The Wanderers
Chapter 17 – Fears
A/N: Point of concern, if you REALLY don't like spiders, this won't be a particularly pleasant chapter for you. Sorry.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, the bad guys would have deeper motivations than just 'we are bad guys, and we are angry'.
***Previously-On***
The invasion of the Hidden Village of the Sound has commenced. Naruto created his clone army to assault the front entrance before he joined Shizune, Ino and Chouji in their job to flood three key tunnels areas. After encountering a little resistance, which was easily handled, they found an important looking room, but that turned out to be a trap as they were confronted by an arrogant concealed voice. At their entrance, Sasuke and Itachi infiltrated their way into the training area of the Sound village. Using a complex genjutsu, Sasuke took out all forty shinobi, though his hearing was damaged in the process. As they went to leave, long white strands cleared the room of the bodies as they found themselves against a playful-sounding opponent. On the other side of the village, Lee, Kiba, Sakura and Hinata made their way through the tunnels of the village. Drawn to strangely exotic music, they were ensnared by a foul-speaking woman who put them under a powerful genjutsu. The final group, consisting of Shikamaru, Shino and Kakashi, made their way through their entrance. They found the Jounin they had initially pursued, who was unceremoniously taken out by Shino. After a gruesome interrogation by Kakashi, they went to a room where they expected the Sound leader to be, but instead found themselves against an oddly polite but dangerous sounding shinobi. On his own, Neji succeeded in removing the Hyuuga family seal; though it knocked him out for two hours longer than expected. He suffered excruciating pain, but when he awoke he found his chakra use changed immensely. As he practised, he found that his Byakugan had been changed, and there was a second level to the doujutsu that had never happened before. With his new eye technique in hand, Neji moves towards his goal.
***End Summary***
***Neji***
Even as he descended through the tunnels with his Byakugan active, Neji could tell that Hinata's group hadn't taken out the thing blocking the doujutsu's view. With a quick check, Neji found that his new type of Byakugan was able to pierce the veil shrouding the walls, though it's range was very limited compared to the normal technique.
I should really come up with a name for it, especially considering how powerful it seems to be.
He found a door after a few minutes of searching, scanning it with his Byakugan before opening the door. Through the black and white vision he watched in fascination as a Sound shinobi seemed to simply appear as the door opened. He wore a standard shinobi outfit, although it was covered by a bloody white apron and he wore dark blue plastic gloves.
So it blocks sensing techniques, but visual information in the general sense still functions. Curious.
The Sound shinobi's eyes widened when he saw Neji in the doorway, but before he could make a sound or raise an alarm, the Hyuuga shot forward and struck him in the throat with two fingers. He clutched at his throat for a moment before realising that he wouldn't be able to speak, going to reach for a weapon before Neji sighed and struck him four more times, immobilising him to the spot. Satisfied that the enemy wouldn't be able to move or speak, Neji took a cautionary glance around the room. There were medical tools lining the walls, and despite it being a small room there was a large amount of medical books surrounding what could only be described as an autopsy table. There was a cloth covered body on the table, which Neji could only imagine what had happened to it, though he had little interest in the body itself.
He turned his head to the immobilised shinobi, "What is going on here?"
After a few moments of silence he repeated the question, before realising that the shinobi couldn't speak. Rolling his eyes, an impressive feat considering his eyes were completely white with his Byakugan active, he reached out and tapped him in the throat. The shinobi went to make a loud noise, but one look at Neji's harsh eyes caused him to reconsider. Neji walked around and stood opposite the Sound shinobi. "I'll start with an easy one then. Who are you?" Even immobilised in place, the shinobi had an aura that told Neji that he had seen, and perhaps done, things that were unspeakable.
"I am Nikuto Guchimara, chief medical scientist of the Guchimara clan. And you are…a Hyuuga from Konoha. Although with Konoha destroyed, I suppose you are just a Hyuuga, and judging by your lack of a seal, I would say you were a Main House member."
Neji smirked at the comment before letting out a soft laugh.
"Did I say something funny?" asked the shinobi angrily.
He took a moment to compose himself before looking back at the apron-wearing shinobi, "Do you have any information on Konoha prisoners taken from the village before its destruction?"
The shinobi tried to hide the fact that he was slowly getting his feeling back in his limbs, staring at Neji through dark hateful eyes.
"And why would I give out top secret information such as that? To a petulant child no less. You overestimate your persuasive abilities."
Neji was acutely aware that he was slowly gaining the ability to move his limbs, in fact he banked on it, but it was the illusion of resistance that he wanted the doctor to feel.
"I have overestimated nothing."
With a pulse of chakra he activated his new level of Byakugan, glaring at the doctor through his black and white eyes. If he was using the normal Byakugan he would have had to focus the vision onto the doctor, with the new one he could see everything about the doctor as if he had taken a year to analyse everything about him.
"Your name is Ichi Nagaruki, of the Nagaruki clan. You are of Chuunin level combat strength, and Jounin level medical knowledge."
The name he had been able to discern from the name signed on the charts scattered on the table behind the doctor, and the clan symbol was tattooed on his right shoulder blade underneath his clothes. He could tell he had hit home, but didn't relent as his new doujutsu flooded his mind with information about the doctor.
"You are thirty-seven years old, and have a crack in your left femur that has never fully healed."
The doctor frowned at the eerily accurate information about himself, wondering what the strange doujutsu could possibly do to tell him that kind of information. In a single motion with his right hand glowed with chakra as he lurched forward to strike a surgical blow at Neji's heart. With a barely noticeable movement, Neji reached up and grasped his wrist, running a small amount of chakra as he crushed the bones in the shinobi's wrist. Despite sticking to his Hyuuga combat style, his tutelage under Maito Gai had taught him how to use chakra to enhance his physical strength, and he understood when brute force was necessary. In a pulse of chakra, changed to his lightning element, he ran his attack through the doctor's arm, causing him to cry out in agony as his chakra points were destroyed along his arm.
"I will only ask this once. Where are the Konoha survivors being held?"
The doctor didn't say anything, but after a few seconds of staring into his eyes, Neji knew he wasn't going to get any information out of him. He went to release him from his grip, until he read a note stuck between pages in a medical notebook on a nearby shelf through his black and white eyes.
