Well, look who decided to show up.
Did you all miss me? Probably not. After all, it's been seven months, and Purge only has five chapters to its name. If any of you did notice my absence, then I should probably both thank you and apologize. Thank you for waiting when it seemed I dropped off the face of the Earth, and apologize for making you wait for so long. No excuses or anything, and I don't really want to get into details.
Moving on, this chapter is definitely shorter than the previous, actually only half the size. This one is nine pages, as opposed to chapter three's monstrous eighteen. Word count, excluding A/Ns, is 4263. I've also updated the summary. Purge never left my mind during this little hiatus (can I call it that?), so I feel the evolved story deserves an evolved summary. I won't drag this on though, I'm sure the lot of you who stuck around will want to get right into the reading. The super-duper long A/N will be at the end of the chapter.
Note: This chapter is dedicated to DemonKingSamael, who sent me an angry PM (but it was also one that filled me with pride) a few months back demanding this chapter. If you're still waiting... well, you got closure I guess! And... er, thanks for your dedication.
Note 2 (SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT): This chapter was typed up over a span of several months, during which my typing abilities varied. As a result, the quality of this chapter may vary in some parts. I've done my best to clean it up, but I'm sorry if this minor detail disrupts your reading in any way.
Disclaimer: It's a damn good thing I don't own Naruto. Otherwise, the manga would still be on chapter five. (Har har, get it?)
"I woke up in a forest. On a hill to be precise, a hill that overlooked a meadow. The flowers were in full bloom, and I couldn't help but feel at peace, despite my vague memories regarding battles and the overwhelming stench of death."
Purge
Arc 1- Chapter 3: A Circumstance
The miniscule fire burned brightly on the wax, the melting white slowly made its way down to the dish. A man sat at a desk, hunched over the candle as he read the seal of the scroll. It had come in from a messenger hawk late at night, which meant it was urgent, but was redirected away from the Hokage for obvious reasons. Couldn't have the old man getting suspicious, of course.
Biting down on his finger, the man spread the blood over the small seal. A soft "poof" was heard, and he opened the scroll.
Sir,
The spy is in place and will be feeding us information back from the location by tomorrow. Hopefully, given his status, he will be allowed access to high level intelligence which will give us a good head start to counter whatever plans they have. We are currently setting up base in the nearby forest about ten miles to the west of the location. We will stay in touch. Also, I suggest you burn this as soon as you finish reading, we have word the Hokage is tightening his grip again.
Team Beaa
Member 2
The man finished just in time to hear the door open, and he quickly shut the scroll. He prepared a rude retort, but held his tongue when he discovered who had entered his office. "Yes, Danzou-sama?" He stood to bow, however the bandaged man's dismissive wave brought him to his seat once again.
"I heard the message got in. Report."
"He has been accepted and is currently trusted as a valuable asset. The team is setting up base ten miles to the west of the target, and information will begin to flow in tomorrow."
Danzou paused, then growled, "And why not immediately?"
"With all do respect, Danzou-sama, if he just started rifling through the data immediately they would think something was suspicious and-"
"You do know who we are talking about, correct?" the older man interrupted, his visible eye narrowing.
"Of course, but still...!"
"Fine, it is better than nothing at all. But let me make this crystal clear to you: we need to hurry. Delaying is not an option... not even considered an option! The sooner we start, the better the chances. Remember, we are after the same prize, and it is imperative we are the victors in this matter!" With that Danzou turned to leave, the man only responding with a sharp, "Hai, Danzou-sama!"
C'mon, Sasuke, you gotta get up! The young Uchiha forced himself to his feet, the many senbon still piercing his body. They impeded his movements somewhat as they grinded against his body's natural movement, like a rock breaks the current of a river. Sasuke knew he couldn't remove all of them without giving Haku yet another opening, so he forced himself to bear with the pain. Thankfully they hadn't been poisoned. Sasuke glared at the Haku duplicate in front of him, onyx eyes searching for a possibly exploitable weakness.
