XXX
Shikamaru, Outlaw Man Diner
Uselessly, he struggled on the floor. Again, his movements were just that: useless. He was stuck solidly in place, held by Flint's chakra. The other man had not so much as twitched since the initial explosion had gone off. His face was lined with concentration while his body remained unnaturally still. The Kages, Shikamaru knew, were being bound well. Their chance for escape was nill.
"Come on!" he taunted, trying to break the other's train of thought. "Can't finish me off? Too weak? I killed your teammates, remember? Come on- damn you!"
Again, he was drawn to what he could see out the windows. Just pure devastation. He had no idea what was going on, with the villager under his watch-
"Your motives are evident," Flint said quietly. "And your frustration pure. You will not distract me from my goal however."
"To the gates of hell I will." He glared at him coldly, struggled again. "If I could, I would kill you now."
"I know." The face resumed calm, and Shikamaru knew no more talk was forthcoming. A tear crept out of his eye. There was truly nothing he could do anymore. I'm sorry, Father. Temari. Asuma. Everyone...
Shikamaru Nara remained on the ground, doing the only thing he could. Mourn.
XXX
Sasuke Uchiha, Konohagakure
The Chidori Scream electrocuted the four assailants, the Red Star tattooed on them a clear sign they were fair game. Smoke coming off their skin, they crumpled-
While directly beneath him, the ground split apart as a hand groped for him. It grabbed his ankle-
Which quickly turned into a log. The fifth enemy shinobi looked around wildly, trying to find his new location-
Sasuke's hand came down with disgust, grabbing the other by the hair. Yelling in pain, he tossed him mercilessly to the ground, where he plunged the Chidori into his chest. The final enemy went still, blood leaking from his punctured body.
Final enemy in this section, at least. Tiredly, he looked to the family he had just saved. "Get yourselves to the Northern District," he said heavily. "It's the least untouched, and things are mostly in control." They ran away, leaving him alone to pick out more scum.
And to possibly find Todo. It had been a while before he felt such pure malevolence towards another being, not since Itachi and after him Naruto. The man was deranged, feral even. And he had killed Konan, his comrade, without a second thought.
Such things tended to upset him greatly.
"Sasuke? Sasuke Uchiha, is that you?!"
He turned his head. A young kunoichi, blood or dirt smeared across her cheak, was scrambling towards him like a lifeline.
"What? Can't you see I'm busy?"
"It's... it's Shikamaru!"
He invested his attention in her. The village had more or less been under Shikamaru's guidance, but the man himself had been noticeably absent. Sasuke had not figured foul play, but rather had suspected he had been incapacitated somehow. Likewise, he imagined the four other Kage were in equal predicament. "Where is he?"
She trembled under his gaze. "I... he's probably gone to the Outlaw Man Diner," she said somewhat lamely.
He stared back. "A diner? You're telling me he's off having a drink?"
"No!" She was shivering; not with coldness, but with fear. Something wasn't right about this, and he leaned in, grabbed her by the shoulder.
"What do you know? What's going on, why is he there?"
"He's... I, I can't tell you, but he's in trouble there, I know it!"
"Tell me what's happened to him."
"I can't!"
His lips curled. "I don't have time for this." He opened his eye, and the Rinnigan flew into focus. Her body immediately slumped, her eyes also becoming Rinnegan as she fell into the genjutsu.
"Where is Shikamaru?"
"Outlaw Man Diner. Captive to infiltrators to the village. Team Flint holding Kage captive in Southern District."
Sasuke shook his head. Infiltration of the village, he should have guessed. The attempt on Naruto's children, the increasing aggression of the smaller nations. Lord S had played his cards well, but at least now this girl had forced him to put some on the table-
He recognized her, suddenly. Asuma Sarutobi's daughter. He remembered the long-gone sensei well, and that his daughter was apart of a conspiracy against the village he had died protecting filled him with such a dark mood he was almost tempted to kill her.
But he had learned beyond that. He brought her out of the genjutsu, and she awoke. "Wha... what happened? What did you do to me?"
He threw her aside, tore off towards the Southern District. But she followed. "Wait, what did you do, what did you see?! she screamed. "Don't tell anyone- PLEASE! I didn't want this to happen-"
Sasuke stopped midstride completely, his hand outstretched. She flew neatly into it, and he held her there for a moment, his fingers perfectly poised to break her collarbone. Mirai Sarutobi went silent, tears silently streaming down her face.
"A real shinobi never jeopardizes his comrades," he said quietly, not looking at her. "Not for personal gain, not the gain of others, no matter what their intentions are. The village is your home, their intentions towards you will never waver." He released her and she fell to her knees, seemingly unable to even stand anymore.
"I pity you. Even though you have endangered the lives of everyone, I pity you, because like me you failed to understand that."
He left her there. Everywhere he looked, things were starting to lighten up. The defenders of Konoha, it seemed, had learned who the real enemies were. Red star people were collapsing like sacks of potatoes, while other rioters were being brought down with more peaceful methods.
But that was on the outskirts of the district. The defenders were closing in on the chaotic core of the south. Which, coincidentally, was where he was going.
