DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO, FAIRY TAIL, OR ANY ASSOCIATED CHARACTERS
Hello again, latest chapter here. I'm thinking I caught most of you off guard with this coup arc, though it's not like you'd expect any less from Danzo. I thought his death was a pretty good one, and that last pat with Kakashi using Zabuza's and then Naruto and Sasuke's techniques was pretty fun to write. This story in general is just fun to write. Well, anyways, read, review, and as always, enjoy!
Chapter 17
As the battle raged on, Guy found himself leading his team from place to place, eliminating any resistance they may have encountered, be they Sound shinobi or traitorous ANBU. Turning a corner, they were confronted with a large pile of rubble from a fallen building that blocked the street.
Forced to climb it, the four of them carefully watched their footing, as one misstep could mean a broken leg or ankle, maybe even worse. Guy was the first to summit, placing his hands on his hips as he looked at the village with sorrow.
Columns of smoke continued to flow into the sky, fires raged, and buildings were crumbling. Guy looked back to his former students turned teammates with an odd smile on his face. "Come! We will defend our village! Onward with the power of youth!"
Turning back around, he took one more step, and froze. Somehow, he was now looking at his own body from outside of his body. Given a side view, Guy watched as his body turned around and delivered a savage kick to the face of Lee.
Lee toppled down the rocks they'd just climbed up, the jagged edges scraping and cutting away at his skin. Neji and Tenten gasped in surprise, but recovered quickly enough to avoid the same fate.
The Hyuga vaulted over Guy, landing behind him while Tenten crawled up in front of him. She pulled out a scroll, and when she unsealed it, a barrage of shuriken flew out, giving her enough time to join Neji safely.
Guy avoided all of the shuriken simply by jumping over them, landing in his feet and drawing a kunai. "Whoever this is, it's not Guy-sensei," Neji stated, activating his Byakugan.
"What?" Tenten gasped. "What do you mean that's not Guy-sensei?"
"For starters, when have you ever seen Guy-sensei use a kunai?" Neji asked.
Tenten pursed her lips in thought as they stared at their sensei. "Now that you mention it, I didn't even know he carried kunai."
"On top of that, his chakra has changed. It's not Guy-sensei's," Neji said, his Byakugan scanning the form in front of them.
Tenten looked around nervously. "Maybe it's a genjutsu?"
No! I'm right here! Guy continuously yelled, but since he had no mouth, it was clear that no words were reaching his students.
"If it is a genjutsu," Lee said, his form appearing as he climbed over the rocks to stand on the pile of rubble, "then all we must do is dispel it, and Guy-sensei will return to normal."
"It's worth a shot," Neji agreed, charging towards Guy, his hands raised in the Gentle Fist posture. Lee rushed in at the same time, and the pair tag-teamed Guy while Tenten provided support from behind.
They quickly discovered that in whatever state their sensei was in, he did not fight as well as he should have been. His taijutsu was slower, and his instincts were not those of their sensei. At one point, Lee swept his legs out from under him, and Neji slammed him to the ground, sending a burst of chakra through his body that should have dispelled any genjutsu.
As it turns out, their tactic was sound, but their judgement of it being a genjutsu was wrong. Guy punched Neji in the face, forcing the Hyuga to backflip away, using the momentum to his advantage. Lee slid back as well, and the trio of students faced their sensei once again.
"So if it is not a genjutsu, then what is it?" Lee asked.
Naji shook his head. "I'm not sure."
Widening his area of focus with the Byakugan, Neji discovered something strange. A small doll-like object was attached to a nearby building, and it possessed Guy's chakra somehow. In that same building, above the doll, was an open window. Inside of the room, an unconscious body lay propped against the wall, his chakra oddly similar to that of the Yamanaka clan.
Then it clicked for Neji. "Listen up! Guy's consciousness is inside of that doll over there! It's a Yamanaka clan jutsu, he's taken over Guy's body!"
Guy's body grinned in a way that they weren't used to. "So you figured it out, huh? Just my luck that I run into a Byakugan user. It's too bad, you wouldn't dare hurt your sensei."
"You are from the Foundation!" Lee realized.
Guy's body nodded. "I'm Fu Yamanaka, and I serve Lord Danzo. Not that it matters, you'll all be dead soon."
