The Dark Tower
Chapter Three
-..o.=.O.=.o..-
Light grew dim as the sun began to sink behind the Hokage Monument. Leaves drifted to the ground as a cool autumn breeze began to blow gently through the land. It was a time of peace after a long upheaval of battle and death. Many enjoyed this moment, cherishing it deep in their very souls. None more so than one raven haired Sharingan user. Sasuke stared up at the darkening sky watching the clouds lazily drift by on winds of fate and change. His eye twitches as his arm throbs from the Ceremony he'd participated in just a few short hours ago. His mind drifted on the winds of his memories and unconscious thoughts. Soon his mind came back to a time with two troublesome people he once called friends and hoped to again one day, Naruto and Sakura. He sighs as Naruto slowly and unknowingly began to drift from his thoughts until one bubble gum pink haired Kunoichi dominated his thoughts. He'd yet to see his old female team mate and couldn't help but feel a twitch of fear at the thought that she might have been lost to him in the stupid war he'd helped start. Later he would reflect that it was only thanks to his still blossoming Hanyou abilities that he'd dodged the attack, but they were fledgling abilities or he would have dodged a lot sooner.
All he knew at the moment was that a warning light had flared in his mind so strong he leaped to the side with all his power and was still hit by the repercussion of the attack. After tumbling a few feet he regained his footing and slid to a stop and stared into the dust and debris. His eyes widen as the woman of his thoughts slowly straightens, yanking her fist from the ground so hard a few boulder sized pieces of earth flew from the spot. His eyes are shocked, happy, and terrified as Sakura turns her head towards him, a fierce warrior in place of the once love struck fool of the past. Her hair flapped in the wind of her ki as it swirled around her like a river. "You're in violation of your Restrictions, I'm placing you under arrest…." Sasuke blinks stupidly, not understanding her words for a second. Quickly his mind deduces the most logical thing to say to her. "Uhhh….Wha?" In an instant he knew that was the wrong thing as an inferno of rage erupted in her eyes and her ki exploded around her in a pink conflagration. She rocketed forward, her chakra and ki balanced perfectly in her fist as she threw it forward to splatter this cockroach of a man. Her resolution to kill him faltered as his face grew tight and something activated in his eyes, something that wasn't the Sharingan as she remembered it.
Instead of the three tomoe there was a pentagram with a six-pointed star surrounding it, both made of the brightest gold she'd ever seen. She watched almost in slow motion as a tail unwrapped from around his waist and his ears became points. She'd been training with Lee and all the other ki users in Konoha so she was used to seeing high speed movements, was able to disappear and reappear in the eyes of those not used to higher speeds herself. Yet when Sasuke moved he was a blur, and then she was wrapped in an iron grip hug. "I'm sorry Sakura…" She starts to struggle throwing every ounce of her power into it, her chakra and ki flaring around her like fire. "I'm sorry, I never would have left you, not ever. If only I hadn't been bitten our lives could have been so different…" She keeps struggling until something wet slides down her forehead, a single trail of something like water. When Sasuke speaks again his voice trembles, confirming that Sasuke was indeed crying. She looks up in his face and sees tears traveling down his cheeks, his eyes closed tightly shut. For a split second her anger disappears, her love and pity for this man she once chased after returned like a tidal wave, and with it the painful memories of her being left. And her pity and love were gone with an even bigger wave of anger, hurt, and despair. With one last blast of power she frees herself from his hug flinging him back as she roared her pain into the night. She snaps her eyes towards him freezing him in his tracks. "If you think a simple fucking apology makes up for all that you can go fuck yourself!" And with that final word she lifts into the air and blasts off into the distance.
It was at that moment Naruto stepped out from behind a tree and stared after the rapidly receding form of his former pink haired team mate. He sighs as he looks over at Sasuke with his head low hiding his new Hanyou features and eyes. "Not that easy is it Nii-san…" Sasuke shook his head, his demonic features fading as he looked up at Naruto, his tears still flowing. "What should I do?" Naruto looked at him, his face emotionless but firm. "Never give up…" And with that he grabs Sasuke's hand and helps him to his feet before heading towards home.
-..o.=.O.=.o..-
It has been about four days since Sakura's little confrontation with the Uchiha bastard, four days of twisting and turning in her sleep, her thoughts never leaving the asshole alone in her mind. There was something else too, she wasn't sure but she thinks that same asshole has been following her. Every time she sees him the streets she evades instantly, suppressing her ki and chakra to almost non existent, a trick she'd learned during the war. Yet she always seemed to be almost running into him, she had started to think he was stalking her but Naruto was always with the prick. Now she was starting to suspect it was all Naruto's fault since he could find her no matter what she did, she'd learned this the day after her fight with Sasuke. She'd done every trick in the book to avoid Naruto yet he always found her. It was really getting annoying…
Today was the day though, today was when she'd confront both of her ex team mates and force them to leave her alone, Naruto mainly cause he has to be with Sasuke all the time until his probation is over. So where the hell were these assholes at?! She'd been on the look out all day, purposefully seeking out all over their usual hang outs that still existed, nothing! Finally she heads to the tower, it was almost time for her mission to be assigned. The place seemed slower than normal, the usual hubbub of incoming and outgoing Shinobi and Kunoichi wasn't there, it was pretty much a few Genin and Chunin with the normal office workers. Her mind was over run with curiosity as she made her way to the Mission Room. Her eyes widen as she reads a note tacked to the door.
