A/N Nope Still not dead, and as a happy birthday present to my favorite person in the world (Myself that is) I present you the final chapter in the Land of Sea Arc
XXVIII: Monster
The Land of Sea: Three Months, Twenty-Six Days ago:
"Naruto…I…I love you." Hinata leaned in and planted a tender kiss on Naruto's lips.
Naruto froze in shock as his brain tried to process exactly what just happened. 'H-H-Hinata l-l-l-loves me? What do I say? What do I DO?'
"I hate to break up such a touching moment but Amachi is getting away." Anko's voice brought Hinata back to reality; she released Naruto and staggered backwards, while blushing a furious shade of crimson. With each step she began to sink under the surface of the water, fortunately for her Sasuke was ready for something like this and caught her before she fainted completely.
"I think she broke him." Sasuke said. Without Hinata holding onto him, Naruto had begun to slowly sink, but only on his left side, leaving him leaning at an approximately seventy-five degree angle. Apparently Naruto's water walking ability, something that had been drilled into him until he could do it while sleep walking, was on the fritz.
Anko giggled at Naruto's slacked jawed and wide eyed expression, "I haven't seen that look on someone's face since Orochimaru greeted a visitor in his bathrobe and fuzzy bunny slippers."
Kakashi glanced at Anko, "I thought you couldn't remember anything from your time with Orochimaru?"
"I can't remember most of it, but trust me, some things are impossible to forget no matter how hard you try…"
Kakashi couldn't help himself, "What kind of bathrobe?"
"Blue with fuzzy ducks."
"Ooookay," Sasuke interrupted, "How about one of you shake Naruto awake so we can get going? You know before Amachi escapes completely?"
Kakashi shook the image of Orochimaru in a bathrobe out of his head before walking over to Naruto and poking him in the forehead. Or at least he tried to poke Naruto in the forehead, the glowing silver nimbus of chakra hardened under Kakashi's finger preventing his finger from making contact. "Ow," Kakashi yanked his finger back and sucked on the end of it, "That burns, what just happened?"
"Maybe it's cuz you were trying to hit him?" Anko suggested, "Maybe you should try putting a hand on his shoulder or something."
Kakashi nodded and gently placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder and gave him a light shake, "Oi, Naruto wake up, the bad guy's getting away… your love life can wait."
Still glass eyed Naruto managed to stutter, "Huh? Uh…I…wh-wh-what…um…wh-where is A-A-Amachi?" while blushing almost as bright a red as Hinata.
"He went that way, but he's already out of sight," Sasuke pointed towards a distant gloomy looking island.
"Eh? That's Demon Island. Kinda clichéd for the villain to have his secret base there isn't it?" Anko said while squinting at the distant island.
"How do you know the name…"
"What do you mean he's out of sight?" Naruto interrupted Kakashi's question and pointed to a spot three quarters of the way between him and the island, "He's right there! He's using so much chakra to swim though the water he's glowing like a beacon!"
"Um…Naruto I can't see him even with my Sharingan…" Kakashi said.
"The only person glowing here is you, Fishcake."
Naruto looked back at his teammates and blinked in shock, "You're all glowing!" He rubbed his eyes and took a closer look at everyone. Each person had a unique pattern and color combination. Kakashi's was the most complex, an intricate weaving of crackling blue-white, raging deep blue, and steady dark brown energies. Sasuke had a similar blue-white that sparked and flowed back and forth, at the edges it danced and leapt in shades of crimson and orange. Hinata, who was still slung over Sasuke's shoulder, had a calm blue, the color of the sea, flowing around a frame of warm dusty brown. Anko's was the simplest, an energetic swirl of yellow orange, but, Naruto noticed, tinged with a sickening shade of purple that seemed to originate from the back of her left shoulder, near her neck.
"I…Uh…Think I can see chakra now…" Naruto explained what he saw to the rest of Team Seven, and Anko.
"You can see that?" Anko rubbed the spot absentmindedly, "It was a 'gift' from Orochimaru, it hurts all the damn time, especially when I'm fighting."
"As interesting as this is, we need to head back to the docks and get a boat to catch Amachi." Sasuke said.
As they walked towards the docks, staying on the water to avoid the gore splattered beaches, Naruto sidled up to Sasuke, who was still carrying the unconscious Hinata slung over his shoulder. "Why are you carrying her like that? It looks uncomfortable."
"Because it leaves me a free hand. Why are you even asking? You never had a problem with how I carried her before."
"I…It's just…well…"
"Here, you carry her." Sasuke rolled his eyes as he thrust Hinata into Naruto's arms. "Now hurry up we have a mission to complete."
Hinata woke as Naruto climbed the pier and her face turned red as soon as she realized that Naruto was carrying her. "Hey now, don't faint again." Naruto scolded her playfully, "We'll never be able to do anything if you pass out at the slightest thing."
"I…I…I'm s-s-s-sorry Naruto-kun… I was selfish and didn't…"
"It's okay Hinata-chan."
"B-B-But…"
"It's okay; we can talk about it on the boat ride over to the island Amachi was heading towards, okay?" Naruto said as he lowered Hinata onto the pier.
"Hey love-birds!" Anko called out, "There's a rowboat we can all fit in over here, get over here."
Hinata and Naruto blushed a matching shade of red at Anko's words, as they headed towards the far end of the pier where the boat was tied. "Wow that's a big boat," Naruto said when he saw it, "Looks like it'll take ten people to row it!"
"It's called a longboat, Fishcake. Ships too big to dock use them to carry people and supplies to the pier."
"Um…how did you know that Duck-butt?"
"I wanted to be a pirate when I was little." Sasuke said. "What? Don't look at me like that, I was, like, five!"
"Wh-Wh-Whatever you s-say Sasuke…" Hinata and Naruto shared a look as soon as Sasuke turned his back and tried their hardest not to laugh at him.
At the far end of the dock Anko and Kakashi waited for the rest of Team Seven to be ready, "Anko, you never answered my question, just how do you know the name of the…" Kakashi was interrupted by the sound of clones dispelling, and Naruto violently retching.
