Composition by Brunuhville.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Our Farewell

Everywhere she looked as her aide drove them through the streets, she saw faces in silent screams, others at peace, and the rest so shredded you couldn't tell who it was. All of them families, couples in all ages, others who still had so much to do with their lives...all of them gone because of that monster.

Shizune said nothing, but Tsunade saw her face in the rearview mirror: it was of silent bloodthirsty fury to match the Senju head's boiling point. Then both their attentions fell to the radio which Jiraiya had established enough contact to relay a message to all of them.

"I don't know if there is anyone left to receive this message, but this facility will soon fall. The monsters are almost upon us and through the last of our defenses, so I now deliver the final orders from this crumbling sanctuary to whomever is listening: keep fighting and do your duties. And to my grandkids...I love you both, and to their grandmother as well."

No, Jiraiya!

Memories flashed before her eyes: the first time she met Jiraiya who had commented on her flat chest, resulting in a bloody nose, then onward when he started looking at her in a certain way that got him flying a hundred meters in the other direction - but altogether, they were best friends along with Dan. They had good times amid the blood. They did anything for each other...but she never once told him she loved him either. She never thought about it as anything other than comfort.

For that, she refused to regret anything because he was giving his life up for them just as the freaks descended on him at the meeting place.

"JIRAIYA!"

She heard herself scream out as she heard the static, and lurched forward just as Shizune bolted the car to a stop. "Tsunade-sama!"

She bellowed at the girl. "KEEP GOING, SHIZUNE, AND DON'T STOP UNTIL WE REACH HEADQUARTERS!"

And run over any zombies we come across.

The drive had so far been uneventful, save for some of said zombies being turned into roadkill by her assistant with vicious vigor, until something struck the front right tire and then another in the back that caused the vehicle to screech along the road which was so close to taking them out of this blazing, blood-drenched town. Tsunade yelled wordlessly through her teeth while Shizune did her best to not get them blown up in the crash.

When she brought them to a safe halt, they were "parked" before what remained of her granddaughter's art and music studio. This place which was near and dear to Hanaru and her friends. It was cruel irony that she and her aide found themselves surrounded by seven fierce presences around them, outside and all pointing sparking weapons at them.

The sight of all of them was utterly monstrous, and they were also human as they could be. The first was a cross between cat and woman, licked upon with blue flames and with the face of a ferocious feline, finished with two fiery blue tails. Next was a young boy who appeared to be a hideous, hunched turtle figure with three tails and without a significant energy to release; his face was spiked top and bottom, finished with demonic red-and-yellow eyes. He was followed by an older man furred with red, resembling a monstrous, four-tailed gorilla beast.

Following were two more men in that order, one a white dolphin head but hooved like a five-tailed horse, and another a white, bipedal slug body damned with not only six tails but the head of a young man with wild brunette hair and a tormented face. To come was another female, though while she was human, she had beautiful but deadly colorful wings as well as seven rear tails...ending with a big guy who had eight octopus legs, and his head was that of a horned bull.

These are the other missing people with the tailed demons sealed within, from second to eighth. All Madara needed was one and nine.

He sent them after us.

One of them snarled at her and Shizune to get out of the car. It was the gorilla-man. "You don't know how to give up, old woman -" And THAT made her snap. "- and your wired up assistant. The situation is hopeless."

She snarled back through her teeth, reaching for the other weapon she always kept hidden from the confides of her coat, and it was the tantō that her grandfather left her which had been in their family since its founding. She wasted no time lashing out, and she struck one of them down which resulted in blood splattering across her own face - and the dead one turned out to be the cat-woman who was now at her feet.

Shizune thought to act, but before she could draw out her wires, something halted her and had her on the ground: the octopus-man had wrapped two of his tentacles around her, trapping her arms down to her sides, and he threatened to do the same to Tsunade if she didn't lower her blade. But she wasn't going to do that on her watch.

"What do you expect of me? Run and hide? That's what you'd say. Tsunade Senju never runs and hides. You're all cowards who can't bear the weight of your own humanity. You pathetic monsters, let's have it!" she shouted, brandishing her stained weapon out again and ready to give them what they deserved.