He frowned angrily at the doctor, "Room 26-GB, second level. Thank you for the information."
With a single quick motion, he dragged his free hand across the doctor's neck before releasing his wrist and turning around.
"Murderer."
In an instant the doctor fell to the floor, choking on his own fluids as the blood vessels in his neck was severed. Neji identified the body on the table as of no consequence, and after several more minutes he found no more information of relevance, except further evidence of Ichi's butchery of his subjects.
What the hell is going on in this village? How different it truly is, compared to Konoha.
oOoOoOo
He encountered no more shinobi as he moved quickly through the tunnels, looking at the signs on the doors as he navigated his way towards his target. The note that had given him the room name hadn't mentioned Konoha at all, but it still had Neji concerned.
New prisoners moved to 26-GB last week. Implantation was successful but degradation is at 95%. What does it mean?
He moved down a staircase quickly with his regular Byakugan active, noticing that he was nearly fifty metres underneath the surface at that level. The corridor in front of his was lined with doors, and Neji frowned as he saw the sign next to the first door.
1-GB. I'm on the right floor.
He tried to expand his Byakugan view to see the 26th room, but he found that as he looked over all the rooms in the corridor it was the only one that he couldn't pierce through. He figured it was covered by a stronger seal then the rest of the walls of the village, but it also gave him an indication that it was important enough to justify Neji's inspection. Deciding to skip the other rooms he made his way down the corridor until he came to the room marked as his target. Neji frowned as his Byakugan showed him a seal trap on the door's handle, one that caused him to hesitate before considering his position. After a few moments he noticed the double layered trap on the door. If the seal on the handle was removed first, then the door would seal itself without the possibility of being opened again. However every trap had its weaknesses, and Neji placed a hand on the door centre, running a small amount of electrical chakra through the stone frame.
Like his Jyuuken strikes, he cut off the seal's connection to the trap, causing him to hear a slight fizzle as the seal tried to activate the trap and failed. He reached down and twisted the doorknob and let the door swing inwards. A quick glance told him that there weren't any enemies inside the room, causing him to deactivate his Byakugan and shake his head to clear his mind. The Byakugan was useful, but the constant information made his head hurt after a while, and the new level of Byakugan took up too much chakra to use constantly.
The room was surprisingly large, though it was by no means empty. There were six large tank-like containers that held floating bodies covered by bubbling yellow fluids, and an autopsy table with charts on top of a cloth-covered body. The bodies were naked and besides a chart next to each tube there was no way to identify who they were. Neji didn't recognise any of them, but a quick scan at the lack of movement told him that they were all dead, though not for longer than a few weeks; the liquid had prevented some degeneration. He looked at the names written on the charts with interest.
Aoba Yamashiro. Ebisu Tobita. Murakumo Kurama. Genma Shiranui. Raido Namiashi. Hayate Gekkou.
He swore as he looked up at one of the bodies, none of the names were recognisable to him, nor could he tell whether they were from Konoha, not that it mattered. If they were dead, there was nothing he could do to help them. At the corner of his eye he saw a new looking book on a table at the end of the room; he walked over and picked it up, flicking through the pages. He came to the final entry written in very descriptive calligraphy.
The Cursed Seal has been volatile since the death of Orochimaru, and has gone out of control with the death of Subject Zero. A regrettable loss, but experimentation with the new subjects has yielded surprising results. Implantation has a success rate of over 80%, and with this round of subjects the sustainment rate has risen to 15%, an acceptable amount. The next batch should be more receptive to indoctrination. With the enslavement properties of the Cursed Seal, there won't be any question of my rule over the village, and we will be the most powerful force in the shinobi world.
Neji recoiled as he finished the final note, not really understanding what he had read.
What is this guy, a stereotypical madman from a bad play?
He flipped through the previous pages, noticing a large amount of graphs and numbers that made little sense to him. He felt that he was on the right track though, pulling the white pages back until he reached the first entry.
After the death of Orochimaru, the Sound Five have expressed an interest in removing their Cursed Seals, since their master is no longer around to keep it in check. I promised them that I would investigate it, since I had assumed control of the village only recently I needed their support. The Sound shinobi believe that I killed Orochimaru, and they will follow me purely because I am the most powerful here. None of them realise the original Kabuto is dead, but it doesn't matter. He created me to do things in his stead, so it is only right that I assume control. The cloning technique was perfect, and I planned to dispose of him eventually anyway. The clans have already left, and our forces are bleeding. Without the Sound Five's leadership, I can't control the village shinobi.
It was dated at five months ago. Neji frowned at the mention of the Cursed Seal again, wondering if the strange bone-user at the Uzu village was part of this 'Sound Five' mentioned in the notes. He read a few more entries, a picture forming in his mind of how the village was run, until he came to an entry from three months ago.
Reading over the investigations, we have found that the six we captured a month ago were the only survivors. A tip from an unknown source indicated that Konoha had called back its forces during the Suna Chuunin Exams, and had then been subsequently destroyed when the group attending the Exams returned. Whoever destroyed the village knew exactly how to do it and left no evidence behind. It is fortunate that Orochimaru was able to extract the body from Kumogakure, and that it has been so well preserved. From studying that seal, I believe I will be able to replicate the Cursed Seal. It currently is accentuating their personality traits in a negative way though. The Sound Five have been on edge, but promises of further study have kept them in line, for now. Kimimaro will have to be disposed of though, his devotion to Orochimaru has left him bitter and unresponsive.
Neji shook his head at the revelations. It was almost unbelievable, but it made an eerie amount of sense. Flipping back to the start of the book, he read through it carefully, making small indents at important sections. Once he reached the end of the book he closed it and placed it in his robe before turning around and looking at the tubes again.
These men were from Konoha. Like us…they survived the destruction of Konoha. But to be experimented on by this…madman…
His white eyes drifted across the various bodies until they rested on the body covered by the sheet near the entrance.
Surely that can't be…
He walked slowly over to the body, feeling his heart pounding under his white robes. The book had confirmed that there were no living Konoha prisoners in the village, making their entire invasion pointless, but before he went to find the others and tell them that they should leave, he needed to confirm one thing. He reached down and pulled back the cloth sheet reluctantly, his white eyes widening as he recognised the butchered corpse on the table.
