Chapter 25: Of Demons
Well, I finally finished the chapter! It only took me an entire weekend of shutting myself inside my bedroom with my trusty old (non internet capable) laptop to finish the damned thing! :( But I did get it done! Most of my friends are probably thinking I'm an antisocial little jerk now, but... whatever... I still got it done! I'll just see them tomorrow... :P
Well, I'm happy it's finally up. I changed this up six ways to Sunday... and I finally like this chapter! The others were slightly more than really weird and messy to me. Now it isn't, thank God. So I hope you guys enjoy this... :)
To McKazekage: hehe, I wanted a brother-sister bonding moment. I don't think they had enough of those in the manga... it was mostly brother-brother bonding moments. And I'm glad I got that part right! I wasn't sure if I got it across that he was really fucked up... To TheGirlWithNoIQ: happy to know that my interpretation of Gaara is that cool to you! I didn't want to make Sasuke weird or really angry like in all of the other FanFic's I've read with Sasuke as a main character. And thanks! :D
DISCLAIMER: still don't and never will own Naruto. Just the story.
On with the chappy!
Zetsu knew what he was about to do was wrong. He knew that on a moral standing, he should be sick with himself. He should be refusing what he was about to do. But, the problem with Zetsu was that even though he knew some of the things he did was morally wrong, he went ahead and did them anyways, because it was what his comrades wanted. Zetsu had always been the type of person to only think of his comrades, not of other people in ninja society.
So this didn't bother him in the least. It didn't make him feel physically sick to harm innocents in the dead of night; literally while they rested. It was what 'Madara' wanted, and therefore it would be what he got. So Zetsu had quickly and efficiently spread his tag bombs around the base of the building, undetected due to the fact that he could travel in the ground if need be. He placed his bombs on the gas tanks, on the support beams, on the electrical lines. Anything that would cause disruption and chaos.
He'd felt gleefully complete when his hard work finally exploded, the screams of many slicing through the air sharply. The fear slid through his 'skin' and sent shivers up and down his body, and he bit his lip to keep in the yelp of excitement he felt due to what he'd just done. He was reveling in this, in this moment.
In the terror he was causing.
The flames were more than visible from his place on the top of the Hokage monument. Hell, it was probably visible from all nearby villages. Not such a hidden village anymore, he thought snidely, crossing his arms over chest in satisfaction. 'Madara' wanted to drive home the fact that he could strike anytime he wanted, and there'd be no way they could stop him. The only way to do that was through pure terror, and the best way to do that was through Zetsu, he could slip in anywhere without so much as a trace. He was an impossibility to follow, and therefore the best terrorist he could think of.
And Zetsu was glad—no, proud; he was proud that he had been given such a task, a task to cause chaos in Konohagakure. He watched the fire grow in intensity, and spotted multiple shinobi on the rooftops, headed towards the source of the flames. He knew that he'd picked a good spot—after all, who was going to ignore a fire at a hospital?
Zetsu jumped off of the monument, knowing he would be ignored due to the importance of the burning hospital. He ran through freely, not bothering to hide. He'd received a curious request from 'Madara', one that he found to be quite odd indeed; but decided that the masked man knew best. He landed on the rooftop of the Uchiha compound, noting with disgust the chaos within. Konoha certainly hadn't tried to keep the home in even a semi-good state.
He forced the disparaging thoughts towards the Leaf village out of his head, reminding himself that in a couple of days it would no longer matter about the state of the house. Soon, none of his activities would no longer matter, so why focus on such a frivolous topic? He shook his head. There is no point. There are always going to be casualties when getting what is needed. He jumped off of the rooftop with that thought in mind, heading for the emptied police station.
"Kankurō, come here." He looked up from the colorful pictures that Baki-sensei had developed for the two-year-old in order to describe ninjutsu arts to the boy, knowing he wouldn't understand the intensive paragraphs written in the scrolls. His father stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest. Diligently, the boy jumped down from his bed and walked over to his father, confused as to why he was coming to speak with him. His father crouched down to be eye-level with his son, mud brown eyes trained on the boy.
"Otousan?" asked Kankurō, "What are you doing?"
"Do you love your Okaasan, Kankurō?" asked the Fourth Kazekage of his young son, his first born son. Kankurō nodded his head excitedly, smiling widely. The Kazekage smiled faintly and patted his son's head softly. "That is a good thing."
