I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any money off of this.
"talking"
'thinking'
Chapter 19:
Sasuke used his lightning to move to Kakashi's side. He raised his sword, blocking Zabuza's. "I think we need to work together on this."
Kakashi looked at Sasuke in surprise. He then smiled. "Right." He was proud that his student has grown up to be such a good man and a good shinobi. Kakashi dropped to the ground and used it to capture Zabuza's leg.
Sasuke jumped away and quickly slammed a seal on Haku's regenerating body. He then pulled out a scroll and sealed the body within it. He turned around in time to see Kakashi's hand going through Zabuza's body. Sasuke made his way towards them and used a seal on Zabuza a second after Kakashi removed his arm. Sasuke sealed Zabuza's body into the same scroll as Haku. He then checked over Kakashi. "Your chakra level has taken a hit. You have about half left. It doesn't seem like you are wounded though."
"No, I dodged most of Zabuza's attacks," Kakashi said. "Just a few scrapes and bruises." He gave Sasuke a pat on his back. "You've really matured."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Sasuke said. Kakashi smiled.
"Sasuke!" Karin yelled. The girl ran to his side. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Sasuke said.
Karin let out a sigh of relief. "Good." Her eyes then widened. Seeing the look, Sasuke's Sharingan shifted into the Mangekyo. He called upon his Susano just in time to take an attack. However, the Susano couldn't hold back the attack completely. Kakashi used the time the Susano gained to take the rest of the hit with his earth barrier wall. Kakashi fell to his knees from using so much chakra.
"Whatever that was, we can't take another hit," Sasuke said.
"It was a Dust Release jutsu," Kakashi said. "I've heard of two people that could use it. One is the Third and current Tsuchikage Onoki. And the other was the Second Tsuchikage Mu. But Mu was mutually killed in a fight against the Second Mizukage Gengetsu Hozuki."
"Hozuki?" Karin asked. "As in Suigetsu's Clan?"
Sasuke ignored her. "Then Kabuto used Edo Tensei on Mu. He probably used it on Gengetsu and some of the other previous Kage."
"Most likely," Kakashi agreed. "We should get out of here. I don't think we can take on Mu." Sasuke and Karin nodded. They began to move but another attack stopped them. They managed to dodge it thanks to Karin's powerful sensory skills. "It doesn't look like we can run."
"Does the Dust Release have a weakness?" Sasuke asked.
"Only that it takes a lot of chakra per use," Kakashi answered. "But with him being a reincarnation, that may not stop him."
"We have to bring him out of hiding," Sasuke said. "Then I'll hit him with Amaterasu. Until then, we'll have to keep dodging. Karin…"
"Right," Karin said. She closed her eyes. "He's over there." She pointed towards the tree line.
Sasuke nodded and waved a few hand signs. "Great Fire Destruction." He aimed for the area Mu was. The flames quickly spread, forcing Mu to step forward. Sasuke's Mangekyo glared at Mu. "Amaterasu." The black flames appeared on Mu's chest. Karin cheered, but Sasuke and Kakashi frowned. They watched as Mu fell to the ground only for there to be another Mu left standing in his place. Sasuke was about to make the flames spread to this Mu when he disappeared.
"Eh?" Karin nearly yelled. "I can't sense him."
"Did he leave?" Sasuke asked.
"I doubt it," Kakashi said. "Kabuto wouldn't just let us live so easily. Not unless he's planning something." Sasuke nodded.
"Sasuke!" Karin yelled. A coffin slammed into Sasuke, causing him to cough blood. Karin ran to his side, holding out an arm. Sasuke bit into the arm, letting Karin's chakra heal him. Kakashi stood with his guard up in front of them as the coffin opened.
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Bee instantly shifted into Sage Two. He knew that he had to put a lot of strength behind his attacks. "Be careful Bee," Gyuki said. "He's very strong. He and I fought many times, and I never won."
"Brother said he was the strongest Raikage we ever had," Bee said.
"That's true," Gyuki agreed. "He once fought for three consecutive days and nights against ten thousand shinobi, on his own. He did die though during that."
"Do you know how?" Bee asked.
"I don't," Gyuki said. "My guess is that he succumbed to chakra deficiency."
"Looks like talking is over," Bee said. The Third Raikage charged at them. Bee moved to the left, dodging the Third's fingers. Bee raised his leg and slammed his knee into the Third, but the lightning helped tank the hit. Bee frowned. Lightning wouldn't work against the Third and neither would his swords. The Third's defences were too strong.
