Chapter 33: Kazuma's revenge
Flashback:
Day 914 of Captivity
The Jinchuriki thrashed as she tried to break the restraints holding her to the surgical table as she struggled from feeling the contractions of the baby after her water broke around a day ago. The scientists finally decide to cut her open again and remove the baby from her womb. She struggles to get a look at the wailing child before it's handed off to be washed and given to a masked shinobi who takes the baby wrapped in a cloth away from her as she struggles to break free to get to her baby. But, once she realizes it's futile she does something she hadn't done in years, she cried and wailed as her baby's cries faded into the distance. The Scientists are indifferent to her cries as they start to celebrate the delivery of the child as they sow her back up. But, they don't notice until it's too late that the seal of the kyuubi has broken and soon the jinchuriki's skin starts to peel off as drops of blood rise into the air and she is covered in red chakra that burns her restraints off. She enters a six tailed version 2 state covered in the skeleton of a fox. The researchers are in a panic as it becomes clear that the jinchuriki has broken free and begins slashing and tearing at them ripping them to pieces. Mayuri the lead scientist is bisected in half by the slash of the jinchuriki's claws. The jinchuriki takes off down the dungeon path slaying anyone getting in her way as the seventh tail appears and the shroud begins to grow and takes on the size of Kyuubi as it burst out of the ground and lets out a thunderous roar as a eighth tail appears covering the it in muscle tissue. As the kyuubi is nearly free of its cage.
Inside the seal the Kyuubi is pumping as much chakra as it can through the seal as the seal decays and the Girl and redhead boy are having a stare down.
"It's time for the kyuubi to be let loose." the redhead says with a smirk of satisfaction
"But, it will kill the baby if it gets loose." the girl says tearfully
"Maybe so but, the child was damned the moment it was conceived" the redhead says sadly
"Please can't you try to stop him! Your malice is as great as the Kyuubi surely you realize what it will do once free." the girl says frantically
"It will level the village that forsaken Naruto and Us to damnation. The village will rightfully suffer for its crimes against us." the redhead says happily
"Don't you care about the children what about the red tide project that you were supposed to represent!" the girl near hysterics
"You were born of the desire to protect konoha from the genjutsu planted in this mind while, I was born to assist the red tide project with the genjutsu planted in this mind. I see that the kyuubi leveling Konoha as a way to clear a path for the red tide project to flourish in the chaos of the aftermath." the redhead says icily calm
"My desire hasn't been twisted by the malice of what has been done to us and naruto. You're letting your malice blind you to our true purpose: the revival of the uzumaki clan!" the girl says desperately
"And you're naive to be unaffected by the suffering you've endured by burying it instead of embracing it like I have. I have grown strong enough to handle the kyuubi's power while you can't even bear it as it consumes us." the redhead says scoldingly
"I'm unaffected by the suffering because I understand that pain of the body pales to that of the pain of the soul, something you seem to be neglecting." the girl says heatedly
"We both know the suffering of the soul we just had our first child snatched away from us after having had half a dozen being killed before their time not to mention the humiliation and degradation we've suffered over the past two years being breeding stock for savages." the redhead replies heatedly
"You're right but pain can never be equally measured amongst people. so I know that some will suffer worse than us if the kyuubi is free to fulfill its revenge." the girl says nervously
"The kyuubi has become a manifestation of hatred, from its long existence and it will do what it must in order to be free and that requires it to rampage through the village." the redhead says chillingly
"But, we can stop it if we work together please. Not just for your purpose, but also my own." the girl pleads
"Dear sister, your pleas fall on deaf ears just as they did to those men that butchered us for over two years." the redhead says shaking his head
"You're wrong about that!" A voice says within the void as the seal bars are about to break.
"Who are you!" the redhead shouts out as a blonde man appears wearing a coat that has the kanji for 4th hokage on it.
"I'm Minato Namikaze the 4th hokage and the father of Naruto Uzumaki." the man says
"How can you be here you should be dead!" the girl says
"I left my chakra in the seal in the event the kyuubi became close to being free." Minato says
"So the great hero of the village sacrificed his son to damnation. It appears fate was a lot crueler to Naruto then I thought." the redhead says with a snort at the irony
"I wanted Naruto to be seen as a hero not as a demon." Minato says sadly
"Yeah well you made a big mistake in trusting your own village then pal." the redhead snears
"You're right it's too late for Naruto but, not too late for you two and the village." Minato says as the kyuubi begins charging up a tailed beast ball to blow the weakened seal away.
