Chapter 15 – Battles! Battles Galore!
The Wind God found himself smirking as he looked around at his opponents. Quickly summoning two wind scythes into his hands, Sean Uzumaki twirled them around and chuckled darkly. "Who wants to die first?" Sensing someone coming at him from behind, Sean twirled the scythe in his left hand behind him and shredded the person into tiny bits. "Looks like he was first. If you want any chance at beating me, you should come at me all at once."
Heeding his advice, the remaining eleven Oto ninja attacked him as a unit. They tried a variety of attacks, but Sean just slipped past or even through all of them! Before his opponents knew it, the Wind God had already cut through each of them. As the shock of what happened dawned on them, Sean dispersed his wind scythes and shook his head, listening as they fell into pieces behind him. "Fools. That's what you get for getting in my way. If any of your friends dare to screw with me, I'll kill them too. I just won't take care of the cleanup."
Chuckling a tad nervously at the thought of having to clean up his mess, Sean shrugged and performed the hand seals necessary before activating his Kuchiyose no Jutsu. Soon enough, three enormous wind beasts appeared over Konoha, each one going after the snake summons that had appeared. These three wind beasts were a giant eagle made of pure wind, a long, but thin dragon with some fairly long whiskers, and, oddly enough, a flying gorilla. How something like that was possible was beyond comprehension, but did it really matter so long as it took care of the problem?
The Uzumaki clan head soon sighed as he felt numerous presences behind him. Turning around, immediately summoning another wind scythe into his right hand, Sean looked lazily down upon them. "I see. I'm being attacked by both Suna and Oto ninja this time, hmm? Interesting. Let's see what you can do, shall we?"
With a smirk, Sean prepared to fight, only to see one of the Suna ninja attack him with a wind jutsu. Quirking an eyebrow in curiosity, the Wind God made a quick slash with his wind scythe and not only split the jutsu in two, but sent a high velocity blade of wind flying towards the assailant, easily splitting him in two at his midsection. "Really? You're going to try and attack me with Futon jutsu? You're not very smart, are you?" With a shrug of his shoulders, Sean summoned a wind sword into his left hand and took a different kind of battle stance than his usual. With the wind sword in front of him and the scythe off to his right side, the Wind God glanced around and chuckled darkly. "It doesn't matter. Let's have some fun."
In the Barrier
Jiraiya grumbled to himself as he dodged yet another attack from his old teammate. Damn it. If I could just summon one of the toads, this wouldn't be such a problem! This is an enclosed area and I'm limited in what I can do. Think Jiraiya! Then, as the Toad Sannin dodged yet another attack, something clicked in his brain. Wait, he's moving slower than he usually would. What did he say earlier? That's right! He hasn't completely recovered yet! I'm sure he was healed by somebody, but then…
Frowning at this, Jiraiya looked curiously into his opponent's eyes. Is there something special about Sean's attacks or what he can do that could cause this kind of problem with people? I didn't think there could be, but that's the only explanation I can think of right now… Deciding it best to simply investigate further into the Wind God at a later time, the white-haired Sannin figured it would be wise to focus on the here and now. So, looking Orochimaru over carefully, he smirked to himself. Okay then, I'll just have to take advantage of this situation and take him out of the battle for a while. I need to speak with sensei and see if we can revise the plan a bit…
Quickly performing a set of hand seals, Jiraiya activated his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and hid two Kage Bunshin under the tiled roof. When Orochimaru used a Katon jutsu in an attempt to take Jiraiya out of the fight, he activated his Hari Jizō (Needle Jizō) and defended himself from the attack. However, as the Katon jutsu dissipated, Jiraiya quickly swapped places with a Kage Bunshin that had moved behind the Snake Sannin.
As soon as Orochimaru realized he had just destroyed a Kage Bunshin, it was too late. As he spun around, Jiraiya unleashed his Hari Jigoku (Needle Hell) and pierced the slippery snake with numerous needles of hair. Once his attack was finished, Jiraiya released his Hari Jizo technique and looked Orochimaru over carefully. "Good, that should keep you down for a little while. Sit still like a good boy Oro-teme and I'll be back soon to finish you off. For now, I need to go see sensei…" And with that, the Toad Sannin rushed off to assist the Sandaime Hokage, leaving an irritated Orochimaru behind to struggle with his fresh injuries, courtesy of his idiot teammate from way back in the day.
Naruto vs. Kankuro
Kankuro was cursing his luck as he tried to predict his opponent's movements. Naruto had moved fast at the very start of the battle and come at him with a few attacks already that the Suna genin had just barely managed to avoid. As the blonde Uzumaki appeared off to his left and shouted out the name of another kenjutsu technique, Kankuro quickly brought around Karasu (Crow) and began firing numerous poisoned senbon at the blonde, only for each of the senbon to be sent flying away from some kind of wind-like scythe. Cursing, the puppet-user pulled Karasu back and leaped away before either his puppet could be destroyed or he could be hit.
However, he had not expected Naruto to appear behind him and slash him in the back in an upwards diagonal arc before leaping away again. Collapsing to one knee, the Suna genin winced in pain and did his best to fight through it so he could stand again. The very moment Naruto appeared again and slashed at his torso, Kankuro maneuvered Karasu back around in front of him to take the attack. As soon as the blades connected with the puppet, it split into numerous pieces that Kankuro began to maneuver around in an attempt to catch his opponent off guard and turn the tide of battle in his favor.
