A smidge late, I apologize ^^;
Disclaimer: Don't Own Naruto
Beta busy
This chapter did not want to be written, thus the lateness.
I also have more fanart from AutobotSeeker98, and DarkClaw6 available on my profile!
Mourning for a group of nuke-nin meant many things.
Some were basically unaffected. Sasori mainly fit this category.
Others were somber, mourning for those that knew the deceased better than they. The tailed duo, and Juugo fell here.
Some were mild friends, or at least had tolerated Zabuza and so acknowledged the honor of his death and were more restrained. Kisame, myself, the arsonists, and, surprisingly enough, Hidan and Kakuzu fell into this category.
Then there was Haku.
None of us could even attempt claiming the sort of bond he'd had with the porcupine demon.
What we could do was give Zabuza a proper send off.
Going back to the lake was risky. But we had to see if there was... anything left.
Not a pleasant task, one Kisame and I took upon ourselves.
We did find his body, though it wasn't a pretty sight.
The two of us moved the body onto a stretcher of sorts for the clay bird to carry.
We would not stick Zabuza in a containment scroll like some bounty we'd hunted down.
By the time we got back to base, the others had finished their part of the work.
Deidara had blown a decent hole.
Kakuzu used earth ninjutsu to make it more of a proper grave. We didn't even have to pay him for doing so.
Haku took one last look at his former master before nodding, allowing us to bury him.
One the bird finished maneuvering the Demon in his final resting place, the miser performed another earth ninjutsu, closing the gave over him.
"Flowers don't suit him" I mused.
"Maybe some briar bushes, un. Or something equally thorny, yeah" Deidara suggested.
There was a soft sound.
The rest of us blinked in shock.
It was Haku... laughing.
"I think Zaubza-san wouldn't mind briar" Haku was crying as he laughed "He'd like causing people issues, even in death".
"We'll find some, kid. I promise" Kisame assured.
"And we don't go back on our word" I nodded, giving a faint smile at the thought.
This plan suited Zabuza.
The Demon was not a 'flower' person. A patch of thorny plants was much better.
"Perhaps a stone, like the one in Konoha is in order as well" Itachi offered "To have your name on the memorial stone means you died with honor".
"Kiri has something like that too" Kisame admitted "Not that our names are ever going on it".
"So does Takigakure 'ssu" Fū offered "Though, neither Kakuzu-san nor I would've ever been added to it either 'ssu".
"The first shinobi of Sakuragakure then" I saw where Itachi was going with this.
"Much like we all are shinobi of this Village now" Haku nodded in acceptance.
"Like fucking hell I'm wearing that damn flower kanji again" Hidan grumbled "Don't fucking think Zabu-teme would've fucking liked the damn shitty symbol either. But, Jashin damn it, he fucking deserves something".
"Honor deserves recognition" Han agreed.
"The birds speak of pretty stones not far off" Juugo informed, a songbird on his finger "They've also offered to show us to some of the thorny plant".
"Marble. I've seen it" Sasori's monotone sounded "The blond brat and I can retrieve it".
"I can blow us off a decent chuck, un" Deidara nodded moving to go with the puppet. "Sasori and I can shape it into something decent too, yeah".
"I'll help carry the shitty rock" Hidan followed the artists.
"As will I" Kisame moved off.
Han didn't speak again, simply moving to follow and go help with the rock.
"I will go with Juugo to retrieve some of the briar" Itachi offered, heading off with the ginger.
"I'll come with" I headed after them.
"Me too 'ssu!" Fū chased after us.
Kakuzu scoffed, but started working more earth ninjutsu. Most likely making it so it was damn near impossible to dig Zabuza up.
Haku gaped, surprised at our willingness to help with this task.
It took awhile, but we'd returned with several briar plants for Zabuza's grave as Kakuzu was finishing up with whatever he was doing underground.
We'd just finished planting them when the others returned with a decent sized hunk of marble.
Simple gray and white marble, but the artists had somehow carved it into something resembling Konoha's own memorial stone.
Once that was in place for Zabuza and all future Sakura shinobi, Sasori offered a small blade to Haku.
Understanding what it was for, Haku approached the stone and engraved into it Zabuza's name.
It was testament to how much someone should not screw with Sasori that the blade carved Zabuza's name into the stone as if it was nothing.
