Disclaimer - I do not own Naruto or Fairy Tail
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By Any Means
Chapter 10 - Phantom's Shadow Pt 3
Opening - V.I.P. by SID
0o0o0 Last Time - Road Outside Magnolia 0o0o0
"I thought you said we were going to ambush the Rune Knights."
"I did."
"But we haven't yet, right?"
"Right."
"So then why are all the Rune Knights unconscious and/or dead?"
"No idea."
Naruto and Shikamaru had quickly traveled after the Rune Knight convoy, intent on making their strike once they had left the city. Unfortunately, it looked as if someone had beat them to it, judging by the bleeding and broken forms of the Rune Knights and the smashed detention carriages.
"Lets hope Jose is still here."
"More like let's hope he's still alive."
The two shinobi jumped from their hiding places in the trees and carefully began to inspect the detention carriages. Blood covered everything. Several Rune Knights and Phantom mages looked as if they had been crushed to death. Others, who had attempted to flee, had gaping holes in their chests.
The two split up as they began looking in the three detention carriages.
"Oi! Get a load of this!" Shikamaru called from the second carriage.
Naruto walked over and noticed Shikamaru pointing to just outside the door of the carriage. "The hell?"
"It's sand. What the hell is a pile of sand doing here?"
0o0o0 Road Outside Magnolia 0o0o0
"... the hell is a pile of sand doing here?" Naruto asked as he bent down and examined the pile a little more closely.
"It could have been Sol trying to escape." Shikamaru suggested.
"No. It's leading toward the inside of the carriage, not out." Naruto shook his head.
"Wouldn't Sol be trying to rescue Jose?"
"Possible, but highly unlikely. Besides, even-" The blond shinobi cut off, a massive explosion sounding off not too far away, accompanied by a massive chakra spike.
"Chakra? Out here?" Naruto turned to Shikamaru, wordlessly asking if he felt it too. A short nod and a sigh were his answer.
"Let's go."
0o0o0 Forests of Magnolia 0o0o0
Jose crawled backwards, his complexion matching his shock white hair.
A figure was slowly advancing on the trembling man. As the moon peeked out from behind the clouds, the figure's red hair was revealed, but the rest of his face was still shadowed by the crumbling sand wall that had blocked the explosion. At his feet rested a cracked ANBU mask.
"Please! Give me another chance! I promise, next time I'll destroy those detesta-" a writhing mass of sand wrapped around his neck, effectively cutting off his sentence and his ability to breathe.
"Enough. You knew the price of failure." The monotone voice drained all hope from the defeated guild master, his body seeming to crumple in on itself.
"Sabaku Sō-"
Before the figure could complete his technique, a multitude of shadow spears stabbed at him as a voice called out from the forest.
"Kage Nui no Jutsu."
Quickly retracting his hands, the red-headed figure clasped them together as sand sprung up once again into a partial dome, blocking the attack. His vision now blocked, a blond-headed blur dashed inside his guard, chakra roiling in its palm.
"Rasenken!"
The attack smashed into the redhead's second line of defense, the Sand Armor crumbling as he was tossed away from the now unconscious former guild master. Landing heavily, the sand user slowly straightened up.
"Who interferes with this execution?" he growled out.
The clouds parted, the moonlight shining down upon the two figures. Naruto's eyes widened.
"Sasori? How?"
"Oh? Well if it isn't little Hitokiri." The redhead's voice lightened a bit upon seeing the blond.
"... Shika, grab Jose and run!"
Hearing the panic in his partner's voice, Shikamaru sped into action, nabbing the unconscious Jose with a shadowy tendril and dashing back into the forest.
Sasori made no move to pursue, a small smirk on his face.
"I've been through quite a bit of trouble thanks to you."
"How in the hell are you still alive? I left you with 4 broken limbs and a sword through the chest!" Naruto spat out, his heart hammering in his chest.
