Kakashi was helping Naruto master his new jutsu, while Sakura and Sai were watching from a distance. Training had been going well, and Naruto was learning a new jutsu. Naruto took a break, lying down face-up, when he noticed something in the air.
"Kakashi-sensei, there's something in the air." he said, pointing up.
"I'm sure it's nothing, Naruto." said Kakashi, not looking up from his book.
"Hey! You didn't even look!" yelled Naruto. He looked at it again. A light grey, transparent line. He looked at the end of the line. There was a hand.
"Sensei, I really think you should look at this!" said Naruto.
"Fine." said Kakashi. He looked to where Naruto was pointing. He saw the hand. "That's strange." He said "But, I'm sure it's nothing."
Naruto looked at the other end of the line. It lead into the forest.
"Uh- sensei? It's coming out of the forest. I thought nobody was allowed to go into the forest until they found the thing that killed the team of Mist shinobi that were in that forest a few days ago."
Kakashi's eyes widened.
"Naruto, we should check it out, but always be on guard." said Kakashi.
"Okay. Let's go." said Naruto.
"Where are they going? asked Sakura to Sai.
"I'm not sure. Maybe it's connected to that line in the sky." he said, pointing to the line Naruto noticed earlier. It slowly started going back into the forest.
"They're not allowed to go in there. They know that." said Sakura. "Maybe we should follow them?"
"Sure, why not?" said Sai. They quickly went after Naruto and Kakashi.
After a minute or so, they caught up with them.
"What are you guys doing?" asked Sakura.
"Oh, hello Sakura and Sai." said Kakashi. "I didn't see you there."
"What are you guys doing? Why are you guys here?" asked Sakura.
"So full of questions aren't we?" said Kakashi.
"Full of 'unanswered' questions." corrected Sakura.
"Yes, what is this all about?" asked Sai.
"You know that transparent hand thing in the sky? It leads into the forest so we thought we'd check it out." answered Naruto.
"Guys, stop, there's something in the middle of the road." Kakashi said quickly.
They all stopped running. Then they saw what was there. A person. His head band was around his neck, like Hinata's is. He had long, dark hair that covered one of his eyes. On his cheek was a symbol that looked like a seal, but it was different than any other Kakashi had seen. His clothes were too dirty to know what colours they were.
"Who is that?" asked Naruto.
"I'm not sure, but he looks like he's unconscious. But stay right where you are." Kakashi said to the rest of the group. He slowly approached the person. If the person had the chance to attack, he would've then, but he didn't, proving that he was unconscious. Kakashi checked his pulse.
"He's alive." said Kakashi. Kakashi then slowly lifted up the hair that was covering his eye, but quickly dropped it back and backed away slowly.
"What is it, sensei?" asked Sakura. Kakashi looked at Sakura with a shocked expression.
"His eye," he said. "It looks like it's been clawed out!"
They sat in a hospital, waiting impatiently for the stranger to wake up. Waiting for the chance for their questions to be answered.
"God, do you think he'll ever wake up? I'm so bored." complained Naruto.
"Be patient, Naruto." said Kakashi, not looking up from his book.
"We could be training right now!" yelled Naruto.
"If you want to train, then I'll let you." said Kakashi.
"Really!?"
"Yes, give me 100 pushups."
Sakura laughed.
"You know that's not what I meant, sensei." mumbled Naruto. "If I'm ever going to perfect this new jutsu, I've gotta train hard."
The stranger started coughing, still unconscious though. He slowly opened his eyes.
"Where am I?" he asked. He looked at Kakashi.
"Who are you?" he asked. He felt his chest. "What have you done with my weapons!?"
"Calm down…" Kakashi started, but a ghostly hand extended out of the stranger's eye, through the bandage that was over top of it, grabbed Kakashi by the neck and slammed him against the wall.
"Kakashi-sensei!" yelled Naruto and Sakura. They drew their kunai.
"Your… weapons… are… beside… your… bed." said Kakashi barely. The stranger looked to his left and he saw his weapons. He dropped Kakashi.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me. I sometimes cannot control myself. My weapons are important to me. Where am I?" he said. Kakashi was gasping for air. Sakura was helping him.
"You're in the village hidden in the Leaf." said Sai.
Naruto grabbed the stranger by the chest.
"Just who do you think you are, attacking my sensei like that?!" yelled Naruto
"My name is Tatakai Jikken of the village hidden in the mist." he said
He took the bandage off of his eye because it seemed to make him uncomfortable. He winced in pain a little, but was fine afterwards.
"Are you sure you should be taking that off?" asked Sakura.
"It will be fine," he said. "My eye weirdly heals faster than any other part of my body."
"Speaking of your eye, what happened to it?" asked Sakura.
"I was attacked by a group of shinobi and one of them managed to get me in the eye with a kunai." said Tatakai.
"I don't feel bad for you." said Naruto.
"Naruto, get over it, I'm fine." said Kakashi.
"Why did they attack you?" asked Sakura.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I'm sure it has something to do with my eye." said Tatakai.
"You are taking this surprisingly well, given that you've lost an eye." said Sai.
"My jutsu made me unable to see with that eye anyways." said Tatakai.
"Oh." said Sai.
"I feel better now, can I get out of the hospital?" asked Tatakai.
"I can ask a nurse." said Sakura. She left the room.
"Where's my backpack?" he asked.
"Right here." said Kakashi, throwing it to him.
"Thanks." said Tatakai.
Sakura returned with a doctor. She examined him for a while.
"You're free to go." said the doctor. "You're a fast healer! Just like Naruto!"
Tatakai grabbed his clothes and went into the change room first. Naruto looked at Tatakai's weapons. They were a sword and two things that looked like round razor blades. They were attached to a strap that goes around your shoulder and down to your hip. Naruto picked up the sword and examined it.
"Naruto! Don't touch that! It's not yours." said Sakura.
"I was just looking. Jeez, Sakura." said Naruto. He put the weapon down. Tatakai came out of the change room with his clothes on. His clothes weren't dirty anymore so the colours were decodable. He wore tight, black pants and a red ninja uniform. The mark on his cheek was even more noticeable. He put on the strap over his shoulder. Sakura blushed.
He looks a lot cuter when he's in his ninja uniform, thought Sakura. Naruto glared at both of them.
