Devil From The Heavens
Chapter 23: Sages and Saiyans
"Where are we?" Naruto asked as he looked at the utter devastation around him. He couldn't recognize anything. He could see remnants of wood and various metal works, signs that people had once lived here, but it was like the earth just...shattered like a piece of glass someone took a hammer to.
Hinata's breath hitched. His eyes snapped to her. He could feel the trembling of her body. "Naruto..." She pointed, her voice full of horror, and he followed it.
The Jinchuriki's knees nearly gave out beneath him. It was the Hokage monument. What was left of it. Only the Fourth and Tsunade remained. The rest was little more than dust and rubble. This was Konoha. What the hell happened?
"What are you two doing here?" Their sensei's voice demanded. The two turned to see Tsunade land alongside Jiraiya on his toad. The Sannin grabbed his shoulders with a worry uncharacteristic to the man. "You're supposed to be on Mt. Myoboku!"
Naruto put a hand on Jiraiya's. "When Gamabunta left not long after you did with the Sages, we got worried. Then we got the news from Gamatama so we came back..." The Jinchuriki glanced around. He didn't even know where in the village they were, the devastation was so thorough. "...here."
Below, Konan stood up with some help from Hinata. In a quick motion, Konan grew paper wings and lifted the two with a yelp from the Hyuga onto the toad with the rest. "Yeah, no, go ahead, I can carry all of you." The toad grumbled as his fellow chuckled.
Konan couldn't stay standing but Hinata held onto her with ease. "Tsunade..." Hinata gestured to the woman on her shoulder and Tsunade went to her with a green hand.
"Normally, I wouldn't deign to put a helping hand on an Akatsuki..." Hinata's eyes went wide and her face became red with embarrassment as Naruto rose a brow at her. She didn't know! "But you did help us and we're running low on usable hands."
Speaking of usable hands, Naruto looked to Jiraiya. "How many-?"
"That doesn't matter. The civilians are safe outside of the village with the Genin but who knows how long that'll be the case." Jiraiya peeked where he saw the Akatsuki last. "The only reason he's as hurt as he is was because Guy opened the Eighth Gate."
Hinata gasped and Naruto felt like he just took a sucker punch. Bushy Brow Sensei was-
Jiraiya gave him a shake. "I'm sorry, brat, but you've got to focus and get out of here. He wants you and no matter what, we can't let the Akatsuki get what they want!"
His gut was a rolling mass of nausea as his conscious battled with reality. He didn't even see any bodies; just ruin as far as the eyes could see. He was reminded of the energy that Broly used. Those bodies were probably little more than dust now.
"You have me, boy." Kurama's voice rumbled in his head. "I will not allow doubt and hesitance to weaken you. Broly will fall."
Naruto nodded. The fox's words were reassuring even if they weren't exactly nice. He'd beaten Akatsuki before; this was just another one.
"Granny, Pervy Sage..." He looked to the unknown woman. "Uh, you, go somewhere safe. Hinata and I got this."
Tsunade whipped around at the words thought she kept her hands on the woman. "What?! Absolutely not! You two can't fight him alone!"
Hinata crouched by the Hokage and put a hand to her shoulder. "You can trust us, Lady Tsunade. We can handle this."
Jiraiya looked between the two. He couldn't believe what he was hearing; they had no idea what they were walking into! He'd be damned before he just let them walk into Hell itself. "Have you brats lost your minds? Either you don't fight him at all or we all fight him together!"
Naruto scratched the back of his head as he looked at the two Sannin. He could feel how low they were on chakra "Sorry, guys but you're at the end of your collective rope. I don't want you getting more hurt."
Jiraiya looked like he was slapped. "Oh kid, we're way passed that point here."
"We can do this." Hinata spoke, loud enough to have the Toad Sage look at her. She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. "Who else can?"
There was silence. Tsunade finished up with Konan and directed her back onto her feet.
"What are you prepared to do to keep us from helping you?" Tsunade asked with a scowl as she stood by an equally angry Jiraiya. She looked around for at least one of Katsuyu's slugs to give but there were none nearby; she was too focused to think about having her summon handy. "You're my shinobi, it's my responsibility to ensure you stay alive."
Naruto and Hinata looked at each other before Naruto turned his attention back to the older shinobi.
