The Wanderers
Chapter 16 – Invasion
A/N: It occurs to me that my paragraphing isn't being picked up by. That really bugs me as a writer, I paragraph at specific points to help the story. From this chapter onwards, I'll be putting a few oOo to separate the paragraphs, between the page breaks.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, shinobi would actually sneak around.
***Previously-On***
With their pursuit of the Sound Jounin, the Konoha group made their way across the countryside towards the Land of Rice Fields. They stopped off for a rest at the village where Asuma and Kurenai had retired to. They found that Tenten had moved away with her father, and to their amazement the retired Jounin had recently given birth to a baby girl, Airi. After taking their leave they infiltrated the Land of Rice Fields, making slow progress before finding the main entrance to the Hidden Village of the Sound. Neji and Hinata scanned the area with their Byakugan, informing the group that the entire village is underground and spread over a large area. Shikamaru develops a plan for them to attack the village in the morning, splitting the group into four attack groups. In addition an army of Naruto clones will storm the entrance, and on his own Neji plans to find the prisoners, if there are any. As they prepare themselves for the attack, Neji plans to use the Uzumaki scroll to remove his Hyuuga family seal.
***End Summary***
After fleshing out the plan, the groups split off to their designated areas. Naruto waited near their original position after giving Shizune a Hiraishin seal so that he could instantly join their group in their attack. The plan was for Naruto to create the clone army then fire off an explosion note in the sky to tell the rest of the Konoha shinobi to attack their entrances. The explosion would draw a majority of the Sound forces to face the clone army, allowing the rest to slip past their defences. At the western entrance, Neji had set himself up in a small alcove. He sat cross-legged with an empty scroll unravelled in front of him and four kunai planted into in a circle around him with seals written on the ground in ink. His study of the Uzumaki scroll had yielded surprising results, and Neji was confident that he had all the theory necessary to remove his seal.
"Boar, Ox, Dog, Dragon, Horse, Tiger, Serpent, Boar, Ram, Monkey, Ox, Tiger."
He felt an aura of chakra rise from the kunai circle as he performed the last handseal. He had set up traps around the area so that if it did incapacitate him, but he was confident that wouldn't happen. He frowned as he felt a slight sting on his forehead, more of a dull ache as he began to increase the amount of chakra being put through the technique. A jolt of electricity ran up his spine, causing him to cry out in pain and release his hands from the handseal. He felt a huge shock of pain through his seal, sending him to the ground as he reached down to a small stick he had prepared earlier and shoved it in his mouth. It was a good thing he had prepared it, as his seal burned hot red and he started to writhe in agony. He tried to scream out but was blocked by the stick in his mouth as the pain reached an unbearable crescendo. After two minutes of unrelenting pain, through which Neji couldn't remember the technique to cancel the unsealing, nothing was worth the pain he was experiencing, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his face landed onto the empty scroll.
"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
The open field around the rundown house was covered by grey smoke as two thousand orange-clad shinobi appeared around it. The original Naruto had already worked out his entrance strategy for his clones, and without an indication they began to file into the house and into the opening inside. With a quick flick he threw a kunai high up into the air as the sun slowly rose up to greet it, with a tiny pulse of chakra it exploded loudly above the entrance. Making sure that the clone army was proceeding properly, Naruto took in a deep breath before visualising the tag in Shizune's hand, reaching out to pluck it from her as he appeared before his group.
"Did you see the signal?" he asked, pocketing the tag in his pouch.
Shizune nodded and gave the indication to Ino before looking at the entrance the four of them had been designated. Using scrolls they had stored up a huge amount of water from a nearby lake, the two women in the group holding three scrolls each. In front of them was a foreboding staircase that led down into the ground, with snakes adorning the side walls deep into the darkness. However there was a secondary passage directly underneath their feet, that wasn't connected to the entrance in front of them, but it was their primary target. Making sure that Naruto took the pill he gave him; Chouji got his indication from Shizune and placed his hands together.
"Bubun Baika no Jutsu!"
He rose up his right arm, which grew to five times its normal size, before slamming his fist into the ground directly where they indicated. The earth collapsed under the weight of his attack, causing the tunnel to appear underneath the rubble. His arm returned to its normal size as Ino and Shizune laid out their scrolls at the staircase entrance.
They both slammed their hands down at the same time, "Suiton: Suishouha!" (Water Element: Water Wave)
Naruto and Chouji watched as a huge wave of water appeared from the scrolls and crashed through the staircase. They kept producing water until there was enough force to go through the entire tunnel before they cancelled the technique and let the water run its course.
"You guys all set?" asked Naruto, watching as the two medics rolled up the two scrolls they had used.
There were four left, and two more sets of tunnels to flood, but they were both inside the base. Shizune nodded and indicated for Naruto to go into the opening Chouji made first. After a few moments they were all in the tunnel, in their decided upon formation. Being his explosive self, Naruto was put up front, with his clones he was to attack any enemy force immediately when they came into view. Shizune was just behind him, and Ino was behind her. At the back was Chouji, who knew he had to keep an eye of their rear while also assisting the others at the front. The light was shining in from the hole above them, but the tunnels were lit from torches across the purple covered walls, twenty feet apart. Naruto frowned as he tried to see where the tunnel turned and failed as the torches seem to go on forever.
"This…isn't encouraging" observed Ino, repressing a shiver as Shizune pointed in the direct they were facing.
Naruto turned slightly, "How far?"
Shizune looked at the small map in her hands that Neji had copied for her.
"Two rights, then straight down. That's the second target."
The blonde shinobi cracked his knuckles before moving down the tunnel.
oOoOoOo
"Can you work any quicker, Chouji?"
"Naruto, don't nag me. If I don't do this right, I could collapse the whole network of tunnels on top of us."
His blonde companion put up his hands in defeat, "I'm just saying, you are taking a lot time. It's just digging a hole."
Chouji ignored his impatience and continued to use his Earth technique to drill into the middle of the corridor. Shizune was instructing Ino on where to direct the water flow, while Naruto stood guard. It had taken longer than they had anticipated, Chouji finding that the tunnels were made out of a special type of stone that was resistant to chakra, though not entirely. Standing over his three companions, Naruto frowned as he felt the familiar rush of information from one of his Kage Bunshin. He turned to the north side of the corridor and pulled out his sword, telling the others to move to the other side of Chouji.
