A.N. We're at the climax at last. I honestly thought I'd have gotten here sooner, but that's life for ya I guess. Also, this is going to be a chapter with a fight. I once again am reminding you that I'm not very good at writing them, but I hope you enjoy.
CHAPTER 14
Naruto's Fall
Despite the large number of people in the five groups, they managed to get to the Land of Silence in only a day and a half. The amount of people in each group was probably more than when they went up against the Akatsuki three years before, since everyone wanted to help save Naruto, and their was no need to guard the villages.
The team from the Land of Fire and Wind arrived first. While the rest of the Shinobi waited at the rendezvous point for the others, Temari, Hinata and Gaara went on ahead to check the hidden entrance. To no one's surprise it was blocked off. The three of them threw every weapon and jutsu they had at it but it didn't make a difference. The door stayed firmly shut.
Temari's frustration had reached a breaking point. She continued to hit the door with everything she had, tears streaming down her face. Gaara angrily pounded the door with his sand, desperately trying to break it down. Eventually, Hinata yelled at the two of them to stop. The two Sand siblings turned around to protest, but then they saw that she had her Byakugan on and was crying slightly. "The door is gone," she told them sadly. "You're just hitting stone."
When the three of them returned, the other three groups had arrived. By then, it was nighttime, and it had already been decided that they'd launch their attack in the morning. As the three of them returned, everyone was setting up tents. Temari couldn't help but feel jealous of Sakura and Ino. The two of them got to spend the night with their lovers, while hers was in that horrible base. Sasuke needed help getting into the tent sin e he couldn't see. Sakura had him brought along so she could heal his eyes immediately.
When the other Kage spotted the three, they ran up to them. "The route the Kunoichi found two weeks ago has been completely sealed off," Gaara told them angrily. "There's no way to get it open." Everyone could see his eyes welling a bit, but no one commented on it. "So now what?" Mei asked, "Is there any other way in?" None that we're aware of," Hinata replied sadly. "Well then," said Kakashi, "we'll just send some scouts out tomorrow to find one." With that, they separated and went to sleep. Temari struggled to fall asleep however. The idea that she was so close to Shikamaru, and that he was suffering terribly but she couldn't do anything about it was driving her mad. Thoughts of his near lifeless body in her arms kept dancing in her mind. For all she k ew, he'd already be killed, never knowing Temari's answer.
Eventually, dawn broke and scouts from all villages were sent to investigate the area. Hinata and Ino gave a general area of where the diameter of the base was, and the scouts searched every inch of it. But after spending nearly half a day on it. They turned up nothing. When this was relayed to the Kage, as well as Temari and Hinata who were with them, Gaara stormed away and threw a bunch of sand into a nearby cliff in frustration. It shattered the cliff into tiny pieces, leaving a gaping hole in its side. As Temari watched her youngest brother decimate the cliff, she thought of something. "That gives me an idea!" she declared to them.
She pulled out the map of the base's diameter that Ino and Hinata drew. She pointed at the middle of it and laid out her plan. "If we gather all of our explosives into Gaara's sand," she explained, "he can pick it up and smash it into the centre. With both the force of the sand and all the explosions, the roof should shatter and give us our way in!" It seemed like a good plan, so they agreed with it. "It seems that Shikamaru's brains might be rubbing off on you" Kankuro told her. Temari slapped him for that comment.
Just as Temari instructed, all of the Alliance's explosives were gathered in one pile. It was a modest size, and enough for Gaara's sand to pick up. Once it was all gathered up by his sand pile and hovering above the centre, everyone retreated from the blast zone. Once they were all safe, Gaara slammed the pile down onto the earth as hard as he could. The explosion tore the ground apart. It had cave in most of the base, destroying even the rubble. The Alliance gathered around the crater, ready to tear the place apart in search of the two men. But what they found instead horrified them.
Gengo stood proudly in the centre of the crater. Beside him was a very thin and beaten Shikamaru, tied to the ground and on his knees. Temari's hand flew to her mouth at the sight. But what horrified the rest of the Alliance, Hinata and Gaara especially, was Naruto's state. He was topless, bruised and burned. He was chained to a weird statue. It looked like a cross between the Gedo statue and Gengo's face. Naruto was chained to its mouth and was too drained to strain against his bonds, which the group quickly realised was more Chakra wire.
