Along Came a Symbiote
Author's Note: Psudocode Samurai/ soccer-fan1/ Kishinokurobi/
shadows24/ Leaf Ranger/ GaruAlpha/
Kitsunegari17/ Fox Among Foxes/ Billy Buyo/
Senjuto/ AnAddictedReader/ Matchstick800/
Strife77/ Lazyman1/2 Hail Lord Archanfel/
EdroGrimshell/ Aidis/ ElementalMaster16
And many more readers
These are the Readers and Author's who left a review and in some cases a pm back when I was contemplating about leaving the site. I mentioned this a while ago but I didn't specifically mention them. I wanted to do this because they reminded me why I began writing fanfiction in the first place. I didn't write for the masses who enjoyed fandom, I wrote for those like myself who enjoyed a well written, and thought out fanfic. Stories that were unpredictable, with enjoyable plots, and romances that didn't feel like a cheap porno. After a while I guess I just forgot, but I want to thank these people who reminded me. So thank you and I apologize for the long wait. Hope you enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 12: Nightmares
Beep-Beep-Beep.
The methodical noise emanating from a heart monitor began to annoy Anko, and yet at the same time it reassured her that the other occupant of the room was alive. With his torso covered in stitches along with layers of gauze, Naruto slept upon the hospital bed in the room. Anko stood next to his bed. She watched over him and waited for signs of recovery or even mental thought. He hadn't woken since she arrived at the hospital.
Moonlight slid through the drapes of the window, barely brightening the room. It was only thanks to how long she had been in the room that she built a tolerance to the darkness.
The purple haired visitor brushed her hand over her boyfriends arm, noticing the numerous healing lacerations, some bandaged while others a faint scar.
'You look like a savage animal got a hold of you. What happened?'
Anko thought back to the last time she saw him.
Two sleeping figures lay across a green queen sized bed, the matching covers draped over them. Naruto stretched during his mild return to consciousness. A pair of pajama bottems being his only article of clothing. He reached out and pulled the other occupant on the bed closer before drifting off to slumber once more. Anko didn't resist the pull or show any signs of discomfort. Her hair undone, an over sized, black long sleeved shirt and dark purple panties made up her physical appearance.
It became common for the two to sleep within the same bed, though this happened mostly at Anko's home due to Naruto's lack of sleeping arrangments at his.
"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP"
Anko's eyes reluctantly creaked open. Staring at the alarm clock on the table next to Naruto that read 10:01 am in red numbers, Anko slapped the snooze button.
She had planned to catch a few more minutes of sleep till Naruto opened his mouth, groggily stating his opinion.
"Stay home, take a day off."
"Like I did yesterday?" she jokingly stated.
His eyes still closed, a smile formed on his face. "Would that be so bad?"
Anko pulled herself closer to him. "Hmmm tempting, but I have to work. Got to kill enemies, follow the Hokage's order."
"Screw work, screw bad guys, and screw the Hokage." Naruto mumbled.
The snake user laughed long and hard till she yelped thanks to the hand groping her firm ass. "Something else we'd like to screw."
Smiling, Anko moved her head closer to Naruto's; joining their lips as she wrapped her arms around him.
"BEEP BEEP BEEP-"
The moment was ruined by the alarm clock's reminder that Anko was supposed to be getting up. A quick slap against the black box expressed Anko's annoyance. Reluctantly she pulled herself out of Naruto's grasp and out of the bed they laid on. She began preparing for work, pulling off Naruto's shirt and covering up in her work attire. A mesh shirt and shorts, her dark orange skirt, and a tan trench coat. She fitted her shin guards on after slipping her sandals on.
Before exiting the room, Anko made one last trip to her bed and leaned over the remaining occupant.
"Should I be expecting you back later?"
Naruto thought about the inquiry. His eyes stayed closed while he nodded.
A chaste kiss and Anko left the room and soon after the apartment.
That was the last time she had seen him. Anko had wondered where Naruto had wondered off, eventually assuming he had gotten a mission at the last second and leaving it be. It was only thanks to Kurenai nearly knocking her door off its hinges.
"Anko, Anko open up! Open the door! Naruto has been hospitalized!"
"What! What happened?"
"I don't know. Asuma and his team came back injured and carrying Naruto on a stretcher."
Team ten. They had to know how Naruto ended up on his balance between life and death. But there was nothing she could do about it. Asuma and his team would be recuperating, unable to answer her questions. They would be having a debriefing with the Hokage. It would be against regulations but the purple haired interrogator was sure she could persuade her superiors to let her overhear the debriefing. She stayed until a nurse came to inform her that visiting hours were over. Anko contemplated staying regardless, but she needed rest, and sharing the bed with Naruto in his current condition was out of the question. Regardless, sleep did not come easy for her that night.
Soon after the sun had risen, Anko was back at the hospital. She checked on Naruto first. After seeing that he had yet to wake up and double checking his medical chart to see if there were any improvements, Anko made a bee line to Asuma's room. Luckily the man shared a room with his team.
After finding the correct door, Anko closed the door behind her in the same second she entered.
"I wondered when you'd get here." Asuma thought out loud.
The snake mistress ignored his question in favor of studying him and his team. Asuma seemed to have several lacerations hidden behind several layers of gauze. Both arms were riddled with the white wrapping as well as the left side of his face.
Shikamaru was in the bed across from his sensei. He lacked the cuts but carried a broken leg that was placed in a cast. The lazy nin was fast asleep, most likely taking advantage of the pain killers pumping through his IV.
In the bed to the right of Shikamaru's was Choji's. The bulky nin seemed to share Asuma's injuries aside from his face being unharmed. A far away look could be seen in the Akimichi's eyes, his thoughts clearly not within the hospital.
