LIES, LOVE AND BETRAYAL
Greetings from The Void!
Okay then folks, welcome back. Not much to say except enjoy.
Chapter 4: Han of the Five-Tails
The mid-noon sun hung high in the sky over Konoha. A certain blonde Hokage stood with her hands in her coat pockets, staring at a newly placed grave stone.
Upon the stone there was carved a name. 'Haruno Sakura'.
Tsunade stared emptily at the stone, grinding her teeth. Staring at this grave sickened her. She didn't even know this girl really. Yet her death troubled her more than most deaths she had seen in her 54 years of life. In most circumstances this young girls death would probably have just gone unnoticed by the Godaime Hokage... had the girl that brought Tsunade back to this village not been the one that supposedly killed her.
"Back here, again?" She heard a familiar voice from behind, breaking her out of her trance.
Tsunade turned around to see the legendary Copy-ninja, Hatake Kakashi. His one eye peering at her.
"Yes..." Was all Tsunade said before turning back to the grave.
"You've been coming here allot since they buried her. I appreciate you showing your respects for my student but why does her death bother you so much?" Kakashi asked.
Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed slowly yet heavily, "Because of Uzumaki Naruko... I just don't understand. Why would that girl go to the lengths of bringing me back here to be Hokage only to, days later, turn around and kill her teammate before abandoning the village? Anyway... were you able to track down and retrieve Uchiha Sasuke?"
"I've seen some amazing things. I've seen terrible things and I've seen things that aren't as cut-and-dry as they appear. I've lost all my old teammates. Obitio, Rin... even Minato. Now I've lost all of my students. We couldn't catch Sasuke." Kakashi sighed before turning his gaze to the sky.
"Great..." Tsunade replied sarcastically, "Could his decision to leave be because of what Naruko did?"
Kakashi shook his head slightly, "I doubt it. He was given an opportunity to achieve his goals by Orochimaru, so he took it. Maybe if Naruko was here she could have stopped him. And for the record, I'll never believe, for even a second, that Naruko is who killed Sakura."
"How can you say that? The ANBU SAW her stabbing Sakura! And to top it off she ran. If she was innocent why wouldn't she have stayed here and tried to defend herself against the accusations?" Tsunade turned back to face him once more, "This whole situation disgusts me... something seriously wrong happened that night whatever it was. But the counsel has demanded that we hunt her down and have her put to death. Disturbingly enough they want to extract the Kyuubi from her as her form of execution."
"I know..." Kakashi said before an almost unauthorized chuckle escaped him, "If Minato had heard that he probably would have killed all the counsel members on the spot." Kakashi turned toward the Hokage monument, particularly the carving of the Yondaime Hokage, "I'm sorry sensei... I just keep letting you down, don't I?"
"Minato was a good man... Jiraiya trained him well. I can only imagine how Minato would have handled this situation." Tsunade thought aloud.
"I'd be more worried about how Kushina-san would have reacted." Kakashi added, "But like I said, I know for a fact Naruko didn't kill Sakura. She just isn't that kind of person."
"I hope your right Kakashi... I really do."
Elsewhere...
It had been almost a day since the duo of Naruko and Fū had encountered the red-clad jinchuuriki. They had been scouring the mountain side the whole time for him, leaving no stone unturned.
Fū grabbed her head in frustration, "aghh... where the hell could he have gone?"
"Calm down Fū-san, getting mad won't help us find him." Though she said that, her own irritation was starting to kick in.
"Hold on I'll ask Chōmei if she's noticed anything." Fū said.
"Wait, you talk to the Shichibi?" Naruko whipped her attention to the mint-haired girl.
"Yeah... why? Don't you talk to Kyuubi?"
Naruko shook her head vigorously, "I think MAYBE he has said like four words to me, if even that. I'm kinda grateful, it makes it easier to forget about him." She scratched the top of her head, "I'll tell you one thing though, he sure seems like an ass."
"Larva, she is quite correct, when you two were having your little fight earlier I got a chance to speak with my brother for a short moment. He is no longer how I remember him. He has become... reclusive."
