Well, this took a while! Sorry about the wait, but here is the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy and leave a review if you would like!
Crystal City, Christophsis
The battle for Christophsis had been going on for some time now, with the Republic being unable to break the heavily dug in Separatist position and the Separatist being unable to oust the Republic from the system. The conflict had left much of the urban areas in ruins as General Skywalker's 501st Legion and General Kenobi's 7th Sky Corps desperately defended against General Whorm Loathsom's advancing - and energy shielded - army.
"Here they come!" Anakin shouted as another group of Droids came marching down the large avenue towards the Republic lines. The first waves advanced beyond the shield and began to open fire on their position. Obi-Wan sighed as he ignited his saber in defense.
"I told you sending the ship back was a mistake!" Obi-Wan stated in his typical 'told you so' tone that his former Padawan had become too familiar with. Anakin frowned at the accusation.
"Well, it wasn't strictly my idea!" He protested, recalling that both of them had come to the same conclusion. Obi-Wan shook his head, it didn't matter whose idea it was. The battle had already begun and they would have to make do with that they could.
"Our cannons should be able to hold them at bay for a little longer. Anakin, you take your men and attack those Tri-droids from above." Obi-wan stated as Anakin nodded. It was a decent plane and their cannons would present a great challenge to the Droids.
"Cody, form a defensive line behind the rubble! Keep them at bay!" Obi-wan shouted as the Clones opened fire at the Droid lines. Anakin, in the meantime, gathered up the usual suspects. Rex and a few others joined him in scurrying their way over to a building before fighting their way up.
"Sir, what's the plan?" Rex questioned as they kept making their way up.
"Our communications are shot; we can't reach command. So we keep fighting till our reinforcements arrive." Anakin replied as they reached the top. Looking down before they saw that the Tri Droids were at the very rear of the Droid formation. Anakin nodded to himself.
"Alright then, follow me!" Anakin shouted as he jumped down from the building, the Clones utilizing their jetpacks to follow him. The group landed underneath the large Droids while Anakin landed opted to land atop one to distract the others. Within the next few minutes the Republic forces managed to rout the Separatist frontline, as per usual, just in time for a Republic shuttle to come into view overhead.
"Guess our reinforcements are here." Anakin muttered to himself as he approached Obi-wan as the two headed towards the shuttle.
"Seems like so. Fresh troops and supplies? We should be able to manage it from here." Obi-wan stated as Anakin chuckled. Finally they would have help. Approaching the shuttle, they realized that it was too small to be carrying more than a single squad of troops.
"I don't think this is our reinforcements." Anakin stated and true to his words the only person coming of the shuttle was a…Jedi or rather a young Jedi and she didn't look all that pleased. Obi-wan was pleasantly surprised.
"Ahsoka! I had no idea they'd assign you to me. Seems strange, actually, given our history. Regardless, I'm happy to have you by my side. We could use the help here" Obi-wan greeted Ahsoka warmly, but the Togruta wasn't in a warm mood. She ignored the Jedi Master completely and turned to his former Padawan.
"You must be Anakin Skywalker." She forced the words as flatly as possible as she walked up to him, outstretching her arm. Anakin raised an eyebrow as Obi-wan looked between the two Jedi.
"Yes, I am Anakin Skywalker." He replied, somewhat confused but taking her handshake all the same. It was best to give a good first impression as it may dismay any illusions of who he was supposed to be in her eyes.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, I guess." Ahsoka was pained trying to hide her excitement. She'd heard so many stories about the 'Hero with no fear' from Padawans and Younglings throughout the Order, but she'd also heard a few stories about the 'petty, barely competent asshole' from Naruto. She decided that her best course of action was complete neutrality.
"Uhh, same. ...I guess? Ashoka..." Anakin was confused. He could tell this girl was overly tense about something. Whatever it was, it was eating at her inside and she was having trouble hiding it.
"Ahsoka Tano." Obi-wan finished. It seems that Naruto's... distaste for Anakin had been passed along, but he couldn't put a finger on why she was so stressed out either. "Like it or not, Anakin is your superior and your senior as a Jedi. You should treat him with respect if you're going to be my Padawan." Obi-wan reprimanded fairly, but also sternly.
"You're right, Master, I'm sorry." Ahsoka tensed more internally. She was trying not to let either bias shine through. "But actually, he's not my superior, he's my new Master." Ahsoka corrected.
" 'Scuse me, what?" Anakin spat out incredulously.
"I'm the one who requested a new apprentice, not Anakin. Are you sure you were assigned to him?" Obi-wan attempted to clarify, but Ahsoka shook her head.
"I do wish it was you, Master Obi-wan. But Master Yoda was very clear: Anakin Skywalker is to be my Jedi Master." Ahsoka stated . Even she wasn't all that onboard with this. Anakin meanwhile was confused and a little upset.
"Hold on just a minute, I never asked for any Padawan to slow me down!." He was understandably a little outraged by this. It wasn't in his daily schedule to teach some kid.
"I have no intention of slowing you down. I'm capable of handling myself." Ahsoka voiced with confidence, but Anakin only rolled his eyes dismissively. This was not going to be fun.
"I don't like this one bit." Anakin grumbled. He wasn't comfortable taking a fresh Padawan into the heat of battle. Ahsoka briefly saw something in him that reminded her of... No - it was just her imagination.
"You can like it or not, Skyguy, but you're my Master and I'm your apprentice." Ahsoka branded her new Master with a nickname as per her usual fare. "I'm sure we'll at be able to tolerate each other at some point." Ahsoka said with a slightly smug smile.
"Fine, fine, but I'm talking to Master Yoda as soon as were done with this. Come find me in about half an hour. I have to reorganize our troops before we can launch our counterattack." Anakin stated as he turned to leave. He would have to deal with this brat later, but right now they needed reinforcements. Ahsoka huffed as Anakin left, leaving her and Obi-wan behind. The Jedi Master sighed as he turned to Ahsoka.
"Sorry about his behavior. He had no intention of being assigned a Padawan." Obi-wan apologized for Anakin, but Ahsoka waved it off dismissively.
"It's okay, Obi. He's warned me about Anakin before. Skyguy was warmer to the situation than I expected, actually." Ahsoka was glad that the actual Anakin was more in-line with the 'Hero' persona he was known for rather than the 'asshole' image Naruto had painted.
Republic Headquarters, Crystal City, Cristophsis
The two Jedi had climbed atop the balcony of a collapsed building for a better view of the battlefield. It was remote enough that they wouldn't be spotted by enemy snipers, but also close enough that they could be found by Anakin if needed.
"A shield generator." Ahsoka spoke from behind him as Obi-wan nodded.
"Yes, and that will make things harder." He stated as Ahsoka walked up next to him.
"Forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn, but any kind of weapon you have won't do anything against that shield generator. We should pull back our cannons and avoid a fight with the enemy initially." Ahsoka advised as Obi-wan raised an eyebrow. Was a Padawan giving him advice? Then it hit him.
"I assume that he trained you in a few things?" Obi-wan questioned as Ahsoka nodded.
"Yes. More about tactical advantages rather than actual lightsaber combat, but like I told Anakin: I'm not so helpless, Master Obi-wan." Ahsoka stated as the Jedi Master stroked his beard, mildly impressed. Naruto was an excellent general, greater than him in most regards. It didn't come as a surprise to learn that Naruto taught her a thing or two.
"Be that as it may, you're still young and don't have the same level of experience as him. You would do well to keep suggestions like that to yourself." Ahsoka suddenly looked sullen and frustrated. "Some might not react as favorably." Obi-wan added. It was meant to help rather than harm. There were officers that might take offense at a child barking orders, even if that child was trained by the best General the Jedi had to offer. Before he could say anything more Anakin already had made his way up.
"I talked with Cruiser above and our reinforcements are going to take some time. With that in mind, I decided to turn our reinforcements into an air strike. So we should deal with that shield generator quickly." He explained as Obi-wan nodded.
"So, how are we going to deal with that shield generator?" Ahsoka questioned her two superiors. Between them and that shield generator was an army of Droids. Anakin frowned as he turned towards the shield with his electrobinoculars.
"Well, that's the real trick, isn't it?" He said with a smirk as he searched the droid lines for some sort of weakness. After a few minutes of discussion with Obi-wan and Rex through the comlink, Anakin thought he had come up with a decent enough plan, but it would require Obi-wan to stall the enemy for a significant amount of time.
"Alright, let's do it your way." Obi-wan concurred with his former lit up at the approval of his plan.
