Author's Note: First of all, shout out to FireSharingan359, the first author who took on my "Shattered Team 7" challenge. Be sure to read his story "A Fool's Dedication", and leave a review to give him your support. You can find a link to his story in both my profile and favorites.
Also...it's finally here. You wanted to know how Naruto and Sasuke ended up being enemies, and this chapter has the answer. I hope you find said answer, as well as the rest of the developments that take place enjoyable. And like usual, see you at the bottom notes. Now enjoy:
Chapter 39:
Senju Twins Rescue Part IV
or
The Curtain Falls
…
Zabuza never thought that, during his stay in the Land of Fire, he'd run into and fight a fellow native of the Land of Water. The fact that he was from a clan believed to be extinct –albeit, for once, not due to the infamous Bloodline Purges– only added to his surprise, which he managed to keep carefully hidden thanks to his mental training.
But then again, if six years ago somebody told him that he'd be working for Konoha, he'd laugh in that person's face. Fate is indeed a fickle mistress.
"Let me guess, is that Orochimaru forcing you to work for him?" Zabuza asked.
Kimimaro visibly frowned, offended at such suggestion. "I serve Orochimaru-sama willingly. He gave my life a purpose, and I work for him in order to repay him. Unlike you, I'm not a slave."
The fact that he sounded a lot like Haku made Zabuza feel oddly uncomfortable.
"I'm not a slave either. This is just a temp job," Zabuza replied, trying to save face.
Kimimaro smirked a little, clearly amused. "Sure. Keep telling yourself that. Anyway, not that it's going to matter, given that you're going to meet your end here."
This time, it was Zabuza who smirked. "Do you really think that you can take on a Swordsman of the Hidden Mist, brat? You're strong, but you're way over your head."
"If that's the case, then let's check which one of the two is actually wrong," Kimimaro replied, as bone blades started to grow over several parts of his body. "Dance of the Willow!"
The Kaguya charged at Zabuza, who raised his sword defensively. Upon reaching hand to hand combat, Kimimaro launched an onslaught of swipes with his bone blades, as well as the occasional punch and kick, forcing Zabuza into the defensive. Still, that didn't last long, since Zabuza managed to jump back a bit, putting enough distance between himself and Kimimaro's attack, but still close enough for his Executioner's Blade to reach the white haired ninja.
Now, it was Kimimaro on the defensive as he parried and dodged Zabuza's vicious attacks. Despite the sword looked –and was– rather heavy, on Zabuza's hand it appeared as if it was made of light plastic. Still, the last Kaguya could feel all the weight of the massive sword whenever the parried one of its brutal blows.
"Still think you measure up to me?" Zabuza cockily asked, as he readied another sword slam.
This time, instead of parrying, Kimimaro gracefully moved sideways, and taking advantage of Zabuza's precarious position, he dashed towards him and sunk one of his bone blades on Zabuza's side. His makeshift weapon managed to pierce the Jonin's flak jacket as if it was made of wet paper.
"I think I'm way better than you," Kimimaro retorted, violently pulling out the blade from Zabuza's flesh.
But much to his shock, blood didn't come out of Zabuza's grievous wound, but water. Zabuza then smirked under his mask, before he turned into a puddle of water.
"A clone...?" Kimimaro lamely asked. "I've been fighting a clone the whole time?"
"Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
A massive dragon-shaped water construct blocked the sun above the Oto ninja. It let out a distorted roar, before coming down at him. Kimimaro expertly jumped backwards dodging the lunge, but the dragon then exploded into a shapeless torrent of water rushing at him. Kimimaro continued running and dodging the water as good as he could..
A loud whirring sound alerted Kimimaro of the giant spinning sword flying at him like a deadly disc. At that speed, blocking it would be suicide, so he opted for dodging it. The blade passed besides him harmlessly, but that moment, Zabuza suddenly burst out of the water torrent, grabbed his sword and viciously assaulted Kimimaro.
"Water Release: Tsunami Sword!"
All of the water of Zabuza's previous jutsu started to gather around his Executioner's Blade, forming massive, thick watery cover. The swordsman then slammed his sword forward, releasing all that water once again in the form of a destructive giant wave, albeit this time it was focused in a single direction.
Kimimaro was unable to dodge it, and he was dragged away by the gigantic wall of water, before it slammed him down against the ground.
"Say, what do you think about my abilities now, brat?" an amused Zabuza asked as he calmly walked towards the downed Kimimaro, dragging his sword, leaving a shallow furrow behind. "Still think you can kill me and take my sword for that sick master of yours?"
Kimimaro didn't reply, and ignored Zabuza as he slowly started to get back on his feet.
"You can still move?" Zabuza asked, genuinely surprised. "Wow. Most people would have most of their bones broken after such a hit."
"If you aim to break my bones," Kimimaro slowly said. "Then you're doing a fool's errand. My bones I'm unbreakable."
"Not all that surprising, given your abilities," Zabuza conceded. "However, just because your bones are unbreakable, doesn't mean that the rest of you are. The human body has plenty of spots that guarantee an instant kill."
"I admit that you're way stronger than I had guessed," Kimimaro replied. "But you're not strong enough to defeat me. I'll make sure to enjoy this. An opponent that forces me to go all out is something I don't see every day."
Kimimaro's marks around his body started to glow as if they were made of fire, and they started to spread to the rest of his skin. His skin went from pale white to grayish brown. His hair grew longer, and huge bone spikes started to grow across his back. He also grew a large bone spiked tail, which gave him a somewhat reptilian appearance. His eyes turned yellow with black sclera, and two curved black marking appeared under his eye.
"Behold the full power of Orochimaru-sama's Cursed Seal of Earth, one of his two most powerful cursed seals, only given to the best of his servants," Kimimaro announced, as he spread his arms.
Zabuza frowned in disgust. "You disappoint me, brat. You are strong, very strong for your age. Yet instead of becoming more powerful on your own, you borrow power from others. I'm afraid to say you've already lost."
"Your logic is flawed. Power is still power, no matter where it comes from," Kimimaro retorted. "I exist to carry out Orochimaru-sama's will, and I'll use any tool that makes that job possible."
Zabuza smirked. "Of course, somebody whose entire purpose in life is to serve another would think that. Let me show you then the power of the future Mizukage!"
Zabuza and Kimimaro rushed towards each other, ready to go all out, and show who's truly the strongest.