Naruto soon looked into Kankuro's eyes and smirked. "Wow Kankuro. Wow. You must be desperate if you're trying to overwhelm me with numbers. You're dealing with a Kage Bunshin genius here! Nice try though, it would probably help you greatly against anybody else." With a shrug, the blonde soon felt a kunai imbed itself in his back. Waving good-bye to the puppet-user, the Naruto in front of him vanished in a puff of smoke.
As Kankuro cursed and began searching for the real Naruto Uzumaki, the young Konoha genin smirked and nodded to two of his Kage Bunshin that it was time to try something Yugao and Sean had taught him months ago. Soon, Naruto's Kage Bunshin attacked from Kankuro's left and right sides, forcing the puppet-user to try and block them with two pieces of Karasu, only to have them batted away with one of the kodachi blades. When Kankuro began cursing and attempted to use something else to block them with, Naruto appeared above him, catching the puppet-user off guard. Before the black-clad Suna genin could get away, he was struck from all sides by Naruto's attacks, although Kankuro had managed to pull pieces of Karasu back just in time to absorb some of the damage. "Mikazuki no Mai (Dance of the Crescent Moon)!"
Kankuro crashed through numerous tree limbs and hit the ground below incredibly hard. His puppet, Karasu, landed beside him in a heap, clearly having taken too much damage for it to be used effectively anymore. As the Suna genin looked up and saw Naruto jumping to the ground, he chuckled a moment before coughing up blood. "F-Fuck…you're right N-Naruto…I messed up…"
Naruto walked over and knelt down at Kankuro's side, gently patting his shoulder. "You'll live Kankuro-san. You're just going to be in a heck of a lot of pain for a while. I made sure to avoid killing you. After all, I still think of you as a friend, so why would I kill you? Just please rest for now and I'll take you to see your brother. Fu shouldn't take too long to defeat him." With another shrug, the blonde slipped away his kodachi blades and lifted Kankuro off the ground, throwing one of his arms around his shoulder. "Hang on tight. I'll have a few of my Kage Bunshin carry your puppet along. Sorry about wrecking it."
The puppet-using genin chuckled softly at that before coughing up a little more blood. "D-Don't worry about th-that N-Naruto-san. I can repair Karasu l-later. Kami I feel like crap right now."
Naruto chuckled at that with his friend and nodded slowly before leaping into the trees again. "Yeah, you're going to be feeling that way for a while. I think I went a little overboard with that attack, but I've been wanting to try it out. Still, it is a pretty dangerous kenjutsu technique. I'm glad you're alright." Kankuro nodded at that and agreed as they slowly made their way towards Fu & Gaara's battle taking place up ahead.
Kin, Kakashi, & Jima
The battle had been going rather well for the trio. They had successfully protected everyone in their section of the viewing area thus far and had even managed to keep each other safe as well. All around the area, however, laid the bodies of numerous Oto and Suna ninja. While some had just been rendered unconscious, courtesy of Kin and her techniques, most had been killed by the teamwork of Jima Uzumaki and Kakashi Hatake.
When an Oto ninja managed to sneak up behind Kin and went in for the kill strike, he suddenly found himself being impaled by a spear made of pure water. Turning slowly around, the man dropped to the ground, the life vanishing from his eyes almost instantly. As she approached the dead man, Jima patted Kin atop her head and smiled. "Careful Kin-chan. I know you're getting tired, but you can't let your guard down like that."
The black-haired kunoichi nodded slowly and glanced around, quickly throwing a few more senbon and activating one of her sound-based techniques to take down a small group of Oto ninja that had tried to go after Kakashi. Nodding to each other, the ex-Oto kunoichi glanced around her again, only to go wide-eyed at what she saw. Three Oto and one Suna ninja had each taken an unconscious civilian hostage.
Furious at this, Kin took a step forward, but stopped the moment the Suna ninja put a kunai against the throat of the young child he was holding. "Stop right there. One more step and we kill these precious people you're trying sooo hard to protect. If you know what's good for you, the three of you will drop your weapons and surrender."
Jima and Kakashi both looked about ready to do something, but Kin raised her hand and gave them a look that begged them to stop. Turning back to the four bastards, the black-haired kunoichi began glancing around at her surroundings, trying to formulate a working plan as quickly as she could. Even if they were to surrender, the civilians would die and she just couldn't let that happen. Then, spotting a few of her bells near two of the Oto ninja, Kin breathed a mental sigh of relief.
Quickly flashing through a few hand seals just out of their line of sight, Kin soon announced the name of her new technique. "Fugusha Onpa (Crippling Sound Waves)!" Before they could react, the four enemy ninja all dropped their weapons and began clutching their ears, screaming out in agony as powerful sound waves began to echo throughout their minds, courtesy of the bells nearest them. As blood began seeping from their ruptured eardrums, the four ninja soon fell over, each of them slowly dying from the damage done to their brains.
When it was finally over and the civilians were safe, Kin narrowed her eyes at the deceased men and shook her head. "Despicable. I can't even feel remorse for killing you scumbags!" Feeling someone's hand on her shoulder, the young woman looked up into the eyes of Jima and smiled a bit. "T-Thanks Jima-sama. Normally I wouldn't use that technique to kill, only cripple my opponent for a while. But…but…"
The woman known as Mizuno Megumi to some smiled and hugged her clan mate close. "It's alright Kin-chan. They had it coming. I'm proud of you for coming up with a way to save those civilians so quickly. That was very clever of you. I know Seanie-kun would be very proud of you." Patting the girl atop her head, Jima soon sat Kin down in an empty seat. "Sit here for a while. You've used up a lot of chakra. Rest and let Kakashi-san and I handle the rest."