"It's too late for us even if you try you can't seal the kyuubi by yourself in your condition." the girl says sadly as the kyuubi fires and destroys the seal becoming free and roaring at the three of them. The Hokage picks up the two and body flickers away from the kyuubi's attack.
"Give up Minato, you can't beat the kyuubi alone!" the redhead says with conviction at his impending death. But, Chains shoot out of the ground and ensnare the kyuubi pining it to the ground.
"He's not alone!" A woman with red hair says
"Kushina I'm glad you're still inside the seal." Minato says
"I'm glad I could be here but, where is Naruto my son?" Kushina asks
"I'm afraid he's gone ms. his existence was snuffed out two years ago." the girl says
"Please tell me it isn't true." Kushina says in shock
"Your son was tortured until his soul collapsed we're all that's left, two minds formed from the conditioning of genjutsu programming." the redhead says emptily
"No Naruto my baby!" Kushina says as she shakes and sheds tears
"Look Kushina, I know that it's hard but we have to seal the kyuubi now while we still have time." Minato says sympathetically
"I understand." Kushina says as she turns to the kyuubi who begins tearing the chains off his body, so Kushina creates more chains wrapping up the kyuubi even further. As Minato steps forward ready to place the eight trigrams seal.
"No wait, let the village suffer for what it did to Naruto it's only right. If not seal me with the kyuubi I will bear it's rage and act as a filter so my sister may use kyuubi's power with little drawback." the redhead says
"Very well if that's what you've decided then it shall be twelve pentgram seal activate!" Minato says using all of his and Kushina's remaining chakra to bind the kyuubi and the redhead inside the seal while, leaving the girl unbound who loses consciousness as the seal is completed only to wake up to the eyes of the third hokage.
Thus began the life of Naruko Namikaze as a shinobi of the leaf.
Back in the present:
Naruko shakes off the memories she had of Menma from her mind as she makes her way to the hokage's office.
"You may enter." the hokage says
"Baa-chan we have a problem." Naruko says
"What do you mean Naruko?" the hokage asks worried
"Menma has escaped the seal and our body." Naruko says
"How do you think he did it?" the hokage asks with seriousness
"I'm not sure but, if I had to guess it involves the curse seals that I had, but they're gone from my body too." Naruko says as she shows her shoulders and collarbone to show them gone.
"I see, how do you think he did it?" the hokage asks
"I'm not sure he took over my body suddenly when I found a severed arm that probably belonged to Orochimaru and then I blacked out." Naruko says with frustration
"I see, will you be alright without him?" the hokage asks worried
"I'm not sure we've never been apart before but, I feel fine and don't feel his ominous presence anymore." Naruko says with sigh of worry.
"Good but, just to be sure head to the hospital and have some of the medics look you over to be sure you're ok especially with the curse seals gone." the hokage says with a tone of authority
"Alright Baa-chan if you insist." Naruko says as she heads out of the office to head to the hospital.
"What are you going to do now Menma now that you are free of the seal and Naruko." the hokage wonders
At the hospital Shizune checks over Naruko going through the works collecting all sorts of samples and eventually letting her go home to the compound. Where she gets a nice long rest from the stress of the mission she just went on. The next day she gets up to do some training with Fu but, she gets a summons by the Anbu to head to the hokage tower. When she arrives she swiftly enters the room to spot Yamato, Sai, and Sakura.
"Good I've summoned you all here for a mission." the hokage says
"What's the mission lady Tsunade." Sakura asks
"The fire monk temple has been targeted by graverobbers who attempted to steal the bodies of the Fire Daimyo's 12 shinobi guardians. Your mission is to find the one's responsible and put a stop to them." the hokage says
"When do we leave?" Yamato asks
"Immediately." the hokage says
"Alright leave it to use baa-chan." Naruko says as the team heads out the door and out the hokage tower to make their way to the fire temple. When they arrive at the fire temple they meet Chiriku the head monk and Sora a monk in training. As they go over what they know about the grave robbings Naruko notices the glares the other monks are giving Sora. When Sora goes off to train alone Naruko follows to watch as Sora performs wind release: beast tearing palm.
