Warning
Due to the presence of that lovable murderer Hidan, chapters with him contain frankly ludicrous levels of very coarse language. So much so that an extra cautionary note felt required. The author does not condone using this language around living beings, but accepts that characterisation doth demand it. Please do not tell your parents, friends, pet hamsters, dogs, cats or small trees and bushes about what he says, dropping C, S, H, F both G and the K bomb on unsuspecting living things.
Otherwise enjoy the typical bloodshed and bad times that a battle brings. Like Naruto was going to stay out of it anyway :D
When it started, it got hectic very, very fast.
Naruto alerted a now nearby Talon as to its reformation, and five minutes later a great violet barrier had been erected around the lake by the sealing team.
Then there was an explosion and one of the corners flickered ever so slightly.
Then hell broke loose around that corner.
Sealed away inside their own protective barrier, the sealing team could only watch as the ANBU and Anko found themselves facing down three Akatsuki.
That was long odds even for the most elite. Uchiha Itachi and two others who looked deadly.
The standoff lasted some minutes, with two of the cloaked figures laughing at Talon's attempts to not have it end in a slaughter.
Then the first crossbow bolt landed and everyone moved at once.
Naruto felt two of the Akatsuki very quickly break out of his genjutsu and decided to target the second one.
The silent bolt slammed into the man's neck with a spray of arterial blood.
One down.
Then the man grabbed the bolt and pulled it out of neck whilst swearing very loudly.
He barely took in Anko going after Itachi and ANBU moving to isolate the other one. He was entirely focused on the man who had stubbornly refused to die.
He fired again but the man was ready, a wickedly edged scythe cutting his bolt from the air with a clang.
"Come out you fucking coward!"
He decided against it, and fired another bolt to confuse the man. His first hit had broken the man from the genjutsu, and the second was swiftly dispelled.
"Shino. Bleed him dry."
The insect swarm descended towards the man who darted backwards and away from them, back towards where Kakuzu had separated off his hearts and was unleashing all manner of fury towards the ANBU team, who were dodging it all. He could hear the fury in the distance.
"We need to separate him from his partner. Kiba, Hinata, intercept but be careful."
This really wasn't how the mission had been supposed to go. There were not meant to be three Akatasuki present in one place at the same time. They must have an information source of their own to know at what time they were needed.
There was no time now to worry about that. The more separated the Akatsuki were the better.
There was a distant crash that had to be Anko's fight, but that wasn't important now. Hinata and Kiba moved in on the man from either side. The man swung his scythe around at incredible speed, scattering their attacks.
It kept him stationary though, and that was what Naruto needed.
He fired another genjutsu bolt towards the man and watched him twitch as he dispelled it. More time not moving.
Shino's swarm began to reach the man like tendrils from all sides. The scythe kept moving and the man starting laughing maniacally.
"You think fucking bugs are going to kill me?"
The man leapt free and straight for Shino's position, Kiba caught him from below in a tornado of claws and death. The man's bloodied corpse went flying away and crumpled.
He was moving away from his partner whose battle with the ANBU was certainly intense from the noise. His brief glance showed too many signatures to tell what was going on.
Kiba began to approach the fallen man, who suddenly rose into a dive, a black spear in his hands. Hinata dragged him down as Shino knocked the man out of the way.
"I slashed your neck open, how are you alive?"
The man laughed again.
"That fucking little shit scratch?"
He tilted his neck to show the place where something had ripped his neck open,
"I. Cannot. Die. Now prepare yourself to become a sacrifice to the great Jashin!"
His scythe flew back towards him and team 8 scattered. Naruto shot another crossbow bolt into the man's shoulder, but he just shrugged off the wound with a grunt. What kind of jutsu was this? The man had extraordinary tolerance and could not be killed by mortal wounds.
Decapitation? Certainly removing his head would stop the rest of him moving.
He whispered into his communicator as the undying man kept laughing.
"Kiba, we need to try and disable him or decapitating him. Shino, keep trying to drain the man. Remain cautious. He hasn't tried any other jutsu or techniques yet."
Team 8 spread out around the man who decided to inspect his scythe. He tested the blade with his finger and smiled.
"Sharp enough to harvest you all!"
He sprang for Hinata but took another bolt to the chest for his troubles. It made him stumble a little. Hinata ducked the clumsy swing and struck rapidly upwards.
The man recoiled a little but showed no effects in his next swing. Hinata rolled away. Naruto had to admit that her offence was certainly fluent and improved from previous occasions.
The man was still laughing.
"Ooh. A Hyuuga. How scary. Look at me shaking you fucking bitch!"
