Hi no Ishi, Scroll One: Kannabi
Full Summary: As Orochimaru and his allies threaten to topple Konoha, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke are becoming the leaders of their generation. The question is, will they survive the Daiyonji Ninkai Taisen or end up like the previous Sannin – broken? AU diverging at the Chuunin Exams. FemNaru because I can. Team 7-centric.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, unfortunately.
A/N: OMG guys, I am so sorry I didn't update sooner! I was all ready to post this chapter when my computer caught a virus that deleted everything on the hard drive. Then I had to re-download everything including the Microsoft Office programs. And then I got sick. Like I-have-a-102-degree-fever-and-I-can-barely-move sick. Yeah. Not fun. Anyway, thank you all for your reviews. When I'm sad, or sick, or tired, I read all of my reviews. They make me happy. And yay, the plot thickens!
Glossary
Hi no Ishi – Will of Fire
Kannabi – Where the Gods Do Not Help
Daiyonji Ninkai Taisen – Fourth Great Shinobi World War
Nami no Kuni – the Land of Waves
Fuuinjutsu – Sealing Techniques
Shi no Mori – Forest of Death
Yuurei no Mori – Forest of Ghosts
We thrive in the chaos of the enemy tide;
Quiet shinobi don't need dens to hide.
Our only concern is to watch and to wait
Until the enemy lowers the gate.
-The Ninki
Chapter Seven: Sell Your Soul
"My, my, it's been a while, hasn't it, E?"
The Yondaime Raikage, a tall, heavily muscled man with white hair wearing metal gauntlets that wrapped around his forearms and a giant wrestler's belt as well as the typical robes of the Raikage, whirled around in his chair as soon as the snake-like voice reached his ears.
A man with long black hair and snake-like purple markings around his golden eyes lounged carelessly against the large window that made up the wall at the back of the Raikage's desk, his pupils were slit like those of a snake.
E recognized him immediately. "Orochimaru…" he muttered, his eyebrows furrowed with his fury."What are you doing here?"
"I have a proposition for you," Orochimaru said calmly, as if he couldn't sense E's building anger.
"I don't want to hear it! Leave, now!"
"Such a short temper. You haven't changed at all, have you?"
"OROCHIMARU!" E roared. The Raikage slammed his fist into the desk behind him, shattering it easily.
A twisted smirk spread across Orochimaru's pale face before he moved towards the center of the room. E, however, scowled deeply; his office was small and not exactly the best of places to fight in.
The Raikage's office was built in a circular fashion around a tall, cone-like mountain in the center of Kumogakure. E couldn't fight in the village properly, as the citizens of Kumo could easily be caught in the crossfire. That meant the only option would be to fight directly on the mountainside itself by using chakra to stick to the slippery stone slope.
That in mind, E activated his Kaminari no Yoroi and surrounded his entire body with crackling pale blue electricity. He raised his foot up and slammed it down, hard. It went straight through the metal and wood floor like a hot knife through butter, forming a hole that was a good four feet in diameter that E immediately fell through. He plummeted through the air for a second or so before he landed roughly on the mountainside, cushioning his fall with massive burst of chakra.
Orochimaru landed above him a few seconds later. Four cloaked figures jumped through the hole E had created and attached themselves to the mountainside in rectangular formation around Orochimaru and E.
"Shishienjin!" they announced in unison as they clapped their hands together.
'This…this is an Uzumaki Clan technique!'E realized. "Heh, so now you're going around stealing the techniques of others…you've really fallen, Orochimaru. But now, I shall teach you the true meaning of fear!"
0o0o0o0o0o0
"That bastard Raikage!" Orochimaru raged three days later. He was sitting up on a bed in a stone room within one of his many hideouts.
His arms had been cut off at the elbow by E's lightning-cloaked hand. Now, all he had was a pair of useless, bloody stumps. All of his ninjutsu, gone, just like that! E would pay for it.
"I'm sorry, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said again, adjusting his glasses with his forefinger. "I cannot reattach the limbs, once more than four hours have passed."
Orochimaru bared his teeth and snarled, "That piece of trash ruined all of my plans! I can no longer mark Sasuke-kun, nor will I be able to take on Konoha with only Suna and Oto!"
"Well, then the only choice is to ally ourselves to other villages, isn't it?" suggested Kabuto.
Orochimaru's eyes widened slightly before his mouth formed a cruel smirk. "Intelligent as ever, aren't you? I can easily manipulate the leaders of Kusagakure and Takigakure given enough time, and there are ways to convince Kiri and Iwa to join us."
