Living Decay
Chapter 26
"So, show me what you can do." Jiraiya ordered as he and Naruto stood in an open field just outside of the nation's capital.
It was just a few days after Naruto's meeting with the pervert and the old man was already preparing a special made training regimen based on every little characteristic the boy had.
The old man had taken the boy out to test his skills while Lady Orochimaru went about trying to find the location of their third and final teammate.
From the boy's general attitude to the very way he moved; the old man was going to create the perfect way for him to train so that he can use his abilities to the best of them. Even if the chances of him using any sort of offensive capability was severely limited.
He just would not have the time since anything foolish enough to even put a scratch on the boy would be reduced to nothing more than a bloody smear and a memory.
But there may come a day where Naruto will not be able to depend on his monstrosities to save him and will have to resort to any method possible to defend himself and defeat a terrible foe.
At least, that was what Jiraiya had planned for the boy as he watched him go about what he normally did during a training session.
It was almost exactly what the old man expected to see. It was clear that he never really learned any of the techniques taught at his home village's academy. He started out with a basic stance but quickly devolved into nothing more than straight brawling.
Instead of going for precise strikes and aiming for weak spots; Naruto's attacks appeared to be geared more for causing pain than dealing death. He struck at non-vital locations on the training dummies and hit with resounding force with each punch. He rarely used his feet in any of his attacks, choosing to use them for stability so that the force of his own attacks did not throw him off balance or risk an easy opening for attack.
Very strange for an assassin, but very practical for one that does not want to give their own personal demon a real body. By brutally beating down his opponent, Naruto's hard hits instilled just as much fear as pain. Fear of more pain. Fear of an even more brutal death.
Trying to teach the boy any other style of fighting would be pointless. Most all were made to quickly deal death to an opponent, and the few that did not were geared more for disabling opponents or removing their weaponry more so than causing any pain or damage.
Jiraiya watched the boy intently; calculating every possible move an opponent could make at every split second that Naruto moved. At the same time, the old man was trying to work out counters and counters to those counters and so on and so on.
After the boy had worked himself into a fine sweat, Jiraiya gave the order to break while thinking to himself.
As Naruto took a seat next to his twin Stalkers and allowed the cool breeze to help dry him off, another thought made it's way into the old pervert's head.
Since it was very doubtful that the boy would ever fight alone, would it be possible for him to fight alongside any of his possible creations and still make it out of a fight the victor?
The thought only entered the man's skull for just a moment before he quickly came to the conclusion that it was beyond obvious that Naruto had probably already done so at least a few times now. Still, any training was good training, so more practice with his creations would not do any harm.
There was a chance, a very very slim one, but still a chance that Naruto might be able to control his creatures enough to not outright kill any opponent that dared to face him.
After a few moments of rest, Jiraiya spoke up again. "Alright, now include those two and show me what you got."
Naruto looked at the old man, then at his two undead companions, then back at Jiraiya.
"I can't." He stated bluntly. "They don't get training or practice." He started to explain, seeing Jiraiya's raised eyebrow. "I mean they don't understand it. They are not like the regular animals that other ninja use. They only understanding killing things that are alive."
Made since. If they were made to just make more of themselves; via killing, then what was the point in them expending energy attacking something that they can not kill? The only way that they would willingly do such a useless act would be to protect their master from an object that might cause him harm.
Besides, the wooden training dummies were technically made out of dead matter already. Sure, the wood was treated to help prevent rot, but all lumber is nothing more than dead trees. Why would things that exist just to kill attack something that was already dead?
"Well, whatever." Jiraiya waved off the boy's words. "Then just continue where you left off."
"Why?" Naruto groaned. "You've been watching for hours. Haven't you seen enough to know that I'm already the best?" He said with a big stupid grin.
"Careful with that ego boy." The old man warned. His tone held mirth with his words; knowing that the boy's boast was nothing more than a facade to hide the unease he felt being judged by a legend.
"You are." He paused to find the right word. "...Unique." Found it. "Your power does make you special, but it also makes you a target."
Naruto's expression faltered.
"From your face I can tell you don't really know what I'm talking about." The old man sighed before he rose to his feet. "There are people that are out there looking for you, Naruto." His voice held no tone for foolishness. "And these people want the power that you have. Don't ask my why they want it or how they plan on taking it. All I do know is that they are after you and they are willing to do anything to get to you."