"Why?" asked Kankurō, confused by the entire conversation, his smile slipping off of his face.
The Kazekage smiled at his young son's confused face. "Because… because I might not always be there for her… I want to know that she has people that love her…"
"What?! Otousan won't always be with Okaasan?" asked Kankurō, frightened by his father's words. Kankurō grabbed at the Kazekage's robes, his little hands making wrinkles in the fabric. The Kazekage looked down at his son, confused greatly by his son's actions. Kankurō's eyes brimmed with tears. "But… Otousan is powerful! Otousan is really strong! Otousan can't die!"
"You think I am strong?" asked the Kazekage, chuckling slightly and shaking his head. "I am not."
"Otousan won't die! Not without Okaasan! Because Otousan and Okaasan are in love!" cried Kankurō. "The hero always gets the princess, Otousan! They always get a happy ending!"
"I think I've read him one too many fairy tales, Kazekage-sama," interrupted Yashamaru, who walked in on the conversation. He picked up his near-tears nephew, rubbing his back in consolation. He smiled softly down at the young boy's tearing face. "Karura has been asking for you this morning, Kazekage-sama. She is greatly worried."
"Why? Is there something wrong with the baby?" asked the Kazekage, standing upright quickly.
Yashamaru laughed lightly. "No, no, the baby is fine right now. She is simply worried about you working too much. She knows you are under a lot of stress sometimes, and she doesn't want you to overstretch yourself. She thinks that you need to take moments to relax sometimes."
The Kazekage chuckled darkly, surprising Kankurō with his sudden change in emotion. "I don't see how I can relax, considering what we have to do to the baby. In a few months, we will have a child with that thing inside of him. I don't want to know what will happen, but I am anxious to see it. I am afraid…"
"Don't be scared!" cried out Kankurō, surprising both adults with his loudness. His eyes were brimming with tears once more, overcome with emotion. "I'll protect you, Otousan! From anything! I promise!"
The Kazekage looked down at his youngest child, and then he suddenly smiled widely, unusually so for him. He rubbed his son's soft hair. "I don't doubt it, Kankurō. You have the heart of a protector, and you make me the proudest father." He kissed the boy's forehead, causing Kankurō's heart to swell with pride. "You'll be an excellent shinobi someday."
Kankurō's eyes snapped open, finding himself disturbed by a hand patting his chest softly. He frowned up at the face of Nara Shikamaru, who stood in his tent like it was no weird thing. Like it was not an odd thing to be half-naked in the tent belonging to the Sabaku siblings. Kankurō's eyes widened with realization of what must've happened during the night, while he was asleep. Temari was just the right amount of wrong to be able to do it without thinking of consequences, and Shikamaru was just the right amount of asshole to not care about them. He smirked down at the older male, amused by his reaction. "You didn't wake up once," he commented easily.
"AH, YOU BASTARD!" screamed out Kankurō, lunging at Shikamaru, grabbing him by the neck and attempting to strangle the shadow user. Shikamaru was still smirking, despite the fact that he was turning purple. "You and her are disgusting! Why would you even… oh, God, you didn't touch me at all, did you?!"
"We lightly brushed against you on our way into bed, but you didn't really wake up. You just fidgeted and curled up. Nothing major," said Temari, who had just walked back into the tent to find her younger brother attempting to choke her boyfriend. She sighed, staring down at them with nothing more than disdain and light amusement. "You didn't wake up. You didn't see anything. So why are you freaking out? You told me to be with Shikamaru…"
"I meant in his tent, you bitch! Not in ours! And it's disgusting! You're my sister, for Chrissakes, I don't like waking up to half-naked boys who've just spent time with you! God!" yelled out Kankurō, letting go of Shikamaru and standing up, rubbing the bridge of his nose, eyes closing. "Have you no shame, Temari?"
Shikamaru grinned. "Well, that just made my morning," he said in a roughened tone due to his nearly being choked. He rubbed his reddened neck, standing up and going over to his girlfriend, kissing her forehead softly. "They just called for you two. I was just trying to wake up your brother is all, since you weren't here." She smiled softly; appreciating the both the thoughfulness and the mischief contained in what Shikamaru had done that morning. "I'll see you later. I'm needed somewhere, until about twelve. I think I'm getting dispatched. I'll let you know for sure later."