"I gotta ask, why do you have that thing on your cheek?" asked Naruto. Tatakai quickly put his hand on his cheek.
"Umm… it's for decoration." said Tatakai. Naruto looked at him suspiciously.
This guy is hiding something for sure, thought Naruto. It's probably better not to ask about it.
"By the way, what are your names?" asked Tatakai. Everybody introduced themselves to him, except Naruto.
"Naruto, you gotta let him off the hook. He didn't hurt me. He just surprised me." said Kakashi.
"Fine, whatever." Naruto turned to Tatakai. "I'm Naruto." he said, putting out his hand. Tatakai took it.
"Nice to meet you." said Tatakai. He walked over to Kakashi. "I was wondering, is there anywhere I could stay for a night or two?"
"I'm sure you could share a room with Naruto." suggested Kakashi.
"Wait, what!" yelled Naruto. He pulled Kakashi to the side. "Are you nuts? I can barely stay in the same room as him, much less let him sleep in my room! Why don't you let him stay in Sakura's room? I'm sure she'd love that!"
"Hey!" shouted Sakura at Naruto.
"C'mon, Naruto. He just lost his eye, can you show him some respect at least?" asked Kakashi. "I'll let you battle him." he whispered into Naruto's ear.
"Really? In that case, yes!" yelled Naruto. He rushed over to Tatakai.
"You can stay in my room for a night, if you battle me tomorrow." he said
"Sure, why not?" said Tatakai.
"95...96...97..." This is what Naruto woke up to this morning. He looked at Tatakai's sleeping bag on the floor. He was doing pushups.
"98… oh hey Naruto, 99… did you sleep well last night? 100!"
"What are you doing?" asked Naruto, sleepily.
"When I wake up in the morning, I do 100 pushups." said Tatakai.
"What time is it?" asked Naruto.
"7:30."
"Wake me up in an hour." Naruto stuffed his face in a pillow.
"Aren't we going to spar?" asked Tatakai.
"In an hour or so." said Naruto.
"Wake up! It's been an hour." yelled Tatakai. He took Naruto's pillow.
"Fine! Ok! I'll get up." yelled Naruto. He looked at Tatakai. He was in his ninja clothes and had his weapons on him.
"You're already ready?" asked Naruto.
"Are we going to battle, or what?" said Tatakai.
"Just give me a few minutes to change and eat breakfast." said Naruto
"Alright. Meet me where you usually train."
"How do you know where I usually train?"
"Kakashi told me."
"Okay."
Naruto got up and changed into his clothes. Then, he ate breakfast.
Man, thought Naruto. If his hand is so fast that it could get Kakashi-sensei, then how can I beat him in a battle?
He finished his breakfast and headed down to where Tatakai was. When he went to where he normally trains, he saw Tatakai talking with Kakashi. Sakura and Sai were there too.
"Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here?" asked Naruto.
"I'm here to supervise, and to make sure you don't kill each other." answered Kakashi.
"Well, Sakura and Sai, what are you doing?" asked Naruto.
"Oh. We came here to watch you get destroyed." said Sakura, smiling.
"Wow. so nice of you." grumbled Naruto.
"Are you ready guys?" asked Kakashi. They both nodded. "A few rules: don't kill each other. Naruto don't use your new jutsu and Tatakai, I think you probably shouldn't use your eye jutsu thing."
"That's fair," said Tatakai.
"Yeah, can we start now?!" yelled Naruto.
"To win, you must knock the other unconscious. In three… two… one… begin!" Kakashi said
"Multi-shadow clone jutsu!" yelled Naruto. A bunch of clones were created.
"Stone clone jutsu!" yelled Tatakai. Only three clones were created.
"Are you sure that's enough?" asked Naruto, cockily. It apparently was. The earth clones drew their swords and wiped out a lot of shadow clones. Soon, though, the shadow clones crowded the earth-clones and started beating them. They were reduced to just rocks. The clones celebrated.
"Bam! We got 'em!" yelled one of the clones.
"They're no match for us!" yelled another. The only one who wasn't celebrating was the real Naruto.
"Where's the real one?" asked Naruto.
"Wind redirection jutsu!" someone yelled.
"Where is that coming fro-aaaaahhhh" the clone began to say, but was cut in half by something, and disappeared. Soon after, the other clones were disappearing at lightning speed. When all the clones were gone, Naruto saw Tatakai holding the two razors that attach to the metal strap.
"How did you do that so quickly?" asked Naruto.
"So many questions, Naruto. I can't give away all my secrets." replied Tatakai.
"Wanna see something cool? Shadow-clone jutsu!" yelled Naruto. He quickly started making the rasengan with the help of his clone.
"What's that jutsu?" asked Tatakai.
"Rasengan!" yelled Naruto. He came at Tatakai. Tatakai stood still, despite Naruto getting closer to him.
"Aren't you gonna move?" asked Naruto. Naruto was still getting closer, yet Tatakai wasn't moving. When the rasengan connected with Tatakai, it didn't launch him as expected. Instead, it went right through him. Naruto stared in disbelief. Why didn't he move? He noticed that Tatakai was turning a darker colour. Brown. Tatakai began breaking apart.
"What the-" said Naruto.
"Behind you." somebody said. Naruto quickly turned around and got a fist to the face. Tatakai's fist. Naruto was launched to the ground.
"Man! Sorry about that." said Tatakai. He did actually feel a little bad.
"Never apologise for being one step ahead than your opponent." said Naruto, wiping blood from his nose. Tatakai created five clones. They threw their razors at Naruto. He dodged all of them, but one nicked his hand.
"Ouch!" said Naruto, gripping his hand. The razors came back to the clones. They drew their swords.
"Multi-shadow clone jutsu!" he yelled. Moments after the words, dozens upon dozens of clones appeared in a puff of smoke.
"I'm impressed that you can make so many clones." said Tatakai. The clones quickly went after the stone clones. With fast and smooth movements, the earth clones sliced through every single shadow clone.
"Unfortunately, they can't deal with swords." said Tatakai. "That'll be all for now." he said to his clones. They all nodded and turned back to stone.
"Tatakai! We should be fighting for real! We're just letting our clones do all the work." yelled Naruto.
"One step ahead of you!" said Tatakai. Then he turned to stone. Another clone. Naruto looked all around him.