"Chōmei says she got to talk to Kurama when you and I were fighting. She says he seems to have become 'reclusive'..." Fū explained.
"Kurama?" Naruko asked in confusion.
"Yeah, she said that's his real name."
Naruko looked down to her stomach as if it were the said Bijuu, "hhm Kurama huh?" Just then she gripped her head as if in pain and dropped to her knees.
"DON'T YOU DARE UTTER MY NAME FROM YOUR MISERABLE LIPS! YOU DON'T DESERVE TO SPEAK IT!" a thunderous voice of wrath and fury pounded in her head like a sledgehammer.
"Naruko?!" Fū panicked as she knelt down next to the blond. "Are you okay?!"
"He's... screaming in my head! ahh... god it's so loud!" Naruko writhed in pain on the ground as red chakra began to leak out of her, if only a bit.
"ONLY ONE HUMAN EVER HAD THE RIGHT TO SPEAK MY NAME AND YOU ARE. NOT. HIM!"
"Chō-chan, what's going on, what do I do?" Fū asked her tenant frantically.
"I do not know, but I have an idea, try holding her. I will attempt to calm my brother!" The girl did as the Shichibi ordered and gripped Naruko's shoulders tight, trying to hold her still.
The Shichibi found itself in the black empty void once again, except this time, there were no cages and a furious Kurama roared, his chakra blasting upwards, mere feet away from her.
"KURAMA PLEASE STOP! YOUR HURTING HER!"
"YOU THINK I CARE!? THIS WRETCHED HUMAN WENCH HAS NO RIGHT TO SPEAK MY NAME!" Kurama directed his eyes to Chōmei, "Don't you get it, little sister? Humans despise us, why do you still seek to protect them after all these years?! Haven't you learned they hate and fear us because we are strong. If they had a way to kill us they would have done so already!"
"They have good right to hate and fear us! Despite our self control, sometimes the remnants of our evil progenitor still take hold of us and we cause destruction. I believe father created us in hopes that we would learn from Humans and that they would learn from us. That we learn to have the control humans can have, and they would learn from us that even a great dark power can still benefit the world."
"You are delusional sister... Neither humans nor Bijuu have lived up to that, and they never will... Especially since father is gone. The girl will have to earn the right to speak my name. And I don't hold any hope that she ever will. Now... Begone from here."
Naruko stopped writhing in pain and opened her eyes, the first thing she saw being the relieved look on Fū's face. "Are you okay?"
The blond nodded and sat up, the pain gone... as if it were never there, "Wow! That was a new experience."
"I even felt his hatred... it was terrifying, I was afraid you were gonna transform into him and go on a rampage." Fū said, "You good to keep looking for that other Jinchuuriki?"
Naruko nodded as she stood up and brushed herself off, "Let's go."
With that they resumed their search of the mountain side. They were about 3 quarters of the way to the top when the incline evened out a bit to a hill top before the steep rise of the rest of the mountain.
The girls came to a stop and had to awe at the beauty of this particular spot, lush plant life covered the area. Colorful flowers, vibrant moss covered tree's and fruit-baring bushes.
"Okay. This is a nice little spot..." Fū said.
"Yeah.." Naruko took a step forward.
"I warned you two yesterday... but I guess my warning fell on deaf ears." The heard from above and they looked up into a large tree to their 2 o'clock. Sure enough there sat the red-clan man on a thick branch, his hand held gently in front of him, a small bird perched on his finger. The tiny creature pecked at a handful of seeds in the mans other hand.
"Listen we aren't here to fight... we just want to talk." Naruko said as she took a few cautious steps towards the tree.
"I have nothing to speak to you about..." the man said as he observed the feeding bird on his finger, "I prefer the tranquility of an animals silence to the annoying drabble of humans."
"The rumors said you were one with the animals... why would you prefer them over humans?" Fū asked.
"Because animals don't judge you. They accept you for what you are. To them you're either another animal, food or a predator. They act accordingly. Humans can't say that about themselves." The man said before gently pushed his hand out and the bird flew off his finger. He then dropped from the branch and landed on the ground, "I'll ask you one last time. Leave now. I want nothing to do with you. Don't make me hurt you."