"Now, Tenten!" Neji called.
"Right," the kunoichi nodded, producing three kunai in each hand, paper bombs attached to the ends by string.
The Yamanaka inside of Guy chuckled. "And what are you going to do with that? You wouldn't risk killing your sensei just to drive me out of bis body. So wha-oh shit."
The six paper bombs in Tenten's hand flew not towards Guy's body, but towards the open window at the top of the building. Fu quickly undid the jutsu, but it was too late. As he regained consciousness inside of his real body, he looked up at the ceiling, where six paper bombs were embedded in a perfect circle. Half a second later, they detonated, destroying half of the room, Fu along with it.
Guy came to back in his real body. His hands flew quickly around, making sure everything worked properly, and he rubbed his chest when he was finished. "I'd expect no less from my prized pupils! Being out of my body like that was so unyouthful! Now let's go, the village still needs our help!"
"Yes, Guy-sensei!" the three of them chorused before following after him, leaving the smoking remains of the building behind them.
Natsu set Kakashi down on one of the benches in the hospital. Evidently, teleporting something like that human bomb took a lot out of the guy, because he'd fallen asleep when they were halfway there. Sakura, who was in charge along with Shizune, came and took a look at the unconscious Copy Ninja as Natsu took a step back.
Seeing that Kakashi was in good hands, the dragon slayer turned to rejoin the battle, but barely had time to jump away when two shinobi carried a stretcher in through the doors as fast as they possibly could. Upon it was a sight that Natsu did not expect.
Laxus was on the stretcher. Purple marks covered his entire upper body, and he even had one on his cheek. His face was scrunched in pain, even though he was unconscious, and sweat beaded his forehead.
"Laxus!" Natsu exclaimed, following the two shinobi carrying the stretcher.
They placed him down on a bed in one of the already full hospital rooms, quickly removing the stretcher and heading out to find the next wounded. "Hey, can I get some help over here?!" Natsu yelled at the bustling medics.
As it happens, Shizune heard Natsu, turning at the sound of his voice. Her head was tilted in confusion that was quickly replaced by concern as she gasped when she saw who was on the bed in front of Natsu.
"Oh no!" she said as she rushed over. Immediately, she held her hands over his chest as they glowed green. After a few seconds of concentrated effort, her face grew even more desperate. "Why isn't it working?!" she asked, seemingly to herself.
She removed her gloves and was about to touch Laxus' skin when a voice from behind called, "No! Don't touch him!"
Turning, they saw Shino, bandages wrapped around his torso and left arm, his trench coat nowhere to be found, though he retained his dark sunglasses. Dirt and grime seemed to stick to him, and a few cuts that had stopped bleeding were visible as well.
"What do you mean, Shino?" Shizune asked quickly. "Do you know what's wrong with him?"
Shino nodded. "Those spots are not simple poison. They are a special type of insect that can be found in a rare few members of my clan."
"Are you saying one of your family members did this?" Natsu asked.
Shino nodded. "Yes. My cousin, Torune. He was taken into the Foundation when he was young. I expect that he sided with them during this rebellion."
"What about Laxus?" Shizune asked, the worry showing in her eyes.
Shino looked down at the dragon slayer, whose muscles were tensed up as he fought the pain. "The only ways to counteract these insects are for either the host to call them back into his own body, or for antibodies to be deployed into his system."
"But we don't have any antibodies!" Shizune said.
Shino nodded. "I know. Luckily, I have bred my own insects with these ones, creating a new breed that produces antibodies. I can heal him."
Shizune stepped out of the way as Shino placed his hands on Laxus. Over the next few minutes, they watched as the purple spots on Laxus' skin disappeared one by one. Whether Shino's insects were simply eating the toxic ones inside of Laxus or only deploying the antibodies, they didn't know.
When the work was done, Shino sat back, still weak from the fighting, and that had taken a little more out of him. "He's fine now, and should wake in a few hours. I think I'll go rest now."
"Thanks pal!" Natsu said, giving Shino a thumbs up as Shizune smiled after the Aburame.
The kunoichi looked back to Natsu. "Don't worry, I'll watch over him."
