Obligatory Disclaimer: The series Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto; I only own my OCs, picture, and this story.
Chapter 40: Of Seals Broken
Pain radiated from my arm as I came to, the scent of damp earth invading my senses heavily.
What the hell just happened?
A curse escaped me as I pushed myself up with my good arm- or at least tried to. My legs were held together by something, keeping my limbs bonded tight. Rope? No, roots! They crawled up my body, trying to cocoon me completely. I quickly pulsed chakra throughout my body, creating a thin barrier between me and them. Luckily, it had the desired effect and they loosened before slithering away. I was quick to roll onto my feet and activate my byakugan.
The tunnel I had been dragged down into lit up, the roots pulsing brightly with chakra. They moved in and around the walls, ceiling, and even the ground underneath me. I was completely surrounded by the things and they all stretched from that concentrated mass of chakra I had seen from the surface. None of the others were in close proximity but I could see them in several corridors away, thankfully alive though I couldn't discern the extent of the damage they possibly had.
Still, alive was better than the alternative.
Running a diagnostics jutsu, I found that my arm was thankfully not broken or dislocated and channeled some chakra to appease the ache. I had to find everyone first and foremost, and the easiest would be Riku as I was the most familiar with his chakra. Concentrating, it was easy to spot him and a rush of relief flooded me as I saw him moving, presumably in my direction.
Locking mentally to his location, I began my own cautious trek. It wasn't often that I was thankful for my small stature, but it was coming in handy as I traveled through the tunnels. It would be cramped for my teammates and near impossible for any adult to come through with how confined it was. Fortunately, it wasn't long before I was face to face with my ninken, a happy bark and wet nose pressing against my cheek greeting me with his arrival.
"Good boy," I praised, running my fingers along his body to check for any wounds. So far so good. "Let's find the others and get out of here."
With an affirmative huff, he led the way and I deactivated my byakugan. My eyes were quickly becoming overwhelmed by the brightness of chakra flowing through the area; I needed to preserve my stamina as much as I could. Who knows what else lurked in these caves? The walls were too close at some points and Riku had to spearhead our expedition as the tunnel threatened to squeeze us. In a previous life, I had been quite claustrophobic and I couldn't be more thankful that hadn't transferred over.
I had recovered enough by the time we reached an opening in the tunnels and activated my byakugan once more, in order to scope out the paths that branched off from it. We were close to the Kusa-nins' position, who appeared to have been dragged down together and were moving towards our position. But in another direction, Shichirou was down, motionless, and further still Anko was moving away from us. I placed a firm hand on Riku's side.
"Go get Muku-san and Ryūzetsu-san and lead them back here," I ordered and began to head towards Anko, a brief bubble of irritation rising until it shrank, and I focused. The scolding would have to come later. "Hold position until I return."
Giving a bark of confirmation, we split and sped up, and I let my byakugan light the dark around me. Roots and vines with small glowing flowers lined the tunnels and they seemed to move with a life of their own as I leapt over them, reaching out to touch my ankles as I ran. They had to be connected to what dragged us down in the first place, but I was still uncertain why they had attacked us.
Were they sentient? Had they been angered by us trespassing on their idyllic paradise? Or was it something more primitive, just reacting to our presence alone?
I came across Shichirou's prone body first. Roots were wrapped tightly around him, almost up to his neck, and his chakra levels were worrying low. A few chakra strings easily pulled senbon from my arm-braces and with practiced ease I sent them flying into the cocoon as I approached. It loosened from around him, quickly retreating into the earth, and I watched them as they slithered deeper into the caverns, towards the mass of chakra in its center.
This was getting worse by the minute.
Crouching next to the boy, I ran my diagnostics jutsu, eyeing the remaining vines and flowers which twitched minutely as my chakra lit up the area. Shichirou was in a similar status as I was, bruised though unbroken, and without the parasitic roots his levels were starting to return to normal, albeit slowly. Placing my fingers at his temples, I released a minuscule amount of chakra to stimulate his brain activity.
The Abe boy shot up and I leaned back before he could headbutt me.
"W-what's going on?" He exclaimed and I grabbed his shoulders firmly to stable him as he almost fell back, the blood no doubt rushing to his head.
"Calm yourself Shichirou-san," I said, letting him go as he steadied himself on his hands. "Those roots dragged us below and we need to find the others. Can you stand?"
He blinked at me in the darkness, trying to adjust to the limited light produced by the vines and nodded.
"O-okay."
I pulled the taller boy to his feet, making sure he wouldn't keel over. Frowning at myself, I checked for Anko's position once more and my stomach dropped as I found her heading in the direction of the chakra mass.
