So apparently copy-pasting the story from googledocs is what's making the uploads fuck up. And for some reason I no longer have Microsoft Word on my computer, so I now have to download the documents from google docs to Notepad (which doesn't keep any of the formatting), and redo all of the formatting once I'm in .
Yeah. Fun stuff.
Promises Not Made are Promises Never Kept
Chapter Thirty-Six: Unparalleled Suffering
This wasn't reality. Nonono this couldn't be real-
Sasuke screamed Haku's name again as he felt the guilt, the shame, the horror, the hate threaten to consume his physical body in flames, and oh gods he deserved it he did he failed just like he did with his parents-
Nonononoexcusethistime-
Chakra lashed out at anything close, carving deep gashes into the ground around him as it churned around him, a storm ready to be unleashed. Tears fell with abandon down Sasuke's cheeks. Ragnarok, in fear, looked at the Curse Mark and how it began to madly pulse-
"Sasuke!" He cried, beating on the glass wall that separated them while the Sasuke he saw began to erupt into purple flames. "Don't, Sasuke! Please, don't lose control!"
What had Kakashi said, should the seal be broken? Sasuke, and thus Ragnarok, would more than likely be killed. But Sasuke obviously was past the point of listening, of sense, and really Ragnarok didn't blame him. They had both failed. The one weakness they had had been exploited and Itachi had just been lucky-
"SASUKE!" He cried. "STOP!"
With the combined pressures of Rangarok's frantic blows and Sasuke's own uncontrolled energy, the glass between their minds shattered.
As Ragnarok used all of his consciousness to quell the rising of the Curse Mark, his power flowed without pause into Sasuke's body, and the unbearable suffering of the ancient deity's powers made Sasuke scream out in agony even as his Chakra surpassed possible human levels.
His eyes bled crystal clear, and as he set Haku's body on the ground and stood, his body began to transform. As he watched his little brother, Itachi himself began to get nervous.
"Kisame!" He called to his partner. "It's time to g-"
"I!" Sasuke cried in an inhuman, bellowing voice as his skin scaled over, turning baby blue while his joints started to pop and shift into place, changing form. He doubled over onto all fours as his body began to lengthen. "WILL CAUSE YOU!" He suddenly began to grow in size: double, triple, quadruple, quintuple his weight while his hair shrank back into his skull to be replaced with two curling horns. With a huge new jaw of massive teeth, Sasuke roared, "UNPARALLELED SUFFERING!"
Naruto's eyes widened.
"Sasuke... he murmured, breathless as he could even feel his fox quiver beneath the fathomless rage that now filled the air. "What have you done?"
Before the entire company present, Sasuke finished transforming into a massive four-legged dragon, heated vapor billowing out of his nostrils with each exhale and elongated neck high above them all. Kisame's eyes widened.
"ITACHIIIIIII!"
A pair of great wings sprouted from his back in a spray of boiling hot water, and the blue-skinned ninja dropped to his knees.
"Oh great Spirits, it's Ragnarok!" He cried, hands over his head and face to the ground. "Ragnarok the Benevolent! Ragnarok the Wrathful! Ragnarok the Landslayer!"
"Kisame, get up!" Itachi barked. "We need to get out of her-"
Icy breath that burst into icicles interrupted him, and he leaped away as the dragon's long neck followed him, Charka wildly shooting out of the creature's body in powerful, uncontrolled bursts and searing anything they touched. There was so much energy coursing through him at once, much of it needed to be discharged into the surrounding air.
Inaré gaze flickered back and forth between the massive creature before her and Haku's body at its feet, amazed at the incredible sight before her and heart-wrenchingly grief-stricken. This was her fault. If she had just run when Sasuke told her to, his position would've never been compromised. She was such a fool-
Beneath her gaze, her teammate's body vanished, and Zabuza appeared next to her.
"Sensei!"
Slowly, he settled Haku's body on the ground and looked him over with sad eyes.
