NARUTO © Kishimoto Masashi • Shueisha • Studio Pierrot • TV Tokyo. All rights reserved. Non-profit fun ahead!
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Against the Tide
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Chapter Thirteen
Iruka raced through the torrential rainstorm, depending on his years of experience of picking up on Naruto's Chakra aura to try to detect the boy. This was proving to be a rather difficult task, as Naruto's aura was growing weaker and weaker each passing second. Cursing under his breath for what must have been the thousandth time that day. Iruka continued his chase.
Until suddenly, he could feel Naruto's aura no more.
He stopped flitting about the rooftops of the village, perching atop a high roof, gasping and panting for breath. Glancing all about around him in desperation, he realised that he no longer knew which direction to take to pursue the boy. He bit his lip in frustration and agony, then adjusted his footing and quickly bounded off again.
This time, towards the office of Sandaime Hokage.
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When Sasuke opened his eyes, Sakura almost jumped to her feet. She controlled herself, but stood up nevertheless. "Sasuke-kun!" She exclaimed, shaking his arm slightly. "Sasuke-kun! Can you hear me?" She tried again, voice laced with desperation.
Sasuke tilted his head to stare at her blankly. He gave no reply.
"No..." Sakura shook her head, tears threatening to spill. "... please... not you too. Sasuke-kun, you can't act like you don't know anything now! He... He's in danger... Naru..."
"Oh, my!" Kakashi's lazy drawl cut Sakura short. She looked up to see him perched on the window sill, hand holding a file folder. "I hope I'm not disturbing anything!"
"Who... Who are you?" Sakura questioned, and Kakashi laughed.
"The name's Hatake Kakashi. I'm the superior and mentor of the brat on the bed there," he pointed at Sasuke, who, although had opened his eyes, had not said a single word or moved another muscle in the time being. "You must be Haruno Sakura. Pleased to meet you!" He bowed slightly.
The name struck a sudden attention nerve in Sakura. "Kakashi... Kakashi-sensei!" She exclaimed. "Sensei, listen to me! Naru--"
"Shut up... both of you... or I'll have to make you..." Sasuke feebly threatened, clambering to sit up on the bed, one hand on his head. Kakashi's attention was successfully diverted from Sakura, and he smiled at his charge.
"Good evening to you too, Sasuke-kun," he smiled. "Look at how carefully your girlfriend has been taking care of you all the while you were out cold!" He teased, and Sasuke shot him a glare.
Sakura blushed deeply at the remark for a while, but her senses kicked back into action quickly. "Sasuke-kun! Kakashi-sensei! Listen..." She said in a voice that was loud but still polite. It was futile, however, for Kakashi had leapt off the window and now stood by Sasuke's bed, talking with him.
"That was stupid of you," Kakashi shook his head. "I thought I told you that neither of you should go out working individually."
Sakura tried to interrupt, but Sasuke's snort was louder. "I wasn't working. I was answering a direct challenge someone issued to me. What's the big deal?"
"The big deal, of course, is the fact that you almost drowned in some strange liquid," Kakashi frowned at the boy, who looked away with slight embarrassment. "Whatever possessed you to go face the Mizu-Youma alone?" He sighed. "I thought you were always the prudent one - always making sure of the enemy and his level of power before going in for the kill. Blinded by emotions again, aren't we, Sasuke?"
"I wasn't!" The boy yelled, then regretted it immediately, shrinking and cradling his painful head. "I wasn't..." he repeated, between pained breaths.
"The demon threatened to kill Naruto," Kakashi stated. "Knowing you, you would've gone there in a spat of fury, trying to protect your latest friend from the curse, wouldn't you?"
"He's not my 'friend'!" Sasuke insisted, looking up sharply at Kakashi. Then, blinking, he asked suspicious, "How did you know about that anyway?"
"Uh-oh," Kakashi brandished the piece of paper and waved it about flippantly. "I wonder who took this along with him when he went out to have a rendezvous with the demon, huh?"
