Disclaimer: No I do not own Naruto.

Wings of the White Angel

Chapter 22: Death vs. Kakashi; What a match!

Kakashi had to admit he actually felt just a little bit happy at the turn of events. ("I expected another Sin to come for the disposal of Pride's body…but instead 'he' came out. I suppose it makes sense so, since this demon is so important to him.") A sharp wind blew through his grey hair.

Death flexed his free hand again. "Now then, Hokage…let's see if fire can quell smoke."

Kakashi started to mentally review what he remembered about Death from before. ("His eyes are a danger, and his hand is too. Depending on how much of his power he wants to start with, I might have to try to end this quickly.") He glanced over at the tossing and turning Kin. ("And the other factor is the demon. I managed to quell it before, but if it has gotten stronger then I might not be able to next time.") His hands snapped together and he started to form the necessary seals for the first technique he had in mind for this fight. ("I'll begin with some shadow replications…")

Death's face reflected a cold soul… "I'm tired of this game. Prepare yourself." His eyes widened slightly and he disappeared.

Kakashi broke his technique and leapt to the side, barely flinching as Death's outstretched hand appeared so close to his face that it nearly brushed his nose. ("So he's trying to kill me immediately…") Using his left foot, he drove his right foot forward into Death's stomach.

Death barely flinched, and his left hand dove for Kakashi's head. "Stupid mistake…"

Kakashi slammed his right hand into Death's chest, and a blast of electricity came from it, sending the Sin flying away. "I agree. Don't get so close to me and think it will be easy to overcome me with your touch. I'm not your lesser."

Death stood up and his eyes started to glow bright red.

Kakashi's Sharingan widened and he saw it. All around Death's body was a writhing mass of chakra, which moved like some kind of tentacle-using living creature. ("Shit…") Then the tentacles moved, slamming and striking the ground wildly in an attempt to batter him to death underneath their mass. But he moved like a shadow amongst shadows, avoiding getting touched at all.

Death felt this, and was pleased. ("Only another one like me could survive such an attack. It's you Kakashi…it is you that I must fight now!") He disappeared, moving so fast that even Kakashi had trouble dodging the attack thrown.

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Kin tossed back and forth, his entire body burning. "Please…someone help me…"

Ayumi's arms started to tremble. Nothing was happening… ("I can't help him…I can't do anything for him…")

Yurei kneeled down next to her and looked down at Kin worriedly. "Can't you do anything for him?"

Her face shifted to determined. "I can try…"

Yurei glanced back at the battle that was raging so close to them that he could nearly touch it. ("A battle of Hokage-sama and a ninja just as strong…") His back tingled as he felt the earth shake momentarily from a single clash between the two. ("It's like watching gods fight…it's beyond what I could ever imagine.")

Ayumi kicked Yurei in the shin roughly. "Help me hold him down!"

"Sorry!" Yurei dropped to his knees and tried to pin Kin's shoulders down while the girl held her hands right over the center of the boy's chest. "What's the matter with him?"

"It's some kind of double jeopardy effect…" Her eyes narrowed. "The first attacks…that touch that knocked him out of Paradise…" Green light started to shine from her hands. "It had some kind of damaging chakra vibration from it. It's shaking his internal organs apart from the inside."

"From the inside?" Yurei paled. "But he only touched him…"

"It's a strange technique that I don't understand the mechanics of, but I know what it did." Ayumi closed her eyes and concentrated. "The other problem comes from that back slap…it's warping his chakra and I don't know what the end result will be. In combination, these two would kill him quickly…I have to trigger the jewel's ability to heal."

"If you don't…" Yurei grunted as Kin nearly threw him away with another shove. "His strength is increasing…"

"I don't know what will happen, but I doubt it will be a good thing." Ayumi took another deep breath. She could do this.

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Kakashi touched down and brushed his jacket off. "You still have that problem with your bloodlust. Patience is not something you want to deal with."

Death continued to walk towards Kakashi, his chakra lashing about him as if agitated by the barb. "I shall tear out your spine. Perhaps if you live long enough I will be able to do more though…"

Kakashi slid his hands into his pockets. "You're too eager. And eagerness can lead to mistakes."

Death's eyes met Kakashi's and for a moment there was an air between the two of them that could only be considered murderous. Any kind of friendly interaction was gone…it was time to end play-time and see who was truly the strongest. "You're an anomaly Kakashi. You have such power, and yet you do nothing with it." The Sin's rough voice seemed to echo for miles within the souls of everyone around. "What is the purpose of being Hokage if it means that you do nothing but stand around and act the part of a figure-head all day?"

