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McAwzome: Don't worry, Riku's time is coming.
Well: I have been told that I tend to rush things. I consider the "high quality fanfic" to be my goal. It won't be easy but hopefully I reach it. It's hard not to when your typing on a Kindle Fire haha. This is the first story I have ever written so to hear that it has amazing potential makes me want to work all the harder! Right now with school coming up I won't be able to focus on the story as much. I hope you continue to follow the story and please tell me how I'm doing!
The Raikage sat listening to the messenger, clenching his fist with a barely contained feeling of rage. The reports were grim from the border and they only kept getting worse.
"What's the status of 1st battalion?" His fears were confirmed when the messenger lowered his head.
"We've all but lost contact with them. The last report stated that they were surrounded and needed reinforcements." The messenger sat and silently listened to the string of curses that spilled out of the Raikage's mouth. A was beginning to lose his carefully built up control. The 1st battalion was the second best battalion in the entire Cloud Village and now they were just gone.
"What about the Mizukage? Does she have nothing to say!" A waited for the man to say something when he suddenly heard two distinct thumping sounds. Looking to either side of him, his body guards were unconscious and he was alone. He looked down on the man to see a pair of pitch black eyes staring back at him. He could clearly make out a third eye on his forehead. "Who are you?!"
"Well the Mizukage DOES have something to say." The Reaper was suddenly crouched on the desk in front of A. "He says that," He leaned over and whispered, "I'm taking your job." With that he shot his leg out and launched A out of the window before quickly leaping out after him.
Itachi watched the Raikage come flying out of his office window and began moving towards the area he should land when he caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye. He watched a second figure leap out and intercept the Raikage's figure in mid air, quickly smashing him into a building.
'Shit! What is he doing here!' Itachi knew he had to move fast as he took off to assist the Raikage. He was moving as fast as his legs could take him when another figure appeared in front of him. He quickly recognized Killer Bee standing in front of him and came sliding to a stop.
"Bee what are you doing here?" Itachi needed to keep moving but he also needed to ensure the safety of the Raikage's brother.
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm here to help my brother fool, ya fool!" Itachi just sighed and took off past him while motioning for him to follow. In most situations he would have tried to talk the person out of it but when Killer Bee had his mind set on something there was no changing it. Also the sound of A being sent through another building helped motivate him quite quickly.
"Is this all the mighty Raikage has to offer?" The Reaper said, completely disgusted with the man before him. "You don't deserve the title of a Kage!" He charged forward, ready to end the man's life, when he suddenly seen A raise up with electricity surging around him.
'Where did he get this power?' The Reaper tried to change directions to avoid the incoming man when he heard two distinct shouts.
"Lariat!"
The Reaper was able to duck enough to avoid a fatal blow but his left shoulder was clipped by who he assumed was Killer Bee, sending him flying forward into the face of a cliff.
"Good to see your ok brother." Bee looked at A only to see a mixture of shock and anger on his face.
"What are you doing here Bee! Your supposed to be-" He never seen the boulder coming. It blindsided him with enough force for Itachi to hear his arm shatter. Itachi moved as fast as he could and grabbed the boulder with his Susanoo preventing any further damage that could have potentially killed A. Even so, with his only arm shattered, this fight was over for A. Itachi quickly dispelled the Susanoo before coming to stand by Bee. He glanced at Bee to see him with Samehada at the ready. Itachi could feel the killer intent in the air. Hell he could almost grab it!
"Well, well if it isn't the great Itachi Uchiha, the murderer of the Uchiha Clan. What brings such a great criminal to my future home?" The Reaper gave a mock bow to Itachi.
Instead of answering, Itachi just closed his eyes and focused.
'This guy's way to strong. I need to end this as quickly as possible.' With that thought Itachi continued to focus until a small stream of blood ran down from his eye.
"Amaterasu!" His eyes shot open and a black flame suddenly appeared all around the Reaper. To Itachi's surprise, the Reaper just chuckled and forced his chakra into a bubble around him. He focused even more and the bubble expanded, snuffing the black flames whenever it touched them.
"Ok you two." The Reaper unfolded his arms and took up a fighting stance. "Show me what your made of!"
Sakura sat staring at the preliminary findings from the scan of Hinata. She could clearly see a foreign substance spread through every single cell of her body. She knew it could be removed but the question wasn't IF she could do it, it was HOW. She had to figure out how to remove a foreign invader from her entire body without killing her. She also had to do it in a gradual way otherwise they risked keeping Hinata trapped in her own mind. If they took away the controlling entity too fast then Hinata's body might not allow her to resume control, thus imprisoning her in her mind for good. The more Sakura thought about it the more she could feel a killer headache coming on. She needed to take a break but where would she go?
'To Naruto of course! Where else would you go?' Sakura was surprised to hear Inner Sakura again.
'So where have you been this entire time hmm?" Sakura questioned way her Inner self would just show up after all these years.
'Well you didn't need me. You did fine during the war and you even started to realize your feelings for Naruto. All I had to do was sit back and enjoy the ride. But now with this whole Hinata thing it seems I'm needed again.' Inner Sakura just looked at Sakura after answering, waiting for more questions.
'Makes sense I guess. So do you have any ideas?' Sakura was so glad she wasn't talking out loud. Otherwise word might have spread that the Hokage's wife had went insane.
Killer Bee ducked to avoid the lethal punches coming from the Reaper. He glanced at his left arm, hoping that what happened was not real.
