Chapter 7: A Darker Path
A few weeks later…
"Will Uchiha Sasuke and Sabaku no Gaara please enter the arena." Deafening applause filled the stadium as both young ninja appeared in a shunshin, facing off stoically.
"Your death will justify my existence," Gaara snarled. "I will paint the sand with your blood."
Naruko closed her eyes, resting her head back against the wall behind her. The fight itself mattered little, she cared only for what was to come. Her plan was simple. She would switch places with Sarutobi as the barrier went up around him, Orochimaru intending on keeping him isolated. Instead, he would be either forced to fight her or release the barrier allowing for him to be attacked by other shinobi. Jiraiya would be enough to stop Gaara's attack on the walls, and Sarutobi would be able to contribute to the main fight with his massive jutsu arsenal, without being forced into a disadvantageous duel. She figured it was the best way to proceed while making Sarutobi the least angry with her. She was much better suited to simply wiping out the Suna forced by herself, but Sarutobi wanted to avoid the loss of life that would bring. If he had been a bit more ruthless, she could have ended the battle instantly. Nobody knew of her technique or how to avoid them, not they could have even with prior knowledge, nor were they aware that Konoha knew of their attack.
It was almost too easy.
Dimly, Naruko was aware of the crowd yelling excitedly around her as the two young combatants exchanged blows. Most of the crowd was cheering Sasuke ahead, as to be expected since the exams were hosted in Konoha this year. Naruko tuned out their cheering and chattering, finally focusing on the fight before her.
Gaara had already formed a sphere of solid sand around himself, protecting him from Sasuke's rapid taijutsu attacks. Already, Sasuke had retreated, charging Kakashi's chidori in his palm.
It was just how she remembered.
Sasuke rushed forward in a burst of speed, his jutsu scoring the ground beside him, chirping in the birdlike noise signature to the technique. He thrust the attack forward, cutting through Gaara's "absolute defence" as if it were paper. Naruko ignored the cries of both the crowd and Gaara's twisted scream, glancing up at the sky, just as feathers began to fall. The crowd began to slump down in their seats as the genjutsu took effect, putting the civilians and lesser trained shinobi to sleep. The genjutsu was widespread, but not overly powerful, even genin ranked ninja were able to break it when they realized it was a genjutsu. Naruko flicked away the technique with as little effort as raising a finger, watching the Hokage's box. She needed her timing to be just right if her plan was to work. Around her, the jounin immediately took action, some running to the walls, other to the Hokage, and some remaining to guard the genin, who were on the verge of panic.
Smoke exploded from the Hokage's box, obscuring it completely from view. Naruko disappeared in a flash.
She arrived on the roof of the Hokage building at the same time as Orochimaru and Sarutobi. The Sound Four appeared all around them, hand clasped in a seal.
"Do it!" Orochimaru growled. Naruko used a kawarimi just as the four simultaneously activated their jutsu, the purple barrier of the four flames formation quickly appearing around them. She felt the coldness of a kunai pressed to her throat for a brief moment as she appeared in Sarutobi's previous position, before she spun, delivering a massive kick to Orochimaru's side before he had a chance to realize what had happened. He flipped in midair, skidding to a stop along the curved roof.
"So willing to die for your Hokage, now that is honorable," Orochimaru hissed, frustration evident in his tone. "But I have better things to do than fight you again. Release the barrier!" The Sound Four deactivated the technique, but even before the purple flames faded away Naruko was through with her hand seals.
"Katon: Tengoku no Geto (Fire Style: Heaven's Gate)!" Roaring flames exploded from the roof, shooting straight into the sky, forming a fiery cage around them, too bright to be able to see through. The Sound Four were forced to leap away from the flames, but quickly began to hurl jutsu at the walls in an attempt to weaken them. Their water jutsu hissed into steam, their earth jutsus faded into dust, and everything else only added to the flames. "You will not leave this place," Naruko said calmly.
"Who are you?" He asked. Naruko smirked. She'd been asked that a lot recently.
"I am your end. Turn to dust, Orochimaru. Katon: Karyu Endan (Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet)!" A massive dragon of fire erupted from Naruko's mouth with enough force to create a small shockwave, rushing forward with a roar.
