This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Naruto series, which is trademarked by Masashi Kishimoto. Everything aside from the original characters are created from the wonderful mind of Kishimoto.
Most of the following unrecognizable are original characters of mine.
Comments, suggestions, criticisms, even just simple messages are welcomes, please feel free to message me anytime.
Thanks for reading!
Chapter 33 :
"Well that was a surprising turn of events" Akihiko remarked as Naruto's bijuu bomb shattered Misaki's barrier, or did he?
"Misaki's barrier fail/ thought I'd never see the day" Killer Bee rapped landing next to Akihiko.
'How naive of you Bee! Did you not listen to what the genjutsu brat said, Misaki had no intentions of keeping Naruto couped up in here, she just saw this a perfect opportunity for you to teach Naruto the ways of a jinchuriki' Gyuuki explained to his host.
The dust and debris of the aftermath began to clear, and once again, each twin stood against each other, staring intently at each other, never batting and eyelid, that ended the moment Misaki's lips broke into a smile, reached into her back bag and threw a band towards Naruto, a hitae ate that labelled not of a village, but the character shinobi.
"Everybody's waiting for us, slow poke" Misaki smirked replacing her own hitae ate with the shinobi one before disappearing. Naruto hurriedly replaced his band, simultaneously activating his bijuu mode, before chasing after Misaki.
"Yow, konoha genjutsu brat/ Aren't you coming with us to rat?" Killer Bee asked Akihiko who waved him off.
"Like I can keep up with you guys, you go ahead," Akihiko walked away towards another direction. Killer Bee simply shrugged, mouthing off see you later before running after the twins.
"Akihiko's not coming?" Naruto asked as they continued their journey.
"Nah, he's going to the medic's camp, judging from the trajectory of the battle, he's needed there more than he is needed on the battlefield" Misaki informed Naruto.
"The medic camp?" Naruto repeated.
"Yeah, he may not look like it, but he spent his missing years assisting an old medic, little did he know, he was actually a renowned herb grower and medicine specialist" Misaki explained.
"What" Naruto confirmed.
"Yeah I was just as surprised as you when I found out, Aki wasn't really the type for this type of commitment, but who knew he'll be the medic of our old team Hayate" Misaki reminisced as Killer Bee was just catching up.
"Okey, let's go full throttle, keep your eyes peeled, surely the escape is not a secret anymore, so they'll do anything and everything to stop you from joining the war, and we have to hurry, our comrades may well be resting now, but the enemy doesn't" Misaki informed them before shifting her gears, going faster than her current pace.
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Just as Yoko and the main members of the sensor and intelligence unit was about to rest, reports from every sector began piling up about their men being ambushed left and right out of nowhere, causing confusion everywhere.
"What the hell is going on?! A night raid is supposed to have been ruled out, on top of that, we added security and positioned sensory type nin, what could it be? Poison, genjutsu?" Shikaku grumbled, suddenly Yoko, standing next to a piece of Katsuyu remembered something.
"I doubt anyone alive or dead can pull of this massive range of genjutsu, so that leaves us with the white zetsu has already successfully incorporated themselves then" Yoko hypothesized, and as if by design, Inoichi received reports from the medics unit, confirming Yoko's theory, causing a stir within the HQ personnel.
"Yoko, you have encountered the akatsuki several times, what can we do?" Shikaku asked the younger kunoichi near him, who despite the situation remained calm, or at least tried to, given the circumstances of everyone beginning to panic.
"We have encountered the white zetsu several times, but none of really discovered it's true potential, much less unlocking the secrets of its transformation or how it can they be detected" Yoko answered, simultaneously rummaging her brain for each and every encounter she had with the akatsuki.
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"Everything's relatively calm, we should take camp and rest while it still lasts" Kazumi declared.
"You don't have to stop for me, I can still keep going" Itachi said, even though his body sang praises of thanks as he sat down and leaned against a tree.
"Be rational Itachi, you might feel stronger than you used to be with your new set of breathing pipes, but you're still adjusting, there is still a chance that your health may still decline if you continue abusing your body" Kazumi scolded in her medic voice, one that made Itachi smile nervously in resignation.
Kazumi was doing a thorough check on Itachi's physique when Kazumi heard a trickle of water forming near them.
"What is it?" Itachi sat up, looking suspiciously at the unnaturally formed puddle.
