An: I would like to thank everyone that has reviewed as always. Also I'm sorry for making everyone wait for so long on this chapter. Things are finally settling down for me, so hopefully no more month long waits in-between chapters. Again, thanks for the reviews, your humble author S. o. t. A.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I'm doing this for fun not profit.
Chapter 55: A Mother's Love
Kakashi ducked under a sword swipe by Rin which cut a groove along the cement wall that he had been backed up against. He punched her in the chest knocking her back slightly, using the moment to retreat down a corridor of boxes. He spared a moment to look at the hand he had used, which had been his left. Looking at his right hand he saw the kunai he had clutched in it. Had he attacked using that hand, the fight would have been over.
"Damn it," he thought angrily, "Pull it together Kakashi. She isn't the Rin you used to know." Yet, despite the number of times he had told himself that, it didn't change the fact that she had been. Or that every time he found a small opening in her stance he could exploit he froze as he remembered the way she used to smile at him.
Despite how sure he had sounded of himself only moments before the fight, it had only taken a single pass for him to realize he was incapable of killing her. Running a hand along the slash in his vest it was a sentiment that Rin didn't seem to share.
Up ahead he saw the corridor of boxes opened up into some kind of intersection. Guessing that if he went right it would take him to the wall that he planned to destroy using exploding tags, which would lead him deeper into the village and most likely to Naruto, prepared to head that way. It was only years of combat experience that allowed him to dodge the sword slash as Rin appeared coming from his left having taken a faster route.
Avoiding several of her sword swipes, he blocked her last one using a kunai and begged, "Please, Rin stop this. Don't you care that Sensei's son is in danger?"
"You're the one that doesn't care Kakashi," she said unemotionally. "If you did, you would kill me and move on to help him. Yet your emotions make you weak and unable to do what needs to be done."
"Rin snap out of it, this isn't you," Kakashi said trying to reach his teammate.
Rin's stare hardened showing the first sliver of emotion that he had seen in her since their reunion as she bitterly said, "Like you would know the real me," before punching him in the side of the head. He staggered back only for her to follow up with a slash that cut him from hip to shoulder. However the two pieces of him turned into smoke revealing it to be one of the crates that the foundry turned warehouse was storing. As the kunai inside of the crate spilled over the floor she gazed at the numbers on it and used them to pinpoint where in the warehouse he had appeared at when he had used the replacement jutsu.
Arriving at the spot, she found a box missing from the organized rows as well as a blood trail that indicated her last strike had at least grazed him. Following it, she thought of the truth that Kakashi failed to grasp. That only one of them was going to put the tragedy that had been Team Minato behind them but the only way to do that was for one of them to cut the ties that bound them by killing the last member themselves.
Kushina fell to her knees feeling weak as the fact that the son she had dedicated the past three years to killing had saved her. She looked up to see Naruto standing in front of her protectively and felt tears enter her vision as he said, "You're the bastard that took her from her home."
"Ah, you must be referring to the genjutsu that Sarutobi placed on her," Danzou said smugly from the catwalk along the wall that he and his Root shinobi were standing on, "Yes that would be me."
"Place her back in it," Naruto demanded angrily, "You had no right to make her unhappy."
Kushina couldn't stand to hear that her son cared so much about her happiness considering what she had just tried to do. Her pain was further enhanced as Danzou said, "That is impossible. The genjutsu was a powerful forbidden technique of the Kurama Clan. However currently there are no Kurama with the ability to perform it."
Kushina put her hands to her ears squeezing her head in anguish, wishing she could make the pain and guilt she felt go away. "How… how could I be so stupid as to trust that bastard?" she thought before looking up at her son again thinking, "How could I have thought you were the Kyuubi."
Her eyes landed on an old rusty kunai that lay by her. Snatching it up she said, "Naruto, I'm sorry." She then flipped it in her hands and straightening her kneeling stance moved to plunge it into her throat. She had closed her eyes and felt warm blood hit her before a hand clamped over hers where the kunai had been sticking out from. She then felt a warm presence hug her from behind.
Opening her eyes, she could see that she had stabbed the kunai through Naruto's hand and that he was holding her hands away from her throat. Gasping she let go of the knife and Naruto moved it and his wounded hand away as he said, "Please don't listen to that bastard mom. I don't know what happened back then but I do know that for nine months you carried me and protected me. I know it's weird, but growing up I never doubted that you and dad loved me. So if there's a way to return you to the place where you were happiest, I promise I will find it."
Kushina stiffened as Naruto's words made her remember how as they had been stabbed through the chest by the Kyuubi, she and Minato had poured all their love into their son. Bittersweetly she thought, "Our feelings reached him Minato."
Before she could allow the guilt she felt overpower her again Naruto said, "Stay here Mom, I'll handle this."
As he stood, pulling the kunai from his hand and tossing it as far from them as possible, he said addressing Danzou, "I'm going to make you pay for hurting her."
"Is that right, boy?" Danzou said calmly, "Apparently Jiraiya didn't teach you tactics on your trip, we hold the high ground and a numbers advantage. But before we kill you, perhaps you will indulge me. What do you hope to gain by trying to ease the pain she feels? There is no benefit in it. She's already broken. She's a weapon that has lost its edge. She failed as a mother and wife, and even as the weapon to destroy the Kyuubi."
Kushina wrapped her arms around herself hearing Danzou's estimate of her. She noticed that Naruto who had been shaking with rage moments before seemed to be completely still. It was almost an unnatural stillness. But the despair she felt trying to grip her again seemed to be pushed away as Naruto said, "She's my mom, that's all the reason I need."
Danzou took a step back when the jinchuriki met his eyes, not quite comprehending what he was seeing. As according to his sources the boy's eyes would turn red when calling on the Kyuubi not yellow. "What…" was as far as he got, before he felt a sledgehammer like force delivered to his chest that smashed him into and through the wall.
Danzou recovered in midair. Landing he cut a path through the sand, taking in his surroundings he found that he was on the outskirts of the village. He cursed himself a fool, for underestimating the jinchuriki as he set about releasing the seals on his arm hoping his men would buy him enough time to do so.
