Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters or the universe, that belongs to Mashashi Kishimoto, Shounen Jump, Bandai games and other affiliated companies.
A/N:
1)
Hey everyone, I finally got to updating…Sorry about the long wait but I had to retake some tests. Alas the next update will take some time as well as I've got my summer semester's tests starting next week and then a week of overtime at work – I'll try to update asap but I make no promises as to when It'll be done.
2)
Thank you all so very much for your reviews, they were very helpful and I know I have a bit of a problem with POV shifting and changing perspectives. I'm trying to learn on how to balance that to make things less confusing but I'm doing my best to learn how to do things better – thank you all for the criticism on that subject.
3)
As for a review reply to the anonymous reviewer Darak who reviewed chapter 20 and so kindly referred to me as Kishimoto wannabe by placing over dramatization over logic and sense - I kindly refute that.
I stated Sarutobi swabbed his tongue over his pipe and then started getting weak and woozy (poisoned) and Danzou wouldn't have killed Sandaime earlier as it would serve no purpose (as Saru was still function semi-properly and keeping their enemies at bay- killing him would invite as war) as he had too much support and Sarutobi wasn't dying (as shown in many chapters by him hacking blood). Also if you had waited patiently, this chapter would've shown you the forensics report.
4)
Anyhow, please enjoy the chapter. It's shorter because as I stated earlier the pace of the story is getting faster and so there is less need for foundation work – hence the lower content quantity. I hope it's still satisfying – I'll be glad to hear your thoughts thank you.
Japanese Word Glossary:
Youki – Evil Energy
Jinchuuriki – 'Power of Human Sacrifice' – the nickname given to the containers of the tailed beasts
Sandaime – The Third
Godaime – The Fifth
Senbon – Needle
Kekkai Gekkai – Bloodline Limit
Ningen – Human
Hakumei no Kuni – Twilight Country
(Forest of Death, Team 10 v. Team Gaara)
"Fuuton: Kaze Rensei Bakudan" Naruto thought and tried to mimick his success from the cavern in Hakumei no Kuni where his wind jutsu drilled into through solid rock; hoping it would do the same for the sand barrier. The high pitched wind projectile escaped his lips, shooting forward at great speed before it was blocked by a concave shaped barricade of sand. Moments after he finished his jutsu Naruto unleashed a single kunai with an explosive note attached to it right in the center of Gaara's sand shield.
Naruto didn't wait for the explosion to detonate and already, after launching himself off the branch, landed on the ground nimbly and prepared to attack once more. "That should do it!" He thought and assumed his family taijutsu style before charging forth; intent on capitalizing on the weakening of the sand ninja's barrier to plow through it and hit the Jinchuuriki behind it.
The explosive note ignited and shattered the partially broken sand shield and smoke concealed Gaara's supposedly injured form. Naruto's wind encased palm shot forth the moment he finished bridging the distance between them and connected with something solid. The discharge of wind chakra blew the white smoke away in time to reveal a grinning, untouched Gaara.
Naruto's eyes were slightly wide as her tried pulling back his arm only to discover that his palm was partially stuck within slightly darker sand than the previous golden one. He tried to rationalize it but didn't have time to notice that Gaara's gourd was missing a large chunk of it since Gaara's sand beat him to the punch as it shifted and smashed into his body. The force behind the attack sent the Uzumaki stumbling backwards right before a massive sand shaped fist rammed into him and knocked him into a tree with painful force.
The Uzumaki heir coughed harshly as his back slammed against hardened wood; gasping for air before he looked up at his foe. What he saw prompted him to quickly replicating himself with a nearby log and so he escaped being plowed through by high velocity spheres of sand.
"What's the matter? Uzumaki Naruto? Stop playing games and fight me!" Gaara demanded icily.
Naruto leaned against a tree trunk, partially hidden as he glanced over at his shoulder to examine his foe. Before he could think clearly and try to formulate a battle plan he heard a familiar voice taunt him and his blood ran cold. "You know...you aren't the only one that can use clones." Just as those words filtered through him sand wrapped around Naruto's torso tightly; choking him slightly before he was flung nonchalantly into a nearby tree.
The blue eyed genin struggled and replicated himself yet again, reforming on higher ground before he started climbing ever higher; ignoring Gaara's taunting. His mind raced to find a solution."It seems the direct approach won't work…his sand barrier's tough but I think I know how to break it. If only I could…if only I could get him off my back for a moment…that's it!"
Naruto's lips twitched into a full blown grin as an idea rose into his mind, a creative and most devious idea. His hands ran through four quick hand seals before he thrust his chakra violently into the air around him. 'Kirigakure no jutsu' was the word that was uttered inwardly as his chakra spiked. The air around him growing thicker and heavier as the water particles throughout the area converged towards one another.
They formed a dense, blinding blanket of mist. He shut his eyes reaching deep into the pool of his life-force and then instigated one of the newer techniques Fukusaku and Jiraiya had helped him developed. He drew his chakra towards his nose and ears and felt his awareness spread farther. His body siphoned the fragment of the Kyuubi's youki that always lingered in his own life-force; the faint burning sensation left by the touch of the evil energy was ignored as his body adjusted to its presence.
The Jinchuuriki pinpointed on the rancid scent of blood, sweat and sand rising from his target. "What the fuck…?" he thought before he suddenly leaped sideways, avoiding a lethal blow. He heard the tree he occupied explode and gulped, "so he can vaguely sense me even through the mist…I guess I'll have to distract him even more…"
Naruto crossed his fingers and summoned several shadow clones, "Distract him…" he whispered to his doppelgangers. He watched them melt into the mist, the sound of rushing wind jutsu and battle cries filling his ears moments later. He ignored the commotion and bit down on his thumb; smearing the sickly hot crimson on his palm, "it's show time…"
Sabaku no Gaara sneered faintly as the chakra created mist enveloped the area. Such diversionary tactics would do his fellow container no good. He crossed his arms, shutting his eyes as he spread his chakra to the earth beneath his feet and sand upon his back. He heard the multiple projectiles approaching him; screeching spheres of angry wind baring down on him but felt no fear. He remained serene despite the rumbling of the recoil and deafening sound explosions made by the jutsu battering against his sand shield. He smirked widely, not even budging an inch. "Is that the best you can do, Uzumaki Naruto?"