"Wh-Wh-What's wrong Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, while worriedly rubbing Naruto's back.
"Soooo…dizzy…" Naruto groaned
"What happened?" Kakashi asked a bemused Sasuke and a worried Hinata.
"I don't know Naruto made some clones, to row the boat, you know? Then he just keeled over and started puking." Sasuke said with a shrug.
"I saw myself!" Naruto mumbled.
"You're not that ugly Fishcake."
"N-N-No, you don't understand, when I made those clones, I saw myself, you know, through their eyes… Do you have any idea how dizzy that made me?"
Road to Konoha, Present Day:
"He saw through his clones eyes? Didn't that kid with the…"
"Yeah Hime, just like him."
"Does that mean…?"
"Something similar at least."
The Land of Sea: Three Months, Twenty-Six Days ago:
"That's really weird Naruto, I've never heard of anything like that happening before." Kakashi said as he helped Naruto back to his feet. "Try again with just one."
Naruto nodded and formed another clone, this time instead of dispelling and causing Naruto to be ill, they both went a little green and wobbled a bit. "This is so weird…" Naruto muttered.
"Wh-What's it l-like Naruto-kun?"
"It's like…at the very edge of my vision I can see what my clone's seeing. It's really weird…it goes from my peripheral vision to the clones."
"Sounds useful to me kid." Anko said.
"I guess, but it's going to take a long time to get used to this… Well, looks like one is all I can manage right now guys, sorry but we're all going to have to row." Naruto and his Kage Bunshin hopped off of the pier and into the boat, followed by Hinata, who sat next to him, Sasuke who sat next to the Kage Bunshin, Anko, and Kakashi who each made a Kage Bunshin of their own to help them row.
It took them a few minutes to get the hang of it but soon the Longboat was skimming across the sea. For the first ten minutes Naruto and Hinata sat side-by-side in silence, before Naruto finally broke it. "So…how long have you…you know…liked me?"
"F-From the d-day I met you…"
"Wasn't that in school? What did I do to impress you that much, other then get poisoned…"
"I d-didn't think y-you'd remember…."
"What are you talking about? Did we meet before that?"
"Well…
Konoha: Seven Years: Six Months: Nineteen Days Ago:
Hinata was enjoying her time out of the clan compound; she had begged her parents to let her go to the park for hours this morning and they finally relented under the condition that she stay within eyeshot of her branch house guard at all times.
Her guard, who was supposed to watch her every move, incase of another attempted kidnapping like what happened three years ago waved to Hinata from across the park, "Hinata-sama, I will return shortly, there is something I must do, please remain here until I return." He said before heading off towards the local bar, for a quick pick-me-up.
Hinata didn't mind, she had found a flower patch that had flowers that didn't grow in the compound, and was carefully picking them so she could press and dry them when she got home.
She was so focused, that she didn't notice the four older boys, until the biggest one spoke, "Hey what are you doing in my park?"
Hinata looked up, "J-Just picking flowers."
"Ew, what's wrong with her eyes?" one of the boys asked when he saw Hinata's blank white eyes.
"That's gross! Get out of my park you freak!"
"B-B-But I have t-to w-w-wait here for…"
The large boy didn't let her finish, he kicked her in the stomach, "I said get out of here you blank eyed freak.
"I c-c-can't leave y-yet…"
"I said go away!" The leader said as he kicked Hinata again, "You're almost as bad as the demon."
"Did someone say my name?" A blond haired boy dressed in raggedy third hand clothing at least a size to large for him dropped out of the tree and landed on one of the bullies, "What have I said about bullying people here?" He turned to Hinata, allowing her to see the six whisker like marks on his face and brilliant blue eyes, "You'd better get out of here this could get messy," he said with a feral grin before jumping on the closest bully and punching him in the face.
Hinata wanted to run, but her guard told her to stay in the park, so she hid behind a tree and watched as the blond boy fought her attackers. Despite being smaller and out numbered four to one he put on an amazing fight, punching, kicking, biting and clawing at his opponents like a wild beast. Unfortunately he was out numbered and one of the bullies managed to grab the blond from behind, and another grabbed his legs to prevent him from kicking anyone in the face, allowing the other two boys to use him as a punching bag.
The largest boy, who had two black eyes and a busted lip, signaled the other boys to drop the blond. "C'mon lets get out of here before he gets back up."
As soon as they left Hinata walked up to the boy who had rescued her from her attackers. "Hinata-sama! What are you doing near that monster?" Hinata's bodyguard had returned from his 'business' in the bar across the street. "Your father will never forgive me if he finds out you've been near the Kyuu-Demo-Brat, Come Hinata-sama, we must return to the compound."
"W-What's a kyuudemobrat?"
"It's nothing, Hinata-sama, forget about it, and let's go home now okay?"
"B-But he saved m-me from b-b-bullies!"
"Of course it didn't, Hinata-sama. Don't tell such ridiculous stories." Her guard dragged Hinata off by her wrist. "It's time to go home, your father will be mad if your late again Hinata-sama."
The Land of Sea: Three Months, Twenty-Six Days ago:
"That was you?" Naruto blinked in shock, "I had almost forgotten about that…How did you recognize me in school? I mean it was three years later and you only saw me for what five minutes?"
"A-After you s-saved me I t-tried to find you every time I got a chance to leave the compound…"
"You did? It's a shame you never found me then we could have been friends for a lot longer Hinata-chan. I'd have liked that, I never had many friends before I started attending the academy." When she heard Naruto's words she hung her head and tried not to cry. Naruto heard her sniffle though, "Eh? What's wrong Hinata-chan did I say something wrong?"
"I-I-I d-d-did f-f-find y-y-you…" Hinata sniffled, "I-I w-was j-just t-to f-f-frightened t-to s-speak to y-y-you…Wh-What if you thought I w-was u-u-useless and w-w-weak?"
"That's ridiculous! Who would call you weak or useless?"
"M-M-My f-f-father…"
"When we get back to Konoha I'm going to have words with your father, words like; Rasengan, and Ryokuryū …." Naruto growled, while cracking his knuckles. "What did you do when you found me anyways?"