…
Much further to the north, in the Land of Sound, Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke and Lee were deep into enemy territory, jumping from one tree to another, until they saw an expanse a few hundred meters in their general direction. Coming out of the forest into the vast green expanse, the four ninja noticed what appeared to be a small town not far from their position.
A town that was rather familiar to half of the group members.
"Hey, Naruto-kun, isn't that...?" Hinata asked.
"Sawa Town? Yeah, I believe so," Naruto replied before Hinata could finish her question.
"You know that place?" Lee asked.
Hinata nodded. "It was our first C-Rank mission. We had to protect that town from bandits. However, turns out said bandits worked for Orochimaru, and soon we found ourselves fighting something far greater than we could deal with."
"Kinda like now, if you think about it," Naruto sourly added.
"However...the town appears to be deserted," Sasuke noted, as he looked around.
"It is. The town was the last remnant of the old Land of the Rice Fields," Hinata continued her explanation. "We were forced to evacuate their villagers and escort them to the Land of Fire before Orochimaru's forces could attack."
"We barely made it out of there in one piece. Even with the Tactical Squad's help, if we took a little longer to reach the border and meet Konoha's reinforcements..." Naruto shuddered upon recalling that memory. "I don't want to imagine what could have happened."
"Yet here we are, diving into enemy territory, with no chances of reinforcements," Lee observed. Albeit he sounded as his usual excited self, as opposed to somebody more prone to worry.
"All of Orochimaru's forces are fighting in Konoha. Honestly, I doubt we'll face that much resistance," Naruto replied.
"Still, it would be wise to be prepared. I'm sure that Orochimaru left somebody to guard your siblings once they're delivered to his lair," Hinata wisely told him.
"Whoever are the poor bastards who were tasked with such job, I'll make them regret accepting it," Naruto darkly replied.
When they reached the town, the group took a couple seconds to take a look at it. The town didn't look any different to Naruto and Hinata than when they were there for the first time, even if some signs of being abandoned for some time were present. The silence of the zone did nothing but contribute to the already eerie atmosphere.
"Hinata," Sasuke called her. "Some of Orochimaru's men could use this place as a base, or at least a place to rest."
Despite the statement tone, Hinata caught the implicit question, and shook her head in negation.
"With the exception of some small animals, the town is completely deserted," the Hyuga heiress replied. "Either that, or Orochimaru's men found a way to fool the Byakugan."
Despite the probabilities of such thing happening, it was still a distressing thought for the young Hyuga, as well as for pretty much her whole clan.
Sasuke's hawk was still flying in circles above what appeared to be a thick forest zone. Of course, Orochimaru's lair would take advantage of that in order to remain hidden. They had thought that maybe Orochimaru could have occupied the capital. Thankfully it wasn't the case, since such city was located much farther.
The return to the forest was a welcomed change, mostly since they could now leap from one branch to another and increase their travel speed significantly. And even if the lush trees covered the skies almost completely, preventing the Konoha ninja from seeing the hawk, they knew in which direction the bird was. Plus only the boys had this problem, as Hinata could still see the bird.
Unfortunately for Hinata, her earliest fears were about to come true. While so far it was impossible for an actual person to become invisible to the Byakugan, it was possible to make seals that would hide certain objects from its gaze –something Jiraiya had already did many years in the past, but kept it a secret–. Such as explosive tags. And unbeknown to them, they entered a zone that was covered in them, with added seals to make them pretty much undetectable.
The zone was also covered in pressure seals connected to the explosives, and the moment Naruto unwittingly stepped on one of them, the group was surrounded, and almost engulfed, by deafening explosions. Naruto and Sasuke, who were heading the group, where launched high into the air in the direction they were heading, while Hinata and Lee were hurled backwards. A mighty tree painfully stopped them.
Even if the hit blurred her vision a bit, Hinata's Byakugan spotted four figures entering the scene. And adult, and three young teens. Four people she had already met once, one of them multiple times in Konoha.
"Well, well, look who's back in our turf," a muffled male voice stated.
"It seems that they didn't learn their lesson the first time," a haughty female voice added.
"Then let's make sure there won't be a 'next time'," another clearer, male voice said.
The Sound Genin Hinata and her team had fought during their first C-Rank mission was before her and Lee. Mizuki was standing behind them, smirking evilly at the two Konoha ninja. Behind them, there was a barrier of rocks and felled trees formed by the explosion, with Naruto and Sasuke at the other side.
"HINATA! LEE!" Naruto yelled.
"I'm okay!" Hinata shouted back, even if in reality the explosion had left her a bit shaken. "Continue with the mission! Save your siblings!"
"We will be okay!" Lee added, sounding as positive as ever.
After a few moments of hesitation, the two male Konoha Chunin decided to continue on their own, leaving Hinata and Lee alone with this new threat.
"So sweet, offering to stay behind so the Jinchuriki can save those brats. So Konoha of you," Mizuki said in a mocking tone. He then slipped into a battle stance as he grabbed the Fuma Shuriken from his back. "Too bad it won't do you any good!"
"Mizuki-sensei?" Lee asked in shock.
The white haired ninja looked at Lee, and raised an eyebrow. "Do I know you? Wait, were you one of my students? Oh well, it doesn't matter."
"So it's true that you defected to Orochimaru's side," Lee continued. "Your flames of youth had to be barely embers to do such a despicable action."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm a traitor and all that, can we skip that part this time? It becomes tiresome after a while," Mizuki flatly replied as he rolled his eyes.
The Sound Genin prepared to attack.
"Hinata, you're the Chunin. What do we do?" Lee asked, looking at the bluenette from the corner of his eye.
It was rather jarring for Hinata to realize that she was in command now, even if they were just two of them. But still, Lee had a point. She was the Chunin, and thus she had to lead them to victory. She ran multiple scenarios through her mind, until she found one with the highest chances of success. Unfortunately, it forced her to make a decision that could haunt her for the rest of her life if things didn't turn out as planned.
"Lee-san, I want you to fight Mizuki. I'll deal with these three," Hinata whispered him.
Lee turned at her incredulous, but ready to comply if necessary. "Are you sure? Mizuki used to be a Chunin back in Konoha, and 'm still a Genin."
"I know you're unsure, but I need you to keep distracted while I deal with the others. I already fought against them before, and know what I have to do to defeat them," Hinata insisted.
Fortunately, Lee nodded. "Very well then, I'll do as you say!"
