Yo everybody! This chapter took a lot longer than I thought, solely because it radically changed from my original. In fact, there's nothing of the original in this chapter. So enjoy!
Chapter Four: Let The Pendulum Stop
Beams of sunlight poured into the lone window of Urahara's laboratory, hitting the floor mere inches from Urahara's sleeping form. Slowly, his eyes opened. In an instant, he remembered had happened and realized that he passed out. Kisuke bolted up, his eyes wide, staring straight ahead.
Lying before him, propped up against a wall, was Shinji Hirako, a full and complete mask on his face. Shame and sorrow filled Urahara. His last ditch attempt to reverse what had been done to them had failed. He had failed them.
He could hear Tessai approaching him. "Urahara," he started.
"Forgive me, Tessai," Kisuke said, rising to his feet. "I failed." He walked passed Tessai, unable to look the man in the eye. "Let me go get some fresh air."
The second Urahara opened the door, a pair of Special Forces members appeared before him, restraining staffs in their hands. "Division Twelve Captain, Kisuke, Kido Corps Captain Tessai Tsukabishi. We are hereby placing you under arrest by the orders of the Central 46," one of the two men said.
"What?" Tessai exclaimed as more Special Forces members appeared.
"Please come with us," the man insisted.
Both Urahara and Tessai had their arms bound behind their backs as they stood before the Central 46. Every member of the council was sitting behind a paper divider with a black number written on it, hiding their identities from the two men. "What exactly is all this about?" Kisuke asked, a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"Did we give you permission to speak? You have been called here for a hearing, so do not speak unless spoken to," Councilor Twenty coldly stated. "Is that clear, Squad Twelve Captain Urahara?"
'A hearing?' Kisuke thought to himself. 'If I knew any better I'd say they were suspicious of me…'
"Forgive me," Urahara apologized.
"Where were you around midnight last night?" Councilor Sixteen asked.
"The sixth forest of the Western Fugai District," Kisuke answered truthfully.
"Doing 'hollow transformation' experiments?" Twenty-Three added.
Urahara was caught off-guard by the man's words. How did they know that? And how much did they know about what happened last night? The bad feeling in the pit of his stomach grew, becoming dread.
"With the results of your evil research, you performed hollow transformations on four Captains, seven Lieutenants and two upper ranked officers last night, in the Fugai District, am I wrong?" Councilor Two asked, his tone harsh, already knowing the answer.
Urahara froze, fully realizing what was happening. Aizen… Somehow, Aizen was setting him up to take the fall for all of this. "Please wait a moment!" he pleaded. "Who told you-"
But one of the Central 46 cut him off. "You have no right to ask us anything."
But Kisuke ignored him. "Was it Lieutenant Aizen?" he asked.
"That's strike two, Squad Twelve Captain Urahara," Thirty-Nine replied. "Once more and your sentence will change."
"All of this was his doing!" Urahara shouted at the top of his lungs, proclaiming his innocent. "We went there to save Captain Hirako and the others!"
"It's laughable that you persist in lying to us," Nineteen scowled. "The Fifth Division Lieutenant did not leave the Seireitei last night."
Urahara was stunned. Even if Aizen had managed to slip out of the Seireitei, someone would have noticed his disappearance. He was a Lieutenant after all. "What?" he exclaimed.
"Furthermore, one hundred twenty-four officers and one captain have testified as such," the Councilor added. "There is no room for doubt."
Urahara paled. "That can't be…"
It was impossible for Aizen to be in two places at once. And he doubted that Aizen knew the Kukanten'i spell. Even if he did know it, they probably would have detected a forbidden kido spell being used. So how did Aizen do it?
At that moment, a member of the Special Forces entered the chamber, bowing before the Central 46. "Reporting in sirs," the man said. "From within the Squad Twelve Research Building, there is clear evidence of research involving 'hollow transformation'."
Urahara shook his head. Of course there would be evidence. He had been trying to undone what had been done to the others.
"It's settled then," the First councilor said. "We will now announce the judgment! Kido Corps Captain Tessai Tsukabishi, for the crime of using forbidden kido spells; you shall be confined to the Third Underground Mass Prison. Squad Twelve Captain Kisuke Urahara, for the crime of researching the forbidden, the deception and injury of your colleagues, you shall be stripped of your spiritual power and banished to the World of the Living indefinitely."
Urahara hung his head. This hearing had been over before it had even begun. But at least he had managed to save the others from turning completely into hollows.