"You have already lost this battle," Haku spoke, "There will be no escape from this place. Your death shall be within these walls." Well, wasn't that a motivational booster? As if to affirm the fact, several more senbon appeared in Haku's hands.
There has to be a pattern! Sasuke thought desperately. His eyes were darting around, looking at every little detail within the mirrors. He squinted when he thought he saw a blur moving between two of the mirrors. He looked between two others, and sure enough there was another blur.
Bingo.
Sasuke whipped out a kunai, throwing it where he thought the mysterious thing would appear next. It sailed harmlessly out of the mirror dome, never connecting with the intended target. In response, Haku threw more senbon towards the Uchiha, though this time there were only nine. Sasuke jumped up and backwards, avoiding the deadly projectiles with surprising agility considering his current state. Once he landed, reasoning kicked in and he dashed back into the center of the dome. Doing that gave him an equal chance to dodge the needles from all sides. Sasuke unsheathed another kunai, looking intently at the spaces between the multiple mirrors. The evil blur was spotted soon enough, and Sasuke was mildly surprised when it looked slower than before. Knowing this was his opportune moment, he threw the kunai a little ahead of the blur, as to lead the target. He saw the steel barely scrape it, and he allowed himself a small smirk, if only for an instant. He was getting closer.
Naruto stayed low as he ran, the chakra blade extensions scraping against the ground kicking up dust that pooled behind him. The Kyuubi replica ran next to him as they both charged Zabuza. The missing-nin swung horizontally when they entered his range, but they both jumped over the massive sword. Naruto engaged him directly while the Kyuubi flipped over and landed behind Zabuza. Naruto went for a stab with his right blade, but Zabuza dodged him by leaning to the left. He then countered the genin with a knee to the gut. Naruto went with the blow and flipped backwards. He kicked off as soon as his feet touched the ground, locking both blades in a cross-strike against Zabuza's blade, which was positioned vertically.
This kid definitely wasn't this strong before, Zabuza thought. It has to be that weird chakra.
The two ninja disengaged, and Zabuza was about to swing horizontally once more when he felt a strange tugging sensation on his left arm. He looked to see a black wisp-like tail rapped around it, the owner of the appendage being the Kyuubi replica. Naruto saw this opening and wasted no time in taking advantage of it. He ran full force, aiming his chakra blades to stab Zabuza through the heart. He felt the connection, but his momentary happiness in the victory was soon replaced with the anguish of knowing he had missed the target; there was a poof of smoke.
Zabuza was thanking Kami for whoever invented the ever-so-useful Kawarimi no Jutsu. He had felt the burning sensation when the blades had connected with his chest; a second later and he would have been run clean through the heart. As for the chunk of building steel he had replaced with... well, that wasn't so lucky. Knowing that the blonde genin was certainly out of the ordinary and he was more dangerous than he looked, Zabuza planned a tactical retreat from the area. The pink one was no problem at all, neither was the emo kid. The problem was Kakashi and the blonde kid, who was almost certainly mid-chuunin level now that he activated that crazy chakra. He had faith in Haku's skills, but if the blonde kid engaged him with those chakra blades they would probably melt right through the ice mirrors. That wasn't good.
As if to further cement Zabuza's doubt in the current situation, he heard a loud crashing noise and looked over to see the black haired genin shoulder Haku through one of the thin spaces between two ice mirrors, shattering both of them in the process. Zabuza swore he saw a flash of red in the young boy's eyes and muttered a couple of choice profanities under his breath. He was about the go to the aid of his apprentice, but was halted by the sound of chirping birds and the consequential spike of chakra.
"Raikiri!"
Zabuza chuckled. Kakashi can't be serious, can he? I can just dodge and-
His train of thought was cut off as he felt another large increase of chakra, this time behind him. He looked just in time to see four black chakra tails wrap and constrict his arms and legs, effectively destroying all modes of transportation.
Ah shit.
And the game had ended. Zabuza sighed. "Tell sensei I'm sorry."
Kakashi paused momentarily. "Excuse me?"
