A/N: Hi, readers. Something sad: I'm losing it. For this story, I really think I'm losing it. I don't like it anymore, it doesn't excite me, and I can tell the fic has suffered, and that you guys have noticed. Its not just the lack of reviews either, but some of the things said. Things not said.
I think it's this deadline I've imposed on myself. I can update by a deadline, as I've proven, but the pressure to get it done is unbelievable. I do my best, but the problem is my best is no longer at the level it was before the deadlines. With other fics, it's not a problem since I'm ahead of schedule. I essentially have all the time in the world to write subsequent chaps. But for this fic, I can never seem to get ahead and I feel like both me and the fic are suffering. I don't want to hate my work, especially not this fic, and I really need to be on the top of my game for the coming chapters, the grand finale, if you will.
So. Fridays might not always see an update of this fic, but I'll work diligently on it. I won't neglect it, on that you guys have my word.
*If I pray hard enough, maybe typos will cease to exist. It's all I got.
Chapter 53
The students exchanged glances, raised eyebrows, shrugging of shoulders. "He's Madara's brother," Aimi hissed in a stage whisper, one hand cupped beside her mouth.
"Ohhhh," the students chorused. Then they frowned.
"Wait, what?" Kaito yelped. "Madara's brother? Isn't he, oh I don't know…evil?"
Izuna fielded the question. "I can understand where you would get such a notion, Kaito, but as I was taken from a time when my brother wasn't evil, you can rest assured that I am not. Nor would I have followed him down the path he's obviously taken." He held up his hands to halt the sudden flurry of conversation. "Please. I know you all want answers, but right now isn't the time. I believe your teachers have a few parting words."
He turned from them and walked away to sit under a small tree. He noticed another kinsman lying under this same tree and offered a greeting. The young man didn't answer, but merely gave a sneering glance at Izuna. Izuna, for his part, recognized him as the one called Rasta-Sasuke now that he was close to him. He left off looking at him to watch the students make their goodbyes.
Kushina and Minato were surrounded by the Narutos, Fugaku and Mikoto by every Uchiha present. 'Bee and the Shinigami stood apart. Chibi-Gaara pushed himself between the Uzumaki crowd until he could press his face into Kushina's breasts. As she was currently being hugged by all the Narutos, this went unnoticed for a few minutes. When it was noticed, it was Minato who dragged him away by a fist in his hair.
"Do you have to go?" Psycho-Naruto wailed at both parents.
"If we don't, history will be changed forever, possibly in ways that could destroy many lives," Minato said gently as he turned from kicking Chibi-Gaara. "Time is not something to be toyed with, and the past must never be interfered with."
-oOo-
"But I need you," Psycho-Sasuke was sobbing. "I lost my whole family. I don't have a wife or kids like the Sasukes here. Can't you stay?"
The actions this particular Sasuke had been guilty of had angered Mikoto, but she had developed a real soft spot for him. She tsk-ed tearfully now and cupped his cheek. "Oh, honey, I wish I could."
"Then let me come with you, let me live in your world. I won't cause problems or-"
Fugaku silenced the blubbering boy with a hand on his shoulder. "We were pulled from Death, son. When we go back, we have to make sure things end as before or the future won't be as it is."
"But-"
Sasuke watched his psycho counterpart be hugged by his father. He'd suspected as much, but hearing that his parents were going back in time to die left him raw and breathless. His father had died when he was really young, so it hurt less now, but his mother…. He and his mother had been through a lot before she'd died. She'd supported him, gone into exile with him, helped him when he'd been pregnant with Raiden. She'd shown herself here to be a singularly strong kunoichi, something he hadn't known before she'd died. If she stayed, what else could he learn about her? She was good with Aimi and Raiden, and though he knew he was lucky to have what the other Sasukes didn't by having Itachi, he'd really missed his mom through the years.
"Don't go," he whispered.
She didn't hear him. The other Sasukes we crowding her, kissing her cheeks and touching her a final time.
-oOo-
Jiraiya stood and addressed the students when the other teachers finally stood back. They were all, students and teachers alike, a weepy mess. He raised his hand and the students tried to be silent long enough to hear what he had to say.