Insects swarmed onto the man once again and he shouted some more words Naruto wasn't sure he'd heard the ANBU use before trying to attack once again.
It didn't make any sense. Yes, he could take unlimited punishment but why the extremely sharp weaponry? Why the lack of ranged attack? Was it a psychological tactic to get opponents to cease engaging?
He loaded a bolt with an explosive tag. More powerful shots were good, but they weren't powerful enough to remove a limb. This certainly could.
He aimed carefully as Kiba knocked the man back before Shino pulled him down.
The man smacked the bolt aside, and Naruto cursed the fact that he couldn't cloak such a shot without detonating the tag.
"You shitfaced pussy! Fighting with a crossbow? What are you a genin?"
No, a tactician. If it wasn't for his stealth aspect he would have loved to give the smack talk right back.
He loaded another explosively tagged bolt and prepared his next shot, changing position to be a little closer.
He watched as Kiba and Hinata once again combined to keep the man in the same area as Shino's bugs, and the man gave a furious cry.
"Get you bugs out of my neck!"
That was good to know, but they could only do so much damage. Once more, the massive scythe swung furiously, keeping Team 8 at bay.
It was a standstill of a fight. He needed the right moment.
"Shino, turn him around."
Team 8 shifted positions, and the man kept laughing.
"Look at the little scout team. Awwh. Can't hurt me?"
Naruto fired.
The bolt was caught in one of the man's hands before that hand ceased to be attached. The man gave a yell of pain and waved the stump around.
"Oh. That felt good, that's what I want! Now then, I've shed some blood in this. Your turn fuckers!"
The man moved faster than Naruto had seen him move, and Team 8 clearly wasn't ready for him and they fell back from the scythe. Eventually Kiba came too close, his injured leg not quite working to its full. Shino pulled him out of the way but felt the kiss of the scythe on his arm.
Team 8 scrambled back as the man's laughter began anew. He ran his finger on his scythe and tasted the blood from Shino's cut.
Then his appearance changed and Naruto felt the sudden feeling that he was about to see a strategy he could not have anticipated.
Shino wasn't at all hurt, but the man was scrawling something on the ground with his foot.
That was far more blood, and it only could be blood from the smell of the liquid, than he had taken from Shino. This was a fascinating jutsu.
He shot the man several more times before the symbol was complete and the man simply laughed. The bolt stuck in his forehead vibrated ferociously as he did so.
"Oh your friend is going to fucking pay for that."
The symbol completed on the ground seemed to glow. The man then took hold of the bolt slightly embedded in his skull and pulled it out.
Shino cried out in paid as his head burst open where the crossbow had been removed.
"Everything I do to myself happens to the bug cunt over there! Let's try one of these other bolts your friend supplied!"
He pulled one Naruto had put into the man's shoulder out and there was another cry and spray of blood from the boy.
Kiba leapt forward unbound and leapt towards the man on all fours, crying out in anger. Naruto realised that the situation was beyond his control or knowledge and that his team was in danger.
He had to find an alternative and he had to find it fast. No. He had to get Shino and the team to safety first as team leader.
Kiba barged into the man pushed him out of his symbol and began to hit him. Nothing was happening to Shino, who was down to one knee, his visible face and jacket rapidly staining with blood.
The man threw Kiba off him and started walking back to the circle. Kiba landed awkwardly and struggled to rise a little.
Naruto knew his choices were extremely limited. He opened the channel to the whole team.
"Fall back to somewhere where you can to Shino. I'll fight this guy."
Hinata's voice cut through the radio link.
"No. You need our help to fight him you can't..."
"It's an order. Kiba is hurt, Shino is badly hurt and at the mercy of our opponent. Draw back."
He could see the concern on her face as he walked forward out of his cover towards the man.
"Hai. Don't die Naruto-kun."
The suffix was different, but now was not the time for noticing that. He had a bigger problem. The man had just stepped into the circle again and pulled out the third bolt, ripping a hole in Shino's knee.
Even though the man was hurt he wasn't in any visible pain or looked like he was dying. That was extremely...he didn't even know what word.
How do you kill him? Decapitation should stop him from moving at least. How as Naruto going to achieve that?
Hinata and Kiba were dragging Shino away and the man swore violently.
"You short arsehole with the crossbow! You the fucking leader?"
"Yes."
The man brought up the scythe as his body changed back to normal as Shino got further away from him.
"I'm going to fucking enjoy fucking you up motherfucker!"
The tanto wasn't going to work here, that was clear. Disabling or stunning wouldn't work either. It was time for a new test.