"Impressive" Naruko says
"Yeah why are you here?" Sora asks defensively
"I was curious about you and decided to take a look." Naruko says with a shrug
"Curious about me why?" Sora asks curious
"Because of the glares I noticed you received are familiar to me and wanted to see if my hunch about you was correct." Naruko says
"You noticed them huh." Sora says with a glare of his own
"And my hunch about something being sealed inside you appears to be correct." Naruko says
"What do you mean sealed inside me?" Sora asks lost
"I sensed a sort of Malice within you that I'm intimately familiar with but, I'm not sure how it's coming from you." Naruko says narrowing her eyes as if trying to see something in Sora.
"Malice you say I get a feeling of it once and awhile, but it fades along with a pulsing in my arm." Sora says in thought
"Well it doesn't matter whatever is inside of you doesn't change who you are." Naruko says with indifference.
"Yeah you're right care to train with me." Sora asks happily
"Sure I could use some extra training in wind release." Naruko says happily but, before they get too ahead of themselves they get a report the tombs of 4 shinobi guardians have been raided. They head out along with Yamato, Sai, and Sakura to find the coffins moving on their own through the power of earth release to a valley filled with rock outcroppings. They follow the coffins into the valley and get separated with Naruko running into a woman named Fuka. She confronts Fuka and battles her but, Fuka appears to be able to use all 5 elements. Naruko eventually gets in close contact with Fuka and uses the gentle fist style against her to little effect. Eventually Fuka gets in too close to Naruko and kisses her and uses execution by kiss to drain Naruko of her chakra eventually drawing out the kyuubi's chakra forcing her to stop. Sora comes to the rescue after being kept occupied by Furido with small manages to drive Fuka away as Naruko recovers from losing her chakra. Yamato arrives along with Sakura who has an injured Sai with her. They make it out of the valley and return to the fire temple where they receive instructions to return to konoha along with Sora. In the village as Naruko is showing Sora around they come across Kiba who attacks Sora for being suspicious dragging Choji, Lee, and Neji into the skuffle but, Shikamaru and Shino break it up as Naruko explains with Sai injured that Sora became a temporary replacement on the team. Naruko and Sora meet up with Asuma who insists that he teach them about chakra flow to increase the effectiveness of their even gets Sora chakra enhanced triple bladed claw that has the same metals as ninja tools. Asuma claims he knew Sora's father as a member of the 12 guardian ninja. Sora is happy to hear this but, when he gets alone he is confronted by Furido who claims Asuma killed Sora's father much to his shock. Sora retreats from Konoha to hide out in the forest with Furido. He explains that he intends to follow through with his plan to destroy the hokage which Sora's father set out to do long ago. Hearing this Sora attacks the hokage before retreating with Naruko in pursuit of him, but Naruko is blocked by Fuka who goes on the attack against Naruko. Meanwhile, another member of the graverobbers Fudo creates a mound of dirt which raises the corpses of the dead to fight using the jutsu called earth release: resurrection technique corpse soil. Meanwhile, at the power plant the 4 corpses of the guardian ninja are revived to activate a lightning jutsu known as limelight to annihilate the village. Asuma attacks one of the 4 guardian ninja Kitane who traps Asuma in a barrier. Meanwhile, Sakura confronts Fuen who has put up a barrier around Konoha. Fuen traps Sakura in a genjutsu but Sakura breaks free and finishes her off with a punch. Fudo fights Yamato only to be crushed by Yamato using wood release: tree bind flourishing burial. Naruko meanwhile, manages to destroy the body of Fuka who reveals that her true body is nothing but, hair that Naruko destroys with a rasengan and goes off in pursuit of Sora. As Asuma breaks free from the barrier he was trapped in and attacks and destroys kitane ending the threat of limelight. Having no choice Furido turns to Sora as his trump card and removes the seal holding back the power of the biju Sora contained. Furido explains during the first attack on the leaf village the kyuubi left remnants of its chakra behind that were collected and stored into Sora for the purpose of destroying Konoha. Naruko arrives along with Asuma to hear the explanation and Naruko is shocked that Sora is a pseudo-jinchuriki. Asuma takes off after a retreating Furido who Asuma reveals is actually Kazuma Sora's father. Sora begins to form a shroud of chakra gaining a single tail. Sora then lunges at Naruko as she pleads for him to come to his senses.