It wasn't much. He seemed to be a bit worked up himself at the prospect of going back. "Fight well," he intoned. "The ties that bind you will be your greatest strength in the coming war." He gave a jaunty wave, then turned to let Aimi take him into Minato's timeline.
They went back in the reverse order that they were brought. When Kushina was the last, she stopped Aimi before the girl could lead her into her father's timeline. "Kenpachi."
Kenpachi looked up from where he was lounging. The bland expression on his face still had a sullen cast to it. "What."
Kushina said she'd be needing him along. He didn't ask for an explanation, but got up and loomed at her side. Aimi took their hands and walked into the flowing yellow smoke that was her Daddy's existence.
-oOo-
They came out in her bedroom in the home she'd shared with Naruto. It was early morning. Her son would be returning from celebrating his success at passing the Chuunin exam. Aimi and Kenpachi watched her as she left them to rummage through her drawers.
"Naruto will be home soon," she said as she withdrew and held up a tunic and pants. She examined them. "I can't very well have him find me looking like this." She disappeared to her adjoining bathroom, where they could hear her washing up. "Things have to play out here as they did in his past or his entire life will be changed. If I'm around, he might not be as diligent in going after your Papa when he gets kidnapped, which might cause a host of unforeseen problems. Who knows what would happen if Sasuke remained with Orochimaru. You and your brother might not be born, and that's just one scenario out of thousands." Kushina stepped out of her bathroom, clean, and handed her dusty buckskins to Aimi.
Aimi took them absently. "I don't understand."
"You have to leave me as you found me," Kushina said quietly.
Kenpachi grunted inaudibly, finally understanding why he'd been brought along. He watched Aimi blink up at her grandmother until she too began to understand.
"What…you're going to die?" Aimi cried. "No! I won't let you!" She made a grab for her grandmother's hand, perhaps intending to take her back to safety.
Kushina stepped out of reach to go sit on the edge of her bed. She looked at her pillow, where she would shortly be taking her last breaths. Then she looked to where Kenpachi had a restraining hand on Aimi's upper arm. The girl clutched the dirty clothing in her hands tightly. "You have to. All the others had dangerous situations to go back to. It was discussed. Mikoto and Fugaku would make sure they received fatal blows in their battles, as would Jiraiya. Minato is already dead; I have the memory of it in my mind. When you brought him to the plateau that area of my memories had been blank…after he brought Naruto back to me when Madara had taken him there was just…nothing. Emptiness. But now the memory is there again, so I know he is gone, as he's supposed to be.
"Aimi, you have to kill me."
Aimi was already shaking her head wildly, biting down on the clothing she held.
"You can't refuse," Kushina said mildly. "This is the life of a shinobi. You have to harden your heart to do your job sometimes, but it needs to be done. You won't have to actually watch me die, but a fatal blow needs to be dealt. You can do this with your abilities. You can injure my heart."
"What about my heart?" Aimi shrieked. "How can you ask me to kill my own grandmother? I can't! I can't!" She ran and through herself at Kushina's knees, bawling into her lap. "Please don't make me. Please, please, please. I love you, and I'm sorry for being bad, and leaving, and not listening sometimes. Please, I'll do anything. Just don't say that, don't say I have to kill you, okay? Please."
Kushina stroked the black hair lovingly. She reflected that her heart was already scarred from the force of Aimi's pleas, and would soon be hurt further when Naruto came in and begged her not to die. She allowed a minute to go by as she felt the strong arms squeeze around her waist, the hot tears wet her lap. She breathed deeply, her heart thudding at the prospect of giving up her vivacity to willingly die. She then kissed Aimi's hair and looked over at Kenpachi. He nodded.
Aimi was pulled aside gently by Kenpachi. "All right," Kushina said to her. "I understand that you can't do it."
A smile trembled its way onto Aimi's face. "I'm sorry. But it will be okay, you'll see."
Kushina nodded. She looked up at Kenpachi. "Give me a hug, you brute." Kenpachi bent and gave her a strange, one-armed hug. Kushina was briefly hidden from Aimi's view by his broad body, but then he straightened up and told Aimi they needed to go. Naruto could be heard entering the house and calling softly to his mother.