"But that will take time, the original plan was to smash Konoha in one strike."
"Perhaps. But things will also be much more interesting this way; after all, a spinning pinwheel is much more interesting than a still one, and the Shinobi Nations have been still for much too long…"
0o0o0o0o0o0
Sasuke's hand skimmed over the scrolls as he searched for one among the thousands within his clan's archives. When Naruto had explained the full story of her clan and how she had gotten the Falcon Contract, it had reminded him of something. Years ago, a good eight months before the Massacre, his mother had told him the story of Uchiha Hana, a famed matriarch of the Uchiha Clan from the Nidaime Hokage's time.
Uchiha Hana had been the best among the handful of Uchiha who created ninjutsu instead of simply copying the work of others. She had created several katon ninjutsu, all of them named after flowers –Katon: Housenka, Katon: Yurika, Katon: Hana Bakuha, and the infamous Katon: Sakura Senpuu.She had also been famous for one other thing; finding the Cat Contract.
His memory wasn't perfect, but he vaguely recalled his mother telling him that generations of Uchiha had signed the Cat Contract, but only once they had been deemed worthy. The people who chose to summon the cats were put through a series of trials, and if they completed all of their tasks successfully, they would be allowed to summon the cats whenever they needed too.
It took Sasuke another thirty minutes to find what he was looking for: a thick scroll edged with red with the kanji for cat painted on to the end. Sasuke pulled the scroll out of its place on the shelf and unrolled it to be sure that it was what he thought it was. The names of several Uchiha, along with their handprints, were written on the scroll in blood. 'Perfect, 'Sasuke thought as he bit his thumb and began to write his name in the next empty space.
The moment he pressed his bloodied fingertips into the paper, a strange prickling sensation filled his whole body before he disappeared with a puff of smoke.
0o0o0o0o0o0
"Damn it, Sakura, I don't want to go shopping!" Naruto bitched as Sakura forcefully tugged the Uzumaki towards her favorite store.
"Too bad! I've had it with that horrid outfit anyway! Besides, we ruined most of our clothing on the mission to Nami no Kuni, so we need to get more."
"Oh, for-!"
With that, Sakura pushed open the door to Ryuusei's Shinobi Closet, which sold basically everything a shinobi needed. Ryuusei's sold the best weapons in Konoha, hands-down, and Sakura knew the owner's daughter, TenTen, pretty well. However, despite their rather impressive array of explosive tags and sealing scrolls, Sakura would go to Naruto for anything fuuinjutsu-related. Naruto's tags were as good as any sold in a store, and they were free too.
"Hey, Sakura, how're you doing? It's been a while." a brown-eyed girl whose brunette hair was tied up into two buns called from behind the cashier desk at one side of the store. She wore a pink, Chinese-style top and dark green pants cut off just above the ankles. A Konoha hitai-ate was displayed proudly across her forehead.
"I'm good, thanks, how about you?"
"Fine. How are your swords?"
"Sharp as ever. You just want an excuse to look at them, right, TenTen?"
"Damn straight."
Sakura's chuckles broke out into a full-blown laugh. Naruto sighed moodily, looking as if she would bolt at the first opportunity.
"So, who's your friend?" TenTen asked.
"Uzumaki Naruto, my teammate. We're here to get some new clothing."
"Sure. Do you know if she'd be interested in some of our weapons or tags?"
"Go right ahead and talk about me as if I wasn't here," Naruto spat out. "I have my own weapons, and my tags are better than yours, thankyouverymuch."
Sakura nearly gasped at Naruto's rudeness. "Naruto!" she reprimanded. "Don't be so rude!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever…"
TenTen, now looking slightly miffed, pointed out the clothing section to Naruto, who walked off, hands in her pockets.
Sakura turned back to TenTen and sighed. "I'm sorry, TenTen. Naruto's just…a little different."
"I've seen her type before. She probably went through some sort of childhood trauma." TenTen shrugged.
"Well, she is an orphan, but that's all I know. She never really talks about herself…"
"Anyway," TenTen said, "the clothing you ordered is ready."
"That's great!" Sakura chirped. "Can I see it?"
"Sure, I have it right here." TenTen said as she pulled up a roughly rectangular package from underneath the desk. "Changing rooms are in back."
Sakura sent TenTen a grateful smile before taking her package and walking towards the changing rooms that TenTen had pointed out.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Sasuke let out an irritated groan as he managed to avoid being crushed by the paw of giant black cat that was almost taller than the forest they were in. He was battered, bloody, bruised, exhausted, and thirsty, but the cats hadn't let up yet. He was on the last of the trials, and it was reasonably simple; he had to avoid being crushed until noon.