Ino's bed was located between Asuma's left and the front of Choji's. The pale blonde carried the least of all injuries save for a few bruises. But she was sleeping restlessly. Having fits of pleading mumbles and resituating herself every few minutes.
"What happened to you and your team?" Anko finally asked. "And what happened to Naruto?"
"We were ambushed by a monster."
Anko's eyes narrowed. "A monster? What the hell are you talking about?"
Asuma shook his head. "I don't know what we ran into, but it couldn't have been human. At least not completely."
"Was Naruto recruited into you team?"
"No."
"Then what was he-"
Asuma raised one of his injured hands to cut her off. "Before we go any further let's wait till the Hokage is here; that way I can do this only once. I really need rest."
Anko nodded in agreement. Setting herself to the side of the door she entered, she waited patiently. An hour passed by, Shikamaru woke up during that time and a nurse came in to check on the patients. Asuma began to become uncomfortable with the wait and lack of sound. Finally he filtered through his clothes until he produced a pack of cigarettes.
"If the Hokage comes back tell her I-"
The door opened. "Tell me what?"
Asuma shook his head and pocketed his smokes. "Nothing."
Tsunade's eyes scanned the room, checking each patient. Her eyes landed on Anko.
A puzzled look crossed her face."Anko. What are you doing here?"
Said women straightened herself, giving the person before her the respect her title warranted.
"Hokage I would like to hear team ten's report."
"And why is this?" She asked, authority lacing her voice.
Anko kept herself in check, maintaining a proper voice. "Naruto was with team ten when he was injured. I would like to know exactly how he was injured."
"So it's a personal matter." Tsunade's tone felt harsh, but lightened as she continued. "You're impatient. Naruto would eventually tell you when he wakes up, but I'll let you listen in. With your relationship with Naruto you might be able to fill in some holes. Like why he was even there in the first place?"
"Naruto wasn't on a mission?" Anko asked
Tsunade shook her head. "No. He had the day off, but suddenly left the village in his hunter nin gear, at least this is what eye witnesses claim. But that's not important right now." Tsunade stated before turning to Asuma. "You may begin your report."
We prepared for our mission shortly after receiving it. On our way out we had ran into Naruto. The meeting had only lasted a few minutes, and soon after we left the village. Due to the urgency of our mission we moved at a rushed pace.
The four leapt from tree to tree. Even when their source of landing depleted, they simply fell to the ground and continued at a hastened speed.
A flushed face teen finally spoke, his chubby face jiggling with each step. "Why are we in such a rush? Does our employer really need us there today?"
"It's not that they need us there by today, but it was requested that we arrive today." Asuma answered.
The female of the group whipped her long blonde hair from her face before piquing her curiosity. "What's with the urgency?"
A third member with a high spiked ponytail tilted his eyes to his senior.
Asuma rolled the thought around his head, deciding how best to explain. "Lately there have been several massacres, specifically villages. They're just wiped out. Every man, women, and child are brutally killed save for a few lucky enough to escape. Those who escape spread the story of what they witnessed. Our employer has noticed a pattern to the villages being targeted and assumes that they are next in line. They are scared and want protection ASAP."
"Why wasn't a team assigned this mission sooner?" Shikamaru asked.
"Because until now we only thought that these massacres were merely rumors. Even now we are unsure about whether the rumors are true or not."
A thought suddenly occurred to Ino. "If whole villages are being destroyed then why are we the only team being sent out?"
"From what our employer has gathered from survivors there is only one hostile. Remember the drawing in the report, that's the so called monster responsible for all this. Though I doubt that is the case."
How wrong I was.
"A ninja whose specializes in genjutsu?" Shikamaru asked.
"Possibly." Asuma's gruff voice openly pondered.
Their destination came into view and the group began to slow. As they neared Asuma's eyes narrowed. Suddenly the bearded Jounin held a palm in the air, calling his team to a halt. His team gave him a curious look while he simply stared in the direction that the village awaited.
The blonde of the group quickly grew impatient. "Why have we stopped?"
"Something's not right!" was Asuma's immediate response. "Listen!" he commanded.
They obeyed the command, but could not find anything unusual.
The issue soon became apparent to Shikamaru. "This close to the village and we can't hear anything. Not even the animals are making a sound."
"Exactly."
A worried look crossed Ino's and Choji's face. The blonde found her voice first. "What has happened to the village… and how do we proceed?"
"I don't know, the village might just be quiet from fear." Asuma theorized. "Or we may be too late. Either way we'll proceed with caution. Ino I want you behind me, you two will hang back on either side of her."
The three Chunin nodded. They understood their seniors thinking. Ino was the only one with medical knowledge in their group, if there really was a monster capable of killing whole populations, then they'd need her to be protected and near all three in order to quickly help each of them.
They moved forward, taking slow, silent steps. Their nerves climbed the closer they got to their target, the silence continued to hang in the air. Buildings began to appear as the trees thin out. A new sensation arouse in them as a thick smell hit their nose. The smell of blood was so intense that the taste of metal was present in their mouths.
And finally the trees were gone. The buildings were all around them, so was the carnage. Mutilated bodies were strewn all around them, left out on the streets as if put on display while their blood decorated the buildings like graffiti.
"Oh God!" Ino said, disturbance so thick in her voice that she could barely speak the two words.
The others held a mutual feeling. Asuma couldn't look at the scene without being reminded about the destruction he had seen roughly sixteen years ago. The fact that he was comparing the scene before him with that of the Nine tails fox's attack had him questioning what they were assigned to kill.
