Chapter 30: Secrets Revealed!
A/N Wow its been 5 months... I'm a terrible person. This chapter is dedicated to Foxie-sama who has relinquished fanfiction once and for all.
The sight of Minato alone among the horde of the Sound was chilling. Sharp shooters on the wall coveredthe Hokage as he cut his way to Kabuto. Hundreds of Naruto's shadow clones contained the horde cutting at its flanks. Like a tongue lapping ice cream as it melts down the side of a cone Naruto was slowly shrinking the sound force.
From on top of the great wall Jiraiya relayed information and orders to his ANBU squads. He was scared. The battle was going well- almost too well. Minato and Naruto were pushing the Sound forces back away from the walls and soon the marksmen would no longer be within range to offer them support. Jiraiya wanted to call Naruto and Minato back and use the fortification Konoha provided to make their stand, but he knew Minato and Naruto would never agree to that even if he could contact them. They were determined to take the fight to the Sound to demonstrate the power of Konoha.
With this in mind Jiraiya's instincts told him to send ANBU squads to the rear of the Sound force and push them into the onslaught of Naruto and Minato, yet this he could not do. Sending ANBU units to the rear of the Sound army would be a tactical move but it was essentially a suicide mission and he knew the Hokage would not support the decision not matter how tactical it seemed. Limited in his strategic options he had called upon the village's greatest tactician for help.
***
Kabuto was smiling as he watched rows of his own men cut down and thrown aside by Naruto and his father. The skill with which the son and father dispatched of the Sound's grunts was enchanting to watch and Kabuto allowed the spectacle to entertain him while they approached the trap he had thought up years ago.
Arms folded across his chest Kabuto glanced behind him where fifteen ninja with unique abilities had been hand picked from all of the Sounds forces to participate in Konoha's destruction. While large in number there was hardly a sound ninja in the fray of battle who stood a chance of defeating a Konoha chuunin and Kabuto could see from Minato's frustrated expression that the Hokage was well aware of this. Kabuto could almost see the silver lining behind all of the skilled Sound ninja refusing to join his cause. The skilled and treacherous jounin of the sound for the most part had chosen to take their chances; hiding from Kabuto instead of rushing into a suicidal battle with Konoha. Their betrayal while entirely expected had at first enraged Kabuto but slowly the cunning strategist saw the benefit of their absence.
Had elite sound ninja joined the ranks of the sound army they could possibly have slowed Naruto and Minato's advance, an advance which was necessary for the plan to move forward. And now Kabuto saw that and he was pleased. His confidence was disrupting his usual calm and he felt power coursing through him. His body on fire from the intensity of his anticipation he issued a battle cry, "Come Naruto! Let me finish what I started."
To Kabuto's delight Naruto heard him or at least one of his clones did. The clearness of the day allowed for Naruto see his enemy inspite of the chaos of battle. The picturesque afternoon both sunny and warm made for ideal battle conditions. It was as Naruto approached that Kabuto felt a tiny drop of pity for his enemy. On a day like this it was more fitting that the blonde youth be flirting with a girl in a dry breezy field than have him charge an enemy whose only objective was to make him suffer. Perhaps the girl he seemed so fond over would make his final moments more pleasurable.
The thought made him smile and he snapped his fingers calling to him his captive. Ino was thrown at his feet tied and bound with a chakra eating chain. A superfolous gag choked her, useless because of the beating she had already received. Her eyes showed that she was barely conscious and blood covered neck.
"You're really too pretty. I don't understand why girls like you decide to become ninja in the first place." Kabuto lifted her up by the hair so her face was pointed at his. "Well it doesn't really matter. Just be thankful I'm giving you an opportunity to see your boyfriend one last time." As he said this he smiled wickedly.
Ino looked up showing life for the first time.
"Yes that's right. Oh and don't worry you won't have to die I guarantee you'll die first."
Finished with his tirade Kabuto dropped his prize. As if she no longer existed he moved on with his plan. She watched with an intense fear as he made the preperations to trap Naruto. She felt cold. It hurt to move so she didn't and it hurt to look so she closed her eyes and tried to block out the pain. Ino barely understood where she was or how she came to be at the Sound's camp. She blocked out everything and listened to Kabuto talk into his headset and she waited for Naruto to save her. Words she heard but it was not right away she understood their meaning. Then it hit her. A thundering truth that obliterated the silence of her confidence. Kabuto's plan was flawless.
Ino forced herself to become aware of her senses. An explosion of pain cascaded down her body as she did so but she was a ninja so she grit her teeth and embraced it. She turned toward the battlefield searching for Naruto to warn him, to tell him to forget about her even though with all her heart she wanted him to rescue her. She wanted to be swept to safety, like the princess of her childhood, by her knight.