"Alright, I'm counting on you!" Natsu called as he disappeared out the door, heading back to the fight.
Manda was on a rampage. The massive purple snake had destroyed a good chunk of the village, and had unfortunately gobbled up many of the civilians and shinobi as well. His latest victims were staring up at him, just asking to be eaten. His mouth opened and he darted forward, but he never reached his target.
An iron rod extended from somewhere in the crowd, catching Manda just below his jaw and throwing him backwards. He hissed in irritation as his eyes followed the receding iron club back to a man in the crowd with studs across his face and arms.
Gajeel grinned. "You're one ugly snake, you know that?"
Manda hissed in anger, darting towards Gajeel once again, but the same result happened, with Manda being pushed back. By that time, the street had been completely cleared of civilians and shinobi, leaving the two completely alone.
Gajeel leapt into the air, aiming another club at Manda's face, but the snake swayed to the side, then bit down on the iron rod. He spun his head and flung Gajeel into the side of a building. Gajeel scrambled to his feet and dove out of the way before Manda's tail came down upon him.
"Annoying human! I will swallow you whole!"
Gajeel chuckled. "Looks like you talk. Maybe you're not as stupid as I thought you were, but I'm still gonna beat ya."
Manda hissed, darting his head forward to crush Gajeel, but the dragon slayer hardened his skin into his Iron Dragon Scales just in time. He was ground into the concrete, with his forearms even beginning to crack from the sheer weight of Manda.
The snake stopped in outrage that his opponent hadn't been killed. He opened his mouth and bit down on Gajeel, taking him into his mouth. When Gajeel fell past the lips of the snake, he felt the mouth itself. It was squishy and slimy, and smelled like a sewer, especially towards the back. The dragon slayer stumbled when Manda began to move again.
"Uh oh," Gajeel said in alarm as he felt a familiar sensation in the pit of his stomach. Falling to his knees, he held his midsection as his face paled from the motion sickness. "But this thing...ain't even a vehicle," he complained.
With his balance lost, he fell towards the back of Manda's throat, luckily grabbing onto the snake's uvula before he was swallowed. Gajeel hung there for several seconds, his grip slowly being lost from the slick surface, as well as most of his strength being sapped by his motion sickness. As his momentum began to make him swing, Gajeel moaned in agony, the extra movement irritating his stomach even further.
A moment later, a low rumble could be beard from the dark passageway that was Manda's throat. Gajeel glanced down with confusion, wondering what else could possibly be inside this massive snake. He didn't have to wonder long, though, as a wave of mottled green and brown vomit washed him off of the uvula and onto the street below.
Gajeel lay there for a few seconds, allowing himself to recover from his motion sickness as Manda finished expelling the contents of his stomach. Staggering to his feet, Gajeel looked up at the snake with contempt.
"You're not even a vehicle! Why were you making me sick?!"
The snake was taken aback by that question. "Me? You made me sick you pathetic human!"
"Yeah, whatever," Gajeel said, waving a hand. "Listen, I ain't gonna be snake food so either you leave or I'm gonna chop you into little bits."
Manda snorted, a puff of smoke escaping his nostrils as he seemed to be laughing. "How will you do that, human? No blade of shinobi can pierce my scales!" he proclaimed.
Gajeel smirked. "That a challenge? I got somethin' for you."
The iron dragon slayer clapped both his hands together over his head, activating his magic. His hands fused together and were completely absorbed by dark iron as it covered them and began to extend into the air above him. The finished product was a much larger version if his regular Iron Dragon Sword, extending over a hundred feet into the air, making it visible from anywhere in the village.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Karma Demon Iron God Sword!"
Gajeel brought the massive sword forwards as Manda watched, helpless to move in time. The sword easily severed through Manda's hide, the resulting shockwave destroying buildings all the way back towards the main gates.
When Gajeel released the sword and his arms returned to normal, he noticed what he'd done. The giant snake that had once stood against him had been split completely down the middle for many feet, to the point where its corpse looked like a peeled banana. The two halves flopped uselessly to either side, leaving a portion of the tail still attached.
Gajeel breathed deeply to settle himself, as he was covered in sweat, and was somewhat tired. Footsteps from behind him caused him to turn his head, seeing Shikamaru, Choji, and Choza approaching.