"He's nowhere around me." whispered Naruto to himself. He looked up. "Or above me. That means…" Naruto then quickly jumped up and dodged the fist coming from the ground. The rest of Tatakai emerged from the earth below and he quickly threw his razor blades at Naruto. Naruto dodged them, but they came back just as fast back at him. Naruto dodged to the right, but Tatakai kicked him in the back, launching Naruto even higher. Tatakai jumped super high, a little bit higher than Naruto, and punched Naruto so hard that he plummeted to the ground with insane speed. The impact made a small crater in the ground. Naruto quickly got up though.
"My turn!" he yelled. He quickly created a few shadow clones. One jumped up and quickly spiked Tatakai to the ground. The real Naruto jumped up. The clones launched Tatakai into the air.
"Uzumaki barrage!" yelled Naruto as he punched and kicked Tatakai repeatedly. He descended even faster than Naruto did. A bigger crater was created when Tatakai crashed into the ground. Tatakai coughed up some blood, but other than that, he was fine. He quickly destroyed all the clones with his sword. Naruto quickly landed on the ground and ran to Tatakai. He threw a punch but Tatakai blocked it. In return, Tatakai threw a flurry of punches. Naruto blocked most of them, but some managed to hit him. Naruto was launched by the last punch.
"His attacks are almost as fast as Bushy Brow's!" thought Naruto.
"Time for my clan's special jutsu! Prepare yourself!" yelled Tatakai. He did a lot of hand signs and put his hands on the ground.
"Earth style: Giant rock hands Jutsu!" yelled Tatakai. Two giant hands made of rock burst from the ground. Each finger was as tall as Naruto.
"Uh oh." said Naruto. One hand extended out of the ground and went towards Naruto. Naruto tried punching the hand, but all it did was hurt his fist.
"Ow! Man, that's some hard rock!" he said
"My turn!" yelled Tatakai. The other giant fist came flying right at Naruto. It hit Naruto's entire body so hard that it launched far back and landed against a tree. Naruto quickly got up. He saw that Tatakai still had his hands on the ground.
"Hmm. Maybe he has to have his hands on the ground to use jutsu, and if he takes his hands off the ground, the jutsu will stop." thought Naruto. "I need to attack Tatakai directly."
The hands tried punching him again but Naruto dodged them. He ran as fast as he could towards Tatakai. He looked behind him. The hands were still far away. Suddenly, they disappeared! Naruto looked ahead again and Tatakai kicked him directly in the face.
"I'm sorry Naruto, but you might not win this battle." said Tatakai. Naruto was laying on the ground. But then, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"A clone!" thought Tatakai. "But where is the real on-"
His thoughts were interrupted by a barrage of punches from behind. Another clone appeared in front of him and punched him in the nose. Tatakai landed hard on the ground. He was bleeding from his mouth and nose.
"Too bad that that was a clone huh?" asked Naruto from behind him. Tatakai turned around with his hands in front of him.
"Wanna know how I did it?" asked Naruto.
"After the fight. There's a giant hand behind you by the way." said Tatakai.
"What?!" yelled Naruto. Another giant rock hand came at Naruto and only hit his head, whiplashing him. Another giant hand came out of the ground, lifting Naruto high in the sky. After going far up, the hand went out from under him and went over him. The hand quickly punched down on Naruto. Naruto sped towards the ground at a rapid pace. When he landed, he created a large crater.
"Naruto? Naruto! Wake up!" yelled someone. He then felt somebody slap him in the face.
"OW! What the hell? Who did that?" yelled Naruto as he quickly got up. "Where am I?"
"You were battling Tatakai, remember?" said Kakashi.
"Oh yeah! And then… Oh come on! He beat me?" exclaimed Naruto.
"Uh… Maybe?" said Tatakai, awkwardly.
"You got knocked out, meaning that you lost." said Kakashi.
"Alright I guess…" said Naruto. He was kinda bummed out. Even without his special eye jutsu, Tatakai was a formidable opponent.
"Your head looks pretty bad. Let me heal you." said Sakura. She started using medical ninjutsu to heal the injuries on his head. After a minute or so, she was done.
"Need help up?" asked Tatakai.
"Sure." said Naruto. He grabbed Tatakai's hand and was pulled up.
"Nice job in the battle." said Tatakai. He put out his hand.
"Thanks. You too." said Naruto as he shook his hand.
"Hey! We should go to Ichiraku for ramen!" he yelled.
"Uh, sure. I've never had ramen before." said Tatakai.
"Can you pay? I'm, well, a little bit broke?" asked Naruto.
"Naruto! You're the one who offered to bring him there!" yelled Sakura as she punched him in the face.
"Ow, Sakura!" said Naruto.
"Guys, I'll pay, now stop fighting." said Kakashi.
"Thanks, Kakashi!" said Naruto, cheerfully. He gave Sakura a dirty glance and walked with Tatakai.
"Wow, this is delicious!" said Tatakai.
"I know right? Ichiraku ramen is my favourite!" said Naruto. He'd already eaten three bowls and was on his fourth bowl while Tatakai was still on his first bowl. Sakura quickly looked at him and looked away, then blushed.
Wow, he's almost as cute as Sasuke! thought Sakura. Naruto saw Sakura blushing. He rolled his eyes.
Leave it to Sakura to have a crush on every boy that she comes across. thought Naruto.
"So how'd you do it?" asked Tatakai.
"Do what?" asked Naruto.
"How did you create a clone, which I thought was the real you, and sneak up behind me and attack me?"
"Oh. It wasn't that impressive. I knew that since the giant fists were coming at me, you weren't able to see me, so I created a shadow clone and it jumped over the fist. You thought that was it the real me, so you changed the course of the stone hands. I snuck through the trees so you couldn't see me. Once you killed my clone, I ran to you and attacked you. More importantly, how did you attack me with your stone hand jutsu without having your hands on the ground?"
"It's called 'Mind games.' I put my hands on the ground the first time so you think that I need to put my hands on the ground. All I actually have to do is hand signs then I can control the hands with my mind. When you punched me, I did the hand signs while I was being launched. Then, while you were, no offense, being a bit cocky, the hands were created behind you. That's how I won."
"Man, you're smart."
"In my clan, we learn certain tricks so that we can play around with our opponents."
"I've never heard of the Jikken clan before." said Kakashi.