"No…"
***Sasuke – Itachi***
The two Uchiha brothers stared up at the ceiling of the training room, watching as the white strands that had thrown the Sound shinobi bodies onto the top level retracted to dozens of strange looking white sacs. Itachi took a moment to smile quietly to himself as both of them scanned the room with their Sharingan.
"You still got that fear of spiders, Sasuke?"
"Shut up, Itachi. Do you see anything? It looks like the whole roof is covered in chakra."
"A predator doesn't reveal himself until the prey has ensnared itself."
Both of them flinched at the voice, still sounding like it was coming from all over the room. Itachi looked at where the bodies had been thrown; noticing that while they had been removed with care, it was as if the voice was either respectful of his companions or just thought they were in the way. After almost a minute of agonising silence, Sasuke gave in to his impatience. He sped through a set of handseals, not needing to tell Itachi to move as he slammed his hands on the ground. On queue his brother disappeared into a murder of crows as lightning began to crackle around Sasuke's hands.
"Raiton: Arashi" (Lightning Element: Storm)
The air around him thundered with noise as lightning began to strike around Sasuke's body, striking rapidly at the ceiling. There was no accuracy to the attack besides avoiding Sasuke himself, but as the lightning attacks struck at the white sacs rapidly it left large holes as tiny spiders spilled out of the sacs onto the ground below, burnt to a crisp. He cancelled the technique after making sure his channelling had destroyed all the sacs, standing up slowly as his brother appeared behind him, looking at the dead spiders on the ground.
"Haven't gotten over it then, huh?"
His younger brother slowly turned his face towards Itachi with an angry look, "There are many things I can forgive, Nii-san. I can forgive your actions with the clan. I can forgive you abandoning me for so many years. I can forgive you refusing to tell me more about our mother's time with Kakashi. But, I will NEVER forgive you for hiding a jar full of spiders in my bed all those years ago."
"It was only a prank" said Itachi with a slight smirk.
Sasuke jumped over and grabbed his brother by the scruff of his robe, "I STILL HAVE NIGHTMARES ABOUT IT!"
His brother simply laughed at his brother's angry visage, reaching up to tap him on the forehead, but both of them jumped back as a long golden spike slammed between the two of them.
"I'm sorry, did I interrupt something? You forgot that we don't pause games here, didn't you?"
Both of the Uchiha brothers stared at the weapon with their Sharingan. It didn't look like anything they had seen before; it seemed to be made out of a strange dull golden metal. Itachi leant down and picked it up, grasping it firmly in his hand.
"Enough of this hiding business, come out and face us!" yelled out Sasuke, watching as Itachi threw away the weapon.
"Why would I do that? The odds are stacked against you, and this is highly amusing. It's a game of hide and seek, but I'm the seeker and you are the prey."
Itachi sighed at the lingo, he had dealt with strange shinobi before but it always ended the same way. They let their overconfidence drive them, and obsessed over the idea that their quirk wasn't a positive trait. He glanced up at the ceiling, testing out the water.
"Is this the level of difficulty you want to face? Surely you want a real challenge?"
There was a notable hesitation in the air for a long time. Sasuke asked Itachi what he was doing, but the elder Uchiha just shook his head and indicated for him to be quiet. He didn't doubt that their enemy was hiding somewhere in the room, but the fact that he couldn't see his chakra outline with his Sharingan unsettled him.
"It is truly a shame that Orochimaru didn't live to see this day. He obsessed over those red eyes of yours, and you deliver yourselves into the spider's lair. I held no love for my old master, but when presented with such an opportunity, I just can't help himself. Okay, I'll play along. Who knows, we might have some fun together."
A small white sac appeared at the centre of the ceiling, slowly growing in size until it was larger than either of the Uchiha brothers, slowly cracking open with a sickening sound to reveal a strange-looking Sound shinobi falling slowly with two long web strands attached to his feet. He was dark skinned, with black and grey sleeveless clothing and the Sound symbol on a forehead protector with a grinning face to accompany them. However the most unsettling facts about him, besides the long hook-like black lines across his dark skin, was the two extra sets of arms behind the first pair, giving him a total of eight limbs. Sasuke visibly balked at the view, but recovered quickly as they both stared at their enemy's smiling face. The Sound shinobi looked over at the two Uchiha, hanging a few feet from the ceiling upside down, regarding them with pitch black eyes.
"I suppose introductions are in order. This is the time that names are entered into the game anyway. I am Kidomaru, of the East Gate. Welcome to the playground."
oOoOoOo
"Be on your guard, Sasuke. This one is more dangerous then he appears."
"You don't need to tell me that, Nii-san."
The spider-like Sound shinobi stared at the two Konoha shinobi with careful consideration. Despite his playful nature, Kidomaru was a calm analyst of his enemies, not unlike his associated nature. Like everyone in the shinobi world he knew who Uchiha Itachi was, and judging by the similarities and the red eyes it only took him a few moments to realise that the other shinobi must be the only survivor of the Uchiha massacre, Itachi's little brother. In turn, they watched him carefully through their Sharingan.
Taking a moment to formulate a plan of attack, Kidomaru began to chew visibly as the Uchiha brothers saw him mould a large amount of chakra in his mouth. Still hanging upside down, he spat a large white web straight at Sasuke, forcing the younger Uchiha to jump backwards to avoid the strike. He spat several more webs that were easily avoided by the brothers, until they were close to the wall of the training room. With a flip he cut off the strands that attached him to the ceiling, landing on the ground effortlessly before placing two of his six hands together in a handseal. He spat at the pair of brothers again, however unlike the previous attacks this web attack was ten times the size, and much faster than the other attacks. The brothers attempted to move out of the way, but both were pinned to the wall by the sticky web. Itachi didn't make any comment as he struggled to free himself from the attack, but Sasuke was more than vocal about the situation.
"Spiders and webs and….this is too much..."
He flailed wildly at the white strands, but the web didn't budge an inch even when he pulled out his sword and attempted to cut his way through it.
"What is this stuff?" asked Itachi pointlessly as he tried to cut his own way through the web, noticing that even with the strongest steel weapons such as Sasuke's sword, the white threads didn't budge at all.
