Hey, look. The rest of it finally came to me. Because, squee! Hot Damn! I finally got to see the Kitsune vs. Tanuki battle animated! Yeah, baby!!
However…damn this chapter is long. And rather clichéd in parts too I'm ashamed to admit. Oh, and vague. Very vague in parts. I can't write fight scenes to save my life, remember? And I apologize if it seems like this was written in two different styles. It's because I had started this and then stopped and then finished it later on. I hope it's not too terribly distracting.
Definitely only one chapter left after this. Perhaps an epilog. Not exactly sure, but anyways, onward!!
**********
Tsunade was not happy upon hearing the latest news.
Over folded hands, she surveyed the young men gathered in her office. Nara Shikamaru, Hyuuga Neji, Akimichi Chouji, and Inuzuka Kiba. It was like deja vu all over again minus one.
"Hail, hail, the gang's all here." Muttered Kiba as he viewed the others.
Tsunade leaned back in her chair with a sigh. She could understand the brat's reasoning behind all this, but she really was going to beat the hell out of him once she got her hands on him. "Gentlemen, thank you for coming. I summoned you because a situation has come up. One that, given your past history together, I believe you are the best suited to deal with. Nara-kun, if you would, please."
Shikamaru stepped forward and looked into the faces of his friends and soon to once again be teammates. "We all know Naruto's back. And The Sound have been feeling us out lately with Uchiha Sasuke as their number one weapon. So if we put two and two together from that, we get?"
The other three responded in perfect unison. "Property Damage."
"Exactly."
Tsunade shook her head. Sad, yet true. Eternal rivalry unfortunately also meant property insurance values in Konoha were going to skyrocket. She really was going to smack that boy upside the head when she found him.
Chouji made a vague noise of confusion. "What about that other rumor I heard? You know, the one about him not coming back alone. The village gossips are all abuzz about the evil incarnate with blonde pigtails running around."
"Bah. Those nosey biddies have no clue what they're talking about." Kiba snorted. "Hinata patched up the chibi after that incident outside the Academy and she says she's never seen a sweeter little girl. Never met the kid, but I'm sure as hell not about to take village gossip over my own wife's first hand account."
Neji nodded his agreement.
Shikamaru glanced at Chouji. "You know how gossips are. Particularly when things involve an Uzumaki. Trust me, she's a good kid. Shinosuke wouldn't be so attached otherwise." He frowned, looking slightly distant for a moment. "Which brings me to the issue at hand. Uchiha kidnapped Kizuko-chan, hurting my son in the process, don't even get me started on how Ino's acting because of that. Anyway, Daddy foxed out after hearing the new and went tearing after her, Gaara of the Desert hot on his heels."
They all went silent for a moment after that. Naruto 'foxed out', as they called it, was a truly awesome and terrible sight and for the briefest moments they might have felt a small bit of pity for Sasuke. Well…maybe. Shikamaru still wasn't decided on that front after seeing his son in a hospital bed.
"So we go after him." Chouji concluded. Tsunade nodded.
"I'd go with you myself, however you understand the position I'm in." she said softly "Just bring them all back, Uchiha Sasuke too if you can."
Neji, however, was frowning. His brows furrowed in confusion. "One thing I don't understand. Kidnapping doesn't seem Uchiha's style. Maybe it's all the time spent with The Sound, but…"
"Sasuke seemed to decide to spawn as well. Kidnapping may not be his style but it does seem to be his daughter's." Shikamaru drawled.
"So…we've got to deal with a foxed out Naruto, that creepy sand guy, and two Uchiha's now?" said Kiba, looking rather serious.
Shikamaru nodded grimly. "And don't forget the mini Uzumaki."
Kiba then bust out into a grin. "So, what are we waiting for?"
"If I may make one suggestion." Tsunade spoke up and the others turned to her respectfully. "Take a medical nin with you. Someone is inevitably going to be injured, be it yourselves or that blockhead you're going after, and a medical nin in the group could make all the difference. As I said, I would go myself but I can't. However, I can suggest a very skilled medical nin." She finished with a proud grin aimed towards Kiba and Neji, who grinned just as proudly in return.