Sasori just waved a hand, as if dismissing the actions. "Details, details. Yes, you did quite a number on my old body. Not only that, you destroyed a good portion of my collection."
The blond's train of thought froze as he processed what was said. "...Old body?" he croaked out, mind now racing at the implications.
The redhead tilted his head to the side, a plastic smile gracing his visage. "Yes. Didn't you know?" With a flourish, he opened his cloak, revealing a wooden body covered in seams and compartments. "Art is eternal!"
Naruto recoiled, pulling a kunai out from his cloak. "What the hell?!" "Did he make himself a puppet?"
As Sasori's cloak fell back down from the flourish, he formed a hand seal, causing all the surrounding sand to coalesce into a sphere around himself. As Naruto pondered what the maniac had planned, the sphere imploded, Sasori using it to escape from sight.
"And now… it's time for my revenge," the red headed shinobi's voice echoed out of the surrounding forest.
Straining his senses, Naruto barely heard the whoosh of displaced air and the crackling of wooden joints before a dozen puppets burst from the foliage around him, multiple weapons dripping all manner of poisons. The blond drew a second kunai as he burst into motion, dodging around the larger weapons when he could, blocking the rest whenever possible.
For a few seconds, nothing could be heard but the clash of metal on metal and the groan of wood as the puppets attempted to score even the smallest of scratches on their target. Deflecting a sword with his left kunai, he desperately channeled wind chakra into the weapon in his right hand, extending its reach enough to cut through an approaching puppet wielding a spiked chain. Taking the brief opening provided by the disabled puppet, Naruto leapt out of the encirclement.
Steading his breathing from the brief but fierce exertion, the blond was surprised as the puppets didn't immediately follow him.
"Did you get slower, Hitokiri?" Sasori mused out loud from his hiding place, his voice throwing technique still in place. "Or are you holding back? ...If that's the case, maybe we should dispense with the warm-ups?"
"Shit, here it comes!" Naruto only had a second in which he fully encapsulated both kunai in wind chakra before Sasori called out his technique name.
"Akahigi: Hyakki no Souen." The forest around Naruto seemed to still, before dozens upon dozens of puppets exploded toward him, all wearing the signature red cloak that denoted Sasori's puppet brigade.
Flooding his body with chakra, Naruto dove forward to meet them, kunai at the ready. He hacked and slashed, varying the range of his kunai with wind chakra to try and cause any kind of hesitation in Sasori's attacks, all while having to try and dodge, block and parry all manner of weapons from kusarigama, katana, and other traditional weaponry to tridents, a buzz saw, and - was that a kitchen sink?!
It was almost inevitable that the puppets would connect eventually. While the blond shinobi was faster than the puppets, there were a hundred of them. A hundred automata that didn't care if you lopped off a limb or bisected the puppet next to them. It started with a kunai almost taking his eye out, a last minute dodge leaving a scratch on his cheek. Then a senbon impaled his forearm, and then a moment later a flail slammed into his back, throwing him to the ground.
Quickly regaining his feet, Naruto wobbled a moment as his vision swam. "Damnit, this is even more powerful than last time… I'll need sage mode to counteract it." Forming a few quick hand seals, Naruto gathered his chakra. "Futon: Tatsumaki!" Chakra bleeding out into the air around him, a moderately large tornado sprang into existence around him, knocking away a barrage of weapons.
"Oh? Ninjutsu?" The red head sounded intrigued. " You didn't have this last time. Or if you did, you didn't use it… Well, it's not like a wall of wind can save you. My poison is already inside you, and soon you'll be in excruciating pain."
Meanwhile, as the tornado raged around him, Naruto stilled his body and calmed his racing heart. "Focus…"
Taking a deep breath, Naruto entered a state of motionlessness. There, flickering in the back of his mind was the ever present warmth of the world's energy, calling out to him. He invited it into his body, the pure energy strengthening him, boosting his body's ability to withstand damage and heal itself. On his physical body, red lines began to appear across his face, outlining his eyes and sweeping back along his cheeks. His eyes snapped open, his eyes a brilliant electric blue, before waving a hand, causing the tornado to dissipate.