'Maybe there is a monster here.'
"He He Heh Ha Ha ha!"
A warped laughter echoed through the empty streets, bouncing off the walls and spreading for all to hear.
The four nins quickly leapt together, keeping a vigilant look for the overjoyed being responsible for the laughter.
"Hehehehahaha!"
They turned their backs to each other, preventing the twisted and inhuman owner of the laughter from attacking their blind side.
Asuma took charge and began working to calm his team. "Keep calm! Watch each others backs. He'll have to show himself if he plans to attack."
How their leader could put a sex to the voice of the laughter was beyond them, but regardless Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji all calmed from his reassuring words and the truth backing them.
"Oh, Is that what you think?" The voice mocked them. "Well think again!"
Their heads snapped towards the voice above them. The being that descended upon them forced their bodies to lock in place for a mere second. Fear released its grip just in time for the four to leap away, barely avoiding the keen knives of the creature's claws.
Team ten now had the being surrounded from four corners, unable to do nothing more than observe it. Its entire body was covered in a liquid flesh composed of a red and black mixture. Whether it was red with black mixed in or vice versa was indiscernible with how the colors varied, pattern-less and without purpose or meaning. Despite being smaller and thinner than Asuma, the sharp talons of its hands and the crazed smile formed from its black, thin, lipless, razor-like teeth held the nins at bay. If one were to take a closer look at its skin, they'd notice how it crawled around, strands reaching for the air around it.
Suddenly it whipped its head around, taking in each nin with its white lens eyes. "Only four of you. I was hoping for more!" (1)
"What are you?" Asuma finally asked, the words seething from his lips.
The creature redirected its gaze on Asuma. The teeth spreading apart, revealing the pink flesh of its mouth and a red tongue bobbing in tune with the words spoken.
"Don't you already know. An artist always signs his handiwork."
Brows furrowed from the riddle presented. Shikamaru took his eyes off of the creature before them, certain that his team would warn him of any attacks directed towards him. His eyes scanned the area around him, moving from the bodies on the ground to the blood on the walls. The lazy genius still couldn't make any sense of what was being said. He broadened his view, taking in more of the area instead of just one specific area. It was then that he caught it. He found the signature, formed from what was mistaken as simple blood spatters.
Anger fueled Shikamaru's breathing, forcing him to take deeper breathes after his nostrils flared from the heated exhales.
"His name is on the walls around us."
The others gave a confused look towards their designated tactician. They scanned the walls around them, eventually seeing what Shikamaru saw.
Carnage
"Finally get it! Good cause my patience has RUN OUT!"
Asuma had barely raised his trench knives in the little time it took Carnage to close the gap between them. Steel rung as claws met knives. Immediately the trio came to Asuma's aid. The largest inflated himself before turning into a rolling boulder.
Asuma disengaged his deadlock and leapt out of Choji's path. Carnage on the other hand hadn't even moved. The skin on his back convulsed, springing forth a deathtrap of blades made from his flesh.
"Choji don't!" Shikamaru shouted, forming hand seals in the hope to save his friend.
The human boulder must have noticed the danger or heard his friend, for he veered away. Shikamaru's shadow stretched out towards the red and black creature. In retaliation, Carnage raised a clawed hand towards the shadow user, his digits lengthening and exploding. The digits that flew towards Shikamaru forced him to abandon his jutsu and dodge to the side.
Once more Carnage was on the move, this time charging the female of the group. His head bobbed from side to side, slipping past the multiple kunai thrown towards his head.
"Ino duck!"
Without hesitation she followed Asuma's command. Wind chakra channeled through his trench knives increasing their length by four times. A swift sweep aimed the blade of wind towards Carnage's neck. Air was the only thing the wind severed as the monster had ducked under, placing his face a mere inch from Ino's face. It was only thanks to years of training that allowed her to escape the sharp teeth that aimed to tear her face off.
Asuma didn't end his assault, swinging his chakra infused knives in quick arcs. Carnage seemed to have the sense to dodge instead of clash, but the only thing that prevented him from counter attacking was the Akimichi rejoining the fight.
"That thing was a monster not only in appearance. We threw everything we had at it and it just brushed it off."
Shikamaru decided to cut in here, deciding to wake for a few mere minutes. "We couldn't even employ any of our family strategies. The second one of us would make to capture him…. It was as if he knew, as if he had eyes in the back of his head." (2)
"Worse yet we eventually found out that Carnage had been toying with us the whole time. That became obvious when I saw Venom for the first time."
We'd begun to slow. Merely dodging took more effort than we'd like and as Shikamaru said, it was like he had eyes in the back of his head. Every blind spot we struck from was useless. Strategy executions halted before they even began .Luckily we had only received minor cuts, but things were turning from bad to worse. Then it happened.
Like a bird of prey, a black shadow swooped in and snatched up Carnage. All eyes followed the shadow to find it and Carnage suspended nearly forty feet by a thick string of black webbing. At the top of Venom's swing, he released his choke hold on Carnage's neck. The insane creature flew out of the village and back into the forest thanks to the momentum of Venom's swing. The black clad nin followed after him, allowing the same momentum that carried Carnage to do the same for himself.
A loud thud sounded off Venom's landing and a chorus of cracks roared from the forest and silenced by a resounding tremor.
"Ino, how long will it take to heal our wounds?" Asuma asked.
The blonde accessed their damage. "Five minutes to stop any bleeding, ten minutes to close the wounds."
"Just focus on preventing blood loss. We need to provide back up for.. whoever that was."
Ino immediately began working on healing their injuries.
"That was Venom."
"Venom?" Asuma asked.