"Round of drinks on me" Kisame announced "In memory of Zabuza Momochi. Demon of the Hidden Mist, Zabu-teme, twerp, and master. The first honored death of both Sakuragakure and Yūgure".
The others turned to leave, letting Haku be alone for awhile.
A moment later – Haku
The others had just finally disappeared.
He wouldn't stay long. Just... a final moment with his fallen master.
"Farewell, Zabuza-san. We will meet again one day".
With that, he followed after the others.
Kisame sat unceremoniously pulling me down into his lap.
It had literally been once glass in honor of our fallen companion and now everyone had retreated to do whatever they wished.
The base was eerily quiet.
"Where does this put us, Koneko?" Kisame asked.
"Itachi pursuit arc" I answered "There were changes to the Three-tails encounter. That enter group of Konoha shinobi should've been known. Team Kakashi should've been there. But they weren't" I sighed "Guess that's the result of the butterfly effect".
"A small change making larger ones" Kisame nodded in understanding "And we haven't exactly been making small ripples".
"We've entered a completely changed period of time" I added "The only original thing remaining here should be the Pervy Sage's death". I leaned back against my Shark pillow. "How in the Jashin-damned hell are we keeping Pervy Sage from dying? We can't take on Pein for him".
In fact, the only ones capable of taking on Pein were Jiraiya himself or Naruto.
Kisame surprised me with a chuckle "We sit him down and have a nice chat. He'll be the first outside person to know the truth".
I gave the Shark a flat look. "You're kidding me".
"No, Koneko" Kisame shook his head "We're telling him that story of yours". He gave a snarl. "The damn Lollipop wants to play hardball. So we're going to play".
"Lovely" I muttered. "I'll send out the cats to locate him, as I can't recall where exactly the Pervy Sage is lurking at this point in time. Pretty sure he's in Konoha, but I don't want to chance that having changed too". Then I grinned "Hey! Maybe this time I can fangirl over him! I didn't get to last time!"
Kisame's hold tightened, purposefully squishing me. "If you fangirl over the pervert, I'm saving Pein the trouble and feeding him to Samehada".
"Pfft. You're no fun. Plus you know I love you more" I pouted.
"No fangirling" the Shark merely gave me a glare.
"Oh fine. You win. Spoilsport".
I was rewarded with a smirk and a kiss.
I suppose missing out on fangirling wasn't so horrible.
Some time later
Kisame and I were going as fast as Dei's birds could go.
We had to intercept Jiraiya before he got to Ame.
If Pervy Sage so much as touched the rain there, it was all over.
The bird landed right smack in the Pervy Sage's path, nearly causing him to run into us.
"Yūgure" Jiraiya greeted after recovering from his shock "To what do I owe this visit?"
"You, about to get your ass kicked by Pein" Kisame answered, sliding off the bird with me following after him.
"Or, as you'd know him better, Nagato" I added.
Pervy Sage blinked. Then narrowed his eyes. "Explain" he demanded. Since he was a spymaster in his own right, he hated not knowing things. Plus, he would want proof of our knowledge.
"Want to get off the road and away from the rain first? I don't trust it to stay over Ame" Kisame eyed the storm cloud, teeth bared.
"... Very well" Jiraiya nodded. He knew we weren't a threat. Plus, when a Shark doesn't want to get near water, you know you probably shouldn't get near it either.
"Well?" the Sage demanded as soon as we were to a safer location.
"You might want to sit" I said, doing so myself. I grinned up at the Shark, patting the ground next to me. "It's a long story".
Kisame grinned, shaking his head, before sitting beside me "As if I wasn't going to anyways, Koneko".
"Just making sure" I chirped.
Jiraiya considered a moment before sitting.
"Now, a lot of this has changed, thanks to us, but here goes nothing..."
One retelling of Naruto later
"So you see, that's Yūgure's goal. Changing all of that. For the most part, we've succeeded" I finished.
"And how do you know all of this?" the Pervy Sage questioned.
"She has a kekkei genkai" Kisame answered simply. This was our go-to explanation since 'she's from an alternate universe' tended not to be believed unless you were a lie detecting Shark or a Weasel capable of seeing memories.
"Hm" Jiraiya eyed us for some time.