Seeing the tornado disappear, Sasori was about to command his puppets to attack again when he noticed the changes the blond had undergone. Not only had there been some kind of physical change - was that makeup? - but the air around his opponent was different as well. Where before it had been tense and violent, it was now serene. It was like looking into a clear, motionless pool and being unable to see the bottom.
Unnerved, the puppeteer tried to rile up the other shinobi. "Ho? You brought down the barrier yourself? Are you giving up? That would save me a lot of trouble…" He trailed off as the blond turned, eyes meeting his even among the darkness of the forest. "What? How did he find me?"
Feeling a chill race down his nonexistent spine, he sent his puppets to attack. Naruto didn't move and took the attacks head-on, his body being obscured by the pile of puppets. Sasori smirked in relief. There was no way the blond would be able to survive that, and even if he did, that much poison would cause his organs to lock up -
"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu." A giant wave of water burst out, throwing his puppets every which way.
"Impossible…" he breathed out, shocked. Quickly regaining his senses, he began looking for the blond, only to find him standing on top of the water in the exact same position from before his attack, still staring exactly at his position, and without a single scratch from the latest attack.
Gritting his teeth, the redhead sent his puppets in once more. Only, Naruto was gone, leaving a few ripples in his place. The next thing Sasori knew, his opponent was right in front of him, a vicious haymaker cocked and ready to unload in his face. He didn't even see the blow, just felt a crushing force that imbedded him in a 4 foot deep crater. If it weren't for the Sand Armor that he had applied at the beginning of the fight, his new body would have been crushed beyond repair.
"What monstrous strength! He never displayed anything on this level before… It must have something to do with those marks on his face," the battered puppeteer thought as he pulled himself from the crater. Seeing Naruto standing calmly, waiting for him, caused Sasori no small amount of anger. A few quick motions called his puppets back to him, surrounding the pair and calming him.
"I'll admit," the redhead began, "I was surprised by your current level of strength… but it's of no matter." A twitch of a finger had a puppet behind the blond open it's mouth, a tube extending out. "Even with your enhanced durability, you still have to breath!" As he finished speaking, the puppet began spewing a dark purple gas out, covering the clearing where they were fighting in a poisonous cloud.
"Futon: Daitoppa," the blond intoned, a massive gust of wind emanating from his entire body and instantly dispersing the cloud. Glancing around, the blond shinobi realized that his opponent was nowhere to be found. Stretching out his Sennin granted senses, he noticed Sasori quickly retreating. Naruto smirked a bit, before chasing after him. This time, he was the one with the upper hand.
Quickly closing the distance despite the puppet master's head start, the blond made a few seals, ending on the Tora seal. "Katon: Goukakyu no jutsu!"
Hearing the call and feeling the heat from the massive fireball his opponent had launched, Sasori concentrated before swiping both hands together, two waves of sand rising up and blocking the ninjutsu. Unfortunately, the blond wasn't done yet. Using the fireball as a distraction, he sped around in front of Sasori, and, as the man blocked the fireball, nailed him in the head with a roundhouse kick. The puppeteer barely had a second to realise his mistake before he shot off like a bullet, blasting through several trees.
"Damnit, I'm not proficient enough yet with the sand to use both it and my puppets at the same time…" he reflected as he laid in another crater, the Sand Armor finally crumbling from the abuse it had withstood.
"Enough is enough, Sasori. I'm going to bring you in. Let's have a nice little chat about why you were abducting my target, shall we?" The blond smirked, his eyes cold as ice. Without waiting for an answer, he blitzed forward, aiming to knock out the puppeteer.
Right before he was going to make contact though, a hand flashed into his peripheral vision. Straining Naruto barely managed to avoid the hand, his dodge taking him away from Sasori and the interloper.
"Great, just what I need. Who the fuck are you?" the blond irritably groused at the cloaked man.