"The guy who just saved us. He's a hunter nin."
Ino moved from Choji to Shikamaru to heal his wounds. "How do you know this?"
The healer smirked at Shikamaru's question. "Happen to be friends with him." (3)
"Do we know him?" Choji asked.
"Can't tell you." Ino finished with Shikamaru's wounds.
"What can you tell us of him?" Asuma asked.
"He's strong, stronger than us. Good enough to be Jounin." Ino pointed out. "Hope he kills that psycho." she muttered as an after thought.
After Ino finished tending to my injuries we made our way to the location where Carnage and Venom were fighting. When we finally got there I decided it was best that we stayed out of the fight. The fact that Carnage was toying with us was laid out before us, and Ino's statement about Venom being "stronger than us" became clearer. I initially thought she meant us individually, but what I witnessed revealed that she meant us together. I have to be honest; it had been years since I felt like a low Chunin in comparison to someone.
Venom seemed to have the upper hand, or so I thought. But as the fight progressed he was slowing down, receiving more injuries, until finally.
They watched as Venom fell, his back slamming into the ground. Carnage was upon him in seconds, thrusting his hand forward, the claws lengthening and jutting towards the hunter nin until they tore thru his abdomen and pinned him to the ground.
Asuma turned to Shikamaru. "We need to get in there and help. Can you formulate a plan?"
Shikamaru began racking his brain for a strategy. Luckily Carnage seemed to be busying himself in talking to Venom. But how long could Venom last with his abdomen filleted and his other injuries freely leaking blood? If the man was in pain it was too hard to tell with his mask on.
A plan came to him and he immediately began giving out each person's job and in what order they were to act in.
Carnage raised his unoccupied hand, a flood of red and black flesh coursing up his arm, taking shape over his hand. An ax was molded and Carnage took aim.
"Now!" Shikamaru hissed.
Asuma flashed thru a set of hand signs, taking in a deep breath and expelling a torrent of fire. The flames flew towards Carnage, the murderous being leaping away as the first bits of fire licked his skin.
A cry of pain escaped Carnage's mouth followed by a curse. "You Dick! I'll-"
His words were cut short as a slip of paper floating down in front of him. It exploded, releasing a blinding light. Carnage immediately grasped his face. The assault didn't end there as Choji charged from behind Carnage, his fist enlarging to nearly half his height and crashing it into the red and black nightmare.
The punch sent him crashing to the ground, digging a trench from where he landed. Carnage never even had a chance to stand before his shadow was invaded. Suddenly he was standing and mimicking the shadow user behind him.
"It's over." Shikamaru stated before sending a ghost of a hand creeping up Carnage's body.
Ino rushed over to Venom, checking his wounds and attempting to heal what she could. Asuma and Choji walked over as well to watch.
"Naruto?" Asuma asked, his voice carrying shock.
The blonde had been slightly scorched from Asuma's ninjutsu. His mask had been seared off and the smell of burnt skin emanated from the cuts and missing patches of Naruto's clothes. Asuma felt a tinge of guilt from his miscalculated aim.
"Help. I can't hold him."
All three looked back towards Shikamaru, finding that Carnage was still alive and struggling against the jutsu that bond him.
Choji and Asuma ran towards Carnage, intent on ending his life. They stopped in their tracks when Carnage suddenly broke his own leg. A booming snap echoed from both Carnage's and Shikamaru's leg as well as twin howls of pain.
Asuma and Choji stared as Carnage simply reset his leg as if nothing had ever happened.
Ino acted immediately. Joining the tips of her index fingers and thumbs, forming a scope aimed towards the scarlet and ebony inked monster. "Mind transfer jutsu!"
Ino's sharp command of her jutsu snapped them out of their shock.
"Ino don't!" Asuma shouted.
His attempt to stop the blonde from delving into the monster's mind ended in vain, leaving him unable to do little more than watch her slump to the ground next to Naruto.
He waited, fearing the worst yet praying for the best. Seconds stretched on for what felt like minutes and still nothing happened. Finally a terror filled scream rang from Ino's throat, her body shooting up into a sitting position for a mere second before collapsing again.
Carnage chuckled. "Well that was an interesting experience. Hehehahaha!"
"You bastard!" Choji charged in.
He rolled up into a ball and enlarged himself. Carnage gave the human pinball an amused chuckle, pointing his claws towards his aggressor. Carnage waited till the Akimichi was only a mere four feet away before firing off a burst of knives.
Choji hopped over the projectiles. Carnage's lens-like eyes widened for the fraction of a second Choji's body remained air borne. A tremor vibrated through the forest area as the Akimichi landed on top of Carnage. The human boulder rolled in place for a second before moving off of its flattened opponent.
Choji unrolled and returned to his normal size. He turned around and looked back to where he created a crater.
Carnage slowly rose off his back. Not bothering to use his hands to help lift him up.
"That the best you've got!"
Asuma charged with Choji this time, both attacking from opposite sides.
It was just me and Choji now. We had Carnage pressured, and unable to properly attack. Shikamaru and Ino being taken out of the fight worked to our advantage. When we no longer had to worry about Carnage targeting them it gave us the luxury of staying close and personal. Yet we were still having to hold back as I didn't want to miss and slice through Choji and he didn't want to send me flying. Carnage then sliced Choji's side and forced him back. I tried to end it, but I over threw my sweep. That monster took advantage of my wide posture and swung his claws in an uppercut that got the left side of my face and nearly gouged my eye out. Choji tried to charge in once more, but I put a stop to it.
"Choji! Stay back!" Asuma demanded, blood covering one side of his face.