"Don't count on it!" he heard multiple voices cry out in unison. Their blows were like the tide battering against the coast – futile. Again and again their wind enforced attacks crashed against his 'mother's' protection and again and again Gaara reacted lazily. Limbs, spikes and spheres of sand ravaged the clones one by one; the whole situation as easy as child play.
Gaara finally got bored of the clones attacking his defenses repeatedly and so he simply spread his hands. The ground shook violently beneath his feet, splintering and breaking as he created hardened sand from it. The golden brown sand swirled around him angrily, forming deformed limbs of nightmarish gold with violet markings on them.
In one sudden motion the shukaku-like limbs slashed outwards in all directions, uprooting the trees around him violently. The red-haired Jinchuuriki ignored the sounds of distress and surprise he recognized belonged to his siblings and another two as he felt them scrambling out of the way of his destructive technique. "Enough, no more games, Uzumaki Naruto! Fight me and let me feel alive…or I will kill your little friends until you do…"
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" He heard a cry somewhere behind him as he sensed a massive chakra signature visit upon the battlefield. Gaara was about to attack when his sister's voice cried out to him just before a massive torrent of wind disrupted the battle, "Gaara, look out!"
Gaara sneered at her warning; his sand rising to protect him. He only barely caught the glimpse of his foe perched upon something large and orange over his shoulder before his vision was obscured by his shield rising to absorb the impact of massive sphere of wind. "Temari, I told you stay back and not to interfere. I will not warn you again."
His sister tried to reply but was obviously preoccupied for when the sand parted Gaara looked over his shoulder he witnessed his sister struggling to repel a most vicious taijutsu barrage by the smaller Yamanaka. Ino had gotten close and personal due to Temari's distraction and now had the older genin on the defensive.
Naruto meanwhile crouched low and murmured something to his familiar before using his chakra to latch upon the toad's back. The amphibian, a bull sized creature wearing a blue kimono seemed to grin, if a toad could grin and inhaled deeply. The summoned beast leaped into the air and spewed out murky brown liquid, "Yo, you no-eyebrows-freak! You don't have time to look away!"
The toad leaped around, dodging a most impatient Jinchuuriki's sand attacks whereas the Uzumaki on its back reached into his weapons pouch and kept on tossing kunai and shuriken at Gaara. Each time the sand rose to Gaara's defense and each time the murky gale of oily liquid smashed into it.
This little game of tag lasted for only several moments before Gaara truly lost his patience and thrust both of his hands forward and around a dozen of sand-like limbs rushed at Naruto all at once. The redhead was not disappointed when he watched the summoned creature vanish in a cloud of smoke and Naruto replicate himself with wooden log.
"Damn it! Gaara! Look out behind you!" Temari screamed this time, leaping towards her brother and opening all three parts of her fan. She was about to attack the Uzumaki clones behind her brother when something smashed into her side violently and threw her away wildly; unfortunately straight into a tree.
She grimaced in pain and coughed sand and blood as she heard her brother's voice hiss coldly: "I told you…do not interfere!" She sunk to the ground, quite a way from the battle between Naruto. The Suna kunoichi clutched her body, favoring her side where she was sure she felt a rib or two fracture or crack. Her eyes were mixed with sadness and confusion as she wondered, had he just thrown her to safety or brushed her aside? You could never know such things with someone as emotionally detached as Gaara.
Naruto watched the exchange with mixed emotions as he and a clone on his left made rapid, but different hand seal sequences. On one hand he was lucky she did not interrupt him, but the cold dismissal pissed Naruto off, and so he felt a bit less guilty about what he was going to do though a gnawing doubt in his stomach lingered still. "Would that have been me…had the old man not have protected me? Had Iruka-sensei not acknowledged me?"
He pushed the thought aside for now as he finished his seal sequence with a tiger seal and felt the chakra rush to his lungs; superheating the oxygen as he exhaled harshly. A long tongue of flame escaped his lips, forming a ball of scarlet as he instigated the 'Katon: Endan. Meanwhile the clone as his side however used a different jutsu entirely as it unleashed a funnel of concentrated wind or the 'Fuuton: Kazeryuu no Kokyuu' that was now aimed at Gaara.
The two jutsu met in midair, the winds fanning the flame and the combination of jutsu creating an intense cone of furious flame that reared down on the redhead. Gaara's sand rose to stop the bright, nearly white fire but instead of repelling it the sand suddenly ignited violently as the oil that Naruto's toad summon had mixed with it earlier fed off the flame.
Gaara screamed in pain and horror as the wave of impossible heat surrounded and he tried to push the sand away. But the sand did not obey him; his control over it slipping as the substance started changing and melting. Breathing became difficult as smoke filled his lungs, his eyes burned as tears blurred his vision before he clutched his throat and fell to his knees. "No…my existence…I will not…I cannot…"
He then did something he had never done before; he panicked. He looked around desperately for a way out of the inferno and the only thing that saved him from certain death was the armor of sand protecting him from the ravaging heat; though he knew would suffocate before long if he didn't do something. Just when he thought all was lost he looked up and saw his salvation; the heat had transformed the sand into glass; "FREEDOM!"
He tossed himself wildly out of the glass sphere, rolling several times on the ground while gasping for air. He looked up and his eyes widened just as a wind encased kick smashed into his face with such force he was sent flying backwards. He only vaguely heard an almost remorseful sentence from his foe before his back slammed hard into a nearby tree and the wind was knocked out of his lungs: "you shouldn't have threatened my friends!"