***
Minato twisted his torso dodging several projectiles and with a kunai slit the throats of the enemies surrounding him. Before the blood jutting out of the necks of his enemies could hit him he had moved into the center of a new batch of enemies. He worked tirelessly or so it seemed. His colossal effort however was only a facade and the Hokage having dispatched countless enemies was reaching his limit. His wound from the assassination attempt earlier in the day was causing him pain and slowing his movements.
Minato spoke into his headpiece even as he cut through an enemy, "Naruto, I need to stop. You should return to the walls as well. The ANBU teams are in position to dispose of the rest of the Sound force. It shouldn't be an issue for them to finish this."
As Minato completed his message he pulled out the remaining shuriken and kunai he had in his weapon satchel and sent them towards his enemies. With that final effort he teleported back within Konoha's walls.
Naruto heard his father's message over a hundred times. Each clone had heard his father's plea and each had the same reaction. The battle would be ended after he killed Kabuto and not before and so Minato heard the same response over a hundred times, "Sorry dad. I want to end this."
At that Naruto removed his headpiece and for a moment held it in his hand just to hear his father's voice desperate and pleading. The crackle of the electronic device as he crushed it brought Naruto back to reality. He lifted his head toward the place where he had heard Kabuto's voice and descended upon it like hell-spawn descending on the sinners entering hell.
The man who had caused him so much pain, who had been a source of continual fear for years was waiting for him. The chance to end the source of his nightmares fueled his blood lust. "Come on Kabuto. I want to know what you did to me back in Iwa. Why were you in Earth Country?" Naruto entered the small deserted camp where only a few pitched tents and footprints existed to give proof of any human activity.
Kabuto approached the camp from behind Naruto, "I will answer your questions, Naruto. I will explain more than what you want to know. If you want I'll tell you of Sasuke's escape or how the great village of Konoha will be destroyed, but the answers to your questions will come after you assist me."
Kabuto paused for a moment but did not allow enough time for Naruto to speak before he started again, "Suigetsu it is time."
"Let me assist you then," Naruto said dashing towards Kabuto.
Naruto's body froze with his fist an inch away from Kabuto's face. "If only it were that simple Naruto." Kabuto gently pushed down Naruto's fist. "I've waited a decade for this Naruto," Kabuto whispered forming hand signs, "Don't dissapoint me."
His movements were gracious and precise as if they had been practiced and performed a hundred times. Kabuto's hands lay palms flat one on Naruto's chest and one on his back horizontal to where the seal in his body was hidden. A green glow flowed slowly out of Kabuto's hands and into Naruto's chest while the blonde teenager was completely incapacitated. Kabuto had prepared a multilevel circular seal with a radius of five meters to paralyze Naruto. The sealing circle was activated upon Kabuto's whim so long as Naruto was in the circle.
Kabuto felt somewhat nostalgic as he stopped the flow of chakra into the seal within Naruto. He had waited a decade for this moment and all of the backup plans he had prepared in case something went array had been proved useless as the original plan had gone off without so much as an annoyance. His patient wait for the most powerful weapon in the battle against Konoha was in his hands. At the moment all that was left was for it to awaken.
An eruption of chakra sent Kabuto rolling back into one of the grey pitched tents. As he emerged from the tarp Naruto was looking at him patiently. "I'm ready Kabuto-sama."
Kabuto could not hold in his elation. "Finally! Sugestu prepare yourself then destroy Konohagure." With his command given he released the seal preventing Naruto's body's movement.
Suigetsu moved awkwardly at first; while he and Naruto were similar in size they had several slight variations such as leg length and weight distribution. However, the awkwardness was soon resolved and Suigetsu began to feel out the limitations of his host's body.
Kabuto eyed his weapon carefully. "You seem to have adjusted. Go now while the remaining Sound force is distracting the Leaf's ninjas. When you return I'll set you back in your body."
The blonde twisted his face unnaturally, contorted in an expression not his own, "That won't be necessary Kabuto. You told me yourself; I get back to my body by coming back here or by having this body die on me." He smirked, "I'll make sure Naruto never regains control of his body."
As Kabuto watched Naruto's form grow smaller making its way to the great wall he wished he could witness the tragedy that was about to take place.
***
Naruto awoke in darkness. The air was damp and the smell rotten. Naruto moved his hand forward slowly to feel out for a wall while his eyes adjusted to the light and as he did so he noticed a powerful chakra that had mixed with the air so thoroughly that the air seemed to have weight. He took a few steps and stumbled as the floor dropped off a few feet. Naruto regained his footing in a few inches of murky water.
Where the fuck am I?
