Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...but I do own my idea of what Naruto would look like in his five-tailed form, so there!!! Rawwr!!!
Chapter 25: A Long Awaited Punishment
(Naruto's P.O.V)
I continued to look at my enemies as my chakra began to increase again. I hunched over a bit, and tried to ignore the pain. Dang, this chakra fusing really had a bad side-effect on me and Kyuubi.
"I'll have to end this quickly...but that might destroy the village as well...unless..." I looked towards the port, and noticed the others were still watching me, "Everyone, get to the village now!" For a moment, they didn't move, and I groaned, "What are you still standing there for? GO!!!!" the suddenly jumped as I added a bit of Kyuubi's voice to my own, and was relieved to see them do as I had asked.
"Well, it seems you're alone now, Uzumaki..." Pein said as he narrowed his ringed eyes at me, "...a fitting way to end a Jinchuuriki's life I suppose."
"Can it..." I spoke, and crouched on all fours, "You should be worried about yourselves right now, not me." I made the ox seal, and grinned, "Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
As the smoke cleared, twenty similar forms of me with five lashing tails appeared. They all began to form seals at a rapid pace, and the water began to swirl around us.
"Whatever it is, you won't succeed, Uzumaki..." Pein continued, and he went through a few seals as I picked up the pace in channeling chakra faster and faster.
"Heh, this technique was created by the Second Hokage himself." I finished the seals, and my clones all did as well, "Water Style: Water Collision Destruction!!!" A large volume of water shot out from the surface, and with me and my clones' control, we enlarged it to even greater proportions. It was now about the size of an average tornado, and was spinning at a rapid pace. My clones and I directed our attack forward, and it went careening at high speeds towards the four ninja.
(Pain's P.O.V)
I jumped to avoid the giant column of water, as did the others. To my great surprise it didn't stop, but began to chase us down as it split into four seperate columns.
"Clever...but..." I finished my handseals that I had been using earlier, and the water around me began to churn as well. Eventually a giant tidal wave formed and crashed into the water spout that had been following me. The Jinchuuriki boy seemed unhindered by this, and focused his efforts on the remaining three. The fool...
I sent a wave at the boy and his Shadow Clones, and was satisfied to hear the popping sounds of twenty clones being destroyed. However, when I noticed the water settle, there was no Jinchuuriki to be found...wait...
I jumped to the side just in time to avoid a blast of red chakra that shot out of the water. Seconds later the five tailed form of Naruto Uzumaki flew out of the water's depths, and landed on a cliff, grasping onto it with chakra.
"Tch, you really think that would be enough to beat me? Come on...you're insulting me." the boy huffed, and I saw that he was indeed looking fatigued. I smirked a bit.
"You're reaching your limit, Uzumaki." I noted, and he growled.
"I only need a few more minutes to finish all four of you off for good!" he snarled, and made numerous seals at a rapid fire pace, "Demonic Art: Five Pillar Summoning Technique!"
The area around us shook, and suddenly five glowing, red pillars shot out of the water. The boy wasn't finished yet though, it seemed...
He made several more seals, and simply slammed his palms into the rocks in front of him. Suddenly, a wall of blazing chakra formed around the pillars and a ceiling covered the top. He had trapped himself and all of us inside.
"So...that was your intention all along...defeat us by means of using all your power without harming the village..." I spoke, recieving a nod from the boy.
"Heh, you're good...yeah, there's a reason why I haven't used my full power yet...but now you'll get to see why."
(Kyuubi's P.O.V)
I felt another tug on my chakra, and glanced over to the body of Naruto, who was now in a miniature form of me. He was heaving in air, and trying to remain standing, "Kit, we don't have much time left..." I added quickly. He nodded, and growled as the chain of chakra binding us glowed red for a brief moment.
"I know...I just need another moment, then I'll be ready..." Naruto replied.
"Ready for what?" not liking the sound of what he was saying.
"I'm going to blow them all into oblivion..." he spoke with a grin, and he looked more like a beast than animal as he did so.
"Hold on, you're not even thinking this through, Naruto." spoke Sasuke, and I agreed with a nod.