The figure cocked its head, before lowering the hood obscuring its face, to reveal an old style ANBU mask… a lion if he could tell correctly.
"Well well well… If it isn't the Yondaime's son," the man drawled. "Unfortunately, I can't have you taking my colleague, so I'll have to cut in."
Cracking his knuckles, Naruto took a threatening step forward. "Look buddy. One extra guy isn't going to-"
He was cut off as he bent backwards, barely dodging the kunai thrust at his face. "Holy shit he's fast! I almost didn't see that." The cloaked figure didn't let up, using a single kunai to drive back the sennin powered blond.
"Who are you?" Naruto ground out, dodging and blocking as best he could in the face of his opponent's ridiculous speed.
The man merely hummed, before he tilted his head, a flash of red glinting from the eyes of the mask.
"Shit! An Uchiha! Gotta…" The blond's thoughts trailed off as he slumped to the ground, the genjutsu placed on him the moment he caught sight of the Sharingan.
"Really?" Sasori deadpanned. "That's it?" His saviour began walking back to him, leaving an incapacitated blond behind on the ground. "...Why aren't you killing him?"
"There's no point in killing him yet. He can still become stronger…" The masked figure drew his hood back up, covering his short black hair. "Besides, Master said to leave him be for now if anyone meets him." Pulling up even with the puppeteer, he placed a hand on his shoulder. "let's go," he said as he made a handsign, causing the two to disappear in a puff of smoke.
As the smoke cleared, Naruto was released from the genjutsu. "Fuck, I hate the Sharingan sometimes," he muttered. He stood up and dusted his clothes off. "Better get back to Shika, gotta…" The world seemed to tilt for a moment, and that was when he realized Sennin Mode had run out. "Shit, the poison…" Naruto coughed, tasting blood in his mouth. "Just my fucking luck…"
0o0o0 Masterful Melodies Backroom 0o0o0
"Naruto!" Shikamaru stood at the sight of the bloody shinobi, staggering into the room.
"Jose?" Naruto managed, the poison from Sasori's puppets blurring his vision.
"Secured. Shino and Tayuya are prepping to get every last bit of knowledge out of him as we speak." Shikamaru reported, watching as the blond barely managed to stay upright. "More importantly who the hell was that and what did he do to you?"
"Someone I... killed in Bosco. Or so... I thought." Naruto stumbled forward no longer able to withstand the poison coursing through his veins.
Shikamaru rushed forward catching the dying blond before he could hit the ground. "Naruto what's wrong!?"
"Tell… Tayuya… that Sasori of the Red Sands… is alive." With that Naruto succumbed to the poison.
0o0o0 Two Days Later 0o0o0
"You must have pleased some kind of fucking god or something you know that?" Tayuya growled at the stirring blond. "The amount of poison in you should've killed a full grown vulcan ten times over."
Naruto blinked several times as the blurred vision of the red-head came into view. "How lon-"
"Two days. It was fucking touch and go, but you are a stubborn bastard. Had it not been for Karin I'd be happily picking out your casket right about now instead of having to nurse your free-loading ass." Tayuya got up from her comfortable chair she'd been sitting in while watching over the recovering blond and went to stand next to the window where the late afternoon sun shone through. "She was a complete mess having to patch your dumb ass up. Though whether they were tears of joy that her favorite cousin was alive all this time or tears of fear at losing her only living family member is beyond me." She shrugged nonchalantly.
"Karin's alive?" his energy had still yet to return to him and had barely managed to speak above a whisper.
"Of course she is. She's been here with me the whole damn time. The girl's chakra sensing was far too valuable to let waste on an orphaned girl who would've more than likely become a mage. Not to mention her aptitude for healing. He even convinced Councilwoman Tsunade to take her under her wing for a time."
Naruto remained silent as he processed the fact that his cousin was still alive. After a few more moments Naruto looked over at Tayuya. "Jose?"
"Dead."