"It's a relatively small clan and a lot of the members were killed a few years ago." said Tatakai.
"By what?" asked Sakura.
"Umm… I'm not sure." said Tatakai.
"Isn't that something you should know?" asked Kakashi. Tatakai slammed his hand on the table. "I don't want to talk about it, okay?!" he yelled.
"Okay, I'm sorry." said Kakashi.
"Me too. It's just that my father was one of the people who were killed. And the only parent left was my mother. She wasn't the greatest to me or my siblings." sighed Tatakai. "I ran away from home a few weeks after the members were killed."
"I'm so sorry." said Naruto.
"It's fine." said Tatakai. He finished his bowl of ramen. "I'm full. Thank you, chefs."
"You're welcome!" said Teuchi. "Come again soon!"
"I should show you around the Leaf village!" said Naruto.
"Sure, that would be nice." said Tatakai.
Naruto showed him the stores and places that he went to, including the ninja academy. When he showed him just about everywhere in the village, he talked about his friends, like Hinata, Shikamaru, Gaara, ect. He refrained from talking about Sasuke, given that it was a painful subject. He was talking about Kiba, when Kiba and Akamaru just so happened to be passing them.
"-he was a bit of a jerk to me in the academy and made fun of me for being a genin. Thankfully, I got to beat the crap out of him during the chunin exa- oh. Hey Kiba." Naruto was saying.
"Hey Naruto. Who's your friend?" asked Kiba.
"His name is Tatakai. He's new in the village." explained Naruto.
"Is he a weak genin, like you, or is he a strong chunin like me?" asked Kiba, flexing.
"You have got to stop bringing that up! I was away from the village for three years! At least I don't rely on a dog to do all the work for me. And you know like, two jutsu." said Naruto, angrily.
"What other jutsu can you do, other than rasengan and shadow clone jutsu?" asked Kiba.
"Rasengan is an A-rank jutsu created by the 4th Hokage! Try mastering that!" yelled Naruto.
"Man, you're still a jerk, even now that you've aged." said Tatakai to Kiba. Kiba and Naruto looked at Tatakai, stunned. Kiba grabbed Tatakai by the shirt and looked at him angrily.
"What did you say, punk?" snarled Kiba.
"Naruto told me aaaaalllll about you, Kiba. Like how you used to bully him when he was in the academy. I see you still haven't changed." said Tatakai.
"Just who do you think you are?" yelled Kiba.
"Man if I had a nickel for every time someone asked me that, I would've bought clothes that aren't hand-me-downs. I'm Tatakai Jikken. Are you sure you want to try me?" said Tatakai.
"Now that you bring it up, I do!" yelled Kiba. He was furious.
"Now, now, Kiba, I'm not sure you wanna-" started Naruto.
"Shut up! I'll fight him and beat him in less than 1 minute." said Kiba.
"Fine. We're in an open area. Let's fight." said Tatakai.
"Ugh, fine. I'll ref, so Kiba doesn't claw you to death." said Naruto. "Both of you, back a few steps." They did so. "Now, get ready… Fight!"
Tatakai quickly did some hand signs, and a giant rock hand came out of the ground at great speeds from under Kiba, launching him. Akamaru watched in horror. The other hand waited until Kiba was high in the air and then went up above him and smacked him down to the ground, creating a small crater. Tatakai looked in the crater. Kiba was very dazed.
"Sure mom, I'll put the dishes in Akamaru's bowl," he said.
"He must have bumped his head hard." said Tatakai.
"He probably just has a concussion," said Naruto. "That was really quick."
"Oh well, he'll probably feel better in a few hours." said Tatakai. Akamaru was looking at them furiously. "But, we should probably-"
"Run?" said Naruto.
"Yeah,"
The duo quickly got out of there before Kiba came out of his daze.
Meanwhile back with Kakashi, Sakura and Sai:
"Honestly, I feel like I know that guy from somewhere," said Kakashi.
"Maybe you know someone from his clan." said Sai.
"Maybe." said Kakashi.
"But you have to admit, he's pretty cute!" said Sakura. Kakashi and Sai looked at her blankly. "No? Only me?"
"I've been to the Hidden Mist village a lot, but I've never heard of the Jikken clan." said Kakashi.
"That's weird." said Sai.
"Yeah, but I probably shouldn't dwell on it."
"It's getting dark, we should be getting home soon." said Naruto.
"Can I stay at your place again?" asked Tatakai.
"Sure, you deserve it after beating me." said Naruto.
"I'm sorry! You're the one who wanted to fight." said Tatakai.
"Chill man, I'm joking."
"Hey, I have to tell you a secret."
"Are you a jinchuriki too?"
"You're a jinchuriki?"
"Yup. Gotta demon fox inside of me."
"Well, it's kinda like that. I-"
Suddenly, a teribble pain appeared in Tatakai's head.
"Tatakai! Are you okay?" asked Naruto. But Tatakai didn't respond.
"Alright, Tatakai, I'll get you to a hospital."
He carried Tatakai on his back to the hospital as quickly as possible.
"Naruto! What happened to Tatakai?" asked Sakura. She was panting, as she had sprinted to the hospital as soon as she heard the news. Her, Naruto, Kakashi and Sai were in the hospital room of Tatakai.
"I don't know. He had a headache that was so bad that I had to take him to the hospital." said Naruto.
"Maybe it was a migraine or something," said Kakashi.
"No, it seemed much worse." said Naruto. He looked at Tatakai. Though he was unconscious, Tatakai had an uncomfortable look on his face and was sweating.
"Maybe it's linked to his eye injury from before." said Sai.
"Probably." said Sakura. Tatakai slowly started to wake up.
"Tatakai! Are you all right?" asked Naruto. Tatakai put his hand on his head.
"My head hurts a little still. But I'll be alright. This has happened before." said Tatakai.
"How many times?" asked Kakashi.
"Seven." said Tatakai. "Naruto, I need to tell you something."
He looked at the other three.
"Is it alright if you three leave the room for a moment?" asked Tatakai. "It's a bit personal."
"Sure." said Kakashi. The three left the room.
"You know that secret from before?" asked Tatakai.
"Yeah, but you didn't get a chance to tell me." said Naruto.
"I'll tell you now." said Tatakai. "The thing with my eye isn't just some kekkei genkai or a jutsu."
