Chapter 46: This is normally the part in most fanfictions where the authors start pulling shit out of their asses as if it were gold. I don't pull gold out of my ass, I pull fucking diamonds.
I don't own Naruto, any of its characters, or any references in this story. If I did, horrible things would happen. I do own all OCs and new jutsu in the story.
o. o. o.
In the hotel Naruto is staying in:
Our favorite jinchūriki sighed as he continued to meditate on his bed while his clones continued to read up on some books relating to the physics of gasses… otherwise simplified as 'how air works'. There were a lot of annoying math equations in it, but the boy wasn't focusing on those. He was more interested in the theoretical properties. Many of the theories listed as impossible in the book were proven wrong by the boy's Seventh Sense, and even though the boy could only translate about a third of what the hell the book was trying to tell him, he was learning that there was more to his ability than he expected.
The reason why Naruto had such books on his person was once again thanks to Ghost. Even though the blonde desperately wanted to learn more moves that can blow things up, the elder and more immature male surprisingly disagreed and gave the boy the books he was reading. Even though Naruto had the basics of the Seventh Sense down pretty well by now and had also mastered his Presence to a certain extent, the boy had yet to explore some of the more complicated and interesting uses of the techniques that could prove useful later on. Ghost had yet to say what those uses were in particular, but he did say that the books that were now in the boy's possession would give him hints as to what his next few steps were.
Of course being the slightly slow boy that he was, Naruto had yet to come up with anything, even with the use of clones. Grumbling to himself, the boy continued to read.
Pressure is one of the fundamental variables of gas physics. Unlike liquids or solids, gasses can be compressed or expanded to many times their previous volume without much change to their chemical structure. Such pressure changes on a large scale, along with temperature differences and the positions of intervening land and sea masses, are frequently the causes of weather changes, and also dictate the general direction of wind flow. On a smaller scale, pressure changes can be manipulated to enable flight for animals. Birds are an example of this. The wings of birds are different on the top and on the bottom. The top of a bird's wing is smooth and streamlined, allowing wind to pass over it without causing the air to become disrupted. The bottom of a bird's wing, however, is rather rough and uneven. This causes the air under the wing to become agitated and move in various directions with slightly increased pressure, including up against the wing. This upward force is what enables a bird to remain in the air even when it is no longer flapping…"
Naruto blinked as he re-read this explanation several times over and looked at the diagram that went along with it. "… This… kind of makes sense…" The boy mused as the words slowly came together in his mind. "So… I guess this means that if I practice… calming down the air under the wings… I can make birds and things like that not fly anymore if they're in my range…that's pretty cool, I guess…" The boy mused as he thought about how he could use this skill in a fight.
"I don't think it would work that much against Shino's bugs. I mean they fly and all… but they're also pretty fast on the ground as well… I could use it against Sai's giant birds… but he's not with us at the moment…" He slowly grinned. "Oh… but then there's that bomb guy in the Akatsuki. He makes tons of flying things with that exploding stuff of his… hell, even the bird things he ride on are made of the stuff." The boy chuckled to himself evilly as he imagined a chibi-Deidara screaming (grunting included at the end of every yell) as his bird flapped uselessly trying to stay in the air before it hit the ground and exploded, taking its master with it. "Oh, I gotta learn how to do this now…" The boy laughed as he wrote down another possible use for his Seventh Sense and the general idea behind the new move on a nearly empty scroll. So far the only things included on the list were basic ideas the he had no doubt were already used in other jutsu, such as compressing large amounts of air to unleash a large blast and forcing so much air into a person's body that their lungs blew up… but this new idea was much more interesting.
The boy's comedic daydreaming was cut short however when an odd sensation in his Seventh sense caught his attention. Bits of his range were… disappearing in a single small area that was gradually approaching his current position, as if his chakra was being eaten by something. Alongside the front of whatever was eating his chakra was a somewhat familiar chakra signature. "Tch…" The jinchūriki growled as he instantly knew what was happening. "Pack up, guys… they're here."
Outside the apartment:
Itachi frowned as Kisame's sword started to make some noise and move on his back. "It would be best if you kept your sword under control, Kisame. I had assumed that you had better mastery over Samehada than this…"
Kisame, in a backup Akatsuki uniform to replace the one that Zabuza wrecked, grumbled as he grabbed onto the handle of the blade. "I'm trying, Itachi, but it looks like Samehada has been eating some extra chakra from somewhere. You know how it gets when it has a certain amount of chakra in it. The thing is, I have no clue where it could have gotten it from. The only people it feasted on lately were that smoking guy and Zabuza-kun back in Konoha, and we both know that it's not dumb enough to try and take chakra from you or me…"
"Forget it…" Itachi mused as they stopped in front of the door their target was in. "We will figure it out later, after we deliver the Kyūbi and make sure that we are away from the Sannin…" He knocked on the door several times before waiting patiently. On the other side of the door, the two could hear the shuffling of someone clearly not the size of an adult or the skill of a decent shinobi. Itachi knocked again for good measure.
"Yeah, yeah. Keep your panties on, I heard you…" A young voice muttered as the owner opened the door to reveal a blonde boy in a black hooded sweater with a large orange tie dye spiral on the front and back. The boy froze as he looked at Itachi and recognized the Sharingan. "Wh-who?"
"Oi Itachi. Do you actually think this brat is the Kyūbi?" The large blue man asked from behind the man. "He seems a bit on the small side for someone that's supposed to be holding that fox…"
"Naruto-kun, we would like you to come with us…" Itachi asked in a polite tone that did nothing to hide the underlying threat.
Naruto gulped before chuckling nervously. "H-heh… So you're Itachi? No wonder the teme is so obsessed with getting stronger." He looked between the two men. "I'm having trouble figuring out who's the bigger monster here… m-man, I'm screwed aren't I?"
Kisame smirked. "Not bad, kid. Most idiots would instantly think that I'm the more dangerous person just by looking at us, but you can tell that something's off. Too bad that it's pointless to figure it out, since both of us are against you…"
"If you would be so kind as to come out of the room now…" Itachi asked politely, ignoring his partner's musing. Naruto slowly obliged the red eyed man as he slowly positioned himself between the two men.
"Well, then…" The tallest sighed as he grabbed onto Samehada. "I say we take off one of the brat's legs just to make sure that he doesn't run away. I'm still feeling a bit… peckish from today's skirmish in Konoha…"
"It's been a long time, Sasuke…" Itachi mused, catching the attention of everyone there and causing them to turn their eyes to the boy down the hall, which was glaring back at them.
"Well, this is certainly an interesting day…" Kisame chuckled. "This is the second time today I've seen someone besides Itachi using a Sharingan…"
"Itachi…" Sasuke growled as he took out his sword with his fully developed Sharingan active. "Let Naruto go… or else I'll kill you…"
"Oh?" The elder swordsman snorted as he raised an eyebrow. "So this is that younger brother you mentioned earlier, eh? He doesn't have a bad look in his eye… didn't you say that it's rare for someone in your clan to unlock all three tomoe before their late teens? He should still get his eyes checked, though. I'm surprised he's thinking of coming at us with that small sword when I have Samehada here…" His eyebrows momentarily rose as the boy channeled fire then lighting chakra through his sword, causing it to hum dangerously. "… well, now… this is certainly something new…"
"Itachi… I will beat you… and I will find out what the hell really happened that night…" Sasuke growled as his sword grew brighter. "But before all that, I'm going to make sure that you don't get your hands on that idiot of a teammate of mine."
"Don't fight him, you idiot! Can't you see that these guys are fucking monsters with those eyes or yours?" Naruto warned through gritted teeth, opening and closing his fists at an alarming rate as if it were a nervous habit. "If you want to save me, get the white haired pervert Jiraiya here, NOW!"
The lone boy on the other side of the hallway snarled as he bowed his head slightly so that the shadow of his hair covered part of his face. "Sorry, dobe. You know how I would react when I finally saw Itachi again…" Sasuke suddenly charged forward, grinding his sword against the wall next to him, revealing both a clean slash and deep burns around the part where the blade met the structure of the building.
"Channeling two elements at once in an object?" Itachi mused curiously as his brother came closer.
Naruto growled as he shook in rage. "You… STUPID… boom."
Itachi and Kisame only had a fraction of a second to translate what the blonde had just said before their target exploded between them with impressive force. Itachi, being the faster of the two, managed to escape in time by jumping through the doorway that Naruto left open. Kisame, unfortunately, was not so lucky. Being that he was slightly behind Naruto when Sasuke appeared, the blue man was blown back by the explosion at an angle and skidded against the wall for a good distance.
Sasuke on the other hand, had both his arms up and had stopped in time for the explosion that he knew was going to happen. With his Sharingan active, the boy had seen everything in the hallway, including Naruto's rapidly opening and closing hands, which symbolized an explosion. If the back of the hand was facing him, it meant that the blonde was warning that he had the bomb in place. If the palm was facing him, it meant that the boy was asking for his teammate to blow something up. Those two signs were among the first Team 7 had learned early on in their training… they couldn't risk not knowing them with Naruto and Ghost laughing and blowing things up all the damn time.
The young Uchiha coughed as he looked up for his annoying friend. Almost instantly, said boy crashed through the wall next to the door that Itachi disappeared behind and slammed into the hallway wall with a grunt of pain. As he landed on the ground, the boy somehow managed to jump towards Sasuke just before a flurry of shuriken embedded themselves where he was once kneeling. Skidding to a stop next to his friend, the boy spat out a small glob of blood. "Good, you're still alive. For a sec there, I thought you had missed my signal and actually tried to kill Itachi."
Sasuke snorted as he stood straight up. "As if. I am going to kill him eventually, but there's no way I can do it now…" Naruto noticed the Uchiha's hands slightly shaking. "You weren't kidding when you said they were monsters, dobe. That blue guy has more chakra than you do… and Itachi… well, we should both know by now that he's probably more dangerous than the other one… I probably would have been killed if I had actually tried to charge in head first like that…"
Naruto frowned as he pushed himself off the ground. "Oh, yeah. Your brother definitely isn't a pushover, Sasuke. I could tell his chakra is fine tuned to an absurd level. Even without training, you can feel his Presence if you know what to look for. His speed is just as ridiculous. If I wasn't used to training with Ero-nii, I'd be skewered on the wall right now. Watch out for the shark guy, though… I don't know if it's his sword or him, but something is eating up my chakra in the air like candy…" He took in a deep breath. "Teme… unless Ero-Sennin gets here soon, we're properly fucked. These guys are as strong as that snake bastard back in the Forest of Death… if not stronger."
