A/N: I'm so sorry; I had a lot of school work and was too lazy to get off my ass and type. I feel like an old lady right now… Well, I haven't been writing at all this past year so this might not be up to scratch… when has anything I've ever written ever been up to scratch? *emo sigh*
(Warning: If you just want to skip to the story, please ignore our weird ramblings. Advance to the line and collect $200(?) Thank you… *cries*)
etErnal: STOP GROWING MUSHROOMS!
English-illiterate: Yah… That was my friend… etErnalroSe09 please check out her stories and review if you like D. Gray-Man too. She's a much better author than me… Ok, I shall stop growing mushrooms and start growing potatoes! :}
etErnal: yes, review if you value your manhood/ovaries intact *unsheathes Masamune/Mugen/any random katana*
English-Illiterate: That's mean, Seph… Really mean. I'm gonna tell Zack… *cries* Oh, Zack's screen name is Nadiamirah. Please give her stories a look too. Why am I doing this in the first place? Seph I hate you! And stop making cat noises!
etErnal: I WAS NOT MAKING CAT NOISES! NOW START THE GODDAMN STORY!
Dant3- If you feel offended about me using your insight in your comment, as I might be using it in a later chapter, please, tell me. I'm really sorry… But you're absolutely right and it's inconceivable that Minato would hide something like that from Kakashi… And the Hokage... *cries again*
Chapter 21: Fate
'Naruto' stared Neji down, his eyes darting towards his surroundings while making sure to keep the Hyuuga in his periphery. His body was crouched in a combat ready position and hundreds of battle plans ran through his head. He shook them away. He had to start clean, since those plans were made for fights pitting one against many, and relied heavily on speed. Speed he refused to display. Speed he did not yet have.
He barely registered when Neji opened his mouth to proclaim, "The fates have decreed me to be the winner." 'Naruto' remained silent, acknowledging the words vaguely and inwardly running through a battle plan that he had drawn up. Neji activated his Byakugan and glared indignantly at the seemingly mediocre ninja before him. That is, until his eyes met the blond's.
Neji flinched inwardly. There was something wrong with those eyes. Those eyes that had been brimming with warmth every time he'd seen them were now like a pond in the dead of winter. Frozen and devoid of emotion. Sapphire windows to the boy's soul were now closed off to the world and all that was left was a hardened assassin. Neji shook himself inwardly. That was just the impression the idiot wanted to give off. If he fell for the act and lost confidence, the battle was as good as lost. He had to focus. Pushing aside his doubts, the Hyuuga tensed his muscles and waited for the blond to take the first move.
To Neji's surprise, 'Naruto' began rapidly forming handseals. His Byakugan eyes caught everything; the chakra being gathered, molded, and eventually released as lethal blades of wind, slicing through the air and scarring the ground where Neji once stood. The brunet had jumped backwards, out of the way. A single drop of sweat slid down his back. He hadn't expected this. Brawlers like the blond before him usually started out with a direct, reckless charge. He smirked confidently. No matter. This unexpected start would not change anything. He would still win. After all, he was the more experienced one. This inexperienced average ninja might pose a minute challenge but nothing more.
'Naruto' remained impassive as he watched for tells in the Hyuuga that would give away his next actions, dodging as the boy sprang at him and lashed out with his palms. He whipped out two kunai and dug them firmly into the ground, before kicking his legs around and yanking the kunai back out as he flipped away from an oncoming assault of jabs. He weaved around the attacks as if they were child's play, angering the Hyuuga.
Neji finally ceased his assault on the blond and fell back, his Byakugan blazing eerily as 'Naruto' stood alone and completely exposed in the centre of the arena. The blond brought his hands up into a series of quick handseals and a jet of flames burst from his mouth, chasing after the Hyuuga and lapping futilely at his feet as he flipped swiftly away and out of reach.
Neji stared. 'Naruto' was using ninjutsu more than he was taijutsu. It aggravated him to think that he could counter the Hyuuga's Jyuken with a measly repertoire of low grade ninjutsu. His eyes flicked to the small body of water concealed in the trees on the battle field as he saw chakra building around the area and when his eyes gyrated back to the blond, there twere two perfectly formed orbs of water in each palm, the clear liquid swirling restlessly in its spherical prison.