He ran through a set of hand signs. Carnage ran towards the bearded Jounin, not caring what he had up his sleeves. Asuma brought up his fingers to his mouth, forming an O around his lips. Fire erupted from his mouth, chasing away the nightmare. Asuma held his jutsu and followed Carnage's movements. It wasn't until he lost sight of his target that he decide to still his breath, though he prepared his fingers to fire another torrent of flames if Carnage showed himself again.
Several minutes passed by and nothing moved in the forest aside for a fire spreading on one of the trees Asuma hit. Finally the squad leader dropped his guard and made his way over to Ino. He feared trying to wake her, but was left with little choice. She was the only one who could heal them enough to even begin traveling.
The blood covering his face was making it hard to see, but that didn't stop him from noticing the pool of blood Naruto lay in. He raised a shaking hand to Naruto's throat, pressing his index and middle fingers to the side of his throat. He needed to check on Ino, but at the same time needed to know if Naruto was even alive.
Feeling a faint, but steady pulse, Asuma began breathing again. He further inspected the hunter nin. Asuma happily noticed that while Naruto lay in a sizable puddle of blood, his wounds were no longer bleeding out.
Once he was certain that Naruto was not in any real danger, Asuma moved onto Ino. Resting a hand on her pale shoulder, he began rocking her.
"Ino. Wake up! We-We need you. Up!' he urged her.
Asuma rocked her rougher as fear settled in him.
Suddenly Ino's eyes snapped open and she took in a fast and sharp inhale, the sound of air forcing its way down her throat creating a strangled whine.
Asuma grabbed both of her shoulders, trying to get her attention on him. "You ok? Ino, look at me."
She focused on him, though her expression was nearly blank. "I-I-I'm ok."
It was obviously a lie. Her body was trembling beneath his fingers and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't take in a single breathe of air without it leaving her lungs in trembling exhales.
But he had to ignore this. He, Choji, and Shikamaru needed immediate medical attention.
"Ino." he said, a calm eddy flowing through his voice. "Shikamaru has a broken leg and Choji is bleeding out of his side. I need help with my face as well."
It took several inhales of air before she could begin speaking properly.
"O-Ok." she rose to her feet and walked towards Choji first.
Asuma looked over to Shikamaru and made his way towards him. He knew enough about first aid to reset a leg and make a splint for it.
He knelt next to the shadow user. "How you holding up?"
"C-Can't believe he just turned my jutsu against me."
Asuma gave a confused look, the right side of his face expressing his question. "By the way, how did he do that?"
"Didn't. I-" Shikamaru sucked in air as he felt Asuma grab his broken leg. "Gah!" Asuma bent the leg back in place, feeling the muscle around the break to see if he set it back correct.
Shikamaru began talking again. "H-He didn't. I just.. just didn't cancel my jutsu before he forced his movements."
Bringing out a scroll from his pack, Asuma unrolled it and pumped a bit of chakra into one of the many seals inside. A first aid kit appeared and the bearded Jounin quickly pulled out bandages and two pieces of planks.
Once he finished aiding Shikamaru, Asuma turned to see how Ino was fairing. She was just finishing applying bandages when she turned towards him and saw that Shikamaru had been taken care of. Ino walked towards Asuma.
"Where's Carnage?" she asked as she raised a green glowing hand to his face.
"Chased him off. He doesn't like fire."
"So he's still alive."
Asuma nodded grimly at the statement. "We need to get a stretcher for Naruto. I'll carry Shikamaru back."
Her reply was almost a panicked yell "We-We're in no shape to travel!"
Asuma nodded. "At the same time we need to get further medical attention, especially Naruto. We can't afford Carnage showing up again or anyone else for that matter."
"Y-Y-You're right. " Ino affirmed. "I'll use one of our tents to carry Naruto on. Choji is well enough to help me carry him."
"We made our way back shortly afterwards. The village was destroyed before we even arrived and Carnage escaped."
Tsunade absorbed all the information. Anko stood off to the side, a look of morbid wonder on her face.
'What did they encounter? It was able to overpower both the Yamanaka and Nara clan possession techniques. And Naruto…. how was he even able to hold off such a monster for even a few minutes. Carnage.. the name fits.'
Anko's musing ended as Tsunade spoke. "It's a miracle that you were able to get back to the village without further confrontation."
"Certainly. I don't know how we'd even be able to properly defend ourselves if we'd run into simple bandits." Asuma agreed.
"Did you ever find out what happened to Ino when she'd tried to possess Carnage?"
Asuma shook his head. "No. She was barely keeping her head on straight. I didn't want to force her to face whatever happened, especially when I needed her help getting the others back. And as you can see she's still suffering from the incident." He pointed towards the constantly shifting form across from him.
"I won't push for it, for now. But once she's in a more mentally stable set of mind I'll need her to supply me with a report of what she experienced inside Carnage's mind and if she was able to glean any useful information."
The bearded Jounin gave an affirmative nod.
Tsunade then turned to Anko. "Once Naruto wakes up I'll need a report from him as well. He wasn't even supposed to be there, though I'm happy he was, at least for team ten's sake."
Anko took the statement as an order. "If I see him awake I'll send someone to inform you."
"Thank you." was the simple response.
Several days later
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP
His eye lids opened slowly. They scanned the room lazily before landing on the collapsed form snoozing on the sat next to his bed. A bandaged arm crawled across the bed, finally landing on the figures lap.
"Anko." Naruto croaked out from his parched throat.
His mind swam with images of what had happened before his loss of consciousness.
Naruto's face hardened. "Carnage!"