This was what would have happened to Naruto and Gaara had they'd not received the harsh training they did.

It was then that she and her assistant were saved - and by saved, she meant backup help arrived. In the form of her grandson and his friend both in Tailed Beast Power Mode - Naruto golden orange and Gaara golden brown - and behind them were none other than the Hyuuga clan in their numbers ready to assist them. Tsunade couldn't have been happy to see them.

"Let the women go, maggots," Naruto growled like a beast, "and you'll get no mercy from us!"

Gaara looked at him with something akin to perplex. "Um, Naruto, I believe you meant OR we'll show no mercy." Naruto gulped and looked at him with wide eyes before recovering and correcting himself.

"Right - or we'll show no mercy. What's it gonna be?"

The remaining demonic humans looked at them, befuddled, and then each other before all burst out into harsh guffaws of laughter - until Hinata spat at them and unsheathed her wakizashi. "I'd rather not laugh if I were you scumbags!" she hissed. "So, Octopus Man, put her down and come at us!"

The octo-freak responded in a booming voice. "We do not take orders from porcelain dolls such as yourselves!" That provoked Neji Hyuuga who unsheathed his katana.

"Hold your tongue, for the dead don't speak," Gaara said monotonously, and he withdrew something that only his familiar could summon, same with Naruto. Both of them gathered all their power to form great balls of charcoal that didn't appear to be much...but the impact was terrible enough to cause massive damage to where they would strike.

The others were doing the same, forming their Tailed Beast Balls, and what happened when all collided sent both parties flying in opposite directions. She winced when she found herself slamming into Naruto, Shizune into Neji, but no one was seriously injured. That light just about blinded them!

Oh, it's not over until WE say it is!

~o~

He was going to make his appearance when it appeared his mistress and their comrades were truly in need of his help. All of them could take care of themselves.

Meanwhile, he oversaw the extense of the destruction of his beloved's hometown. When the fires died down, when dawn broke to show a great place burned to ash and littered with its dead carelessly, she would see it and would crumble to the point where she would not be able to function.

The smell of war was the same as he remembered it, as he took in men torn to pieces, women ravaged, children devoured, and the elderly lined up to be shot. It was a massacre.

Right now, he saw the fighting taking place between Tsunade, Naruto, Gaara, Shizune and the Hyuuga against the remaining six mutated creatures.

~o~

These demons were so fierce - far more than the legends depicted them.

What was left of them after the ferocious battle that left both Naruto and Gaara exhausted and needing to replenish: the boys themselves, Tsunade herself, Shizune, Hiashi and both his daughters as well as his nephew, and two strong right hands. With their numbers left, they had to get back to headquarters immediately.

Tsunade had never felt so tired after fighting. I still don't look like it, but I feel like I really am getting too old.

But her age was of little concern, because her commanding forces needed her there since she was all that was left. "Then lead the way, my lady, while we follow you," Hiashi told her, putting his sword behind his back and standing beside her.

~o~

The footage of their town...it was nothing that traumatizing news or fictional yet semi-realistic movies could do justice. She, Temari, the boys and their commanding officers watched the carnage from the reestablished footage in the security room. Tears burned her eyes and scalded her cheeks as her heart tore to shreds that were going to need all the effort you needed.

The fires...the gore...those families...everything...

"All of it is gone," Kakashi Hatake said gravely, closing his single eye. "Everything we knew and loved. I had lived my childhood there, and since my father took his life, I couldn't stand being in that place. I thought I would never see eye to eye with Konoha because my father was faced with a choice to save his comrades or continue a mission for the organization...and him choosing to save his friends left the mission a disaster and his reputation butchered. I thought I could never repeat his mistakes, so I set about making hard choices to protect our home, and I always shoved regrets to the back of my head." Leaving little room for the simplest joys in life, right, Commander?

Hanaru had no idea how to feel; was she supposed to feel sorry? She did a little, because the man was good at heart though lost everything and felt ashamed of his family history for no real reason, choosing to follow the rules and therefore balance so nothing went wrong.