Thankfully, it was almost over. Sasuke dodged another vicious swipe that would have easily taken off his head before the cat attacking him suddenly stopped, an odd expression in his bright green eyes.
"Your trials are finished," the cat said. "You have passed the test and are now eligible to summon the cats as your companions in battle. You have proved that you have the determination and the will to not give up, true grit and willpower will bring you a long way. A shinobi is one who endures, remember that."
A cocky, proud smirk spread across Sasuke's face. 'I did it. Heh...'
With that, he fell into unconsciousness.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Twenty minutes later, Sakura had paid for her order and walked out the door with Naruto in tow, both of them wearing new sets of clothes. Sakura's order had been for a red dress similar to her old one, except for the fact that the left arm had no sleeve, while the right one was reminiscent of that of a kimono. She had also tied her hair back into a braid.
Naruto's outfit actually reminded Sakura a bit of Mitarashi Anko's. The eccentric purple-haired woman had visited Team 7 while they were training several days ago, and that short visit had already installed a healthy respect for the older kunoichi within Sakura; she had no doubt that Anko would seriously injure anybody that crossed her path.
Naruto's outfit consisted of a fitted, sleeveless, dark gray shirt, a forest-green skirt split up the sides, and mesh leggings underneath a black trench coat. The blonde was also wearing a pair of ANBU-style gloves, which Sakura found odd, since she knew for a fact that Ryuusei's didn't sell that particular model. 'Naruto probably just bought them somewhere else.' Sakura reasoned.
"Why were you so rude to TenTen, Naruto?" Sakura asked after a moment of silence. "You've never even met her before."
Naruto rolled her eyes and replied enigmatically, "Its better this way, in the end."
No matter what Sakura tried, she couldn't get Naruto to say anything more than that.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Sasuke sighed as he flipped through the pages of the book he was reading. 'Any sort of time-space manipulation takes an impossible amount of seals, all in exactly the right order. For what I plan on doing, I'll also need the hand seals for earth manipulation…in the end, it would take more than fifty hand seals. Such a technique would be virtually useless in battle unless the series of hand seals was somehow shortened. It should be possible for me to use earth chakra to get rid of the earth-related seals, but that still leaves a good forty or so seals for the time-space part of the technique. And then there's the matter of figuring out what order the seals go in…this isn't going to be easy,'Sasuke thought grimly.'This technique will take months, if not years, to develop, even with the Sharingan. However, once it's done, it will easily be S-Rank.'
Sasuke smirked cockily as he took another book off of the shelf.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Sakura sat in the center of a clearing, legs crossed, and hands resting on her knees. To the outside world, she was the perfect picture of serenity. Within, however, was another matter entirely.
The day after she had gone shopping with Naruto, Sakura had found two rather important things within her grandmother's scrolls; the Wolf Contract and notes on manipulating one's mindscape.
Sakura had immediately signed the Wolf Contract, and, after passing the rather grueling tests the Wolf Clan presented, read her grandmother's notes on the mindscape.
It turned out that for every hour that passed within one's mindscape, only one second had passed outside, making training within one's mindscape an ideal practice by allowing training to be completed in one-sixtieth of the time it would normally take. However, staying within the mindscape for an extended amount of time could cause irreparable damage to one's brain, so it had to be used cautiously.
Sakura's mindscape, ironically, was an open field populated by cherry blossom trees. Information was engraved on to some of the trees, detailing every moment of her life. Other trees were engraved with a name; those, she found out, revealed her feelings toward that person when she touched them.
It was here that she had been finishing her training with fire manipulation.
Sakura closer her eyes and breathed deeply to calm herself and her chakra before her hand lashed out through thin air. A crescent-shaped arc of flame exploded from her hand and sliced through the air before dissipating a moment later.'Well, at least I've got a seallessKaton: Kaen Engetsudown...'Sakura thought.
Sakura attempted to form a ball of flame in her hand, but failed. She grimaced, but continued her training.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Across Konoha, Naruto sat in a hidden corner of the Shi no Mori, surrounded by a complicated, spiral-shaped seal she had found during one visit to the Yuurei no Mori. It was well beyond her abilities to replicate, but she could supply the chakra to use it.
Once a certain amount of chakra was used within the area of the seal, it would suck in and contain any and all chakra within a twenty-meter radius. It was perfect for what she was planning.