Sasuke continued to thrash about, and after a few moments Itachi noticed that his little brother was on the verge of a panic attack, acting quite uncharacteristically, like he had never seen before.
He struggled to turn his head to face him, "Sasuke, you've got to breathe. Calm yourself."
The younger Uchiha didn't seem to hear him, putting his hands together in a handseal to activate his favourite technique. Itachi felt his own panic level rising as he recognised the connecting chakra paths that were inside the web threads. He went to yell out for Sasuke to stop, but realised that there was nothing he could say to stop Sasuke immediately. Staring at his younger brother with his Sharingan, he pushed through a quick technique, causing Sasuke to freeze in place before he could activate the lightning technique. He took a moment to breathe a sigh of relief that that problem had been solved, but frowned as he saw their enemy simply standing in place and watching them intently.
"That's a shame. It was amusing to see him flail about. But how harsh, to use genjutsu on your own brother."
He began visibly chewing again, but Itachi noticed the chakra was different this time, as he put two hands to his mouth and pulled out two large strings of golden webs into his hands. After a few seconds the golden threads harden until they resembled long spikes similar to the first attack he had sent at them.
"But in this game, we don't allow team-killing. It ruins the balance of the game."
He pulled back the arms holding the weapons for a moment before throwing both of the golden spikes at Itachi, with a wild grin on his face. Itachi struggled against the web as he saw the spikes screaming towards him. His Sharingan flared as the strikes took him in the neck and chest. Kidomaru laughed at his success, and began to chew visibly again to strike at the younger Uchiha, until he saw Itachi's body explode into a large group of crows. The crows flew between the strands and out of the trap, covering the air between Itachi's old position and Sasuke as one crow flew to Sasuke's face. His eyes hung open as he was still trapped in Itachi's genjutsu, but the crow near his face crowed at him and one of its dark eyes changed into a Sharingan and it stared into Sasuke's eyes. The younger Uchiha shook violently for a moment before his eyes unglazed themselves, and he saw the crow in front of him. It took him no time to realise what his brother had done, placing his hands together before replicating Itachi's technique, turning into a small murder of crows and escaping the web trap. The large group of crows from both of them crowed loudly for a moment before they both reformed themselves in front of the web, staring at their Sound opponent. Kidomaru straightened his back and put his hands on his hip.
They have an easy escape mechanic, one that doesn't take up much chakra. Ah, this is making me want to take my time now. Games are no fun unless you play them out fully. I'll need to concentrate though, Uchiha Itachi is a hard boss, and his little brother is an unknown, though it seems like he has a fear of spiders. This'll be fun.
He winced as the Cursed Seal continued to spread across his body, the hooked lines having completely covered his dark skin now. He hadn't been able to deactivate the Cursed Seal since Subject Zero's death, and whenever he went into battle it seemed to take over and get out of control. He chewed quickly before spitting two quick webs towards the Uchiha brothers, the same size as his previous one, but a little bit slower. He watched as both brothers seemed to come up with the same counter, both placing their hands together before putting two fingers at their mouths.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
The two large fireballs struck at the webs, burning them to a crisp instantly. As the fire burned out, they both saw that Kidomaru had disappeared, causing them to scan the room for his chakra signal. Sasuke felt a sharp pain in his arm as a golden kunai slashed against his skin before burying itself into the ground. He ducked immediately; watching as five golden kunai barely missed his head and buried themselves into the ground in front of him.
"Sasuke! Roll!" called out Itachi, putting his hands together into a handseal.
The younger Uchiha obliged without hesitation, rolling to the right as another large group of golden projectiles struck the ground where he once was. He picked himself up from the ground and breathed out slowly; letting his Sharingan show him where the next attack was coming from. Shifting his head slightly, and reaching up with his left hand he dodged on of the projectiles and caught the second one, looking at the golden metal with fascination. He didn't flinch at all as Itachi jumped next to him and deflected two projectiles aimed at his head. He took a moment before tossing aside the golden projectile, looking at his brother with his Sharingan.
"It looks like he makes the stuff from his mouth and it hardens into shape before he attacks with it."
Itachi gave his brother his best I-already-knew-that look, watching as Sasuke moved past him and grabbed a projectile thrown at Itachi's blind spot.
"Sasuke, how much chakra do you have?"
Sasuke took a moment to think about it, "About half. That previous assault took out a fair bit. I still can't hear out of my left ear. Why?"
Itachi ducked under another set of golden projectiles, still trying to work out where the attacks were coming from, though he knew that their opponent was the long range type that would hide while attacking.
"Just checking. He doesn't seem like the type to take lightly. Are you going to be alright?"
Sasuke scowled as he remembered the previous encounter, "I'll be fine. I'll just think of them as something else. Do you have a plan?"
They both frowned as they saw the strange shinobi appear at the top level.
He stared at them with a grin on his face, "I guess this game is going to be harder than I thought. I'll play serious now."
He reached up with two of his hands, biting at both of the thumbs as two of his other hands ran through the five handseals. Both his free hands and the handseal hands came together before stretching out into two sets of spider webs. He placed the two blood covered hands on the webs between his other hands.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
A giant plume of smoke exploded around the Sound shinobi, both of the Uchiha standing on their guard. The smoke cleared slowly as they saw the creatures he had summoned, thoroughly unsurprised considering the shinobi using the technique. Kidomaru stood atop a giant black tarantula with orange stripes going back from its abdomen.
"Kyodaigumo."
As if the giant spider wasn't enough, to the Sound shinobi's right was a giant long legged red spider with four long fangs underneath its many eyes.
"Akakyoutaikumo."
Sasuke clenched at the sight of the two spiders, but held his ground, swallowing slowly as he tried to think of something else. Kidomaru grinned as he put up two hands and attached strands of spider web to the corner of the training room, pulling himself up to the ceiling. The tarantula spat out a large web on the nearby wall, leaping onto the sticky wall before roaring out at the Uchiha brothers. A large white sac slowly came out of the tarantula's back end as the red spider leapt off the top level, jumping straight at Sasuke with a speed he hadn't been expecting. It stabbed at him with its front two legs, causing the younger Uchiha to jump backwards. He was forced to keep retreating as the red spider stabbed at him again and again, the ground cracking under its legs attacks. Itachi ran towards his brother to help him, but flinched as a small spider the size of his head flew past him. It looked like a much smaller version of the tarantula, with a long strand of web attached to its back as it landed in front of Itachi. He looked over to the large black spider, noticing that the white sac had grown huge with a large hole that was spitting out small spiders like the one that had just attacked him.