Yūgao Uzuki reclined back in her spinning chair and looked up at the ceiling. "I remember spending many nights looking up at the moon whenever it would come out, and sometimes I thought that my name coincided with," she said with a chuckle. "I never liked going to any clubs, until the boys dragged me out one night to one of them, and I was introduced to the finest sake ever. The bartender had the stupidest jokes that I sometimes thought were funny, but others not. And sometimes..." She laughed without even a trace of humor.

"There were men who weren't my own colleagues whistling and catcalling to me, and of course I tried them only to find they weren't exactly interesting - but those who were tended to not catch up to the likes of me. Though in the end...they were all nice guys. I suppose they thought they could be that way if I wasn't to their standards. I also remember the nice big guy who owned the barbeque and sushi place with his family..."

Choza.

At the mention of his father, Choji suddenly broke into suppressed blubbering. "P-P-Pop...oh, God, and I had promised I'd come home to him and the grill if our studio didn't work out. All that food was so wonderful I even learned to make it myself -!" Then his eyes burst like fire.

"Madara Uchiha is so gonna pay for butchering everything we love, and everyone in it!"

Shikamaru slapped his hand on his friend's back. "You have me with. My mom was more of a hard-ass than my dad was, but they loved me, and they never got to see me marry the woman I love," he seethed, face twisting, "so that's why I am gonna avenge our loved ones' deaths by all of us exterminating their murderers...even if our loved ones ended up like those mindless ghouls." His voice softened only to strained. "Just hope that I don't end up hesitating since tonight isn't the time for that."

"Because out there are remainders which are nothing but...corpses feasting on each other," Temari spat. "I won't abide by that!"

At this moment, there was a new blimp coming their way, and then Sasuke's voice came over their ear speakers. "There's one of them, and I sense another foul presence which is neither vampire nor zombie. I am ready to order it blown out of the sky on your orders, Commander."

Kakashi looked down at where the voice spoke and monotoned the order. "Then order the fire at will, Detective Uchiha. All the firepower you have - set it loose on the ones approaching us."

The group watched it all: the fire struck every angle of the aircraft, to the helm and the bridge, to where the fire and air aided with its functioning...all coming from the biggest weaponry Hanaru and her friends had EVER seen, and none of them would even use it with fewer numbers combined. There were two of the longest and heaviest canons letting loose all of that ammo onto that blimp! Hanaru continued to be amazed by anything that could be made to accommodate vampires, and she felt a little jealous.

"My God, that is so big!" Yūgao exclaimed in utter disbelief.

The incoming forces blew up for the most part, and then crashed a safe distance away from the Senju estate, deep into the lower depths of the mountains which were too strong to crumble down just yet. "Welcome to Konoha, assholes," Hanaru said loudly, because everyone deserved a good cheer after all of that. She wouldn't be surprised if the rest of Uzuki's ANBU were having a good roar of applause right now...but then it was over quickly because Sasuke once again spoke.

"No, it's not over yet. No one is going to call it a night unless we know for sure everyone on board is dead. Just take a look."

And on the screen without much to think: the dead were rising from the wreckage. They were monsters, enslaved to the vampire. And here they were coming their way, prepared to kill them all. "Ladies," Captain Uzuki barked to her men, "get ready!"

ANBU, the newbies and the vampires were going to go against the bloodsuckers making way for what was the safest place in this town...but there were also mines placed on those grounds which blew much of them away to kingdom come, and it was another hell of a sight to watch, therefore decreasing the odds against Senju.

Yūgao's men had done the job of booby trapping the grounds, which she applauded them for. Engaging the enemy is really a messy affair.

But then, something...strange happened.

Or should Hanaru say: WHAT THE HOLY SHIT IS THAT THING!?

Uzuki's men were shrieking like little bitches at the sight of the thing that GREW from the distance into something that could be as massive as Pinocchio's Monstro the Whale, only on dry land: a man with black and white markings like a voodoo priest or priestess, and he carried a great scythe in hand. He had the most maniacal gleam on his face as he advanced on all of them...and all, even Hanaru and her friends, frozen in shock...for no one said they could do this...

...and the thin, powerful blade came down to split the temple of the Senju into half.

A mighty typhoon resulted as well as several men torn to pieces by the giant man - how the hell was this happening?!