"Perfect, I knew you'd see things my way! Padawan-"
"Ahsoka" the Padawan deadpanned.
"Ahsoka, right, go tell Captain Rex to prepare the men to execute maneuver 1138." Ahsoka saluted semi-mockingly and began the climb down.
"You have that many tactical maneuvers?" Obi-wan asked, both impressed and appalled at the number.
"Can never have enough backup plans. You and I should come up with some way to communicate with them nonverbally." Anakin suggested, but Obi-wan begrudged the thought of memorizing so many plans and gestures. He followed after Anakin down the collapsed building. The two stopped when the saw Ahsoka standing stiff some distance from the Clone troops.
"Ahsoka? What's wrong?" Anakin asked worriedly. If he was going to be someone's Master then he might as well be a good one.
"I...I don't know who Captain Rex is." Ahsoka mumbled out.
"Ah, that makes sense. You've only been here for an hour. C'mon, I'll introduce you." Anakin relaxed knowing it wasn't something more serious.
"Anakin, wait!" Obi-wan called. The Jedi Knight stopped dead in his tracks, and turned around to see his Master calling him closer. Putting a damper on his plans, Anakin leaned down to Ahsoka and pointed out Rex in the crowd. Ahsoka ran off to deliver the orders as Anakin headed back towards Obi-wan. "I think we should move the cannons back and wait till our forces are inside the shield generator before we engage." Obi-wan said quietly.
"Are you sure? Moving our cannons back I'm not certain if they'll be in range of the shield when we bring it down." Anakin voiced his concerns.
"They will be, trust me. I'll draw the Separatists in close enough." Obi-wan reassured. Anakin shrugged his 'you're the boss' shrug. The two went their separate ways. With Obi-wan going to find Cody and Anakin following after Ahsoka and Rex, who were getting to know each other on a short walk.
"So if you're a Captain and I'm a Jedi, then technically I outrank you, right?" Ahsoka
"In my book, experience outranks everything." Rex said somewhat grimly. Despite ten years of training on Kamino, he still learned many things about battle the hard way.
"Then I probably do outrank you." Ahsoka smirked, confident that her training with Naruto was more than anything Rex had.
"Heh, we'll see about that Youngling." Rex thought Ahsoka's naive confidence was endearing, yet foolhardy.
"Padawan..." Ahsoka sighed in frustration as the two turned their attention to Anakin.
"We'll have to sneak past the Droids and I have an idea… It'll be dangerous. You up for it, little one?" Anakin started as Ahsoka raised an eyebrow, this ought to be fun.
With Ahsoka and Anakin
"This is not fun." Ahsoka stammered in a slight panic as she and Anakin sat underneath a metal box of sorts as the Droids marched past them. Anakin wasn't not concerned in the least.
"What? Afraid already?" He teased her, causing her to roll her eyes.
"My older brother has done crazier things than this." Ahsoka quipped back, trying to act tough in a situation she found terrifying.
"Your brother is a Jedi, too? Interesting. I've never met Jedi that were blood siblings. I'd love to meet him sometime." Anakin leaned in to learn more.
"Well, we're not siblings in the traditional sense...and he's not a Jedi anymore..." Ahsoka trailed off, not wanting to divulge more. Anakin was confused, but then realized that they had become siblings much how he and Obi-wan viewed each other as brothers. The fact that he wasn't a Jedi anymore likely meant that he had become one of the many casualties of this war.
"I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure your brother was a great Jedi Knight." Anakin consoled his Padawan temp.
"He became a Master, actually. But some say he was the best Knight the Order had ever." Ahsoka reminisced about the fonder days with Naruto. Before the raging infernos of the war consumed every aspect of the Jedi's lives.
"Really? Like who?" Anakin replied with an amused sneer, his pride slightly wounded.
"Well, Masters Obi-wan and Plo Koon, for example. Oh, and Master Shaak Ti. Master Yoda always sung praises about him during lessons in our Youngling group. He was an amazing teacher." Ahsoka laid it on a bit too thick. Anakin was in disbelief that this Jedi existed without him knowing about it.
"If he's that famous that I must have known him." Anakin questioned. Ahsoka closed her eyes in contemplation. There was no use hiding it, he would find out eventually from Obi-wan.
"Yeah, you've met him several times actually... I'm..." Ahsoka took a deep breath as she braced herself to drop the thermal detonator. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki's little sister." Ahsoka revealed as Anakin stared at her with his mouth slightly agape. His eyes wandered for a moment, his tongue rolling aimlessly in his mouth searching for the right words. Anakin's sharp sigh turned into a brief chuckle.
"Well, a lot of things make sense now. I was beginning to think you were just a weirdo." Anakin jested, slowly nodding his head in realization. He understood why she was acting so strangely. He and Naruto never truly saw eye to eye and he'd probably told the Togruta plenty of unflattering stories. Anakin had always hated the constant comparisons to Naruto. Even Obi-wan was guilty of it. In-fact, Naruto was seen as some kind of superior standard that he was supposed to live up to as the chosen one. His military record and his skills as a Jedi Jedi were nothing to scoff at, that was true, but why did that mean that every Jedi General in the Republic had to be compared to him?
"I can safely say that I'm not Naruto. I'm Anakin Skywalker... And I like to do things my way." Anakin boasted as he lifted the metal box. However, in his haste he failed to notice a Droideka, which he then bumped into.
"Oh dear…" Ahsoka briefly panicked as she looked at the Droideka turn around. She hadn't fought one before, but she had heard tales from Naruto and King about how dangerous these Droids were, even to Jedi. She knew she didn't stand a chance once it turned on it's shield so she quickly turned and ran, with Anakin following right after her as an angry Droid fired at them, quickly ging chase. Seeing that the blaster fire had stopped the two looked back to see it rolling towards them. Thinking quickly, the two came to a full stop and lunged at the rolling Droid, slicing it into three pieces.
"Good thinking." Anakin complimented to which she nodded. It seemed like he had the same plan as her. With the Droid taken care of, they quickly started to make their way to the generator.
"I imagine that you don't have the best outlook of me, right?" Anakin inquired as the two made their way along.
"Well, Naruto mentioned that your Clone casualty rates were almost double his, and how you were always 'fruitlessly trying to outdo him'." Ahsoka replied frankly. It was no secret that Anakin and Naruto were unofficially competing for the honor of superior leadership, nor was the fact that he was always in a sort of rivalry with Naruto.
"First of all, Naruto's casualty rates are abnormally low and he gets himself injured way more than I do trying to protect his troops. I lead my men into some highly dangerous missions." Anakin defended himself fiercely to which Ahsoka smirked. This was definitely something she could use anytime she wanted to get a cheap verbal jab in.
"Naruto leads dangerous missions, too. He was even caught in a major ambush and still he managed to pull his men together to fight a battle that was never supposed to be winnable. I actually contributed to that one." Ahsoka countered. She recalled how she received that distress signal she received from King on Kamino.
"Yeah, well not everyone is Naruto. I care about my soldiers just as much as him and I don't take their deaths lightly. And like I said, I am not Naruto." Anakin wanted to be known as Anakin Skywalker, not as that Jedi who kept trying to surpass Uzumaki.
"Oh yeah, well –" Ahsoka started but was pulled back by Anakin. She was about to turn to him to ask why, only for him to point at the ground as some sort of antennas were sticking out.
"They have this place trapped. Touch those antennae and Droids will pop up everywhere." Anakin warned as the two started to worm their way towards the shield generator as fast as possible. Obi-wan couldn't keep fighting forever.
"I think these should be enough to destroy it?" Ahsoka questioned as Anakin nodded with a smirk.
"It'll be more than enough." Anakin was beginning to warm up to his new Padawan. Maybe he wouldn't immediately request for her to be transferred to some other Master. "Now come on, let's get out of here before these things blow." Anakin stated as they two quickly made some distance between them and the shield generator. Anakin looked at Ahsoka before throwing the detonator at her.
"Here, you do the honors." Anakin ordered with a smile. Ahsoka looked at him owlishly.
"Wait, really?" She asked. She had never really gotten to blow up anything this large. Anakin nodded. Ahsoka grinned as she turned towards the shield generator and pressed the button with more force than necessary, causing the whole area to go up in in a torrent of flames and scrap.
"Now that was awesome!" Ahsoka shouted as Anakin chuckled as he turned to head back.
"It never gets old. Now come on, Snips. Obi-wan will need our help." Anakin called out to her as he ran off towards the Republic base.