Tatakai took a breath.
"My father was obsessed with the souls of the dead and connecting them with the living." said Tatakai. "Soon, he found a way to seal human souls, but the souls could only be sealed if they had just left the body, so to test the seal, he killed his father."
"Just to test the seal?" asked Naruto.
"Yeah. It was successful. A few days later, he killed two more people, nobody I know, to get two more souls sealed. Also successful.
"One day he wondered what would happen if you sealed multiple human souls in someone. He chose me to be his subject. I used to be made fun of for being weak in the academy and I often came home in tears. All it took to convince me was him saying 'Would you like to become stronger?' and I was in.
"He took me to his laboratory and strapped me onto a flat platform. He told me that it'll hurt only a little. He lied. When he placed one of the seals on my face to put the soul in my body, I started screaming in pain. I could feel the soul being transferred into me. After the second seal was placed on me, I fainted because of the pain. After the third one, I woke up. There was too much chakra in my body. More than most people could handle. A few moments later, a beam of pure white chakra. Spirit chakra. Even when you die, chakra is still carried by your soul until it finds a new body. Then, the chakra is spread throughout your body. The beam went straight through my father, killing him. I looked around, not knowing what was happening, and accidentally killed my mother, older brother, uncle and aunt who were also in the room. A few seconds after it started, the chakra beam disappeared. I looked around in horror at what I'd done. I ran away from home before anyone saw what I did."
"I thought you said you ran away because your mom was abusive and your dad was gone." said Naruto.
"My mom was pretty abusive before she died. My father was always too busy to worry about me." said Tatakai. "I've never really felt loved my whole life."
He's just like me. thought Naruto. He's always felt alone.
"People at the academy noticed I was gone, but nobody cared." said Tatakai. "One day, I secretly went back without anyone noticing, and I heard one of the people who I used to call my friend say that I was a nuisance. It was better that I was dead. I quickly went away from my village before having a meltdown."
"Was the headache caused by the souls in your head?" asked Naruto.
"Whenever I don't do what they want, all of them put all their chakra into one
point in my head, causing great pain." said Tatakai. "I'm fine now, so can you find a or someone to let me leave from here?"
"Sure, I'll find someone." said Naruto. He first handed him Tatakai's clothes so he
could get changed. Then, he went to find someone. Once he returned and before he went into the room, he heard Tatakai talking to… someone.
"No, I can't do it!" he yelled. "He… He's the only friend I've ever had and the
only one who accepts me! Please! Anybody else!"
Naruto rushed through the door.
"Tatakai! What's wrong." asked Naruto, worried.
"Uh...uh…" mumbled Tatakai.
"Are you okay?"
"Uh… yeah."
"Okay. There's a doctor here to check if you're okay. I'll be with Kakashi and the
others."
He went down to the waiting room, where Kakashi was reading his book, Sai was
drawing and Sakura was watching Sai.
"Hey, guys." said Naruto.
"Is Tatakai alright?" asked Kakashi.
"Yeah. What's really weird though, is he was arguing with someone about how he doesn't want to kill someone, but when I went into the room, there was no one there." said Naruto. A few moments later, Tatakai came down the stairs.
"Is it morning?" asked Tatakai.
"No, it's the afternoon." said Kakashi.
"Tatakai, do you want to see the jutsu I've been working on?" asked Naruto.
"I don't think that's such a great-" said Kakashi
"It'll be fine." said Naruto.
"Sure," said Tatakai.
They all went to the empty training area in the village. Naruto created two clones. He quickly started making the rasenshuriken.
"Wow, what amazing chakra control!" said Tatakai.
"Yeah, for rasengan, it takes one clone, but for this, it takes two." said Naruto.
"Hm." said Tatakai. Naruto stopped the jutsu, as it is dangerous to keep for too
long.
"Kakashi!" someone yelled. It was a member of the anbu black ops. "There have
been reports of a dangerous rogue ninja from the hidden mist."
"Really?" asked Kakshi.
"Yes." said the member. "He left a trail of bodies leading to the leaf village. All
the victims were killed by asphyxiation and trauma to the neck."
"What is their name?" asked Kakashi.
"Tatakai Jikken."
The world froze around everyone. Naruto felt a pain in his stomach. Everyone
slowly turned around and looked at Tatakai, who had his eyes wide open.
"Maybe it-it's another Tatakai Jikken!" said Naruto.
"Here's a picture." said the anbu member. He held a picture up. No doubt about it. It was Tatakai. Suddenly, a kunai quickly came at the member. He barely dodged
it. Everybody looked from where the kunai came from. Tatakai.
"It wasn't my fault." he said. "This Goddamn eye is ruining my life!"
"Tatakai! You're a rogue ninja?" asked Sakura. Tatakai slowly took off hisbackpack, unzipped it, and pulled something out. His ninja headband. There was a large cut across the hidden mist logo. He put on his head, over his "injured" eye.
"Yes. I am." said Tatakai.
"Why?" asked Kakashi.
"My father betrayed me and my friends never cared about me!" yelled Tatakai. "Iwas trying to put all that behind me. Start a new life. But of course, It never works out. I just end up killing people."
"How many people died at your hands?" asked Kakashi.
"21. My village sent out groups of ninjas to kill me." said Tatakai. "They nevercame close to succeeding. Remember when you found me with my eye clawed out?"
"Yes." said Sai.
"They didn't throw a kunai in my eye. In an attempt to let the souls out of myhead, I tried to claw my eye out, and succeeded. The souls didn't come out though. They stayed in my head. They stayed because if one of them could somehow beat me in a battle of wills, they would be able to control my body. It's happened once before, but I regained control of my body."
"I hope you realise that we have to incapacitate you." said Kakashi.
"Yes, that's why I'm not real."
Suddenly, another Tatakai held his sword to Kakashi's neck. A clone.
"Don't move or your beloved sensei will die!" he yelled.
"Tatakai!" yelled Naruto. "This isn't you! The real you wouldn't do this."
"Real me? You don't know anything about me!" yelled Tatakai.
"Well, I know enough about you to know that you're not just a criminal." said Naruto.
"Not a criminal? That's all I've ever been." yelled Tatakai. "And that's all I'll ever be!"