Naruto glared out the hole he had made using Danzou as he saw the bastard recover from his attack. Occupying the space that the Root leader had moments before Naruto looked to his right and left seeing he had ten Root agents on either side of him. The man to his left recovered from his surprise first going for his tanto, but Naruto's draw was faster.
Naruto cut the man from shoulder to hip, but as a result of using his sage chakra his reach was considerably extended. So he didn't just cut through the man but the wall to his left, the man behind him, as well as the catwalk they were standing on.
The man behind Naruto tried to attack his exposed back, but wasn't prepared for the catwalk to lurch as a result of the damage it had sustained. Naruto was, and lashed out with a foot that hit him in the chest with enough force to send him into the far wall hard enough to leave an impression. From the red splotch that appeared where his head had hit Naruto knew the man wasn't going to ever get back up.
With the horrible screech of twisting metal the catwalk gave way, but only one Anbu had been unprepared for that, as all the rest including Naruto leap to different areas of the foundry. Naruto looked down to see the Anbu was pinned under the debris and as a pool of blood spread from beneath him figured he was down for the count as well.
Kushina watched transfixed as Naruto cut another Anbu down. But her heart leapt into her throat as it appeared for a moment that he had fallen for a trap as the rest of the Anbu who had taken up positions around the man he had killed threw hundreds of shuriken at him. However she relaxed as a wall of wind that moved around him almost like the Hyuuga's rotation appeared battering them away. To respond Naruto threw fifteen shuriken, one at each of the remaining Root members, flying through the hand signs the shuriken multiplied into thousands. The Root agents were caught in the hail of blades as they had expected to only need to dodge or batter away one not the thousands that had appeared.
As the last Root members body feel from the ceiling Naruto jumped to the hole he had made and smiling at her said, "Mom, I'm going to go kill that bastard who made you cry. I'll be right back."
He then leapt away. Looking around at the carnage Naruto had left Kushina wanted to make a flippant remark along the lines of, "That's my boy." However, considering everything, felt unworthy of making such a statement.
Danzou saw the blonde leap from the hole and cursed as he worked on the last seal. He felt further panicked as Naruto created a clone in the air that threw him at the struggling elder. As the jinchuriki descended towards him, the elder could see that he was holding a Rasengan behind him. Naruto still a dozen feet or so away brought his hand forward and the Rasengan expanded to engulf everything in front of him just as the last seal on Danzou's arm fell away.
When the jutsu ended Naruto looked around with a grim smile as he saw the crater his jutsu had created. He was about to return to his mom when he heard, "Impressive, it's a shame Sarutobi refused to hone you into Konoha's weapon.
Naruto spun but was kicked away as Danzou's leg connected with his side. Naruto skidded away and pulling his ninjato channeled his chakra into it creating a massive blade of wind and burying it where the smirking elder was standing. His attack left a deep scar in the ground, but he frowned when he spotted no remains.
Naruto sensed the attack this time jumping away from another kick landing a dozen feet away from the elder. Getting his first good look at Danzou since releasing his right arm Naruto noticed the multiple Sharingan eyes. Counting ten he wondered why one suddenly closed but before he could dedicate any real brain power to it was forced to react as Danzou fired an air bullet at him. Naruto countered with one of his own and the two attacks canceled each other out.
Glaring at the elder, Naruto asked, "Why are you so hell bent on destroying me?"
"There is no need to take it personally," Danzou said calmly. "I bear you and your mother no animosity. You are both simply obstacles that stand in my way of turning Konoha into what it was always meant to be."
"What would that be?"
"The only Shinobi village left standing," Danzou said. "For too long we've suffered from foolish decisions that have let our enemies thrive instead crushing them beneath our heels."
"What are you talking about?"
"I don't expect you to understand. You've never tasted war and have been indoctrinated with Sarutobi's philosophy. But that philosophy in turn led to your exile. Had we crushed Kumo at the end of the Second Great War, they would not have been able to send the shinobi that had attempted to kidnap the Hyuuga. Had we simply wiped them out, as I had wanted, your life would have been completely different. But instead Sarutobi was weak and chose peace, never understanding that all peace is the time our enemies use to prepare for their next attempt to wipe out Konoha."
"Better to be wiped out standing for something greater, than to last forever killing endlessly," Naruto countered.
"To hear that coming from what should have been Konoha's ultimate weapon only confirms that you need to be removed from the board," Danzou said. "But through your death Konoha will gain new strength."
"For some reason that doesn't exactly fill me with joy, especially if an ass like you is the one calling the shots," Naruto said preparing to attack again.
Danzou readied himself for the charge by pulling a kunai. Exhaling wind chakra onto it, he extended its reach and made it appear almost like a scimitar. Naruto charged catching Danzou wind blade and was surprised that the merely chakra blade held against his own. Exchanging several blows, Naruto took a slash along his back but spinning caught Danzou across the neck. Danzou's head went flying but then disappeared like mist. Naruto only had a second to gawk before he almost lost his own head as Danzou picked up where he left off as if nothing had happened.
Although the swipe of his Kunai missed, Danzou caught Naruto in the side of the head with a punch, and as Naruto's head moved towards the ground followed up with a knee that knocked him back several steps. Naruto quickly recovered but Danzou smirked as he noticed that Naruto's eyes had returned to their normal blue.
"It would seem that whatever that technique was, it has run its course," Danzou said closing with the blonde.
Although the loss of his sage mode worried him, Naruto hadn't become so over reliant on it that he feared mixing it up with Danzou without it. Creating a hundred shadow clones, he had them attack from all sides. Danzou responded by taking a deep breath and moving his head exhaled a large wind blade about him which destroyed a good portion of the clones. However the few that remained responded in kind with Wind Cutters of their own. Danzou avoided most of them, but one hit him directly down the center splitting him in two.