"I don't get the sense that you are the type to hurt people for no reason." Naruko said.
"You're right... but if I hurt you it wont be for no reason... is solitude too much to ask for?" The man said.
"Yes, especially since you don't have to be alone." Naruko replied.
"What do you want from me? Why do you persist? If you had any idea who or what I was you would either run or try to kill me." The man said.
"I know that you are a jinchuuriki..." Fū stated.
This seemed to throw the man off a bit, "Oh and you still choose to confront me after my warnings? You're either stupid or suicidal."
Naruko held her hand out to the man, "I'm Uzumaki Naruko. What's your name?" She asked, ignoring his previous comment.
"What significance would my name hold to you? I have no intention of carrying this farce on any longer. Last chance; leave or face the consequences."
Naruko frowned and Fū sighed, "Come on Naruko, forget this guy. I told you he was too set in his ways to listen to us."
The man nodded and took a few steps away and turned back to them, then he looked up as if he noticed something, "I know what I'm doing Kokuo." he faced the duo again, "You want to know what you're getting into?" He said before he formed the Tora hand sign and suddenly a pulse of red chakra rippled outwards.
His body vanished among the black and red chakra that consumed him, his spine bending as he went to all fours, horns started forming out of his head. A jagged tooth mouth appeared on his face as 5 tails of chakra appeared behind him, lashing about, "Do you see? This is what you are trying to communicate with! I am Jinchuuriki! I am Han no Gobi!"
Naruko jumped back a bit and looked at Fū who nodded. The mint-haired girl quickly sprouted four of her wings and became covered in red chakra, her appearance becoming feral, "You don't scare us... We are jinchuuriki too!"
Han's eyes widened a bit then he smirked, rather evilly, "Oh? Now the reason for your fixation is clear. But why does she not bare her cloak?"
"I don't have that kind of control over it." Naruko explained.
"Because you reject your true nature. You do not embrace the power of the Bijuu." Han answered.
"More like he rejects me." Naruko scratched the back of her head, "Now that we have established what we all are, can we talk?"
Han stood back up and his body twitched and shook as the chakra around him began to recede. The red chakra was pulled into an intricate seal on the back of his left hand before it faded completely.
The man turned his attention back to them, "I don't really care if your jinchuuriki as well... I still have nothing to speak with you about."
Han turned his head to the right as if to look at an invisible friend, "...But why? What could they possibly have to offer us, old friend?"
Fū retracted her cloak of chakra and her wings as Naruko turned to her, "I don't think he's all there mentally." The blond remarked quietly.
"I think he's talking to his Bijuu." Fū commented.
Han continued speaking with the unseen being, "Why? Just to indulge in nostalgia?" He said. A few seconds later he rolled his eyes, "Fine..."
The man turned his attention back to the girls, "I'll tell you what... If you can inflict some manner of pain on me within the next ten minutes I will hear you out."
"Wait... what is that supposed to mean?" Naruko asked.
"Exactly as it sounds... We will fight. If you can inflict pain on me, no matter how small, I will hear what you have to say. You have ten minutes... I recommend you fight with intent to kill." Han said before two tails appeared behind him once more as boiling red chakra covered him.
-Refer to Song 1 in my profile-
Fū was already taking him up on the challenge as she flew in with her wings out.
Han drove one fist into the ground in front of him, then the other. With both hands buried he began to pull back up, fissures tore through the ground as a massive length of rock and earth began to rip from the ground.
Naruko and Fū could only gawk as Han's massive display of physical power pulled the large mass out of the ground, "Oh you have got to kidding me!" Fū barked just before Han stepped forward and slammed the chunk of earth into the mint-haired girl female like a baseball bat, sending her flying down the side of the mountain.
Naruko's jaw dropped as she watched her friend fly past her down the mountain. She didn't have time to even make a remark as Han had already raised the massive slab of earth up and slammed it directly down on top of her. A thunderous boom was heard as the slab broke apart upon impact.
Han stood back up and wiped his hands together, "That takes care of them..." He said before turning back around and letting his chakra fade away.
