Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Legacy of the Messiah
Chapter25: Sorrow
Grass Country: Forest
'Fuck where the hell has that dick guy gone at a time like this?!' Tayuya growled in thought as she evaded the kunai that was thrown at her. She landed on a tree branch and glared over at her opponent, 'this bastard is in for a world of hurt'.
"Come now Tayuya-san; hold still so I can kill you okay?" Kabuto said with a smirk. "After all you are a traitor to Orochimaru-sama for abandoning you duties as a kunoichi of Otokagure no Sato."
"You bastard! That place was a hellhole! The only reason I stayed loyal to him was because of his damn curse seal!" Tayuya shouted at him.
"It gave you power did it not? He gave you power and only asked for your loyalty. Is submission no preferable to destruction?" Kabuto asked simply.
"Something's are worse than death," the redhead responded.
Kabuto smirked with a nod, "true...but sometimes death is the least of a person's worries".
"Whatever bastard," Tayuya shot back. "Let's play," she said with a predatory grin.
"This is pointless," Kabuto sighed and took out a scroll. He unravelled it and swiped some blood along the kanji imprinted on it, "Fuin Kai!" Suddenly two dozen motionless human figures appeared on the branches around the two, "say hello to the dead for me Tayuya-san, Shikon no Jutsu!" The bodies stood up a moment later jumped at the tree that Tayuya stood atop.
'What the fuck is going on here? Are those people down there?' she thought as the zombies knocked down the tree she was using. She landed a few feet away and the zombies were suddenly charging towards her, 'okay I need a plan...how about I just pound them all into a bloody pulp? That should work,' she bit her thumb and made several hand-seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" her three Doki appeared at her side in poofs of smoke. "Mateki: Genbusō Kyoku," Kabuto watched on amused as the Doki tore into the two dozen attacking zombies.
A few moments later it was over and the Doki turned their attention to the Oto nin since the zombies were now err...dead, as in completely dead and wouldn't be coming back. The first Doki came at him with a large club and brought it down but he evaded by jumping to the side. The second Doki attacked from the side with a large double-edged sword and he was forced to jump over the initial swing.
"No wonder Orochimaru-sama didn't take you as one of his hosts; you're pathetic," Kabuto sneered and threw six kunai with explosive tags at the ground between himself and the three Doki. "Katon: Kasumi Endu no Jutsu," he breathed out a flammable mist while simultaneously detonating the explosive notes on the kunai he had thrown a second ago and the result was a massive blast of fire.
"Shit!" Tayuya cursed as her Doki were incinerated. "Fūjutsu Kyūin!" she brought her hands up and tried to absorb the jutsu just like her brother had shown her.
"You can absorb Ninjutsu? Impressive…for a traitor," Kabuto sneered.
Tayuya fell to her knees trying to calm her breathing, "do—cough—do you ever shut up?"
Kabuto smirked at that, "you know even with those eyes of yours you are still nothing but a child trying to play in the big leagues. Compared to Naruto-kun you're not even a challenge," his smirk widened when he saw the glare she sent him.
"Just shut the fuck up!" she shouted and formed three specific hand-seals. Her right hand exploded into electricity and she shot forward, "Chidori!"
"Chakura no Mesu," Kabuto said, clearly unimpressed. He grabbed her lightning-covered hand almost effortlessly; surprising Tayuya since she thought it couldn't be stopped. "Chidori huh? Hatake Kakashi must have taught you that...it doesn't matter now though. Don't look so surprised Tayuya-san, after all Hatake was and still is someone I consider a threat who is on my level. I've spent many long nights looking for a way to deflect and counter his signature jutsu. I found out that all Raiton jutsu are susceptible to high frequencies of chakra manipulation that are usually given off during medical operations from the jutsu I am using right now".
"Let go," the redhead growled at him and tried to pull away.
"Not a chance...you die now," Kabuto said as his smirk became almost sinister in nature.
"Chōjū Giga," three medium-sized ink lions came from the side and surprised the Oto Jonin forcing him to pull away. Tayuya suddenly found herself in the arms of her Root team-mate who was smiling at her like normal, "are you alright blower?"
"Put me down," he set her down a moment later. "And don't call me blower," Tayuya told him with a glare. True she used a flute but the term 'blower' could insinuate...other...things. "Thanks," she muttered out knowing she'd be dead right now without him. "Why did you come back? I thought you would have hightailed it out of here by now," she asked him.
