The Wanderers
Chapter 12 – Pursuit
A/N: With this chapter done, we are about a third into the story. This is a pretty long story and it only gets more interesting from here, and I'm really grateful that you guys are enjoying it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, there would be much larger scale battles.
Warning: There are some gory scenes in this chapter, so just a fair warning about that.
Kakashi hadn't been to the Land of the Snow before, but even as they struggled up the windy mountain he wished he had copied more fire techniques when they were still in Konoha. The four them of had tracked the mysterious attackers' scents to a high mountain range deep within the Land of the Snow. Kakashi was thankful that at least one of them had been prepared as he drew one of Nagisa's spare fur cloaks around his shoulders. She knew that Jito hadn't needed one, though the Senju was the least comfortable with their snow covered environment.
Mikoto had accepted hers with a smile and a subtle query over whom the cloak had originally belonged to, since the Inuzuka were not known for wearing that kind of odd fur. Nagisa hadn't responded, simply pointing up the mountain for them to continue following her. The air around them was freezing cold, with a large concealing mist keeping their progress from being as fast as Kakashi had wanted. They had encountered several packs of wolves in the mountains, but one growl from Nagisa had sent the animals running.
"Is it much further?" asked Mikoto as the group set up a small camp in a cave within the mountainside.
Nagisa poked at the fire Mikoto had lit for them, her dark slit eyes flickered in the orange flames.
"The scents are very strong here…" Kakashi noticed her arms tensing underneath her fur jacket, whilst her anger was splashed over her face. "…they cannot hide from me."
Kakashi sat down against a wall and took a bite out of a food bar whilst staring at the cave's entrance. They had been forced to take shelter within as a storm covered the mountain range, but Kakashi had wanted to rest the group anyway. They had travelled faster than Kakashi had expected, it had taken them two days to reach the mountains without rest. However it had taken them another two days to climb the mountain, Kakashi favouring caution over zealousness. Jito was standing guard at the entrance, having woven a genjutsu to cover the entrance in case the local ninja village took offence to the Konoha shinobi movements.
"Any word from the Hokage?" asked Mikoto, not completely privy to the Jounin's plan for their mission.
Kakashi shook his head and poked at the fire with a short stick, "My shadow clone is by the Hokage's side. When the battle is over, it will dissipate and give me a report."
"You wish he was here" observed the Uchiha matriarch quietly.
Kakashi frowned, and then sighed as he gazed into the orange flames. It was folly to wish that, Minato was leading the Konoha army against the Cloud village forces in a diversion for their approach. Konoha had been told that the Cloud was responsible for the attack on the village, with no-one except the four of them and the Hokage aware of the real purpose of the attack.
"He has his duty, we have ours" was his response to her question.
Jito came down from the entrance and sat down next to Mikoto, taking a long draught from his small bottle of water.
"This storm will rage for hours" he said as he put his bottle back into his pack.
Nagisa sighed, unconsciously tapping her boots on the stone floor of the cave. Kakashi had noticed that she had gotten more on edge since their departure from Konoha, but he also knew that she would still follow orders when it came down to the wire.
"We should get some sleep then" said Mikoto, offering to take the first shift.
Nagisa had offered to take it with her, but Kakashi had ordered her to get some sleep. The Inuzuka hadn't protested at the order, she needed rest more than any of them, but Kakashi felt sad at the cold look she gave him before going to sleep.
"You'd best watch yourself."
Kakashi frowned at Mikoto's comment, as the fire between them flared a bright blue before fading back to a dark orange.
"What do you mean?"
They had been on watch for several hours, the storm outside not looking like it would fade anytime soon. Mikoto looked over the sleeping forms of their two companions. They both knew that Jito wasn't entirely asleep, but he had confided in Kakashi that he rarely slept due to a hatred of what happened to him while he slept. Mikoto's eyes rested on the young sleeping form of their guide, the Chuunin's face oddly peaceful despite their mission and her waking feelings.
"It isn't good for a commander to look at his subordinate with such eyes."
Kakashi smiled sadly as he looked at Nagisa's sleeping face, before turning back to the fire. He didn't know if Mikoto was teasing him or not, their earlier conversation at her home hadn't changed their working relationship at all.
"It isn't like that."
His companion drew her cold knees up to her chin as she stared at the young Jounin through dark eyes with her cloak still across her shoulders. Mikoto went to make a comment, but Kakashi put up a hand to stop her.
"Let me finish. Nagisa reminds me of a close friend of mine, one that I've known for several years."
He placed his hands together as he looked at the storm outside.
"I don't have time to chase things like that, Mikoto. People like me…I have to make it up to her before I can even begin to act in my own interests."
Mikoto watched the emotions on Kakashi's face carefully, not entirely understanding his motivations and interests, but she dropping the issue regardless. Perhaps he didn't want to feel, or couldn't, but that was on him. She went to change the subject to something more cheery, until she saw a strange look on Kakashi's face. His arms tensed as his uncovered eye appeared to look into the fire without really seeing it. After a few minutes he finally drew a laboured breath, turning his face back to the Uchiha shinobi.
"The battle in the Land of Lightning has started. Wake the others; they need to hear this."
"Is this wise, Hokage-sama?" asked Shikaku, "They have the superior position."
Next to him the Yamanaka clan head looked over the Kumo forces with a stern look on his face as the elder Akimichi clan head stood beside his son, both of them readying their staffs.
"But we have superior numbers, and superior shinobi" said Hiashi, flanked by his twin brother and several of the Hyuuga clan's best warriors.
Minato was silent as the Kumo forces stood against them, analysing several weaknesses that he could already see in the Cloud shinobi lines. Behind him stood a silent Kakashi, the shadow clone taking in as much information as it could, but knowing it was merely an observer and was not to participate in the battle.
"It's nice weather for a battle though."
The group of shinobi turned as one to regard the speaker. Minato smirked as he was joined by his red-haired wife, though he had the grace to blush as she pecked him on the cheek and pinched his backside. The shinobi around him began to chuckle until she turned her face towards them and glared at them. That kept them quiet as she stood side by side with the Hokage.
"I'm surprised the Third allowed you to accompany us" said Hiashi.
Kushina scoffed and reached up behind her head, tying her hair into a long ponytail.
"Being the wife of the new Hokage has its advantages, Hiashi-san."
The Hyuuga clan head looked at Minato expectantly, but the blonde shinobi simply shrugged his shoulders. Traditionally the container of the Kyuubi rarely left the village in times of war, but having fought with the Cloud shinobi recently, Minato needed a contingency plan in case one of his suspicions was correct.
"It will be a pleasure to fight alongside you, Hokage-sama" said a newcomer, Minato turned to face his newly appointed leader of the vanguard.
Flanked by a dozen of his clansmen and wearing a dark set of blood red clothing, Fugaku looked ready to win the war all on his own. Minato nodded his thanks to the clansmen; they were very welcome in the Konoha forces, when they decided to show up. Across the field walked two large looking figures, with the large army of Cloud ninja holding their positions behind them. Minato gave a hand signal to his forces, telling them to dig in and wait for further instructions.
He turned to his advisors, "Fugaku, ready the vanguard for a quick attack. If negotiations fail, then I want your forces ready to slam through their lines. But you are not to move without a signal."