"Alright I'm – Hey! My name is not 'Snips'! It's Ahsoka!" She shouted as Anakin merely laughed playfully at her expense. Ahsoka puffed her cheeks before she smiled slightly as she ran after him.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad being apprenticed to this...petty, but rather competent asshole.
Ajnin System, Northern Land of Fire
Naruto stared intensely as the Kazekage's wind jutsu buffeted his old prison fatigues, slicing through both the cloth and his skin beneath. Rather than stand like a Nerf in headlights against the unrelenting tempest, the ex-Jedi leapt through the gusts to a nearby tree branch, pulling himself out of harm's way...or so he thought.
A fireball from the silver-haired scarecrow was heading in his direction. Reaching out with the Force, he pulled himself to a nearby tree but cursed when the branch buckled - the strength necessary to pull himself must have been too great for the tree to handle. Thankfully, there was no shortage of wooden protrusions to land on, but it did put Naruto in a disadvantageous position. The Shinobi were able to maintain the high ground with ease thanks to their seemingly magnetic feet, Naruto couldn't help but wonder at the potential usefulness of that skill.
"It seems that the Kazekage has gotten herself a bodyguard..." Naruto said with a mocking smirk. Taunting the ninja might distract them from their advantage.
"Or two..." Naruto heard from behind himself. Pivoting himself around, he managed to block the trench knife trying to embed itself in his flesh, courtesy of the grizzled smoker. Naruto tried to press the advantage with his strength, but the middle-aged man proved physically dominant in the exchange. Naruto realized the ingenuity almost immediately. While he had faced opponents with two melee weapons before, but none so small. The lack of distance between the fulcrum and the load made the knives a very effective lever. This would make the old man a unique - and interesting - opponent. Naruto began losing ground as he felt the force of his opponent go from his arms, to his shoulders and chest, to his back, and finally his legs.
Quite literally on his back foot, Naruto surprised his opponent by giving in. Unprepared for the change in momentum, Asuma tumbled forward, giving Naruto an opportunity to roll behind him and move in for a strike on his back. That's when Naruto noticed the fireball and gust of wind heading his way, and that the air had empowered the fireball into a mighty blaze.
"So that's how this fight is going to play out, huh..." Naruto grumbled as he leapt to the safety of a nearby tree branch. This Asuma was keeping him off the Kazekage by engaging in close-combat, and even though Naruto was the better blademaster, the Kazekage and her scarecrow would simply interject with a long range attack the moment he gained an advantage.
He would have to pick one of them off if he wanted to maintain the upper hand. It might take some effort, but he knew that he could eventually outwit the two bodyguards and get his hands on the Kazekage. Asuma might be his equal strength-wise, but he wasn't on par with his speed. Deciding to ignore Asuma entirely, Naruto leapt up the tree branches towards the Kazekage. He smirked when he looked down to see Asuma's face drain of its color.
Completely outpacing the smoking Shinobi with his Force-enhanced speed, Naruto preemptively struck out towards the white haired Ninja, suspecting that he was the most versatile fighter of the three and was ready to support either gruff grizzly bear or the dainty fan user. Kakashi was caught off guard by his barrage of weapons being cut down effortlessly. This boy had incredible speed.
Naruto came close. So close. But his climb was just barely slow enough for Temari to reposition to a safer location. Knowing that the ninja couldn't keep this up forever, Naruto made another mad dash towards the Kazekage, using a tree branch to avoid a cloud of burning ash coming his way on behalf of the smoker. So he did have long range attacks.
In order to stop his advance, Kakashi moved directly in the way of Naruto and tried to block his lightsaber with a kuani. Naruto swung and the small metal knife offered little resistance. With a sharp kick Naruto knocked the silver-haired shinobi out of the way and continued his pursuit. Temari was simply too slow and she turned to try and blow the blond out of the way. Naruto persisted through the slicing winds at speeds Temari couldn't fathom. With the Force on his side, Naruto overtook the Kazekage and struck with his lightsaber. She blocked with her fan, but it nearly met the same fate as Kakashi's kunai. A last ditch effort was made to try another wind jutsu, but Naruto was sick of this situation and lashed out with the Force.
Temari didn't know what hit her. Was it wind? Air pressure? Some sort of gravity jutsu? She had no clue, but it all had the same effect. She was sent flying through the treetops, colliding with every branch and bush possible. Naruto's push even sent her through a small tree, and when her head collided with the trunk of a large oak, her consciousness ended.
Naruto glanced at his hand. That was much more power than he had intended. He felt an even greater need to end this fight and speak with the Hokage. Glancing down at the unconscious Temari, he could faintly feel her life through the Force. It was still difficult considering the sea of energy teaming around him, but he managed to pull off all the same. Turning towards Kakashi and Asuma, he stared down the Leaf ninja before rushing in for an attack.
Sasuke vs Kenichi
Sasuke snarled, reeling in pain slightly every time the intense heat of Kenichi's swords came near. He had had some success in holding back Kenichi's strikes, but each blow was becoming more and more powerful then the next. That was the greatest strength of Kenichi's Blazing Blade technique, he was able to channel more chakra into the blade than was expelled out as fire.
"I've become sloppy if I really let him accumulate this much power." Sasuke thought, grunting with each powerful blow from Kenichi. Leaning back to avoid Kenichi's next swing, Sasuke disengaged from the duel and ran through hand signs.
"Katon: Hōsenka Tsumabeni! (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower)" Sasuke threw a volley of a dozen or so shuriken that were immediately engulfed in a flame from his mouth, giving them a deadly boost towards their target, Kenichi. Who was already prepared with a jutsu of his own.
"Katon: Homuranagase! (Fire Release: Blazing Meteors)" Kenichi let forth a cannonade of fireballs that dwarfed Sasuke's shuriken in comparison. The meteors nullified each of Sasuke's attacks and there were still some left over to strike towards Sasuke. Slicing through them with his vibroblade, Sasuke swung in anticipation of Kenichi's attack but found that the shinobi had come in lower than expected. His guard was broken through, but he had still managed to knock away Kenichi's swords. Sasuke tried desperately to recover, to block the inevitable counterswing. He saw Kenichi had thrown one of his swords to the ground and was advancing with an open palm at the ready.
"That mistake will cost you!" Kenichi shouted out as he quickly disarmed Sasuke by sending a brutal palm strike - one that was still coursing with flame. The impact was too great, and Sasuke's vibroblade was parted from his hand. Kenichi's offensive didn't stop: the dark haired Leaf nin quickly crouched low to avoid Sasuke's desperation delivered a brutal kick to Sasuke's chin, sending the bounty hunter high into the sky from the impact. Before he could recover, Kenichi was already floating underneath him.
"Oh shit!" Sasuke had learned what was to come from this move all too well in the past... but this was different from Lee.
"Yes. Shit." Kenichi's deadpan words spelled doom for the Uchiha as Kenichi wrapped his still-burning arms around Sasuke's armored chest. The pain was negligible at first, but Kenichi turned up the heat to something Sasuke hadn't thought possible before. His armor began heating up. Unable to resist the increased temperature, Sasuke began writhing in pain, but couldn't break free of Kenichi's grasp responsible for the burn. As they reached the apex of their brief, gravity-defying flight, Kenichi began to spin wildly on the vertical axis, disorienting Sasuke greatly.
"Katon: Nenshō Renge! (Fire Release: Burning Lotus)" sensing his impending death, Sasuke began to panic. Crashing into teh ground like a meteor burning up in the atmosphere was understandably a fate wasn't looking forward to. With his pained struggles failing and his time fading away, Sasuke reached for the controls to his jetpack, and activated it in a last ditch effort. Buffeted away by the burning fuel, Kenichi was forced to release Sasuke, who corrected his course and turned upright. He let out a sigh of relief, but felt a sudden sense of dread when he heard a distinct crackling in the distance, followed by a mighty bellow.
"Ranton: Reizā Sākasu! (Storm Release: Laser Circus)"
Glancing to his right, Sasuke's fears proved appropriate. He saw Darui, the Raikage's right hand - or more specifically, his signature Jutsu - headed straight for his exposed flank. Sasuke thought quickly. Dodging this technique was practically impossible while midair in an exposed area like this. There were only a few beams of lightning, but it didn't matter. Without his sword there was no hope of deflecting all of the attacks. The second he blocked one Darui would redirect the others and score a direct hit.