"Not when I'm done with you!" yelled Sakura. She jumped at Tatakai from behind him. She was about to punch him, when he grabbed her arm and threw her at Kakashi. Kakashi quickly destroyed the clone that was holding him, and caught Sakura.
"Useless." said Tatakai.
"What did you just say?" exclaimed Sakura. She pushed Kakashi away and focused her chakra into her fist. She punched him, but it was another clone. Her hand became stuck in the rocks that the clone used to be.
"Perhaps you didn't hear me correctly." said Tatakai. He grabbed Sakura by the hair, and threw her to the ground and grabbed his sword. "You! Are! Useless!"
Tatakai was about to stab her when Naruto tackled him to the ground.
"Don't you dare touch Sakura!" yelled Naruto.
"You got the wrong guy." said Tatakai. He quickly wrapped his arms around Naruto and turned back in to stone.
"Another clone?" asked Naruto. He tried to escape, but the rock was hard.
"Wind Style: Spirit control Jutsu!" yelled the real Tatakai.
Suddenly, Naruto could feel himself being lifted up in the air. He kept on getting higher and higher… until he was dropped! He descended very fast. A few seconds before Naruto would've hit the ground, Kakashi caught him in the air and helped him get the rock clone off of him.
"What's that jutsu?" Naruto asked Tatakai.
"It's the only way I can control these spirits." said Tatakai. He punched at Naruto multiple times with lightning speed. Naruto blocked some of them, but one hit him hard and he was launched in to Sakura.
Sai ran towards Tatakai and they got into a sword fight. Sai retreated for a moment and painted some lions and let them loose on Tatakai. Tatakai quickly used his razor blades to disintegrate the ink lions. They got back to sword fighting and Tatakai cut Sai's arm badly, then kicked him away.
"Guys, let me handle him." said Kakashi. "It's too dangerous. Shadow clone Jutsu!"
Ten shadow clones were created. To counter this, Tatakai also created ten clones. The clones got into a fight, and Kakashi's were mostly winning. Tatakai used his Spirit-Control jutsu to crush the necks of the clones. They all disappeared.
They started sword fighting, Kakashi with a kunai and Tatakai with his sword. Kakashi managed to cut Tatakai.
"Enough of this Tatakai!" yelled Kakashi.
"Take me dead or don't take me at all!" yelled Tatakai. He quickly wrapped one of his ghostly arms around him, making it impossible to move.
"Time for number 22." said Tatakai.
"Get your hands off our sensei!" yelled Naruto and Sakura. Naruto, Sakura and Sai sped towards Tatakai, ready to hit him. Instead, Tatakai used his three of his other spirits' hands to grab them by their necks. He slowly walked towards Kakashi.
"There's a jutsu I've developed, and I want to test it out on you," said Tatakai.
His ghostly hands spread out a little, revealing Kakashi's chest. Tatakai ripped off part of Kakashi's shirt, revealing his bare chest.
Suddenly, a kunai went right through Tatakai's chest.
"Forgot about me, didn't ya?" asked the ANBU member.
"Yeah. And so will everybody else." said Tatakai. Kakashi noticed that there was no blood on the kunai. Two more ghostly hands come out of his eye and grab the member by his neck faster than someone can blink.
While one of the hands held the member up, the other repeatedly punched him. He started choking him, and after a minute, he dropped the ANBU member to the ground. He was dead.
"Tatakai! Why did you do that!?" yelled Naruto.
"I believe the term is 'retaliation.'"
"How are you not hurt?" said Kakashi.
"The Jikken clan can turn their body into stone at will. While someone can stab us in the parts that were turned into stone, we won't feel pain and it won't maim us. Although it does take a lot of chakra to do it." said Tatakai. "Now, where was I?"
Another ghostly hand came out of Tatakai's eye and went on Kakashi's chest for a few moments. When he removed it, there was a strange mark on Kakashi's chest.
"Stop it!" yelled Sakura.
"What are you doing?" yelled Sai.
"Tatakai!" yelled Naruto.
Tatakai turned and looked at them.
"You'll see." he said, smiling darkly. "Spirit-pull jutsu."
The ghostly hand went quickly into Kakashi through the mark on his chest. Kakashi yelled in pain. He was pulling Kakashi's soul out of his body! A ghostly version of Kakashi slowly came out of his head, then his shoulders.
Naruto could feel the anger building up inside and the Nine-tails stirring.
"Use my power, Naruto." said Kurama. "Kill Tatakai before he kills Kakashi."
"I can't use your power. Not after what I did to Sakura." said Naruto.
"That was her fault!" yelled the fox. "Tatakai is almost as strong as Kakashi. You'll never beat him without me. Do you want your friends to die?"
Naruto could hear the screams of Kakashi and the cries of Sakura. A cloak began forming over Naruto. He was in his 1 tails form.
"Damn it!" yelled Naruto. "Get off of me."
But the rage inside of him was too strong and too hard to resist.
"Get your hands off my sensei!" he yelled. He escaped from the ghostly hand's grip and hit Tatakai straight up. The hands let go of Kakashi, Sakura and Sai.
"Oh no! He has the nine tails cloak!" yelled Kakashi.
"Where's Yamato?" asked Sakura.
"He's on a mission away from the village," said Kakashi.
"Maybe Naruto will beat Tatakai." said Sai
"That's not what I'm worried about!" said Kakashi. His chest was still hurt from the mark.
Meanwhile, up in the air.
"What is this power?" said Tatakai.
"You won't get to know, because you'll be rotting in a cell!" yelled Naruto.
"And you'll be in a grave!" He quickly punched Naruto, and they both started descending. On the way down, Tatakai repeatedly punched Naruto, but the chakra was burning his fists. Naruto landed on his feet and punched Tatakai in the stomach repeatedly. Tatakai spat out blood. Naruto grew two more tails and grabbed Tatakai's leg and threw him at a tree.
Why am I doing this? thought Tatakai. A half an hour ago, I was tearing up about how I was a monster and I keep on killing people. Now I'm trying to kill my friend and his sensei?
Naruto ran at him on all fours at alarming speeds.
"Spirit-control Jutsu!" he yelled. The hands sped towards Naruto. He dodged them and charged. Tatakai used his last hand in his eye to grab the neck of Naruto.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" yelled Naruto. One more tail appeared. Four tails. Naruto's skin was slowly peeling off, his nails and teeth getting sharper. Red chakra surrounded him completely, and his ears changed shape. He was a mini Nine Tails.