"Calm down, it's Yoko, she's sending a message" Kazumi took out a special scroll and the little body of water leaped itself on to the sheet, figures forming on the surface. It allowed Kazumi several seconds to read the scroll before the water engulfed the whole scroll, decomposing the paper in seconds until there was nothing left by the wood ends of the scroll.
"That is an interesting way to send messages, what did it say" Itachi was the first one to break silence.
"You should receive one from Ayako then, hers will give you a literal take on the term whispers of the wind" Kazumi said before sitting next to Itachi.
"Misaki, Naruto and Killer Bee escaped the island earlier today, both the raikage and the hokage left to stop them, and that the white zetsu has successfully infiltrated amongst our ranks, ambushing out of nowhere" Kazumi recapped Itachi on what was currently going on.
"If that's the case then we are in an even more delicate situation than we this morning. As is it the alliance is standing on a delicate thread, with white zetsu impersonating and killing within the ranks, it will only cause unrest and distrust amongst people who had been enemies for so long" Itachi thought.
"But what can we do, even Yoko, who is the best sensor I know is having difficulty differentiating between friend and foe" Kazumi worried, she too racking her head for any clues from previous encounters with the akatsuki.
Itachi looked at a worry stricken Kazumi before flicking her forehead.
"It's no use worrying about it, Yoko is smart and so is Shikaku-san I'm sure they'll figure something out, so let's focus on our task, and that is taking down Kabuto and deactivating the edo-tensei" Itachi encouraged standing up and offering his hand to her.
"Itachi you have to take it easy," Kazumi reminded and Itachi gave her a smile.
"I know, that's why we're going to walk to keep moving" Itachi convinced Kazumi who sighed.
"Alright, but if I hear a single cough I'm putting you on bed rest" Kazumi warned, making Itachi chuckle.
"I'm serious"
"I know"
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"Hinata-sama" Neji jolted awake, causing the cloth that Natsumi used to cover his eyes to fall off.
"Hey relax, you can barely see with that magical eyes of yours, much less walk" Natsume easily wrestled Neji back to rest.
"Hinata-sama, is she okay, I promised Hiashi-sama that I would-" Neji asked, but to his surprise Natsumi stopped him from talking by putting her hand on top of his mouth.
"Relax, she's with her team, they were sent to scout the perimeter" Natsume tried to calm him down, that is before she accidentally suffocates him to death,
"Oh, crap, my bad" Natsumi quickly leaned back away from Neji, cursing at her own stupidity.
"It's quite alright" Neji said sitting back up, but leaning against the nearby boulder.
"You know, it's really endearing how much you worry for Hinata, it shows you really care for her" Natsumi commented out of the blue, causing Neji to give her a peculiar look, making her blush and look away.
Of course it slipped her mind is that at this point, Neji's eyes were nearly blind with exhaustion, yet still he managed to give her a straight look in the eyes, for a split second before she looked away.
"I used to hate her, for being weak, I blamed her for my father's death, but I found out that my father's wasn't forced to die in Hiashi-sama's place, but my father gave his life for his brother, that's why even though it was difficult, I forgave Hinata-sama and began to care for her instead." Neji confessed, this was a sore topic for the both of them, because the head ninja that was killed by Hyuga Hiashi whilst attempting to kidnap Hinata was none other than Natsumi's beloved uncle. However, Neji also knew that if he wanted to pursue a deeper relationship with Natsumi in the future, they had to resolve the past in the present. Natsumi began to settle as she calmly looked at the night sky, lips pouting with thought.
"I don't have to forgive you" Natsumi began shocking Neji.
"Because there is no reason for you to seek forgiveness, I was the one who was bitter and irrational, I should not have let my emotions blind my judgment" Natsume guiltily, Neji, despite every fiber of his body protesting, moved and sat next to Natsumi.
And despite Natsume's raging heart beat, the silence between them was a comforting one, a moment yet scarce, remained precious, like a rose blooming in a blizzard, something beautiful take birth between the two of them despite the war raging on.
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"Good work everyone" Kakashi praised his comrades as they finally deemed the enemy retiring for the night.
"Well, it seems even the dead need their rest, or at least their wielder" Kaede wiped the sweat off her forehead, standing next to Kakashi and Guy who were equally exhausted.