However, again reality seemed to rearrange itself so that Danzou appeared to the side of the jutsu that had just killed him. Danzou buried his kunai into the surprised Naruto in front of him which puffed into smoke and turning threw it into the one coming up behind him. The real Naruto appeared from the ground slashing upwards vaguely noticing that a third eye had closed and smiled as his blade hit home but was sent stumbling back as instead of a neatly bisected Danzou he was attacked by an uninjured one who buried his fist into Naruto's stomach.
"How are you doing this?" Naruto shouted feeling his rage getting the better of him.
"Wouldn't you like to know," Danzou replied smarmily, "but unless you figure it out soon. You'll be dead and your mother shortly after you."
"You leave her alone," Naruto roared, allowing the first tail to appear as he sent a chakra arm forward burying it deep into a surprised Danzou's chest.
"Make me," Danzou said before fading into mist again to reappear moments later unharmed.
Kushina moved to the hole Naruto had made and witnessed his battle with Danzou. She was trying to understand how it was Danzou was cheating death. But then she felt the familiar chakra of the Kyuubi as Naruto roared his response to something Danzou had said. The wind had carried it to her and she was quite sure that his roar of, "Leave her alone," had been about her. Knowing Danzou, he had most likely threatened her again.
She frowned as she noticed Danzou kept taunting Naruto all the while avoiding his attacks. She wondered at what the elder was playing at till she noticed a second tail form. She suspected that Danzou was hoping that making Naruto mad and letting him draw on the Kyuubi's chakra more would cause him to make a mistake that the elder could capitalize on. But when Naruto surprised Danzou, having sent a claw into the ground that had attacked from behind, and the elder had defended himself by creating a wooden barrier, Kushina arrived at the shocking truth.
"He's trying to get him angry enough that the nine-tail can escape and has somehow melded the Sharingan and first Hokage's jutsu in order to control it," she thought panicked. Dropping from the hole in the wall, she headed in their direction in order to try and calm Naruto down.
Danzou almost smiled as the third tail formed and the boy lost more of himself to the beast that he carried. He didn't know how many tails he would need to appear, but was confident that once the nine-tails took over he would be able to control it. Taking stock of his situation he felt that despite losing four of the ten Sharingan mounted in his arm that if he could gain control of the Kyuubi it would all be worth it.
He was already thinking of which of the many candidates among his newest Root recruits he could transfer the creature to when the fourth tail formed due to Naruto's anger and frustration. However, unlike the previous tails, this one didn't simply appear but when it did so created a massive burst of energy. It caused Danzou to stumble and raise his Sharingan covered arm to protect his eyes from the large amount of dust it kicked up.
From the dust a chakra arm appeared gripping Danzou's own tightly before pulling him off his feet and smashing him into the ground. What Danzou saw as the dust settled was that Naruto was covered in chakra so dense he was no longer visible. Two horrible white eyes gazed at him before the boy reared back his head to roar. The Kyuubi grinned at him and retracted the arm that it still had clamped around his own.
As Danzou came to a stop in front of him, the boy that had been Naruto leapt into the air, and landed on the elder's chest. He coughed up blood, unable to believe how much weight was being brought to bear on him. The creature raised its clawed hand and Danzou prepared to use Izanagi again. But instead of burying its claw into him, the Kyuubi began to smash its fists into his face over and over again. Almost as if it knew that by going for the kill it would trigger the jutsu which had allowed him to avoid a fatal blow thus far.
Danzou began to panic as he took more damage from the Kyuubi possessed boy. His fear stemmed from knowing that even if he used Izanagi he would simply reappear fully healed beneath the Kyuubi. He tried to think of some way to get from under the creature but due to the horrendous punishment he had already taken found thinking clearly rather difficult. Strangely the memory of the day the Second Hokage died appeared before him and he realized that much like then, the fear of death was overpowering.
"Is that why you choose Sarutobi?" Danzou questioned the old memory of his Hokage.
But much as he expected there was no answer. Yet he felt a rumbling beneath him and moments later a spear of water burst from his chest slamming into the Kyuubi and lifted it several hundred feet away. As he reappeared unharmed as a result of Izanagi, he noticed that Kushina was running past him her long red-hair blowing behind her.
Having lost a fifth Sharingan, the elder took stock of his chakra levels and was forced to make the decision to withdraw. Even if he could still control the Kyuubi, he doubted he'd be able to do so long enough to contain it. Looking at the battle between Kyuubi and Kushina, he smiled as it was possible that one or the other would be destroyed since when most jinchuriki lost control of their Bijuu the only recourse was to destroy it. Moving deeper into the village he would gather up the rest of his Root agents before setting up another ambush attempt before Team Kakashi could return to Konoha.
Kushina was feeling drained as she created a powerful Wall of Water between her and the Kyuubi. Creating so much water in such an arid environment was taking its toll on even her large reserves. However, she shook it off unwilling to fail her child now when he needed her most. She knew what the Kyuubi was doing to Naruto having almost fallen into the same trap once. But knowing and stopping were two different things. The Kyuubi's chakra claw smashed into the water wall, and although the water slowed the attack down it didn't stop it.
But as the water collapsed around the outstretched arm the Kyuubi noted that Kushina was nowhere to be seen. It narrowed its eyes as it tried to locate its previous host, but didn't need to as she shouted, "Looking for someone."
The creature turned its head towards her and was hit directly in the face by a Rasengan. The attack caused the Kyuubi to skid back several feet as she hadn't used her full power afraid she'd hurt Naruto. The creature grinned maliciously at her, and she knew that she had to act fast to prevent the next attack as little black and white dots began rising from the chakra surrounding her son.
In desperation Kushina called on her special chakra and formed metal chains which shot from her back into the ground. The chains then appeared around the Kyuubi crisscrossing it and holding it down. Already weakened, Kushina knew at best it was a delaying tactic since she would only get weaker while using the jutsu. As the chakra the Kyuubi admitted began to explode prematurely she lost sight of it for a moment.