Water erupted around the blond as 'Naruto' threw the orbs at his feet, concealing him. A malicious smirk tugged at Neji's lips as he turned around and struck at seemingly thin air. Minato shimmered into existence as the Genjutsu shattered and clutched his throbbing limb, attempting to ignore the pain blossoming relentlessly. His left leg then buckled tiredly underneath him, and he looked up, apprehensive fear sparking in his eyes. Neji's eyes flickered to the shadows of the trees. There seemed to be a kage bunshin there. It was too bad that it would not be able to do anything.
'Naruto' forced himself up on his elbows, and rolled out of the way, letting an involuntary gasp of pain escape his lips as he landed on his incapacitated leg. A lightning fast Jyuken jab hit the ground a second later with enough force to crack it, a clean split marring the earth.
Taking advantage of the blond's momentary lapse, Neji followed up with another strike, flesh impacting flesh as he debilitated 'Naruto's' remaining leg. Cursing under his breath, the blue eyed ninja looked up to see Neji, his hand reared back and poised to deliver the finishing blow. "Fate is not on you side, Naruto," Neji sneered, smirking sadistically and bringing his hand down.
'Naruto's' eyes widened in horror as it struck his heart like it had struck Hinata's just a month before. Blood bubbled to his lips and he coughed, a deathly chill running through his body, spikes of pain lancing through his vital organ. Crimson splattered the ground as a final shudder ran through the blond before he collapsed, his body hitting the dusty earth with an air of finality.
Up in the reserved section of the stands, the Hokage looked on with carefully veiled horror. 'I'm sorry, Minato. I've failed you,' the strongest ninja in the village bowed his head as an almost unperceivable sign of grief. How could he have let his successor's son die in a place like this? In this way? He had failed and there was no doubting that. His eyes lifted to scan the battle ground after that nanosecond of remorse and a different thought ran through his head, 'I really am getting old and soft.'
Sasuke had just arrived in time to see Naruto take his final breath. He looked away and muttered a silent curse. Hinata's eyes widened in shock and burning hot tears welled up in her eyes against her will. In the arena, Aoba stared at the scene and shook his head. Children killing one another. It wasn't anything he hadn't seen before but even after all those years it still felt terribly wrong. He was about to call the victor when another figure appeared in the arena and carved a line into the bloody ground.
Neji's head had already whipped around and he was now glaring at the newcomer, the 'Naruto' sprawled lifelessly on the floor poofed out of existence. Neji smirked, "So what are you going to do now, Naruto? You're on your last legs. You can't walk. I could easily defeat you now." Neji's smirk suddenly turned into a look of shock, as he felt all his energy being sapped from him and the last thing he saw was 'Naruto', his hands planted firmly on the ground and furiously channeling chakra.
Minato sighed in relief as Neji fell to the ground, not to awaken for at least another hour. Aoba stared, dumbfounded. How had the Hyuuga prodigy been felled? Neji lay prone on the ground in the centre of the arena, cracks branching out, battle scars that had been carved into the dusty ground from the fight.
"W-Winner, Uzumaki Naruto," he announced. He was still trying to puzzle out the situation even after Neji and Minato were carried away to the infirmary on stretchers. Minato lay immobile and wondered if he would regain the use of his legs in time for the next match.
The Hokage laughed inwardly, relieved and still reeling from the blond's odd battle strategy. Only Naruto would have been lucky enough to have pulled it off. He clutched the tri-pronged kunai in his ninja pouch and muttered a silent apology for giving up on his son so soon and a heartfelt thank you to his successor, for watching over Naruto. He saw the boy as a grandchild and would be devastated if he lost the boy. He sighed at his sentimentality for bringing along the kunai, their country's greatest weapon. It was risky, he knew, but he felt that he would need it for a strange reason. He released his hold on it and rested his hand back on his lap, gazing warily at the Kazekage sitting next to him.