The green clad ninja dashed towards the group of enemies. Zaku cast his palms forward.
"Decapitating Air Waves!"
The spiky haired Oto Genin shot two powerful streams of pressured air and sound waves through the orifices in his palms at Lee. The Konoha Genin merely leaped above them, gracefully landing behind Mizuki. Before the traitor could turn back, Lee delivered a painful kick to the sides, sending him flying.
"Sensei!" Kin called.
"Kin, watch out!" Dosu called.
The three of them saw Hinata dashing towards them, her palms crackling with electricity. She thrust her palm at Zaku, however, both he and his teammates managed to jump back in time, and Hinata ended up striking the ground with such power it created a crater.
"Whoa!" said Zaku in awe. "If I let that girl hit me..."
"I don't remember her being that strong when we first fought her," Kin lamented.
Their comments fueled Hinata's confidence, who, in an uncharacteristic display, allowed herself to smirk.
"I trained a lot since the first time we fought. I faced enemies way stronger than any of you, helping me to improve in a way I couldn't think it would be possible," Hinata told the trio.
Dosu frowned. Or at least, Hinata thought he did, it was hard to tell with all those bandages. "And you think we spend our time sitting on a couch doing nothing? You'll see now! Underground Sound blast!"
Dosu slammed both palms into the ground, sending sound waves that tore the ground apart, forming large cracks, and shooting small but sharp rocks and pebbles into the air.
"Ow!" Hinata yelped as she tried to dodge all the tiny but painful projectiles coming from below.
"My turn!" Kin stated, now a bit more confident, pulling several senbon on each hand. "Catch these!"
The black haired girl tossed the needles at Hinata, who got ready to deflect them with the Gentle fist. However, while she was busy doing so, Zaku aimed his open palms at the Hyuga Heiress and prepared to attack.
"Decapitating Air Bullets!"
Zaku fired a quick barrage of compressed air projectiles, similar to the Vacuum Palm's vacuum shells, which Hinata was forced to run in order to avoid, since she knew such thing would be impossible to block.
"They're cornering me. Even if I'm at a disadvantage here, I need to attack, not just defend!" Hinata inwardly told herself. She eyed her opponents. "The bandaged boy seems to be the only melee specialist. If I can bypass him, then the other two shouldn't be hard to deal with."
Hinata's attack plans where disturbed when an array of senbon appeared out of nowhere and flied at her. The bluenette yelped and jumped backwards, trying to avoid them. One stabbed into her arm, while another was stopped by her flak jacket.
"Do you like my Echo Needle Attack?" Kin asked. "I created that jutsu myself. It would be very careless of me if I only relied on genjutsu, right?"
Hinata pulled out the senbon from her arm, and quickly healed the wound. "So, like multiplying tools with the shadow clone jutsu, but with a delayed effect to catch the opponent off guard. I need to remember that," Hinata thought.
"I admit it is sort of impressive," Hinata agreed, as she stared defiantly at the three of them. "You three did grow stronger since the last time we fought."
"But I have the feeling you're not admitting defeat, are you?" Dosu guessed, before letting out a chuckle.
Hinata returned Dosu's chuckle with one of her own. "I didn't go this far by giving up. Vacuum Wall Palm!"
Thrusting both hands forward, Hinata projected a massive vacuum shell at the Oto genin, wrecking the ground below as it traveled. Zaku stepped forward, eager to met the attack head on. His mouth formed a smirk of superiority as he raised his hands forward once more.
"You think you impress us? That's nothing!" Zaku scoffed. "Decapitating Air Waves!"
Two streams of pressured air flowed through Zaku's hands once again, successfully slowing the vacuum shell to a halt, pushing back and forth with the Oto ninja's attack. Eventually the energy gathered by the clash reached critical point, and was released in the form of a respectable explosion of chakra and wind, raising clouds of dust that momentarily blinded the trio, forcing them to stand back to back in order to avoid being blindsided.
However, that moment was enough for Hinata to vanish from the trio's sights.
"Where did she go?" Kin asked, nervously looking around.
"She couldn't have gone too far," Dosu calmly guessed.
And indeed, Dosu's guess proved to be correct, since Hinata was much closer to them than what they imagined. Crackling electricity alerted them of a presence behind the three of them, but by that time it was too late.
"Lightning Release: Eight Trigrams, Thirty-two Thunder strikes!" Hinata began a series of lightning-enhanced palm strikes against her opponents. "Two Strikes! Four Strikes! Eight Strikes! Sixteen...!"
"Sonic Boom!"
Dosu slammed his two Melody Gauntlets together, creating a sonic explosion at point blank at Hinata. Zaku and Kin were also caught in the area of effect, but they weren't as harmed.
"Ow..." Zaku groaned, as he grabbed his head, while trying to fight the thankfully brief dizziness. "You could have warn us before doing that."
"We can't let a single opponent, much less a Konoha ninja, best us! So you better stop fooling around and put her in her place. Otherwise, we won't prove Orochimaru-sama of being worthy of his power!"
Hinata had also recovered, in no small part thanks to her healing abilities.
"That attack was sure something. I'm still having trouble finding balance. But that confirmed my suspicions that the bandaged kid is the melee specialist," Hinata thought. "Okay, let's show this guys why I'm a Chunin..."
At the same time, while Hinata was facing the Sound Genin, Lee was fighting their sensei. Just as Hinata had gauged, his abilities were nothing Rock Lee couldn't handle without his weights on. Even if Mizuki's taijutsu, ninjutsu and skill with weapons was that of an average Chunin, Lee's taijutsu was beyond average. And in this word, is better to do one thing extremely well than do many things at a mediocre level.
"Konoha Whirlwind!"
Lee's foot connected with Mizuki's shoulder for the third time in less than two minutes, sending the former teacher flying. What Mizuki thought would be easy picking was being far more challenging than he expected.
"You're pushing my patience brat..." Mizuki growled, as he stood back on his feet for the third time.
Lee, however, remained impassible, much to the former teacher's chagrin. The fact that he only used taijutsu enraged him even more.
"Take this then!" Mizuki quickly formed several hand seals. "Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullets!"
The head of a dragon made of earth and stone emerged from the ground. It opened its jaws, releasing multiple projectiles of compressed earth and dirt. However, much to Mizuki's shock, rather dodging them or using some jutsu to counter them, Lee started to punch and kick them, shattering them in the process.