Kin nodded slowly and thanked the two of them before looking towards the barrier up above and frowning. Tayuya-chan, I know you're up there. I know you're probably worried about me, and probably pretty upset with me for what I've done, but still… Sighing, she shook her head and let a small smile creep its way onto her face. Sean-sama promised me he'd rescue you from that bastard. Please just let him succeed…
Hinata & Shikamaru
Shikamaru and Hinata were glad that Ino had managed to escape with the civilian family the moment they had created an opening for her. So far, the duo had managed to take down three of their opponents, but there were still seven enemies left that were out to kill them! Deciding it was time to let loose, the two Konoha genin began using different attacks.
Shikamaru Nara quickly flashed through a few hand seals and unleashed a modified version of one of his clan's techniques. "Kogasu Kagemane no Jutsu (Scorching Shadow Imitation Technique)!" Four Oto ninja saw what was happening, but the shadow shot across the ground so fast that they just couldn't get away in time. Within an instant, not only were they trapped, but scorching hot flames engulfed them. The young Nara listened as they screamed out in agony, only to have the flames shoot down their throats and sear them from the inside as well. Once the technique was finished, Shikamaru released it and muttered under his breath. "Troublesome. That's the first time I've had to kill like that…"
As this was going on, Hinata Uzumaki took a stance very similar to the stance used in the technique her cousin had used against Fu in the preliminary matches. However, as water began to shoot up around her in a kind of vortex, the Juken user smirked. "Take this! Hageshī Hakke Rokujūyon Shō (Torrential Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms)!" With every attack in this technique, whichever of the three Hinata attacked ended up not only having their tenketsu points closed, but he was also struck hard by one of the small vortexes of water. When the attack was finally finished, Hinata threw up her arms and swung them down hard, striking the three of them with the vortexes of water, finishing them off.
Once all of their opponents were dead, Hinata and Shikamaru turned to each other and sighed, shaking their heads. "I don't like having to kill, but these people are trying to kill innocent people. Even small children."
Shikamaru nodded at that and sighed again. "There's nothing we can do Hinata. It's troublesome, but it's either we kill them or they kill the people we're trying to protect. Now, we need to catch up with Ino and see how she's doing." Nodding together, the two leaped to the rooftops and dashed off in the direction their friend had fled in: towards the escape shelter hidden in the cliff that housed the busts of the four Hokages that had existed thus far.
Inside the Barrier
Hiruzen Sarutobi quickly twirled his adamantine staff and blocked numerous water bullets that his predecessor had shot at him. Huffing, clearly exhausted from fighting the Nidaime Hokage like this, the Sandaime was glad when Jiraiya showed up and sealed Tobirama Senju with a Katon jutsu for a short while. "It's good to see you Jiraiya. What's the situation with Orochimaru?"
Jiraiya shook his head and glanced towards the Nidaime Hokage. "Orochimaru's incapacitated for the moment. I think something about Sean's attacks is causing him difficulty even now. I don't understand it, and I'd like to look into the Wind God's abilities later, but for now we need to talk about our plan. Are you still able to use it?"
The elderly Hokage nodded and watched as Tobirama broke free from the jutsu. "Of course. I've been conserving my chakra as much as possible just so I can use that jutsu. I assume you want to modify the plan somewhat?"
The white-haired Sannin nodded and quickly began fending off the Nidaime. "You could say that. You're going to want to create two Kage Bunshin instead of the one we talked about before. If I can restrain this guy, you can use a Kage Bunshin to use the Shiki Fūjin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal) to seal him away. Then, I'll try to distract Orochimaru so you can sneak a Kage Bunshin behind him and use that on him as well. Sound good?"
Hiruzen sighed, but nodded his head. "I'd suggest simply removing that kunai from my predecessor's skull, but that would be rather difficult. Besides that, Orochimaru would just be able to do this to him again. The Shiki Fujin is our best bet. Alright Jiraiya-kun, do your best to keep Tobirama-sama busy. I'll get everything prepared."
Jiraiya nodded and continued his battle with the controlled Tobirama Senju, doing his best to control his opponent's movements while also trying to conserve what chakra he could. If he was right, there was a good chance he'd need all he could in order to help his sensei take down Orochimaru. Upon hearing Hiruzen shouting at him to somehow halt Tobirama Senju's movements, the Toad Sannin nodded and began to think. Okay, I need to freeze him where he stands somehow. How to do that though is the question.
Blinking as just the thing came to him, the white-haired Sannin quickly created three Kage Bunshin to buy him some time. As they went to distract the Nidaime, Jiraiya pulled out some blank, small pieces of paper, an ink brush, and an inkwell and quickly began drawing a particular type of seal on each of the four pieces of paper. Wincing as one of his Kage Bunshin was destroyed, Jiraiya realized he had to hurry with this, but he had to be careful not to screw the seals up at the same time.