"How many?" asked Shizune.
Naruto put up his four fingers before grasping his sword in both hands. The corridor was just wide enough for four shinobi to walk side by side, but there wasn't much room to fight in. Chouji gave a final push before informing the two medics that the hole in the floor had reached their destination.
"Do you need backup?" he asked Naruto, watching as the blonde froze momentarily before swearing under his breath as the four Sound shinobi came into view.
Without turning around, Naruto began to mould a small amount of chakra, "Nevermind my side. There are five coming from your direction; they just took out my guards. Watch out, they are strong."
Chouji stood up and told their female companions that he would cover them. Ino smiled and told him that she had faith in him before rolling out her second scroll. Shizune did the same, and they began to funnel water through the artificial hole he had created. Next to them, Naruto went to throw his wind chakra through his sword at his attackers, until he realised that the attack had a tendency to cut through everything in its path, which might bring down the corridor. He sheathed his sword so that he wouldn't accidently activate the technique, balling his fists as he constructed a plan in his mind.
He created a clone to stand over the two water-users before charging towards his attackers with raised fists. They all wore black flak jackets with black clasps across the front; all of them had angry expressions on their faces. He pushed away a kunai strike with his hand and ducked underneath another, as a clone appeared behind him and leapt on his back, slamming a fist into the first attacker's face. The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke as Naruto swung his feet across and collected the second attacker's ankles, before another clone appeared and drove a leg into his chest. With a flip, Naruto watched their two companions help up his attackers and hesitate as they regarded him with respect.
"Naruto! Need a hand?"
The Uzumaki heir created four clones and sent them to attack before turning around to see what Chouji wanted. To his surprise, the Sound shinobi were all lying at Chouji's feet, groaning in pain as the Akimichi heir stood with a smile on his face.
"Need a hand?" he asked again, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
Naruto frowned, wishing he had more room to use his proper techniques. A glance at the torrents of water flowing into the hole between them from Shizune and Ino gave him an idea, as he felt his clones being defeated by the Sound shinobi. He swallowed the small bit of pride left in him and nodded to Chouji.
"Put up a wall behind me. I don't want you guys hit with collateral damage."
At that he turned around and gathered up a large amount of chakra, reaching into his pockets and grasping a kunai and six shuriken, charging them with his chakra before throwing them at the enemy shinobi. He made sure his footing was secure before making sure that the wall behind him was complete. All the shuriken were blocked by the Sound shinobi, but the kunai went straight past them and buried itself in the roof several feet behind the group. Concentrating his chakra before changing its nature, Naruto focused on the tag wrapped around the kunai as the air around him began to crackle. It had been a difficult task to learn the technique, and Naruto had no way of knowing what would happen as he activated two techniques at the same time. He flashed towards the kunai, but at the same time connected himself to a seal to the kunai he left behind. The Sound shinobi hesitated as it appeared that he just disappeared, but they turned around as they felt his chakra spike and heard his hands clap together.
"Raiton: Denkoukansei" (Lightning Element: Lightning Trap)
As the technique activated he flashed to a seal placed on Shizune's back, not wanting to get hit with the flailing tendrils of lightning that was being created between the two seals. It was a relatively simple technique, but one he hadn't had much success with previously. He winced as he heard the screams of pain, waiting a few moments before asking Chouji to lower the wall. Naruto winced as he saw the writhing bodies on the ground with large burn marks on them.
That's…scary. I don't understand how Sasuke and Neji do it.
"You sure you going to be okay, Naruto? You can only use Hiraishin a few times in the day."
Naruto waved off the Jounin's concern, watching as the two of them rolled up their scrolls and pocketed them. Before his six-month training period, Naruto had been able to use Hiraishin four times before become debilitated. He may not have been able to improve the technique, but he had at least improved his stamina. The plan was to flood three key areas of the tunnels, effectively bottling the Sound forces towards the clones holding the main entrance, and drawing them away from the other infiltrating groups. Naruto felt his eyes glaze over as another large group of clone knowledge hit him.
Shizune noticed the look as she stood up from the ground, "How bad?"
Naruto shook it off as Ino pulled out the map.
"It's a good thing we didn't go through the front entrance."
Chouji asked him why, to which Naruto's eyes widened as another group of clones hit him. He felt his knees shake slightly, Shizune already reaching into her pack and pulling out a small pill. He may have the stamina to create thousands of clones, but all the information being sent back to him was almost enough to bring him to his knees, his head was already throbbing. Naruto swallowed the pill and thanked the older medic before leaning against the wall to catch his breath.
"There were flamethrowers imbedded in the walls, and six deep spike traps along the floor. Not only that, but there are only fifty shinobi holding the entrance hall. They haven't taken down any of them yet."
All of their eyes widened at the news, it hadn't worked out as they had planned.
Shizune shook her head, "Only fifty…they were prepared for us."
"How could they? The plan was perfect" said Ino.
"No plan is perfect, Ino" said Naruto, having recovered sufficiently to continue.
Chouji put a hand to his chin as he thought about their situation, "I think something else is going on. If they were prepared, they would have had the other entrances defended just as well."
Shizune pointed to the tunnel over the shinobi Chouji had taken out, their next target was only a short distance away. Naruto considered what Chouji was saying, but as he ran over the numbers he came up with the same discrepancy.
"Figure it out later. We are working on a deadline."
oOoOoOo
"So what now?" asked Naruto.
They had encountered no resistance between their second and third objective points, and no enemy forces had attacked them as they flooded the final tunnel. Ino rolled out the map on the floor and pointed to an open area a few hundred feet away from their current position. It had been difficult to orientate themselves in the tunnels, and they had already been able to dodge two illusion traps but other than that they had had an easy time.
"What is that?" asked Chouji.
Shizune and Ino both shrugged, the map was only a rough draw from Neji and Hinata, but it hadn't led them astray yet.
"A lab of some sorts?" asked Ino, not sure what there role now was since their flooding was complete.
"If Kabuto is there leader, and considering Orochimaru, I expect there to be lots of labs around here. They both were obsessed with medicine and experiments."
Naruto flexed his arms sorely; the influx of clone information had slowed down, though the clones still hadn't broken through the main defences.
He pointed to the large area they were talking about, "It looks like a place to investigate. Shizune-sensei?"