"Let them take it." Naruto responded harshly. "Let them take this thing from me! Even if I have to die; let them take it as far away from me and my home!"
Jiraiya sighed heavily. "You and I both know we can not let them have that thing, Naruto. And we both know that anyone desperate enough to try and take it is not someone that we want to have it."
"So what?" Naruto responded harshly. "I know how to kill these things." He gestured to his Stalkers. "I know what that thing is afraid of and I already have some..." He paused just a hair's breath. "...one that can help get rid of it forever!"
"Do you!?" The old man shouted. His voice booming with a level of authority Naruto had only heard from the Hokage. "Do you really think that this person can actually get rid of this monster inside of you? If they could, then why haven't they already?"
Naruto could not give a response.
"If they take it from you, Naruto, they are going to kill you and everyone else in the world." The old man tried to reason. "It does not matter who they are. Anyone that wants the power you have can and will destroy everything once they have it."
"But why me?" The boy asked softly. "Why am I the one that has to go through all of this?"
He was tired. So very tired of all the mind numbing nightmares. Of the fear of loosing control and killing his home. He was just so tired of it all.
"Because the fourth knew that you were the only one capable of handling it." Jiraiya said reassuringly. "He knew that nobody else alive would be able to withstand this thing's torture and still come out a good person."
"I was only a baby when it was put in me. How would anybody know I wouldn't turn out to be some insane tyrant or somethin'?"
Jiraiya just gave the boy a look. "Are you?"
Naruto could not look the man in the face. His fears being presented out to a person he hardly knew; yet he had a strange feeling that this old man was going to be very important in the future.
"I...I don't think so."
"Do you want to destroy your home and the people around you?"
"No."
"Then there is nothing to worry about. You are becoming the person I know the fourth Hokage knew you would be. And with the power you have and the control you must maintain, you will surpass him in not just power, but respect as well."
The two remained in silence for a while.
It was the old man that decided to finally break the quiet spell after a solid minute of neither talking.
"Feel any better?" His words were gentle and kind; knowing that the boy's outburst was nothing more than him releasing some built up stress. Though, Jiraiya knew that it was far from enough to fully calm the kid down. He was not sure if anything ever would.
Naruto gave a nod.
"Great." Jiraiya clapped his hands together. "Then back to the training!"
Naruto nodded before standing back up.
"Hold on, I want to test something with you. Something that may make your fighting style that much more impactful."
The two trained well into the day and into the beginning hours of the evening. Most was physical, but Jiraiya was sure that Naruto was properly trained in the major field he truly needed it; the mental.
Steady mental training, after all, was the only thing keeping the boy from breaking.
They rested at the hotel until morning where the training continued. Jiraiya did grumble about the fact that he could not hang around some beautiful women and was being forced to baby sit some brat, but was sure to do so under his breath.
The training went on for the next few days until Lady Orochimaru approached the pair one sunny afternoon to let them know she had obtained knowledge about the whereabouts of their third and final teammate.
A large city closer to the Hidden Leaf Village that was famous for being the gambling capital of the world. A prime location for the world's strongest gambling addict.
The group began to move out immediately. With Jiraiya a little more than upset that he was being forced to walk alongside Lady Orochimaru's carriage instead of inside.
The woman was sure to take the time to make sure Naruto was properly educated as well. Especially about the many secrets of his own home village.
The woman had been appalled when she first learned of the boy's stunted education the first time she had arrived at the hidden village. So it was only proper that the boy's self-proclaimed mistress would be the one to properly educate him.
The long trip gave the perfect amount of study time the boy needed to properly learn all of the many special abilities and custom's of the many clans and families that made up his home. Useful knowledge for the eventual leader of said village.
"Why does that little brat get to ride around with you while I have to march along like some kind of bodyguard." The old man complained.
Lady Orochimaru had to stifle a laugh.
"Unlike you, Naruto is a sweet child that would never think to take advantage of a beautiful defenseless woman. I can trust the boy to sit on my lap without fear of him doing something outrageous." Her voice was sweet as the sugary words poured from her mouth.
That sweetness quickly turned sour. "You, however, I would not trust to be alone with for more than a few seconds. You would take every bit of advantage of me as soon as you possibly could."
Out of the corner of her eye, the woman was able to see Naruto watching her intently. A wicked smile formed her lips once again.