The Uchiha clan head nodded in acknowledgment of the order and began to move towards his units. He didn't like Minato, or what he stood for, but he knew that he was the best military commander Konoha had seen in decades and that his orders were always worth following.
"Hiashi, Inoichi, Chouju, ready your designated shinobi units. I want to avoid a conflict if we can, but the Cloud are not known for their peaceful ways."
His subordinates gave their acknowledgement and went about their duties as Minato began to walk out onto the battlefield to meet the two Cloud shinobi. He had instructed Shikaku to assist him in the negotiations, and Kakashi had been told to accompany them, though Shikaku had not been told why the young Jounin had been given such a position. He couldn't have stopped Kushina coming with him if he had tried, so the four of them greeted the Cloud shinobi with two large ninja armies prepared to clash together in a storm of metal and blood.
"When last we spoke, you said you would be putting the title of 'Kage' to the test. I did not believe you to be a war loving man, yet here your army stands."
Minato bowed respectfully to the Raikage, with the other Konoha shinobi following his example.
"I am sorry to hear of your father's death. He was a man of honour."
The Raikage scoffed, "Of course he was. But he exacted his toll. Iwa paid dearly for the death of our leader."
Minato looked back up at the solemn look on both the Cloud shinobi's faces. The Raikage's companion stared at the four of them and was oddly silent, though he gave Kushina a flash of a smile before regarding the blonde Hokage with a stern expression. The newly appointed Raikage pushed his companion's head down as they bowed in return to the Konoha shinobi. They straighten back up quickly.
"Now that the courtesies and formalities of war have been observed, why the hell are you here? Kumogakure has no interest in fighting a war with Konoha. We have other, more important, foes to destroy."
Not one known for his outbursts, Shikaku could no longer keep his silence.
"We are here to make you answer for your unprovoked attack on our home!" he spat, uncharacteristically.
Minato felt his heart go out to the Nara heir and army commander, Shikaku had lost a dozen clansmen in the hospital attack. He wished he didn't have to abuse the commander's emotions in the setting, but he had to buy Kakashi's unit as much time as possible. A snorted at the claim, while his companion pulled out a small notebook and began scribbling in it with a pencil.
"We ain't done no such crime, eh yo. Got the wrong fools, ya gonna get a KO."
The Konoha shinobi stared oddly at the rapping shinobi, while A reached over and slammed a fist into his face, sending him crashing into the ground.
"Shut your damn mouth, Bee!"
He turned his face back to Minato with an angry expression as his surrogate brother pulled himself up from the ground, seemingly uninjured and unsurprised by the violent outburst.
"Hokage-sama, we know nothing about an attack on your village. Withdraw your army before we are forced to destroy you."
Minato placed up a silencing hand to his three companions before stepping forwards so that he stood level with the Raikage.
"You are a man of honour, Raikage-sama. As am I."
The Raikage looked down at the slightly shorter Hokage, "What is your point?"
Minato swallowed slowly, hoping that his investigations into the Cloud village's traditions were accurate and that the new Raikage was a similar man to his father. He pulled out a kunai slowly, making sure that the Raikage knew it wasn't a threatening gesture, removed a glove before cutting into his palm. The Raikage seemed confused by the move, until he watched Minato clench his blood dripping hand into a fist and point it at the face of the Cloud leader.
"Konoha calls for a blood duel, to resolve the conflict between our two villages."
A gave Minato a suspicious look, but his companion Bee gave a short laugh as he put away his notebook.
"He got you by the short hair, bro. He don't want no big fight, just a clean old…old…"
He hesitated slightly and seemed to be stuck on the final word of his rap. His older brother ignored the bad rapping of the sunglasses-wearing shinobi, trying to remember if there was a clause he could use to get out of the blood duel. He sighed and activated a field of lightning around his right hand, lightly cutting into his left palm with his fingers before placing his fist against Minato's, tapping it lightly.
"So be it. Let it not be said that the Cloud does not respect its own traditions."
Minato smiled grimly as he withdrew his fist, cleaning the blood off with a cloth before putting his glove back on. A withdrew his fist and simply shook it violently, his blood flicking onto the ground between them.
"You did not have to come with an army to claim a blood duel, Hokage-sama."
"Of course I did. If I had come to your village alone, you would have ignored tradition and taken me hostage before ransoming me back to Konoha."
He stared directly into the Raikage's face, not intimidated by his frightening visage. There was a few seconds of silence before the Raikage stepped back and laughed out loud, his voice booming so much that it reached both the armies' ears.
"You are a shrewd man indeed, Minato Namikaze. You do not want a large scale conflict anymore than we do. So be it."
He looked at Minato's companions before waving a hand to his brother.
"Our champion shall be Killer Bee. Who will be yours?"
Minato knew that it was likely that the Eight-Tails container would be chosen by the Cloud leader, he had first hand experience on what the rapping shinobi could do. There weren't many shinobi in his force who could compete with the sword-wielder, and the conditions of the duel meant that Minato himself could not fight him. Shikaku had immediately spoken up and requested the honour, but Minato knew that the clan head, whilst extremely intelligent and strong, would struggle against Bee's power.
"I'm sorry Shikaku, but there is only one shinobi that can compete with him in his current state."
The Nara clan head frowned at the statement, until he realised who Minato was talking about. Minato turned to his companions and smiled, as his chosen champion nodded and smiled warmly back at him.
"Our champion will be Namikaze Kushina."
The two armies had given the two fighters a wide battlefield to fight on, far larger than the one Minato fought the Kazekage on. Kushina wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit, though her flak jacket was a dark red, a relic from her original, now destroyed, village. She stretched out her arm muscles as her red ponytail flickered in the soft wind that swept across the battlefield. Her opponent was writing furiously in his notebook, the gravity of the fight having not dawned on him yet.
"Old…old…brawl? No, that won't work."
Kushina finished her stretches and regarded her opponent with morbid fascination. Minato had given her all the details he could beforehand about Bee's abilities, which had only served to dramatically increase her interest in fighting him. She had a distinct lack of serious opponents in Konoha and had been sidelined for most of the war, so it was only natural for Minato to crumble to her demand to accompany them. Bee swore under his breath and put away his notebook, turning his sunglasses-covered eyes to the red-haired shinobi.
"Ain't no more time for writing rhymes. We gotta fight so that we can make things right."
Kushina sighed and put her hands together. She had been warned about his bad rapping, but as someone who knew music and could sing, it drove her mad. She went to form a seal, but Bee put up his hand before she could.
"Hold on there, red-haired lady. I got a friend within me daily. He wants to ask you something, and he ain't about asking nicely."
Kushina resisted the urge to attack him for his horrible rhyming and indicated for him to proceed. Bee gave out a short laugh as Kushina sensed a large spike in his chakra levels. She felt a strange presence and a flickering in the seal on her stomach.
It had been a long time, Nine-Tails.
She looked around for the deep voice, noticing that Bee hadn't moved his mouth at all.
Odd, you were never this quiet before.
Kushina felt a pulse in her seal, finally understanding the situation at hand.
"You allow your beast to speak freely?" she asked.
