ivy, something in the swordsman… reacted to the blood that dripped from the sickle. Now, she stood before a large man with brown, grotesque skin, a large monstrous right hand (though it could more accurately be a claw), and two mouths opening from his ripped tunic. The creature laughed as it neared her.
"Your heart… Give me… Your HEART!" he roared as he swung his sword at Remedi, who blocked with her sickle. In a quick movement, she tied the sword up with her chain, and manipulated it just so that she could throw the weapon away from him.
"I am sorry, but my heart is still in use…" she apologized with a sarcastic smirk on her face as the weapon hit the ground several feet away. As her skin slowly turned a light blue, she lifted her weapon. "Now… Power of eradication, gather at the tip of this blade! Hoist yourself to the brightest light, then plunge into the deepest darkness! OMEGA!" Again, far faster than when Llednar performed it, light and dark reversed for but a second, and Remedi was but a blur.
All fighting stopped for but a minute, horrified by the monster's roar of pain.
"AAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The creature recoiled as a large chunk of its forearm and side dissolved into nothingness. Remedi fell to her knees, several large spots where her crystalline skin had been destroyed bleeding greatly. However, a small smile was on her face.
"Hm… it's been a long time since I've had to use Rank 2 Omega…"
"And you'll never use it again!" came Ivy's voice as her sword unexpectedly broke into pieces and flew at Remedi. She dodged several of them, but gasped at a small cut that hit her upper arm. Remedi retaliated by throwing her sickle at Ivy, manipulating the chain with her chakra to give the flying weapon more shots at the whip sword user.
"You'll learn that we of the Twem Clan do not easily fall to such—AGH!" Remedi stopped her attack and fell, clutching her arm and falling out of Omega's Influence.
"Lady Remedi!?quot; Llednar stopped his fight and gazed at his teacher. 'What happened? I have never seen her like this… Nothing's ever caused her to collapse like that…'
"You shouldn't let down your guard!" Beatrix warned as she lunged at Llednar, who hastily blocked and retaliated. "I don't like being ig—"
"Lady Beatrix!" Beatrix stopped her interjection and looked at the sand ninja who had just arrived. "We've got new orders! Lord Orochimaru and the Sound Ninja are fleeing, so we're retreating as well!" He looked at Mitsurugi. "That means you, as well!" Mitsurugi nodded, and left. Beatrix sighed.
"Well, Llednar, I guess— eh?"
Llednar had abandoned the battle and was charging to strike down Ivy, who was retreating with Siegfried, who had returned to normal, save for a few heavy wounds and a torn clothing.
"Take this! Katsuha!" Llednar threw his blade in the same incomplete version of his newest technique that he had used on Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. However, it lacked distance, and couldn't keep up with Ivy and Siegfried, who escaped his sight. "Dammit…" Llednar picked up his sword and ran back to Remedi. Beatrix was there, tending to the older woman.
"Hey…" she said, looking at the red-clad genin. "So… You get Ivy?"
"No," Llednar replied, a slight bitterness in his voice. "Is she alright?"
"I'm not sure… Well, I just wanted to say farewell. If we're lucky, this should be the end of conflicts with Konoha… Well, I must go. My platoon will be waiting for me. They'll think I'm dead before long… So long!" With that, Beatrix left the area. Llednar lifted his teacher up and carried her, best as he could, back into the Twem Compound. Waiting inside was the slightly battered, but not beaten trio of Fiona, Sakura, and a short armored man Llednar recognized as Knocfella, Fiona's personal tutor.
"Llednar! You're late!" Fiona pouted, but then noticed Llednar's baggage. "Is that… Remedi-sama?" Knocfella was quick to gather various members of the Twem-Porom branch. Llednar let them take Remedi from him and tend to his wounds, but glanced at Fiona.
"Fiona… Find Mid. He should be somewhere west of here. Take Sakura or someone from the Twem-Porom branch with you, just in case he needs medical attention. Now."
"Uh… Uh… Okay!" Fiona grabbed Sakura and ran off to search for Llednar's brother. Sakura raised an eyebrow at Fiona's hastiness.
"What's with you, Fiona? You don't usually take orders from anyone. Why obey that Llednar guy?"
"Because, if you haven't noticed, Llednar is the heir to the Twem Clan! Also… Uh…" Fiona blushed lightly.
"Eh? Don't tell me…? Ugh! That's sick!"
"What's sick?"
"Just… Ewwwww!" Sakura shivered as Fiona continued dragging her. Eventually, Fiona got what Sakura was freaking out about.
"…Hey! It's not sick at all! For your information, Sakura, many clans usually marry within their own families." Fiona objected, still running. "Besides, not everyone in the Twem Clan is related by blood. It's made up of many different families, and we tend to add new families all the time." She pouted. "Anyway… Llednar's not my type," she said, although it wasn't quite convincing. She eventually came to a stop near a bunch of beaten up buildings. "Okay, let's begin our search!"
"…And pretty soon, we heard your voice, Mid, and you know the rest," Fiona finished.
