The Necromancer, Chapter 28:
Even though two hours had passed since Sakura was claimed by the ranks of the undead, the tears still fell from Naruto's face. He was inside now, for Shikamaru became worried and found him outside crying next to Sakura's corpse. The lobby was empty except for Naruto, Hinata, and him. Shikamaru was leaning against a wall while Hinata was absent-mindedly stroking Naruto's back. Naruto was huddled up underneath a towel, and he and Hinata were sitting on a couch.
The Sand-nin were in a different room that contained Akira. She was unconscious, but Karin had lended some of her healing blood to the girl, so she would be fine. They were all still resting and recuperating from the exhausting attack from the zombie horde.
"I'm so sorry, Naruto... I don't know how many times to say that," Hinata said lowly. She felt horrible, since her last words to Sakura were so spiteful and mean...
"Yes... it truly hurts to lose a loved one," Shikamaru sagely said, "it feels as if all hope and joy in your life is taken away..." Shikamaru briefly thought of Gemna's reaction after Ibiki died, "...but there's always a shining light behind the darkest of storms."
"I know..." Naruto said quietly, "...it's just that only time will heal these wounds. There's nothing that can help me for now."
Shikamaru sighed heavily. He knew exactly how Naruto felt, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling at all. The biggest help in curing Naruto's pain would be one that cared for him... Hinata. Just as Temari was the only one that could cure his pain, Hinata was the only one capable of removing Naruto's pain.
"Hinata... it's up to you to make him feel better," Shikamaru said as he left the room, "and trust me, you're the only one."
Hinata closed her eyes and nodded as she hugged her love tightly. Her warm touch even penetrated the towel's fibers. The tears stopped, and Naruto realized that he had to keep fighting. There were still threats out there, and he had to protect the ones that cared for him and the ones he cared for. It wasn't over, and Sakura's passing away was just another bump in the rocky path they had been traveling. She could always be mourned later, but right now... it wasn't the time. Naruto felt rejuvenated as he threw the towel off of him and wiped his eyes. He turned to Hinata and smiled lightly before giving her a passionate kiss. They soon withdrew from each other.
"Thank you," he whispered to her. Hinata smiled lightly back at Naruto as she nodded.
A sudden, massive, booming noise surged through the Administration Building, which was shaken by the shockwave. The others soon poured into the room, clamoring on what the source of the quake was. Jiraiya stepped outside and stopped in shock. Any who followed him did the exact same thing, as the source of the quake was in clear view.
Clearly visible outside the village gates was an enormous silver-white wolf with five tails- one tail surrounded by whirling winds, one tail engulfed in raging flames, one tail encased in shining water, one tail enclosed in marble stone, and one tail with electricity arcing around it.
"It's... the five-tailed wolf!" Jiraiya exclaimed in disbelief.
Otoshi leaped back as Kenokami became surrounded by a massive aura of white chakra and transformed into this monstrous form. Otoshi frowned as he felt the near-bijuu's presence.
Grr... taking on this creature will be a hassle. It would be fine if it weren't accompanied by an annoying girl who used some weird chakra-jamming jutsu... Otoshi thought as he cursed the Uchiha girl's repertoire of jutsu unknown to him. First that weird chain-propelled arm blade, then the exploding and iron maiden clones, that odd multi-elemental orb, the weird jutsu that seemed to be a short-term teleportation, those pesky traps, and now this chakra disrupting aura.
Otoshi readied his sword and listened to the movements of the tails flicking about. He had to memorize their patterns of movement so that he wouldn't get slammed by one of them. He mainly had to ignore the near-bijuu and take down Reiko. He cursed, as it suddenly became a much harder task. The problematic woman had just leapt on the back of the five-tailed wolf. Great... just what he needed.
"Oh, fuck me sideways..." Otoshi swore as another problem conveniently arrived at the moment. Two Akatsuki members... he recognized their scents.
Reiko gasped as the two robed people entered the clearing. They grabbed their shades and threw them off. The taller of the two grinned as he unstrapped the large bandaged sword from his back, while the smaller one merely looked at the five-tailed wolf.