"I…um…didn't find you at first b-but…"
Konoha: Seven Years: Three Months: Fourteen Days Ago:
For the third times in as many months Hinata had managed to convince her parents to let her out of the compound. Each of her previous attempts to find her mysterious savior had ended in failure. The adults she asked refused to even tell her his name; they referred to him as 'the Demon' and insisted on telling her increasingly ridiculous stories about what he did to children who talked to him. The last adult she asked spent half an hour trying to convince her that the blond would eat her alive if he found her, after that she decided to just ask the children who played in the park. Unfortunately most of the children were even less helpful than the adults, having been fed endless stories of how evil and dangerous he was, they were all terrified of him. After pointlessly asking the children in the park for the better part of three hours Hinata was ready to give up her search when she thought she saw a flash of yellow hair at the top of a hill. She after she sprinted up the hill she was disappointed only to find a boy with brown hair in a spiky ponytail and small dark eyes and thin angular eyebrows that made him look like he was scowling, lying in the grass and staring at the sky.
"U-U-Um…Have…y-y-you seen a b-blonde b-boy w-with th-three l-lines on each ch-cheek?" Hinata asked the boy on the hill.
The boy sat up and gave her a suspicious look, "What do you want with Naruto?"
"H-H-His N-name is N-Naruto?"
"You don't even know his name?" the dark haired boy asked her suspiciously. "What are you after?"
"I w-w-want to th-thank him f-for saving m-me f-f-from b-b-b-bullies…"
"…You know… you're the first person Naruto's helped who actually wanted to thank him for saving them…"
"D-Does he h-help people often?"
"Every time he leaves the orphanage I see him help someone, most people he helps won't even give him the time of day..."
"H-H-He lives in the orphanage? Th-Thank y-you very much." Hinata took three steps before turning back to the boy, "Um…wh-where's the orphanage?"
The boy sighed and pointed to the other end of the park, "Make a left and keep going, it's impossible to miss. There's a great big sign and everything, now let me return to cloud watching please."
The Land of Sea: Three Months, Twenty-Six Days ago:
"So what happened next?" Naruto asked Hinata, while Sasuke, Kakashi and Anko eavesdropped on the conversation.
"I-I w-went t-to the orphanage to try and meet you…"
"What happened next? Did someone stop you from meeting me?"
"N-N-No… I was t-too n-nervous t-to t-t-t-talk to you…so I-I followed you around f-for a wh-while t-trying t-to w-work up the c-c-courage to talk to you…"
"How come I never saw you?"
"'Cause you're too thick to notice she's been stalking you for, what seven years now?" Sasuke snarked.
"SHE WHAT?"
"I-I-I'm s-s-so s-s-sorry N-Naruto-kun… I-I w-was t-too sc-sc-scared o-of what you w-would think o-of m-me… I j-just w-wanted to learn h-how y-you c-could b-be s-so brave all the t-t-time…"
"And I never noticed?" Naruto looked dumbstruck for a moment, "Wow I'm thick…I'm glad you weren't trying to kill me…"
"Not that thick Naruto I watched her stalk you for a while, she's really good."
"YOU STALKED ME TOO?"
"Not as much as Hinata!"
"WHY WERE YOU STALKING ME?"
"I wanted to know how you got so strong…"
"And you didn't try asking?"
"Um…would you believe that it never occurred to me?"
Anko, who had been trying her best not to laugh, finally lost it, "BWAHAHAHAHA…You three are a riot! If the ninja thing doesn't work out you could always become stand up comedians…"
"As amusing as this love triangle is, we're here." Kakashi said as the boat ground to a halt.
"L-LOVE TRIANGLE?"
"Calm down Naruto, he's joking." Sasuke said before jumping into the shallows. "Where do you guys think the entrance is?
"I dunno, let's look around." Naruto suggested.
They split up and began searching the island. After three hours they still hadn't found a single sign of inhabitation on the island, not a bent twig, a bruised leaf, or a single misplaced blade of grass.
"Are you sure this is the only place he could have gone Anko?" Kakashi asked Anko when after they gave up.
"Only island for miles in this direction, where else would he go?"
"…I think we missed the obvious." Naruto interrupted. "Everything about Amachi screamed the sea. The fishmen things he called Kaima, Umibōzu, the way he escaped… the entrance to his base must be underwater."
"That…actually makes sense…" Sasuke said, with a fake look of shock. "Who are you and what did you do with the real Fishcake?"
"Vey funny Duck-Butt…" Naruto grumbled, "Now if I was an evil bastard where would I hide the entrance to my underwater base?"
"On the far side of the island, in the cliff face." Anko answered without hesitation. "What? I was Orochimaru's apprentice remember?"
"Fine we'll take Anko's advice." Kakashi ordered.
Hinata found the entrance after an hour of scouring the cliff face. The narrow crack in the side of the cliff, which was barely wide enough for their boat to fit through, and low enough that they would have to duck, was screened by several large spikes of rock jutting out of the water. "I th-think I f-found the e-entrance…" Hinata announced over the radio. Within moments the rest of Team Seven had arrived.
"You guys ready?" Naruto asked.
"Y-Yes…"
"Hn."
"I was born ready, kid."
"Hey, I am team leader, Naruto."
"Sorry Kakashi-sensei…"
"…So, you guys ready?" Kakashi echoed Naruto's earlier question.
Team Seven rolled their eyes and ducked down into the tunnel. The tunnel was more than half full of water, which forced them to crawl on their hands and knees on the surface of the water at several points in the tunnel. The tunnel twisted and turned as they went deeper into the island, if it wasn't for Naruto's still glowing aura, it would have been pitch black. Eventually the tunnel began to slope upwards before leveling out just above water level. There was a large stone door that would have blended in the rock wall perfectly if it wasn't hanging ajar short distance after the tunnel leveled out.
"Well… we're here." Naruto said as he pushed the door all the way open, revealing a wide hallway unevenly illuminated by flickering torches. Large doorways opened to the darkness beyond at regular intervals.
