The Necromancer, Chapter 25:

It was such a peaceful sleep... everything was perfect. He was embracing the woman of his dreams, her warm breath brushing against his neck. The warmth and passion that eminated from their embrace felt so wonderful... he didn't want to awake from this bliss.

"Wakey wakey, Kenokami and Reiko..." an all-too-familiar voice said, piercing the stillness of their sleep. The two mumbled and stirred, and Kenokami was the first to sit up. He was a bit dumbed, since he just awoke, and he sleepily stared at the scene before him.

Otoshi was smiling lightly as he was sitting upon a chair, watching the two. He was resting an elbow on his knee, and the hand of that arm was flat against his chin. Kenokami stupidly blinked as his mind tried piecing together what was happening. Reiko halfway sat up and rubbed her eyes as she yawned.

"YOU!" Kenokami suddenly screamed, pointing at Otoshi, "WHAT THE HELL?" Reiko yelped at the sudden burst of noise that woke her. Otoshi chuckled lightly as the couple's expressions soon became grim.

"Took you long enough to wake up," Otoshi said, "I've been waiting for you to get up for quite a while."

Reiko whimpered slightly as she clung to her blue haired guardian. She glared at Otoshi, even though he wouldn't be able to see it.

"What do you want?" she asked angrily, a hint of anxiety in her voice.

"Oh, this is rich!" Otoshi exclaimed, "You think I'm a threat now, hmm? Anyways, once you two are ready, we'll fight for leadership of this damned village."

"What the hell are you up to, you piece of shit?" Kenokami cursed at Otoshi, lurching forward slightly as he grit his teeth and glared at the man.

Otoshi grinned, "I'm just being polite, that's all. Would you prefer it if I simply killed you in your sleep? There's no fun in that, and surely you agree with me. Plus, I could've simply forced you both awake and controlled one of you. Then my new puppet would gladly obey my commands to violently slaughter the other! That would've been fun! But, here we are," he said.

"You're demented... you're sick," Reiko said quietly.

"Says the woman that turned an entire village into the undead," Otoshi said, "you really should learn your room to speak."

"You fucker!" Kenokami growled as he lunged for Otoshi. He knocked the now empty chair beside, and he restrained himself. Otoshi was now in between the two, his Masamune katana pointed at the back of Kenokami's neck. He sheathed the blade before he was attacked.

"Tch, I could've killed you there, too. Well, when you're ready, I'll be outside this building somewhere. Rest assured, I'll hear you exiting the tower. Only do so when you're absolutely prepared," Otoshi said. He then walked out of the room, saying a small "Ta-ta!" as he left.

Reiko sprung up from the bed and worriedly embraced Kenokami. They began kissing passionately as their hands stroked each other's backs. They didn't want to lose each other... and this might be the last time they were able to show their love to each other...

Naruto shielded his eyes from the ray of light that peeped through the window. He stirred for a bit before mumbling and getting up. He stretched and yawned as he gazed upon the room. Hinata was next to him, and she was safe and sound. Naruto's eyes drifted over to a clock on the wall that revealed that it was a bit after sunrise.

Naruto sighed despondently. He felt depressed, but he had no idea why. He absentmindedly began stroking Hinata's hair. The silken strands running over and between his fingers calmed him somewhat.

Well, kid, this is it. Probably the last day in this wretched village if those reinforcements arrive, the Kyuubi said, and yet... I still feel that everybody is going to die here. Rest assured, I'm not letting you die. I don't care if anyone else you know dies... I'm out for my own survival...

Naruto grumbled incoherently as he ignored the Kyuubi's message and continued stroking his love's hair. The Kyuubi was known for speaking rubbish... why would they all die this day? They had eliminated all oppositions!

Kenokami... Otoshi... The Necromancer... he thought grimly, They're still out there. But they're nothing compared to Madara! ...Right?

Naruto bit his lip as he laid back down and hugged the sleeping Hinata tightly. The grip he had on her calmed him immensely. He sighed ambivalently with anxiety and contentment as he rubbed his head against her back. As long as he was with her, he would feel peace.

"Finally... we've made it," Gaara said as he gazed into the distance, seeing the gates of Konoha.

"About time, too," Kankuro said, "I just hope we've made it in time."