When Sasuke became one with the god, I thought I no longer had to fear you dying, he silently told his companion as the battle raged before them. Inaré collapsed next to him, burying her face in his shoulder and sobbing. He wiped the blood from Haku's chin. What a fool I was.
"Naruto!" The blonde looked around at the voice to see Kakashi appear beside him. With wide eyes, he surveyed the scene, watched as the new dragon and Itachi battled it out, fire versus water, Sharingan versus numbingly violent grief. "What... what happened here?"
"Kakashi-sensei... he..." Naruto began, his voice shaking. "He killed him, Sensei." Kakashi looked across the way to see Zabuza, Inaré and a limp form in the teacher's arms. "Itachi... killed Haku."
Kakashi's eyes widened and his heart sank in dread for Sasuke. As he did, he performed a quick glance around.
"Sasuke's gone," he noticed as his eyes went to the creature leaping after Itachi, spewing ice shards upon him and making the earth shake. "Is that... him?"
"Yeah," Naruto breathed. "I don't know... he screamed and he..." he trailed off. "...lost himself."
Lost himself in the powers of the old god he houses. Kakashi thought cryptically. How else do you explain this?
"I don't see any influence of the Curse Mark though..." the Copy ninja murmured. "With this much negative emotion, the seal should've certainly broken, so why...?"
Is the lack of Curse Mark and Sasuke's transformation somehow connected?
As Itachi jumped and leaped away, gasping for breath, the dragon growled in discontent.
"I must make you suffer..." the words issued from his being like the steam from his nostrils. "I must make you suffer... as I have suffered..."
His nostrils began to glow an electric blue, and on his next large exhale, a plume of toxic green smoke issued from his nostrils towards Itachi, completely enveloping him. Quickly, the Uchiha performed handsigns midair.
"Wind style! Great Gust Jutsu!"
Wind burst forth from Itachi's hands and pushed the toxic smoke back towards the dragon, who impatiently lifted himself up onto his hind legs and dissipated it into the air.
"Stone Style! Bladed Jem Jutsu!"
A spear of pure obsidian flew out of one of the last remnants of the toxin and struck the dragon in his unprotected belly.
"Sasuke!" There was a collective cry as the beast roared, The rain began to fall heavily around them, and thunder rolled.
Thick, gelatin-like blood welled up around the wound.
Need more power. The dragon thought, his vision hazy except for one thing: Itachi. I must end him quickly, and for that I need more.
Lightning flashed while an explosive thunderclap shortly after made the ground rattle, and Kaoru barked loudly.
Sasuke zeroed in on the sound, and his large, fearsome eyes slowly turned to look at the creature. Kaoru looked up at him, and Inaré watched her animal's ears flatten against the back of her head. The wolf turned her head to look solemnly at Inaré, and the girl was confused for all of a moment before the dragon's great maw snapped closed around the animal, swallowing her in her entirety.
Inaré screamed.
Sasuke's size swelled exponentially as the wound in his belly effortlessly sealed closed. His body lengthened even further, becoming more aerodynamic, but still girthy as a second pair of wings burst from his back. The rain turned into hail.
"Find cover!" Kakashi cried as baseballs began to rain down.
"We have to stop him, Zabuza!" Inaré cried as he dragged her and Haku's body beneath a nearby tree, creating a shield out of ice even as ice beat against it. "He fucking just ate Kaoru! He will level this whole city and kill everyone in it if he DOES NOT STOP!"
Zabuza thought about it for a moment before he sighed.
"Inaré, there is one way. The only way."
His student rubbed her eyes and stared at him, holding his gaze even though hers shined with tears.
"Tell me."
Naruto and Kakashi huddled together on the opposite side of the bridgeway, Sasuke's tiger sharing the space with them. Kisame remained out in the hail, letting it beat him.
"How can we stop him, Kakashi?" Naruto asked. "How do we stop a dragon?"