The day team ten headed out
A dull evening marked the atmosphere for Naruto. With Anko busy with work and a lack of work for himself, he found himself with little to do. His friends crossed his mind, but after seeing team ten off he was doubtful that any were free at the moment.
There was always a mission, one aside from his hunts. He didn't want anything big. Just something to keep him busy through the day, besides, he wanted to be back before Anko got home.
Once he was in Hokage's office he looked through the different D ranks available, after getting said leaders permission.
'Weed pulling, Garbage clean-up, Apartment renovations, Why'd we think this was a good way to pass time. Oh, dog walking from the Inuzuka's, save that one.'
He pocketed the mission for the Inuzuka clan before moving on. As he looked through the missions, Naruto couldn't help but wonder what team ten had been sent to do. His eyes travelled to the busy fellow blonde as he questioned his curiosity.
Feeling eyes on her, Tsunade looked towards Naruto. "Can I help you?" she irritably asked.
Using the question as a conversation starter, Naruto decided to go ahead and ask his question.
"We were curious about what mission team ten went out on? Had a run in with them."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing him from her desk. "And why do you want to know?"
Naruto shrugged his shoulders in response. "Don't honestly know, just a funny feeling."
The blonde woman thought it over for a few seconds. 'There's really no harm in him knowing. The mission isn't classified and it's not like it holds any secrets.'
She reached into her desk and rummaged through the drawers till she found the specific mission report she was looking for.
After finally finding the scroll she tossed it towards Naruto. The black clad nin caught it and opened it up. His eyes scanned it from top to bottom. He stopped breathing for a fraction of a second, taking every fiber of his nerves to not tense or appear startled while in his leaders presence.
"So they're monster hunting." He humorously stated.
"That's what the rumors claim; though I'm not sure there's anything to it. All the same, I sent team ten to protect the village that requested our help and see if there is anything to this monster. Those drawings you see on the scroll are what the 'eye witnesses' claim the monster looks like." Tsunade informed Naruto.
Naruto gave a dry chuckle, though his eyes never left the drawing of the so called monster.
"Yeah, whatever!" He casually said, burning the location of the village to his memory before tossing the scroll back to the Hokage.
He went back to rummaging through the missions, putting his all into the act of an uncaring louse.
"Well.. none of these interest us. We'll leave ya alone now."
Naruto turned to the exit, making sure his body language was just as care free as his voice. He needed to insure no one would grow curious in his demeanor, curious in how much interest he had in Team ten's mission and just how urgently he needed to leave.
The symbiote host kept his act up till he was out of the building before sprinting off towards the village gates. Somewhere in between his haste he managed to slip a smoke bomb to the ground, using the cover to switch into his hunter nin outfit. He sped through the streets, taking to the air with carefully aimed web swings. Even as he approached the gates, he didn't slow or bother informing the guards of his destination.
'I hope I'm wrong.' Naruto thought.
His mind swept him back nearly over two years ago. Two years back when he'd ditch Jiraiya. Two years since the birth of the symbiote that spawned off of Naruto's alien partner, his true reason for leaving Jiraiya behind. After the constant occurrence of a demon roaming the nations crossed Naruto, his other informed him of the birth, it had paid the birth little mind due to it holding no feelings towards the spawned new born. (4)
But once Naruto found out, he panicked. Thought of what had become of the new symbiote and blamed himself for being so careless. He had spent nearly a month chasing hints and rumors before giving up on finding his pseudo child.
Now it had resurfaced, possibly putting Team ten in danger if they stumbled upon the symbiote. Naruto pushed himself even harder to move faster. Hoping to catch up with Asuma and the others before they reached their destination.
'We will not let our youngling harm our friends!' the thought fueled his adrenaline intoxicated body.
After hours of swinging, Naruto stopped. He smelt the iron in the air almost as soon as the village came into view.
"Heheheahaha!"
The obvious insane laughter along with the sounds of struggle rose from the village depths. Naruto began moving once more. Swinging from one web line to another as he made his way closer. After choosing a tall enough building, Naruto landed on the side of said building. He used both his feet and one arm to stick to the structure and leaned outward, his waist twisting so he could better scope the town.
It wasn't hard to find the skirmishes exact location. "Good, no ones been hurt yet."
His relieve didn't last as he focused on the new host. A plan formulated in his mind, one to separate the symbiotic host and the leaf nins away from each other. Naruto didn't want to worry about fighting and protecting.
Obviously no one had noticed him yet and he was still a decent ways away from the action. Leaping off his current perch, the hunter nin allowed himself to fall until just after he passed the roof of the lower building. Immediately he launched a web line out and swung forward, repeating the process until he was just over the area of the fight. Launching one last web line, he turned himself around and swooped in on his target.
All were stunned by his arrival, allowing him ample time to snatch and go. At the top of his swing he released his hold on both the red and black symbiotic host first and then his line, sending himself and his prey flying towards the forest surrounding the village.
The new symbiote, unprepared for the fall, impacted the earth below him with his back. Naruto channeled chakra through his body, increasing his mass to nearly double his normal size. He landed, nearly implanting his feet into the ground and immediately dashed to the red and black symbiotic host, giving his enemy no time to counter.
The new host had a mere second of rising to his feet before Naruto's enormous knee nearly caved in over half of his torso and rocketed him through the air. Several tree branches broke his flight but it was the trunk of a tree in his path that ended his flight.
Bark nearly exploded off the tree after the impact and Naruto watched as his foe fell to the ground, limp as a doll.
He made his way closer, prepared to end it and retrieve the symbiote. Just as he was within a foot of the downed host, it suddenly leapt to life and lashed out. Naruto jumped back, but not without harm as four long gashes running diagonally across his chest spread open and bled.