The diner was untouched compared to the other buildings around it. It stood there like a tomb; perhaps it was one. If Shikamaru had gone inside, he didn't see any way how he could be alive. The perpetrators would have silenced him for good.
This ends, now. And casually, he opened the front door and stepped in.
Shikamaru shouted out. "Above you!" But Sasuke was already a step ahead; he almost lazily sidestepped-
And the vein of lightning from the dead light above him scorched a hole through the wood. His Sharingan saw the source easily; a man slightly hidden in the shadows, a host of electrical wiring in his hands.
He squinted. No, his eyes weren't reading it wrong. He was channeling his chakra into the electrical cords, all of them. "That's no small feat you're doing," he commented aloud. "Quite the chakra reserve you got, especially with enough to try and attack me."
"I assure you, I don't do it with leisure," the man said steadily enough, but with obvious strain.
Sasuke took a step forward. "You have the Kage imprisoned." It wasn't a question, but the other gave no reply anyways. Sasuke took another foot forward, which caused another light above him to suddenly turn into a curtain of lightning that tried to encircle him. He reached his hand up and took control of the current, letting the enemy's chakra fuel a Chidori. He charged, aiming to cut through the man's chest.
"Obviously, I can't let you kill me," the other said in the same strained tone. "No matter how adept you may be." Another tongue of lightning lanced out, this time from two fixtures. He swept the Chdiori in front of them, and allowed his Rinnegan to absorb the chakra-
Inexplicably, his hand exploded. No, not the hand, but the Chidori. It threw him against one of the windows of the diner, which shattered on impact. the wind knocked out of him, he wiped away a string of blood from his forehead, glared across to the seated man.
"Any sort of lightning in this room, I can control," the man said. His face lined. "You're Sasuke Uchiha, I wager. I can't tell exactly, seeing as the amount of energy I've exerted has caused me to go blind. You'll forgive me if I'm wrong."
"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked somewhat lamely, standing himself up.
"Trapping you." The words had hardly left his mouth when this time the floor seemed to erupt. He jumped up, expecting some sort of clone or jutsu that he could absorb. Instead, physical rubber cable came from the broken floor and wound itself around him in seconds.
And just like that, he could no longer move. On the ground near him, Shikamaru gave a sigh.
"Sorry I have to put you in this way," the seated villain said apologetically. "No- actually, not really. I have to do this, sorry. Lord S's plan has to succeed, for a better future."
"A better future, huh?" Sasuke said mockingly, looking around for a loose object in the darkness. Something near the other, preferably...
"Yes. For the nations, for my own village, for my son..." Emotion cracked through the calm façade, and Sasuke's search froze.
"You... I know you're son."
Pause. "What?"
"I went to Takigakure. You are your men; they're the ones that went missing, aren't they? No, don't deny it. You fit the description Shibuki gave me. Your son is very worried about you."
"You lie."
"I'm not." He finally saw something; the body of another shinobi. Possibly one Shikamaru had killed, he couldn't be sure. "Your son has no idea what's happened to you. He came with us, in fact. To assist us in defending the village from you. Imagine that, fighting against your child-"
"I'M NOT!" The other man's voice shook like thunder. Just as quickly, he was calm again. "He... he can never know what happened to me. What part I played in this, the guilt and shame he would face..."
"Better he know the truth, than live the lie you painted for him- Amenotejikara!"
And suddenly, he was free. The dead body was now wrapped in the rubber cable; his teleportation jutsu had placed him instantly within three feet of the other.
Up close, he could see the sudden panic. "No-NO!"
Sasuke brought a kunai into his hand. He could hear Shikamaru's gasp of shock as time slowed. The enemy, the former Takigakure-nin, he would be dead before he could raise a defense-
"I'll be the one to do this, thank you!"
And again, the same fat but muscular hand knocked him away, as it had in the village. The seated man and Shikamaru hadn't been registering shock to his movements at all-
No, they had been disturbed by the sudden entrance of the insane disciple of S, Todo.
"Todo, stop!" the seated man said in panic. "I can hardly maintain concentration, Lord S's plan-"
"Is void!" Todo's remaining fat hand fell upon the other's head, grabbing it like a ball. "There is a new plan, Flint. The complete destruction of this village!"
The horror on Flint's face remained as Todo sucked the chakra out of him as quickly as wet fingers on a candle flame.
Immediately Sasuke could tell something was wrong. Todo gave out an inhumane roar and clutched the side of his head, and then his arm wrapped around his body. His skin seemed to be warping, and the flesh bubbled unnaturally.
"Cut me free!" Sasuke ran over to Shikamaru while Flint collapsed and Todo roared and writhed. The cable trapped the Nara clan descendant had loosened with Flint's sudden chakra loss, and Sasuke easily broke through his bonds.
"What's wrong with him?" Sasuke demanded as they both turned to Todo again. The giant's head seemed to pulsate massively, his left cheek bulging unnaturally before sinking back in.
Shikamaru shook his head. "The same sort of thing happened with Toneri," he murmered. "He's not only absorbed Flint's chakra, but that of the other four Kages. He was sucking out their chakra to maintain his position; Todo's now absorbed it, but its too much for his body."