By the time the Sannin had finished, only one of his Kage Bunshin remained and it was struggling just to keep intact. The Nidaime was relentless in its attacks and Jiraiya knew it was only a matter of time before his final Kage Bunshin fell. Slipping everything but the sealing tags away, Jiraiya used a quick Shunshin no Jutsu to get behind Tobirama Senju. Before his opponent could react, the powerful Toad Sannin slapped the sealing tags in four key places on the undead man's body and formed a quick hand seal. "Fuinjutsu: Toki Seigen (Sealing Technique: Timed Restraint)!"
Right as the final Kage Bunshin was dispelled by Tobirama's last second Suiton jutsu, his body was suddenly frozen still with a small counter appearing above his head. It slowly began to count down thirty seconds, so Jiraiya turned to Hiruzen Sarutobi and nodded. "Hurry old man, it won't hold him for long!"
Understanding the urgency of the situation, Hiruzen sent one of his Kage Bunshin in front of the Nidaime and quickly performed the necessary hand seals for the Shiki Fujin. By the time he had finished with the hand seals, the counter was down to seven seconds remaining. Quickly the Kage Bunshin activated the technique and focused as the Shinigami took Tobirama Senju's soul from the decrepit body and into its belly. As soon as it was finished, the Kage Bunshin disappeared, its purpose fulfilled.
Jiraiya looked to his sensei, a worried expression quickly taking hold of his features. "How do you feel? Are you okay sensei?!" Rushing to Hiruzen's side, the Toad Sannin began looking him over and blinked. "It worked. Damn, Kage Bunshin really do help counter the effect of that jutsu!"
The elderly Hokage nodded slowly, but ended up shaking his head after a time. "It doesn't completely negate the side effect. I still feel weakened, but at least I'm still here. I have enough strength to seal away Orochimaru as well, but I'll need to rest afterwards. I'm not sure how much energy I'll have once he's been sealed away…" Seeing Jiraiya nod, the duo quickly moved off to confront Orochimaru once more.
Fu vs. Gaara
With her overwhelming desire to get some time alone with her soon-to-be hubby, it hadn't taken very long to reach Gaara. Shooting a quick glare at Temari, the mint-haired girl practically snarled. "Get away from here Temari-san. I won't kill him, but I'm definitely going to kick his ass and fix your brother right up for ya. Umm…that doesn't make much sense, but damn it, I'm going to do something! I want that sexy time!"
Realizing that Fu would likely kill her if she got in the way, the Suna kunoichi set Gaara down and leapt away. She hoped dearly that Gaara would survive this, and that Fu would somehow be able to keep the promise she and Naruto had made to her earlier in the month. You said you'd bring my brother back. Please, please save him! Don't kill him for your Naruto-kun sexy-time you keep talking about!
As Gaara looked at his opponent from earlier, his transformation suddenly worsened and he began cackling madly. "Yes! I'll kill you! She craves your blood!" Quickly swinging one of his large sandy arms forward, the Suna Jinchuriki sent a bunch of sand shuriken flying for Fu. "You will help me prove my existence!"
Fu quickly dodged the shuriken and quickly flashed through a series of hand seals before throwing her hand out to the right and shouting out the name of her technique. "Mizu Ken (Sword of Water)!" Wincing just a bit, the mint-haired girl smiled through the pain as a sword of water, quite similar to the kind of sword she had seen Sean use numerous times before. It wasn't as easy for her to use as it was for the Wind God to use his elemental weapons, but she was at least able to hold this technique for half an hour at the least, so long as she didn't lose her focus.
Glancing around at all the tendrils of sand shooting towards her, the young woman leaped towards her opponent, slashing through the tendrils of sand with her sword. When she reached Suna's Jinchuriki, the mint-haired girl thrust her sword forward, impaling the young man through the chest. As he screamed out in pain from the attack, she focused on drawing forth Nanabi's chakra, quickly using the wings that sprouted to fly away before he could strike her with his enlarged arms. "How's that Gaara?!"
Sadly, it seemed that his wound only further enraged the redheaded Jinchuriki. Soon enough, he had fully transformed into a beast and was growling as he looked at her. However, it would seem he wasn't done. In an instant, a rather large beast appeared towering over the forest. Glancing up, Fu's right brow twitched spasmodically and she began to chuckle darkly. "Well, that could be a bit more challenging than I had originally anticipated." As her laughter grew darker, the mint-haired girl looked up at the monster with fire blazing in her eyes. "STOP TRYING TO GET IN THE WAY OF MY NARUTO-KUN SEXY TIME!"
Ino
Ino had taken the chance given her to escape with the civilian family. However, just a short distance from the facility where they would be safe, they were set upon by another group of invading ninja. Seeing as she was the only one able to protect the civilians at this point, the platinum blonde steeled herself for the battle, thinking back on everything she had learned thus far and quickly formulating whatever plans she could to not only protect the civilians, but win this fight as well!
Quickly bringing up her hands into a single hand seal, Ino shouted out her first technique. "Kaminari Bunshin no Jutsu!" In an instant, clouds formed overhead and a lightning bolt shot down, striking the area where the young Yamanaka was standing. When the flash of light faded, there stood seven Ino's in the area, forming a protective circle around the family. "I'm going to keep this family safe and I will win! I'll take all of you down no matter what!"