"Furthermore, the Squad Five Captain and the other victims of you evil experiment shall be disposed of as hollows."
It was like a knife was stabbed into his heart. They couldn't do that! It wasn't their fault for what happened! "Please wait!" he begged. "That's-"
Suddenly, the chamber door opened, sunlight pouring into the dark room. And there, standing in the middle of the light, was a figure clad in black.
"Who the hell are you?" One councilor shouted at the figure.
"Just who gave you permission to come in here? Leave at once!" another demanded.
In a blaze of speed, the figure rushed down to here Urahara and Tessai stood. Once they stood in between the two men, they unwrapped and threw out a roll of white cloth, surrounding the trio. In an instant, they were gone.
The two men found themselves inside the training ground that Urahara had built under the Sokyoku Hill. Their rescuer shattered their bonds, freeing their arms before they pulled off the cloth wrapping covering her face.
Urahara nodded his head at her. "Yoruichi."
"No need to thank me," Yoruichi replied. "I won't cause a fuss about why you left me behind last night." She turned around, facing the pile of unconscious soul reapers, all with masks on their faces. Not far from them laid a wooden box the size of a casket. "I brought all of them here, as well as that new gigai prototype you were working on." She turned back to Urahara, who had begun walking towards the box and the victims of last night, a grim and dour expression on his face. "So finish the job already. From the instant you heard about the experiments from Hirako, you've been thinking up the worst possible circumstances and the perfect plans to counter them."
"That's just about all there is to me, isn't there," Urahara quietly said, more to himself than Yoruichi. "I'm quite unpleasant, aren't I?"
Yoruichi turned away from him, annoyed at his attitude. "If you say so."
Urahara stopped, taking a moment to study his gigai, then Shinji and the others. "Tessai, please use Jikanteishi on Hirako and the others, and raise a two or three layered barrier around this place," he said, turning to the kido master. "In the next twenty hours, for the two of us and the thirteen of them, I will make fifteen reiatsu-blocking gigais."
"What about Lady Yoruichi?" Tessai asked.
Yoruichi shook her head. "Don't worry about me. I'll escape one way or another," she replied.
Urahara knelt down over the box, opening it. "We'll hide in the World of the Living, and when the time is right, I'll tell them everything," he said. "Everything about this hollow transformation and how to stop it."
Naruto paced back and forth across the grass of the courtyard. It had been hours since he had been asked to appear before the Central 46 and answer their questions alongside the Captain and dozens of other soul reapers. It had been hours since the sun had crept up into the sky, ending the shadow of night. And it had been over a day since he last saw either Sakura or Kenshi…
"Your pointless pacing is beginning to annoy me dobe," Sasuke said, watching him walk from one end of the room to the other and back.
Naruto stopped, staring at Sasuke, who was sitting on a porch of one of the buildings sitting on the edge of the courtyard. "Then leave," Naruto snapped.
"In case you've forgotten, this is the barracks of the Thirteenth Division, not the Eighth," Sasuke coldly replied. "So why don't you go back to the Eighth and start pacing around there."
"Make me teme!" Naruto all but shouted back.
A wooden practice sword flew out at Naruto, who caught it. Sasuke stood up, a wooden sword in his hand. Without saying anything else, the two clashed, throwing all their anger, frustration and worry at each other.
At the other end of the courtyard sat Captain Ukitake, watching the pair spar as he drank tea. "Any word on what's happened?" he asked as Shunsui approached with a rare, serious demeanor.
"Nah. The Central 46 and the Special Forces are in an uproar," Shunsui replied, sitting down next to his old friend. "From what I've heard, the Central 46 were questioning a suspect when someone took out the sentries guarding the chambers of the Central 46 before escaping with the suspect."
"I imagine Captain Yoruichi is upset that her men were beaten so easily," Jushiro commented.
Shunsui glanced at the white haired captain. "That's the funny thing; no one's been able to find her."
Ukitake was surprised by this. Yoruichi was never one to go off and ignore her duites, when there was a crisis. "Really? That is strange." He paused for a moment before asking what he really wanted to know, "Has truly been no word from the team that was sent out?"
Shunsui looked away, leaning his head down. "No. Not from what I've been able to gather. I spoke with Unohana, to see if she had received word of any causalities, but she hasn't heard anything either."
"Have you asked Master Yamamoto?"