Han stopped in his tracks the second he felt a pulse of Bijuu chakra, then another one. He turned back around to see a red chakra cloaked Fū flying in at high speeds. Naruko jumped out of the debris with one tail of chakra formed.
Fū reached maximum speed and crossed her forearms in front of herself, prepared to ram into her opponent. Han quickly reformed two tails and held his palm out to Fū who slammed into his hand and came to a complete stop instantly. Han's arm barely wavered at the impact. The large man quickly grabbed her forearm tight in his hand before spinning around and throwing the girl at Naruko who was charging on all fours at him.
Naruko collided with Fū and they both were sent rolling down the mountain a bit. Han however was far from finished as he formed the Tora hand sign once again, "You're not weak... but you aren't strong enough to face me!" He said before a large cloud of smoke erupted from around himself.
Suddenly a massive white, horned horse-like beast blasted out of the smoke charging down the mountain at the girls. It's five tails trailing behind it. It was about the size of a house. It opened its mouth and shot several chakra bullets from its mouth at its intended victims.
Fū thought fast and picked Naruko up and flew high above as the bullets collided with ground where they were standing.
"My god, I can't believe he can turn into his Bijuu at will!" Fū remarked,
"Can't you do that too?"
"No..." the mint-haired girl replied curtly, "I think we are in trouble."
"Little Larva, Look out that's Kokuo, the Gobi! He's the third strongest of all the Bijuu!"
The Gobi launched itself into the sky with one mighty bound as if to chance the girls. Fū quickly ascended even higher to get out of its reach. She succeed as the Bijuu reached the apex of its leap and began to fall back down, but with focused bursts of chakra into its hooves it seemed to step on the air itself and launched even higher.
The girls could only watch as the beast quickly ascended past them and rose its hoof above them before bringing it down on them with massive force. Fūbarely had time to throw Naruko out of danger before the hoof slammed into her and took her straight back down into the mountain with all of the beasts weight on top of her.
The mountain shook from the impact. Fissures tore out through the ground and a crater formed instantly.
Naruko landed in a tree and looked on as the pulse of air released from the impact hit her, shaking the trees with ease.
"Fū!" Naruko called out before dashing forward at the Gobi. She formed a clone next to her that helped to form a Rasengan in her hand.
The blonde launched up and reared her attack back as she came in range. Kokuo merely spun around and smacked her away with his tails, sending her up and into the mountain side. The Bijuu turned back to see Fū fly out of the crater now completely covered in red and black chakra.
She dashed in at the Gobi who met her with a a swipe of his massive horns that sent her back down into the ground. The Beast reared its fronts legs high into the air in a classic horse-like fashion before coming back down and charging straight at Fū with its horns ready.
The Gobi was halted in its tracks suddenly, it turned its head behind itself to see that a two tailed Naruko was holding one of his tails tight. Kokuo narrowed his eyes and quickly lifted the girl off the ground with its tail and flicked her off sending her through the air.
It turned back towards Fū and continued its dash at her. The mint haired girl had just corrected herself in mid-air before looking to the sky. Particles of blue and red chakra started gathering into a tightly condensed sphere above her mouth. The black orb of pure chakra reached its full size, "Bijuu Dama!" She shouted before blasting the orb at the charging Bijuu.
Kokuo simply jumped over the attack as if it were a mere hurtle before its horns collided with Fū. Once again sending her flying through the air.
Kokuo then noticed he never felt the Tailed beast bomb explode behind him and he turned to face back up the mountain where Naruko was holding the attack with her arms of chakra before she threw it right back at Kokuo.
The Gobi opened his mouth and formed his own Bijuu Dama which it released. The attacks collided and a mighty explosion rippled out.
Naruko then had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing the beast charge through the smoke towards her, in full gallop.
The blond formed a large number of clones that dived at the Bijuu in hopes of stopping it. This however was futile as the beast simply plowed through them all like they weren't even there. The beast drove its horns at Naruko who jumped to the side to avoid them.