Were it not for the timely arrival of a metal-legged Clone kicking a few of the lasers into the forest. Now there were only two beams - two was something Sasuke could handle. Sasuke repositioned himself and flashed through hand signs as quick as possible, releasing a fireball large enough to overwhelm the leftover beams and even counterattack Darui.
"Dammit!" Darui yelled and was going to move to defend himself but was saved when Kenichi arrived and sliced the fireball in two with his combusting sword. Out of the corner of his eye, Kenichi saw a glimmer of metal and raised his right-hand sword to block, but found that the weight behind the attack was much greater than a mere kunai or a shortsword, but was the full-sized body of an armored Clone. Unable to compensate, Kenichi was overwhelmed and knocked to the ground, skidding a few meters before flipping himself onto his feet. Massaging his bloodied and likely fractured jaw with his still scorchinghand, Kenichi cauterized the wound closed effortlessly, but he was still feeling the pain from that kick.
"An impressive strike, but all you've done is piss me off." Kenichi growled at his attacker. Who still had his alloy leg raised. He was dangerously close to Darui, but the Cloud ninja was too stunned to attack in time before Storm retreated to safety next to Sasuke.
"I guess I owe you one..." Sasuke mumbled.
"What was that? Can't hear you." Storm raised his hands in faux defense when Sasuke groaned aggressively. "Kidding, I'm only kidding... Now, how are we going to take these guys down?" Storm asked with a smirk.
"That was one good hit and you were lucky Kenichi wasn't prepared for it. He's going to be more aware of you now so there's no way you getting in a hit like that unless you're prepared to lose your other leg." Sasuke tried to act unimpressed to keep his ego intact, but what he said was still true: Kenichi was far above Storm's level.
"That's no problem, I'll just take the other guy. You should be able handle... Kenichi, if he's on his own, right?" Storm briefly stumbled over the name that was foreign to him, but his grin never faltered.
"That may not be the best idea. You're a close combat specialist, right? Well, Darui's a long range fighter with his Storm Release. Might make it hard to close the gap." the bounty hunter warned.
"Storm Release?" Storm's eye twitched slightly.
"Yeah, Ranton, or Storm Release. A combination of the Lightning and Water Elements. It makes those flowing beams of electricity you just kicked away." Sasuke elaborated, but Storm hadn't heard anything after the words 'Storm Release'. The plucky 7th Company Captain caught his own punch and looked even more determined.
"Oi, what the hell that all about? Guess I'll have to show him who the real Storm is around here." the offended Clone stomped his cybernetic leg into the ground.
"You're lucky that leg of yours doesn't conduct electricity or you'd be toast." Sasuke had a brief epiphany as he stared at the boastful Clone's prosthetic. "Actually, now that I think about it - aside from me and Uzumaki - you're probably the only one here who stands a chance against Darui thanks to that leg. He's going to try and keep his distance the whole fight, but that shouldn't matter as long as you meet every attack head on with that leg. Go nuts, Storm"
"That's the only path for me, bounty hunter." Storm smirked as he took off running at full speed towards Darui, his baton roared to life as he brought it down towards the Cloud ninja's head.
Relieved that he was back to fighting only one opponent, Sasuke turned back to Kenichi and the two resumed their duel. Their weapons flourished through the air as Kenichi's flame-coated sword danced in a fierce battle against Sasuke's speed oriented style.
"It doesn't matter. I don't need Darui's help. You're still faltering, Uchiha." Kenichi goaded from behind his blade, but Sasuke only growled in response.
"I'll show what faltering really means!" Sasuke shouted as he pushed Kenichi strike back, slightly impressing the man. Breaking the bind, Sasuke quickly flashed through his seals, his hand being engulfed in lighting. Using the surprise to his advantage, Sasuke quickly grabbed Kenichi's twin swords with his lighting covered hands before sending lighting through the man's swords and into him. Kenichi ground his teeth as he tried to overcome the pain. He quickly sent out a kick to disengage with Sasuke. The kick was more powerful than Sasuke anticipated, and he lost his balance, falling to the ground disgracefully.
"That was an impressive trick, but you didn't go for the kill while I was stunned." Kenichi stated as Sasuke glared at him intensely. "Though you did show me what faltering really means, I'll give you that. It's embarrassing that you call yourself a shinobi." Kenichi added as Sasuke narrowed his eyes as he stood up and so the struggle began anew.
Sasuke didn't know what it was. Perhaps it was the gap in power, skill, or speed, but hope began to wane despite his pride telling him to fight on. He had faced gangsters, smugglers, bounty hunters, even Jedi and some of the most dangerous creatures the galaxy had to offer. But Kenichi was just a different beast altogether. He was smart and his abilities were tempered with years of toil. He was gifted like Sasuke or Neji, but he didn't let his advantage over others get to his head, and he worked just as hard, if not harder, than Shinobi that weren't as talented.
He and Kenichi were relatively even before he left Konoha, but the gap between the two had still widened, despite Sasuke's tutelage under Jango. It was almost as if the gods themselves were aiding him somehow. Perhaps it was some sort of divine prank, but all the same Sasuke began to feel himself slipping against the superior Shinobi.
"I see that you're as stubborn as ever Uchiha. You can barely keep your balance but you keep trying to stand anyway." Kenichi piled on the taunts. He was rather good at making his opponents feel awful about themselves.
"The pride of the Uchiha...right?" Kenichi wasn't the least bit amused. Sasuke's blond companion had injured the Kazekage and was now overpowering Asuma and Hatake. Kenichi briefly considered ordering Killer B to exchange opponents, but the Kumo ninja was seemingly having a hard time defeating the tactics of his four foes. They weren't a threat to the jinchuuriki, but they had proven to be very good at not dying. B's tremendous stamina would hopefully win him the day.
"I'm actually ashamed of myself that you've lasted this long." Kenichi began switching up his swordplay, using his two swords for simultaneous power strikes that shattered any defense Sasuke put up. The trails of flames echoed from every strike like the fangs of a wolf or tiger. Already feeling himself fading, Sasuke glanced around the battlefield. See many of the same things that Kenichi had seen just a few moments ago, but with the added clarity of the Sharingan. It was then that Sasuke formulated a plan. Knowing that losing his battle with Kenichi was an inevitability at this point, Sasuke took the only option remaining that could ensure their survival.
He left himself wide open.
Taking the opening, Kenichi's blades finally struck true and cut deep into Sasuke's armor, leaving two long gashes along the metal that went all the way through. Reeling in pain, Sasuke surrendered to the darkness that had been slowly consuming his vision. Despite collapsing to the ground in a heap, Sasuke fought hard to maintain consciousness, almost failing a couple times.
Kenichi briefly inspected the seemingly unconscious Uchiha. He went down in and odd manner. Even if the traitor was barely clinging to life, his Sharingan should've kept him able to see his attack incoming. Perhaps the last Uchiha had given up? Unlikely. Regardless, Kenichi felt there were more pressing matters to attend to than the sleeping Uchiha. That blond was a problem he would have to deal with personally.
King vs Samui
King's vibroknives were caught in a fierce flurry against Samui's tanto. Despite putting up a good fight, Samui could feel that she was slowly winning the advantage over King. He was slowing down and the power behind his swings was dropping by the minute. Samui saw an opening and she took it, her strike followed through and one of King's vibroknives was wrenched from his hand. Samui managed to grab the unarmed hand and twisted King around on his elbow, forcing him to drop his other knife. He broke free with a punch to her chest, but that left him open to her final attack. With nowhere to run and nothing else to do, King raised his hand in a desperate defense. Samui thought felt the tanto slice through King's hand... but something was wrong.
"Learned this from Uchiha...maybe." King chuckled slightly. He wasn't a Shinobi, but the tactic was definitely one he learned from observing Sasuke's battle with Shaak Ti. Samui's eyes widened slightly in a blend of surprise and confusion at his broken sentence. She had just slashed through his hand, he should at least be wincing in pain or shown in that he was affected at least in some way. She moved to strike again at the defenseless King, but found that her tanto wouldn't budge. It was caught against something. The bones in his hand? No, there was something inside of his palm that he was gripping onto firmly. A small metallic canister that had stopped her tanto about a third of the way through. She pulled her tanto back and forth trying to wrest it from his grasp, but she'd already exhausted her energy trying to take him down... It hit her like a ton of bricks when she realized that King had been lulling her into a false sense of security. He'd been planning this for the past few minutes.
"Game over, lady." King said with a smirk as he squeezed the trigger on the EMP grenade and braced himself for the incoming shock. Samui's eyes bulged fully as she saw the electric pulse travel down her tanto almost as if it were in slow motion. Amplified times by the metal in her weapon, the shock that hit her was significantly stronger than what King was feeling in his insulated bodysuit. It wasn't long before the pain overtook her and Samui faded into unconsciousness.
