Naruto: Shinobi Hunters
Digi-Destined Saga
Crescent Moon Kingdom Arc
Kurama no Kyubi: … I got nothing. Just go enjoy the chapter, guys.
Kamencolin: Keep up the good work
Kurama no Kyubi: Thanks, and I will.
"Digivolution." Normal speech
'Digivolution.' Normal thought
"Digivolution." Biju, Digital God, Legendary, transformed Laguz, Perfect, Spirit, God speech
'Digivolution.' Biju, Digital God, Legendary, transformed Laguz, Perfect, Spirit, God thought
Kana: Kurama doesn't own anything other than his own OCs.
Chapter 45: the Fifth Digi-Destined
Somewhere in the Land of Fire was a hideout hidden deep within a forest. The hideout itself was of course underground, with only the entrance visible above ground. Inside the hideout there were a lot of maze-like corridors as well as various rooms that looked like laboratories spread throughout.
Obviously this was one of Orochimaru's hideouts; however it seemed to have been abandoned for quite some time. It was completely deserted and there were papers strewn about on the floor.
"This is one of Orochimaru's hideouts, right? Why would Medusa come here?" Choji asked as he and Shikamaru looked around one of the laboratories while Ino was sitting up against the wall in the background, seemingly asleep, though there were no snoring sounds.
"According to our information, someone resembling Medusa was seen in the area." Shikamaru answered as he picked up a paper from one of the desks.
As he looked at the paper, his eyes widened.
"What is it, Shikamaru?" Choji asked as he approached him, however, as he saw the paper's contents, his eyes widened as well.
"This is…!"
"It's information on something called a "Type-Orb". They're small palm-sized glass balls containing the power of Pokémon Types. Each Orb can give the one who holds it – whether it's a Pokémon, or even a completely normal Human – the ability to use the powers contained in the Orb. For example; If one where to hold the Poison-Type Orb, they'd be able to poison anything – and anyone – they touch with a poison so potent that finding an antidote for it would be impossible." Shikamaru said as his eyes scanned over the paper.
"That doesn't sound good." Choji said before asking "You think whatever Medusa's planning involves one of those Orbs?"
"Possibly. Though we still don't know for sure if she was here or not." Shikamaru said.
"Hey, Shikamaru. What's a Pokémon?" The voice came from the X-Loader hanging on a strap from Shikamaru's belt.
"They're animal-like creatures with Jutsu-like abilities. Kind of like Digimon." Shikamaru said before noticing something out the corner of his eyes.
"What's this…?" He placed the paper down on the desk as he moved several papers that were covering a curious paper that had caught his interest.
"What is it…?" Choji asked as Shikamaru finished removing the papers.
"It's a map of an island. The Crescent Moon Kingdom."
Land of Fire coast
Standing on a cliff by the coast of the Land of Fire, overlooking the ocean was Kana.
"So, the Crescent Moon Kingdom, huh? Well, don't think that's gonna stop me." She then looked down at the water as her face got a little blue and she said "Ugh. I just wish it wouldn't have been in the middle of the ocean."
Crescent Moon Kingdom, palace grounds
The soldiers serving Shabadaba charged at the group.
"All of you, get ready!" Kakashi ordered, and Sakura pulled out a kunai as Sasuke and Lee ran in different directions towards the approaching soldiers.
Lee ran over to a group of five soldiers as he punched one in the gut, causing him to keel over, and then twirling around and giving another one a well-placed roundhouse kick to the cheek, and as he landed again, he grabbed a third soldier and threw him at the fourth one, and then finishing up by punching the fifth one in the face.
In the meantime, Michiru just barely avoided a blade aiming for him as he was holding on to Hikaru and stumbled down on his butt by the carriage as several soldiers surrounded them.
However, Kakashi appeared between them as he took down all of the soldiers in one go, and he then moved into a defensive stance as Michiru stared in shock up at him, still scared out of his mind.
"Prince Michiru, get back in the coach!" Kakashi said.
Sakura blocked a sword with her kunai before kicking the soldier holding it to the ground and she spun around before cutting another one with her kunai, and then punching a third soldier, sending said soldier to the ground. She then jumped high into the air as she pulled out a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it, and she threw it into the ground amidst a number of soldiers before it blew up, taking the aforementioned soldiers with it.
Kakashi cut down another soldier as he spoke to the retainer driving the wagon.
"Drive that coach out of here, hurry!" And the driver nodded as he began tugging on the reigns.
He then began driving the coach towards the gate as a bunch of soldiers ran up to it, with one guy wielding a lance managing to push the retainer off. As the wagon was coming to a stop, one of the soldiers began hammering on one of the windows with the "butt" end of his sword before shattering said window.
Sasuke, however, jumped onto the roof of the wagon before going through a series of hand-signs.
"Katon: Goukakyo no Jutsu!" And he spewed out a barrage of flames down on the soldiers.
One of the soldiers in the distance then fired an arrow at Sasuke, however, he simply moved his head out of the way as the soldier in question was kicked in the back of his head by Lee.
"Hmm?" Sasuke then noticed something. Coming from the gate was some kind of vehicle that looked like a troop transport, the soldiers in it; wearing the same kind of armor as the ones they were fighting "Hey, Kakashi. Looks like reinforcements are coming."
"But for which side?" kakashi said as he parried away one of the soldiers.
One of the soldiers then jumped down from the troop transport by himself, drawing a saber as he charged at the flabbergasted soldiers that were swarming the carriage and had managed to evade Sasuke's Jutsu. He knocked away one soldiers sword before pushing back three other soldiers.
"Huh? It's Korega!" Shabadaba said in surprise.
Korega stood there next to the coach as the flabbergasted soldiers were surrounding him, too surprised and shocked to move.
"Captain Korega, sir!?" One of the soldiers said.
"What are you waiting for? He's a traitor! Kill him!" Shabadaba yelled as he pointed at Korega.
The captain then looked over his shoulder at Shabadaba as he said "I am no traitor!"
One of the soldiers fooled by Shabadaba then charged at Korega as he swung his sword at him in a downwards arch, however, Korega blocked it with his own.
"Come to your senses!" He said as he knocked the soldier away, and another one came in "It's Lord Shabadaba who's the traitor!" And he knocked the soldier to the ground before sticking his sword into the ground next to the guy's head.