"I am willing to bet you would force me down in a heart beat and do a number of unspeakable things to me. Forcing me into an addiction of your taste and feel while my body becomes nothing more than your plaything."
Naruto's face began to redden as his young mind began to image everything the woman was saying; completely ignoring the fact the she was now speaking at a much softer volume so that only he could hear.
"Forcing me to wear only the skimpiest outfits possible when in public. Making me go naked whenever alone. Forcing himself into all of my tight little holes whenever he wanted." She leaned forward so that each word was sure to puncture through the boy's thick skull and worm their way into his mind.
"Can you just imagine? Me being forced to my knees while your thick cock pushes itself past my tight lips and fill my mouth with your taste? You thrust in with all the force you have to make sure that my throat is stuffed full of your flavor? Hearing the sounds of my gagging and moaning as the nasty sound of your hot cock forcing itself over and over into my wet mouth?"
Naruto's face was red enough to put a tomato to shame, yet he kept his eyes forward and refused to move. He did not budge an itch as Lady Orochimaru decided to sit right next to the boy inside of the small carriage.
"What are you thinking about, Little Naruto." Her hot breath tickled his ear. "Is your mind filled with filthy thoughts about this old woman? Does knowing that I am so much older than you turn you on that much more; thinking about how you not only conquered a legendary shinobi, but an older woman as well?"
Naruto's eyes clenched shut as he finally realized what the woman was doing and began to try his damnedest to push all of the raunchy imagery out of his head.
It did not work. So instead, the young boy forced his head away from the woman and tried his best to focus on the outside world slowly going by.
''Please, no more.'' She begged in a flirty tone. This little game had been simply too much fun for her to just give up now. She and her beloved hero had been stealing away night after night since his return; each ending up more passionate than the last.
This night was ending up no different. They had decided to see what it would be like of her hero was actually the villein and how this would turn out if he hac actually stolen her; in more ways than one.
"Sorry." His tone was filled with mirth at the play. "But I'm not going to stop until you can't taste anything else ever again." He placed both of his hands on either side of her head and pressed the head of cock against her bright red lips. There was almost no resistance at all as he gave just the slightest amount of force.
She was all too happy to take his cock as far into her mouth as possible.
Naruto had to turn away again since looking outside just gave him a glorious view of Jiraiya's notebook.
The old man figured he might as well get some work down while on the trip. A little exercise was good for getting the creative juices flowin'.
Now he was stuck between the filthy words filling his ear, or the smut plaguing his eyes.
Oh what was poor Naruto to do?
He had to think of something quick that would at least get the woman to stop whispering such lewd remarks in his ear. Violence was clearly not that answer and the boy doubted there was anything he could say that would convince the woman to stop.
Or was there?
Maybe there were a few choice words he could spout that would catch the woman off-guard. He had always reacted so hesitantly and embarrassed whenever she mentioned anything intimate. What if...?
The boy gulped audibly before turning to face the much older woman. Lady Orochimaru simply continued to smile at the young boy.
Naruto took a deep breath before looking the woman dead in the eye. A fire burned behind those eyes that the woman was not expecting to see. Suddenly it was her face she could feel beginning to heat up. Those passionate eyes burned with the same determination she had seen time and again.
"I want to see your breasts."
Lady Orochimaru nearly jumped out of her skin when the boy spoke. Too deep in her own lewd thoughts to remember that he was even there. It took her a good few seconds to register what the boy had said.
A smile formed on her lips. She instantly knew what the lad was trying to do.
Since he has always been rejecting her advances, he was hoping that suddenly going on the offensive would be enough to stun her out of her attempts.
Clearly this was not going to work.
Lady Orochimaru leaned back into her seat. "As you wish, my sweet little Naruto." Her voice cooed. She leaned even further back and placed one foot on the seat, forcing her robes to bunch up and show almost every inch of her pale white leg.
Naruto's eyes could not help but be drawn to the milky flesh and a part of him wished heavily that he could see further up.
She slowly moved one hand across her chest until in vanished within her robes. With a simple motion, one entire side of her attire had slipped down to reveal her exposed shoulder and just the smallest portion of one of her breasts.
Lady Orochimaru gave Naruto a sly smile. His eyes were completely focused all on her; as they should be. This was different than when she had sauntered up to the boy completely naked a few days ago. He had been the one to initiate this little interaction and so a part of him deep within told him that he had to see it all the way through.
