Chapter 2
Awakening part 2
"RRRRAAAAAAAGH!"
As Sasuke roared in grief, Kakashi was inspecting the ground to get some clue of what happened. He then picked up a bow left from the battle, inspecting it very carefully. "Hmm. Interesting. The bow string looks as if it has been cut, which would only mean that the castle had a man on the inside. Sigh!" Kakashi couldn't stand traitors; for he believes those who don't follow the rules is scum, but those who betray their allies, their friends, their comrades, are worse than scum.
All of sudden, he heard the creaking sound of a door as it opened. He then turned his eyes to the rookery door, where Naruto and the others were sentenced to for their punishment.
When Naruto and the others exited the door, they were shocked at what they saw. "What the...?" was all Naruto could say.
"What's going on?" Was Kiba's response, anger almost edging his face.
"T-this is horrible..." Hinata stuttered, almost in tears.
"Aw man!" Shikamaru realized the gravity of the situation.
Akamaru whimpered and howled, and as for Choji, he was speechless for what he saw, for all around them was fire and ruble.
When Sasuke spotted them, his heart began to hope that his red-headed lover was among them. He glided down to them, and in a monotone voice, trying to hide the sadness as he spoke, "Where there... anymore down in the rookery with you?" Sasuke's voice was almost trembling, almost on the brink of tears.
Nobody wanted to answer that, not wanting to be the one to drive an already deep wound deeper. Choji, deciding that if no one would answer, he might as well go out and say it instead of torturing their heartbroken friend. So, with great sadness in his voice, sadness that not even a buffet of food would cure, then said, "None. We-we were the only ones down their! I'm sorry Sasuke!"
Hinata then began to sob, weeping for the loss of her friends, family, and her clan. Sasuke then thought back to when they had all experienced loss before.
Flashback...
It was a foggy night, slightly drizzling with rain. The sound of the ocean could be heard, the sand soft and moist from the fog. On the shore-line stood multiple figures, all next to a large boat. On the boat, were many children, all of them gargoyles, sobbing and crying for their parents. On the shore were many adult gargoyles, one of them was a younger looking Kakashi who was talking to a blonde-haired blue skin gargoyle, wearing a black and a flaming orange jacket.
"The human's are getting more violent. They see us now as demons. I fear it may be too dangerous for our young to live here, so I am counting on you my student, Kakashi, to watch over them in the west, there you will meet other gargoyles, friends of mine. Take good care of all them, Kakashi!" The gargoyle said all seriousness on his face. Next to him were other gargoyles, similar looking to the children in some way, shape, or form.
"I will watch them as if my life depended on it!" Kakashi said, as he pushed off the boat, and got on board.
The hatchlings started calling out to their parents, tears in their eyes. "Mother! Father!" One called out, raven black hair, onyx black eyes, light purple skin. The child was Sasuke, watching as his parents' wave goodbye, tears in all their eyes, never to see any of them again.
His mother then called out to him and said, "Sasuke, promise me you will keep to the way of our clan. Promise me!" Then her voice faded away into the fog.
In his sadness, he cried out, "Mother, I promise!"
End Flashback
"The code of our clan, a gargoyle is sworn to protect." Sasuke whispered to himself, remembering the promise.
Sasuke had closed his heart ever since that day, and had become cold and distant from anyone who got near him. If it wasn't for Kakashi's teachings, and Naruto's constant rivalry and bickering, he would have become an emo-kid. But it wasn't until he met her, the red-head, did he open his heart again, happier then he'd ever been. But now...
"All the human's are gone, taken prisoner most likely." Kakashi said, approaching Sasuke, placing his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, eyes revealing sorrow. "You're the clan's leader, Sasuke. It's your call."
Sasuke's mind then caught back up with the present, and then he began to seethe with anger. "Then we will find them, save the humans..." he paused for a moment, emotions boiling over, then his eyes began to glow an angry red, then with great anger, he cried out, "then, we will HAVE OUR REVENGE!"
They all climbed to the tallest tower, and then spread their wings to glide, Hinata and Kiba staying back a bit. "You ok, Hinata?" he asked.
"Don't worry, I'm coming, just give me a sec!" she said, looking back on the castle, saying a silent prayer for the deceased, both human and gargoyle, to rest in peace.
Then both she and Kiba spread their wings, gliding off toward the battle ahead. Akamaru followed on the ground, not wanting to be left behind, with great speed and power, almost keeping speed with them, leaving the ruined, burning castle behind them.
Viking's Camp, Later that Night.
The Vikings were celebrating their easy victory, drinking and feasting around the fire. Some of the Vikings did not have this luxury due to the fact that they had guard duty to watch the prisoners.
Udon and Moegi both looked like they fallen in despair, and Iruka was trying his best to comfort the three children in his care, despite the bleak situation. "Don't worry kids; everything's going to be alright!"
Konohamaru agreed with Iruka, and then said, "Yea, Iruka's right! Naruto and the other gargoyles will come and kick these guys' butts!"