"I think Amachi needs to hire an interior decorator, with some brighter lights, and some warm colors, or pastels, this could be a nice place. Not the overly cliché 'My base is a dank dungeon' thing." Sasuke said with a sniff.
"Um…Sasuke is there something you want to tell us?" Kakashi asked cautiously.
"What? I wanted to be an interior designer at one point." Sasuke explained, while the rest of Team Seven tried to keep neutral expressions on their faces. "Look, I didn't want to be a ninja before Itachi killed everyone. I just wanted to be better than him at something." Sasuke shrugged, "The interior design thing wouldn't have worked out anyways… you should have seen his room."
The first six rooms were huge and completely empty, except for giant cages and blood stains. "I'm guessing this is where Amachi keeps his Kaima normally." Kakashi observed. "He could easily fit double the number we fought in these cages."
"This place is giving me the creeps, let's just hurry up and find Amachi already…" Naruto practically shoved his teammates out of the sixth room and into the seventh. "Okay… this is worse…" The seventh room was a morgue, rows and rows of stone slabs rose from the floor. On each slab lay a corpse, mostly of Kaima, but Naruto noticed the corpses of several people who seemed to have died in the process of changing into a Kaima.
"Kami…there are children here…" Sasuke whispered, shock and disgust both clear in his voice.
"I think he's cloning them… Look, they all look exactly alike." Anko observed, her voice calm and clinical, completely devoid of emotion.
"Hopefully the next room will have Amachi in it…" Corpses didn't bother Kakashi; he'd killed more people than this morgue could hold in a single mission, sometimes with a single Jutsu, but the sight of children half transformed into monsters and dissected…Right now all he wanted was to tear Amachi apart with his bare hands.
Rooms number eight, nine, and ten were filled with tanks large enough to fit a fully grown man. Most of them were empty but several were filled with a strange green viscous liquid that bubbled gently.
"There are thousands of these tanks…" Naruto exclaimed upon entering the tenth room, "How fast can he make these things?"
"Too fast…" Sasuke growled.
"Th-There's t-two open t-tanks here…" Hinata pointed out as they left room ten. "I-I w-wonder why?"
"Nice catch Hinata-chan. Keep yours eyes open for anything fishy. Amachi has a huge head start, who knows what he has planned…"
Room eleven was a library. Giant bookcases stretched from floor to ceiling, separated by the narrowest walkways possible and crammed with occult looking books and musty scrolls.
"After we deal with Amachi we're going to have to sort through this mess and bring it back to Konoha for inspection." Kakashi told Team Seven after they had verified that Amachi was not in the room.
Room twelve wasn't a room at all; beyond the doorway was another hallway, perpendicular to the first. This hallway was unblemished save for a single doorway at the far end. It stretched from one side of the hallway to the other and from the floor almost to the ceiling and was split down the middle. Despite being plain and unblemished the door had a foreboding and dark energy as if it was the jaws to a giant monster.
"Bet you fifty ryo Amachi's on the other side of the door."
Hinata activated her Byakugan to see what was on the other side of the door, "I-I wouldn't m-make th-that bet N-Naruto-k-kun…he's not there…B-But there a-are two…um…I th-think th-they're K-Kaima." She paused for a moment, "Um…th-they're r-really b-big…"
"Just two? This'll be easy!" Naruto strode forward enthusiastically and pushed the doors open. The most interesting thing about the area beyond wasn't the room, which was circular, poorly lit, and very large, it was what was in the room, guarding the exit. The Kaima were the some of the largest things, barring Bijuu or summons, that any of them had ever seen. They were huge, each one topped out at fifteen feet, they had legs like tree trunks, arms twice the size of a man, and their faces were less human then before with no lips and crooked needle like teeth. In addition to their monstrous size most of their scales seemed to have fused together into thick plates, making it look like they wore plate mail made of chitin.
"RRRAAAUUUUGH" As soon as the lumbering monstrosity saw Naruto it roared and charged straight at Naruto, intent on disemboweling him with the four inch claws its large webbed hands ended in.
Naruto managed to avoid the brunt of the blow with a well timed dodge, but the tips of the monsters claws raked across his back shredding his jumpsuit and leaving three angry looking welts on Naruto's back. Fortunately the claws were slowed down by the silver nimbus that surrounded Naruto, or the wounds would have been a lot deeper. "Dammit! That was my last good jumpsuit!" Naruto winced as the welts on his back opened up and began to bleed, before his regeneration kicked in and closed the wounds leaving three pale parallel lines running diagonally across his back. "Careful guys! Those claws are coated in some kind of acid!"
"How clever of you to notice!" Amachi's voice rang out from speakers embedded in the wall. "It only took a direct hit for you to figure it out!" There was an edge to his voice, a kind of harsh gargle with at hint of madness, that wasn't present five hours earlier when they fought Umibōzu. "Welcome to my humble Abode shinobi! Normally it's a lot livelier in here but some one killed all the guests!"
While Amachi was talking the second massive Kaima charged Naruto. The rest of Team Seven and Anko ran into the room to help, but as soon as they were all inside the room the massive doors swung shut behind them trapping them in the room with the Kaima.
"It's a trap!"
"No shit Fishcake."
"Sen'eijashu!" Anko flung her arms forwards, launching dozens of snakes out of the sleeves of her battered coat. The snakes tried to bind and bite the charging Kaima, but their fangs bounced off the beast's scales and the Kaima just shrugged off their attempts to bind it. "Sen'ei Tajashu! (Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)" Twice as many giant snakes were flung forwards with as little effect as the first attack.
"Did you think I would allow you to use the same attacks twice!" Amachi gloated over the loudspeakers. "My Kaima are Invincible!" There is nothing you can do to stop them!"
Naruto managed to roll out of the way of the Kaima's overhand swipe that left inch deep gouges in the floor. "
"Doton: Doryūheki! (Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall) Kakashi formed a wall directly under the first Kaima, which had turned its attention to Anko, crushing it against the ceiling.