"Pervy Sage, how else do you explain our tendency to show up places before crap happens. Juugo's birds are awesome info getters and Sasori has his spies, but they're not that good. Besides, most of the chaos we appeared at was before acquiring Juugo or Sasori" I could see the disbelief forming on the Ero-Sannin's face.
"You are the first outside of Yūgure to know of this" Kisame added.
"Not even our adopted children know" I pouted "I should fix that". Then I grinned at Jiraiya "Our adopted psychos are people you know".
"Naruto let slip something about a 'Kaa-chan' before Sasuke whacked him over the head" the Sage admitted.
"Oh that ball of sunshine. So honest" I smiled "We should visit our Konoha trio, Kisame. We visited Tanuik-panda last. We live with Tachi and Juugo".
Kisame sighed, knowing better than to argue.
"Tanuki-panda?" Jiraiya questioned.
"The Kazekage" the Shark couldn't help his smirk, enjoying tormenting the Sage.
Jiraiya twitched in what I assumed was pity.
"You're offering me a lot of information freely" the Sage pointed out after he recovered.
"We want you not to get killed" I stated "What you should do is turn around and go start training Naruto in the Sage arts".
"There are still six Akatsuki left" Jiraiya reminded.
"They're ours" Kisame snarled "The damned Lollipop took out one of our own recently. For that we will retaliate in kind".
"Akatsuki was whittled down to just being five about this time anyways. We're going ahead and making it four" I couldn't help the sadistic smile. Kisame's bloodthirsty nature had rubbed off somewhat.
Kisame smirked at seeing my look "I seem to have corrupted you, Koneko. I remember when you were a scared little thing, running from blood".
"Oh shush, Kisame, or I'll describe exactly how adorable a chibi you were" I retorted.
Our Sannin companion watched us with something akin to shock and confusion.
He was watching nuke-nins acts like normal people. Like normal shinobi.
It was probably something difficult to wrap his mind around.
"We have no proof to give you about our words, Sannin" Kisame returned his attention to Jiraiya "But know this, you go in that rain, your signing your death warrent".
"You should return, or at least send a message to Tsunade. Mention us. Warn her of Pein's impending attacking. Devise a way to lessen lives lost. Evacuate people, but do so at the last minute, when he starts floating up into the sky. Naruto must perfect Sage mode and access all of Kurama's chakra".
He needed to meet his father after all.
"We'll leave you to decide for yourself" Kisame stood, offering me a hand up, which I accepted. "This is no one's choice but your own".
"We'll send a message to Tsunade ourselves as well, just in case you decide you want to chance fate" I added "She's more likely to listen to you though".
With that, we left the Sage to his own devices, our bird flying high.
We'd watch, out of range of Kiraiya's sensing abilities.
Wanting to know what he chose.
Jiraiya POV
He was well informed in terms of shinobi.
They had known even more than he thought possible, both about himself and the people he cherished.
They'd recounted events they should have no knowledge of with perfect clarity.
Toki had told him most of the tale. Kisame had only added here and there, usually telling him what they'd changed about the story.
Now, they'd left him to decide if he believed their tale.
A thunderclap drew his gaze to the ever present storm lurking over Ame.
According to their information, if he touched the rain, Pein... Nagato would be able to sense him instantly.
This was not in his best interest, if they were to be believed.
Now, it was a simple decision.
Believe and turn back to teach Naruto and help counter the supposed invasion.
Or not believe and continue into Ame.
He stood, heading back towards the road.
Then he leveled his gaze at Ame once more.
A former student... fallen so far...
He turned, heading back to Konoha.
Deciding to believe them.
He wouldn't let his godson suffer alone.
There would be no challenge to the Akatsuki's supposed leader from this Sannin.
Normal POV
"Thank Jashin-sama" I sighed in relief seeing the white speck racing back towards Konoha.
"How much time do we have before Pein attacks Konoha, Koneko?" Kisame questioned, turning our bird back towards base.
"Unsure. Weeks, a month? We'll need to make sure it happens though"
"How?"
"Take down the Akatsuki, but we need to show we're allied with the shinobi nations in general. More specifically Konoha over all" I sighed. "We need neutrality, but at the same time, we need it clear that Konoha is the nation Pein wants first".