"You're right, Granny. We'll fight him together."
As the Sannin relaxed, Hinata raced in and poked them in the forehead. When they fell unconscious, two of Naruto's clones popped into existence and caught them.
"As I expected, they were too tired." Hinata muttered quietly as the clones heaved the two legendary shinobi into Gamakichi's waiting arms. "They should've reacted to that."
"If I may..." The Sages turned to the mystery woman. They hadn't quite forgotten her but they were still surprised when she spoke. She refused to meet their eyes. "I know I have no right but...he's an innocent man. If you can, please..."
Naruto gave her a firm nod. "I know. We'll do our best but I can't promise anything."
She nodded in return. "That's all I ask."
A gust of wind nearly blew them off of their feet. Broly hovered there, his form silhouetted against the sun. Naruto took the time to feel out the man's power. It wasn't quite chakra but it was similar enough that he could feel it in Sage Mode. It was overwhelming. Horrendous. Toxic. It weighed him down like a corpse on his shoulders. It wasn't meant to be.
"You feel it, Hinata?"
"Yes." She answered readily. "His power...it's like a sickness."
But he had to ignore that for the man at the center of it all. Naruto remembered how he struggled at their first meeting and he had to remember that he was innocent. They had to break him free. Enough people had died. The woman lagged behind a moment with her eyes on Broly before she hopped onto Gamakichi and the toad left.
The veins on Hinata's face engorged as her Byakugan activated. "He's suffering from severe blunt force trauma all over. He's weak."
Naruto glanced at Hinata though he made sure to keep Broly in his periphery. She palmed at the scroll on her lower back; his own secured in the same way.
"What should we be aiming for?"
"His sternum and L1 vertebrae. They're both fractured. "
Without warning, Broly shot like a meteor at the four of them. Naruto and Hinata leapt to meet him in midair but the Akatsuki avoided them both. They heard the sound of tearing flesh and a scream of agony. They turned.
The Akatsuki held the sasumata in his hands and its owner was missing an arm. The other toad was frozen in horror at just how quickly Broly disarmed their ally. The man swung the metal club and the toad's brain matter spilled over the ruins of Konoha. He turned and lobbed the sasumata like a javelin and it pierced through the other summons skull in an instant.
The Sages landed and they couldn't help but feel sick at the brutality on display.
Broly lobbed two blasts one after the other and Naruto met them head on. Two arms of searing red chakra erupted from him and smacked the ki away with ease as Hinata raced in. With her Senjutsu enhanced Byakugan, she saw everything that made the man down to his very cells and more.
What she witnessed within him didn't look right. Tenketsu weren't there, blood vessels were in the wrong places- she couldn't let herself get distracted now. His fist rocketed down at her but she avoided it with all the grace known to the Hyuga and put her hands in front of the Akatsuki's chest.
"Vacuum Wall Palm!"
A wave of chakra, compressed far beyond the capabilities of any normal Hyuga, burst from her hands and crashed against Broly. She watched intently as the chakra burst through him and further mapped his body. His lungs were emptied as he was sent head over heels backwards. Naruto leapt over her form alongside two clones forming Rasengans in his hands. The Akatsuki barely got a foot under him as Naruto drilled the twin spheres into his back.
Naruto's extra limbs slammed into the ground and pulled as the Rasengans screeched against the Akatsuki's back like drills against steel. Broly screamed as the ground caved and cracked but Naruto pushed him further down like he did the guilt in his chest. He could be saved but the village-!
Broly suddenly stood, fresh welts on his back, throwing the Sage off his back and his mouth filled with toxic power. Hinata became a blur as she raced towards him. Her Wall Palm exposed pressure points which further proved her theory. This man wasn't entirely human; his points were radically different. As he opened his mouth to turn her to ash, she tapped directly to the left of his thyroid cartilage.
The muscles in his jaw seized and refused to open further.
Broly let the energy dissipate as he grabbed at his throat. Two massive hands of chakra flattened the Akatsuki, ground him against the fractured floor, and threw him through several boulders.
"You alright?" Naruto asked as the chakra of the Kyubi dissipated. The skin where the limbs sprouted had burned off but it was quickly healing.