Iruka then looked disheartened, and then, with tears on the edge of his eyes, said, "I am sorry Konohamaru, but the gargoyles were all destroyed during the battle." But Konohamaru didn't give up believing in them, for he knew, somehow, that they were still alive.
Inside the cave, where Kimimaru was, along with Asuma, they kept two prisoners as special guests. Tenten and Neji were both bound by the arms, both glaring angrily towards Kimimaru and Asuma.
"Hmmm, the Hyuga is worth more alive than dead, barely..." Kimimaru stated, in a slightly bored tone.
Taking a puff of his smoke, Asuma then spoke next, "True." he then looked more towards Tenten, blowing smoke in her face as he talked, "But, I am sure your uncle the king will pay handsomely to see his niece returned alive!"
Neji wouldn't stand for that comment, "You Traitor! If my hands weren't bound, or I had my book of spells I would..." he was then rudely interrupted by the laughing of Kimimaru, "Would you be referring to this book Hyuga!" he said, as he pulled out a large book, opening it up as he lifted it. "Magic spells, BAH! What a load of nonsense." He said, as he tore a page from the book, throwing it in the fire.
"NO! MY SPELLS!" Neji then down casted his head in utter shame, wishing he could be more useful now.
Tenten was upset at this action, "Traitorous scum, I'll see that you both hang for this!" Tenten yelled, showing no fear to either of them.
Kimimaru did not like the tone she had used, he threw the book to the ground, and then walked over to her, "I'd watch that tongue of yours, princess, or else, you might lose it!"
"RRRRAAAAAAAGH!"
All of them were then caught off guard when they heard a loud roar in the distance, then the sounds of the Viking men yelling in fear. Both Asuma and Kimimaru went out to see what was going on.
"They're coming! Run for you lives!" a soldier screamed out, pointing towards the sky. Kimimaru and Asuma looked up in time to see seven shadowy figures with wings heading right for their area.
Kimimaru looked a tad nervous, and then in monotone said, "I thought you said they wouldn't follow us."
Asuma then looked at him angrily, "If you hadn't destroyed the others!"
Kimimaru ran back into the cave, pushing Asuma aside, and then ran up to the princess, grabbing her by the ropes, pulling her close to his face. "It seems your precious gargoyles have come for you, princess!"
Tenten was shocked but relieved to hear this, "The gargoyles?" she then smirked an evil smirk, "You're a dead man, Kimimaru!"
Kimimaru had just about lost patience with this girl, he then pulled out a bone carved dagger, "that might be, but not before you!"
Neji acting on impulse, took his bound legs, and shoved them into Kimimaru's gut. Tenten then was able to get to her feet, and started running. Unfortunately, Kimimaru gave chase, Asuma right behind him. Neji, thinking she wouldn't be able to get away fast enough, all bounded up like that, started yelling for help,
"Help! Somebody help! He's going to slay her! Tenten!" Neji was able to find a very sharp rock, so he pushed himself towards the rock, using it to cut the ropes that bond his hands.
Sasuke was not in a good mood, he started the fight off, by clawing two Vikings on his way down, then he rose back up to find his real target, the leader, and the betrayer, spotting them chasing after the princess heading towards a cliff.
Kakashi landed on the ground, when all of sudden, a soldier charged right at him, sword in hand. Kakashi simply grabbed the man's wrist holding the sword, and tossed him a good distance, crashing him into a wooden crate. He then avoided a sword attack from another soldier, got behind the swordsman, put his fingers together, and jabbed them up into the man's rear, sending him painfully soaring into the air. "One Thousand Years of Death!"
Choji landed by a fire that had a roasting pig on a stick, and picked it up by the cool side, and took it as an edible club. A Viking tried to stab him with a sword, but Choji was agile enough to avoid being stabbed. He then took the edible club, and swung it at the man, sending him sky born.
Kiba was chasing some runaways, who quickly started heading towards a shadowed ridge for shelter. When they reached the ridge, they were face to face with Akamaru's snarling fangs, in a crouched position. Kiba landed on top of the ridge, then said out load, "Sick'em boy!" Akamaru didn't hesitate to start chasing the men as they ran, Kiba following them by air.
Naruto was surrounded by five bravely foolish Vikings who stayed behind, one charged for him, but Naruto not only avoided the attack, but grabbed the man by the feet, flailing him around like a weapon, hitting a few soldiers while doing so. He then tossed the man into the group, who then lost their nerve, running for their lives.
Hinata, one who is usually shy and timid, snarled with ferocity at the few soldiers charging right at her. She then spun around to avoid one man's attack, then struck the man three rapid times driving the tips of her talons, the palm of her hand, and her knuckles into his back's pressure points. The man fell limp, unable to move, then was grabbed by the smarter soldiers, who soon began to retreat with the man in their arms.
Shikamaru was lazily dodging the attacks of three soldiers, almost uninterested in fighting them. He then picked two of the men up, spun them around, hitting the third man to the ground, then tossed the other two away.
All the Viking soldiers were now retreating, not wanting to risk their own lives. Konohamaru cheered for the gargoyles, relieved that he was right, "I told you they would save us!" he boasted to Iruka, who smiled at this.
