Uhh... this was pretty harrowing. I don't really know how Jinchuriki on Jinchuriki fights would go, at least on this level anyway. Ah well, I won't spoil anything for you.
Disclaimer: Zetsu really did look like a zombie in the last manga chapter, didn't he?
A greater outcome
Naruto and Yagura stared each other down, neither making the first move. Yagura, who from his perspective was faced with three opponents, refused to rush in like a fool. Naruto had heard some detail of Yagura, that he had great control over the Sanbi, and of course that he was a Kage. Although, neither of those was a deterrent for him. What he was waiting for was the signal he had grown accustomed to.
It came, the sound of Gaara's sand rising from his gourd. With a flick of the wrist he turned Eko so the edges faced both in front and behind Naruto. He then ran towards Yagura at a great speed, keeping his posture low as he held the blade back. Yagura responded accordingly and held his staff in both arms. However, his grip was not the kind used by a person who was about to defend, Naruto saw that very clearly. For a second time Yagura raised his weapon in the air, and struck the ground with it.
Instinctually, Naruto rolled to his left, narrowly dodging the pillar of water that threw itself from the ground he would have been standing on. He looked at the spring as he regained his footing, both seeing the great amount of steam and feeling the heat emitting from it. He realised that it wasn't a spring, but a geyser.
"Game over if that hits you head on."
Naruto took Eko's warning to heart, and decided that keeping to one spot would be suicidal. He immediately broke from his position and dashed at Yagura, swinging the great sword with resounding force. The Mizukage retaliated by thrusting his staff straight at Naruto, a long stab with the larger hook. However much the size of Eko had increased, Yagura's reach was longer. Forced to stop early, Naruto failed to see the true intention of the attack until it happened.
Pulling his weapon back, Yagura caught Eko with the hook and pulled it back too. Naruto, who was dragged along with his weapon, had to react quickly to avoid the follow up strike. He leapt up off the ground and over the air, dislodging his blade in the process. Yagura followed him with his eyes, prepared to strike him the moment he touched the ground. For that reason, he was unprepared when Naruto kicked off a hovering mound of sand, and landed back where he had been when he first jumped. His free hand flew up, aiming to grasp his opponent's head. But Yagura managed to bend back, showing impressive flexibility as he flipped over, swiping at Naruto's legs in the middle of his movement.
"Even though his Biju is a turtle, looks like he's pretty manoeuvrable." Naruto thought, as he hopped over the black staff. He then swung his foot out, barely missing the opportunity to knock Yagura off balance. The Kiri-nin finished his motion, landing a couple of metres back. He dropped his staff, running through seals as it fell down to the ground.
"Suiton: Ocean Blade Barrage!" he called, before kicking his staff back up into his hands. Then with a quick slash, he ran the smaller hook across that ground, causing a long groove that was somehow filled with water. The water splashed up into the air, where it formed into large and thin spear like weapons, flying at Naruto in a bombardment of lethal points.
Immediately Naruto took Eko and plunged his tip into the ground. He crouched down behind the blade, then threw his hands aside.
"Futon: Void Vortex!" he cried, slamming his hands together into the serpent seal. From either side wind clashed together, like two waves in a colliding tide.
Though Yagura raised his arm to keep dust from his eyes, he made sure not to take his eyes off Naruto or those behind him. The water blades were struck hard by the Jutsu, and all were forced on the same path as they struck Eko's blade. Naruto then stood again, grabbing the blade as he pulled it out. The light cast across the steel as Eko was raised through the air, somehow it had a purple sheen to it now.
"Thanks for the gift." Naruto grinned, before taking off again. He barrelled for Yagura, swinging his blade in several wide arcs as if he was already upon his opponent. He failed to catch Yagura off guard however, the Sanbi Jinchuriki leapt clean over the blades of wind and threw his staff at Naruto, who dodged back to avoid it. It stuck hard in the ground, the flower attached to it shaking slightly from the impact. When no geysers formed as he had expected, Naruto looked up at Yagura just in time to see the Mizukage finish his string of seals.
A low rumbling sound attracted Naruto's attention away from his opponent as the camellia on Yagura's staff started moving of its own will. A long stem suddenly began growing from beneath it at a phenomenal rate, winding down the black staff and into the ground below. All along the stem, several buds began appearing, sprouting new camellia that bloomed to fast to be natural. Naruto watched this spectacle for just a moment, before turning his gaze up to Yagura. But to his shock, the boy had disappeared completely.