"You little brats! That was my last coat!" The blue man growled as he got back up, showing that the front of his jacket was indeed thrashed, revealing that he was not wearing a shirt underneath and that he was in fact blue all over.
Naruto couldn't help but laugh. "Hey, look. The blue guy is an exhibitionist. Why else would he not wear anything under his coat?"
The young Uchiha let off a snort. "Heh. Do you think he talks to Anko?"
Kisame growled in rage as he clapped his hands together. "You brats are going to regret saying that. Not only do I have to pay Kakuzu that annoyingly high price for two coats now, but you have the nerve to get on my bad side as well… Water style: Water Bullet!" The blue man shot out a large ball of pressurized water from his mouth down the hallway at the two boys.
Fortunately, Naruto had already been forming seals of his own. "Shit, this is close! Earth Style: Earth Wall!" He yelled as he spat out mud in front of him that crossed the entire hallway. Milliseconds later, the mud shot up, transforming into a thick rock wall that sealed the boys off from the men and barely defended the blonde and his friend from the oncoming water attack. Even though earth ninjutsu is naturally strong against water ninjutsu, the thick wall still received some decent damage even though it was not penetrated.
"Kisame. We were ordered to bring the Kyūbi back alive…" Itachi lectured quietly as he walked back into the hallway. "Remember our orders…"
"I know already!" Kisame yelled as he charged at the wall with Samehada in his hands. "It's not my fault these brats are better than we thought!"
Crash!
The shark man burst through the weakened wall with unnatural ease… only to find himself dead center of a rather large napalm fueled fire that had been set on the other side… followed by another earth wall blocking his way, which he crashed face first into. "God damn it!" The blue man roared in pain and frustration as he clapped his hands together. "I've had enough of these kid games! Water Style! Suigadan!" (Water Fang Bullet)
A spiraling drill of water shot out of Kisame's mouth and tunneled through the hallway and the rock wall, smothering out the fire nearly instantly and catching the retreating boys off guard. The children managed to escape with glancing blows as they dodged to the side of the attack, which continued to plow through and take out part of the building.
"Damn it…" Naruto swore as he picked himself up. "I thought that would have held them off for at least another few seconds… Teme, all right?"
Sasuke coughed as he picked himself up and momentarily held his side. "Yeah… somehow. Too bad your plan didn't work, dobe. All it did was piss him off. We should use Firestorm…"
Naruto shook his head as he kept an eye on Kisame as he walked over the rubble of the second wall. "No. I still don't have enough control to keep it within the hallway. If we tried it now, we could kill practically half the people in the building, and even then it probably wouldn't be enough to get these guys off our backs… plus, it would only give them reason to start using THEIR large scale jutsu, and I'm willing to bet that they know more of those than we do and can use them more often…"
"Well, well…" Chuckled a familiar voice from behind them, shocking the boys and prompting them to turn around to see another Kisame standing right behind them. "It looks like you brats have decent heads on your shoulders after all… it's too bad that I'm going to change that…" The second blue man was just about to swing his sword when he was stopped by Sasuke's electrified hand plunged through his stomach. Seconds later the killed man turned into a puddle of water.
"Chidori…?" Itachi mused as he stepped next to Kisame, who was past the second rock wall by now.
Naruto smirked as he turned around again. "Not bad, teme. Did Kakashi-sensei teach you that before the Exams?"
"Yeah…" Sasuke answered as his hand turned back to normal. "It was an emergency ace that was meant for the invasion. I can only do it a few times a day, though…!" The boy's explanation was cut short when Itachi practically teleported and reappeared in front of his brother. The two stared into each other's eyes for a few moments before Itachi attempted to sucker punch his brother. Sasuke barely managed to dodge it in time, but was caught off guard when the elder spun rapidly and kicked the younger boy across the wall and nearly out of the hole in the wall that Kisame had made, despite the fact that the younger of the two had managed to bring up his arms in time to block. Before the defensive boy could start to get back up again, Itachi was already on top of him and pinning him to the ground.
"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled worriedly before trying to run and help, only to be cut off by Kisame.
"Foolish little brother…" Itachi mused. "You are still too weak to compare to me…"
Sasuke grit his teeth. "Of course I'm still too weak, you back stabbing asshole! I'm only 13! I've barely hit my growth spurt yet! How the hell could we beat you in our current states?! I thought you were supposed to be a genius!"
Kisame couldn't help but snort at the boy's response. "You know, he's got a point there, Itachi…"
Itachi's response to the rather valid counter argument was to blink momentarily before pushing his victim's arm further up against his back, causing him to hiss in pain. "… Regardless, you will not catch up to me at this rate, little brother… you do not hate me enough… you do not have the same eyes as me…"
The boy couldn't help but let loose a small snort. "Heh. As if I'd follow your instructions to kill you. Something is seriously messed up if you actually think that makes sense." The boy frowned as he remembered a small private conversation he had with Waltz Ōgakari not even two days earlier. "I've seen what revenge does to people, BROTHER. I have seen what it can do in its entirety, and I'd rather die before turning myself into something as pathetic as that." The boy smirked as he started to speak in a much quieter voice so that Itachi could only hear him. "So tell me… who are you so afraid of?"
The elder Uchiha frowned noticeably. "… You believe I of all people am wary of someone? Clearly you do not value your life as much as you should, coward…"
"Cut the crap Itachi…" Sasuke hissed in a combination of anger and pain. "I want nothing more than to gut you where you stand, but I know something else is up. You killing my clan, just to test your potential? Telling me to live only for revenge? You're supposed to be a genius, but even the dobe could tell that you were making no sense whatsoever. You go through all that trouble to test yourself and run away from Konoha, but you don't fight or kill some other high ranking shinobi in all the time you've been away?" He grunted as he turned to look at his brother in the eyes. "No… You're nowhere near as insane as everyone thinks you are… I can tell just by looking at you… and I know for a fact what an insane person looks like."
"If you two are done catching up, we have a job to do…" Kisame mused with a very violent grin on his face as he raised his sword above his head with a downed blonde in his sights. "This brat put me through a lot of trouble, and it's time for me to collect…"
Clang!
The moment before the sword hit Naruto, a large armored toad appeared out of thin air and blocked the blade with its arm guards.
"You know, for S-ranked shinobi, you two are pretty bad at getting information on other strong shinobi…" Chuckled Jiraiya from behind Kisame, carrying an unconscious woman on one of his shoulders. "I'm much better at attracting women than they are at getting me. You could say it's one of my… specialties."
"If by attracting you mean having them chase you in a bloody rage when they find you peeking on them in the baths, then yeah, it's one of your specialties…" Grumbled Naruto as he managed to pick himself up and spat out some blood. During the conversation between the Uchiha, Kisame had taken the liberty of beating the ever loving shit out of the blond boy.
Jiraiya struck a pose, clearly ignoring what the boy had just said. "This fine specimen of ultimate manliness bows down to no woman! All I have to do is flash a small portion of this incredible body and the women all flock to me like flies!"
Silence.
"Dobe…" Sasuke grunted from underneath Itachi. "Why the hell are you traveling with this idiot?"
"Shut up, Teme. I thought I could get some serious training from someone who wasn't a raging pervert or a freak of nature for once and blackmailed him into taking me with him with my harem technique. I didn't find out about this part of his personality until it was too late…" Naruto grumbled irritably. "Freaking Ero-Sennin…"
Jiraiya frowned. "How many times have I told you not to call me that in public, brat? I would slap you halfway across town if our friend here didn't do the job already…"
Kisame chuckled to himself. "Heh. Jiraiya of the Sannin, eh? I'm honored. Everyone knows you love beautiful women… but we didn't think that our simple method would stall you for long anyways. It looks like you've already undone the genjutsu that Itachi put on that woman."
The eldest man in the hallway glared at his opponents. "You went through all that trouble to separate me from Naruto… you really are after the Kyūbi, aren't you?"
"So you guys are Akatsuki, eh?" Naruto mused to himself as he breathed heavily. "Ero-nii wasn't kidding when he said you guys would be insanely strong. Makes me wonder what you want to do with fuzz butt…"
"No wonder Kakashi knew of our existence…" Itachi mused. "Both you and another man are clearly aware of us…" He paused. "To capture the container of the Kyūbi alive… that was the task set to us by our organization's leaders… Akatsuki…"
The toad blocking Kisame's sword disappeared as silence claimed the area.
"It's too bad you're not going to get Naruto…" Jiraiya growled. "Because right now… I'm going to kill you both…"
Itachi instantly jumped out of the way down another corridor as a spiked white maw charged at him and crashed into the hole that Kisame made, preventing any escape... but not before dislocating and breaking the Sasuke's arm in a single swift motion. "Foolish little brother…" Itachi sighed in the same monotone voice as Sasuke hissed and yelled in pain. "If you truly desire closure… ask your Third about what I have done to our clan. Maybe then you will see the truth and that your only choice in life is to kill me… or die trying…"
'So he's giving the old man permission to tell Sasuke the truth, eh?' Jiraiya mused as he made some seals and slammed his hands on the ground. Instantly, the entire hallway's structure transformed from wood and paper to muscles and tissue. "Hidden Art. Toad Mouth Bind…" The man chuckled as Kisame and Itachi instantly went on guard. "Congratulations. You two are now officially my summon's dinner. I hope you're grateful Iwagama! These two are high quality cuts!"
"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled as he ran towards his injured teammate.
"The hell you're getting away, brat!" Kisame yelled just as he swung his sword at the boy to try to cut off his legs… only to miss as the target suddenly burst forward with no previous indication whatsoever. "The hell?"
'That was close…' Naruto thought to himself as he ran. 'I almost didn't have enough chakra in the air around me to pull that dash off…'
"Kisame!" Itachi yelled as he jumped to dodge a developing tentacle. "We're leaving!"
"This just isn't my day…" The largest man swore to himself as he dislodged Samehada from the hungry ground and chased after his partner around the corner. As they ran towards the end of the hallway, the blue man noticed that the walls were converging on them. "Oi Itachi. These walls are moving pretty quickly… at this rate…" That was when he noticed his partner had his eyes closed for something.
Boom!
Jiraiya frowned as he ran past Naruto and Sasuke and turned the corner to see where, as he expected, there was a giant hole in the wall laced with black fire around it. 'No matter how many times I look at it, that Amaterasu technique always sends shivers down my spine…' The man shuddered as he canceled out his toad technique and turned around while grabbing a scroll and a brush. "You brats alive?"