Neji exited the cave, book in hand, believing he was too late in saving Tenten, and then angrily stared at the gargoyles.
In rage and grief, he then shouted towards them, "You fools! She would be alive now if you hadn't come!" tears flowing down his eyes.
The gargoyles were now confused at what he said, "What's he talking about?" Kiba asked.
Neji continued, "They would have ransomed us both, but you invaded their camp, and now..."
"Calm down! Now what's all this about, where is the princess?" Kakashi asked, wondering what was wrong with this man.
His face then saddened, but instantly turned to rage, "Dead! And if I could wield the sword, or your skin too tough for my attacks, I would send you all to join her!" he then began to skim through the large book, then spotted something that caught his eye, "But, this will have to do instead!" He then began to recite the spell...
"Dormiatis
dum castellum
super nubes
ascendat!"
And as he said this, a magical aura began to dance around the seven gargoyles, shocked, surprised, and awed by the spectacular sight. But then, one by one, they began to feel something happening, as the aura began to dance faster and faster around all of them, and then there was a blinding flash of bright light.
Princess Tenten, still bound by the arms, continued to run for her life from the now mad, Kimimaru, towards a cliffs edge. Unfortunately, the said mad man had caught up to her, grabbing her by her bindings, dagger in hand, Asuma, next to him.
But then, the shadow of something passed overhead, and landed right in front of them, cutting off all escape routes. Sasuke growled with anger, anger that only grew when he caught eye of Asuma, "You are the betrayer?!"
Asuma then began to bleed his heart out to Sasuke, "It was not supposed to be this way!"
But Sasuke was not listening, "All of my kind are dead, and now, you two will join them!" he said as he extended his claws.
Asuma then tried to explain himself, tears in his eyes "I told you to take your clan with you! If only you had listened!"
"Traitor!" Sasuke yelled, ignoring the sadness in his voice.
Kimimaru then knew he could play on this to survive this meeting, by focusing Sasuke's wrath all towards Asuma, "He is the one you want, he shattered them all!" he said in a monotone voice.
Asuma was beyond enraged by Kimimaru's accusation, and in anger, attacked him, "You lying SCUM!" he then grabbed the hand that held the dagger, and started to struggle for it, accidently pushing the princess toward the edge, both her and the struggling pair falling to their dooms.
Remembering his promise to his mother, he quickly ran to Tenten, grabbing her by her rope bounds before she could fall any deeper, Kimimaru and Asuma, yelling as they fell, and then faded into the crevice's darkness.
Sasuke quickly ripped the ropes with his talons, and then went to go check the crevice to try and find Asuma and Kimimaru. He peered downwards, then realized that they were both already good as dead, frustration beginning to kick in. "I've been denied everything! EVEN MY REVENGE!" he roared out, in anger, to the heavens and sky, and then bowed his head in defeat.
Tenten then walk up to him, feeling regret for misjudging him and his clan. She knew she had to make amends for it, "S-Sasuke, I-I am s..." but she was soon interrupted by the calling of a child.
Actually, three children, who all three looked desperate, "Sasuke! Sasuke! You got to come quickly! Naruto and the others are trouble!" it was Konohamaru who spoke, Moegi and Udon trailing behind.
The sight Sasuke came upon had him angrily confused, for what he saw was what was left of his clan, now turned to stone.
"Stone? At Night?" Having been fueled by anger earlier from the sorrow he felt, he did not wish to lose any more precious ones. "What sorcery is this?" Sasuke said, gritting his teeth to prevent another outburst of anger.
"Sorcery indeed!" Neji, still upset at the loss of Tenten, walked up to him in anger. "And now, you shall join them!" But then, Tenten walked out from behind Sasuke's wing, shocked by what Neji had done. Neji was shocked as well, but not for the same reason, "Tenten?" he said, tears coming from his eyes, but a horrified expression on his face.
"Oh, Neji, what have you done?" Tenten said sadness in her voice.
Neji dropped the book in utter shock, the book opening up to the page with the torn piece. He then fell to his knees in utter shame, unable to even look up at her, "I...I thought you were dead your highness. I was...mad with grief!"
Sasuke had enough, he then grabbed Neji by the collar, and shook violently, "Reverse the spell!" he then raised him to his face, seething now with anger, "Bring them BACK!!!" he roared, claws extended.
Neji was now down casted, as he realized what he had done. "I can't, the page with the counter spell had been burned, my apologies."
Sasuke looked down at the book, seeing that it was indeed missing a page from its contents. In sadness, he dropped Neji down on the ground on top of the spell book, feeling as if he had lost enough, that he just wanted to give up. He looked up at his petrified comrades, then with a sigh, he said, "Now...I am truly alone!"
Tenten looked towards Neji, a look of pleading in her eyes. "You turned them to stone, forever?"
Neji, who could barely look at her, then stated, "The terms of the spell is that they would sleep... until the castle rises above the clouds." They then both looked towards Sasuke, wishing they could do something to help him.
Help indeed they did, for all of the humans helped to carry the statues back to the castle, and set them in their proper places. "We've done you a great wrong Sasuke." Tenten stated, wishing to apologies for what she had done.
