Chapter 29:
Finally, after two weeks of going all over the EN, hunting down rogue ninja, Saeko was finally found by Pain… or better said, she was found by Pain's, as there were six of them, all with the orange hair, all with the Rinnegan eyes, and all with some black rods on their bodies. To say that Saeko was surprised by their appearance, would be an understatement.
Saeko stood still and calm in front of six Pain's, looking at them with interest in her eyes. She was trying to determine at, what they really are, and how can they all have the same eyes. One thing that she did notices, outside of them being very strange, is that they appear to not be alive. To Saeko, they all felt like walking corpses.
The only reason she can even notice that, is because she is not normal human, so she is capable of noticing stuff like, weather someone is truly alive, or they are just puppets. These six man in front of her, don't feel alive at all, and that made her understand right then and there, that she will potentially be fighting corpses manipulated by someone from afar. How afar, she will have to determine later.
"You sure are a hard person to find," one of the Pain's, the one with spiky orange hair, who stood in front of the others, and appeared to be the boss, said. "I've been searching for you for weeks."
"And why would the Akatsuki be interested in me?" Saeko asked with an amused look on her face, and without even bothering to hide the fact that she knows about the Akatsuki.
Pain narrowed his eyes at her blatant questions. He knew that she knew about the Akatsuki, but was almost expecting her to keep it quiet at first.
"You and your… 'Companions', have been mentioned to me by one of my subordinates," Pain said, and watched for Saeko's reaction. He got none, which surprised him again. "He said that you and your friends are strong, and are worthy of being a part of the Akatsuki. I'm here to invite you to join my group and help us achieve the ever-lasting peace."
"Hm," Saeko hmed and gained a faraway look for a second, before she asked. "And why would I be interested I joining your little group? I'm satisfied with my current life as a bounty hunter, especially since I don't have to follow orders."
Pain narrowed his eyes at her. "As I said," he spoke. "We are trying to bring the everlasting peace in the EN. Are you not interested in being a part of that?"
Saeko shrugged. "I guess it would depend on the way you are trying to achieve that peace." She said. "There are some things not worth doing in the quest for peace."
"That might be your opinion," Pain said. "But in order to bring peace and stop more and more people from killing each other, I'm willing to do anything."
Saeko looked at Pain for a while, making it look like she was thinking about his words. She knew that she will join. It was a mission given to her by Naruto, but she can't outright agree, as that might be suspicious. She will have to pretend to be hard to get, so, she said. "I don't believe in the need to do anything in order to achieve peace," Saeko said, and the six paths of Pain narrowed their eyes and tensed, ready for a battle. "But I'm willing to give you a chance." Now, the Pain's looked at her with curious looks.
"What do you have in mind?" The leading Pain asked.
"Fight me," Saeko said, getting raised eyebrows from Pain's. "Show me that you are worthy of me working for you, and if you prove yourself, I might agree to join you little crew."
One of the paths of Pain, the one with the long hair tied back in a long ponytail and with a fringe hanging down from the right side of his head, walked in front of the others, before he performed hand seals for the summoning jutsu, and slammed his hand on the ground.
Form the giant poof of smoke, a giant, two-headed dog with purple eyes just like Pain's and with black rods on its face, appeared. Next to the dog, there is a bird even bigger than the dog, with green colored feathers, and with orange drill-like beak. The bird also had Rinnegan eyes and black rods.
Saeko looked at the two beasts in wonder, with her eyebrows risen slightly, before she heard the main Pain. "So be it!"
The two beasts then charged at Saeko, who looked at them, held her right hand on her sword hilt, and smirked.
The battle was on.
XXX
Naruto Uzumaki stood behind some trees, and was watching a very interesting face-off between two members of the Akatsuki, and the team from the Leaf consisting of Asuma Sarutobi, Shikamaru Nara, as well as the so called, 'Eternal Gate Guards', Izumo and Kotetsu.
He has been there for about an hour and has been watching everything, but didn't interfere, as he wanted to see how this will go, but he also wanted to see the kind of powers two Akatsuki members have.
To say he was surprise when he saw one of the two have his head sliced off, and yet still be alive, is the understatement of the year. Naruto really wondered what kind of a being Hidan is, and who the hell is that 'Jashin' god, Hidan keeps mentioning.