King sighed a deep sigh as the pain of the shock left his body. Shock resistant thermal sealed bodyglove or not, getting hit directly by one of those things still hurt quite a bit. He could only imagine what she had felt unprotected against the EMP discharge. He briefly felt a slight bit of guilt for ever using them on Separatist droids, but they couldn't feel pain like a human could.
Remember that the others were still locked in a struggle, King turned his attention to his General, who was currently locked in a desperate struggle against three enemies that were each just as powerful as Samui had been, if not more. He did a quick check of himself as he retrieved his vibroblades. The ex-commando reloaded his pistols and took a quick breather, preparing himself for another difficult fight. He had seen Sasuke go down in the corner of his eye, and knew that the bounty hunter had let himself be struck down for a reason. Whatever reason that was didn't matter, and King put his trust in the Uchiha.
For now, Naruto needed his help.
The Battle With Killer B
Blitz, Fang, Stoic, and Flash all stared down their opponent. Whoever he was, he was overconfident in thinking that taking on four of Naruto's most elite Clones was something he could accomplish alone.
At least that's what Blitz had initially thought.
The nearly decapitating strikes sheering loudly as they scalped off the top of his helmet and being sent skidding through the mud and grass from mere glancing blows implored Blitz to reassess their opponent. The guy wasn't overconfident at all, he was just a complete monster. He was stronger than any one of their other foes had been, except for maybe the guy with flaming swords.
He held seven swords in his left armpit, both elbows, right knee, hip, and shoulder, and even one in his mouth. Blitz was at first a little confused at the strange stance, but he wasn't willing to take any chances. B reached towards his back and threw his swords into the air. Advancing on the Clones without his weapons seemed foolish, but the rhyme-impaired shinobi simply began to pivot on his left foot catching all of the swords as they arced downwards.
"Range the target, boys. Keep your distance from those swords!" Blitz ordered the rest of the Clones. Flash and Fang extended their stocks and prepared to surround the swordsman with their carbines in hand. Their opponent immediately negated their range advantage by leaping towards the sky, the light of the sun piercing through the treetops and shadows of the branches made it difficult - nigh impossible - to track him. Using gravity to his advantage, B descended on his opponents.
"Open fire!" Blitz shouted in a slight panic. This wasn't something he had expected, but their best bet was to try and force him into a position that was better for them. Unfortunately, instead of dodging the blaster fire, the dark-skinned Cloud ninja started spinning wildly, his shining silver swords batting away the bolts like they were little more than annoying wasps.
"What the fu-?!" Fang shouted out in shock before a heavy blow to his stomach knocked the wind out of him and sent him sliding along the ground, only stopping after crashing into the trunk of a destroyed tree. As soon as he got his bearings, Fang clutched the impact point, the sword thankfully hadn't fully pierced his armor, only given him a small flesh wound. Nonetheless, he couldn't bring himself to stand. The bones in his torso creaked in pain with every slight movement. Knowing that trying to fight further would be permanently debilitating, Fang opted to let his body rest and recuperate.
Not willing to let up his renewed momentum, B crouched on one leg, using the momentum from the kick to turn back around on Flash. The gold-armored clone reacted with his signature speed, barely missing the blade set to pierce his black bodyglove. The gold-armored Clone was still caught in a blind with B's blades. It didn't take much from B to overwhelm the exhausted Flash, his blades sending him flying into a nearby tree. The others hadn't realized it, but Blitz did. Their opponent had learned the strengths and weaknesses of their armor from one clean strike on Fang. If one of B's blades found its mark they would be finished.
"Shore up your defenses, don't let him get a hit on your bodysuit or you're through. He's fast, so stay alert of his position and mind your distance." Blitz ordered again, but was caught off guard when B answered him in rhyme.
"Just who, are you talkin' to?" Blitz looked around. He knew that Fang was down for the count, but Flash was still lying on the ground. Blitz was a little confused by his brother's uncharacteristic groans when he saw that a small branch had pierced Flash's bodysuit. Now it was just him and-
Where was Stoic? He couldn't see the Captain of the 9th Company anywhere.
Blitz winced when B used speed he didn't think possible to appear right in front of him. Using his carbine a brace, Blitz avoided losing both his arms, but the shinobi sliced through his blaster like butter. A worthy sacrifice, in his opinion, but he was now caught completely open to the certain death of another of B's blade happening upon him. That was when Stoic descended like a nexu upon its prey, and his vibroknife had almost come into contact with B's back.
Almost. It would have if not for a large octopus tentacle emerging from his shoulder blades and catching Stoic's knife, breaking it in two, a second tentacle reached out and swiped stoic across his shoulder. It wasn't a fatal blow, but the impact could be heard from several feet away and Stoic's shoulder was in a position it wasn't meant to be in. Despite his efforts, Blitz truly was alone in facing this monster, and his last sight was of his brothers curled up and whimpering on the ground in pain, with no hope of salvation. Suddenly, a familiar vibroblade collided with B's and stopped him dead in his tracks. Blitz glanced up and saw their hired help winding and binding his blade with B's.
"Uchiha? You're still awake?" Blitz asked, amazed that Sasuke was still able to fight in his condition. Kenichi has covered him in burns and the scoring in his armor cut to the skin. Some pieces had been destroyed completely just from the heat. Sasuke swallowed his bride and spoke.
"Kenichi's strong, but overconfident and he doesn't like to think things through too much when there's danger present. I feigned unconsciousness so he'd leave me to go deal with Naruto. I did what I had to do to get out of that fight before my life was in danger. Now go, Naruto needs your help. I should be able to hold B off for at least a few minutes." Blitz nodded, even though Sasuke's line of sight was firmly held on B. The Clone Captain ran off to hopefully aid his General. B finally broke the bind of their blades. The amateur rapper adjusted his shades, glaring at the Uchiha all the while. He dropped his rhyme scheme and decided that taking things seriously would be in his best interest. Injured or not, this was still Sasuke Uchiha.
"Sasuke Uchiha. I wouldn't wanna be fighting if I were you, right now." B cautioned the raven-haired bounty hunter against this fight. It was more of a warning than a threat. Sasuke was in bad shape, even if he had managed to evade death by immolation at the hands of Kenichi. Fighting in his condition was almost suicidal, but if he was tough enough to handle Kenichi for as long as he did then facing B should be no different.
"I think you'll find we're still evenly matched, B. I still have one trick up my sleeve." Sasuke said through labored breaths. The gaze of his Sharingan locked on B, and slowly the three black tomoe began to spiral into a strange, new, kaleidoscopic shape...
Naruto vs Kenichi, Kakashi and Asuma
Naruto's struggle resumed with the introduction of Kenichi into his fight. He'd had Asuma and Kakashi on the ropes, but in just a few short minutes Naruto found himself on his back foot against the new trio.
'Their paradigm has shifted…Scarecrow over there has switched to a long range supporting role, but his range isn't all that great. I might be able to catch him by surprise if I move fast enough...nah, that isn't who I should be worried about...Kenichi is on a whole 'nother level.' Naruto narrowed his eyes, readying his saber. Perhaps feeling a bit emboldened by Kenichi entering the fray, Asuma charged first, engaging Naruto in close quarters. Naruto was able to evade and parry the smoker's attacks with little effort. Noticing that Asuma had begun to slow down, he pressed onto the offensive, but had to pull back when Kenichi arrived to join his comrade's assault.
'Even if I take out the other two I won't have enough energy left to defeat him, but taking him out first is gonna be next to impossible.' Naruto immediately recognized this method of teamwork as a major annoyance. The two of them would always keep him on the back foot, filling in the gaps in each others defense. It required a high level of trust to maintain effectively, or else you'd constantly be worrying about 'what ifs' and whether or not your ally is able to protect you.
"What the hell…" Asuma muttered to himself. The blond was good, very good. Kenichi was a bit off kilter after just fighting the Uchiha, but Naruto was managing to hold both of them back despite wearing the toll it was taking on his sleeves. Asuma saw Naruto bringing his saber in from the right and naturally he went to defend, but his eyes widened as Naruto rotated counterclockwise, exploiting the short reach of his weapon.
'I can't dodge that.' Asuma thought, and he was already inside of his guard, and Kenichi had overcommitted to his previous attack. The blond had switched his attack vector too fast for him to follow and couldn't block the strike without hitting Asuma. The Sarutobi clansman was saved when Naruto suddenly stopped his attack and jumped back, dodging a fist coated with lightning... Kakashi!