Hinata nodded as she expanded her Byakugan's range. He should be more concerned with how casually he was destroying himself with the Kyubi. She spotted Broly rolling around on the ground as the Kyubi's chakra seeped into his skin. What made the sight odd was the absorption being done in specific patterns. It was almost kind of like-
Her eyes widened. "Naruto, the Kyubi's chakra is being absorbed into his seals."
The blond's head snapped to her. "Really?! Let me check." A few quiet moments passed. "Kurama noticed. Says he feels a familiar chakra coming from Broly but its faint. He needs more time to find out who it belongs to."
A low groan shook them as a shock wave passed them. Broly burst through boulders like they were paper mache and he beelined straight to Hinata. In a near instant, Hinata's hands created the tell tale blades of chakra as her Protective Trigrams took form. His fist crashed and shattered the blades.
As she bent back to avoid the blow, Naruto came in with a wild haymaker that Broly barely moved in time to avoid. He still reeled back as he was hit by the sheer force that emanated from the blow. A crimson claw burst from the Jinchuriki's shoulder and slashed at the Akatsuki's face.
Broly staggered back with his face in his hands as he flailed to and fro. Hinata reversed momentum, slammed her palms into the Akatsuki's chest, and sent the man flying with another Vacuum Palm. He rolled along until he hit some mangled steel. The two Sages could only watch in morbid fascination as he ignored whatever happened to continue clawing at his own face.
Naruto looked at his hand in morbid fascination. "It's burning him badly."
There was an explosion as Broly rocketed up into the sky and the sky turned green. Broly looked through his fingers with blood shot eyes and dropped an orb of ki. Hinata looked to him with wide eyes but he lifted a hand.
"I got it!"
A noxious, crimson cloak rapidly coated the Sage as hands raced up to the blast. The meeting was explosive and the sky above was a horrendous mix of emerald and blood red for a moment.
Stumps hovered in the air where hands used to be but for a few moments as they rapidly reformed and shot towards the Akatsuki. Broly raised a barrier as the hands caught him. Below, Naruto heaved and the hands followed. Broly was dragged back down to the earth into a ruin of jagged metal and pipes. Below, Naruto fell to a knee and huffed as the natural energy within him began to fall out of balance and bumps appeared on his skin.
"Naruto, you're-!" Hinata crouched beside him but he kept her away and shook his head.
"Kurama...help me out." He muttered. After a moment, the warts disappeared and he was able to stand. "Sorry, using Kurama's chakra throws my balance of whack. I'm good now." She didn't believe him but didn't confront him about it. He'd thank her for that if he wasn't absolutely sure she'd cripple him with her Gentle Fist if he did.
The duo leapt their way to where Broly was thrown as the man shakily stood on his two feet soaked from a burst pipe above him. The skin around his seal was red and starting to blister. His eyes drifted down to a hunk of steel with a bent strip.
Naruto charged in with Hinata right behind. Broly moved his head and narrowly avoided the fist that sailed passed as he slapped away Hinata's jab. His cheek sunk as the aura of senjutsu around Naruto hit him regardless and the Akatsuki's head smacked against the wall behind him. The blond followed up with a kick that Broly blocked with a hastily upraised arm, fracturing the wall, as the Hyuga shifted gears and hit his left knee.
It was like someone took a knife to his soft tissue and the invader fell.
His head snapped to the side as the jinchuriki crashed his fist against his jaw. The Hyuga clan heir followed up with a full force open palm to his chest. Broly felt something like a gust of wind pass through his chest and blood burst from his throat. Naruto pulled back an open hand as two clones appeared beside him.
Wind like infinite knives gathered in his palm as his Rasenshuriken took form. Hinata jumped away; she'd be caught if she stayed. Broly, in a daze from the beating, looked between the jutsu and Naruto himself. The jinchuriki felt a stab of guilt in his heart and he hesitated; the man didn't look like he knew what was happening.
"Do it or more will suffer."
His nerves steeled at the words and he brought the Rasenshuriken onto Broly. When it made impact, his own arm nearly broke at the resistance he felt. Mad screeching like a workshop saw filled the air as wayward wind from the attack slice through the stone and metal around them.
Until a crushing force grabbed his wrist.
