And I thought this story would be done in a week, but I was wrong. Tying loose ends as well as retaking a village from a big threat is a LOT of work. Big shoes to fill in.
Today we watched Goosebumps 2, my aunt and I. :D The films for family and kids in general for today's standards get better and better with each sequel (in this case).
As well: we finally enjoyed the 2018 Halloween, which was a worthy anniversary of the 1978 classic.
Chapter Eighteen
Kutone vs. Izanagi!
Konohagakure ended up becoming under siege once again, with its Sand allies also against it - except it was fighting to help restore the true way of the Leaf, rather than with intent to take over.
The warfare eventually got back to the Hyuuga who leaped into action, but not the way the Allied Shinobi anticipated.
Outside the village barriers took place only Konoha ninja against Kisame Hoshigaki and Deidara who kept them busy only to end up killing a handful because they had to.
The entire Konoha Eleven - now that Hinata Hyuuga was gone and a certain rogue was "back" - participated in the melee as Sakura Haruno and Shizune led the Medical Corps into taking in wounded and dying.
Sasuke Uchiha and Team Hawk joined the hysteria, while the leader himself made way for the Hokage's Tower where his brother and former teammate were dealing with the man in darkness, eager to kill the one he blamed for Itachi's disgrace.
~o~
"...you two...unbelievable."
Danzo had seen his great enemy and Minato Namikaze's brat - the host of the Nine-Tails - engage in a brief but passionate lip-lock, and it disgusted him to no end. "This is love you're seeing, which is something you don't understand," Naru spat back, "and something we both deserve for all we endured."
"Love is a bond that is broken all too easily, and is for the weak."
Naru's temper flashed with Kurama's within. "You know nothing." The blade was joined by the fox's chakra. "No, love is stronger than you think it is. It's not just protecting them against everything and everyone, but it also gives you a reason to live. You feel you don't deserve it, but that's like pulling your own tail. It's a bond more powerful than the death threats in the world!"
Danzo ignored her philosophy altogether, though he obviously heard her right, and instead focused his keen eye on the blade which was ripe with both her chakra and the Nine-Tails'. "I recognize that, but it's been ages...the Kutone Blade. Last time I saw it with both eyes was when Lord Second held it in his hands."
Watch out, runt. You know that look in his eyes - or should I say, that ONE which does not belong to him?
I see it...he wants to get the blade. Well, he's gonna guess again!
And so she lunged his way, with no intentions of letting it go easy as that. She would tear this entire office down if she had to. And for that, she avoided looking into his eye, though she could get out of genjutsu now. And just like that, Danzo had a surprise waiting for her, which was a hidden tantÅ, and she had to scoff; was that really the best he could do?
Itachi stayed behind, watching the scene play out. Or saving the best part for last.
"The Nidaime Hokage should have had a tighter hold on that sword," Danzo told her when their blades screeched against each other; they had moved over the desk to the point of nearly hitting the window - and below, Sasuke had arrived only to pause and watch what was going on. "But it had to be lost after his death, only to be in the wrong hands after the wars. Had you been the perfect machine, I would have held you with higher regards than now."
Damn it, Kurama, he's really pushing me to cut his head off.
Not a bad idea, he agreed, chortling, or perhaps something better: take that eye from his socket for your weasel back there. I see he's building up for the paralyzing part.
The Kutone was a hell of a match against an average sword, but it was all the old man had gotten. And as soon as she had his blade knocked out of hold, she made way for what she always planned to do, before she would make haste for that eye of his...
...and that was to drive the sword right into Danzo's heart. The look on his face was exactly as she dreamed, and it felt so good to kill this immature relic once and for all. She grinned from ear to ear, mirroring Kurama's, and behind her, she was sure Itachi was smiling slightly, before it was gone.
Something felt terribly wrong.
Then she had to look at old man Danzo's eye, and gasped when she saw the bloody red had turned to WHITE. "Itachi, what the hell is this?!" She'd never heard of the Uchiha's irises turning into that, but then again, she didn't know much about their power besides what was inflicted on her and the others.
"NARU, LOOK OUT!" Itachi bellowed when he recognized what it was.