"This is madness. We're all brothers-in-arms." Another soldier then came up behind him, however, Kakashi knocked the guy away with his elbow.
"Thanks." Korega said as he pulled up his saber and he and Kakashi stood back-to-back "Who are you, anyway?"
"Konohagakure Ninja. Hired by the Prince." Kakashi responded as some of the soldiers were carefully moving towards them.
"I see. I'm glad you're here." Korega said.
"We've gotta move. Fast." Kakashi said as he looked around at the steadily approaching soldiers "Can you drive that coach?"
"I'm on it!" Korega said as he moved towards the front of the coach while Kakashi blocked a sword with his kunai.
Korega sheathed his sword as he got onto the coach before grabbing the reins, and had the horses begin running towards the gate, knocked the soldiers out of the way, and as they passed the troop transport, it began following. Kakashi, Sakura, and Lee also ran after as Sasuke was still standing on the roof of the coach.
Kakashi then came to a halt as he turned around and pulled up his Hitai-ate, revealing his Sharingan, and began going through a series of hand-signs. He then slammed his right palm onto the ground, causing the ground to crack and burst up, blocking the path for the soldiers.
"Who are those people?" Shabadaba wondered out loud.
Standing atop one of the palace's towers were three people. They all had long wild hair of varying colors which went past their shoulders, and the same outfits. One of them had white hair, and wore brown clothes under her white sleeve-less robe. The one standing in the middle of the three who appeared to be the leader had orange hair, and wore blue clothes under his white sleeve-less robe. And the third one was a bit larger than the other two and had black hair, and wore green clothes under his white sleeve-less robe.
"Well…" The orange-haired one said in a deep voice.
"Yeah…" The white-haired one said, dragging the word out a little.
"They're not bad." The orange-haired one said.
Team 7 and the others
"Thanks for the help. You fought well. I'm sorry there wasn't time to send warning of what's happened here." Korega said as he was driving the coach through the forest with Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Lee running next to it and the troop transport following after.
"Where are we heading?" Kakashi asked.
"I have men stationed in the mountains. We'll go there for now." Korega answered.
"Let's hope they haven't been wiped out." Sasuke said.
"Don't worry. Shabadaba doesn't know where we're hiding." Korega said.
In town
The circus people were walking through the empty streets of the port town, which was also the only town in the whole kingdom.
"Sheesh. What a reception. This isn't what I expected from the Crescent Moon Kingdom." The Circus Director said before adding "I've seen graveyards livelier than this."
Then he noticed the Princes' carriage going into a side-street, followed by another horse-driven vehicle.
"Hey… The Prince's coach." He said as Chamu took a few steps forward "Where are they going?"
A cave in the mountains
Up in the mountains, hidden deep within a forest was the entrance to a small cave which the Prince's coach and the troop transport stopped in front of as Michiru and Hikaru got out of their coach and headed towards the cave along with everyone else.
Inside the cave was a single soldier kneeling by an old man lying on a futon. Michiru and Hikaru recognized the man.
"Papa!"
"Grandpa?!"
They called out as they ran towards the man.
"That old man's the King?" Sasuke said.
Soon after, when everyone were gathered together in the cave, Korega began explaining what had been going on in the Kingdom up to that point.
"There have been clashes of late between the King and some of his Ministers led by Shabadaba. Each side has different ideas of how they want to lead this land. The King hoped to reason with them, and one day bring them around to his point of view. But meanwhile, Shabadaba took matters into his own hands. He plotted to overthrow the King. By chance, we discovered his plot in time, and informed his Majesty. He realized that the time had come to confront his Ministers. He knew this could be dangerous, so he sent Prince Michiru and his son on a royal tour of many lands, in order to protect them."
"That's why… he sent us away. To protect us?" Michiru said as he looked down at his father.
"Once you were safely out of the way, the King moved to settle the matter, but it was too late. Shabadaba had already hired Shinobi mercenaries to secure his position. We were out-maneuvered and out-manned. We barely managed to escape in the nick of time." Korega said before clenching his fists as he continued "But the King, to my shame, did not…"
"…!"
"Grandpa…"
"Let me take a look at his injuries." Sakura said before stepping forward. She then got down on her knees next to the King and removed the blanket. However, her eyes widened, and Hikaru looked away as they saw that parts of the King's body had turned to stone.
"It's… it's turned to stone…" The pinkette could hardly believe what she was seeing.
"Yes… One of these three Shinobi has possession of a special Jutsu. And due to my negligence, he was able to… use it on the King!" Korega spoke in shame.
"What do you think?" Kakashi asked.
"It's worth a try, at least." Sakura said before going through a couple of hand-signs and a glowing ball of pure chakra appeared beneath her palms as she brought it down to the King's chest.
As this was going on, Sasuke turned around before heading for the cave's exit.
"Where're you going, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.
"I'll go scout around the area. We don't want to be surprised by an enemy ambush while we're preoccupied." Sasuke responded without turning around as he resumed walking before disappearing into the forest.
The palace, the throne room
"Unacceptable! We let both of them get away! Ohh, blast, blast, BLAST!" Shabadaba said as he paced back and forth in front of the throne.
"They had good bodyguards." The orange-haired and leader of the three hired Shinobi said as he look out of the window. The other to standing next to him.
"What? Is that all you have to say?!" Shabadaba yelled.
"Calm down. They may be strong, but we're stronger still. I have no doubt we can handle them." The orange-haired Shinobi said.
"I hope so. It will be annoying to find out I paid you all that money for nothing, Ishidate." Shabadaba said as Ishidate looked at him out the corner of his eye over his shoulder while smirking.
On the mountains
In a secret spot deep within the mountains was a series of natural hot-springs. It turns out that the Crescent Moon Kingdom was sitting atop a hot-spot for volcanic activity, and while the country did once have a volcano, it was apparently destroyed back in ancient times when a meteor crashed into the Kingdom, giving it it's crescent shape and new name.
In one of the hot-springs was a girl with long blue hair sighing deeply as she was enjoying the hot water. Her clothes were hanging from one of the branches, though it should be noted that there weren't any bra or panties.