Kurenai stared at the floor of the arena, riddled with gouges and lines carved into it, and stained with dark red blots from the spilt blood that had already seeped into the ground. A feminine voice then wafted from beside her. "Sensei, why did Neji faint like that?" Hinata asked timidly. Kurenai turned to look at Hinata, then back to gaze at the arena's floor.
"Look closely at the ground again, Hinata. See how the marks on the ground form a symbol?" Kurenai traced out the scars made to the dirt. Hinata nodded, coughing lightly. "It's a seal. He used the power behind the attacks they threw around to carve into the ground a basic seal that would cause the affected to fall asleep instantly. He manipulated Neji," Kurenai finished.
Hinata joined her sensei in staring at the ground with that knowledge in mind. Viewing the damage as a whole rather than separately, she realized how little faith she really had in Naruto. He was strong, and she knew that he would never have given up that easily. Sighing forlornly, she waited patiently for the next match, stewing in unnecessary guilt at her lack of belief.
Sasuke strode down into the arena, holding his opponent's murderous gaze easily. "Mother will have your blood," Gaara stated, a manic grin spreading across his face. Sasuke remained silent and his gaze gyrated momentarily to Kakashi, in the stands, his eyes serious as he nodded. His mentor had given the go-ahead. Aoba started the match and Sasuke opened the fight with a few taijutsu moves, his body blurring from the speed at which he was executing his techniques. Sand rose to meet every punch, kick and elbow strike that Sasuke could throw at the red head and blocked each one, the impact jarring the Uchiha's body as he retreated. Gaara sneered at his attempts before encasing himself in a spherical shield of sand, protecting his body from all attacks. Almost all.
Sasuke stared at the full body protection, formulating plans and trashing them. None were going to work if he couldn't even get past the sand defense. Channeling chakra to his feet and into the ground, he was painfully aware of the limited amount of times he could use this devastating technique. Using the chakra he'd gathered, he launched himself up the wall and waited, gathering the lightning chakra around his hand.
He shot towards his opponent, his body blurring into a black and blue blur as he raced towards his opponent. Lightning trailed in his wake and encased his hand as he pile drove it through the shell and penetrated it, not without effort. Something warm and sticky coated his hand and he knew that he had accomplished what he had intended to do. He backed away, watching warily as the sand sloughed off and onto the ground, releasing a very much knocked out Gaara.
"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke," Aoba announced in awe. Sasuke, however, wasn't pleased. He frowned in suspicion. It was too easy. This could not have happened. Garra was a monster. A monster who had beaten Lee into the ground and looked like he wasn't even trying. Despite the wound on the red head's shoulder, open and gushing blood, the scarlet life-giving liquid spilling out onto the floor, it still didn't satisfy Sasuke. This was not the fight that he had wanted. He turned and walked away to join the others.
Temari, Kankuro and Baki were having internal panic attacks. This was not good. They melted into the shadows. No one noticed them leave. The Kazekage watched the boy carefully, tensing his muscles to react at a moment's notice. This did not go unnoticed by the Sandaime and he ordered his two chosen guards closer.
In the arena, the sand picked up gently, gently enough to have gone unnoticed, but then it exploded viciously upwards, encasing Gaara completely and startling the four medics attempting to put him on a stretcher. The medic closest to Gaara screamed as sand blasted him full in the face, pouring into his eyes, blinding him efficiently. Gaara chuckled, a crazed glint shining with a vengeance in his eyes. Reaching out with clawed fingers, he dug two into each socket, pulling skewered eyeballs out with an almost audible 'pop'. Laughing again, the possessed boy flicked the bloody spheres to the ground and squished them under his heel. He turned nonchalantly and flicked a wrist dramatically, causing streams of sand to bash against two other shocked medics. Bruised limbs littered the ground with numerous thumps, amidst tortured howling and the tell-tale snapping of ribs and spines. Pained cries choked off with a guttural gurgle of blood and two crimson-stained heads hit the ground, rolling away from the laughing manic. He swung around, hand flashing out too quickly to be seen, fisting around the last, sobbing medic.