The medical Jounin considered their position, Shikamaru hadn't given them any more indications on where they were needed after the flooding, however they all knew what their true goal was.
"Remember our priorities. Let's get a move on."
oOoOoOo
As they drew closer to their goal, the tunnels slowly got more illuminated as torches were placed closer together.
"I've got a bad feeling about this" said Ino.
Shizune told them to ready themselves. She didn't take credence to Ino's claim, but there was a feeling of foreboding hanging in the air around them. While they were all shinobi, their experience with the bone user had given them an off-putting view of the Sound shinobi. They came up to a large heavy double-plated door, stopping them in their tracks.
"Well this is a good sign" commented Naruto, cocking his head as he inspected the door.
"How is this, a good thing?" asked a frustrated Ino.
Naruto was still riled up over not being part of Hinata's group, and she resented the idea that he was there to protect her and Shizune. She knew Naruto was strong, possibly one of the stronger ones in the group, but having never fought him, she thought he was overrated.
Naruto turned to her with a slow grin, "It means something important."
She just shook her head with a sigh. She had never been able to keep up with his enthusiasm, but after seeing him and Chouji fight, she was eager to get into the mix. Shizune motioned for quiet as she inspected the door. After a few minutes she declared there were no traps, telling Chouji to ready himself to destroy the door. He put his hands together in a handseal as the three of them stood back, ready to jump in.
"Bubun Baika no Jutsu!"
His right hand grew immensely as his fist slammed into the door, the sheer power sending the door flying off its hinges. As his arm retracted, Chouji jumped in to join his companions in the large room. It looked completely different from what they had seen before. It was a large room with a tall roof that seemed impossible considering they hadn't descended very far underground. The walls were illuminated to the point of brightness by some unnatural means, and there was no furniture or anything inside the room at all, besides the ruined double doors at the back of the room.
"Well this is…disappointing" said Naruto.
Shizune glanced around as they made their way into the room. It felt off, and they all knew it.
She frowned and turned to Naruto slowly, "Naruto…do you…"
He shook his head slowly, "I don't have tags out there…"
Shizune rarely swore, but as she sensed the spike in chakra around the room she broke her rule. They all turned around at the same time to see a violet-coloured field cover the doorway. Naruto flexed his arms as a clone appeared in front of him, charging at the field. He grimaced as the clone bounced off the violet force field and caught on fire, disappearing in a puff of smoke quickly.
"So it was a trap" said Ino sarcastically.
They all turned as they sensed a giant body of chakra appear from the other side of the room.
"All this effort and all I get is trash. Fantastic. Well, better make the most of it. A short idiot, a fatty, a bimbo and a tramp. Right. Who wants to die first?"
Sasuke put up his sword as he saw the explosion in the sunny distance.
"I guess that's the signal."
His older brother picked himself up from the ground before looking at their entrance. At the side of a small hill was a double door reasonably well hidden amongst the vines, but they had found it easily enough.
"Your friend is effective" observed Itachi as he ran through a quick set of handseals.
Sasuke shrugged as Itachi set the door and surrounding vines on fire.
"He has his moments. I think Naruto is overrated, but I can't deny he's got stamina."
His elder brother frowned as the door disappeared amongst the flames. He activated his three-tomoed Sharingan without a seal and placed his arms inside his robe.
"It doesn't suit you, Sasuke. Jealousy is an ugly trait."
His younger brother activated his own Sharingan with a tsk. At his brother's indication, they both proceeded over the charred remains into the darkness.
"I'm not jealous. I just think Naruto is given a lot of responsibility, that's all."
"Sasuke, rivalry is good. However I think you are focusing too much on potentials, and not enough on the moment."
They made their way through the tunnel area, Sasuke taking point with his sword as Itachi took position behind him. After ten minutes of following the long tunnel, both of them sensed the two Sound shinobi in the tunnel passage a hundred metre in front of them.
"You want to take this?" asked Itachi, to which Sasuke simply shrugged.
"We are just knocking them out, Itachi. It won't be too hard."
His older brother simply shook his head and kept following Sasuke as the two shinobi came into view. They both looked relatively young, and even though they wore the Sound figure on their forehead protectors they looked petrified at the Uchiha brother's approach. A minute later they continued down the tunnel, stepping over the unconscious bodies of the Sound shinobi. Itachi frowned as they emerged into a wide area that had a giant floor covered in training equipment and multiple levels of access. Sasuke smiled smugly as he counted the number of Sound shinobi on the training floor. He cracked his neck slightly as they stopped their exercises and looked at the two Konoha shinobi at the top level.
"How do you want to play this?" asked Sasuke.
His brother looked over the Sound shinobi and gauged their strengths. He and Sasuke had been picked for this route because of their ability to work together, and their ability to take out large groups of shinobi at once, but he was wondered if they could do so without taking some injuries in return. Itachi placed his hands through the sleeves of his robe and revealed his hands before placing them towards the group of Sound Shinobi.
"This is a little trick Kurenai showed me back at the village. I'm placing you into it as well. Can you handle these numbers?"
Sasuke nodded as Itachi activated his technique. Around him the entire environment shifted instantly to an infinite white background, with Sasuke standing on his own as thirty Sound shinobi of various power levels appeared opposite him, all amazed at what had happened to them. Sasuke flinched as he heard Itachi's voice whisper into his ear.
Sasuke, this is my realm. I know you think you could take them all, and I believe you could, but this makes it easier. Kill one of them in this realm, and they are knocked out for a long time in reality. But be warned, if you die in here, the same happens to you.
Sasuke shook his head to try and get the voice out of it, causing him to hear a soft laugh as Itachi stopped talking to him. The young Uchiha heir placed his hands together with his sword held in his right, activating his technique as the Sound shinobi turned and began to move towards him. He frowned as lightning began to crackle along his sword's blade, watching as the Sound shinobi ran towards him. There was something off about their movements, but he couldn't place it as he moved to intercept the first Sound shinobi. With his sword covered in his adaption of the Chidori, Sasuke was able to extend its reach over six feet. The lightning cut through the shinobi's kunai easily, slashing through his body and sending him crashing into the white floor. The charging Sound force faltered slightly at the sight of Sasuke easily cutting down one of their number, not aware that he wasn't actually dead. Taking advantage of their hesitation, Sasuke slammed his sword into the ground and placed his hands together.