Naruto collapsed onto the ground. "No thanks to you. What the hell took you so long? Was my exploding clone not loud enough for your aging ears to pick up, you old bastard?" The boy momentarily glanced at the black fire in the hallway. 'It's similar… but I can tell that its worlds apart from Ero-nii's fire… '
"I've been better…" Sasuke grunted as he held onto his right arm. "Unless I get back to Konoha and have Hana or Waltz look at me, I'm not going to be able to do any fighting for a while, though…"
"Be glad that's all the damage you took, boy…" Jiraiya grumbled as he wrote down a large and complex seal on the scroll in front of him. "You know better than anyone how easy it is for Itachi to kill someone." He formed a tiger hand seal. "Sealing Art. Fire Seal. Highest Rank." Suddenly the black fire in the building warped and flew through the air into the seal. Instantly after the last of the embers disappeared into the scroll, the sage rolled it up and tied it shut. "Oi, brat with broken arm. What can you tell me about the technique your brother just used?"
Sasuke grimaced as he looked at the old man, who he could clearly tell was not someone he wanted to mess with at the moment. "It… it's called Amaterasu. It's one of our clan's secret techniques that can only be unlocked with the Mangekyō Sharingan. I don't know much else about it other than that it's extremely powerful and supposed to burn for 3 days and nights straight, regardless of what it's on…" He paused. "However… I'm pretty sure that when it's used, it only burns whatever the user's eyesight is focused on."
"Man…" Naruto groaned as he relaxed next to his friend. "You really weren't kidding when you said your brother was the best. I could barely keep track of his movements. It was like going up against Ero-nii when he was completely hammered and forgot to hold back that one time… and that fish head guy…"
The remaining Uchiha glared at Naruto. "Gee. Thanks for the vote of confidence, dobe…"
The blonde smirked. "Any time."
"All right, you two. If you're done having that tea party of yours, we can start cleaning up this glorious situation we've gotten ourselves into." Jiraiya grumbled as he walked to the pair. "First, we have to explain to the owners of this place why there are three huge craters and a burning gash in this building, and then we have to get YOU…" He pointed to Sasuke. "Who, might I add, most likely left the village without authorization, to the nearest medic to get that arm of yours taken care of…" Whatever Jiraiya was going to say next was interrupted as a kunai flashed past him and embedded itself into a nearby wall. "Why am I suddenly fearful for my wellbeing...?" He mused as he turned around… only to get a rather large foot implanted in his face.
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"
o. o. o.
On top of the building:
Ghost sighed as he lay on top of the hotel facing the sky. "So that's Amaterasu…"
Moments later, the extremely old and partially deaf landlady opened the door to the roof to hang the clothes that she was washing. There was no one there.
o. o. o.
Back in Konoha:
"So, care to explain to me what the hell is going on right now?" Shikaku grunted in a bored tone as he lay next to his son on a random hill in their family deer pasture… one that at the moment was not covered in deer droppings.
Shikamaru sighed as he looked up at the sky with a bored look on his face. "You do realize that my answer is going to be as absurd as the people it's related to, right?"
The father snorted once. "That goes without saying…"
The boy frowned a small amount. "I'm serious, dad. You're going to have to open you mind a bit more than normal in order to down this excuse. Even I still have trouble believing all the crap that I'm stuck in half the time because of it…"
"Stop beating around the bush and spill it already, Shika…" The scarred man sighed. "You make it sound like you're an alien or a time traveler or something absurd like that…"
Silence.
Shikaku looked down at his son to see the boy sweat dropping and looking away guiltily. "… Please don't tell me it's the one that will make me think you have green skin and tentacles…"
The boy deadpanned. "… Troublesome…"
o. o. o.
The next day:
Sarutobi and Ōnoki sighed as they walked down the street alongside their entourages. "I apologize for the unfortunate events that happened while you were visiting, Ōnoki…" Sarutobi said.
The shorter man waved his hand dismissively. "Bah. Forget it, Saru. These have been some of the most interesting days I have had in years. Sitting in that chair and doing nothing but paperwork for so long was doing more damage to me than all the assassins that've tried to kill me for the past 20 years!"
"I have no objections to that statement." The Hokage chuckled. "So am I to assume that you are leaving soon?"
The Tsuchikage sighed. "Yeah. As soon as we get some food in our stomachs, we'll be off. I heard that the guys who sold ramen at the arena have a stand around here somewhere…"
Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "You mean Ichiraku's?"
Ōnoki nodded. "Yeah, that place. I had some of it right before the festivities and decided to have a second helping before we leave. That was really some good stuff they had there… speaking of which… I think we're passing it right now…" The man mused as he and Sarutobi looked to see the stand before immediately changing directions and passing through the flaps.
"Welcome to Ichiraku's!" Teuchi greeted as he focused on cooking. "How may I… Hokage-sama! What an honor it is to have you back here again! What can I get you and your friends?"
Ōnoki sniggered. "It seems as if I'm not the only one who likes the place."
"Hello Teuchi. I'm just walking my friend the Tsuchikage as he leaves the village. We're just here for a quick lunch. I'll have a miso ramen if you would…"
Teuchi gaped as he looked at the smirking smaller man. "Ts-Tsuchikage…sama?" He stammered as the two old men and their companions got into their seats.
"About damn time someone addressed me with some respect in this village…" Ōnoki sighed to himself. "Yeah, that's me. Get me a beef ramen and make it quick. I've been away from my desk for too long, and I want to try and forget about all that paperwork that's waiting for me when I get back."
"I'll have the same thing my boss is having." Rōshi sighed as he took a swig of his personal stash of booze.
"Shrimp." Kurotsuchi said bluntly as she looked at the several pictures of famous customers (and Naruto) that were hanging above the serving area.
Several more orders were placed from the Hokage's and Tsuchikage's group, which snapped the middle aged man out of his stupor. "R-right. Hold on just a moment." He ran into the kitchen. "Ayame! We have a big order! Ready at least half of the pots!"
A young girl's voice was heard from the kitchen. "What? Did Naruto challenge the Akimichi clan to a ramen eating contest again? I thought Hokage-sama forbade him from doing that again after he had to get his and three other Akimichi's stomachs pumped!"
Sarutobi snorted and chuckled nervously as Ōnoki looked at him curiously. "Naruto… isn't he that blonde brat from the Exams?" The shorter of the two asked curiously as he noticed the pictures of him sitting next to an impressive number of ramen bowls giving the peace sign.
Hiruzen coughed. "Yes… well… um… as you can see, the boy is rather partial to ramen…"
"Partial my ass." Rōshi grumbled as he looked at the pictures. "There's got to be at least… what, a dozen bowls in half of the pictures with the kid in them?"
"Speaking of that brat, I haven't seen hide nor hair of that kid since yesterday." Kurotsuchi muttered. "I remember seeing a bunch of his clones running all over the place after the invasion helping people out… but there aren't any around today…"
"Oh? That's probably because he left with Jiraiya-sama yesterday…" Teuchi said with a few bowls of ramen which he passed to their owners.
"Jiraiya? I know that boy tends to not stay in a single place for long, but why did he take that kid with him?" Ōnoki mused curiously as he started to eat.
Teuchi chuckled nervously. "Ah well, you see. Naruto was eating here yesterday when Jiraiya-sama came in and did his normal… introduction. Naruto was getting a bit tired of his current… um… training styles, and he hoped that Jiraiya would be able to train him… differently. So the boy got on his hands and knees and pleaded for the man to train him… then he hugged the man's leg, not willing to let go… it was pretty obvious that he was desperate…" The people listening started to sweat drop as they listened to the story. The people from Iwa were embarrassed for the child and were having second impressions. For those who knew what Naruto's relationship with Ghost was like… they began to pity the poor child. "Of course, the boy didn't know about Jiraiya's… habits yet… so as a last resort he used… those techniques to try and convince the Sannin to train him…" Teuchi continued while sweating.
Sarutobi groaned. "Ugh. Of all the things that boy had to create in his younger days…"
Rōshi raised an eyebrow. "Those techniques?"
The Hokage shook his head. "For our personal integrity and safety, I won't tell you what they are… but I will tell you that it does prey on certain… flaws that we… and Jiraiya have."
"Ah…" The aged men from the Land of Stone said together in complete understanding.
"GRAMPS! I CHALLENGE YOU FOR THE SEAT OF HOKAGE!" Roared a clearly young and inexperienced voice from the outside, getting everyone's attention as a young Konohamaru, followed by Moegi, Udon, and a very irritated Hanabi.
"Konohamaru! I seriously doubt that that stupid technique you made up with these two will actually do anything to Hokage-sama other than embarrass him!" Hanabi said in a frustrated tone, but with a small blush still on her cheeks, before turning to said old man. "My apologies Hokage-sama. I tried to stop him, but…"
The grandfather sighed. "It's okay, Hanabi-chan. We both know that my grandson can be a bit impulsive at times."
"Well, isn't that a cute little girl…" Ōnoki mused. "And a Hyūga, too. I thought their clan was rather strict with letting their young out of a guardian's sight with their bloodline and all…"
"You'd think I'd be the same with my grandson…" Sarutobi deadpanned. "However, ever since these two have met, young Hanabi here has been picking up one or two of Konohamaru's… less admirable habits…"
"Oi! Stop talking as if I'm not here!" Said grandson shouted defiantly. "Me and Moegi and Udon are going to use our new technique against you! Naruto-nii's been teaching us about collaboration techniques before he went to the Ehūnin Exams and we just made one ourselves!"
"Again with that blonde brat…" Kurotsuchi grumbled to herself irritably.
"K-Konohamaru-kun, I don't think this is a good idea…" Udon sniffed as he looked at all the shinobi around.
"Yeah… there are some foreign shinobi here too…" Moegi shuddered. "What if we make them mad?"
"It's okay, guys! After this, everyone will have to notice us and see how great we are! Then Naruto-nii will have to give us more training!" Konohamaru said excitedly, clearly not paying any attention to the annoyed and slightly amused looks that some of the other shinobi were giving them.
Hanabi crossed her arms. "All right! Fine! Do what you want, just keep me out of it!"
Konohamaru smirked. "You're just mad that Naruto-nii beat your sister in the Exams."
"Sister?" Ōnoki whispered to Sarutobi.
"Hiashi's second daughter." The taller of the two whispered back, getting a look of surprise in response.
"Whatever…" Konohamaru huffed as he turned to his grandfather and made a ram seal. "Moegi! Udon! Let's show grandpa our new technique!"
"Here goes nothing I guess…" Udon sniffed as he and Moegi also made the seal next to Konohamaru.