Even Kurama saw it: Oh, damn it, Naru, it's the Izanagi!
What the hell is Izanagi?!
A jutsu activated via the Sharingan...at the cost of the light in one eye. Blindness, in other words. The moments happen in a minute. This is perhaps far more forbidden and secretive than the Mangekyo. The user applies illusions to the senses of the target, without direct eye contact, turning fantasy into reality - but for the inflicted, it's all an illusion.
Oh, God, if that was the case, then that meant -!
And of course, just like that: Danzo appeared right behind her, his hot breath on her ear. That wound in his heart was gone as if it had never been there.
"You fight well, but that won't be enough for you, Jinchuuriki."
~o~
He saw it all, assessed the chakra, and that was when his attention fell to not only Danzo's "eye" which became white with the Uchiha's forbidden jutsu...but the immense number in another place that he and others never would have expected. And he didn't even have the necessary chakra compatibility as the Uchiha, so that required another that hadn't been seen since Hashirama Senju's day.
Not only does he have Shisui's eye, but he has TEN OTHERS!
Embedded in his right arm were none other than ten Sharingan from, no doubt, the dead Uchiha after the massacre, but because of the fact that Danzo's chakra wasn't compatible with any of them, he had to have had aid to give him what made him adaptable to make the power of the Uchiha work - no doubt to use the Izanagi multiple times as he wants to - and one person he could think of was Orochimaru, whom he knew had been in league with Danzo for many of his grotesque experiments, so Itachi was positive the Snake Sannin had plenty of the Shodaime's chakra to go around, especially since Yamato had once been his test subject.
His father...his mother...an uncle or another cousin...it didn't matter who it was. Either ten people with one eye each taken, or both eyes from five people - it didn't matter in the deepest pits of hell. This was a disgrace, no different than that snake: Danzo coveted the Uchiha clan's abilities out of revenge and personal advancement. He was an example that the dark past had to go once and for all. After this, he was going to destroy all of those eyes because there was no need for their power anymore - not a great power which would work only in a single instant; plus, Naru had the other she had yet to unleash.
However, there was the matter of his eyes and in case Sasuke ended up activating the terrible Mangekyo after all. It was always best to be prepared.
Naru needed his help, or so he thought when Danzo redrew his short blade from the confides of his clothing. That meant another Izanagi eye would be activated in no time, and from the Uchiha's assessment, there was a minute-long limit; this had never before been used since the blood-soaked time of Naka Uchiha. A time when the Uchiha could not afford to lose the battle.
And here he and the woman of his affections could not afford to lose against the man they both hated. The man he had no reason to be polite to, much like many others, and who he had no reason to let live any longer. But if he could just chop off that arm -
A flash before his eyes, faster than his own Sharingan could have comprehended, made him gasp and withdraw by an inch. His lungs constricted at the sight which stirred his body in a manner which reminded him that he could finally enjoy the sight of the killing of a loathed rival for the first time - because of HER. He watched as Danzo's right arm which entirely composed of the First Hokage's chakra, severed at the shoulder, fell to the office's floor, the eyelids wide opened and showing red with trio tomoe, and its owner uttered shouts of pain no matter years of near-death and limitless nightmares.
She roared over to him after another slash across Danzo's face as she took advantage of his briefly dazed moment. "GET HIM, ITACHI!"
This was his cue to stand over the fallen man, who looked up at him with pained horror in his single eye, the other having gone white beyond repair, and that was for Itachi to reclaim as planned. "You did well, Naru," he told her, gesturing her to stand down, and she did as she put her sword behind her back, letting her chakra return back into herself and returning the Kyuubi his. She nodded, tightly smiling.
Itachi returned his attention back to Danzo who was stricken as he looked up at the man he let be stained with blood so he could remain clean - at least on the outside. But the Uchiha knelt down, turning on the Tsukuyomi - just this once - at the risk of the pain in his veins, and took in the relic to suffer the worst kind of torture that he could never have comprehended in life.
Feel the pain of a thousand crows tearing the flesh off your bones.
And when it was over, he did just what he planned to do, and that was reach and take "his right eye" - Shisui's eye - and crushed it into a bloody mess between his fingers. The scream of Danzo Shimura, the faux Hokage, was music to his ears and to hers.