"Fureataiyou" (Solar Flare)
A blinding light flashed from behind him, causing most of the Sound shinobi to call out in pain as the light of the sun struck their eyes. Breaking into a run, Sasuke picked up his sword and slashed through the front two shinobi before jumping into the middle of a group of shinobi that were struggled to get their sight back. They were cutting around themselves with kunai wildly, which surprised Sasuke.
They must be quite new. If facing a single opponent in a group, you don't flail around if incapacitated; you rely on your companions to assist you and retreat.
Having copied the technique from his spar with Itachi months ago, Sasuke saw it as a perfect opportunity to see if it could be used offensively. Running through the handseals quickly, he placed his hands down on the ground as two Sound shinobi who had avoided the effects of his genjutsu jumped to attack him.
"Katon: Kihei!"
A large pillar of fire erupted around Sasuke, causing the two attacking shinobi to fall straight into it, catching on fire instantly. With a large influx of chakra, Sasuke pushed the flame pillar away from himself, forcing the walls of fire to move towards the fallen Sound shinobi, setting them on fire in its path. Taking up his sword again, Sasuke brutally cut down the two initial attackers, feeling no remorse as blood splashed onto the pure white background. He hadn't balked from killing at the Uzu village, but he hadn't liked it either, and in the knowledge that they weren't really dying he found no qualms with killing them in this state. The flames struck twenty of the shinobi before running out of juice, and Sasuke jumped back to see if any of the survivors would take the bait.
He didn't credit himself as a strategist, but in battle Sasuke was able to predict several moves ahead of his opponent's, even before using his Sharingan. Two Sound shinobi began channelling a water technique to put out the fires on their companions, but the intensity of the flames had already consumed half the group before they were able to save them. Seeing the anger on their faces was enough to tell Sasuke that it was going to be more dangerous now, but as one of them began to run through handseals he noticed the strange thing from the beginning of the fight.
Something is off here.
His Sharingan gave him the knowledge of the technique his opponent was performing, causing Sasuke's eyes to widen as he dropped his sword and shove his hands into his kunai pocket. He pulled out earplugs that he had thought of earlier, but as the Sound shinobi finished his technique they fumbled in his hands and fell to the floor.
Ah shit…
Even with the Sharingan he couldn't track the deafening sound as it screamed across the distance between them and slammed into his ears. He screamed out in pain and dropped to his knees, feeling like his eardrums were shattering in his head. Even in his state, Sasuke could tell they were still hesitant to attack him, though they were moving as fast as they could towards him. Pulling his hands away from his ears and balking at the blood present, the young Uchiha struggled to pick himself up from the ground. His head was thundering, and there was a dull roar in his ears, but Sasuke still reached over and grasped his sword, though with less strength then he had before.
What a dangerous technique. Incapacitates, and at such a distance.
There were eighteen Sound shinobi left, though ten of them were still recovering from his blinding flash attack. The first Sound shinobi came near him with a raised sword, his Sharingan easily giving him an outline of where the attack would land, but again Sasuke noticed something was off. Even sapped of his strength, Sasuke was able to roll out of the way of the attack and slash at his legs with his sword, taking him in the ankles and sending him crashing to the ground. Reaching into his pocket he quickly pulled out and buried a kunai in the shinobi's back before forcing himself up to the ground.
Damnit, I know what it is.
Wiping his hands on his shirt to clean off the blood from his ears, he regarded the remaining shinobi with revitalised eyes. He tensed his hands as the incapacitated ten stood up slowly and rubbed their eyes sorely. Holding his sword defensively, Sasuke watched as they recovered their composure and moved to attack him. He couldn't hear anything in his ears, but with his eyes he didn't need to as he began to work through another strategy.
I don't need to waste anymore chakra in here then I can afford. And with that advantage…
Running a small amount of chakra through his feet, Sasuke charged forward, not wanting to fight always on the defence. He ducked under a hail of shuriken before slashing at a nearby shinobi, which was met by the shinobi's own sword. With a quick flick of his wrist, he flung two kunai at the defending shinobi, taking him in the right eye and neck before being forced to duck under a thrown kunai. He smacked his hands together before jumping backwards and activating his sword with lightning. His Sharingan showed two of his foes preparing a water-based attack, while the others were attempting to scramble a defence.
With a pulse of chakra through his arms, Sasuke flung his sword towards the water users, still crackling with lightning as it whirled towards them. The Sound shinobi attempted to jump out of the way, but as Sasuke predicted their reaction times were just a fraction slower then they should have been, causing four of them to be struck by tendrils of lightning before the water users cancelled their techniques and ducked under the blade. They smiled as they rose, even the apparent deaths of their companions didn't dampen their smugness of having dodged Sasuke's attack.
He was happy to oblige them as he manoeuvred his fingers before dragging them backwards. They frowned at his seemingly pointless movements, until they heard the crackling of the lightning directly behind them. It was too fast for them to dodge as the blade cut through one neck with steel, the other with lightning before Sasuke used razor-thin wires to send the sword after a group of three shinobi. Satisfied that the sword attack had run its course, he pulled out a kunai and charged at the rest of the group. After five more minutes Sasuke cracked his neck and called out for Itachi to cancel the technique. He felt a rush as the world changed back to the one he left, noticing that neither he nor Itachi had moved, though all the Sound shinobi that were training were on the ground, a quick scan showed him that they were all unconscious. He grimaced at the pain in his ears, and noticed that all the chakra he had spent inside the genjutsu had been spent outside as well, but he still had enough to battle effectively enough. Itachi nodded slowly as he saw the result of the technique, proud of the fact that his brother had been able to take out so many shinobi.
"That was…impressive, Sasuke."
Making sure that he could still hear properly, Sasuke stretched his arms sorely.
"I didn't need that speed advantage, nii-san."
With a silent smile, Itachi leapt from the top level and landed onto the ground below, quickly followed by his little brother. Leaning down the elder Uchiha checked to make sure that they were properly out of it, Sasuke doing the same before both acknowledging that all forty were out of it.
"So that went well" commented Sasuke.
Itachi nodded quietly before looking around the area with red eyes. There were no connecting tunnels on the lower levels, but there were staircases leading up to the levels that did have entrances.
Itachi pointed to an entrance on the second level on the eastern side, "That's our path."