"Don't worry about it," said a man with long black hair that went just past his neck. He wore a black tanktop with a red Sunagakure emblem on it, and he wore khaki pants with some pouches for ninja tools on them, "I'm sure Tsunade was resilient enough to protect most of the people."

"Are you so sure, Bankou-sensei?" Temari asked the man who just spoke, "I mean, the letter was urgent, and we received it two days ago..." she frowned, her face filled with anxiousness.

Bankou's face turned serious, "Trust me. I know Tsunade well... the Sannin and I go way back. There's no way she'd be taken down so easily."

"And don't worry about the time it took for us to get here," Baki piped in, "a sandstorm halted our travels, and there was nothing we could do about that."

Temari still didn't look convinced as she sighed with slight frustration. Matsuri walked up to her and gave her a small smile, "C'mon, don't be so worried! I'm sure everything will work out just fine..." she said. Temari took a deep breath and smiled at her.

"I suppose you're right. No point in stressing over things," she said to Matsuri. Temari looked at Bankou. The man was Suna's strongest ninja, but he was much of a wanderer and never really stopped by the village. However, he recently had a change in heart and decided to settle in the village once more, offering to train Temari and her two brothers. The man housed many secrets behind that friendly exterior... Temari could feel it.

Near the back of the group walked three more people. In the very back was a man wearing a normal Suna flak jacket with a black bandanna headband and a dark gray veil covering his face, a darkened face wearing black sunglasses visible underneath. His jacket was unzipped, several different kinds of kunai on the insides of the jacket, and he was carrying a large shuriken strapped to his back.

In front of him were two others. There was a very tall, big, muscular man that was slightly hunched over. He wore an equally large Suna flak jacket with a large sword and scroll strapped to his back. He had a bold face with visible stubble and short black slightly spiky hair. Next to him was a slender woman with long ebony hair with a few dark crimson streaks in it. She wore a red warrior dress, black boots, and she carried a quiver filled with arrows along with a silver chain around her waist. She had golden catlike eyes to match her catlike face.

The woman grinned impishly as she hopped up and down a few times, "YEAH! I CAN'T WAIT TO KILL THOSE MONSTERS THAT TSUNADE WOMAN TALKED ABOUT!!!" she shouted. The tall man next to her looked down at her with an annoyed look.

"Akira, it would be terribly unwise to just go and fight all of these monsters when we know little to nothing about them," he scolded her. The woman, Akira, looked up at the big man and stuck out her lower lip in a childish pout.

"You're such a spoil-sport, Qian Fu!" Akira complained.

"You two... stop bickering..." Gaara called out from the front of the crowd. Akira sighed sharply and Qian Fu shook his head.

"Yoichiro, why don't you ever do anything? You're so boring!" Akira said to the man in the back.

"I only do things that are necessary," the man said with a dark and deep voice that was rather odd and slightly unnerving coming from a man of that physique.

"Boooo~ring," Akira said in a singsong voice.

The group was now at the gates. A large message was painted upon the walls: 'To the Sunagakure reinforcements: we are barricaded in the Administration Building.'

"ALRIGHT! LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED AND KICK SOME MONSTER ASS!!!" Akira shouted while throwing a few punches to an invisible target.

"Please do us all a favor and stop yelling so loud," Bankou sighed in annoyance. Akira pouted again as she made a grunt of frustration.

"Let's just head there... we took long enough to get here. Let's not waste any more time," Gaara said.

"It would also be wise to save as much energy as possible... we don't know what we'll face here. We should simply walk to the building," Baki added. The group nodded as they entered the damned village.

The atmosphere was absolutely creepy as they traveled to the Administration Building. The village was literally dead... damaged buildings, nothing in sight. Several moans could be heard in the distance, indicating that something was still out there, but it was simply unnerving to see the most prosperous ninja village reduced to this.

"It stinks of death here..." Temari said, slightly in disgust as she closed her nose with her thumb and index finger.

"There are several corpses strewn about... and they look like they've mostly been eaten..." Matsuri said, her voice quivering in fear.

"Where are the monsters?" Kankuro asked to nobody in particular, "Is that them we hear in the distance?"

"Regardless, we don't want them hearing us... so be quiet," Bankou said in a harsh whisper as they arrived at the doors of the Administration Building. There were two large boarded up holes in the wall, and there was dried blood on the ground in front of the doors and on the doors themselves. There were also more corpses around this area. What had happened here?

