Another chapter after two days, but I'm not sure I'll be able to keep that pace up after this one; there may be some light burnout from writing 13K+ words in a week. Having said that, though...I'll see what I can do.
Review response:
1. Noahendless: The answer to that question is, "yes." And as far as Naruto's power level goes, I actually addressed it in this chapter. (Maybe as a result of seeing your review? Haha.) But on the large-scale spectrum, he currently falls somewhere in the A-rank category. I feel like D-rank through A-rank are all fairly strict in their starting and stopping points, but S-rank ninja are a whole other level of insanity, with no real ceiling for the power cap. If Naruto were to face off with any S-rank ninja in his current state, he could escape easily, but he'd be very hard-pressed to win.
2. TigrezzTail: My understanding of Kishimoto's reasoning for things like "Danzo not using Shisui's eye earlier in canon," is that he was going about the standard plot map of "NEW ARCS/NEW VILLAINS" and plot-holed himself to hell by introducing characters who'd existed in-universe for a long time. It works in DBZ because it's outer space and these guys can absolutely come out of nowhere without any context. It doesn't work in Naruto because, once you know certain characters' goals and methods? It makes no sense for them to have not performed X actions under Y circumstances to get Z results.
3. Uchiha Arashi: Thank you! I know the typical take on Orochimaru is "he serves himself and his desires, and hang the rest of the world," but I like to dig, and sometimes invent, a little deeper; in this fic, my approach is, "Orochimaru is a good-natured person who is willing to do indisputably evil things in the name of protecting his friends, loved ones, and homeland." He isn't the main villain, so to speak, or really a villain at all—but as the first chapter indicates, this story inevitably leads to his downfall.
Let's get this trainwreck moving.
"So, level with me here for a second." Yugito said as she walked with Yuurei. "Do you actually have a plan to fight that thing?"
"The Ichibi hasn't been released, which means he's still tied to his Jinchuriki and can only use the amount of strength that his host's body can handle. Do you know anything about them?" Yuurei answered her question with one of his own.
"He's the Kazekage's youngest son, twelve or thirteen years old." Yugito replied.
"Good. That means his keirakukei hasn't fully matured, so Shukaku's power will be limited." Yuurei grinned as he walked; for some reason, it irked Yugito that he'd only recently begun his growth spurt, but he was already as tall as she was.
"I ask again: do you have a plan?" The Nibi Jinchuriki refused to let her question go.
"Not really. I'm just going to beat him over the head until he gives up."
As they continued moving, Yugito did her absolute best to look at anything besides Yuurei. Then, for the second time since he'd bound her to his will, a third party called out to them.
"Hey...wait, Naruto, is that you?" A boy with black hair, pulled into a high ponytail that didn't fall down, asked from his spot on the ground. He was heavily wounded, but not in any immediate danger.
"I am Yuurei." The blond felt a spike of anger when he saw the condition Shikamaru had been left in, but calmed himself when he saw the dozen corpses of the Nara heir's enemies. "Naruto and his sensei died in Nami no Kuni."
"Heheh...a ghost, huh? Troublesome bastard. Good to see you in the land of the living. You, uh, headed toward the giant tanuki?" Shikamaru smirked.
"Yes." Yugito answered.
"Give 'em hell, chief. I'm just gonna sit here and look at the clouds until my body starts feeling right again." Shikamaru closed his eyes, though, and didn't reopen them.
"Is he..."
"Sleeping." Yuurei interrupted Yugito. "He might be the laziest son of a bitch I've ever met."
"And if you don't mind me asking, what happened in Nami no Kuni?" Yugito's question came as they continued moving, leaving Shikamaru to his rest. She listened as Yuurei gave a brief account of his Genin team's first and last mission outside the walls of Konoha, including the loss of his eye and the island's destruction.
Could he really have done that? The blonde asked her inner demon.
The Hakai is a technique of almost unparalleled destruction, and one that not all demons can use. If he's telling the truth—and he is telling the truth—then no place is completely safe from him. Not that he's unstoppable yet. By the way your society has taken to gauging an individual's powers, he's only an A-rank threat.