"Welcome esteemed Shinobi Alliance!" Gengo called up to them, doing a mock bow. "You are hear in time to witness the death of your precious Uzumaki Naruto and the rise of my new world." He walked over to the statue and leapt onto its head. "Recognise it?" he asked them mockingly. When all he got was glares of the deepest loathing, he said, "It's parts of the Gedo statue. I managed to salvage some of it from that battlefield. Enough that I can pull one Tailed-Beast from one Jinchuriki. And I think you're all aware of which Jinchuriki I am doing this to?" With that he performed the hand signs and the statue opened its mouth, enveloping Naruto in the blue light from its maw.
"If you'd like to see what this new weapon of mine does," he said cockily, "simply look upon the pitiful man in front of me. I doubt anyone will miss him anyway." With that, he began. The blue light wrapped itself around Naruto and began to pull the Nine-tails from him. Gaara yelled in desperation and began to pummel it with his sand. "Attack!" he yelled to the others. "We must not let him complete this jutsu!" The rest of the Alliance yelled in a mutual anger and charged at it.
Gengo stomped his foot and many Enlightened Ones appeared in the room. They charged at the Alliance, intent on stopping them from destroying the statue. A fierce battle ensued. Shinobi from both sides clashed and began dropping like flies. But fortunately for the Alliance, their healers were in the battle, so they were healed up quickly and carried on fighting, while Enlightened Ones had to be dragged away to be healed. Temari and Hinata paid no attention to this however. They were entirely focused on freeing their lovers from their restraints.
But they wouldn't budge. Both were being restrained by Chakra wire, so neither woman could touch it directly. Shikamaru opened his eyes while Temari tried desperately to hack open the restraint. "T- Temari?" He asked. Temari stopped trying to open the restraints. Hearing Shikamaru say her name for the first time in months was more than she could bear. She burst into tears and hugged him tightly. "I was beginning to think I'd never see you again," he said, his own eyes welling up. "Cry-baby" he added, using her own words against her. Temari chuckled in spite of herself. "I'm here now," she said. "Troublesome man." "Touché!"
A loud bang interrupted their reunion. Temari dried her eyes and resumed trying to undo the restraints. But it was no use. To everyone's horror, the statue hadn't been broken. The wire holding Naruto disintegrated and the light around him faded. The statues mouth closed, dropping Naruto. Everyone could only watch in despair as Naruto's body dropped lifeless onto the ground. Hinata wailed in anguish and Gaara bellowed in grief-stricken fury. He angrily tried to pummel Gengo with his sand, hot, angry tears pouring from his eyes. But the statue made it impossible to hit him. Cries of despair and anger emanated from the Alliance as they began to attack the statue with renewed vigor.
Hinata dropped to the ground and grabbed her husband's lifeless body. She dragged it away from the statue as it began to charge a laser from its mouth. Temari tried desperately to pull Shikamaru away from its line of fire, but he couldn't move. As the laser reached its full power, Ino leapt down and dragged Temari away from Shikamaru. She tried to wrestle her way back to him, but Kankuro used one of his puppets to drag her over to Hinata. Hinata was a mess. She lay over Naruto's body, openly crying into his chest that neither rose nor fell. Temari just sat and watched in a numb despair as the laser reached it's full charge.
"And now!" Gengo yelled maniacally. "Say goodbye to Uzumaki, Nara and your pitiful Alliance. My weapon will usher in a new Shinobi age. Keep your eyes on that insolent brat to see what it does!" Temari couldn't bear to watch. She just hid her eyes in her brother's shoulder. By this time, Gaara came down to Naruto's body as well. He sat above Hinata and silently mourned the loss of his friend, making sure not to let Hinata see just how much her husband's death affected him. The laser suddenly appeared outside the statues mouth as it prepared to travel to its target. As Temari looked away from Shikamaru, she thought she noticed a cocky grin appear on his face. But that was impossible. He couldn't really have a plan now, could he?
Sorry for how depressing that got, I was just not in a good place today. But will Gengo be stopped? Or will his new Shinobi age come to fruition. Find out whenever I upload this damn story. See you then.