Gaara slid down to a sitting position, barely conscious; his mind swimming with thought. "Protecting someone else…? Nonsense…I'm alive and have survived this long and I've never been protected. I don't need protectiom! I'm…m-my existence is mine…I refuse…I refuse to…let my existence expire!"
Up above, Shikamaru, Ino and Kankuro stopped fighting as a sudden shockwave rocked the entire area accompanied by a bestial roar. The Nara looked upon the sand nin's make-up covered face and saw only one emotion – undulated horror before the sand-nin bolted and headed towards his wounded sister, perplexing both leaf nin.
"Where the hell are you going? You're going to leave your teammate behind?!" Ino called out after him in disgust. She didn't pursue due on one reason, Shikamaru held her back because he heard what Kankuro whispered under his breathe 'Gaara's losing it' and knew they needed to get out of there – now.
(Meanwhile, other side of the Forest of Death)
Kabuto's lips twitched, glancing over his shoulder at the violet and black clad woman. "You may talk and feel like the master, but you are not Orochimaru-sama," he retorted to her taunting exclaim. Kabuto then ducked low and avoided her accurate side kick that would've otherwise smashed his spine. He then spun around while slashing his hand in a cutting motion, his chakra scalpel missing her jugular by a mere inch.
His hand shifted and just barely deflected her open palm thrust. He felt his heartbeat racing as adrenaline began pumping through his veins when she got up close and personal. Her hot breath hit his lips, making them tingle faintly as memorizing gold and violet eyes locked deeply with his own. "Traitor scum like you shouldn't get too cocky…"
He replicated himself with a wooden log as golden snake heads slithered beneath her sleeves, saving himself from their venomous bite. He reformed on a branch above her before reaching into his weapons pouch he unleashed a hail of senbon at her back. The venom tipped needles struck home and the sound of steel piercing flesh filling his ears. That is until he realized belatedly that it was an illusion when Anko's body blurred and dispersed. "When did she…?"
His muscles protested as he felt snakes constrict around his arms and waist painfully. His eyes widened as the venomous reptiles bit down on his body in multiple places, injecting a lethal dose of nerve toxin into his blood stream; his body going numb. "Impressive, she caught me when she locked eyes with me…she used the same ocular genjutsu as Orochimaru-sama."
His body was struck by spasms as Anko moved forth and slammed her chakra coated fingertips over his chest. Saliva and foam dripped from the edges of his lips as his eyes went wide and vacant. Anko's eyes narrowed at that, the battle was too easy so far. Orochimaru would never count on such a weakling spy.
Then her eyes widened as Kabuto's eyes snapped open and he shifted, striking viciously at her mid section. "How…I must've ruptured an organ or two and pumped him with enough venom to knock out a horse! " She just barely avoided a blow to the face by bending backwards unnaturally.
Her body then twisted and snapped like a whip before she smashed her fingers into his windpipe with deadly precision. To her surprise the medic-nin didn't seem to falter, his chakra pattern acting unnaturally as he just kept on going, attacking her with a chakra scalpel. The snake summoner was surprised by his recovery and was thus left with little alternative except lifting her left forearm clumsily.
The blocking motion interceped the thrust towards her chest. Her teeth gnashed at the pain, the chakra scalpel skipping over her skin; passing right through it and damaged the muscle and sinew beneath. Anko head snapped backwards as the follow up punch literally tore into her body, blood rising into her mouth briefly before her body exploded into paper-like snakeskin.
Kabuto pushed the glasses on his nose, looking around him curiously as that particular clone jutsu was rather rare. "Kukuku…you shouldn't underestimate me, Anko-chan. As Orochimaru-sama's former apprentice I expected a bit more caution. It appears you truly are pathetic…"
"I wouldn't write me off quite so easily, you'll die if you do!" a hiss filtered through his ear and his eyes widened considerably. He looked behind him and gazed upon a dirt covered Anko standing over a hole in the ground. She held one chakra covered hand in an offensive manner whereas her other hand hung uselessly at her side from where her had struck it earlier.
His shock lasted only a moment before the pain replaced it, liquid torment exploding through his spine as her chakra invaded his body and all feeling and mobility in his body shut down. She turned away from him and caught her breathe; thus failing to notice his eyes snap open and narrow maliciously. "I tire of these games…now die!"
Anko turned around in shock as she felt Kabuto's chakra spike, "W-what the fuck?" she stammered as the 'beaten' foe blurred in such speed she barely had time to lift her good arm, a scream stifled through grit teeth as the raw strength behind his blow fractured the bones in her forearm. Kabuto's eyes were wild, wide and eerily bloodshot, the white mostly replaced by an angry red. His chakra was furious, murderous and untamed as he struck at her in fast, furious blows that the snake jounin barely dodged "What the hell…? He's completely different than before…"
The silver haired traitor grinned maniacally and slipped through Anko's defenses, preparing to eviscerate her with his bare hand. However before his hand struck her abdomen he noticed the woman's neck bloated before she spewed out something metallic. A glint of steel flashed in his vision before something lodged in his throat.
He choked on blood and woozily stumbled back several feet. He made a show of coughing and apparently dying, falling to his knees while desperately grasping at the handle of the kunai. He ripped it out, wheezing pants escaping his damaged windpipe as he seemingly died when he remained motionless.
Anko sighed in relief before her 'dead' foe suddenly exploded into motion, his grinning and crimson stained façade bone-chilling for the split second she gazed upon it; the wound closing unnaturally before her eyes. Anko had only a moment to register the unsightly occurrence before pain exploded through her lower body as a blurry kunai lodged itself in her midsection, slipping through her defenses and digging deep into the flesh in a sickening squelching sound.