"It's more than that…and besides, I'm only a temp. Eventually a real Hokage will step forward, and then I can return to being a Jounin." Kakashi heard a scream of pain, and knew it was Kin. "Any particular reason you would use your cursed arm on the boy?"

"I want to see something…I want to see how he handles living like I had to live." Death's left arm lifted up and flexed, before the black silk withdrew to reveal an arm covered with numerous different symbols in black ink. "Don't you like it? In one arm I have the power to destroy humans by the dozens."

"I'm going to amputate that disgusting arm." Kakashi removed his right arm from his pocket to reveal a crackling ball of electricity. "Chidori…"

"Still relying on those kinds of attacks to end the fight for you?" Death's left arm started to glow red. "You were once known as the copy ninja, and that is to your credit. However, you are useless against me. Sharingan cannot copy any of my techniques, because they aren't techniques…" His skull-shaped pupils contracted and locked onto Kakashi. "They are gifts given to me by the gods for my good actions…"

"I wouldn't call massacring over five thousand people any kind of good action." Kakashi felt his blood boil, as memories of the village he had gone to flashed in his mind. "Now…I'll end it! Double Chidori!" His other hand snapped up to reveal another crackling lightning ball. "Die!" He disappeared in a burst of white smoke.

Death's left arm snapped up…

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Ayumi gasped as Kin's eyes snapped open. The pupils were both perfectly slotted, where as before it was only minor. ("Something is wrong…the seal can't be that damaged. This is something else…")

"Get…away…" Kin punched Yurei in the chin, and that launched the boy skywards. Shoving Ayumi away, he stood up and clutched at his stomach. ("I won't let this stop me…I'll beat that guy…")

A growl of pain caught all of their attention.

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"Big mistake Kakashi…" Death's glowing hand held Kakashi's right wrist roughly. "Your attack is useless against me when I have my eyes out…you know that…"

Kakashi growled in pain again as the burning flesh of the cursed arm seared him.

"Pay for your mistake." Death's chakra came alive, smacking Kakashi up into the air like a rag doll and then pummeling him mercilessly.

"Kakashi-sama!" Ayumi leapt up and charged towards Death at a remarkable speed. "Get away from him!"

Death glared right at her, and she froze. Something in those eyes promised a fate beyond death…

Aiko appeared next to Ayumi and covered her eyes with a hand. "Close…" She touched a finger to Ayumi's neck and then breathed a sigh of relief. ("Good…it didn't have enough time to kill her.")

The chakra finally released Kakashi, dropping him down to crash in front of Death. Right as the body hit the ground though, it turned into a huge glob of mud.

("A replacement technique.") Death slowly strolled in a small circle, looking amongst the nearby trees. "Where are you Kakashi? I know the truth about you, and that is that when we fought before you were lucky. Everyone thinks that we are equals…but you know the truth. My attacks consume nearly no chakra, while yours require most of it." He extended his energy to all around him. "Where? Where are you hiding?"

Kin tried to move towards Death, but his body hurt too much. ("My physiology is changing…I can feel it.") He knew his body well, and this didn't feel like his body. The damage being inflicted to his internal organs was livable, because of his body's structure. If he was anyone other than a member of the physically unbreakable Watanabe clan, then he'd be dead already. ("It's this other feeling…I'm changing and I can't stop it.") He dropped to one knee. ("Is this my limit? After achieving the Radiant Paradise, I should be able to stop this kind of enemy.")

Death placed his cursed hand palm-first against the ground. "Hakai." An earthquake shook the surrounding countryside. ("Found you.") Then he disappeared, and a second later the ground shook again. A huge flock of birds launched up into the sky from the far-away treetops, indicating where the battle was taking place. Trees started to fall, and there was a yell of pain.

Aiko frowned and released Ayumi. "Don't be stupid…none of us can help this time. There is no one who can possibly defeat Death other than Kakashi-sama." Another earthquake shook the ground. ("Don't die Kakashi…")

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Kakashi leapt through the air, landing on a nearby tree branch right before a giant tentacle of chakra slammed down into his back. When it withdrew, it came back covered in mud.

("Another one?") Death was growing tired of this game. Kakashi couldn't keep dodging forever. "I will find you. You know that, right?"

"We'll see. Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" White smoke filled the air, and when it cleared there were hundreds of Kakashi standing all around. Some were in trees, some were standing on the bodies of the trees like they were the ground. "No matter what you say, you're not stronger than I am. We're close enough that it's only a matter of who does the smarter move…"

"And that's me." Death smiled slightly, and then melted into a puddle of mud.

("A replication?") Suddenly the air was alive as a giant mass of chakra tentacles exploded out of the ground, tearing through dozens of replications instantly. Through the smoke of the dispelling replications, the tentacles kept striking. Though each of these were Kakashi, they only had a small portion of chakra to use. And that chakra wasn't enough to survive the brutal speed of these tentacles.