Naruto made no physical implication that he cared but she knew the shinobi wanted to know how.
"A juinjutsu on his tongue that he more than likely didn't know about exploded his lower jaw clear across the room. Add that with his injuries from whatever the hell Makarov did to him and he was dead before he hit the ground."
"How much did we get?"
"Not much, but enough to follow up with what he did get out." Tayuya folded her arms as she began to scowl. "Jose didn't know much about who he was dealing with, just that he was being given the Jupiter Cannon and Abyss Break. Both were delivered in secret through a shipping company known as Gato Corp. Shino is already looking into the company. It wasn't until he started describing the go between that the juinjutsu activated. All he managed to tell us was that he always wore a disguise, masking his face with an old ANBU mask that looked like a lion. The onl-"
"Did you say a lion mask?" Naruto cut her off earning him a glare.
"Yes I did, why?"
"There was another with Sasori who wore a lion mask. He was… strong. Very strong. He didn't enter the fight until I nearly captured Sasori. Even with Sennin Mode I couldn't keep up with him. Then there's his eyes."
"His eyes?"
"He has the Sharingan."
"That's what we gathered from Jose's description. The only thing that stood out to Jose was the lion mask and his red eyes with distorted pupils. We were just hoping it was a similar looking eye magic." Tayuya's hands tightly gripped the windowsill. "Fuck. Blasted Uchiha."
"There's more," Naruto sighed out, wincing.
"How could there be more?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Sasori's body wasn't his."
"...Come again shithead?"
"It was a puppet. Completely made of wood. He's managed a form of immortality with puppets... which is how he survived our first encounter. He just never revealed it. Moreover, he killed someone I know to do it," Naruto relayed bitterly.
"Who?"
"Sabaku no Gaara. He was a fellow Hagoromo who disappeared when I was training to become a sage. His brother and sister have been looking for him ever since."
"Wasn't he the second son of the Kazekage?"
"Yes."
"Fuck. You bloody fucking Kage spawn are supposed to be important," Tayuya hissed out.
"...Wait. What do you mean supposed to be?" Naruto followed up after a second.
"Don't push it freeloader," the pinkette snarked.
"Hey, I pay rent," Naruto complained, pushing himself up on one arm.
"Shika pays the rent," she corrected.
"With my money," the blond countered with furrowed brows.
The two glared at one another before both sighed and looked away at the same time. "This is truly turning into a shit storm. Uchiha popping up, insane puppet freaks killing and turning people into puppets, and a Guildmaster being given weapons of mass destruction. What's next, the Magic Council giving the ok to fire Etherion?!"
Naruto snorted at that. "If they ever do I'll buy you an elephant."
"I'll hold you to that shithead. For now though there isn't much we can do, besides wait for Shino to return. What will you and the other freeloader do?"
Naruto finally sat up and crossed his arms over his knees. "The actual freeloader is going to stay here and help look into this Gato Corp. He may be lazy but he's damn good at what he does."
"And you?"
"I have some unfinished business with Fairy Tail."
0o0o0 Several Days Later - Fairy Tail 0o0o0
"Well this seems like a huge mess," Naruto said from the board he appeared on; a board which happened to be carried by one Erza Scarlet.
"What are you doing?" she questioned when she suddenly saw a pair of legs in her peripheral.
"Sitting, what's it look like? All of this work has made me tired." Naruto grinned, looking down at her sweaty form.
"You're… tired?" Erza replied flatly.
"Yeah. Watching all of you guys has made me tired *slurp*" Naruto began to eat a bowl of ramen that seemed to appear from nowhere.
"Wha… where did you get that?" Erza asked flabbergasted. "And why aren't you helping? I'm not going to have to get the master am I? Or do I need to administer punishment?" she threatened, still holding up the boards the blond was sitting on.
Naruto rolled his eyes from his ramen to Erza and back again. " It's Ramen," he stated, as if that explained everything.
"That explains nothing."