She nodded and kissed Shikamaru on the lips. "Okay. Don't do anything stupid," she said with a small smile. Kankurō smirked at the pair, crossing his arms over his chest. It was sometimes nice to see his sister with Shikamaru— she was never so happy with anyone else. It was incredibly nice to see her like this. So calm. So at ease.
"Can't promise anything," he said, kissing her back softly. "Don't be troublesome."
"Can't promise anything," she echoed.
"We've received word that there has been a bombing in Konohagakure last night, at the hospital," deadpanned Tsunade grimly in front of the group of shinobi she had gathered. She looked like she had the worst night of her life, which was probably the case—medical sciences had always been close to her heart, even when she had an acute fear of blood years ago. "They are still looking, but as so far, there's only been eight reported dead with a total of three hundred people actually within the premises of the hospital, but there is also seventy people critically injured."
Kankurō's eyes widened upon the news, surprised that somebody would be idiotic enough to attack Konohagakure of all places. He knew it as it was: an attempt to cause chaos and disruption in the alliance. It was an attempt to strike fear in the heart of the most powerful shinobi village in the modern day. "Wasn't… wasn't Neji in the hospital…?" he asked. Though he still didn't quite like Neji, he did come to respect him. A comrade, really, nothing more; but it did mean he was concerned over his well being.
"No, not last night," said Tsunade, shaking her head, "He was successfully discharged two nights ago, according to my staff. Apparently, he had bitched them out." Kankurō raised an eyebrow and chuckled slightly. Of course he would. He was bitching about not being discharged in time to find Hina-chan before we left Konoha…
"We've already started evacuation to facilities in the Hidden Rain," noted Gaara. "They're not great like some others, but they had the most space. Your patients will be alright in their care. But I think we need to assign people to watch over them, assure they'll be completely alright."
"Kumo will take care of it," interjected the Raikage, A, with his broad arms crossed over his chest; his frown deeply set. The man was intimidating enough to not leave any room for argument. Gaara raised his hairless brow before letting it drop, seeing all the benefits of having those whose affinity was that of lightning in a village with nothing but rain.
"I will also assign a couple of my best of my shinobi to aide them, if need be," said Mei, the Misukage softly, earning a slight nod of respect and acknowledgement from A.
"Thank you both," said Tsunade appreciatively, nodding at the pair. "I will set some of my shinobi to protect my village. I feel that any terror that will be inflicted at the hands of the Akatsuki will be towards Konoha, so I feel it will be best."
"Some of my shinobi will be sent to you as well," said Gaara, eyes closing with thought. "I have feelings that our villages will be targeted the most out of all the hidden villages. I feel that we need both skills in order to protect efficiently. I understand this will be difficult, due to mixed feelings amongst some of our villagers due to the happenings of the coup. However, we must do this in order to survive this war."
"I understand as well. But they're going to have to work with it anyways," said Tsunade with a smirk. She flicked a glance at Kakashi. "You're in charge of the Konohagakure defenses, Hatake Kakashi. You'll work with Hyūga Hiashi and a diplomat of Kazekage-sama's choosing."
"My student, Matsuri," defined Gaara, "She may be a Genin, but do not let that make you think she is in any way incompetent." Kakashi paused for a minute, fully thinking over Gaara's words, and nodded, agreeing to what Tsunade wanted him to do. Gaara opened his jade eyes and looked over at his sister. "I put you in charge of Suna defenses, with Baki-sensei, and a diplomat of Tsunade's."
"Aburame Shino," said Tsunade, "He's one of my best trackers. His bugs are very good at what they do, and beyond that, he's a very capable strategist when need be. He's also easy to work with. I feel you will deal with him well."
Temari nodded; obviously slightly disappointed she hadn't appointed Shikamaru to the position. Kankurō couldn't help but grin slightly at her downtrodden expression, but he didn't note on it. Kankurō ceased listening from there, merely sitting and pretending to be attentive to the battle plans. He honestly couldn't care less; he simply wanted to find Hinata. He just wanted her back.