"This should be interesting…" Rōshi chuckled. "A show to go along with lunch…"
'Hold on…' Sarutobi thought to himself. 'If I remember correctly, the only techniques that Konohamaru and those two can make are the transformation technique and Naruto's… variation of it. If what he said about a collaboration technique is true, then the only thing they could possibly do is…' "Oh dear god no…" The old man said as his face paled dramatically. "Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon! Wai-!"
"Collaboration technique!" The three shouted as they disappeared in three clouds of smoke. "Great Sexy Show Technique!" (Think of that pudding pudding thing they did in the fillers, but make their transformations naked)
A series of crashes erupted from the ramen stand as Ōnoki, Rōshi, and almost all of the males from both villages watching received massive nosebleeds and collapsed onto the ground with huge blushes and grins on their faces. Sarutobi, knowing that something of the nature was going to happen, managed to gain enough control over himself to only get a mildly heavy nosebleed and still remain somewhat conscious on his stool. "I should… have known better…" The aged monkey gasped to himself as he tried to stem the flow of blood and push his heart rate down to more tolerable levels.
"… moving… here… when… retiring…" Ōnoki said in a daze as he grinned happily on the floor.
"Give me whatever you put in this booze… it's bloody brilliant…" Rōshi chuckled perversely with spirals in his eyes.
Hanabi gaped as she looked at how many men were affected by the technique. "How… could something so… stupid… work so well?"
Kurotsuchi chuckled hard while grabbing her sides as she leaned back on her stool. "It's because all men are perverts, kid. You'll figure it out when you get older…" She took out a camera and took a picture of her boss and fellow bodyguard. "Oh, the girls back home are going to looove this…"
"All right!" Konohamaru cheered as he and his friends turned back to normal. "Great work, guys! We finally did it!"
"Oh really?" Asked a very irritated and strained voice from behind the children, causing them to freeze as a fairly healthy amount of killing intent was felt. The children sweated and slowly turned around to see Ayame with glowing eyes and resting her ladle on her shoulder. "And what may I ask are you going to do now that you finally did it?"
"W-we're going to h-help you clean up the s-shop in order t-to beg you f-f-for forgiveness, A-Ayame-sama." Udon said while shaking uncontrollably.
"Please don't kill us with your ladle of pain…" Moegi whimpered.
"Hanabi… help us out here!" Konohamaru begged with puppy dog eyes, only to be met by cold Hyūga eyes.
"No way! I warned you guys that this would happen, but you went with it anyways!" Hanabi said defiantly.
"You traitor! You just didn't want to help us out cause you can't get the sexy technique down yet!" Konohamaru yelled, pulling a complete 180.
"Why would I want to learn something as stupid as that?" Hanabi countered, albeit with a small blush of denial on her face. "What possible purpose could turning into a naked bimbo have?"
Konohamaru merely pointed to all the semi-conscious men lying on the floor with blood coming out of their noses… before Ayame hit him hard over the head with her ladle.
"Okay. I'm ending this conversation right now before I get Hiashi storming in here asking why his daughter was seen transforming into an older naked version of herself at my restaurant." The elder teen said sternly before turning to the three children who caused the mess in the first place. "You three are going to be doing the dishes for the rest of the day." Her eyes glowed dangerously, causing the three to huddle together, scared out of their minds. "No excuses. No breaks." She turned to Hanabi. "You on the other hand, will go back to your guard, who I bet is currently scared senseless of what your father would do to him if he returned without you." She tapped her ladle on her shoulder. "Now."
And just like that, Hanabi was nowhere to be seen.
"Not bad, girl." Kurotsuchi mused. "You've done this before."
The younger girl sighed as she dragged the three children to the kitchen. "That blonde kid in the pictures comes here so often he's like family. The reason why I'm so used to this is because he's been pulling pranks on the villagers since he was younger than these brats here…"
"Hah!" Konohamaru laughed. "I bet he never took out gramps when he was this age!"
"You want to me to make you work here for the rest of the week, brat?" Ayame growled.
"I'll be good." The boy wept.
Just then, the folds of the stand gave way to Anko, Hana, and the triplets. "We heard that there's a fair amount of public humiliation and embarrassed souls here… and the air is thick with the scent of blood and shame…" Anko claimed seriously.
"Is Ghost here? We wish to maim him." Hana said in a dead tone as the two women raised all their arms to show them full of kunai and shuriken accompanied with the sound of sharp metal and an evil glint in their eyes.
The triplets nodded. Many people there could have sworn that the dogs were all smiling evilly.
"Oddly enough… he isn't this time…" Grunted Sarutobi as he cleaned his nose with a tissue.
Anko looked around curiously. "Huh… then if the bastard didn't do all this, then who did?"
Kurotsuchi snorted. "It was your leader's grandson and a couple of his friends. The little brat even managed to get my honorable leader as well…" She rolled her eyes as she pointed to Ōnoki, who was coming back to the land of the living.
"Ugh. What the hell happened…?" Ōnoki grumbled as he picked himself up.
"Two traps and a girl who is way too young to start seduction training…" Kurotsuchi sniggered as she finished her meal.
"I'd appreciate it if all the men here didn't start fantasizing about my 7 year old grandson…" Growled the irate Hokage, causing all the men listening to pale then turn green in a record time.
"Damn…" Hana sighed, clearly used to, and ignoring the conversation at hand. "I thought he was here. His scent was pretty fresh…"
"Don't worry, we'll get the bastard soon enough…" Anko sighed as the group exited the stand. "We're getting better at tracking him…"
Just as all the men sat down in their seats again… "Are they gone? Have the pain givers left?" Whimpered a voice from the ceiling of the kitchen, causing everyone to jump as Ghost's upside-down head peaked out from the window of the stall. Moments later, several shuriken embedded themselves near said sweating head.
"Damn it, Ghost…" Sarutobi groaned as he felt another headache coming. "What the hell are you doing… you know what, never mind. I don't want to know…"
"Ghost… how many times have I told you to not hide on the kitchen ceiling when Hana and Anko are after your blood?" Ayame growled as gripped her deadly kitchen appliance.
"47." He replied without hesitation.
"And WHY, may I ask, do you constantly ignore my orders?" Ayame asked irritably.
"Two reasons. 1, this is one of the few hiding spots that Hana and Anko have found, and 2, there's a thick smell of ramen here."
"What does the smell of ramen have to do with hiding from those two?" Ōnoki asked as he managed to get into his seat.
The upside down man grinned. "It covers up my scent… and I found out that ramen fumes are just like weed when it comes to getting stuck in clothes. 20 minutes up here and bam! I smell delicious for the rest of the day…"
"Well, that explains why you've smelled like broth during half of our meetings…" Sarutobi mused to himself as everyone else listening sweatdropped.
"Ghost! Get your ass out of my kitchen right now before I call back Hana and Anko, AFTER I beat you to death!" The ramen stand girl raged as she now had a ladle in each hand while no one was looking.
"… Yes ma'am…" The man wept as his head slowly disappeared behind the ledge before pausing and looked at Ōnoki. "… What the hell is the Travelocity travelling lawn gnome doing here?"
"NOW!" Sarutobi yelled with a tick mark on his forehead, prompting the man to squeal and disappear in front of them only to land in the street behind them.
"I bid you good sir's good day." The man bowed extravagantly with both his arms still in their slings. "And now to continue with my Ero-Ero dance." He then started to bounce down the street. "E-ro e-ro e-ro e-ro e-ro e-ro e-ro e-ro e-ro e-ro e-ro MUSHROOM! MUSHROOM! E-ro e-ro e-ro…" (A/N: If you don't get the reference… he's doing the modified version of the Badger Badger song).
Ōnoki sighed as he finally started to eat his meal. "This is… probably the most interesting meal I've ever had where someone hasn't tried to kill me."
"We've been getting that a lot lately…" Sighed Teuchi and Ayame.
"Heh. I don't know whether to feel sorry for you two or now…" Rōshi chuckled as he started to finish his meal. "So Ōnoki, Saru. What's the deal with that ambassador thing? Is it going to happen or what?"
Sarutobi deadpanned at Rōshi. "I thought we told you, Rōshi. Ōnoki has to fill out the papers on his part of the agreement in his office before any further exchange between our villages can be made. After that, THEN you can serve as Iwa's connection to Konoha and visit us…"
"What?" Kurotsuchi gaped. "Are you saying that our countries are becoming ALLIES of all things?"
Ōnoki snorted. "Feh. Allies? With the way our villages see each other right now? You must be drunker than Rōshi to believe that." He glanced at all the Konoha shinobi looking at him curiously. "Nah. You could say that this is simply a way to say we're a step closer to peace, but really that's just to say we're being slightly more tolerant of each other. Iwa isn't getting an ambassador because most of my shinobi are still a bit sore from the last war. No doubt you Konoha shinobi are, too, but at least you guys can keep your tempers in check…"
"A snaaake, a snaaake! Oooh it's a… OH FUCK IT REALLY IS A SNAKE! ANKO FOUND ME! RUUUUUNNNN!" Ghost's voice was made known as the man shouted frantically while running back the way he came past the stand. Moments later, a large snake summoning charged past the stand along with 4 very feral looking woman on all fours.
Ōnoki deadpanned. "Well… most of you can… and that still says more than the boys back home…"
The rest of the shinobi sweatdropped and nodded silently as they pretended to ignore what had just happened and focused on finishing their meal before it got cold.
o. o. o.
In the hospital:
The girl woke up in a daze, not knowing where she was, what had happened to her, or what day it was. All she could tell was that she was alive and that her body was killing her, as if she had pulled every muscle in her body at once and then had slept in the worst possible position right afterwards. Groaning to herself, she managed to push her body into an upright position and rubbed her eyes. Already she could smell the distinct scent of disinfectant, among others that indicated that she was either in one of Orochimaru's human experiment labs or a hospital.
Considering how clean and bright her room was… she was going to go with hospital.
As her vision cleared, the girl turned and saw that there was a window showing her a wonderful view of a large village with lots of trees… that couldn't be right. She was still in Konoha?
Before she could think of anything else, the door to her room opened, immediately putting the young kunoichi on guard as a nurse walked in looking at a clipboard. The woman glanced up to see the girl conscious and paused. "… how long have you been up?" She asked carefully, keeping an eye on the girl's hands.
Kin frowned as she picked her words carefully. She had no idea what day it was or what was happening. "A few minutes ago… why?"
The nurse nodded as she went back to leave the room. "Please stay there. The doctor in charge of you will arrive shortly."