Kabuto laughed wildly as he stood up, his unnaturally murderous eyes bone-chilling as the blood vessels in his eyes gaze them a crimson, demonic look. "Stupid bitch, you shouldn't have come here alone...now I get to have fun with you…kukuku…"
Anko smirked and grinned at him through crimson stained lips, "I never said I came here alone…"
Kabuto's eyes widened as he heard the sound of chirping birds and looked over his shoulder. He grunted in agony as something tore through his lower body. He looked down and saw a lightning charged palm protruding from his body; the electrical currents died down but the damage was immense. His healing power struggled to heal the cavity in his body but it was in vain. "Unluckily for you, we leaf-nin tend to be a bit more thorough in capturing traitors, especially when they kill our kage,"
The silver-haired spy realized the damage was beyond his ability to regenerate due to the chakra he wasted fighting Anko and the severity of the wound as Kakashi tore his hand out violently, making the situation worse but not a fatal; meaning only one thing - they wanted him alive. As Kabuto became woozy and dizzy and much to his misfortune got ensnared by the sharingan-based genjutsu of Kakashi's making his last thought was a foreboding one: "what the hell have I gotten myself into…?"
(Elsewhere, Forest of Death)
Team Gai traversed the trees morosely for a moment or two in the aftermath of the bitter argument between Tenten and Sakura before they broke apart to avoid a rain of kunai. Lee broke to the left, Tenten to the right whereas Sakura flashed her chains and guided them with her chakra and deflected any of the projectiles that could hit her.
Lee caught a blur in his perpetual vision and took off after it; launching himself at a tree. Tenten however sensed something was odd about the silhouette and called out to her teammate when something occurred to her. "Lee, look out!"
His eyes widened as he heard ropes cutting and the sound of flying projectiles. Lee however was prepared, removing a cylinder from his side pouch he twisted it and it extended at both ends and created a long metallic bo. He twirled it around and deflected the projectiles easily. A silhouette rose behind him, forming from the earth at his feet. The taijutsu specialist spun around and expertly smashed his weapon into the figure's head, only for it to split into two figures that shifted and reformed into the visage of twin feminine Ame-nin with icy green eyes.
"You're an interesting one, leaf-nin? We've been following you lot for a while, but your chakra signature was so weak it took me several times to adjust to it so we could attack. Just out of curiosity, you can't break out of illusions, can you?" a feminine tone murmured in his ear as the surroundings blurred around him.
Lee's body locked down as limbs of invisible substance wrapped around him, constricting him painfully. Taunting green eyes glared into his own as the specter like substance jammed down his mouth, starting to suffocate him. "Nothing personal, but I don't like leaf-nin in general. Just die…"
Suddenly the phantasmal surroundings vanished when pain flashed through his left arm, a long but shallow cut now bleeding where Sakura's kunai pained him enough to snap him out of the illusion. The earth around him splintered and broke and fist of stone threatened to crush him, Lee only just barely escaping the death trap by obeying blindly to Sakura's sharp command.
He turned his gaze around wildly and caught sight of Tenten locking blades with two male rain-ninja; armed with a ninja-to in one hand and a kunai in the other. The sound of steel meeting steel and blows being thrown and deflected remain in the back of his mind as he turned to his crimson haired teammate only to feel her back hit lightly against his own.
The Haruno's soft voice whispered to him in a cold, commanding manner. "One of our enemies is a genjutsu specialist, Lee. I can't cover you and Tenten and fight at the same time. You've got to get out of here, you're in the way."
"But…Sakura…" he stammered, flabbergasted at her dismissal.
"No time for arguments!" The emerald eyed kunoichi hissed at him and pushed him aside roughly as a wave of earth attempted to crush them. Sakura immediately rushed through a hand seal sequence the moment she knocked Lee away. "We don't have time for this! Whoever is attacking us isn't playing games."
She thrust both her hands forward, unleashing a fierce blast of lightning at the wall of stone in form of the 'Raiton: Raikou no Yari.' The electrical surge sliced through the stone easily but due to the close proximity Sakura was blinded by the discharge and pelted by shards of stone; forced to cover her eyes with her forearm.
She heard something behind her and her alter ego barked at her urgently,"behind!" The crimson haired kunoichi flinched as something sharp bit into her side, but she managed to mitigate her moment of weakness by wrapping chains around whatever struck her.
"Impressive sensory abilities, leaf-nin. You seem less worthless than your teammates. Your ability to disrupt my genjutsu without hand seals is also interesting, kekkai gekkai?" The sharp, somewhat taunting feminine voice whispered behind her as she felt an edge of steel against her neck.
Sakura looked over her shoulder, her green eyes locking with a similar pair of jade eyes. The formally invisible foe came into vision along with the kunai pressed against her neck when Sakura's alter-ego shattered the genjutsu. However Danzou's puppet had the other kunoichi in a deadlock as her own kodachi poking the woman's chest, right over her heart. "You're not half bad yourself. And I don't think you have the luxury of questioning me when you seem to have lost one of your teammates."
"Oh, so that miserable coward got skewered. Good, he may be of use to me yet," the rain kunoichi drawled impassively as she watched one her teammates' body slump at Tenten's feet. She then made a single hand seal and the body of her teammate shimmered before exploding in a flash of bright white light.
Tenten seemed to have sensed what was happening and she tried to dodge by jumping off the branch, but the blast caught her anyway and knocked her in midair whereas the other rain ninja replicated himself earlier; at the moment that Tenten killed the first one.
Sakura blinked and cursed as the foe she held at blade point was never the original at all as it melted into mud. Danzou's pawn was in a precarious situation as she watched Lee lunge and intercept the slightly dazed Tenten before she could hit the ground. "Lee, use your 'trump card' and get Tenten out of here, we've gotta pull back! We're outmatched!"
Lee grimaced, knowing she was right, but hating that she is. He felt so worthless, so weak; it disgusted him. There had to be something he could do, he had to prove himself, he had to show everyone he wasn't a liability and a waste of time. "This…I-I'll show them all…but not now, Tenten's in trouble…"
With that spoken Lee opened the first of the eight celestial gates before launching himself in blinding speed; fleeing the scene in the same direction Sakura did, picking her up by the waist when he caught up with her.