"Ahhh~ There's just something about natural hot-springs that man-made ones just can't compete with. I'm sure Lagiacrus would've loved it here." She then heard something, and, without grabbing her clothes, she leapt into the trees.
Sasuke was walking along a forest road next to a small cliff, seemingly unaware of the pair of eyes looking down at him from the trees atop the cliff.
'Who's that? Black hair, dark eyes, and he's got a fan on his back. Hmm… he's pretty cool. When I was in the town earlier, I heard the townspeople hiding in their homes talking about some traitors in the Kingdom. Huh? What if he's one of 'em? I could capture him and get him to tell me where the others are!' The blue-haired girl thought before, still butt-naked, she jumped down at Sasuke.
"Ungh… I'm sorry…" The now fully clothed girl said as she rubbed the bump on her temple where the Uchiha had hit her.
The fact that the boy hadn't been distracted by the sight of a completely naked girl jumping at him, lead the girl to believe that he was either used to something like that, or that he was gay. She was leaning more towards the latter.
Soon after, Sasuke, with the girl in tow, returned to the cave where they were hiding out, and as they approached, they heard Kakashi and Sakura talking.
"Well, Sakura?" kakashi asked as he and Sakura were standing just outside the cave's entrance.
"I can treat petrification without a problem, but in order to be reversed, it needs to be treated immediately." Sakura replied.
"I understand." Kakashi said as Sakura looked down on the ground.
She then looked towards the King as she added "It's just that… so much time has passed. There's nothing I can do."
That's when they noticed Sasuke's approach.
"Ah, Sasuke. You find any…?!" Kakashi began, but that's when he spotted the blue-haired girl.
"Um… Who're you…?" Sakura asked.
"Oh, the name's Mirai. No last name." The girl said.
"She jumped me in the forest and refused to leave me alone." Sasuke said.
"You sure about bringing her here, Sasuke? She could be…" He trailed off.
"That's exactly why I brought her here. If she turns out to be an enemy, then don't you think it'd be best to keep her close so we can keep an eye on her?" Was Sasuke's response. Kakashi and Sakura couldn't argue against that.
"Hey, I'm not an enemy!" Mirai yelled.
That's when the King finally opened his eyes and he looked towards Michiru who hadn't moved from his side.
"You're home, Michiru." The King said.
"PAPA!" Michiru exclaimed, catching everyone's attention.
"Grandpa!" Hikaru yelled as he ran over to his grandfather's side as everyone else were coming over as well.
"Your Majesty." Korega said.
"Hikaru, too. Wonderful." The King said.
Michiru then explained to him what had happened, and how he had been safely brought home by the Ninja of Konoha.
"I see. So it was you who protected them. My friends, I thank you all. Tell me, how fares the Crescent Moon Kingdom?" The King spoke.
"Not well, your Majesty. It appears that soon, your whole island will be under the rebels' control." Korega said.
"I see." The King said before turning to his son "Michiru. What comes to your mind when you think about this land of ours?"
"Oh, it's a wonderful place. Beautiful, and prosperous, and wealthy." Michiru said.
"That's right. But I see now that happiness and wealth are not necessarily the same thing" The King said.
"Huh?"
"Joy. Happiness. Our hopes. And our dreams. A place of peace and harmony. That's the sort of land I envisioned. I thought Shabadaba shared my dreams. But I could never get him to see it. Such a pity." The King said.
"I'm not sure I understand either, Papa. You talk just like Amayo." Michiru said.
"Amayo? Are the two of you…?" The King then turned his head to look up at the ceiling as he said "What a shame."
"She told me I don't have any clue about what really matters." Michiru said.
"Amayo always was a very sensible girl. I had hoped that she'd be a good influence, that with a little time, her common sense… I never dreamed she'd be the one to give up. Such a pity." The King said before continuing "Yes, that's right. What really matters."
After a pause, the King spoke again.
"Michiru?"
"Yes?" Michiru asked.
"One request. My last wish." This caused Michiru and Hikaru's eyes to widen.
"It's very important what I have to tell you, my son. This isn't the way I imagined it happening. I know it will be hard, but you must face it. Starting now, you are the King." The King said, shocking Michiru as tears streamed from both his and Hikaru's eyes. Even some of the trained soldiers weren't abler to hold their tears back.
"You. Konohagakure Shinobi." The King said, causing Kakashi to step forward before kneeling by the King's bedside.
"Sir." He said.
"I know I have no right to ask this of you. But as you are an honorable man, I make this last request." The King said.
"Of course." Kakashi said.
"Look after them. Protect them, please." The King said, and Kakashi nodded.
"With our lives, your Majesty." He said, and Lee and Sakura nodded.
"I thank you. Michiru, I depend on you." The King said as his eyes were closing, causing Michiru's and Hikaru's eyes to widen. The King was dead.
"PAPA!"
Later
"*Sniff*… My grandfather was always kind to me. He made that bow for me. He always used to watch me practice. And whenever I made a bulls-eye, he was even happier than I was. I loved him so much." Hikaru said as tears streamed down his face as he was sitting crouched-up on a rocky cliff under the night sky, overlooking the town and forest with the palace in the distance. Next to him was the girl who Sasuke had run into, Mirai, who had decided to console him.
"I never knew my grandfather, or grandmother, or even my parents for that matter." Mirai said, causing the boy next to her to look at her in shock as she continued "But… there was someone who raised me. She was tough, and strong, and kind. I guess you could say she was something like a mother to me. I loved her more than anything in the world."
"Really? Where is she now?" Hikaru asked.
"One day, she just up and left. It happened while I was asleep, too, so I didn't even get to say goodbye to her." Mirai said as Hikaru looked at her in wonder, and she placed her right hand over her heart as she continued "I have a feeling that she left so that I could have a chance to grow on my own, and one day, I'll become strong enough to make her proud. And when that day comes, I'll finally get to see her again. You may not ever be able to get to see your grandfather again, but that doesn't mean he didn't leave you with anything." She then looked at Hikaru with a smile as she continued "Remember your grandfather's dying words, and find out what he meant by it. Then, when you've become the ruler of this Nation, lead it to further prosperity, like a just and righteous King."
As they were talking, Sasuke was just beneath the cliff, observing them. Though, he also appeared to be in deep thought.