'All Shinobi and Kunoichi report to the
Conference Room for further instructions.'
Tsunade- Hokage
With a simple puff of smoke she Shunshins to the Conference Room hallway. It was packed making her even more curious as to what was going on. She moved to a spot where she had a better view of the podium and shock shot through her mind like a bullet. Standing next to Tsunade was Naruto and Sasuke as well as all of Naruto's women. The Hokage lifts her hand and instantly all the idle talk was silenced.
She lifted the front of the Hokage hat and looked out at all the upturned hundreds staring at her. "Not too long ago one of our lost ones returned to us, returned and turned the tide of battle that we had been losing in an instant. At that point I thought his display of power might have scared the enemy into ending the war. I assumed wrongly…" A murmur ran through those gathered, mostly things about what we were going to do if the enemy attacked once more. Tsunade raised her hand obtaining silence once again. "I have just received word that all of our enemies are gathering for one massive strike using every resource they have open to them, this might include Jinchuriki or not we do not yet know at this time. I have called you all here to begin preparations for a large scale invasion the likes of which none have seen before. There will be no more missions other than those pertaining to this situation. That is all…" She nodded her head as the Shinobi each saluted her before spinning on her heel and stepping down.
Sakura saw the various Section Leaders motioning for their Squads, noticing that her own leader was desperately trying to ignore her. "Sakura…" She slowly turns her head and can't help but stare as Naruto stands behind her. "You're with me…" He says nothing else, hints at nothing else, his face a blank emotionless mask of determination and unlimited confidence. She can do nothing but follow and notices Jounin and ANBU alike stepping back from him in respect along with all others. Soon she notices she is not the only one following as three masked ANBU join her sides followed by Sasuke and Naruto's wives as well as about twenty Jounin and Chunin. Not long into their walk they find themselves in an abandoned room big enough to accommodate them all. Naruto signals for them to stop as he continues another few steps before spinning around. He surveys them all with a cold red eye, sending shivers down the best of their spines. A few seconds into his survey he nods and relaxes obviously, sitting on a table like it was a simple social activity. "You have all been recommended by your various leaders and the Hokage herself for a special mission, a mission led by me so if any of you have a problem with me as your leader leave now cause once we get started there is no leaving, no quitting, and hopefully no dieing." He stands up again and stands at attention with his hands behind his back. "No one will think badly of you if you decide to leave. This mission is beyond S-class, higher even than SS-Class, which any of you who know of it know that is the Class assigned to fighting and dieing against one of the Bijuu or something of similar power. Some of you will die. So think hard, but decide now, we don't have time for more thought than that…" Naruto turns and looks out the window giving them each time to think to themselves.
Sakura can't imagine what this mission could possibly be, Naruto hadn't even considered their mission to the Guardian village an SS classed mission. Yet he had said this was more dangerous than SS-class!! What the hell was goin on?! She couldn't help herself, she was going for it! She was one of the most powerful Kunoichi in the village, especially with her ki which she outclassed even Tenten and Kurenai, unless they tapped into Naruto's Guardian form. "I'm in Naruto-san, I have no idea what we're goin to do, but if it's so dangerous you're askin for help, then I can't say no. Not after everything you've done for our village, not after everything you've done for me…" She smiled as Naruto looked at her and nodded at the unsaid thanks. Her words must have decided the rest for no one left the room that day. And in the days to come no one regretted their decision.
Naruto waited another minute to see if any would leave then smiled as his faith in the villages Shinobi was rewarded. He stand up again crossing his arms as he once again surveyed the room, this time with a look of approval. "Okay. Have any of you heard of something known simply as 'The Black Tower'?" Looking around the room no one seems to have heard the phrase. "The tower is a nexus of all the powers of the Multiverse. Magic, Chakra, Ki, and many others almost no one knows of." He grins as he thinks of all the powers he has access to. "This tower is simply a kind of regulator. See, each multiverse sooner or later learns of at least one power and start to use it more than the others. In some they learn more than one..." He crosses his arms as he begins to pace, his face deep in thought as he tries to explain it clearly. "When one Universe starts to favor one power, it unbalances the Multiverse, therefore the Black Tower rebalances it by channeling the unused power elsewhere, to universes that use that unused power more." He grins pointing at Sakura. "Creating people like Sakura-san and others in our Universe who are naturally stronger in Chakra and Ki, the two powers used the most here." He frowns slightly as he stops and looks around the room. "This rebalancing also creates thing like the Bijuu. When multiple Universe start to favor the same power, there is an overload of the other powers that ripples across the multiverse." He takes a deep breath. "Creating monsters and demons, sometimes creating Bijuu in all the powers in different Verses."