Aimi waved happily to her grandmother, who waved back with less energy than she'd had a minute ago. Kushina slipped under her blanket as her granddaughter and the Shinigami vanished.
-oOo-
In the Corridor, Aimi watched the scene play out, eager to see her Daddy's reaction to a healthy mother after so many years of seeing her sick.
But Kushina bade her son farewell weakly, told him how proud she was of him and how much she loved him. She died with her young son weeping beside her.
Aimi slowly turned heartless, merciless yellow eyes up to Kenpachi. Her voice was a low whisper that throbbed with suppressed rage and dawning suspicion. "What did you do?"
Kenpachi regarded her stoically. Under cover of the hug he'd given Kushina, he'd put his hand on her back, over her heart, and shot a lethal blast of reiatsu into it. "I did what you were too weak to do. She knew you'd bellyache about it too, or she wouldn't have brought me along. Get us out of here," he finished.
After a few fuming seconds, Aimi complied. "I will never forgive you, and never ever forget this. Ever. I hate you, Zaraki Kenpachi."
She went directly to her Daddy when she stormed out of his timeline and buried her face in his stomach. He swallowed hard; the memory of his mother's death had just resurfaced in his mind. He knew it had to have been rough for Aimi and hugged her tightly, taking comfort in the feel of her.
Izuna allowed them a few minutes before standing up. He looked down at Rasta-Sasuke. "Come."
"Fuck off."
Izuna noted the comment, turned, and walked to where his students were standing around and giving comfort to each other. They grew still and quiet as he paced calmly between them, watching him with wary eyes. "Shinigami and those with the Shinigami, please stand aside. You will not be part of my lessons." The Shinigami retired to the tree Rasta-Sasuke was lying under and sat down. Izuna resumed his pacing, stopping here and there to look a person over sometimes.
The children fascinated him. He stopped in front of Emiko and Etsuko, who stretched their noses up to sniff at him like animals. He could tell there was a large amount of Kyuubi in them, but they also had Sharingan. Looking into their eyes, he could see that their minds had a primitiveness that was inhuman. He clasped his hands behind his back and located their brother with his eyes. He strolled over to where Lee was holding up Yo-chan's tunic as the toddler pissed an arc of urine into the grass. Lee straightened up with Yo-chan in his arms and stared at Izuna with wide-eyed watchfulness. Izuna turned Yo-chan's head to look into the baby's eyes. The boy whimpered, but he kept his grip on him.
He and Madara had learned to be able to tell which Uchiha would manifest Sharingan, and which wouldn't. It took Sharingan to be able to see deep enough into the eyes, but it was possible to know who had the trait. Yo-chan didn't. Izuna saw something else, though, and lifted a finger from his other hand. A flame sprang up on his fingertip. He touched this small fire to Yo-chan's bare forearm.
"Hey!" Lee shouted. His hand shot out automatically and delivered palm-thrust to Izuna that should have sent him flying. Lee's hand was caught instead, but Lee hardly noticed. His attention was taken up with Yo-chan.
So far, only Raiden had seen a glimpse of the fact that the baby was more than just a baby. Now everyone, Lee included, saw how Uchiha Yoichi fell to the ground on all fours, mewling in distress at being burned. They all gasped loudly.
Yoichi wasn't humanoid anymore. He had paws and soft, downy orange fur. His eyes were red, and his face was slightly elongated, with a canine snout. Nine little stubs quivered in fear on his tailbone as he scuttled over to Lee. Lee backed away immediately, his face stretched into a look of shock and horror. Yo-chan saw this rejection from the one who never turned him away and stopped. Fat tears welled in his eyes and his pointed little ears drooped as he cried. His voice sounded like the bleat of a bear cub.
Izuna looked to where Stud-Sasuke and Fem-Naruto had run forward when their son had been burned. "That child needs to be put down. You're raising a tailed beast."
Stud-Sasuke snatched up his howling son angrily. Yo-chan continued to stretch his paws out to Lee. "You watch your mouth," he spat. "Before I rip your tongue out."
Izuna watched him try to shush the baby without success. The thing persisted in reaching for Lee, who finally overcame his shock enough to come hesitantly toward it. He took the creature gently, uncertainly from Stud-Sasuke and awkwardly bounced him up and down. Yo-chan quieted at once, his arms securely around Lee's neck. Just as quickly, the fur receded to leave white skin behind and black hair on the boy's head. Yo-chan sniffled pitifully, and Lee rubbed his back in apology. He kissed the baby's cheek.