"That really fucking hurt pops!"
Naruto stared puzzled. Not at being called pops but in wonder at how his enemy could even move let alone talk.
'What an insane healing ability! We had to of crushed his ribcage and nearly broken every one of his limbs'
"What? Too speechless to talk to your own son!" the host jovially asked.
"You're no son of ours!" Naruto spat.
"Disowned even before my introduction? Such poor parenting!" the symbiotic host laughed "But that's ok because I've been dying to have this meeting, well…. at least someone will be dying." He aimed a mocking stare towards Naruto.
The new host leapt towards Naruto, claws spread out and ready to tear into the black symbiotic host. Naruto met the assault head on, ignoring the knives that grip his shoulders and slowly slipped in. He griped his opponent's fore arms.
It became apparent that strength was not the new host's specialty with how easy it was for Naruto to remove the claws from his shoulder and lift him off the ground. Bones crunched beneath his tight grip and the black and red symbiotic host screamed and cursed as pain coursed through his arms.
One of the dangling legs grew a sharp blade from its knee and swung forward.
Naruto released his grip as quickly as he felt the blade dig in. He grabbed his abdomen, checking to see how bad the damage was before brushing it off.
The hunter nins opponent took to the air, bouncing off the surrounding trees. Naruto quickly gave chase, following the insane man's movements. He broke off the pursuit when his prey suddenly ricocheted back towards him.
After veering out of the way, Naruto launched a strand of his symbiote towards the other, grabbing his back and pulling his enemy towards him. Once the symbiotic host was within reach, Naruto grabbed him by the skull and allowed gravity to carry them to the forest floor. Seconds before impact, Naruto slammed his occupied hand down, ensuring that his opponent's head met the earth first.
The earth practically exploded from the impact. Dust particles surrounded the air for several seconds. Naruto removed his hand from the crater formed and watched as the symbiotic host lay partially buried. He suddenly leapt back at the smallest hint that his enemy wasn't dead. A wise decision if not for the cords of red and black symbiote that chased him from the hand of his enemy and wrapped themselves around his neck.
Naruto watched helplessly as his opponent pulled himself towards him and sank his claws through his stomach, the knife like digits entering from one side and exiting the other. He was thrown back till he collided with a tree, digits that impaled him continued to pin him in place.
The symbiotic host stared into his eyes, lens-like eyes reflecting off each other. A wicked smile formed from his sharp, pointed teeth, enjoying the pained groans that escaped Naruto's mouth. His smile ceased as he watched the man before him turn brown and dissolve.
Without warning, spikes of hardened earth rose up from all around him. He found himself pinned and pierced in various areas. A most fatal incident if not for his special nature, a smile formed on his face as he broke free. Chunks of the earth that had pierced him were broken from their protrusions and dragged along the inhuman body.
Naruto watched this from his hiding spot amongst the trees.
'How is he still alive?'
His body shrunk back to its original size, his breathe came out in heavy pants as he began chastising himself.
'Dammit. Shouldn't have rushed in like an idiot. Was already winded from the trip here. Akimichi body expansion drained our chakra and stamina faster. Should have tested him, witness what all he was capable of first. What the hell is with his healing, and how can we kill him?'
That one question puzzled his mind. He had neither symbiote weakness. Even if he did have something to create a high frequency sound, he'd be unable to use it without harming himself. That left him with only fire, which he was incapable of using.
The air being parted by ten red and black, jetting knives flew towards Naruto. He'd just barely avoided a fatal blow to the head thanks to hearing the whistling sound of air being cleaved. The rest of his body was not as fortunate, for his right arm and both legs had a pair of the deadly projectiles sticking into them. Naruto fell to the forest floor and landed upright.
"What's wrong pops? Running out of gas!"
Naruto removed the offending blades from his limbs. "Hardly." He lied.
A black tendril of symbiotic fluid shot up into the air and Naruto swung through the air. The red and black host leapt after him, bouncing off trees instead of swinging.
Naruto hoped his decreased size would give him the speed needed to win, as he was all too aware of how much strength he lost in exchange.
He fell to the ground with a hard thud. Despite Naruto's best efforts, he was beaten. His increased speed didn't amount to much. The younger symbiote and its host were simply too fast. Fatigue and loss of blood piled together and left him a helpless mess. Even if he Naruto could push past his tired body, his mind was unable to work right. Blood leaking from the many punctures and lacerations caused his vision to blur and his mind to be unfocused.
Clarity returned to his vision as pain screamed from his torso. He stared defiantly at the victorious symbiotic host despite his mask hiding his facial features.
"I've waited a long time for this." the red and black host said, his voice still warped yet lacking its maniacal tone. "Though I figure I should thank you. If not for you I'd not be the being I am today."
He paused his musing, as if contemplating what the best reward would be to give to his fallen enemy.
"Hehehahaha. Oohhhahaha. What better gift, than the knowledge of your killer?"
His mouth melded together, eyes disappearing as well till there was simply an unmarked layer of red and black over his face. The symbiote retracted from his face, revealing pale and unscarred skin. The symbiote stopped its retraction at the tip of its host chin and the top of his fore head.
But that was all Naruto needed to see in order to figure out who the man before him was. Anger flared through him as he finally understood when exactly his symbiote gave birth.
"Hidan!" He snarled
Said main smirked, laughter bellowing from his mouth as the symbiotic face retook shape.
" Hahahehehahaha! Not anymore! After the symbiote merged with me I became something more. I'll admit to being scared when I saw my own headless body walking towards me after you ripped my head off, but when it placed me back on, when I became whole again! I knew instantly something was different. Before I was just a foot soldier in Jashin's army, now I'm his right hand. I slaughter in his name, sacrificing whole villages for him! I'm Carnage now, and it's all thanks to you! And now you're going to die by my hands. Talk about justice!"