Bee looked at her with a cocked head, "Of course, ya fool. Eight-Tails and I be bros in arms. He's my…"
Enough with you bad rapping, Bee. You have a fight to do. It does not do to make the lady wait.
The Cloud shinobi scoffed, but conceded the point, putting up one of his hands with the second and fifth fingers extended. Kushina frowned and took a step back, placing her hands together in a handseal, figuring that the fight had now begun. She didn't like using weapons, but conceded that she could use a sword as she saw the seven blades sheathed around Bee's body. She was not particularly good at normal taijutsu, but she had her own talents and skills, not including the beast sealed within her.
Bee was still rapping across from her, and apparently arguing with the Eight-Tails within him. Kushina was not known for her patience, quickly summoning a small amount of chakra before placing her hands quickly through a handseal. Minato had informed her that the blood duel was only to the death if it was completely necessary, but Kushina was no good at holding back. Especially not in the fact of a powerful opponent.
"Fuinjutsu: Tsuchikasui Kai" (Sealing Technique: Earth Spikes Release)
She slammed a foot into the ground as dozens of large spikes came out of the ground and hovered around her body. Bee stopped his rapping and looked at her as she sent the first spike towards him. He cocked his head curiously as the projectile screamed towards him. She had said a sealing technique, yet it was clearly just a simple Earth technique. He hopped to the side as the spike flew back his face and buried itself in the ground behind him. Kushina tensed and sent the other spikes one after the other at the rapping shinobi. Bee simply danced between the projectiles, before catching two of the spikes in his hands and twirling them around aimlessly. Kushina grinned wildly as Bee gripped the projectiles in his hands as if they were swords. She put up a single hand into a handseal.
"Boom"
Bee appeared to be quite surprised when the two spikes in his hands shone brightly before exploding in his hands. The smoke covered his position quickly, but Kushina was not so naïve as to believe that her attack had taken out the Cloud shinobi. She completed a handseal before weaving her hands in front of her. A black symbol appeared following her fingers, before three more symbols joined it in the pattern. She ran through two more handseals as the smoke cleared and Bee picked himself up from the ground, with no obvious damage from the explosions.
He grinned slowly, "You call that a sting, ya fool? I'll show you a…"
Kushina completed her seal and pushed her hands into the glowing triangle of black seals.
"Fuinjutsu: Bijuudama Kai" (Sealing Technique: Tailed Beast Ball Release)
A large black orb slowly formed within the seal triangle, as Bee took a step backwards cautiously. He knew this technique, mainly because he was the only one who could do it, but here was another container performing the attack. He couldn't get hit by that, even with his resilience. Kushina completed another handseal as the orb fluctuated before a huge beam of dark light slammed into Bee's position. Kushina smiled as she took a step back as the technique vaporised the ground in its path. Minato had fought Eight-Tails container on several occasions in the war, and had been able to seal one of his attacks using her sealing techniques.
The beam dissipated quickly as Kushina dismissed the seal pattern, hoping that her attack had at least slowed down the Cloud shinobi. The dust cloud caused by the attack cleared slowly, and Kushina's eyes widened as she saw a slow bubbling red form emerge from a crater caused by her beam.
"That was harder than I thought. But now you gonna get caught."
The Eight-Tails container got to his feet, covered by the red bubbling chakra that she saw before. Kushina swore and put her hands together, she recognised the demon cloak form as two red chakra tails floated behind Bee's body. She was amazed at his control of the tailed beast within him, as he seemed to be perfectly calm and in control despite his massively surging chakra levels. She went to activate another technique, but she was forced to defend herself as Bee shot forward twice as fast as she had expected, swiping an arm towards her face.
"Lariat!"
Bee grinned as he felt the attack connect, but he stumbled towards the ground as Kushina vanished in a puff of smoke. Behind him Kushina completed a handseal and put her arms out wide. Five chains with kunai attached to them emerged from her body and slammed into Bee's cloak, though he was skilled enough to shift his body around so that he didn't get pierced by the attacks. Kushina clapped her hands together, and opened up a scroll facing Bee's back. The chains retracted back towards her before Bee could react fully, the red chakra cloak following the chains before being drawn into the scroll. Bee turned around and watched as Kushina lit the scroll on fire and destroyed it quickly, before jumping back into a defensive pose.
"You're better than you look…"
He dropped down to his hands and knees as a shockwave slammed into Kushina, Bee growling and laughing at the same time as his body was covered by the red chakra again, but Kushina was forced to jump back again as the red form seemed to create a condensed shell around his body. She frowned as she sensed how much chakra Bee was moulding, taking several leaps back as she created a large amount of chakra herself. She knew what this form was as well, but also knew that she didn't have the speed to dodge him in that state. But Kushina was in the ANBU for a reason, besides her status as the Nine-Tails container.
She put her hands together and created dozens of shadow clones, spreading out around Bee's beast form. The red beast roared loudly, sending a wave of pressurised air into the surrounding female shinobi. Hidden amongst the shadow clones, Kushina tried to think of the best way to stop him, as he reached up and swept his arm into a section of clones. The clones that survived tried their best to strike at the howling beast, but he dodged and weaved whilst destroying the clones with ease. The red beast drove a claw into the final clone, before taking a glance around the empty field, disappointed. Dozens of feet away, Kushina pulled herself out of the ground, dusting herself off as she looked at the beast from a distance.
How the hell am I going to stop that? My attacks are for restraining, not something like this.
The beast sniffed at the air before turning itself to face Kushina and roared in response. Kushina sighed as the shockwave blasted through her hair, nearly knocking her off her feet. She took a step back and steadied herself as Bee thundered towards her, tearing up the ground underneath his feet. She summoned all the normal chakra she could and activated a technique that only someone with her chakra capacity and lineage could accomplish.
The red-haired shinobi placed up a hand slowly as the beast dived at her with a fist raised to slam her into the ground. She caught the red fist cleanly with her open palm, her body not moving an inch as Bee skidding to a halt and struggling as Kushina closed her hand around his fist and began to crush it with her fingers. She slowly looked up at the small eyes of his beast form, slowly grinning as the beast howled in pain.
"Uzumaki-Style: Hitotsutaira" (First Level)
A slow blue aura rose from her feet, slowly covering her body as she cracked her wrist, sending the beast to his knees. Not one to wait for retaliations, Kushina pulled back a fist and slammed it into Bee's face, simultaneously letting go of his other hand. The Cloud shinobi was sent spiralling back, as Kushina let out a slow breath and adopted one of Minato's taijutsu stances. She grinned as her blue chakra floated about her, wondering if Minato could see how much control she now had over this form. Bee picked himself off the ground, still in his beast-like form, and growled angrily as he began to run towards the red-haired shinobi once again.
The Cloud shinobi was less subtle about his approach than Kushina, firing two quick dense chakra blasts from his mouth at her before leaping him into the air, claws raised. Kushina skipped away from the two blasts, letting them strike the ground with tremendous force as Bee bared both claws against her. She dodged the first claw with relative ease, driving a blue-covered foot into his other claw before slamming her forehead into Bee's face. Kushina laughed as she was sent spiralling backwards holding her head in pain. Bee was not so lucky; his body was buried several feet into the ground, his red covered body had receded back to his normal human form.