"Suiton: Ja no Kuchi (Water Style: Snake's mouth)!" The two elemental constructs collided in an explosion of steam, the sheer force of the jutsu sending both ninja back a few paces.
"Mandara no Jin (Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes)!" Orochimaru's mouth opened grotesquely wide, countless snakes surging forward in a confusing mass of slithering bodies. Each mouth opened wide, a sleek blade emerging where their tongue should have been, each one dripping with poison. Naruko smirked.
"Katon: Ryuu no Iki (Fire Style: Dragon's Breath)!" The massive fireball tore through the thousands of snakes like so many blades of grass, their bodies turning to ash instantly. With some satisfaction, Naruko noted the slight fear visible in Orochimaru's eyes.
"You cannot win, Orochimaru. You won't be able to resurrect yourself when nothing of you remains."
"You are a fool if you think you can kill me," he sneered. Despite his words, he must have realized that his snake technique were useless against her. They burned too easily.
Naruko rolled to the side as Orochimaru's Kusanagi blade flew just past her head, the sword extending far enough to reach her in the blink of an eye, even though Orochimaru hadn't moved. 'So that's how it's going to be,' she thought, unsealing her own sword and activating her Moeru Ha (Burning Blade). His sword retracted as swiftly as it extended, and they both dashed forward at the same time, their blades meeting with a loud clang. Naruko went on the offensive, brutally striking down with her flaming sword, almost hammering Orochimaru to his knees. The close range better benefitted Orochimaru, however, and Naruko was forced to back off as snakes struck from his sleeves.
"Your attack is a failure," Naruko taunted, easily severing the snakes' heads a swift flurry of blows. "Just like the rest of your pathetic existence."
"You cannot keep up this barrier forever," Orochimaru countered, despite the sweat that was beginning to gather on his brow. It was true, keeping up the barrier technique at the same time as using other jutsus was beginning to drain her chakra. Such a feat would be impossible for most, the amount of chakra required was unheard of. Still, she hadn't even used Kurama's chakra yet.
"I want you to know," Naruko said, "I want you to feel...that you are about to die. You can't escape my fire." She released her full chakra with enough force to blast Orochimaru backwards, the air instantly heating to a fevered level, a heaviness weighing down on anyone who was nearby. She relished the fear in his eyes as her chakra smashed into him, cracking the roof around her. "Katon: Ten'nohashira (Fire Style: Pillar of Heaven)!"
"Yamata no Jutsu (Eight-Headed Serpent Jutsu)!"
"Hiraishin!"
Naruko vanished in a crimson flash, reappearing on the Hokage monument, where she had set a marker earlier. Orochimaru's body transformed into an eight-headed snake, so large that it immediately crushed the Hokage tower beneath its weight. Before he had even crashed to the ground, fire split the sky in a whirling pillar of flame. It struck him with enormous force, instantly obliterating what remained of the Hokage tower. His pain-filled hiss filled the air, each snake head writhing in sheer agony. It looked as if god himself had descended from the heavens to smite Orochimaru down.
Naruko watched silently as each of the eight heads burned, blackening and finally breaking away under the immense flames. Orochimaru's massive body twitched grotesquely as his flesh popped and sizzled, his blood boiling as his scales melted away. Naruko watched, unflinching, as his body turned to ash.
The smell of burnt snake made Naruko scrunch her nose in disgust, and she finally cut off the flow of chakra. The flames receded back into the sky, a strange silence beginning to descend over the village. Where the Hokage tower once stood, a deep smoking crater remained, without a single trace of Orochimaru. She stumbled forward momentarily, before catching herself. Perhaps she had overdone it a bit, at least without borrowing any of Kurama's chakra. Already she could herself reaching for his chakra, even if she didn't try to. Her whisker marks were already more prominent, and her eyes were slitted vertically like a foxes. Despite her slight fatigue, she barely took notice of any discomfort. With her experience, such minor symptoms didn't even slow her down. From her perch, she cast a glance over the rest of the city. Though the walls had never been breached, Gaara was visible rampaging in the forest in his jinchuriki form. Naruko sighed. Couldn't someone else save the day for once?