Meanwhile, Naruto, after dodging another ferocious swipe by the second Kaima, gathered as much chakra as he could safely compress and launched the second Kaima into the far wall with enough force to embed it two feet into the solid rock.
"Like I said, easy! They were faster last time earlier!" Naruto dusted himself off, "Shame about my shirt though, I hope I can find a new one when we get back to Konoha…"
"You're right Naruto, Amachi seems to have traded agility for armor."
"RRRAAAUUUUGH" Two voices bellowed in unison.
"Um…what was that?"
"Behold! The Power of batch Four Point Five!" Amachi cackled, as the second Kaima shook its head and pulled itself out of the hole and the first tore itself out of the ceiling. "You didn't think that was enough to stop them did you! I told you before shinobi there is nothing you can do to stop them!"
"Hey guys, I have an idea…" Naruto said, "I think I can take out one of them by myself, but I need you four to take care of the other one for me or this won't work."
"You sure Fishcake?"
"Yeah."
"Good enough for me."
"M-Me too…"
"I'm not sure Naruto, last time your plan involved pissing off a giant chameleon and dodging half a mountain it threw at us…"
"Really?" Anko interrupted, "You have to tell me that one when we get back."
"Hey! That worked didn't it? Trust me!" Naruto shouted before charging straight at the second Kaima.
The first Kaima tried to intercept Naruto, but Sasuke caught one of its massive legs with an electrified ninja-wire that did little more than slow it down. Hinata took the opportunity to dash in and try to disable it with Juken strikes to its other leg. "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!( Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)" When the monster turned to attack Hinata, Anko attacked it from the other side, sending half a dozen balls of fire at the back of its head. The monster roared and turned back towards Anko, intent on disemboweling her but stopped when a blue white streak thudded into its chest. Kakashi had thrown a Chidori infused kunai directly at its heart in an attempt to one-shot it while it was distracted. Instead of penetrating clean through the monster the kunai was embedded up to the ring in its chest.
Kakashi's eye went wide, "Um…Normally that works."
"Unfortunatley I don't have the time to whip up a fresh batch but the prototype for my next one seems to be most effective" Amachi gloated.
Just then Naruto was sent flying backwards, the front of his shirt shredded like the back. "Don't worry! Everything's under control!"
Once again both Kaima turned their attention to the blond boy. Naruto had landed closer to the first Kaima than to his teammates, as it raised its arms to impale Naruto to the stone floor Kakashi created another stone wall, instead of coming up from the floor, Kakashi made it come out sideways from the closest wall. It slammed into the Kaima and launched it through the air.
"Thanks Kakashi sensei I owe you one!" Once again Naruto charged the second Kaima.
"Doton: Doryū Taiga!" Hinata turned the ground where the first Kaima had fallen into mud.
Sasuke followed her attack by netting the Kaima with his wires while it tried to stand.
"Sen'ei Tajashu!" Anko bound the struggling Kaima with snakes, this time thanks to the mud and Sasuke's wires the snakes were able to hold the monster down.
Once again Naruto was sent flying backwards, this time his shirt consisted of little more than a collar and sleeves that had fallen down to his wrists, "Almost got it, one more time…" he muttered before running off.
Kakashi seemed to blur forwards, his hand encased in the blue white glow of Raikiri. Kakashi's aim was pin-point perfect, his lightning encased fingers impacted directly around the kunai he had thrown moments ago. Just like the kunai his fist didn't penetrate very deep, but Kakashi managed to grab the kunai and channel his Raikiri into it and pull it out with a sideways swipe. The Raikiri enhanced slash tore off a good chunk of the Kaima's natural armor. Kakashi's fingers blurred through the seals for another Raikiri. Once more Kakashi's aim was true, once more his electrified fist slammed into the Kaima's chest, this time the blow was fatal, with one last bellow the massive beast collapsed, dead.
With their Kaima out of the way Kakashi, Sasuke, Anko and Hinata, could finally afford to pay attention to what Naruto was trying to accomplish. Somehow Naruto had managed to climb up the monstrosity's back and had the Kaima in a choke hold. "Come on…Come on…" Naruto muttered to himself, while his silver aura seemed to singe the struggling Kaima, "HA!" as soon as he shouted the beast began convulsing "Crap… Crap… Crap…" Naruto muttered as he held on for dear life.
"aaaaaaiiiiiieeeee" a faint scream seemed to echo from beyond the gates to the next area.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" Amachi's voice echoed over the speakers, accompanied by the, now much louder, scream they could hear through the doors. " I DEMAND YOU STOP! YOU'RE GOING TO DAMAGE THE SOURCE!"
"To bad Amachi, we're almost done with your little toys, and we're coming for you next." Anko growled at the doors.
"YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE ME! " Amachi shouted, "BRING IT BITCH!" The doors at the far end of the room slowly began to open, allowing the scream to be heard clearly. Disturbingly, without the muffling effect of the doors, or the crackle of the speakers the voice screaming was clearly that of a young woman. As soon as the Kaima collapsed, completely drained of chakra, the scream from the other room stopped.
"I hope who ever that was isn't too badly hurt, I only meant to kill the Kaima not her…" Naruto was worried about whoever had been screaming, whatever he did to the Kaima seemed to have caused it.
"What ever happens Naruto, remember you couldn't know that your attack would effect someone else." Kakashi said, "But accidents can happen and innocents can get caught in the cross fire…sometimes…sometimes… it's even people we love…" Kakashi's voice cracked before he cleared his throat and continued, "The world can be a cruel place, especially if you're a shinobi…"
"Enough philosophizing, I'm going to beat the crap out of that smug bastard!" Anko stomped through the door into another hallway, one that ran parallel to the first, "Well what are you lot waiting for Amachi could be escaping right now!"