What the hell was she doing!
Knowing that I didn't have time to lead Shichirou back to the central area, I lifted a hand to my mouth and let loose a piercing whistle which echoed through the tunnels. I received a faint bark in return.
"Stay here and wait for Riku and the others. I need to get Anko."
I ran through a couple of hand signs and summoned Miki, who looked up at me in alarm as I stamped out the roots that rose at the expelled chakra.
"Watch over Shichirou for me!"
Without a second of hesitation, I took off, ignoring all grumbles from bird and boy. The roots became more active the closer I came to the mass of chakra and the tunnels seemed to expand the further I went in. The chakra produced so much light that I found myself deactivating my byakugan, its strength almost blinding me in my augmented sight.
Not that I needed it as I ran through passages covered large glowing flowers and roots. The ceiling looked like a night sky and it would've been beautiful if we weren't in such deep shit. My stomach clenched as I noticed root-wrapped cocoons lining the walls and a striking fear settled in my bones as I realized what was inside them.
Muku said that people had gone missing in the area.
I need to get Anko now.
It wasn't long after that realization that the tunnel opened up to a large cave. Though to be accurate, it looked more like an underground crater the way it dipped into the earth and I was immediately reminded of the illustration in the book Ryūzetsu had been reading. The 'legend' was more fact than fiction it appeared.
If only it had told us about the soul-sucking roots.
The crater had a series of cocoons sprinkled atop its surface and in the very center was a large flower, taller than me in its closed state. Its twisted petals glowed with an ethereal light that matched the glow of the roots and smaller flowers I had seen throughout the tunnels. It had to be the Moonflower. And amongst the cocoons and glowing roots was Anko, making her way towards the closed flower.
"Anko, don't touch it, it's dangerous!" I yelled, standing at the edge of the crater. "We have to get back to the others!"
The other kunoichi froze in her steps and jerked towards me in surprise. Then she frowned and glared at me.
"Hey, I found it first!"
Are you kidding me? Is that really what she was focusing on?
"We don't have time for this," I yelled back. "These flowers are dangerous. They almost sucked all the chakra out of Shichirou! We have to get out of here!"
"But isn't getting the flower our 'mission'," she tutted, crossing her arms over her chest petulantly. "I'm just trying to complete our objective, Junko-taicho."
"Over the health and safety of your teammates?" I asked, a sneer crossing my face. Though she was a good distance away, I could see the surprise on her face at my tone in the dim light. "Shichirou could have died if I hadn't found him in time!"
That got her attention and she started, looking up at me with wide eyes. She opened her mouth to respond, to let loose another poorly thought out excuse before I sensed it. I was throwing kunai before I could blink and Anko darted forward to escape the falling roots, only slightly deterred by the flying blades.
But it was enough.
With a burst of chakra, Anko had reached the edge of the crater as more and more roots rose from the earth, colliding at her feet as she passed by. The kunoichi ran through several hand seals which I recognized but before I could stop her, a straight line of fire erupted from her mouth, right into the roots that followed after her. And just as I had feared, as soon as the fire dissipated, there was a glowing root coming at her with a velocity that she wouldn't be able to avoid.
Time slowed as my mind raced. The roots were attracted to and absorbed chakra, sentient in some way I couldn't comprehend at the moment. So most ninjutsu was out of the question, and under that same token, producing any sort of genjutsu would only aggravate it, if they worked at all. Maybe…?
I stopped thinking and just moved. With a surge of chakra enhanced strength I leapt into the pit, and as I expected, the roots followed my movement and I charged my fingertips. The roots whipped towards me and I stuck forward.
The Gentle First could destroy any chakra-based substance, and if that was the case with these roots then-
My chakra cut through the roots which writhed pitifully before falling to the ground, still, and I landed on the other side of Anko, watching carefully for any activity. Crouched, I quickly pulled my chakra into my core, suppressing it, and Anko followed my lead as hers too went muted. The cave fell silent. I could only hear our harsh breathing at the short stint of action. Making eye contact with the other kunoichi, we slowly backed away to the edge of the crater.
A bark sounded from the entrance I had come through and I looked up to see Riku and the others, who sighed in relief as we took in the sight of each other. But it wasn't safe yet.
"Suppress your chakra!" I ordered and they followed suit immediately.
Silence spread once more throughout the cavern as my mind began racing again. Obviously, this thing was attracted to chakra- especially that which was released through jutsu and it could sense whenever we used it to augment our movements- so leaping out of here and hauling ass would not help us at all.
We'd have to do this the hard way.
"Is that the flower?" Muku muttered from above us. "Wished all those books we read told us about the parasitic roots."