The Rasenshuriken dissipated as Naruto's feet abruptly left the ground and he found himself at eye level with Broly. His left arm was covered in innumerable slashes and cuts and pouring blood. The rest of him didn't look much better, and the remainders of his clothes were little more than scraps, but it was clear that those wounds were far more superficial. In the blink of an eye, Broly slammed his body several times into the wall and floor.
The Akatsuki lifted him well over his head and smashed him into the ground. Naruto couldn't make a sound as he had no air in his lungs left. His arm was dislocated for sure. Broly hovered well above him and dropped onto his chest with his right leg. The jinchuriki gagged before the man grabbed his face, twisted, and threw him the better part of a mile away.
Hinata stopped in her tracks as Naruto's body flew past her. The unexpected turnaround was so quick, she completely failed to react in time to save the blond. Broly stared right at the back of her head. He was waiting for her to turn back around. With the Byakugan, she didn't have to. Her hands moved and the puddles of water around suddenly came to life as hundreds of needles formed from them to the Akatsuki's shock.
He spotted the steel from earlier and grabbed onto the makeshift handle before he heaved the misshapen metal up. The Water Needles slammed into the impromptu shield and forced the Akatsuki back as some pierced right through. He look and grabbed onto another jutting piece of flat metal. Welded screws shot out like bullets as he ripped it away.
Hinata shot a Vacuum Palm and Broly crushed the technique in between his improvised shields. His aura quickly shifted into a blazing inferno as he rocketed at the Sage. She ducked the first swipe, and lost several hairs as a result, and flipped over the next. The Akatsuki twisted into a tornado of decapitating, jagged blades and she did all she could to avoid the whirling metal.
She landed on a jutting stone she had been too focused to notice and stumbled for a fraction of a second. It cost her as he tackled her with a shield acting as a battering ram. Her vision flashed white as blood gushed out of her face. She was only out for a moment but when she realized she was sliding along the ground, Broly was already falling towards her poised to bisect her.
Hinata lifted her legs as Broly slammed the metal where they once were. Her bones rattled at the impact. They met eyes and he snarled. She yelped as she quickly pushed against the metal before he ripped it out and slammed the other one down. They replayed the moment several times with Broly getting closer to removing something from her every attempt.
"Get away from her!"
Broly looked as a hand of chakra slapped him into a waiting pillar of stone and rebar. Naruto replaced him, coated in a fox shaped cloak with two tails, and he offered a hand. She quickly took it and got on her own two feet. The concrete construct shattered with a quick burst of power from Broly. The hulk of a man reared back and launched one of his crude shields at the duo.
They jumped out of the way and Naruto put his hands together. Several dozen clones popped into existence, each with their own cloak, and they rushed him down. The Akatsuki charged into them and tore into the clones with wild abandon. They popped in twos and threes as he swung his jagged blade and stomped them underfoot.
Too late did the man realize what they were leaving behind.
As the clones dwindled, Broly slowed down. His free hand clenched and released as chakra flooded his open wounds. His veins and arteries were engorged as the Kyubi's chakra seeped into his arm. The same was happening to his feet as the remains of his sandals and pants legs offered no protection. More clones attacked him and it was like trying to move through the thickest mud. The pain was crippling.
He fell to his knees as he could not bear the weight of the many men on his back.
Hinata could still see him even with all the Narutos blocking him off. His adrenaline, or what she assumed was his adrenaline, was spiking and his heart's pace was shooting up along with it. Her vision was nearly blinded as energy gathered where his throat was.
Without a thought, the Hyuga pushed Naruto away. A geyser of power erupted from Broly's mouth, destroying every clone, and it sliced from ground to sky right through where they both had stood. Broly disappeared a moment later. Hinata noticed his movement too late and suffered a gut punch that bulged out her back. Blood and spittle burst out of her throat as her body rocketed away.
"Hinata!" Naruto yelled as he rushed in after the Akatsuki. Broly turned, the momentum of his surprise attack tearing the ground beneath, and raised both arms above his head. With a guttural roar, he brought his fists down and the earth broke beneath him. A veritable tsunami of stone and dirt rose against Naruto and he pushed his senjutsu enhanced body to move out of the way.