"Hinata-sama is not on duty today, right, Kiba?"
Kiba smirked. "Nope. In fact once we tell her that A) Naruto is involved and that B) a child is in trouble, I doubt we'd be able to stop her from coming. We can pick her up at the house on our way out of the village."
"Well then. Good luck to you all." Tsunade said, dismissing them.
And so they went, following the trail of mass property damage.
~~~~~~~~~~
You know…from up high they looked like ants. Tiny little Sound ants getting squished by a giant froggy. He nearly giggled from his seat on the back of Gama Bunta. Hmm…must be reaching that shocked, detached state. Every thing seemed kinda funny, even though it wasn't.
The silly sound ninjas that kept attacking him seemed sort of funny, even though they mostly met their ends burned alive by chakra or with pretty red chunks spread to the wind by a Rasengan. But it wasn't.
The heady feel of Kyuubi's chakra rushing through him and her clawing and banging away at the tightly sealed bars of her cage seemed sort of funny, even though it meant he was getting a migraine from having to control her and himself. But it wasn't.
Most of all, the fact that they really and truly thought they could hide his kit from him was drop dead rolling on the floor laughing my ass off funny. He'd gone through Hell and severe chakra depletion just so she could be born and they thought they could take her from him and hide her from his senses? That they could stop him from getting back his own flesh and blood and chakra? Okay, that was funny. So he laughed. He laughed long and loud.
He would have kept on laughing but a fist decided to lodge itself in his cheek.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?"
"You were getting hysterical."
"What? I'm not a woman. I wasn't getting hysterical."
The redhead gave him a look. The blonde sighed and stood, surveying the surroundings. It wasn't a pretty picture. Corpses and destroyed buildings surrounded him. Looking at the corpses, he felt rather guilty all of the sudden. And fortunately, Gaara knew that look.
"They stole her. They hurt Shikamaru's child when he tried to protect her, and they put wards on her and stole her away from us."
Yup. That did the trick. No more guilt.
"Oi. Are you two having a tea party up there or what?" A loud voice boomed from beneath them, sending vibrations up through their bodies.
Naruto hopped down from the massive toad's back and grinned up at him. "Nah, I think we finished off the tea. Thanks, Boss. I owe you one."
"Hell, Kid. I was beginning to wonder if you were even still alive I hadn't heard from you in so long. Suppose you're still gonna be around to make trouble for us for awhile." With that, Gama Bunta disappeared in a puff of smoke to where ever it was summons went when they weren't summoned.
Gaara stood by his side as they looked at the entrance into the main building. It was dark, and there were faint voices inside. In there. That's where his kitling was. He could feel it. He slammed one fist into the palm of his other hand, cracking his knuckles. "Let's go."
~~~~~~~~~~~
They made their way through the long dark corridors of the base, like crawling through the belly of a large overgrown snake. Every now and again a foolish Sound jounin or chuunin would attempt to attack the two young men with blood splattered clothes and vicious grins, who glowed so brightly with not quite human chakra in this dark place. The bodies usually made a sort of hollow thud as they disappeared into the darkness of the corridor.
Instinctively, the blonde knew which ways to turn within the twisting labyrinth. Whether to go right or left, to turn here or continue on straight, it was all second thought to him. Kyuubi's greater sense of smell and the feel of chakra coming dimly through the passage ways led him towards the main audience chamber and his kitling as easily as throwing a kunai. Gaara was beside him, a silent shadow, and Naruto could tell that the redhead was just as eager for the sight of Kizuko's small body and the blood of her captors as he was. After all, she had stopped being just his a long time ago.
He led them to a set of double doors and they paused outside a moment. Their eyes met and held, and Naruto reached out, tangling his fingers with Gaara's pale ones.
"The snake's in there, Sasuke and that damned daughter of his probably too. I've seen the Snake fight before and even the Ero-senin and Bachan had a hard time taking him on. We're going to get her back, but don't get dead in the process. I've kinda gotten use to having you around."