Kidomaru shook his head slowly, "No, no. This is a single player game. We don't allow co-op."
He pulled out a golden kunai from his mouth, holding it idly.
I'll wait for the best opportunity, when they are distracted. Then, when their Sharingan are useless, I'll strike.
oOoOoOo
"Chidori Subeta!"
Sasuke slashed at the red orb spider's leg with his lightning covered sword. To his dismay the sword attack simply bounced off the spider's chitinous plated leg, even made into a blade that would cut through anything it couldn't pierce through the red spider's carapace. He swore and dodged another leg attack, throwing away his useless sword as he tried to put his hands together into a handseal, but the spider pulled back and faced him with its face. It spat a large amount of green liquid at him, the younger Uchiha barely able to dodge the attack, the liquid hitting his cloak barely. He rolled away from another attack, noticing a strange smell in the air. Turning his head slightly he noticed the edges of his cloak were gone.
"Ah shiiiitttt!"
He thrashed around on the ground as he tried to remove the destroyed cloak, barely able to get it off before the venom burned it up completely, little bits of the green liquid hitting the ground with a sizzle, burning into the stone floor. He stood up with a breath of relief, barely able to take a moment for himself before the red spider spat at him again. Sasuke ducked under the green venom, making sure that none of it hit him as he tried to complete a set of handseals, but the spider never let up, continuing to attack him with its red legs. On the other side of the room, Itachi continued to dodge the small spiders that were sent against him, looking far more relaxed than his younger brother. He moved to the side as a spider behind him tried to attack him with its exposed fangs, dripping with venom. As the spider moved past him he reached out and drove a kunai into its back. He was having no trouble avoiding the attacks sent against him, but he saw that he couldn't say the same thing about his brother. He went to call out to Sasuke, but called out in pain, falling to his knees. He reached back with his hand, grimacing as he pulled out a golden kunai from his side. He threw away the bloody projectile and frowned as he stole a glance at the hanging Sound shinobi.
He waits patiently until the moment appears to strike. And Sasuke is ill-suited to face that large spider. He isn't a defensive fighter.
Itachi flung out an arm, a part of his robe turned into a black crow. It flew towards Sasuke, as Itachi continued to dodge the attacks sent against him. The crow landed on Sasuke's shoulder, causing the young Uchiha to pause momentarily in his movements.
"What is it, Itachi?" he asked of the crow.
It cawed at him loudly before disappearing into smoke. He had to admit, it was a decent idea, he certainly was on the back foot against the red spider. He jumped out of the way of another blob of venom, picking up his sword on the way up, turning around to yell something at Itachi when he saw a golden kunai screaming towards his face. He barely got his hands together in time as the attack struck him, the young Uchiha able to substitute with one of the smaller spiders in time, the kunai destroying the spider easily. Sasuke groaned as he picked himself up from the ground next to Itachi.
"You sure about this?" he asked, reached back and drawing his sword again.
His brother nodded, patting Sasuke on the head before running over to the red spider with his hands together. Sasuke breathed out slowly and gripped his sword as he regarded the tarantula on the wall. At the other side of the room the red orb spider went to jump at Sasuke, but leapt back as two shuriken slammed into its face. They embedded themselves in the openings between the carapace plates covered its eyes, barely missing the eyes of the large spider. Itachi smirked as his brother's sword crackle with electricity. He clapped his hands together before pulling out a shuriken and throwing it at the red spider, waiting a moment before throwing a second one straight at it. The second shuriken was thrown with more force, catching up easily to the first and striking it hard, causing the shuriken to harshly change direction and scream towards Kidomaru's position on the ceiling.
The spider-like shinobi dropped several feet from his position and watched as the shuriken buried itself where his head was. He pulled out a golden thread from his mouth, allowing it to harden for a moment before being forced to move from his position again to avoid a thrown kunai. He crawled up the wall and regarded Itachi with fascination, watching as the elder Uchiha ducked and weaved easily from the red spider's attack while simultaneously throwing projectiles in his direction. A wide grin grew on his face as he moved away from a shuriken strike, taking position again as he deflected a kunai with his golden weapon.
He avoids the spider's attacks easily, while ensuring that I can't attack either of their blind spots. What an interesting opponent.
He stole a glance over at the other side of the field, noticing that the younger Uchiha flung a large amount of electric needles at the small spiders thrown at him, easily neutralising the attacks.
And the other one is pretty good too. Such a high level game…I'm getting really excited.
oOoOoOo
Sasuke watched with disgust as the large tarantula roared at him, the small spider attacks had slowly considerably since he and Itachi had swapped positions. It had become obvious that Sasuke was far better at dealing with the smaller creatures, his lightning needles didn't cost him much chakra at all, and they were extremely efficient at taking out the smaller arachnids. He grimaced as he saw several large tarantulas crawl out of the white sac along the wall, taking positions on the web above the sac before roaring in turn.
"What is this?" he asked rhetorically.
The five tarantulas turned to face him from the web on the wall, each of their abdomens bulging slightly as they roared at Sasuke. They all pulled back their fanged mouths and spat at the younger Uchiha, small webs shooting towards him similar to the ones Kidomaru had shot earlier from his mouth. He moved to the side to avoid one of the webs, but found himself confronted by another, causing him to roll back to his original position. The webs shot by the tarantulas were frustratingly accurate, Sasuke barely able to keep his feet together as they forced him back. Even as he dodged the webs, he noticed that the giant tarantula had allowed the white sac to fall to the ground before another one began to emerge from its rear.
I need to go on offence. This plan isn't working.
He put his hands together into the first technique he had ever learnt. His skill with the Uchiha technique had gotten to the point that he only needed the final seal to activate the technique.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
A large fireball exploded from his mouth, easily destroying the webs that were flying towards him, before raging across the field into the large white sac. The fire burnt up the premature container with ease, and slightly struck the giant tarantula's abdomen, but avoided the five smaller tarantulas that crawled up the web to avoid the blaze. Sasuke grinned at his accomplishment, but knew he wasn't done.