Sasuke's eyes widenened at the accusation, and he stared in mild shock at the paper Kakashi was waving about. "Kakashi, I burnt the thing up after I finished reading it," he muttered, "where in the world did you get that thing?"
Kakashi stopped fiddling with the paper. He stared at Sasuke with a blink.
"OKAY YOU BIG BOZOS!!" Sakura shrieked, finally not being able to take it any longer. "THAT'S WHY I SAID LISTEN! LISTEN TO ME DAMMIT! ARE MEN ALWAYS SUCH PIGS?!" She huffed and puffed, face flushed with anger. Glaring up, she made sure she had the full attention of both stunned men, then continued in a slightly less accusatory voice, "Naruto is in danger!" She judged by the looks of utter surprise on the men's faces that they had not even been listening to her constant warnings just now. "Iruka-sensei went off after him, he said it was an emergency, and to inform Kakashi-sensei immediately." She glanced evenly at the silver-haired Jounin for a reaction, disappointed that he did not have an evident one.
Before Sakura could say anymore, the door to the room burst open, and Hinata stumbled in. "Ka... Kakashi-sensei..." she mumbled and stuttered, almost tripping over the stool near the door. "I... Iruka-sensei asked me to inform you that there has been an emergency regarding Naruto-kun..."
"What happened to him?" It was Sasuke, not Kakashi who threw the question out. The Uchiha had eyes wide as saucers and there was no denying the rampant worry he was showing on his face. "What happened to him??! Where is he?!" He roared, raising his voice so loud that Hinata cringed.
"Quiet, Sasuke," Kakashi glared at the boy, who then turned to regard him with a rare look of helplessness. The look quickly was taken over by annoyance, and Sasuke looked away. "Iruka-sensei is already on Naruto's tail, you said?" The Jounin prompted Hinata, who nodded. "Then we have nothing much to worry about," Kakashi smiled. "Iruka-sensei should be able to keep things under control for now."
"Bu-bu-but sire..." Hinata spoke up, despite her hesitation. "There... there was a very strange and malicious Chakra aura present in this room before Naruto-kun suddenly leapt out of the window." She glanced at the floor shiftily. "I... I think the matter is not quite as simple as it seems..."
"Naruto was speaking in a voice that was not his," Sakura provided, eyes determined. Although she thought he was noisy, she had also come to know Naruto as a helpful and kind Younin. She felt like she had to help. "He taunted Iruka-sensei before suddenly vanishing." She bit her lower lip. "Forgive me for drawing my own conclusions here, sensei, but..."
Three pairs of eyes stared expectantly at her.
"... Naruto has been taken over by a malicious demon. That much I can logically infer."
"It's... It's true!" Hinata gulped, speaking up as loudly and as assertively as she could. "I... I saw it with the Byakugan just before I went out of the room... there was... there was a very deep, angry aura that was also very evil... bursting out from Naruto-kun... flooding the whole room. In... In fact..." Hinata looked at Sasuke timidly. "It was... similar to the aura that was hanging around Sasuke-kun's head when he was brought into the hospital..."
Kakashi stared at the girl. "You are a Hyuuga," he stated. Hinata nodded.
"Ye... Yes... that's why I can see the auras and sometimes identify them by signature... sen... sensei..." she gulped again. "Would you... would you allow me to use the Byakugan on Sasuke-kun to... to check something?"
Kakashi retreated a few steps from the bed suavely. "Please. Go ahead."
The girl nodded. She formed a hand seal, closing her eyes. When she opened them, they were surrounded by some protruding veins. She glanced in Sasuke's direction in concentration for a few moments, then shut her eyes. The veins retracted when she next opened them. There was a look of solemn determination in her eyes.
"Well?" Kakashi asked gently.
"I..." Hinata ventured to explain, eyebrows slightly knitted. "...I thought so. The aura around Sasuke-kun's head is gone. It was probably absorbed by the malicious aura Naruto-kun was releasing just now."
"Whose aura was it?" Kakashi pressed on, frowning at the new development, suddenly feeling unsecure about the escaped Naruto, even though he knew Iruka to be highly reliable.