She felt a measure of panic as red chakra began traveling towards her from the chains. She almost let go of her jutsu fearing the Kyuubi had found a counter but refused to abandon her son again. When the red chakra reached her it felt almost like pure adrenaline had been poured into her. Feeling her strength returning, she lifted her shirt to see the seal on her stomach that had been used to contain the nine-tails was visible. However, its design was different and recognizing some of symbols realized that in his final moments Minato had altered it.
In the three years she had trained in the Root base she had often wondered how and why Minato had been so prepared to face the Kyuubi. She still didn't have any answers to that, but felt she understood what her role was supposed to be upon seeing the seal. Minato had altered it so that she could drain away the Kyuubi's chakra and as the dust from the small explosions began to settle, she could see that was exactly what was happening as the beasts chakra was slowly siphoned away and into her. She figured as a former jinchuriki she was perhaps the perfect vessel for the malicious chakra. She also understood why Minato had done so and that so Naruto could train in mastering the Kyuubi's yang chakra without fear of it taking him over.
As the last of the Kyuubi's chakra was drained away Naruto collapsed into a heap. Disengaging her jutsu she ran to him and bit back a curse seeing him so badly burned. She gently flipped him over and cradled his head in her lap as she tried to apply the limited first aid jutsu that she knew. Remembering that one of Naruto's teammates had demonstrated Tsunade's freaky strength, as she had used to tease the older woman , figured she may also know some of her healing jutsu as well so as carefully as possible picked her son up to go in search of her.
Kakashi felt the Kyuubi's chakra pass over the warehouse. He cursed as he held his side where Rin's blade had cut him. Unsure of the situation, Kakashi knew that it had to be extremely bad if Naruto was falling back on the Kyuubi. But he only needed to take stock of his own situation to know that things were not going his team's way. At least as far as he and Naruto were concerned since they were facing people they had bonds with.
He only hoped the rest of his team was doing better as although he hated to admit it he was pretty sure he wasn't going to make it out of here alive without help. It wasn't that he suddenly felt the guilt that had been such a huge part of his life for so long returning. But that Rin seemed so hellbent on killing him, and his own inability to kill her. He never imagined that the words Obito had told him that day when they rescued her would come back to haunt him like this, but he felt that if he killed Rin he would become trash, that he would have truly abandoned her when she needed him most.
He could hear her approaching although he knew that she wasn't trying to approach stealthily as she had decided to use taunting in order to draw him out. "Tell me Kakashi," she said approaching near his position, "Are you beginning to regret saving me from those Iwa –Nin, hmmm?" Kakashi closed his eyes biting his tongue and holding back the denial of what she said. "Come now, don't be shy. You can be honest with me. Didn't you ever think, 'If only Obito had listened to me, things would have turned out better? I know I have."
Kakashi opened his eyes in shock hearing that Rin wished they had left her to die. "Maybe then things would be better for everyone."
Kakashi wanted to reply, to tell her that she was wrong as if they hadn't have saved her. Obito would have been unable to forgive himself and he may have become something horrible as well, a shinobi that cared for nothing but the mission. Which in essence, was exactly what Root was.
Rin suddenly threw a kunai in his direction flushing Kakashi from his hiding spot behind several crates. She cut off his escape and charged him bringing her tanto down in an overhead strike. Kakashi dodged it by stepping to the side. He then grabbed her hands by the hilt of the blade; pulling her towards him, he buried the sword into a crate behind him before swiftly snapping it by pressing his weight into it.
Kakashi then spun, kicking her in the stomach which knocked her back several steps. He closed with her exchanging blows, in which most of them ended up being blocked. He marveled that it was almost like fighting Gai as she refused to meet his eyes. However, her style relied less on brute force and speed as it did feints and counters. He had his world rocked by one such feint that turned into a full on kick that connected with the side of his head. But when she tried to press her advantage Kakashi blocked her punch and caught her in the cheek with an elbow. He then kicked her in the chest causing her to fall back but she quickly rolled to her feet. However Kakashi threw down a flash bomb blinding her and retreated down another corridor of boxes.
Hitting the back wall, he darted down the length of it slapping several exploding tags along it before leaping up and over the boxes into the next aisle hoping that if Rin was looking for him she wouldn't disarm the tags before he could blow them.
Finding a suitable spot to detonate them, he felt the Kyuubi's chakra begin to fade as did Rin who said, "Looks like that fight is over. I wonder who won."
Kakashi knew that it didn't matter as it was a fight that could have no true winner. He knew deep down that whatever controls Danzou had in place on Kushina would snap if she killed her son. And he didn't even want to think of what Naruto would go through if he had emerged victorious at the cost of his mother's life.
Knowing that as team leader he needed to be the one to shoulder such a burden. He swallowed down the revulsion he felt and blew the wall he had placed his exploding tags against. Quickly making his way through the hole, he took up a crouched position behind the rubble preparing for Rin to show. In the distance he could see a squad approaching and feared more of Danzou's men were on their way. But he pushed that aside for the moment as Rin quickly made her way to the opening peering out into the bright sun looking for signs of where he had escaped too.
Kakashi sprang from his hiding spot, channeling his chakra into his right hand using his Raikiri. Rin blinded by the sun nevertheless heard the jutsu as he closed with her. Backing up, she bumped into a crate and brought her hand up in front of her as if to ward off the blow channeling chakra to them. She knew it was over as Kakashi had her dead to rights and closed her eyes. Memories of her life on Team Minato flashed before them and then she heard the jutsu hit. However she didn't feel the pain she believed would be associated with dying.
Kakashi saw Rin accept her death, but saw memories of the woman from their time as teammates. Her showing up to practice always with a smile for him, or the many times she would make a lunch big enough for two with the hopes that one day he'd forget his and she could share hers with him. He also saw her after Obitio's death, looking sad and lonely. Despite knowing a simple kind word from him could have made all the difference in her life he had refused to give it. Since, he had felt unworthy of her affections, not only because Obito had cherished her, but because he had been willing to leave her to die. But as he closed with her, his hand held back about to plunge it into her chest, he saw the smiling teammate she used to be and couldn't bring himself to do it. Slamming the Raikiri into the boxes next to her, he wanted to say something to help break her out of her Root conditioning but found his ability to speak impaired.