Naruto looked at Erza with pity, shaking his head. "Poor unbeliever, I will say a prayer for your soul to the Ramen Gods." He quickly jumped off the boards as Erza pulled them back suddenly. Seeing her begin to swing them at him, he quickly held up his unoccupied hand in surrender. "I give, I give."
Downing the bowl of Ramen in one gulp, he looked at Erza. "Why should I be helping?" He tilted his head. "Not that I won't, but I'm not part of the guild you know?"
"... Oh. I thought you were. Explains why you disappeared when Phantom attacked."
"Erza what happened?" Sakura, Mirajane, Levy, and Lucy walked up, wondering what had caused Erza to stop working
"Sup guys." Naruto smiled and waved at the four.
"Naruto!" Lucy exclaimed upon seeing her fellow blond.
"Who's Naruto?" Levy asked having not met Naruto when he first came to the guild.
"Lucy's friend that came by a few days ago. So what brings you here Naruto?" Sakura asked with squinted eyes. "Besides stealing our booze and running?"
"Ooh… caught I guess. Heh, don't worry I already returned it. Except for one bottle, damn good stuff." Naruto chuckled while rubbing the back of his head.
"Oh? So it was you who had emptied out the bar." Hearing Mira's voice from the back of the group, Naruto began to sweat. The girl was smiling with her eyes closed. Normally it would be a beautiful sight, but Naruto's danger sense was going off like crazy. The girl moved forward until she was standing right in front of the taller blond. "Time for your punishment, kay?"
Naruto shut his eyes as she raised her hand, bracing himself for the slap that was sure to come. He deserved it, so he wasn't going to run away.
"Ey!" Mira let out a little squeak of effort as she lightly bopped Naruto on the head. Slowly opening one eye, the blond looked at the silver haired girl. "...That's it?"
"Yep! Don't do it again, okay? It's not very nice. If you need a drink, just come by and ask."
Naruto looked upon this angel. "Why aren't you the one in charge of Masterful Melodies instead of the she-devil?" Tears fell from his as he fell to his knees. "OH beautiful tenshi I only have one question of you..."
"Uh… yes?"
"Can you make ramen?" Naruto asked with big, teary eyes.
"Y-yes?" Mira answered unsure what her ability to make ramen had anything to do with anything.
For a moment Naruto's heart stopped. A lighted descended from above blinding out all but him and Mira. "Is this destiny? Has this white-haired tenshi descended from the heavens to alleviate this poor soul's misdeeds? Has Kami decided to forgive me and hand me the purest slice of heaven? Oh how weary I've been. Perhaps, with her by my side I can put down the sword and find a simpler life." Naruto looked up only to see everyone looking at him weirdly. "What?"
"You certainly have a way with words there romeo." Sakura sniggered at him.
"I didn't…" Naruto felt his world crumble.
"You did," a new voice said behind him.
Naruto looked back and saw Sasuke looking down at him ready to shove his unsheathed sword down his throat. "Yo?"
"You have five seconds Uzumaki, before I shove this where the sun doesn't shine."
"What? Why?"
"Because Mira is my girlfriend dobe!" He wasted no time in charging at the blond.
"It hasn't even been five seconds yet!" Naruto cried as he got up and spun around, running face first into Erza's chest, the two falling over into a tangled mess of limbs. "Soft," was all Naruto could think of as he fell.
Lucy blushed at the sight of the two.
Mira held her hand up in front of her face, trying and failing to hide her light blush and mischievous giggles.
Sakura face-palmed before cracking her knuckles at the sight with an undeniable urge to hit Naruto.
Sasuke stopped his charge and sheathed his katana before walking over to stand next to Mira. "Hn."
Erza for her part was in complete shock as she felt the blond's lips on her own. "My… My first…" Her brain couldn't comprehend what was happening.
"I'm dead. I am so dead. I had a good run. Well I might as well as go out with a bang. Here's to you Ero-Sennin." Naruto shrugged before he deepened the kiss, and, reaching up with his left hand,began groping her breast. "I can't believe I just thought of that old perv in this situation. Well, it won't be long now mom. See you soon. And dad too I guess."