"Damn it!" Naruto cursed, looking around, "You see where he went?"
He looked among the pale trees, desperately seeking any sign of his opponent. But Yagura was nowhere to be seen. Once he came to realise this, he looked at the unresponsive blade with a frown.
"Hey, Eko." he said, slapping the flat side of the blade. He got no answer however, and began to feel edgy. But he was distracted as the ground beneath his feet began to crumble, "Shit!"
He leapt up into the air, but failed to get out of reach in time. Roots burst from the soft soil and lunged through air for Naruto's legs. They wrapped themselves around his shins and crawled up his thighs, their grip tightening as they reached further. Naruto bared his teeth as he took the silent sword and slashed at the roots. But for some reason, all he did was chip away at the growth, "What the?!"
He fell down on the ground, the roots stopping their growth enough to make Naruto land on his back. He quickly tried to get to a sitting position so he could tear the roots with his own two hands, but more grew and bound his arms to the ground. He whipped his head from left to right, he was being surrounded by camellias that were starting to grow on top of him, blossoming into mint green flowers. The roots travelled across his waist and chest, hiding his lightly tanned skin under a blanket pf green. All the while he struggled wildly, his teeth grinding. He planted his palms on the ground, forcing as much chakra as he could make without seals into the ground. If he couldn't cut the roots with his blade, he'd slice them apart with his combination of Futon and Biju chakra.
Nothing happened. The ground remained intact and the plants grew as quickly as ever. Naruto groaned as their grip tightened, it was beginning to get painful.
"Damn it, that should've worked!" he thought, as he made another fruitless attempt to get out using brute strength alone, "This has to be- it's gotta be-"
* * * * *
"QUIT SCREWING AROUND!" Kisame yelled, as Naruto fell to his knees. The fourteen year old boy was panting heavily, sweat dripping down his shirt and trousers, turning the orange material a shade of brown.
"Hey, this is… hard…" Naruto panted in reply, pushing himself stressfully to a kneeling position. Not far to his right, Gaara stood with his hands on his knees, wincing slightly from strain. Across from them, Kisame stood beside his partner, Itachi, who looked over the two of them carefully.
"They aren't cut out for this sort of training." he said, speaking to his partner. Kisame leant against the tree behind them, folding his arms and adopting a rather angered expression.
"Aside from the fact they have next to know knowledge of Genjutsu, they have underlying issues too." Kisame replied, in a serious voice, "Naruto a naïve idiot, he'll believe anything he sees and hears. And Gaara's too closed-minded to see past his first perception. Going at them like this'll be like killing two birds with one stone."
Itachi glanced at Kisame, he could see his older partner's logic, even if he didn't completely agree with it. He watched as the two boys straightened up again, Naruto's breaths shallowing and Gaara regaining his composure. Both looked like they were about ready to collapse, but neither were going to admit defeat so easily.
"But in this case, the situation may wind up with them becoming those very birds." he said. Nonetheless, he raised his hand and prepared to use the Genjutsu again, requiring him to simply point to the two training ninja. He spoke up, making sure they could hear, "Remember, shut off all your chakra and then release it in a single burst. Also keep in mind that there is no need for it to be your own chakra. If you cannot dispel the illusion on your own, have your comrade do so for you."
Then, channelling his chakra in the same way he had done several times for the past hour, he cast the illusion upon the two boys. In an instant, their eyes glazed over and their bodies tensed. Whatever it was they were seeing, neither Itachi nor Kisame had the faintest idea. Kisame glanced over to his partner, perhaps the most mysterious man he knew. His capability at doing the cruellest things often contradicted the rather pensive attitude he often displayed.
Naruto stared up as the monstrous form of the Kyubi leered down at him, jaws splitting into a grin as darkness seemed to pour from his body. It blotted out almost all of the light in the area, taking the warm, welcoming sun and replacing it with a cold, detached moon. The trees and grass seemed to blow away in a light breeze, replaced with the strange architecture of a village Naruto hadn't seen in a long time. But something was wrong. The buildings were far from whole, they were broken and in ruins. Flames burned from piles of rubble and what looked like bodies were littered across the ground. Naruto clenched his fists as he fought to maintain his sense of self, but it was proving to be a daunting task.