Naruto also found the other Akatsuki member, Kakuzu, very interesting, but not as much as Hidan. Then again, he hasn't see much of Kakuzu's powers, so that might change later.
Right now, Naruto was watching as Asuma was dealt the damage Hidan himself gave to himself, and was interesting in that kind of power. Damage transference of this kind is definitely not something he has ever seen, and he has lived for over a millennia. He smiled at the thought of all the interesting powers this Shinobi World seems to have, and though they are not as destructive as the powers wielded by Hollows and Shinigami, they were definitely interesting.
Hidan has just stubbed himself with the rod straight through the chest, and Naruto heard Shikamaru yell Asuma's name.
Asuma was kneeling on the ground, frozen in shock, before he coughed some blood from his throat. Asuma gaze was wide-eyed, and it looked like he was looking at Hidan, though that was uncertain. For all Naruto knew, Asuma could be simply watching in the distance.
Hidan though, was looking at Asuma and had a smirk on his face, while some blood was falling from the side of his mouth. He still held the rod he stubbed himself with, and his three bladed scythe was still embedded into his gut, but he seemed to be satisfied with his work.
Shikamaru was using whatever strength he had left, to run toward Asuma in order to help him, though Naruto knew that at this point, neither of Asuma's companions could help him. The man is still alive, but would be dead very soon.
Naruto sighed as he looked at the image of the falling Asuma. According to Sakura, Asuma and his entire genin team were on Naruto's side all these years, even when most of the village was against them. As such, Naruto wishes to save Asuma before he dies, but the problem is, that the only way for Asuma to be saved at this point is if Naruto turns him into a human/hollow hybrid.
That is the problem because if he does that, Asuma would have to join the Whirlpool, since there is no way that Naruto would save him and then let him go back to the Leaf with his new powers, and the memory of Naruto saving him.
That means that, if Naruto is to save Asuma, he would have to find a way to convince the other three that Asuma is dead. Unfortunately, with all of the powers Naruto has, memory manipulation, is not one of them.
Then again, Tayuya is capable of that.
Naruto was surprised when suddenly, a flock of crows attacked Hidan, and Kakuzu, before four more Leaf ninja appeared and saved the two eternal guards from dying at Kakuzu's hands… literally.
Naruto watched as Chōji and Ino took Asuma and Shikamaru on the roof of the nearby building, while one ninja was standing on the edge of the building keeping an eye on the Akatsuki's Zombie Duo. The forth Leaf ninja, the one with the scar on his face, approached Kotetsu.
"Are you all right," he asked Kotetsu?
"I'm fine," Kotetsu replied, while coughing slightly from almost being strangled by Kakuzu. "What about Asuma?"
Naruto couldn't see those on the roof from his position, so he wasn't sure what's going on, but he could guess what's happening.
Asuma is dying… and as such, he is most likely saying his final words, while his team were crying. That is the picture Naruto can't see, and yet at the same time, he can see it.
Surprisingly, Naruto was wrong about the picture. He seems to have hurried up with the final words, because he could suddenly see a movements on the roof, and realized that Kakuzu went up there, most likely not willing to give up on the bounty which was placed on Asuma's head.
Naruto sighed and cursed. "Why couldn't have I just continued with my original plan, and killed everyone until there is nothing left in the EN," Naruto wondered? "Why did I have to become such a bleeding heart?"
Naruto cursed, and then he disappeared from where he was standing. In an instant, Naruto was in front of a surprised Hidan, who didn't even have time to blink, let alone dodge a vicious kick to the torso from Naruto, which sent him flying for miles through the air.
Naruto completely ignored the Leaf ninja who were near Hidan, and disappeared again, this time, appearing in front of Kakuzu, who was in a battle against the Leaf ninja who has summoned crows earlier.
"What the…" Kakuzu managed to say when he saw Naruto appear in front of him, but couldn't say anything else, because Naruto grabbed him by his face, before he slammed the back of Kakuzu's head on the building's roof, dragged him across it for a few seconds, creating a trench in the process, and finally, Naruto tossed Kakuzu toward where he kicked Hidan earlier. Kakuzu flied like a bullet through the air, before he disappeared with a twinkle in the sky.
Naruto stood there for a moment, before he turned and looked at the shocked faces of the Leaf ninja, who couldn't believe what just happened. He looked at them all for a few seconds, as if he was judging them, before he sighed, and started walking toward them, making everyone on guard.