"Let's take this time to recover, but everyone remain vigilant, we don't know what the enemy may have in store for us" Kakashi ordered his men as they slowly prepared to have an alert rest for the rest of the night. Giving the couple time to recuperate themselves.
"Let me look at your wounds" Kaede removed Kakashi's vest to give her a better view of Kakashi's physique.
"Kaede, control yourself the others may catch us, we can't do that here, but if you really want to, I can make an exemption" Kakashi said with serious eyes, making a vein pop on Kaede's forehead.
"I can't believe you still have the guts to tell your perverted jokes in this situation" Kaede snapped at Kakashi who chuckled nervously.
"Earlier today, with Zabuza...thank you" Kakashi mumbled.
"Not much of a slick talker now are you?" this time it was Kaede who brought the humor forward in their relationship, an unusual occurrence, one that made Kakashi give a soft laugh.
Once Kaede was satisfied with Kakashi's care, only then did she place her hands on his cheeks before pressing her forehead to his, their noses, touching, sharing their breaths in this rare opportunity to savor each other's evidence of life. Kakashi patted her long blonde hair.
"We got a message earlier today, Misaki escaped with Naruto and Killer Bee and are headed towards the battle as we speak" Kakashi broke the news to Kaede, who pulled back looking at Kakashi worriedly.
"What?! Kakashi we have to stop them, I don't understand, what is Misaki thinking" Kaede began to panic, but Kakashi was quick to hold on to his wife, placing both his hands on her cheeks.
"Calm down Kaede, I know it's difficult, but let's try to understand their actions, especially Misaki, you raised her you know she's not one to take action carelessly" Kakashi reasoned with Kaede, who painstakingly swallowed everything she had to say with a sigh.
"I just don't understand them, you know it scares me sometimes how those two resemble Minato-nii and Kushina-nee" Kaede finally succumbed, burying her head on Kakashi's chest as he enveloped her in his embrace.
"I'm sure they know what they're getting into, right now the best thing we can do is believe in them"
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"Misaki, why don't we just use your jutsu, to get there faster?" Naruto asked as they raced through the plains.
"It's nighttime and so far we have no definite idea on what is happening in the battlefield, it would do more damage than good if we blindly rush in. At this point the best thing we can do is conserve as much strength as we can while getting there" Misaki explained.
"What the hell is going on?" Naruto wondered, catching Misaki's attention.
"What is?" Misaki asked matching Naruto's pace.
"Everything is just murky and it's spreading everywhere" Naruto answered, sure enough when Misaki activated her sensors, there was that very feeling, the feeling that resembled drowning in deep dark waters with no hope and no help.
"Something is causing unrest and doubt within ranks, something malicious is lurking in every corner" Misaki described her own projections.
"You feel it too?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah, we need to make haste, if this continues, the whole alliance will be in danger in the morning" Misaki said, and all three of them double their paces once again.
They continued to rush until Misaki prematurely stops, urging everyone to copy her actions.
"What is it?" Naruto asked, but Misaki didn't need to answer as it only took a few seconds more for the arrival of the raikage and the hokage in the guise of a mini meteor.
"Amazing" Misaki clapped in astonishment by the fashion of their arrival.
"This is not the time to be clapping Misaki" Tsunade scolded Misaki as A scolded at Killer Bee for staring at Tsunade's chest.
However, one look at Naruto and his form when he has control over Kyuubi's chakra, and she understood why Misaki made the call that she made when she did. As a matter of fact, Tsunade was sure that this was what Misaki had planned along, Tsunade gritted her teeth, always several paces ahead of everyone else, just like her father.
As Killer Bee pleaded with his brother to let them through, Misaki turned to the still silent Naruto.
"If you want to do this, you have to convince both of them, just like you convinced me" Misaki turned to Naruto and smiled encouragingly. Taking a step back, this was Naruto's fight and she knew now that if she intervened and helped Naruto, the raikage would never acknowledge his true potential.
Restraining yourself to act is much harder than having to act, a fact that Misaki was forced to chew and swallow as she forced her body to stay where she is when the Raikage threatened and almost killed Naruto.
Thankfully, it was Killer Bee who intervened, that lead to the intervention of Tsunade, all teaming up against the raikage, but in the end, even will everyone at his side, Naruto chose to face the raikage on his own, revealing the reason why he was so eager to fight in the front lines.
