Colors of Life and Death series
Truth in Dreams
by Songbird21
Chapter 25
Please read and review. I love reviews! Thanks!
Naruto's breathing had slowed to minimal as he stared at what was in front of him. The blonde hair, the shape of the face, the tone of the skin—it was like staring back at his own reflection only...older.
Jiraiya walked over to his student and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto." No response. "Naruto...let's get you out of here." He gave Sakura a pleading glance for help.
Sakura bit her lower lip. "Come on, Naruto-kun. Let us take care of this."
Naruto's face suddenly became angry. "What is this?" he said in a dangerous tone. He pointed up at the body floating in the dimly lit tube before him. "Some kind of SICK JOKE?!"
"Naruto, calm down," Sasuke interjected.
"Calm down?" Naruto asked his brother incredulously. "Tell me Sasuke—exactly how calm would you be if it was YOUR DAD'S DEAD BODY IN THAT TUBE?!" His anger was overwhelming. Many times he had dreamed of seeing his father but this mocked his dream and made it into a nightmare.
Sasuke looked down in silence. There was just no way he could answer that without saying he would've reacted the same way.
"It's not your dad, Naruto," Tenten suddenly chimed in.
"What?!" Naruto snapped.
Tenten was thumbing through some kind of notebook. "According to this, it's a clone," she explained gently.
Naruto visibly relaxed a bit but he still looked deeply disturbed.
Jiraiya frowned. "Why the hell would they want to clone Minato?" he mused out loud.
"That's an answer you won't find in those notes," said a cold voice.
Everyone turned around quickly and Sasuke's face instantly turned into a hateful glare. "Itachi..."
Jiraiya's eyes were instantly darting about, trying to get a better idea of how much room they had to fight. The 'lab' easily rivaled the largest gymnasium Konoha had to offer but the amount of items in the room would greatly decrease the attacks they had available to them. There were four rows of tubs like the one that held the Minato clone, but the occupants of those tubes were in various degrees of 'completeness'. Some were missing body parts or were grossly deformed—while the rest looked like a photo album of Naruto's growth. He could feel his stomach churning at the sight, but chose to turn his anger on Itachi. "What the hell is this you arrogant bastard?!"
"You won't live long enough to find out," Itachi said flatly. Snake, Tiger, Monkey, Rabbit, Dragon, Tiger. Katon: Shiro ootori kaen no Jutsu! (A/N-Fire type: White phoenix flame technique) A white flame shot from Itachi's mouth, quickly taking the form of a giant phoenix.
Through various flips and jumps the team managed to avoid the great bird as it streaked forward, but the flames engulfed every burnable object in the room, making it a death trap. "Everyone, get out!" Jiraiya commanded. He knew the fire would eventually burn itself out, but due to the fire being white hot they wouldn't last long enough to see it happen.
Itachi had already left the room before Jiraiya had called out. By the time the Konoha group got to the door the black flames of amataresu were already licking the edge of the doorframe. Jiraiya jumped back down to the floor. "Everyone get close to me!" The team immediately complied. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
In an explosion of smoke and rubble they were suddenly seeing the sky as they stood, shielded, underneath the stomach of Gamabunta. The great frog looked down at the people crowded under his massive girth. "Jiraiya. I was in the middle of dinner you know," his voice boomed in complaint.
Jiraiya smirked. "Later, old frog. Would you mind working with Sasuke? I'm needed down here."
Gamabunta cocked an eye ridge. "Just this once. But I won't do it again until he has earned it." He lowered his face down a bit to Sasuke. "Get on quickly before I change my mind, Brat."
A brief look of uncertainty crossed Sasuke's face before he leaped up onto Gamabunta's back. It was just then that Itachi reappeared. As everyone got into fighting stances Gamabunta rolled one large eye upwards. "You're an Uchiha, right, Brat?"
Sasuke nodded. "Yeah."
Gamabunta smiled. "Now I know why Jiraiya pushed so hard for me to accept you. My skills always work best with fire users."
Sasuke raised his eyebrows but kept silent.
"That unsure of your skills eh, old man?" Itachi taunted as he nodded his head towards his brother being on Gamabunta's back in place of Jiraiya.
Jiraiya smirked. "Nope. Just training a new summoner."
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
Jiraiya turned his head to see Kazehana standing next to Naruto and looked nervously towards Gamabunta. There was a look of distaste in the great frog's eyes but he made no move to protest the dragon's presence.
"Sakura, we'll need our healer in one piece. Get out of range." Jiraiya commanded.