"Bee, bring me out," Gyuki said. Bee nodded. He made the necessary signs as Gyuki was soon standing beside him in his human form. "We'll have to take him down together. You should still be able to tap into my chakra." Bee reentered Stage Two, having released it to let Gyuki out. Gyuki did the same. The Third looked between the two before changing at Gyuki. Gyuki managed to grab ahold of the Third. Bee slammed his fist down against the Third's head. Once again, his lightning blocked the attack. Gyuki was pushed backwards as the Third took another stab at Bee. It hit his side. Bee was able to remain unscatched thanks to his chakra cloak.
Bee and Gyuki stuck to Taijutsu as they tried to break through the Third's defences. Seeing as it wasn't working, Bee started using some water jutsus. He really wished he knew some wind style jutsus but he didn't have the affinity. His eyes fell on a scar on the Third's body. 'Where did that scar come from?' Bee opened his mind-link with Gyuki. 'Do you know how he got that scar?'
'He got it during one of our fights,' Gyuki answered. 'I only remember that we both fell forward while our last jutsus were still active.' Gyuki called upon the memory, showing it to Bee.
'Hm..' Bee thought. 'You fell towards each other? Then could it be that he…?'
Gyuki's eyes widened. 'That has to be it. He did always say that battle was his life's shame.'
'Then we have to make him do it again. You can use the Tailed Beast Ball in the form correct?'
'I can.'
'Then we'll go with that.' Gyuki nodded. Bee jumped towards the Third while Gyuki began to form a mini Tailed Beast Ball around the same size as Naruto's Rasengan. Seeing his chance, Gyuki slammed the ball into the underside of his left arm. This pushed the arm upwards and through the Third's chest. At the same time, Bee made a few clones and activated his sealing technique Octopus Hold. The Ink managed to completely surround the Third. For added measure, Bee placed a seal on top of his hardened ink.
'It's a good thing I got that from Naruto,' Bee said.
"Not bad," A said. Bee and Gyuki turned around to see the man standing a few feet away. "It looks like you don't need my help."
"Brother, what are you doing here?" Bee asked.
"Did you honestly think I wouldn't come to see what trouble you got yourself into this time?" A asked.
"We're here to help Naruto," Gyuki said.
A's eyes moved towards Gyuki before them returned to Bee. "We may have an alliance with Konoha, but we were not asked by the Hokage to be here. We are interfering in their fight."
"Sorry Brother," Bee said. "But I'd never abandon Naruto. He has helped me too many times for this to even start to pay him back. And I'm sure you think the same thing." A frowned before he nodded. "I have to get back to Naruto. He is fighting the reincarnated forms of the previous Jinchuriki including Yugito."
A sighed. "Alright. I'll go talk to the Hokage about Kumo possibly sending some shinobi to help." Without another word, A was gone. Bee smiled.
"Bee, Naruto just sent me a message using the Jinchuriki mind-link," Gyuki said. He changed into a small Octo-bull hybrid before going back into Bee's body. "He said that someone named Sai desperately needs our help."
Bee nodded "Let's go."
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Gaara turned his back on his father as tears rolled down his face. Gold dust crashed into the ground. He looked up as Rasa's last words went through his head. "I'm entrusting the village to you, Gaara." Gaara looked back at the sand sculpture of his mother. "I promise to keep Suna and her people safe."
"Looks like you're done here too!" Bee said. He looked around. "Looks like Konoha is going to have to plant a lot of trees."
"I'm sure Naruto will take care of it," Gaara said.
"Speaking of Naruto, he asked that we go help someone named Suigetsu," Bee said. "He's back at the crater."
"Lets go," Gaara said. His floating sand moved under him quickly. Bee ran after him, adding some lightning to his steps.
FOR GAARA VS RASA, WATCH EPISODE 297!
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Suigetsu had to admit that he was thankful for the experiments Orochimaru put him though. Without them, he wouldn't still be alive right now. He had managed to survive two of the explosions caused by the Steam Imp. But his body was still covered in wounds. Naruto and Neji were nowhere in sight as their battle had been moved even further away. Suigetsu doubted that either of them would be able to help him. He wasn't stupid. In fact, thanks to Itachi, Sasuke, and Naruto, Suigetsu knew that he was far outclassed in this fight. He wasn't going to survive another explosion. The Kubikiribōchō was all but destroyed. It needed blood to regain its form, but there was no place for Suigetsu to get any more blood. Thanks to Tsunade and Naruto, Suigetsu had some tubes of blood that he kept on himself just in case his sword ever broke. But the tubes were empty.