Sasuke was now setting up his sensei, Kakashi, in his proper spot, an angry scowl on Sasuke's face. Neji then continued on for Tenten, "I know that no apology could be enough, Sasuke. I wish there was something I could do!"
Sasuke then stared at them both, his face still upset, but more emotionless. "What will you do now, Princess?" he asked.
"I am going to take my people to my uncles. It is no longer safe for us here." she said.
"Hmph! I have... a request." Sasuke said, turning his face from them, not wanting them to see it.
Tenten, eager to do something to make up for her past sins, simply said, "Name it."
Sasuke then, with his face still an emotionless mask, turned around and said, "The eggs in the rookery will soon hatch... they will need guidance."
Tenten smiled at the request, at the chance of redemption, and then answered, "Very well! We will watch them as if they were our own!"
Sasuke then looked towards Neji, ready to ask something. "I have a request for you as well, Hyuga!"
Neji then stared straight into Sasuke's eyes, guilt and sorrow on his own eyes, then gently said "What do you ask of me?"
Sasuke then showed a face filled with determination, and then boldly said, "Cast your spell... one... last... time!"
Neji and Tenten had a look of shock on their faces, not expecting him to say such a thing.
The ruined castle Wyvern, night-time.
The castle was completely devoid of life now, not a living soul occupying it. Along the sides of the castle tower, posed seven different gargoyle statues, each with their own differences in shape, pose, looks, and personalities. They were looking out from the castle, watching for any attacker, poised to scare any off.
But, at the top of the tower, one lone gargoyle, crouched downwards, no expression what so ever, except sadness, on his face, looking as though he has given up on life, given up on hope, and given up on dreams. Just accepting his stone prison, willing to be enslaved by stone then face harsh loneliness. Just giving into silent stone, peaceful sleep, the worries of the world no longer a burden, now… and forever.
Scotland, present day.
The castle had been standing in place for almost over a thousand years, aged and desolate, vines and moss covering the weather worn stone, flora growing on top of the castle, birds residing in the empty areas. For as long as this castle has stood, no man had ever dared tread on the soil of this castle, fear born of superstitious reasons, until now that is.
"At last! Castle Wyvern!" A man stood at the long opened gates of the castle, staring at the marvel and beauty of the sight. The man had short onyx black hair tied in pony tail, crimson eyes that showed no expression, pale skin, he was wearing a black trench coat, and had on a black business suit underneath.
The sight, though, that caught most of his attention, was the moss and vine covered gargoyle statue at the top of the castle tower, so he ran in, knowing he had to get a closer look at the statue.
He jumped over ruble, and fallen pillars, ran up a flight of stone stairs, and made it to the top of the tower, barely even out of breath. He stopped when he reached the top, staring straight at the gargoyle statue. He then walked towards the statue, and then pulled some vines of the face area, to reveal the face of Sasuke, at saddened peace.
"Magnificent!" Then a man appeared from the stairs, walking straight to the first man. This second man had brown spiked hair, black sunglasses covering his eyes, and he wore a white trench coat, the collar covering his mouth. The first man then spoke, an emotionless tone in his voice, "Make the offer now, Shino, this instant!"
The man, Shino, then spoke with a voice even more devoid of emotion then the first man, "May I say one last time, Mr. Uchiha, that the cost for this little venture will be astronomical."
"Start hiring crews, I want to begin as soon as possible!" Mr. Uchiha replied.
Shino began to dial in numbers on his cell phone to hire the necessary workers for the job. "It may prove difficult to find the necessary man power. This castle has a bad reputation. The locals consider it haunted." he said, a bit of strain from frustration.
Uchiha simply smirked, then replied, "You know the remedy for that, Shino! Pay a man enough..." he began to touch the statue, studying the delicate design of it, then finished what he was saying, a look of satisfaction on his face, "and he will walk barefoot into hell!"
They were using much equipment for the job, from old style tools to new style machines. They had the latest model of construction man-sized mechanical-suits, used for carrying stone slabs and crates, a man piloting it. Steam cleaners to clean a millennia's worth of moss and dust, welding lasers to carefully cut the slabs of stonewalls, and cranes to move the higher up heavy objects. The men opened a crate full of padding, then, using the crane, lowered the now cleaned statue of Sasuke carefully into it.
Little by little, the all took apart the castle, loading the parts into the eighteen wheeler transportation trucks. Multiple helicopters whirled over head of the deconstruction zone, lifting up bigger junks of the castle, held together in place by straps and restraints, carrying them off to their destination.
Manhattan, New York.
A black and red helicopter whirred above the great city, the logo, Uchiha, with a giant 'U', placed on the side of the copter. Sitting inside, almost smirking to himself was the rich Uchiha himself, his dull crimson eyes surveying the city. The copter began to fly higher, up into the clouds, whirring around a tall building, and the biggest in the whole city. At the top of the clouds, on top of the huge building, sat the newly constructed and made Castle Wyvern, structurally placed on top of the building, resembling a castle floating in the sky, above the clouds.
The helicopter landed precisely in the castle's courtyard, taking care not to harm any part of the structure.