"Who else challenges me?! I DARE you all to come against me- I am your DEATH. I will KILL you ALL. EVERYONE HERE WILL DIE!" The grip on the choking medic tightened, to the point ugly purple splotches formed around stiffened fingers and blood to trickle out of the victims nose. The bluing corpse thudded to the ground, just as the sand kicked up once more, this time around numerous trembling spectators, drawing agonized screams as they were smothered and drowned by the mass of bloodied grains.
The ninja at the arena sprung into action after snapping out of their horrified stupors, dragging civilians out of the way of the rampaging demon, some getting trapped within its clutches and getting killed along with the civilians. Kakashi grabbed two people and executed a quick shunshin just as the sand lashed at the space that he had occupied not seconds before. The Genin rushed towards the civilian side of the stands, dragging people out as fast as they could manage. A whip of sand came crashing down on Hinata, the girl frozen with fear. She regained enough sense to kick the man she had been helping away before resigning herself to her fate.
The Kazekage sat amidst all the chaos and laughed. It was all going to plan. Sarutobi stared at the man in horror, a horror that only intensified when the man's guards started to attack his own. "Remember me, sensei?" the man teased, an inhuman laugh bubbling from his lips.
"Orochimaru," the Hokage's eyes narrowed.
"It's too bad I didn't get that Uchiha before, but I won't fail this time. And I'll bring your precious village crashing down around you," the man laughed again and attacked the elderly Hokage just as the two Konoha guards fell in duty, bringing the Oto guards down with them.
Hinata opened her eyes and found herself still alive. A brown haired lady was tending to her wounds and everything around her was white. "Don't stress yourself. You're lucky you escaped with just a few cuts," the lady said.
"I-I'm… I-I'm a-at th-the h-hospital?" she squeaked, wincing at the dry hoarseness of her throat. The lady nodded her head kindly and bandaged her arm.
"There. Make sure not to do anything vigorous for now. I want you to rest. And if you need anything, just buzz. I might not be able to respond immediately though, since we have so many injured, so please don't buzz for me unless it's an emergency. I wish you a speedy recovery," the medic finished her usual speech and strode out of the room. It was only then did Hinata notice the many people around her with varying degrees of injuries, crammed into the room together with her. She lay down and tried to recall what had happened.
Minato jumped onto another branch to avoid a bullet of sand that had been speeding towards him and found himself grimacing. His legs had not fully recovered since his match with Neji and he was now alone. Facing Shukaku. Alone in the woods where possibly no one would come to his aid. He had used the Hiraishin seal to transport Shukaku away from the arena. He had arrived just in time to save Hinata from being buried under a tonne of bloodied sand and had left her in Haku's care.
'Oh, the irony. This feels like history repeating itself,' Minato thought as he flipped onto a branch higher than the one he was on in time to see the previous one splinter and snap in half under the whirling sand. The giant sand tanuki laughed and taunted him with a slew of unsavory expletives, and Minato muttered one of his own in reply. The blond jumped towards the canopy, using the trees to propel himself upwards, and burst from the leaves.
This action caught the demon by surprise as the boy became nothing but a blur as it darted towards its head, the haphazard movement making him difficult to catch. Minato had just reached Gaara when he found himself pulled forcefully away, his fingers just brushing the skin of Gaara's arm before he was flung violently back into the trees.
"Think you're so CLEVER do you? Oh, well, you'll do for entertainment until the REAL ninjas get here. Then I'll slaughter you ALL!" Shukaku scheeched in a booming laugh that echoed around the forest. Minato's eyes narrowed and his vision drifted in and out of focus. He had enough chakra to do the Hiraishin and then some, but would it be enough?
"I'll rip him to pieces for you if you'd just let me out," Minato shook the Kyuubi's voice away. The fox had gotten him to turn his mindscape into a terrible, bloody place with imaginary humans and demons to hunt, and he did not wish to spend more time in there than he absolutely had to. Apparently, rabbits were not enough for the Kyuubi.