The redhead squeezed his hand. "Same to you."
A deep breath, a push, and the doors opened.
~~~~~~~~~~
Kaede and Kabuto returned moments before, and the medical nin was now taking a great deal of interest in poking at the little kitsune, fascinated by the different sorts of chakra and the uniqueness of the specimen. At least until the little one tried to bit him. That had earned her a fond smile and the shallow slide of a kunai against her throat in warning. She had whimpered after that, but held very still.
"It's quite amazing," he said, turning to Orochimaru-sama and adjusting the glasses on the bridge of his nose. "It's not that the demon is sealed within her, so much as she is part demon herself. She has the chakra of both the Kyuubi and Naruto-kun, but she appears to blend the two together to form a unique chakra that is all her own. That's what keeps her alive and growning as opposed to a clone that just relies on its creator's chakra."
Orochimaru 'hmmm'ed and looked at Kizuko speculatively before fixing his eyes on the large set of double doors at the end of the room.
Sasuke wasn't exactly sure how he had expected Naruto to make his entrance but it certainly wasn't like this. An explosion, perhaps. A puff of smoke and a good thousand kagebunshin clones swarming the room, yes. A scream of anger and a thoughtless assault, most definitely. However, the one thing he had never expected was a cool pushing open of the doors to the main room and the calm stride at which both demon vessels had entered before pausing a little less than midway from the end of the room where Orochimaru stood, looking rather bemused by this all.
"I see the Nine Tails has learned patience over the years."
"The Nine Tails wants his daughter back and is then going to send you to which ever hell you prefer."
Orochimaru shook his head, sadly. "Young people these days, no respect for their elders whatsoever." Yellow slitted eyes drifted over to Gaara. "I remember you. The young Sand nin that everyone feared, correct? Hmm…well, this is interesting. I suppose even demons have to stick together sometimes. I don't suppose I could interest you in a change of sides? Free range to kill and mangle as much as you please. Plus a good deal of power once I am rid of the Leaf. Just get rid of the Kyuubi for me."
Gaara looked rather bored all things considered. "Thanks, but I've got him trained how I like, and I doubt you're as good in bed as he is. I'll have to decline."
Naruto blushed bright red at this. Sasuke was defiantly scarred by mental images he could have done without, and Kizuko was a bit puzzled by that but it was okay because Papa and Gaara were here now and the mean snake man was going to get his butt kicked.
Orochimaru shrugged elegantly. "I figured as much. Not that it really matters anyway. Kabuto, Sasuke-kun."
The two moved so that they were between their master and the two demons.
"Papa!" Kizuko started to run towards her parents, but Kaede appeared in front of her, sharingan eyes glowing.
"Don't move." The older girl hissed. "Or the only way you get to see Papa is dead."
Kizuko looked up, her bottom lip protruding. "You're mean."
Kaede smiled. "No. I'm an Uchiha."
~~~~~~~~~~
Gaara's eyes flickered from the blonde beside him, to the two in front of him, to Kizuko and the Uchiha brat over on right. Shukaku growled within his mind, and he could feel the blood lust welling up. He didn't particularly want his existence to disappear, but without Naruto and Kizuko around there wouldn't be much to exist for. They were his important people. It was worth risking it for them.
"Naruto," he said quietly. "I'm tired. But don't let me sleep too long, okay?"
The now red eyes went impossibly wide. "You don't mean…"
Gaara turned and gave a brief smile. A rare, true smile. "I'll take care of these two. You get Kizuko."
Naruto nodded slowly and took a step backwards. Gaara turned to his opponents and smirked. Sasuke's eyes widened as he realized what was coming.
"You're not…"
The redhead continued smirking. "You're a bastard and I want this over quickly. Consider it a privilege I'm using this. Tanuki Neiri no Jutsu!"
And with that, Gaara fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~
Naruto ran over to the children. Nearly there, he felt a sharp pain. Looking down seemed to show that somehow he had managed to acquire a shoto through the right shoulder. Well…ow. Turning he saw Orochimaru smiling happily at him, sheath in hand.
"Papa!"