But then a strange form appeared, the silhouette of a man Naruto couldn't make out. He stood atop one of the broken buildings to his left, facing the Kyubi with his back to Naruto. He raised his hand into the air, and cast it aside, throwing it from the giant fox to the boy down on the ground. With an angered roar, the Kyubi was thrown in the air, where it became distorted and unrecognisable as it collided with Naruto's body.
It was forced straight into his stomach, bringing with it a searing pain that left Naruto unable to breathe. Clutching his burning gut, he fell to his knees as his mouth opened wide. But with no air in his lungs, he couldn't give voice to the scream that tried so hard to form.
"Eh-arh!" he dryly groaned, pulling his hands together. The whirling vortex that was the Kyubi crashed around violently as he did his best to shut off his own chakra. He couldn't really tell if he managed though, he was too blinded by pain, "Re-lease!"
* * * * *
"Eko!" Naruto groaned, as he began to feel his limbs go numb. He looked over to the blade still gripped in his hand, his jaw clenched from pain, "Pump some chakra into me!"
The roots began crawling up his neck, binding his head in place. Naruto watched Eko with a single wincing eye as he prayed for a response. He couldn't tell if the blade could hear him, was he affected by the Genjutsu too?
But then Naruto suddenly felt an inflow of chakra coming from the blade, and all of the camellias disappeared, roots and all. For just a moment, he lay dazed as the numbing sensation and pain he'd been feeling only seconds ago abruptly stopped. But then he regained awareness, and realised that he was somehow lying in the dark. After a quick knock, he came to find out that he had been encased in a small dome of sand. That could only mean that Gaara was defending him while he dealt with the Genjutsu.
Placing his hand on the surface of the sand, he forced enough of his Futon chakra out to break through. Gaara responded to this and allowed the barrier to crumble while he held off Yagura. The Mizukage was having a hard time counterattacking due to the relentless assaults by the sand, but he was slowly wearing away at the snaking form chasing after him.
"Alright, I'm back!" Naruto called, pushing himself back to his feet. Barely a moment after he had regained his balance however, he felt a clod of dirt hit him right in the back of his head.
"GET BACK FASTER!" Kisame yelled, from his seated position against a tree.
"Yeah yeah yeah!" Naruto replied, taking Eko and running at Yagura. The sand retreated as Naruto tagged in, taking its place at keeping Yagura on the defensive. He sliced down at the boy's torso, but his blade was simply used as a platform to kick off as Yagura lashed his foot out at Naruto. The kick connected and sent Naruto reeling around. He used the momentum to force his fist into Yagura's waist, dealing a lot more damage than the other person did, "So who is this guy anyway?"
Yagura ducked under a horizontal slash, before throwing his fist in an uppercut for Naruto's jaw. But the blond saw the move coming and tilted his head back, evading the strike before he stepped in to butt Yagura's forehead. The Mizukage stumbled back, grabbing his head as he winced in pain.
"What?!" he asked, his brow creased as he gave a defiant stare to Naruto. He raised his arms in defence as Naruto forced Eko's tip into the ground and used it as a post to swing around and kick at him. Yagura then leapt into the air as Naruto used the motion of his kick to pull his blade back out the ground and slash for his stomach.
"Y'know, that guy you were talking about!" Naruto replied, as he defended against a wave of shuriken. He stuck Eko in the ground once more and ran around him, taking the fight with his bare fists. He managed to reach Yagura before he reached the ground, blocking the swiping kick that came with his arm.
"Bastard!" Yagura growled, pulling out a kunai. He lashed out at Naruto, who leant back to avoid it, "Fight serious-"
His words were suddenly cut short as Naruto's foot struck his jaw. With the great force of a roundhouse kick, Yagura was sent off his feet and crashing through the trees, rolling across the ground messily. He got himself to a crouching position straight away, wiping away some blood from his split lip. Across from him, Naruto was also crouching down, his hand pressed on the earth as he stood like an animal.
"Hey, make you a deal." he said, with a challenging grin, "From what Kisame-sensei told me, you're really good at working with your Biju."
Yagura listened closely, but readied himself to move. He could feel Naruto's chakra rising, and no longer had any doubt that this person did indeed have a demon within him.