Because he had asked for it.
"More?" She asked in a soft tone. Naruto nodded so fast that he was at risk of snapping his neck.
The woman smiled and was about to reveal more of her pure skin, until she noticed an eye peering into the carriage.
Jiraiya had heard every single word and knew what was about to happen. He would be a fool not to try and take advantage. To finally see Lady Orochimaru's exposed breast would be a dream come true.
Said woman in question glared daggers at the staring eye before raising another foot, giving both mean a very good view of both of her thighs. She turned slightly and for a split moment, Jiraiya could swear he saw everything before a pair of feet came smashing through the carriage door and slammed straight into his face.
This was not a gentle hit, the carriage door splintered apart as the powerful woman shoved both feet through it and made good contact with Jiraiya's face. There was a nasty popping sound as the man's nose was broken by the force of the twin kick and he was sent flying back.
He landed hard and quickly pulled both hands up to his now aching face.
Lady Orochimaru stomped out of the carriage; which the driver had so wisely decided to stop, and made her way over to her prone teammate.
"Did I give you permission to look old man?" She asked with venom dripping from every word. "Did I say that I was exposing myself for you?" She slammed a foot on the man's stomach.
"You will never be worthy of witnessing all of me. Only those I deem so shall gaze upon my beauty. You will never be one of them." She pushed down on the man's gut before pushing away.
"Last time you tried this was when we were children." She stopped before walking back into the carriage. "I thought the warning I gave you back then was good enough. Looks like you will need to be taught again."
Jiraiya's eyes grew massive with fear as he scrambled to his feet. "N-n-no wait!" Blood dripped heavily from his broken nose as he began to plea to the woman. "I'm sorry! It was just a reflex! I couldn't help myself!"
"Do not worry, my old friend." Her voice was like ice. "I will be sure this time that you will not make the same mistake again." She looked at Naruto, who had wisely decided to remain in the carriage. "Let us be off my little Naruto. We should not be wasting time with this idiot's disgusting ways."
And the trip resumed as it had before. Only now with a partially damaged carriage and a bloody Jiraiya.
The strange group made it to the village that the third legendary shinobi was thought to currently be staying without any other hassle. They found a hotel, set up their rooms.
Lady Orochimaru did her best to get Naruto to willingly stay with her, but the boy's excuse of needing to keep an eye on Jiraiya lest he try something foul was simply impossible to argue against.
Instead of waiting around for any news on their eventual fourth member, Lady Orochimaru quickly set out upon the town to try and find Tsunade; leaving the two remaining males alone to do whatever they pleased.
Which, for Jiraiya at least, was to go about the sleazy town and make the most of this golden opportunity. Thus leaving poor little Naruto all alone in the rented room.
There really was not much for the boy to do. He could go train, but what would be the point? He still did not have a full grasp of either how his undead hand worked or the technique Jiraiya was attempting to teach him. His chakra control was so poor that he still could not get past step one.
But there really was not anything else he could do.
He could go explore the town. But from what the two older members of the party had described, the place was more of a playground for adults with cash to spare. And the kid was trying to save up for a, hopefully, better apartment in the near future.
He wallowed about on the bed for about thirty seconds before deciding that wandering the town was better than simply sitting there and letting the constant voices and images in his mind bring him quicker to the brink of insanity.
With a resounding groan of defeat, Naruto clambered off the bed, and went to open the door; expecting nothing more than to walk immediately out into the empty hallway.
You can imagine his surprise when, instead of the empty hall, Naruto was greeted by two tall, male figures standing in the doorway. Both men were clearly adults and worse completely black cloaks with red clouds patterned about randomly.
The first was a strange looking man with blue skin who had features best described as shark-like. Gill-like marking on the checks, a constant viscous smile showing rows of triangular teeth. Even the man's hair was a shade of dark blue. Even the handle, guard, and hilt of the massive sword strapped to his back was either blue or had a shark motif.
The man was the tallest out of the pair as well as the most large in terms of muscle. Kinda' had to be to be able to wield a sword just as big as himself.
It was quiet clear to young Naruto who the second man was. His tall, firm build mixed with those cold, unfeeling eyes. None other than Uchiha Sasuke's murderous brother. Those unmistakable red and black eyes of the Uchiha family's easily recognizable blood-line ability bore down on poor Naruto like those of a cat staring down at a broken mouse.