"So much chakra!" yelled Tatakai. Naruto roared and broke free of the hands grip. He pinned Tatakai against a tree and repeatedly punched Tatakai. Tatakai was bleeding from his nose, mouth and from cuts on his face.
"Naruto, stop! Before it's too late!" yelled Kakashi. Naruto turned around for a moment, allowing Tatakai to turn his fist into stone and punch Naruto away from him. Tatakai then cut off his own arm (while it was made of stone).
"What the hell?" said Sakura.
Tatakai turned to Naruto.
"Not only can I transform my body into stone, I can also shape into any form I want." said Tatakai. He had his stone arm in his hand, and it started molding into a spiky ball. "It can also follow opponents, if I have another part of my stone body stuck to the opponent."
He threw it and it immediately started chasing Naruto like he was a magnet and the ball was metal. Tatakai stuck his arm (or what was left of it) and when he took it out, his arm reappeared!
"How?" asked Sakura.
"I can turn my body into stone, but if I chop off my arm, whether it's stone or not, I regenerate if I stick my amputated limb in the ground. It regenerates immediately, thinking that it's part of my body."
Naruto was still being chased by the spiked rock. Tatakai said that if a part of his stone arm was stuck to him, then the rock would chase him. The rock was mainly going for his face, so he thought that the rock must have stuck to him when Tatakai punched him. While he was running, Naruto quickly brushed off his face, and the rock stopped following him.
He ran towards Tatakai. Tatakai drew his sword, so Naruto slowly circled him, like an animal would to his prey. They both looked at eachother, daring the other to attack first.
"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" someone suddenly yelled from Tatakai. He turned around quickly, grabbed the person's arm and slammed them into the ground. It was Sakura.
"Didn't your sensei tell you not to fight me?" asked Tatakai. Instead of answering, Sakura turned into a kunai with a paper bomb attached to it. A substitute. Instead of panicking, Tatakai jumped high enough that the explosion wouldn't affect him. While he was in the air, the real Sakura jumped as high as him and punched him in the face. He plummeted towards the ground. He didn't get up.
"Is he dead already? That was easy." said Sakura.
"Easy? Kakashi-sensei almost died." said Sai. "Naruto couldn't kill him with his Nine Tails cloak."
"Yeah. It was almost too easy.." said Kakashi suspiciously. "But we have other problems."
He pointed at Naruto. He was growling at them and crawling towards them slowly.
"Naruto, it's us. Kakashi, Sakura and Sai." said Kakashi. "Please calm down."
Naruto didn't listen. It's hard to control himself when he's in this form. Anger controls him.
"Naruto. Please stop this." said Sakura. Naruto growled at her. "Don't do this again."
Naruto remembered the time he injured Sakura. During his fight with Orochimaru, Sakura intervened and Naruto punched her. Because of his chakra, the pain didn't go away for a long time. Naruto shook his head and slowly backed away from Sakura. The red chakra that coated him slowly dissolved, and the tails disappeared. Finally, he was back to the Naruto they know and love. He collapsed on the ground.
"Naruto!" yelled Sakura. She quickly ran over to him and started healing him.
"We need more medical ninja," said Kakashi.
"I can do this," said Sakura.
"Guys." said Sai. "He's alive."
"I know." said Sakura. "Naruto won't die from something like this."
"No. Tatakai."
Tatakai slowly got up from where he was. Half of his face was red from Sakura's punch. His nose was bloody.
"How are you still alive?" said Sakura. "I focused all my chakra into that punch!"
"If you did, that's sad." said Tatakai. "I used one of my invisible hands to block your punch. I still felt it though. Maybe you're not useless."
"Get back!" yelled Kakashi to Sakura and Sai. "Sakura, heal Naruto. Sai, guard behind me."
"Yes, sir." said the two.
"It's time to end this." said Kakashi.
"Yes it is." said Tatakai. He turned one of his arms to stone and wielded his sword in the other. Kakashi got a kunai in one hand and created chidori in the other.
"What's that?" asked Tatakai.
"Your doom." said Kakashi. He immediately started rushing towards him. Sai drew some lions quickly which also rushed at Tatakai. Tatakai cut all the lions while simultaneously dodging the kunai thrown by Kakashi.
Tatakai unattached his arm and threw the rocks at Kakashi. He dodged most of them and broke the last one using his chidori. Tatakai quickly regenerated his arm in the ground below.
Sai drew a large net and trapped Tatakai. Tatakai tried to escape, but the ink net
regrew every time he tried to cut.
"I'm sorry Tatakai." said Kakashi, sadly.
"Me too." said Tatakai. He smiled. Suddenly, his body became a bright, shining white.
"What the hell?" yelled Kakashi.
"I gave myself over to the souls." said Tatakai. "I'm trapped. You get no mercy from me, because I can't control my body anymore. I don't want to hurt anybody anymore. So I'll let the souls do it. Even if you manage to incapacitate me, I'll never be myself again. I'm trapped in my own mind. This is the last time you'll ever hear my voice."
Ghost Tatakai levitated in the air, before flying towards Kakashi at mach speeds.
"Now that we have control, we are stronger." said Ghost Tatakai. Their voice sounded like multiple people talking at once. "Tatakai is weak. He depends on us to do all the work while he takes credit. Now, nothing can stop our urge to kill."
They punched Kakashi faster than he could react. They ripped out a tree from the ground and threw it at Sai. He barely managed to dodge it, but even then, it hit his arm, instantly breaking it.
"Ah!" yelled Sai. He fell to the ground.
"Sai!" yelled Kakashi.
Ghost Tatakai's arms extended towards Kakashi. They trapped him. They then crushed him, but in a puff of smoke, he became a piece of wood.
"Chidori!" yelled Kakashi. Using the lighting blade, he sliced a giant gap in Ghost Tatakai's chest. They fell to the ground. But there was no blood. There was instead glowing white liquid leaking out of their insides. A seconds later, the hole was healed over and they got up.
"What are you?" yelled Kakashi.
"Your nightmar-"
"Summoning jutsu!"
Suddenly, a giant frog appeared with a giant sword in hand.
"Naruto! What the hell happened to you?" asked Gamabunta. "Are you usually
this red?"