The sun was beginning to set, slowly falling into the western sky. Uchiha stood atop of the tower of the castle, standing next to the statue of Sasuke, watching the sun as it set.
He peered over to the statue, and in a monotone voice, stated, "Don't disappoint me." The sun had then completely set, shadowing the castle in a blanket of darkness. The clouds above the castle began to darken and stir, lightning beginning to strike, thunder beginning to sound, and a slight drizzle of rain began to fall.
Crick! Crack!
Uchiha looked, and noticed that cracks began to appear on the statue of Sasuke, a look of confusion on his stoic face.
Instantly, the stone shattered, revealing very light purple skin, raven black hair, and two red glowing eyes underneath. Uchiha looked on in shock, eyes wide and mouth agape, backing away slightly in surprise.
Sasuke began to stand up, stretching every joint, eyes returning to ebony black, unaware of Uchiha's presence. Then, he glanced at his skin, realizing he was awake, and then with great excitement, as well as finishing his stretching, he roared and laughed at the same time.
As he did, the other gargoyles began to awake as well, roaring and shaking the stone off of their flesh.
Kakashi woke first, widening his arms in a yawn, feathery wings spread far out.
The next to awaken was the foxy gargoyle, Naruto, also yawning, but grumbling as well, furry tail swishing all about.
Next was Hinata, yawning until she saw Naruto, then cowered herself down, avoiding eye contact with him, talons tipping together.
The rest of the gargoyles pretty much followed the same gesture, stretching and yawning as they awoke, Akamaru barking as he did. The rain seemed to stop, disappearing like magic.
Uchiha looked at all of them, expression of shock gone, and a stoic smile taking its place. "Superb." he whispered to himself.
Sasuke jumped down from his perch landing between Naruto and Kakashi, a stoic smile on his face, a look of confusion on all the others. "You're aliv...er.. awake!" Relieved joy coated his voice for a moment, but instantly restored itself to its stoic composure.
Everyone began to laugh in joy, happy they were still alive, "We're alive, we're together again! Believe it!" Naruto yelled, turning around and hugging Hinata, whose face was now beet red. Kiba instantly ran to Akamaru, roughly scratching his side, barking with excitement.
Akamaru's head instantly bolted up looking out from the castle, seriousness all over his face. "What's wrong, boy?" Kiba asked, gasping instantly in shock at what he saw, "What the? What is this?" What he saw was the sight of a building with a needle on top, sticking out of the clouds. Then, the clouds began to clear, revealing many lighted buildings, lighted streets, and many people below along with cars passing by.
"What are those things?" Naruto asked, amazed at what he saw.
"Have we all died, and gone to some kind of weird hell or something?" Kiba asked.
"Wha-what ki-kind of s-sorcery is this?" Hinata asked, fear in her voice.
"Aw man! How troublesome! This is such a drag!" Shikamaru responded.
"Where are we?! I hope there's food down there!" Choji said worriedly.
"Now calm down everyone, I'm sure there's an answer for this!" Kakashi calmly said, trying to ease everyone's tension.
Akamaru began to whine and whimper, but then instantly began to growl, after hearing a foot step behind them.
Uchiha walked out of a castle door way, hands in his pockets, looking towards Sasuke. "You are the one called Sasuke?" he asked in a stoic voice.
Sasuke, untrusting of this man, growled out in question, "Yes?!"
Uchiha's smirk then widened as he said, "Excellent! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Itachi Uchiha. It is a pleasure to meet you."
Castle Dining Hall.
"How long has it been?" Sasuke asked patience with this man thin.
"This might be a shock." Itachi stood near the fireplace, wearing a black relaxed business suit, pausing a bit from his answer, a look of saddened understanding on his face, "Over a thousand years has gone by since the spell was cast." All of them but Kakashi were shocked, having to take to his advice of remaining calm. They were all speechless, not knowing what to say.
Itachi continued, "I learned about the castle and you eight from an ancient book that came into my possession." He walked over to a podium with a glass case, and inside was a large book. "The Magus who cursed you wrote the whole story down in there." They then looked to the book, and recognized it as the same book as the one Neji used.
Itachi walked back towards the fireplace to continue in its warmth. "Now! I'm sure you have questions!" He said, looking towards them to ask away.
The gargoyles began to look at each other, checking to see each other's reaction. Not wanting to seem rude, Kakashi decided to ask the most obvious question. "So! How did you do it? How did you break the spell?" He asked calmly.
Itachi leaned back on the mantel piece, a smug look on his face. He then, non-chalantly, said, "It was designed to end when the castle rose above the clouds."
Hinata stepped forward next, gathering the courage to ask the next question, "Wh-what about th-the eggs in the rookery?" She said, very nervous to ask this question.
Itachi's face had sullen, and with a sad but sturdy tone, had answered. "Gone, I'm afraid. You are the last of your kind." All of them had an expression of shock or sadness on their faces, realizing they were truly the last.
Sasuke then decided, although still taking all this in, to ask his question that had been nagging him since he saw this guy. "Why have you done all this?"
"Yeah! Why did you free us?" Kiba added.