"He's right, Kit. We can't keep burning chakra up like this, you know that the balance we have to maintain here is delicate. Too much, and you could turn into gelatin from the inside out." I noticed he wasn't listening.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure they get what's coming to them..." my container spoke, and I growled in anger.
"Listen, Naruto, I don't care how powerful we are right now, you're still a human!!! You're body wasn't made to handle such powerful chakra!!! You're body has only been absorbing it for the last nineteen years, but that's still not enough to maintain a resistance to this amount of power!!!" I shook the chambers for an added emphasis, and Naruto looked to me with a serious expression.
"You think I don't know that?" he dropped his head, "I'm not about to let them get away, not after all the pain they've caused for all those years...I can't let them..." Naruto took in a deep breath, than his eyes widened. Something was happening on the outside world. I quickly scanned his memories...
"Damn it, stop it now, Kit!!! That attack's powerful no matter how much chakra you have!"
(Naruto's P.O.V)
I opened my mouth and blasted a wave of chakra I had been storing up, shooting it at a ball of black flames, "Dang it...this is the infamous Amaterasu, huh?" I grunted as I tried to maintain my chakra blast's power with my outstretched hands.
Itachi had gone and used his powerful fire technique while I had been concentrating my chakra on my attack, but now that he had interrupted my preparations...well, I would have to start over again...and I didn't have enough time in this form to create another generation of chakra...
"Looks like I'll have to kill you first Itachi..." I grunted to myself, feeling the intense heat of his technique slowly inching closer...it was amazing he was putting up such a fight with an arm missing and such severe damage, "Sasuke...let's get ready...I'm going to attack Itachi like we planned..."
There was a brief pause, then, "Right...I'm ready, Naruto..."
I roared as I let Amaterasu overpower my blast, and the flames hit me with an explosion of dark, unnatural pain...that is until I began to merge with the chakra that had been used for the technique.
(Itachi's P.O.V)
"It seems he was no match for my attack..." I spoke with a nod, and too a second to catch my breath as the others looked around to watch the barrier disentegrate. I was sure we had beat him until I suddenly felt my head throb with pain. I almost lost control of my standing on water, and the others looked to me.
"Itachi, what's wrong?" spoke the lighter half of Zetsu.
"Something...went wrong...with Amaterasu..." I replied, looking to see the roaring black flames dissapear, and oddly enough, so did Naruto, "Uzumaki must have used...some kind of technique to counter my attack..." suddenly my world went black...
I opened my eyes to find myself standing in a black void. I looked around, and noticed I had both of my arms again. I heard footsteps behind me, and turned to see...
"It's been a long time...little brother..." I spoke.
"Hn, so you knew after all..." spoke my dead brother, Sasuke.
"When I had attacked Naruto those days back, I knew that something had gone wrong with my Tsukuyomi...Naruto may be strong with the Kyuubi in him, but I should have been able to break his mind down enough to defeat him...that's when I detected your presence in him...your soul..."
Sasuke smirked, "Don't think that spending all those years with Orochimaru was for nothing...and don't get this confused with his Fushi Tensei...since Naruto is still completely alive and not under my control." Sasuke pulled out his sword, and grimaced, "Nineteen years...and it will end here and now..."
I narrowed my eyes, "You truly think your strong enough to kill me? Naruto has been able to call upon five tails of the Kyuubi, and I still have proven to give him a equal match...however, you haven't gained any strength since you died almost three years ago..."
"He isn't fighting alone though..." came another voice, and I turned to see Naruto Uzumaki, standing by my brother's side all of the sudden.
"I see...so, you two had been working on this for some time then..." I concluded, recieving a nod from the two.
"Consider this place the equivalent of your Tsukuyomi, Itachi...Sasuke's Sharingan powered by Kyuubi and my chakra..." Naruto spoke again, and suddenly found myself pinned to a wooden post. The void turned to a blazing inferno, and I looked in front of me only to be face to face with the Demon Fox.
As the Demon Fox spoke, I heard not a thundering roar, but my brother's voice, "Naruto, Kyuubi, and I are all intertwined as one...and we will take you down here and now..."
"Not if I have something to say about it..." I spoke, and my eyes turned into the pinwheel like design again, revealing the Mangekyou Sharingan.
