Devil From The Heavens
Chapter 5: Slip And A Fall
Ame
To say the trial went badly was putting it lightly. Even with Broly, or probably because of him, he lost two subordinates and he didn't even have the Kyubi to show for it. While they weren't truly needed, it was an unwanted cut to his available resources.
On the bright side, his control hardly wavered even through all the chaos. There a few moments there where it seem to lessen but the amount was minuscule. With time, he would overcome the limitations of the conversion seal.
The Uchiha motioned to Pain and the figurehead activated the kill switch on the Saiyan's chest. The oppressive feeling of the man's power vanished as Madara released his hold.
No point in wasting chakra when he was little more than a civilian without his power.
Broly fell to his knees in surprise. Why would the his oppressor just let him go? Fearing there was little time before he became restricted again, the Saiyan looked out the gaping maw of the balcony and leapt to his freedom without hesitation.
He felt an all encompassing force take a hold of him in mid air and he was ripped back. The orange haired freak had his hand on his throat.
"An admirable attempt," The sarcasm didn't escape the struggling man. "But ultimately futile. Put him away, Nagato."
After some time spent hanging by his neck, he was put behind bars, actual bars of a real prison, and the two left him alone.
Broly quickly got up and put his hands to the cool metal. He couldn't bend them. He struck at the rods with what force he could muster but all it did was make his knuckles hurt.
It was all pointless. He could feel the emptiness of his body and knew what that meant. He was a helpless creature like the rest of them.
The Son of Paragus turned and sat on the floor at the back of the cell. The only noise was the pitter-patter of Ame's endless rain.
Deep within him lay the burning desire to try everything he could to escape but it tempered by the reality of his situation. He only escaped his father because his power was always there; it just needed his anger to be released. Here, he had the anger but everything that made him strong was cut off completely. There was nothing there to be released unless Madara allowed it to be there.
There was no point in hurting himself trying to get free from here. The Saiyan thought back on the brawl that happened mere minutes before. The blonde child, as much as it sickened him to think so, was his only hope.
Hours passed, maybe days given the lack of any real timekeeping, before Broly found himself wanting to sleep. Catching up on some rest was a better use of his time than staring at a wall. As he let himself doze off, he heard a whisper in his ear.
'Broly...'
The Saiyan sat up straight as a rod as he looked around his cell once more. Something said his name but there was nothing responsible for the noise.
He couldn't be losing his mind already!
He just got it back!
Shadows moved outside his cell.
A quick shot of resignation blew through his body at the sight of the black robes and red clouds. It was with some relief that he realized it was the woman. It looked like she had some food in her hands. At least, he thought- his stomach growled. At least, he hoped it was food.
Broly stood as Konan put the bowl of sludge that was apparently his meal on the slot in the center of his door. He grabbed the pitiful serving and lifted a brow.
"That's it?"
The gruff comment seemed to rub her the wrong way as she scowled at him.
"You will only get what you need to survive."
That almost, almost, made him laugh as he downed the bowl in one quick action.
"You won't have me for long if that's what you think is all I need. Twenty more of those and maybe I won't wither away."
Konan stared at the man unamused by his actions. It was clear he was used to being the superior one in whatever confrontations he was involved in. A habit he would be forced to break.
"Disrespecting your captors is a most unwise decision."
The Saiyan dropped the bowl at her feet and the ceramic shattered. Some of the remaining grool got on her robe. "What are you going to do about it? Kill me?" He held out his arms with a smug grin. "You better do it now while you can."
He scoffed when she didn't budge. Of course she wouldn't save her own world.
Broly moved closer and rested his forehead on the gate to his cell. His gaze roamed over her features. "It's amazing how similar you look to Saiyans yet you're so pathetic." Even Kakarot and his group, the worms that they were, saw what would happen if he were left unchecked and fought him until they couldn't stand.
"It's insulting how you and that orange-haired freak just roll over for Madara while looking the way you do."
Konan felt nothing short of disgust for the man in front of her. He knew nothing of their struggles and yet he passed judgement?
A dozen pages of paper slipped out from the sleeves on her robes. Impotently threatening them was par for the course but insulting Pain and her home? That was unacceptable.
Her face didn't change as they tore into him at her will. He seemed human enough so she avoided any knowingly lethal blows. This was just to inflict pain; not injure. He fell to the side with hardly a sound seemingly preferring to weather the storm than potentially end it early by alerting someone.
Not that it would have.
"It would be folly to kill you, Broly." She said as the paper joined her once more. His cuts would heal within the next few days if his healing was anything like a humans. "You're the key to peace for this world."
Moments passed before Broly gave her a hateful glare. "Stop it. You're so full of shit it makes me want to vomit."
The Saiyan pushed himself into a seated position. If he couldn't break her physically, he'd wear down her spirit. "I've seen this exact thing happen on more worlds than I could count." He gestured in the direction that Madara and Pain walked off to. "It always turned out to be some idiot fooling even bigger idiots into helping them to rule the world." He paused. "Whenever I stuck around long enough to find out."