"I am curious to know how you would benefit from this." Shikamaru stated, looking at him incredulously.
"Aw, come on guys. Shouldn't we be thankful that he bothered to free us in the first place?" Naruto asked.
"You idiot! Nobody just helps someone without expecting something in return!" Kiba yelled back.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" Naruto yelled.
"YOU HEARD ME! I CALLED YOU AN IDIOT!" Kiba fired back.
At that moment, they both began to angrily yell insults at each other, as for the others, they ignored the two's bickering, and waited for Itachi's reply.
"As I was saying, why did you do all this?" Sasuke repeated.
Itachi smiled smugly again, and then non-chalantly said, "I was fascinated by the Magus' story. I wanted to see if it was true. And, now that I know it is...I want to be your friend." he began to walk towards them, his smug smile widening, his eyes narrowing. He then walked up to Sasuke, standing face to face with him, a friendly expression on his face. He then placed his hand on Sasuke shoulder, against Sasuke's chagrin, and then continued, "There is much we can do for each other, Sasuke!"
Sasuke angrily stared at the hand, and then with the same serious expression looked back towards Itachi. "Such as?!" he asked with such venom, if words could kill, then they would.
Itachi was about to answer, when the motor sound of a helicopter sounded overhead. He looked up, and then narrowed his eyes. "Strange. I'm not expecting anyone." he began to walk towards the stair way to the castle roof. "You'll be safer if you stay here!" The gargoyles looked at each other, wondering what was going on, and decided to follow.
Itachi made it to the castle courtyard, looking around for the source of the noise. As he came out to look, an unmarked Black Hawk helicopter shined a light down on him, temporarily blinding him. The Black Hawk maneuvered closer, ropes coming down in front of Itachi. Seven soldiers wearing white animal masks, black skin tight armored body suits, and equipped with an arsenal and large array of weapons on their person, slid down the ropes, aiming their weapons at Itachi.
"SECURE THE AREA!" one yelled, a red hood covering his head, a white bird mask covering his face. The other soldiers were checking the area of the outer part of the castle, guns pointing towards where they looked.
"What do you want?" Itachi asked calmly, showing no fear to the soldiers.
"You'll know soon enough!" The red hooded man said boastfully, gun aiming for Itachi. The others after checking the area, closed in on Itachi, their guns aiming for him as well.
Sasuke and the others were watching this from the shadows of the hallway passage, completely unseen by the intruders.
"W-what's g-going on?! Who are th-these people?!" Hinata asked shakily.
Naruto angrily growled, "They're attacking the castle, and threatening Itachi! That's all we need to know!" He then jumped out, charging for the soldiers.
"Naruto, wait! Grr! That impatient loser!" Sasuke tried to stop Naruto, but was too late, so they all charged out to the face the soldiers.
"WHAT TH...!" The soldiers tried to fire on Naruto, who jumped in the air, pouncing one of the soldiers to the ground. Another soldier aimed his semi-automatic towards Naruto, who turned in time to avoid the shots, then charged on all fours towards the man.
When he was close enough, he brought his furry tail around, sweeping the soldiers legs from beneath him. The soldier quickly caught himself into a barrel roll, landing on his feet, and then charged right for Naruto. Naruto was caught off guard, losing his footing, and was pushed backwards.
The soldier aimed his gun to fire, but was caught off guard by Hinata taking him down to the ground, surprisingly angry at the man. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" she yelled.
Sasuke charged for the red-hooded man on all fours, appearing right in front of the soldier. 'That man in the red hood must be the leader. If I take him out, the rest will follow.' Sasuke thought.
Sasuke went to upper kick the soldier, but the man quickly blocked with his gun, only stumbling him back. Sasuke quickly followed the attack by swiping his tail towards the soldier's legs. He saw the attack coming, so reacting quickly, he jumped to avoid the attack, kicking Sasuke in the face as he did so.
Sasuke landed with a thud, and then looked up to see that the leader was aiming his weapon towards him. Before anything happened, Itachi karate chopped the gun out of the leader's hand, grabbing him by the arm, and threw him over his shoulder. The soldier caught himself, and then got into a fighting stance facing Itachi.
Itachi went to move towards the fallen gun, but then another soldier blocked his way. The soldier was ready to fire his gun, when he noticed Itachi looking in another direction to his left.
The soldier turned in time for a claw to come and slash the gun in half and away from his hand. It was Choji, who was approaching the soldier while growling at him. The soldier got in a fighting stance ready to face Choji, while Itachi began to move away from the fight.
"Nice outfit, Fatso!" The soldier remarked.
Choji's face instantly went to one of rage, practically steaming at the collar. "WHAT'D YOU CALL ME?! I'LL SHOW YOU!" Choji angrily charged toward the man.
The soldier pulled out a knife, swiping it back and forth, forcing Choji to back away to avoid it. The man then toppled Choji over, forcing him on his back. The masked man then charged to stab Choji while he was down, but Choji thought quickly, using his legs to throw the man over his head.
The man with the knife rolled himself over, then got to his feet. As he did, Kakashi had spotted him, katana already drawn.