Each of the Kaminari Bunshin flashed through a quick series of hand seals before pointing their index fingers towards their opponents. "Raiton: Kaminari Bakuhatsu (Lightning Release: Lightning Blast)!" In an instant, lightning shot forth from all the outstretched fingers and began shooting through every opponent in the vicinity. Unfortunately, five of the enemy ninja had been quick enough to leap out of the way of the attack and now stood, watching as their allies collapsed to the ground, bodies smoking from the holes piercing their chests.
Soon, the clones disappeared and Ino was left standing alone to guard the family once again. Glaring towards her still living opponents, the young Yamanaka heiress started thinking of something else she could try that would catch these five off guard somehow. In the meantime, she decided she had to say something, even if the person she wanted to be there couldn't be with her at this moment in time. "I used to be so weak and so stupid. I continued to fawn over an arrogant jerk that cared for nobody but himself. I rarely trained as I should have. I was…I was pathetic!"
Shaking her head, the young woman chuckled quietly to herself as she took a step closer to the family, trying to make sure she kept them safe from harm. "And then…then he came along. Sean-sensei…Seanie-kun…" Smiling, looking incredibly happy at the simple thought of him, Ino continued. "Seanie-kun helped me so much. He treated me with such kindness and respect, even though I didn't deserve it. I trained so hard under his guidance and I became so much stronger. I even won in my fight against Sakura! I…I…"
Feeling tears stinging at her eyes, not even sure why this was happening, the blonde quickly wiped them away with the backs of her hands and continued her speech, still trying to think of something else she could do to catch the jerks off guard. "I love Seanie-kun! I love him so very much it hurts! People might think it's wrong, and I know I might never have a chance with him, but it's how I feel and I can't help that! Sean-sensei has inspired me so much! He's inspired me to become a better person, a stronger kunoichi, and so much more! I never, ever want to let him down! And…and…I refuse to die here! Seanie doesn't want me to throw away my life like that. I said I'd beat you and I will! So take this!"
As Ino began flashing through hand seals, the Oto ninja began preparing their own attacks. However, everyone soon froze as they heard a voice coming from above. "Well said Ino-san! That was a most youthful speech! Sean-sensei would be most proud!" Appearing behind the Oto ninja, Rock Lee quickly struck out, taking each of them down with different taijutsu attacks from the Goken style. Once they had been defeated, he turned to Ino and gave her his nice guy's pose. "I'm here to help Ino-san!"
Sean
The Wind God glanced around at the few opponents that remained. He had unleashed a dance of death against his enemies, slicing into them and cleaving their heads from their bodies with his wind sword and scythe respectively. Now that only three were left, Sean Uzumaki let his wind sword disappear and propped his scythe up on his shoulder, the blade hanging out behind his head, humming loudly in his ear. "This has been rather fun. But you see, I'm going to be needed elsewhere pretty soon. Sooo, ciao!" And with that, the Wind God swung his scythe forward, sending a large sickle of wind forth from the blade, cleaving his remaining opponents in two. As they dropped to the ground, Sean looked towards the barrier and nodded to himself as he thought back to the promise he made with Kin.
Flashback – 1 ½ weeks ago
Kin had asked Sean if she could speak with him in private earlier in the morning. So, deciding it best to take her out for some lunch, the Wind God and his newest clan member were currently sitting in a nice dine-in restaurant, currently looking through their menus. After placing their orders, Sean looked into Kin's eyes. "So Kin-chan, are you going to tell me what it is you needed to speak with me about?"
Kin Tsuchi fidgeted a bit and let out a heavy sigh. Slowly nodding, she looked into her clan head's eyes and smiled awkwardly. "I, umm…I need you to save my friend!"
Blinking at this sudden request, the Uzumaki clan head tilted his head slightly to the side in confusion. "Come again? Who's this friend and what do I need to save this friend from?"
The black-haired lass nodded her head. "Her name is Tayuya. I need you to take her from Orochimaru! She's part of the Sound Four, a group that guards him and does his bidding and all that. And seeing as how he's going to be here for the you-know-what, I'm certain Tayuya will be here too. She'll probably be somewhere close to that rotten bastard."
The blue-haired Uzumaki nodded slowly in understanding. "I see. I have a few questions before I agree to something like this." Seeing his newest clan mate understood, he continued. "First, what makes you think she even wants to be rescued? What if she's happy as she is?"
Kin shook her head at this and stared hard into her clan leader's eyes. "Sean-sama, she's my friend! I don't know how better to say it than that. Tayuya hates it under his thumb, and she doesn't get along with any of the other Sound Four she's stuck working with. They might enjoy it, but Tayuya? No…" Shaking her head again, Kin Tsuchi clenched her fists tight as their food was finally delivered to the table. "Tayuya deserves so much better. She deserves to be free."
The green-eyed Uzumaki nodded slowly and took a bite of his meal before he spoke again. "I understand. I wasn't trying to upset you Kin-chan, so you can relax." Smiling at her disarmingly, the jonin continued. "Now, why would you ask something like this of me? You do realize I got my ass kicked by him, right?"
Kin shook her head at this and smiled at the older man. "From what I heard, you did pretty well for yourself. I know I could probably ask somebody else, but I really think you're the best person for the job. I truly think you can rescue her Sean-sama. You're smart, and you're really quick, so you should be able to take her away before she leaves with that snake. I'm begging you here, please save my friend!"
Sean Uzumaki nodded slowly and shrugged his shoulder. "As you wish Kin-chan. But you're going to need to give me a good description of her so I know which person to grab. Tell me everything there is to know about this Tayuya and I'll do what I can to save her."