"This is similar to an exercise Gai-sensei made us do," Lee casually explained. "Albeit he used a machine that shot rubber balls."
Burning in anger, Mizuki dashed at Lee, Fuma Shuriken in hand. "You think you can humiliate me by fighting with nothing but taijutsu? I'll show you!"
Mizuki's Fuma Shuriken was covered in flames the moment the white haired ninja tossed it, turning into a fiery disk of death. Lee's legs prepare to jump above it, but Mizuki wasn't done yet. He did several hand seals.
"Shadow Clone Fire Shuriken Jutsu!"
In an instant, Lee found himself from facing a single disc of fire, to facing dozens of them, flying at different heights. Jumping was not an option. Instead, Lee decided to do something that would have him deemed a madman by his peers, but would have made his sensei unbelievably proud.
Much to Mizuki's shock, Lee rushed towards the flaming shuriken. Displaying an astonishing speed, agility and reflexes, the green clad ninja expertly dodged all of the flaming shuriken that flied close to him. His speed wasn't perfect, and sometimes they grazed his clothes and his skin, but aside from a minor burn, no damage was done.
"H-How...?" Mizuki mumbled, before he was snapped out of his trance by a painful punch to the face, making him lose balance and stumble back. He regained his senses soon after that. "HOW!? WHY!? Why you don't use ninjutsu to fight me!? Are you so arrogant to believe that you can defeat me with taijutsu alone?"
"I'm unable to use ninjutsu nor genjutsu, so taijutsu is the only fighting art I can use," Lee calmly explained. "And even if it's not my intention to sound arrogant, so far I'm not doing that bad against you with taijutsu alone."
Mizuki snarled, before a memory dawned upon him. "Wait, I remember you! You're that freak who wanted to be a ninja despite not being able to use ninjutsu! You're Rock Lee!"
"You remember my name? I'm honestly surprised," Lee stoically replied.
"How could I forget such a failure like you? Somebody that can't use ninjutsu, or at least genjutsu is not meant to be a ninja. But judging by your forehead protector, you somehow managed to pass," Mizuki shook her head in disappointment. "So this is what Konoha became now. You guys give me every day more reasons to make me feel glad I decided to defect. Anyway, once Orochimaru-sama's plans come to fruition, Konoha will stop shaming the ninja world with its existence."
"Somehow, I find that as doubtful as you defeating me," Lee replied.
"You think I can't defeat you?" Mizuki laughed. "Oh, please! I've been only using a fraction of my power, but now," as Mizuki spoke, his body started to change. He grew bigger and more muscular, his skin turned maroon, his hair grew longer, his eyes turned yellow with black sclera, a pair of bone blades grew from the back of his hands, and two additional arms ended in sickle-like blades grew from his back. "THIS is the power of Orochimaru-sama! The power that he bestowed me!"
"And you're proud of a power that you didn't earn, that somebody just handed it to you?" Lee replied, slightly disappointed. "I'm not surprised that you don't believe I could become a ninja with taijutsu alone, if you disregard effort and hard work so easily. Now I will prove that my hard work will trump any borrowed power!"
Mizuki shook his head with a tsk-tsk, and chuckled.
"You're really deluded if you think you can defeat me like this. But I will be more than happy to give you a reality check. Get ready for the worst beating of your life!" Mizuki roared as he charged forward.
…
South of there, back in the grass expanse besides the lake, Zabuza and Kimimaro continued their duel, with neither of them gaining the upper hand over the other. Still, the power boost granted by the cursed seal was notable.
"Drilling Bullets!"
Kimimaro fired ten bony projectiles from each of his fingertips at Zabuza. The swordsman merely blocked them with his sword, ricocheting them into different directions. Then, he made several hand seals with a single hand, as his other hand was gripping the Executioner's Blade.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Another large dragon made of water rose from the nearby lake. It let out a roar before diving at Kimimaro. The Kaguya ninja tried to outrun it, but was too slow and the dragon engulfed him, before it turned into a shapeless torrent that dragged him away.
Or that's what Zabuza thought, since when the water receded, a heaving Kimimaro wasn't that far from his initial position, heaving and spitting some water. He had grew two bone spikes from his palms, and used them to anchor himself to the ground, thus preventing the water from dragging him away and slamming him against a hard surface.
"This time, he didn't even tried to dodge it," Zabuza thought. "While the cursed seal increased his strength as evidenced by his bigger muscles and stronger physical blows, it cut his speed. I need to take advantage of that."
"One handed seals. Not many people are able to do them," Kimimaro praised the swordsman, while keeping a neutral tone.
"Given my fighting style, it is pretty much a need," Zabuza replied, sneering a little. Noticing Kimimaro's slight exhaustion, he added: "You look tired. Why don't you make both our days easier and give up?"
"Never," was his answer. "Especially not since I didn't even use my best moves."
Zabuza chuckled under his mask. "Then go ahead, kid. See if you can impress me."
"Dance of the Clematis: Vine."
Kimimaro then proceeded not to impress as more to revolt Zabuza when the white haired teen pulled his own spinal cord out of his body. Zabuza guessed he re-grew a new one in the process, given that he was still standing.
"As you can see, I'm no stranger to swords either," Kimimaro mentioned, as he swung his extracted spinal cord as if it were a weapon, akin to a mix between a sword and a whip. "Shall we duel?"
Earlier that day, another person challenged Zabuza to a sword duel, and the Demon of the Hidden Mist ended up humiliated. He wouldn't allow such thing to happen a second time in a row. Gripping it tightly, he raised his sword and frowned.
"I'll make sure you regret those words," Zabuza coldly stated.
Both ninja dashed towards each other, meeting in the middle, a loud metallic noise resulting of their weapons clashing. Given that both of them used rather lengthy swords, it was very easy to parry and block the other's strike, and naturally very hard to land a hit on the opponent. At least, not without relying on something other than a sword. Zabuza made a hand seal.
"Water Release: Water Clone Jutsu!"
Four blobs of water jumped out of the lake into the ground, and they took the form and shape of Zabuza, sword included. The clones then rushed to aid their creator.
This new threat forced Kimimaro to disengage Zabuza and face the clones. With a swing of his spinal cord sword, the Oto ninja easily destroyed one of the clones when it reached close combat distance, soaking Kimimaro completely. Undeterred, he proceeded to fight the other three.