He gazed down to see that the reason for it was Rin had called upon her medical ninjutsu and that her hand was currently pressed against his chest. Looking up he could see that Rin's eyes, which had appeared devoid of emotion before, were now wide with horror.
Feeling the life fade from him, he gave her a reassuring eye-smile and tried to say he didn't blame her, but found his strength failed him as he slowly collapsed. As the world went black, he could have sworn he heard Shizune screaming his name.
Danzou frowned upon feeling the Kyuubi's chakra fading, as the way it slowly tapered off told him that either some seal had been placed on the boy or he had found a way to overpower the beast. Neither of which made him very happy. He only hoped that the boy and his mother were sufficiently weakened so that his next ambush would prove too much for them. He was making a list of the various Root bases he could draw the necessary forces from when he heard a shout of, "Lord Danzou."
Turning to the sound he saw Idate running towards him with several squads of his Anbu from the Land of River's base. "Idate," he said confused but pleased figuring he could crush the Uzumaki with the extra manpower, "What are you doing here?"
"Lord Danzou," the boy said dropping to his knees, "Konoha has risen up against you. Your compound was attacked, the assault was led by Sarutobi and almost every clan was represented in the attack. I'm afraid you have been marked as a traitor and are to be arrested or killed on sight. We were followed here by a squad of kunoichi and I set a squad back to deal with them, but since they haven't returned it's possible that more Konoha shinobi are on the way."
Danzou at first was stunned, but then hearing that the home that he had dedicated over sixty years of service too, had so completely rejected him and his philosophy was taken over by a fury he had never known before. He could almost feel the Sharingan he had implanted in him begin to pulse as a result. But focusing on the kneeling boy said calmly despite the fury he felt, "Fine, if Konoha wishes to remain weak so be it. We'll show them the error of their ways by razing the village to the ground. For now we'll retreat to Site Ogre."
Idate nodded before pulling out a flare that he shot into the air. It burst into a green flame which the surviving Root squads knew meant they needed to pull out. As Danzou led the retreat he began planning for the future. He already was trying to make his complete defeat into a positive as he thought, "Its better this way. I'll be able to start fresh and once at Site Ogre we'll begin establishing a true shinobi village, one that will have the strength to wipe the rest of these so called villages from the face of the earth."
Shizune had seen the shinobi charge into the building after the wall had blown. Seeing the electricity sparking from his hand she had been sure it was Kakashi. She picked up her pace only to be greeted by the sight of Kakashi standing with his back to her and his hand buried in some boxes. She had a hard time imaging him missing but as he collapsed felt her heart stop in terror. She focused on what may have been his killer only to see Rin standing there looking almost as shocked as she imagined she did.
Rin's eyes focused on her and widened in surprise and for a moment she looked like she wanted to say something. Her mouth moved wordlessly several times and Shizune got the feeling she wanted to say it was an accident. But, instead Rin jumped up landing on the boxes behind her and she tried to jump away but Jiraiya having appeared said, "Oh no you don't." His ponytail shot forward to try and snag the young woman but was pinned to the ground by several kunai.
Rin landed next to Hyo, who had watched the fight as instructed. Still in a bit of shock she said, "I-I killed him."
"We saw," Hyo said unemotionally, "Congratulations." The woman didn't respond, nor did he expect her to, as almost all Root members went into shock after completing their final test. He had as well, but had emerged stronger. Rin may still go either way, but having completed her task and upon seeing the flare in the sky said, "It's time to go, Inu." The young woman just weakly nodded. She sent one last glance at Kakashi, but found her view of him blocked by Shizune who was desperately trying to save his life.
Sakura and Hinata upon feeling the Kyuubi's chakra had made their way in that direction, but hearing an explosion nearby had decided to investigate not willing to leave a teammate behind. Finding the hole they stepped inside to see a frantic Shizune using her medical jutsu on Kakashi.
Sakura immediately went into medic mode running up to them saying, "What happened?"
Shizune didn't respond and Sakura could see tears leaking from her fellow medics eyes. Jiraiya responded saying his voice tinged with sadness, "He was attacked by a medic. We believe she used a chakra scalpel on his heart."
Sakura nodded running a scan to see exactly what Shizune had healed and what damage remained. She could see Hinata standing near the hole still, biting her lip and she knew that although she was worried about Kakashi. With Naruto still out there in an unknown condition was probably desperate to go searching for him. "Hinata you can't really do anything here. Go find Naruto."
Hinata nodded and as she began to leave. Sakura noticed that Jiraiya also left with her, leaving Tsume and Hana behind to protect the two medics. Focusing on saving her sensei, she noticed that in her panic that Shizune was healing the massive bleeding, yet was overlooking the smaller and more sinister damage to the surrounding area.
Pulling Shizune's hands away the older woman looked up saying, "Stop it, I have to save him."
"I understand," Sakura said leaning over his chest and began healing him, "But you aren't thinking clearly. If you aren't careful you'll heal his heart, but if you don't take care of the damage around it, he'll still bleed out when the weakened arteries give way."
Shizune looked surprised and running a scan found that Sakura's diagnosis was right. Had she not been stopped she would have, saved him only to kill him. "Sakura…"
"I know," Sakura cut her off, "It can't be easy to have to heal someone you love. Just sit back and leave this to me."
Shizune nodded and took Kakashi's hand feeling reassured as Kakashi gave a weak squeeze back almost instinctively. As the color began to return to him Shizune popped a blood pill into his mouth and noticed that Sakura gawked a little as she pulled down his mask. When Sakura had pronounced that the worse of the damage was repaired Shizune thanked her. Sakura waved off the praise, and asked if Shizune could handle the rest as she helped search for Naruto. Shizune nodded and as the pinkette left she wondered how it was that Rin, someone that she had seen as a rival for Kakashi, could have brought herself to hurt him so.