Fem-Naruto pushed himself into Izuna's face without warning. "If you ever suggest my kit needs to die again, I will feed your innards to my girls."
Seeing as Fem-Naruto's eyes were also red, Izuna deduced that it was the demon speaking to him and not the man. He didn't answer, only waited until Fem-Naruto bared his teeth in a warning growl and swept off to nuzzle his son with Lee. Izuna turned to Raiden and Aimi.
These two were the ones that fascinated him the most. He stood in front of Raiden, who wisely kept an eye on his hands. "You're Senju more than anything else. You have the Uzumaki vitality and some of their traits, but I can see Senju strong in you. But you," and here Izuna turned to Aimi. "You are more Uchiha. Your abilities…"
"Aimi can do anything," Raiden interjected proudly. He left out her lack with Ninjutsu, not wanting this Izuna guy to say his sis needed to be put down.
Izuna smiled, shook his head. "What she can do is use her Sharingan to a degree not even I or my brother can. She has perfected Izanagi."
"Huh?" Raiden looked behind himself to his Pop and uncle Itachi, but they shook their heads in confusion.
"Izanagi," Izuna explained as he laid one fingertip beneath Aimi's right eye. "Is the ability to make imagination reality. Those who wield Izanagi can only do so for a short time. Ideally, it requires a genetic link with the Senju clan, as well as Sharingan. The precious few Uchiha who have mastered the jutsu did so through forbidden means, stolen DNA, including my brother. But Aimi here has the blood of the Senju and the Uchiha in her veins. She can use Izanagi to an extent that no other living person can, without canceling her Sharingan. To you and everyone else, it looks like she can do anything, but what it is is one technique. With Izanagi and Genjutsu, it's quite acceptable that she can't wield Ninjutsu. Yes, I know about that," he said to Raiden's dismayed expression. Izuna looked up at the rest of them. "I know about all of you." He smiled benignly. "Well! We have a month. Plenty of time to carve away the soft edges and see your true strength. Shall we get started?"
Demon stepped forward. "What will we be doing?"
Izuna undid his shirt and shrugged out of it. "Ah, yes. I can see you're the leader here. To answer, we will be putting all you've learned up till now to use." He turned and did a few swift kicks, loosening up.
"How long will we be training?" Demon wanted to know. "What is our new schedule?"
Izuna tilted his head. "I already said we'll be training for the next month."
"Nonstop?"
"Nonstop."
"What about food?"
"Eat what you can, when you can."
"Sleep?"
"Same thing."
"Our kids-"
"Are far stronger than you give them credit for."
"But what are we supposed to do?"
"Survive." Izuna's red eyes slid amongst the members of the large group. "Quite simply, you are to survive for the next month, and see to it that everyone else in this group survives. Look after yourselves and each other."
Kei raised a hand. "Even us? Are we-" he gestured at himself and his brothers "-going to be doing the same training as the adults?"
"To be sure," Izuna nodded. "Anyone not able to survive, in other words anyone who is caught and incapacitated, will be dropped off with the Shinigami to await the end of the month, out of the way of the rest of the participants."
"Who will look after Yo-chan?" Lee asked worriedly. "He won't go to any of the Shinigami."
"That cre- Yo-chan," Izuna corrected himself, "is a participant. He will need to survive like the rest of you."
"He's just a baby," Stud-Sasuke snapped. Fem-Naruto growled menacingly.
"Either he fights for his survival or you leave him with me," Izuna said calmly. "Your choice, but he is not to be attached to any adult. Everyone starts out alone."
"Or what?" Stud-Sasuke asked aggressively. "I'd like to see you take us all on to try to get to my son."
When Izuna didn't answer, Itachi laid a hand on Stud-Sasuke's shoulder. A suspicion that had been forming in his mind solidified at the confident look Izuna gave Stud-Sasuke. "What, exactly, are we supposed to be surviving?" he asked.
"Me." Izuna gave a small bow.
Which meant that not only could he take them all on, but that he could probably wipe the floor with them, Itachi thought.