He quickly ran through a set of handseals before placing his hands to his lips, "Katon: Housenka!"
He spat out a continuous stream of smaller fireballs, striking the tarantulas with precision, easily burning up their black exteriors. The giant tarantula roared at the destruction of her children, pushing off the wall with its eight legs. It flew towards Sasuke with a speed uncanny for its size, and was undeterred by the large fireball sent in its direction. The blaze barely make a mark on the giant tarantula, the arachnid forcing the young Uchiha on the back foot as it tried to attack him in the same manner as the red orb spider had. He swore under his breath as he leapt away from its huge fangs.
Fire doesn't work, and if it's anything like the other one, my sword won't work either. Damnit, why did we have to face this kind of enemy?
oOoOoOo
Even while dodging lightning fast strikes from the red spider's legs and globs of highly toxic venom, and keeping the spider-like shinobi occupied with projectiles, Itachi was able to catch a glance of Sasuke destroying the tarantula's spiderling sac. He grinned in pride at his brother's achievement, leaping back to avoid an attack before putting his hands together.
"Katon: Karyuudan" (Fire Element: Fire Dragon Bullet)
A stream of fire came from his mouth, striking the orb spider straight in the face. The giant red spider roared in pain, but appeared otherwise unaffected as the elder Uchiha cancelled the flame technique and fell back. He regarded the red orb spider with morbid fascination.
It seems practically immune to damage, and recovers instantly. I need to take it out in one shot, with one big technique. Wait…I know what might work…
He looked up at the red spider's face, noticing the eight dark eyes all staring at him as it pulled back its front two legs to attack him. He smiled and moulded a small amount into his eyes, staring straight into the spider's eyes with his Sharingan. The giant arachnid froze in place, unable to move at all as Itachi moved with purpose towards the spider's location.
This had better work. If the carapace doesn't hold…this might end badly for all of us.
He clapped his hands together as he finished the technique that his father had taught him before they had become estranged. It wasn't a jutsu he wanted to use, particularly not in an enclosed environment, but unlike some of the others in the Konoha group he wasn't well versed in highly destructive techniques, not without using his Mangekyou Sharingan. The spider began to twitch as it was slowly breaking out of the genjutsu he placed him under, but was still immobile enough for Itachi to get underneath its legs to its midsection. He looked up at the red carapace, noticing a slightly lighter area right in the middle between its plates. Noting his target, the elder Uchiha reached up and slammed his hands into the midsection. He hadn't come up with a name for the technique, and considering the scope of the ability he hoped to never use it again, but the situation called for action. Satisfied that the technique had activated properly, he ran away from the orb spider as quickly as he could, which was pretty fast by normal shinobi standards. At his position on the ceiling, Kidomaru frowned as he noticed the respite from the hail of projectiles sent at him by Itachi.
After a quick glance he saw Itachi fleeing from the seemingly frozen orb spider. With a quick chew he began to form more golden liquid in his mouth, until he saw the giant red spider twitching strangely. Itachi placed his hands together when he was a good distance away from the spider, pointing his hands towards the giant spider as Kidomaru sensed a huge surge of chakra. The midsection of the orb spider began to bulge, before its abdomen bulged as well.
Oh sh…
In a roaring sound that shook the entire room, the giant red orb spider exploded from the inside, the carapace barely holding the explosion in as the large arachnid was vaporised from the inside out, collapsing into a pile of red carapace and toxic slime. Picking himself up from the explosion's shockwave, Itachi cracked his neck as he saw Sasuke struggling against the huge tarantula. The younger Uchiha had tried to burn away the tarantula with fire techniques, but to no avail, though it appeared that the tarantula couldn't produce any more spiders, significantly diminishing its strength. Sasuke flipped back and removed his sword, charging it with lightning as an idea came to his mind. With a surge of chakra he changed the shape of his energy to a long spear at the tip of his sword, reaching up high before slashing down towards the giant black and orange spider. The long blue and white chakra spear slashed straight into the gap between the tarantula's midsection and abdomen, where it had no defence. The giant spider roared out in pain as the attack sliced it in two, Sasuke withdrawing his chakra before charging towards the spider to finish it off. The spider flailed around as he reached its body, his hand crackling with lightning as he planned to finish it off. Before his hand could reach the spider's face, it exploded into white liquid around him, covering him with sticky webbing all over his body, trapping him to the ground.
Itachi instantly turned around and ran towards his younger brother, "Sasuke!"
On top of the ceiling, Kidomaru watched as the older Uchiha made his way to his brother and tried to find a way to free him from the sticky webbing. He shook his head slowly as he saw the destroyed bodies of his two summoned spiders. His chakra spiked as his cursed seal began move all over his skin, turning his dark skin to a dark red and his hair turned a pale white. The forehead protector on his head fell to the ground beneath him with a clank as horns began to appear along his arms and on top of his head. As his face constricted into an angry expression that he only ever adopted in this second level of the Cursed Seal, a strange line of his forehead began to open slowly, revealing a strange third eye where his forehead protector had been, his eyes completely black with yellow irises.
I guess this game isn't over just yet. It's a shame that I have to kill you two, I haven't had this much fun in years.
A long golden spike slowly came from his mouth as he regarded the two Uchiha with all three eyes. He knew it was foolish to engage in close combat, but he didn't consider himself out of the game just yet. Kidomaru would have preferred a more open area to fight in, such as a field or a forest. The golden thread hardened as webbing appeared to line each end, Kidomaru pulling back with two of his hands on the webbing as his bow was complete. Itachi had no way of helping Sasuke completely; he was still stuck firmly to the ground but he was still able to move around his arms. The elder Uchiha turned and balked at the image of Kidomaru stringing up his golden bow, standing between him and his brother with his arms together. The spider-like shinobi grinned widely as he quickly figured out his plan. With a slow laugh he vanished into the air, disappearing from the Uchiha's view, hiding from his Sharingan. Itachi frantically looked around the room for the Sound shinobi, before turning back to Sasuke to try and free him. At the top level in both Itachi and Sasuke's blind spot, Kidomaru dropped to his feet as he strung a long golden arrow in his bow. The Sound shinobi was silent in his preparations, aiming his arrow with absolute precision.