One man screamed that he lost his arm; it happened so fast. Another man had lost both legs, and others split in half...and others were so screwed up you couldn't tell who it was. Hanaru Uzumaki had never been so scared at what she saw, for the pleas for help weren't helping her heart any.

Sakura had come into the fray, and what she was seeing was making her snarl a rage and curse at whoever was doing this to them...but for the Uzumaki, why did she feel like something was wrong...?

And then it hit her, specifically the ultraviolet waves in the air.

This isn't really happening.

All of this is an illusion, like the Uchiha do with their eyes. That man is not really a giant; he has some illusionary technique to make us quiver in fear. Yes, that's it!

She heard her mother speaking to her from beyond the grave in response to her conclusion: You figured it out, honey. Now get yourself out of here and save your comrades! Kushina urged her, and she snapped.

"THIS IS NOT REAL! THIS IS AN ILLUSION!"

Hanaru was sure she heard Sakura shouting, too, because she was resistant to dreams and visions. And what she saw was not a bloody mess, no limbs and corpses scattered, but every man was normal - just trapped in the hallucination induced by the one who was still outside. And the Senju headquarters was still intact. She found herself sharing a glance with Sakura, and an idea formed in her head that could get these whimpering sissies out of their misery. The pink-haired vampire grinned, baring her fangs, and at the same time she slammed her fist into the ground to shake beneath the victims - including both their commanding officers and Hanaru's friends who were all holding onto each other.

"DID YOU IDIOTS NOT HEAR US? THIS IS A VIVID DREAM WE WERE ALL TRAPPED IN!" Sakura thundered, eyes blazing red around green, but even her temperamental outburst didn't shake them out.

That leaves one thing to do.

Hanaru turned on the sonar on her weapon, and when she aimed it out the window that she opened, she saw the man who was the same as the illusion, though not black and white but bearing the same deadly farm tool. Snarling and pulling her lips back, she took aim and fired as many shots as she could, not stopping until she simply scratched him across the cheek, and it sent him off onto the ground, though she doubted she killed him.

At least she got all the men and women out of the nightmare. Sakura huffed, annoyed that her fists hadn't done the trick.

And it was then that her husband showed up. "What happened to all of you?"

"They were all caught up in a vision, and so was I," Hanaru answered, lowering her firearm. "I shot the guy, but I don't think he's dead."

"In that case," Sasuke said with a grunt, "then open fire and don't stop until he's blown to hell."

Except, none of them could stand a chance against that guy - whatever the hell he was - so they had no choice but to go further into the estate and set up barricades together, and splitting up to cover more grounds. "Oh, Sasuke?" the pinkette purred, drawing interesting attention and a slightly irritable Sasuke. "Just in case something happens..."

And the kiss she laid upon his mouth was enough to make all the men nearly fall off the floor. "Now, you'd better give them hell and come back alive," Sakura told him sweetly, lightly slapping him across his face. He smirked and returned the kiss, replying back that she'd better not die before she healed any survivors after this.

"Now, let's go out guns blazing and screaming every curse we have," Temari said to Shikamaru and Choji who wised up and clicked their guns with her.

And after this, let's see if hearts full of steel triumphs over guts and blood. Now they were all off, Hanaru, Shikamaru and Sakura off with Uzuki and some of her men, the rest led off by Hatake and Sasuke. Blaze of glory it was going to be if it wasn't said enough.

Hanaru felt more braver than ever before, though she still wasn't ready to die, and her friends, her family and Itachi Uchiha were her reasons to keep living tonight.

Oh, and to think that the ANBU had once killed for pocket change - and for fun, too - but now they were just as much Senju as the rest of them.

Her and her friends - they were also putting their necks on the line for everything they lost, so if they survived and won tonight, they would rebuild what was destroyed if they had to break their own bodies.

So, you saw the other Tailed Beast Jinchuuriki, in the manner Naruto and Gaara would have ended up in this story had they NOT been trained. :S

Oh and for those of you who couldn't guess who the voodoo-like man was: HIDAN. :O Yup, he is in Zorin Blitz's place, having one of her abilities that we didn't see in canon...or was.

Review the glorious battle and everything thus far! MORE TO COME!