The rain kunoichi watched the scene with cold calculation as she looked at her dazed other teammate that was still trying to figure out what just happened. "Perhaps the leaf isn't as weak as I've been led to believe, I'll have to be more careful in the future…"
(Back to Naruto and Gaara's fight)
Gaara's eyes snapped open widely as a twisted, echoing roar burst from his throat. The earth around him started moving; twisting and churning as it wrapped around his limbs. The golden substance hardened, the Jinchuuriki seeming to turn in an amorphous monster out of a nightmare.
Two hollow black eyes glared into Naruto's cerulean eyes, the murky black shifting to reveal a golden cornea in the center that pulsed with unearthly power. "That's it…you're strong! I've never felt such pain, such feeling before…if you're strong enough for that then you're strong enough for me to finally feel alive! To finally exist for one important reason…to kill you!
Naruto stood his ground, though his eyes shone with uncertainty as metamorphosis ended and the miniature Shukaku grinned at him; revealing twin rows of sharp teeth. "Do I scare you? What's with that expression? UZUMAKI NARUTO!?"
The blonde frowned and weighed his options as he stalled; feeling Shikamaru and Ino's chakra signatures get farther away he gathered his chakra. "Shit…so this is what it's like being on the receiving side of a Jinchuuriki?" Before he could dawdle onwards his eyes widened as the ground around him exploded.
Massive hand shaped limbs clutching at him ravenously. Naruto cursed under his breath and somersaulted backwards and tried to gain some distance. He reached into his weapon pouch, zigzagging through angry limbs of sand while unleashing wind propelled kunai at Gaara. The weapons were intercepted by rock solid sand, the sound of explosive velocity and impact drowned by Gaara's wild laughter.
Naruto smirked faintly and made a tiger seal, murmuring "boom" before the explosive tags wrapped around the projectiles ignited in a ferocious flash of flame. His senses screamed at him to move and so he obliged by leaping upwards, gluing himself to a tree branch just in time to avoid a hail of wind projectiles courtesy of Gaara whom seemed unfazed as his rock solid skin reformed and revealed itself to be unblemished.
The son of the Yondaime's eyes narrowed as he reached deep into his life-force, the air around him shimmering slightly as angry wisps of blue energy licked against his limbs. His irises seemed to glow faintly as he crossed his fingers and unleashed and summoned a throng of shadow clones in one massive heave. "Sometimes…raw strength and superior numbers are the only way to go, wasn't that what you told me godfather?"
The massive cloud of white smoke concealed the fleeing and now slightly winded Uzumaki as he sought some reprieve and cover. He believed his clones could finish the job quite adequately or at the very least let him think of some way to deal with his Jinchuuriki rival. The golden monster looked around him with slightly wide eyes before a malevolent grin spread across his malformed and monstrous face.
"My…so many solid clones...If they can all fire off those wind jutsu even my barrier might not hold. I've never had a foe to that survive this long so I've never got to use this jutsu. But I guess I can finally test the theory of it." He roared ferociously and the ground around him shattered before it gathered together to create a massive tornado of sand. The violent vortex rose high into the air and absorbed the various wind projectiles hurled against it.
Its rotation motion and the fact Gaara kept on adding more and more earth to it kept it steady despite the barrage wrought by Naruto's clones. Naruto's clones shifted tactics abruptly; combining wind and low level fire jutsu to create long tongues of raging fire aiming to melt their way through the raging storm of sand as the original had succeeded in doing only minutes earlier.
Gaara licked his lips as he felt the sand heat up; his control beginning to waver as the outer shell began melting and shifting into a glassy substance. He would not be tricked again and so he spread his monstrous hands outwards before clapping his hands together and whispered to himself "Ryuusa Bakuryuu."
The sand tornado suddenly dispersed and spread outwards, creating a massive wave of sand that raced all around the Jinchuuriki, burying and crushing everything in its path. Even the clones that wrapped themselves with wind chakra and tried cleaving through the avalanche failed miserably; the weight and force behind it smashing them apart.
The original Naruto that had luckily found some cover out of the range of the sand attack was thunderstruck as the ground around him shook violently. Then he felt a tremor run through the ground before he clutched his head desperately as the simultaneous dispelling of several hundred clones attacked his mind.
He felt the crimson spill down his ears and kneeled over to vomit blood and more before falling to the ground, panting heavily. "No…I…I can't die here…he'll kill them…get up…get up damn it!" He struggled to his feet on sheer willpower alone only to see and feel how sand wrapped around his ankles and wrists; immobilizing him. Naruto struggled against the bindings violently. Then there was pain as a long, blurry golden hand slammed into his upper body with impossible force.
Blood rose into his throat and he hacked crimson violently. He felt lightheaded as the repulsive squishing sound of the hand tearing through him filled his ears. The hand retracted and then snapped a second time, this time it whipped across his face, knocking him away and sending him flying sideways.
As he laid there, the heat leaving his body along with the sickly crimson staining his clothes only one thought filled him; he was an idiot. This was exactly what Yamato-sensei had warned him about and Kakashi-sensei had chided him constantly over – his pride was going to be the death of him. "Kyuubi…I need your help…"
The image of the massive gates flicked before Naruto's eyes; the twin orbs of burning ruby tantalizing as they narrowed down on him. "Hahaha, so you've come groveling yet again, ningen? Did you actually think that someone of your level was a match for one of my kin? Your arrogance is only superseded by your stupidity."
The Jinchuuriki grit his teeth, bowing his head shamefully before dropping to his knees tiredly. "I know, you're right. I'm not strong enough on my own yet. B-but i-if you don't help me we're both going to die…"
The massive kitsune's lips parted to reveal raptor sharp teeth, his youki illuminating the entire area. "Oh? This is new. I like this meekness and humility far more than your usual defiance. Very well, since you've seemed to wizen up to your place in the food chain and because I refuse to die at that weakling's hands I will lend you some of my strength. One warning though…"
Naruto waited for the Kyuubi to elaborate but didn't get the chance to think it over as the rushing wave of burning youki exploded through the bars and invaded his body. The intense heat and force of it overwhelmed him slightly; his nerve endings flushed with one sensation and one sensation only – agony.
