Grace
Standard Disclaimer and Note still Apply
Miako – slow down? Aaaaah! –pulls hair out– trust me, if I had it my way, I would have rushed almost everything. I can't help it; I have very little patients, but trust me I am trying. Unfortunately, this story is doomed to end very soon. The next one will begin probably Friday. Possibly sooner.
GMan – yes, some things are a deviation from the original story line, if you notice a lot of things have been altered, such as the case with Orochimaru for example. Part of it was due to my own lack of knowledge; part of it was due to suit my needs for this story and my ideas.
Mrs. Nozomu Sohma – I am trying to keep the original jutsus within the realm of what could be accomplished by the Naruto characters, instead of giving them super uber godlike powers such as raining down meteors.
Thank you very much everyone for your awesome reviews! You all get a Clifford sticker. :p
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"Oh Shit."
And the understatement of the year award goes to! Naruto thought to himself angrily. The Jewel armour was actually more like diamond armour. There was no way Naruto could break it, he needed Sakura here to do that, and he didn't have that luxury. He also couldn't summon Gamabunta without repercussion, as there was a 90 percent chance that the frog boss wouldn't recognize him.
He wasn't given anymore time to think of a plan as the scorpion's tail came crashing down on his head. Or lord it hurt. God did it hurt! He staggered up to his knees, bleeding profusely from his head from a long gash starting from his ear and ending on his shoulder blade. Naruto wasn't even sure how he had gotten it.
Naruto's vision swam before his eyes as he desperately tried to clear his vision, only to have blood swarm into his eyes. He wouldn't give up however, that wasn't his style. Slowly, painfully and to the amusement of the Tsuchikage, Naruto rose shakily to his feet.
I have to… defeat that armor first…Naruto silently analyzed his situation. The scorpion boss can't harm me if I can't get to me, so that means fighting either far away, or on top of it. Naruto watched the incoming tail, knowing full well he couldn't avoid it. Instead, he gathered chakra to his side and cushioned the blow.
However, he was still sent sideways, sliding on the ice. Wait… ice! Naruto smiled. By the application of heat, and then the immediate application of cold, the particles in some objects, such as stone, will lose their cohesiveness and disintegrate, and in some cases, make it incredibly easy to break.
Let it also be known that when stone is heated then cooled rapidly, the outside cools quicker than the inside, and large chunks fall off. Naruto now knew what he needed to do to accomplish both of these, the problem was would he have enough chakra to do it?
'You will if I help you!' boomed a voice in the back of his head. Naruto winced, but smiled none the less as the Kyuubi started to once again channel chakra to him. First his head wound and concussion healed, then the rest of his wounds (most he still cannot remember how he got) healed, leaving Naruto free to dodge the next lash of the scorpion boss' tail.
'I don't have to worry about the ice factor, its nearly -20 out.' Which meant he only needed fire, and possibly water for his plan to work. Naruto took a slow, deep breath.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" two clones appeared next to him. He sent one into the ground, and another to the other side of the scorpion boss. However, the Tsuchikage would have none of this. But neither would Naruto. The moment he saw Mirai make hand seals, Naruto jumped into action, calling upon some of Kyuubi's chakra and using a powerful genjutsu.
"Kokuangyou no Jutsu!" Mirai found himself swallowed whole in a viod of blackness. No simple 'kai' would release it, and believe him, he tried. Even the Scorpian boss tried to dispel it, but it was filled with a demonic type of chakra. The kind of chakra that was almost palatable on Mirai's tongue.
Naruto was starting to pant, although Kyuubi was feeding him a steady flow of chakra, he was beginning to feel the strain on his body. The clone he sent underground now came up behind the domicile of blackness that the original had surrounded his enemy in.
He gave the mental signal to begin. One clone used a fire jutsu, putting medium amounts of chakra, while the other clone, a second after used a water jutsu. Being wet and exposed to the intense cold could not be good for the trapped Tsuchikage. By the way Naruto could feel large chakra bursts from inside his void; he could tell the Tsuchikage was trying various ways to free himself.
His clones continued their attack while Naruto continued to siphon Kyuubis chakra and divide it 7 ways. It was difficult, he had to supply a constant energy to each individual clone while simultaneously providing chakra to his genjutsu to prevent its expulsion, and he was defiantly feeling the strain now. 4 clones were maintaining the barrier, two attacking one after the other repeatedly, and Naruto merely sitting there, waiting.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw several Konoha ninja's gathered. Either they were wasting time, or his battle was the last one to be fought. He just downright hated being last.
Suddenly there was a loud, agonizing crack from his void, and immediately Naruto canceled one of his clones, readying the final attack. He canceled his genjutsu and surveyed the damage. Much like he had suspected, the stone scorpion boss was now a pile of broken rocks. Mirai's armor was also cracked, chipped and parts had broken off.
"Kanashibari no jutsu!" the remaining clone yelled, effectively preventing Mirai from moving.
Naruto and the Kyuubi saw this as the only moment they had. The demon fox blasted the boy with a large amount of his chakra, causing a thick layer to form around Naruto. Naruto on the other hand, crossed his hands in front of his chest and concentrated. Blue orbs surrounded by an outer layer of red chakra formed above each finger and thumb and the next moment he released his hands outward in a swift arc away from his body.
"Ten fingered Rasengan!" No sooner had he unleashed the small balls of power had he grabbed his roll of wire in his belt pouch. First he enforced the wire with his chakra then swiftly; decisively he shot both ends out, catching each tiny Rasengan ball in the middle and stringing them like beads. Each end wrapped around the stunned Mirai and pinned him, each Rasengan ball forced upon his body tightly, striking multiple areas with the same amount of compressed energy as a regular Rasengan ball.