Kushina was cautious as she carried Naruto, afraid that more of Danzou's men would be nearby. He grimaced in pain and although she wanted to run in search of the medic fought down the urge as he was already healing so didn't want to risk his safety by getting careless. But despite her careful approach towards where her clones had herded the two girls she was still surprised as a calm voice said, "It would seem you have come around."
Kushina spun to see Haku stepping from an Ice Mirror that at first she had assumed was a reflective window. Kushina nodded, but thinking of her son's condition said, "Where's the medic of your team. He isn't in any danger but..."
"Yes, I imagine were he conscious he would be quite uncomfortable." Then in a way that Kushina could almost see the smile on the mempo wearing boy's face said, "But I also imagine he would be content as well." Kushina smiled gently down at her son and Haku said, "Follow me," before stepping into the mirror.
Jiraiya had noticed the mirrors that appeared against several of the buildings. Figuring that meant Haku had not only won his fight, but was keeping tabs on the rest of the village took that as a good sign. He could tell the disappearance of the Kyuubi's chakra was bothering the young Hyuuga running beside him so said, "Don't worry, the brat's fine." Hinata didn't look too convinced so he added, "Trust me, the way the chakra died tells me that at the very least he's still alive."
"How can you be sure?"
"If he had been killed while in that state it would have suddenly stopped not slowly lessoned."
Hinata nodded but then asked, "The woman who attacked us. She was Naruto's mother, wasn't she?"
"Yeah, I'm afraid so," Jiraiya answered sadly.
"Why would she wish to see Naruto dead?"
"I'm not sure," Jiraiya answered, "But I'm hoping we'll get to ask her."
"You will," Haku said appearing from one of his mirrors, "Naruto's feelings have reached her and she is with him and Sakura now."
"Why, what happened?" Jiraiya asked since he figured Sakura was behind them.
"Danzou was here in person," Haku answered, "He attempted to kill Kushina. Naruto defeated him and twenty of his men, but Danzou managed to anger him to the point that the Kyuubi almost escaped. As a result he's badly burned but Sakura is healing him."
Before Haku retreated back into the mirror Hinata asked, "What about Danzou?"
"It appears they have abandoned the village as I haven't seen any of them through my mirrors," Haku answered stepping into the mirror with Hinata and Jiraiya following.
They appeared in a small apartment with Naruto resting on an old couch and Sakura standing nearby monitoring him as he rested. Kushina was standing in a corner by herself looking relieved, nervous, and scared. Undoubtedly she was worried about what to expect upon his waking up.
Hinata quickly moved to the couch, where she and Sakura gently fought for position hoping to be the first thing Naruto saw when he woke up. Jiraiya moved to Kushina who upon noticing the Sannin lurched forward hugging the familiar man saying as she cried, "I should have listened to you and Sarutobi. I can't believe that I could be so stupid as to believe Minato would seal the Kyuubi into him if he wasn't sure."
"Shh, it's alright," Jiraiya said leaving out that they believed she was being controlled.
Naruto awoke smiling at the two girls that filled his vision but hearing the crying called out, "Mom."
Kushina stiffened but Jiraiya pointed her towards Naruto. She approached the couch wiping her tears away as Hinata and Sakura made way for her. Kneeling she took his hand and began to say, "Naruto…"
But she was cut off as he said, "Mom, I meant what I said back there. I'll find a way to return you to your genjutsu."
Kushina felt the tears threatening to return. She fought them down but couldn't speak for a moment so shook her head. Naruto looked at her confused. When she recovered her ability to speak she said, "I've wasted so much time with you. I've missed so much of your life. I know I have no right to ask, but please…please let me be a mother to you."
"Did you ever stop?" he said causing her to break down and cry as she said, "Thank you," over and over again.
The other watched with gentle smiles as Naruto kept trying to find something reassuring to say to make her stop crying, but instead succeeded in making her cry harder. Eventually he settled for hugging her which she happily returned until she ran out of tears.
"Now that is surprising," said the deceptively childlike man in white who was as old as the Sannin.
"What is, Hiruko" Pain asked standing behind the Leaf Missing-nin as he examined the statue used to contain the Bijuu.
"Oh nothing," Hiruko replied quickly.
The Deva path of Pain narrowed his eyes taking a step closer but Hiruko's three shinobi Ichi, Nii, and San moved to block him. However, they backed off as Hiruko held up his hand indicating it wasn't necessary. "I was simply surprised to see that the statue was in such a condition. Although I suppose I shouldn't be considering the tales I've heard about the Rasengan."
"Indeed," Pain said dryly, "Now perhaps if you would be so kind, what is the extent of the damage?"
Hiruko gazed up at the statue and its damaged eyes again as he thought of how best to respond. As he did so he smiled slightly beneath the bandages covering his lower face that the great Akatsuki organization needed his aide in learning about what happened to the statue. Akatsuki had sent two of its members who he believed names had been Hidan and Kakuzu. He had let his shinobi fight the pair. After the Akatsuki members had emerged victorious and he had collected valuable information on their abilities he had made his own appearance.
Despite Hidan's wanting to sacrifice him to his heathen god, he had followed them as requested only to see an actual artifact left by the Sage of the Six Paths. In his quest to create the Chimera Jutsu, he had learned of the Sage's separating the mythical Ten-Tailed Beast into the nine beasts. He figured that if it was possible to separate something as powerful as that it must be equally possible to merge all the Kekkei Genkai into one body. Therefore a good portion of his early research was in artifacts left from the time of the Six Path Sage.
Turning to Pain he doubted the man knew what the true purpose of the Statue was so said diplomatically, "Perhaps, if you tell me what you intend to use the Bijuu it contains for I can best answer your question."
"I plan to create a jutsu of such devastation and horror it will end war. At least until they stop fearing it at which point it will inevitably be used again."
"Ah I see," Hiruko said, "Well in that regards you shouldn't worry. However, I'm afraid if you intend to capture all the Bijuu you'll only be able to store five of them. With four of the eyes destroyed holding and containing all the Bijuu is now impossible."