Accuracy 100 percent. Destruction Level Maximum.
He held the arrow with his razor sharp teeth before releasing it at his target. Die! Only at the last moment did Itachi hear the attack screaming towards the two of them. He didn't hear the sound of arrow releasing from the golden bow, nor the sound of the arrow breaking the sound barrier as it covered the distance instantly. He heard the sound of the arrow hitting flesh, and clothes being shredded, but neither of them called out in pain. The elder Uchiha padded himself down, trying to work out where the arrow had struck him, but he couldn't find a hole as he saw the bloody arrow buried deep into the ground beyond their position. He looked over at his younger brother momentarily, and saw a strange look on Sasuke's face. The normally rigid and serious looking Uchiha seemed to have a confused look on his face, like he didn't know where he was. He slowly looked down at his body still stuck to the ground by the webbing from the death of the tarantula, trying to reach down but finding he had no strength in his arms.
He looked back up to Itachi, trying to ask him if he could see what had happened, but the words couldn't form in his mouth when he saw the wide eyed look on his brother's face. It took him a moment to realise where his brother was staring at, looking down at his chest before realising that there was a wide hole in his chest. The arrow had gone clean through to the other side, Sasuke hadn't even realised he had been struck. The moment he realised what had happened, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell to his knees.
"SASUKE!"
At the top level, Kidomaru frowned as his three eyes stared at the hole in the younger Uchiha's chest. His arrow had been dead-on accurate when he had let it go, but at that exact moment the Konoha shinobi had straightened up slightly, causing the arrow that would have taken him in the heart to strike him six inches below the target. The Sound shinobi began to spit out another arrow as he saw the older Konoha shinobi try to pull the wounded Uchiha out of the webbing, with little success. As he strung up the second arrow, he saw Itachi turn and face him angrily, his Sharingan flaring at the monstrous visage. Kidomaru pulled back the bow with his hands, aiming the arrow at Sasuke again as his three eyes were able to calculate the greatest trajectory of the projectile instantly. From observing their battles with his spider summons, he recognised that Itachi was the more dangerous one by far, but with the younger Uchiha unable to move, and being injured, Kidomaru recognised that he could turn the battle massively in his favour by killing him first. In the Second Level of the Cursed Seal, his arrows were so powerful that he had pierced through solid steel with them, and he prided himself on his accuracy with the weapon. As he looked down the arrow shaft to the two Konoha shinobi, a strange thought came to his mind.
I don't particularly want to continue this game. The fun stopped when my pets were destroyed. To what purpose do I have to kill these two? They didn't kill any of our men, even though they had the opportunity to. Even though they are the invaders…why do I feel like the bad guy?
He felt a pulse of the Cursed Seal's chakra through his body, banishing the hesitation from his mind as he realigned his arrow, noting that even though Itachi could see him, there was little he could do to stop the next arrow attack, considering that the target was unable to move. Kidomaru stared back down the arrow shaft, aiming the arrow directly into the dying Sasuke's face. He was at such a distance that Itachi couldn't tell where Kidomaru was aiming, because it was a centimetre either way between the two of them. Ensuring that his arrow was on target, Kidomaru unleashed the attack, all pretext towards stealth gone as he let go of the arrow. He had put more strength into the second arrow draw, in case Itachi put up some kind of defence the arrow would be able to go straight through. The air between the shinobi seemed to fracture as the arrow screamed towards the Konoha shinobi, Kidomaru grinning as he felt an impact shock from the arrow striking its target.
Minor character, down.
A large cloud of dust was kicked up by his arrow strike, even his three eyes not able to see what had happened until it cleared. He frowned and tightened his grip on his bow as he tried to understand what he saw.
What is the meaning of this?
oOoOoOo
Itachi snarled as he stared at the monstrous-looking Sound shinobi. He hadn't needed to use this technique since he'd learnt it, and due to its nature he hadn't practised it either, but as his pinwheel Sharingan flared he was grateful it had worked. He stood over Sasuke, having placed his younger brother under a powerful genjutsu that froze him in place. It was a Sharingan technique, not as powerful as Tsukuyomi, but strong enough that it stopped Sasuke from dying instantly, stopping his body from bleeding out. Around the two of them was a large red chakra form, one that Itachi hadn't seen since the night Kanako had been killed, and both his and Sasuke's lives had changed forever. Over Sasuke's frozen body was a large red shield made of chakra, connected to a large humanoid form around the two of them.
Itachi felt his chakra levels plummet with the technique, but it had been necessary. He didn't know of any other defence techniques that could have stopped the arrow attack, at least not ones that he knew. Across from him, Kidomaru stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing. He cackled for several seconds before looking back down at the elder Uchiha.
"This is just too much! Even when he is down, you protect him? With such a technique too…"
With a visible chew he began spitting out another golden arrow, one that had a spiral end and was of a darker colour than his previous arrows.
"This is my strongest arrow. Its destructive power is greater than any technique in the Sound village, since the death of our master."
Attaching himself to the wall with his web threads, he placed his feet on the golden bow and pulled the bow back with four of his hands, with the arrow between his teeth. With his third eye his perception skills rivalled his opponent's Sharingan, and his analysis skills were lauded as the best in the village. After staring at the red chakra-based warrior standing guard over the two Uchiha shinobi, he knew there was no where he could break the defence easily except underneath, and as powerful an archer as he was, he couldn't put an arrow through there. Through the fiery red shield he could see Itachi running through a set of handseals, but Kidomaru wasn't going to let him finish, letting the arrow go with a huge push of chakra.
The golden arrow was a blur as it screamed into the warrior's shield, striking it straight onto the circle at the centre of its defence. If he hadn't been attached to the wall with his webs the shockwave would have knocked him off his feet. Instead he was only rocked slightly, as he tried to see if his arrow had been able to pierce Itachi's defence. As the dust settled, all three of his eyes widened at what he saw. The red warrior was still standing, barely. There was a huge set of cracks coming from its shield, and most of the boned warrior had shattered, but it was still standing. Inside the barrier, Itachi had been knocked to the ground and didn't look like he would be able to get up any time soon. Kidomaru grinned wildly at his success, watching as the red warrior disappeared slowly putting his bow in one of his off hands before trying to remove the Cursed Seal chakra from his body.