"..." Hinata suddenly looked sad. "...the same aura that used to surround Sakura-san's head... the same aura that used to surround all the victims of the Mizu-Youma..."
"What do you mean," Sasuke's eyes reflected pure horror. "I killed that bastard demon! How could he have..."
"You forced him into hibernation, probably," Kakashi shook his head. "High level demons don't just die like that. They enter a period of stasis where they try to transfer their lifeforce into something or someone who can give them enough power to come back to life. Of course if the period of stasis passes and no suitable host is found, they die. If they do find a suitable host..." Kakashi's eye narrowed. "... they stay on... until they've either taken over the host completely... or sucked the host dry of Chakra..."
"No..." Sasuke shook his head. "No... how... how could he have jumped to Naruto when Naruto haven't even come close to the demon's main body..."
Kakashi sighed. He looked sadly at the piece of paper in his hands. "You got manipulated, Sasuke." He stated dully. "You brought the demon back to Konoha... when he rode on this piece of paper."
Sasuke could literally feel his heart miss a beat.
"Sasuke," Kakashi said in a firm voice, and waited until the boy looked at him in the eye. "I just came back from Hokage-sama's office. Your attack has caused a ripple of bad repercussions on the department. Although Hokage-sama is sympathetic to the cause, he has to put the village first. So," he brandished the folder in his hand, "we have orders, coming from the highest office in Konoha itself, that unless the Mizu-Youma is apprehended by 12 midnight tonight, then the department of the Anti-Youma Brigade will be dissolved and its staff members redistributed among the rest of the force." He quirked an eyebrow. "I don't have to say anything more to that, do I."
Needless to say, Sasuke was agitated beyond words. He always cherished and remembered the Taiyoubu as the department his elder brother single-handedly brought to the fore of the force. And now, they were going to remove it just because of a small slip-up on his part? He sank into a deep, brooding depression, clutching the pale, white sheets of the hospital bed until his fists trembled. "How much time left?" He managed to mutter.
"Seeing as it is nearly 9PM now," Kakashi looked at the clock in the room, "I would say we have a grand total of three hours left before departmental elimination." He pushed off the window sill he had been leaning against.
Sasuke was already untangling himself from the bedsheets and finding his footing. He stood, surprised at how he felt almost normal, despite the numerous wounds he had received in the fight last night. He glanced at Kakashi. "We're going to find the idiot. NOW."
"Yes, I agree," Kakashi nodded, to his surprise. "What a waste it would be to let the department I've put so much effort in all these years just be dismantled like that, huh?" He smiled cheerfully at the astounded Uchiha. "Aww, don't look at me like that, Sasuke," he was saying, "I /have/ been doing a lot of things for the department, you know?"
Sasuke soon snapped out of his shock and was looking around the room for some non-hospital clothes. "Yeah right," he mumbled, then walked towards a closet Hinata was gesturing to. "Thanks," he nodded at the girl, who shyly nodded back. Fishing some darkly coloured cotton clothes up, he shot Kakashi one last look that translated to 'wait for me' before vanishing into the adjoining toilet.
"Such a demanding boy, that he is," Kakashi smiled sadly. He glanced out of the window and into the sky, where raindrops continued to fall from. It had been dark and sunless the whole day, and Kakashi was beginning to feel a little dark himself. "Twelve midnight..." he murmured to himself. "...just like that day, huh?"
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Iruka had not been able to wrestle much help out from Sandaime, but the Hokage had given enough hints as to the possible location of the now possessed Naruto. As Iruka leapt again from roof to roof, the words of the old Hokage, burnt deeply into his mind, kept repeating itself.
/Demons can only overtake a host if the host is at a mental and emotional low ebb,/ Sarutobi had explained. /It was probably just able to barely take advantage of Naruto's psyche when Naruto was feeling sad about Sasuke's condition. He cannot fully take over Naruto until the boy completely loses himself. To do that, he could either try to talk the boy into insanity, or provoke him by bringing him to places./ The Hokage had frowned at this point of time. /The Mizu-Youma alone is dangerous enough. Coupled with the potential power of the Kyuubi, there is much to worry about. Find him quickly, Iruka. Before I have to be forced to send Hunter-Nin after him./
The last sentence ringing loudly in his ears as a warning, Iruka shook his head free from distractions and bounded quickly towards his chosen destination.