Naruto performed a few hand seals and attempted to perform a jutsu but nothing happened. So I can't even use my jutsu? Where is this place and where is Kabuto?
His eyes began to adjust to the light and from what he could make out he seemed to be in a sewer. He had awoken surrounded by three walls and a long hallway running along the length of the hallway was the stream of water he found himself in. Naruto was tense as he moved farther down the hallway the air was becoming heavier and the concentration of chakara more dense. Somehow the chakra seemed familiar, so strangely familiar. The weight of the hallways atmosphere was constricting and clamped down on his chest forcing him to breath harder. Forks in the hallway appeared and Naruto was forced to contemplate which path to follow, but it was as if he knew where he was going and he did not pause and debate which way to follow.
He knew where he was going he was following the powerful presence that was hidden somewhere in this maze.
This doesn't make any sense what have you done Kabuto? Fear gripped Naruto, Am I caught in some jutsu? He quickened his pace his desire to leave the sewer that began to seem more and more like a dungeon. He was running now straight into a fog and once again he couldn't see, he could barely move, he was struggling to breath, and then the air was still. He emerged from haze and mist facing a steel door.
Naruto reached for the door handle but as his hand found the knob he hesitated. What was behind the door? A trap perhaps or maybe Kabuto himself. Naruto couldn't be sure he simply had to be prepared. There was nowhere to go but forward.
But a lifetime of contemplation would not provide ample time to prepare him for what lay befroe him. He knew without looking around that the door behind him had vanished and there was nowhere to run. The only thing that kept him from feeling fear were the monstrous bars that composed the cell of the nine-tailed demon fox. He recognized the beast immediately it would be impossible for a ninja of his status not to.
"Hello boy. I've waited a long time for this moment. In fact I'm very surprised you lasted so long before coming here."
Naruto filled himself with courage and addressed the monstrous Kyuubi. "Where am I?"
The Kyuubi hissed with indignation, "That is how you greet the most powerful demon in all the elemental nations? Even your father would not address me in such a manner!"
Naruto could not help taking a step back as the demon roared. For a moment he dared not speak. How was one supposed to address a demon much less one that he had thought defeated. "I don't even know if your real or a figment of Kabuto's jutsu. So demon lord where is this place and why am I here?"
"Come closer and I will tell you."
Naruto was not so foolish as to believe the demon's words, but he approached the cell hoping that he would recieve an explanation. The seal that was fixed atop the lock of the bars gave him the courage to move forward. The claws that slashed at him through the bars was no surprise and he evaded the attack easily.
"I hope you didn't think it would be that easy to kill me Lord of the demons. Perhaps your legend is exagerated."
Roaring with hatred the Kyuubi retracted his claws. "If I could I would devour you human. You'll have to thank your father that I have not done so already."
Naruto's interest piqued at the mention of his father. "So my father is the reason I am here? Wherever here is."
The kyuubi grinned, "Surely you know where this is. Do not pretend to be stupider than you are. You came here of your own device if you think I have the power to summon anyone here you are a fool. As for this Kabuto I know nothing. If, on the other hand, you desire an explanation for why your father resigned his only son with the terrible honor of housing me I can offer many theories. For you see child your father is a fool."
***
How could the guards have known that it was not Naruto who appeared at the gates? The answer: they could not and in this way they were killed. The form of the Hokage's son so well known in the village was the weapon Kabuto had desperately craved. It was perfect. For no ninja, not even a master of genjutsu, would be able to tell that this body before them was operated by an enemy.
Suigetsu had already killed several ninja having arrived at the Hokage's tower. Those he had murdered he had killed so as to not arouse suspicion. No one had witnessed the murders and the bodies had all been hastily hidden. Their hiding spots including alleys and rooftops soon to be discovered but not soon enough for anyone to realize that the murders were connected.
He nodded to the guards on his way up the stairs- killing them would have proved too much of a challenge and given away his disguise. His heart skipped a beat as they nodded back to him, smiling, completely unaware of the situation. Suigetsu could barely contain his laughter. To be honest he felt honored to have the privilege of killing a kage, so honored in fact that the fear of being in the midst of an enemy village had left him, and found it difficult to contain his blood lust.
He knocked on the door and when no voice called to receive him he entered. The room was empty and its emptiness revitalized the fear of being discovered. Suigetsu did not bother returning down the stairs he needed to find Minato quickly while chaos continued to distract most of the more powerful ninjas. He fled the tower out the Hokage's window and sped off among the rooftops while sound forces plagued Konoha's northern walls and increased his chances of assassinating the Hokage.
Read and review... It's been awhile. Hopefully I'll update the living wind really soon. In the mean time please check out a one shot I wrote called fallen heroes. Its not based off any story but hopefully you like it. This story will be concluded in the next few chapters.