The lead weighted chain of the kursurigama spun around him as he had been trained in the short time he had had with Kakashi.
He lashed out with the chain and the man swayed backwards, keeping out of reach.
"Oooh. I'm scared shitless, which is how much brain you must have to try and stop me!"
The tone of voice didn't sound like he was telling the truth. More important was getting out of the way of the scythe that whistled through the air.
He leapt to a tree and started climbing, the manically laughing man close on his heels. He dropped explosive tags that the man simply leapt around.
There was only so much tree to climb before he'd have to jump. Jumping was far too predictable.
He turned and lashed out, holding the lead weighted end and sending the sickle of his own lashing downwards at the man who didn't react in time and suffered a short cut of his own.
The man didn't slow at all and rose up at him like an oncoming storm. Rising upwards the man collided with him as Naruto ducked the huge scythe swing.
Freed from contact with the tree, the upward momentum would only last so long. Naruto lashed out with a leg and sent the man downwards, before grabbing a branch as he fell. The man stuck the scythe points into the tree and then leapt back up it.
By then Naruto was leaping to the next tree.
The man's chakra system was normal, his body was normal; there was no evidence of any additional jutsu around him. What exactly was causing his immortality?
Did it matter? He had to decapitate or stop the man from moving. He wondered how he could achieve such a feat.
The man was on him again and his juggling of variables suddenly became very difficult again.
"Come back here you fucking coward and die!"
Don't reply, keep running. He fired a snapshot off from his bow before falling as fast as he could. He felt the genjutsu snap brief moments later. But he had some moments. To someone thinking as fast as he was, that was like giving him half an hour.
His options were limited. Besting the man in combat was unlikely. Using a clone could work briefly.
He could stall and hope one of the other fights ended, but he was a team leader and that was an irresponsible tactic.
There was one sure-fire way to avoid death, and one not so sure-fire.
He landed in the clearing and fired another genjutsu bolt at the man, who started laughing as he ran a finger along the scythe. Naruto fired a tagged bolt at the man and detonated it as quickly as possible, only getting a log.
"You think a shit genjutsu like that is going to get me blown up? Is that all you have?"
So if he couldn't beat the guy then someone else would have to. Would Itachi come through for him or not was the burning question. He hated relying on the man.
With luck, Hinata and Kiba could be recalled, but it risked Shino. Yet neither of the team 8 members in fighting condition was capable of really helping him.
He'd have to go to lower probability options.
"If you want to know where the Nine-Tails is you have to let me live."
The man paused briefly before shrugging.
"There's probably more people than you that know, and you denied Jashin his fair due. You fucking die today!"
Well that was that then.
The man was on him and he wasn't going to be able to defend forever. He barely felt the scythe catch his arm over the manic laughter. The pain blossomed but it wasn't anything he couldn't deal with.
Then the man broke his arm very suddenly and Naruto felt his body react to the shock. The man hadn't broken his sword arm, but he wouldn't fire the bow with any ease soon. He struggled to rise and draw his sword. His body didn't want to, too preoccupied with working out what had happened to the arm.
The man tasted the blood and changed once again. He had to keep the man out of the circular symbol he was forming. He formed a pair of shadow clones to attack with him, but the man knocked his desperate assault away. He felt a rib break as he took a heavy blow to the chest.
"Goodbye little mother fucker."
He drew a spear and plunged it into his chest. Naruto expected to feel the wound form on himself.
Nothing happened except for a slight burning in his side that he ignored.
"What the fuck?! Why are you not dead?"
Naruto checked his arm. The wound and the blood were real certainly, so the man hadn't hallucinated. The man stabbed himself several more times. It was a bizarre spectacle.
"Lord Jashin!? Have I displeased you?"
Naruto had no idea why he was immune, but the man was invoking a religious entity and so was wasting his time. He began to draw his tanto blade. The man's preoccupation was heavy, he started at the sky with his arms spread wide.
"Why do your powers not affect him Lord Jashin?"
Naruto rose like a torpedo and slashed with the blade, the finely crafted steel meeting the flesh and biting deep, nearly severing the neck.
Naruto landed behind the man with the blade having been ripped out of his hand as it stuck in the man's neck. The damage had been done.
The man's head flopped backwards so the man was facing him, arterial blood fountained out of the exposed neck.
"The fuck?"
He turned and finished the cut with the sickle of the kusurigama. The body collapsed, twitching a little as the man's head tumbled free.
"You fucking cunt! That really hurt."
The head was still talking and Naruto check to see if the body was still moving. Fortunately removed, the body remained lifeless.