Pain stared up at the statue before saying, "What of the nine-tails? Its power was to be added last, can it still be added to the statue."
"Yes," Hiruko answered, "But I would add it last as before and it may be more challenging for you to contain the chakra as the other beasts were meant to act as a counter weight to its so to speak."
Pain waved a hand to two of his men standing in the shadows. Hiruko looked over to see a blonde man his long hair covering one of his eyes. He could make out what appeared to be mouths on his hand and standing next to him was a man in a mask with a single eye opening. The masked man looked up at the statue saying, "Ohh spooky, do we really have to be around such creepy stuff Deidara."
"Don't you ever shut up Tobi," Deidara said his patience with his new partner already at its limit.
Pain ignored the pair saying, "Thank you for your time Hiruko. We'll see that you are well compensated."
"That is quite alright," Hiruko replied following behind the blonde Akatsuki member his team following behind him, "Getting the chance to study an actual artifact from the time of the first shinobi was all the reward I need."
As he left Hiruko noticed that the masked man had remained behind, as did his partner who said, "Hey Tobi let's go."
"But I want to look at the pretty statue," Tobi replied.
"You just said it was spooky a moment ago," the blonde shouted.
"That doesn't sound like me Deidara, you shouldn't make up things like that."
Deidara began cursing, but continued to lead Hiruko away from the chamber. As he followed Deidara he thought, "Yes seeing that statue was indeed all the reward I needed as my benefactor will be quite pleased to know what it is that I learned from this visit. That the chakra chambers have been damaged and as a result the Bijuu it already contains as well as those to be added will merge into one new being." On an unrelated subject he thought, "The Rinnegan will make an excellent addition to my perfect body, but after I add your Sharingan, Kakashi."
As soon as Deidara as well as Hiruko and his group left Madara turned on Pain shouting, "You fool. Do you have any idea what your carelessness cost us?"
Pain stared calmly at Madara saying, "I was unaware that we needed all nine Bijuu in order to create our superweapon."
Madara calmed not wishing to let his true plan be learned of said, "We don't, but what do you intend to do with the four Bijuu we can no longer contain. If we leave them in their respective villages, the Shinobi world will not come to fear the jutsu as much as you hope."
Waving of Madara's concern Pain said, "No matter, we will still take the jinchuriki even if we don't seal their Bijuu into the statue. All that this changes is the order in which we target them, and for now we should leave that be. Hidan and Kakuzu are already laying the ground work to capture the two-tails, while Itachi and Konan will soon take the four-tails."
"Tch, fine," Madara said knowing that further complaining would only tip Nagato off to the fact they had different goals. "I'll begin looking for signs of the Three-tails return," the ancient Uchiha said while thinking, "While trying to find a way to best turn this to my advantage."
Once Kushina finally calmed Jiraiya stepped forward saying, "Well kid, I'm impressed that you sent Danzou and his cronies packing. But what happened to not using the Kyuubi."
Naruto winced and it wasn't from pain as he said, "I…I didn't use the Kyuubi until after my Sage Chakra ran out."
Jiraiya stood there for a moment before hitting him on the head saying, "What did I tell you that was supposed…"
When he had bopped Naruto both Sakura and Hinata had glared at the Sannin wanting to do the same in turn to the man. Haku had seen Naruto receive numerous such hits delivered by Zabuza so just brushed it off. Kushina however hit Jiraiya hard enough to smash the Sannin's head into the floorboards leaving a small impression. With her anger spiked, her hair rose and waved behind her like nine-tails as she said, "He's injured, so unless you want to join him in that category refrain from touching him."
"I think I already did," Jiraiya said rubbing the bump on the back of his head. Standing again he wobbled a little before saying, "But seriously Naruto, that was supposed to be your ace in the hole. Even if Akatsuki doesn't know about it, Danzou does and he'll be ready for you next time."
"I know, Pervy Sage," Naruto said, "But I couldn't stand back and let him hurt mom anymore."
"Well I hate to say it but we're probably going to have to train in mastering the Kyuubi's chakra now," the Toad Sannin said.
"What, are you nuts? What if I lose control again?"
Kushina took Naruto's hand saying, "Naruto…Jiraiya's right. Your father sealed the Kyuubi's chakra into you so you could one day master it I'm sure."
Naruto nodded until he realized, "My father… Dad was the Fourth Hokage!" Hearing that his childhood hero and the man he often wished had been his dad, even after learning that the man had sealed the Kyuubi into him, was truly his father Naruto passed out.
"Naruto," Kushina said, before spinning on Jiraiya, "Didn't you tell him anything?"
Jiraiya took a step back seeing her hair rising again said, "Hey now, don't blame me for this one. That was Sarutobi-sensei's bright idea." As Kushina's ire switched to Sarutobi the man in question felt a slight chill run down his spine.
Hinata smiled as they followed the procession back to Konoha. They had an escort from Suna, since once Kiba had caught up to Gaara's group and explained the situation the Kazekage had led a group himself to come to Naruto's aid. Kakashi was being carried on a strecher by a pair of Suna-nin with Shizune at his side constantly monitoring him.
Team Anko had arrived shortly after looking a little worn down and explained that Danzou's little lackey Idate had sent some Root agents to slow down their pursuit. Thinking of Danzou, Hinata frowned as there had been no clues as to where the traitorous elder had disappeared too. Even the Inuzuka hadn't been able to pick up any signs.
Her smile returned as she once more gazed at the chatting Blonde and his mother. Despite their initial worry at Kakashi's state Naruto and his mother were currently trading stories and generally getting to know one another. She truly felt happy for Naruto knowing that she herself would give almost anything to have her mother back. She laughed gently to herself remembering that as one of the Konoha shinobi sent to help them had seen Kushina said, "Dear Kami, the Bloody Habanero."
Naturally, that had led to her explaining how she earned the nickname by beating up several boys who had mocked her dream of being the first female Hokage. Naruto had then asked how he and his mom first fell in love. The story had left both her and Sakura seeing little hearts in their eyes, but felt it was no different then why they had come to love Naruto.
