Tales of the Jinchuuriki, Chapter IV: Battle! Yuffie vs. Deidera!
--Midgar, SOLDIER headquarters—
"So, you mean to tell me that after all this time, Yuffie finally gets around to telling us that Cloud and Tifa had a kid and that Cloud was forced to use that spell in order to defeat Altima?" a rather agitated man wearing a rather expensive western-style business suit sporting a top-knot asked, staring out of his office window at a loose parade rest.
"Yes, sir. Apparently, F.C. Journeyman Rank Yuffie wished to train the child a little outside of anyone's influence for a while before she let either us or her clan get a hold of him." A brown haired female intern, wearing a western-style conservative skirt and top answered, reading a report off of a clipboard. "Elena also notes that all three members of our former 'Konoha\SOLDIER' combo squad died in a similar fashion, leaving some question as to whether their deaths were accidental or not. She also suggests that now might be a good time to re-establish our link with Konoha."
"She would. Tell me, what's your opinion on the failure of our previous 'K\S' squad?" The man asked.
"Honestly, sir, I don't think that the theory is flawed. In my not so professional opinion, I think that the failure of the previous squad was unfortunate circumstances, not the squad itself. Why do you ask, Mr. Tseng?"
"Just asking for someone's opinion. Did Elena say anything about her impressions on the two in Yuffie's care?"
"She did, she seems to think that both would be excellent candidates for SOLDIER training, and she also suggests that they might be able to test out straight into Second Class, maybe even First." The intern stopped and did a double take on the clipboard. "Is that even possible, sir?"
"In theory it is, but it's almost completely unheard of. In all of our organization's history, only ten people ever tested straight into First Class, including our 'beloved' leader."
"You aren't implying that that squad tested straight into First Class, are you?"
"It doesn't matter right now." Tseng replied, closing his eyes as if looking away from some memory. "Please send this message to Elena, and find several bottles of that fizzy drink that's so popular with the apprentices right now." Tseng turned on his heel, handing the intern a sealed envelope before retrieving a book off of his desk and striding toward the door.
"Where will you be, sir?" the intern asked.
"The library, I have some research that needs to be done." With that, Tseng disappeared out the door.
--Wutai, Kisaragi Family Compound, the day following the visit of the strangers—
"So, you guys really don't know much about this new organization, do you?" Yuffie asked as she set a tray of tea down in front of her guests.
"That about sums it up." Reno replied, receiving a smack across the hand by Elena as he tried to reach for a small tea cake before anyone else was served.
"Unfortunately," Rude continued for his smarting partner. "This group seems to have connections to one or more of the darkest demons, possibly even 'He Whom We Give No Name'. If this is the case, we need to do something about this group rather quickly." Rude accepted a cup of tea from Yuffie with a short seated bow, oblivious to Reno's protest. "As we found out last night, these guys are very violent, a trademark in His followers."
"Then our priority should be to find out the numbers and identities of the members. Finding out what their up to comes after that." Yuffie stated.
"You're not the only one who thinks those should be our priorities." Elena stated, looking at a note over her cup of tea.
"That wouldn't happen to be from Tseng-taichi would it?" Reno asked.
"It is," Elena stated. "He seems to agree with Yuffie-senpai, we have to know who our enemy is before we can do anything about them."
"Just one thing bugs me," Jiraiya commented, having returned from his trip to the local onsen just after the 'visitors' had left. "They said that they don't 'force' anyone to join them, but knowing that His followers have resorted to violence to gain members in the past, I don't trust these guys any farther than I can throw them not to set up anyone they want so that they're in a position were they can't refuse."
"Jiraiya-dono is right," Elena responded. "Speaking of that, where's the two chibis?"
"They're in the garden with Arche, playing hide-and-seek." Yuffie answered. Arche happened to be Yuffie's youngest cousin, a fiery ten-year-old brunette who liked to get into everything and had happily volunteered to keep an eye on the jinchuuriki duo.
"At least the garden's in the center of the compound, you'd have to be able to get into the main building before you could get into there." Reno said, relaxing a little.
Without warning, Yuffie sat up straighter, as if she had just been zapped with electricity, a look of horror on her face. "What's wrong, senpai?" Elena asked. Yuffie didn't respond, instead, she quickly stood up and quickly vacated the room, heading toward the central gardens.
"What's with her?" Reno asked, turning toward Jiraiya. Jiraiya raised his hands and shook his head, he didn't have a clue either. Rude and Elena stood up, motioning for Reno and Jiraiya to follow them.