It was their very birthright, a duty bestowed, entrusted to them by their parents, and with it, all the love and support, all the aspirations and belief they would have given in their lifetime. This duty, was the strongest connection they will ever have with their parents, who chose to give their lives for it.
Misaki smiled, Naruto's declaration wasn't only meant for the raikage or for everyone, it was a solid verbal affirmation, directed more to himself than to anyone else, and this gave him strength.
Enough that it gave him the power to transcend the speed of A.
To the naked eye of the others, everything happened in a blur of swish and crash, but to Misaki, she was able to clearly see it, the glorious moment that Naruto was able to best the raikage's speed, dodging his punch, causing the attack to land on the wall.
"I just want to see it for myself, so I came with an intent to kill you, there has only been three people to outrun my fastest punch, one of them is you, it seems that the savior does live in you, no" this time the raikage looked towards a completely still Misaki too.
"Your savior father lives in both of you, now go" A, not only the raikage, but also the supreme commander of the alliance ordered their little troop and with that, they rushed off once again, the sun poetically rising with them as they go.
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"What the heck happened here?" Akihiko mused as he approached the medic's camp, only to be hazardly stopped by the two huge guys guarding the front.
"Whoa-whoa-whoa- same team same team" Akihiko raised both his hands as a sign of surrender.
"Tell us why we shouldn't"
"Relax, I'm one of you guys, I'm a medic too, I'm here to help" Akihiko defended himself.
"Any enemy would say that"
"I'm not the enemy" Akihiko whined, but this only agitated the guards even more, pushing their blades deeper into his neck.
"Hey hey hey" Akihiko stuttered.
"WAIT!" Sakura's smaller frame pushed past the abnormally large guards to come to Akihiko's aid. Akihiko sighed in relief as Sakura's arrival retracted the sharp weapons of the guards from his face.
The relief was short lived as Sakura raised him off the ground by his collars.
"If you're really Akihiko, tell me something only he would know" Sakura threatened.
"A little difficult to speak in this manner" Akihiko struggled for air, constricting his throat against his tightening collar.
"Then make it count' Sakura insisted.
"When you were younger, you tried to copy Misaki's red hair so you tried to dye it, it ended in disaster forcing you to skip a whole week of class, because you looked like a peeled watermelon" Akihiko, confessed, but instead of letting him go safely, Sakura threw him hard against a tree.
"How did you know that" Sakura's face was red with anger, even the bulky guards stepped back in fear.
"Oh, yeah, I lived a door from you, so I kinda know a lot of your secrets, your mom even brings me dinner sometimes, making sure I don't always eat junk" Akihiko said, reminding Sakura of a past before the bitter scenes, of his and Sasuke's desertion. Sakura remembered the literal boy next door, an orphan who was always laughing in the morning but is plagued by nightmares by night.
She remembered there was one night in her childhood, Sakura was awoken by walking on the roof, and when she went to check it out, Akihiko was on the roof watching the stars, and she vaguely remembered him telling her he did not want to sleep because he didn't want to hurt her and tucked her back to bed.
"I thought it was very cute of you, but you're beautiful as you are, especially with pink hair" Akihiko said brushing off the dirt of his shirt, while Sakura blushed darker than her hair color.
"Let's get going, I have to get back to work" Sakura hid her embarrassment and walked away, but persistent Akihiko rushed to her, matching her pace, agitating Sakura even further.
"What the hell happened here?" Akihiko asked looking around, everything was in chaos, even the medics who were supposed to be in control of their emotions during this time were high strung.
"The enemy attacked throughout the night, disguising themselves as injured comrades, as of now we have no way to identify them from our own comrades, that's why everyone is so high strung, Shizune-san and I are busy trying to find ways to identify them, but it's proving to be difficult so far" Sakura highlighted the fact that she was busy, but Akihiko made no move to leave her side.
"You know if you're going to stay here, you might as well-" Sakura turned but Akihiko was no longer at her side, instead, Akihiko was already on his knees washing his hands on a clean water bowl, then disinfecting it over and over again so he can tend to the injured soldier.
"I want you to calm down and close your eyes" Akihiko said then casted a genjutsu on his patient, before tending to his wound that needs stitching.
"What the heck are you doing, do you even know what to do, wait he doesn't have any anesthetics" Sakura panicked.