'Almost had him...damn.' Naruto thought as he made some distance between him and his opponents. He didn't get a chance to reengage because Kenichi was already in pursuit. His strikes were far more agile than Asuma's and packed almost as much power too.
"Is this all you got?" Kenichi taunted causing Naruto to growl. If Kurama and his chakra weren't messing with him, then he would have shown Kenichi just what he could do. Slightly angered by the swordsmen, Naruto deflected one of the incoming strikes before countering with one of his own, which was blocked.
"I've fought a Sith Lord and a four-armed cybernetic cyborg guy. I am more than a match for you." Naruto gloated, which he hated doing, but the frustration was building up and Kurama's chakra was making its presence known as well. It was healthier to let it out in small quips rather than unleashed it all at once.
"I have no idea what any of that means." Kenichi replied honestly. It all sounded like nonsense to him. What the hell was a Sith and weren't cyborgs just a work of fiction? As the two swordmasters dueled it out, Kakashi and Asuma were coming up with a plan to back up Kenichi and subdue the blond.
"I'll use a fire jutsu as a smoke screen for you to follow up with your attack. It should catch him by surprise when he realizes I'm the one that created the smoke." Kakashi whispered to Asuma, who nodded in confirmation. The blond was far above their level in terms of close quarters combat, so taking him down alone was out of the question. The two were about to spring their trap but were forced to dodge blaster fire from the tree line. Emerging from the tree, King and Blitz's quickly went into action as King pulled out his short blades and attacked Asuma. Their weapons caught in a bind, and King dragged his weapons to the right, trying to make Asuma lose his balance and fall off the tree branch. Blitz, meanwhile kept on firing his blaster at Kakashi, who was forced to take cover on a branch out of the Clone's line of sight. Running through his hand signs, Kakashi opted to go through with their plan anyways.
"Oh shit!" Blitz exclaimed as he rolled out of the way to dodge an incoming fireball. Never in his life did he think that he would be dodging giant fireballs coming from the mouth of a human. "This is definitely not like the simulations…" The disciplined clone said to himself.
'This is gonna be tough.' Blitz thought. Heading back into battle, he was once again forced to dodge a fireball. Blitz's was roll out of the way in time before trying to raise his blaster to fire. The copy ninja readied himself to dodge the strange volley of energy, but rather than fire any shots, Blitz dropped his carbine and unsheathed a small vibroknife from his belt. Kakashi wasn't prepared for a point blank range attack, and was forced to block the incoming attack at an odd angle. This left the shinobi's right flank completely exposed, and Blitz capitalized on it with a heavy kick to the ribs. This ninja didn't have the same level of raw power behind his moves as B, but he was smarter and much more tactically minded. Blitz reaffirmed to himself that wouldn't go down without a fight.
"I suggest you surrender." Asuma recommended to King, who readied his pair of vibroblades. He didn't know what the man was saying. Well, he understood him perfectly well, but he couldn't fathom why this middle-agde bearded bear was telling him to lay down his weapons. Noting King's lack of a response, Asuma figured his opponent wasn't giving up any time soon, so he went on the offensive. Using his two trench knives to send attack after attack, but King was an even match for the gruff tobacco enthusiast.
"My turn." King said as he quickly deflected an attack coming from the right, before he sent a thrusting strike, which Asuma was forced to block with his left, which left him exposed on the left causing King to strike from there.
"Shit." Asuma thought as he quickly substituted with a log in time as the vibroblade tore right through it. They were strong blades, that much Asuma knew. King didn't give any chance to recuperate as this time he was the one charging in. Asuma opponent replied in kind, intent on knocking his opponent out of the fight with haste.
"Be on your guard King, there's Chakra surrounding that blade. Your armor won't stop it." Naruto warned. The 497th's Commander nodded in affirmation. Relieved to have the excess pressure off of him, Naruto finally felt his body stretch into a more comfortable stance. Kenichi was still a huge threat that had managed to make Sasuke panic with only his arrival.
Staring down the black-haired Jonin, Naruto readied his cobalt blue blade and launched his attack. Kenichi brought his blades of orange flame up to defend himself, using odd cadences that Naruto thought was reminiscent of Makashi if it were almost strictly defensively minded. Dancing and stepping in sync with each flourish of his blade, Kenichi parried Naruto's blows effortlessly. Recognizing that they would just get into the same gradually fading stalemate as before, Naruto stepped back and prepared to renew his offense. Feeling the Force swell within him, Naruto leapt into action with his unique Form IV variant. Striking and flipping over a slightly surprised Kenichi.
"This one is just as strong as the Uchiha. No, perhaps he's even stronger. I'm having trouble keeping up with his movements." Kenichi felt a knee strike across his injured chin. Reeling in pain, Kenichi struck out in fury, nearly severing Naruto's left leg from his body. Switching his style once again, Kenichi went on the offensive... perhaps a bit too early. Naruto had been refreshed after their previous battle and was fighting at a much higher level than before. Kenichi had to tuck into a roll to avoid getting disemboweled by the Jedi's lightsaber, and even then his dark blue shinobi shirt had had enough and tore at the waist. Kenichi pawed at the new distraction, ripping the front of his shirt off while the back fell off, hanging down behind him by a few threads at his waist.
The two, now-shirtless swordsmen resumed their duel. Naruto began to feel the strain of the Force weigh on him, but Kenichi was feeling just as much pressure holding back his relentless and powerful blows. A strike that Kenichi was unable to fully parry managed to slip past his defenses and impact his forearm. Thankfully it was used to be burnt, so the lightsaber did little damage to the Leaf ninja. His pride was wounded, and that was potentially a greater harm than any physical attack.
"Thats enough..."Kenichi growled out, his voice amplified by some unnatural means. Naruto sensed danger through the Force and halted his attack, choosing instead to leap to another tree branch that Naruto felt wobble under his weight.
"What, done fighting already?" Naruto taunted, but he immediately regret that course of action. Despite Kenichi's fire growing in intensity, Naruto began to feel a cold sensation jolt up his spine.
"Done playing around with you little shits."Kenichi roared before falling on one knee. First the Uchiha, now this blond asshole? He was finished. The flames around his arms began to slowly spread from his shoulders, to his chest and neck, then finally to his torso.
"Katon: Yakeru Yōna Tamashī (Fire Release: Searing Soul)" with those words, a tremendous heatwave erupted from Kenichi and the nearby treetops instantly exploded into a tremendous blaze of the forest.
"Oh hell..." Asuma whispered to himself as he glanced around the burning leaves. King didn't let up in his offensive though, and Asuma had to turn his attention back to the Clone less he wanted to try life with fewer limbs and less blood.
Naruto was caught off guard by the sudden temperature change. It was a mild autumn day beforehand, but now he felt the sweltering heat of a desert planet like Geonosis. He stared at Kenichi who slowly rose to his feet. His eyes were glowing orange in their entirety, and his hair looked like little more than an extension of the flames coursing around his body.
"...Toketa Yōsai no Yoroi (Molten Fortress Armor)"Kenichi's skin slowly began to change. The aura of fire that seemingly unaffected his body up until now was suddenly affecting it. The flesh seemed to burn and char, turning black. Was Kenichi somehow allowing this?
Kakashi glanced over in a stifled awe. He had seen the technique before, but it was still a very rare occasion that Kenichi actually used technique the blond had been using, it must have been incredible for Kenichi to not be able to keep up. Even with his Sharingan, Kakashi couldn't follow their battle so it was unclear to him just how fast the blond was. Forcing Kenichi to use that technique, he felt bad for the blond if Kenichi of the Burning Leaf was willing to break out his signature jutsu, but it would definitely render the blond's speedy attacks useless. He hadn't seen anyone move that fast since Minato-sensei!
Then it hit him...
Time slowed for Kakashi. Blond hair, a spirited but plucky attitude- No, it couldn't be, his disappeared almost twenty years ago... but then again he was about the right age. Beneath his mask, Kakashi's mouth struggled to form words. Kakashi still wasn't quite sure, but... something... suddenly rushed through him and washed away all doubt.
"Naruto?!" Kakashi shouted in disbelief. King and Asuma both turned their attention to Blitz's their enemy. In the distance, B's advance ground to a sudden halt as the jinchuuriki recognize the name of his own. Karui and Omoi were both confused by Kakashi's declaration. Naruto? Wasn't that the name of Konoha's jinchuuriki that disappeared so long ago? Naruto was hesitant to turn his attention away from Kenichi, but the sudden calling of his name by an unfamiliar voice drove him to turn his head.