What Naruto was about to do was probably incredibly stupid, but she couldn't bring herself to give a shit. She was tired of constantly fearing that the Bijuu within her would take control, she was tired of watching her every move and reacting violently towards surprises for fear that she would find an Akatsuki member around every corner, She was tired of living in a village where sixty percent of the people hated her guts so in short, she was tired of being a jinchuuriki, not that she could do much about it. But…she could find a way to use the Kyuubi's power like the Yondaime had intended in the first place. Kakashi had been right; after she did a little more research on the Yondaime Hokage, it had become clear that he was a merciful, kind man and not one likely to create a jinchuuriki without good reason, he must have had some ulterior motive. A couple of weeks ago, Naruto had discovered that the seal was partially reliant on her own willpower and chakra; an inanimate object didn't have such things, which would have caused the seal to be much weaker, and that would have been a very, very bad thing. Also, although it was a stretch, it might have been possible for him to have somehow known of Uchiha Madara; it would certainly make sense. It also seemed plausible that Madara was somehow involved in the Kyuubi Attack, since he had used the Kyuubi during his final battle against the Shodaime Hokage. Naruto knew Madara's life better than her own; after she had met him, she had frantically searched for any sort of information on the former Uchiha Clan leader. However, she had overlooked one source; the Kyuubi himself.
Not that that was the whole reason she was going to speak with the strongest Bijuu. She had other motives as well.
Naruto settled down in the center of the seal and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she was looking within, not without. Her mindscape wasn't the most welcoming; it was made completely of ice and was devoid of any sort of cheer.
"Let the lost be forgotten, and the rest never forgiven…" an eerie voice whispered.
Naruto jumped. 'Heh,' she thought, snorting, 'Afraid of my own mind.' Naruto cracked her knuckles before taking a better look at her surroundings.
It seemed to be a maze of sorts; mirrors, doors, and passageways filled Naruto's line of sight, she let out a heavy wave of chakra that confirmed her guess; twisting halls, walls, and dead ends seemed to fill her mindscape. Every once in a while, a door would appear, and some of them had kanji engraved into them while others were seemingly blank. 'I really have to hone my sensory abilities,' Naruto decided. 'At the moment, the only way I can sense things is by letting out a burst of chakra and using it as a sort of sonar, but it takes so much chakra that any shinobi worth their salt is able to feel it.'
Naruto moved forward and placed her hand on the mirror embedded into the wall of ice. As soon as she touched it, a reflection of herself appeared. However, the reflection had crimson eyes with slit pupils and its whisker marks were much thicker and darker than they were on her.
"Fire to ashes, diamonds to dust, all things go as they must…"
Naruto shuddered jerked her hand backwards. As soon as she broke contact with the mirror, the reflection disappeared. 'These mirrors…they're not normal. It's almost as if they show different parts of myself that I keep hidden, deep inside…'
Naruto turned towards another mirror, and willed it to show her its contents. A small, blonde girl slowly faded into view. She was curled up into a fetal position, crying. Her bangs hid her eyes from view. "Alone, I cry in a world so cold, where hidden truths lie, untold…"
Naruto gulped and willed the picture to disappear. 'That…that was me, from a long time ago.' She shivered, but it wasn't from the cold. She shook her head viciously before wandering down one of the halls, hopefully towards the Kyuubi.
Naruto wandered through the halls of her mind for what felt like hours, the eerie whispers of her reflections following her the whole way. Finally, at the very edge of her range of detection, an ominous, vile, chakra made itself known. Naruto immediately headed towards the source of the chakra, thinking, 'That has to be the Kyuubi.'
It only took her ten or so more minutes to find the location of the Kyuubi's seal. Two rose out of the ground, formed completely of ice. The kanji for seal was engraved upon the area where the two gates met. "Kyuubi." Naruto called out calmly. The water in her breath froze upon contact, but surprisingly, she didn't feel cold.
Slowly, two giant eyes opened from within the depths of the cage. They were exactly like the ones she had seen in the first mirror – only this time, they belonged to a Bijuu, not a reflection. "So you've finally come to me, fleabag?" the Kyuubi sneered.
"I have," Naruto said stolidly. "and I'm here to make a deal with you."
Four monstrous claws the size of fifty-year-old tree-trunks lashed out through the bars of the Kyuubi's icy prison. "Do not test me, fool!" the Kyuubi roared, letting out a huge blast of killing intent.
Naruto trembled at the pressure of the Kyuubi's chakra. 'What an inhuman energy,' she thought. 'It's no wonder the Bijuu were so feared.' "I can test you all I want," Naruto taunted. "With that seal there, it's not like you can do anything."