"You wait till fucking Kakuzu gets here. I'm gonna drain you dry for Lord Jashin."
"Shut up."
"You shut up you shitfaced shortarse."
The reminder of Kakuzu made him realise another fight was still going on. Two fights. Then a body crashed down into the clearing. Anko was unconscious and badly battered as Itachi landed after her with no sign of harm on him.
Naruto raised the bow and Itachi raised an eyebrow.
"Itachi. Kill this fucker and get Kakuzu for me!"
The black flames engulfed the man's head. His screaming was quickly silenced and the flames disappeared.
"I burned out his vocal chords. I have always desired to do so. Now then."
Itachi kicked the blackened head, whose mouth still moved in angry ways. The fact he could lip read the man wasn't helping Naruto. Then there was a blade at his neck and Itachi had him pinned. He noticed the man was pressuring the broken arm deliberately.
"I won't kill you or your team, Anko is...hurt enough that you shouldn't worry about me. Now you ANBU team on the other hand..."
An explosion some hundred yards away caused a fair amount of the trees to cease their fragile existence.
"This is just for appearances...and because I want you to hurt for killing Sasuke. Regardless, I suggest you help your ANBU live against Kakuzu whilst I...succeed in capturing the Three Tails. Good luck Naruto."
The man kicked him and made for the barrier.
Naruto realised he had no choice in the matter and struggled upwards as Kiba and Hinata came running.
"What the hell happened?"
"No time. Get Anko back with Shino and make sure they are ok. Now."
They obeyed quickly, which made Naruto happier. The less they knew about his arm the better. He struggled onwards towards the site of the explosion.
He ran as fast as he could, looking ahead with his Byakugan. The fact he hadn't had to use it so far made him happy.
He found Hare sitting against a tree, not moving. He could tell the man was alive, but if he was in bad shape the rest of the team was in difficulties.
He vaulted broken tress as heavy rain began to fall in thick, heavy drops. The air was stiff and hard to breath as the rain began to hammer down.
There was a blackened and now steaming clearing ahead where someone had been liberally using fire jutsu.
He could see three figures up ahead, but one wasn't moving. It was Pig. The man was fallen under a tree, his arm at an odd angle. That left Talon.
He caught sight of Talon engaged in furiously quick jutsu as the man tried to crush him with tentacles made of blackened strands?
There were broken masks on the man's back as well. Naruto drew the crossbow off his back and felt the weight of his broken arm. He was severely limited by it.
He propped the bow up and took aim through the pounding rain. Then saw.
Talon had been caught and was being dragged in towards the man who had turned his back to Naruto.
He needed to shoot and shoot now.
Unbidden, his mind conjured up images of Sasuke holding up Baka in the driving rain. It conjured up images of not firing and watching a friend die.
Naruto felt a word escape his mouth at a whisper.
"Never again. Nevermore."
He aimed as best he could and channelled as much chakra as he could into the bolt. He imagined the bolt as a whisper in a quiet ocean, as a drop in that ocean, of a still field. He imagined the air around it parting and getting out of its way. He imagined the drops flowing around it and ignoring it.
He pulled the trigger as the grey tentacles lifted talon high and the man began to laugh.
The bolt made no sound as it flew, the air around it calming like an ocean. It did not deviate except for gravity; no rain touched its surface. It lost no speed, and struck quietly. The target had no concept it was there until it pierced his skin.
The bolt slammed into the man's head and nearly went through into Talon's chest. The tentacles receded. Talon fell heavily onto his leg and Naruto heard the crack as he stumbled forwards.
Talon raised a kunai from where he sat and cut the man's head off just for good measure. Heavy rain washed away any of the blood as the man fell backwards.
Naruto reached him and extended his good arm. Everything felt heavy at this stage and his body still wanted to know what had happened to his arm.
"Lion...what the hell has been going on? What happened to your arm?"
"It's going to take some time to explain."
He was about to too when the purple barrier around the lake burst with a roar of air and the feeling of heavy, dark chakra.
Talon tried to rise and stumbled before Naruto barely caught him, his broken arm flaring under the weight. The masked man looked up in the direction, his voice dry and defeated.
"Oh shit."
A/N- Multiple things happening at once!
1) 50 Chapters! Ok so if I made them longer there would be less but shhh. 50 is a good number of chapters for the length and update times and there will be more coming! Mini milestone get!
2) 1000 reviews. Wait what? That is insane, thanks everyone.
3) Is the story going to be NaruHina? Oi get out of here question I stubbornly refuse to answer.
Hope everyone enjoys this and here's to many more!