"Naruto... is that you?" Kakashi asked, quieter than before. Though it was hard to hear him over the roar of Kenichi's flames, Naruto's eyes widened when he heard this complete strange call out to him.
"How... do you know my name?" Naruto subconsciously reverted to basic, forgetting what planet he was on. It didn't matter, Kakashi could tell the blond was responding just by his facial expressions.
"Kenichi! ...Stop! Now!" Kakashi sharply ordered the onyx-haired swordsman. The flames slowly died down and the Jonin's body began reverting to its normal state. Asuma and B didn't need to be told. The two put away their weapons, recognizing that the fight was finally over.
"What the hell are you ordering me around for, Hatake? You know I'm your superior right?" Kenichi jokingly voiced his discontent. Perhaps it was because he was still a little stunned, but Kakashi turned to Asuma, forgetting about Kenichi completely.
"Asuma, free Karui and Omoi and go check on the others, get them ready for triage." Kakashi ordered his fellow Jonin, who did not protest unlike Kenichi.
"Hey, don't just go on ignoring me-
"Yeah, sure, right away. I take it you'll be able to handle things here?" Asuma asked and smirked when Kakashi only nodded. Giving King a brief bow of respect, Asuma sped off to take care of his comrades.
"God damn you people, stop talking like I'm not here! Tell me what's going on before I start melting heads off!" Kenichi raged, as did the flames around his arms. Why was he always getting glossed over in conversation?
"Kenichi... I don't know how to say this, but that's Naruto Uzumaki." Kenichi looked over to the man he'd just been fighting, then did a double take back to Kakashi.
"And just how do you know that?" Kenichi asked, more than a little dubious at this proclamation.
"I don't exactly, but he responded to the name and- I mean, just look at him!"
"That's all you have to go on, Hatake? That's nothing! Don't speak in the affirmative when you" Kenichi spat out, baffled at the seemingly random assumption. "Don't think I didn't notice their looks as well, but at best its a look alike... at worst, he's some mutated clone of the fourth like Tenzo is of the first!" Did Hatake take him for some kind of idiot?
"I was his student, I just know! We should take him to the Hokage! He'll know"
"He's not going near any of the Kage. Even if he is who you say he is, he's just a traitor just like Uchiha. Best to kill him now to be sure." Kenichi's words were filled with venom, and a deep anger swelled inside Kakashi.
"I'm sorry, Commander. But if you persist on this path... I'm going to have to stop you." Kakashi dropped into a defensive stance, raising a kunai in defense of a person he thought to be his sensei's son. Kenichi didn't feel the least bit threatened - the copy ninja wasn't much of a match for him, but that's when Asuma returned and placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder.
"Kenichi, he's right. Now that I'm taking a closer look at it the resemblance is uncanny. He's definitely shown the same kind of speed as Minato. We should take him to the old sage. He'll know the best course of action... I hope." Asuma voiced his opinion, backing Kakashi's claim while also succeeding in calming down the copy nin. He knew how Kakashi felt about Naruto's disappearance. Kenichi struggled with his thoughts for a moment. When it was Hatake standing in his way, there was no question, but if Asuma thought the same, then...
"Uh, I'm not sure what exactly going on here, but I heard my name a few times so, yeah - I am Naruto Uzumaki. Container of the Nine Tailed Fox?" Naruto's odd introduction turned all heads his way. Kenichi closed his eyes in contemplation. If this really was Naruto then the Hokage would be pissed if he were to die. If this is just some lookalike that was a spy working for Orochimaru - or potentially worse, the Akatsuki - then given his current strength level it was entirely possible that he might be able to kill several members of the Alliance leadership, and that would spell the end of the Shinobi Alliance. Sighing, Kenichi sheathed his blades.
"I'm very much against this, Hatake. If something bad happens to the Kage..." Kenichi trailed off with his threat.
"You'll burn me to a crisp. I know. If it makes you feel better, you could put him in restraints." Kakashi offered an empty compromise. As if Kenichi would have agreed to bring him without restraints.
"Come on then, 'Uzumaki', or are you afraid your deception might be found out before you can complete Orochimaru's orders?" Kenichi probed Naruto for some inkling of a malicious response, but Naruto sighed in contemplation as he looked around the silent battlefield. King and Blitz were alright, and Sasuke was still standing somehow, but Storm was down for the count even if he was still wide awake. The others weren't even that well off. Stoic and Fang both had broken bones and Flash had been impaled on a tree branch - all of them were definitely not conscious.
There wasn't really any other option. Not that he wanted to, but if he were to run... he might be able to escape, but the others definitely couldn't keep up and would most definitely be captured or killed. There was no point in fighting anymore while his comrades lives were in danger. Doing his best to not let his exhaustion overtake him, Naruto freed himself from the Force and deactivated his lightsaber. Kenichi immediately approached with his hand held out, and Naruto handed over his Jedi weapon with no complaints.
"Fine, I'll come along. But my men are coming with me." Naruto demanded as Kenichi began binding him in his restraints
"Uh, no. Absolutely not." Kenichi denied Naruto's request for obvious reasons. He was wary about taking just him and the Uchiha to the Council. A squad of six Jonin level soldiers? Out of the question.
"If they don't get medical treatment they might-" Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off
"They'll go to a medical corps field hospital nearby for recovery but they're not setting foot in Headquarters or even knowing your location without the Council's approval. That's the best I'll allow." Kenichi offered one last olive branch. Damn, if only Asuma weren't on Kakashi's side he'd have shut this blond nuisance up permanently by now. Disgruntled but appeased, Naruto resisted the urge to unlock his restraints with the Force and make a break for it. Looking over, Naruto saw Kakashi restraining Sasuke, who also offered no resistance.
"Is this your idea of victory, bounty hunter?" Naruto jabbed at Sasuke in basic.
"It's better than the alternative, Jedi. You're lucky Kenichi didn't use that last jutsu on you or you'd be toast. Literally." Sasuke countered as he was brought closer. Kenichi stood behind the two and began leading them to the Alliance Headquarters while Kakashi, Asuma, and B stayed behind to deal with the injured.
Alliance City, Southern Land of Lightning
The atmosphere was tense, so tense that you could take a knife and cut right through it, however, for Naruto and Sasuke it didn't matter. Naruto's eyes wandered curiously as the two were being taken before the leaders of the Shinobi Alliance. Sasuke, however, wasn't phased at all. It didn't matter to him that he was being taken into a base that had powerful Shinobi. The cadre of shinobi escorting them, led by Kenichi, was on high alert and ready to fight at any given moment.
"What is this place?" Naruto asked in basic, staring at the highrise buildings made of stone and plaster. Sasuke, being the only one to understand him, responded.
"Alliance City. It's where all the civilian refugees of Konoha, Suna, and the various smaller villages gathered to find a more permanent solution to their presumed temporary lack of a home. The number of people here - well, actually it should be a little more than the population of Konoha back in its heyday. The Alliance Headquarters must be located here now, it's actually a decent strategic spot for a military base." Sasuke explained to the clueless Naruto. He looked around and saw the people etching out a decent living. Probably not the standard they were used to in Konoha - it was definitely filthier and more crowded - but they had clean water, electricity and access to good food.
Maybe old man Teuchi had even set up the Ichiraku stand somewhere around here.
"We're almost there." Kenichi stated as they started to enter make their way deeper into the city. As they did they could feel the eyes of ninja of all ages lingering on them, trying to catch a glimpse. Many of which shrugged and moved on. People came and went every day; however, many had stopped their daily routine staring at the two. Given that Sasuke was wearing bits and pieces of his armor and Naruto was still in his burnt and tattered prison fatigues, they raised quite the question. Those weren't Shinobi clothes, not by a long shot.
"This is why I didn't want to come back here." Sasuke grumbled. He should have declined the job and simply went back and picked up one that didn't involve a place where people were overly familiar with him. Having lived in the underbelly of the galaxy as long as he had, Sasuke had grown accustomed to moving freely across the stars at his own pace. This place made him feel tied down, made bad memories come to light and he hated it.
"It can't be that bad." Naruto reasoned as Sasuke frowned and opened his mouth to speak before he was cut off by a female in the distance.