The room is quiet, some Shinobi white as sheets as they try to imagine Kyuubi's of different powers throughout the Multiverse. Naruto frowns as he moves on. "Chaos has traveled the Multiverse, like me. But unlike me, he merged with his other versions if he found any. Now, he is the most powerful demon in the entire Multiverse, and he's tryin to take over the Black Tower from its King." Naruto steps forward, his eyes flashing with determination and strength. "I cannot let that happen. Should he succeed he will unbalance and destroy the Multiverse. Now we will not be going in alone. I have friends in the Multiverse that will join us in our fight. You i have recruited to stand with these friends to stop Chaos's armies while i take on Chaos himself. And that's not all..." He salutes the stunned crowd before him. "Chaos has enlisted Akatsuki and others to guard the tower. Thanks to Jaraiya we now have information on their members and i have chosen who will fight each member, those from you gathered here, and from my other friends. In three days I will begin training you in guarding yourselves against different attacks from powers you've never seen. Three days later, we leave, taking out as much of the invading Shinobi as we can on the way before jumping the Verse." He looks around the room and nods at the questioning looks he recieves. "Go home and spend these three days seeing any loved ones and saying your good byes. Dismissed!" The Shinobi throughout the room snap to attention with a salute and wait as Naruto leaves the room. As Sakura surveyed the Shinobi and Kunoichi within the room she quickly realized that each of these soldiers were either Bloodline holders or were considered abnormal by the Ninja World, having strange bloodline like abilities but apparently the first of their kind. Out of her periphial she sees Naruto waving her and few others over, most friends since the Academy.
Keeping her distance from Sasuke she moves over to her red eyed friend, his whisker marks suddenly thicker, mor defined almost like clefts in his cheeks that the tattoo like look they held before. Her senses almost went haywire as someone appeared to her right, only for her to let out a relieved sigh as Gaara formed from the swirling sand. Naruto grinned like a mad man, expressing how wonderful it was to see his old Jinchuriki buddy again. Much hand shaking and introductions to Yuffie later Naruto finally seemed serious again. Nodding he looks up at them all. "Those gathered here right now are the most powerful and trustworthy Ninja in our alliance that can be spared. Originally the Kage's didn't wanna release you, seeing as you all pretty much are the strongest, but upon being breifed of our immediate situation they changed their minds..." A look of pain crossed his features, but only for a moment and it was only Sakura's highly trained medical eyes that allowed her to glimpse it. "I have chosen you here for the most dangerous part of this mission." Yuffie steps closer, her face such a mask of devotion and courage that Sakura was self concious for a moment. "The enemies are powerful but you..." Here he starts to point at each individual still in the room. "Sasuke, Yuffie, Gaara, Hinata, Sakura, Lee, Neji, Shikamaru, Tenten..." Here Naruto paused, staring at his old teacher Kakashi. Kakashi meanwhile simply continued readin Icha Icha paying his ex student no attention. "You've changed Kakashi-sensei..."
This got the old teacher's attention as he glanced up at Naruto's eyes, his one visible eye looking bored. "Whaddya mean Naruto-san?" His eye widens dramatically as he tilts his head to the right, Naruto's fist barely missing his sensei's forehead protector. A self satisfied smirk plants itself on the young Shinobi's face. "That's what i mean Kakashi-sensei, that was half my speed and you dodged it easily. That should be impossible for you yet here you are..." Kakashi chuckles nervously as he slowly closes Icha Icha Special 4th Edition, autographed by the late Jaraiya just for him. "What can i say Naruto, I trained..." With a sigh Kakashi lifts his fore head protector. Naruto couldn't help but stare along with everyone else as they caught sight of Kakashi's Sharingan. Like Sasuke's new Sharingan a pentagram replaced the tomoe pattern, but minus the six point star. Instead of the six point star a slit ran from top to bottom, the slitted eye of a dragon. "During my training my chakra and ki merged with my bloodline, and transmogrifieing my Sharingan..."
Naruto nods in understanding. "That explains it." Looking dead into Kakashi's Sharingan a cocky smirk replaces the older more mature look of understanding he'd been weaing previously. "Show me somethin new old man..." Kakashi eye smiles for a moment before the Dragon Eye within the pentagram appears to open, glowing a deep scarlet red. "Just remember, you asked for it Naruto!" Naruto looks on in horror as it seems a dragon made of pure energy neither chakra nor ki seems to unwind from Kakashi and roar at him in pure defiance.
TBC....
Author's Note: Damn it feels good to be back!!!! Read and review people!