'Yup arm's still backwards. Great looks like I'm not using Samehada anymore.' Said sword was still trying to heal the hole that had been punched through the center of it. Bee chanced a quick glance at Itachi to see him still on his knees from the Chakra Bullet the Reaper had used. When he looked back he immediately realized his mistake. He was now staring at the Reaper's quickly approaching figure. Out of instinct, he tried to block with his left arm but screamed in pain when he moved it. In that brief moment the Reaper grabbed his left arm and grinned.
"Chakra Style: Network Removal!"
Bee felt an unbearable pain radiate through his body, originating at his left arm. He watched as blue lines became visible beneath his skin before they tore through. He suddenly realized what was happening: the Reaper was tearing out his chakra network. He quickly drew a sword and stabbed the Reapers arm with it. The sword snapped as the flesh instantly healed. It was even faster than a tailed beast's healing abilities. He realized what had to happen and drew another sword out. Instead of attacking the Reaper, he turned the blade and charged it with chakra before he severed his own arm. As the arm fell the chakra veins were completely pulled out. The arm was shriveled before it touched the ground. The Reaper, realizing his move had failed, quickly kicked Bee in the side of the head, sending him into a nearby cliff, before he turned his attention back to Itachi. However, before he could take a step he felt a sharp pain in his side, followed by a jolt of electricity.
"My only arm may be crippled, but my legs still work!" With that the Raikage charged back into battle.
Sakura was confident in what she had to do to save Hinata. Now she just had to get it passed by Naruto before she could proceed. She approached his office but stopped when she heard yelling inside. She walked closer until she could hear what was being said.
"What do you mean? Itachi is my kid's last living relative and he's now in the middle of an invasion! How could you Naruto!" Sakura could clearly make out Ino's enraged voice.
"Like I knew the fucking Mizukage was going to invade Kumo! What would you have me do huh? Should I go there myself!" Sakura could tell that this argument had been going on for awhile because even Naruto sounded pissed.
"No I think you had enough time off when you went to God-knows-where because you had to attend to 'private business!'" It was silent for a long time before she heard Naruto let out a little sigh.
"Ok Sakura, I think you've heard enough. Come in and tell me what you have. Ino this discussion is over. Itachi is skilled enough to take care of himself. Now please, go and be with your kids. Their time off is almost over now that their training is done." Sakura had opened the door to see Ino just nod before she made her way out of the room, looking very dejected.
"Naruto don't you think-" He cut her off with a slight shake of his head. "No Sakura she's still grieving, just give her a little more time. Now tell me what you've got."
She took a deep breath before she went into her report. She laid out all of the plans for the operation such as the fact that to separate the two entities, her and several highly skilled medical ninja would be performing the Chakra Scalpel technique on a cellular level. She also told him of the risks. "The odds of success are low however. But sadly, this is the only option we have. I am also out of time as Rykuga's cells are beginning to self destruct, killing Hinata's cells in the process."
"What are the odds of success?" Sakura took a deep breath before answering: "25 percent chance of success." She waited for Naruto to reject her proposal but instead she looked up to see him give her a nod.
"Go ahead. You can begin as soon as possible."
Sakura was barely walking straight after the operation, her mind on overload. She found Naruto sitting out of the operation room with a smile on his face.
"So how did it go?" His smile quickly faded though when he seen Sakura start to tear up.
"It...It went perfectly...but she still isn't responding to physical stimuli." She noticed the blank look on his face so she decided to try and say it in terms he understood. "When we touch her hand it doesn't move."
"So she's sleeping." Naruto still wasn't understanding.
"No Naruto. When your in control of your body, you always respond to being touched. Hinata, however, is not." Realization dawned on Naruto's face as he realized what she said.
"S-so Hinata's...Hinata's not in control." She nodded sadly and added, "But it wasn't because of the operation. We think that she is the one keeping herself from coming back. It's up to her to realize she's free."
Before they could say anything else, Itachi came stumbling through the door supporting a very pale Killer Bee. Naruto looked at Killer Bee's state in shock, noticing the missing arm and the protruding ribs. He then looked at Itachi's condition to see he was not much better. Holes through his chest, barely missing the heart, and his stomach, both of which had chakra burns that cauterized them. What ever had been shot threw Itachi had been made of chakra. Itachi also had his right arm broken at a disgusting angle, the elbow broken so badly that the skin had ripped open exposing the bone and joint.
Itachi collapsed in pain as Naruto and Sakura ran up to him, Sakura quickly popping a soldier pill to regain her strength. She quickly closed up the still bleeding stump where Bee's arm used to be before resetting the bones and healing them. Once she stabilized him, several nurses took him into an operating room to patch up any internal wounds. Sakura quickly turned her attention to Itachi.
"What happened Itachi?" Naruto tried to get an answer but only heard a gurgling noise.
"Naruto, his throat is crushed and he has a deflated lung. He won't be answering-" Naruto couldn't hear her anymore as he looked into Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan and the world around him turned red.
"Naruto, I am very weak so I can only answer your one question. The Mizukage has been overthrown and was replaced by the Reaper without anyone being any wiser of the situation. He then proceeded to invade the Land of Lightning and attacked Bee, A, and myself. In the end me and Bee suffered the injuries you see while A..." Itachi began to cough up blood and struggled to finish the sentence. "A...sacrificed himself to allow Killer Bee and myself to get away. The Raikage...is dead a-and...the Hidden Cloud Village...has fallen to the Reaper...Iwa is next...y-you must...warn...them..." The world returned to normal as Itachi passed out from exhaustion. Naruto got up and sprinted out of the hospital, ignoring Sakura's questions. The Tsuchikage needed to know right away.
He would not lose another ally on his watch.
AN: Yes the Raikage is dead and Hinata is in a coma. I think the chapter's title was fitting. Please leave a review of your favorite part and/or any suggestions. Enjoy!