Konan knew this was just an attempt to weaken her resolve, to make her doubt but she didn't stop the man. She was curious as to where this would go.
"One time when I was much younger, I stumbled upon yet another one of these groups but I was curious..." His tone darkened. His father always told him how the weak would always seek the strong for their own self preservation and this was what truly cemented that lesson.
"Instead of destroying them immediately, I pretended to be on their side for some time. You know what happened right after I helped them win their little struggle?" He chuckled before he hissed from the movement.
A sense of unease crept into her mind though she remained stoic.
"Their leader took control. Killed anyone strong enough to challenge him and forced the rest to submit."
He wanted to laugh but the cuts on his skin kept that idea at bay.
"I got bored by that point so I just slaughtered everyone. Did it a few more times but it was always the same."
Konan saw right through what Broly was trying to do. It was a concept as old as the shinobi world to sow chaos in the enemy camp but what troubled her was the sincerity that she could see in his words.
As far as she could see, he wasn't lying. Then again, lest she forget, he wasn't human. It could very well be that his species' tells were vastly different to their own.
If, if, what he said was true, were they just follow the same path as many others before them? It stood to reason that, much like Broly, there were others out there beyond the skies who would appear and act just like humans.
People liked cycles. It's why, no matter how cruel previous conflicts are, they fought again and again. Every time for the same reasons. Land, food, wealth, power...followed by short periods of peace. It's what helped the Akatsuki rise to their current height. The inherent predictably of humanity as a whole allowed them to exploit it.
It wasn't a leap of logic to assume that they, just like humanity, went through cycles of violence and peace with groups like them fighting to break it.
Her will steeled. While it may be true that others just like them had either failed or were merely another cycle, none of them could possibly claim to have Kami by their side.
"We're different."
He shook his head as if she were a hopeless child. It angered her but her expression betrayed nothing.
"You're not...you never are."
Konoha
It was taxing to see the state her teammate was in. Of course, it made perfect sense why he was like the way he was. Gaara and Naruto had a special kinship and the former's funeral was just days before but something just seemed...off.
Even after the third's death, Naruto at least tried to act happy to cover his sadness. It was just how he coped with loss but...
Now it was like a piece of him, bigger than she wanted to believe, was irrevocably lost when the redhead died.
"Naruto..." Sakura put a hand on the blonde's shoulder but he didn't react. "You need to eat."
The shinobi made a barely audible noise in response. The ramen in front of him had long since gotten cold. She sighed, unsure on how to proceed.
"Why do I fail my friends, Sakura?"
The question took her by surprise. "What do you mean?"
His eyes remained locked on the floor as his fists tightened. "I failed Sasuke by not seeing the darkness within him before he left and not bringing him back when he did." Naruto wiped away at his eyes. "And Gaara's dead because I wasn't fast enough to stop it."
"Naruto, you can't blame yourself for Gaara's death. You didn't pull the One-Tails out of him."
"I know but-!"
"No, Naruto." Her face softened along with her tone. "I know it's hard to lose a friend but there's no point in believing that you're at fault."
He stayed quiet and she sighed. It was unsettling how routine moments like these had become. The blond blamed himself, someone refutes him, and he shuts down.
Knowing there was no progress to be made, Sakura stood from her seat. It was time for her to go back to the hospital.
"Can you at least take a few bites before you toss it out?"
A grunt was all she got in response.
Once Sakura was out of sight, Naruto put the ramen to the side and headed to his bed. Normally, he would be out and about on a mission by now but Tsunade let him take some time off to recover. She didn't want him ending up like Kakashi.
As the shinobi laid his head down on his pillow, he felt the presence of something in his room.
Or rather, in him.
'Have you decided on what to do?'
Naruto winced at the voice. He remembered all too clearly the 'discussion' they had after Gaara's funeral. Discussion wasn't the right word since that meant it was a two way conversation. All he did was listen to the tailed beast.
The room he was in was replaced by the cold, dark sewer of his mind. The fox sat in front of him, a predatory glint in its eyes.
'I can make you strong. Truly strong. You will never lose another with me.'
The shinobi hesitated to speak. He wouldn't give himself up for the promise of power. Especially not to the Kyubi.
"Why are you trying to help me now? You've never tried before."
The fox unintentionally mimicked him with its own hesitation. 'I lost a brother to those wretched Akatsuki and I can't do anything about it in this cage.'
A flash of guilt gripped Naruto. It made sense that the Tailed Beasts were related somehow but he never saw it like that. IT was more surprising that the fox was capable of something like sadness.
'I want to make them pay with blood and broken bones but I need your help to do that.'
It was a strange feeling to relate to something so unlike him though not unfamiliar. He remembered having the same thought once he found out about how Gaara was like him. They shared the same burden but where he had support, Gaara had assassination attempts. It was like looking in a twisted mirror.