"Sasuke?" They heard a voice. Turning to look, Sasuke sighed as he saw a head of familiar pink locks. Naruto looked from the oddly colored hair to the jade eyes and the rest of her face. She had changed a lot in two decades, but Naruto still found her every bit as cute as the day he left. Hell, she had even developed a bit of a chest now.
"How are things, Sakura?" Sasuke asked flatly. The pinkette approached him, her eyes widened incredulously before she suddenly struck him across the face with an open hand.
"It is you! ...You! How could you just, show uplike this after all this time?!" Sakura Sakura shouted as Sasuke winced more from her shrill voice than he did from the slap. She would have struck him again if Kenichi hadn't blocked her.
"You'll have to talk to the prisoner later, Haruno, we have more important business to attend to." Kenichi stated as she frowned before nodding. These were dark times. It was best to let him on his way. Glaring at Sasuke she turned to leave, but stopped when she locked eyes with the blond next to him. Her mouth dropped in astonishment. Those eyes were like endless oceans of blue, his jaw was square and covered in the slightest bit of an unkempt stubble, and the tone on those muscles - he definitely worked out every day. Considering that so many of the men her age had either been horribly maimed, killed, or in the rare instance turned traitor, this blond cutie made the young pinkette think she might have struck gold. Collecting herself, Sakura cleared her throat and turned to be on her way. There were other places she needed to be right now.
The two ex-shinobi - or ex-shinobi-in-training in Naruto's case - were led through the winding roads until they entered a large hall near the city center. Climbing the stairs, Kenichi opened a door to a large room where a man with long white hair stood at the forefront talking to a group of others. One was a tall muscular man with dark skin and platinum blond hair, another was an elderly man wrapped head to toe in bandages that even covered one of his eyes. Aside from those two, four elderly folk were also present. Along with the Kumo ninja Darui that Naruto had met earlier with some fresh wrappings on his ribs, likely from Storm's atomic-power kicks. Joining the younger crowd was a pinecone haired youth and Temari, and the rather young girl that had somehow obtained the position of 6th Kazekage. Her head was wrapped in bandages from her Force-assisted impact with the trees.
"My lords." Kenichi called out as he knelt as the group turned. A man with long white hair looked at the group of three and as he scanned it. Naruto almost didn't notice, but the man's eyes briefly flickered.
"So this one is the leader of the group who nearly took out our elite scouting party?" asked the tall dark-skinned one.
"Not outside the realm of possibility if he's truly who he claims to be. The Uzumaki were a powerful clan" said the bandaged one.
"It's definitely possible. He's got the same hair as Minato and is about the right age. But...I'm not sure if he's really Naruto Uzumaki. He could just be a look alike." the white-haired man postulated.
"Kenichi, take Sasuke to Ibiki for interrogation. See what he knows about the whereabouts of Orochimaru or his bases." the pinecone haired Jonin ordered sternly as Kenichi nodded and promptly turned around and started to drag Sasuke out, who grunted at being forcibly pushed out.
"Good luck, Jedi. You're gonna need it." Sasuke spoke in Basic with a smirk.
"I'm not the one about to be tortured for information he doesn't have, Bounty Hunter." Naruto replied grimly. Sasuke was about to counter, but couldn't find the right words and only shrugged in response. Naruto got the better of that exchange.
As Kenichi took his leave with Sasuke, Naruto walked forward and was placed in front of the leaders of the Shinobi Alliance. The old man leaned in, looking around the sides of Naruto's head as he analyzed the blond. Whilst being examined, Naruto did his own analysis.
From what he had observed in terms of interactions, the dark skinned one seemed to be in charge here. Since Konoha and Suna had both been destroyed by Orochimaru, Kumo was the de facto leader of the Alliance, which meant that this guy was the Raikage. Which meant that the other dark skinned blond, Darui, was the Head Ninja of Kumo and the Raikage's number two man.
Of course, that didn't mean he was number two in the entire Alliance. That role was left to the other two Kage. Temari, the so called 'Kazekage' was the leader of the Suna resistance. But who was the Hokage?
Kenichi had introduced himself as the Jonin Lieutenant Commander, which meant the pinecone haired youth ordering him around was his superior. Was this guy the Hokage? It was possible. Likely, even. Even if he was around Naruto's age, the 4th Hokage was still slightly younger than them when he was promoted. And Temari wasn't much older than him so age ultimately wasn't a factor. Next were the elders, who were obviously only here in an advisory role. They were leaders by experience to provide input. Which left only two other options for the mantle of Hokage.
Either the white-haired old man in a bright red haori, or the sinister looking man wrapped in bandages that had been staring daggers at Naruto ever since he walked in the door. Naruto felt his hatred seeping through the Force. Naruto thought better of the people of Konoha than to elect a - not necessarily evil, but insidious - man such as this as their Hokage, so that left the old man standing in front of him, staring him down.
It was either him or the sleepy pinecone.
'It's him, alright...' the old man concluded as he took a trip down memory lane. He looked so familiar despite them having never met. Turning around slightly, the old man spoke.
"Shikamaru, you're the only one of us who's actually seen 'Naruto' in person before today. I know it's been a long time since then, but what do you think? Is it him?" the old man asked, but his words didn't carry doubt for some reason. But what truly caught Naruto's ear was the name he said: Shikamaru. As in... Shikamaru Nara? His old classmate from his academy days? Okay, nope. Mystery solved. There was no way that pile of lazy bones would ever become Hokage... but he was still clearly Kenichi's superior. Kenichi said he was only the Lieutenant Commander, so did that mean Shikamaru was Konoha's Jonin Commander outright? That was pretty impressive considering the work ethic he maintained - his completely non-existent one.
"I'm not sure. He looks like him a bit, but he doesn't seem to be acting anything like the Naruto I remember, but people can always change. Even Naruto." the Nara clan head answered, scratching his head.
"If this really is Naruto Uzumaki, why don't we just check for the Demon Fox's seal?" Temari proposed a simpler solution.
"Because Orochimaru is almost as good as sealing as the Lord Hokage, and we've never seen the seal ourselves. He could make a convincing enough fake to fool Jiraiya." the bandaged man dismissed this idea, ever too cautious of the snake sannin's sinister schemes.
"Still, we should try it out. Hey, you, 'Naruto'. Channel your chakra for us." Shikamaru demanded, but Naruto shrugged in response.
"Sorry, but I can't do that." Naruto simply replied. Perhaps it was his nonchalant attitude in which he spoke or the slight smile that curled around his lips while he said it, but something about his words threw the entire room off balance.
"What?!" shouted the Raikage, who was ready to pounce the blond for his impudence. But Shikamaru held him back with an outstretched hand.
"You do know the position you're in, right? Either show us the seal or we'll have no choice but to execute you as a spy." He offered the blond a deadly ultimatum.
"I would if I could, but I literally can't. I don't know how to channel chakra. I never learned how to use it. The first two years at the academy were mostly taijutsu training and practicing with kunai and shuriken." Naruto elaborated. The room was thrown on its head once more. Whether it was more or less than the last time, Naruto was uncertain.
"Are you joking? You managed to defeat Temari and hold off Kenichi for such a time? Pretty impressive for a spy of Orochimaru's with 'no chakra'." Naruto sensed the sinister intent the bandaged one was sending his way. "Enough talk, send him to Morino and Yamanaka for interrogation and then off with his head."
"Hold on, Danzo. I think it's best that I talk to him alone for a minute." the old man said with a smirk. He wouldn't let anything like that happen to someone he was certain was Minato's son.
"Huh? Are you sure my Lord Hokage?" one of the elders asked. So this old guy was the Hokage, then. Naruto patted his intuition on the back for succeeding once again.
"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll find out if he's Minato's brat or not."
"Alright, I'm trusting you on this then, Jiraiya." The old man waited for the group to disperse and file out of the hall. Only then did he approach the lone blond and offer him a chair. Not wanting to waste a chance to rest his legs, Naruto took it.
"So... you're the Hokage, then?" Naruto started, his voice taking the tone of a seasoned commander. If this old man was one of the leaders then he had to be diplomatic, but not concede too much as well. He grinned as he stared straight at Naruto, the old man reached under his kimono, retrieving a small flask hidden from view.
"Yeah. Against my better judgement, I'm the fifth Hokage - name's Jiraiya. I have to say it's seriously impressive if you really held off Kenichi without using any chakra. Now, please enlighten me, Naruto..." the Kage lifted the flask to his mouth and took a long drink from its alcoholic contents before sighing loudly. Glancing up at Naruto, he spoke with a sly grin.
"Why exactly does my old student's son want to meet with me?"