His little girl was crying and attempting to reach him, but the older girl was holding her back, her own face flush with fear as she watched her father battle the sand demon. And the Snake, damn him, was internally laughing at them all. Gritting his teeth in pain, the blonde grabbed the blade of the sword and pushed it out of his shoulder until there was enough out that he could reach behind and pull the rest free. He placed a hand over the wound and felt Kyuubi's chakra wrap around him, concentrating on the opening. The feel of steam through his fingers alerted and he glared at Orochimaru as the wound healed itself almost immediately.
"Papa…" Kizuko whimpered again.
This time he reached out for her, but for all his demon speed, the Snake was faster and got to her first. Orochimaru pulled the little girl to him, her back against his legs, long razor like nails poised under her chin and across her neck ready to jerk quickly and dribble the little one's life blood down the front of the orange and blue jacket she wore. Naruto growled and grabbed the Uchiha girl in response, his own claw like hands around her throat. The two men and girls faced each other down as Shukaku react havoc in the background, causing the roof to cave in and debris to scatter and fly.
"Let Kizuko go. Or else the Uchiha brat dies." The blonde growled, his voice rough with the power of the demon fox.
"Orochimaru-sama…" Kaede whispered within his grasp.
"Oh, by all means, kill the girl. She doesn't mean anything to me, and we only tolerate her because she can be useful on occasion." Orochimaru didn't so much as twitch and kept Kizuko held tightly against him.
Kaede's eyes faded to their normal green, going wide and then back to normal size. She really couldn't expect otherwise from Orochimaru-sama. And if she died, well, at least it would be in service to him, which perhaps would make Otou-sama happy. She tried to glance back to where her father was fighting the sand demon but found she couldn't move her head at all.
"Kaede!"
~~~~~~~~~~
This, Sasuke decided, was a definite pain in the ass. He was at level two of his seal and the demon was still wiping the floor with them. The just needed to get close enough to wake up the medium. Well, it sounded easy in theory. Of course last time it had taken the blonde idiot and a giant toad to do it, but damnit all he was Uchiha Sasuke. Not the punk ass kid he'd been back then. He'd grown since then. He could do this.
"Kabuto-san, we need to wake up the redhead."
"Easier said than done, Sasuke-kun."
"I'll distract him, you get up there. A punched worked last time, it should work again."
Chidori after Chidori after Chidori. One would think it should have had some effect. Well, it did seem to have the effect of annoying the tanuki but that's not exactly what he'd been going for. He quickly dodged an air ball of chakra. Damnit if he could only…
A brief flicker out of the corner of his eye and he turned towards the other side of the room. Orochimaru-sama had the little Uzumaki and …and Naruto had his daughter by then neck so tightly that blood was running down her throat in shallow little rivulets.
"Oh, by all means, kill the girl. She doesn't mean anything to me, and we only tolerate her because she can be useful on occasion." He heard Orochimaru-sama say and his heart froze. Because he knew Naruto would do it. Naruto was a father trying to get back his only daughter, and because of that he do anything. Sasuke knew because he was a father himself. And he'd do anything to get his daughter, his last link to the light, out of danger. Shukaku forgotten, he raced towards the right of the room.
"Kaede!"
He tackled Naruto, wrenching Kaede from his grasp. Gripping the blonde by the front of his vest, he delievered a Chidori to the stomach. A killing blow level, at point blank range Chidori to the stomach. The blonde's red eyes went wide and he slid to the floor, not moving. To his left Shukaku roared, and in front of him the little blonde wailed at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her cheeks. But his concern wasn't for them, his concern was for the raven haired girl with green eyes staring up at him from the floor.
"O..Otou-sama…" her voice was harsh from the abuse her throat had taken.
Sasuke knelt examining the marks on her throat, when he heard Orochimaru-sama sigh.
"Really, Sasuke-kun? Sentimentality? Compassion? The love for family? I thought I had forced that out of you when I killed your wife and son."
Kaede froze, her eyes glued to her father's as the comment sunk in. "Wha…What? Orochimaru-sama…Otou-sama, he's lying. Isn't he? Otou-sama!"