"I've been used long enough with this power I'll destroy everyone that has wronged me." Sora shouts
"Don't do it! It won't change a thing but make you into the monster the monks feared you to be." Naruko says
"They're hypocrites that turned their back on me in fear." Sora screams
"That's why it's important that you don't follow down this destructive path!" Naruko says heatedly
"What does it matter to you!?" Sora shouts
"Because, we're friends and friends don't let friends go it alone just like you're doing." Naruko shouts as two more tails appear behind Sora bringing the total up to three. Just as the others from team kurenai, team Asuma, and Team Guy appear to try and restrain Sora. But, they can't hold him down as he goes on a rampage but Naruko keeps interfering with Sora who is trying to crush her but can't due to her using the Hiraishin to get around by throwing the tri pronged kunai. Naruko finally corners Sora and uses Adamantine sealing chains to trap Sora in the surrounding area and uses wood release: All creation to bind him with large roots. But, Sora becomes overwhelmed with power and begins losing skin and shedding blood forming a smoking sphere around him as he takes on a 4 tailed version 2 form. Covered in red chakra he breaks free from his bindings and attacks Naruko who begins showing signs of gaining a 4 tailed cloak she tries to suppress the power but, can't and strikes at Sora sending him skidding back as Naruko gains a fifth tail. She focuses inward to the seal to meet with kyuubi.
"I don't need your power to do this I'll defeat him on my own." Naruko says heatedly
"Child you think you can match my power with yours alone then, you're a fool." the kyuubi says
"Only a fool would give into temptation and discard their own power for that of another that corrupts." Naruko says glaringly
"Hah it doesn't matter you can't win without me you'll come crawling to me in the end for help." the kyuubi says smirking
"If I can't beat your influence, then what chance do I have against Menma." Naruko says coldly
"Fine but, don't expect to cross my power and walk away unharmed." Kyuubi says snorting as the chakra Naruko is getting recedes. She exits the seal to see Sora staring at her.
"Sora I did it I beat the Kyuubi's influence and so, can you." Naruko shouts as she charges Sora who swats her to the side. Naruko Hiraishin's to the side of Sora and nails him with a big ball rasengan sending him skidding into the Adamantine barrier where he begins to form a tailed beast ball. He fires it at the barrier but Naruko uses wood release: wood locking wall to take the brunt of the blast as does Adamantine barrier. Naruko comes out from behind the wood wall to see the damage the barrier having withheld the blast returned the force on Sora who's disoriented lying on the ground. Naruko body flickers to his side and decks Sora in the face sending him flying into the barrier where Naruko body flickers to and grabs ahold of Sora's shroud and begins to pull it with her chakra slowly extracting the shroud from Sora who screams in pain as the shroud is removed. When Naruko is done she is covered in a 4 tails cloak but, let's it dissipate. She catches Sora as he falls to the ground and adamantine sealing chain barrier comes down allowing the Konoha 11 to gather by Sora's side. Sora is without any old skin and his clothes are heavily tattered and his breathing is irregular.
"So, this is how it ends for me." Sora says
"What are you talking about? I'll have sakura and the girls patch you up and we can get back to training together." Naruko says worriedly as Sakura attempts to heal Sora but, knows it won't do any good with the tailed beast chakra extracted.
"I know this is it for me I just have one question: are we still friends?" Sora asks weakly
"What are you talking about of course we're friends all of us are." Naruko says tearfully as the others look on sadly at the fading Sora who sees their looks and can't help but smile.
"If that's the case….it can...end...here." Sora says faintly before giving a last breath.
"Sora!...SORA!" Naruko cries out as she holds his body as his heart stops beating. Meanwhile, Asuma finishes Kazuma for good and returns to see what became of Sora and is saddened.
Sora is buried in the ninja section of the graveyard in honor of how he lived. Naruko can't help but cry knowing that he grew up knowing hatred like Naruto did but, at least in the end unlike Naruto he died having his friends by his side. Naruko heads home to grieve the loss of a friend as the others give her some space.