"All of you, with the exception of Kankurō, are dismissed," said Gaara, surprising him slightly. Kankurō let an eyebrow rise, and he flicked a glance at his sister, who merely shrugged. He watched as the large tent emptied out, leaving him alone with the Five Kages. "As you should be aware, you went unmentioned."
Was I? Well, shit, he thought. "Of course."
"That is because we have a special plan for you. We want you to end this war within the week. We need you to find the hidden base of the Akatsuki and take back those four shinobi. According to our newest asset, all four of them play specific roles to the leader's plans, and it's best to take them before he can get to use them—which is very soon," said Gaara, watching his brother's expression. Kankurō's eyes narrowed with concentration, fully thinking.
"I need all the details," he said slowly and seriously, "You can't just give me half-assed bullshit under-descriptions and expect me to be able to think of strategies, or even create a team. The team needs to be based on the assets needed for this mission. I need to know all the details, which brings me back to my statement. I need all the details." He rubbed the tip of his nose and looked at the five Kage. "We points to they play? Just tell me, in layman's terms."
"Do you really want to know?" asked Tsunade in a low voice.
No, he thought as he nodded. "Yes. Tell me everything."
Tsunade sighed. "You're not going to like it…"
"With all due respect, Lady Tsunade, I don't give a flying fuck," sighed Kankurō. He looked over at his younger brother, whose eyes hadn't moved off of him. "Gaar. Tell me. Please."
Gaara sighed now, and let his eyelids slide shut. "They're going to combine all nine of the tailed beasts to make the Jūbi. They're not going to forcibly rip out the Nine-Tails from Naruto first; they're going to have him at the center of the beast. If Naruto is alive in this, then they can use the First Hokage's means of controlling the Nine-Tails, which therefore means that the person casting the First Hokage's jutsu will control all of the beasts. Hinata is the person they're using for that means. According to our contact, they've already transferred some more of the genetics of the First Hokage into her body, giving her access to the technique.
"They're going to use Shikaru to launch full-scaled decimation upon Konoha, which is why they took him. We're not completely sure how they're going to go about releasing the side of him that they need, but we're still readying the village for any and all attacks as a precaution. We've seen the damage this kid can do."
The Tsuchikage snorted. "We is a slightly strong exaggeration. I'm the one who's lost many valuable shinobi at his hands," he pointed out with a grumble.
"I apologize on the Kazekage's behalf," said the Misukage, who could plainly see that all Gaara wanted to do was use his sand burial technique on the shorter old man besides him, a vein bulging in his temple. If Kankurō wasn't so stunned by the information he was receiving about his mission, he would've been laughing his ass off for sure at his younger brother's face. "Please, Lord Gaara, continue with the mission outline."
"Thank you, Lady Mei," said Gaara gruffly, still greatly annoyed. "While all of these are great concerns, it is the fate of Sasuke that worries us most. Our contact has stressed this point greatly, expressing his worry, and I don't doubt that what he says to us is nothing but the truth. According to the contact, it appears that they're going to use Sasuke's body as a container for Uchiha Madara."
"What for?" Kankurō finally gasped out.
"They want to use the eye of the Jūbi to enact the Eye of the Moon plan. They're going to attempt to put the entire shinobi world into a genjutsu into what the masked man believes a perfect world to be."
"Is something like that even possible?" asked Kiba skeptically, arms crossed over his chest. He looked at his friend, who was deadly serious.
"It might be," said Kankurō, rubbing the back of his neck. "I dunno. It seems like a long shot to me, to be able to resurrect some guy who's been dead since before our grandparents were even born. But, then again, we do live in a world where we store actual demons within our friends and families. Who's to say that you can't do the same thing with a man like Uchiha Madara?"
"I hear what you're saying, but I just find it to be incredibly ridiculous," said Kiba. "Because he's really fucking dead…"
"It doesn't matter whether or not we find it to be true, but the fact of the matter is that those are our friends in there," interrupted Nara Shikamaru, sighing. "And they're going to be used for something that puts the entire world as we know it in danger." Kankurō looked at the younger male, noting how unusually serious and attentive Shikamaru looked at the moment. His jaw was hard set, and his eyes narrowed. It slightly scared him to see Shikamaru so serious.
Kiba sighed. "So, what… do you have a set team in mind? Or is just us four?" he asked.