"If you win, we go get your buddy." Naruto explained, as his hair began to wave slightly in the breezeless air, "But if I win, you gotta show Gaara and me how to sync with our Biju. Deal?"
The crease in Yagura's brow deepened from Naruto's offer, it had obviously struck the boy as an idea. He wanted to leave Kiri with his friend, so winning this fight would gain both. And he certainly seemed confident enough in his success, even if he wasn't foolish enough to underestimate his opponent.
"Fine." he replied, dragging his hand closer to his feet. A foul wind seemed to suddenly pick up around him, lifting his hair off of his face as his sclera darkened to a deep red. The scar down his cheek seemed to thicken, it turned out that it was in fact a marking like Naruto's, and was reacting to the rise in chakra.
Across from him, Naruto was experiencing much the same. His appearance steadily grew wilder as the lines on his cheeks broadened and his teeth grew sharper. Then, in a grotesque manner, red chakra began to push itself out of his skin, slowly covering his body in a bubbling mass. Kisame and Gaara watched the spectacle from afar, both the young boys were slowly developing the same veil of red chakra.
"Looks like things are gonna get messy." Kisame noted, before looking down at Gaara, "Why don't you build a perimeter, I don't think he needs backup anymore."
Gaara looked over his shoulder at his sensei, clearly disliking the idea of having to back off from what could be a good view of an interesting fight. But regardless of his own desires, he pulled his sand back into his gourd and turned away.
"Got it." he replied, before shunshining away.
Back in the midst of the battle, the chakra around the two boys was taking form. Naruto was now stooped like a dog, and had grown what looked like long ears and a swishing tail from the red energy. Yagura on the other hand had his arms and legs spread out wide, his stomach close to the ground. The chakra enlarged around his head, forming a large pair of what appeared to be jaws, and a wide tail formed behind him, curling in the air so it hovered above.
Naruto and Yagura stared each other down, the former grinning while the other glowered. Both looked prepared to attack, but seemed like they were waiting for the other to act first.
Naruto disappeared, and a sudden sound filled the air like a sonic boom. Yagura raised his head in shock as the blond flew over him, failing to spot the tail change into a giant claw and grab him. As Naruto landed on the ground, he pulled Yagura into the air and threw him forward, sending him flying through the trees. But Yagura lashed out with his own tail and wrapped it around the trunk of a tree, swinging round and flying straight back at Naruto.
The two clashed head on, Naruto clawing as Yagura threw punches. The two then kicked off each other, before rebounding off of the trees and flying towards one another again. They clashed in the air, smashing into each other with hands, feet and tails resulting in blasts of red chakra surging around them. They then landed on the ground, caught in a deadlock as Yagura grappled with Naruto. To the blonde's great shock, the strength of the boy he was fighting had somehow increased to an insane amount. He was having little trouble pushing Naruto back, his heels digging into the ground as he backed off.
"The hell with this!" Naruto thought, as he suddenly turned around and threw Yagura over his shoulder. The boy crashed straight through a tree, toppling it over and sending a cloud of dirt out in every direction.
"Careful…" Kisame muttered, folding his arms as he watched. He was certainly interested in this fight, since Gaara wasn't capable of developing a field of chakra like that he had only ever seen Naruto use it. This was the first time he'd ever seen a battle done in this way, and mused that it could very well be the first time two Jinchuriki had ever clashed like this, "Let's see how far they'll go."
* * * * *
Naruto prowled along the rocks jutting out from the river, his cloak of demonic chakra surrounding him and taking on the rough shape of the Kyubi. He looked around furtively, ignoring the crashing waterfall behind him as he looked around for anything to attack. Kisame sat cross legged atop one of the rocks by the tall falls, looking down as his student indulged in his feral desires.
"Looks like control's not too good." he thought, as Naruto's head perked up. The boy leapt across the rocks as he left the enclosure that the waterfall was situated in, following a sense that few humans possessed; the instincts of a beast, "He's pretty much just an animal."
He raised his brow in interest as from the woods to the distance, a bear emerged, both humble and unassuming. But its attention was drawn to Naruto, who stood just in front of the river watching the large beast. Naruto growled lightly, challenging the bear with a hunger for fighting. The bear responded in the same manner, snarling at the boy who stood in the way of his watering hole.