Sai simply smiled, "since I've been on this team I've experienced...feelings that I thought I no longer had. I wish to understand those feelings and I do not believe I can do that if you or the rest of the team die".
Tayuya looked at him for a moment before nodding, "geez you're a piece of work. Do you know that?" He didn't reply, "let's finish this".
"Are you two done?" Kabuto mocked. "And what is with that smile kid? Surely you can do better than that," he taunted.
"I read in a book that a smile can get you out of a tough situation...even if it's fake," Sai explained still smiling. "Sumi Nagashi," snakes made out of ink rose up from the ground around Kabuto and caught him by surprise.
"What is this?" Kabuto asked frantically as he tried to break free.
"My jutsu," Sai told him as black ink fell out of the scroll in his hand and flowed towards the ink snakes that kept the Oto Jonin pinned to the ground. Sai turned with Tayuya with a smile on his face, "he can't move anymore no matter how strong he is".
"Your scary when you want to be," the redhead stated and turned her attention to the Oto Jonin and one of her former tormentors. She shot forward with her hand now engulfed in electricity once again, "Chidori!"
Kabuto's eyes widened in fear as she drove her lightning-covered fist through his chest and out the other side in one swift motion. He coughed up blood as he tried and failed to heal the damage from the wound.
"N-no-" he tried to speak but his voice soon died as his lifeless body dropped to the ground in a heap.
Tayuya looked down at him a sighed, "it's over".
"I will dispose of the body," Sai told her and proceeded to seal the body for study at Konoha Intelligence. "Are you alright?" he asked the redhead, having picked up on the fact that she couldn't seem to look at the body of their fallen opponent.
"It's nothing," Tayuya responded and sighed. "Any idea where the others are?"
As if in answer of her questioned, Naruto and Yugito dropped down in front of the pair. Yugito looked a bit out of breath but Naruto looked like he had been through a tough time. Considering he took on Orochimaru they shouldn't have been surprised at his current state as Orochimaru had killed the Sandaime Hokage (though arguably the Sandaime was long past his prime).
"What happened?" Tayuya asked upon seeing Naruto no longer had his trench coat on him.
"Kyuubi's chakra is very acidic so my coat was burned away," Naruto replied. "I'm going to need a new one," he added with a sigh.
"Where's Yamato-taicho?" Tayuya asked them.
Yugito shook her head as she replied, "I can only sense his residual chakra signature...his chakra core is inactive and has already decayed. He's dead," they stood in silence for a few seconds. "Sasuke and Sakura left a little while ago...I can't track them," she finished.
"...This mission is a failure...let's go home, there's nothing for us here now," Naruto gave the order. As the group left Naruto looked back at the now destroyed bridge, 'I'm sorry this happened Yamato-taicho'.
He was gone a moment later...
Fire Country: Konoha / Hokage Tower
"So Orochimaru and Kabuto are dead," Kakashi mused. He leaned back in his chair, "I'm sorry about what happened to Tenzo; he was a good man".
"Tenzo?" Yugito couldn't help but ask.
"It was Yamato's real name," the Hokage answered. He sighed, "I'll have the workers add his name to the memorial stone tomorrow evening".
"I'm sorry sensei...he was under my command and I couldn't do anything for him," Naruto said with clenched fists.
"Naruto you and your team killed Orochimaru and Kabuto. Two very important figures to Oto; we're at war Naruto. No one wants to admit it but Konoha is under attack and your team is the only thing standing between Konoha and the greatest threat of the current generation. People will die Naruto...you have to accept that," Kakashi told him.
"Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage, but under the wing of a strong leader cowardice cannot survive," Naruto remembered the words.
"Exactly," Kakashi agreed as he leaned forward. "There is also another matter we need to discuss...it's about Jiraiya-sama," that got their attention.
"What is it? What happened?" Naruto questioned.
Suddenly a figure popped into existence, actually several figures. The first they instantly recognised as Tsunade while the others were a collection of summoned toads. One of them was the toad elder Fukasaku which Naruto recognized easily having met him on his training trip.
"Hey old man Fukasaku-sensei," Naruto greeted in his own way.
"Naruto watch your language," Kakashi scolded him.
"No it is quite alright," Fukasaku waved the comment off and sighed. "Naruto-boya this isn't a social call," he continued.