"This is going to hurt…"
Naruto's eyes snapped open widely and when he vocalized his torment through screaming his voice broken and then reverberated with an unnatural edge. His tone became rougher, deeper and there was a growling edge to it as his cerulean eyes melted into twin orbs of murderous; pulsing red. A massive shockwave was unleashed as the Kyuubi's malevolent youki exploded around him, knocking trees down and melting through earth, sand and vegetation alike. Naruto panted heavily, pushing down the nausea of feeling, seeing and smelling his wounds heal and skin burn slightly.
The Jinchuuriki gnashed his now sharper teeth and spread his hands before he shut his fists and let his prisoner's life-force caress and twine with his own. The flames soon changed, condensing into a bubbling, magmatic substance as the shimmering outline of fox with one long tail outlined Naruto's form.
He could feel the fox's soothing, intoxicating presence in the back of his mind. It goaded him to kill, to ravage, murder and burn everything but he kept it at bay. Fukusaku had taught him restraint and he would be damned if he let that insane toad beat him into oblivion for losing control. Besides, if Gaara could control his demon then so could Naruto. "Motherfucker! That hurt like hell!"
Gaara's skin crawled and once more he felt that tenuous, overwhelming emotion fill his heart. His golden eyes widened considerably as the presence of the ultimate predator bared down on him oppressively. He took a step back and felt the monster in his mind rage and thrash desperately; either panicked or incensed – either way it wanted control and it wanted it now.
Meanwhile, Ino and Shikamaru were joined by team eight, their earlier agreement fulfilled as their counterpart team had only recently managed to dispatch and avoid the 'ANBU' chuunin which attacked them.
Kiba landed beside them and eyed them both a bit fearfully; the intense spiritual pressure leaving him uneasy. "Are you two alright? What the hell is going on?"
Shikamaru eyed them seriously, "That Suna-nin was a Jinchuuriki too, I think Naruto's finally using the Kyuubi now…cause whatever horrible feeling I had before just became a hundredfold worse."
"What about the other two…?" Shino asked critically.
"They're still lurking about, but they seem scared shitless…" Ino commented bitingly.
Neji activated his Byakugan and his eyes widened in something akin of wonder and awe.
Naruto thrusts his hands forward, the miasma around his arms thickening before it exploded forth, two long limbs of fiery red forming and shooting outwards. The golden skinned monster before him roared in matching ferocity and sent his own thick limbs at Naruto. The Uzumaki grinned as his crimson fists tore through the sand as if it were nothing, smashing into the Jinchuuriki's body. "If there's one thing that's good about this bastard-fox's power it's that it can't be stopped!"
The sand Jinchuuriki grinned as he dissolved in Naruto's ethereal hand and reformed behind him, smashing him with a massive golden fist. The Kyuubi container lifted his free hand and pointed it towards the approaching blow; the youki limb absorbing and capturing the blow easily. But that was just the ruse Gaara used to distract him and before long spikes of sharp sand rose around Naruto, impaling his body in various locations.
At least that was what was supposed to happen, but Naruto's chakra flared angrily, the force behind it literally searing through the sand. Before Gaara could react properly Naruto was gone in a blur, reappearing up close and personal and tearing into him with a clawed hand. The burning claw like echo around his motion ripped through the golden exterior and sand armor easily; drawing shallow wounds and exposing Gaara to more damage. Naruto took advantage and smashed his fist into Gaara's midsection, before his spectral tail shot out and wrapped around Gaara's arm before it whipped him around with ease and through some trees.
He then cupped his left hand and started creating a wind torrent while drawing Youki, the wind compressing in his hand glowing in eerie red as it formed a furious angry sphere. Before he could unleash it however pain flashed through his body as Kunai and shuriken imbedded into his back in what would usually be critical wounds. However, instead the weapons were expelled by a ripple of red life-force before the wounds were regenerated grotesquely.
He looked over his shoulder and saw a trembling Temari and Kankuro and his burning red eyes narrowed dangerously while he kept his senses upon the other Jinchuuriki that got up and returned to the battlefield.
"Y-you let Gaara go! Let our brother go, leaf-nin or whatever you are or else!" Temari called out fearfully and brandished her fully open battle fan though her breathing was labour and she was slightly pale; probably due to her earlier injuries from when Gaara tossed her aside.
Gaara's eyes were wide, the Suna-nin thunderstruck by his sibling, "S-she…why would she…?" He felt a foreign emotion fill his chest and his eyes itched and burned slightly. "What is this…feeling?"
"Someone in your position is no place to make demands," a cold voice whispered in her ear; the icy monotone sending chills down her spine. In her perpetual vision she caught sight of twin silver eyes and she gulped.
Kankuro was about to help his sister when his body locked down, and he felt the cold touch of a Kunai biting against his throat. "You should've been more careful…losing your concentration will kill ya…" the sugary and slightly taunting feminine tone filtered through his ear.
Gaara remembered his uncle's words back in the time before he tried to kill him. "L-Love? H-he became so strong to stop me from hurting his friends…Temari, Kankuro…they…do they love me…? Do I love them…?
He didn't care how, he didn't know why, but he had to save them. He had to kill the leaf nins threatening his existence; their existence. He had tried to make Temari understand earlier when he tossed her aside – he fought his own battles alone because they got in the way and always got hurt.
Neji's Byakugan caught a burning flame compacting in Gaara's chest and he realized Gaara's tenant might come out and so he shouted at his friend with urgency: "Naruto! Knock him out quickly, he's awakening his…"
The blonde's pulled his hand backwards and assumed his family's taijutsu stance before bursting forth at blurry speed. He ignored the pain of razor sharp wind blades tearing into his body; the awakening Shukaku recognizing him and what he contained as it roared wildly and tried to blast him backwards.