The two dangerous animals slowly crept towards each other, their voices rising in pitch and volume as they drew nearer. The bear seemed undeterred by the violent aura emanating from the deranged boy, and continued his path at his own pace. But Naruto, unable to show such restraint, lunged straight at the bear with his tail swinging over him.
Kisame grinned and winced as he heard the bear cry out in pain. He was surprised by Naruto's brutality. It was at that moment that he came to realise that if it wasn't him committing the act, the disembowelment of an enemy wasn't something he felt like watching. He instead turned his gaze to the higher reaches of the falls, where Gaara sat on a rock with the water pummelling his back. He held the wooden block of a special tree designed to strengthen nature manipulation in his lap, while he held a leaf between his palms. With his closed eyes and still form, he seemed almost like a statue.
"Learning to cope with pain, and how to form Futon chakra at the same time." Kisame thought, resting his head against the rock wall behind him, "I didn't expect him to be so diligent."
He ignored the final gurgling cries of the bear as he continued to watch his quieter student. Not for the first time he was reminded of Gaara's similarities to Itachi. Both of them had a bloody past, and both had a brooding manner about them for the majority of the time. But there was something else that Gaara seemed to share with Itachi. It was something that often came across his mind during missions with his stoic partner, and more recently during training sessions with Gaara. It was the simple fact that in both cases, he couldn't shake the feeling that both of them were hiding something.
* * * * *
The large cloud of dust slowly began to settle, lightly blowing away from the two Jinchuriki standing amidst many destroyed trees. Yagura straightened up to a standing position, forming hand seals to cast a Jutsu. He had finally adapted to the change that the Sanbi's chakra always brought on, and was now able to fight naturally with it.
"Suiton: Teppodama!" he called, before a large bulge formed in his mouth. He threw his head forward, and spat out a large mass of water that shot through the dust and tore it apart. It hit Naruto square in the chest, knocking him off of his feet and shattering yet another tree in the process. But the chakra cloak kept Naruto from feeling the impact, and he was soon on his feet again. He too had adapted, even if it wasn't to the same extent as Yagura. He threw his hands together in his own string of seals, before throwing his left arm out to the side.
Wind slowly began spiralling around Naruto's forearm, originating about a half foot from the tip of his outstretched fingers and twisting around the length of his limb to his elbow. It formed a small, stable tornado kept in perfect shape, billowing faster and faster until it formed a drill of wind. The red chakra of the Kyubi infected the wind and gave it a red glow, but it maintained its perfect shape regardless.
"Already?" Kisame wondered aloud, cocking a brow at his student's eagerness, "The idiot's gonna kill himself."
Naruto bent his arm so that the point was facing Yagura, before dashing at the highest speed he could manage. He closed the gap between the slower Jinchuriki in scarcely a moment, throwing his arm straight towards Yagura's gut.
"KA-" he began. But before he could call out his Jutsu's name, or make the impact, he was suddenly struck hard from the side. He crashed straight through a thicket of bushes, the wind around his arm disappearing from his lapse of concentration. He whipped himself back onto his feet, glaring lividly to whomever it was who attacked him. But his glare was quickly replaced with shock as he came to realise something stunning. The one who attacked him… was Gaara.
"This fight is meaningless." the red haired Shinobi said, as his sand coiled around him. Naruto frowned as he climbed out of the bushes, his chakra cloak dissipating into the air. He saw the same happen to Yagura, and noticed that strangely, his look of shock was even greater than what Naruto was feeling. As the blond drew nearer, he found out the reason. From behind Gaara, stepped out a member of Kirigakure's ANBU black ops. Naruto looked over the stranger in alarm, what was a Kiri Shinobi doing with Gaara? He fixed his eyes upon the porcelain mask, with the blue lines running down from the eyes.
Yagura stepped forward, a bewildered and stunned look on his face as he gaped. The ANBU looked at him, his mask hiding whatever expression he may have been wearing.
"Niisama…" the ANBU said, in a soft voice. Yagura frowned slightly from the way he was referred to, not knowing why he would be called such a respected term. It gave him a moment's doubt, resulting in his need to voice the question running through his mind.
"Is that-" he asked, his voice sounding remarkably dry. He looked at the other person with only vague recognition, hoping he was right, but knowing he could be wrong, "…Utakata-niisan?"