Sakura frowned but she knew he was right. She did as commanded and also kept her eyes peeled for any serious injuries to her team that would need her attention.
"Nobody look at his eyes!" Naruto yelled in reference to Itachi.
Jiraiya looked at him with surprise and approval. So—he's starting to show leadership.
Kazehana frowned as she saw Itachi's eyes. "Neh, Naruto-kun—what are the powers of his doujutsu?"
Naruto's eyes became grave. "Tsukiyomi. Pretty much the highest level of genjutsu possible. He can put the illusions right into your mind and you feel everything he does to you," he said, attempting an explanation.
Kazehana smirked. "Then you're lucky to have a dragon as a summon." She pushed off from the ground and flew around the combatants in a circle. A transparent green barrier of energy enveloped the group and the surrounding area for quite a distance. She landed next to Naruto.
"What is that?" Tenten asked.
"Kon kabe (a/n- Spirit wall). The level of genjutsu Naruto described could only be possible if the spirit realm were breached. This wall prevents spirit attacks."
Although the Konoha team now looked volumes more relaxed, Itachi seemed to have no reaction to this news. The mangekyou spun and...nothing happened. He suddenly looked thoroughly vexed but quickly regained his composure. "I don't need Tsukiyomi to kill the likes of you," he said with confidence.
Itachi created four Kage bunshins—one for each opponent. "You four take care of the brats." The Itachi clones nodded and began fighting. Itachi, himself turned to Jiraiya. "Now that there will be fewer interruptions let's begin, shall we?"
Jiraiya smirked. "You sure are cocky for a kid," he said as he slid into a battle stance.
Itachi cocked an eyebrow. "No more than Naruto." Snake, tiger, monkey, boar, horse, tiger. Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu
Jiraiya easily jumped out of the way of the giant fireball that blazed towards him. Boar. He dropped straight down into the ground—vanishing completely.
Itachi frowned as he scanned the area. He couldn't find Jiraiya, but knew he would most likely come up underneath him. Horse, dragon, ox. "Doton: kaiju no jutsu! (a/n- Earth type: rock formation technique)" Itachi slammed his hand onto the ground beneath his feet and the dirt turned into a ten inch thick rock slab. He felt a short jolt underneath the rock a moment late, confirming his suspicions.
Jiraiya emerged from the ground about fifteen feet away—sporting a bleeding hand and defiant smile. "Nice one," he said through gritted teeth.
Naruto and his two clones jumped backwards. The clones were cleanly hit with kunai and vanished. The real Naruto had the last kunai stuck into his right shoulder. He ripped it out, wincing as he did so. He might not have Tsukiyomi, but he's still damn fast.
The Itachi clone began flashing through seals. Snake, Tiger, Monkey, Rabbit, Dragon, Tiger. Katon: Shiro ootori kaen no Jutsu! (A/N-Fire type: White phoenix flame technique) The phoenix screamed across the battle field toward Naruto.
Naruto wasn't sure he was ready, but he really didn't have a choice since there was nowhere to go. He pulled out one of his special kunai and threw it out of harm's way then formed the rabbit seal. He vanished and appeared next to the spot on the ground where the kunai had landed. He stumbled, fell, and rolled to a stop—getting up just in time to dodge a kick to the head.
Lee was running at top speed, dodging small fire balls. The clone looked at him with mild interest. "If I didn't have these eyes of mine you might be an actual threat," he said as he calmly watched the green blur that dominated his field of vision. "Which is impressive considering that you don't seem to be able to use any kind of jutsu." He blocked Lee's latest kick. "But you're simply in the way." He grabbed Lee's fist as he tried to punch him in the throat and flung him into a tree. Lee tried to sit up the clone walked over to him and punched him in the temple. An unconscious Lee slumped to the ground and the clone vanished.
A few seconds later Sakura had jumped down from her vantage point and picked up her fallen boyfriend. "Lee-kun!" She took him with into the tree tops and checked his vitals. When she saw he only had a concussion she breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god."
Tenten dodged the kunai jab that had been aimed at her midriff and flipped backwards through the air, pulling out a scroll as she did so. She landed in the lower branches of a tree. From the scroll she summoned eight balls. Horse, rabbit. "Ame senbon no jutsu! (a/n- senbon rain technique)" She threw the balls outward into the sky above the clone. Once they were in the desired position she yanked backwards on the chakra string connected to them. The balls cracked open and thousands of senbon (a/n-basically long needles) shot downward over a radius of twenty feet.
The surprised clone had no time to react and was destroyed when the needles hit it. Tenten let out the breath she'd been holding. Thank god it was only his clone. I wouldn't have done more than stall the real one.