The monument where the names of fallen heroes were carved.
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Iruka was surprised - and slightly suspicious, when he found Naruto easily. The blond was standing in front of the monument in the rain, staring at it. Not wanting to drag the anticipation out any further, Iruka made his presence known by landing heavily onto the grass. Naruto's head shifted slightly.
"Naruto," Iruka called out, hoping to evoke a reaction that would reassure him that Naruto had regained control over his mind. "Naruto!" He called out, louder and fiercer. "Can you hear me? Naruto!"
The blond turned around, a lazy grin across his face. "Yes, sensei," he boomed in the voice that was not his again, "I can hear you perfectly clearly."
Iruka immediately dipped into a battle stance. "What do you want!" He shouted at the slowly turning figure of Naruto. "Get out of him!" He commanded angrily.
The demon's aura flared outwards, until a physical shadow of itself could be seen surrounding Naruto. He grinned again. "My dear sensei... have you any idea how long I have been planning to possess this host body? How much I had to go through to be where I am now?" He tilted his face towards the sky, letting the rain pour freely down by his face. "Just a little more... and the full power of the Kyuubi... in my hands!"
"You're insane!" Iruka scolded, despite himself. He niftily withdrew a kunai from his pouch and positioned it. "Nobody can take the full power of the Kyuubi and still live to tell it. Including your kind, Mizu-Youma!"
The demon frowned through Naruto. "You are noisy for a pathetic excuse of a Chuunin," he started to walk closer. "Perhaps if I kill you, Naruto will crumble and be more willing to let me invade his mind!" A perverse smile decorated the demon's features. He took a couple of steps more, then vanished into the surroundings.
Iruka took the opportunity of the demon's current blind spot to fling a notification bomb into the air, sparing it one glance as it exploded into smoke and colour noiselessly. "I think you underestimate both Naruto and me, Mizu-Youma," he said calmly, tracing the explosive Chakra of the demon easily. "We're not as easy to defeat as you think!"
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Kakashi came to an abrupt stop when, somewhere in the distance, a notification bomb exploded. Sasuke was beside him in a moment. They exchanged a hasty glance. Without a word, they bounded off in the direction of the bomb, arriving at the name monument within seconds.
Both Sasuke and Kakashi were surprised to literally bump into Shikamaru and Chouji at the entrance to the monument.
"Shikamaru... Chouji!" Sasuke recognised the boys with a gasp. "What're you guys doing here?"
Shikamaru sighed. "I should ask you that myself." He gestured. "We were patrolling... as usual... when we saw the notification bomb. Probably something troublesome... but it'll be more troublesome to listen to Asuma lose his temper if we don't answer the call so..." he shrugged. "That's why we're here."
Sasuke was about to say something, but a fierce battle cry, coupled with the sounds of metal cringing against metal distracted them. The boys and one adult quickly located the source of the noise. They were all caught with horror and surprise, when they saw Naruto launching himself at Iruka violently.
Sasuke immeidately stepped forward, meaning to interfere, but Kakashi stopped him. "Let Iruka distract him. We can't let the Mizu-Youma get away. All three of you!" He commanded in a loud voice, causing the boys to snap to attention before their superior. "I'll explain the situation later," he glanced apologetically at Shikamaru and Chouji, then the hardened resolve returned to his visible eye, "but for now, you're all going to set up a four-point barrier with me. Sasuke, east! Shikamaru, north! Chouji, west! Fifteen seconds, then we initiate the Jutsu. This is an order! Our countdown starts..." Kakashi paused to make sure all the boys were ready. When he saw that they were, his authorative voice rang loudly through the night air.
"... NOW!"
Four shadows flitted away into the night, pressing on towards their assigned directions, but leaving their minds and hearts behind with the tussle at the monument.
The battle had only merely just began.