"Nah. Old Man Yama has been talking with the Central 46 ever since that incident happened earlier this morning," Shunsui replied. He then turned to the two sparring soul reapers as Sasuke delivered a kick to Naruto's chest, throwing him to the ground. Sasuke followed up by trying to strike Naruto as he lay on the ground, but Naruto was faster, rolling out of the path of the wooden sword and flipping back onto his feet, hitting Sasuke's left with his wooden weapon. "Those two are really going at it."
"True. But they needed to blow off some steam," Jushiro said. "They're both worried about their friends out there. Though neither would be willing to admit just how worried they are."
At that moment, a messenger appeared before the two. "Captain Ukitake, Captain Kyoraku, Captain-General Yamamoto is calling an emergency Captain's Meeting," he said, kneeling before the captains.
The Captain's Meeting Hall
"Well now, we're looking rather undermanned," Shunsui commented as he and Jushiro entered the Meeting Hall. "Where's Yoruichi and Urahara?"
Aside from the two Captains, only the Captain-General, Captain Unohana and Captain Kuchiki were present. Captain Shinji and the others were still MIA, while the Squad Eleven Captain was off on mission to the Human World and Squad Ten's Captain had yet to be replaced. But both Yoruichi and Urahara should have been there.
"Captain Shihoin is currently missing," Yamamoto answered. "However, both Captains Urahara and Tsuabishi are fugitives."
All four Captains were visibly stunned by Yamamoto's announcement. Two Captains fugitives? "What?" Jushiro exclaimed.
"It was determined that Kisuke Urahara was conducting forbidden hollow transformation experiments, resulting in the soul disappearances that had been occurring in the Rukongai," the ancient Captain explained. "Earlier this morning, he was arrested within his laboratory within the Research and Development Institute, alongside Tessai Tsuabishi, who perform several forbidden kido spells last night. Based on the evidence discovered in his laboratory, Kisuke Urahara was found guilty and sentenced with banishment to the World of the Living. However, before the sentence could be carried out, someone broke into the chambers of the Central 46 and escaped with both men."
Silence descended on the Captains as they processed everything. Urahara conducting experiments on innocent souls? It didn't seem possible given his light-hearted nature.
"Any suspects?" Ginrei asked.
"Just one," Yamamoto answered. That was all he had to say. It was common knowledge about Yoruichi's childhood friendship with both men. It wasn't a stretch of the imagination to picture her coming to their aid.
"What of Captain Hirako and the others?" a concerned Unohana asked.
"They were the latest victims of Urahara's experiments."
Jushiro glanced over at Shunsui, who just stood there, his shoulders slumped and his expression grim. No doubt thinking of the lieutenant he had sent out. "And where are they now?" he asked, turning back to Yamamoto.
"Unknown. They were taken as well. However, they were all subjected to Urahara's experiments and have become part-hollow."
Part-hollow… The revelation left a bitter taste in Jushiro's mouth. And he wasn't the only one; the others were just shocked and horrified by this latest revelation. They all knew of the arrancar, powerful hollows that had torn off their masks, becoming powerful, but unstable hybrid creatures. The idea that soul reapers could somehow become something like an arrancar was disturbing.
"The Central 46 had ruled that it was best to end their suffering as quickly as possible rather allow them to continue living in their corrupted state," Yamamoto continued.
A tight frown spread across Ukitake's face as both Unohana's and Kyoraku's expressions saddened, only Ginrei's face remained impassive. None of them liked the idea of ending the lives of their comrades, but what other choice was there? They were part-hollow now. There was no way to truly know how this transformation would affect them physically and mentally. Then there was how other soul reapers would react to the idea of serving alongside them. How many would see only the hollow side of them and not the soul reaper?
"The Central 46 has decided that this matter is to be classified. Outside of the Central 46 and the five of us in this room, no one else will know of this incident. Officially, Captain Muguruma and his officers, Captain Hirako and his team, were all killed, slaying the perpetrators of the soul disappearances in the process. At the same time, it was discovered that Captain Kisuke Urahara was conducting experiments on an extremely dangerous gigai design," Yamamoto explained. "He was exiled for his banished for his actions, however before the sentence could be carried out, he fled with Tessai Tsuabishi, who committed the crime of using forbidden kido spells. Captain Yoruichi Shihoin has disappeared, her involvement with Urahara's activities are currently unknown. She is to be considered a rogue for the time being."
"Essentially, one big lie," Shunsui replied, a faint bitter tone in his voice.