Later… again
Since it was pretty doubtful that they could take on Shabadaba and all the people supporting him, whether they've been fooled or not, they decided to leave the Crescent Moon Kingdom for now and ask one of their allies for help. And so, they headed down to the beach.
As they had arrived at the beach, they hid behind the trees and in the bushes as they waited for a couple of men that had been sent out ahead of them.
"Where are they…?" Korega asked as he noted that they were late. But then, he noticed two small boats, each with only one man aboard, and he ran over to them. One of the men responded in kind by jumping off of the boat he was on and running over to Korega.
"Captain Korega!" The man said "There's a ship waiting for you just beyond the bay."
"Excellent. Well done." Korega said before turning back towards the others as he signaled them over to him.
"Right. Let's go." Kakashi said as he signaled his Genin subordinates to follow him as he ran out towards Korega. Following behind him were, the Genin, Mirai, the soldiers, and Hikaru.
However, as he ran, Hikaru noticed that his father hadn't come with them, so he ran back to him. Michiru in the meantime was just sitting there depressed.
"Father." Hikaru said as he came over to him before grabbing his arm and trying to pull him up "It's time, let's go!"
"Huh?" Michiru, who had been completely lost in thought, finally reacted as he got to his feet as Hikaru let go of his arm, and the both of them ran.
However, while Hikaru was easily able to keep up with the others, Michiru was a different story, as he was barely able to run at all.
"Don't… run so fast…!" Michiru said as he panted heavily.
Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Lee came to a stop.
"Go on ahead." Kakashi told the others as he and his team ran over to help the Prince back on his feet as he had fallen to his knees. As they attempted to help him up, however, he just fell back down on his back.
In the meantime, Mirai stopped running as she suddenly looked to the ocean, as if in a trance.
"Hey, you all right?" One of the two soldiers with them, a man carrying a bow asked.
"Hmm… They must be really desperate to attack us here by the ocean where I'm in my home element." The girl said as the two men and Hikaru looked at her in confusion.
Just then, three people jumped from the tree-tops, one of which pulled out a kunai with an explosive-tag attached to it as it stabbed into the ground by Michiru and the Shinobi before blowing up. This caught mostly everyone else's attention, though Mirai was still staring out into the ocean.
The Shinobi had of course managed to escape the explosion as Sasuke, Sakura, and Lee were now standing before a small crater where they had been just a couple of seconds ago, while Kakashi was crouched behind them, carrying Michiru over his shoulder.
On the other side of the small crater were the three Shinobi hired by Shabadaba.
"Are you really that stupid?" The white-haired girl, Karenbana said.
"We knew that you'd arrange for a ship. We've been watching the coast, just waiting for you to show up." Ishidate said before continuing "Now then. Hand over the Prince and his son."
"I've got a better idea. Why don't you just get lost?" Sasuke said as he stepped forward and activated his Sharingan.
"The famous Sharingan, eh?" Ishidate said, before Sasuke's eyes widened as the man was now standing behind him.
'What? I couldn't even see him move!' Was all that had time to go through Sasuke's head before Ishidate punched him, sending him rolling across the sand.
As he came to a stop, he quickly got to his feet, however, he didn't even get any time to react before Ishidate was in his face, delivering a second punch. Sasuke managed to stop himself from falling as he put his left hand on the ground, and he then kicked at Ishidate, though the orange-haired Ninja dodged it. As Sasuke landed back on his feet, he pulled out a kunai, aiming it for Ishidate's throat, though his opponent effortlessly moved out of the way.
"What's wrong?" Ishidate asked before delivering a kick to the Uchiha's gut "What are you swinging at?" He then followed up with a punch to the Uchiha's gut, causing Sasuke to stumble backwards.
A kunai then appeared by Ishidate's throat as Kakashi appeared behind him.
"That's enough." The masked Jonin said.
"Oh, really?" Ishidate asked, and just then, the large brown-haired man, Kongo appeared in front of Sasuke before punching him so hard that he was sent rolling straight across the beach. Strangely enough, Kongo was able to outrun the rolling boy, before stopping him with a kick, and then following up with another kick which sent the Uchiha high into the air. Kongo jumped after him before flipping around in mid-air and then punching Sasuke, sending the boy head-first straight into the sandy beach, leaving him half buried as Kongo landed back on the ground next to him.
"You're gonna pay for that." Kakashi said in a threatening tone.
However, his single eye widened when Ishidate vanished and reappeared behind him. Kakashi spun around as he swiped his kunai at Ishidate, however, the orange-haired Ninja blocked it before they separated as they jumped back to gain some distance from one-another.
Sakura watched on worriedly at the scenes before her, before Lee suddenly went into a rage as he charged forward.
"Lee-san, wait!"
"How dare you do that to Sasuke-kun!" Lee yelled as he charged at Kongo before doing a roundhouse kick, aimed for Kongo's face, however, he caught Lee's foot before throwing it down, letting Lee land on the ground.
"Feeling left out?" Karenbana asked as she appeared behind Sakura.
The pinkette turned around and the two exchanged glances for a split second before Karenbana swiped at Sakura with a kunai, but the girl jumped backwards to gain some distance as she pulled out a kunai of her own, before Karenbana charged at her.
"Konohagakure Shinobi. I've heard you're good. But I wonder, are you as good as I am?" Ishidate asked.
"One way to find out." Was Kakashi's response.
Ishidate smirked as they charged at each other, and their kunais clashed as they passed one-another. However, as they had both come to a stop, a cut appeared on Kakashi's arm as blood flowed out, and Ishidate looked over his shoulder with a smirk.
Lee was relentlessly attacking Kongo while in mid-air, however, the man was able to either dodge or block all of his attacks. Then, as Lee landed, Kongo aimed a kick at him, and while it seemed as though Lee was able to dodge it, he ended up stumbling backwards.
'Ungh. Strange…' The boy thought.
Karenbana came down on Sakura as she swung her kunai down at her, but Sakura was able to block it with her own. Then, when Karenbana landed, she spun around as she again swung her kunai at the pinkette, forcing Sakura to jump back to dodge it, though despite that, a cut still appeared on her left shoulder.
'Huh? I thought I dodged it!' She thought.