Kushina struggled to pick herself up from the ground, rubbing her head painfully as her blue chakra aura vanished. She smiled as she looked at the crater she had caused; Minato had always said that she was too destructive when she was in that state. And when he didn't think she was listening, he would comment to his friends that she was always that destructive. She reached up an arm and took a sniff at her clothes, grimacing at the smell.
"I could use a bath" she commented, to nobody in particular.
Her eyes narrowed as the crater with Bee's body exploded outwards, the Cloud shinobi driving his fists through the rubble before picking himself out of the ground. Bee dusted himself off and coughed as he slapped his stomach and stretched out his back.
"That was too close, eh yo. Shouldn't just be playing around, fool, ya fool. Time for a new form, baby."
His opponent just gave a sigh as large tentacles began to emerge from his back. She had to jump back as he grew larger as he completely his transformation into the complete Eight-Tails form. Kushina had heard that Bee had a fair amount of control over his occupant, but to be able to transform into the beast itself without losing yourself, that was beyond her understanding. She could tell it was still Bee in control, as he was still managing to rap, badly, despite his form as a giant ox-octopus hybrid monster. Her vision was covered by the waving tentacles of the gigantic monster, as she was forced to jump and dodge out of the way of his random attacks.
She had very little chakra left due to the amount of chakra she had put into that last headbutt, but even as she rolled out of the way of a tentacle strike she didn't feel a need to concede the duel. She closed her eyes, letting her well-honed instincts dodge Bee's attacks as she delved deep into her subconscious. Kushina found what she was looking for quicker than she normally did, and using her normally diplomatic abilities took what she needed. She flipped backwards a large distance away from Bee and placed her hands together in a handseal. The air around her exploded outwards as she felt a new power surge through her. She grinned as she activated her technique. Kushina didn't have much control over the Kyuubi, paling in comparison to the younger Cloud shinobi, but she had one thing that she was proud of, and that was her imagination.
She grinned wildly, "Henge no Jutsu: Kyuubi".
There were few things that caused Minato to shiver and balk, yet watching his wife transform into the Kyuubi, even just as a fake shell, was enough to set him on edge. Kushina matched her opponent in size and height, though her Kyuubi transformation had one extra tail/tentacle, her red fur shaking as she roared out loudly at Bee. The Eight-Tailed beast roared in return, but Kushina did not wait for him to attack her, instead pulling back one of her claws and striking at her opponent's large body. Bee leapt up with his tentacles and drove a fist towards the giant fox, Kushina forced to take the blow as she wrapped a claw around the ox-octopus's arm, grabbing his other fist with her claw.
She reached over and, with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth, bit down into his neck. She knew that since her form wasn't a proper transformation that she couldn't hold him for long, but she required time for her other technique to complete itself within her transformation. Bee roared out in pain and struggled in her grip, his tentacles thrashing and flailing at her fox form, to not avail. Kushina took as much of a risk as she could before the sheer strength of his body forced her to release him and jump back. She coughed and splattered in her fox form, trying to spit out the horrible taste of the Eight-Tails body, wishing that she hadn't done that as all she could taste in her mouth was ink.
That wasn't fun at all. I'll be tasting that for a week, even if this is a transformation. But I bought myself the time I needed.
She summoned all the Kyuubi chakra that she had taken and pushed it to the front of her face. Her opponent seemed to be able to read what she was doing, as he opened up his mouth and began to summon a huge ball of black chakra in front of his mouth, same as Kushina was beginning to do. They both shifted their faces so that they were in each other's firing lines, as both of the black orbs began to compress. However neither of their attacks ever reached fruition.
"Iron Claw!"
The ox-octopus was sent crashing to the ground as the floating form of the Raikage came crashing down onto his head. The new Kage went to strike at his brother's monstrous form again, but Bee transformed back to his human form in a rare moment of common sense. His brother landed next to him and stood in front of him, telling him to stay down for the moment.
"Fuinjutsu: Kai!" (Sealing Technique: Release)
The giant form of the Kyuubi disappeared in a large puff of smoke, as Minato stood next to his exhausted red-haired wife.
"Minato, you are still touching my ass."
The young Hokage frowned as he slowly moved his hand so that it was touching her shoulders.
"You're my wife, Kushina. I will do what I please."
He knew that was a bad thing to say to her, but he needed to have some moments of delusional power. Kushina didn't respond with anger though, she merely smiled sweetly at her blonde husband and asked him why he had stopped her. Minato removed his hand from her shoulder and turned around, quickly indicating for Kakashi to come up to them.
"What are we going to do?" asked Kushina.
She knew what Minato was trying to do; he couldn't keep anything from her. The Raikage, not willing to wait for his subordinates, reached down and picked up his brother, unceremoniously throwing him towards the Kumo army.
"The duel is forfeit, Hokage-sama."
Minato nodded as Kakashi ran up behind him. He stared at A's face with a serious look, not sure what he should do now, considering they both had to stop their tailed beast containers from destroying the battlefield at the same time. He knew that they had not gained Kakashi's unit enough time, but he couldn't retreat without giving away the real reasons for their attack to the Konoha army. A stood his ground as Bee struggled to pick himself up from a crater in the midst of the Kumo army.
"You aren't going to retreat, are you?" asked the Cloud village leader.
Minato frowned as Kakashi led his wife back towards the army. He waited until Kakashi indicated that she was safe before he turned back to his counterpart.
"Would you?" he asked cautiously.
A shook his head, still staring at Minato with a serious look on his face.
"Not in your life, especially if I suspected you of attacking my village. Besides, on closer look, it would appear that you have brought many of your specialised ninjutsu users. Kumo will gladly take them off your hands."
The Hokage tensed, giving the Raikage an angry stare, "Over my dead body."
A scoffed at the blonde shinobi and turned his back on the Hokage, walking back quickly to his force. Minato swore under his breath and used Hiraishin to teleport to his wife. Two seconds later, the Konoha army was treated to the amusing image of the Fourth Hokage being unceremoniously kicked out of his tent with a large bump on his head. Kakashi ran up to his teacher and helped him up from the ground. Minato thanked his student, before leaning down next to his ear.
"We are about to engage the Kumo forces. If your unit hasn't finished their task, you are out of time."
The Kakashi clone nodded and put his hands together, vanishing into smoke as Kushina emerged from Minato's tent with a clean set of clothes on.
Kakashi looked out at the raging storm at the cave entrance as the rest of the group took in the information he had just given them.
"What does that mean?" asked Jito.
Kakashi frowned as he remembered how close Nagisa had said they were to their destination.
"It means we are short on time. We have to go. Now."
He began to pack up their camp as the rest of the group frowned, they knew the storm hadn't passed yet, but they followed suit nonetheless. Kakashi asked Nagisa if she could still track the scent in such weather, to which the quiet Inuzuka simply nodded before going about her business. They packed up quickly before Jito asked the question they all wanted to know.
"How are we going to get through the storm?"
Kakashi stood in front of the older female in the group, "Mikoto, can you do it?"
She grinned at the ground before placing her hands together. She rarely needed to use handseals for her elementary techniques, but with that kind of powerful storm she required precise control.
"How far away are we, Nagisa?" asked Kakashi.
Nagisa pointed to the path up the mountain, as the skin on the back of their necks rose when Mikoto summoned a huge amount of chakra around them.