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12/10/2004
Part 14 of 16
(email XD!) XD (at) tougenkyou (dot) net
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Against the Tide
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Chapter Thirteen
Iruka raced through the torrential rainstorm, depending on his years of experience of picking up on Naruto's Chakra aura to try to detect the boy. This was proving to be a rather difficult task, as Naruto's aura was growing weaker and weaker each passing second. Cursing under his breath for what must have been the thousandth time that day. Iruka continued his chase.
Until suddenly, he could feel Naruto's aura no more.
He stopped flitting about the rooftops of the village, perching atop a high roof, gasping and panting for breath. Glancing all about around him in desperation, he realised that he no longer knew which direction to take to pursue the boy. He bit his lip in frustration and agony, then adjusted his footing and quickly bounded off again.
This time, towards the office of Sandaime Hokage.
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When Sasuke opened his eyes, Sakura almost jumped to her feet. She controlled herself, but stood up nevertheless. "Sasuke-kun!" She exclaimed, shaking his arm slightly. "Sasuke-kun! Can you hear me?" She tried again, voice laced with desperation.
Sasuke tilted his head to stare at her blankly. He gave no reply.
"No..." Sakura shook her head, tears threatening to spill. "... please... not you too. Sasuke-kun, you can't act like you don't know anything now! He... He's in danger... Naru..."
"Oh, my!" Kakashi's lazy drawl cut Sakura short. She looked up to see him perched on the window sill, hand holding a file folder. "I hope I'm not disturbing anything!"
"Who... Who are you?" Sakura questioned, and Kakashi laughed.
"The name's Hatake Kakashi. I'm the superior and mentor of the brat on the bed there," he pointed at Sasuke, who, although had opened his eyes, had not said a single word or moved another muscle in the time being. "You must be Haruno Sakura. Pleased to meet you!" He bowed slightly.
The name struck a sudden attention nerve in Sakura. "Kakashi... Kakashi-sensei!" She exclaimed. "Sensei, listen to me! Naru--"
"Shut up... both of you... or I'll have to make you..." Sasuke feebly threatened, clambering to sit up on the bed, one hand on his head. Kakashi's attention was successfully diverted from Sakura, and he smiled at his charge.
"Good evening to you too, Sasuke-kun," he smiled. "Look at how carefully your girlfriend has been taking care of you all the while you were out cold!" He teased, and Sasuke shot him a glare.
Sakura blushed deeply at the remark for a while, but her senses kicked back into action quickly. "Sasuke-kun! Kakashi-sensei! Listen..." She said in a voice that was loud but still polite. It was futile, however, for Kakashi had leapt off the window and now stood by Sasuke's bed, talking with him.
"That was stupid of you," Kakashi shook his head. "I thought I told you that neither of you should go out working individually."
Sakura tried to interrupt, but Sasuke's snort was louder. "I wasn't working. I was answering a direct challenge someone issued to me. What's the big deal?"
"The big deal, of course, is the fact that you almost drowned in some strange liquid," Kakashi frowned at the boy, who looked away with slight embarrassment. "Whatever possessed you to go face the Mizu-Youma alone?" He sighed. "I thought you were always the prudent one - always making sure of the enemy and his level of power before going in for the kill. Blinded by emotions again, aren't we, Sasuke?"
"I wasn't!" The boy yelled, then regretted it immediately, shrinking and cradling his painful head. "I wasn't..." he repeated, between pained breaths.
"The demon threatened to kill Naruto," Kakashi stated. "Knowing you, you would've gone there in a spat of fury, trying to protect your latest friend from the curse, wouldn't you?"
"He's not my 'friend'!" Sasuke insisted, looking up sharply at Kakashi. Then, blinking, he asked suspicious, "How did you know about that anyway?"
"Uh-oh," Kakashi brandished the piece of paper and waved it about flippantly. "I wonder who took this along with him when he went out to have a rendezvous with the demon, huh?"
Sasuke's eyes widenened at the accusation, and he stared in mild shock at the paper Kakashi was waving about. "Kakashi, I burnt the thing up after I finished reading it," he muttered, "where in the world did you get that thing?"