Carnage paused after the word "justice" left his mouth. He laughed again as if coming across a humorous epiphany.
"Speaking of justice." He raised his unoccupied hand and channeled his symbiote into it, molding the alien tissue until it formed an ax. "You know how the old saying goes. Arm for an arm and a head for a head!" (5)
Carnage prepared to swing his weapon down. The blade of the ax was mere inches away from Naruto's neck when Carnage leapt away. Instead of the brief pain of his head being severed from his body, a torrent of heat fried the nerves of his skin. The pain proved too much for his already drowsy mind and he quickly lost consciousness before he could even give his pain sound.
Present time
"Finally awake."
Anko's voice pulled him from his memories and he looked towards his girlfriend.
"Yeah. How long have you been waiting on us?" he said with a parched throat.
Anko gripped his hand, the one he had laid on her lap. "A little under a full week. So much for you not heading out on any missions."
Naruto caught the hint of worry in her tone and squeezed her hand in return.
"We're sorry."
The apology helped, but Anko still had questions. "Naruto. What were you doing out there?"
Anko's question caught him off guard. He had enough secrets from his girlfriend and he wanted to limit the lies he told her. But once more the subject revolved around his symbiote, his nearly life long partner. He didn't want to endanger his other and at the same time he was tired of being dishonest to his girl.
Said girlfriend noticed the conflict on his face. "What's wrong?"
Her voice brought him back to reality, to the question at hand. "We don't know how best to explain."
It wasn't a lie.
"Team ten had been sent out to fight a so called monster."
Anko nodded to show she was following.
"And we had fought this monster before, knew who it was. We knew that if we didn't intervene, this so called monster would have killed them."
"You've …. fought this thing before?" Anko asked.
Naruto nodded. "Yes. Fought him before."
He spent the next few minutes explaining who Carnage was and a small lie of how he'd fought Hidan in his new form during a previous mission.
"What the hell happened to him? AND why didn't you tell the Hokage about this after you fought him the first time!" Anko yelled
"We thought that we'd killed him. As for what happened to him, something unnatural."
Anko's anger fizzled. "That was careless. You should have told the Hokage regardless." she softly said
Again, Naruto nodded. "We know."
The worry from the past few days finally caught up to Anko.
Naruto felt himself enveloped in a hug. He returned it, squeezing as he thought about just how close he came to dying. He separated his bandaged body from Anko's just enough to allow his lips to capture hers. They remained like this for several minutes, the only part of them moving being the lips they pressed heatedly against each other. Naruto pulled Anko closer till she crawled onto the bed with him and was straddling his lap. He still had yet to release her lips, trying to hold onto the feelings he felt when they connected. His hands entered her trench coat and explored her skin through the mesh shirt she wore. Naruto's mind was a whirlwind of the things he could have missed out on had he met his demise, things he wanted, things he had yet to do, things they had yet to do together. Anko shared his thoughts, enjoying as much as she could of the moment.
Naruto finally pulled away, breathless with questions arising in his minds.
"How did we even get back here?"
It took a second for Anko to understand what her lover had asked her. "Team ten brought you back…. They're in the hospital as well." she answered while recapturing her breath.
"They killed Carnage?"
Anko's look told him everything he needed to know.
"Doesn't matter right now." Naruto said before kissing Anko again. "Let's enjoy right now."
Anko held him close to her, finally relieved thanks to his return to consciousness. Their bodies melded together, leaving little space between them. Naruto rested his head on Anko's shoulder while she did the same with his. The purple haired kunoichi remembered the order her leader gave her, but couldn't bring herself to mention it. For the moment she simply wanted to be content and enjoy the warmth of her lover's body and the steady beat of his heart.
Author's Note: Well It's good to finally have this chapter finished, sorry about the wait. Also I finally introduced Carnage and revealed who the host for it is. Bet hardly anyone thought it'd be Hidan of all people. Sorry if it's not who you'd like it to be, but remember I did say that I wanted the symbiotes attached to people that were similar to their canon hosts. I've been wondering something for a while. In all honesty I'm, not that great of a artist and I was wondering if anyone was interested in drawing a cover image for this story, you know like Naruto in his hunter nin outfit with Anko by his side or something like that, the one I have right now is cool and all, but I made that by photo shoping another Naruto picture off the web. Any way here are the additional notes for specific parts.
1. For those who are unfamiliar with Carnage, this is not a typo. Carnage does not refer to himself as multiple people (We, us, our/ours). This is due to the symbiote and the host bonding so much that they don't regard themselves as individuals. At least that's the story I'm sticking to.
's ability to see things around him is due to the symbiote having been initially absorbed into the hosts blood stream during the bonding process, this is also why the symbiote is black AND red. Initially it was black before mixing.
3. Why does Ino know who Venom is? Just in case some people have forgotten, she was present during his mental evaluation and he admitted to wanting to become a hunter nin.
4. Yeah, symbiotes really don't give two craps about their newborns due to the birth being genderless and without sex needed. There isn't even pain involved in the birth. One of the however many eggs that the symbiote is born with hatches and the new born falls off like dead weight. I forgot the scientific word for it, but that doesn't change the point here.
5. Why can Carnage form weapons while Venom can't? I honestly don't know, but if I had to think of a scientific reason behind it, I 'd have to say it has something to do with the Carnage symbiote's mixture of blood and the iron within the blood. Not saying it's a good explanation, but it's all I got.