"So… Lady Remedi is injured?"
"I'm… really not sure how bad it is. She looks like she used Rank 2 Omega, but you know she can fight long after using that. The only other wound was a small cut on her upper arm… At least, the only other visible wound I saw…"
"What could have happened to her?" Mid asked, but Sakura hushed him again as she continued bandaging the blond genius up.
"Ugh…"
"Hey, he's waking up…"
"Give him some room…"
Naruto woke up on a hospital bed, groaning. He felt ridiculously tired. Standing in the room with him were Hinata, Llednar, Riku, Anko, Ibiki, and a medic ninja. Most had various injuries and were dirty. Hinata looked far more than a little shaken and had very bloody clothing on, and Llednar looked odd. But at any rate… they were alive!
"Did… we win?"
"Yeah," Riku said with a detached tone in his voice. Naruto brightened up at once, raising a fist in victory.
"Hah! I thought so! After all, it was that snake freak against me and the old man! He didn't stand a chance, heh!" Naruto punched the air a few times. "So… Where is he?"
Utter silence. After a few seconds, Naruto asked again.
"So? Where's the old man? He won, right? So I'd think he'd be somewhere nearby!"
"Naruto…" Riku started, but Ibiki cut him off.
"The Sandaime is dead."
Naruto instantly froze, and a gagging sound could be heard. After a few minutes, Naruto felt he could trust his voice, and responded.
"You… You're kidding, right? I can't believe… No way! He's… dead? But how?"
Riku looked away. "We're… not sure what happened, exactly. However… it looks like the Hokage had used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. Do you know what that is, Naruto?"
"No… Should I?"
"…It's the same seal that placed your prisoner inside you," Riku said after a bit of hesitation. Orochimaru had been seen fleeing the village, in great pain and his arms hanging limply. My guess is, the Hokage had tried to seal Orochimaru away with that jutsu. But something happened, and it caused him to fail, or at least not completely succeed."
"We were hoping that you might know what happened," Ibiki continued.
"Oh… Well… I don't. We were in there, and… something happened… and it kinda kept me out of it for a while. Anyway, when I came to, I saw the Hokage and Orochimaru battling it out, and I noticed that Orochimaru was using some kind of darkness-based jutsu to blind the old man, and I-"
"Wait a moment," Ibiki raised an eyebrow. "Darkness-based jutsu?"
"Naruto, how do you know that Orochimaru was using a darkness-based jutsu?" Riku asked.
"I'm… Not sure, but it felt like one, to me…" Naruto scratched his head.
"Hmm… Naruto, summon your Weapon of the Heart."
"What?"
"Do it. Now." Naruto obliged, and the claws appeared. However, In addition to the bandages that usually covered his hands, there were now faded yellow arm guards. Looking closely, he saw, albeit faintly, the emblem of the Nobodies on the forearm part, while the Konoha symbol was emblazoned on the back of the hand.
"So… Your trial has come and gone… That would explain the heightened sensitivity…" Riku murmured under his breath. He thought for a short while before asking in a loud voice, "You're a Guardian now, right, Naruto?" Naruto jumped a bit before nodding, knowing what Riku was asking. "Interesting… Continue with your story."
The medic ninja shuffled some papers.
"Anyway… I was pretty tired, so I really wasn't able to do much, except distract Orochimaru with some explosive tags and break the old man out of the jutsu. After that, I just… well…" He blushed. "I kinda passed out, I guess. Next thing I know, I'm here."
"…I see. Is that everything?" Ibiki asked.
"Yeah."
"Hmm… I'll file this with the council." Ibiki turned and left.
"So, guys…" Naruto asked. "What happened?"
"I dealt with a bunch of ninja, nothing too exciting," Riku said.
"I had a close call or two, but same as Riku," Anko shrugged.
Hinata looked away, and Llednar made no response, both lost in their own thoughts.
"…I still can't believe it. He's really…"
"Yeah," Riku said. He could see the shock settling in, slowly. Naruto had seen death before, back on the bridge, but… He'd never truly lost anyone close to him like this. Hinata had been close, but now… "The funeral is in two days. Wear something appropriate. Training sessions are canceled, for now. That's all." Riku opened a portal and left.
It was going to be a long two days.
Strangely enough, those two days passed by like a flash for Konoha. The village itself seemed to move at a breakneck pace to make the village at least somewhat presentable for the ceremony. However, it was at those last few hours before the funeral that time seemed to come to a screeching halt.
Naruto couldn't take it, so instead of using darkness to transform his clothing into the usual attire for mourning, he simply pestered Neji into giving him a spare set, and walked instead of warping. With several hours before the funeral, Naruto walked about town, and found himself at his old apartment. This was the home the Hokage had given him. The home he had been attacked in and therefore removed from.
He still had the keys, and he sensed no one inside, so he entered.
Not much had changed, other than the lack of furniture that was now in his new abode in the Hyuuga Compound. The only thing different than he remembered was the bloodstained wall in his bedroom. Sighing, he left and continued walking.