Yuffie worked her way quickly toward the gardens, taking a handful of materia from her supply pouch and slotting it into her Minerva Band hidden under her cloth armguard. Something isn't right, I can feel it. Yuffie was so wrapped up in her determination to get to the gardens that she didn't even notice the gaped mouths of several elders as she rushed past them, the rest of the group not far behind.
--Kisaragi Family Gardens—
Deidera couldn't believe his luck. It had been relatively simple to sneak into the gardens, a simple invisibility jutsu had gotten him into the compound, finding his way to the gardens had taken him all of one minute, a personal record for such a large compound. He realized he had finally hit pay dirt when he saw to runts with sunny-blond hair walk into the garden, when nearly everyone else in the compound had either dark brown or red hair. A quick check with his scope revealed that both the kids and their pets had far higher chakra levels than the norm, the one with whisker marks on his cheeks had nearly nine times the norm in terms of chakra, a ridiculous amount even by Akatsuki standards. When these kids hit puberty, they'll be unstoppable! The cloak wearing ninja thought, giving a small menacing grin from his position in the bushes near where the two jinchuuriki were playing. Now, as long as no one else walks into the garden…
Yuffie choose that exact moment to walk into the garden, giant cross-shuriken in hand. I know you're here, you bastard, just come on out and show your self already! Yuffie thought, gripping her shuriken tighter, using her chakra to sweep the garden for anything that didn't belong. She sensed Naruto and Yuay next to the koi pond, watching their partners splashing around with the fish. Arche wasn't to far off, arranging flower pots to match her sense of aesthetics. Finally, Yuffie found what she was looking for, an additional energy signature in the bushes next to the koi pond, one that matched the signature of the girly-looking ninja from yesterday. Got'cha red handed!
Yuffie didn't waste any time, crossing the distance from the entrance to the intruder with speed that would have made Gai in his prime proud. Yuffie opened up negotiations with a swift roundhouse kick that knocked the still-invisible Deidera into the far wall away from the children. Yuffie barely registered that Elena and Rude had ran in behind her and scooped up the children, rapidly retreating back inside the compound.
"Looks like it's just you and me, un." Deidera stated as he pulled himself out of the imprint he made in the wall. "I'll take those jinchuuriki, even if I have to blow this place to oblivion to do it, un!"
"So that's what you guys are after," Yuffie replied as she fell into her battle stance. "You're after the nine keys that open the Sealed Gate. Rather ambitious, but you have to be completely blind to the results if that's your ambition, every time He's been unsealed he consumed every single one of his followers to increase his power."
"You honestly believe that load of crap that's in the history books, un?" Deidera asked as he began to rummage around in his supply pack. "We've been promised power beyond anything a mere mortal like yourself can understand, and it's a known fact that any demon, once they've made a promise, is bound to keep it no matter what."
"Not all demons are bound by that rule." Yuffie replied, staring down the cloaked ninja as she mentally began accessing her manna. Great bird of fire, hear my call…
Deidera made the first move, launching his explosive clay bird at Yuffie from an odd angle, making it difficult to dodge or block.
Yuffie didn't even bother trying, merely thrusting her left hand in front of her as multi-colored spheres with the runes of summoning marked on them appeared and gathered into one burning white one in front of her palm as she yelled out. "Fenikkusu-no-hi!" Yuffie seemed to disappear, only to be replaced by a giant, red-gold bird with enormous wings. What made the bird even more impressive, however, was the fact that multi-colored flames danced all over it's body. Yuffie reappeared on top of it's beak, the only place that wasn't covered with flames.
"It's been a long time since you've summoned me, egg-chick. What is it you wish?" the giant bird asked Yuffie, not even noticing the explosion as the explosive clay flew straight into it.
Yuffie smiled, Warbeak was the phoenix who had 'adopted' her when she had been a child, just beginning to learn how to summon-cast. "I have a favor to ask, Warbeak-Okaa-san. That ninja down there has tried to steal both the egg-chick in my care and the egg-chick of one of my close friends. He mustn't go unpunished!"
Warbeak puffed up her feathers. Among phoenix, kidnapping, or rather, egg-napping, was one of only three crimes that would get you incenerated with out a trial, not to mention the fact that the victim's family would generally demand that your ashes be spread out in a river. To say the least, Warbeak was far above the pissed point, she was FURIUS! "Do not worry, my egg-chick, this one shall never know rebirth!" The flames around Warbeak intensified a hundred fold, blinding everyone crazy enough to watch from the windows.