'Something's wrong.' Kakashi thought as Lee was sent rolling in the background.
"Everything's moving so slow." The green-clad Genin thought after he had come to a halt.
Sakura fell down on her knees before falling face-first into the sand. And as she slightly rose herself up with her hands, she looked towards Karenbana who was running towards her, though she appeared to be moving almost in slow motion.
'What's wrong with us? Her timing's off.' Sakura thought.
'Must be some sort of Genjutsu.' Kakashi thought before he made a hand-sign "KAI!"
Ishidate then looked towards him as he held up his right hand, showing off the back of his glove where there appeared to be a mechanical closed eye. The aforementioned eye then opened, revealing a glowing orange eye with a red slit as white-violet lines coming from the eye appeared across the glove.
Kakashi's eyes widened as Ishidate ran towards him before attempting to grab him, though Kakashi managed to dodge it, or so he thought, as Ishidate grabbed his left wrist just after.
The white-violet lines then appeared across Kakashi's arm as it became petrified.
"Sorry, but this isn't Genjutsu." Ishidate said.
"So, now I get it." Sakura, who was back to her feet said "It was that explosive tag!"
"Exactly. Effective, isn't it? An odor-less poison that slows the reflexes." Karenbana said.
"And until it wears off, you're all sitting ducks!" Kongo said as he ran towards Lee before launching a punch at him, and while it seemed at first as though Lee dodged it, he was again sent rolling across the beach, and this time, even into the water.
Kakashi took a few steps backwards as he held his still-petrified arm before going down on his knees.
"So much for a test of strength. It was over before it even began." Ishidate said as the eye on his glow opened up again before he moved towards the weakened Jonin.
Korega was then about to step in to help him, however, that's when Mirai finally made her move and charged straight at Ishidate.
As she came up between Kakashi and Ishidate, she held the fingers on her left hand together as if to form three claws as a large amount of water seemed to be spraying from her hand.
"Suiryu no Kagizume!" Mirai then thrusted her "claws" with bone-crushing force into Ishidate's gut, sending him flying.
"ISHIDATE!" Karenbana yelled. Sakura took advantage of her opponent's distraction as she swung her kunai at her. Though Karenbana just dodged it before she charged at Mirai.
However, Mirai just turned towards her as her cheeks swelled up and it looked like she was holding her breath.
"Suiryu no Hoko!" And she spat a large vortex of water at Karenbana, sending her flying back due to the water's pressure.
"HELP! They've got me surrounded!" Came the Prince's yell, and Mirai looked towards him to see that was surrounded by a bunch of soldiers on horses. She was about to move in to help, but then she heard a scream behind her, and turning around, she saw that Kongo had cornered Hikaru in one of the boats as he had knocked aside Korega and the other soldiers that had been there.
Mirai looked between Michiru and Hikaru. She had her priorities, so she ran towards the boats.
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Her scream seemed to resonate through the water, and all of a sudden, the water around the boats opened up as tentacles of water suddenly burst up.
"What…!?" Kongo said in shock before one of the tentacles slammed into him so hard that he was sent flying straight across the beach and crashed into a tree.
'What the…?' Sasuke, who had climbed back out if the sand thought in surprise.
Karenbana then pulled out a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it and threw it at Mirai, aiming straight for her face. However, a water tentacle then came in and caught the kunai, enshrouding it in a ball of water. The tag then exploded, though the explosion was completely contained within the ball of water.
"What…?" Karenbana said in shock.
"My mother, Lagiacrus is Queen of the Water Dragons. Some people may also know her by her other title; Queen of the Ocean. This means in essence that I am the Princess of the Ocean, and so, any large body of water will both protect me and fight for me." Mirai said before gesturing towards the ocean "And this is the ocean. The largest body of water in the entire World."
Just then, on a simply impulse, everyone looked towards the ocean, and their eyes widened. They could clearly see it. The water must've receded at some point as over in the horizon, a line rising above the water's surface could be seen. It was a Tsunami.
Mirai had made one miscalculation, however. While the ocean would be protecting her, it had no such obligations to anyone else. The only reason it had previously moved to protect Hikaru was because it was on Mirai's order.
The Tsunami was moving surprisingly fast as in no time at all, it was already towering above the beach.
"Crap! Karenbana! Kongo! We're outta here!" Ishidate yelled before the three of them started moving.
Then, the large wave came crashing down onto the beach.
Palace
It seemed that when Ishidate and the others fled, they had managed to capture Michiru, as the Prince in question was thrown down onto the floor before Shabadaba with his arms tied behind his back.
"My, my, my, my. You put us through a great deal of trouble, you royal tub of lard." Shabadaba said as he and his retainer walked towards Michiru.
Michiru got up onto his knees as he spoke.
"Why are you doing this? My father was your friend!" There was a small pause "How could… how could you betray him like that?!"
Shabadaba laughed.
"Hahahahaha! Friends, he and I? Don't be silly." Michiru looked at him in surprise "I served him, yes. But then, the dithering old fool turned idealistic." He then turned around and walked towards the window, the retainer following him "He started getting ridiculous notions about helping the poor, and the old, and the downtrodden. Lifting their taxes, and building them homes. Paying for their health-care from the state treasures."
"My father… wanted all that?" Michiru whispered as Shabadaba continued ranting.
Shabadaba then grabbed a pear from the fruit plate that the retainer was carrying as he turned back around to face Michiru and continued.
"After all, where all these tasty delicacies come from? Out of thin air?" And he took a bite out of the pear "Because this country is rich, you've always had everything you've wanted, eh? But that old fool, your father, thought we should share the wealth. "We must invest in the people", he said. "The people are our greatest treasure". What utter hogwash!" He then threw the fruit onto the floor, causing it to splatter.
Shabadaba then walked quickly towards Michiru.
"There is only one thing that matters in this World! Call it what you want! Gold, treasure, money! Money's the only thing that counts!"
Michiru looked up at Shabadaba's face as he spoke.
"That's all it is? You've done all of this just so you could be rich?!"
"Yes. heeheeheeheehee. More than just rich. I want to be swimming in wealth. I want to be as fat and spoiled as you are." Shabadaba said before turning around and walking away again.