The two monsters collided with extreme force and speed, the shockwave immense. Naruto's power ran out and Gaara was forcibly awakened as Naruto tackled him into a tree, uprooting it. The two containers grunted as they hit the ground, Naruto left pinning him to the ground.
Their eyes locked, blue meeting green, the same gleam of recognition in their eyes. "It hurts…to think you're all alone. It hurts to think you need to prove everything to everyone, doesn't it, Gaara?" Naruto whispered softly as he his feral appearance faded and at the same time Gaara's bestial visage crumbled away.
"I…I live only for myself! I can't lose…I have to have…a purpose…" Gaara murmured desperatel though his conviction was shaky as his siblings actions changed the way he thought of the world. He wondered if it was possible; were there people who cared for him and didn't only fear him and want him dead?
"You're just like me. So just this once, I'll let you live." Naruto whispered softly before he pulled back and got off Gaara. Naruto then turned from him and started wobbling away, answering Gaara's unspoken question on why he was getting to live. "It doesn't matter why, just be thankful that I am. But don't forget that I've just proven that if I really want to I CAN extinguish your existence. Keep in mind that next time you attack me or my friends and village because next time I may not be so merciful!"
Gaara gazed at his back at him, scared, confused and intrigued as Naruto sighed before he told his friends to let their prisoners go. "Naruto…your power, your existence…it's grander than my own. You're worthy, unlike my pathetic excuse for a father. So I'll help you so that one day when I grow strong enough to beat you…I'll be the one to extinguish your existence – that privilege is mine and mine alone!"
"Are you mad, Naruto? That thing is an enemy weapon; it has to be removed for Konoha's sake," Shino argued icily and the bugs buzzed around him, preparing to depart and ignore the blonde Jinchuuriki blocking his path.
Naruto shook his head and nearly fell off his feet before Kiba caught him and helped him stand. "I'm too weak to fight him and I'm not sure if his Bijuu is like my own. It might break through if we try to kill him. It's better to play safe and get out of here while he's wounded and too weak to move."
The two teams seemed to accept his reasoning – though Shino only after being outvoted by everyone else. The bug-nin scoffed and said this is just another reason why Naruto couldn't be trusted to be impartial and a true ninja and that he would report this onwards. In the end even the Aburame secretly relented, after all he was far more qualified in the subject of Bijuu than they and nobody wanted to chance unleashing a full blown monster in the midst of Konoha proper.
As they helped him leave he dared one glance backwards at Gaara being helped up by his siblings and his expression turned sad and somewhat resigned. At least his explanation was what sounded professional and was rational enough to make his comrades agree and to quiet his conscience; to make him feel like less of a emotional failure that he knew would disappoint his sensei and the old man.
Despite Naruto's own self justifications in reality he didn't know what possessed him to spare Gaara. All he knew was that he just couldn't do it because Gaara was just like him: A victim of circumstance that got fucked over with a demon stuck in his soul. He didn't deserve to die like a dog, not without getting at least one second chance – just like Naruto got one from Iruka-sensei. Therefore Naruto passed the ball onwards to Gaara and what would transpire from his gamble only time would tell.
(Meanwhile, outside of Konoha)
Jiraiya frowned as he felt the ANBU materialize behind him. He crossed his arms across his body. He was standing in the shade of a tree, outside the walls of Konoha – prepared to embark on his journey to seek out Tsunade.
Luckily, due to his own machinations and plans to impeach Sarutobi he had already taken the liberty of sending a message to all his spies to divert their resources and time in seeking out his former teammate and recently he got a hot tip about her being somewhere in the former waterfall country in some underground casino tournament.
The female ANBU spoke softly; giving him the respect he well deserved. "We have the report you asked for, Jiraiya-sama…"
The toad sannin made an acquiescence sound. "What do you know…?"
The Black Ops operative reported diligently. "Sandaime-sama was poisoned by a very rare and deadly form of nerve-toxin. We found traces of it on his lips and tongue and the mouthpiece of his pipe. The toxicology report shows the protein in the poison originate from some form of venom; most likely from a snake. This is what made him weak enough to be assassinated…"
Jiraiya's eyes narrowed angrily as he felt his old guilt reemerge as well as his hatred and rage. "Orochimaru…your fucking bastard. Sensei…he didn't deserve this humiliation, this insult! I'll kill you for this. No more games or taunting the next time we meet. I swear on my parent's graves I'll skin you alive!"
But when his initial rage died down his rational mind interjected, "Wait a moment...there's so much forensic evidence it's like whoever did it was begging us to pin it on him. No, that isn't like you, snake-face, you never leave a trace and you hated Sarutobi-sensei only as much as you once loved and idolized him. The evidence is compelling and I cannot ignore it officially but this reeks of a framing attempt; but whom...Danzou? Iwa? Tch, regardless I'll snoop around and figure this who's behind it. But regardless to that, this only proves I've been too lax and I'm sick of holding back! The next time I step into a battle; whomever threatens me our my village will rue the day he was ever born"
Jiraiya shut his eyes briefly and nodded his head. "I understand, tell them I'll be back shortly with the Godaime."
Dozens of miles away, in a shabby looking inn somewhere in the former waterfall country a teenaged look blonde bombshell eyed her cards with slightly wide eyes. "F-Full house? I've won again for the ninth time in a row…? This is bad, very bad. Something horrible is about to happen…I've got to get Shizune and get out of here now…before all hell breaks loose."
(Meanwhile, somewhere in the River Country)
Uchiha Itachi was sitting in the lotus position on the banks of a river. His upper body was exposed, covered in bandages and scars from his various battles. His raven ponytail swished in the wind; his bands caressing his face. However his handsome features were marred by a skin colored eye patch with seals sewn into it. The suppressive seal protected the now exposed cavity and suppressed the chakra pathways that once fed his sharingan eye.