"She's right let's go…" Naruto stood up and followed Anko into the hallway, followed closely by Hinata and Sasuke, Kakashi brought up the rear. Much like the last hallway this one was unbroken save for a single door at the far end. A hoarse chuckling sound and faint whimpers could be heard through the door. Naruto opened the door cautiously, ready for whatever trap Amachi had in store for them. What lay beyond was something out of a nightmare. The room itself was giant, easily the largest room they had seen so far. The entire back third of the room was dominated by complex machinery that whirred and hummed with a sinister purpose. Seven large tanks, each filled with the faintly glowing green ooze from the cloning rooms, were arranged in a half-circle. The first two were on ground level, behind them two more tanks sat above them, and behind those rose another too, the seventh tank was at ceiling height. In addition there were various smaller tanks and vats bubbling with different liquids. Tubes and wires from the machines and vats all led to single point in the center of the half circle of tanks. Supported by machinery, hung in the air over a large vat of what could only be her own blood, that dripped down wherever the machinery or tubing entered her body was a young woman, no more than eighteen. She had patched of scales cover her body, including half of her face, and one arm ended in the webbed and clawed hand of the Kaima. The unscaled parts of her body were covered in scars. Her breathing was ragged and uneven, it seemed like she probably didn't have much time left.
"She's beautiful isn't she!" Between the girl and the entrance Amachi sat in a complicated chair, ran tubes from the vats and machinery behind him, including the one seemingly full of he girl's blood, to the back of the chair where the various liquids mixed in a tank. A series of smaller tubes ran from the tank into Amachi. "BEHOLD! The source of the Kaima! And, Unfortunately for you…THEIR KING!" Amachi stood, needle tipped tubes popped out and leaked their contents on the floor. "Behold the might of Version Five!" Amachi's shoulders began to broaden rapidly, his arms doubled in length, his hands tripled in size; a long fleshy tail erupted from his back, thick spikes of bone shot out of his fingers, and smaller ones from his spine. There was a cracking sound as his knees reversed followed by the sound of his feet bursting out of his shoes, finally large dark blue-green scales seemed to erupt from under his skin, partially shredding it. Amachi charged forwards, even as the webs on his hands, feet, spine, and tail grew.
Anko dodged out of the way of his lightning fast dash, all he managed to catch was the edge of her coat. As he turned to catch her he lashed out with his tail at Kakashi who managed to barely duck under it.
Sasuke tried to restrain Amachi with his ninja-wire, and Hinata tried with her Suiton: Suiben, but Amachi pulled one the wires and sent Sasuke crashing into Hinata. Kakashi leapt at Amachi with two glowing kunai held over his head in a reverse grip, he brought them down with an overhead sweep, while Anko charged in from behind Amachi, with her hands full of fire. The kunai skittered over Amachi's scales despite the kunai's lightning enhanced edge; Amachi countered with a vicious sucker punched that made Kakashi bounce off the ceiling. Before Anko's fire jutsu could connect Amachi lashed out with his tail and sent her crashing into the wall.
Naruto, who had summoned the Uzu no Tsubasa the moment Amachi began to change, lunged forwards, his weapon held like a spear. Amachi casually leaned out of the way of the first attack, but before he could counter Sasuke bound his arm with wire again, this time when Amachi pulled his arm back the wire bit deep into his still fleshy forearms. Naruto's second thrust struck Amachi directly over his heart. With a clang, the Uzu no Tsubasa bounced off of Amachi's scales. Amachi continued to pull back on with his bound arm, peeling the tattered skin off like a torn glove revealing an arm covered in blue-green scales that shone like steel.
"Suiton: Teppōdama!" Hinata shot a blast of water at Amachi's back, when he leaned out of the way Naruto thrust the Uzu no Tsubasa directly at Amachi's eyes. Naruto missed by less than a millimeter, the point slid along the side of Amachi's head, instead of impaling him through the eye, the thrust cut his ear off. Amachi grabbed the shaft of the Uzu no Tsubasa as it sailed past his earhole; with his prodigious strength he swung the Uzu no Tsubasa and Naruto, like a flail, directly at Hinata. Naruto let go of and unsummoned his weapon, the force of Amachi's swing sent him flying, he managed to land feet first on the wall and stuck there with chakra. While Naruto was sailing through the air and Amachi was staggered from the Uzu no Tsubasa disappearing mid-swing, Kakashi lunged straight at Amachi. The fully charged Raikiri impacted directly over Amachi's heart. It didn't even make it all the way through the scale. Amachi back handed the panting Jonin across the room.
"HEH-HEH…HA-HA-HA!" Amachi laughed, "COWER BEFORE MY MIGHT! MY KAIMA FORM IS UNBEATABLE! THERE IS NOTHING—"
"FUUTON: DAITOPPA! SIT DOWN!" Naruto blasted Amachi across the room.
"Doton: Doryū Taiga!" Hinata poured as much chakra as she could into the jutsu, turning the area Amachi landed in into a waist deep pit of mud. "A-And shut up!"
"KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU/KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU/KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU!" The three fireballs, launched by Anko, Kakashi, and Sasuke met halfway to Amachi, who was struggling to stand in the mud.
"FUUTON: DAITOPPA!" Naruto's windblast caused the fireball to swell to triple its previous size. Since they were indoors, and Anko didn't know them anyway, they didn't use the hand-seals that would allow them to fuse the jutsu into Taiyō Sakusei.
Naruto watched as Kakashi dashed through the smoke cloud from the explosion, his hand glowing with the light of his fifth Raikiri of the day. He ran over the surface of the mud pit, which had been baked solid by the heat of the blast, straight at Amachi, who was slowly pulling himself out of the floor. Kakashi slammed his Raikiri into the same spot he had before, instead of bouncing of Amachi's scales, this time there was a faint cracking sound, and thin lines spider-webbed out from the point of impact. Kakashi didn't stop his dash; he flipped over the mildly stunned Amachi and slid to a stop thirty feet behind him before collapsing on one knee. "I…I'm…out…" He panted.
Amachi finished pulling himself out of the floor, "I TOLD YOU I AM UNBEATABLE! I AM IMMUNE T O ALL YOUR PETTY TRICKS!"
"I still have some 'tricks' up my sleeve!" Naruto growled before he hopped off of the wall he had been standing on.
"A-Are you s-sure it's c-combat ready?"