"Itachi Uchiha... Kisame Hoshigaki," Otoshi and Reiko spoke (unknowingly) at the same time.
"Well, it seems that you're not getting along," Kisame said with a small smirk. Kenokami growled and lashed at Kisame with one of his tails, which has promptly blocked and held off by Samehada.
It's... like a chakra leech! Kenokami thought as he quickly pulled the tail back and clawed at Kisame, who blocked the wolf's attack once more with his sword. Itachi was standing there and observing Otoshi and Reiko intently, his sharingan eyes picking up acute details about them and the surrounding environment.
The entire area's filled with some sort of chakra disruptors... most likely Reiko's work, Itachi thought, and Otoshi doesn't seem to be human. The features of his skin are all wrong, and they're slightly different in areas. And to know he has that dangerously powerful genjutsu behind that blindfold... I'll have to be careful.
"So, even though we've both predicted the answer... forget the formalities. You're not going to come quietly with us, are you, Necromancer and Five-Tails?" Kisame asked.
"Of course not!" Reiko screamed as she jumped off of Kenokami and onto a nearby tree. She produced two spherical objects from her robe and tossed them down into the clearing. Kenokami shielded himself with his tails as the circular orbs burst open, sending a shower of senbon needles outwards. Kisame used the tried-and-true Samehada defense, Otoshi took the blows of the few needles that reached his location, and Itachi swiftly maneuvered around and dodged the needle storm. He would have simply body flickered out of the way, but even simple uses of chakra like that were rendered null by the chakra disruptors. Reiko bit her lip as she nervously analyzed the situation.
Dammit, this isn't good at all! The two of us could have handled Otoshi, but now Itachi and Kisame show up, she thought, we could've taken Otoshi, but... this anti-chakra aura doesn't seem to hinder Kisame at all. If I disable it to use strong jutsus to eliminate the oppositions, then I free Itachi of his restraints, and who knows what terrifying feats he's capable of...
Reiko made her decision. She removed the anti-chakra aura and formed two different sets of hand seals. After the second set, she held out her hand, and a ball of chakra formed in her palm. It began to slightly spin as air began spiraling around it. The ball then caught aflame, and electricity crackled into existence around the ball. Reiko set her eyes on Itachi and let out a primal scream as she dashed out of her hiding spot and thrust the chakra ball at Itachi.
Itachi, without turning to look at her, moved his hand back and grabbed Reiko's wrist with a tight grip. Reiko gasped as her multi-elemental jutsu faded. Itachi then twisted her wrist, and audible crack being heard. Itachi smirked with smug confidence, but he made a fatal mistake by not looking at Reiko. A chain doused in flammable liquid sprung out of Reiko's chest and it ensnared Itachi as her clone exploded. Itachi screamed in pain as he flew back from the blast, several flames dancing upon his body and licking his skin with their barbed tongues.
Kisame was trying to find a weak spot in the near-bijuu by using an offensive defense. He feigned convinces slashes at the beast just to see what defensive measures it had, and he easily blocked them with his sword. Kisame frowned when he heard Itachi's cry of pain and the crackle of fire. He turned around and spat a large glob of water on Itachi, which doused the flames instantly. Doing that, however, left Kisame open to an attack by Kenokami, who slammed his lightning tail into Kisame from above. Kisame grunted, holding back a cry of immense pain, as the electricity coursed through his body and as he was slammed into the ground.
Otoshi chuckled to himself. The four had simply seemed to forget about him. Watching them battle was quite exciting, and it amused him greatly. Yet his bloodlust was making him fairly irritated. He wanted these pesky thorns out of his way, and with the chakra-disrupting field lifted...
Otoshi retreated into a well-shadowed area under the trees. He took a deep breath and began forming hand seals. It would take a while for the jutsu to be readied, but as long as they ignored him...
Kisame slowly got up as Itachi thought of his next course of action. Using Amaterasu would be far too risky... Itachi thought as he weighed his options. He then heard Reiko yell. He turned towards the source of the noise and saw Reiko dashing towards him, two wristblades dripping in what was most likely a deadly poison. He noted that her sharingan began to change... the three tomoe altered shape to be orbs as the tails extended and connected the three circles in a ring. Three small spikes then emerged from the areas between two circles. Itachi braced himself for a Mangekyo technique...