"Given that you're relying on ninjutsu, I take that you admit I'm the best swordsman?" Kimimaro asked.
Zabuza, however, wasn't going to fall for such an obvious taunt. "Don't make me laugh. We're ninja, and as such, we use every resource available to win. If you expected me to do otherwise, then you're a bigger fool than I thought. The best swordsman will be the one who walks out of this fight alive, simple as that."
"Very well then," Kimimaro stoically replied, as suddenly multiple long spikes grew from different sides from his body, impaling the clones.
Kimimaro engaged Zabuza once more, but besides his makeshift weapon, he also used his body spikes to attack Zabuza, which would increase or decrease their length and sharpness whenever they were close or far from the former Kirigakure ninja. Such an increase of offensive power forced Zabuza to fight defensively, much to his chagrin.
Then, Kimimaro jumped backwards and made a swinging motion. The gaps between the vertebrae became bigger, increasing the length and the flexibility of the extracted spinal cord, turning it into something closer to a whip. Zabuza instinctively raised his sword to protect himself, and the chord wrapped itself around the sword. Zabuza and Kimimaro started to pull back and forth, until Kimimaro's superior strength won the struggle, and Zabuza's sword was yanked from his fingers, and tossed it into the nearby lake.
"What's a swordsman without a sword?" Kimimaro mockingly asked before he made the same movement, binding Zabuza. "I'll tell you, a corpse."
"SHIT!" Zabuza yelled as he tried to break free. But both the bones and the cartilage holding them together were very strong, and with his arms pinned against his body, he couldn't use all his strength.
"Now, time to finish this," Kimimaro extended his free arm. "Dance of the Clematis: Flower."
Much to Zabuza's horror, a massive drill made of bone formed around Kimimaro's hand. The bone construct appeared to be very hard and sharp. He didn't need to imagine what Kimimaro was planning to do. Kimimaro pulled Zabuza towards him while charging forward.
"NOW DIE!"
In the last second, Kimimaro could see how Zabuza's horrified expression morphed into one of confidence and mockery. Before the giant drill could impale him, Zabuza jumped and landed on top of it. Kimimaro's arm couldn't support so much weight, and dropped on one knee as the additional load pulled him down. Zabuza violently kicked Kimimaro in the face, forcing him to drop the spinal cord sword, and thus releasing Zabuza, who jumped backwards. Kimimaro quickly detached the giant bone drill and picked up the spinal cord sword as he got back on his feet.
"You're strong, kid. Very strong. Against another opponent, even one as skilled and strong as I am, you would have won. But your fate had already been decided," Zabuza claimed.
"What are you talking about? Sure, you avoided the killing blow, but you're no closer to defeating me than you were at the beginning of our fight," Kimimaro defiantly replied as he slipped once again into a fighting stance.
"You think so? Then you really need to check your current state, kid," Zabuza pointed out. "You said that you don't use that transformation against many people, and boy, it shows. It gives you quite the strength boost, but what you gain in physical power you lose it in speed. Something you could have remedied with enough training. And while your overall chakra is also boosted, the seal accelerates its consumption rate. As a result, you're both tired and almost out of chakra."
"You underestimate me," Kimimaro replied, not too happy.
"Am I? Those last attacks you used looked to have a hefty chakra cost. And that's not even counting all the chakra you spent fighting those three brats." Zabuza shook his head. "I'm not as arrogant as to think that you are my equal, even my superior, when it comes to raw power. But you have plenty of glaring weaknesses, and as the fool you are, you let me exploit them all with you none the wiser. That's why I told you no amount of borrowed power could match my skill, intelligence and experience."
"If you're so confident about your chances, why don't you try to beat me then?" Kimimaro asked.
Zabuza smirked under his mask. "It will be a pleasure."
In less than a second, Zabuza was in front of Kimimaro. The Oto ninja tried to raise his makeshift weapon to defend himself, but was too slow, and Zabuza delivered a quick punch to the gut, and another kick to the face that sent him flying into the lake. Zabuza immediately followed him as he made several hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Prison Jutsu!"
Before he could realize what happened, Kimimaro found himself trapped in a sphere of water, deprived of oxygen. He banged the wall of the sphere trying to break free, but it was as hard as steel.
"Your bones might be unbreakable, but I'm one hundred percent sure you'll die if I keep you enough time from breathing," Zabuza stated, his words arriving distorted but still understandable to the trapped Kimimaro, who continued to furiously pound against the water sphere. "The average person can last around four to five minutes deprived of oxygen. But given your pointless attempts to break free, I'll give you three minutes tops. Anyway, just to be sure, I'll keep you here for ten minutes," Zabuza shook his head in disappointment. "Such a waste of power and potential. If I only got my hands on your before that snake did...between you and Haku, I would have my work cut out for."
Kimimaro didn't heed Zabuza's warning, and continued to bang his fists against the water prison. The horrifying realization of his impending demise dawned upon him.
"It's...it's useless. He's right...I'm too tired, and have very little chakra..." Kimimaro thought, before another realization renewed his strengths. "NO! I can't die here! Not against this opponent! I'm Orochimaru-sama's strongest fighter! I can't deprive him of my service! I can't disappoint him!" Kimimaro desperately thought.
Kimimaro prepared for his last, desperate move. Zabuza started to notice that the water prison was becoming more and more unstable.
"What the...? The brat is gathering his chakra for one more attack...this is bad!" Zabuza removed his arm, undoing the water prison, a second before Kimimaro unleashed his remaining power.
A deafening cry rang across the land, scaring nearby animals into hiding, before Kimimaro exploded into a growing mass of shapeless bone spikes. Zabuza moved as fast as his body allowed in order to hide from the chaotic attack, and thankfully was fast enough to keep the distance until it ended.
"Idiot...that almost got me," Zabuza grumbled as he watched the sinking bone structure from the lake's shore. "Anyway, better retrieve my sword and see that those brats don't get themselves killed..."
However, unbeknown to Zabuza, Kimimaro didn't die. As his Bloodline Limit also allowed to merge with the bones he created, he used it as a way to escape the swordsman. Exhausted and with almost no chakra, he had reverted to his original form.
"I won't fail Orochimaru-sama..." he said as he climbed out of the water, gasping for air. "I won't fail..."
…
Back to the forests of the Land of Sound, Hinata continued her disadvantaged fight against the three Oto Genin.
"Decapitating Air Waves!"