"And for that, you killed my father?" Michiru asked as tears streamed from his eyes and landed on the carpet.
"Well, however it happened, the King is gone. And now, the responsibility is mine."
"NO, THAT'S NOT TRUE! I WILL BE KING!" Michiru yelled, and Shabadaba looked over his shoulder.
"Oh, no. Very unlikely."
The forest
Mirai, Hikaru, Lee, Korega, and the four soldiers under Korega that were on their side were gathered in a small clearing, all of them miraculously having survived the tsunami.
Kakashi then came out from the trees.
"How did it go?" Korega asked
"Security's too tight. I couldn't get close. One thing's for sure; time is running out." Kakashi answered with his arms crossed.
"Dammit! If only I had been there to protect him!" Korega cursed.
"It isn't your fault, Korega-san. We all had our hands full with the enemy Shinobi." Kakashi said.
"Kakashi-sensei. Did you have any luck finding Sakura-san or Sasuke-san?" Lee asked, but Kakashi only shook his head.
When he then noticed the sorrowful look on Mirai's face, he said "I'm sure they're just fine. We didn't find their bodies on the beach, so they should still be alive."
There was a small pause before one of the soldiers – the only one besides Korega, standing – spoke up.
"Maybe… maybe we should just surrender after all." He had completely given up.
"Coward! What are you talking about?!" One of the other soldiers said as he rose to his feet and grabbed the other soldier's collar.
"Well, what do you suggest then?!" He pushed the other soldier away "Look at us! How few of us there are!" He then pointed at the Shinobi and Mirai "I don't care how strong these strangers are! It's hopeless!"
"At least, we must get Hikaru-sama out." One of the other two soldiers, one who was bald, said.
Hikaru then started crying.
"I want my father!"
Mirai then stood up.
"Okay, then. Let's get him back."
"But it's impossible." The bald soldier said.
"We won't know that till we've tried." Was Mirai's response.
"It's too late!" Came Hikaru's cry, catching everyone's attention "You heard them! It's hopeless! My father will be killed! It's too late to save him now!" As tears streamed down his cheeks, he lowered his face to the ground as he continued sobbing.
"I'm sorry…" Mirai said, and everyone looked to the ground "But did you hear what I said before? The ocean itself will bend at my will! And we're on an island! I'll destroy this entire country if I'll have to, but I will save your father!"
"Now, hold on a–!" Korega began, but Mirai completely ignored him as she turned to kakashi.
"Kakashi-san, you begin planning on how to storm the palace."
"And what will you do?" The Jonin asked.
"I will search for Sasuke-kun and Sakura-chan." Mirai responded.
"I see. But do you have any way of tracking them?" Kakashi asked.
"Don't worry. The ocean will tell me where to go." Mirai said as she began walking before disappearing amongst the trees.
"The ocean?" One of the soldiers, an archer, asked in confusion.
As he stared after in the direction that Mirai had disappeared in, Kakashi suddenly noticed something as he pulled out a kunai and twirled it around. However, that's when a familiar saber-tooth tiger/monkey duo came out from between the trees.
"Chamu! Kiki!" Hikaru said as he ran over to the two of them and hugged the tiger, said tiger then licking him.
"Hey! Chamu!" Came the voice of the Circus Director.
Two people from the circus came out from behind some of the trees a little away as one of them asked "Where is that cat?" He then noticed the people standing there "Well, what'd you know? You guys."
With Sakura
"Ungh." Sakura's eyes squinted open as she found herself lying on the ground in a forest. Looking up, she saw the sunlight shining through between the branches of the trees.
'It's morning?' She climbed to her feet before looking around. But just then, she felt something like a strong wind rushing past her, and she turned towards the entrance of a cave where it seemed to be coming from.
She entered the cave and walked for a while before coming into a large dome-shaped open room with a hole in the middle of the ceiling with roots coming down from the edges off it and covering the walls and ground. The sunlight was also shining down from the hole in the ceiling and onto a natural pedestal which had a single large egg situated atop it.
As she approached the egg, she reached her hand out for it, but she hesitated slightly when she noticed it shaking. Then, the egg suddenly started glowing, and she had to cover her eyes with her arms, and as the light died down, the egg was gone, and a weird creature was left in its place.
The creature looked like a large green seed about the size of one's fist with a tail in the form of a leaf and several purple spikes sticking out from its body.
"Bud, bud." The creature said happily, revealing a fang on the left side of its mouth.
"Well, hello there, little guy." Sakura said as she put her hands on her knees and leaned down "Are you perhaps a friend of Gaomon's?"
"Bud?" The small creature leaned slightly to the side. That's when Sakura noticed it. There was some kind of weird device sitting under the creature's butt.
"Um, excuse me." Sakura said as she pushed the creature gently to the side, and she picked up the device.
It was similar to one of those weird devices that Shikamaru had, the only difference being that it was pink and white. She picked it up with her left hand.
As she looked curiously down at the device, she suddenly got a warm feeling wash over her as a bright light was illuminating the cave. She then picked up the creature in her right arm and turned around. The light was coming out of the entrance to the dome-shaped room, and the source of it seemed to be a… person?
It was a tall woman with long pink hair that reached almost all the way down to her feet and she was wearing a white silk dress and a pair of white sandals. And while the woman looked Human, she gave of the air of something different. Sakura knew that feeling. It was something she had hoped she'd never feel again. It was the air that a Witch gave off.
"Who… are you?" Sakura asked as she took a defensive stance. For some reason though, she was unable to look at the woman as an enemy, no matter how hard she tried.
"Do not worry. I am not an enemy." Upon seeing the skeptic look on Sakura's face, she continued "I am Aurora of the Council of 5. Normally, Lucifer would be the one to meet up with you, but he's a little busy right now, so I used this opportunity to go out and get some fresh air, rather than just sending Mavis or Vandesdelca."
"…" Sakura still wasn't entirely convinced.
"I am not a Witch." Aurora stated simply, causing Sakura to drop her guard as she looked at the woman in surprise "I don't belong to any race, rather, I take the form of whatever race gazes upon me."
"Really?" Was what Sakura asked after blinking twice, and Aurora nodded.
She then walked up to Sakura as she held out a color-less X-Loader.
