Foxstar: Overpowered? He'll be facing off against someone with the same strength as well as the Jūbi under her control. I'd say he's probably just about right. For the Six Paths, if you're talking about the actual abilities? He'll pick up one or two. If you're talking about using bodies with the abilities like Pein did? No. For the same reason he doesn't use Edo Tensei. He doesn't like messing with the dead. As far as his Sharingan, no he isn't going blind from using it.
stone20: If you've made it this far. Samehada is gone. Destroyed by Amaterasu or just abandoned on the field. It wasn't important to the story so I didn't bother to think about what happened to it.
Chapter 28
(Hokage's Office)
As Menma and Mei appeared in Tsunade's office she turned around to stare at them curiously. "I send you to deliver a message and you return with a new girlfriend?"
Menma gave her a flat stare. "This is the Mizukage."
"The Mizukage?" Tsunade looked Mei over. "What are you doing here?"
"Kiri has been destroyed. Your ninja here was kind enough to rescue me." Mei said with a smile. "And since I'm here, I'd like to request asylum for myself and anyone else from Kiri that arrives."
Tsunade frowned. "A third village entering Konoha? What makes you think it won't attack here next?"
"It won't," Menma frowned. "She's saving Konoha for last."
"She? She who?" Tsunade asked. Mei looked at him curiously as well.
"The woman behind that beast, Uchiha Honoka," he said looking down at the floor. "The woman that basically raised me."
Tsunade signalled to an ANBU to go gather the file on the woman. Menma shook his head. "It won't help you much. She was like me."
Tsunade knew what he was talking about immediately. His file barely contained anything in it. Even for his accomplishments, hardly anything was recorded at all. "How do you know she's behind this?"
"She was there when they removed Kurama," he replied. "She was the one that left this eye for me to take," he frowned. "Which reminds me, if you can get me any information we have on the Rikudō Sennin or his abilities I would have a better chance at figuring out what the eye does."
Tsunade nodded and sent another ANBU to gather the information he needed. "So why is she doing this?"
Menma paused before looking over towards the window. "She... hates everyone that didn't acknowledge her. She hates the world, so, she wants to destroy it."
The first ANBU returned with her file and handed it to Tsunade before vanishing. Tsunade looked at the file and frowned. Menma had been right, it had her basic information and nothing more. 'With these numbers there should be at least some notes on the woman herself.' Tsunade bit her thumb.
Menma gave her a sad smile. "We should warn Suna."
"I've already sent a messenger bird." The second ANBU returned with a storage scroll full of scrolls and books for Menma. Before he could leave Tsunade spoke up. "Bring me the Raikage and whoever Iwa has chosen to lead them. Mizukage-same, if you would remain we have some things to discuss. Menma, you're dismissed."
Menma warped out of the office and onto the top of the Hokage Monument. His gaze drifted to a section of town that used to be abandoned. It was bustling with life now but still seemed peaceful. 'The Iwa and Kumo people are getting along, huh?'
His gaze swept over the village stopping at certain points. His apartment where Tayuya was staying. The hotel where the rest of his 'Sound Four' were living. The smoking crater that used to be Kakashi's apartment complex and the hospital where he was currently recovering from an angry pink-haired girl. The Uchiha district where Sasuke and Itachi were.
He shook his head and sat down, pulling out the storage scroll to start reading. By the time he finished the sun was setting and the moon was visible on the horizon. Menma stood and stretched, staring at the moon. 'The story said he sealed it inside of the moon. Obviously the legend is a lie or they found a way around it.'
He warped to his apartment to find Tayuya preparing dinner. "Hey, Tayuya, how do you kill something that can't be killed?"
"I don't know. Seal it?"
Menma frowned, he didn't really want to do that either, it was just delaying the problem rather than solving it. "If you can't seal it?"
"Lock it up somewhere no one will ever find it."
"That didn't exactly work the fi-" he paused mid-sentence and looked out the window at the moon. 'He only did the job halfway...'
"Figure it out?" Tayuya asked him, bringing the food over to the table.
"I might have," he replied. 'If it's possible... and I can manage it.'
He moved over to the table and sat down before looking at the food questioningly.
"I felt like it," she said. "Don't get used to it though, it won't happen again."
Menma nodded. "Thanks."
The two ate in comfortable silence. Afterwards Tayuya played her flute for a while before retiring for the evening.
Menma sat at his desk thinking over his idea. He had confirmed it with parts of his dinner. He felt a little guilty over that, but he ate most of it, so it was alright. He thought over the abilities he had seen while fighting Pein and what he'd read about the Rikudō Sennin. 'Repelling and attracting. Creating the moon. Gravity? He focused on his desk for a moment before it slid slightly scraping across the floor.
Menma quickly cut the technique and glanced over as Tayuya grumbled and rolled over in her sleep. Menma let out a breath he had been holding before warping to a training ground.
He dropped a kunai into the dirt before walking away from it. "Let's try that again without a violent redhead trying to sleep nearby." He focused again. The kunai wiggled a bit before it came ripping towards him. His eyes widened as he dove out of the way, realizing what he had done. The kunai blew past him and through several trees before burying itself in the ground.
Menma got up while dusting himself off. "Pulling sharp pointy objects at yourself. Genius." He pulled off his shirt and dropped it before walking away to repeat the process.
WHUMP.
"Ok... size matters," he said as the shirt slammed into his face without effort. He frowned as he put the shirt back on before retrieving the kunai. This time he focused on pushing it rather than pulling it.