"One way to find out…" Naruto clapped his hands together and shut his eyes for a moment, when he opened his eyes thin streams of dark purple chakra began to leak from his body. "Damnit… still losing some Yin chakra during the exchange…"
"AN INCOMPLETE TECHNIQUE WILL NEVER STOP ME!"
"Yeah, yeah…CHAKRA CHAINS!" Naruto slammed his hands on the floor, nine transparent silver chains the width of his thumb shot out of his lower back and into the floor. Naruto staggered, suddenly short of breath, "Whoo boy…"
"WHAT IS THIS! YOU THINK YOU CAN HURT ME WITH—" Amachi was cut off when all nine chains emerged from the ground, they slammed into him from all sides before wrapping them selves around Amachi and retracting back into the ground, leaving Amachi pinned in a half crouch.
"Kit, your wasting the chakra you got from Umibōzu, Pull it in!"
Naruto nodded, grit his teeth together and pulled. The bright silver aura, that had surrounded him since he defeated Umibozō, vanished and Naruto, no longer panting, stood up straight ready to fight.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR RRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH H!" Kurama howled in agony.
'Kurama what's wrong?'
"Nothing Kit, go kick his ass form me." Kurama growled through clenched jaws.
Naruto rushed towards Amachi, and slammed his hand into the scale Kakashi cracked. "Uzumaki Ryu: Sen Shadanki! (Uzumaki Style: War-breaker)" A spiral seal appeared spreading out from where Naruto struck; it rapidly covered Amachi's entire body. Naruto quickly jumped away from Amachi, "Kai. (Release)"
"WHAT DO YOU THINK—" Amachi was interrupted by a high pitched whine followed closely by a series of small explosions that originated from his left hand, at the edge of the seal, and spiral inwards. "IS THAT ALL YOUR SEAL CAN DO!" Amachi roared, "EVEN A KUNAI WOULD HURT MORE!" as the sound increased in pitch the seal moved inwards on itself, until it was barely more than a solid black circle over Amachi's heart.
Naruto released his chakra chains, unable to maintain them any longer. Amachi leapt at Naruto the moment he was free. A split second before Amachi pounced on him, Naruto formed a half tiger seal and whispered, "Kai."
The secondary explosion sent Amachi flying backwards into a wall. Amachi rose shakily to his feet, too disorientated to notice that his scales where now cracked or that there was a whole in scale over his heart the size of Naruto's fist.
Naruto had enough chakra left for one big attack, and if he couldn't end the fight with it Anko, Sasuke, and Hinata would be left having to both fight Amachi and protect him and Kakashi.
There was only one attack that he knew of that would enable him to win in one hit…He knew how to do it in theory… It wasn't hard really; just three hand seals…Ox-Rabbit-Monkey… and he had seen Kakashi-sensei use it several times today…
He knew the drawbacks and the risks well enough to make sure his aim was perfect.
Naruto shot forwards in a straight line, his fist covered in flickering lightning chakra, everything blurred to the point where he could no longer see.
His fist connected with the bare patch over Amachi's heart.
It certainly wasn't Raikiri… It wasn't even Chidori…but the faltering ball of lightning that coated Naruto's fist seemed to do the trick.
Naruto's arm sank elbow deep in Amachi's chest, but it wasn't enough. Growling Amachi grabbed Naruto's neck and began to squeeze. Naruto panicked and reached for Kurama's chakra, but he couldn't find it, not at first. Kurama realized something was wrong and began to forcibly push his chakra into Naruto. At first Naruto didn't realize where this new chakra was coming from, it felt different than Kurama's usually did and seemed to be coming from a different location, closer to his own chakra center than to the seal. But when Naruto realized it was Kurama's Chakra he poured it into his faltering attack. The results were spectacular; there was a thunder clap as a red tinged lightning bolt blasted out of Amachi's back that punched a hole clean through the stone ceiling, letting a silver beam of moonlight shine down into the room.
Amachi collapsed in a pool of his own blood. Naruto would have collapsed too but Hinata caught him before he hit the floor.
"Naruto, what was that?" Kakashi, half supported by Anko, limped over to Naruto's side.
"That was an Uzumaki clan seal. First it uses sonic vibrations and small explosions to weaken its target before it explodes properly. It's meant to be used on walls during sieges or to create giant pit traps under armies. I used it to crack Amachi's armor."
"No Naruto, I want to know what you were thinking trying to use Chidori in battle!"
"That wasn't-"
"Naruto, I invented that Jutsu! I know what it looks like when someone tries to imitate it!"
"I needed a piercing attack and the whole wasn't big—"
"Naruto that was an S-rank jutsu you just tried, an S-rank that you were never trained to use!" Kakashi shouted, "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"
"I needed to…"
"You could have died!"
"I'm sorry Kakashi…"
"Never do that again, Naruto."
"Yes sensei…"
"Now help me get the girl down."
As Team Seven limped over to the giant machine's control panels Naruto reached for the Kyuubi's chakra again. It still felt strange but this time it was back were it belonged. 'Hey, Kurama what happened back there, I couldn't find your chakra.'
"When you pulled Umibōzu's Chakra it knocked mine out of alignment, don't worry about it, it fixed itself." Kurama sounded like he was in pain still.
'What's wrong?'
"Fire and water don't mix, Kit." Naruto could tell from Kurama's tone of voice that that was the last he would speak about it.
"Quit slacking Fishcake and help me find the control panel!" Sasuke's voice brought Naruto back to reality.
"Hold your horses Duck-Butt! I'll be right there."
In the end it only took them five minutes to find the control panel and get the girl down. Amachi had apparently liked to keep his controls easy to understand, each button was clearly labeled, including the red lever under the glass lid marked release. Once they pulled it there was a series of hissing gurgling and sucking noises as the various tubes, wires and bits of machinery that seemed to hold her up were retracted, the cross that had kept her suspended in midair was now clearly visible. At first it seemed like that was the extent of the 'release' procedure they had activated.
"So…Now what?" Sasuke asked, while he and Naruto poured over the controls trying to find some clue to help them get the girl down.