She disappeared in a flash of red.
Naruko dodged another of Shukaku's reckless swings, slashing in a wide arc with her burning sword. Gaara had allowed the bijuu all control over his body, his torso just barely visible emerging from Shukaku's head. She was wearing him down, landing cut after cut on his massive body. Above her, his roar shook the trees, filled with pain and blind rage. He had let go all control to his bijuu, and his attacks were wild and untamed. She was using two of her tails, and it was more than enough to outmaneuver him. All she had to do was find an opening to use Hiraishin to reach Gaara, and the fight would be over. She almost couldn't even register that he was the same person who she had known during the war. He was always a little cold, but she had almost forgotten the bloodthirsty sociopath that he had been when he was young. He had been a close friend of hers, especially during the war. Truthfully, she had been trying very hard not to think about him. She knew that they would never be able to have their old relationship, just the same as the rest of the genin. All of her friends growing up, all of the people she loved were back in a world that no longer existed. They might look the same as they did before, but they weren't the people she had known.
"To think we'd meet again, Kurama," Shukaku rasped, forcing her to dodge yet another blast of sand. Naruko frowned in annoyance. His attacks never landed, she was still forced to evade as he threw out jutsu after jutsu at her.
"You're gonna have to fight a lot harder if you want to talk to him," Naruko growled, firing off technique almost haphazardly at the massive creature. She didn't want to use Kurama's full power, since it would notify all of Konoha to her jinchuriki status, but as it stood it was difficult to deal lasting damage to Shukaku. Her fire wasn't very effective against sand, and Shukaku's defence was difficult to penetrate.
"What is he talking about?" Shit! Naruko whirled to see Sakura, Kiba, and Sasuke watching her. All three looked like they had seen better days, sporting a multitude of cuts and bruises. Their clothes were tattered and dirty, and Sakura especially looked ready to faint.
"This doesn't concern you," Naruko growled, turning her back to the trio so they wouldn't see her whisker marks or wild eyes. "Go back to Konoha."
"I think it does," Sasuke retorted hotly. Stubborn brat.
"You're going to get yourselves killed." She deflected a massive bullet of sand with a blast of fire, the genin flinching back as the jutsus collided in a shockwave of energy.
"We're here to help," Kiba said, with more conviction than he should have felt.
"You're outclassed. Get out, that's an order," she snarled. If they didn't hurry up and leave, there was no way she could fight a bijuu, not if she had to defend their useless asses at the same time.
"We aren't going to leave," said Sakura. Naruko really wanted to set the whole forest on fire. Was she so stubborn when she was a genin? Truthfully, she knew the answer was yes. Without sparing them a glance, she created a clone, which quickly grabbed all three genin, ignoring their angry cries, and disappeared in a shunshin.
Naruko waited a few moments, making sure they were far enough way, before releasing another two tails of power, grinning as Kurama's chakra flooded hot through her system. Her hair elongated whipping around violently in a wind generated by her own chakra, her canines lengthened slightly, giving her a feral appearance. The ground below her feet cracked under the sheer pressure of her chakra. She withdrew four Hiraishin kunai, balancing two in each hand, before she dashed towards Shukaku in a burst of speed. Her grin widened as he tried firing sand bullet after sand bullet at her, none of them even coming close to their mark. She hurled one kunai high into the air, then another straight at Gaara. As it raced towards the boys unaware body, she leapt into the air, covering her fist with flame as she twisted, already beginning her punch. Shukaku deflected the kunai aimed at his host, but took no notice of the one just above him. Before he could react, Naruko was over him, hurling another kunai downwards with her free arm, using the force of her rotation.
"Hiraishin: Ryuu no Koka (Dragon's Descent)!" Her spinning momentum was retained through her teleportation, adding massive power behind the flames surrounding her fist. The attack struck Gaara squarely in his back, obliterating his sand armor with ease. Fire surged forward, almost loud enough to overpower Shukaku's roar of fury. A moment later, Shukaku exploded into sand, sending Gaara plummeting to the ground below. Naruko followed his descent, landing lightly as Gaara crashed roughly into the ground. His sand armor was completely shattered, burn were clearly visible on his back where his skin was virtually melted away. Naruko released Kurama's chakra, the red energy that surrounded her fading into the wind.