The Steam Imp lept towards Suigetsu with another kick. Suigetsu managed to block the kick, but it seemed the Imp didn't need to land the kick as it grew to the needed size to explode. Suigetsu closed his eyes and he prepared himself for death. But death never came. Suigetsu heard the sound of sand falling around him. He looked up and saw the wall of sand that managed to stop the explosion from hitting Suigetsu. Suigetsu counted his lucky stars as he saw Gaara and Bee standing behind him.
"What is that?" Gaara asked. "It clearly isn't human."
"It's Gengetsu's Steam Imp," Suigetsu said. "It's body is made of water and oil. Once heated, the Imp explodes. Its body then reforms and it can repeat the process over and over again."
"I see," Gaara said. "Then we need to stop it from overheating." His sand went at the Imp, trying to capture it. The Imp was faster than Gaara thought. Gaara tried to increase the speed of his sand by increasing the amount of chakra in it, but the Imp continued to evade the sand. "It's too fast."
"Looks like I'll have to stop it," Bee said. He entered Stage Two and charged at the Imp. Bee used his sealing technique. The ink began to surround the Imp. This worked against Bee as the Imp just sucked the ink into its own body before growing enormous and exploding. Bee was sent flying, his chakra cloak protecting him from serious harm. He cursed as he got to his feet. The three of them watched as the Imp quickly reformed.
"Stopping that thing isn't the only problem," Suigetsu said. "Even if we manage to stop it, we still have to take down the real body."
"I have a plan," Gaara said. "But I'll need you to hold that thing back." Suigetsu and Bee looked at each other. They nodded, trusting the Kazekage. They charged at the Imp, Bee refraining from using any of Gyuki's chakra. He knew it would just help heat the creature up. Gaara stood back, his sand moving around him. Suigetsu borrowed one of Bee's swords to parry the axe-arm that came at him. Bee put some lightning into his own blade as he sliced into the Imp. The Imp reformed before it began to expand. The Imp jumped out of the pincer move Suigetsu and Bee tried to do. It charged at Gaara, expanding even more. Gaara made the ground swirl around, making the Imp slow down a bit. It still landed a hit on Gaara who turned into sand, revealing that he was just a Sand Clone. The sand then surrounded the Imp just as it reached the necessary heat for another explosion.
Thinking that Gaara, Bee, and Suigetsu were done for, Gengetsu made his presence known. What surprised the Second Mizukage was that after the Imp exploded, the sand simply crumpled away. Under the sand was a gold shell. Gengetsu stared at it in wonder. "You looked confused," Gaara said, coming out of the ground. "The Sand Clone he attacked had my father's Gold Dust inside of it. The Gold Dust went into the Imp, slowing it down. It dissipated the heat, melted the gold and made the shell."
"Impressive," Gengetsu said. "You are not only strong, but very intelligent as well. It was a very good strategy. But that doesn't mean that you've won. I can just make another one."
"I doubt that," Gaara said. Suigetsu slammed Kubikiribōchō into Gengetsu. His attack managed to catch the Second Mizukage off guard thanks to his focus being on Gaara. Suigetsu managed to mask his presence thanks to the overwhelming chakra Bee was leaking.
"How?" Gengetsu asked. "I destroyed your sword."
"It's the Kubikiribōchō," Suigetsu explained. Gaara's sand mixed with the Gold Dust began to surround Gengetsu's body. "Thanks to the blood in Gaara's sand, it was able to regenerate."
Gengetsu laughed. "I see. I underestimated you. For that, I apologize." He smiled as he was finally sealed. Suigetsu fell to his butt as he tried to catch his breath.
"It looks like you're done," Bee said.
"Yeah," Suigetsu admitted. "I used too much chakra."
"I'll escort you to the medic station," Gaara said.
"Sure," Suigetsu grinned.
"I'll see if anyone else needs my help," Bee said. He picked up the Kubikiribōchō. "Do you mind if I borrow this?"
"As long as you promise to give it back," Suigetsu said. "I don't want to have to hunt you down for it."
"I promise I will," Bee said. Not caring about his surroundings, Bee entered Stage Two and began running. Suigetsu just shook his head as Gaara sighed. The two made their way to the medic camp on Gaara's sand.