Kin stared into her clan head's eyes excitedly and rushed around the table, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tight. "Thank you Sean-sama! Thank you so much! You won't regret this, I promise! Now…"
Present Time
Sean shook his head and chuckled at the description Kin gave him that day. If she's truly as foul-mouthed as Kin said she is, I think I already do regret this. Shrugging his shoulders, the Wind God began moving as fast as he could back towards the stadium. However, along the way he couldn't help but notice Shikamaru and Hinata approaching Ino and Rock Lee. Cocking his head to the side, the Wind God decided to hop down for a moment to check on the situation.
"What are you four doing here? You really should be getting to the evacuation facility." He stated, looking over each of them carefully. "Are all of you okay? You look like you've been busy."
Hinata Uzumaki smiled happily at her clan head and nodded. "We're fine Sean-sama. We just finished escorting the last of the civilians we found to the facility and were just trying to catch up with Ino-san when we were attacked again. We're a little exhausted, but other than that, we're just fine, I promise."
Sean nodded at this and was about to speak, but suddenly felt himself being tackled in the chest. Looking down, the Wind God smiled and wrapped his arms around Ino the moment she began hugging him tight. "Hey there. What's the matter Ino-chan?"
Ino shook her head and buried her face in the bluenette's chest for a time, her speech muffled when she tried to talk. Upon being informed that he couldn't understand her, the platinum blonde pulled back a bit and looked up into his eyes. "I'm just so glad to see you! It's horrible out here! We've…we've had to kill people and…and…" Shaking her head, she rested her cheek against his chest again. "I was so worried about you Seanie-kun!"
The Uzumaki head chuckled at this and gently ran his hand up and down her back to soothe the girl. "I'm just fine Ino-chan. It's you I'm more worried about. You four shouldn't have had to kill yet, but…it couldn't be helped." Sighing, he shook his head and slowly released the young woman. Performing a single hand seal, Sean summoned three Kaze Bunshins and looked at each of them. "Escort these four to the evacuation facility and stand guard until you receive the message that it's safe again."
Turning back to the genin, Sean Uzumaki smiled softly at each of them. "I'm afraid my part in the invasion isn't quite finished yet. The summons have been dealt with and most of the invaders have been either killed or repelled, but there's still more to do. I made a promise to a clan mate and I intend to keep it. I want you four to go with my Kaze Bunshin and relax. You're exhausted and need your rest. I promise that everything will be alright soon."
Hinata, Shikamaru, and Rock Lee all nodded their heads in understanding, but Ino shook her head and clung to the jonin for a little while longer. "Can I please talk with you later Seanie-kun? Once everything is over, I want to talk with you alone somewhere. Okay?"
Sean nodded slowly and gently ran his fingers through the young woman's hair. "Of course Ino-chan. Come by my home later and we can talk there. Now go Ino-chan. I don't want you to worry me now, okay?" Seeing her nod and back away, the Wind God patted her back gently and watched as she rushed off with the others. You're a good girl Ino-chan. Stay safe. And with that, Sean was off once again back towards the barrier.
Inside the Barrier
Jiraiya had confronted his old teammate once again. The two were currently engaged in another fierce battle while Hiruzen remained on the sidelines, waiting for the right moment to strike. In order to keep Orochimaru from suspecting anything, the elderly Hokage would throw in a few jutsu every now and again when the snake Sannin wasn't looking or when he felt it was a good time to do so. Sure, his former pupil managed to dodge these attacks, but he was so focused on trying to fight Jiraiya at this point he wasn't quite aware of what was really going on.
After a good five minutes of battling one another without either making any true headway, Jiraiya finally managed to land a solid punch on his old teammate's face, knocking him back. Not willing to let this opportunity go to waste, the white-haired Sannin quickly lengthened his hair and called out the name of another technique. "Harinezumi Ke Ketsugou no Jutsu (Porcupine Hair Binding Technique)!" In an instant, Jiraiya's hair shot out and wrapped around Orochimaru tightly. However, it didn't stop there. In order to get a better grip on his opponent and keep him from escaping, the Sannin's hair grew numerous spikes that shot into the snake Sannin's body, causing the man to scream out in pain as blood began seeping through the strands of white hair.
Taking this moment to strike, Hiruzen Sarutobi sent his second Kage Bunshin to strike. As soon as it appeared in front of Orochimaru, the Bunshin began flashing through the required hand seals for the Shiki Fujin. Eyes widening at what was happening, Orochimaru tried to escape, but it was too late. By the time Jiraiya released Orochimaru, the Shinigami was already assaulting the snake Sannin, attempting to reap his soul.
As this began to happen, the Sound Four quickly lowered the barrier and leaped to their master's aid. Realizing that their plan was about to be foiled, the Kage Bunshin pulled out what he could and had the Shinigami take that, effectively sealing off the Snake Sannin's arms before it was dispelled. Jiraiya attempted to stop the Sound Four from making off with their master, but he was forced to evade numerous attacks from the four of them.
Hiruzen and Jiraiya were forced to watch as the Sound Four began to make their escape with Orochimaru. However, when the wind suddenly picked up, the duo smirked. "Well, looks like Sean's decided to say hi. I wonder what he's up to." Hiruzen said, watching curiously to see what would happen next. Jiraiya simply shrugged his shoulders and remained quiet as the Sound Four tried to prepare for whatever was coming their way next.