"If she can keep the storm at bay, should be no more than two hours."
Kakashi nodded grimly, with Jito taking a long breath and Mikoto clapped her hands together as her hair began to waver behind her. Kakashi asked if she was ready, to which she simply smiled and placed her hands out in front of her. Kakashi felt a strange aura, as Mikoto began to walk towards the entrance of the cave. The three of them were forced to stay within a few feet of the young Uchiha matriarch as they stepped out of the cave. Mikoto strained as she kept her hands out in front of them, a small bubble of pressurised air keeping the violent storm away from the group. Nagisa stood just in front of her and led the group up the snow covered mountain, her boots sinking into the snowy ground.
They reached the peak of the mountain range in three hours, covering more distance than they were previously able in the past two days, Kakashi wished he had thought of it earlier, though Mikoto had reminded him that she couldn't keep up the shield for much longer than what they had done. After a particularly harsh steep climb, the four of them rose about the storm and onto the peak area of the mountain. Mikoto gave out a sigh of relief as she dropped the wind shield. Her knees buckled slightly but Jito reached out and pushed her back up, with a comforting pat on the head before regarded their target. A small doorway covered with strange runes and a large sheet of thick ice sat on the strangely smooth surface before them, the four of them hiding behind a large boulder as they regarded the doorway.
There were two dark robed figures standing in front of the doorway, Nagisa tensing up immediately when she saw them. Kakashi went to take a look, but was pulled back behind the rock by Jito as Mikoto stared through the rock with her Sharingan. Jito shook his head and pointed to Kakashi's forehead protector, then at Mikoto. The Jounin understood immediately, uncovering Obito's gift before looking through the rock.
He leant next to Mikoto, "I can't see anything" he whispered.
She nodded with a fearful look in her red eyes, "Me neither. This doesn't make sense."
Jito leant down between the two of them, "They don't have chakra. I've never seen anything like this before."
Kakashi clenched his fists as he tried to understand what they had found. Even civilians had a chakra circulatory system, though they couldn't utilise it properly. For these foes to not have chakra…he didn't know what he was meant to do. It also meant that Jito's genjutsu wouldn't be effective, since that required a chakra circulatory system to manipulate, at least to Kakashi's understanding of genjutsu.
"Anyone have a plan?" asked Kakashi, knowing that their first move would have to take the enemies out before the enemy could retaliate.
The three of them heard a soft footstep behind them, all of them turning at once with weapons prepared. They found themselves confronted by the fur covered kneeling form of their Inuzuka companion.
"Nagisa?" said Kakashi, putting away his kunai as he saw she wasn't hiding with them.
Her hands were covered with blood as the long claws retracted back to her clear nails. Mikoto suppressed a laugh and glanced over the rock, before standing up straight. The two robed figures were lying face down in the snow, with pools of blood flowing from their necks. Kakashi looked as well, before smiling at Nagisa.
"Good work, I guess."
He reached down and pulled back the hood of one of the bodies. He frowned as he saw the plain face of the guard; the only distinguishing marks were a slight red circle around the iris of his eyes. Jito knelt down next to him as Mikoto regarded the ice covered doorway with interest. It wasn't big enough for a building, but Nagisa insisted that the trail ended at their position.
"No distinguishing marks?" asked Jito, taking a look at the other body.
Kakashi shook his head, before writing down some information on a scroll. He wasn't sure if the eyes were important, but he including it regardless.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
Kakashi and Jito both jumped back as Mikoto's fire attack slammed into the ice cover. Her commander frowned at her impetuous action, though he was forced to shield himself as she changed the red and orange flame to a light blue. Kakashi was petrified that she would bring down part of the mountain as she continued to increase the intensity of the attack, but before he went to stop her she cancelled the attack and stepped back.
"Well that's odd" she commented, kicking off some melted snow on her boots.
The ice wall hadn't melted at all, despite the intensity of her flames; barely a scratch could be seen on its pure blue form.
"What now?" asked Jito, stabbing at the ice with a kunai, with no visible damage.
The group tried several different ways to destroy the ice, with even Kakashi's Raikiri not breaching it at all.
"Any ideas?" asked Kakashi, frustrated that something like this was keeping him from helping their people.
Mikoto indicated for them to stand back, before placing her hands together.
"That hasn't worked so far, Mikoto."
She ignored Kakashi's comment, and told them once again to stand back. She took several moments with closed eyes before slowly opening her red eyes. Kakashi couldn't see her face, but he felt the same strange chakra that he had seen several times before from her. Mikoto glared at the sleet of ice and muttered a single word.
"Amaterasu"
The ice exploded with pitch black flames, a small trickle of blood came from Mikoto's right eye as the black flames appeared to make short work of the ice barrier. The three of them could only watch in awe as the sleet of ice melted into the ground, but Kakashi noticed that the flames were now covering the doorway itself, though strangely were not burning it. Kakashi went to ask her to get rid of the flames, until he saw her change her handseal and grimace in pain. A long trickle of blood came from her other eye as the flames began to recede until they were gone. Mikoto fell to the ground and clutched at her eyes as both Jito and Kakashi went to help her.
"Are you okay?" asked Kakashi, as Mikoto wiped the blood off her face.
The Uchiha matriarch smiled weakly and struggled to pick herself up from the ground. Kakashi felt the hair stand up on the back of his head, causing him to stand up and turn around. He found himself confronted by another black hooded figure that pressed a single finger on the middle of his forehead protector. Kakashi stared into the strange red-ringed eyes of the enemy, his Sharingan reading a mixture of anger and loneliness in his eyes.
"What do you want?" said Jito, wary of the fact that none of them knew what the man could do, but he wasn't going to just stand there and let him attack his commander.
The man snarled and stared at Kakashi's eyes. He didn't say anything, but his captive could tell there was a deep sorrow in his eyes and that he wanted to say something but couldn't quite find the words. He was cut off as a spinning whirlwind slammed into his side, removing the enemy from touching Kakashi and sending him spinning near the edge of the mountain. Nagisa had the sense to cancel the taijutsu technique before she catapulted off the edge, though the enemy had no such luck, spinning off into the distance with the technique's momentum. The others sighed in relief as Kakashi picked himself up from the ground, shaking the snow off his fur cloak. Nagisa stood up slowly near the edge of the mountainside, grinning wildly. Kakashi couldn't help but smile at the young Inuzuka, that was the first time he had seen her smile since the hospital.
"I guess they aren't so tough after all" said Mikoto, taking a look at the doorway before them.
Before they could recover fully though, they felt a large rumbling underneath their feet, as if the mountain itself was protesting their intrusion. Kakashi called out for them to drop to the ground, but with her close position to the edge Nagisa stood no chance of recovering. The snowy ground beneath her feet gave way and she immediately plummeted out of view. Kakashi called out her name and leapt to grab for her, but was pulled back by both Mikoto and Jito. The Jounin called out for Mikoto to help her with a wind technique, but the Uchiha matriarch was already shaking her head. The silver-haired shinobi dropped to his knees as the realisation that she was gone hit him.
"We…need to keep going" said Jito carefully after a few moments, though he was also saddened by the Inuzuka's sudden demise, he had liked the quiet girl.