Kokuo struggled for a second to pull its horns out of the rock face. Once it succeeded Naruko was already on the attack, an attack that was quelled when the Bijuu raised one of its front hooves and slammed it down releasing a shockwave of chakra that sent Naruko rolling back.
The beast then rear-kicked behind itself, hitting Fū who had attempted to sneak up on him. He quickly whirled around before Fū could be sent far and slammed its front hoof down on top of her once again. It pinned her to ground and continued to increase the pressure in which it placed on it placed on her.
The cracks in the ground spread out as it attempted to flatten this 'bug'. Fū was struggling to keep from becoming a stain on the ground, her chakra blasting out to counter the crushing affects."
Suddenly Kokuo was surround by dozens of Naruko's jumping up from all around him. He began, one by one, dispatching them with either swipes of its tails or chakra bullets released from its mouth. However the swarm seemed to come continuously.
With this rather large annoyance now surrounding him, and his front hoof preoccupied with a victim he began to form a large Bijuu Dama above him that started firing chakra bullets in all directions to destroy the clones. Now satisfied with their lack of further interference it was ready to finish off the unfortunate creature beneath its hoof.
Just as it began to pump chakra into its hoof to crush Fū, seven arms of chakra extended out from beneath its hoof and wrapped around its leg and eventually its whole body. The Bijuu began to thrash about in an attempt to free itself.
"Naruko, NOW!" Fū shouted. With that cue, Naruko Launched out of a near by tree with a massive Rasengan in her hand, "Odama Rasengan!" The blond shouted just before slamming the large sphere into the side of Kokuo's face. It began twisting his flesh from the friction.
Kokuo's neck and head began to give way to the force, when suddenly he pushed his head back into the attack and sent Naruko flipping through the air. At the same time he released a pulse of chakra from his body that dissolved the chakra arms binding him.
Naruko landed on the ground, kyuubi's chakra faded from around her and the Gobi loomed over her. It brought its head down near her level and inspected her. The side of his face obviously damaged, "Impressive... You actually managed to hurt me a little. You have my brother to thank for that no doubt..." The beast said calmly before it vanished in a pop of smoke. When the smoke cleared Han calmly stood there with his hand in his gi.
Fū sat up from her crater holding her head. Her Bijuu chakra had faded and she was quite dizzy, "I feel like I was just used as a ping pong ball..."
Naruko chuckled, "That's cause we kinda were ping pong balls there for a minute."
Han merely looked at the girls, "I can't believe they managed to hurt you Kokuo."
"Nor I. But none the less, they succeeded." Kokuo replied.
Han watched as the two girls made sure they were both okay, "I just have two questions for you, this little challenge was your idea after all. Why did you want me converse with these girls?"
"There is something different about them. And they have my siblings sealed with in them. I think you should at least hear them out before you dismiss them."
"hmm... okay on to my second question. Why did you go easy on them?"
"Because I didn't want to snuff them out before seeing their symbiosis with my siblings. The green haired girl houses Shichibi no Chōmei. And the blond holds within her, Kurama... the Kyuubi."
Han nodded before speaking aloud again, "Very well." He said. Naruko and Fū looked at him, "I'm a man of my word. I'll hear you out. What is it you have to say to me?" He asked.
NEXT CHAPTER:
The duo attempt to convince Han to join up with them.
How will he respond to them?
Alrighty then folks there was chapter 4. Hope you enjoyed! Review please!
!ATTENTION ALL READERS WITH SKILLS AS AN ARTIST! I HAVE TRIED TO FIND A PIC OF NARUKO AND FU FOR THIS STORY'S COVER IMAGE, BUT I HAVE HAD NO SUCCESS. IF ONE OF YOU DRAWS UP A WELL DONE, NON-SEXUAL PICTURE OF THE TWO HUGGING, KISSING OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT (WITH NARUKO AS I HAVE DESCRIBED HER IN THIS FIC) I WILL USE IT FOR MY COVER IMAGE IF IT FITS MY CRITERIA! SO I ASK YOU, SHARE YOUR DRAWING SKILLS WITH ME AND I SHARE MY WRITING SKILLS WITH YOU LOL!
'Til next time, this Damiad, signing off from The Void!