"Relax Sakura, I know what I'm doing, I've been training ever since I left Konoha, and to ease your mind, I placed him under a genjutsu as his anesthetic, your receptors all lead to your brain and if you are skilled enough you can use it to trick the mind into ignoring the pain for the duration of the procedure" Akihiko explained, as he worked, providing physical evidence to support his factual claims.
"How did you learn how to do that?" Sakura asked in amazement.
"My master taught me that a doctor saves lives with a very similar blade that others use to kill, so I found a way to use my genjutsu to save lives. I may not be a natural healer like Kazumi or a student of Tsunade-sama like you, I also don't have Kaede-ba's years of expirience behind me, but I'm fast, that's why Misaki sent me here, so you can relax and focus on your work" Akihiko finished his sewing with a wink towards Sakura before he left to tend to another patient.
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Shikaku recapped the current situation to the group of three whilst they ran towards the frontiers, just as the briefing ended, they came across a whole platoon of zetsus disguised as comrades headed against them, which only means they were headed towards headquarters.
"Not on our watch" Misaki unsheathed her sword, and began attacking all of them, just as Naruto did, displaying various techniques he can now accomplish with the help of the kyuubi's chakra. Misaki focused on using only her sword and conserving strength, this was of course a war with no definite duration, so it's better that she remain vigilant and conserve as much as she can.
"Keep attacking Bee-san, they're all enemies" Misaki advised and the trio only stopped when Naruto's mayhem summoning finished the last of the zetsu platoon.
"This is bad, if they're headed towards the HQ it means, the whole allegiance is pretty much covered" Misaki sheathed her sword landing next to Naruto on top of Gamahiro's head.
"I'm going to leave a shadow clone here, to keep guard with Gamahiro-san, then I'm going to hit all battlefields at the same time." Naruto made his trademark sign and produced several shadow clones.
"Amazing, but I obviously can't do that, but I'd be able to bounce back from one clone to another using my markers" Misaki placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder where she had placed the original marker eons ago, pouring her chakra to strengthen its bond, extending influence even to the clones.
"Let's go" Killer Bee nodded and followed the twins.
On their way, they encountered a reanimated magnetism kekkei genkai and saved two unbecoming shinobi, who were in a hurry to follow the platoon of white zetsu headed for hq, Naruto was able to bring the edo tensei down with one hit and Misaki immediately sealed him off.
"So that was the zombies they were talking about" Naruto mused as they continued on their way.
"Yeah, it's a lot like the ones Orochimaru used back when he attacked Konoha during the chunin exams, but at the same time, it's a lot different. I must say it's a pretty impressive feat even for Kabuto" Misaki said.
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Ayako stood next to Gaara as Ohnoki floated alongside them, as they stood on top of the cliff amongst the strongest and bravest of their men, the rest of the platoon, waiting patiently on the foot of the cliff, serving as an advantage in numbers should need be.
"Well, this is as far as we go," Ayako said looking at the rest of their men as the two kage never took their eyes off of the enemy approaching them in a painstakingly slow pace.
"We can't go any further, we must take our stand here, the two of us will launch long distance attacks and we will see how they will react" Ohnoki advised, being the most seasoned in warfare, while the four kages approached, Gaara unleashed a titanic wave of sand against the enemy, and as expected, Raza, who has the most experience with dealing with that amount of sand was first to react.
When he has finally settled the sand with his gold magnetism technique, Raza had every impression that Gaara had once again lost control of Shukaku, but instead hovering above them on his sand was none other than his youngest.
Awed, they did not see Gaara's intention of incapacitating them with claws of sand, except for Mu, who was able to doge backwards, only to find himself in a one on one stand against his old disciple.
"Gaara, where is Shukaku" Raza asked his son.
"Shukaku...is long gone, the ones who are controlling you stole him for me, it killed me once." the moment Gaara began his tale, the wind around them became abnormally strong, almost aggravating.
But not to Gaara, to him it was comforting, resembling close to the wistful touch, probably the only touch his mother was able to give him.
"But thanks to Chiyo-ba-sama and my friends, I am still here" Gaara finished.
"Chiyo-ba-ba did that, and also friends, you have friends" Raza asked, his eyes finally catching Ayako who was standing on the nearest pillar watching them, the strong winds making more sense as it was coming from her, and it made him wonder, why on earth would that child still be standing with Gaara, when she had so many instances to use as an excuse to be rid of him, still she chose to stand with him, standing with the person who almost accidentally killed her several times by now.