However, this put Naruto at his limit. There was only so much he could do, and only so much of Kyuubi's chakra he could handle. When Mirai fell off the stony remains of his boss summon dead as any other corpse, Naruto collapsed onto the ground in a dead faint. The clones and barrier puffed out of existence leaving no one but himself left. He only had enough energy left from his battle to breathe properly.
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Sakura hadn't left Naruto's side the moment she had heard he was in the hospital. Several friends and family dropped by, supplying flowers and just checking to make sure he was okay. Sandaime visited often as well; Jiraiya and Tsunade as much as they could.
She sighed. Sasuke had received minor wounds, and was already healed of his injuries. Two extra beds had been supplied for them when they couldn't keep their eyes open. Sasuke was currently asleep on one of them.
Naruto still hadn't woken up. Both he and the Kyuubi had suffered massive Chakra drain. It was no surprise considering how much Chakra he had used. She had heard eyewitness accounts to the type of battle he had fought in against the two kages.
Although she had seen and fought with him when him was fighting seriously, every time she heard about it, or saw it, it just simply amazed her at his capacity. She sighed, looking out the window to the sunny blue sky. After months of snow and ice and clouds, it was finally sunny again.
Still. He had been out a week now. And Sakura was understandably worried for her friend. Never, never beforehand had he been out this long from chakra drain. She looked down at him and smiled. Tsunade and been extremely fussy over bandaging him, and he now looked like a mummy; of course, minus the disembowelment and embalming aspects.
She had been so reflective in her thoughts she didn't notice Naruto's eyes start to twitch until his eyes opened with a soft sounding groan and they closed again. She was immediately down to his level, speaking softly at a whisper. Patients with chakra drain were unusual sensitive to light and sound. Reflecting upon this, she hastily shut the blinds as well.
"Naruto? Do you need some water?" she received a grunt which she knew by now to take as a yes. Taking the pitcher by the bedside table she filled a glass. She tasted it herself to ensure it wasn't poisoned (force of habit) and gently lowered it to his parched lips letting small amounts trickle down. He grunted again when he wanted her to stop and she did.
Sakura looked over to see that Sasuke had woken up and had taken residence on Naruto's other side in the vacant chair left there. They shared a relieved look at each other before concentrating on Naruto.
"How do you feel dobe?" Sasuke whispered to him.
"Like shit." Came the groggy and raspy voice that clearly belonged to Naruto. Sakura rolled her eyes.
"Do you hurt anywhere, baka?" she asked calmly, never speaking above the soft whisper.
"'m head. Feels like… hit with mallet." His voice was also distinctly lethargic sounding. Sakura fed him some more water from the cup when she noticed his lips were parched again. She also frowned at his words.
"You have a slight concussion still. I take it Kyuubi-chan is working on it?" she received another grunt in affirmation. Sasuke perked an eyebrow.
"Sounds like you've reached an all new level to the language of the Neanderthal." Sasuke commented lightly, still speaking at a whisper. Sakura stifled her giggles.
"Actually, your head was hit with a stone tail…" she offered. This was met with a pitiful groan and both the dark haired and pink haired teenagers chuckled at the blond's expense.
"Go back to sleep. We'll be here when you wake up in the morning." Sasuke promised, looking down onto the face of his friend only to find he was still asleep.
"geeze." He said fondly with a smirk plastered on his face. Sakura merely sighed and decided to take a nap while Sasuke watched him.
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It was another week before Naruto was admitted out of the hospital. Sasuke helped Naruto to his apartment when Naruto merely shook his head. Sasuke looked at him confused.
"Pack your things. We're leaving tomorrow. We're going home, tomorrow." Naruto told him. Sasuke's eyes widened. Truth be told, he was sad he would be leaving the past. It also seemed like Naruto could read minds.
"I know, me too Sasuke. However, we have to leave soon. We can't stay forever. Who knows what havoc our enemies are raging while we're gone. Fighting the Kage's made me realize that. Sakura's already packing."
Sasuke sighed and ran his hand through his hair, giving him a windswept look that would have driven Sakura crazy 4 years ago.
"Alright… Where do you want to meet?" He asked. Naruto had to actually think about that one. He yawned tiredly.
"Hmmm… in front of the hospital. In case something goes wrong." He winked and Sasuke was tempted to hit him for the snide remark. However, since he was recently injured, he settled for throwing a menacing glare.
"Whatever, dobe." With that the Uchiha left.
Sasuke had grown accustomed to his brother again, his nice brother. He was happy to be here. But he knew Naruto was right. He couldn't stay because it wasn't real. Well it was, but soon it would be a different reality. He sighed. His mind knew he had to leave, but his heart didn't want too.
Sakura was of the same thought. She enjoyed being here, her father was alive and she really wanted to stay. But all good things must come to an end and there were people depending on them. They had to leave. They had grown stronger here in the past, hopefully enough to help Konoha, instead of being its demise.
Naruto however, was haven't different thoughts. For him, it was nice where people didn't see him as a demon and respected him. He had a taste of what it would be like one day when he would become Hokage. He smiled, remembering the day they woke up in the hospital, stuck in the past. It was true; he hadn't done this solely to save them. Part of it was a gift to two people he loved with all his heart. His teammates. His best friends. His sister and his brother.
But he wondered, also, if anyone had tried to add 2 and 2 together and come up with 5? He grinned up at the ceiling. Soon, very soon he would tell them the real purpose.
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One more chapter to go folks before the second story of this series starts! Hehehe, you have no idea how long I've been wanting to do the 10 fingered Rasengan attack. But I had to save it for a special attack. I'm proud of myself for thinking it up… though I may have botched in explaining it.
Just so you know this IS a Trilogy of a sort. Grace was merely the first 'part' of the grand story. I will give out the synopsis and name of the next 'part' of the grand story in the last chapter of this one. –kukukukukukuku!-