Kin's internal warning signs were immediately picking up something as the woman left. The civilian was clearly on guard as soon as she realized she was awake. Looking at herself more carefully, she saw that her hands were cuffed to the bedding, albeit they were given plenty of leeway so that she could reach any part of her body. All her equipment was absent from the room, and the hidden senbon she kept in her hair in case of emergencies were gone as well. Sighing to herself, the girl laid back down in her bed and decided to wait for more information before she tried to escape from a hidden village in nothing but a hospital gown while half her body still asleep and numb.
10 minutes later, the door opened again, immediately putting the girl on guard as a massive figure slowly walked in, leaning on a very large walking stick with leaves growing out of it. "Ah…" The old man sighed in a deep and pleasant voice. "You have finally awakened… good. For a while, I was afraid that I didn't manage to heal most of the damage to your brain in time…"
The clearly confused girl rose an eyebrow, clearly confused while also trying to remember where she had seen this giant before. "What are you talking about, you old fart? What's today's date? How much longer till the Chūnin Exams start? Where's the rest of my team? And why the hell am I tied to the bed like this?"
The old man chuckled as he sat in one of the visitor's seats, causing the furniture to groan under his weight. "I believe it would be best if I answered these questions out of order for you to truly grasp what position you are currently in…" He sighed gently. "I believe it would be appropriate to tell you first that the Chūnin Exams, and your invasion, have come and passed."
Kin's face paled as she processed what the old man had just said. "Wh-what? You're joking… right?"
The old man leaned back and looked out the window with glazed eyes. "No… the fact that I am talking about the invasion so calmly pretty much says it all. If you look out the window… you can actually see where some of those summons broke a hole in the village wall…" He nodded in a general direction, showing the girl that there really was a hole in the military village's defenses. "Right now, it's been about half a week since the invasion. Suna betrayed you and gave us information about your fellow Oto shinobi's positions after they found out that Orochimaru killed their leader… however, to be honest we were aware of your plans a long time before then…" Waltz explained, causing the girl to pale even more.
Kin started to sweat heavily. "… and Orochimaru-sama?"
Waltz's mouth momentarily formed a small smile. "Dead. Killed by the man that taught him the way of the shinobi, and the one he wanted to kill most… with a small amount of help from yours truly. Should you ask any of the ANBU that were present for the fight, they will all say the same thing… more or less."
The girl swallowed heavily as she realized that she was talking to a man who could kill her almost as easily as her apparently dead master could. "Wh-what's going to happen to m-me… and Dosu… and Zaku?
The old man frowned momentarily as he looked down. "… I know it is difficult right now, but please tell me, child… what was the last thing you remember before you found yourself here?"
Kin paused and looked at Waltz. She was hugging her knees to her chest at this point and there was no indication she was going to move any time soon. "I…" She mumbled, not really caring at this point, knowing that she was as good as dead. "I remember waking up after facing that lazy pineapple headed kid in the semifinals…" She droned in a monotone voice, prompting Waltz to momentarily chuckle. "I woke up in what I think was the medical bay in the tower…" She frowned. "I think I saw Zaku there… he was in bad shape… and then I saw Ka… one of Orochimaru's more loyal followers… and I think I fell asleep again…"
"We are well aware that Kabuto was a spy for Orochimaru young one." The old man gently said. "We are fairly certain he escaped the village with his life… unlike many of the other forces that invaded."
The girl slowly nodded, knowing that many of the people she knew in Oto had died a few days prior. "After that… I can only remember small things. I remember being naked and having something touching my body… and a lot of darkness… like I was in a box or something…"
"I see…" Waltz sighed as his figure slumped over even more. The room was silent for several more minutes before the old man spoke up again. "First… let me explain what happened while you were unconscious. After your fight, your last teammate, Zaku, fought one of the genin from Ame. During which he sustained heavy lacerations and blood loss and had to be sent immediately sent to the medical bay. I had stabilized his condition, but I expected whoever had him next would finish his healing process…" The man took in a deep breath and continued, taking note of the girl who was listening to him carefully. "Some time after the preliminaries were finished and the order of the fights was decided, your other teammate, Dosu, decided to try and reduce the competition between him and Sasuke or Naruto, who were on the other side of the roster. … He was killed by his opponent, who he realized too late was far more powerful and temperamental than he had assumed."
Kin looked at Waltz expectantly. "Hold on… you stopped talking about Zaku and skipped to Dosu… what happened to Zaku?"
The man tiredly looked at Kin. "What happened to Zaku happened to you too, child…"
The girl froze. "Wh-what?"
"Allow me to explain…" Waltz grumbled as he reluctantly leaned back in his chair. "Orochimaru, in his fight against the Third Hokage… his mentor, used a forbidden technique that was created by the Second Hokage called Edo Tensei. This technique allowed him to resurrect anyone who has, for lack of a better term, died. That being the case, he thought it was only fitting to summon the departed First and Second Hokage to fight the Third, being that they were his mentors as he was Orochimaru's…"
"Get to the point…" Grumbled the girl. "What does this have to do with me and Zaku?"
Waltz shook his head. "Child, when one normally summons an animal, a sacrifice of blood is mandatory in order to complete the technique. What do you think one needs to bring back the spirits and bodies of those who have died and crossed over, even if only for a small period of time?"
It only took about 10 seconds for the girl to realize what the old man was saying before she paled considerably. "N-no… he wouldn't have…" She whispered to herself in denial. "He… he said he valued us… that we were among his most promising shinobi…"
"I'm afraid it is exactly what you assume, child…" The old man reluctantly confirmed. "Edo Tensei requires a human sacrifice in order to work, and I rescued you and… what was left of your teammate Zaku from the bodies of the resurrected First and Second Hokage… had it been anyone else that attempted to do so, odds are both you and the one trying to do the rescuing would have perished."
The girl was now breathing and sweating heavily now. "Th-this isn't true. This h-has to be some sort of t-trick to get m-me to talk…"
Waltz sighed as he got back up and reached into his coat, instantly causing the girl to almost freak out before he took out some scrolls and walked to the stand next to her. "… I got these scrolls to show you that I am not trying to take advantage of you. One of these has a very thorough description of the mechanics of Edo Tensei… minus some of the more confidential information, of course. The other two contain copies of the medical reports on you and your teammate Zaku after we managed to get you two to the hospital…" He paused. "… As I mentioned before, he lost plenty of blood during the preliminaries. Judging from his body's condition, he was never properly taken care of when he was taken from the Forest of Death… he was brain dead before he was even used as a sacrifice…" Silence claimed the room as the man walked away back out of the room. "I will be back tomorrow in order to check up on your condition… I hope you manage to calm yourself down by then, so that we can discuss what you will do with your future. As you can guess, your windows are kept shut with seals and there are shinobi guarding your door to prevent anyone unauthorized from coming in or, of course, you from leaving. I apologize for this, but you still technically are an enemy shinobi, even if you were taken advantage of without your knowledge. It is also to prevent you from hurting yourself…" The man chuckled lightly. "You should feel some pride, young one. To this date, you are the only person in the shinobi world recorded to have all of your Inner Gates opened at once and still be alive afterwards… though I have little doubt that your body is feeling the repercussions of it as we speak…"
"Ōgakari-sama!" Shouted a nurse from the other side of the door. "We have an emergency! One of the patients in the emergency ward is suddenly developing internal lacerations, and we can't stop the bleeding!"
Waltz frowned as he rushed out the door. "… and just when I thought I could spend 5 minutes without being elbow deep in another person's chest…"
Kin remained quiet as she watched the old man walk briskly out the door with her knees to her chest. "…Ōgakari…" She mused to herself quietly as she finally remembered where she had seen the old man before. He was part of that weird clan that was watching the preliminaries… the one that Orochimaru-sama seemed curious about. Was he telling the truth about Orochimaru-sama? Was he really dead? Was she really used just as a sacrifice?
The girl winced as her body acted up again. She could tell that whatever happened to her was not simply a case of exhaustion, poisoning, or cramping. She felt tired and sore in every part in her body. To be honest, she was somewhat surprised she managed to pull her knees to her chest in the condition she was in. Looking to her side dully, she saw the scrolls the old man had left her. He had mentioned something about having all 8 of her Inner Gates opened… but that was impossible. Even though she wasn't as experienced as most shinobi, knowledge about the 8 Inner Gates was pretty much universal to any ninja who was training to fight other ninja. You open the Gates, you get stronger, but you also have your body shut down on itself. You open all 8, you're pretty much the Fourth Hokage until you get that annoying fatal heart attack that comes up shortly afterwards. The girl stared at the scrolls, wondering whether it would be a smart idea to read them or not…
It was another hour until one of her arms shakily reached out to pick up the first scroll.
o. o. o.
Outside the Hokage's tower:
Team Gai waited patiently with their fully packed bags on the ground next to them as they waited for their teacher's stand-in and their client to appear for their apparent A-rank escort mission. Though it was normally frowned upon to give genin teams such high ranking tasks, the team, along with all the Konoha genin that fought in the Chūnin Exam finals, had proven themselves to be more than capable of handling such a mission… given that they were aided by a jōnin or two, if possible.
"Ugh… where are they?" Tenten groaned as she leaned against the wall of the building. "They were supposed to be here 20 minutes ago! Do you think they stuck us with Kakashi?"
"No." Neji shook his head. "I have heard that even Kakashi-sensei arrives on time when it comes to high ranking missions…"
Lee shook his head furiously. "Neji, Tenten, I have to express my doubts about Kakashi being the jōnin for our mission. Gai-sensei told me that Kakashi is recovering from being attacked by a powerful genjutsu when I saw him this morning with Sasuke as they entered the village…"
Tenten raised an eyebrow. "Hold on, as they entered the village? What, did Sasuke suddenly decide to join Gai-sensei for his morning hundred laps around the village or something?" Neji let out a small snort at the idea of that ever happening.
Lee, however, again shook his head vigorously. "No. In fact, one of Sasuke's arms was heavily injured, and to my knowledge, his injuries from the invasion were already healed…"
"From what I heard, the brat got the shit beaten out of him by his rogue brother…" Grumbled a new voice from the side. The team turned to see Zabuza and Scabbard walking towards them. "… though I'm personally surprised the kid didn't come back half dead from what I saw that brat Itachi do…"
"Coming from the hot headed fool that tried to fight Kisame by himself." Scabbard said with his usual bored expression on without looking at his companion. "I assume that you three have your things all packed?"
The three looked at the grown men confused before slowly nodding. "Scabbard-sensei! I thought we were only having one jōnin accompany us for this mission along with the one we are escorting!" Lee asked in a confused tone.