Zaku once again shot his twin streams of pressured air at the Hyuga heiress, who dodged them with graceful agility, all while she pulled a few shuriken and tossed them at the spiky haired Genin. Dosu quickly intercepted the steel stars and swatted them away with his melody gauntlets.
Meanwhile, Kin pulled a couple kunai and tried to attack Hinata from behind, but the bluenette moved aside just in the nick of time, and delivered a painful palm strike to the black haired girl's abdomen.
"The hell? How did she know I was behind her?" Kin indignantly asked.
"She's an Hyuga. Her eye power allows her to see in every direction around her at the same time," Dosu explained. "Ambushes won't work on her."
"I've seen you've done your homework," Hinata mentioned.
"Then we will attack her from different sides! Even if she can see our attacks coming, she won't be able to stop all of them!" Zaku stated.
Dosu and Kin nodded, and the three Genin spread out to surround Hinata as they prepared to attack. Hinata made several hand seals and covered her body in electricity.
"Resonating Echo Drill!"
"Decapitating Airwaves!"
"Shadow Clone Senbon Jutsu!"
Hinata started to spin as destructive sound waves, pressured air streams and multiple steel needles flied at her.
"Lightning Release: Heavenly Thunderstorm!"
The blue haired Hyuga turned into a tornado of lightning that not only repelled the three attacks aimed at her, but it blasted her three attackers with lightning discharges, pushing them backwards. When Hinata stopped spinning, there was a large crater around her.
"What...what was that?" Dosu asked, incredulous, as he tried to stand back. Of the trio, he was the only one still conscious.
"That was my power. The power I developed after the first time we fought, with my hard work and determination," Hinata replied.
"You...Orochimaru-sama promised us power, but you...how can somebody become so strong so fast?..." Dosu stammered.
"Orochimaru can only promise you death," Hinata replied. "Don't you see? I don't know what your history is or what events led you to serve him, but you don't matter to him, except as disposable pawns and guinea pigs."
"No...that...can't be true..." Dosu unsure replied as Hinata walked towards him.
"If it was true, I alone couldn't have defeated you," Hinata said, before delivering a chopping strike to the bandaged ninja's neck, knocking him out cold.
…
At the same time Hinata fought the Sound Genin, Lee was fighting their master.
"Fire Release: Cursed Flame Destruction!"
Mizuki breathed a wave of blue fire at Lee, who managed to dodge it at a break-necking speed. The green clad Genin quickly reached hand to hand distance, and he engaged his former teacher in a rather short lived martial arts duel, which ended up with Mizuki on the ground once again.
"That cursed seal give you a boost. But it's still not enough to defeat me," Lee stated.
"How...why are you so strong? How can a kid that can't use ninjutsu be that powerful?" Mizuki asked in disbelief.
"Easy. Hard work," was Lee's answer.
"Hard work!? Do you expect me to me believe you got that power on hard work alone!? Do you think I'm stupid?" Mizuki spitefully growled.
Lee merely shrugged. "It's not surprising that you find my claims unbelievable, given your eagerness to take shortcuts to power, such as that cursed seal," Lee pointed out. "Most people tend to underestimate how long can you go if you work hard and push yourself to your limits on a regular basis."
"LIES! Nobody can become so strong by simply trying hard!" Mizuki spat back as he charged at Lee. "If it was that easy, every ninja would be as strong as Orochimaru-sama!"
Lee effortlessly dodged the charge and kicked him in the back.
"Who said it was easy?" Lee retorted. "From an outsider's perspective, it might look like it. But trust me, it's not. You have no idea what I had to do to become what I am today. How much I had to sweat, to bleed, to cry. But I don't regret any of that, because the pay off speaks for itself."
"Nonsense! People are either born strong or weak, and the latter can't change their status by themselves!" Mizuki protested as he threw a punch. "Especially if you're held back by others, like Konoha did with me!"
"Oh, I see it now," Lee said in realization, as he easily blocked the punch. "You were weak, but instead of trying to improve yourself with hard work, you shifted the blame to Konoha, and tried everything you could to gain power. Everything except tackling the actual problem. That's why you will never defeat me, no matter how much of a failure you think I am."
"SHUT UP!"
Once again, Mizuki lunged at Lee and tried to impale him with the sickles of his additional arms. Lee ducked in time and kicked Mizuki in the face while crouching, sending him up into the air.
"Gate of Opening: Open!"
Surrounded by a green aura, Lee shot upwards, catching the still flying Mizuki from behind, before both of them started to spin as Lee pile-drove Mizuki into the ground.
"FRONT LOTUS!"
Mizuki hit the ground headfirst with a loud crash, while Lee managed to jump out in the nick of time and land safely on his feet. While not lethal, the attack was strong enough to knock Mizuki out cold, who also reverted to his original form.
"Lee-kun?" Hinata's voice asked.
Lee turned around and saw Hinata walking towards him. Behind her, he could see the unconscious Sound Genin tied to a tree.
"Ah, Hinata-san, I see you defeated your opponents as well!" Lee pointed out. "And you were right, my flames of youth were more than enough to defeat our former teacher! I will never doubt your decisions ever again!"
Hinata smiled at him. "It's okay to doubt sometimes, Lee," she then grew serious again. "We should try to catch Naruto-kun. But we can't leave these people here unsupervised."
"I can see that you're eager to reunite and help Naruto-kun," Lee observed. "Go then! I'll stay here and watch over the prisoners!"
Hinata smiled once more, nodded, and headed towards Orochimaru's lair. She hoped she could find it on her own.
"Hold on, Naruto-kun, I'll be with you shortly!" Hinata thought.
…
While Zabuza fought against Kimimaro and Hinata and Lee fought against Mizuki and the Sound Genin, Naruto and Sasuke, the last two remaining members of the original rescue force, approached the entrance to Orochimaru's main base.
Sasuke's hawk had told them that it was located between two large oaks. It even showed them the actual spot. But all that they could see were a bunch of large rocks, with some bushes growing between them. Both of them reached the conclusion that there was a powerful genjutsu covering the entrance.
"Sharingan!"
Sasuke's Bloodline Limit flared to life, and with his enhanced vision, the youngest Uchiha could see a distortion between the large oaks. He made a hand seal, and released a small pulse of chakra in every direction. The effect was instant, and the illusion was dispelled, revealing the entrance to Orochimaru's lair: a simple set of stone stairs that headed underground.