Memories began to resurface. Memories of a time that he wished he could forget...
Every Uchiha with the Mangekyo Sharingan has access to three particular jutsus... Madara had told him when he killed Shisui, his best friend, to be inducted into Akatsuki, ...Tsukiyomi and Amaterasu are jutsu that every Mangekyo user has, but each Uchiha has an innate jutsu unique solely to them...
Itachi hoped that Reiko wouldn't use her unique Mangekyo technique, as that technique was usually the deadliest one in an Uchiha's vast repertoire of jutsus.
"Izanagi!" Reiko yelled as she suddenly vanished. Itachi gasped as he lost all traces of her. He couldn't even sense her!
"Kisame, do-" Itachi began.
"No... she just vanished," Kisame finished. Kenokami roared in anger as he began charging up a large orb of electricity in his mouth. Kisame grunted and ran forward to combat the near-bijuu, leaving Itachi closely observing his surroundings in an attempt to find Reiko. But it was to no avail... it was as if she genuinely vanished into thin air.
Itachi spun around and clapped his hands on the side of two wristblades that were mere inches away from his heart. Reiko was... her torso and everything above it were floating in mid-air, but her lower half was nowhere to be seen! It looked like there was an invisible portal she was emerging from. Itachi realized that this was her unique Mangekyo technique... to vanish into air and reappear out of it. A fitting technique for the name of the chief god. The fact that he had sensed her strike, let alone blocked it, was a miraculous feat.
"The Art of Searing Shadows!" Otoshi yelled from the forest. All heads turned towards the forest as Otoshi's head emerged from the treetops and began moving closer. As he entered the clearing, it was apparent a very powerful jutsu had been used. A large amalgamation of shadow flames were lifting Otoshi up and consuming all of his body except his chest, arms, and head. Otoshi began laughing maniacally as the shadow flames broke off of the large structure holding Otoshi and began flying towards the four opponents, but mainly Kenokami.
Reiko retreated back into the air as a shadow fireball headed towards her. Itachi quickly leaped backwards to narrowly avoid the fireball, but another one grazed his arm. A completely unpleasant and unbearable ice cold pain flowed across the area it grazed. Kisame had been struck by a few, and he had been brought down to his knees. Seeing no other choice, Itachi body flickered over to Kisame and slung Kisame's arm over his shoulder to support him. The two then body flickered away.
The rest of the shadows unrelentlessly pounded Kenokami, who howled in pain. Wave after wave of ice-cold fireballs struck Kenokami's near-bijuu form until he stopped moving and began to shrink and revert to his human form. The remaining shadows holding up Otoshi (now inches off of the ground instead of feet) dispersed as Otoshi collapsed to the ground, his legs, hands, and back completely burned.
Reiko quickly darted out of the air and ran over to Kenokami. She turned his body over and saw all of the horrible wounds covering his skin. Her eyes were wide with panic as she shakily felt for a pulse, her eyes darting all across her love's body. He wasn't breathing. He had died.
Her heart had been crushed... her life had been ruined. Her goal of zombifying the world had failed in the one city she was confident she could completely take down, and the only person she could trust had been taken from her... the only person that kept her alive...
A scream of sorrow erupted from Reiko's chest as tears flowed down her face. She got up and ran off, her mind clouded with pain and trauma.
Otoshi growled as he heard Reiko's footsteps fade away. Fuck, only got one of 'em, and that was because he made himself huge... Otoshi cursed, ...dammit, I need to remove them from the world. I'm not letting these burns hold me back!
Otoshi struggled to stand, but he could barely move before pain wracked through his entire body. He swore as he gave up. He then felt a surge of power at his side. If he could see, he would see Masamune glowing a dark red.
"Oh... I forgot about you..." Otoshi said as he grinned deviously.
A wave of confusion and fear swept over the survivors. Why did a bijuu appear? And what could possibly take it down so easily?
"Kenokami..." Naruto said quietly as he realized what must have happened. Jiraiya probably realized as well, for he cleared his throat and spoke.