"It's futile, human..." spoke the voice of the Kyuubi this time, and it was now an inch from my face. I could smell its breath, and feel all the killer intent that a mighty demon as itself had. I didn't flinch though...I wouldn't give in to this pathetic excuse of a Genjutsu...
"This isn't a pathetic Genjutsu...just so you know." spoke Naruto, and all three of them were now before me. Sasuke stepped forward, and with a few quick seals, created a Chidori, and Naruto began to channel chakra, as did the Kyuubi. The chakra began to channel into Sasuke's jutsu, and it was now crackling with power that shouldn't be possible...
...I suddenly realized just how real this was.
Looking at Sasuke, I noticed that he had no physical form...he was merely chakra...but...at the same time...he was able to create chakra...
"I know...amazing, isn't it?" Naruto asked, "Sasuke may have no real form aside from spiritual energy and chakra, but he can still create more chakra from chakra...quite a feat..."
I had found myself unable to break out of this dimension...so I tried to generate chakra to perform a technique...but...
"That won't work...I've sealed away your power..." rumbled the Kyuubi.
This wasn't good.
Sasuke lifted his hand, which was roaring with chakra that belonged to him, Kyuubi, and Naruto...he was sweating a lot, but he had a determined look in his eyes. His Sharingan spun, and he spoke, "You are about to feel all the pain that you inflicted on our clan...and all the pain Naruto beared with in his life...all of it...in one single attack..."
Without warning, Sasuke plunged his Chidori into my chest, and the pain surged through me. Visions of me killing the clan, the feeling of myself being stabbed by kunai, the Tsukuyomi beign inflicted on me...all of it was thrown at me. I wasn't necessarily affected by it mentally, it was the physical pain that I felt that was causing me to scream in pain. The waves of pain came slowly as I suddenly felt myself being beaten and stabbed by villagers...
...these were Naruto's memories...
I coughed up blood, and it suddenly ended. It felt like I had spent years of nonstop pain within a few seconds...or so I thought. I slowly lifted my head, and felt blood run down my chin, "Heh...still not enough..."
Sasuke said nothing, but looked into my eyes, "I never said that was it...that was just for the clan and Naruto...this..." he formed another Chidori, "This...is to end you...once and for all...Itachi..."
The Chidori formed into a sword like shape, and he plunged it into my wound. I grunted in pain, and he made a seal. The sword sent thousands of volts through my body, and I cried in pain. Naruto and Kyuubi once again channeled chakra into the attack, and I began to smell burning flesh.
"DIE!!!!!!" Sasuke sent all the power he had into the attack. The last thought I had was how I had managed to get beaten by my own brother...and how I had failed to achieve the ultimate form of the Sharingan so many years ago when said brother died...
...in the end...Sasuke had proven to be powerful enough...
Slowly but surely, everything began to vanish from sight...the last thing I saw was the burning eyes of my brother, three tomoe of the Sharingan spinning with anger.
(Sasuke's P.O.V)
As the infernal blaze dissapeared, and everything began to turn back into the chambers of Naruto's mind, I noticed that Itachi's body was no longer where it had been...I felt my knees shake, and fell over to the ground.
"Sasuke!" Naruto said running to my side. He was once again in his five tailed state, and I could see the chain of chakra connecting his navel to the Kyuubi.
"I'm fine...just...exhausted..." I took a look to see the Kyuubi was once again in his cage.
"Your life energy is weak...rest now, Naruto and I still have to deal with the other three." spoke the demon fox, and he looked down on my dead brother's body, "Hm...it seems his spirit is gone now...we've succeeded in defeating him then."
I nodded, "Right...well, take care of the others then..."
Naruto nodded, and closed his eyes as he returned to his conscious state.
(Naruto's P.O.V)
I looked ahead to see a scorched, smoking jacket that had once been the property of Itachi Uchiha. Zetsu, Pein, and Tobi were standing to the side, unmoving, and what seemed to be unphased.
"Interesting...so you were able to destroy Itachi within mere seconds..." spoke Tobi, his voice suddenly serious, and fitting for a member of Akatsuki, "Well, you've once again put a huge hole in our plans, Naruto Uzumaki..."