"Tell Yoshirou-sensei I'm sorry. I had... no other choice. He'll understand."
The Sharingan user nodded. A dead man's last request. He could honor that. Kakashi ran forward, knowing the deed had to be done. The chakra tails preventing Zabuza's mode of transportation unwound, and a demonic shout of "Kit!" could be heard. But it was too late.
The Raikiri pierced his heart, and Momochi Zabuza's body landed on the cold bridge with a thud.
Naruto wobbled on his feet. It felt as though his entire body was burning from the inside out. The chakra swords dissolved; blood flowed as their replacement. His vision blurred, and the young genin fell face first onto the bridge's hard surface.
Haku was getting worried. Not only had the genin figured out what the weakness in the jutsu was, but he had actually managed to scrape him with a kunai. It didn't provide for a crippling injury, but nevertheless Haku knew that if the genin got any closer things would get a little painful. The only solution to this problem, he reasoned, was to increase the pace and the rate of attacks. And that's exactly what the hunter-nin did.
Sasuke was shocked when Haku once again blurred and resumed his earlier speed. He was thrust onto the defensive as more senbon flew towards him, intent on ending his life. The young Uchiha's body moved on its own, deftly dodging needle after needle. In all his focus, though, Sasuke neglected the area behind him, and that was all it took for a senbon to find its mark.
Sasuke hissed in pain and jammed his eyes shut as his brain registered the sharp pain in his left shoulder. He hadn't expected to be hit in that particular area. His chakra fluctuated, his body sensed the imminent threat to his life as more and more senbon pierced his back. A barrier was broken.
When Sasuke opened his eyes, he found everything clearer, and could once again trace Haku's path.
What the hell? He thought, but quickly shook his head. Gotta stay focused. He launched himself towards Haku, who was once again moving between ice mirrors. Sasuke knew he wouldn't make it in time to intercept him, so he stopped and waited for the next opportune moment. After more dodging and waiting, the young Uchiha found he could trace Haku's path. He positioned himself to make the connection at the next ice mirror. Sure enough, Haku crossed his path. Sasuke smirked, lowered his shoulder, and prepared for the inevitable impact. He felt his shoulder connect with Haku's gut and the subsequent smashing of the ice mirrors. Crimson eyes opened and watched in mild glee as both he and Haku landed on the bridge, outside of their previous battleground.
Haku was the first to stand. "I see you have unlocked your clan's bloodline. It is called the Sharingan, is it not?"
Sasuke didn't say anything, merely entering a stance.
"I see. Your arrogance flows off of you in droves. It will get you killed."
"Shut up."
Haku closed his eyes behind his mask. "Do you have a dream?"
"My ambition is to kill a man who has done myself and my family a great injustice."
"Your 'ambition' will get you killed, as well."
"I said shut up! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Sasuke retorted, rapidly flying through hand seals. In his anger he pumped more chakra into the technique than was required, and the outcome was a fireball quite larger than his others had been. Haku transitioned to a handstand and vaulted over the fireball with deft ease.
"The strive to defeat one man who is ten times more powerful than yourself will result in your death. He will defeat you with a swipe of his hand. Your blood staining the ground will mean nothing to him. He will walk away and continue to pursue his own goals, without ever sparing a glance back at your rotting corpse." He formed seals of his own. "Hyouton: Aisukugi."
Several spikes made of pure ice erupted to the surface where Sasuke had stood only moments before. He had had enough intellect to jump clear when he heard the rumbling that signaled the beginning of the jutsu.
Sasuke removed three kunai from his pouch, holding two and placing one in his mouth. He landed and threw one towards the hunter-nin. Haku merely sidestepped it. Seeing what the Uchiha was doing, he equipped three senbon in each hand, holding them between his fingers like claws. Sasuke rushed forward and locked his two kunai against Haku's senbon. He hated how he was so agitated, yet the masked bastard's posture was so calmed, so tranquil, even though he was fighting for his life. It was as if he was at peace.
"Show me your face," he commanded.