They went to walk towards the stairs until they saw long white strands fall from the ceiling, each attaching themselves to the Sound bodies before slowly raising them from the ground. The two Uchiha brothers armed themselves instantly, but were unable to see who was performing the technique as all forty bodies were flung onto the top level. Sasuke whispered to his brother if he could see the enemy, but Itachi shook his head in response. Neither of them could read a chakra response in the room besides their own, yet clearly someone had moved the bodies to clear a battlefield. They heard a voice come from all around the room, as sharp as if right in front of them yet they couldn't see anyone.
"Well, well, well. Two little flies have found their way through the chaos. How many minutes will you last before you are fully ensnared in my web?"
"Would you stop pacing?"
Lee froze in spot and turned to Kiba with a frown, "I'm sorry, Kiba-kun. But we've been waiting here for ages."
As the two male shinobi conversed, Sakura sighed as she watched the rising sun in the sky, waiting for the signal. Sitting next to her was Hinata, who hadn't said a word the entire trip so far.
"You okay?" asked Sakura, feeling an obligation to help her since Hinata helped her earlier with Lee.
Hinata shook her head slightly and smiled slowly, "I'm fine, Sakura-san."
Her pink-haired friend frowned at the comment, knowing full well that when a girl said she was fine, she was anything but. She thought about it for a moment before placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"You're worried about Naruto, right? I'm sure he'll be fine."
"I…thank you, Sakura-san."
Sakura went to say more, but all four of them were drawn to the loud explosion in the sky nearby. Lee nodded to the group, and flexed his hands as Kiba cracked his neck and the two girls stood up from the ground. The four of them jumped as a crack of lightning shot in front of Hinata, causing the young girl to smile as she saw the smiling face of her blonde boyfriend.
"What are you doing here, Naruto-kun?" asked Lee, as the blonde shinobi pecked the white-eyed girl on the cheek.
Naruto smiled as he looked at the rest of the group.
"Just here to wish you guys well."
With a bark Kiba laughed loudly, "Yeah, like we believe that."
Lee indicated that it was time to leave, Hinata telling him that she would be there in a moment. The group moved away as Hinata turned to Naruto with a smile. He smiled and leaned his forehead onto hers, taking a moment before coming apart.
"Are you already with your group?" she asked, being the only person in their group who could tell when a Naruto was a clone or not.
The blonde shinobi nodded with a smile.
He reached down and touched the pendant around her neck, "If you ever need my help, just put a bit of chakra into the seal, and I'll be there instantly."
Before she could say anything, Naruto could tell immediately what she thought through her eyes, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"But I trust you, so I doubt you'll need it. You are a strong shinobi, and I know you can hold your own. I just wanted to tell you that."
Hinata smiled and touched his cheek lightly, "Thank you, Naruto-kun. That means a lot to me."
With a final smile, the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke and Hinata took a moment before jogging up to join the rest of the group. Their entrance was covered by a cascading waterfall; the bare outline of a door was visible behind the water flow. Sakura had already taken position above the waterfall, with the flowing water at her knees as Lee held her back with a rope tied around her waist. Kiba was positioned opposite the waterfall with Akamaru, and the four of them were waiting for Hinata before conducting their entry. Kiba had expressed a dislike to Lee leading their group, but as the taijutsu user constructed the entry plan, he had to admit that he had a flair for getting things done, and Kiba respected that trait.
Hinata apologised for her lateness and took position beside Kiba, nodding at Lee to proceed. He acknowledged her readiness and tugged at the rope, the indication for Sakura to remove the waterfall. The pink haired shinobi gathered her chakra before slamming her hands into the water flow. The water cut off in the middle and increased to its side, flowing into trenches they had dug earlier, opening up the entrance.
"Now Kiba!" yelled out Lee, yanking back Sakura to help her back to dry land.
With a howl of excitement, Kiba dropped to all fours before hurling himself towards the door in a whirlwind, "Tsuuga!"
Akamaru performed the same technique a moment later to cover his area, and Hinata ran in after them with her Byakugan blazing. After bashing down the door, Kiba cancelled his technique and landed with his claws ready, as Akamaru landed behind him. He sniffed at the air for a moment before standing up slowly and retracting his claws. Behind him, Hinata ran up next to him, and a few moments later they were joined by Sakura and Lee.
"How many hostiles?" asked Lee, eager to get underway.
Kiba shook his head; he couldn't smell any scents beyond the five of them. Lee turned to Hinata, who was frantically trying to scan the area.
"Can you see anything?" he asked.
She deactivated her Byakugan with a shake of her head, "The same as before. I can see the area, but still no life signs."
Lee didn't relax at all, creating a mental image of the map in Sakura's pack, looking at the connecting tunnel. They weren't sure where their target was, but by the mapping of the area it was likely that it lay in a hub area connected to one of the tunnels to their entrance. The fact that the Byakugan couldn't see the people within the area had bothered the whole group, and it was likely that there was some kind of device or seal mechanism preventing their sight. It warranted enough justification to take it out, and that was what Lee's group was aiming for.
"Let's get moving."
oOoOoOo
They travelled through the village tunnels quickly. Even though they were trying to avoid detection, both Lee and Kiba were spoiling for a fight, and were disappointed that they didn't encounter any resistance in their mission. The group came to a halt as the tunnel abruptly ended in a flat wall covered with serpent symbols.
"Did we take a wrong turn?" asked Sakura, not remembering the wall in the blueprints.
Hinata shook her head; she couldn't see anything beyond the walls around them. She had deactivated her Byakugan as soon as it became evident it was just a waste of chakra, but after a short duration she found she couldn't see past the wall either. Lee placed a hand on the wall, feeling the strange exterior through his bandaged hands. Kiba sniffed at the air around the wall,
"Our goal is just beyond here, is it not?"
Sakura reached into her pack and produced the map Hinata had drawn, drawing a finger along their current position. She shook her head as well, it made no sense.
"There shouldn't be a wall here; this is meant to be a straight tunnel that turns slightly before descending into the central hub area."
Both Kiba and Hinata stood next to Sakura and looked over the map, trying to find a different route to their target.
"Sakura-san, you may wish to duck."