Sasuke couldn't bring himself to look into those trusting green eyes, and turned his head to the side. But Kaede gripped his wrists in her small hands.
"Otou-sama! Please! It's got to be a lie! Okaa-san and Nobutada were killed by Konoha Hunter nin, right? Otou-sama!"
But he still wouldn't meet her eyes.
"…You knew. You knew killed them. Why didn't you tell me?!" She scooted back away from him, her eyes wide and tears trickling down her cheeks. Oh yes, far too much like her mother.
"Kaede…I…"
Orochimaru sighed. "Sasuke-kun, as touching as this is, I really did have high hopes for you. But, with that brat around you'll never be able to truly give up your humanity. But if I kill her then I complete drive you away from me. I suppose the only thing left I can do is kill you both."
He looked at Kaede as he said this, his mouth opening to an abnormal size. Suddenly a snake shot forth, within its mouth a katana. Kaede's brain told her that moving would be a good thing, but she couldn't get her body to listen. I'm going to die…came the surprisingly calm thought. Okaa-san…
But there was a dark blur in front of her which was then pierced by a flash of silver through the middle. She then realized in a moment of utter horror what the dark blur was.
"Otou-sama!"
The slender girl caught her father's body as best she could, laying him on the ground. She looked down, desperately trying to remember any first aid she could think of but her mind was a field of blank static. The katana had gone straight into his chest, right through the heart, as it had been meant for her. Blood trickled down the side of Sasuke's mouth as he gave a liquid sounding cough. The seal receded and his eyes and body returned to their normal state.
This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening…In her rush, she pulled the kerchief from her hair and wiped away the blood. Onyx eyes looked up at her hair and he gave a small smile.
"You finally decided to show me…" reaching up weakly he touched the faded blue hitae she wore.
"Otou-sama…"
"Far too much like her for your own good."
"Don't talk. I'll make you better. I'll figure out some way…" She realized she was crying again and sniffled, trying to stop.
"Be strong."
"What?"
"You're an Uchiha. Be strong, be proud. No one can take that away from you. And even if they try, remember. Most of all, you're my daughter…and hers. No matter what anyone tells you, that's the thing to be most proud of. Because it's what we were the proudest of." He coughed again. It really was cold in here. And dark. What an odd feeling of déjà vu he was having...and his head hurt.
"Kaede, my head hurts. Take off the hitae."
"Hai."
Sasuke could feel small hands gently reach under his hair and undo the knot on the hitae. He was tired, so he gave Kaede one last smile and then closed his eyes for a while.
It was dark, and then the next thing he heard was Sakura's laughter and the cry of a baby.
~~~~~~~~~~
Orochimaru nearly gagged at the quaint, clichéd picture the last surviving Uchihas made. The daughter crying over her dying father as he finally reveals he cares. How sweet, how tragic, how utterly revolting. Well, she would be joining him soon so no matter. Not to mention the Kyuubi. But then again, the Kyuubi hadn't moved since Sasuke-kun had hit him with the Chidori, so he was probably already in hell fighting it out with his eternal rival.
Oh well. One less to have to go through the trouble of killing later on.
Now about dear little Kaede-chan bawling her heart out over there…
Suddenly he felt a great deal of chakra near him and then heard a growl.
"She was mean, but she loved her Papa and her Mama and you killed them both!! And you made her Papa hurt Papa!!! You're a very very very very very very very very bad man!!!!"
The little Uzumaki was crouched on all fours, chakra swirling around her. Her eyes had gone glowing red and slitted, and the whisker marks on her cheeks a deep purple. She growled at him with exposed fangs and flexed the tiny claws on her hands. She lunged with a wild howl, scratching and snapping. And he dodged, sighing.
Really. Children these days.
*********
Somewhere in the realm between not quite a sleep but not really awake, Gaara heard a howl. It was too high pitched to be Naruto, but it was definitely the cry of a fox. Which meant…which meant he needed to wake up.Now.