After about two minutes, however, the machine began to hum again, and the cross was lowered, surprisingly gently to the halfway mark before it swung outwards and away from the machinery. Once it was completely clear it lowered the girl down the rest of the way. Once the bottom touched the floor it tilted back at a forty-five degree angle.
"It's okay your safe now." Naruto tried to calm the girl while he undid the straps that held her down. Despite Naruto's best attempts to calm her she began to struggle wildly in her bindings, hissing and spitting like a terrified cat , and as soon as Naruto got one of her hands free she balled up her fist and smashed him right in the eye. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Naruto shouted from the floor, "I'm trying to help!"
"I think I know what's wrong," Anko's voice was tinged with bitterness and sorrow, "Naruto, Sasuke go look for clues or something in the room. Hinata, help me with her okay?" Anko said while gently lowering Kakashi to the floor.
"But I want to help!"
"You can help by staying away from her until we've calmed her down. Now go."
Sasuke decided to study the machinery for further clues as to what it actually did while Naruto searched the rest of the room. Directly across from where the machine lowered the purple haired girl was a seemingly small alcove that marred the otherwise uniformly flat walls of the room. When Naruto stepped into it her realized that it was much bigger than it had first seemed, instead of the tiny three foot by three foot dent in the wall it was actually an 'L' shaped room that appeared to be Amachi's living quarters. A battered wooden desk was in one corner of the room, there were a few piles of matching grey suits and lab coats in a smelly heap in another corner, two old bookcases on opposite walls, but what really dominated the room was the massive stone bed on the far wall. A pair of manacles hung from the headboard. The white silk sheets were stained with blood. And lying open on the nightstand to one side of the bed was a large battered notebook. Naruto picked it up and opened it to the first page.
Subject One: Female, Middle age, Five foot two, One Hundred Pounds.
Catastrophic failure. Chest cavity ruptured during transformation. Recommendation: New Serum.
Log Entry One:
Fai;lure to be expected at early stages, Must find new test subjects.
Subject Two: Male, Teenager, Five Foot Five, One Hundred ten Pounds
Catastrophic failure. Complete organ shut down. Recommendation: New Serum.
Subject Three: Female Preteen, Four Foot Six, Fifty pounds
Catastrophic failure. Massive hemorrhaging from pores during transformation. Recommendation: New Serum.
Log Entry Two:
Note to self, Must test patients for allergic reactions to serum.
The list when on and on, every entry was marked 'catastrophic failure' and had a short description about the subject and what went wrong, occasionally interspersed with log entries until, until entry number Nine Hundred Seventy Eight
Subject Nine Hundred and Seventy Eight: Female, Teenager, Five foot Four, Ninety Pounds
Partial Success. Transformation partially complete. Recommendation: Clone.
Subject Nine Hundred and Seventy Eight: Clone One.
Failure. Clone aged far too rapidly and died within an hour of being made. Recommendation: Retry.
The list of clones named several hundred attempts, each marked as a failure. Some clones aged to fast others resisted all attempts at rapid ageing.
Log Entry Seven Hundred and Two
Subject posses a strange resistance to my methods, her body seems to be adapting to what ever experiments I perform. Subjects Nine Hundred And Seventy Nine, Through One Thousand proved useless, Must find subjects secret.
After that entry there were pages and pages of data and tests that made Naruto's head spin.
Log Entry Seven Hundred and Fifty Seven:
At Last! Subject develops a resistance to damage on the genetic level, Explains seventy broken needles and fifty dulled scalpels during last period of tests. Note: order sharper knives. Now I need to isolate the gene causing this and disable it some how.
After that entry there was pages and pages of notes again before the next log entry.
Log Entry Seven Hundred and Fifty Eight:
Alas, I cannot shut the girl's resistance gene down It is, however ,both passive and female specific, needing to be on both 'X' Genes to take effect. Subject useless.
Judging by the ink dots next to the entry Amachi had stopped writing for several moments to think while tapping his pen on the edge of the book.
However… I believe a descendent of Subject Nine Hundred and Seventy Eight that was not a carrier of resistance gene would make an excellent base for my Kaima.
Log Entry Seven Hundred and Fifty Nine:
The Deed is done. Despite holding myself above such worldly pleasure the last ten years, I found myself strangely enjoying the experience. Now all that's left is waiting…
"I'm going to piss on his fucking corpse!" Naruto growled.
"What's the matter Naruto?" Naruto was so absorbed in the book he hadn't even Notice Anko enter the room.
"Read this." Naruto thrust the book at Anko.
After taking a quick glance Anko sighed, "I feared as much, considering the way she was acting when you tried to free her." Anko shook her head sadly, "I know how you feel but you can't piss on Amachi Naruto. It might contain some clues on how to help the poor girl." Anko pulled a large storage scroll, from the darkness of her jacket. "Come with me and help me seal his body to bring back with us."
But when they returned to the main room Amachi's body was nowhere to be found. Instead a streak of blood ran from the pool where Amachi had collapsed to a hidden trapdoor, Amachi had survived, and escaped.
A/N: Um… Wow… sorry guys…
I could write a book on why it took me so long to finish this chapter but to give you the short version, no internet for all of September and some of October, a new job in November that worked me to the bone until mid January. And the bane of every writer everywhere, writers block big enough to carve mount rush more onto. But I'm Happy to announce that I've solved that writers block by taking the stories that were banging around in my head preventing me from getting this one out, by starting work on two new stories, tentatively titled "Naruto: Master of Magnetism" and a three part series "Mass Effect: Shadow of Death", "Mass Effect: Fear No Evil", And "Shepherd" The first Chapter of Master Of Magnetism is almost done, while the mass effect series is still in the planning stages, Once Again I Apologize for the (Massive) delay and promise to do my best to Insure that You don't have to wait this long ever again.
Anyways I know that doesn't really seem to finish this arc, but it's done. I felt this was the best palce to end this chapter, next chapter picks up where this one left off and will see Team Seven Back In Konoha at long last.
Ciao
Xahn777