"Heh, that's my job..." I smirked, and looked to the village. I couldn't risk destroying it. I had about two minutes left before my body would give in. I would either pull this off, or fail miserably.
"It seems we underestimated you..." Zestu spoke, "We should have just sent you to get the boy from the very beginning, Pein."
"It doesn't pay to dwell on the past...we'll defeat him now, and make modifications to our plans...we can still extract the Kyuubi without Itachi..." spoke the Rinnegan user.
I gathered chakra again, and this time I cast a large dome of red chakra over us. It wouldn't be as efficient as the Five Pillars Summon Barrier...but it would do the needed job, "Hope you're ready, because I won't be holding back any longer!!!" I stared to feel my body shake with power, and I coughed up blood.
"Kit, what are you doing?!?" roared my tenant Bijuu, "This was not part of our plan!!!"
"Sorry..." I smirked, "Kind of had a change in plans I guess."
"Naruto, what are you thinking?! This is too much chakra!!! Your body's going to destroy itself!!!" I heard Sasuke yell.
"Don't worry, I've got it...under control..." I growled, feeling my seal heat up, and it turned gold with light again. Now was the time...
(Tobi's P.O.V)
"That's too much chakra..." I spoke, and the others agreed with silent nods, "I'm calling this off, we need to retreat..."
"What about the Jinchuuriki?" Zetsu spoke, "He's useless to us if he kills himself."
"Don't worry...we can always find another method of retrieving the Kyuubi...we have all of the time in the world," I spoke, readying myself to get us out when the time was right.
(Naruto's P.O.V)
I was feeling my insides burning, I had to release this chakra, and I had to release it now!
"Akatsuki, today I'm going to defeat you, and end this pointless quest of yours to conquer the world!" I yelled, and formed a single hand seal; the tiger seal. The seal for fire attacks, and lethal jutsu...
I felt a brief moment where all sound stopped within the dome. Time slowed down as I release the monstrous wave of chakra, which lit the entire sky in red.
(Tobi's P.O.V)
"Now!" I yelled, and opened a rift in space, and we jumped through it, avoiding the explosion entirely.
(Sakura's P.O.V)
I felt a tremor rock the entire village, and got up from my seat on a roof to watch the sky turn a crimson red. A large dome of Kyuubi's chakra had formed, and it suddenly exploded, sending powerful streaks of light and power into the sky. I knew right then and there that something horrible had happened.
"Naruto!!!" I yelled, and began running to the source of power that was now dwindling in light. I could barely feel anything now, and that caused me to run faster. I felt a presence near me, and turned to see Kakashi next to me.
"Sakura, what happened?"
"I don't know, I just felt a sudden spike in Naruto and Kyuubi's chakra, then I saw a huge streak of light shoot into the sky!" I paused as I felt something like a lump of ice settle in my stomach, "Naruto's in trouble...serious trouble..."
Kakashi and I landed at the edge of the port, and I saw a mass floating out in the ocean water.
"Naruto..."
"Hold on, Sakura...I'm coming with." he spoke, and I nodded. We both ran onto the water, and noticed three figures standing suddenly appear. Itachi was not among them though...
"Hm...it seems that the Jinchuuriki boy has gone into a death-like state..." Pein said, looking at the floating body of Naruto, "we cannot use him as of right now..."
The three cloaked men nodded, and before we could do anything, they vanished. I ran up to Naruto, and picked him up out of the water just as he began to sink, "Naruto! Naruto! Wake up!!!"
Kakashi and I carried him to land, and we were joined by a few Sea-nin and some of the others from our team. I felt tears falling as I felt Naruto's body burning...yet he wasn't responding to me.
"What happened?" spoke Anko, who had arrived only moments ago. Kakahsi looked up, and I noticed a dull look in his eyes. Rin walked over and did a quick diagnostic with her medical jutsu. She was silent, and the look on her was one I hated to see in these situations.
"I...I don't feel any signs chakra life...but...for some reason...there's still chakra flowing through his body..." she spoke in a shaky voice.
I shook my head, and did a similar diagnostic. After I found myself to be getting similar results...I felt the tears come, "No...this can't be happening again...no..."