"He is the one we're escorting…" Zabuza growled, clearly not liking the idea of spending more time with the man that has him by the balls financially. "Seriously, why did you ask for us to help you out when we all know that you could probably do all of this faster by yourself?"
"Simple…" Scabbard replied as he started to walk towards the village exit. "I am a horrible person and enjoy watching you squirm. Just be grateful that you are being paid for an A-rank mission. I could have easily made this a B-rank… now hurry up. The faster we accomplish the first part of the mission, the less trouble we will have with the rest of it…"
The genin looked at each other curiously before nodding and picking up their bags. "Scabbard-sensei, we were given the basic description of what we would need for the mission, but we don't know what exactly it is about…" Tenten said in a relaxed tone. Out of all the genin that knew Scabbard, Tenten was the only one that truly seemed comfortable near the man.
Scabbard nodded. "It is understandable. Many A- and S-ranked missions are rather vague when assigned. It is only when you get to the client that you are given the full scope and details of the mission in order to make sure that unwanted information isn't leaked. The only ones who know the full scope of the mission parameters are those who manage and assign the high ranked missions in the first place, the Hokage, and the one who asked for the task to begin with."
"And the mission we are currently doing right now?" Neji asked curiously.
Zabuza answered for Scabbard. "The thing is, brat, Oto, even though it was run by Orochimaru, was still technically registered as a hidden village. Now that we wasted the living shit out of their forces, the Land of Rice Paddies, and odds are several of the smaller countries next to it, are going to start imploding on themselves since the shinobi there are either dead or going around killing everyone in sight without their ringleader to keep them down. You see this kind of thing happen a lot with large raider gangs when their main leader dies. The gang splits apart into factions and start gunning for everything that moves. It's part of the reason why many shinobi villages don't try to aim for the head of large crime organizations right off the bat. It normally leaves you with a mess that's even bigger than the one you tried to clean up in the first place. What sir Zap-a-lot is going to do is quickly go to the Daimyō of each and every one of these smaller nations and offer them our… and in some cases Taki's, Suna's or Kusa's aid to manage these problems before they get out of hand…"
Lee raised his hand. "Scabbard-sensei, why are you offering some of these potential missions to other villages?"
"It is because, in reality, our village is not able to handle all those new missions at the moment, Lee." Scabbard replied. "Even though our village has suffered minor casualties, we still need time to get back on our feet. Many of our shinobi are working to fix the damage from the war or recover, reducing how many of us are able to go on missions at the moment. This is why it was rather easy for me to get you as bodyguards for this mission. In addition to that, the villages that Zabuza mentioned aided us in the invasion. By giving them the missions we would not be able to accomplish, we are strengthening the alliance between our nations. Suna in particular is undergoing difficult economic times thanks to its departed Kazekage. This influx of fresh missions will another way to help them as well as saying our thanks for the support and information during the war…"
During the entire explanation, the group had been quickly making their way to the exit of the village, and at this point they were in sight of the giant gate when they heard a loud argument that caught their attention.
"I told you this is mine, damn it! The bastard who made this thing really did just give it to me for no reason!" Shouted a young female voice.
"Karui, just give them the sword…" Omoi whispered nervously. "What if we stay here too long, then Raikage-sama will get mad, and then…" Karui shut up her teammate with a punch to the face before turning back to the chūnin guards.
"I knew we should have sold that thing when we had the chance…" Samui grumbled to herself.
"Huh. Yeah, right!" Countered an older male voice. "There is no way the guy who made this would just hand it out for free. The guy is famous for being stingy with money. Just tell me who this really belongs to and I'll let you go on your way. If you had a receipt for this thing, I would have let you go, but as it stands I can't."
"She's telling the truth. The sword is hers." Spoke up a more mature female voice with an authoritative tone. "I was there when it happened. You can ask the owner of that Higurashi store if you would like. I am sure he remembers it as well…"
The leaving group saw that a small squad of Kumo shinobi arguing with a couple of guards with a wide katana being the topic of conversation. Scabbard wasted no time walking towards the group, ignoring their reactions and the clearly agitated look on Neji's face. "Is there a problem?" The monotone man asked curiously as he approached the arguing sides.
Both turned to see Scabbard walking towards them. Karui, who was too angry to look relieved, pointed rudely to the guards. "Yeah! These idiots think I stole the sword you gave me!"
Another guard who was leaning on the side of the gate snorted with his eyes closed. "Yeah, right. Why would the miser of the Ōgakari give out a free sword, especially to a foreign shino-" With a startling crack, a dark green bolt of lightning struck the ground near the man's feet, prompting him to shut the hell up.
"While I do not mind people talking about me behind my back, I find it rather insulting that you would speak of me as such when I am right here." The man said dully as he put his hand down. "For your information, I did in fact give this young girl here that sword for free, as I hoped she would promote my wares in Kumo so that I could expand the range of my market. It is actually a rather common business tactic, and seeing as this girl is a student of the current Raikage's brother, I believe I have chosen the person who will display my tools well, don't you think?"
The two men paled dramatically before they bowed to both Scabbard and the Kumo shinobi. "We beg for your forgiveness!" They said.
"Sensei, why were the guards going through their stuff in the first place?" Tenten asked curiously.
"Think about it, Tenten…" Neji said through gritted teeth. "We just had an invasion. Even if we are on… decent terms now, this still would have proven to be a monumental chance to obtain information from our village during the chaos. Today was the first day that martial law is being let up, but foreign shinobi that are leaving have to undergo a total screening in order to make sure they didn't steal any of our secrets…"
Yugito sighed as she rubbed her forehead and cast an accusing glance at her rescuer. "While I would have preferred a less noisy exit from this village, there seems to be no damage done. I assume that you two didn't find anything else suspicious among our gear?" 'Please say no. I just want to get back home already…'
"N-no…" Said the other guard. "The sword this one was carrying was the only thing we found suspicious. Now that we have cleared this up, you are free to leave the village…"
"Congratulations, morons. You two nearly started the 4th Shinobi War." Zabuza sighed as he gave them the papers needed to allow his group to exit the village while trying to ignore the fact that the Kumo shinobi were slowly recognizing who he was.
"Holy crap, you weren't kidding Karui. That really is Zabuza Momochi…" Omoi said in awe as he looked at the tall man.
"His sword is different from what was shown in the Bingo Books…" Samui mused. "Do you think it has some new powers now?"
Yugito sighed as she turned to Scabbard. "Thank you for helping us out of that situation. Raikage-sama will already be most frustrated that we were held up in Konoha during these recent events. I shudder to think what would happen if he heard that we were being kept here against our will."
"No, the fault is mine." Scabbard bowed apologetically. "I should have foreseen something like this happening considering the high demand for my products and given you a receipt or something of the like as proof that the sword was hers. I assume that you are traveling straight to Kumo from here now?"
Yugito nodded tiredly. "Yes, unfortunately our leader will want a very… detailed report of our time here, no doubt. It's a fine way to end one's vacation, don't you think?"
"You think that's bad?" Zabuza grumbled. "I've been working for this psycho for the past month now since I was still on my probation, and the first real mission I get lands me back with this sadistic bastard."
"You do realize I'm the one who decides how the money is going to be split for this mission, right?" Scabbard asked in an almost amused tone.
"God, I want to kill you…" The man growled as his hands twitched toward his sword.
"Since we are going in the same general direction for a while, may I suggest that we travel together until then?" Scabbard asked curiously.
Tenten moved to her teacher nervously. "Um… Scabbard-sensei, I don't think that's a good idea… with Neji being with us and everything…" Everyone listening turned to see Neji glaring daggers at the other shinobi there.
"Oh, fuck… it's a Hyūga!" Omoi said nervously.
"It would be best if you stopped looking at us like that, kid." Karui growled as she put her hand on her sword.
"Neji, I believe it would be best for everyone if you took some youthful deep breaths…" Lee said in an attempt to calm down his friend.
"… I'm willing to bet that that look he's giving me has more behind it than clan pride…" Yugito whispered to Scabbard while not taking her eyes off the boy.
"His father was… an unfortunate casualty of that incident 10 years ago…" Scabbard responded without moving his lips, a trick he picked up from Ghost. "He has some… issues with letting go of the past…" He said before stepping forward. "Neji, I had thought that Hinata had beaten some sense into you when it came to personal grudges." The boy flinched. "These three here were barely of age to attend the academy when the attempted kidnapping happened. Are you insinuating that a bunch of 6 year olds were part of that incident?" The man's voice was hard and cold as opposed to his casual devil may care tone.
Neji gritted his teeth and looked down. "N-No, Sensei…"
Scabbard turned to Yugito. "Ms. Nii, were you aware of the attempted kidnapping of the Hyūga heiress, and did you take part in it?"
The Kumo jōnin sighed as she realized what Scabbard was trying to do. "No, I wasn't. And I wouldn't have done that mission even if I was given it. Those kidnapping missions were the most despicable tasks that one could take in Kumo, and only the most morally absent shinobi in the village took them. Luckily, the Hyūga mission was the last straw for many on the council, and after the hell it put everyone through, the council members who were originally responsible for that program were… dispatched. If it makes you feel any better, boy, I can assure you that many of those cowards soiled themselves before we even took any of our weapons out…"
"Looks like we shouldn't have any problems, then." Zabuza said offhandedly.
Neji looked up and saw a very content grin on the woman's face. Even without his Byakugan active, he could tell that the woman was telling the truth and enjoyed killing those mentioned. "… It seems as if we were not the only ones that were wronged by these council members of yours…" Neji grumbled so that the people around him barely heard him. "I will tolerate being around you for this mission… but do not think anything more of it…"
No one missed the worried and skeptical looks that Tenten and Lee were giving their teammate.
"Well, then. Since Neji has been so kind as to give us his blessing, I believe it would be best if we left now." Scabbard said calmly as he took the lead.
Karui sweatdropped. "Is he always like that?"
Zabuza snorted as he started to follow the man. "Are you kidding? His entire family is like that."
Samui sighed to herself as she jumped after the men. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Oi Samui! Wait up!" Omoi said hastily as he and Karui chased after her.
"Come my friends! We must not get left behind or else our youthfulness will dwindle!" Lee shouted as he raced after the main group with Tenten hot on his trail, leaving Neji and Yugito still at the gate.
"For what it's worth kid, I'm sorry about what my village put you through…" Yugito sighed apologetically, hoping to at least score some points with the boy.
Neji frowned. "For what it's worth ma'am, sorry can't bring the dead back." And with that, the boy disappeared after the rest of the group.
o. o. o.