Seriously. We all nodded in agreement.
"I'm so sorry everyone," Ryūzetsu said. "If I had done more research-"
"No more what ifs," I cut in, shaking my head. "We just have to deal with what's ahead. Which is getting out of here."
Pulling a rope from my pouch, I tied one end in a loop and a kunai to the other, swinging it for momentum before letting it fly towards the lip of the crater. Muku caught it as I knew he would and once he had a stable grip, I turned to Anko.
"You need to go up first," I said, lifting a hand to silence her when she went to rebuke. "My jūken is the only thing that can stop this thing. Go."
She seemed to want to argue anyways, but at my sustained glare, she slipped her foot into the loop. She was lifted up onto the upper ledge and it was thrown down soon after for me. I eyed the space before me warily but grabbed the rope to join the others.
But of course nothing could go easy.
As I reached the top of the ledge, the cavern started to quake. We all braced ourselves, instinctually, but all the preparation in the world could not ready us for what happened next. The glow of the roots and the pods that rose like tombstones increased as the fabled flower began to unfurl. The chakra density in the room increased, concentrated orbs floating into the musty air like spores. And into the pods which then started to unravel to reveal a morbid prize inside.
Zombies.
Because why the hell not?
We seemed to have the same thought and immediately turned tail into the tunnel behind us- only to find more zombies shambling down our only way of escape. Some had weathered headbands, most from Kusa itself but not all, maybe those foolish enough to follow the legend of the Moonflower. Just as we had.
Hopeful we'd have a happier end.
I had no time to think about the implications. My byakugan blazed against the outpouring of chakra, in the bodies, the roots, the very earth itself, fighting against the brightness that threatened to blind me. They were all connected, because they had to be, to the flower itself. There were two actions we could take; either tear through the reanimated corpses and escape or destroy the flower, which would in turn stop the zombies.
As a corpse ambled close, there was no time for thought.
I spread my sight as far as it could go and cursed under my breath.
"The other entrances have been sealed!"
Chaos erupted.
Another blaze of fire erupted from Anko and Muku, hitting the group of zombies in front of us directly, and just like before, the fire dissolved around the bodies, a foul smell staining the air around us. A smell that would stay with me forever. The flowering vines that wrapped around and through the burning, decaying flesh glowed brightly before snuffing out the remaining flames.
Kunai sliced through striking roots but they grew back instantly, causing us to retreat into the crater where more were waiting for us. The roots puppeteered their broken arms into lazy swings that hid vicious strikes from the vines hiding underneath their skin and soon we were back to back, just barely holding them at bay.
We have to get out of here.
I pushed the limits of my byakugan, trying to scope out an exit. Even with Miki scouring the ceiling, evading the bodies that fell from the pods above, I couldn't see an escape. It had to be the earthquake. The roots that had been spread throughout the cave system were being called back to the source, blocking all possible exits.
This wasn't a battle of attrition we would win. Even slight nicks from the roots caused a dip in our chakra, sucking it from our skin, through our wounds. The awakened flower had to be making the parasitic nature of the roots even stronger.
"What are we going to do?" Shichirou panted, barely dodging a wayward root.
Riku slashed at a root before hopping backwards, watching Ryūzetsu's back as she knocked down two zombies who fell limply. Vines shot out of their open wounds and they had to split from each other. I destroyed a root, throwing myself into a half rotation that destroyed more.
"We have to destroy the flower! It's controlling everything!" I shouted.
My Jūken was the only thing that could destroy the roots for good, but that didn't matter if more replaced the ones I took out. A barrier seal wouldn't work would it? No, it would just soak up the seal. Probably. There was no time to test it. It had done it with the jutsu the others had tried. No one would be able to get close to the thing without endangering themselves.
But maybe…
I don't think I had ever been more thankful to be a Hyūga than in this moment. My byakugan blazed, my tenketsu producing concentrated chakra into the air. The air simmered as the roots tracked me all at once and I braced myself, muscles at the ready. I moved my elbow the slightest inch back and as a group of roots raced towards me, I snapped my arm forward.
The chakra in the roots was the first to go and as they connected to my palm, they were obliterated, the organic matter shredding against my palm. It seemed to have an universal effect on the others around us as they seemed to freeze momentarily.
Gotcha.
If the chakra it was absorbing was traveling back to its source, the flower, then it would have a similar effect the other way, my concentrated chakra traveling into the flower and back out in a loop. A self-sustaining system, a system we could use for our own advantage.
But that one strike could not destroy it completely. The remainder of the roots I had struck fell to the ground, unmoving, but the others twitched in the air before continuing their onslaught, more viciously, seeming to sense the danger.