Diedera's mouth fell open. He had suddenly realized exactly how deep of a grave he had dug for himself. It was time to make an escape attempt while the oversized bird was still working herself up into a blood-rage. Reaching into his supply pack, Deidera pulled out a large lump of explosive clay, quickly ingesting it through the mouths in his hands. Spitting it back out, the clay took the form of a giant falcon. Wasting little time, Deidera mounted his sculpture and ordered it to take flight. The sculpture quickly carried Deidera out of the compound, but he realized, as he looked over his shoulder, that his troubles were just beginning. The phoenix had taken flight, moving faster than his poor sculpture could ever hope to. In a matter of moments he would be over flown, and who knew what kind of horrible end the maddened bird had in mind for him! To drive the point home, Warbeak sent a horizontal column of white flames at him, which he barely dodged in time.
Can't run, can't hide, all I can do is fight! Deidera quickly spun his falcon sculpture around, heading straight toward the enraged phoenix, giving the bird a momentary startle. Using that moment to his advantage, Deidera quickly fashioned several small birds out of his explosive clay. Sending the small sculptures at the oversized birds eyes in hopes of a lucky hit, Deidera began weaving his way around the less agile large bird, dropping explosive notes every chance he had. Yuffie quickly realized what had happened and began her counter assault. Gathering her manna, Yuffie unleashed her spell. "Thundrega!"
The lightning bolts struck everywhere at once, destroying the small sculptures while the chain lightning destroyed the explosive tags. Just for good measure, Yuffie even tried throwing a bolt or two at Deidera, who made good use of his higher mobility and dodged them. Externally, Deidera was calm, as if he had planned on things turning out exactly like this, internally, Deidera was sweating oceans. What the FUCK kind of jutsu was THAT!? I've never heard of anyone creating such a high-powered ration jutsu! If she did that just to test my defenses, I am fully and totally screwed, fucked, and damned. Making a split second decision, Deidera quickly dived into the houses of Wutai's residential district. Just as soon as he dove into the houses, both Yuffie's lightning strikes and Warbeak's fire assault ceased, as if someone flipped a switch.
Thought so. Deidera smirked. They don't dare attack me as long as I'm in the houses, this is the perfect opportunity to escape. Deidera didn't waste anytime making his escape, flying low through the houses until he was at the base of the mountains at the edge of town. After Deidera was sure that the crazy bird and her lunatic summoner hadn't followed him, he began making the long trek back to the Akatsuki's base of operations, well hidden within the giant Great Northern Crater. Leader isn't going to like this, there's actually a group out there that's at least as strong as we are, if not stronger. No, Leader-sama isn't going to like this at all.
Back in Wutai, Warbeak had set Yuffie down on top of the giant statues cut into the mountain range that bordered the town. "I apologize, egg-chick, I did not destroy that egg-breaker as I promised. Can you forgive me?"
"What are you apologizing for?" Yuffie asked, giving the phoenix that searching look that only parents are capable of. "It's as much my fault as it is yours that he got away. Don't worry about it, we'll just have to get him next time."
Warbeak nodded, accepting Yuffie's words. "Very well, egg-chick, until next time." With those parting words, Warbeak disappeared in a rush of red-gold flames. Yuffie stood there a moment, thinking. Just when did I become the parent of our relationship? Yuffie mentally assessed her previous conversation. Was it when I agreed to raise Yuay, or was it earlier then that?
Deciding that deliberating on a mountain top wasn't getting her anywhere, Yuffie began the hike back to the Kisaragi compound, and back to the small child that she was beginning to seriously begin considering as her own son.
--Meanwhile, in Konoha—
Sarutobi leaned back from his desk, slowly puffing his pipe. It had been a busy week for the elderly Hokage, he had met with three different 'kages, trying to convince them to give up their jinchuuriki. The Kazekage had absolutely refused to relinquish his countries jinchuuriki, claiming that Konoha already had more than it's fair share of 'Demon's power of human sacrifice'. However, both the Reikage and Mizukage had relented, claiming that they didn't want the 'tainted' children in their midst any longer. Sarutobi secretly thought that at least one of the two countries had more than one jinchuuriki as well, but he didn't say anything during the negotiations. What had pleasantly surprised him was the fact that both of the new jinchuuriki had at least one person as extended family coming with them.
As the Hokage was silently reminiscing, a Jonin with a lop-sided hite-ate walked in the door, making a tapping motion in the air as if to say 'I did knock'.