"Turned into a demon, long story. Anyways, where's Tatakai?" asked Naruto.
"Tatakai isn't here anymore!" yelled Kakashi.
"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.
"He gave up his body to the souls."
Naruto's eyes widened.
"Kakashi, now isn't the time to tell jokes. That is a joke, right?"
Kakashi shook his head and pointed towards Ghost Tatakai. Tears formed in Naruto's eyes. He wiped them.
"Damn it, Tatakai. Even Talk-no Jutsu couldn't save you."
"Tatakai's gone! Didn't you listen?" yelled Ghost Tatakai.
Naruto jumped down from Gamabunta in front of them.
"DIE!" yelled Ghost Tatakai. They punched Naruto, but he disappeared in a puff of smoke. The real Naruto grabbed them and, with the help of some clones, threw them up to Gamabunta. Gamabunta jumped and slammed his fists down on them. They landed on the ground, shaking the earth and creating a large crater in the ground. The clones proceeded to pummel them, then grab them and throw them into a tree.
"Let Tatakai out!" yelled Naruto.
"Never!"
"Do it!"
"NO!"
A clone helped Naruto create the rasengan.
"LAST CHANCE!"
"WE'D SOONER DIE THAN GIVE OURSELVES UP AGAIN!"
Naruto hit them with rasengan and they were launched through multiple trees. Tears streamed down Naruto's face. Would he ever see Tatakai again?
He ran towards Ghost Tatakai, who stood up. Suddenly, Tatakai's face turned back to normal.
"You can't kill me in this form!" yelled Tatakai. "You have to kill me when I flash back to my normal self! I'm trying my best to overcome them! I regret giving them control. I don't want anymore people to die. Especially not you!"
"Tatakai?" said Naruto.
"It's me. I'm sorry I hurt you and your friends. I could've changed. But I didn't want to. I wanted to stay this way, killing the people who my village sends after me. It cured my demented bloodlust that the souls gave to me. Every time I kill someone, I become more and more empty."
"I'm not going to kill you."
"You have to."
"I believe that you can beat them in a battle of will. You have to!"
Tatakai turned back into Ghost Tatakai.
"You'll never kill us!" they yelled.
Naruto fled to Kakashi.
"Tatakai flashed back to his normal form. He said that he can't be killed while the ghost's have control. We have to kill him when he overpowers the ghosts, but he doesn't last long in that form. Do we actually have to kill him, or is there another way?"
"Ghost Tatakai is too strong, and I don't think Tatakai will ever return to his normal form. I'm sorry Naruto, we'll have to kill him."
More tears ran down Naruto's face. "Okay."
Naruto got on top of Gamabunta.
"Go into the forest." ordered Naruto.
"Alright." said Gamabunta.
Gamabunta went into the forest, but suddenly Ghost Tatakai punched the colossal amphibian. Gamabunta went into the air. He tried to slice them, but they dodged every attack.
"He's too fast. You got any plans?" asked the giant frog.
"Keep on distracting him. When he changes back to Tatakai, then Kakashi and I will…"
"Kill him?"
"...Yeah."
Naruto prepared rasengan while Kakashi prepared chidori. They waited for Ghost Tatakai to turn back into Tatakai. Ghost Tatakai was struggling to control Tatakai. Finally, after a few minutes, the white light covering Ghost Tatakai's body disappeared and Tatakai emerged again.
"Now!" he yelled. Naruto and Kakashi rushed in with their signature moves. Right before they connected, Tatakai turned back into Ghost Tatakai. They grabbed Kakashi and Naruto's arms and slammed them together, before throwing them away.
"My, my, my. Tatakai is a tricky one." said Ghost Tatakai.
"That's 'cause he is determined to get rid of you!" yelled Naruto. "Get him Gamabunta!"
Quickly, Gamabunta stepped on Ghost Tatakai before they could react. When he lifted his foot, they were lying there in the crater, with their arms and feet spread out. Ghost Tatakai got up, clearly very dizzy, leaving a Tatakai shaped hole in the footprint.
"You thought that would get us?" asked Ghost Tatakai. "Ha ha ha ha! You guys are-"
Before Ghost Tatakai could finish their sentence, Tatakai took control of his own body again.
"Now!" he yelled again. With tears in his eyes and rasengan in his hand, Naruto thrusted his fist through Tatakai. Kakashi did the same.
"Thank you." said Tatakai. Naruto let out a sob. "While I'll be in a dark place soon, I'll be happy knowing that you and your friends will be happy up here."
"I'm sorry." sobbed Naruto.
"It's alright. I knew it would happen someday." said Tatakai. "Remember this, Naruto; Life is better when experienced with your friends. I used to be always sad. Until I met you. Thank you for bringing light into my darkness."
Tatakai coughed out blood, then collapsed. Sakura and Sai ran into the forest. Sai had a cast on. They saw Tatakai on the ground. Sakura gasped.
"Naruto, why are you crying?" asked Sai. "You won."
"No, Sai." said Naruto. "There are no winners here
Team 7 went to the grave of Tatakai. It was on a hill, like Zabuza and Haku's graves were. Sakura placed flowers on the grave.
"I'm sorry, Naruto." said Kakashi, his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I know you got close to him."
"Thank you, sensei." said Naruto, sadly. "I wonder if Tatakai really is going to Hell."
"Maybe, or maybe not." said Kakashi. "Not everything was his fault. He sacrificed himself so we don't die. He overcame three evil souls. He did noble things."
Naruto sighed. "Maybe you're right. Maybe one day, I'll see him again. I can tell him all the things I did, like getting married, having kids and becoming Hokage."
"I hope you see him again too," said Kakashi.
The rest began to leave, while Naruto stayed.
"You coming, Naruto?" asked Kakashi.
"You guys go ahead." said Naruto.
They left.
"Tatakai, even though I've only known you for two ½ days, I feel like we had an emotional connection. You were all alone because of something you couldn't control. I wish I had known you before, so you wouldn't have been alone. I could have been your friend. And so could everybody else. You could've been like me."
Tears dripped down onto the ground covering Tatakai's coffin. Naruto looked at Tatakai's headstone. "Tatakai Jikken. 1993-2009. ' Life is better when experienced with your friends.'"
"It is Tatakai." he watched the sunset. "It is."