"A knife, huh? Let's see how you do against me!" Kakashi calmly stated, then charged with the sword, knife and sword clashing.
Akamaru and Kiba were double teaming one soldier, but before Akamaru could pounce the man, the masked man pulled out a gun shaped weapon with a wide barrel. It shot out a large net, catching Akamaru in it, who struggled to get free.
Kiba charged the man next, aiming to swipe his claw at him, when the man pulled out a taser gun, shooting it right at his chest.
"Huh?" ZAP!!! "YAAAHHH!" Kiba yelled in pain, as shocks of electricity flowed through his body.
Instantly, Naruto appeared, grabbing the man, and tossing him to the wall, knocking him out. The taser stopped shocking Kiba, allowing him to catch his breath. "You owe me one, Kiba!" Naruto said.
"Yeah, yeah!" Kiba was still disoriented. Naruto then walked up to the still tangled Akamaru, tearing the net up, cutting Akamaru loose.
Shikamaru, Choji and Hinata then came to see if Kiba was alright, but as they did, the red hooded soldier took out a grenade, pulling the pin, throwing it right at them. Choji quickly caught it, and then looked at the egg shaped object. Passing it off as nothing, he just tossed it behind the group, not expecting anything to happen, and then returned to helping Kiba out.
BOOM!
An explosion went off, sending the group flying in different directions. As this was going on, Itachi ran up the castle wall's stairs, heading to a side wall. He pushed a switch, opening a secret compartment, revealing a high class laser rifle.
Sasuke was facing down a man, who was aiming a semi-auto straight at him, ready to fire. He cocked his gun, and was about to pull the trigger, when a red beam of light appeared near his head, creating a hole in the wall. It then moved upwards, cutting off pieces of the wall, dropping them on the soldier, almost burying him alive.
Sasuke looked towards where the beam came from, seeing Itachi with the laser rifle, smirking towards him. Sasuke then moved to fight someone else. As he did, Itachi took aim at another soldier who was aiming his gun on a higher part of the castle.
Shikamaru began to chase down another masked soldier, and when he caught up with the person, trapping them in a dead end, he realized something. "Aw man. How troublesome. I have to fight a woman."
The soldier he was fighting against was indeed a woman, which was noticeable by her long blonde pony-tail hair, and feminine figure. The woman then aimed her gun towards Shikamaru, slightly upset at that comment.
She fired it off, bullets ricocheting off the stone ground. Shikamaru quickly jumped, then dodged by leaping off the castle wall. The girl looked over the wall to check to see if he fell, and when she couldn't find his body, she began to look more for him.
Instantly, gliding out of the clouds, Shikamaru flew up then down towards the female soldier, catching her off guard, and tackling her to the ground.
Her gun landed in front of Sasuke and Kakashi, who were now observing it. "These weapons are strange. Are we dealing sorcery?" Kakashi calmly asked.
"Even if we are, we must protect this castle! It's all we have left!" Sasuke stated.
At that moment, the red hooded leader then threw a grenade towards Sasuke and Kakashi, "Here, CATCH!" He yelled mockingly, the grenade landing a few feet behind them. They quickly jumped for cover as it went off, sending them farther away.
Naruto was now facing a soldier, who took out his knife, avoiding being cut by the soldier's weapon. As he dodged, Itachi was taking aim with his laser rifle at the knife wielding soldier.
"Time to say goodbye." he said.
Instantly, another soldier ran up towards him, tackling him as he fired the laser. The shot hit the upper part of a castle wall, causing debris to fall.
From below the clouds, it looked as though red lightening was striking, causing a few pedestrians to look up in wonder. A huge chunk of debris began to fall towards them, all of them yelling and running for their lives. The debris landed heavily on the ground, a few cars and taxis hit while doing so.
A red police car pulled up, sirens blaring, next to the wreckage. The door of the car opened, revealing a young woman with pale skin, wearing a red jacket, blue jeans, green emerald eyes, and long flowing bright pink hair. She looked around the area at the wreckage, and then looked up at where the red lightening in the clouds were.
An explosion caused a gaping hole in the wall, gases pouring through it. Instantly, Kiba, Hinata, and Choji ran out, coughing and gasping for air as they did. A few seconds later, one of the soldiers ran out of it, but then ran in a random direction, being chased by Akamaru, threatening to bite, barking as he did.
Sasuke was watching what was happening on a side castle wall, ready to jump in anytime. On another part of the wall, a soldier took out a grenade, and then threw it towards Sasuke. By the time Sasuke noticed it, it was too late.
BOOM!
The blast caught him off guard, but he quickly covered himself with his arms blocking it. The blast then sent him flying over the edge of the wall, sending him toward the ground. He quickly tried to spread his wings to glide, but debris was in his way to glide. He saw a flag pole, and quickly grabbed on, unfortunately, the momentum of his fall, along with his weight, caused the flag pole to snap out of its hinges.
As he fell, he did the next thing that came to his mind; he dug his claws into the stone wall, screeching as he slowed down his momentum, until he screeched to a halt, taking in a huge sigh of relief.