Yamamoto shook his head. "It's more truth than lie," he said. "As the Special Forces began investigating Urahara's laboratory, they found notes he wrote regarding an experimental gigai that in theory, could over time drain a soul reaper of their reiatsu, turning them into a human. And it is better that Captain Hirako and the others be remembered as fallen heroes rather than abominations. The full truth must not leave this room."
One by one, the four captains silently nodded their heads in agreement.
Naruto slumped against the side of one of the building, breathing heavily, a number of bruises and small cuts all across his body. Next to him, sat Sasuke, who was in the same shape, while their wooden swords laid nearby, splintered. "We'll call that a draw," Naruto said. "But only because you got lucky."
"Quit deluding yourself," Sasuke shot back.
"Yeah? Well, I'm more than ready to go again," Naruto said as he pulled himself up.
"Hold it you two," Lieutenant Kaien Shiba called out, approaching the pair, glasses of water in his hands. "The Captain asked me to make sure you two didn't beat each other up too badly. So you two are done for now."
He handed the water to the two, who greedily drank it down in a single sip. As they drank the water, Captains Ukitake and Kyoraku entered the courtyard. Kaien turned to the pair. "Captain, how did the meeting go?" he asked.
"Bad, I'm afraid," Ukitake replied. "We've found out what happened…"
The World of the Living
A Few Days Later
"Dammit Kisuke!" Shinji snapped, slamming his fists on the table, breaking it. "You said that your Hogyoku stabilized us! But it's only getting worse!"
Blackness was creeping across his left eye, turning his iris yellow. He wasn't the only one. All of the others that had been subject to Aizen's twisted experiment were suffering from the same problems.
"Calm down Shinji," Urahara replied, ignoring his shattered table. "As I said, physically, you are all stable. There's nothing wrong with your bodies. It has to be something else." He paused, thinking things over. "Now you're all suffering from the same symptoms. Extreme emotional distress and agitation, a creeping blackness in the eye, and the feeling of a gnawing presence in the back of your mind that's trying to take control of your bodies, correct?"
"Yes," Shinji answered, trying to calm himself down. "What is wrong with us?"
"I suspect that when you were transformed, some beyond just a physical transformation occurred."
"You mean how Kensei and the others attacked us in their hollow states?"
The blond scientist nodded. "Yes. I believe that a part of your souls became hollows, or at least hollow-like, not unlike the part of a soul reaper's soul that becomes their zanpaku-to. However, because of its hollow nature, it seeks to consume you."
"What do you recommend we do?" Shinji asked, eager for any kind of relief.
"Well… My best guess is that you need to confront this…inner hollow, battle it and suppress it," Urahara replied. "Not unlike what is needed to be done to achieve Bankai. But if you fail, then it's all over for you."
"What other choice do we have? If we do nothing, we'll become hollows one by one."
Urahara grimly nodded. "No. There really isn't any other choice."
Shinji stood up, his eyes still on Urahara. "I'll go first," he said. "But promise me one thing Kisuke."
"Name it."
"If it doesn't look like I'm going to make it…" Shinji trialed off, but it was clear what he wanted.
Urahara nodded, his expression serious. "I understand. Let's take care of it then."
The two men stepped into the back room of the old abandoned shop that they had taken over after arriving in the World of Living, opening up a panel in the floor, revealing a leader down to the vast basement Urahara and Tessai had built under the shop. It was just like the simulated rocky wasteland of the training ground that Urahara had built under the Sokyoku Hill, though this one was incomplete, with the walls and ceiling not painted in the image of the sky. Tessai and the others were there as well. Both Tessai, Hachigen and Sakura were working on the training ground, while the others were off doing their own things. Love, Rose, Lisa, Mizuro and Keigo had gotten a hold of a deck of cards and were now playing a game. Kensei was doing push-ups, Mashiro napping nearby. Hiyori was walking around, kicking a small rock and with a permanent scowl on her face. Both Mizuho and Kenshi were lying on large boulders, looking rather bored.
"Tessai!" Urahara called out once he and Shinji reached the basement. "We may need a hand over here!"
Everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered around the pair, hoping that Urahara had come up with some answers to their growing problem. "I have a theory on what's been happening to you and Shinji has volunteered to test my theory and a possible cure. But if it does work, I should warn you, it's not a sure thing. It could work for all of you just as easily as it could fail for all of you," Urahara explained. "But it's all I have."
"Then we'll take it," Kensei said. "We're going to go mad otherwise."