Kakashi stopped fiddling with the paper. He stared at Sasuke with a blink.
"OKAY YOU BIG BOZOS!!" Sakura shrieked, finally not being able to take it any longer. "THAT'S WHY I SAID LISTEN! LISTEN TO ME DAMMIT! ARE MEN ALWAYS SUCH PIGS?!" She huffed and puffed, face flushed with anger. Glaring up, she made sure she had the full attention of both stunned men, then continued in a slightly less accusatory voice, "Naruto is in danger!" She judged by the looks of utter surprise on the men's faces that they had not even been listening to her constant warnings just now. "Iruka-sensei went off after him, he said it was an emergency, and to inform Kakashi-sensei immediately." She glanced evenly at the silver-haired Jounin for a reaction, disappointed that he did not have an evident one.
Before Sakura could say anymore, the door to the room burst open, and Hinata stumbled in. "Ka... Kakashi-sensei..." she mumbled and stuttered, almost tripping over the stool near the door. "I... Iruka-sensei asked me to inform you that there has been an emergency regarding Naruto-kun..."
"What happened to him?" It was Sasuke, not Kakashi who threw the question out. The Uchiha had eyes wide as saucers and there was no denying the rampant worry he was showing on his face. "What happened to him??! Where is he?!" He roared, raising his voice so loud that Hinata cringed.
"Quiet, Sasuke," Kakashi glared at the boy, who then turned to regard him with a rare look of helplessness. The look quickly was taken over by annoyance, and Sasuke looked away. "Iruka-sensei is already on Naruto's tail, you said?" The Jounin prompted Hinata, who nodded. "Then we have nothing much to worry about," Kakashi smiled. "Iruka-sensei should be able to keep things under control for now."
"Bu-bu-but sire..." Hinata spoke up, despite her hesitation. "There... there was a very strange and malicious Chakra aura present in this room before Naruto-kun suddenly leapt out of the window." She glanced at the floor shiftily. "I... I think the matter is not quite as simple as it seems..."
"Naruto was speaking in a voice that was not his," Sakura provided, eyes determined. Although she thought he was noisy, she had also come to know Naruto as a helpful and kind Younin. She felt like she had to help. "He taunted Iruka-sensei before suddenly vanishing." She bit her lower lip. "Forgive me for drawing my own conclusions here, sensei, but..."
Three pairs of eyes stared expectantly at her.
"... Naruto has been taken over by a malicious demon. That much I can logically infer."
"It's... It's true!" Hinata gulped, speaking up as loudly and as assertively as she could. "I... I saw it with the Byakugan just before I went out of the room... there was... there was a very deep, angry aura that was also very evil... bursting out from Naruto-kun... flooding the whole room. In... In fact..." Hinata looked at Sasuke timidly. "It was... similar to the aura that was hanging around Sasuke-kun's head when he was brought into the hospital..."
Kakashi stared at the girl. "You are a Hyuuga," he stated. Hinata nodded.
"Ye... Yes... that's why I can see the auras and sometimes identify them by signature... sen... sensei..." she gulped again. "Would you... would you allow me to use the Byakugan on Sasuke-kun to... to check something?"
Kakashi retreated a few steps from the bed suavely. "Please. Go ahead."
The girl nodded. She formed a hand seal, closing her eyes. When she opened them, they were surrounded by some protruding veins. She glanced in Sasuke's direction in concentration for a few moments, then shut her eyes. The veins retracted when she next opened them. There was a look of solemn determination in her eyes.
"Well?" Kakashi asked gently.
"I..." Hinata ventured to explain, eyebrows slightly knitted. "...I thought so. The aura around Sasuke-kun's head is gone. It was probably absorbed by the malicious aura Naruto-kun was releasing just now."
"Whose aura was it?" Kakashi pressed on, frowning at the new development, suddenly feeling unsecure about the escaped Naruto, even though he knew Iruka to be highly reliable.