"You stay right there," Aoba yelled! "Who are you, and what do you want from us?" He was scared to hell after he saw how one guy sent flying two members of the Akatsuki, which all of them couldn't handle.
Naruto stopped walking and looked at the ninja who addressed him. He sighed again, before he said. "I saved your lives. As such, I think that you should calm down, and don't give me any trouble. Besides, if you couldn't defeat those two imbeciles, you stand no chance against me." Naruto's blue eyes glowed with unimaginable power, making all the Leaf ninja gulp, while Ino, surprisingly, blushed when she saw Naruto and felt his power. She wasn't a sensory ninja, but even as such, she can sense Naruto's power, and it was intoxicating.
Naruto walked and stood above Asuma. He looked at him for a few moments, before he sighed for god only knows how many times that day, and shock his head.
"Listen up," Naruto said, getting everyone's attention. "I'm going to save Asuma's life," everyone looked at Naruto wide-eyed, and with their jaws on the floor. "But, all of you cannot know about that."
Now they were all surprised, including Shikamaru who is supposed to be the smartest among them… well, the smartest not counting Naruto, who was a genius on the level no Nara has ever been. "What does that mean?" Ino asked.
Naruto looked at Ino, and against his better judgement, he smiled at her. The moment he did that, Ino blushed furiously, and looked away from him, making the other Leaf ninja who saw this, groan in disbelief.
"That means," Naruto spoke. "That I will save Asuma's life, he will live, but all of you will believe that he died right here and now."
"W-What," Shikamaru stuttered, while everyone else, except Ino, went in to battle stance? "Why would you do that?"
"I don't want anyone to know that I can save the lives of people who are as close to death as Asuma," Naruto said. "His injuries can't be healed by anyone in this world except me. As such, I'm the only one who can keep him alive. The question now is… do you want him to die here and now, or do you want him to live?"
"Of course we want him to live," Chōji shouted! "But we don't want to think that he is dead! Actually, how can you even make all of us forget about this?"
"I can't," Naruto said, now confusing them even more. "But, there is someone I know who has the power to manipulate people's minds to a level no Yamanaka or anyone else in the world can. That person can rewrite your memories. Make you believe that Asuma died, while he is alive. You will then go back to the Leaf, and inform everyone what happened, the village would mourn the death of one of their shinobi, and then they would all go back to their normal lives. As for Asuma, he will have to stay at the same place I'm staying, and will have to work for me.
"That is the price for his life. It is up to all of you to decide if you will accept my proposal or not."
The Leaf ninja all looked at each other, and thought about what they should do. Asuma, who is conscious right now, has heard everything, and is also thinking about what to do.
Finally, after few minutes of silence, Asuma surprisingly spoke. "Will I be able to go back to the Leaf some day?"
Everyone looked at the dying man. They were all surprised by the question; his comrades because it would appear that he was thinking about accepting the proposal of the unknown man, while Naruto was surprised because he didn't think that Asuma would ask that sort of question. Naruto guessed that there is someone in the Leaf that Asuma cares a lot about, because he doesn't think that he cares a lot about the Leaf itself, after what Sakura told him about the current state of the ninja village.
"Why would you want to go back there," Naruto asked? "I know about the current state of the Leaf. As such, I know that some of you are not very well liked because of your support to the deceased Kyūbi Jinchūriki."
Everyone stared wide-eyed at Naruto. Even Asuma's eyes grew wide at the question, and because of what Naruto seems to know. It made them wonder, how he knows that.
Asuma spoke. "T-There is someone there I care about a lot," he said, drawing the attention on himself. Naruto realized that he was right, though he still doesn't know who it could be, besides maybe Konohamaru. The Leaf ninja though. They knew perfectly well who Asuma was talking about, as they knew about his relationship with Kurenai.
"Is that someone really important to you?" Naruto asked.
"Y-Yes," Asuma said.
Naruto sighed. "I don't know if you will be able to go to the Leaf for a little while," Naruto said, and he immediately saw Asuma frown. "But, nothing prevents you from keeping a watch on them… as long as they don't see you or know that you are alive. That information will have to wait for some time."
Before Asuma could say anything else, Ino said. "Asuma, you can't really be thinking of accepting this?"
Shikamaru though, he sighed, and held his head in his hands. "If he doesn't accept, he will die," Shikamaru said, drawing everyone's eyes on himself. "We all know that."