"That bijuu was one of our enemies, Kenokami. From the looks of things, he's no more. I assume that brief battle we couldn't observe well was between our three remaining enemies," Jiraiya said.
Sasuke, Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo, after a quiet conversation with themselves, began leaving the area.
"Hey, where do you think you're going!?" Naruto yelled at the four. Sasuke shot a cold look at Naruto.
"Itachi's here," was all he said as the four left. Naruto looked like he was about to stop them by force, but Hinata spoke.
"Not to interrupt, but... I... um... someone's heading this way!" Hinata warned as she looked out at the horizon, "But don't worry! She... well..."
Sobs were heard in the distance as a grief-stricken Reiko walked up to the survivors. She collapsed on her knees and clasped her hands together before looking up at the survivors shamefully. This sudden appearance removed all attention from Team Hebi, who made their departures.
"I... I... I'm so s-sorry," Reiko sobbed, "P-please forgive m-me!"
The survivors eyed her cautiously. Seeing no open antagonism, she continued, "Otoshi... he... k-k-ki... killed Kenokami," Reiko said, pausing to sob some more. She took a deep breath, wiped some tears from her eyes, and continued quietly, "I never meant for things to turn out this way. I... I was going to make the world experience the pain I felt as a child, starting with Konoha, but... it... I now realize it was all meaningless!"
Reiko sobbed some more as she looked into the eyes of all of the survivors, "Please, Otoshi must be stopped! I'll... I'll help! Kenokami... he was a good man! Trust me! He... needs to be... avenged..." Reiko pleaded. She then collapsed into sorrowful cries.
Naruto, with his head bowed, walked up to Reiko. He reached down, grabbed the collar of her robe, lifted her up, and stared her straight in the eyes with fierce determination.
"What you did... it can't be forgiven! You took away several of my friends, you utterly destroyed my home, you took away a loved one... nothing that you went through can excuse your actions! I've even already felt this pain! I didn't..." Naruto yelled, tears beginning to fall from his eyes, "... I was a jinchuuriki, too! Do you know how painful it is to not have any friends as a child? Well, you do, don't you? And so did Kenokami! And pain... everyone's felt it in his or her lives! There's always a moment in one's life where everything doesn't seem to matter anymore... everyone's felt it. Your little massacre was completely unnecessary!"
Reiko gasped as Naruto told her this. She began to cry as she realized the fatal flaws in her plan.
"Rest assured, though..." Naruto said as he dropped her and wiped his eyes with his right hand, "Otoshi will be stopped. And we'll avenge Kenokami and Reiko... you have my word."
Reiko bowed her head in shame, "Thank you... but... why do... I need to be avenged?" she asked.
"Because what you have done cannot be forgiven! I don't care what you went through; it can't excuse your actions!" Naruto screamed, outraged, "YOU ARE MORE THAN A MUDERER! YOU ARE A GENOCIDIST! DO YOU REALIZE THAT? DO YOU REALIZE HOW MANY LIVES YOU ROBBED FROM COMPLETELY INNOCENT PEOPLE!?!"
Reiko's eyes widened as she screamed in terror due to the revelation of her actions. She began sobbing loudly as she reverted to the fetal position and began shaking and crying uncontrollably. Naruto looked back at the others with a sad look in his eyes.
"I'm going to kill her. I... I don't want to, but... part of me wants to avenge everybody," Naruto said quietly. Nobody said anything or appeared to object to his actions.
"Everything you said is absolutely correct, Naruto," Jiraiya said, "and while we feel pity for her... she has to be punished."
Naruto nodded as he turned to look at the pathetic form of The Necromancer. He bit his lip, closed his eyes, and formed a rasengan. He screamed in sorrowful anger as he thrust the orb of whirling chakra downwards. Reiko's cries became silent, and the uneasy silence washed over the entire area. Naruto turned away from Reiko's body as Jiraiya removed his red cloak and covered the body with it. Naruto walked over to Hinata and embraced her, crying onto her shoulder.
Clapping was heard in the distance. All heads turned towards the noise to see Otoshi walking up to the survivors, glowing dark red chakra enveloping his arms, legs, and back.