Yugito's eyes nearly rolled back into her head at that statement. Only an A-rank threat, as if those just grew on trees? But, then again, Matatabi had lived for thousands of years—many times longer than her own life would last. Though her strength paled in comparison to her eldest brother, Kurama, she was a force of nature capable of slaughtering entire nations wholesale. It was reasonable, from that perspective, to say that Yuurei was only a powerful human...at the moment.
In short order, the pair came to an artificial clearing, where Shukaku stood at the epicenter. Several bodies that neither ninja recognized were scattered about the fallen trees, and it didn't take much imagination to think that several more corpses were crushed beneath the giant trunks.
"So it was you!" Shukaku shouted in surprise. "It's been a long time since I've seen an attack like that aimed my way. A thousand years? Two thousand? I'm impressed, little demon!"
"Yes, it was me. I'd rather not see my homeland destroyed, so I decided to come to you instead." Yuurei didn't back down, or even acknowledge the moderate praise the Ichibi offered him.
"Judging by those tails of yours...my oldest brother ate the dust, huh? Don't tell me you killed him. I'm not gonna buy that shit for a second." The giant tanuki spoke with scorn, but there was a wistful expression on his face as well; Shukaku hadn't loved Kurama as much as he'd feared and envied his strength, but they had still waged war together, and were sons of the same father.
"I'm his...reincarnation." Yuurei responded. "On the night I was born, an attempt was made to turn me into a Jinchuriki. It went very wrong. The Kyuubi no Kitsune has fallen, but the Kyuubi no Yuurei has risen to take his place."
At that announcement, Shukaku laughed heartily.
"Well, come on then, boy! I'll play a bit with you while Matatabi watches. The Great Darkness knows I'm in no condition to fight you seriously. Show me what you've got!" The black-and-tan demon sent several dozen miniature bullets of sand in Yuurei's direction, focusing solely on the young demon as Yugito escaped to the side.
Yuurei's form almost seemed to blur out of existence as he brought his youki to bear, his bloody body becoming cloaked in demonic energy that took on the sheen of an oil slick. Running forward, he closed the distance between himself and the other demon, delivering an earth-shattering punch to Shukaku's body. At first, the Ichibi didn't think much of it, but then he felt his sandy flesh corrode and fail to heal itself.
"Your youki can suppress mine? But the only one ever capable of that was..." Trailing off, Shukaku stopped everything as he looked at Yuurei's face with razor-sharp focus. "...father?"
WHAT?
Matatabi's psychic scream rocked Yugito's brain, and carried outward to both Yuurei and Shukaku—the first time that any of the Biju had been able to speak while in sealed captivity.
"When I met the clone in the City of the Dead, he did mention Kurama was his oldest child." Yuurei said.
"YOU MET HIM? OUR FATHER?" Shukaku howled, sand flying into the sky as he shrank down to a human size. His black-clawed hands gripped Yuurei's shoulders in something between reverence and desperation. "Where? When? Tell me!"
"I found his clone in the City of the Dead, after I sank Nami no Kuni. He taught me Fuinjutsu, and then he put the rest of his life force into a sealing array for me to absorb once I finish my transformation from human to demon." Yuurei spoke calmly, but Shukaku seemed prepared to burst into tears. "He mentioned something about other worlds. My assumption would be that he's not the father you knew, but a different one who traveled here when the World Tree was still young and strong. He left me a piece of his youki to assimilate."
Having said so, Yuurei dredged up part of the dark energy that the ancient clone had pushed into him, only to watch Shukaku—and Yugito, he noticed out of the corner of his eye—stumble backwards.
"FATHER!" The tanuki howled in mourning. "Even that fraction of his strength is proof enough! It's been so long..."
Inside of Yugito's head, Matatabi was having a similar reaction.
Please get a hold on yourself. She asked.