Kakashi threw off their restraining arms and stole a glance over the edge of the mountain, into the wild freezing storm beneath them. He sighed angrily and said a few silent words before turning back to the two remaining shinobi from his unit. None of them said a word, but they knew how Kakashi felt as he stoically walked up to the doorway. It seemed to be quite ordinary, though the attached building was no larger than ten feet deep and wide. Kakashi checked the door with his Sharingan, and satisfied that there were no traps on it, he grasped the door handle and pulled it open, dragging the wooden frame along the snow-covered ground. He frowned as he saw the insides of the doorway, indicated for both of his companions to look with him. Inside was a dark room, with no distinguishing marks or contents, except for a strange red symbol on the ground that none of them recognised.
"We climbed up the mountain of hell, for this?" commented a frustrated Mikoto.
She had been forced to take a soldier pill to recover her chakra, the wind shield had taken a lot out of her, and using her special doujutsu technique had drained most of her chakra. Kakashi knelt down and examined the red symbol, it didn't look like any seal he had seen before.
Jito knelt on the doorway next to them and indicated to the two bodies behind them, "They were guarding it for a reason. There must be something inside here."
"And Nagisa did lead us here" added Mikoto.
Their commander had a suspicion on what the symbol meant, but it involved risking themselves to test it out. He pictured Nagisa's face just before she fell, and then Obito's as the boulder crushed his body.
No, I must keep going. There is still one who might be saved.
"Stand inside the doorway, on top of the symbol" he commanded, waiting for the two of them to comply before reached down and slashing at one of the bodies with a kunai.
His two companions instantly understood what he was doing, and prepared themselves and he stepped onto the symbol with them and let several drops of the foe's blood drip onto the red symbol. He held his breath as the symbol began to glow before shining brighter than they could bear, forcing them to close their eyes. Kakashi felt a strange hook-like tug on his naval, and wished he hadn't eaten anything beforehand as he was wrenched away by a strange force.
Being the student of the Yellow Flash, Kakashi was more attuned to being teleported than Mikoto and Jito, but even he felt an urge to throw up his stomach contents as they were dumped onto a cold stone floor. Mikoto and Kakashi were up instantly, Kakashi with a kunai in hand while Mikoto had her hands covered in blue flames. Their companion groaned as he picked himself up from the ground, standing up slowly while holding a sore arm. After a few seconds they realised that the room was empty, though they didn't drop their guards. The room was huge, its walls lined with candles. None of them could sense any enemies in the nearby vicinity, but Kakashi didn't trust his own abilities considering the guards at the peak of the mountain.
"What are your orders?" asked Mikoto.
Kakashi took a look around the room, seeing only one open hallway that connected to the room they were in. Just behind them was a red symbol identical to the previous one on the ground. He didn't know where they had been teleported to, but it would be reasonable to expect that symbol to take them back to the mountain peak. Kakashi turned to his two subordinates, again wishing that his teacher was here in his place, he would know what to do.
He took a deep breath, "We are here to find our people. I don't know where we are or what has happened to them, but their safety is paramount. However we also need information, both on who kidnapped our people and why. We are to stay together. Nobody else will die under my command."
The two of them nodded grimly and moved to stand just behind Kakashi, letting him take the lead since Nagisa was no longer with them. He let himself smile for a split second before adopting a serious expression and running towards the open hallway before them. The hallway seemed to extend forever, though as they sprinted cautiously down it Kakashi felt a strange sense of foreboding in his gut. They slowed down their pace as the hallway expanded into an open room identical to the one they entered in. Kakashi frowned as he felt the hair stood up on the back of his neck.
"Something's coming" he warned, his companions preparing defensive stances and weaponry.
A short distance away from them, the air appeared to ripple and stretch, forcing the Konoha shinobi to jump back cautiously. The dark space in front of them seemed to rip apart as a hooded figure appeared from the opening void, regarding the group with a strangely calm expression. It took Kakashi a moment before realising that the hooded figure was a woman, and even though her face was mostly covered by the hood he could see that her eyes were a clear ice blue colour, with no irises at all. She was fairly pretty, but there was a cold nature that he couldn't quite put his finger on.
He pointed his kunai at her threateningly, "Who are you?"
The figure reached up with slender arms and pulled back her head, revealing an oddly peaceful expression and long milky-white hair. She didn't smile, but Kakashi could tell that she was in no way intimidated by their group. She took a step forward towards their group, showing them her pale skinned bare feet as she stepped lightly on the stone floor, unhindered by the cold temperature of the room. She opened her mouth slightly and her voice was surprisingly soft, it reminded Kakashi of how Nagisa used to speak.
"Shinobi…you are more persistent than we expected."
"Where have you taken our people?" demanded Kakashi, unsettled by the fact that he couldn't sense any chakra from the woman, or any killer intent, yet he wanted nothing more than to be elsewhere.
She slowly turned her ice-blue gaze to the short Jounin, "Does it matter? You will continue to kill and burn wherever you go. Shinobi are all the same."
Jito leant down next to Kakashi, "Don't bother. She stinks of brainwashing."
The woman frowned and turned her gaze to Jito.
"I am not brainwashed, shinobi. It does not surprise me that you believe that you must be in the right."
She moved a step backwards and placed one foot behind the other, "It falls to me to show you why your kind's time is ending. Might does not make right, shinobi."
Kakashi tensed his hand clenching the kunai, indicating for Jito to be quiet. There was no point in talking with the woman; he recognised blind hate when it was put in front of him. But he was a Jounin, and both Mikoto and Jito were either at or beyond his level anyway, so he was not concerned about their ability to defend themselves against one enemy, especially one without chakra. Though the fact that she wasn't taken back by the three of them, unsettled him. He gave Mikoto the slightest of nods before putting away his kunai and placing his hands into a handseal. The woman looked down at his hands before letting off a tired sigh of exasperation. Mikoto manoeuvred her hands in overly dramatic gestures as Kakashi completed his handseals.
"Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!" (Fire Element: Dragon Fire Technique)
A large line of fire shot from Kakashi straight at the woman, greatly enhanced by Mikoto's wind technique, slamming into their enemy with a force that nearly knocked the three Konoha shinobi over. The flames covered their enemy for a few seconds before Kakashi cut off the technique, knowing that they needed to capture her alive not kill her, despite how much he would like to. His eyes widened as she stood unmoved from her position, without a single mark on her or her clothes.
She let out a slow breath, "Was that all? Poor shinobi, always relying on your precious chakra."
Mikoto frowned and flicked two of her fingers at her, sending two highly condensed bursts of air at her with a speed that only those with the Sharingan could likely pick up. She didn't even flinch as the air bullets screamed towards her, and then faded out into nothing as they reached her. Kakashi's Sharingan wasn't picking up any chakra signals from Mikoto's attack as it struck at the female enemy.
"Who the hell is she?" asked Mikoto.
The others didn't respond, but Kakashi drew his kunai again and held it up defensively. Their enemy had made no motion to attack them at all; she seemed perfectly content to let them beat their heads against her.