"Well, now, that was quite unexpected of you, Naruto," Otoshi said. Naruto growled as he turned away from Hinata.
"PISS OFF!" he yelled angrily at Otoshi. Otoshi grinned as he heard the movements in the air. How special, all of the survivors felt so threatened by his presence that they're all ready to strike!
"What exactly are you trying to achieve here, Otoshi?" Shikamaru asked. The others looked at him with shocked looks, and Shikamaru retorted, "He's not aggressive... at least yet. We might as well clear up some things about him."
"Ah, yes, I do feel a bit civil today. Perhaps because I'm rather thankful that you ridded me of the pest that ran away," Otoshi said as he turned his head to Naruto's position and smirked. Naruto knew that the man was just trying to egg him on further, so he restrained his rage. A small sense of satisfaction came when Otoshi frowned at his failure to piss Naruto off.
"Well, anyways, I was given these eyes for one reason: to create a new world and rule over it," Otoshi said, "Surely that is the only reason I was given these powerful eyes. And I chose never to abuse their power until I was quite sure I could control what I had in store. The main problem would be the overload of power that might have flown through me. After all, I'm sure it would be quite easy for you to get carried away if you could control anyone you wanted, with just a glance. See, there were two options that kept flowing through my mind... with this power; I could either be a benevolent savior or a malevolent, selfish dictator. I have frequently thought about becoming the latter, but... I have chosen the former."
"What!? That's bullshit! How can you consider yourself a savior!?" Shikamaru exclaimed. The others had similar looks of disbelief on their faces.
"Well, you're quite jumpy. And I thought you were the analytical genius of this little team?" Otoshi said, "Well, you see, all humans are parasites to the world they live on. They poison it and plague it with war and strife. I am not human, for one. Orochimaru made me. I am an artificial human: a homunculus. And under Orochimaru, I experienced war and its effects. I detested war and what it brought. I want to control everybody to make a world with peace, and to ultimately prevent humanity from wiping themselves out. Orochimaru made me and my eyes to rule this world!"
So Orochimaru made him... Naruto thought, ...that certainly explains things. Naruto closed his eyes, thinking of what to say, before he yelled, "Ridiculous! You're full of shit! You cause the very feelings you're 'trying' to stop, and when you control people with your Ryuukugan, they lose consciousness! Your world of peace would just be a world of soulless puppets, and I won't allow it to happen!"
Otoshi growled in annoyance, "A world of soulless puppets? It's already happened, ninja! You ninja are all just puppets for your Kages, who blindly follow the Daimyo's whims and insure that their villages of puppets survive! Civilians... they're all mindless drones that better the community. I, at least, will correct the strings of the puppeteer."
"You have no room to be talking," Jiraiya said, "You're obviously misinformed on how things really work, but I'll spare you the details. Look, I've read Orochimaru's journals... every last one of them. This is the cold, hard truth Otoshi: you are a mistake."
He paused to let that sink in, "Orochimaru never cared for you. You were just another suspected-to-fail experiment that turned out to work. Everything he taught you were just additional experiments to see how his first successful homunculus would work. And I'm not surprised that your thoughts are malfunctional. You can't seem to grasp the big picture here, Otoshi. Ninja are tools, yes, but there are actual people behind these tools. I'm sure everyone besides sociopathic bastards like yourself desire this peaceful world you envision, but by obtaining it through genuine methods. Please, Otoshi, drop your childish excuses for wanting to seize control of the world. No matter how many excuses you throw out there, it won't change the simple fact that you are a sad mistake that is trying to justify his existence as being a 'savior.' What a load of rubbish..."
Otoshi grit his teeth as he fumed with anger. He knew things were about to get incredibly messy, so he threw off his cloak.
"Hehehe... HAHAHA!" Otoshi cackled madly, "Fine, FINE! I believe you! I am a mistake! A pitiful mistake, just like the current state of this world! But you know what? Like the world's current state, I do exist! And with my existence, I will change YOUR existence for the better! And those who defy my will..."
Otoshi unsheathed Masamune from its ornate scabbard, "...the will of the savior of this world..."
Otoshi charged forward as he screamed, "...SHALL BE CUT DOWN!"