Izuna gave them an hour to prepare themselves. He spoke to them while they did so.
"This hour will be the only time I will not be actively trying to kill each of you. After this, if you see me -be I wounded, smiling, or even if I say from my own lips that the training is over- you are to assume that I am on the offensive and still trying to kill you. Training stops in thirty days, at sundown. Only then. If you're caught, then you'll know you wouldn't have been much assistance in the coming war. Consider yourself caught if I can land a killing blow that you can't defend against. No one will actually be killed," he said with a look at Aimi. She relaxed. "If you manage to catch me you may consider yourselves released from training early. There is no one area where we will be confined to. You have the run of the entire world. Base is that tree where the Shinigami are. If I catch you, you will be deposited there. You have five minutes left."
-oOo-
Stud-Sasuke, Fem-Naruto, Emiko and Etsuko clustered around Lee, who was crouched on the ground and rocking Yo-chan back and forth. "I can't leave him," Lee howled feelingly. "I can't leave him to fend for himself and be prey to that…that…" but Lee had to admit it was excellent training strategy that Izuna suggested. He buried his face in Yo-chan's neck. Yo-chan whimpered, sensing the impending separation. He clung to Lee desperately.
Fem-Naruto gently pried Yo-chan's arms free and took the baby into his lap. "It's okay, Lee. You've done a bang-up job of looking after our son while we've been here, but we're still the one's who know him best. Trust us when we say he won't be as vulnerable as you think."
Lee tried to dry his streaming eyes. "But who will feed-"
Stud-Sasuke hushed him. "Sh. Let his Mother handle this."
"His mother?" Lee asked in confusion, not hearing the capital. Then he saw Fem-Naruto's face. "Oh…my."
Fem-Naruto deliberately let Kyuubi come forward in his mind so that she could connect psychically with Yo-chan. He held up a single thread of material, something he'd snatched from Izuna's clothing when he'd been in the man's face earlier. Izuna hadn't even noticed. He opened his mouth, but it was Kyuubi that spoke.
"Take his scent, my kit, that's it." Yo-chan sniffed busily at the single thin blue thread, his eyes reddening briefly as he unconsciously concentrated chakra to his little nose. "He is the enemy. At all costs you are to evade him. Find me or your father if you can, your den mates if you can't. We will protect you." Kyuubi put away the thread and bent to lick Yo-chan's tears away.
Stud-Sasuke and the girls cuddled or nuzzled him in turn. Lee reluctantly gave him a last hug and set him down. Yo-chan managed to keep quiet, though his chin and lower lip wobbled. He seemed to have calmed down considerably through contact with his Mother.
-oOo-
"I can't believe he said everyone has to be alone," Masaru said glumly. He looked at Kei and Ryota. "Outside of our teams back home, we're always together." Kei nodded.
Ryota shrugged. "Just between us, I'm kind of glad I'll be taking a break from that damned spell. I'll actually get to use magic for something fun for a change."
His brothers stared at him. "How can you possibly see this as fun?" Kei demanded.
"Are you kidding? This is one huge game of tag. I can't wait to prank Izuna-sensei. Haven't pranked anyone in ages!" Ryota's normally boisterous attitude seemed to have partially returned at the prospect of surviving for an entire month on nothing but his wits. Kei felt like peeing himself. Masaru hoped he could somehow manage to find his dad and stick by him.
-oOo-
"We're so gonna put him out of commission," Raiden smirked as he joined hands with Aimi briefly. "He can't beat our connection."
"Ready?" Izuna called.
-oOo-
"Woohoo! Party!" Chibi-Gaara whooped.
"Set!" Izuna glanced around to make sure no one was trying to remain with anyone else.
-oOo-
Shouta glanced at the tree, where Yachiru sat calmly. He waved to her and she waved back. He saw her sneak a peek at her Captain before discreetly blowing him a kiss. His face got hot. He wondered how much trouble they would be in if anyone found out they'd lost their virginity a few days ago.
"Go!"
-oOo-
All the students disappeared, scattering in different directions. Raiden and Aimi folded. Yo-chan ran into the forest behind him.
Izuna streaked for the tree, and straight for Rasta-Sasuke.