His single brown eye was shut, his body entirely relaxed as he expanded his senses around him. His ANBU blade was lying beside him, snugly contained within its scabbard. He heard a twig twitch and his eye snapped open; chocolate brown melting into the crimson red of his doujutsu.
He neatly unsheathed his blade and his eyes snapped sideways, catching the blurry shape of his partner charging forward with his massive Zanbatou like blade. He sidestepped the blurry blade and blocked the diverted the backwards swing by sliding his blade against the great Kiri blade.
Kisame grinned and lifted his free forearm, blocking Itachi's sidekick before he stepped into the area supposedly blank to the Uchiha due to his impaired vision. He swung his fist only for it to melt through Itachi's body that exploded into ravens.
The shark ninja sighed and his chakra flared with such might the ground cracked and wind rushed violently. The sheer force tore the genjutsu apart in time to reveal Itachi standing behind him with a kunai pressed against his jugular. Kisame smirked and melted into a puddle of water before the original that had been concealed in the shade of the tree all along smirked. "You've learn to compensate for your impaired vision quite well Itachi-san. Your hearing and chakra senses are as sharp as ever."
"It's still harder than it used to be." Itachi startled him, speaking from right behind him.
"Damn you and your double and triple layer genjutsu…" Kisame murmured to himself as he realized in a real fight he would've already been dead. He smiled a bit and squeezed his ally and perhaps friend's shoulder, "Don't worry, Itachi-san. Before you know it we'll be back in the field and then we can track down that walking sushi roll and get ourselves some payback."
Itachi nodded and smiled briefly himself, a rare occurrence on its own accord but not nearly as rare as the words that slipped out of the prodigy's lips. "Thank you, Kisame. For helping me…overcome my handicap so quickly…"
The Monster of the Mist blinked several times and just shook his head as he walked off, murmuring about the world coming to an end and about how he couldn't rely on anything anymore.
In his wake the Uchiha's face smoothed over to a calm and emotionless expression as he knelt beside the stream. He looked at his reflection and sighed heavily.
"Sarutobi, to think someone like you would be killed like that…" Itachi thought. The news of the Hokage's death spread fast and already some of their sleeper agents in Konoha had managed to pass word on the monumental event.
Itachi shook his head at the naivety of Konoha, already knowing the true perpetrator would be protected from suspicion and harm. "Danzou this is so obviously a frame job of your design. Orochimaru…is such a prideful bastard that in his arrogance he'd never let anyone but himself murder Sarutobi and it certainly wouldn't be an assassination…not when he would get the 'chance' to humiliate Hiruzen."
Itachi shut his eye and let his mind wander. On one hand he was enraged that such a benevolent and worthy ninja, a man Itachi personally respected for trying with all his might and political leeway to resolve the Uchiha clan's treachery peacefully before the point of no return; a man dedicated to his people, to his goals was tarnished so brutally for nothing more than the thirst for power.
But on the other hand a guilty part of him relished on the punishment. Sarutobi had many sins to pay for from his younger years. But in Itachi's eyes his failure to fulfill his promise to Itachi stood first and foremost. In his neglect and ignorance he had ruined the carefully drawn plan Itachi had slaved over for over six years.
Now Itachi was left to clean up the mess left by Konoha's callousness with his brother's life. Sasuke was a true genius and would have in time surpassed Itachi. He had planned on guiding him down the path that would make him strong enough to challenge and defeat Madara. Sadly, Itachi would never be able to reach that level considering his illness had begun to spread to his lungs.
Its stages were still early but already he could feel the pestilence festering in his body; corroding it slowly. He didn't have the luxury of waiting for Sasuke anymore; he would have to take things in his own hands. The only question was how?
All his calculations led to one variable, one piece of the puzzle that everything depended on – Uzumaki Naruto. The nine tails was Madara's legendary tool and weapon of mass destruction and he knew the elder Uchiha was very eager to get his hands on its power once more.
That meant Itachi had to choose: Protect him or destroy him. Either way, Madara was to never regain control of the fox ever again. Luckily enough, the scion of the age of chaos was keen on waiting for things to unfold like a true ageless being. To him time was meaningless and boredom was a constant so he amused himself by following how things turned out naturally.
That would be his downfall if it was the last thing Itachi did. He knew his choice but was conflicted on which path was the one he should take. It appeared there was only one way to decide what his next choice should be – he had to gauge Uzumaki Naruto in person.
Once his sharingan locked upon him and he felt him then he would learn of his true potential. If he was on the path of true power and greatness that would bring him close enough to fight Madara then he would live; otherwise the strongest of the nine would fall – Itachi would make it his business to make sure of that.
Jutsu List:
Kirigakure no jutsu - Hidden Mist technique – Low level Suiton jutsu – the user will use his chakra to condense the humidity in the air around him to create a veil of thick fog.
Kuchiyose no jutsu – Summoning technique – varying level jutsu – the user will summon a familiar of the summoning creature clan he is contracted with.
"Fuuton: Kaze Rensei Bakudan"- Wind Release: Drilling Wind Bomb – mid level wind jutsu, the user unleashes a condensed sphere or rotating wind, the closer the target, the deadlier the jutsu.
Katon: Endan - Fire Release: Fireball – Low level Katon jutsu – the user will inhale and then exhale a mid level, short range flame.
Fuuton: Kazeryuu no Kokyuu -Wind Release: Wind Dragon Breath – Mid level Fuuton jutsu – the user will unleash a massive gale of fierce wind in a narrow cone like trajectory.
Raiton: Raikou no Yari - lightning release: lightning spear – Mid level Lightning jutsu – the user will augment his bio energy and then unleash a fierce single (or multiple) bolt of electricity.
Ryuusa Bakuryuu – Quicksand Waterfall Current -The technique functions similar to his Sabaku Kyuu except on a much larger scale as it creates a massive tidal wave of sand.