Uchiha Itachi...like you all had no idea that this was something I was going to keep in line with the canon plot...
It was clear with the slashed headbands that both wore that they had both gone rouge and the look in their eyes told Naruto that they were not here to talk.
The young boy was caught off guard by the pair's sudden appearance and stumbled back in shock; making sure to hide his inhuman hand at the same time.
"Uzumaki Naruto?" Itachi's cold voice spoke out from behind the high collar of his black cloak. "You need to come with us." He offered a pale hand out to the boy.
A chill when down Naruto's spine. Something told the boy that doing what the deserter said would be a very poor idea. He took a wary step back.
"What's the matter kid?" The shark-like man said with a wicked grin. "Don't you trust two fine upstanding gentlemen like us?"
Naruto did not say a word and simply stepped back a bit, knowing that his weapon holster was just behind him on the bedside table.
"Nu uh." Fish man chastised while waving a finger with one hand and reaching for his massive blade with the other. "We don't need you trying anything funny. You do, and I'll be more than happy to turn you into a limbless stump." His smile stayed the same. "After all, we just need you alive, not intact."
"And you still lack tact." Itachi said in an irritated tone.
"Hurting me would be a very bad idea." Naruto warned.
"Oh, we know." Shark-man smirked. "We may not be able to hurt you physically, but we can still hurt you."
Naruto had an idea of what the man meant, and it certainly was not anything he would want to think about. He closed one eye as he felt pain build up behind it. But before the blood could even flow through it, the sharp tip of a blade suddenly appeared right in front of the young boy's nose.
"Please do not waste our time with your little eye trick Naruto." Itachi spoke in an annoyed tone. "Like my friend say, we only need you alive. I will blind you if I must to gain your cooperation."
"You know?" Naruto was shocked, but did his best to hide it with a feeling of determination. This was the first time he had every encountered anyone that actually had a grasp of his abilities and had plans on countering them.
"Of course we do." The fish dude said with a scoff. "You think we look stupid enough to go after someone with the kind of powers you have?"
"Yes." Naruto replied quickly. "You look like you belong in a glass bowl and that thinking is too difficult a task for ya'."
Fish-man's eyebrow twitched at the boy's quick admission. "You've got a smart mouth there kid. I'm thinkin' maybe we should shut it."
Itachi, Irritated with how long this whole ordeal was taking, gave a heavy sigh. "Do what you please, just bring him along." He sheathed his own blade and stepped back so that his ally could handle the hard labor.
Naruto stood straight. "You too really have no idea what I am. Whatever anyone has told you...at most is a half truth."
"Really now?" Shark guy asked with a knowing smirk. "We know what your eyes can do. We know what you do to the dead. And we know that you can control them." His smile grew wider. "We also know how to kill each and every one of them."
He pulled his wrapped up blade from his back and planted it on the ground in front of him. "So why not just come along with us before we bloody you up too badly?"
Naruto scoffed. "If you're so sure of yourself; why not just force me to come? Surely you two can handle my entire army when it comes for you." It was Naruto's turn to smirk as the fish-faced man scowled hard. "I can already see it. You'll be able to cut down a few before you fall. But you will never be able to handle all of my army."
"I hate brats like you!" The blue skinned man shouted before tossing a fist straight for Naruto.
The boy just stood there with that same smirk etched across his face as the fist came sailing straight for him.
"Wait." Itachi suddenly spoke up. He moved with blinding speed to halt his companion's attack with a hand on the arm. Naruto was clearly not pleased that his little ruse had now failed.
"Why?" The blue-skinned fellow shot his ally a look. "This little shit wants to get beaten; so why not give him what he wants?"
"How about I give you two something instead?" A familiar voice spoke from down the hall.
The two rogue shinobi were forced to turn their attention to a crouching Jiraiya, who was already finishing up a series of hand seals. He slammed both of his hands on the ground and the entire building became covered in a sticky, foul smelling pink substance.
The fish-faced fuck angrily grabbed his sword only to nearly prat-fall as the strange pink goo had adhered the strange blade to the very floor.
"What?!"
Jiraiya gave a knowing smirk. "Welcome to the stomach of a giant toad. If you can survive our encounter long enough, then you will have the pleasure of being digested."