"..." Hinata suddenly looked sad. "...the same aura that used to surround Sakura-san's head... the same aura that used to surround all the victims of the Mizu-Youma..."
"What do you mean," Sasuke's eyes reflected pure horror. "I killed that bastard demon! How could he have..."
"You forced him into hibernation, probably," Kakashi shook his head. "High level demons don't just die like that. They enter a period of stasis where they try to transfer their lifeforce into something or someone who can give them enough power to come back to life. Of course if the period of stasis passes and no suitable host is found, they die. If they do find a suitable host..." Kakashi's eye narrowed. "... they stay on... until they've either taken over the host completely... or sucked the host dry of Chakra..."
"No..." Sasuke shook his head. "No... how... how could he have jumped to Naruto when Naruto haven't even come close to the demon's main body..."
Kakashi sighed. He looked sadly at the piece of paper in his hands. "You got manipulated, Sasuke." He stated dully. "You brought the demon back to Konoha... when he rode on this piece of paper."
Sasuke could literally feel his heart miss a beat.
"Sasuke," Kakashi said in a firm voice, and waited until the boy looked at him in the eye. "I just came back from Hokage-sama's office. Your attack has caused a ripple of bad repercussions on the department. Although Hokage-sama is sympathetic to the cause, he has to put the village first. So," he brandished the folder in his hand, "we have orders, coming from the highest office in Konoha itself, that unless the Mizu-Youma is apprehended by 12 midnight tonight, then the department of the Anti-Youma Brigade will be dissolved and its staff members redistributed among the rest of the force." He quirked an eyebrow. "I don't have to say anything more to that, do I."
Needless to say, Sasuke was agitated beyond words. He always cherished and remembered the Taiyoubu as the department his elder brother single-handedly brought to the fore of the force. And now, they were going to remove it just because of a small slip-up on his part? He sank into a deep, brooding depression, clutching the pale, white sheets of the hospital bed until his fists trembled. "How much time left?" He managed to mutter.
"Seeing as it is nearly 9PM now," Kakashi looked at the clock in the room, "I would say we have a grand total of three hours left before departmental elimination." He pushed off the window sill he had been leaning against.
Sasuke was already untangling himself from the bedsheets and finding his footing. He stood, surprised at how he felt almost normal, despite the numerous wounds he had received in the fight last night. He glanced at Kakashi. "We're going to find the idiot. NOW."
"Yes, I agree," Kakashi nodded, to his surprise. "What a waste it would be to let the department I've put so much effort in all these years just be dismantled like that, huh?" He smiled cheerfully at the astounded Uchiha. "Aww, don't look at me like that, Sasuke," he was saying, "I /have/ been doing a lot of things for the department, you know?"
Sasuke soon snapped out of his shock and was looking around the room for some non-hospital clothes. "Yeah right," he mumbled, then walked towards a closet Hinata was gesturing to. "Thanks," he nodded at the girl, who shyly nodded back. Fishing some darkly coloured cotton clothes up, he shot Kakashi one last look that translated to 'wait for me' before vanishing into the adjoining toilet.
"Such a demanding boy, that he is," Kakashi smiled sadly. He glanced out of the window and into the sky, where raindrops continued to fall from. It had been dark and sunless the whole day, and Kakashi was beginning to feel a little dark himself. "Twelve midnight..." he murmured to himself. "...just like that day, huh?"
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Iruka had not been able to wrestle much help out from Sandaime, but the Hokage had given enough hints as to the possible location of the now possessed Naruto. As Iruka leapt again from roof to roof, the words of the old Hokage, burnt deeply into his mind, kept repeating itself.
/Demons can only overtake a host if the host is at a mental and emotional low ebb,/ Sarutobi had explained. /It was probably just able to barely take advantage of Naruto's psyche when Naruto was feeling sad about Sasuke's condition. He cannot fully take over Naruto until the boy completely loses himself. To do that, he could either try to talk the boy into insanity, or provoke him by bringing him to places./ The Hokage had frowned at this point of time. /The Mizu-Youma alone is dangerous enough. Coupled with the potential power of the Kyuubi, there is much to worry about. Find him quickly, Iruka. Before I have to be forced to send Hunter-Nin after him./
The last sentence ringing loudly in his ears as a warning, Iruka shook his head free from distractions and bounded quickly towards his chosen destination.