"Did you-did you do that?" Choji asked in disbelief.
Gajeel chuckled. "Damn right, kid. What, you thought all I could do was cover myself in iron?"
"No, it's not that, it's just...wow."
Choza laughed, slapping his son on the back. "I sure am glad he's on our side!"
"Speaking of sides, where's Orochimaru?" Shikamaru asked. "I doubt that he'd send his summon and his ninja without coming with them. After all, the guy has tried to destroy the village in the past."
"You're right," Choza said, placing his fingers on his meaty chin.
A squishing sound from behind them caused head turns, then confusion from all of them but Choza. In front of them was a large blue and white slug, crawling towards them. Shikamaru and Choji were about to step out of the way, wary of the thing, but Choza gave a sigh of relief.
"That's Lady Tsunade's summon, Lady Katsuyu."
The slug crawled right up to Gajeel and attached itself to his leg, then glowed with a green light. Instantly, Gajeel began to feel better, his minor cuts and bruises beginning to disappear altogether.
"Was that Manda you just took down?" the slug asked in a high-pitched, sweet voice.
Gajeel nodded. "Uh, yeah. I guess."
"I'll notify Lady Tsunade right away," the slug said, then crawled off down the street, looking for the next person to treat.
"Alright, who's next?" Gajeel asked, standing up straight.
Shikamaru waved in front of his face. "I think it's me if you don't take a bath," he said, pinching his nose.
Truth be told, Gajeel smelled it as well. Way more than Shikamaru ever could. He shrugged after a few seconds, though. "Smelled worse."
Gray was having a hard time with Sai. They seemed evenly matched for the most part. Whatever animal that Sai threw at Gray, he reduced it to an ink puddle with his various ice weapons. He was beginning to get irritated, because he couldn't get an opening. Every time he tried to get close, he was pushed back by a pack of tigers or bears.
For Gray to be successful in this fight, he knew that he would have to lure Sai in without being mauled by one of his creatures. Then, Gray realized something. Moving his hand towards his chest, he threw off the long, white coat and blue shirt underneath in one fluid motion, leaving him bare-chested, displaying the Fairy Tail mark, as well as the smaller leaf under it.
Then, as he faced Sai, two long swords of ice sprouted from his forearms. He charged forward, slashing the latest tiger into ink, then a large bird that Sai sent his way. When Gray got close enough, a batch of snakes were sent out of the pages. They shimmered as the rays of sun hit them, cating strange shadows on the ground as they moved towards Gray.
Gray swiped at them as best he could, but there were too many, and they ended up wrapping themselves around his legs, chest, and arms, immobilizing him. He growled and strained against the snakes, much to Sai's amusement. The boy drew the tanto on his back and walked towards Gray, intending to finish the fight calmly, but Gray had other ideas.
He covered himself entirely with ice, then detonated it, which destroyed the snakes, some of the ink splattering on his torso. Forming two swords in his hands this time, instead of his forearms, Gray rushed at Sai, who quickly drew in his scroll, then did a backflip, landing on the back of another large bird. It took to the skies with him still on it, intending to flee the battle, but Gray wasn't having it.
"Ice Make: Ice Cannon!"
The large weapon appeared on his shoulder, and Gray lined up the shot at the receding bird. Polling the trigger, the ice blast shot towards the bird. When they collided, ink and ice rained down on the rooftops below, Sai falling with them.
When the ANBU impacted the ground, Gray slammed an Ice Prison over his head before he could escape. Breathing heavily, Gray smirked. "That's how it's done."
Seconds later, a pair of Leaf shinobi, who'd heard the fighting, appeared from the rooftops. Gray lifted the Ice Prison and handed Sai off to them before he turned around and headed towards the main gate, where he'd seen Gajeel's iron sword above the roofs.
Orochimaru stood atop the walls of the Leaf village, observing the carnage below with a smile on his face. Kabuto stood next to him, his hands clasped behind his back as he witnessed the events as well.
The two had a pair of Sound shinobi stationed as guards on either side of them. It was the two of them dropping onto their faces with kunai in their backs that grabbed their attention. Two Leaf shinobi appeared in their places, Orochimaru and Kabuto between them.