"Take this. It's called a X-Loader, and is a device which will let you store your Digimon, and you can also use it to combine various Digimon into stronger forms." Aurora said.
"Digimon? You mean like Gaomon and Dorumon?" Sakura asked.
"That right. And like the one you've got there." Aurora said, pointing at the Digimon in Sakura's arms, causing Sakura to look down at it as it looked up at her with its permanently closed eyes.
"But, why me?" Sakura asked as she looked back over at Aurora.
"Who can say. Even we're not sure who it is that chooses you of the Digi-Destined. All we can do is prepare the newer generations for what trials awaits them." Aurora said.
Sakura then looked down at the Digivice in her left hand and the Digimon in her right arm.
"So I guess, you'll be living with me for now, huh?"
"Bud?" The Digimon, Budmon said.
"But wait. I thought Digimon could talk." Sakura said, looking back at Aurora.
"Certainly you can't expect her to be able to talk just after hatching, can you? It'd be like a Human being able to talk just after having been born." Aurora replied as she stepped towards them before holding out the X-Loader "This is yours."
"Uhm… Thanks." Sakura said as she took the X-Loader, and its colors changed to pink.
Aurora then placed her hand on Budmon's head as she petted her.
"Bu-bu~ud…" Budmon said in contentment.
"I'm afraid I'll have to go now." Aurora said before looking at Sakura as she added "You should get moving as well. Your client has been captured and your friends are planning an attack on the palace. Also, there's someone troublesome on this island."
Then Aurora vanished into thin air.
'What did she mean by that?' Sakura wondered.
"Bud?" Budmon asked, noticing Sakura's facial expression.
"Also, there's someone rather troublesome on this island."
Sakura's eyes widened as she froze. Earlier on the ship, she had felt a familiar presence just before the storm hit. Surely Aurora couldn't be talking about… no, there's no way she could. She disappeared years ago. So there's no way the she–
"It's been a long time, Sakura." Sakura froze. She then slowly turned around. Upon seeing a familiar face, the face of the person who she feared the most, she immediately jumped backwards. But then she blinked in confusion. The person before her, sitting on the pedestal where Budmon's egg had been earlier had the appearance of a child about 5 or 6 years old. Other than that though, she still had dirty blond hair, golden eyes with black slits and black sclera, and wore a black robe which covered her entire body.
"My, you sure have grown. I haven't seen you since you were barely older than a toddler." The girl said.
"Who are you…?" Sakura asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Hmm?" The girl looked confused for a second, but then she grinned evilly "Oh, right. My body. Well, you see; my original body was destroyed in a recent battle, so I had to hijack this girl's body."
"You…! Medusa-sama!" Sakura said through gritted teeth.
With Sasuke
Sasuke was standing on the beach as he looked around. He had come back there after waking up in the forest, figuring it'd be best start looking for the others there. As he looked around, he noted how much of the beach had been covered by puddles of water, though that of course shouldn't come as a huge surprise considering that it had been hit by a tsunami.
'No one's here.' Sasuke thought as he looked around.
"Uchiha Sasuke, I presume." An unfamiliar voice came from behind him, and he turned around to see a girl who looked to be in her late teens, maybe 16 if he'd have to guess.
"You have no idea how long it took to track you down. When I heard that the Uchiha Clan, your clan, had been massacred I was devastated. Devastated because that meant that I wouldn't get my chance to kill you myself. So when I found out that there was one survivor, I was filled with hope. But then, you weren't in Konoha where you should have been, so I had to snoop around a little, and that's when I found out that you were here." The girl said, all in one breath, as she walked towards Sasuke, and the moment she passed him, she immediately spun around as she drew her sword and swung it at Sasuke, aiming for his neck.
Sasuke reacted quickly as he leaned back before jumping away from her as he drew a kunai and got into a defensive stance while also activating his Sharingan.
"And so, I headed out here as quickly as I could so that I could finally kill you." The girl said.
"Hmph. If you knew that I was an Uchiha, then you must be crazy to attack me." Sasuke said.
"Take a good look." The girl simply stated.
Sasuke looked confused at her words at first, but then his eyes widened as he noticed that her eyes were closed. He wondered when she had closed them, but as he thought back, he realized that she'd had them closed since the beginning.
"I knew it. You are crazy. How are you going to fight me when you can't see?" Sasuke asked mockingly.
However, the girl then just charged forward before swinging her sword diagonally down at Sasuke. The Uchiha jumped to the side to avoid it, but the girl then immediately readjusted her aim and went for a stabbing motion towards Sasuke.
Sasuke then scraped his kunai against the edge of the girl's sword to redirect it before aiming for the girl's throat. Before the kunai could reach it, though, the girl leapt back before, as soon as her foot touched down on the ground, she charged forward, aiming the tip of the sword at Sasuke.
As she came up in front of the boy, she stabbed the sword forward, though Sasuke slightly moved to the side, and the girl immediately swung her sword horizontally at him, aiming to take his head off. However, Sasuke jumped back to avoid it as he gained about a ten meter's distance from her.
'What the…?! There was no hesitation before she swung her sword, as if she hadn't even been thinking about where to swing it, even though I had made no sound when I dodged. Furthermore, she seemed to know exactly where I've been during this entire fight, despite her eyes being closed.' Sasuke thought before beginning to formulate a plan as he threw three shuriken, one of which had a wire attached to it.
The girl then dodged the three shurikens before surprising Sasuke by grabbing the wire and pulling it, causing it to snap. Sasuke then weaved a series of hand-signs.
"Katon: Goukakyo no Jutsu!" And he fired a large ball of fire towards the girl.
As the ball of heated oxygen came towards her, the girl ran to the side to dodge it before changing her course towards Sasuke.
"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!" And he fired a multitude of smaller fire balls, though the girl just weaved her way through all of them, not letting a single one hit.
The girl came up before Sasuke before swinging her sword at him and they began trading a series of blows as the girl began speaking.
"We lived in a peaceful village in the countryside of Jinkah in Central Ishgar! My mother was always kind and caring, my father worked tirelessly to support our family, and my big brother was always there to look out for and protect me! We lead nothing but normal lives in a completely ordinary World!" The girl then swung her sword at Sasuke so hard that, even though he blocked it, he was sent skidding several meters backwards as the girl who he still didn't know the name of stared at him fiercely, her eyes filled with hatred, though Sasuke could tell that they weren't aimed at him, but at his Clan as a whole.