"...What happened?" it was a demand, not a question.
"There's no easy way to say this...Jiraiya-boya fell in battle two days ago against the Akatsuki leader...he's dead," Fukasaku informed him.
Silence...even Sai's smile had slipped from his face.
"Huh?" Naruto managed, "w-what did you just say?"
"Jiraiya-boya was killed two days ago by Pein, the Akatsuki leader," Fukasaku reiterated.
"How?" Naruto's voice was harsh.
"He went to Amegakure no Sato in search of another of his students. A boy named Nagato who like you has the Rinnegan; it turns out that Pein is Nagato and Pein discovered Jiraiya-boya during the infiltration. It appears that Pein has six different bodies and according to Jiraiya-boya none of them were Nagato's though he did say the lead one was another of his students called Yahiko. Originally Jiraiya-boya never intended to battle Pein directly but Pein's abilities far exceeded his imagination and without knowing the extent of his powers no one could ever win against him no matter how many times they fought. Jiraiya-boya pushed himself beyond his own limits and almost managed to discover their secrets. No one but Jiraiya-boya could've gotten as far...on top of that he could've gotten away if he had wanted to but he sacrificed his life so that he could leave us this coded message. Even after his throat was cut out," Fukasaku explained and took off his cloak to show them the numbers now engraved on his back.
"The real one is not there," Naruto said upon reading the code, surprising those in the room.
"You know what this means?" Fukasaku asked in surprise as he gestured to his back.
"Their words from Ero-Sennin's newest novel...any idea what it means?" Naruto continued.
"...It's too vague," Fukasaku shook his head and put his cloak back on.
"Did you let him go?" Naruto asked, turning to the Hokage.
"Yes," Kakashi answered simply.
"Why?" Naruto questioned.
"He wanted to go...Nagato-san was his student, I would have done the same thing if it were you instead," Kakashi replied. "I'm sorry Naruto, I tried sending people with him but he wouldn't allow it".
Naruto snarled and left the room a moment later.
Kakashi sighed tiredly, "I apologize Fukasaku-sama...I'll arrange for Naruto to-".
"No, no that's alright...but back to the Child of Prophecy I was talking about earlier. It is either Nagato-san or Naruto-boya...time will tell which one is the true one," Fukasaku sighed.
"If you'll excuse me," Tsunade said stiffly. Kakashi nodded and she left a moment later with Yugito following close behind.
"Tsunade-Shishou?" Tsunade asked hesitantly.
"Just-just give me some time Yugito-Chan," Tsunade said and started away with clenched fists.
Yugito watched her go for a few seconds before heading off, no doubt in search of Naruto. Tayuya and Sai exited a moment later, though Tayuya was noticeably shaking. Whether it was sadness or rage remained to be seen however...
"I can't believe this," the redhead said with clenched fists. "This asshole, Pein is not going to get away with this," Tayuya growled out. Though she didn't much care for Jiraiya because of his perverted tendencies, the man did train Naruto and that was what mattered to her.
"It appears Akatsuki has become even more dangerous," Sai commented.
"It doesn't matter; this has gone on long enough. They'll pay for what they've done," the redhead growled out.
"...I must report to Danzo-sama," Sai told her.
"...Okay...I never thanked you for helping me out on the last mission," Tayuya started and kisses him on the cheek. Sai's eyes widened for a second, "don't read too much into it dickman, that was just for saving my life".
"...Noted," Sai nodded slowly as he saw her walk away.
He disappeared a moment later...
Author's Notes:
I know it's a bit rushed but I just didn't know what to put in here other than the major bits. Yes Jiraiya is now dead; this needs to happen plain and simply. It's amazing how one single detail can shift the storyline so much huh?
Translation
Rikudō-Sennin = Sage of Six Paths
Fuin: Kai = Seal: Release
Shikon no Jutsu = Dead Soul Technique
Kuchiyose no Jutsu = Summoning Technique
Mateki: Genbusō Kyoku = Demon Flute: Illusionary Warriors Manipulating Melody
Katon: Kasumi Endu no Jutsu = Fire Release: Mist Flames Dance Technique
Fūjutsu Kyūin = Blocking Technique Absorption Seal
Chakura no Mesu = Chakra Scalpel
Chidori = Thousand Birds
Chōjū Giga = Super Beasts Imitation Picture
Sumi Nagashi = Ink Flush Technique
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