He instantly charged forward with a glowing sphere of chakra in his hand.
Snarling, the shark-like man gripped his sword with both hands and somehow found the strength to rip the blade free from it's gooey confines while at the same time swinging it towards the old man.
Jiraiya was able to quickly step back just as the blade sailed almost harmlessly in front of him. I saw almost because the very tip of the wrapped up weapon made contact with the chakra sphere and the orb was completely torn away.
The visible chakra was quickly sucked right into the weapon as it appeared to move underneath it's wrappings. The sword continued to move, as if alive and hungry for more of the life energy.
The rouge shinobi smirked. "You should know better than to come at me with such an attack old man. I'll be sure my sword eats every last bit of you." He made an attempt to charge at the aged warrior only to find he himself had been swallowed by the stinky floor. The pink mess covered his feet and was already crawling its way up his shins.
"ITACHI!" A young voice shouted from behind Jiraiya.
The voice belonged to none other than the youngest surviving Uchiha, Sasuke. The youth was dripping sweat and panting as hard as his lungs would allow. Obvious signs of him having come straight from his home village to the hotel in as little time as possible. Anger burned behind his onyx eyes as the distant memories of that faithful night came rushing back. Without even thinking about it, the youngest Uchiha's hate filled eyes changed into their more powerful state, the dreaded sharingan.
Without saying another word, Sasuke focused all of his energy into his right hand; which, within a single moment, had become nearly completely enveloped in writhing electricity.
"We do not have time for this." Itachi stated in an annoyed tone as he held one hand up and began to focus chakra to his eyes. His own sharingan eyes began to spin and shift as more of his life-giving energy was forced into them.
The smallest of movements at the corner of the man's vision forced the older Uchiha to glance over at the fist coming straight for his pretty-boy face. Itachi leaned back to dodge the attack as his own feet were already slowly being consumed by the fleshy floor.
Naruto landed right in front of the older ninja, but used the momentum of his missed attack to quickly turn himself so as to avoid the incoming sword swing that had been aimed for his midsection.
The orange-clad ninja quickly bounced off the wall to try for another hit, only for Itachi to once again move out of the way. Instead of swinging his blade at the boy, the older Uchiha snagged the boy by the back of his jacket before using his other hand to force the boy to look him in the eye.
Naruto smirked as blood leaked from his own eyes.
Itachi tried to turn his head away only to have Naruto's twisted hand come up and hold his head forward.
"I know what your eyes can do too." Naruto sneered. "Now let's see whose is the strongest."
Both shinobi stared directly into each other's supernatural eyes; the world melting away around them as their powers clashed.
The two were left standing in an empty void of darkness with only each other being visible.
Itachi pushed the boy back with enough force to send him to the ground. "Looks like my family's eyes are stronger than yours, Naruto." He sighed in irritation. "I had hope to avoid inflicting any unnecessary harm to you. But we are already here, and there is no helping it."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at the man. Itachi noticed and decided to explain.
"This is the great power of the Sharingan; Tsukuyomi. Here, time flows separate from the outside world. A minute out there and a year in here." The older man looked around for a moment, and noticed something was a bit off about his other world.
He had used this technique more times than he could count. It was one of, if not the, most useful techniques for torture and interrogation his organization had at their disposal. So, needless to say, he knew all there was about the technique and what it was capable of.
And it always sent him and his target into a dark world with a blood-red sky.
Here; there was no sky. There was nothing. No land, no sky, not even the faint scent of blood that usually permeated the air of his Tsukuyomi.
This was far from normal for the Uchiha's famous technique.
"Something the matter?" Naruto asked with a smirk while getting back to his feet. His posture and facial expression were enough for Itachi to recognize that the boy was the cause of the unusual changes to his beloved ability. Itachi simply glared at the boy.
I was told about your clan's bloodline on the ride here." Naruto explained. "I really don't remember any of the boring stuff except that it could make people see things different and can screw around with their heads. A part of me wanted to know what would happen should my power mix with yours."
The kid looked around the blank nothingness. "I guess not much."
Without saying a word, Itachi rushed forward. This may be their combined minds, but a hit was still a hit and would hurt the kid none the less. Naruto leapt back away from the swipe just as a massive crack appeared in the surrounding darkness.