Kakashi thought about Tsunade's giant slug, or even Naruto's Chief Toad, but he was skeptical about their success. This dragon seemed to be able to change shape, to evolve and to gain different levels of power. Its very presence made the wind vibrate and the air tremble. What else was it capable of?
Suddenly Inaré was with them, her arms wrapped around Dagina's neck and squeezing as the beast whimpered beneath her. The two Leaf ninja whirled.
"Inaré, what are you doing-?!"
"I'm stopping Sasuke!" She exclaimed as the animal shuddered in her arms. "Now run in there and get him before he gets killed!"
On cue, as Dagina started losing air, the dragon flinched as if he were struck, and once she collapsed, unconscious, in Inaré's arms the beast immediately began to shrink in size.
"Get Sasuke, Naruto!" Kakashi ordered as he leaped forward, throwing himself in between the rapidly-devolving creature and Itachi while the blonde moved to the other party.
Momentarily, Sasuke collapsed in Naruto's embrace, unconscious and covered head-to-toe in massive angry red, bleeding welts as the storm around them dispersed.
Itachi appeared next to his teammate and grabbed him by the coat.
"Come on, you idiot - we're leaving!" Before Kakashi could catch them, they vanished, and suddenly the world became very still. Everyone involved stopped for a moment to catch their breath and take stock of themselves.
Kakashi walked over to Naruto and Sasuke.
"Is he okay?" The Jounin asked. Naruto shrugged.
"He's breathing, but he doesn't look good," the blonde said. "We need to get him to the hospital."
Chakra burns... Kakashi thought. Just as expected. Too much Chakra too fast. His body wasn't able to handle it.
He should've died, but he didn't.
"Take him to the hospital, Naruto," he told her. "The battle with the Sound is pretty much wrapped up. A lot of them fled when they sensed Sasuke's presence. Just make sure he doesn't leave your sight." The blonde nodded, hefting the younger ninja over his shoulder, but then paused for a moment to look at his sensei, his gaze flickering back and forth between the broken Hidden Mist team and his teacher. Kakashi nodded at him.
"Go. I'll catch up with his animal."
With that final reassurance, Naruto left. Kakashi looked over to his team, expecting to see Zabuza ready to protest the Copy ninja's decision, but saw both the man and Inaré silently gazing at Haku's corpse. Slowly, the man walked over to them.
His heart ached for them, for Zabuza. He, Kakashi, thought he knew what it was like to have a student ripped from him. But then he also was able to experience the unrivaled joy of being reunited with him, of his death being faked.
But this was most certainly not fake. Haku lay before him, in Zabuza's arms, losing heat and very still, a gaping and bloody hole in his chest.
What happened? How could this happen?
Did it even matter?
"I'm sorry," Kakashi told them, defeated. What could he possibly say in the face of such sadness? Of such loss? His fists clenched. "I... what can I do for you?"
"Do what you promised and take Dagina to Sasuke," Zabuza told him hollowly, not even lifting his gaze. "I will..." he wrestled with the words, "take him."
Wordlessly, Inaré pressed her face into her hands as her entire body shuddered violently with muffled sobs, and Kakashi closed his eyes, pulling down his headband to cover his Sharingan.
"As you wish," he stated, turning around and walking to Dagina's limp body.
As he rolled her onto her side, he noticed a bare patch on her belly, and when he inspected it, saw that it was completely round and the skin very soft, almost like it had freshly healed. To confirm the idea, the fur around the wound was soaked with blood. Kakashi thought back to when Inaré choked the animal unconscious, and how that had immediately caused Sasuke to pass out.
"Was it you?" He asked the animal softly, running his fingers through her fur. "Are you... Sasuke's weakness?"
The creature provided him no answer. With a sigh, he gathered the creature up in his arms and left to find Naruto.
End Chapter Thirty-Six: Unparalleled Suffering
Much love,
DDB