Unfortunately the same clone that had taken Lee out earlier had come up behind her. Tenten had let her guard down and didn't notice the clone until she was sailing through the air from the powerful kick that had hit her back.
Sasuke, who was fighting a clone which had somehow managed to get onto Gamabunta's back, noticed Tenten's plight. "TENTEN!" He screamed as he dodged the clone's fist.
Gamabunta acted fast and in less than a second Tenten was nestled safely in the great frog's tongue. He gently set her down and went back to the task at hand—namely trying to remove the annoying insect that was on his back. Finally he got fed up with the whole thing and grabbed both Sasuke and the clone with his tongue. He put them on the ground, backed away a bit and sighed. I'm not much good in a fight when there are so many allies in my strike zone. He turned to Sasuke. "Kid! Follow me!" With that, he made a few giant hops away from the main battle.
Sasuke broke into a run with a frown on his face. The distance Gamabunta covered in one hop was enormous. Follow me, he says. Like I can do that so easily.
Sakura watched the battle with growing unease. So far she had two unconscious friends up in the tree with her and was worried she would soon have more. She looked over at Naruto. He and Kazehana were on opposite sides of their clone. She grew curious though, when she saw Naruto pull a scroll from his pouch. "Huh?"
Naruto opened the long scroll to reveal fifteen small seals. He moved his hand over them. As each seal was released a small ball of sugikon dropped into his other hand. "Kazehana!" He threw the balls at the clone.
Kazehana immediately knew what he wanted her to do. She hit the balls with a stream of fire. The explosion knocked both her and Naruto away from the epicenter.
As soon as he stopped skidding along the ground Naruto looked up to see that the clone was gone. He also saw Jiraiya's fight was still going on and decided to help. He looked at Kazehana. "Let's go!"
Gamabunta was getting annoyed. It was difficult to hit such a small foe. Frogs weren't exactly known for their speed and Itachi was very fast. He had attempted to help Sasuke by attacking the clone with his tongue but stopped when a blast of fire nearly removed the aforementioned tongue.
Sasuke and the clone's fire blasts continually cancelled each other out. He wanted to use chidori, but he knew it wouldn't do much unless it covered a wide area. Suddenly, he had an idea that both revolted and excited him at the same time. "Gamabunta! Spit on him!"
For a moment Gamabunta looked at Sasuke like he'd grown a second head, but complied with the request.
Once the clone and the twenty foot area around it were soaked in a puddle of spit Sasuke charged up Chidori and hit the edge of the liquid. The electricity shot through the spit and the clone was destroyed. Sasuke looked at the result with a superior smirk.
Gamabunta raised an eyebrow. "Working with you is going to be very interesting."
Naruto smiled when his brother joined the fight with the real Itachi. "Took ya long enough."
"Heh," Sasuke replied with a smile, but his expression very quickly became severe. "Naruto, Jiraiya-sama...I want you to stay out of this fight."
Jiraiya's eyes widened. Naruto's simply became solemn. He knew Sasuke would ask for this.
"Don't be stupid! I'm not going to let a kid like you go up against Itachi by himself," Jiraiya said in a commanding voice.
Sasuke glared angrily. "I've trained for this day for years! You have no right to interfere!" he yelled.
"As interesting as this little drama is, I don't have all day," and with those words Itachi shot forward.
Naruto, Jiraiya, Sasuke and Kazehana sank into battle stances and readied themselves. They knew at least one person was definitely not getting out of this fight alive...
...TO BE CONTINUED
I'm very sorry this took so long, guys. I honestly didn't intend it to. I rewrote many things in this chapter and I still hate it. I just suck at writing battles.
And since some people seem to not understand this, I will say it again—I will NEVER NEVER NEVER abandon this story! Please PLEASE stop reviewing with the question "Has this fic been abandoned?". I am seriously tired of it.
If anyone is an Avatar fan, I released a one shot. You can find it in my profile. :D
I don't think this chapter is much of a cliffy so I hope you guys are happier. :)
Susanno will not be making an appearance because he is a spirit type attack and Kazehana's spell nullifies it.
I will try to get the chapter out as soon as I can, but please, guys, cut me a little slack. I'm a mom and my daughter comes first. Not to mention I have 12 custom My Little Pony commissions at the moment so I'm kinda swamped. Be happy I'm as dedicated to this fic as I am. Honestly, how many fanfic writers are willing to stick to working on a series of fics for over three years? Not many, I can tell you that.
Anywho. I hope you liked this chappy even if I don't. Lol.
See you soon,
Song