"There it is," Sasuke pointed out.
"Should I send a clone to check if there are traps?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded, and Naruto made his most used hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A single clone popped into existence and went downstairs. After a few very tense minutes, the clone dispelled himself, sending his memories back to Naruto.
"No traps. It's safe to go down," Naruto informed Sasuke.
The two of them followed the same path the clone had walked before. However, much to their horror, the moment they reached the end of the flight of stairs, large stone slabs raised from the other end of the stairs, blocking the entrance completely, darkening the instance.
"The hell? How did the clone didn't spring that trap?" Naruto protested.
"It isn't obvious? They're watching us," Sasuke replied. "They knew we send a clone to scout, and when the real us entered, they activated the closing mechanism manually."
"Then there's no point in sending more clones to scout," Naruto concluded. "Come on, let's see if we can find my siblings. I'm sure we can force our way out of this underground lair."
"With the invasion going on, there should barely be any ninja manning this hideout, so I don't think we'll find much of a resistance," Sasuke observed. He was confident that both his and Naruto's strength would be enough to face any potential foe there.
How wrong he was.
They traversed a long but narrow hallway with multiple doors leading to what appeared to be rooms. All the rooms were inspected in hopes of finding the missing children, but to no avail. They both deduced that Orochimaru's grunts lived there. However, besides a bed and a small, empty wardrobe, there was nothing, as if they were abandoned.
After fruitlessly searching the last room, the two young Chunin exited the hallway, and entered a massive chamber illuminated by a multitude of torches. Massive stone statues of snakes oversaw the area. There were a few doors that lead into deeper parts of the hideout.
"Alright, this place is too big for just two people to search, so I better create an army of-" Naruto was about to suggest before being interrupted.
"So, you finally arrived," a voice said out of nowhere. Both Konoha ninja immediately tensed up and slipped into a combat stance. "Congratulations you two. I'm sure the path wasn't easy, was it?"
Before any of them could have a chance to ask who was there, a spiraling vortex appeared in the middle of the chamber, and a masked man wearing the Akatsuki cloak came out of it.
"However, your trip ends here," the Akatsuki menacingly said.
It took Naruto and Sasuke less than a second to know who that man was. They both knew that, according to official reports, Tsunade had fought against a hooded Akatsuki that wore an orange mask with a single eye hole on it. Said man claimed that he was after the Nine Tails, that he was responsible for the attack thirteen years ago that resulted in many deaths, Minato and Kushina among them, and freely admitted manipulating the Uchiha Clan into pulling the coup d'état, resulting in the deaths of most of Sasuke's family.
His name was Tobi. Yes, this man was responsible for two of the greatest calamities that ever happened to Konoha, which resulted in the loss of some of their closest relatives, parents included.
"YOU!" Sasuke roared as he dashed forward, unsheathing his katana. "YOU'RE DEAD!"
"Sasuke, wait!" Naruto shouted as he followed him.
Sasuke tried to stab Tobi, but the masked Akatsuki unsheathed his own sword as well and expertly deflected Sasuke's stab before kicking the Uchiha in the chest, knocking him on his back. Naruto suddenly appeared behind Tobi, ready to slash his back with his chakra blade, but Tobi swiftly sidestepped, avoiding the slash, before kicking the wide open Naruto in the face.
"Ugh..." Naruto groaned as he stood up. He rubbed his chin in pain. "Sasuke, remember that this man can turn intangible! According to mom, one of us should strike him while he's attacking the other!"
Sasuke didn't reply. He merely stood up, and shot Tobi a murderous glare.
Tobi chuckled, visibly amused. "Don't worry kids. You two are so below my level that I'm not going to resort to that."
This made the already angry Sasuke to be consumed by rage. He quickly made several hand seals as he tightly gripped his katana with both hands.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Blade!"
Sasuke's blade crackled with electricity, and once again charged madly at Tobi. Tobi was ready to counter that attack when the youngest Uchiha vanished seconds before he could reach close quarter combat.
"Predictable," Tobi stated as he quickly turned around and violently punched Sasuke in the face, sending him flying backwards, dropping his sword into the floor.
"Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
In a few seconds, Tobi saw an army of green and orange clad blonds all leaping at him, Rasengan in hand.
"Impressive," Tobi flatly admitted as he started to make hand seals. "But insufficient. Wood Release: Great Spear Tree!"
The floor tiles broke apart as multiple sharp roots emerged from the ground and shoot in every direction, impaling and destroying most Naruto clones. He then started to walk through the vines and fighting the clones one by one until only the original remained. Naruto, however, rather than fight him, leaped above him and landed next to Sasuke, who just picked up his sword after getting back on his feet.
"He's too strong and skilled," Naruto observed. "I'd say he's as powerful as any of our Jonin-sensei."
"As much as I hate to admit it, I agree," Sasuke grumbled. "We need to think of a strategy, and fast."
"How about if we stall the fight until the others arrive?" Naruto suggested.
"We can't depend on others. We have to assume that we're alone on this," Sasuke countered.
"But we can't-" Naruto protested, before being interrupted once again.
"I'll save you the trouble of trying to think a way to defeat me. I'm not going to fight you," Tobi declared, as he sheathed his weapon. "I thought that it would be fun to toy with you first, but this is too easy. Now Naruto, be a good kid, and come with me."
"You must be crazy to think I'm going to surrender to Akatsuki, especially after what you've done. You give me back my siblings!" Naruto shouted.
Tobi let out a heavy sigh. "I didn't want to use this on you, but you leave me no choice," he sourly said. Then, Tobi's mood suddenly shifted, and in a much happier tone, he added: "Oh, who am I kidding, I was dying to use this! Kotoamatsukami!"
Naruto felt as if somebody smashed his head with a hammer from the inside, and stumbled back. Sasuke had to hold Naruto to make sure he didn't fall.
"Naruto, are you alright?" the Uchiha asked.
"Yes...I think?" Naruto groggily replied.
"Well Naruto, are coming, or not?" Tobi asked.
"Y-Yes," Naruto replied, unsure. "Yes, I'm coming with you!" he added, now sounding more determined.
Sasuke watched in shock what was happening. What kind of jutsu did the masked man use on Naruto to make him so suggestible? He could wonder on that later. Now, he needed to stop the blond from doing something unbelievably stupid.
"Naruto! What the hell are you doing!?" Sasuke shouted as he grabbed Naruto's arm.