The pink-haired kunoichi frowned as she looked up from the map, her eyes widening as she saw Lee pull back a fist. She swore under her breath and dropped the map, slamming her hands together quickly as Lee drove his fist into the wall. With his strong muscles and chakra-use, the wall crumbled immediately upon his blow, though to his surprise it seems to fall apart as if separate from the other walls, crumbling into little stones at his feet. The taijutsu user turned around to make sure the others were okay, smiling as he saw the water shell that covered the rest of the group. Sakura retracted the shield and balled a fist, trying to resist the urge to punch his smiling face.
"Lee…"
She didn't the chance to finish as Kiba stepped in front of her, "Are you an idiot? You could have brought down the whole tunnel series!"
"With respect, Kiba-kun, no I wouldn't have. The wall was new, barely a few hours old, if it wasn't on our blueprints."
The Inuzuka gave a tsk at the comment, but didn't say anymore, watching as Akamaru ran through the new opening to scout out the area. Hinata took a moment before following the large white dog, as Sakura reached down and swore as she picked up the water-ruined map from the ground and tried valiantly to dry it out without success. She put the destroyed map back into her pack and walked past Lee into the opening behind the other two. Kiba went to walk through as well, but Lee pulled him back with a hand on his shoulder. The Inuzuka seemed surprised by the action, but as he saw the look on Lee's face he frowned. Lee was rarely an intense person unless it came to training, but he had learnt from the best when it came to picking his battles.
"Kiba, I am the leader of this group. I will not have you questioning my decisions, unless you have a viable reason to do so, and certainly not in front of the others. I know you have a problem with authority Kiba, but now is not the place."
Kiba reached up and pulled off Lee's hand, taking a step back before staring at the determined green-clad shinobi. He went to make a snide comment, but retracted it as he realised that he was doing exactly what they used to give Naruto grief about.
He sighed and walked past Lee, "For now, Lee. I have no issue with your authority; I just don't like being given orders. When people do dumb things, I point it out. But that doesn't matter. After this is done, I'll want a match from you."
Jogging to catch up to him, Lee came up to walk beside him.
"I'll be happy to accommodate, Kiba-kun. But for now, let's worry about who set up the wall to block our progress."
oOoOoOo
The closer they drew to the central hub, the lighter the tunnels became despite the torches lining the walls not changing from the previous positions. Lee called for them to stop as he looked around the nearly white covered walls around them.
He turned and looked at the others of the group, "Can you guys hear that?"
Kiba sighed, "I thought I was the only one. Yeah, it's like…"
"Music" finished Sakura, looking around the area trying to find the source.
"Is it a genjutsu?" asked Lee, wary of the fact that he was extremely sensitive to genjutsu compared to the rest of the group.
Hinata activated her Byakugan for a few moments, but couldn't see anything.
"I think it's…just music" she said.
"Hmm. Something is off here" observed Lee, waving for the group to move forward.
After a few minutes the tunnel opened up into a wide room that was brighter than the outside world, and as they walked into it the music got louder and louder. There was a strange circular device in the middle of the open room, with a single seal on the top.
"Is that it?" asked Sakura.
"I bet it is" said Kiba.
He went to go and remove the seal, but was pulled back by both Lee and Hinata.
"Don't be hasty, Kiba-kun. It is probably booby-trapped."
They all froze as they sensed a large chakra source coming from the device, sending pulses of chakra around it. The music flowing into their ears begun to focus from the device, and they all collectively realised that they had been outwitted by their enemy. A young female voice cut through the music, also coming from the device.
"I was having a lovely bath until you damn kusoge came here. Now I've got to deal with the trash that has come into our home, and I haven't even dried my hair yet. You should feel privileged to hear my music."
Each of the group looked at each other for a moment, watching with wide eyes as they all disappeared from each other's view. The music changed tune slightly as the device also disappeared from view.
"Kaichoukan: Gen'eiyochi" (First Melody: Illusionary World)
Shikamaru watched as the explosion above the area faded into the morning sky with a sigh. He was more motivated than usual, but that didn't mean he didn't think the whole situation was just too troublesome.
"We ready?" asked Kakashi, the leader of their group.
Despite the whole invasion being Shikamaru's child, the shadow-user identified that Kakashi was a far superior leader and was more than happy to relinquish control of their group to the silver-haired Jounin. With his hands in his pockets, Shino barely nodded his acknowledgement while Shikamaru picked himself up from the ground.
"I suppose we should get going."
Kakashi smiled under his mask, "You don't seem very excited, Shikamaru. Which I suppose is very like you."
Putting his hands into his pockets, Shikamaru walked past Kakashi towards the set of trees that were hiding their entrance to the Hidden Sound village.
"We are infiltrating a shinobi village, one that had a peace agreement with Konoha at one point, to assassinate a leader of a powerful group of shinobi in the world. There is nothing to be excited about in this mission."
Kakashi watched as Shino walked past him as well, joining Shikamaru as they descended into the entrance. The Aburame heir had made sure that there were no enemies in the nearby vicinity of the entrance, and he had sent insects into the entrance to scout out their path, and also to search for the Sound leader, their target. He sighed as he walked up to join them. It was a difficult mission, the most dangerous of all the groups, and Kakashi had his own concerns about his group. Shikamaru was an unknown when it came to combat, Kakashi had no idea what his strength level was since he never participated in the sparring sessions between the Genin in the group.
But Shino was the one that he was most concerned about, in the whole Konoha group. The insect-user had always been quiet, even before the destruction of Konoha, but these days Shino was almost glacial when it came to interacting with the others. He only ever spoke the bare minimum, and even with his Team Eight teammates he barely spoke at all. Hinata had approached Kakashi before they commenced the invasion, asking him to watch out for any signs of odd behaviour with the Aburame shinobi. Kakashi had his suspicions about his behaviour, but kept them to himself until he could confirm them. As he passed the threshold into the tunnel entrance, Kakashi felt a sinking feeling in his mind, one that he had only felt once before, in a memory that had been long forgotten. He could sense his two companions waiting for him through the darkness, but as he walked through it, he could only think of one thing.
How many of us will survive this?
oOoOoOo
"All these tunnels look the same" commented Shikamaru as they took another left tunnel at a long series of forks. Kakashi gave him a short smile,
"It's a surprisingly well laid out village."
"It's a dungeon."
"A surprisingly well laid out, dungeon."
Shikamaru frowned as they continued to walk through the tunnel, "You seem oddly calm despite the conditions, Kakashi-sensei."