The crack had a brilliant red glow and quickly grew larger and larger; splintering as it began to take over the entirety of the empty void. Eventually, a section of the void shattered as a massive black spiral pillar erupted out from the nothing. The stone structure was exactly that of the countless others that covered the chamber the the Moon spoke to him within his mind; symbols and all.
Itachi stare up in awe at the structure as it continued to rise and rise. It was exactly as his leader had described, down to the very minute textures of the stone the object was made from.
Another pillar, exactly the same as the first, burst forth from the nothingness and continued to rise along with the previous stone object. Not long after, another appeared, and another, and another. The strange obelisks even started to appear at different angles; all the same size and color.
Something inside Itachi told him to run. To get as far away from the structures as possible and to leave this distorted realm as quickly as possible. Yet, at the same time, the pillars seemed to talk to him. Whispered in his ear like a gentle lover.
But, the words that he heard did not match the voice. The words were harsh, demanding, and ordered the young man to do terrible things. All while sounding soft and gentle.
It made Itachi feel that much more uneasy.
Naruto had his own voices to worry about.
"What a delightful gift my prophet has brought to me." The legion of the Moon spoke in the youth's head. It's infinite voices gave a pleased tone. "The beginning of my new body; the first part of the vessel."
The symbols covering the endless number of obelisks began to glow and pulsate. A faint hum radiated from each as well.
Itachi's inner voice screamed at him to leave this realm. It begged and begged, yet his body could not will itself to end the technique. His internal screaming got louder and louder as noticed he was slowly being lifted up and off of his feet. He had to end the technique, or else he was going to die. It took all the man's mental fortitude to force away the flow of chakra from his eyes.
The effect was immediate.
The world around the two began to melt away and fade into nonexistence. The darkness gave way to the walls of the hotel and the stone structures vanished without a trace.
"NO!" A booming army of voices shouted as the darkness receded. "I will not be denied my beginning!" A large fleshy tentacle burst forth from the darkness and quickly wrapped itself around Itachi. An effort by the Moon to keep it's prey from leaving it's domain.
But, even with the entity's desperate struggle, Itachi had already ended the technique and there was nothing it could do as it's own arm melted away with the rest of the realm.
Naruto was the first to realize the change back into reality and quickly pushed himself away from Itachi while making sure to slip past the shark-like dude without getting hit by his massive sword.
At the same time, Sasuke finally charged at his elder brother; chakra infused hand ready to rip right through the older man's heart. The boy did not see anything else but his target.
Not the old man that tried to reach out to stop him. And not his teammate who was forced to get out of the way lest he be ran through just as the other Uchiha was to be.
Said older sibling snapped out of his nightmare induced daze long enough to notice his little brother's attack, and promptly counter the attack by grabbing the boy's wrist right before it reached it's target.
Sasuke was in such a state of shock at his older brother easily preventing his most powerful attack from doing any sort of damage, that he lost all focus and the electricity coursing around his hand quickly vanished without a trace.
"I said I did not have time for you." Itachi snapped while glaring down at his foolish younger brother. He quickly tightened his grip to the point where a nasty snap echoed out from Sasuke's wrist.
The boy gave a shout of pain before Itachi raised him up by the same wrist until they were both at eye level.
"How pathetic." His expression was blank as he stared his brother in the eye. Sasuke was in too much pain to properly reply beyond grunts of pain.
"To think that you call yourself an Uchiha. What a shame." He took his other hand, gripped Sasuke's throat, and pinned the youth into the nearby wall.
"Hey now." Itachi's fish-face compatriot suddenly spoke up. The man had quickly snagged Naruto by the scruff of his jacket and was now using him as a hostage to prevent Jiraiya from any sort of retaliation.
"Another Uchiha could do us some good."
Itachi raised an eyebrow at the man before turning his attention back to his brother. He dropped the boy unceremoniously before taking a step back and looking down at him. A thousand thoughts raced through the older Uchiha's head as he thought about his next action.
"You are much too weak to be of any use." Itachi stated coldly. "I'll let you live for now. Once you become strong enough, then I will consider you as something worth my time."
He returned his attention to the slowly backing away fish-man. "We got what we came for. Let us leave." With a halfhearted toss, Itachi sent an explosive tag flying through the air and towards the end of the hallway.