"Father, you tried to kill me six times, and each time, my hatred and fear of you only grew, but not anymore. I forgive you father, I can understand why you did it, especially now that I am the kazekage, it is a leader's duty to eliminate the threats against the village, we must protect it" Gaara declared.
"You are.. The kazekage?" Raza asked surprised.
"That's not all, he is also the commander-in-chief of the allied shinobi forces' battle regiment. Despite his age he not only calls himself kazekage, he also has the respect of every kage as well" Ohnoki boasted like a very proud grandfather.
Äyako watched from the sidelines as Raza began to take in Gaara's achievements, surpassing the expectations he had of the little premature baby.
"Raza-sama, look and see Gaara for who he truly is, Raza-sama your ability to test value, has always been wrong, you underestimated him, and Karura-sama's love for him" Ayako whispered to the wind as she watched the exchange of words and arms.
"Everyone go!" Ohnoki gave the signal, Temari looked up to nod at Ayako who nodded back from her perch.
"Here we go" Ayako prepared the sealing paper and let the wind carry her until she disintegrated in a group of petals dancing along the wind. As Gaara was successful into caging Raza within his sand. Ayako appeared before him, placing sealing him off completely.
"You have grown well Gaara, just a little bit is the most valuable treasure, it seems that I really didn't possess the assessment of the value of things. Gaara, that sand will always protect you, that is not Shukaku's power, but your mother, Karura who lives within you. Your mother loved you and so did Yashamaru, it was my fault, I robbed you of the love you knew, as a parent, all I had to do was believe in you, but instead the only thing I gave you was a broken heart" Raza finally said as the sand continued to consume him.
"In a way, you taught him to be strong Raza-sama, and for that we will always be thankful" Ayako said.
"My mother was a truly wonderful person, thanks to her I was able to receive my first medicine with my father" Gaara said, telling Raza indirectly that even for all that he did, he still considers him his father.
"Ayako, you were probably the only person who saw him for who he truly is right from the start, you believe in him when no one else did, even died several times for it and for that Karura and I will eternally be thankful to you" Raza bowed, as much as the sand would allow him.
"There is nothing to thank me for Raza-sama, I love Gaara, and I would gladly live by his side and die for him if it is asked of me" Ayako confessed.
"You love him, that's good" that was Raza's final words as the sand finally swallowed him in its embrace, and it was beautiful in a lethargic sort of way, his reanimated body getting swallowed by Karura's embrace, the love that lived within Gaara.
'Gaara, I leave the village to you, Ayako I trust Gaara with you'
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"So you're telling me that you are not Itachi?" Nagato, reanimated in his true form retained his body's physical incapacity.
"Yeah, it seems that whoever you said casted this jutsu mistook me for this Itachi-san" Yun, the Itachi look alike said.
"Yet you were still resurrected, I must admit the resemblance is quite uncanny," Nagato observed.
"Really, back home I look just like everybody else" Yun laughed.
"So how come you died so young, were you killed in action?" Nagato asked.
"No, heavens no, I'm no man of action, I was a farmer, my death was actually of my own volition" Yun revealed.
"You mean you committed suicide?" Nagato asked.
"Yes, it was the only way I can make the woman I love happy" Yun confessed, at this, Nagato stopped walking, or rather limping to stare at Yun.
"Oh no, no no it's not what you think she is a kind loving person, I promise… she was my brother's wife and my brother and he was dying I've never seen her so grief stricken, she was ready to follow him to the grave, so I committed suicide so I can give him my heart, in away, it's quite theatrical, knowing my heart will beat for her even in my death" Yoon smiled, Nagato had never met someone with such pure intension and soft mannered as Yoon.
"I had a woman I once loved too, but she was in love with my best friend" Nagato confessed.
"Well, I'm sure she's one of a kind too" Yoon complimented.
"Huh, it's Uchiha Itachi and...Nagato" Naruto exclaimed landing before the duo.
"Actually I'm not Uchiha Itachi, I'm -"
"Yun!" Misaki exclaimed.
"You know me?" Yun asked surprised.
"Wait, what do you mean you are not Itachi" Naruto said.
"Naruto" Nagato recognized
"You know him?" this time it was Yoon who asked.
"Please clear out the confusion/head is going combustion" Killer Bee intercepted.
"He and I are sibling disciple" Nagato cleared with Yun.