"Well, this is a bit earlier than expected, Kakashi. What brings you to my office?" the elderly Hokage sat his pipe on his desk as he gave the constantly tardy Jonin a good look, trying to determine if perhaps Kakashi had developed a fever.
"I just thought you would like to know that the container of the two-tailed cat, Haruno Sakura, has just arrived in the village with her aunt." Kakashi pulled out his copy of Icha Icha Paradise, a book rather hard to find now that it's author, Jiraiya, had been hospitalized with multiple concussions after Yuffie had found him in writing the next issue of the book when he was supposed to be out looking for a hamburger.
"Excellent. Please tell them to meet me here so I can show them to their new quarters." Sarutobi ordered, giving the book a longing glance.
"Your wish is my command, Hokage-sama." Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
A few minutes later, a middle-aged woman with light red hair entered the Hokage's office, closely followed by a three-year old girl adorned with pink hair, green eyes, and a pair of black cat ears sticking out above her head in place of human ears as well as a black cat tail swishing about behind her.
"Ah, Haruno-san, it's a pleasure to have you here in Konoha." Sarutobi greeted as he rose from behind his desk.
"Is it truly a pleasure, or do you simply want us for power?" The middle aged woman asked, keeping a tight grip on the young neko-girl's shoulder.
"Obviously, the Reikage didn't tell you everything, did he? I guess I should explain then. Unlike every other hidden village, Konoha works directly with the Yokai council. I believe you know at least a little about them?" Sarutobi asked.
"I know that it's an organization that regulates demon movements in our world, as well as keeps an eye on world affairs." The elder Haruno answered.
"Close enough. Anyway, the council has asked me to bring together the jinchuuriki and house them in this village. There are already two others who call Konoha 'home', and I was hoping that you and your niece would do the same."
"Why would the Yokai Council want you to gather all the jinchuuriki? Are they seeking to sever all ties with the human world?" the red-haired woman asked, obviously not taking Sarutobi at face value, but intrigued enough that she would stay and listen.
"No, unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. You see, the nine biju, a long time ago, worked together to seal an ancient, human-hating, evil demon away. There is currently an organization that is seeking to find a way to unseal him, and that must be prevented at any cost. The purpose of gathering the jinchuuriki is to get them out of the open, make them that much harder to get to."
"You truly mean that, don't you?" the middle aged woman stated, slightly amazed. "In that case, why not train the jinchuuriki as shinobe? That way, they'll at least be able to defend themselves as a last resort."
"That had been my plan from the start. The reason I don't have the other two jinchuuriki here with me to introduce them to you is due to the fact that their on a training trip to Wutai at the moment."
Sakura, sensing that neither of the two adults was paying any attention to her, leapt onto the desk and curled up, much like a cat would, and promptly fell asleep. "Been a long day for someone?" Sarutobi politely asked as the elder Haruno stared at her niece, astonished. Smiling at the memory of Naruto doing something amazingly similar, Sarutobi scooped the snoozing neko-girl off of his desk and motioned toward the door.
"Come on now, I'll lead you to your new home." Sarutobi stated, walking out of his office.
--Konoha-no-sato, Uchiha Compound—
"What were you thinking, letting Fugaku adopt that monster!?" one of the clan councilman shouted, furious.
"Simple," stated the other councilman. "The clan needs a powerful weapon. Itachi has shown great promise, as well as his younger brother Sasuke, but it never hurts to have a backup plan for a backup plan."
"You're planning on turning that, that thing into a weapon for the clan?"
"That is the general intent. However, we may want to have Shishui increase his surveillance on both the jinchuuriki and Itachi. I have no desire to have my throught slit in my sleep."
"Ah, I forgot that you had planted Shishui as a means of keeping Itachi under control."
"Yes, but soon he won't be necessary, and we'll be able to put this village right were it belongs, squarely under the thumb of the Uchiha!"
Unbeknownst to either speaker, Uchiha Shishui, the mirage ninja, had been listening in on their entire conversation. Use those three for weapons, huh? Not if I can help it!
A/N: Well, I'm not dead, so I've finally managed to get this chapter written. Sorry if the swearing caught any of you off guard, I did rate this story 'T' for a good reason. Anyway, I've finally decided who's going to be on what team, but my major pairings are still in limbo at the moment. As always, constructive criticism welcome, flames shall be noted and used to light my nest (still got to cut costs somewhere!). This is your ever burning author, Shining Pheonix signing off.
Minerva, the Roman name for the Greek goddess Athena. The Minerva band is a special type of armor only usable by female warriors. Athena happens to be both goddess of wisdom and of war, cool contradiction, huh?