The explosion easily decimated both the flesh coating the wall and the structure itself; leaving an easy escape route for the rouge ninja and their young cargo.
Whatever plan of escape they may have had thought up, however, were quickly dashed when the wall next them exploded as well. Shards of torn wood flew around them as an undying monster tore itself right through the building.
Itachi was forced to push his heels back and make himself trip backwards to avoid a nasty-looking blade from cleaving him in two; vertically. Said weapon belonged to non other than the vile Hunter.
The creature had easily tracked down it's creator and had decided that going through the nearest wall as a lot easier than walking all the way around a room.
The blade firmly planted itself right between his legs and was able to snag his robe. The monster yanked the man forward while brandishing it's other bladed limb, only to have it suddenly come flying off as the fish-man swung his own massive weapon at the creature. The arm pinning down the still living human had also found itself separated from it's host's body.
Itachi was able to tear himself away from the floor and quickly get back to his feet.
Naruto took the opportunity to slash at the arm holding him with his clawed hand; forcing the bulky man to release the youth. Naruto quickly dashed forward towards Jiraiya and away from his would-be kidnappers.
Seeing their opportunity lost, both cloaked figures made a hard leap out of the destroyed wall with Jiraiya quickly giving chase. Or, he would have if Itachi had not turned around mid-flight and summoned a wall of black fire right over the make-shift exit.
The old man gave a snarl of frustration before sighing heavily at the pair's escape and pulling out a small scroll from within his vest. Jiraiya went about both, dispelling his own technique on the area, as well as writing up a seal to to banish away the wicked flames that were starting to encroach further into the building.
Sasuke slowly rose to his feet, holding his broken wrist in his hand. The damage to his pride hurt so much more than any damage to his bones. He stared forward for a moment before forcing his face into a sharp scowl.
Weak! He was still weak! Even after all of that training and hard work; Sasuke was still too weak to even be considered a threat to his murderous brother.
He grit his teeth as the pain from his wrist jolted him out of his thoughts; at least temporarily. He risked a glance over at Naruto, who was preoccupied reattaching the severed limbs to his giant monster.
He simply placed the part were they were meant to be, and they reattached almost instantly with only a small amount of foul smelling organic liquid spilling from the gap.
If only his other creations could heal like this one. If only he could remember how this monster was even made.
Sasuke's glare had shifted completely onto the brain-dead blond youth. That twisted hand and the way he interacted with those ungodly abominations was simply unnatural and wrong in every sense of the word.
Worse still, now not only were the most legendary shinobi alive fawning over the freak, but his own brother considered Naruto more worth his time than his own flesh and blood. That thought alone made the young Uchiha's blood boil.
How could this freak, that had never even met his brother, be considered important enough for Itachi to risk kidnapping him from two of the most powerful ninja alive?! The moron only had a disgusting bloodline.
No talent. No skill. No smarts. There was absolutely no reason that Itachi should pay the idiot any attention at all. Yet, he had his and everyone else's'!
All because he was just some terrifying freak of nature!
Sasuke wanted to lash out at the other boy so badly; but refrained from doing so knowing that he would not survive the encounter. He instead opted to just leave and head back home.
This whole little event was a waste of time and he did not need to waste anymore with this useless lot. He took his leave without saying anything.
After just a few moments later, Jiraiya had successfully sealed away the dark flames and was working on another scroll. No real clue what it was he was actually working on, but it was probably important. Maybe.
Naruto's undead savior gave it's master a once over before leaving the building. Where is was off to was anybody's guess.
"So, I guess those two were from those groups I was warned about?" Naruto asked while looking over Jiraiya's shoulder. The kid was unable to make heads or tails of what the old man was doing.
"Yeah." The old man confirmed in a tone that told the youth that he was not really paying him any attention.
"What are you working on?"
"Something that we may need in the future." Jiraiya stated just as he finished with the last brush stroke. "There." He held up the scroll to observe his work before quickly rolling it up and stashing it away before Naruto could properly see.
"Oh my!" A soft voice spoke from the other end of the hall. The two males turned to see Lady Orochimaru staring at all the damage done to this single hall. "I heard the owners complaining about the noise, but I never figured leaving you two alone would cause this much trouble."
"Just a little scuffle." Jiraiya was quick to explain. "Nothing you need to worry your beautiful mind with."
"Good." The woman said shortly. "I found Lady Tsunade."