"W-what are you?" Gaara rasped, his face contorted in pain.
"I told you before," Naruko said. "You shouldn't have started anything. You all brought this upon yourselves."
"You knew," Gaara said. It wasn't a question.
"Your plan might have succeeded if I wasn't here," she said, looking down at him impassively. "But there is no weapon strong enough to defeat me."
"H-how are you so strong? How do you justify your existence?" Naruko frowned at the strange question.
"I let go of the things that made me weak. I broke the chains that held me down." She could remember when she was his age, so full of anger. He was the same, albeit…a lot worse. Dimly, she noticed both Temari and Kankuro approaching warily from the side. "Maybe when you grow up you will see what it means to be strong." She spared one glance in the direction of the two siblings, then vanished in a shunshin.
"Destroying the Hokage tower, scaring the whole village half to death!" Jiraiya ranted, pacing furiously in front of Sarutobi's desk. They were currently in a much smaller office building, serving as the temporary headquarters of Konoha.
"I didn't destroy the Hokage tower," Naruko pointed out, "Orochimaru did."
"And then you used probably the biggest jutsu anybody in this village will ever see! You caused mass panic!"
"I killed him."
"Even so," Sarutobi interrupted smoothly, "you failed to notify me of your plan beforehand, there were already shinobi on standby to help neutralize the attack."
"It worked," Naruko said stubbornly.
"It the cost of massive property loss. You're lucky we evacuated everyone from the area!" Jiraiya exclaimed, glaring at her with uncharacteristic anger.
"You don't know Orochimaru's jutsu. He wouldn't have died to anything less."
"Mass. Panic." Jiraiya reminded her helpfully. She crossed her arms.
"Orochimaru. Dead. I'm sure you'll be able to handle the public. There's no way anybody saw that it was me who killed him. The damage was regrettable, but that is the price of victory."
"You're a cold bitch, you know that?" Jiraiya asked incredulously.
"I do."
Sarutobi sighed, reaching for the slight comfort of his pipe. This was going to be a long day.
"I let go of the things that made me weak. I broke the chains that held me down." The words played over and over in Gaara's head. That woman...she had power. True power. Gaara couldn't tear his eyes from their small campfire, the flames flickering and dancing in his vision. Beside him, Temari and Kankuro slept peacefully, their soft breathing barely audible over the crackling flame. "I let go of the things that made me weak." He winced as the burns on his back throbbed painfully. Even through his armor she had delivered such a blow… Nobody had done that before. Sasuke had landed a shallow attack on his shoulder, but this woman had given him something that would no doubt have a permanent scar. He was lucky his muscles weren't damaged permanently, but even through Shukaku's upgraded defences she had come close to killing him. He suspected she could have if she wanted to. Her chakra was so potent it made it feel like the very air was on fire, but she never went for a killing blow. It almost seemed unfeasible, that when almost nobody else could even touch him, this woman could toy with him in his strongest form. "I broke the chains that held me down." His sand slowly left the gourd beside him, almost silent as it began to accumulate before him. What was it that his father had once said? That nobody could love him? That his emotions were what weakened him? Maybe he was right all along. He had seen the proof with his own eyes. Emotions were weakness, those with true power were forced to walk a lonely path. And his was clear. She would justify his existence. When her blood stained his sand, then he knew that he would have the strength he craved.
His eyes never left the fire as his sand slowly wrapped around his two siblings, so gently it never even disturbed them from their sleep.
"I let go of the things that made me weak."
"Sabaku Soso (Imploding Sand Funeral)!"
"I broke the chains that held me down."
As he stared deep into the flames, tears began to fall.
The story has followed the events of canon up until this point...but that just changed. Temari is actually my favorite character so doing that physically hurt me. Reviews are always appreciated, whether you loved or hated it. As always, thanks for reading!