But as she walked behind the mother and son she knew that Naruto's life was probably going to go through quite a few upheavals in the coming weeks. She began to wonder if now was the best time to begin a relationship with him and as she thought that felt a presence besides her. Looking up to see her friend and rival, she was about to ask what she wanted, but Sakura made a small head gesture to follow her.
Moving to the back of the group she asked, "What is it Sakura?"
Slightly nervous the pink-haired girl said, "Well I was just thinking that now's not the best time to pursue Naruto."
Hinata smiled as the only reason she would have kept after him despite her reservations would have been because of her fear of losing ground to Sakura. Nodding her head she said, "I agree. I think we should give him time to adjust to having a mom and learning who his dad was." Sakura quickly agreed so the two agreed to a temprary cease-fire in the battle for the blonde's heart.
Itachi walked the gravel path that led to the hovel that his target resided in. He wasn't surprised to find his target waiting for him sure that the man had sensed the flaring of chakra as Konan handled the Iwa Anbu guards that had protected the area. He was surprised to find the man calmly waiting for him in a meditative position.
The man looked up at him calmly saying, "Ah, so it is you."
"Pardon," Itachi said cautiously approaching.
"Two or so years ago I had some visitors who warned me of your group," Roshi said rising from the ground smoothly.
"I see and despite the advanced warning you received due to the guards protecting you decided to stay to confront us," Itachi said removing his straw hat and unbuttoning the cloak he wore in preparation of the coming fight.
"Protect," Roshi said with some mirth, "No they are here merely to prevent the beast from falling into someone else's hands. Whether I live or die is inconsequential to them."
"Then why stay?" Itachi asked his manner sounding vaguely interested.
"For one regardless of how people feel about me, this is still my home. My other reason is that he may have been boorish and a brute. But Han was a colleague and I was probably as close to a friend as he had. He deserved better than to die by the likes of you."
"His as well as your own death will lead to peace," Itachi said believing in Nagato's vision.
"I have lived my whole life without knowing true peace. As a child I was denied it due to my status as a jinchuriki. Growing up I learned that there is no such thing as true peace, that it was a fairy tale. Even alone in my hermitage I could not find it. Therefore the only peace I expect to know is that of the grave, so what do I care what happens to this world after I'm gone."
"Then come quietly," Itachi said.
"Sorry, I owe it to Han to at least make you sweat a little," Roshi said dropping into his stance. The Iwa-nin then took off quickly closing the distance between them. Roshi's threw several jabs that Itachi avoided moving only enough to ensure that they missed. Roshi then attempted a spinning kick that prompted Itachi to leap back several feet.
Despite himself Roshi was impressed saying, "You are everything the rumors say you are, Itachi Uchiha. A shame you've seemed to have lost your way."
Intrigued Itachi asked, "What do you mean?"
"Your fists lack conviction. Almost as if you are already dead. How can a man that has given up on life himself bring about peace?"
"I assure you I am committed to my cause," Itachi replied surprised at himself since normally he would let such a statement pass without comment.
"I doubt that," Roshi said with a knowing smile, "If that were true you would plan to live to see it come to fruition."
Itachi's eyes widened that the man before him had read his future intentions so well. Although the poison currently passing through his system had certainly sealed his fate, he was forced to admit that he never truly planned to live long enough to see the world Pain promised to build. "Regardless of whether I'm there to see it or not, I plan to set the world on the path to peace."
"And I plan to destroy your organization one by one," Roshi said widening his stance and bringing his closed fists in front of him.
"Then let us see who is more committed to his goal," Itachi said charging the jinchuriki. But before he reached him geysers of lava began erupting around them.
One such geyser erupted right beneath Itachi but as the shadow of the man disappeared within the column of molten rock Roshi knew that it hadn't finished him. His eyes widened in surprise as he was stabbed in the back by the Akatsuki member who was wielding a kunai. But Itachi was forced to jump back as his kunai began to melt as the Lava clone began to lose cohesion.
Itachi searched the area but found no sign of his target until a hand grabbed his ankle from below. Roshi attempted to pull the Uchiha into the ground, since the molten rock that was running through the ground would almost certainly kill him. But Itachi burst into a flock of crows that flew away.
Pulling himself from the ground it was Roshi's turn to search for his opponent. The flock of crows returned flying straight at him. Calling upon his Lava Release he spit a stream of molten rock at the birds incinerating several of them. But a good portion managed to get in close to him, as they flew by him Roshi happened to make eye contact with one and noticed that it bore the Sharingan. He cursed knowing that it meant he may already be under a genjutsu but then the Sharingan changed to a variation he had never seen before.
The world around him changed into one with a blood red sky and looking at his hands he noticed he appeared to be grey. As he pondered what was happening he heard Itachi say, "Welcome to the world of Tsukuyomi . Here I control all and you will be tortured for the next seventy-two hours."
The next thing he knew Roshi found himself strapped to a chair, and before he could wonder what was in store for him an electrical shock passed through his body. He lost track of how long it lasted but lost hope when Itachi said, "Good now only seventy-one hours, fifty-nine minutes, and fifty-nine seconds to go."
Konan having finished off the last of the Iwa Anbu found Itachi on his knees coughing severely. Although she still didn't trust him, she was willing to admit he was no Madara Uchiha. As she found the quiet sadness that he seemed to carry himself with rather disarming. And even though he barely spoke during the entire journey to Iwa found herself rather curious about him.
"Are you okay?" she asked sounding as unemotional as ever.
Straightening Itachi weakly made his way to the comatose Roshi but before he could lift him found the man was being covered in paper. Itachi was surprised as the jinchuriki began rising from the ground figuring Konan would force him to carry the man. Feeling the strain of using Tsukuyomi as well as the poison working its way through him faster due to his using chakra said, "It doesn't matter. I only need to last a little longer."
Konan raised her eyebrow wondering what it was Itachi meant and as well as what it was that he hoped to achieve in this cursed world.