"But then, one day, it all changed! Our ordinary World was torn down when you Uchiha came to our village and killed everyone! My kind mother, my tirelessly working father, and my protective big brother! Only I was left alive! Since then, I've sworn to get my revenge, and the only way I could ever be satisfied was to kill all of the Uchiha myself, just like you had killed my family! And I would do it no matter the cost! And now, the last of the Uchiha is standing before me! This is the moment I've been waiting for!" The girl said.
Sasuke had figured that her story was probably something like that. With what she had said and the way she looked at him and all. Though, there was one thing about what she said that didn't quite fit. That's right; Jinkah is a small country that lies near the middle of the continent of Ishgar. There's no reason for why the Clan, or the village, would've cared about it. And even if they did, Sasuke knew with absolute certainty that neither the Sandaime Hokage nor his father would ever order an attack like that. This could only mean one thing; that the attack had probably been carried out by either a single Uchiha moving about independently, or a small independent group. This girl had likely just convinced herself in her mind that all Uchiha were in on the attack. The question for why any Uchiha would care about a small village in Jinkah still bothered him, though he didn't have time to question it.
One thing he did get out of this, though, was that there had to be at least still one other Uchiha out there aside from himself and his brother.
The girl then charged at him as she brought her sword above her head, preparing to swing it down. In the meantime, Sasuke charged at her, holding his kunai low. Then as they approached each other, Sasuke began swinging his kunai upwards as the girl swung her katana downwards.
However, just then, something unexpected happened. Mirai suddenly appeared between them as she grabbed Sasuke's hand with her left hand and used the back of her right hand to block the girl's katana.
"Mirai-san?!" The girl said in surprise, her eyes still closed.
"Kana-chan, stop this! I may not know how you're feeling, but revenge isn't the answer! It never is! If anything, once you've gone through with it, you'll only feel empty inside! You'll never be satisfied!" Those words, while only meant for Kana, they hit Sasuke just as hard.
Team 10
Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino ran through the forest at speeds only a Shinobi can run at. After they found the map of the Crescent Moon Kingdom, Ino had "woken up" and informed them that while her mind was inside a bird, she had spotted a child resembling Medusa, seemingly heading towards the ocean.
They came out of the forest to appear on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Already standing there was Jiraiya and behind him was three small people about the size of children with helmets (?) in the shape of TV monitors, and that were wearing ninja clothing kneeling. One was red, another was blue, and the third one was black.
The members of Team 10 walked up to them as the Sannin spoke.
"There, huh? This isn't good. Does Medusa know what's on that island? Did she come for Sakura? Or could it be that she's really after that…? Either way, this could be very bad."
Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino could only look at him in confusion.
Chapter preview
Medusa "Sakura, my sweet daughter, as the Witch that you are, I think it is time that you finally awakened your true Magic potential."
Shabadaba "I've always thought this would be a more entertaining way of executing people."
Korega "We of the King's Guard are the only ones who knows about this passage."
Kakashi "And now, ladies and gentlemen, our grand finale! So sit back and enjoy."
Ishidate "That was an elaborate little plan you guys came up with, but it was doomed from the start, I'm afraid."
Shabadaba "Ha! You think I would only hire three Shinobi? All of these are survivors of Yamigakure, a village where even the weakest Ninja is at the level of one of your Kage! And there are over a hundred of them!"
Bakuto "I see. So this is the place where the Perfect, Hachimon, was sealed."
Mirai "Next time on Naruto: Shinobi Hunters: Total annihilation."
Hachimon "Hyahahahahahahahahahah! I'm back, bitches!"
Character status
Sasuke: Level: 83
Chakra Level: Divine.
Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Katon: Goukakyo, Katon: Housenka, Katon: Ryuka, Katon: Taienka, Chidori.
Weapons: kunai, shuriken.
Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.
Series: Naruto.
Sakura: Level: 75
Chakra Level: Genin.
Techniques: Bunshin, Henge, Kawarimi, Goken.
Weapon: kunai, shuriken.
Series: Naruto.
Rock Lee: Level: 83
Chakra Level: Genin.
Techniques: Konoha Reppu, Konoha Senpou, Omote Renge, Ura Renge.
Weapons: kunai, shuriken.
Series: Naruto.
Kakashi: Level: 420
Chakra Level: Kage.
Techniques: Genjutsu: Sharingan, Kage Bunshin, Taju Kage Bunshin, Katon: Goukakyo, Raiton: Kage Bunshin, Doton: Moguragakure, Doton: Doryuheki, Doton: Shinju Zanshu, Kirigakure, Mizu Bunshin, Suiton: Suiryu, Suiton: Daibakufu, Fuja Hoin, Sennen Goroshi, Magen: Narakumi, Kuchiyose, Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga, Raikiri.
Weapon: kunai, shuriken.
Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan.
Series: Naruto.
Mirai: Level: 578
Mana Level: Divine.
Techniques: Suiryu no Hoko, Suiryu no Kagizume.
Weapon: none.
Magic: Water Dragon Slayer.
Series: Original Character.
Kana: Level: 347
Mana Level: Kage.
Techniques: unknown
Weapon: katana.
Series: Original Character.
Character Information
Name: Haruno Sakura.
Age: 13
Affiliation: Konohagakure.
Affinity: Earth.
Likes: Sasuke-kun, Crona-Nii, Her father.
Dislikes: Medusa-sama, Orochimaru.
Info: Sakura had a tough upbringing. Being that she was the daughter of Medusa, a Witch, she had been forced to study Magic and Witch Arts since she was very young, and every time she failed at something or displeased her mother in some way, she was locked into a dark room for an x amount of time as punishment. She had of course a close relationship with her older brother, Crona, and often stood up for him whenever he had done something to displease their mother, even though it always ended up with the both of them being sent to the dark room. At least they were together. The only one to ever try to protect them was their father, Kizashi. One day when Sakura was 8, however, Medusa suddenly left, taking Crona with her.
Kurama no Kyubi: And that's the chapter. And yes, things are going to hell in the next one.