This time, the Kyuubi's full body entered Naruto's sight. He was absolutely huge; his head alone was easily the size of a tall building, while his body was easily comparable to a small mountain. He threw all of his massive weight against the gates, causing the bars to rattle and creak against his weight. "I may not be able to escape now," the Kyuubi snapped, "but whenever your emotions boil, it is another matter entirely. Surely you haven't forgotten what you did to that scarecrow?"
Naruto flinched backwards at the reminder of what had happened on that fateful bridge. "Then I won't allow my emotions go out of control," she retorted sharply. "I won't let you beat me, you overgrown, rabbit-eared ball of fluff!"
Instead of sending him deeper into his rage, Naruto's words seemed to amuse the Kyuubi. The Bijuu began to laugh hysterically. Eventually, the fox calmed down enough to say, "Your audacity humors me, fleabag. What is this deal you speak of?"
Naruto smirked. "As I am sure you are aware of, you are weak as you are now. You are trapped within what you see as a weak, frail prison."
"Get to the point, brat!"
"There is no guarantee that you will escape even if I die. We can either be strong together, or weak together. There is no middle road. I want you to give me full access to your chakra –withoutthe risk of you hijacking my mind."
"Fool! You think you, a weakling of unmatched caliber, would be able to control my chakra, even if I was willing to give it to you?"
"You've lived in my body for almost thirteen years, you've caused me an unimaginable amount of pain, you are the reason I will have to spend the rest of my life running from one of the most powerful shinobi to ever walk this land, forever afraid of what hides in the shadows. I think you owe me this much, at the very least. As for me not being able to control your chakra…you never know until you try, right?"
The Kyuubi snorted. "Hehe, you have guts, I'll admit that. All right then, I'll give you access to my chakra – but only if you can pass this test! I'll give you my chakra, but you'll have to figure out how to control it by yourself!"
With that, the Kyuubi retreated back into the depths of his cage while crimson chakra poured towards Naruto. As soon as it made contact with Naruto's feet, pain caused by what felt like the hottest of fires coursed through her body. She shuddered, and began to scream. "Sonovabitch!" she grit out.
She was there for another hour and a half...
0o0o0o0o0o0
Jutsu List
Kaminari no Yoroi
English: Lightning Armor
Rank: A
Classifications: Nintaijutsu
Description: The user turns a significant portion of their chakra into lightning and molds it around their body to form a "cloak" of electricity. The Yondaime Raikage based this technique off of the Bijuu Cloaks of the jinchuuriki.
Shishienjin
English: Four Violet Flames BattleEncampment
Rank: B
Classifications: Ninjutsu, Mid-Range, Offensive/Defensive
Description: Four people form a rectangle around whatever it is they wish to contain. After the necessary hand seals are completed, four walls and a ceiling of purple chakra will form, creating a cage-like prison. Anybody that comes into contact with the wall will burst into purple flame.
Katon: Hana Bakuha
English: Fire Release: Flower Explosion
Rank: A
Classifications: Ninjutsu, All Ranges, Offensive
Creator: Uchiha Hana
Description: After the hand seals are finished, balls of fire about the size of aHousenkafireball will seemingly melt out from the user's body before exploding outwards in all directions. The fireballs are blue and white in color.
Katon: Sakura Senpuu
English: Fire Release: Cherry Blossom Whirlwind
Rank: S
Classifications: Ninjutsu, All Ranges, Offensive, Kinjutsu.
Description: Once the hand seals are completed, hundreds of largeGoukakyuu-sized fireballs will form in the air within a 20-meter radius of the user. Torrents of chakra meant to reinforce the technique discolor it, turning the fireballs dark purple, blue, white, red, and occasionally black. The fire can then be controlled and manipulated at the user's will. Because this technique does not discriminate between friend and foe, it was sealed and marked as a kinjutsu.
Katon: Kaen Engetsu
English: Fire Relase: Flame Crescent Moon
Rank: C
Classifications: Ninjutsu, Mid-Range, Offensive.
Description: After the hand seals are finished, the user makes a slashing motion with their arm. A trail of fire will follow their fingertips and form a crescent-shaped blade of fire that will fly towards the desired direction for 10 meters before dissipating.
The title of this chapter is Sell Your Soul by Hollywood Undead.
B/A: Hey everyone, this is the new beta speaking! I'd just like to introduce myself to all the faithful readers of this fanfic, 'cause its the nice thing to do, y'know? I'm Pancake of Epic Proportions, and I hope I do a good job beta-ing this story~ You all most likely won't see many notes from me, so...yeah. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!