Urahara nodded his head. "I figured as much." He turned to Shinji. "You should probably put some distance from everyone first, then try to draw out and fight it." Urahara then turned to Tessai and continued, "Tessai, I need you to keep an eye on him and keep him restrained in case the hollow inside him takes control."
Tessai nodded as Shinji walked away from the group. "Right," the taller man said.
"What exactly is wrong with us?" Rose asked as Shinji stopped, turning around and closing his eyes.
"I believe that after what happened to you all, a portion of your souls developed into a secondary spirit, not unlike your zanpaku-to spirits. However, these spirits are hollows, and rather than being a companion, they're trying to consume you, to take over you utterly," Urahara answered while Shinji's head dropped. "I believe that you need to confront these inner hollows and suppress them in order to stop them."
Suddenly there was a loud roar as Shinji's head shot up. His eyes shot open, revealing that they had turned black with yellow irises. White liquid shot out of the left corner of his mouth, spread that side of his mouth. He charged forward, howling at them. But Tessai was faster. "Bakudo 95! Rokukabe Kangoku!" he shouted, casting a spell.
Shinji crashed into a glowing wall of blue energy that rose up from the ground, joined by five more, forming a hexagonal barrier around him. He howled and screamed while beating and clawing at the barrier, trying to get to them.
"If he keeps doing that, I'm not sure how I'll be able to contain him," Tessai stated as he continued to empower the barrier.
"How long can you hold it like this?" Urahara asked.
"If he continues to beat on the barrier and doesn't get any stronger, about fifteen minutes."
Urahara drew Benihime. "Open up a side. I'll keep him busy."
Tessai nodded, making a few gestures with his hands. One of the side walls opened up, allowing Urahara to enter. "Hey! Ugly!" he called out as the wall closed behind him.
The Shinji-hollow turn around, facing Urahara. The liquid had begun to harden, forming into a mask on his left cheek and jaw. He let out a roar, lunging forward at Urahara.
"Awaken Benihime!"
The Seireitei
It rained as they held the funeral services for the fallen soul reapers. Captain-General Yamamoto presided over the ceremony, giving a stirring eulogy for the deceased. But it was all lost on Naruto. All he could think about was his lost friends. It was just as terrible as the day they died…
He glanced over to where Kenshi and Kisame battled. Both of the swordsmen were bloodied and battered from their duel. The blue-skinned man spat out some blood. "You've gotten a hell of a lot better," he commented.
"A lot happens in three years," Kenshi replied.
Kisame snickered. "But not enough."
"Perhaps, perhaps not," Kenshi said. "Tell me, if I kill you, will Samehada become mine?"
The grin on Kisame's face widened. "Don't know," he admitted. "No one's ever killed me."
With that the two charged forward, racing toward each other with weapons ready, Kenshi with his two katanas, chakra glowing around the blades, and Kisame, gripping Samehada in both hands.
The two shinobi struck…
Kisame grinned, Samehada impaling Kenshi's chest, a third of the monstrous weapon sticking out of his back. The Akatsuki member let go of his weapon, chuckling as Kenshi collapsed. Kisame continued to chuckle as he started to cough up blood. Both of Kenshi's swords were in his upper chest, Kenshi's left sword piercing his right lung while his right sword stabbing straight through his heart. He stood there for a few minutes before collapsing alongside Kenshi…
Naruto's frown deepened as he remembered what happened next…
Sakura stood over Kenshi, tears rolling down her eyes as she fought against the inevitable. He was already dead; he just hadn't caught up to it. "Don't…waste…your chakra…Sakura…" Kenshi gasped. "There's…nothing…you can…do…for me…"
"No! I can save you!" she frantically shouted, trying to heal his fatal injury.
"No…you…can't…" he uttered with his last breath.
He was dead…
Unfortunately, both he and Sakura had been so distracted by Kenshi's fatal wounding and death that they had forgotten about the other Akatsuki members. Konan, appearing behind Sakura, held up a knife, made of paper but razor sharp.
"Sakura!" Naruto screamed out, trying to warn her as the female Akatsuki member struck, stabbing at her.
But Sakura just barely managed to turn around, drawing a kunai knife, blocking the knife with it. Then, as quick as she could, she slammed her free fist into the ground, tearing the ground apart beneath Konan. The female ninja fell into the newly created crater, half-buried by the falling earth and rock.
Suddenly, hundreds, thousands of small sheets emerged from the rubble, flying over Sakura, surrounding her from all sides. As one, they all started folding into shurikens and arrows, glowing with chakra. She was trapped, at the hands of the origami master.