The silver-haired Jounin laughed under his mask and placed his hands in his pockets. Shino's insects had informed them of no enemy movement in their path, and they were essentially wandering around trying to find a Sound shinobi to interrogate.
"I'm good at hiding my emotions, as are the two of you."
Shikamaru scoffed, "I don't hide my emotions. I just don't feel that many besides indifference."
"That's not true. You may be able to hide it from the others, but you are petrified."
"I'm not petrified. Just…concerned."
Kakashi pulled out a hand and squeezed Shikamaru's shoulder, "Every commander is worried when they have to send troops into battle. It's worse when it is your friends."
Shikamaru shook off his hand and yawned, wishing he had been able to get some sleep before their invasion. Everything Kakashi had said was true, but that didn't make him feel any better. During their games of shogi, his father had told him that the difference between knowing which pieces were expendable and which weren't, was the mark of a great shinobi. Shikamaru hated the idea of sacrificing his friends, or even those he didn't know very well like Itachi, but as he walked through the village with his two companions he knew that it was not something he could take lightly. The two of them slowed to a stop as Shino put up an arm to call for a halt.
"What is it?" asked Kakashi, not able to sense anything around them.
Bringing up a mental picture, Shikamaru remembered a small room that wasn't far from their location. He went to mention it to Kakashi, but both of them were thrown back by small groups of concentrated flying insects. Bugs exploded out of his sleeves as Shino stood over them as a wall of destruction bugs covered the area for what seemed like an age, before retreating back into Shino's jacket.
"What is it?" repeated Kakashi, picking himself up from the ground.
Shino didn't reply, but kept a large amount of insects hovering around his hands and staring through his sunglasses down the tunnel. His two companions looked down as they saw the crumbled remains of a large stone at Shino's feet, suddenly grateful that the Aburame was on the ball with their defence.
"Isn't that…" said Shikamaru as the attacker came into their view.
Kakashi nodded as he recognised the enemy shinobi, the anger on the Sound Jounin's face was clear as he saw the Konoha shinobi.
"So you bastards did follow me. I relish the idea of taking my revenge for my murdered companions. Every moment I…"
He was cut off by a scratching feeling in his legs and he looked down at his feet, screaming out loud as he felt a huge amount of insects consume his legs from the ground up. Shino hadn't moved from his position, but he felt a sense of amusement as his insects moved all over the Sound Jounin's body. He had little interest in the competitions between the rest of the group's Genin, doing his job was all he required, and he took pride in doing it well even without the bragging that Kiba or Naruto would do. After a few moments he removed the insects from the enemy's body, leaving just enough strength in the Jounin to speak and little else. Walking past the young Genin, Kakashi gave him an approving look before leaning down next to the body of the Jounin.
"Where is your leader?" he asked, kunai in hand.
The Jounin snarled at the question and spat towards his face, though Kakashi was quick enough to dodge the spit.
"You'll just kill me anyway."
Not wanting to deal with a defeated enemy shinobi, Kakashi moved down his kunai and drove it into his stomach, causing the Jounin to call out in pain as he removed the bloody kunai.
"I will. But it is the difference between a quick death, and one that is drawn out and agonisingly painful."
The Jounin snarled again, but Kakashi could tell that the Jounin was considering it. No truly loyal shinobi would give up their leader, but from the information they had gotten about the leader, he got the impression that their leader was not loved or even liked by the Sound shinobi. After a few minutes, Kakashi stood up from the body and turned to his two teenage companions.
"Did he give you anything?" asked Shikamaru, wishing he hadn't had to see what Kakashi had been forced to do to get him to talk.
Kakashi pocketed the bloody kunai and nodded slowly, "He gave me a room. Their leader is hiding in a room not far from here."
Shikamaru sighed as he realised that suddenly they were at their objective already. Shino simply began to walk towards the room Kakashi had indicated to them, with the other two slowly joining him.
"Was that really necessary?" asked Shikamaru as they continued down the path.
"Necessary? I don't know. But don't mistake the action, this is a war. In war, all things are viable, if they achieve your goals."
"Surely that can't be justifiable in this situation though. If we lower ourselves to their level, aren't we no better than them?"
They turned a corner and found themselves at the door to the room the Jounin had told them about. Kakashi called for Shikamaru to be quiet, examining the door quickly before declaring it free of traps.
"There is a large chakra signal behind this door" said Shino, knowing that his insects were not particularly willing to scout out the room.
Kakashi reached up to the cloth around his face, pulling it away to reveal his Sharingan, "Prepare yourselves. I don't know what is beyond this door, but we should prepare for anything."
He waited for the acknowledgement signs from both of the teenagers before reaching up and slamming a foot into the door, kicking it in as the three of them leapt into the room. It wasn't particularly different from the tunnel series, though by Shikamaru's estimate they were quite close to the surface compared to the tunnels. It wasn't very big, and was surprisingly empty considered it was meant to be a seat of power. The doorway behind the three of them closed up quickly, as Shino pointed to the ground at the centre of the room as a deep voice came from beneath them.
"That was very impolite you know. Two strikes down already. Killing my companion was not a way to get into my good books, you pieces of trash. No sense in delaying action. I guess it's a good thing I skipped lunch, though I doubt you will fill me up too much."
There were headaches, there were migraines, and then there was what Neji was feeling. As he struggled to bring himself into consciousness, a huge spike of pain shot through his head, only sheer force of will prevented him from falling back into darkness. He groaned as he slowly opened his eyes, his vision taking a few seconds before going from blurry to normal. He sighed in relief as he saw his defensive formation hadn't been breached, and none of his traps had been sprung. He took a deep breath before pushing himself up from the ground, spitting out the piece of wood between his lips. While he was grateful he had thought of it, and been in a position to use it, he wished there had been a better way as all he could taste in his mouth was wood splinters. He reached up and felt his forehead, not feeling anything different. He leant down and reached into his pack, pulling out a sheet of reflective glass before attempting to position it so he could see his forehead. It took a few moments, but as the patch of skin came into view, an uncharacteristic grin came onto his face. The seal that had plagued him since childhood was gone; all that was left was a smooth patch of skin, as if the seal hadn't been there in the first place.