Gaara walked up to the doors and tried opening them. They didn't budge.

"They must be barricaded," he mumbled to himself as he made three hefty knocks upon the door. There was a period of silence as no sounds were heard other than the moans in the distance and the breaths of the nine. Gaara made the same three knocks once more.

"Who is this?" a man asked.

"The Sunagakure reinforcements," Gaara said back.

"Oh... that's great news!" the man said with relief to his voice, "On the right side of the building, there's a secret entrance. A section of the wall can be pushed in and slid aside, revealing a door. I'll be in there to greet you."

The group quietly moved over to the right side of the building. Gaara felt among the walls and felt a slight depression on one of the section. He pressed on it, and it went inwards. Smiling lightly, Gaara slid the tile aside to reveal a door, which he opened. Jiraiya was standing in the room with a purposely-exaggerated smile plastered across his face.

"Jiraiya! Long time no see!" Bankou greeted as he walked in and gave a high five to Jiraiya.

"Good to see you, Bankou! What has it been... twenty years?" Jiraiya said. He then cleared his throat, "Anyways, we have more pressing matters to attend to. There isn't much of a real meeting room since we haphazardly barricaded this place, so we'll use the lobby."

The group left the room and entered the lobby. They sat down on various sofas scattered throughout the room.

"Jiraiya... where is the Hokage?" Baki asked.

Jiraiya's face saddened as the question was asked. He sighed remorsefully and muttered, "She's dead."

The Suna ninja gasped.

"H-how?" Bankou asked, shocked.

"How about I start from the beginning..." Jiraiya said, his saddened voice replaced by a hardened, serious one. He closed his eyes as he began mentally summarizing what had happened. He opened them, and spoke.

"It all started two days ago. Two Akatsuki members infiltrated Konoha in the dead of night: a man and a woman. The woman used some jutsu that caused these horrible creatures to form. Naruto said he went to alert Sakura as soon as he awoke and fended off a zombie, but the Akatsuki man knocked him out, saying that he 'can't alert the town.' The zombies spread across Konoha and Tsunade had to go into hiding, but Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi found her. Kakashi was killed soon upon writing the letter you received," Jiraiya explained. There were no questions from the Suna people yet. Jiraiya continued.

"I only arrived at the village upon feeling a sudden chill. As I headed there, a cloaked man warned me not to go. I ignored him and continued. I would arrive near the end of the day. By that time, most of the village was overrun with the zombies and the only survivors where holed up in this building, awaiting your reinforcement. I learned that these two Akatsuki members had gone rogue and were carrying out their own operation. The two people were Kenokami and Reiko. Kenokami is a man with amazing resilience and regeneration abilities. He has several swords and he is the jinchuuriki of the Five-Tailed Wolf..." Jiraiya said.

"A... jinchuuriki?" Gaara asked, slightly worried.

"The Five-Tailed Wolf... he is from Getsugakure?" Bankou asked, "Why would they seal the Wolf? Unlike most of the bijuu, the Five-Tails was very peaceful."

"He is indeed from the Moon Village, but I have no idea why they would seal away the Five-Tails," Jiraiya said, "Anyways, the woman who caused the jutsu is skilled in several traps and sneaky jutsus, and her name is Reiko... Uchiha."

"Another Uchiha!?" Temari asked in shock, "But-"

"They were all wiped out by Itachi? Apparently, she was taken from the clan at a young age and raised by her older 'brother,' Madara," Jiraiya said. The entire room fell silent. Most of Madara's tale of hatred and envy was kept secret from most of Konoha, but it was fair game to all of the other countries.

Akira grit her teeth as she spoke up, "I can't wait to kick her ass! I've always wanted to fight an Uchiha!"

"Hold your tongue, Akira," Qian Fu spoke. Akira grumbled and slouched in her seat.

"Reiko... she may have avoided the massacre of her clan, but... she was the only survivor of the massacre in Taiyogakure," Jiraiya said grimly as he looked at Bankou, whose eyes were wide in shock. The rest of the Suna-nin looked confused, but it was understandable. Only the elite of every village knew the truth behind Taiyogakure's downfall.

"I... can't imagine how that effected her mind..." Bankou said as he shook his head as if to shake images off of it. He breathed deeply and regained his normal look.

