Naruto: A Rift in Time
By: Arthemis N. Remison
- CHAPTER 5: IN THE EYES OF A CROW -
His wound was not a heavy one. He stopped the sword with his kunai on a reverse grip, and his own kunai pierced his skin since the power of the sword was too great for him.
"Don't think for a second… that you can hurt Hinata-chan."
Naruto pushed his sword back, and then Naruto after Naruto rushed towards Zabuza. All that could be seen was white overcoats with flames and the sound of punches and kicks landing. But each hit sounded different than a normal one. More hollow. More…. wet?
The Narutos stopped hitting and watched as Zabuza turned into water.
From the shadows, the real Zabuza made his appearance.
"Ha ha ha ha ha…. Very good, Ryuketsu. You sure have talented youngsters. Even though they were only mizu bunshins [water clones] they were still pretty formidable and your kids took them out with little effort." Said a grinning Zabuza.
"Clones? Do not take me for a fool, Zabuza. The Hidden Mist Technique that Sasuke dispersed, the kick that Naruto gave and the Suiryudan that Hinata destroyed… were all made by the real you." Said Itachi making Zabuza very angry.
Zabuza grabbed his sword with both hands tightly.
"Everyone, don't interrupt. This will be over quickly." Itachi ordered as he jumped in front of his team.
Itachi stood with both hands down, lowered his head and closed his eyes.
Taking advantage of the opportunity and blinded in his rage, Zabuza ran towards Itachi. Even though he was running at full speed, his footsteps couldn't be heard. And at roughly 15 feet of distance between them, Itachi raised his head and opened his eyes to reveal the Mangekyou Sharingan.
"TSUKUY-"
2 long needles flew through the air, making Itachi's attack unneeded by finding their way to Zabuza's neck and back making him fall unconscious 5 feet from Itachi, who then dissolved his Sharingan.
A small ninja with an ANBU mask got to the scene. "Thank you for stalling him. We've been tracking him for months. If you excuse me, I shall take my leave now with the body" and waiting for no reply he put Zabuza on his shoulders and disappeared.
"Itachi! Grab him! He's working with-" screamed Naruto, but before he finished Haku was long gone with Zabuza in his hands.
"We can afford to let him go." Itachi said. "His capture is not our mission."
Itachi rounded the team up. "All right, lets keep moving. Tazuna-san, you will explain to us every details of this mission as we deliver you to your house."
As they arrived to Tazuna's house, they all knew about how Gatoh wanted to take over the Mist and how his bridge threatened Gatoh's plan.
"…and that's why Gatoh wants me gone. Im a threat to his business."
Itachi began making plans for Zabuza's next encounter.
"According to Sasuke's information, on the last timeline Zabuza and Kakashi-san both were wounded enough to need a week of full recovery helping Team 7 to complete their tree climbing exercise. This time, he was hit elsewhere, making his recovery time shorter or longer so we have no idea when he will show up. And I need you 3 to keep your training in the least amount of time possible. For the next 72 hours you will engage one another in combat, and you will use ANY means necessary to win against the other two."
"Itachi-san, b-but what d-do you mean by a-any means n-neces-sary?" asked Hinata obviously nervous of what could happen.
"Yeah, and how can we afford to lose 72 hours?! Zabuza can come at any minute!" Naruto added.
Itachi looked and tried to calm them down.
"Take it easy. I know all this."
As Itachi spoke, Sasuke pondered a question: "Itachi, not to sound like a smart-ass, but… why aren't you training with us?"
"Good question, but after your 72 hours, Ill probably need to lay down for a while. Look, save your questions for later. Now, all of you, look into my eyes" said Itachi while closing his eyes.
As Sasuke looked at his brother, realization kicked in. "That's it! Good thinking Itachi"
Naruto was about to ask Sasuke what he meant but Itachi interrupted him with: "TSUKUYOMI!"
The room disappeared. There were no windows, no doors. The earth was pitch black. The sky was blood red. The wind was still.
"Sasuke, where are we?" asked Naruto feeling slightly scared from his unfamiliar surroundings. "Where is Itachi? What happened to the house? What do we do?!"
"Calm yourself down, Naruto. We're in a genjutsu. It's a particular genjutsu only the Uchiha can do, and its only with the Mangekyou Sharingan. Its called Tsukuyomi. Nii-san didn't take us anywhere. We're still in the room, but our minds are inside Itachi's."
"That is why Itachi-san was trying to say with: by any means necessary. In here, we cant get really hurt." Realized Hinata.
"Exactly Hinata. Our minds will take its toll on us, and we will feel really fatigued, but after a good night's sleep we'll be all right"
As Sasuke finished his sentence, he put his arms inside his holster and fired 3 shurikens towards Naruto and the same towards Hinata. Naruto pulled out his kunai hidden in his sleeve and parried the 3 shurikens. Hinata made a few hand signs and as water spewed from her mouth her jutsu activated: "Suiton: Suijinheki! [Water Style: Water Wall]"
"What the hell was that Sasuke?! You could've hurt Hinata!" said an angry Naruto.
"We're here to train, baka. We don't have time to lose." Sasuke argued.
Naruto quickly understood and the fight begun.