Minato found himself dodging sand tentacles and very nearly skipping his way up to Shukaku, his movements unpredictable and wild. Not stopping when he reached the demon's head, he clothes-lined Gaara's prone body as he attempted to forcefully rip the boy out of the sand using his momentum. Gaara's eyes snapped open just as the crazed gleam in the sand tanuki's eyes faded away.
"NOOO! I JUST GOT OUT! YOU CAn't…!" the demonic voice faded into nothing but a whisper in the wind. Gaara and Minato found themselves tumbling towards the ground, from about five hundred feet in the air.
Sarutobi and Orochimaru were now locked in combat on a rooftop in a spacious purple barrier. A team of Anbu was stationed just outside, at a loss for what to do. They had no way of entering the barrier like their fallen comrade had attempted. He was now burnt into Kentucky Fried Anbu. This was not good. Worse still, a dense forest obscured their vision and thus, they had lost sight of both Kage. This was a really bad day.
Gaara lay on the ground, unable to move as a pair of feet landed softly on the ground. "St-stay away…" he rasped. The demon was defeated, he was defeated. He was at this boy's mercy. And he had yet to justify his existence. "I… I have yet to…. prove that I… live… My existence..." Gaara ground out. Even spitting those words drained energy from his now weakened body.
Minato sat down next to the red head. "You have two people who really care for you. Well, enough to stay here during the entire fight. I suppose it was to make sure you were okay," the blond glanced at the tree line. A blond and a brunet emerged, each holding their weapons out, ready to strike, however hesitant they were.
"Te-mari? Kan…kuro?" Gaara whispered in disbelief.
"That's proof enough you exist. To protect those precious to you, I mean," Minato grinned, a gesture that caused all of the sand siblings to relax a fraction.
"I have no…" Gaara stopped and glanced at his siblings as they rushed to help him up now that the blond wasn't deemed a threat.
"Is that… how you're so strong?" Gaara asked, his question barely audible, a wild storm of emotions whirling in his eyes. The most Minato had ever seen.
Minato nodded and smiled, "Of course. Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei… I would do anything to protect them. That justifies my existence. You already have two by your side… You just can't see that yet."
Gaara nodded and the trio departed, leaving Minato alone in the clearing with a chill in his bones and an ominous feeling in the air. A whispered, "I'm sorry Temari, Kankuro," carried on the wind and a smile ghosted across the blond's lips. He fell onto his bottom, exhausted, as he sighed in relief and laughed giddily at the sky.
Sarutobi stared in horror as three coffins rose from the ground. Blood dripped down his arm as he grabbed a handful of shuriken and launched them at the coffins. 'I can't let the third one be completed,' was all that ran through his mind, but his injury slowed him down. He was too late. All was lost. The third coffin had been completed. It stood proudly with the other two, the kanji for 'four' emblazoned on it as if taunting the old man. "I'm sorry, Minato," the old man whispered as the coffin lids fell open.
In the clearing, a shock of pain ran through Minato's body, as if someone was trying to rip his soul from his body. He collapsed in agony as pained screams tore from his throat and echoed through the lonely, deserted clearing. He could feel his bones lengthening and his body rapidly stretching into that of his older body, as if some external power were trying to force his body into it. Pain ripped up his spine as it pulled and snapped into place. His headband clattered to the floor and his clothes strained to accommodate his older form.
It left as suddenly as it had happened, leaving him a panting, ragged, sodden mess. Waves of nausea churned in his stomach and he spat out the sour bile rising in his throat, choking wretchedly. It was only after he'd regained his composure that he realized what he'd brought up wasn't his lunch but his blood. A metallic tang settled on his tongue and he coughed weakly. At the very least his body felt stronger and his injuries had disappeared. "Now I know how a werewolf feels," Minato joked weakly to himself.
Sarutobi watched as the coffin lids fell open one by one, each revealing a familiar face. He watched with a mix of horror and longing as the last coffin lid fell open. To his surprise, unlike the other two whom had stepped out like zombies, the blond simply fell forward, its face cracking and revealing a dead Oto ninja inside. "M-Minato…?" Sarutobi called tentatively, but the blond look alike stayed prone on the ground, its remaining blue eye glassy and empty. Nothing but a puppet without strings. Orochimaru seemed just as surprised, but hesitated for only a few seconds before sinking a kunai into the body of the Shodaime and the Nidaime. This was not going to end well.