Kakashi looked the group of Sea-nin, "We need to get Naruto to Konoha as soon as possible...only Yamato may be able to help...Jiraiya's in critical condition, but he can survive a trip over seas if we give him sometime..."
One of the Sea-nin ran off to inform the council building of the emergency and what we needed. I felt myself growing sick in the stomach as I looked upon the blank face of Naruto. His fur was gone, his fox-like feature were no longer there aside from the whisker marks...but he was clinically dead...
"Naruto...why?" I asked as I heard the others running to us. Things were supposed to go peacefully on this mission...and this happened?
I cried into the chest of Naruto's unrising chest. Why did this always happen to Naruto? He never deserved this!
"...why...?" I asked myself as the tears continued falling.
(Naruto's P.O.V)
I blinked as I looked around me, finding myself blinded by white light all around. I got up as my eyes adjusted, and tried to see if anything came in clearer. No luck...
"Kit..."
I turned around, and was shocked to see Kyuubi standing before me, a small line of chakra connecting his navel to mine.
"K-Kyuubi? Where are we?" I asked, and heard a groan, and looked near Kyuubi's feet to see Sasuke waking up as well.
"Wha-?" he looked around, and then saw me and Kyuubi. He got up, and rubbed his head, "Great, now what did you do to us, dobe?"
I bit back a retort as Kyuubi growled, "Looks like something happened when our idiot here decided to go and make himself explode like a fireworks festival...though I have no idea where we could be...I've never seen a realm like this before..."
We walked around, and I noticed that the scenary never changed. We simply continued walking through pure white void. I noticed that the air was neither hot nor cold...it was as if there was no such thing here as temperature. I let out a sigh, and it echoed around non-existent walls, "Geez, what is this place? We've been walking around for almost half an hour, and still nothing has changed..."
"Well, wherever it is, it's not from either the demon realm or your world..." replied Kyuubi, who was walking at a leisurely pace so he wouldn't walk over us and risk crushing me and Sasuke.
"Naruto...whatever you did, it must have sent us to some kind of place between space and time...because I don't sense any air flow here, or any change in humidity..." Sasuke spoke as we continued or fruitless walk through the void.
"Well, I better have gotten rid of those Akatsuki bastards...otherwise I'm going to be pissed! I didn't waste all that chakra just to make a light show!!!" I shouted, not really caring how childish I looked at the moment. From the stares from my two companions, it must have quite immature though.
"Dobe..." Sasuke spoke.
"Enough..." Kyuubi sighed, "We don't have time to argue. For all we know, everyone is beign attacked by Akatsuki right now, and we're helpless in this giant waste of space..." Kyuubi growled in frustration, and swished his tails a bit, which much to our surprise caused no winds to pick up.
Sasuke and I took immediate notice of that, "Okay...it's one thing to not have temperature change...but are you saying there's no air here period?" Sasuke said as Kyuubi fanned his tails in front of us, earning nothing more than a bit of fur in our face as we faced the giant fox. Kyuubi's tails were supposed to be able to cause whirlwinds and tidal waves with a single flick. I should have been flying away by now.
"What in the hell is this place?" I spoke in annoyance, and heard a laugh that caused all of us to stop where we were.
"Heheh, well, I wouldn't say that you're in that place...but then again, you're not really dead either..." spoke a voice that sent a shiver down my spine...it was so...unfamiliar...yet..I knew it somehow. Kyuubi looked ahead of us, and his eyes widened a bit.
I looked at the fox, not trusting myself to turn around. The mighty Bijuu's let out a snort that signaled either anger, or irritation, and then he narrowed his eyes,"You..."
I slowly turned around after seeing the shocked look on Sasuke's face. Surely if he was surprised...then, that might mean I would know who this was too. As I got a glimpse of the owner of the voice, I choked on my voice. I took a step back, unsure whether I could believe what I was seeing or not...
...no, it couldn't be him...could it?
end of Chap. 25- Hey everyone! I'm back with Chapter 25 completed. Not much to say here other than, "Well, should've saw that coming?" right? RIGHT??? Well, either way, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Hm, now, I wonder who this mystery person is. Oh, I'm sure a few of you figured it out...or maybe you didn't. Well, you'll find out soon enough! Until then, happy reading!