But Shukaku fought him. The demon was released and it was having fun. There was no way it was going back inside the wimpy human body and mind it had been contained in for so long. Gaara fought back because damnit there was something wrong going on out there and it involved his family, and no pissy, high pitched, raccoon was going to stop him.
The mental internal struggled caused Shukaku's physical form in the real world to suddenly pause. Which was long enough for Kabuto to land a punch to the redhead medium and wake him up completely. Sand cracked and broke apart causing the huge form to dissipate until it was merely a pale young man with blood red hair staring at him as Kabuto's hands wrapped around the other's throat.
Gaara blinked. "Thanks."
And then in a truly Naruto-esque move, head butted the medical nin and shoved him away. He turned to see Kizuko, the air around her heavy with Kyuubi chakra, be stabbed by a Kunai wielding Orochimaru, who simply threw the kit away into an already fragile wall that broke around her on impact. She lay still within the brick debris and Gaara felt his blood boil. A continued look revealed Uchiha with at katana through his heart and his brat crying over him. He then saw Naruto, looking much worse for the wear with at large hole in the middle of his shirt. The blonde twitched and then sat up, gingerly poking at his stomach.
"Ow. God damnit, Sasuke that hurt! You do have any idea how hard that was to he…" He trailed off as he saw his ex-friend and rival on the floor in a pool of blood. Beyond that he saw his kitling on a pile of bricks. And in the middle of it all stood Orochimaru, smirking like there was no tomorrow.
"You fucking bastard."
"Language."
Naruto gave a snarl of rage. He didn't have much chakra left, so he turned inwards. Oi, Kyuubi! Time to pay the rent. Kyuubi quite pointedly explained that she had just healed him of a fatal wound. Naruto pointedly responded that the Snake had hurt their kit. Kyuubi suddenly realized that she was thirsty for snake blood. Naruto smirked and chakra flared bright red.
If later asked what happened in the battle, neither Naruto nor Gaara would have been able to give an accurate description. Both had been so lost in their demon's and their own, respective revenge and blood lust that they truly couldn't remember. Naruto vaguely recalled producing a mass amount of Kagebunshin clones and each managing to produce a Rasengan simultaneously had done a good deal of damage. Gaara remembered something about managing to distract very large snakes with sand clones and protecting both himself and Naruto with sand shields. But when it came down to it, really the only thing they both could clearly recall was a very bad looking Orochimaru and Kabuto teleporting out of the base just before the two demons could attack for a final time.
"Damnit!!" Naruto shouted at the spot where the two Sound nin had just been. He was really exhausted and just wanted to fall to the ground as Gaara. So he did, the two leaned back to back panting and taking inventory on the various aches and pains their bodies were loudly broadcasting. Hearing movement next to him, he found the strength to open one blue eye.
Sasuke's daughter still knelt next to the body of her father, tear tracks marking her face as she stared dully into space, her hands tightly clutching a hitae. Beyond that, however, he saw Kizuko struggle, stand up, and then limp towards him a bit. And then, she stopped. Looking at him with blue eyes, she said in a small whimper of a voice. "Papa…Kizuko is cold."
Suddenly, her eyes rolled back in her head, her knees buckled, and she fell to the ground. With a yelp, some how he found the strength and ran to her. There was a gash in her lower belly that had been bleeding but not badly. Eyes widening, he realized she must have foxed out and channeled her demon side when he was unconscious. Because she only had once source of chakra now, his own. The demon chakra was completely depleted.
And with a sob he knew. What happened to a creature that lived by taking two sources of chakra and blending them to make her own? What made them any different from a clone when one of those sources was taken away?
"KITLING!!!"
****************
Err…yah. *waves hand over the readers faces in Jedi Mind Trick Style* You will ignore the fact that I copped out on the Orochimaru battle. This is not the fight scene you are looking for.
And yes. I am so very very evil. Did I write this whole entire story and make all of you fall in love with Kizuko-chan just so I could kill her?
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Seriously, I'm on a writing roll so I really really hope to get the next/last part of this out sooner than I got this out.
However, now I need to go to the mall. ^_^;;;;