"B-But we can't let total strangers mess with our minds," Ino argued! "Who is to say that this guy can save Asuma in the first place, and doesn't just want his body for, whatever reason?"
"Oh don't worry about that," Naruto said. "I will heal him right here and now in front of all of you, so you will know that I wasn't messing around. After that, I will have someone simply rewrite your memories, you will think that Asuma died, and that his body was taken by the Akatsuki. That way it will be explained why you didn't bring his body back."
"That still doesn't make me trust you that you won't mess with our minds." Ino still argued. She, as a member of the Yamanaka Clan, knows better than anyone else, how important it is not to allow anyone to mess with your mind, as that could be catastrophic.
Naruto looked at her. "You do realize that he will die any time now if you don't let me save him… right?"
Ino lowered her head. She of course knew that, and she wanted Asuma to survive, but she had a problem with people messing with her head.
Finally, Ino relented, and nodded her head. She has agreed to let Naruto save Asuma. The other Leaf ninja, all nodded as well, though very reluctantly, especially the older ones. Shikamaru and Chōji just wanted Asuma to survive, and didn't care about the consequences.
Naruto created a Shadow Clone, without any hand seals, and cloudlessly, then sent it to bring Tayuya. The Clone nodded, and then opened a Garganta, much to the shock and fright of the Leaf ninja, and then walked through it, the Garganta closed after the Clone passed though.
Naruto then kneeled next to Asuma, not bothering to answer on the Leaf ninja's question about the jutsu his Shadow Clone used. Naruto then bit his finger, drawing blood, much to the confusion of the Leaf ninja. He then let a drop of blood fall into barely alive Asuma's mouth.
Naruto then stood up, and watched, just like the Leaf ninja, as Asuma started to glow around his chest, before the glow spread and completely enveloped his body in a golden glow.
The glowing continued for a few moments, before it disappeared, and then the Leaf ninja watched in shock and fascination, as Asuma opened his eyes, and then suddenly stood back up, as good as new and looking like nothing happened to him.
"W-What the hell," Ino shouted!? "How is this possible? What did you do?" She asked looking at Naruto with narrowed eyes.
"I'm not human," Naruto said, shocking everyone into looking at him with wide eyes and jaws on the floor. "Not entirely anyway. As of few moments ago, neither is Asuma."
"W-What," Asuma stuttered out? "T-Then, what am I?"
"You are a hybrid," Naruto said, but then he saw the confused eyes, making his sigh and then he explained. "You are a hybrid between human and a hollow. A hollow is…" Naruto then went and explained what hollows are and how one becomes a hollow.
All this was simply unbelievable to the Leaf ninja, who would have thought that Naruto is messing with them, if not for a fact that he just saved Asuma from something which there was no know way of being saved, and also because of the fact he had a serious look on his face, showing that he was not messing around.
"I was once a normal human, but I've become a hollow after my death," Naruto spoke. "I have lived for over a millennia as a hollow in Hueco Mundo, before I was given a chance to return here in this world as my original self. I was made into a hybrid before I returned, and one of my powers is that I can make anyone into hybrids as long as they are alive. If a person is dead, then I can revive them, but only as long as their soul has not left this realm. If it has, then I can't do anything.
"One of the reason I decided to save Asuma is because of something I have heard from a Leaf ninja I revived just recently," this caused everyone to look at Naruto with interest in their eyes. "There is no point in telling you who that person is as you will not remember it anyway. As for Asuma, he will met that person once we get to where I live."
Before Naruto could say anything else, and before he could be asked another question, another Garganta opened up, and Tayuya stepped though. The moment she did, Shikamaru recognized her as the person he fought three years ago during the chase after Sasuke, and then he growled. "YOU!"
Tayuya heard the growl, and looked at where it came from. She saw Shikamaru and recognized him. She narrowed her eyes and stared at him. "You damn brat," she growled! "I should kill you right now for what you and that blonde bitch did to me three years ago!"
"You were an enemy," Shikamaru said, making all Leaf ninja tense up. "You were working for Orochimaru and took Sasuke from the village. You would have killed me that day if Temari didn't show up, so you have no reason to get angry at me for what happened.
Tayuya and Shikamaru glared at each other, while the Leaf ninja looked between them. Chōji finally recognized Tayuya as well, along with the Leaf ninja with the scar on his face. He was one of the few who had a run-in with Sound Four and now that he was reminded of them, he was able to recognize Tayuya.