One was a woman with jet black hair and red eyes that were often mistaken for the sharingan, a kunai in her hand. The other was a man with short-cropped black hair and a matching beard, a cigarette between his lips and chakra blades in his hands.
"What's this?" Orochimaru smirked with mild curiosity. "Two brave Leaf shinobi come to take me themselves?"
Asuma raised his chakra blades, his wind chakra coating them, the jagged form flowing around the metal. "Orochimaru. So what, you decided to drop by and enjoy the view?"
"We can't let you have all the fun, now can we?" Kurenai said.
Orochimaru laughed. "You think that the two of you can defeat me? Well, come on then, I'll show you the real power of a Sannin!"
"Kurenai!" Asuma called.
She nodded. "Yeah, I know."
Her eyes flashed at Orochimaru, placing him under her genjutsu. He was shackled to a tree by a piece of its bark. When he looked up, her upper body had appeared out of the trunk, a kunai poised to kill.
It was then that Orochimaru disappeared from it, and the both of them flashed back to the real world. Kurenai's eyes widened in surprise at the fact that he'd dispelled it without moving his hands. That was until she saw the hand of Kabuto on Orochimaru's shoulder.
Said hand was quickly taken off, however, when Asuma swiped at Kabuto with his chakra blades. The medic ninja dodged and countered with his palms, which were his deadly scalpels. Asuma's left chakra blade was severed below the grip, with the Sarutobu clan head jumping backwards.
As he faced Kabuto and Kurenai faced Orochimaru, they both had a feeling that this would be the toughest fight of their lives. Asuma threw away the now useless grip of his blade and pulled a replacement from the pouch on his back.
"Kurenai!" Asuma called again. She nodded wordlessly, and leapt off of the side of the wall, no longer within view. As soon as she did so, Asuma weaved several hand signs and brought the last to his mouth, spewing forth a cone of ash and dust. When it had grown large enough, he bit down, the flint in his mouth igniting the ash cloud.
"Fire Style: Burning Ash!"
The chain explosion detonated, and the smoke cleared after a few seconds, revealing a completely unharmed pair of shinobi. "You'll have to do better than that," Orochimaru cackled.
Asuma grunted in disappointment as Kurenai surfaced next to him. The pair dashed forward together towards the two Sound ninja. Orochimaru met Kurenai halfway, a snake protruding from his arm, a sword in its mouth to parry her kunai. Kabuto hung back, waiting for Asuma to come to him.
The Leaf Jonin leapt into the air at the same time as Kabuto. Just before the pair would meet in the air, Orochimaru smirked to Kurenai, and his mouth opened, a snake slithering out of it. That snake in turn opened its mouth, the handle of a sword produced from it. Orochimaru grasped it, then directed it seemingly with just his fingers. To Kurenai's horror, it flew up into the air at an angle, and directly into Asuma's chest.
"ASUMA!" she screamed.
Asuma was crippled by the unexpected and sudden pain, but maintained enough composure to throw the chakra blade in his right hand at Kabuto, who was too slow to avoid it. The wind-imbued blade flew directly through the chest of the Sound ninja, meeting almost no resistance on its way through.
The pair of them dropped to the ground, the Sword of Kusanagi still embedded in Asuma's chest. It had slid between two ribs, piercing several of his vital organs. Kurenai delivered a swift kick to Orochimaru's knee, allowing her to disengage.
She ran over to Asuma as fast as her legs could carry her. Catching him before he could collapse onto his back, she cradled his head in her hands. At the same time, Kabuto coughed up blood, the chakra blade having pierced his lung. He pressed his hands to his chest, beginning the process of healing himself, hopefully before he choked to death on his own blood.
Asuma coughed, blood coating his lips in addition to the blood that leaked from his wound. He smiled up at Kurenai as he lay in her lap. As she wept into his shoulder, Orochimaru hummed in amusement. "Well, it seems the two of you were quite attached. It would be a shame to separate you, so I think I'll just kill both of you."
His right arm transformed into a group of snakes that shot forwards, their mouths open and ready to clamp down on Kurenai's body. They never made it to their target, for all of them were impaled by stark white spikes.
"Ninja Art: Needle Jizo!"