"And Yun" before Misaki can finish her sentence, a giant bird lunged down at them forcing her and the others to jump a few paces away.
"What the hell" Naruto groaned.
"Stay alert Naruto, they're not in control of their movements, it's no coincidence that Nagato found us, Kabuto lead him here" Misaki pulled out her katana, keeping in mind that fighting Nagato in his original form would be much different than fighting the six paths of pain, with him being able to utilize the rinnegan in one body albeit wink, runs with unlimited juice and life, the odds are against them, sealing edo tensei Nagato would prove to be much more challenging than defeating Pain.
Taking a deep breath Misaki began to walk around Nagato, circling him, with the six paths of pain, it would have been hard to pull of this technique, but with only one rinnegan user and one perspective, Misaki might still be able to rely on it.
"What is she doing?" Naruto who was busy taking care of Nagato's summons along with Bee asked.
"Just watch" Bee answered.
Naruto managed to subdue the bird, in time to watch Misaki, or Misakis continue to walk around Nagato who was finding it hard to distinguish which Misaki was which, it didn't only stop at that, Misaki began to increase rapidly circling around Nagato until they disappeared in a blur of red.
"What's happening, shadow clone?" Naruto asked dumbfounded.
"No, that's completely her style/a mixture of speed and stealth" Killer Bee preached, Naruto has seen this technique before, she learned this from Hayate and back when Misaki first used it with Baki, she used shadow clones to increase gauge, this time, she was relying on her own bodily capabilities.
Soon images of Misaki began to lunge at Nagato leaving him no choice but to use the almighty push against her, leaving her no open spot.
"Misaki!" Naruto called out in worry but when the rubble has settled, revealing a smirking Misaki kneeling on one knee, leaning on her katana, stabbed to the earth to harness more resistance against the almighty push.
"Finally" Misaki lunged back towards Nagato who stood there impressed, but his body was programmed to attack her, that's why without his consent, Nagato's arms extended, pointing towards the advancing Misaki and loads and loads of small missiles launched towards the red head.
One that she was easily able and could have been a driving force to deliver her decapitating blow if it wasn't for Nagato's giant bird crashing in between them, forcing Misaki to stop before she gets crushed.
"Nagato-san" Yoon exclaimed helping the rinnegan user up the back of the bird.
"Damn it I forgot about Itachi" Naruto said.
"That's not Itachi" Misaki reminded him.
"Eh, you keep saying he's not Itachi, but why is he reainimated and with Nagato." Naruto whined.
"She's right Naruto, this is not Itachi, his name is Yoon," Nagato supported.
"Then if he's not Itachi, then why is he here, and where is the real Itachi" Naruto speculated even more.
Suddenly, an eerie feeling surrounded the pit of Misaki's stomach,
"Amaterasu" all of a sudden the undead burst into pits of black flame shocking everybody.
"Damn, I knew he'd be coming all along" Naruto turned his focus of attack towards the newly arrived Itachi.
"Naruto stop, he's not an enemy," Misaki blocked Naruto with her katana.
"What do you mean, he is not an enemy, why is he even here if he isn't" Naruto asked.
"Look into his eyes/you're in for a surprise" Killer Bee pointed out as Itachi retracted his mangekyou sharingan.
"You mean,-"
"Yep, he's alive" Kazumi confirmed as she arrived.
"What the hell is going on?"Naruto exclaimed.
*_-+% =o#$*_-+%=o(#$%$%$W$FIN*_-+% =o#$*_-+$ % =o#$*_-+% *=o$
Chapter 33 Woot Woot
I just had to give Naruto the shinobi hitae ate, I just had to, because during the war it really bothered me that everybody else was wearing the shinobi band and he the classic konoha one.
Let me know what you think, does it seem hurried? Cause I feel like the scenes are too short for pivotal matters, yet I don't want to linger on it for too long because there's just a LOT going on, and it's challenging to keep track of.
This is the first chapter ever since the first installment that I deviated from my outline, I don't know how it would affect the whole picture, but it just felt right and in the spur of the moment I just wrote it.
Can you tell which scenes were planned and which scenes were not? Message me for your thoughts, I'm ecstatic to read them :)
Also what do you think of a little dip into the Sakura Akihiko moment? I wanted to give them a moment, cause Akihiko is a character who is, in my opinion, an underrated and under developed character.