"No, it's more than us," said Kankurō, "They've already assigned us the recently-acquired information bank. He's to lead us to the hideout that they're using. I'm bringing Kiba and Akamaru along because, quite frankly, I don't know whether or not to trust him. With your tracking skills, you two will best be able to detect whether or not he's leading us in the right direction. And I'm bringing Shikamaru because I've seen him in action at the Chūnin exams years ago. It takes a damn smart guy to take out my sister, and an even smarter guy to be able to be in a relationship with her and not be injured pretty much twenty-four-seven."
"Anyone else?" asked Shikamaru, suppressing a small smile.
"Me," interrupted a voice, surprising all four participants in the conversation. Hyūga Neji stood ten feet away, arms crossed over his chest, eyes hardened. If Kankurō was going to be completely honest with himself, he couldn't be gladder to see the Hyūga prodigy ever. "I'm fully healed, and you guys need me. Don't even try to argue; I've already got an okay from Lady Tsunade."
Kankurō sighed, looking away. "Like we would've been able to tell you differently, Neji. Just tell me you won't drop dead in the middle of the mission due to fatigue, and I'll leave it alone."
Neji smirked. "I won't drop dead in the middle of the mission due to fatigue. Now leave it alone."
Kankurō nodded. "We're leaving in two hours exactly. Meet me at the edge of the camp on the dot or I'll leave your asses here."
A hand sailed down onto Hinata's cheek, the pain stinging, but not unmanageable. She could positively say that her time in ANBU, or even her rigorous training sessions with Kakashi, and especially her Gentle Fist training; surpassed this pain by a long shot. She spat out the blood onto her 'torturer's' feet, blood dripping in between their toes. They growled and struck her again, thinking that her reaction might be any different than it already was.
It wasn't.
"Go fuck yourself," she said proudly, smirking in defiance up at the man. The man was getting more pissed off by the second by her refusal, by her still-strong defiance. It was odd, and beyond that; it scared the man to see a woman so… strong. Especially a woman that looked like her; she looked like a woman so easily hurt. It made it glaringly obvious that he'd never faced a member of the Hyūga clan before, even more so that he'd never been around an heir to a clan. An heir—especially a female heir—had to be stronger than the average member. They had to be tougher in the face of pain and interrogation.
And they had to be able to stand their ground whenever they didn't want to do something.
She looked over at her friend, at her first crush. Naruto looked as if he'd seen better days; like she was sure she looked like at this point. Blood dripped down the side of his face, and his right eye was beginning to swell shut. Although in such bad shape, the jinchūriki managed to smile at the Hyūga heiress lopsidedly. She smirked in response, knowing he was being as obstinate as she.
"Just do as your told and manipulate the asshole!" yelled out the wannabe Akatsuki member, grabbing Hinata by the collar of her shirt and pulling her up to her feet. She swirled blood around in her mouth and promptly spat it in his face, eyes hard with resistance. He growled and slapped her again. And, once again, it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. But if my hands weren't bound, I would've beaten him by now, she thought, allowing herself to drop back down onto her knees.
"I do believe 'Madara's' orders were to convince her to use the jutsu, not to beat the shit out of the both of them because they won't," interjected Suigetsu in a bored voice, taking a sip out of his bottle. Suigetsu obviously didn't care either way, content to let the newbie batter around the captives.
"Shut up! I know what I'm doing, reject!" yelled out the man, hoisting Hinata to her feet again. "Now do it!"
"No," she said clearly, glaring at him, "I won't."
SLAP!
"What are you doing?" came the voice of 'Madara', sending a shock down the newbie's spine. He immediately let go of Hinata, who stayed on her feet. A hand touched the middle of Hinata's back, tapping it lightly. "Hyūga, turn around." Frightened by the man's chakra, she did as she was told, letting that one cold Sharingan eye assess her injuries. "Suigetsu, kill this man right now."
"B-But…" stuttered out the man, shivering with fear as Suigetsu pulled his sword off of his back, walking over to the man and grabbing him by the collar of his robes, pulling him away. "N-No… NO! NOOOOOOOO!"
"I do detest morons with muscles," sighed 'Madara', "Especially one that thinks nothing of hurting a beautiful woman, especially one as perfect as you." He softly grabbed her by her chin and turned her head, fully checking her injuries. "Though, I don't understand how you couldn't just do what I need you to do. It's simple, really. I just need you to control your container here, that's all."