In Konoha's T and I department:
Ibiki groaned as he looked at the three teens that helped in Orochimaru's fight against the Third. The man was known to be a sadist and did truly enjoy his work, but to his dismay, none of his tactics were working on these brats. The largest reaction he got out of any of them was the girl's constant swearing, and he could already tell that was how the girl normally reacted to any question rather than a response to the pain he was giving her.
Needles, sensory deprivation, burns, mind games, starvation… nothing worked. Twice he had some of his followers rushed to the hospital when one of those body sharing twins, who were currently in separate rooms, attempted to possess them. At this rate he actually would have to use some of his more… radical methods in order to find out anything…
"Having trouble with your new toys, scar face?" Mused a cheerful female voice from behind him, prompting the man to jump and turn around… to see Shadow Ōgakari chuckling while leaning against a wall with Zuzushi on her shoulder. "You know, you shouldn't frown so much. Lord knows what wrinkles would do to that head of yours…"
"This is a private area, Ōgakari…" Ibiki growled. "How did you get here? How did you even know where this place was?"
Shadow yawned. "Aw, calm down, Ibiki. Ghost told me about this place a couple of times. He often quietly followed Anko occasionally to make sure she wasn't coming up with excessively painful new things to try on him during their next 'kinky sex time'." She used finger quotes for the name while rolling her eyes. "He said that he occasionally watched you and Anko work on people and that it was fairly interesting to watch every once in a while. He didn't really give a damn about the information really. It was more like he was studying Anko's body movements so he could tell when he was in danger of getting stabbed again." Ibiki sweatdropped as the woman shrugged. "As for how I got here… well, let's just say that the Nara could learn a thing or two… or a few hundred from me. How else do you think Shikamaru got so good so quickly?"
"I'll keep that in mind…" Grunted the man as he let his guard down. "Still, this is a private area and you don't have the authorization to be here. Unless you have something to contribute to the situation, I will have to ask you to leave and not come back unless otherwise asked… and to tell your brother that I will be informing Anko about him following her in here…"
"Hmm…" Shadow mused with a thoughtful pose as Zuzushi looked around with a bored look in her eyes. "I don't mind telling Ghost about the second part. Hell, I'd even tie him down for Anko for kicks… but as for helping you out… with these brats, right?" She pointed to the owners of the unmodified Curse Marks.
Ibiki nodded. "Yes. So far we can't get any information out of them despite what we've put them through. Mind games, torture, deprivation, isolation. Nothing. They don't even believe that Orochimaru is dead since we took them away before the fight ended…"
"And their Curse Seals?" The woman asked curiously.
"All of their chakra is sealed with the tags we normally use for higher ranking shinobi. Even then, we have another set of seals on them that cuts off the seal from the rest of their bodies completely. This wasn't used for the Uchiha because unlike his, this seal disrupts the owner's chakra control as well."
"How about their personalities?" Shadow asked. "From the looks of them, they're still kids. Do they still have some those annoying habits and traits that most brats have?"
Ibiki sighed. "Yes, they still occasionally show those insecurities, but their loyalty to Orochimaru overrides them by far. I have tried to exploit that angle, but it's been a dead end…"
Shadow grinned darkly, giving her a demonic appearance since there was little lighting in the room. "Oh… I'm sure there are one or two different potential routes you might have missed." She turned to the man. "Is there a torture room here that has a lot of room and can take a bit of damage?"
Ibiki frowned. "I'd prefer if you kept them in a good enough condition to give me information, Shadow… but yes, there is a room like that here for high danger level shinobi. I assume that you would like me to take one of them there?"
The childish woman giggled to herself while the dragon on her shoulder snorted. "Oh goodness no, I want you to take all of them there at once silly!" The man gaped at her. "These brats won't bow down to anyone that they think is underneath them and their standards. With Orochimaru being the sick bastard that he is, I have reason to believe that you simply don't reach them. Even you can tell that much from that fire in their eyes. The only way to make them sing is to give them all a major ass whipping at once to show them who's boss. The bigger the beating, the more they'll cooperate with you. Of course, I doubt that they'll do something drastic like ally themselves with us, but then again, I can be very persuasive when I need to be…" The woman reached into her coat and took out a lollypop which she stuck in her mouth. "And if that doesn't work… well, they won't be able to move much to resist all the other things I could do to them afterwards…"
The man stared at the woman darkly. "Why are you so casual about this? You have no idea what these shinobi can do!"
Shadow raised a hand. "Actually, I do thanks to Scab's spy network, and through that, I know of one or two events that can let me screw with their heads a bit. As for why I'm doing this?" She sighed. "Well… let's just say that I didn't get all of that extra pent up energy from the war out of my system out… and everyone knows that a girl's figure is everything to her…"
Ibiki looked at the woman blankly before sighing and walking to get everything prepared. "I swear, it's like I'm talking to Anko before she learned that there were restrictions in torturing someone for a reason all over again…"
20 minutes later:
"The fuck did they bring us here for?" Tayuya growled to her 'teammates' as they were left alone in a large room that undoubtedly looked like could take a heavy beating.
"Hell should we know?" Sakon replied tiredly. "Maybe they're sick of us and decided to finish us off and be done with it. I know I can't stand being around Tayuya for more than a couple of weeks, and that's after all these years knowing her…"
"Yeah…" Chuckled Ukon. "I'd probably kill myself if I was conscious the entire time she was near us…"
"Lucky bastard…" Sakon grumbled.
"I swear, if I find a way out of this place, I will fucking murder all of you!" The red head growled with as much intensity as her tired body would allow.
"Guys… stop fighting. No one else is in the room right now but us. Let's figure out a way out of here before they someone comes back…" Jirōbō whispered quickly.
"We're trying, idiot…" Hissed Sakon. "But it's kind of hard when our chakra is sealed off and our arms are tied like this!"
"Kidōmaru was always the best at things like this…" Ukon grumbled as he tried to shift his arms around. "Too bad he got wasted by that freakish jutsu. … ah well, better him than me."
"Ah… you might not be saying that by the end of the day… just to give you fair warning…" Said a new voice from one of the shadowed corners of the room, causing all four of them to jump in response and turn. Out from the darkness casually walked Shadow Ōgakari, with a piece of candy in her mouth. "I have a habit of overdoing things occasionally…"
"Oh great, another dumbass who thinks they can make us crack." Tayuya groaned. "What do you think this old hag is going to do to us?"
The boy's didn't have a chance to respond, as moments later Tayuya was being held in an obscure and apparently painful wrestling position by a very irate Shadow. "The fuck did you call me, you little tramp? Think carefully about your next words, 'cause I have three more toys to play with here, and I assure you that you would not be the first person I 'accidentally' break… and by break, I mean rip out your fucking arms before using them to dig out your cunt so I can hand feed you your ovaries via your own bloody hands."
Even the three boys there paled at the thought of what the woman had just said. Tayuya did have a very bad mouth, and the group had been around for some of Orochimaru's more disturbing experiments, but this woman had in an instant set the bar on a whole new level.
That, and the demonic voice that the woman was using was scary as all hell.
"F-fuck you, lady…" Tayuya growled as she attempted to wriggle out of her painful position. "You're just lucky that we're tied up like this and have our chakra sealed… otherwise you'd be the dead one…"
The woman smirked as she flipped the girl around expertly and pulled down the collar of her shirt to see the Curse Mark on her shoulder. "Hmm… you really do think that, don't you? With that pretty little stain on your skin, you think all of you are invincible… I wonder if you thought the same way before Kimimaro maimed all of you in front of your boss?" All four of them froze and stared at the woman in shock. No one other than Orochimaru, Kabuto, them, and Kimimaro knew of that incident. "Oh?" Shadow taunted lightly. "Did I strike a nerve there? How about another?" She raised her hand and a dark aura enveloped it so all the people there could see. "My clan has easily cracked the secrets of that so-called seal of yours. Orochimaru really did a shoddy job on it, too. It really is no wonder the odds of living after getting it are so low. IF you want, I can easily remove it for you guys if you ask nicely…" Her hand hovered over the now scared Tayuya's seal. "But where would the fun in that be?" The woman chuckled as she traced the counterseal around the Cursed Seal, making it disappear before spinning off and destroying her restraints. Moments later the other boys had their restraints taken off and Shadow was standing in front of them with a mischievous smile on her face. On the other side of the door she entered, she could tell that Ibiki was trying very, VERY hard to get in.
"What are you playing at?" Sakon asked skeptically as Ukon got back into his body. "Why are you helping us?"
"Who said I'm helping you?" The woman laughed as she took out a metal flute from her coat. "I'm doing this to show you brats who's on top of the food chain here. If you haven't guessed yet, it's me…" She tossed Tayuya her flute, who caught it with one hand.
"What's the catch?" Jirōbō asked skeptically.
Shadow shrugged. "It doesn't take much imagination to figure that out. You win, you go free, not that it will help you much. Orochimaru really is dead and Oto's forces got fucked ten ways to Sunday in the invasion. If I win, however, you have to give Ibiki all the info you want… and I'll be taking off those annoying tattoos of yours…"
"Heh…" Tayuya smirked as she already activated the first stage of her seal. "You should have gotten rid of them when you had the chance, lady. We aren't easy to beat…"
Shadow waved her hand lazily. "Yeah, yeah. I learned that much from fighting those 20 guys with seals like yours that Orochimaru sent after my family. To be perfectly honest, they weren't much of a fight until they went up to their second stage. It was kind of pathetic, really…"
Sakon frowned, also with his seal already in motion. "Those other guys with seals? Then you are from that clan…"
The woman bowed. "Yep! Shadow Ōgakari, at your service…"
Crash!
Jirōbō, already in his first stage of his seal, had jumped the woman while she was bowing and delivered a powerful punch… only for it to be caught in the palm of one of Shadow's now scaled dragon arms with no problems whatsoever. "What?" The teen growled, not expecting for the woman to be clearly stronger than he was in this stage.
"Please be gentle…" Shadow whispered before punching him with her other fist and launching him into the wall across from her. "You know, my family and I took on 20 of you guys in this stage pretty easily. Unless you go to your second stage, this really won't be much fun for me…"
"Shut up already, lady, and die!" Shouted Sakon as he dove after the woman from behind with an arm cocked back. Shadow spun quickly and caught the fist easily, only to find that there were two more fast fists coming from the boy's chest straight at her. "Got you! Machine gun punch!" Sakon yelled before his brother's fists were caught by something, shocking both of them. Looking down, the boy saw that the extra arms were blocked by black claws that were coming from the woman's coat and weren't letting go. "What?"