That's very easy for you to say. Today has been too much! First, we come across the first new demon to enter the world since before Makai was sealed off from this place. Second, he puts a slave seal on you. Third, my oldest brother is dead, and that child inherited his power! Fourth, my father has been dead for thousands upon thousands of years, and that boy has a mass of his youki in his possession! I will NOT be calm! This is insanity!
"Let's make a deal." Yuurei's words carried a deep chill with them, as though the sun was casting a shadow instead of rays of light. "In the near future, the other three major villages are likely to attack Sunagakure. If you and the Suna-nin who will follow you retreat now, your forces won't suffer severe losses. I'll fight with you when that invasion starts, and I'll give you a portion of your father's youki to assimilate. You and Matatabi both."
Those terms were beyond generous; Shukaku didn't even need to think twice about it. Rather, he was aware that Yuurei trying to make a pact out of it was to show his sincerity. In his current state, after all, he posed only a moderate threat to the blond demon. By showing up to aid Sunagakure later, he'd kill many more enemies, and temper his strength considerably. And he'd seen the effect that the jet-black youki had on the two other demons, even if the Nibi was still sealed in Yugito's body—doing them a kindness like that would go a long way in securing long-term allies, even if they weren't bound to their word like he was.
The tanuki's sand-colored hands came up to grasp one of Yuurei's own, gripping it fervently.
"Yes. Yes! A thousand times, yes!"
A thunderclap resounded as the agreement was made, and the temperature returned to normal. Though he harbored no intentions of reneging on his word, it took Shukaku a moment to process that he'd bargained with an Oathkeeper without thinking twice. If Yuurei had chosen to be a little more cunning with his wordplay, or to put down more devious terms, the tanuki would have had no choice but to honor the agreement. By every stretch of the means, he'd gotten off lucky.
"I'll fulfill my end of the bargain in due time." Yuurei said. "Don't worry. I'll be seeing you soon enough."
Saying so, he stored the black youki away, and Shukaku nodded. Though he would have liked to come into possession of a piece of his long-lost father immediately, the knowledge that it existed in the first place was already an incredible gift. Not to mention the fact that under pain of death, Yuurei couldn't default on his word; for that fraction of a fraction of his father's power, Shukaku would gladly wait for a decade, never mind a few short months.
"Well then, little demon...until we meet again."
Shukaku convulsed as sand fell off of him in layers and clumps, his demonic aura disappearing as he willingly went back into his seal. In his place was a redheaded boy with a tattoo above his left eye, whose body fell backwards in unconsciousness. But before Yuurei could move to stop him from hurting himself, a soft bed of sand flowed under him to keep him safe.
A pair of teens ran forward, one male and one female; the boy, in black robes and facepaint, grabbed Gaara effortlessly. The girl, a blonde with four ponytails, shouted an order to retreat into a device Yuurei recognized from Kakashi's memories—it was a long-range communicator, and not the basic kind of walkie-talkie that they would hand out to Academy children or new Genin for field exercises. Whoever those two were, Yuurei had a feeling that he'd see them again.
Briefly, the blond thought about the fact that he'd offered away something that had specifically been left to help him grow stronger, but he closed his eyes in acceptance. After all, wouldn't it be better to absorb this power after he completed his transition into a demon? If the power contained in this mass of youki was that valuable, that question was as rhetorical as they came.
Individually, and yet all at once, one Suna-nin after another flew west across the clearing and made a beeline away from Konoha. There was no doubt that they were heading back to their homeland, where they could lick their wounds and ponder their future in relative safety. Yuurei watched them flee with little interest, subconsciously aware that Kiri and Kumo would be cutting their losses and turning their tails on the other side of the village. Iwa, however, would have to content themselves with an unmarked mass grave; with the exception of the few that Kidomaru had killed to alert Yuurei and Yugito to his position, the red-eyed demon had slaughtered the invaders from Iwagakure with extreme prejudice.
Yuurei's tails slowly receded back into his body, the multicolored shine of his youki cloak dispersing as he absorbed it. Looking back at Yugito with an easy grin, he watched her face as she processed the last few minutes of her life.