"Don't you see? I'm going with Tobi-sama!" Naruto answered as he swiped Sasuke's hand. "Akatsuki needs the Nine Tails in order to make this place a better world, and thus it is my duty to hand it to them."
"WHAT!?" Sasuke asked, his shock growing with each second. "Don't you see? That Akatsuki poisoned your mind! Do you hear what you're saying?"
"I am. And all what Tobi-sama did was opening my eyes. This world is a mess, Sasuke, and Akatsuki have the way to change it for the better. Now please, let me go," Naruto calmly pleaded.
"What about your siblings? Did you forget about them already?" Sasuke indignantly asked.
The mention of Hagane and Kaida seemed to bring some lucidity back to the blond, but it was brief.
"They will be fine. I know they won't suffer any harm here," Naruto said with a shrug as he continued walking towards Tobi.
Sasuke, however, grabbed Naruto by the arm once again. "If you can't be reasoned with, then I'll knock you out and drag you back to the village unconscious. Like hell I'm going to let you leave with that man."
"I already told you to take your hands off of me, you idiot!" Naruto lashed out as he tried to punch Sasuke.
"Enough," Tobi calmly, but firmly, stated as he walked forward. "Sasuke, why don't you come with us? You have a lot of potential. Akatsuki could use somebody as strong as you, and under our guidance, you could become a powerful ninja."
"Join you!? After what you did to my clan!?" Sasuke roared, heaving with anger.
"Yes. Don't you see, Sasuke? This world is nothing but chaos and suffering. All Akatsuki wants is to create a world of order. A world where nobody will lose a loved one in nonsensical wars and power plays. A world where the friends you have today won't be enemies you will fight tomorrow. A world of peace and justice. Naruto can see that. Why can't you?"
"Maybe because unlike Naruto, I'm not under mind control," Sasuke spat back.
Mind control.
As soon as those two words let out his lips, Sasuke's brain started to make the connection. Shisui was able to mind control people. Shisui lost one of his eyes the day before the insurrection. Shisui claimed Danzo did it, but the eye never appeared.
Tobi was in Konoha the day of the insurrection.
"In that case, let me show you how hopeless this world is," Tobi looked at Naruto. "Naruto, kill him."
"…As you wish," Naruto flatly replied, grabbing a handful of kunai and tossing them at Sasuke.
"Maybe watching you two fight will be a better entertainment than fighting you myself," Tobi stated to no one in particular, before jumping into one of the statues' head in order to get a better view of the fight.
The Uchiha barely had time to deflect the incoming blades as he jumped back in order to put some distance.
"Alright, it seems I'll have to knock you unconscious then," Sasuke thought, as his hands flied through hand seals. "Though I have to try to break the mind control."
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke breathed a huge fireball at Naruto, who pulled out a kunai with a blue paper seal and tossed it. Kunai and fireball met midway, and the seal attached to the kunai burst in a watery explosion, putting the Uchiha's attack out, creating a wall of steam.
Coming from the steam, Naruto dashed at Sasuke, his trusty chakra blade in hand, ready to cut his former friend open. Sasuke was quick to raise his own katana, and after infusing it with his own chakra, used it to block the attack. Before Naruto had any time to react, Sasuke delivered a painful kick to Naruto's gut, which pushed him a couple meters backwards.
"Sasuke," Naruto spoke, looking at him with pleading eyes. "It doesn't have to be like this."
Sasuke's eyes flared with anger. "Shut up. You have no idea what you're talking about!" the Uchiha angrily protested.
"I do. I admit that I used to be quite dense back then, but now...now I know the truth. Now I see everything the way it is, and I know the way to fix it. If you only let me..." Naruto continued.
"Let you? LET YOU!?" Sasuke roared. "To let you help the man responsible for the death of my clan!?"
"That's why you need to help me, Sasuke! To make sure that such a tragedy won't happen again!" Naruto protested. "I can't be Hokage and let something like that happen again!"
"You won't be Hokage if you follow your actual path. Only death awaits you," Sasuke grimly reminded him.
"Perhaps. But a Hokage should be willing to die for the greater good," Naruto adopted a fighting stance. "But my death won't come today, Sasuke, nor it will come by your hand."
"We'll see about that," Sasuke replied as he adopted a fighting stance as well.
"We already fought once, I proved to be stronger than you. Even that jutsu with two elements wasn't enough to defeat me. You have no chance of winning against me," Naruto stated, hoping that maybe he could make Sasuke to stand down, but deep down he knew the Uchiha was as stubborn as himself.
"Things change. That jutsu was incomplete, and it's not the case anymore. And this isn't a mere fight for a promotion. There's too much at a stake for me to hold back, even if it ends in your death," Sasuke replied.
Naruto chuckled. "So, you are willing to kill me. It is true what they say about you Uchiha. You'd kill your friends without remorse."
"Do not dare to insult my clan!" Sasuke roared as he charged against Naruto.
Naruto smirked, as he prepared for Sasuke's onslaught. Even if the situation was dire, he was going to enjoy the fight.
Author's Note: So there you have. The reason that Naruto and Sasuke fought. I hope that the chain of events that lead to this moment made sense. Also, reviewer Mr. Spinner guessed that Kotoatsukami would play a role, but he thought that it would be Sasuke the one controlled instead of Naruto.
Besides the attention grabbing last part, I hope you liked both the Zabuza vs Kimimaro, Hinata vs Sound Genin and Lee vs Mizuki. The latter is pretty important to me at least given the theme. In canon, Lee always embodied the theme of hard work, but said theme was never properly executed because, even if Lee became really strong, he never won any important fight and always lost against people who were naturally giften. It was even more exacerbated as Naruto and Sasuke kept getting power ups, each one more ridiculous than the one before. So unlike canon, Lee's hard work allowed him to beat somebody who simply had power handed to him.
And yeah, before you ask, both Kimimaro, Mizuki and the Sound Genin are alive. And while Kimimaro will crawl back to his master, the other four will spend the next days on a cell under Konoha.
Now you guys really don't want to miss chapter 40. Trust me, it's going to be mind blowing. And not just because the ensuing fight between Naruto and Sasuke but...well, let's say that there's going to be a plot development that none of you will see coming, even if I did leave a few hints already ;)
Once again, don't forget to read and review "A Fool's Dedication" by FireSharingan359!
Also, don't forget to leave a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!