"That 'container' is my friend," spat Hinata.
"Oh, yes. Friendship. Let me tell you about that. It's useless. In the end, it's just more people who can hurt you. Friends are just unrealized enemies, Hyūga. I've learned the hard way the truth of this." He shook his head and made a tut-tut sound. "It's easier to deal with them before they betray you. Before they break you."
"That's not true," muttered Naruto.
'Madara' turned to Naruto. "You believe that? Seriously?"
"Y-Yeah," said Naruto, sitting up and spitting out a loose molar. "Don't try to even play that line. Friends don't harm, nor do they betray, one another. You're wrong."
"And, of course, you would be the official on this. It is practically impossible, it seems, for your own teammates not to betray you!" said 'Madara', his laugh sick. "First Uchiha Sasuke, who betrayed the entire village and tried to kill you multiple times, and now, your little crush, Haruno Sakura's betrayed you, too!"
"Sakura… didn't betray me…!" growled Naruto.
"Aren't you wondering who took over Hyūga Neji's mind, Uzumaki? Aren't you wondering who scattered Yamanaka Ino's brain? Aren't you wondering who the mole in Konohagakure, helping Kabuto, was? It was Haruno Sakura! She was helping us get to all four of you, and she did very well! She fooled everybody… well, at least, until she got caught."
"You're lying," murmured Hinata, eyes wide. She dropped to her knees, too stunned and too confused to think about keeping upright. "Sakura wouldn't… she's my friend… she's very loyal to the village; to her friends. The Sakura I know would never…" Tears dripped down her cheeks. Neji's words ran through her mind. He'd said not to trust the doctor. His doctor at the hospital was Sakura. He'd told her what Sakura was doing, and she just hadn't seen it! "But… Sakura showed…"
"Sakura is a good actress," cooed 'Madara', enjoying himself deeply now. "Isn't that right, Haruno-san?" Hinata's breath caught in her chest, and she forced herself to turn around to see Sakura with her arms crossed over her chest, glaring at Hinata as if she was dog shit on the sidewalk. Hinata shivered to see this glare, to see that amount of hatred in someone's eyes.
"Why?" Hinata asked numbly, not needing to ask any other question.
"You had someone you didn't even deserve," spat Sakura, "I deserved him—I deserve him. And hell, I will get him. Getting this done will get me him." Hinata's eyes widened more, if possible. Is she… is she talking about Kankurō? Is she talking about my boyfriend…? She loves Kankurō, and she hates me because he's with me? Sakura came close to her and kicked Hinata in the ribs, causing all the breath to rush out of Hinata's lungs. She fell onto her side, coughing hoarsely. Sakura… why… I never wanted… I didn't want you to get hurt… I never meant for you to get hurt…
Neji. The thought of the sight of her cousin so pained had hurt beyond anything she'd ever felt before, save for the betrayal she had felt when Kankurō had went to Kabuto to protect her. To finally know who caused her precious cousin such suffering was Sakura made her blood boil. Ino. Ino was a good friend, always reliable—always kind to her. She might not be as close to her as the rest of their Rookie group, but Ino was always kind to her. She'd never want to see her hurt. Hanabi. Her sister had her life threatened six ways from Sunday. She'd been hurt protecting her from Sakura. She'd been threatened because she stayed in the village.
Hinata's rage began to boil hotter.
Kiba. He had a crush on Sakura. Kiba had told both Shino and herself when they first noticed the extent of which he liked to hang out with her. Naruto. He'd just defended her, for Chrissakes! He believed in her; he brought Sasuke back just for her! What kind of bitch did this kind of thing to her friends? Tsunade… Kakashi… Sasuke… Tenten… Kankurō… The list kept growing longer and longer every second. The list of people Sakura had hurt, had betrayed. All of them were people close to her heart.
Hinata subconsciously activated her Byakugan, her chakra rippling up and down her chakra streams. She looked at Sakura, purely intending to bring harm to the kunoichi. She then looked at Naruto, who had orange chakra burning in his stomach. Ready and primed for her use. The kanji for 'sit' appeared on her right palm. Without even thinking about it; ten small, smooth-surfaced pillars spiked out of the stone ground. Her chakra burned bright blue, nearly searing in its warmth.