His horned skin fluctuated as the dark chakra didn't recede immediately, Kidomaru frowning as he dropped to the ground slowly. Since the death of Kimimaro's friend, the originator of the Cursed Seal, he hadn't been willing to go into the Second Level; for fear that it might take him over. He, like the others, was always stuck in the released form of the Cursed Seal. The only reason he stayed in the Sound Village was the promise that he could be released from the Cursed Seal, since Orochimaru's death he had no real purpose. The Cursed Seal was an enslavement tool, one that Kidomaru had gone into gladly, but now served little other than to cause him to act more erratically than he normally would. As his feet touched the ground he could feel the dark chakra rebelling against his authority, refusing to recede as it drew more and more of his personal chakra. He kept his alarm to himself however as he walked slowly towards the two fallen Uchiha.
"I guess this game is finished. A shame really. You guys were more fun than I initially would have expected. I have no love for this village, but you came into our home with bad intentions, so I've got to take you out."
With a tired sigh, he flexed his three left arms, still trying to remove the Cursed Seal chakra with no success. His third eye closed as he saw that Itachi had been knocked out cold, and the younger Uchiha was dying slowly from the hole in his chest. He walked over to the fallen shinobi, leaning down with a strange look on his face.
Lord Kabuto will want to question him. Itachi is too dangerous to leave walking around, but if I heal this one enough than maybe he'll let me go. I know he doesn't have any motivation to remove our seals, so maybe with a proper prisoner he'll let me go my own way.
As he put a hand over the hole in Sasuke's chest, his eyes examined the wound. It had passed through cleanly, almost surprisingly so, barely nicking the stomach and missing the lungs altogether.
This knocked him out? I know I poison my arrows with paralysing venom, but still, that's kind of sad.
He called out in pain as a pulse from his Cursed Seal pushed through more chakra than he originally intended, his hands glowing black instead of blue as he began to stitch up the Konoha shinobi's wounds. As Orochimaru's guard, he was the only one in the group with outward medical abilities. As an analytical shinobi he considered medical techniques a necessity for a ranged attacker. As he concentrated he noticed that his dark red skin was turning back to its normal dark colour, as if the Cursed Seal was receding of its own volition. After a few moments he removed his hands and looked at his work. There was an ugly looking black scar over where the hole used to be, but by his estimation the Uchiha teenager would survive, at least long enough to be questioned. Placing one set of hands on his hips, he sighed again as he felt the transition back to the normal released form of the Cursed Seal. A shiver ran up his spine, his patented sensory technique, but he paid it no attention. After all, he had already won the battle, what else could there be to trouble him? The shiver ran up his spine again, but before he could do anything it was too late. A voice flowed through his ears, and he nearly rolled his eyes as he realised his mistake.
How stupid. All that work, and I miss something like that. Analytical, intellectual genius my foot.
He saw two red and black orbs in front of him.
"Tsukuyomi."
oOoOoOo
Kidomaru sighed as he looked at the red horizon in the distance. Itachi slowly appeared before him with his arms hidden within his Akatsuki robe, a stern look on his face.
Kidomaru looked at the elder Uchiha with a smile, "Kage Bunshin?"
His opponent nodded slowly.
"Bah, I should have known. Too smart for my own good, eh?"
Itachi stared at the six-armed shinobi with his Sharingan, noticing that while his monstrous-visage had receded, he still looking like one of the strangest shinobi he had ever seen, and that was even as the partner of the shark-like Kisame.
He frowned slowly, "Why did you save my little brother's life? What is he to you?"
With a laugh, Kidomaru shrugged all three sets of his shoulders.
"So he was your little brother. I figured as much."
"Why did you help him?"
The grin on Kidomaru's face turned solemn, "I had a little sister once. Nobody should lose their sibling, even in times like these."
Itachi noticed the strange look on his enemy's face. In the world of Tsukuyomi he controlled everything, and Kidomaru knew it, so there was little point in lying to him. He had time to spare, and with that final action he respected the shinobi enough to at least hear him out.
"What happened to her?"
With another sigh, Kidomaru placed a set of hands behind his head.
"She got sick. I approached Orochimaru, and he offered to help her, in return for my servitude. I did as he asked, but she still died. It was too late once I realised that I had become his slave with the Cursed Seal."
He gave a short laugh.
"I seem to have a record of stupid decisions. But that doesn't matter now. Are you going to kill me?"
Itachi stared at his enemy, realising that even though he was the enemy, he felt a measure of sympathy towards him. While he recognised that it would probably be a mercy to break out of the Tsukuyomi and finish him off, there was a part of his mind that didn't want to.
"Are any of our people here?" he asked, not expecting to get an answer.
To his surprise, Kidomaru shook his head slowly.
"Sorry, but any of your people left have been dead for weeks. Kabuto was using them for his experiments. Wish I could help, but yeah."
The Sound shinobi watched as Itachi absorbed what he had said, taking a few moments to consider the information and its validity. After deciding that it was the only logic choice, Itachi slowly closed his eyes. Kidomaru's eyes widened as the area around him collapsed inwards, until he opened his eyes and saw Itachi standing opposite him back in the training room.
"You aren't going to kill me then?"
A Kage Bunshin behind him tapped the Sound shinobi on the back of the neck, causing him to crash into the ground. Itachi stood over the fallen shinobi with a solemn look across his face. He had decided that it wouldn't feel right killing the man who had just saved his brother's life, even if he had caused the injury. Itachi was many things, but since his joining the Konoha group he had felt a sense of belonging that he hadn't felt since Kanako. There was no need to spill unnecessary blood, at least not in his mind. He turned around and knelt down next to Sasuke, noticing that his little brother's breathing had gotten better, and that the webbing had released him from its hold, though it was clear they weren't going anywhere. He placed a hand on Sasuke's forehead, before smiling slowly.
"That was too close, Otouto."
Author's Note:
Sorry about the lateness of this chapter. These fights are lengthy, and there is a lot I want to put into them before I release them. The next few might take me a little bit longer than usual, but that's because I have big plans in mind for this arc.
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.