The monument where the names of fallen heroes were carved.
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Iruka was surprised - and slightly suspicious, when he found Naruto easily. The blond was standing in front of the monument in the rain, staring at it. Not wanting to drag the anticipation out any further, Iruka made his presence known by landing heavily onto the grass. Naruto's head shifted slightly.
"Naruto," Iruka called out, hoping to evoke a reaction that would reassure him that Naruto had regained control over his mind. "Naruto!" He called out, louder and fiercer. "Can you hear me? Naruto!"
The blond turned around, a lazy grin across his face. "Yes, sensei," he boomed in the voice that was not his again, "I can hear you perfectly clearly."
Iruka immediately dipped into a battle stance. "What do you want!" He shouted at the slowly turning figure of Naruto. "Get out of him!" He commanded angrily.
The demon's aura flared outwards, until a physical shadow of itself could be seen surrounding Naruto. He grinned again. "My dear sensei... have you any idea how long I have been planning to possess this host body? How much I had to go through to be where I am now?" He tilted his face towards the sky, letting the rain pour freely down by his face. "Just a little more... and the full power of the Kyuubi... in my hands!"
"You're insane!" Iruka scolded, despite himself. He niftily withdrew a kunai from his pouch and positioned it. "Nobody can take the full power of the Kyuubi and still live to tell it. Including your kind, Mizu-Youma!"
The demon frowned through Naruto. "You are noisy for a pathetic excuse of a Chuunin," he started to walk closer. "Perhaps if I kill you, Naruto will crumble and be more willing to let me invade his mind!" A perverse smile decorated the demon's features. He took a couple of steps more, then vanished into the surroundings.
Iruka took the opportunity of the demon's current blind spot to fling a notification bomb into the air, sparing it one glance as it exploded into smoke and colour noiselessly. "I think you underestimate both Naruto and me, Mizu-Youma," he said calmly, tracing the explosive Chakra of the demon easily. "We're not as easy to defeat as you think!"
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Kakashi came to an abrupt stop when, somewhere in the distance, a notification bomb exploded. Sasuke was beside him in a moment. They exchanged a hasty glance. Without a word, they bounded off in the direction of the bomb, arriving at the name monument within seconds.
Both Sasuke and Kakashi were surprised to literally bump into Shikamaru and Chouji at the entrance to the monument.
"Shikamaru... Chouji!" Sasuke recognised the boys with a gasp. "What're you guys doing here?"
Shikamaru sighed. "I should ask you that myself." He gestured. "We were patrolling... as usual... when we saw the notification bomb. Probably something troublesome... but it'll be more troublesome to listen to Asuma lose his temper if we don't answer the call so..." he shrugged. "That's why we're here."
Sasuke was about to say something, but a fierce battle cry, coupled with the sounds of metal cringing against metal distracted them. The boys and one adult quickly located the source of the noise. They were all caught with horror and surprise, when they saw Naruto launching himself at Iruka violently.
Sasuke immeidately stepped forward, meaning to interfere, but Kakashi stopped him. "Let Iruka distract him. We can't let the Mizu-Youma get away. All three of you!" He commanded in a loud voice, causing the boys to snap to attention before their superior. "I'll explain the situation later," he glanced apologetically at Shikamaru and Chouji, then the hardened resolve returned to his visible eye, "but for now, you're all going to set up a four-point barrier with me. Sasuke, east! Shikamaru, north! Chouji, west! Fifteen seconds, then we initiate the Jutsu. This is an order! Our countdown starts..." Kakashi paused to make sure all the boys were ready. When he saw that they were, his authorative voice rang loudly through the night air.
"... NOW!"
Four shadows flitted away into the night, pressing on towards their assigned directions, but leaving their minds and hearts behind with the tussle at the monument.
The battle had only merely just began.
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12/10/2004
Part 14 of 16
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