'Madara' smiled to see that he was getting exactly what he wanted.
Naruto looked towards his friend, who began to sit up, eyes downcast to the floor. "H-Hinata…?" he whispered, scared by the amount of chakra surrounding Hinata's frame. 'Madara' chuckled and walked behind the Hyūga, undoing her bound hands. "W-What are you… what is she…?"
"She's doing what I want, like a good little puppet," said 'Madara' gleefully as Hinata raised her hand, holding it towards Naruto. "This may hurt a little, Uzumaki…"
There was a burning. A fire. He could feel it in his stomach. He gasped out, grabbing at the tanned flesh that covered his abdomen. The seal turned red and searing, causing him to cry out. Screeching filled Naruto's ears. Even when Naruto slammed his hands down over his ears, the screeching refused to go away. He sobbed out in agony as his mind filled with turmoil. He knew the presence—it was the fox. Never before had the fox so powerfully tried to overtake his head, his body. "STOP!" screamed Naruto in agony.
The fox wasn't trying to overtake Naruto's body. It didn't want to—it was perfectly comfortable with the teenaged boy being in complete control. But this being was calling to him, commanding him. It felt like Hashirama, but it couldn't be, could it? No, Senju Hashirama was dead, definitely dead. So who was this person? This person with a chakra so similar?
Whoever it was, Kurama couldn't help but heed to their wishes.
Their wish was 'Kill Haruno Sakura'.
So kill Haruno Sakura he would do.
'Madara' sneered behind the mask as Hinata's power lost its viciousness. He knew she was out of chakra, and he didn't care. He got what he needed out of her.
She could control the Nine-Tails.
Sakura was still clinging on to the cusps of life, her lifeblood pooling underneath her body. Her emerald eyes were unfocused and unseeing. She was too dazed to possibly be able to concentrate on anything. Hinata had ran out of the stamina and the chakra necessary to continue bringing harm to the girl, unsurprisingly enough. It took a lot of strength just to pull out the Nine-Tails. 'Madara' was just surprised that she made it as far as she had.
Eight minutes. That was the length of time she could successfully control the Tails with the chakra she had. It was definitely longer than he figured she could hold out, but it was still short enough for him to feel that the resurrection of his most valuable asset was still a necessity.
Naruto slumped onto the ground, his mind worn and tired due to the fight he'd tried to engage the Nine-Tails in before it'd successfully taken over. Well, no, that wasn't true. Hinata had taken over. Hinata had temporarily ripped open the seals in order for the manipulation of the demon beast. 'Madara' looked down at the girl, who was barely hanging onto consciousness by a thread. Sweat dripped down in buckets down her face, and her eyes were bleary.
"W-What did I just…" she murmured, fear and self-hatred rising in her chest. Sakura was nearly dead! Why had she wanted Sakura dead so badly? She might hate her for what she'd done, what she'd put her and her friends through; but not enough to want to kill her! She'd known the pink-haired girl basically her entire life. She'd been in classes with her, shared missions with her, played with the same girls. Despite what she'd done, there was no way in hell Hinata would ever want to see her dead. Yet… she had. She had wanted it. And she'd nearly gotten it.
Vomit rose in Hinata's throat, and she clamped her hand down on her mouth before she lost it, vomiting all over the floor besides herself. Her coughs filled the expansive room, quickly followed by her heavy sobs. I… I tried to kill my friend! I'm no better than she is! I'm a horrible person!
"What I wanted," said 'Madara' gleefully, clapping his hands together. "The plan can definitely go through now." Hinata looked up at the evil man, disgusted by his words. His mask was partially broken over his face, revealing a black eyebrow. He raised his hand to his face, touching his saggy flesh. He sighed. "There's no use to hiding behind this damned mask anymore, is there?" he asked, shaking his head. He ripped off the rest of the mask, revealing to her a Rinnegan eye in the left side of her face. "There's also no use hiding behind an alias such as 'Madara'. It's total bull, and besides that, I hate the name."
"What's… you're real name…?" asked Hinata, fatigue finally catching up to her. She fought with her tired body, mind and soul, but she wasn't winning.
He glared down at her. "Uchiha Obito," he told her before she finally lost, succumbing to sleep.