Minato stole through the halls of the Anbu headquarters. The place was deathly quiet as all the Anbu had been deployed around the village to help with the waves of Suna-nin pouring in through the village gates. Entering the equipment room, he switched out his clothes for that of an Anbu's, finding a set that fit him nicely. He sealed his torn and bloody clothes into a scroll and slipped it into his pouch.
He looked at the masks lining the wall and picked up an old, dusty one right in the corner, hidden in the shadows. It was a fox mask, but Kitsune had died in battle about twelve years ago, and since then, no one had taken it up. It was a cursed mask. While some hung theirs up in retirement, once anyone put the fox mask on, the only way they got out of Anbu was in a body bag. No one escaped it. Not even Kushina.
Minato traced the markings that stretched across the porcelain with his fingers, but the times he had spent with Kushina seemed so far away. Remembering those times brought emotion to his chest. Something he didn't need at the moment. He donned the mask and performed a shunshin to join the fray just as an Anbu entered to rip his mask off the wall and do the same. He never noticed the missing mask.
Sarutobi was breathing heavily, but so was his former student. He had eradicated the Shodaime and Nidaime Zombies with his paper explosives and several powerful Katon attacks, but it took all that he had. He had nearly run out of projectiles that he could throw and all that was left was the tri-pronged kunai and a handful of shuriken. His time had come, but he wasn't going to go down without taking Orochimaru with him. He summoned Enma for the final battle, greeting his old friend with a cheeriness that belied the tension.
Minato ploughed his way through Suna's forces, incapacitating ninja left and right. Konoha's forces had been cut nearly in half by the attack at the arena and most of their shinobi were at the hospital, a small amount dead. 'Where are you, Jiraiya?' Minato fretted inwardly as he continued to rapidly cut down the enemy's forces. As if in answer to his prayer, a giant frog landed just in front of him, destroying a few houses as well as decimating the enemy's numbers.
"Never fear, the gallant Jiraiya has arrived," the white haired sage shouted down, doing his self-introductory dance. Minato could have laughed if the situation weren't so dire. His eyes gravitated from the toad sage to what was behind the man. A barrier glowed an eerie purple, pulsating with energy, the interior spammed with wild looking plants. Looking back at Jiraiya, Minato decided that the village's safety was in good hands and made a beeline for the barrier. It exuded a terrible chakra, though it held a faint undercurrent of several others. It was still one he knew very well. Orochimaru's.
A/N: I'm so sorry. If you feel offended, please let me know. Please review and… well, I'm sorry for the extremely late update. I really can't say sorry enough times… And I'm sory for my liberal use of line breaks. I had to switch scenes a lot. Please bear with me... *cries* And please leave comments on how I could improve it. If you find something that would be illogical or any inconsistency, please leave it in a review. I'll try my best to correct it. Thank you. And I want to thank etErnalroSe09 for being my beta and lending me her laptop when mine was being a bitch and the other was hogged by my sis and etErnalroSe09's gay bro.
etErnal: *reading the bloody bits I typed* AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
English-Illiterate: Sorry about that. Thanks for writing that Gaara-turns-into-Shukaku-and-slaughters-people bit. I'm not fond of gore or macabre … stuff… And yes, I know you're crazy. Sadist *mumbles*
etErnal: AHAHA! Review or I'll CASTRATE YOU, girl or guy. Pffft. AHAHAHA!
English-illitearate: Yes, etErnal's a real person. She's not my alter ego. She has a whole slew of alter egos by herself and yes, I'm a nice, suspiciously good, kind, gentle, wouldn't-hurt-a-fly kind of person in real life and online. Aura Ninja! (Yes, I'm still calling you that, Aura Guardian Kimi or Sealing Mistress as you're calling yourself now) Please, update! I'm sorry, I wasn't a good beta but I love your current story. Please continue… *cries*