Naruto rushed forward, desperately trying to save her. Sakura turned to him. Their eyes met. "Run Naruto," she uttered.
At that instant, the shurikens and arrows struck. Thousands of paper weapons, their edges as sharp as steel, slicing through her body. Naruto screamed out her name, falling to his knees as pieces of Sakura hit the ground…
He should have saved them. He had acquired all that strength and power back then, he should have been able to save them. What good was all that power if he couldn't protect his teammates, his friends?
Naruto looked over to where Sasuke was, standing with the other officers of the Thirteenth Division. They were all that was left of Team Seven now.
Right then and there, Naruto vowed that not let Sasuke die as well, that he would not let another friend, another teammate, another comrade die. Even if that meant giving up his own life.
Years passed, Lieutenant Aizen became a Captain with Gin Ichimaru as his Lieutenant, Mayuri Kurotsuchi of Squad Twelve also became Captain of his Squad, in addition to his command of the Research and Development Institute. Until some twenty-three years after the incident, when a giant of a man from the Zaraki District entered the Seireitei, challenging the Eleventh Division's Captain with nothing more than a chipped and worn down zanpaku-to.
In his arrogance, the Captain called his entire Division and all other nearby soul reapers to watch him crush this foolish upstart from Zaraki. And certainly from where both Naruto and Sasuke stood, it foolish and stupid. The Eleventh Division was dedicated solely to combat and their Captain was a master warrior, so who in their right mind would challenge the Captain of the Combat Division to a duel?
As it turned out, the giant man from Zaraki.
For Naruto and Sasuke, it was a battle the likes of which they had never seen since their deaths. It quickly became apparent that man was much, much strong than what everyone first thought. He was clearly of Captain-level. But not only that, he was damn near unkillable. The Captain delivered powerful strikes to the man, leaving terrible wounds in his body, wounds that would have killed lesser men, but left this man grinning for more.
Then, as quickly as it seemed to begin, the duel ended. With a one-handed swing, the man from Zaraki bisected the Captain from shoulder to waist, killing him.
The crowd of over two hundred soul reapers were silent, stunned that the Captain had been killed. The only sounds were the cheers of the man's companion, a tiny pink-haired girl that had ridden in on his shoulder. And the footsteps of the Captain-General as he approached the man.
"He's the new Squad 11 Captain," Sasuke said.
"What?" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief. "That nutjob?"
"Think about it. How does one become a Captain?"
"Well, there's the Captain Proficiency Test. Then there's the Personal Recommendation option. And…" Naruto paused, realizing things.
"Trial by Combat," Sasuke said with a nod. "Defeating a Captain in combat in the presence of no less than two hundred soul reapers."
Naruto shook his head, still unable to believe what he had just seen. "I didn't think it was possible for a Captain to lose to another soul reaper who is such disharmony with his zanpaku-to."
"Yes, I doubt he even knows the name of his zanpaku-to," Sasuke added. "But the fact that he was able to defeat a Captain in such a state, speaks volumes of his strength."
"Plus, he's as crazy as they get."
And done! Now, I have been getting a major Naruto vibe lately, the likes of which I haven't had in such a long time. I got two big story ideas that have been circling my mind, begging to be written. The first is one is the one that some people have been asking me to write since the beginning of the original A New Life, A New World, the Naruto story with my OC Kenshi as a part of Team Seven. The second one was inspired by my favorite Naruto story of all time, Lithius Amarantions's Naruto: Nine Demon Songs. Sadly, Lithius has abandoned it and deleted it. But those who were lucky enough to have read it, know how great it was. This story would have three of the Tailed Beasts in Konoha instead of the eight in NDS, all in the members of Team Seven. And they will be the canonical Seven-Tailed Horned Beetle in Sasuke, and Six-Tailed Slug in Sakura. I've noticed that most writers tend not to use the canon Tailed Beasts after they revealed them all. Not me. While the former story would stay fairly close to the canon, the later would break from sections of the canon after Tsunade became Hokage. At the moment, I could go either way, but I'm leaning more towards the Jinchuriki story.
Oh, and for those wondering about how Naruto and Sasuke died, you're gonna have to wait. And in regards to the events that occurred before they died, Naruto did receive his Sage training, but the invasion of Konoha didn't happen, nor the events that followed the invasion. At that was AU that I will reveal much, much later.
As always, I love to hear from my fans, so review and tell me what you think.