Realizing what was about to happen, Orochimaru tried to tell his minions to hurry up, only for his eyes to widen in shock as Sean appeared floating upside down in front of him. "Yo! Sorry Snake-face, but I'm not here for you today. Sorry." With a smirk, Sean Uzumaki looked straight into the pink-haired woman's eyes and grinned. "Yoink!" Blasting the other members of the Sound Four away before they could attack, Sean gripped Tayuya's right wrist and disappeared with her in a Kaze-Shunshin. When he appeared next to the Sandaime and Jiraiya, Sean grinned. "Yeah-ha! I got her! Tayuya-chan, you are now mine! Muwahahahahahahahaaaaaa!"
The others in the area sweat dropped at Sean's antics, but shrugged it off as they were quite used to his eccentric behavior by now. Instead, Tayuya took a defensive posture and glanced around at all her enemies before her gaze finally rested on the Wind God. "W-What the hell do you want with me you lousy wind-using shitstain?!"
Blinking at this, the Uzumaki head tilted his head to the side and shrugged. "That's a new one, but okay. I'm simply fulfilling the request of one of my clan mates, one Kin Tsuchi-chan. Recognize the name Tayuya-chan?" Seeing the sign of recognition flash in the pink-haired girl's eyes, Sean grinned. "Yeppers. Kin-chan's just fine and she's currently under the protection of my clan. She asked me to rescue you. Sooo, here you are, nice and rescued! Cool, huh?!"
Meanwhile, Orochimaru and the remaining members of the Sound Four cursed and continued making their getaway. "Damn it! Sean, you will pay for this! You keep making a mockery of me and I will not tolerate it much longer!"
Fu vs. Gaara
The Nanabi Jinchuriki had been flying around, doing her very best to avoid all the attacks and huge waves of sand that were now targeting her thanks to the large sand monster she was now up against. It was a rough time for her, and she had to continuously use the water sword she held to cut a path through the sand, only for another wave to come after her mere seconds later. Finally, she had to release her water sword or risk serious damage being done to her arm.
After some deliberation, Fu decided on doing something she hadn't wanted to do, at least not yet. As the young Jinchuriki flew around, she bit her thumb to draw some blood and began going through the hand seals for the Kuchiyose no Jutsu. Upon finishing these hand seals, the mint-haired young woman flew down to avoid another tendril of sand and slammed her hands onto the tree limb below her. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
In an instant, the soon-to-be bride of Naruto Uzumaki was standing atop a rather enormous creature formed entirely of water. This was one of the Water Beasts, a contract that dear Jima Uzumaki held and had allowed Fu to sign during the month of training. The beast Fu had summoned was one of her own, that would always come for Fu no matter what. However, it was so enormous that the poor Ichibi she was now faced with only came to be about half its size. Hence the issue with summoning such a creature: it was so damn big it was too dangerous to summon it sometimes!
The beast Fu had summoned was known as Mizu Ryoushu (Water Lord) by most of her kind, and a more personal name of Jugari by her close friends. This particular Water Beast was a creature known as a Lotan, a seven-headed sea dragon capable of creating great floods and changing the landscape of most any area with its power. However, Jugari could control her power and focus it to keep herself from doing such things if need be. As she sat atop Jugari's center head, the mint-haired girl chuckled quietly to herself in remembrance of when she had first summoned her good friend.
Flashback – Two weeks ago
"Are you sure you want to sign the Water Beast contract, Fu-chan? Sean offered to let you sign the Wind Beast contract because of your skill in Futon jutsu, you know? Jiraiya was even entertaining the idea of allowing you to sign the Toad Contract alongside Naruto-kun if you were interested." Jima stated as she looked the mint-haired girl up and down curiously for a while.
Fu shook her head and smiled brightly. "I know all that. But after training in Suiton jutsu and theory with you this month, I've really come to appreciate the qualities of water and Suiton itself! Besides, I want to share this with you Jima-sensei. I like Sean, I love Naruto-kun, and Jiraiya's a cool dude, but…" Shrugging her shoulders, the mint-haired girl looked into Jima Uzumaki's eyes. "I dunno, this just feels right to me. Know what I mean?"
The blue-haired woman smirked at that and nodded slowly. "It would seem as if you have been chosen as the next wielder of the Water Beasts then if you feel that way. The water calls to you, and everything about it just feels so natural to you. I believe they will accept you Fu-chan." Jima laid the scroll out before Fu and instructed the young woman on what to do.
As soon as Fu had signed the contract and went through the necessary hand seals, Jima stepped back and awaited whatever would happen. What did happen caught both women by surprise! The two women had both appeared atop two of the heads of a creature that towered over Konohagakure. Looking between each other, the two women chuckled nervously. "Fu-chan, what did you just do…?"
Present Time
Giggling at the memory, Fu soon patted the head she sat upon. "Heya Jugari-chan. Think you could help me out for a bit?" Pointing down at the Ichibi, the female Jinchuriki grinned devilishly. "Could you please help me take care of that, erm…'big' guy down there? Wow, he looks kinda small in comparison to you, doesn't he Jugari-chan?" Shaking her head, realizing she had gone off topic, Fu soon continued. "Please don't kill the redheaded guy on top of him though. I need to get down there to wake his ass up. Just…please be careful and restrain the Ichibi as fast as you can?"