If chakra attacks don't work, then…
He sped towards her, leaping up into the air and slashing at her face, whilst attempting to drive a foot into her stomach. With the slightest of movements, the woman pressed a finger into Kakashi's kunai-holding hand and moving her slender form so that Kakashi's foot barely missed her. He felt his strength and chakra vanish at her soft touch, and for a short time he couldn't move his muscles at all, causing him to fall awkwardly behind her. He swore and struggled to pick himself up from the ground, his legs not responding properly to his commands. He tried to power himself up by using a small amount of chakra, but as he moulded it he felt a sharp stinging pain up his spine.
Kakashi stopped struggling and took a deep breath, concentrating on working his muscles slowly, placing a single foot flat on the ground and finally picked himself up from the ground. He turned his head back to the female enemy, his eyes widening in anger as he saw the two fallen forms of his companions, though he let out a breath of relief as his Sharingan showed him they were still breathing, though their chakra levels appeared to be as distorted as his was. The robed woman cocked her head curiously at him as she reached up and pulled her hood back over her head.
"You recover quickly. You may be of more use than anticipated, Hatake Kakashi."
She smiled as his confusion on how she knew his name, which only served to make her appear even more unsettling. She walked up to him slowly, Kakashi finding himself unable to move his legs as she approached him. She reached down and ran a finger across his chin, still keeping up her strangely calm smile. Kakashi found himself frozen as she placed two fingers in the middle of his forehead protector. For one of the first times in his life, Kakashi was petrified for his life, as he understood the difference between this woman and the guards on the mountain peak, and that there was a fate he couldn't imagine suffering. The woman dropped her smile, whilst still keeping her fingers on his forehead; she seemed to have a vacant look in her eyes, more seeing past him then at him.
"It cannot wait?" she asked, seemingly to nobody. "The experiment is complete…yes…no, this stage was a success…no, that was not a factor, we had better specimens…we were able to compensate for that…no it's not a problem…yes, I'll be right there."
Her eyes refocused and she stared back at Kakashi, her strange calm face back on as she removed her fingers and took a step back from him. Kakashi dropped to his knees as all of his senses activated at once, sending shockwaves of pain up his back as both Jito and Mikoto groaned in pain. The woman waved a hand to her side, the air in front of it seemingly ripping apart, as they had seen on her arrival. She turned to face him once again, her ice-blue eyes connecting with his black and red eyes.
"You are a fortunate shinobi. We are finished here regardless, so this battle is meaningless. But I will issue this warning. What you will find in here, is the result of your world. Never forget that as powerful as your world may be, you are not righteous. When the end comes, none shall weep at your graves."
She placed a foot into the torn space and disappeared as quickly as appeared, causing the very confused Kakashi to drop face-first into the floor, his strength completely spent.
"I think he's coming around."
"We can't linger here, Mikoto."
"We aren't leaving him here."
"I wasn't suggesting that…"
Kakashi groaned softly as he tried to feel around with his hands. His eyes opened slowly as his two companions stopped arguing and bent down to help him. He grimaced as they helped him to his feet, testing his weight on his feet before thanking them for their help.
"Are you okay?" asked Mikoto, her concern clearly evident on her face.
Jito made no comment and stared at him with a neutral expression, but Kakashi could tell he was relieved at his recover. Kakashi widened his eyes as his vision returned to him, and felt immediately relieved as his Sharingan showed his the blue chakra outlines of his two subordinates.
"I'm fine. How long was I out?"
The two of them looked at each other and shrugged.
"We don't know. It's impossible to tell time in here" said Jito.
Kakashi took a few moments to make sure that he had recovered to a reasonable extent, running some chakra down his arms to make sure that he still could mould chakra. He looked around the room quickly, though he realised that their foe was long gone. He didn't know why she hadn't taken them out, but her last statement weighed heavily on him.
She wanted us to see something. But what…
A terrible thought came to his mind, which explained much of what had happened, but Kakashi banished it from his mind.
I can't let myself believe that. Not until we find the others. If we find them.
He stretched out his arms before turning to face the opposite side of the room, the only way for them to proceed forward. He didn't say anything, but began running towards the opening. Jito and Mikoto shared a concerned look before they joined behind him.
It was in the third adjoining room in the hallway that they began to find the bodies. Kakashi heart dropped immediately as they rolled over the first body, recognising a young medic that had healed Kakashi after the battle with the Suna shinobi. Mikoto and Jito knelt down next to another body, sighing as Mikoto recognised a nurse from the hospital. Jito reached down and opened the nurse's eyes, frowning as Kakashi did the same with the medic.
"Are his the same?" asked Jito, Kakashi nodding as he laid the boy back down onto the ground.
"The same eyes as the guards on the mountain peak?" asked Mikoto.
The two of them nodded as they all stood up and regarded the two bodies. Kakashi couldn't tell what had killed the Konoha medic and nurse, though there eyes weren't completely identical to the guards Nagisa had taken out, the outlines on their eyes were not totally flush red.
"We should keep looking" said Kakashi grimly.
"What about the bodies?" asked Mikoto; not wanting to leave their fallen comrades remains behind.
He was forced to shake his head in refusal, "We have more important priorities."
She didn't seem happy with his decision, but understood why they had to move on.
After ten rooms of a similar nature, Kakashi was tempted to scrub the mission altogether, but a stinging pain in his left eye reminded him of his duty. They had come too far to give up now, though his positive thoughts were few and far between. They came to the end of the hallway and a standard wooden door that looked fairly out of place considering the rest of the facility.
"End of the line" commented Jito as they regarded the door suspiciously.
Satisfied that there were no traps on the door, Kakashi did a mental count of how many bodies they had identified, all of them bearing the same eye markings as the first corpses.
There are twenty-four still unaccounted for, not including…
He took a long breath before reached down and twisting the knob, throwing the door open as the three of them walked in slowly. The room was different than the other ones they had examined. There were no marks to show how the other Konoha civilians had been killed, but the three Konoha shinobi felt their stomachs turn over immediately upon seeing the state of the room they had entered. The floor was littered with bodies, if they could be called such, with not a single spot of floor not drenched in blood.
But as they saw, it wasn't just blood; the whole floor was lined with organs and other unspeakable parts that Kakashi wished he never saw. Three Sharingan eyes looked over the room as Jito made an attempt to recognise some of the disembodied faces near the doorway. They took a few moments to take in the scene, Mikoto dropping to her knees as she recognised two faces pasted against a nearby wall, unable to keep her guts within her stomach as she retched onto the floor. Kakashi knelt down onto one knee and placed a hand onto a small pool of blood, letting his fingers pick up some of the red liquid before placing it near his nose.
"Something is wrong here" he said as he wiped the blood on his sleeve.
Jito shook his head, unable to believe what he was seeing.
"That's the understatement of the century."
Kakashi went to give them an order to search the room, but his attention was drawn to a dark corner at the back of the room as a section of body parts shifted slightly. The Jounin tensed instantly, drawing a kunai before giving his companions two quick hand signals. They were ready instantly, Jito signalling a friendly or foe question with his hands. Kakashi gave an unsure signal as the body parts shifted again, this time a larger movement as they came apart to reveal a blood drenched shadowy figure. They couldn't tell whether the figure was clothed or not, but as it rose they saw it was definitely human shaped. The figure turned as it seemed to notice the three of them for the first time, a seemingly vacant pair of eyes regarding them with disinterest. Kakashi frowned as he stared into the ice-blue lined brown irises, knowing that whatever this was, it likely killed all the Konoha civilians in that room.