I'd have to get closer.
I couldn't do this forever. My chakra was already starting to dip with the effort to keep the barrier around my body, some of it floating into the air around me which made me into a bigger target. I'd have to be quick and precise.
Just like how I'd trained.
I didn't have to give a signal, didn't have the time but when an exploding kunai tag went off above me, knocking a falling zombie from the air, I knew it was the best I would get. Chakra raced in and around my legs as I flickered forward, avoiding corpses and vines. Roots raced past me, bouncing against my barrier as I charged forward, pushing them away. Thrown weapons from behind diverted some of the attention until I was closer.
The world was a blur as I moved, the brightness of the chakra getting worse and worse as every millisecond brought me closer and closer. But I pressed forward still, the blindness almost unbearable as I slid on the earth, pulling my arm back and snapping forward in an instant.
It connected, my chakra mixing and swirling with the flower's stolen, recycled boon. It was hot and searing against my open tenketsu, trying to worm its way inside but being pushed back. Fighting as my chakra destroyed it, dissolving away until my fingers touched the petals, soft against my fingertips.
Then it exploded.
The air was molasses in my lungs and the scent of damp earth was a familiar friend in my nostrils as I came to.
What…what was that?
Something wet and warm brushed against my cheek, rumbling against my ear.
"Riku?" I mumbled, mouth full of cotton balls and dirt.
My eyelids refused to open more than a few centimeters, seeing nothing, but it was enough for the canine to leave a few more warm kisses against my face before I felt pressure against my side and I was rolled onto my back, only making breathing the tiniest bit easier.
However, my body refused to move, bones ladened, even as I felt the presence of Ryūzetsu and the others hover over me.
"What the hell was that!?" came Anko's voice, as though she was speaking deep underwater.
I felt the Kusa kunoichi's chakra begin to dance across my skin and the fog began to lift, if only slightly- letting their voices come back clearer but still too quiet.
"It's like she's been drained completely of her chakra," Ryūzetsu said, in worried awe.
"How is that even possible?" Anko asked. "Shouldn't she be like…dead or something?"
Chakra…gone? What happened?
I let my eyes succumb to my heavy eyelids and tried to reach down into that familiar inner core where I usually pulled my chakra from.
And I couldn't feel anything. Nothing chugged through my pathways and my tenketsu were clogged, like a stopped faucet. I could've cried if I had the breath or tears for it.
Was this temporary? Oh God, please let it be temporary.
I didn't catch what Ryūzetsu said as she continued to scan me. Until she reached over my stomach, over my core and I don't know what she did, maybe a healing jutsu, but feeling returned.
It hurts!
I couldn't hear my screams, but the rawness of my throat was minuscule to the pain that lit my veins and blood with fire. And then there was nothing but ashes as a shadow came over me with a loud, ferocious growl.
Riku!
His familiar chakra blanketed over me protectively; I could feel it so vividly against my washed out senses but thankfully it didn't light my blood on fire again as I fought to find my breath.
"Riku, calm down!" Shichirou tried to soothe him but the canine's growls became louder. "Ryūzetsu-san is just trying to help-"
A vicious bark met his attempt at peace. I tried to reach for him, but my numb body refused. Nothing was working.
I could hear the slightest flap of wings before the growling stopped, and then a voice echoed inside my head.
'Junko…can you hear me?'
Her voice was quiet, even as it vibrated inside my brain and I reached tentatively to our bond.
Miki! What's going on!?
'I told you your chakra was weird,' she said, and I felt her come closer as Riku moved, to make room for the owlet and resumed guard between us and the other humans.
Is it gone? Am I dying? I asked, the terror giving way to dread. How would I achieve my dreams without chakra, if I even survived whatever was going on? My consciousness was beginning to wane, her voice becoming even softer as she continued.
'You're not dying,' she said and I felt her talons settle against my stomach. Although I expected pain as I felt her chakra against my skin, the remaining pain ceased, but the worrying emptiness returned. 'Your body has to reacclimate to chakra because the flower broke your seal.'
Seal? What seal?
The surprise in her last words were jarring as I succumbed to the darkness of unconscious.
'You don't know?'
Author's Notes
Posted: November 8th, 2021
I don't have much to say but since I was asked multiple times, I do have an Ao3 account under the same username, eiron. I haven't posted on it yet but I am planning to cross-post FACAH there as soon as I get the time to sit down and familiarize myself with the posting side of the website, since I know I can't just import it directly from here.
It'll also give me the chance to edit anything I missed in early chapters. There might be slight changes since I started with Junko being a partial self-insert but now she's her own original character. I want to better express that, though the changes won't be major in any way.
Until next time.