He charged towards Sasuke, making 3 Kagebunshins and Sasuke's sharingan flared to life as he ran towards his training partner. As soon as they both were within collision distance, a blue blur blasted them both backwards. As the blue blur stopped spinning wildly, facial features were being recognizable as Hinata, and before coming to a stop she said: "Hakkesho: Kaiten [Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven]"
"What did you both expect? This is training after all" said Hinata.
As she said that Sasuke looked down and saw the kunai with the exploding tag about to go off. He soon jumped out of the way. The kunai exploded sending pieces of black earth everywhere. And from the smoke of the explosion a few kunais were thrown from Hinata's way at the Naruto bunshins effectively defeating them.
"Well, well… Lets get this party started! Kage bunshin no jutsu" Soon the earth was filled with gray as Naruto's everywhere popped up. Hinata looked at Sasuke and with an almost invisible nod they both charged at the rampaging Naruto's. A clone reach Sasuke but was soon dispelled as the young Uchiha, using his sharingan, read the clone's movement and struck his liver with a kunai. As this clone disappeared 3 more occupied his place and Sasuke soon discovered that he had his hands full dealing with 3 Naruto's and was forced to jump and launch one of his favorite attacks: "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu![Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire]" and an array of fast-paced fireballs found their way to the ever moving force of Naruto's disposing of them on contact.
On Hinata's side, surprisingly she was faring against her foes as wave after wave of Naruto's were being not just dispelled but pushed back. Her hands were a blur and her foot-work was a work of art. As the Naruto's were quickly losing numbers, they were getting tougher as their chakra was more balanced. Sasuke and Hinata were pushing forward until only the original remained.
"We've got you now, Naruto-kun" said Hinata, very pleased with herself.
"Chidori!" Sasuke launched himself towards Hinata with his most precious lightning jutsu and pierced her right in her left breast; right in her heart. Hinata spewed blood from her mouth clasping with her hand the hole in her chest. But as Naruto was about to react accordingly, Hinata turned into water and produced a small smile as the water, still retaining Hinata's outlined form rushed towards Sasuke and threatened to envelop him in a watery hug. Sasuke jumped back and threw a kunai with an explosive tag destroying the water clone, but that was not the end of his predicament since as the water exploded and his focus was in front of him, Naruto found his way to his back and unleashed his classic "Rasengan!".
Sasuke spun in mid air effectively hitting Naruto's arm to the side. As Naruto failed his attack Hinata closed in on him and planted a small kiss on Naruto's cheek effectively making him blush. But the blush was soon replaced with pain as she struck his chest with an opened palm and quickly retreated. Now all of them were in a triangle formation.
"That was * cough * pretty good Hinata…. now its my turn" said Naruto closing his eyes as slowly his white overcoat turned blood red and his eyelid changed into a shade of red with the iris into a yellow line.
"Sennin Mode" said Naruto softly as he reopened his eyes.
"Sennin Mode? How could you do that while moving Naruto? I thought it was impossible unless you stood perfectly still." Sasuke inquired longing to fill the need for information. He wouldn't admit it to anybody, but on his travels with Orochimaru the young boy developed a thirst for information as he watched Kabuto's missions unfold.
"But I am stand still. Only my mind is in motion, my body is still in Tazuna's house stiff as a rock" and then Naruto flashed his foxy grin as two clones jumped behind Sasuke and Hinata with means to attack.
No rest. No stop. Only fighting. 72 hours passed.
Team 7 was weak, tired. And in a flash, the world around them changed. The red sky was replaced with a white ceiling, the black earth with blue tile and the world around them recovered its color. As soon as their world came back, their bodies fell to the floor. And all four of them, soon found themselves exhausted. Sasuke rolled to his back, Hinata clutched her stomach, Itachi fell back to the seat and Naruto fell face first against the floor.
Itachi soon spoke.
"One second in Tsukuyomi… and I cant seem to see any improvement"
"That's because your right eye is closed, brother" said Sasuke while taking a soldier pill.
Hinata did the same, and she put one also to Naruto's lips.
As the 3 of the pills passed through their throats, their bodies seemed to explode and receive their 72 hours worth of training. And even such, they had unique changes.
Naruto's muscles were more firm, his arms showed testament of his training. His legs were strained from battle but not in vain. Sasuke showed firm hands, not as that of Naruto's build, but slimmer. As if dedicated more to speed than power. But his most noticeable feature was a mark. A mark in black on the side of his left arm. It looked like two tomoes where intertwined, facing their ends afar from each other. Hinata's build would make Tsunade's body in her teens pale in comparison. Her curves were more defined. Her eyes showed a certain glare that the past Itachi would be proud of. Her abs, though very subtle, gave her the impression of a goddess in earth-bound form. At least Naruto thought as much.
"My apologies, team. I have never used Tsukuyomi for training. It appears that your bodies need a moment to adjust before the training takes effect. Your minds must command your muscles to accept the change. It takes time as the mind absorbs 72 hours in a second." Said Itachi with pride in his eye. "Take tonight's rest. We'll accompany Tazuna-san to the bridge tomorrow at dawn"
Hello. I have pondered through all my writing so far, and I have noticed that I have neglected to share my stories faster. I do apologize for not being able to post sooner, but my college studies have left me little time. So as an apology, I give you this chapter as well. Enjoy it.
For more on tomoes visit: wiki/Tomoe#section_1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
"The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour." -Japanese Proverb