Haku said nothing for several moments, then somehow disarmed Sasuke of his left kunai. He dropped his three senbon on the now battered bridge and removed his mask. It hit the floor and shattered. Sasuke smirked, then spit a wad of saliva onto his opponent's cheek. Haku didn't even blink. He wiped his face, then looked at Sasuke with penetrating hazel eyes.
"What will you do when your quest proves fruitless?"
"What?" Sasuke growled in response.
"What will you do when someone eventually kills Uchiha Itachi, and it isn't you?" It was more of a demand than a question.
Sasuke's eyes widened for a split second, then narrowed. Black eyes bore a hole into Haku's being. "How the hell do you know his name?"
"Word travels fast. I would be surprised if you encountered a single shinobi who hasn't heard of the Uchiha Massacre. I have answered your question, now you answer mine."
"No one will kill him except me."
"Unlikely. I imagine the bounty on his head is great by now. Maybe after I kill you, Zabuza-sama and I-"
"SHUT UP!" Sasuke shouted, pushing harder on his remaining kunai. He screwed his eyes shut. "You will not kill me! No one will! Not until I have found him, and left that asshole in a pool of his own blood!"
Haku took the young genin's anger-induced yelling to his advantage, and disarmed Sasuke of his remaining kunai. He sent him sprawling with a kick to the gut. Using his free right hand, he rapidly started performing one-handed seals.
"Hyouton: Aisuchouekikei."
The three senbon in his left hand began to glow with an ethereal white light. He threw them towards Sasuke, who was on his feet now, but disoriented. His Sharingan had deactivated. Two of the senbon landed in front of his feet, and the third actually flew between his legs and landed in back of him. Sasuke had no time to react as ice came out of the two senbon by his feet and wrapped tightly around his lower extremities, traveling up to his knees. The senbon behind him actually spawned two separate branches of ice that bound around his hands and secured the appendages up to his elbows. There was no escape.
"Uchiha Itachi is in a... precarious situation right now, much like yourself," Haku explained. "He might actually lose his life."
Sasuke growled, but it was admittedly less forceful than it had been only a few minutes before. "He won't. Killing him is my job, and my job alone."
Haku looked at him blankly. "You really aren't that bright, are you?"
"I was the rookie of the year in the Aca-"
"That means absolutely nothing," Haku interrupted harshly. "You do not learn how to be a shinobi in the Academy. You learn how to be a shinobi through experience, and experience alone. That is why most genin die, and most jounin live."
Sasuke couldn't respond to that, so he just settled for glaring. After a moment, he asked another question. "Why haven't you killed me yet?"
Haku didn't answer, but looked over to see his master's bloody body laying across the bridge. I understand, Zabuza-sama. I will follow you into death. He released the jutsu. Sasuke smirked.
"You're mistake. Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"
Haku looked upon the fireball with a blank mind. He smiled, and felt nothing as he was consumed.
Not an ash remained from where he stood.
Kakashi heard clapping as he traveled to pick up the unconscious Yoshirou. By the edge of the unfinished bridge stood short man in a suit, holding a cane. The small circular sunglasses he wore prevented his eyes from being seen, but Kakashi could tell that he was looking at Zabuza's dead body.
"Fantastic! Simply fantastic!" he exclaimed. "Now I won't have to pay him! Too bad I'll have to kill that bridge builder by myself now."
Kakashi eyed the mass of armed men behind him. "You mean your thugs will have to kill him."
"Hm? Oh, you must be that asshole's protection. I hope you realize who you're dealing with, ninja-san. I am Gatou. Now, if you wou-" He never finished the sentence. A kunai wedged itself in his forehead, followed by a salvo of shuriken to the chest. He fell backwards, dead as a rock.
"I hate businessmen," Kakashi snarled. He glared at the frightened men behind the corpse. "And the scum they hire."
Every one of them jumped over the bridge and into the water. Anything to get away from the man with the freaky eye.
Naruto awoke to pure white. No bridge, no Tazuna-san, and no missing-nin with a big sword. He could only hear his breathing. It was silent, it was nothing.