At length, he found himself at a very familiar place. The cherry tree was still in bloom, but some of the flowers drooped, as if in mourning as well. Naruto frowned, remembering what had been said at the Station of Balance.
"This place holds much significance to you. It is the place where the Kyuubi was sealed into you. It is the place where you grew, and became strong. It is the place where you met the first one you called 'friend'. It is where destiny will bring you, again and again and again, until the very end."
He smirked. "Until the very end, huh?" He threw a fist forward, then suddenly realized the time. "…Guess I should get going…" At that, he turned and walked to the funeral site.
Llednar felt… odd. Remedi was still in bed, not well enough to come to the funeral. No one knew just what was wrong with her. Their best doctors could only blame poison as the issue. The type of poison was… different than anything they had ever seen before. And without that vital knowledge… there was no cure. He shook those dark thoughts from his head.
"No. She is too strong… She will not fall to this. Never."
"Wasn't the Hokage 'too strong', too?" Mid asked grimly, leaning against a pillar. "Even with all my knowledge in various fields of science, even I couldn't figure out what was ailing her, Llednar. The only one who could save her now… would have to be the Legendary Sannin, the Slug Mistress Tsunade, and she's who knows where by now. I hate to say it, but every logical choice we have that can save her is out of our reach. It will take something illogical, a miracle." Mid bowed his head. "…What will you do, Llednar, if worse comes to worse?"
"…You know full well what I would do."
Riku looked up at the downpour above him. All to the left, and all to the right, there were people, his kinsmen, he could say, weeping for a kind soul that had died so that others could live. He saw, to his left, Naruto speaking with his old teacher, Iruka.
"To die for a cause… That's the most important thing?"
"That's right… When someone dies… Their past, their present, and their future no longer matters. Their dreams are gone… Except in the hearts of the people they leave behind."
"That's right…" Riku said. "A strong, smart person once told me: 'Although my heart may be weak, it's not alone. It's grown with each new experience. And it's found a home with all the friends I've made. I've become a part of their heart, just as they've become a part of mine. And if they think of me now and then, if they don't forget me, then our hearts will be one.' Even though he's gone now, a small part of him will always be a part of me. Not even death can stop that bond. The Third Hokage, I think, realized that a long time ago. His heart is a part of you too, right Naruto?"
Naruto smiled a small bit, and replied: "Yeah."
Roxas looked to the sky of Naruto's Heart, dressed in a black version of his old street clothing. The Organization had changed out of their coats and into simpler black garb in recognition of the event.
"It is a shame…" Xemnas muttered. "We never got to properly talk with that old man…" He closed his eyes. Regret… In a way, it was the worst part of having a heart. "He was very much like our old master…" Over the past two days, he had been thinking back to that man, who had suffered and even died because of him. What was worse, that man had taken him in when he was just Xehanort, an amnesiac young man. And here, The Third Hokage had always seemed to look out especially for Naruto… The parallel was odd, but he shook it off. Naruto would never betray his friends. He was nothing like Xehanort, who was so easily lured into the evil path that Xemnas regretted so…
"I'll see ya later, Iruka-sensei!" Naruto smiled as he left to head back to the Hyuuga Compound with Hinata.
"Things will be different now…" Hinata said, still shaken from the events of the battle. It wasn't a question.
"Yeah, but we've got the skill to take it on, easy!" Naruto grinned, giving the thumbs up. "You, me, Llednar, and Riku. Together, we can take anything!"
However, he did not yet know what was about to come…
"Tch. It looks like we're a little late… Guess we don't need to destroy what's already heavily damaged…"
"…This village is at the end of its golden age… Don't pity it."
"…You miss your old village?"
"No… Not at all."
"Yep, no preview for next chapter this time. I'm just gonna leave you all with the suspense. Hahahahaha–"
Special Secret: Dark Horizons: XIII Ninja
A lone man stood in the forest, creatures of darkness fading about him.
"This… Are you sure this information is accurate?"
He looked up at a sudden sound, and narrowed his eyes.
"Why? Why are you so weak?"
A man in a coat held a young boy against a wall. Red eyes pierced red eyes, and the horror began.
"I'll finally kill you, Orochimaru-sensei…"
A blond woman in black clashed with a white-haired boy, each trying to destroy the other.
"You have 5 minutes to live. Say your prayers."
A sword clashed with another, which broke into several pieces connected by chakra string.
"It is because… You still lack hate."
The two boys stood off against each other on each side of a vast river below a waterfall. One was trying to kill his opponent, the other to rescue his friend.
"Naruto… Why did you…"
One of the boys fell to his knees from a horrid wound, and they exchanged words.
"If this is what you want… Then have at it."
"I seek the power to achieve my goal, and now, I will gain that power!"
Finally, the boy still standing prepared to deal his finishing blow…
"Naruto!"
"…Okay, who showed that?"
Everyone: (pointing to Voldemort.)
"…Burn."
Voldemort: (Bursts into flame.)
"Anyway… I guess I'll see you all next chapter."