It was by this time that a certain brother of his finally arrived in time to see what was left of the short-lived battle of repossession. Sasuke paused to take a few breaths from running, and he made eye contact with Naru who flashed him a grin, telling him she was glad to see him and for him to see what she and his brother did together that he regrettably missed.
But for Sasuke to gaze down at the man who ruined both their lives, as had another who was long since dead, it seemed invigorating to match.
~o~
The air reeked of smoke and blood.
Allied Shinobi from both Sand and Leaf had subdued the ones who supported Danzo, but it turned out the majority was based on fear rather than true loyalty, and those who still believed otherwise would face house arrest and imprisonment until they were willing to return this village to the way it used to be.
There was dead littering across the grounds, both ninja and civilian alike; the latter unwillingly and unwittingly got mixed up.
Danzo was dead, having ended up doing one thing that she and Itachi as well as Sasuke never anticipated and had to get out of the office as quickly as possible. Kurama, he used a...!
Yes, he used the Reverse Tetragram Sealing. He intended to take you three to the grave with him. He knew he was beaten, and thought to take you along with him as his final "victory". It's the opposite of the Double Tetragram Seal which you could use to draw me out if you wish.
And it was a damned good thing that they got out before it was finished, and afterwards, they were left with Danzo's corpse which still had the markings on the body. For her to look into Itachi's eyes as he, for the first time, relished the death of someone who deserved it - it made her worry, because that wasn't like him at all. But then he turned to smile down at her, assuring her he was fine, thanks to her alone...and the one who arrived when they had just finished their opponent off.
"Damn it, I missed the show," Sasuke spat, scowling at the corpse of their shared enemy. And he did the action of spitting on Danzo since he deserved it, no less.
Itachi chuckled as he was doing the honor of pulling out a scroll and performing the task of sealing the severed arm carrying the Sharingan stolen, and it was stored in no time in the soft blue-white light. Sasuke stared at it with loathing. "Brother, was that...?"
"Yes, Sasuke. Ten Sharingan in his arm, which was reconfigured to be composed of the First Hokage's cells, to enhance his compatibility with ours. Not only that, but he had Shisui's eye." He motioned to the right side of the corpse's face, and it made the younger Uchiha's scowl deepen.
"I wish I'd have killed him for you both." Then his attention shifted from the dead Rokudaime to the window where the firing and shouting had all but ceased, but the smoke and fading fires lingered in vision range. That ferocious flare in Sasuke's eyes didn't subside, not even when he added, "But he's gone now, so that means there is cleaning up to do with this place...this place which caused you both such pain."
Itachi narrowed his eyes as he saw exactly what she did, as well as knew the meaning behind those words. That look...oh, God, do you see it? Naru asked the fox.
Kurama grunted and snarled at the same time. I sure as hell do, runt. Your Uchiha lover sees so, too. He's not messing around like that time...
And that meant Sasuke intended to destroy Konoha Village before it even finished rebuilding itself. Because - and he never dared to tell either of them himself - he believed the village just as responsible as Danzo was for what befell on her and Itachi. No, there is no way in hell the people inside who knew NOTHING are as guilty as Danzo and those other two!
But it looks like he thinks so. And after this, he is going to plan his own attack. Not alone with just those three, but many others under his thumb. He means real business, Naru.
Naru clenched her fists; not on her watch it would happen!
It's been hard for sure to write the moment between Itachi, Naru and Danzo. A good fight is always difficult no matter how much time has passed. Hubby-kun (I call Itachi that, thanks to my best friend) had Danzo trapped in Infinite Tsukuyomi in "Vespertine", chapter thirteen, which made things fast. XD Then he ripped Shisui's eye out.
My male friend (major Naruto fan to this day) thinks that it doesn't sit right with Itachi taking joy in someone else's pain, but this time will be an exception cause reasons.
And now that reconstruction will begin, that leaves one more major issue to contend with: Sasuke. It's finally come out about his true (and unsurprising) motivations, but now it is up to Naru and help to stop him. A new three-way deadlock in making. ;D Stay tuned for that in the next chapter!
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