"Perhaps, once we find the two Akatsuki bastards, we tell them Konoha gave us the information? I don't care about lying to a liar" Kisame scoffed "The Plant will most likely be spying and take the information to Pein and the Lollipop bastard, effectively triggering the attack".
"We can only hope that works. Originally, they were going after Naru-chan because they were almost done sealing the biju. We'll have to hope that this works just as well" I nodded.
"Lollipop-teme is petty. We know he can't find us. So he'll encourage Pein to go for the next best thing" Kisame finished before laughing slightly "I'm no good with plans, should probably run this by Itachi-san first".
"There's time" I agreed "We should also relax while we can. Because after the invasion, We hit the Five Kage Summit and shit hits the fan then. We won't be able to sit still once all that chaos starts".
"Too bad there's no edo tensei opponents to look forward to" Kisame snickered "Almost regret killing off glasses-creeper for that".
"Zetsu clones are enough. He can replicate anyone, given enough information. It'll be close enough to edo-tensei that we're still getting a challenge" I assured "Plus there's Lollipop still. He's not going down easily. But we've at least prevented the stupid Juubi jinchuuriki nonsense so far".
"Which brings us to what we're doing about Pein" Kisame snickered.
"Letting him go through therapy-jutsu" I stated.
"Yes, I meant after that".
"Telling him about Lollipop's scheming ass".
"Who knows, Kami himself might take care of them for us before Naruto can" the Shark grinned "I certainly wouldn't mind seeing the Lollipop get a Shinra Tensei on his ass, though I would love feeding him to Samehada".
"I wouldn't mind seeing the Shinra Tensei myself. Don't feed Samehada nasty things like the Lollipop, you'll make your sword sick".
Omake – Misunderstandings, Kisame POV
Koneko had been acting rather... odd.
Her scent was off as well.
His inner Shark didn't like it.
Neither did he.
Especially when she suddenly turned violently ill.
He was worried over her, going to get water for his severely ill partner.
"I suppose fucking congratulations are in damn order" Hidan drawled with a devious smirk.
He didn't like the look on the Zealot's face.
"Do I even want to know?" he sighed, knowing Hidan would most likely be annoying if he didn't ask.
"When a fucking female starts acting like this, they're usually fucking pregnant. Jashin-sama knows you two certainly screw enough for this sort of shit to happen".
He felt himself pale.
Kami, no.
He... didn't mind the idea of a child. Someday.
But not right now!
Not while she and it would be in the most danger they could possibly be!
"Or it is someone who simply has a very nasty flu" Kakuzu strolled in "Toki is a medic-nin, whelp. She's made herself as sterile as they come".
"How the fuck do you know that?"
"Second medic, whelp" Kakuzu was second in the organization only to Toki herself "Toki payed me for my diagnosis. She wanted to make sure it matched the one she'd given herself. And no, she didn't pay me just to say she had the flu" Kakuzu started counting his money.
He felt tension instantly leave his body with a sigh of relief.
Then tension return due to a fiery rage.
"Hidan" he smirked, showing his sharp teeth.
His inner Shark stirred, Samehada bristling on his back in response.
"The fuck you want, Sushi?"
"Run" he answered, intending on murdering the zealot for making him lose at least five years off his life span.
This Omake is a thanks to AutobotSeeker98 for the fanart!
So, as you may have noticed, the cover has changed! The decision was excessively difficult as all the entries were amazing! I feel so loved ;~;
So -drumroll-
Congratulations to: DiranaTheRune! Her Kisame and Toki are kickass. You get three Omakes!
Second place: Darkclaw6! I really really wish I could have these two pieces as my cover simultaneously. Her Toki is also kickass and the haori is very close to what I pictured in my head. You get two Omakes!
Yes, I did up the number since, I normally do a singular Omake as thanks, therefore the reward for a contest must be increased.
So, dear winners, choose your Omakes wisely! PM me or review with your decisions! Remember, these things are Canon! With great power comes great responsibility!
All contest entries are also now available on my profile!
Thank you to everyone who entered! ^^
Next time- Tobi smirked under his mask as he watched the conflict of Dawn and Dusk. He didn't care if his Akatsuki fell. He had his information. "Time to move up to the belly" he mused. Had to gut a cat to skin it after all.
As I am running terribly late today, I apologize, but no review replies here either...
Don't hate me~! ;~;