The entirety of the guild had stopped working at this point and was now watching in shocked silence. Lucy's mysterious friend was on the ground kissing Erza, and she'd yet to kill him. In fact it looked as if she was kissing back.
When Naruto's hand began to crawl up towards her breast, their mouths collectively dropped.
"He wouldn't."
"Erza's going to murder him."
"He's doesn't have the balls."
"50 jewel he does it." Wakaba threw out.
"I'll take that bet." Macao said shaking hands with the chain smoker.
HONK HONK
A passing magic four-wheeler honked as the driver waved at the construction site.
"He actually did it."
"Holy shit."
"Giant brass balls, man."
"Damnit!" Macao couldn't believe the kid had gone and done it.
"Na-ru-to!" Sakura marched over and grabbed the back of his collar, pulling him off of the thoroughly dazed Erza.
"Ack- What the hell!"
"I swear..." Sakura threw the hapless blond to the ground. "You must be related to that perverted teammate of Shishou's. Of all the perverted things! Have you no shame?"
As the pinkette began to crack her knuckles ominously, Naruto cringed back, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead. "S-Sakura… what're you-"
"Divine Punishment!"
"Gah!"
Meanwhile, Erza had managed to sit up, trying to cover her blushing face with her hands. Her imagination was running wild as she tried to process what just happened.
She was slowly recomposing herself, when Mira, a devilish grin on her face, spoke up.
"He's quite the looker isn't he? I wonder what your children will look like…"
Erza's face immediately flushed again, steam shooting out of her ears as her eyes rolled back, the redhead falling unconscious.
Makarov watched Sakura beat the living hell out of the newcomer and couldn't help but smile at the commotion. For just a second, Erza and the blond's faces were replaced by two others: a rowdy redheaded barmaid and the smiling blond she never let out of her sight. He sighed in nostalgia, before refocusing on the construction work. Despite all the recent hardships, his children would pull through fine.
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Ending - In My World - Rookiez Is Punk'd
0o0o0o0o0o0
Never, and I mean never say we can't cliffhanger you.
Yeah, Ronin likes challenges. Also, Huzzah, new Chapter!
And not just a new Chapter Lord, the end of Arc 1! We finished a freaking arc!
*Pops open a champagne bottle*
Man took way too long to get here but we did it. And so much happened.
Can our readers guess everything that just happened or was hinted at?
I don't know. We have so many curve balls coming their way I don't think they can do it. There have been a few that have guessed correctly on some things but not everything.
Oh, and let's not forget. A new Arc means a new OP and ED right?
Right. Two new songs to listen to every time you start and finish reading.
Enjoy it all! And we'll see you on the next episode of DragonBallZ!
Wrong series bro.
… *runs away in shame*
*shakes head* Right we'll see you guys in not just the next chapter but the next arc as well!
Ok fine we'll discuss it. The whole Sasori and Gaara thing. Blame your fellow reviewers. They made it sound like everything was obvious. Which it was. And it was going to actually be Gaara.
But then late hours, lack of sleep, and booze got involved, and we decided that this would work and confuse the shit out of people.
We had quite the storyline for Gaara too. I rather liked it. But then opportunity to mess with all of you reared its ugly head and that wonderful, amazing, awesome character arc and development got turned into a puppet.
So instead of a new character with its own development, you get more Naruto character development. Aren't you happy?
And yes we do expect some of you(all of you) to be pissed at us.
But honestly, we needed to do something different, to make our story stand out from the crowd. And what better way than to make you angry at us?
Not only that but with this new direction of villain we do get to see more Hitokiri flashbacks and more of what Naruto as cold-blooded murderer going against a puppet that has no blood.
...That was terrible.
I know. Not at all what I expected to type while typing that. Almost started erasing it until you responded jerk.
Victory!
Blast!