This is the last room. Were we too late? Did we ever have a chance of rescuing them?
The figure slowly came more into view, with blood dripping from its outline as the residual body parts slid off it. Kakashi felt a sharp agony in his chest as the figure took a single step towards them, sliding a slender leg between corpses on the ground. He couldn't see most of the figure's features, but as the blood dripped off its face, two dark red rectangular marks caused all hope to fade from the silver-haired teenager's heart.
"No…not you…"
He took a step back as his Sharingan showed a shimmering blackish-blue outline around the figure as his normal eye watched the short figure appear fully in their vision with a dead expression on its face.
"Kakashi…do you know this person?" asked Mikoto, her hands alight with trembling light blue fire.
The Jounin took a step back as next to him Jito ran through a fast set of handseals before activating a technique. He swore as it was clear that his genjutsu had no effect on the figure, pulling out a kunai to defend himself.
Kakashi felt a tear come to his normal eye, "Don't make me do this…not this…"
The figure jerked its head sharply as its eyes rested on Kakashi's, before it took another step towards him, its short brown hair coming apart as blood dripped from its tips. Kakashi felt a tear of blood drop from his Sharingan, as his hands began to shake.
"Rin…"
The figure frowned as she heard the name, stopping in her approach as her eyes flickered from their ice-blue outline to her normal brown eyes, and for a moment Kakashi could have sworn that there was something of his old friend in there, but her eyes flickered back before he could find anything out. Her gore covered arms rose slowly from her sides as a black aura began to emerge from her skin. Mikoto went to throw a ball of fire at their enemy, but Kakashi shook his head and ordered her to fall back, putting away his kunai again and placing his hands together. Rin began to shamble slowly towards the three of them as Mikoto and Jito took a step back to let Kakashi activate his technique. He dropped his gaze sadly as his hand began to light up with deafening thunder. He looked back up at her, but instead of his childhood friend that his friend had confessed to loving, all he could see was a reproachable foe covered with the entrails of his village's civilians.
There aren't any words that can be said. I…I'm sorry, Obito. I couldn't save her…
His Sharingan began to track her movements as she moved quicker towards him with her arms raised, covered by a black aura of chakra, which seemed to flicker and fade between movements.
This isn't her. Rin is dead.
He knew that there might be a chance for her to come back to them, but he also knew Rin wouldn't likely be able to recover from the trauma of the knowledge that she had killed so many people, particularly her friends and companions. Kakashi took a slow breath and pushed off his back foot, shooting forward with a speed he wished he didn't require. Not caring who he was, Rin swung a black chakra-covered arm at his head with speed that she had not possessed before her capture. Obito's gift read the movement easily, Kakashi ducking underneath the attack and swerving out of the way of her other arm before positioning his arm and lightning attack at her chest. He didn't feel the attack strike, rather he felt a strange warm feeling up his arm as her arms drooped to her sides and her eyes flickered back to dark brown. Her body fell limb as Kakashi removed his hand from her chest. She coughed blood onto his face as the two of them fell to the ground. Rin stared at Kakashi's eyes for a few seconds as her life began to ebb away.
Her lips came apart slightly as she muttered softly, "Wh…wh…"
"What is it, Rin?" asked Kakashi, gently lowering her head onto the ground.
She coughed again and struggled to find her voice as tears slowly fell from Kakashi's face. Her face broke into a confused frown that Kakashi felt his heart break at.
"Wh…why?"
Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fell limb in his arms. Kakashi felt a strange emptiness in place of where his grief should have been. He grimaced as a sharp pain suddenly struck him in his left eye; his chakra levels fluctuating wildly at the image of the dead girl burned itself into his mind. He threw back his head and screamed an unholy sound as blood continued to pour from his new eye, unable to move voluntarily as he began to thrash about on top of Rin's corpse. Mikoto's eyes widened as she recognised what was happening to her commander and she ran towards him immediately.
"Jito! Restrain him with a genjutsu quickly!"
The Senju shinobi quickly placed his hands together and Kakashi jerked up onto his feet, before falling to his knees immobile. His screaming was cut off as Mikoto leant down opposite his face. She stared at his eyes with grim fascination as she placed a caring hand on his cheek.
"At such a young age…"
Jito knelt down beside his Uchiha companion, "What happened to him?"
He knew what grief did to shinobi on the battlefield from experience, but Kakashi's reaction to his friend's death was bizarre even to the elder Senju. Mikoto reached up and pointed to Kakashi's left eye that seemed to be fluctuating between its three-tomoed form and a sharp triangle black shape before going back to its normal shape.
"His Sharingan is evolving into the next stage. But…at such a young age…his mind can't handle it."
"So what do we do?" asked Jito.
Mikoto shrugged, "I have no idea. This has never happened before, especially not with a non-Uchiha."
They took several minutes to figure out what they should do as Kakashi's body struggled against the restraining illusion. Jito looked around the room before standing up slowly. Their mission had been a failure, but they couldn't bring back information about this tragedy to Konoha. The blow to moral would be devastating, enough to cause them to pull out of the war altogether, which would not end well for the Land of Fire.
He turned to Mikoto, "Our mission isn't over, Mikoto. We have to find out more about who did this."
She frowned and stood up to face him. Kakashi was still immobile but conscious, his mind broken into several pieces.
"We are in no position to do so, Jito. Nagisa is dead, Kakashi is in no state of mind to do anything, and to be honest I think we are out of our depth."
"Then I'll do it myself. I'll search this place some more for clues then I'll pursue them. You take Kakashi back to the village."
"That's absurd! You have to come back with us!"
Jito shook his head as he placed his hands together in a handseal that Mikoto didn't recognise. Their commander jerked up into the air as his eyes stayed eerily open. The Uchiha matriarch questioned what he was doing, but Jito shook his head to indicate that he needed to concentrate.
He placed both hands on top of Kakashi's head before closing his eyes, "Magen: Risetto" (Demonic Illusion: Reset).
His subject dropped to the ground as Mikoto struggled to keep him from striking the ground awkwardly.
"What did you do?" she asked.
"Take him back to the village, Mikoto. Do not mention any of this; tell the Hokage that Kakashi was forced to scrub the mission once the trail went cold."
"And you?"
Jito gave her a rare smile as he looked down at his gloved hands.
"I was never going to return to the village in the first place. At least this way I can be of some use."
They continued to converse, but Kakashi couldn't feel anything as his vision darkened before he collapsed completely in Mikoto's arms.
***End MEGA-Flashback***
Author's Note:
And with that, the Third Shinobi War section is finished. Took longer than I had initially intended, sorry about that. But it all ties in to the main story. And just a point of interest, I'm not finished with the OCs from this arc.
At the start of the next chapter I'm putting in a very basic summary of what has happened so far. I do recommend you read back if you've missed it though, as there may be stuff happening you won't understand unless you've read the previous chapters.
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to reply to each review, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.
Anime Spotlight: Love Hina. Want to know where harems originated from? This is it. Well probably not, but this anime is great. Funny, good characters, even if the main character is a complete sissy. If you like Tsundere characters, your god exists in this anime.