"Is anyone there?" he called out, internally cringing at how raspy and weak his voice sounded. "Kyuubi? Kakashi-sensei? Sakura-chan, Sasuke-teme?" He stood up. In the back of his mind he wondered how that was possible, when he wasn't standing on anything and had nothing to support his hands as he pushed himself up.
"YOSHIROU-NIISAN!"
Nothing... but then, he heard footsteps. At first they were dull and soft, but then got progressively louder. He couldn't pinpoint where they were coming from, they were echoing all around him. Naruto went to retrieve a kunai, but where his pouch usually was, there was nothing. He formed the seal for the Kage Bunshin, but nothing happened. No chakra, he realized. The footsteps got louder and louder, until he found their owner was right behind him. Naruto twirled around and attempted to land a punch, but his hand was stopped by a larger, more powerful hand of the mystery man.
"Hey! Easy there, son!" The man's voice was gruff and deep, but caring. Naruto looked up at him. He wore some sort of old cloak, with a strange hitai-ite on his forehead. His brown hair was long and spiky, and was tied in a loose ponytail that fell past his shoulders. But the strangest thing about him was his eyes. They were grayish-purple, with weird concentric circles surrounding the pupils. His entire person seemed to radiate power.
"Where are we?" Naruto asked, awed by the man.
"You, Naruto-kun, are on a road."
"A road? A road to where? And how do you know my name?"
The man let out a hearty laugh, clearly amused by the blonde's curiosity. "Ah, you remind me of myself..." he whispered. "You are on a road to your destiny."
And then it grew dark; so dark that Naruto couldn't even see his own hands. The man before him faded away. He heard a roar, so feral and menacing, so laced with an untold amount of killing intent, that Naruto had no choice but to shakily bend to his knees and empty his stomach's contents onto the invisible ground.
The roar was followed by a deep, hollow voice that sounded like a coalition of thousands of agonizing souls screaming out for nothing more than the crimson fluids of the enemies that had dared defy them.
"RIKUDO!"
Naruto turned around, rooted in place by his fear and the horrible thing's killing intent. He saw the eye; that terrible, golden eye that shrouded the rest of the body in a pale luminescence. Ten tails swirled behind it.
Some voice spoke to him. It wasn't his own, nor was it the Kyuubi's. But it's advice was sound, "Run, Naruto."
And run he did. He ran like he had never ran before. He didn't have any chakra to fuel his sprint, though, and without his enormous battery he soon had to stop. He imagined he had run at least a quarter of a mile, though, and that had to be some progress. Did he dare turn around? He attempted it, but there that eye was. It was like he had never even moved, and that eye still glared at him with that malevolence. Naruto, overwhelmed by its presence, fell on his backside. He scrambled away but didn't get more than a foot's distance.
The thing raised its head and opened its large mouth – Naruto faintly recognized the same teeth belonged to the Kyuubi, only this thing's were black – and a magnificent golden orb formed above it. It had to be half the size of the beast's body. Four streams of chakra on either side of the sun-like ball flowed off like water into its gaping maw. This continued until the orb had flattened and resembled an oversized discus. The middle of the disc then funneled into the monster's mouth as well. By now its cheeks were puffing out almost comically. The only remainder of the once beautiful sphere was a golden ring still hovering over the head of the beast. Its head lowered, aiming at the terror-stricken blonde.
It fired in an almighty blast of chakra and power. Naruto closed his eyes. He didn't really want to die like this, but hey, we all have to go at some point.
But just as he was asking Kami for forgiveness, it was over. Naruto reluctantly opened his eyes. The area around him glowed an eery gold. It was probably residue chakra from the attack that had, somehow, been deflected.
Standing over him was a man who glowed pale white. He was clad in a nondescript white robe. A hood was over his face. The only thing that wasn't white were the chains that started at the man's shoulders and crisscrossed down both of his arms, which were crossed over his chest. Naruto realized he must have some sort of weapon he used to block that beast's unholy firepower. He got his answer when the man brought his arms to his sides, revealing two scimitars (How swords were able to block something like that, Naruto would never know) . Naruto noticed the black chains on his arms connected to the base of the light blue swords. His rescuer turned his head to look at the boy. He was wearing a plain mask with some sort of kanji on the forehead, but Naruto couldn't read it from his position.