"Shikamaru, who is she?" Ino asked.
"She was a member of the Sound Four," Shikamaru said. "It's that group of Sound Ninja sent by Orochimaru to pick up Sasuke from the Leaf village. She was one of the five ninja we had to fight in order to get to Sasuke. She was also the one I fought, and as I said, she would have defeated me and probably killed me that day, if not for Temari.
"It actually makes me wonder, how are you alive? I saw that your entire lower body was crushed under the trees which were destroyed by Temari's jutsu. There was no way you could have survived that."
Tayuya smirked. "I did survive," but then she frowned. "I would have died eventually though, if not for Na…" she caught herself here and noticed a glare from Naruto, "if not for Alessandro, who saved me."
Everyone noticed a slip up, but none except Shikamaru paid it any attention. He filed it for later… not that he will remember it later.
Tayuya looked at Naruto and asked. "Why am I here? Your Shadow Clone didn't mention anything except that you need me for something."
Naruto nodded. "I saved Asuma's life," Naruto pointed at Asuma, Tayuya looked at the man and rose her eyebrows, "but the rest can't remember that. I need you to make it look like Asuma died, after he said his final words. The others were then beaten up by the Akatsuki who, for some reason, just left them alive, but apparently took Asuma since his corpse was gone, and it was known that Kakuzu wants Asuma's bounty."
"I'm assuming he is coming with us," Tayuya questioned, and Naruto nodded. She then looked at the Leaf ninja, and scowled at them. "I'm surprised you lot are agreeing with this."
Ino scowled back," Of course we are not happy with some strangers messing with our minds," she said. "But considering that Asuma's life was in danger, we didn't have other choice. We would rather him being alive without us knowing, then him being dead."
"Ohh, how touching," Tayuya mocked. "Willing to risk me whipping your minds back to your birth just to save your sensei. I could almost cry." She whipped a fake tear from her eye, making all the Leaf ninja frown at Tayuya's mocking, while Naruto groaned.
"Tayuya, enough," Naruto said. "Just do it."
Tayuya shrugged. "I've got to have some fun, from time-to-time." She then went and pulled a flute. Not the same she used when she was a Sound Ninja, though. This one was different, but it looked pretty much the same. She then took it to her lips, and started playing a nice melody.
The Leaf ninja, except Shikamaru, were surprised by what she is doing. Shikamaru knew that she used genjutsu with her flute and can summon some kinds of ogres, but he didn't understand how she would be able to manipulate their minds with a type of genjutsu he knew she uses.
For half a minute, Tayuya played a nice melody, with nothing happening… until, all Leaf ninja felt light headed, and their sight got blurry.
Before even one of them could ask what's happening, all Leaf ninja, except Asuma, fell on the ground… unconscious.
Tayuya didn't' stop though. She continued to play for a few more minutes, before she finally stopped. Once she did, she returned the flute back to the pouch and looked at Naruto. "It's done."
Naruto nodded in understanding, while Asuma didn't understand a thing. "What happened to them?" Asuma asked.
"I hypnotized them," Tayuya spoke, "and then I rewrote some of their memories to match what we want them to know and not what actually happened."
"What did you tell them about my final words," Asuma suddenly asked, confusing Naruto and Tayuya?
"Why is that important?" Tayuya asked.
"I have a reason to ask." Asuma replied.
Tayuya shrugged. "I don't know… the usual, I guess. Whatever people say in their final moments, IF they have a chance to say anything, that is."
Asuma looked at his team, particularly at Shikamaru, before he asked. "Can you change one more thing in Shikamaru's mind?"
Tayuya raised her eyebrows, but still nodded. "What would that be?" She asked.
Asuma went and told Tayuya what he wants her to put in Shikamaru's mind.
Both Naruto and Tayuya were surprised, and Naruto now understood who Asuma has in the Leaf village that he cares for enough to go back there, even though he is not liked.
XXX
Half of Tayuya's powers are pretty much the same as Aizen's were. The only difference is in the way they are using them and releasing them. Aizen did it with his sword, and by releasing it, while Tayuya does it with her flute and the sound she releases when she plays it. The other half of her powers, is memory manipulation, which allows her to re-write someone's minds, and mess with their memories.