"That's an interesting ability you two have there…" The woman grinned. "My brother can do something that has similar results. Tell me, how many more can you make?" Sakon paled as at least a dozen more claws materialized themselves from his captor's coat. Cocking back her free clawed hand, Shadow chuckled. "Only those two? Such a shame…" Then she embedded the twins in a crater that was at least two feet deep in the hard floor. Sighing to herself, Shadow stood back up and made her shadows disappear before noticing a flute playing. "Not bad…" She mused. "Your tempo and pitches are pretty good… though to be honest, I was never much of a classical artist…" The woman jumped as three large hulking figures nearly landed on her.
"Fatass! Drag Queen! I'll hold her off!" Tayuya growled while her seal transformed to Level 2. "You guys heal or wake up or whatever! This bitch is the real deal! We need to go all out to kill her!"
"R-right…" Jirōbō gasped as he dislodged himself from the wall he crashed into.
"That crazy woman has a mean left…" Coughed Sakon as he and his brother started to engage the healing factor that they shared.
'Hmmm… should I keep on using my taijutsu, or should I mix it up with my powers now…' Shadow mused as she watched the summons open their mouths and giant white ghost worm things come from out of their mouths. 'Eh, I'll stick to what I'm doing now and see how things turn out, make them sweat a little and give them false hope.' "Hey flat chest! What are you doing with these weird ass summons? Do you get off on this kind of stuff? I didn't know Orochimaru promoted necrophilia! Only pedophilia!"
The flutist frowned as she continued to play her melody and make her tools move. The woman didn't seem to notice… or care… about the situation she was in…
However in the few minutes that had passed, the girl was starting to think that she was the one that was underestimating her opponent. The woman made no notion to escape from the monsters as she weaved her way between all three of them with an amused expression on her face. The girl almost swore as she saw the woman playing with one of her strongest techniques, one that even Kimimaro decided to avoid being stuck in and chose to outrun in order to get to her.
"Not bad…" Shadow mused as she jumped away from the monsters. "These things can do both physical and spiritual damage. They apparently can't be confused because you are the one directing them with your flute…" She saw Tayuya smirk. "I said they apparently can't be confused dumbass…" The woman deadpanned as she reached into her coat and took out… an extra large air horn. The girl's face paled as she realized what the woman's strategy was. "Oh, yes…" Shadow replied with an evil grin as she dashed forward and held the horn in front of her. Before Tayuya could play the countermelody, a large blasting sound that only air horns can make deafened all in the room… including the summons, who did nothing as the woman ran past them without interruption. Tayuya tried to get away, but in an open room there was nothing to hide behind, and running was rather difficult when playing a flute. Shadow was just about to give the girl a messy lobotomy when she was tackled away by Jirōbō while Sakon threw a smoke bomb in front of Shadow in order to help give them time to increase the distance.
"What the hell happened to you buying us time?" Sakon hissed, still in his 1st level of the seal.
"It wasn't my fault…" Panted Tayuya. "The bitch used that fucking air horn to prevent my summons from hearing my melody! Why the hell was she even carrying that thing on her in the first place?"
"Well, she stopped using it now…" Jirōbō commented as he looked where the woman was still standing, almost as if she was waiting for them to do something… wait, she just crossed her arms and is now tapping her… foot. "She's very confident she will win this… isn't she?"
"That confidence will be the end of her…" Sakon growled. "Devil's Room."
"Right." The other two teammates nodded as all three of them went into their Level 2 Curse Seals. Immediately afterwards, Sakon charged forward and Tayuya played her flute again, prompting her summons to move.
'Looks like they're actually fighting according to some strategy now… let's see what they've got…' Shadow mentally chuckled as she looked at Sakon's transformed state. "Geez, kid. I don't know what's more disturbing, what you looked like without the seal or what you look like now."
"Why don't you shut up already?" The boy yelled as he attacked the woman, who easily danced around his, and soon enough the summon's attacks with ease despite the increased number of opponents and power. Just as she was evading around another summon though, Ukon, who had been semi-possessing said summon, jumped out from its back and tackled the woman and instantly tried to assimilate with her. "Jirōbō! Now!" Sakon yelled as he and the summons jumped back.
The largest of the group slammed his hands on the ground. "Earth Style! Earth Dome Prison!" Instantly, the ground around Shadow morphed and a large dome encompassed her. "Got her…" The teen said confidently as he began to suck out the chakra inside.
"Nice work, fat ass." Tayuya smirked as she let up on her seal.
"For the last time, stop calling me that, Tayuya, or else you'll be the next one in there…" The big one growled.
"Shut it, you two…" Sakon ordered. "As soon as Ukon kills the bitch, let him out and start digging our way out of here before…" Thump! The area around the group shuddered for a moment, forcing all of them to lose their balance. "The hell?"
Jirōbō frowned and his muscles flexed. "The bitch is doing something on the inside! I can barely hold her…"
Boom! The Dome exploded with incredible force, throwing all three of them back several dozen meters before they managed to land on their feet. "The fuck…" Sakon growled before something a few feet in front of him made him pale. "Ukon!"
The twin was burnt heavily and writhing on the ground in pain. "She… she's not normal, brother!" He hissed. "There's something… inside of her!"
"Yeah… I probably should have mentioned that I have a demon dragon goddess… thing, sealed inside of me…" Shadow sighed as she walked casually to the shocked group while picking her nose with her pinkie. In a blob of darkness that grew out of her shoulder, Zuzushi slowly came into existence with a yawn. "Zuzushi doesn't really like anyone else trying to take over any part of my body. It's a pride thing." The woman let the sleeves of her coat drop past her hands before raising them at her opponents. "If you don't mind now, I'm going to finish this fight."
"Damn it!" Sakon swore as he and the other three turned on their seals again before he re-absorbed his brother. "How the hell did she counter one of our best combinations like it was nothing? This woman is a monster!"
"Think about it later!" Jirōbō yelled as he made a snake seal before grabbing the ground and lifting up a massive boulder. "We have to take down this bitch NOW!"
"Right!" The two yelled as Tayuya put her flute to her lips again and Sakon got ready to run…
Bam! A massive bolt of lightning shot out from one of Shadow's sleeves and blasted apart the boulder in the largest boy's hands. Sakon took that as a signal to run forward… only to find that the woman was already in front of him with her arm cocked back. The boy saw nothing but stars as the woman punched him while charging forward, causing him to flip backward several times where he stood like a pinwheel before landing on his head.
"Damn you!" Jirōbō roared as he charged the woman with his arms cocked back before he punched to try and take off her head. Said woman smirked as she caught the fist. The boy growled as he tried to punch with the other only for that one to be caught too.
"Not bad…" Shadow grunted. "You have some power behind those punches, kid…"
Said boy smirked as the two's hands clasped on to each other's. "Heh. Too bad for you this leaves you open for the others to attack you…"
Shadow smirked as well as her eyes turned from her normal forest green to a slit ice blue and her mouth began to glow. "Too bad for you that you forgot I have a dragon sealed in me, dumbass."
"Oh Fu-!" The large teen managed to get out before he was blasted by a massive stream of fire that nailed him into the wall on the other side of the room with loud explosion.
Shadow coughed as smoke came out of her mouth. "Damn… I forgot how much that dries up my mouth… I hope I didn't overdo it with that one…" The woman turned to Tayuya, who was furiously playing her flute with no effect. "You might as well stop playing now, girl. I plugged up those monster's ears with shadows. They can't hear jack, and by the time you play any genjutsu melody, I would have been able to kill you 10 times over." The girl apparently paid the woman no mind as she continued to play her flute, however there was a distinct change in melody and tune. Shadow sighed as she raised her hand to the girl. "Suit yourself…" A massive silver white dragon claw rapidly emerged from the woman's sleeve and pinned the girl to the wall near where Jirōbō was. Extending her other arm, Shadow picked up Sakon, who was on all fours on the ground and threw him with the others. "Now then, I believe I have proven that you three are officially my bitches." The woman said confidently as her arms and the teens turned back to normal. "Now about our little deal about talking to Ibiki…"
'This woman's power is unreal!' Sakon panicked to himself. 'Even if Kidōmaru was helping us, we still would have been pummeled into the ground! Even when we fought Kimimaro, he had to use his Curse Seal in order to beat us, and even then he had at least SOME trouble during the fight. She countered all our best tactics as if they were nothing!' "What…" He coughed. "What do we get out of this?"
"Sakon, you traitor! Don't you dare fucking sell us out!" Tayuya yelled.
"You know I have no trouble killing one or two of you since there are so many of you here…" Shadow mused off handedly. "If that's the case, I could always randomly pick who the lucky numbnut will be… or I could always do something horribly morally absent to all of you…"
Tayuya snorted. "Yeah? Like what? I doubt anything you could do to us Orochimaru hasn't prepared us for at some point…"
"Hmmm…" Shadow mused as she looked at all three of them. "Well, let me just say these two things. 1. My powers enable me to create anything I wish from the darkness of shadows." She paused as the three looked around to see that the dim lights allowed the woman to create pretty much anything anywhere in the room. Sure enough they soon saw black tendrils rising from the ground around them and the now demonically grinning woman.
"And number 2: Through my travels, I have learned that tentacle monsters aren't picky about their… victims…"
Sakon and Jirōbō paled dramatically as the black tendrils started to gently brush up against their faces and limbs…
o. o. o.
A/N:
… God, I am evil.
Yes. Yes I did just pull another massive chapter in a week.
Not much to say about things. I finally started to watch Red vs. Blue in its entirety. Great stuff. I found out recently that Monty Oum (Aka Dead Fantasy guy, AKA Fighting Movie Animation Jesus) is now working with Rooster Teeth, the guys who make Red vs. Blue. Their latest episode has his name written ALL over it, and the gods were pleased. Don't be surprised if I add one or two of their jokes in the story for laughs.
Still not many quality stories updating lately, which I admit is part of the reason why I worked so fast on this one.
I'm gonna start working on Shadow's bio soon. No doubt this chapter is really going to prompt people to start asking me what the hell she can do now.
I WAS going to add a few more scenes to this chapter, but it was so long that I decided to cut it a bit short. Originally I was going to have Naruto give Tayuya a massage in order to get her to talk since Ghost's hands were 'NC 17 only', but I thought that Shadow beating the living shit out of all three of the Sound-nin there was more appealing since it had more characters involved… especially with the air horn part. I literally pulled that one out of my ass when writing this.
Anyways. Worship the log. Review. Worship Monty Oum. Worship the thought of Monty Oum making an animation that involves the log. Review again, and put some time to the side to slap Griff around… heheh (Red vs. Blue thing). Later.