"Meaning?"
Todo fell to a knee, still screaming in immense pain. His remaining arm continued to bubble and fizzle painfully, his legs trembling uncontrollably.
But still he managed to speak. "F-f-f-f-finally enough p-p-p-power to do it!" He arched his head back, where they both saw his neck pulsating unpleasantly, turning a dark, raw red. "FUFILL THE PLAN!" Todo got back on his two feet and physically broke through one of the walls, out into the village.
"He's a ticking chakra bomb," Shikamaru said testily. "It looks like he's got it under control for now, but the moment he attempt any jutsu he could just pop like a balloon, only a lot more... explosively."
"Then come on!" Sasuke helped him up and they both tore after the fallen warrior.
XXX
Shikamaru
It felt good to be able to move again. He wondered if Flint was still alive, from having the chakra sucked out of him so quickly. Even though the other was by all means an enemy of the village, there was a strange sense of compassion he felt for him. No, maybe not compassion.
Pity? He clenched his jaw. Best not to think like that now.
"There!" Uchiha pointed, and Shikamaru saw the back of the large shinobi. His clothes had begun to simply disintegrate around him, the chakra he contained in his body was so immense. Every shinobi had their max chakra fill, one bodies worth. Flint had had five bodies worth inside him; Shikamaru could not discern how Todo was even holding in the sheer amount of energy in.
Sasuke took out a kunai knife. They were gaining on the blundering fool, who ran through the streets like a drunk. With mounting apprehension, he realized they were running up the hill that led to where the Hokage Monument was being reconstructed after the terrorist attack.
"Got him!" Sasuke threw the knife, and with precision expected of the Sharingan it hit the other in his heel. Todo gave a an incohrenet yell of fury as he again stumbled-
And was buffeted to the left by the shape of a small girl- Mirai.
"Mirai!" Shikamaru called out desperately. "No, get away from him!"
"NO!" she screamed back at him. "Th-this is how I'll set things right. She looked down at Todo, fumbling to pick himself up as if his limbs wouldn't respond properly.
"Get out of the way," Sasuke said simply, but she shook her head violently.
Sasuke and Shikamaru stopped a few meters away from them. Shikamaru swung his arm wildly at her, motioning for her to move away, but she stubbornly moved towards the fallen warmonger. "I'm sorry!" she said madly, her eyes tear stricken. "I just wanted to try and help everyone, to try and make things better for us!"
"This isn't really the time?" Shikamaru said with frustration.
"I won't tell you to move aside, again," Sasuke said quietly; a sign of danger. "Kill him or we do you both."
Shikamaru gave the Uchiha a stunned look. "Wha- no!"
"She's a traitor to the village, here's her chance at redemption," Sasuke said with disdain. "She wants it so badly, let her do it."
"But-"
Mirai raised a kunai in both her hands, looking at her former comrade with wide eyes. Shikamaru realized this would probably be her first kill ever, she was so young. Shikamaru couldn't let it happen, not Asuma's daughter. What would his former sensei say, if he could see the scene now?
Sasuke watched impassively while her hands shook. The blade of the knife descended and landed with a squelching sound in Todo's neck. The man stopped moving and slumped, the kunai buried in his neck like some sort of protrusion.
Tentaively, Shikamaru took a step towards her. She turned to look at him, her face pale. "I... I did it." She slumped forward and he caught her as she fainted.
"We shouldn't have let her do it."
"We can't nitpick over the next generation just because we know what its like," Sasuke said simply. "She had to atone for what she did, betraying the village." His eyes narrowed, though he didn't look at them. "You of all people, working so closely with Naruto, know how wrong that is."
Shikamaru looked down at the young kunoichi in his arms and sighed. "Yeah, I suppose so."
Sasuke nodded, then walked over to Todo. "I'm just glad this one is dead. All we need to do is finish mopping up-"
He broke off, and Shikamaru turned to him, alert. "What is it?"
"His chakra, it's still flowing-"
Todo's body suddenly puffed to three times its size, a giant glowing blue ball of stretched flesh that seemed to have some sort of internal light. Just as quickly, it returned to normal size.
"He's losing control of the chakra," Shikamaru snapped, laying Mirai down as gently as he could. Todo's body mutated again to an alarming size, then reduced so that he was standing on his two legs. His one hand clawed at the front of his body, while his mouth was open in a wordless scream. His skin seemed to be deteriorating rapidly-
"We need to kill him, now! Shikamaru shouted. A high whine was filling the air as the chakra inside the decaying body writhled around without control.
Sasuke said something that sounded like an affirmative, and he lunged with the Sword of Kusangi. Todo's arm flailed out like a long tree branch, extending many times its size. It slapped Sasuke away while the arm scraped along the hilt of the handle. It burst into flames, and the steel of the blade clattered uselessly to the ground.
"Sasuke?" Shikamaru scrambled over him, but the Uchiha was unconscious.
The whine grew increasingly louder and more distorted. Todo's body was reaching breaking point; it seemed to be driven only be the dead man's original desire. No brain, no sense of direction. Just sheer primitive desire to unleash the chakra inside it.
We're dead.