"Do you want to go back?" He asked, any trace of a fiendish aura gone from his presence.
"Would you let me?" Yugito scoffed at the younger blond's question.
"Not what I asked, but I see your point. Do you want to go with me?" Yuurei pondered the scathing look that Yugito sent him for a moment. "Right, right. The seal. Still, I don't want you to think I'm just leading you by the nose or something. You have opinions that you should be allowed to voice."
"Jinchuriki are mostly kept behind as a village's last lines of self-defense, so I don't typically get a chance to leave Kumo. Inconvenient as the terms and conditions may be, I would like the chance to stretch my legs a little bit. But what about you? You just came home after six months. Are you just going to leave?"
Closing his Sharingan at that question, Yuurei watched Yugito's face with only his bloodshot red eye.
"Yes." He decided. "The place I made for myself here, when I thought I was human, isn't something that exists for a demon to take. Those friends and loved ones have outgrown their need for my help. This is the place where my parents and my predecessor died, but I never knew them, and Konoha isn't the seat of my power."
Yugito wasn't fazed by her captor's words, since her line of thinking aligned pretty closely with Yuurei's on that subject. Certainly, she was loyal to Kumogakure...but that was because her uncle was the Sandaime Raikage, not out of some misplaced love for a populace that treated her as some crude mix between a novelty, a curse, and a prospective breeding sow. Naturally, she knew that becoming a mother was considered her duty as a member of the Nii family, and that love was a luxury that no active-duty ninja could afford. It was true that no man had caught her eye, but she'd never bothered to give the idea more than a passing thought. In Kumogakure, she was tied down by her lineage and her status as a Jinchuriki; any men who expressed interest in her would do so only as a means to get close to the Raikage or his sons, and she had no interest in entertaining such shallow displays.
Out in the wider world, she might have the freedom to simply be herself. That, in itself, might be worth the cost of following Yuurei around. As the afternoon sun's warmth washed across the land, her lips twitched upward in a small smirk. Had she really just convinced herself that being put under an enslavement seal wasn't such a bad thing?
"Lead on, then." She said. She wasn't naive enough to think that there was a high level of safety in traveling with a self-made nukenin, but after this fiasco, it would be quite a while before her uncle could spare the manpower to find out if she was alive and send out search parties. Until then, she'd traded his leash for Yuurei's. Since there was nothing she could do about it, she decided to roll with it.
Yuurei made a single Kage Bunshin, sending it back into the village after it performed a henge to disguise itself. After that, the blond turned to Yugito and jerked his head in the direction that the Suna-nin had gone. Like two ghosts in a remembered dream, the pair vanished from sight, and left Konoha's worries behind them.
In the shadow of a fallen tree, a black-haired boy sat completely still as he replayed the last few minutes of his life. He'd taken off after his match against Gaara, intent on finishing the job he'd started, but the redhead's power had been overwhelming once prying eyes were gone. In his own estimation, Sasuke had held on admirably, but Gaara had eventually become...bored. It was the only explanation for why, when he'd had Sasuke on the ropes, he'd seen fit to unleash a demon on the world. Sand had been dredged up from the dirt, gusts of hot air had toppled trees that were older than Konoha, and an overwhelming pressure had forced its way into Sasuke's conscious mind.
And then, Naruto had arrived. Covered in blood and viscera, with a fierce aura that demanded acknowledgement, his battle with the Ichibi had lasted two moves before Shukaku had stopped trying. The Genin Sasuke had known in his short-lived tenure under Hatake Kakashi was strong, but not that strong. And those tails...
Sasuke shook his head before he leaned against the fallen tree trunk. Clearly, he'd gone delirious, and he was imagining things. But what he hadn't imagined was the fact that Naruto was alive. His brother—as ever, it seemed—had been right about Naruto's survival in Nami no Kuni. And, in their hour of need, he'd arrived to save them. With a tired smile, he closed his eyes and let exhaustion overtake him.