That understanding that only came with first hand experience was something that Sakura and the others failed to comprehend. It was why his death hit him so hard.
But relating to someone and trusting them to not stab you in the back were two separate things entirely.
Naruto looked at the Nine-Tails with a hard gaze. "Mark my words, I will beat the Akatsuki but I can't depend on you. Not yet anyways!" The last words spilled out as the Kyubi snarled, apparently displeased with the answer.
"You have threatened me and my friends a lot in-"
'Leave me.'
The blond shinobi looked down at the ground at the demand. He didn't want to meet the fox's eyes. The Nine-Tails was extending an olive branch and here he was rejecting it. He closed his eyes and faded from the mindscape.
Kurama's lips turned up into a smile once the boy was gone. He was too trusting. So desperate was he to find good in everyone that it was child's play to manipulate the kid.
This was the break in that damnable armor of childish optimism he always wore. They would grow closer together in their shared but ultimately false grief. When the child was at his most vulnerable, he would strike.
He would either break out of his prison or gain control of his vessel. Either way improved his chances against those damned Akatsuki.
Kurama circled in his cage several times before laying down for a nap. All this acting and planning was tiring.
Ame
Pain looked over his village as the conversation with Madara replayed in his head.
It was a brief but tense affair as he questioned why they haven't set the final steps of their plan in motion. They had their super weapon so why are they not using it?
'My control is not yet absolute. One moment of his freedom is all that is needed to turn all upon which we stand into nothing but loose rubble.'
His reasoning was sound but there was doubt in his mind. It felt like the Uchiha was hiding something from them all. An underlying motive to his need for the Saiyan.
What could it be?
There was no mistaking that he needed the Biju. His insistence on continuing to collect them was proof enough of that but what else could they possibly be used for? What could someone with all this chakra use it for if not a weapon?
He felt the presence of Ame's Angel before her form fully coalesced behind him. He could feel the reluctance within her. It wasn't unusual for his Paths to elicit that reaction but never from her. Clearly, something was wrong if she came to the closer Deva rather than take the time to go to his true self like she normally did.
"Something is troubling you."
She made her way to his side, unsurprised that he could see right through her. It was a mutual skill they developed in all their years together.
"I had a..." She paused, looking for the right word. "...troubling conversation with our prisoner."
He looked to her, his eyes unblinking. She wasn't one to be easily startled.
"Explain."
And so she did.
The revelation that there were others out there in the reaches of the night sky was not an unexpected one. The Sage spoke of their weapon falling from the stars so it was reasonable to assume there were other celestial beings like him out there.
What had him on edge was how he spoke of their efforts. How conventional they were in the grand scheme of things.
If the Saiyan's words were true, who was their betrayer in this iteration of the pattern?
'Madara.'
The name came unbidden to the forefront of his mind but was it unwarranted?
"Do you believe what he says to be true?"
"He has all the reasons to lie."
Pain stayed silent. He knew she wanted to say more.
"But I could not find deception in him. Perhaps the manner in which his species reveal deceit is different than ours."
"Or he's telling the truth."
Silence passed between them as they mulled over the ramifications of the knowledge this celestial being had gifted them.
"I need to think this over. Thank you, Konan."
She left without a trace as she does and he was left alone save for his thoughts.
The Saiyan was smarter than he gave him credit for. Or perhaps this was an unintended consequence of his bravado. To sow doubt in Konan was something he previously thought impossible. Then again, he also thought that beings from other stars were little more than literature devices in myths and legends but there was one down below so perhaps he should reevaluate what he considered possible.
He could feel the doubt spread like a virus within his mind.
Was this an avoidable fate or were they doomed from the beginning?
Broly mentioned that it was the leader that seized control every time. To someone on the outside, that would be him but he truly wanted peace. He had no desire to simply rule the world as it were.
It was Madara. It had to be. His motivations, his true motivations, were a mystery to him and, if Nagato was being honest with himself, he had become more of a figurehead since the Uchiha became involved.
What was he to do?
Author's Note
I know what it may look like but this won't be a Dark Naruto/Good Broly story. They will both change through the story of course but they will not change in such extreme ways.
Maybe.
At least, that's not the plan.
Lemme know your thoughts about the chapter in a review!
Ent out.
Review Responses!
TheOnlyKing: It's for the better, if he just killed everybody there'd be no story!
The awesome gues: Goku won't show up for this story. To be more precise, Goku won't have any effect on this story. He might get a cameo but that would be the extent of it.
fightingchampion: Naruto isn't the kinda guy to leave someone hanging so he will. The question is if he will ever succeed...
astral trinity: Good question! I was purposefully unclear with when Broly landed on the planet because I only had a vague idea of how he would interact with the Tailed Beasts. As it stands, none of them know about the Saiyan's existence. The fight and the decision to seal him away was a brief affair which he declined to inform the Biju about for reasons that will be explored in the future.
JensenDaniels32: no (In all seriousness, I won't drag out Broly's imprisonment too long.)