With this…
He felt his smile disappear from his face as he realised that, in the end, it didn't matter whether he had the seal on or not. Hinata was the only one who could abuse the seal, but she would never activate the seal, she claimed she never learnt it, but Neji had thought that its removal would have had some greater impact. Instead there was just a dull emptiness inside his mind, like the symbolism hadn't been enough of a gesture. He thought about it for a moment, until he realised he could feel the heat of the sun against his skin. With a frown he glanced up at the skin, his eyes widening as he saw the position of the sun in the sky. He ran a quick calculation in his head, realising that the technique had knocked him out for two hours longer than expected.
Shit, I've missed the entrance signal. And the others have been inside for two hours. I should have a look around before going in.
He went to mould the regular amount of chakra necessary for his Byakugan but, as if predicting his intention, the doujutsu activated with practically no chakra use at all. He frowned as he expanded the black and white vision, noticing that it was barely a drain at all to keep the technique going.
Did the Main House create the seal to sap away a Branch member's strength? It would make sense…
He still couldn't see any people inside the village, though after taking a careful look he noticed that several tunnels had been flooded and the torrents of water were still rampaging through the village.
Impressive. The plan was solid, but for that to have worked so well…I guess Naruto's group did their jobs. I should get moving.
He took a step forward and as he put a small amount of chakra into his feet he felt himself rocket off the ground and land face first several feet in front of his previous position. Groaning as he picked himself up from the ground, Neji realised that if his Byakugan had a lower chakra requirement, likely his other techniques did as well. He sighed as he placed up a palm and looked at his bandaged skin.
I'd best check my techniques before going in. I don't want to face an enemy and then realise I can't do my strikes properly.
oOoOoOo
It only took Neji a few minutes before he worked out that only a select few of his techniques had been affected by the seal removal. His Kaiten required only a quarter of its usual amount, and when he practised the technique he noticed that it was nearly twice the size. The other abilities were only enhanced by the larger chakra use, but Neji felt that he would have to do further testing after the battle to make sure. He looked around the area with his Byakugan, identifying the entrance hidden in the ground half a mile away. With a frown he noticed two Sound shinobi had taken position on top of the entrance. The Byakugan was a unique doujutsu in the world; it was the most stable and controllable eye technique. All the information that Neji could see around him was like peripheral vision, but it could be focused with ease like a magnifying glass.
He trickled some chakra into his Byakugan, but he wasn't used to the small amount, accidently moulding nearly double the amount he normally used and sending it straight into his eyes. He grimaced as his vision turned completely black for a second, a spike of pain running through his head before his vision returned, though not as it was. The normal black and white vision that came from his Byakugan was gone. In its place was a clear crisp image that was like his normal vision, though far clearer than normal eyes could see. What amazed Neji was that he had this vision in a perfect 360 degree sphere even more advanced than the Byakugan, though at a slightly shorter range it covered his old blind spot completely. Unlike the normal Byakugan, this vision was like he really had eyes all around his head, not peripheral vision but proper vision.
What on earth is this?
He could feel a drain on his chakra, not an unreasonable amount, but more than his usual Byakugan. Moving his head around, he could see everything around him. There were nineteen beads of sweat on his right arm, fifty-seven rocks underneath a small river nearby, and a colony of two thousand nine hundred eighty three ants underneath his feet. He knew it wasn't something that had happened before with the Byakugan, otherwise it would have been in the Hyuuga family scroll, but he didn't understand how it could have happened. Reaching up his felt the now-smooth skin on his forehead as a thought came to his mind. Looking down at the scroll at his feet, he realised what had happened as he saw the empty pages.
The seal wasn't removed. It must have…shifted or…something. But it must have mutated my Byakugan. It's strange that I still have my regular Byakugan though, if it is a mutation.
Deciding to test it in the best way possible, Neji began to run towards the Otogakure entrance, with his strange vision still active as the two Sound shinobi guarding it came into view. As soon as he could see them, a huge wealth of information came to him out of nowhere about the shinobi. The male shinobi had short brown hair with a few grey hairs coming from his scalp, and his dark brown eyes had a few odd pigments that indicated he was short-sighted. The female shinobi had long blonde hair and light blue eyes, and to Neji's amusement he suddenly knew all of her measurements, and that she was sexually attracted to her male partner.
For reasons beyond his understanding, he knew that the male shinobi had a talent for shuriken techniques, and the female shinobi used sound based genjutsu to immobilise her enemies. They noticed his approach quickly, and Neji could see the handseals the female shinobi was using was for her genjutsu as the male reached into his pockets to remove two of his twenty-six shuriken. In a split second he knew that he wouldn't get there in time, but he already had a plan in place. He skidded to a halt two dozen metres away from the two of them and pushed out two of his palms.
"Hakke: Kuushou!"
His chakra slammed through the air straight into the two of them, and knocked them to the ground, and with his new vision Neji was amazed at the results. Not only were they unconscious, but all their chakra points had been shutdown as if struck by his Jyuuken strikes.
This is…is this like the Mangekyou Sharingan? A new level of Byakugan?
He reached into the pack at his side, pulling out the glass he used to check his seal, putting it up at his face. While systematically learning everything about the piece of glass, including what it came from, Neji was amazed by what his saw. His normal eyes were pure white. When activated, the Byakugan made a pupil evident but was still pure white. The majority of his eyes were still white, but that was where the similarity ended. The veins that normally protruded around his eyes were gone. The pupil created by the Byakugan was pitch black, with a black lined circle of lines around it, and the outline of his eye was black as well. Staring into his own eyes, Neji remarked at how different he looked compared to before. He withdrew his chakra from his eyes, and they receded back to his normal clear white eyes, and his vision returned to its normal range. Just in case, Neji trickled a tiny amount of chakra to his eyes, watching as the veins around his eyes protruded outwards and his regular Byakugan activated, changing his view to the black and white he was used to.
How fascinating. The normal Byakugan takes virtually no effort, and is nearly no strain on my body. But that new one is a drain, but far more analytical, and tells me far more. I have no idea how it happened, but if it's an advantage, I'm not complaining.
Deciding to stay with his regular Byakugan, Neji stepped forward before reaching down and pulled open the latch door, taking a moment to catch his breath before jumping inside, praying that he wasn't too late.
Author's Note:
Not too much to say about this, except that things are getting real now. Just a quick clarification though, this story is nowhere near finished. There is much, much more to come. Oh, and Tayuya's swearing will all be in Japanese. This isn't just to dodge censors or anything, but it's more amusing to write that way as well.
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.