Two of Jugari's heads rose up and her eyes looked straight at Fu. "You have people down there you're worried about, don't you Fu-chan? Very well, I'll be extra careful to use only enough power to restrain this creature. I can sense your friends' locations, so do not worry for their safety, I shall be careful." She stated calmly with one of her heads. Jugari's voice was almost angelic, despite what her appearance would lead one to believe. Seeing Fu nod in thanks, the heads once again lowered, with one going down almost to eye level with the Ichibi so she could get a better look at the redhead atop him. "Good, this shouldn't be a problem at all."
Sure enough, it turned out that it wasn't much of a problem for Jugari at all. The Ichibi tried numerous attacks ranging from its sand to bullets of compressed air, but nothing truly seemed to have much of an effect on the Water Beast. As soon as the sand would hit the water summon, it would collapse to the ground and become completely useless. The wind bullets affected the Water Beast somewhat, but the damage was quickly healed right back up.
While the Ichibi seemed unable to do any lasting damage on the Water Beast, it easily managed to deal some serious damage to the Bakedanuki (Monster Tanuki) with focused beams of water and a few other varieties of water attacks. The sand construct found it becoming harder and harder to move with its body being weighed down as it was by all the water. It didn't help that one of his legs had been severed either.
As soon as she felt it was safe for her summoner, Jugari lowered the head Fu was riding on and smiled. "Off you go Fu-chan. Good luck." And with that, Fu was off, flying straight towards the Ichibi Jinchuriki. With her momentum, one powerful punch from the girl woke the young man right up and caused the Ichibi's body to collapse, the beast itself being sealed inside of Gaara once again. But Fu didn't stop there.
Quickly grabbing Gaara as he began to fall, the girl slugged him a few more times in the face before they landed together atop one of the trees. "Have you had enough yet you stupid idiot?! Or do I need to kick your ass even more before you admit that you've lost?!"
Sure enough, Gaara couldn't even move at this point. He was exhausted and in a lot of pain from the various injuries he had suffered throughout his battle with the Nanabi Jinchuriki. So, shaking his head, the redhead allowed himself to be carried down to the ground by the mint-haired girl. However, he felt compelled to ask a single question. "What makes you so strong…?"
Fu quirked an eyebrow at this but found herself grinning as she laid her defeated opponent on the ground. "Besides the fact that I want my Naru-kun sexy time?" Seeing the boy before her nod slowly, clearly demanding a serious response from the girl, Fu released a soft sigh and sat down beside him. "I'll be honest with you Gaara. I'm like you. I carry a beast inside of me as well." Seeing his eyes widen slightly, she nodded. "Yes. I was persecuted for it and I didn't have the greatest life. If it wasn't for Naruto-kun, I don't know where I'd be or how I'd be acting. Naruto-kun saved me."
Seeing that the boy was listening intently, Fu continued on with a smile. "When Naruto-kun found me, some of the people from the village I lived on were trying to kill me. I was so angry with the world and didn't trust a single person. But…Naruto was truly kind to me. He's like us, you know?" Seeing Gaara nod in understanding, the young woman continued on. "I was brought here to Konoha and I've been treated with kindness and love. I've made some wonderful friends, and I'm even engaged to my darling Naruto-kun now thanks to something the Sandaime cooked up with the CRA. I'm…happy now Gaara. And because I want to protect these bonds of mine and the people I've made them with, I became stronger than I ever was before."
Looking down into the redhead's eyes again, Fu gently brushed a few strands of hair from his face and smiled brightly down at him. "You could have those bonds too, you know? You have two siblings that care very much about you and would love for you to let them in. And then there's Naruto and me. We'll gladly be your friends and help you out whenever you need it. Okay?"
Gaara slowly let a smile creep onto his face and he nodded. "I…understand. Thank you Fu-san. And you as well, Naruto Uzumaki." Looking past Fu, Gaara saw Naruto standing there with Kankuro at his side. Temari appeared kneeling next to him just moments later. "Temari, Kankuro, let's go. I'm sorry for everything I've done. Good-bye Fu and Naruto."
As Gaara was carried off by his siblings, albeit slowly thanks to the injuries the two boys had suffered, Fu turned to her honey and wrapped her arms around him, holding him tight. "I really love you Sweetie." Kissing her fiancé as passionately as she could, the mint-haired girl soon gave his butt a squeeze and giggled when he jumped. "I'm going to enjoy my Naru-kun sexy time later. That, I guarantee."
A/N: Okey dokey, as you may have noticed, this chapter is shorter than usual. Still, I think that was a good place to end the chapter at. Sooo...hopefully you enjoyed the chapter and are looking forward to chapter 16!
As for Fu's personal summon, while she may seem overpowered right now, I assure you that she is not. The Ichibi is the weakest of the Bijuu and I wanted to show that the Water Beast Fu summoned was more than capable of dealing with such a thing.
There's also the way Hiruzen survived. You can go ahead and complain about me doing that if you want, buuut...I didn't find any information saying that it isn't possible for that particular strategy to overcome the issues. However, if you noticed, there were still side effects. The Sandaime's going to be weakened for a while after having to do that twice, as I'm sure you can very well expect from such a thing.
I'm not sure when I'll be able to even START writing chapter 16, so I hope you'll be patient with me okay? I've got a lot of crap going on right now and I've been very sick lately. It took me a while to get this chapter finished, sooo...yeah. I hope you're looking forward to chapter 16! *nods*