"Savior-sama," he acknowledged. The wind picked up around them until it was hurricane level, and then the mysterious man dashed off at untold speeds towards the beast.
Naruto didn't have enough time to divulge strange man's words, though. He heard a screeching sound, so sharp he thought his ears were bleeding. Looking to the sides of himself, he saw four portals. Intricate carvings detailed the structures, and Naruto could tell they each related to a different element. Four blurs shot out of the portal, each one heading in the same direction as the man who saved him earlier: towards the unholy monstrosity.
And then Naruto felt a warm heat at his back. The darkness slowly receded, overtaken by the light, until the blonde boy was sitting at the point where the two forces met. He turned around to see a calloused hand.
"Take the hand, son." It was the same voice that had told him to run. Naruto faintly made a note in the back of his mind to trust the voice; its advice seemed worth taking. He grabbed the hand, but as soon as he did so the demonic entity roared, its killing intent once again flooding the area.
"NOTHING WILL SAVE YOU."
The hand forcefully twirled Naruto around. The body the appendage belonged to stepped in front of him, sort of shielding him from whatever evil the being would bring forth.
"Shinra Tensei."
The invisible explosion brought forth by those two words pushed Naruto back multiple feet, even though the blast was aimed in the opposite direction. He hit the ground with a crunch, and rolled into another portal that had appeared. It was strange – even while rolling, Naruto could easily make out the kanji printed on the mysterious thing. It read 'Fukkatsu'. Rebirth.
Through the portal's turquoise aura, Naruto could barely make out the blurs and the second figure who saved him battling it out with that awful being.
He wished for them to succeed. Nothing like that should exist, ever.
The aura swirled around him like a whirlpool, and all was dark once more.
Before I start blabbing, I want to apologize to any Haku fans if I've butchered his character too much. He comes off a little OOC in my view, but it's been forever since I've even glanced at the Wave arc and I needed him to act like this for the plot's sake.
I like to think of everything leading up to this point as a "prelude" of sorts. This is the point where the real story begins. There won't be questions anymore, since no one really answered them in the first place... (except PeinsDisciple. You know what's kind of scary? In the time it's taken me to update one chapter, he's finished the story he started at the relative time Purge was started, began another story, finished that one [as far as I can tell. Still haven't read it, yet...] and began another one. Sweet Lord! The trilogy is called The Daemon of Pein. You guys should read it. I didn't get far but what I read was pure brilliance. My two cents.)
Anyway, I just planned on listing my thoughts here. Ramblings, if you will. Purge itself has cornered off a good-sized section of my mind, taken control of it, and systematically destroyed everything that is unrelated to the story. Seriously. I think about it night and day, whenever I have some free time. So no, those of you who thought this thing was long dead were wrong. Good thing, too. I think I'd go crazy if I didn't write this stuff down.
In the seven months between update times, Purge has evolved so much it's kind of shocked me. Originally I was never planning on that last scene, but now it, and the multiple things it's spawned, have become an integral part of the story. It'll definitely be fun following this plot I've created (just thinking about some of the aspects makes my head spin. Is that a bad thing?), especially since I don't think the particular subject I've based the plot on has been followed, at least this extensively. In all reality, there's only one manga chapter tying this thing to canon. I'm trying to control the AU-ness until I get into the Shippuden time frame. That's when all connection to canon will be severed and we'll be off in our own little world.
I'm also thinking about changing the rating. It seems my sailor's mouth will be included in this story, and I'm sure my perverted side will try to... influence my writing some time in the future. Probably during Shippuden, but still, better safe than sorry. For now I'll keep it with a T rating, but that may change soon. Just a heads up.
It's 11:52 PM on a Sunday night as I'm finishing up this A/N. Maybe now I'll be able to get some sleep...
~ FicsRLulz