On the ground, more debris began to fall, this time, more rampant. The pink haired woman was able to avoid being flattened by one of the stone pieces that fell right in front of her. She then looked behind her to see citizens still standing too close to the danger zone.
"GET BACK!" she yelled, waving her hand for emphasis.
"Sigh! Going to wind up street pizza." she whispered to herself, turning back to watching for debris. She then saw her hand right next a stone piece, but it had four straight lines on it. She felt the lines to better identify them. "Claw marks?" She then looked up towards the clouds, "What could possibly leave claw marks through solid stone?"
A lone masked soldier, wearing a white dog mask, was moving quickly through the castle, until he came upon a door, blowing the security lock mechanism, forcing open the door, and then ran inside.
Hinata charged towards one of the masked men, aiming her attacks for his pressure points, hoping to end the fight. As she charged, the man grabbed her hand before it touched him, then tossed her to the ground, and then held her down by her arms, the rest of his body straddling her down. The masked man was larger than she was, and had more brawn then she did, thus, she couldn't push him off her.
"Gotcha!" he yelled out boastfully. She struggled to get free, unable to push him off of her.
At that moment, Sasuke had climbed back up, seeing her struggle to get free.
"Help!" Hinata yelled, and instantly, Sasuke charged at the masked man, pushing him off of her, then carried him down to the courtyard.
He lifted the man off his feet, holding him by the collar of his neck, raising his claw to strike. The female masked soldier came out of nowhere, and then threw a canister that landed by Sasuke's feet. It began to release a yellowish gas, choking Sasuke's lungs, forcing him to drop the man. As he dropped the man, the other soldiers ran over and helped the man out of there, dragging him away.
The dog masked soldier ran out the hallway, hugging a black case to his side, running at hasty speeds. He ran out of the castle, lifting the case over his head. "GOT IT!" he yelled.
One of the other soldiers took out a flare gun, shooting it up in the air. The flash of light from the flare was bright, thus causing the gargoyles to go temporarily blind. The same Black Hawk helicopter from earlier then landed in the courtyard, waiting for the troops of masked men to come.
They ran to the helicopter, not wanting to waste time, carrying the injured and wounded. "Let's go! We got what we came for!" The red hooded leader yelled, jumping on board the Black Hawk, along with his men.
As they jumped on, Itachi got to a high point of the castle, aiming his rifle at the helicopter. "I don't think so." Before he could shoot though, one soldier saw him, then threw his knife, stabbing Itachi's left hand, forcing him to drop the gun. The helicopter then whirred away, hiding within the clouds.
The glare from the flare vanished, restoring sight to all the gargoyles. They then gathered in front of Itachi, who was holding his injury to stop the bleeding.
"Huff, huff! I've never seen weapons like those before, and that flying creature that carried them off!" Naruto explained, truly exhausted from the night.
"A dragon or something like that!" Kiba yelled.
"It wasn't a dragon; it was uh, uh, a machine of some sort." Shikamaru stared up at where the helicopter disappeared to, trying to figure out what it was.
Itachi, after make shift mending his wound, walked up to the group, a solemn expression on his face. "Thank you! Without you and your clan, who knows what those thugs might have done."
Sasuke stared coldly at Itachi, still not trusting of this man. "Someone I once trusted said the same thing to me...and then destroyed my people."
Itachi looked Sasuke straight in the eyes, a cool expression over his face. "I can see I'll have to work hard to earn you trust." Sasuke then snorted, losing patience with this man.
Itachi took out his cell phone, and pressed a few numbers. "Shino, we'll need a cleanup crew outside, and bring the medic kit as well."
"Why were attacked?" Sasuke asked.
Itachi then smugly said, "The richer you are, the more enemies you have! And I. Am very rich!" He then walked up to them, hoping to reason with them. "Sasuke, this is your home, as well as mine. I hope you'll consider working with me to keep it safe."
Sasuke looked around, peering at the castle, looking at each of the faces of the remaining members of his clan. Kakashi then placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, and then calmly said, "You're the leader, Sasuke. It's your decision. Just consider that...we technically have nowhere else to go."
"Sigh! This castle is our home, no matter where it has been taken." He contemplated, and then announced, "We will stay here!"
"Perfect." Itachi stated, and then walked over to shake Sasuke's hand. "I know you were treated poorly by man in the past, but all that is about to change! Trust me!"
Sasuke tore his hand away from Itachi, and then angrily stated, "You broke the spell that imprisoned us, Uchiha, and for that, we are grateful! But we will never trust humans again!"
Itachi stared at Sasuke, and then sighed in frustration. "I can tell this relationship is something we'll all have to work at!" Sasuke sighed again, with slight growl at Itachi's answer.
Ground Zero, below the Uchiha building.
Police cars were scattered all over the scene, blockades and cars preventing the public from entering.
"What do you figure that was all about, detective?" A police chief with a toothpick in his mouth asked the pink haired girl from earlier, while looking up at the sky.
The pink haired girl then narrowed her emerald eyes. "I don't know, Genma!" Then, in a serious tone, she stated, "But I am going to find out!"
To be continued...
End of Chapter 2