"So... these two are like what Gaara used to be, then?" Baki asked. Gaara looked down to the floor with a small frown.

"It sounds that way..." Gaara said, "I know not what the woman went through, but if they broke off from Akatsuki, and that man was a jinchuuriki... they both wanted to spread their hate across the world."

"That seems to be the general consensus of the people who thought them," Jiraiya said.

"So... what happened out there?" Yoichiro asked, "You said the village was overrun, but we saw no zombies... and certainly one of the Sannin such as yourself could go toe to toe with these two."

"Well, that's another story..." Jiraiya sighed, "Those two started it, but they're not the threats anymore. Another rogue Akatsuki member with different goals is also still out there, and he's much stronger than the two. His name is Otoshi, and he uses several powerful shadow techniques. He is an excellent swordsman, and he apparently cannot die. He also has a powerful doujutsu that allows him to control anybody who looks at them..." The Suna-nin all gained grim looks on their face.

Akira hopped up out of her chair, "THAT GUY SOUNDS LIKE HE'LL PISS ME OFF! I WANNA BEAT HIM DOWN!" she shouted. Glares from all of the other Suna-nin caused her to look around and slowly sit back down. She grumbled grudgingly some more.

"...And Madara decided to pay us a visit," Jiraiya said seriously, "by resurrecting three fallen Akatsuki members. They're dead now. All four of them."

The Suna-nin looked relived that Madara the fearsome tyrant was now finally dead after his iron shadow had been cast upon the world for over half a century. The man was like a terrifying hawk perched above the world, waiting to strike.

"We also heard explosions at points during yesterday. We assume that some of the Akatsuki came to track down the three rogue members and got tangled up in this mess. Also, with many of our finest ninja trying to rescue other people two days ago, it's explainable why so many zombies are now gone. But our main threat right now is Otoshi... he wants something to do with this village, and I want to find out what it is," Jiraiya finished.

"That's a dumbass thought," Bankou retorted, "we can find out what he wanted later. We should get you guys out of here and evacuate to Sunagakure. It's a damn shame that so many people died here... a damn shame..." Bankou closed his eyes and shook his head.

"We can wait until the others have awoken. We're not in a rush... if Otoshi suddenly ceased attacking us yesterday, I'm sure he won't today," Jiraiya said.

"How many... how many people are left?" Gaara asked quietly. Jiraiya sighed deeply as he closed his eyes, stood up, and paced around.

"Naruto, Sakura, Kiba and Akamaru, Yamato, Sai, Hinata, Shikamaru, Guy, Lee, Genma, and Ibiki," he said, "are the only people in this village, besides me, Sasuke and three others, that are still alive."

The entire room was dead silent at this point as this information sunk in. The mightiest ninja village of the modern days, with the most people, had been reduced to this. Everybody else in the entire village was either dead or an inhuman monster by now. The sheer amount of death caused was dumbfounding. And it had been caused by just one jutsu, too!

"I have more to tell," Jiraiya said lowly as he sat back down, "but we'll wait until the others are awake. Feel free to make yourself comfortable."

The wind blew, causing his hair and cloak to flutter in its breezes. He looked down at the cloak... it had been torn by that sword used by that accursed toad sage. The exposed area of his chest was gray and decaying where the blade had stabbed him, but he had little choice. He had to have used that technique... he couldn't afford to die there.

He stood atop the tallest tower in Konoha and looked down upon the ruined village. He saw that most of the central parts of Konoha were zombie-free, but he saw large crowds of the undead in the western and eastern sides. He grinned maliciously as his sharingan eyes shone brightly.

"I will show you my retribution, Jiraiya..." Madara muttered to himself as he extended an arm outwards, "...with my superior necromatic power, I will seize the reigns of this undead army and command them to storm your precious Administration Building..."

He formed a tight fist with his extended arm and chuckled deviously as he focused with his mind, locating the general chakra source of the two separate hordes. Once he found them, he slowly probed at them, manipulating them to his will. As the hordes slowly moved towards the building, he laughed madly. The wait would be agonizing as he watched his army approach his hated enemies at a snail's pace. The wait would kill him on the inside as the tendrils of rage ripped him apart. But it would all be worth it when they would all die! Every last one of them!