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Everyone watched as the trees seemed to be torn apart by invisible winds.

Kai frowned, watching through his sunglasses. His eyes were following something, but even he wasn't sure what it was. ("A blur?")

Yurei felt his arms trembling again. ("There was a massive burst of shadow chakra…and then hundreds of shadow replications…but now there's only one…and now none.")

"Kakashi-sama!" Ayumi started to run forward again, but Aiko stopped her once more.

Kin snarled louder, his fangs bared. ("I'll…") Blood started to drip down the side of his mouth. There was nothing he could do…the blow from before was still damaging to him.

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The entire forest area now seemed like a battlefield. Trees were torn to shreds, and there was nothing left standing but two men.

Kakashi brushed a few splinters from his hair. "Your method of battling is pure violence…nothing more or less."

"Violence works…" Death's left hand flexed. "Besides, you're running low on chakra. What did you expect that massive number of replications to do other than die?"

Kakashi dropped to one knee, but kept his eyes on the dangerous mass of chakra tentacles that surrounded Death's body.

"You're done. Die." Death leapt, the mass of tentacles attacking all at once. Though Kakashi tried to escape, he could only dodge the first dozen before the next three dozen each got a firm hold on him. "And now I tear you apart…"

Kakashi, now up in the air and held in place by the tentacles…smiled with his eyes. "It's over."

Death was about to ask what he meant, but froze. ("I can't move?") His left arm twitched, but no matter what he did he couldn't move. ("How?")

"You fell for it Death." Kakashi casually strolled out from behind a huge pile of kindling. "That wasn't me…it was my new technique. Yuki Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

The trapped Kakashi suddenly turned into a statue of ice. And then Death could see what had happened. There was ice all along his tentacles, and his body. He was frozen. ("Impossible…")

"You're too quick to attack, so by creating an army of shadow replications and then one snow replication I managed to trick you easily." Kakashi strolled to in front of the Sin, ignoring the momentary twitch from the tentacles. "It ends here, you know that."

Kakashi's smiling eyes turned dark. "I'll make it quick." Lightning crackled along his body. His right arm snapped out and lightning built within his palm. "Kagayaki Rakiri!" The ball grew to the size of a watermelon. "This will blow a hole right through you, so big that even with your body type you won't survive." He charged towards Death at full speed.

The Sin smiled. "Ice? Death is colder than ice."

An explosion rang out across the entire countryside once more.

Kakashi looked down at his chest, and at the hand that gripped it. Then pain shot through him and he couldn't move.

"You're the fool. I may have fallen for your trick, but you fell for mine." Death held Kakashi in place, the burning energy from his cursed arm stopping the Hokage from running. "It's a shame Kakashi, but you underestimated my power. If you hadn't, perhaps you would have killed me."

Kakashi started to tremble uncontrollably, as the energy from the cursed hand attacked his body's central nervous system. ("I failed…stupid mistake on my part…")

"Die, fool." Death started to clench tighter, burning away at Kakashi's flesh with the cursed energy.

Kakashi's eyes started to close, as he felt his chakra supply being destroyed by the consuming touch of the arm. ("I…I…") His mind was fading.

Death started to smile…and then his eyes widened. ("What in the…") He was no longer holding Kakashi…but a log. ("A replacement technique? But he couldn't have…")

"I'm glad you sent for me…Kakashi-sensei."

Death slowly turned to see Kakashi propped up against a tree, and there was someone between them. He wore an orange, blue and black suit, with a Jounin vest over it. "Who are you?"

Thumbing at himself, the blond-haired and blue-eyed man smiled confidently. "Naruto Uzumaki, the man who will replace Kakashi-sensei as Hokage."

"Naruto…" Death frowned. "I have heard of you. Interesting…" His cursed hand started to flex. "I'll tear you apart."

"Actually…" Naruto's smile didn't relent.

Death saw a burst of smoke, and realized his mistake. ("The stick wasn't a stick.") Then a pair of arms locked him in place.

"You should know better than to think it that easy. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." A burst of smoke appeared next to Naruto, and now there were two of him. "Take this." Both of them snapped back their right hand, chakra swirling within their palms. "We'll stop you right now, Death."

Death's tentacles were still frozen, and now he was restricted. ("I can't stop the attack…")

Both Naruto and the replication put their hands near each other, the gathering chakra building rapidly into a large swirling ball. "Rasengan…" Then both charged towards him.

Death growled and his muscles bulged up for a moment from underneath his cloak. "Another time then." And then he disappeared, leaving Naruto and Kakashi alone in the destroyed woods.

To be continued…