The kunai once again wiggled a bit before he pushed more chakra into it to send it flying. He spent the next few hours learning how to move objects with gravity. Learning when to cut off the ability to prevent things from smashing into his face. He gradually moved up to larger and heavier objects as time passed.
He decided to take a break and lay down while looking up at the night sky. The moon had already travelled nearly across the entire sky. "I doubt he pulled everything towards him and buried himself with the Jūbi, so how did he do it?"
"I might be able to help with that," a voice said from nearby.
"Sasuke. I was wondering when you were going to find me."
Sasuke nodded and lay down next to him. "I wanted to wait for you to decide to come to us. This isn't about you living with us, though. I heard you were looking for information about the Rikudō Sennin."
"How did you even- no, I don't want to know," Menma replied with a frown.
Sasuke smirked before turning serious. "There's a tablet beneath the Naka Shrine. It tells his story. Itachi and I can't read all of it, even with our new eyes, but it mentions the Rinnegan. You might be able to make out more of it."
Menma stood up before offering a hand to Sasuke. "If this is just a trick to get me into the compound I'm setting you on fire."
Sasuke waved him off. "You already know you're family. You'll come home when you want to."
Menma grunted and followed after him. Sasuke brought him to the tablet before leaving him alone. Several hours later Menma exited the to find Sasuke and an ANBU waiting for him.
"Good timing," Sasuke said jerking a thumb over his shoulder at the ANBU. "The Hokage needs you."
Menma nodded and vanished in a whirl. "Did he just?" Sasuke asked, eyes wide and unblinking.
The ANBU sighed. "Teleport? Yeah, seems he can do that now." The ANBU vanished leaving Sasuke standing alone.
(Hokage's Office)
"You... what?" Menma asked.
"I need you to go get the Kazekage and bring him here," Tsunade repeated herself.
Menma twitched. "You brought me here... to go fetch the Kazekage like some kind of dog?"
"That's right," she grinned at him. "Now hurry up, we don't have all day."
Grumbling Menma vanished. He returned a few minutes later with Gaara. "Kazekage," he said, before stomping out of the room.
"Don't go far! We'll need you to take him home when we're done!"
Menma growled. Teleportation was supposed to be cool, not abused like some kind of delivery service.
He travelled to a nearby training ground to test out what he had read from the tablet. He placed his hands close together and concentrated. Moments later a small back orb the size of a marble appeared and he tossed it away.
As he watched the training ground began to break up and fly into the sphere creating an orb of earth. He grinned until he looked around and realized he had destroyed the training ground and people would see the orb and be along to investigate shortly.
He quickly cut off his chakra flowing into it and looked around. 'No one saw? Good. I didn't do it.' He vanished in a whirl before anyone could find out he was the one to wreck the training ground.
He appeared in his apartment right as someone knocked on the door. He opened it to find an ANBU standing there. "Geh. I didn't do it!"
The ANBU cocked his head curiously. "The Hokage needs you again."
'Damn, how did she find out? It just happened.' He teleported to the Hokage's office leaving behind the same ANBU for the second time that day.
The ANBU twitched. "He could at least take me with him."
"You can take him back now, we're done with our planning."
Menma twitched violently. "I just brought him here. How can you be done already?!"
"I was already planning something similar to what they proposed," Gaara replied. "By the time your forces arrive in Suna, we'll have everything ready."
Menma looked at Tsunade curiously. "Forces arrive in Suna?"
"We're making a stand in Suna. We'll put that beast down and end this before it destroys anything else," Tsunade said.
Menma nodded before placing a hand on Gaara's shoulder and vanishing with him.
"Raikage! Mizukage! ...Iwa... guy," Tsunade said, looking at each in turn, the last being quite awkward.
The man that had been put in charge by the Iwa members was the same one that spoke to her at the gate. A rather plain and forgettable man. Tsunade wasn't sure if she ever even heard his name.
"Your villages are gone and your countries destroyed. If you wish to make your home in Konoha, now is your chance. Help us and our allies in Suna. Help us stop that monster from destroying everything," Tsunade said, looking at them.
The Raikage jumped to his feet and smashed his chair. "I'll crush that thing! Or... at least send what ninja I have left to help out."
Forgettable-Iwa also stood. "We'll do what it takes to secure our future."
Mei stood with a sad smile. "I'm still waiting for anyone to arrive from Kiri, but I will do what I can."
Tsunade nodded and signalled an ANBU. "Muster the forces. We're travelling to Suna to put a stop to this."
The ANBU, Raikage, and Forgettable-Iwa all left to round up their ninja. Mei bowed slightly before leaving after the others.
Menma reappeared to a mostly empty office then and looked around confused.
"They've gone to gather up ninja. We leave for Suna in the morning. You had better be prepared," Tsunade told him.
He nodded and left with a frown and reappeared in his apartment.
'What am I going to do about Honoka-sensei?'
Tayuya paused her flute playing and waved.
'She never really left after that time I joked about her staying over.' He looked around the rundown apartment and noticed things had been subtly changing over the past few days. His apartment was showing signs of a feminine touch. Or maybe he should say a tom-boy touch, but still, it fit.
He looked at Tayuya as she calmly played. 'It feels like she belongs here.'
End Chapter 28
A/N:
This chapter was a bit short and felt... off to me. I can't figure out what went wrong, but, oh well. We'll push past it to the last chapter or two.
Forgettable-Iwa. Imagine Gai and Kisame, only it's everyone in the world doing it to Forgettable-Iwa, he's that plain. He's like the background, he's there, but no one notices him.