Only for Broly to meet him. The man's shoulder crashed into Naruto's stomach and his arm locked the Jinchuriki in a steel grip as he carried him away. The blond grit his teeth as the Akatsuki tackled him through literal tons of rubble and ruin. He abruptly stopped and Naruto's beaten body rolled and bounced along the ground. Kurama's chakra worked its magic and Naruto found himself on his feet in moments.
He could still feel Hinata's presence out there. It was shaky but strong. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'll get you free, Broly. I haven't forgotten."
As he spoke those words, the man appeared next to him with his shield mid swing. Naruto brought up his own to block and felt like a literal mountain had slammed into him. His own body broke the sound barrier as Broly's strike sent him flying. He tossed away the warped remains of his improvised gauntlet.
And the Akatsuki searched. He spotted the woman struggling to her feet.
Hinata felt him coming. The way his presence repelled the natural energy around him made it impossible for her not to. She turned, fast as lightning, and her Twin Lion Fists roared to life. The first landed across his jaw and threw the not-quite man off balance. The second cracked against the fracture in his sternum. Broly hunched over her fist and she pulled away. He wasn't dead and she wasn't going to-!
"Wha-?!"
Her arm wouldn't move. She pulled and pulled but her arm was stuck. Broly stood with her arm in his hands. She struck with her free Lion Fist over and over specifically aiming for the most vulnerable places on his body but he accepted the punishment without fail. Her resistance waned; the natural energy within her was running low. His hands shot out and grabbed her face.
"Let me go! Let me go! Letmego!"
As she screamed her demands, tears began to gather in her eyes. She struck him with both her free hands but he was immovable. She could see the muscles seizing under neath her pointed attacks but he was a man possessed. Broly reared his head back and he brought it down.
A shockwave burst forth. Hinata fell limp in his hands. The sage markings on her face disappeared. As he dropped her, he heard Naruto's arrival; his own tell tale Sage marks gone.
"H-Hinata?"
Within, Broly could hardly meet the boy's eyes. The horror, the despair, the rage, he'd become too intimate with them to enjoy them like he used to. He only felt guilt at what he did. He tried to push the outcome a certain way with his limitd influence. He wanted to just throw her away, give her a fighting chance, but it was like fate had deemed this to happen. The kid tried to help him and look where that got him.
"I'm sorry, Naruto."
Naruto exploded.
Author's Notes
Boy, the ending was tough to write, I'll tell you that much. We've only got two(?) more chapters before we're done with the arc and we move on to the final stretch of this fic.
Let me know what you think.
Ent out.
Review Responses!
So many responses this time around too! Keep it up guys!
p6lishb6kser: I liked this review.
Abyss Emperor: Love the confidence in the Leaf Village at the end there, haha.
Dontus -not Donut- Powerus: Hagoromo talking with Naruto is a neat idea actually. I might do something like that.
fightingchampion: I really tried not to make their reunion cheesy so I'm glad to hear you liked it!
Jutten: That means I did my job well!
SilverJoJo: Can neither confirm nor deny any ship sightings. c.c
Abyss Trinity: It'll probably be something he picks up if he ever gets out of this pickle he's in.
Isaiah: No joke, I kinda wanted to do something like this but, after some thought, I felt like it didn't fit the story at all nor would it mesh well with how I've built their relationship so far. So I scrapped the idea.
SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta: Ah, tis a bit early for that unfortunately!
mrchicho: I could just do that and give this story the most depressing ending possible. Perhaps I will. *Rubs hands evily*
TheRightPrice: Like a fucking legend, that man.
Guest: My mans just wants to be free, he ain't got the patience to rule anything.
Sindaregion: Thanks for the kind words!
Johannes293: Oh man, Danzo gonna be a bit of a treat later. Keep an eye out for him.
surya25addanki: And here's more!
Isaiah navarro: Oh man, that's a lot. Sorry to say but I don't plan for Broly to have any kids.
kidexx: Always a thing that irks me too when authors just keep people alive because. Granted, I'm not saying kill everyone but this story would be way less believable if everyone survived, y'know?
oscuro oscuro: Oh yeah, any victory on the Leaf's side will be a pyrrhic one with how few of them are left.
Guest: Assuming Broly talks at all for that lol He'd be just as likely to waste him without a word. Not that I would do that, that'd be boring.
