Sorry for making you wait for so long. Problems with my computer and an overall lack of time made it difficult for me to update.
The second chapter of Bleach: Everything is Obtained is also out.
Chapter 22 - The Burden
"To the amount of chakra you possess, it's normal that the puny amount used in a Transformation Jutsu would pass unnoticed." Madara concluded as he saw the new shape of Nawirama's eyes. "You dared to lie to me. You have been using them since the beginning, and an unusual pair too...Zennogan, the eyes of the White Brothers, right?"
"Tss, I told you that you would notice..." Nawirama remembered.
"Those eyes are one more reason why I should kill you. Do you know of what those eyes are made?" Madara seemed in fact angrier.
"Yeah, I know. It's not like I chose to be born with them though." Nawirama in turn seemed upset.
Flashback
The Third World War had ended not so long ago. Peace had just returned. So when the day for Shizune to come back to Konoha to be part of a team of Genin came, everyone expected the arrival of a team of ANBUs to escort her. However, Minato Namikaze, the newly appointed Fourth Hokage, surprised his family by sending his girlfriend Kushina and his student Rin instead of the expected team of assassins. After a not so short conversation between Kushina and Tsunade that involved the discussion of issues such as the search for Orochimaru and the possibility of an engagement between the 4th and the redhead...
"Hey, ma?" The little boy called his mother, shortly after the three girls left their house. "I thought Minato would let me go with Shizune-neechan."
"I've told you before, son. There are dangerous people out there who would come after you." Tsunade supported a sad smile.
"Shinobi are supposed to face danger every time they go on a mission." Nawirama remembered the woman who was a kunoichi herself.
"But you ain't one, now are you?" Tsunade tried to cause one of the usual friendly arguments between them to light him up, but this time he really seemed upset.
"Because you guys don't let me act according to my will." He said dryly, before he walked back to his room. "Someday they'll see my will...I'll show them my Will of Fire!"
End of Flashback
"Hey, Naruto." Nawirama called the blond boy. "Try to enter Sage Mode, but so you can protect yourself. I'm fighting this one alone."
"Eh, or to try to help you again." Naruto said with a mocking grin.
"Well, it was worth to try Shikamaru's 7th scenario, even if we failed to put you in Sage Mode twice. This time I really want to fight him by myself." Nawirama showed a confident and serious look. "I realized Madara is afraid of Sage Mode, so natural energy must be the best weapon to fight him with."
"One more reason for me to fight him." Naruto insisted.
"Nope. One reason for you to assist me if I'm about to be defeated." Nawirama clarified, while his body started to emit a golden glow. "Adamantine Power: Apala"
"This feeling...It's natural energy!" The surprised Naruto stated.
"Adamantine Power..." Madara snarled, as he saw the glowing Nawirama walking towards him. "This won't be easy after all..."
"Well, it has been some time since I used this jutsu. Let's see if I can control it properly..." Nawirama said more to himself than to the other two individuals present in the cave's chamber. Then, he raised his right hand in the form of a half tiger hand seal. "Body Flicker Jutsu..."
Madara's right eye suddenly increased in size, by seeing that Nawirama had evaporated. Having prior experience in fighting the Adamantine Powers, the former leader of the Uchiha clan immediately activated his intangibility. A tenth of a second later, Nawirama had appeared in front of him and penetrated his intangible body with a punch through the torso. Still, Madara didn't stop. Knowing that he couldn't remain still, the self-proclaimed immortal turned to get away from Nawirama's body and, at the same time, to put himself in position to deliver a powerful roundhouse kick. Madara's foot was less than a inch away from Nawirama's temple when the Jounin disappeared again. A new punch, this time pointed to the back of the Uchiha, passed again through his body without causing any damage. The leader of the Akatsuki turned once more, but stepped back instead of trying a new blow.
"Apala is a jutsu that makes me so mad that you have no idea..." Madara claimed, clearly annoyed. "The collected natural energy spreads throughout your body, providing you an increase in strength, speed and durability, similar to the opening of the first Inner Gates. But to top it off, this natural energy that surrounds your body is dangerous for me and for my space-time jutsus."
"Nature is a beautiful thing, pure, which should remain the same way as it was created. Space-time jutsus cause disturbances in its balance, but if a force greater than the one that causes the disturbance is exerted, then the balance returns back to normal. That's why jutsus that use natural energy are the most effective in fighting your skills." Nawirama clarified, although it was of his understanding that Madara knew this better than anyone.
"Purity of nature, the expected answer coming from a Senju, even though this is just a clash of Yin and Yang chakras." The annoyed Madara stated. "Overall, your jutsus applied to mine cause me to be dragged back into this dimension."
"Which means that you'll have to stop using those jutsus and start fighting me for real." Nawirama challenged his opponent, hoping for him to bite the bait.
"I hope you have the notion that I can't let you leave this place alive, since you know the secret of how to counter my abilities, little boy." Madara shook his finger as he spoke. "It's good that you also know that I know how to counter both your skills and your eyes."
"Geez, I'm starting to think I shouldn't have pissed him. It's too hard for me to control Apala. I need to finish him fast or hold on until I can force him to do what I want... How is it going to be?"
"Let's start then." Madara playfully announced, before disappearing in a swirl. Nawirama's eyes immediately found the opening of a new portal and, with a new Body Flicker, Nawirama stepped again between Naruto and Madara. The punch enhanced by natural energy didn't hit its target, as Madara left the portal already in intangibility mode.
"Shit, is coming for me again!" Naruto struggled with the decision of trying to counter the Akatsuki leader or trusting in Nawirama.
"I won't let..." Nawirama immediately turned to stop Madara but, as he did, his abdominal region was struck by the latter's back elbow strike.
"Eh, I guess I was worried for nothing." Madara thought, a smirk forming behind his mask. Using a Body Flicker of his own to make his movements faster, Madara put Nawirama in a three-quarter facelock, so he could have enough leverage to do a backflip, kicking Naruto in the face and landing behind Nawirama in one single motion. "I can't allow the two of you to be using natural energy at the same time, now can I?"
"Bastard!" Nawirama aimed for a kick but Madara countered with five successive backhandsprings, so he could gain some distance from his opponent. As he finished the last one, Nawirama was already in front of him to attempt a new blow, but the ground where he was standing suddenly softened and he lost his balance. Expecting Madara to capitalize on this situation, Nawirama shifted his arms into a defensive position, but Madara simply warped. A new portal opened, still in front of him, much further away. "What? He used Hiding Like a Mole only to gain some distance? What is he preparing?"
"He's losing..." Naruto nervously thought. Nawirama stood and rushed again, aiming a punch to the portal. To both Konoha shinobi's surprise, the blow hit the swirling pattern, causing the natural energy to clash with Madara's chakra. Instead of Madara being drawn from that space-time opening, a new portal opened right behind Nawirama, with the Akatsuki leader coming out from it to attack. "Watch out!"
"Adamantine Power: Mokusa" Nawirama shouted and the golden glow surrounding his body increased in intensity. Madara hastily stopped and thought about using his intangibility. Knowing it would only slow his future actions, he decided not to use it. All the natural energy that enveloped Nawirama's body quickly expanded into a small dome that was released in an explosion. Madara extended his right hand forward, before being pushed back by the explosive force of the natural energy.
"Did I get him?" Nawirama asked to himself, since smoke as covering him by all sides because of his last attack. Using his Zennogan, Nawirama quickly got the answer. "Shit! Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu"
"A Senju using a move so closely related to the Uchiha? My my..." Madara made himself heard through the smoke cloud that was covering him. Then, a strong column of wind made it disperse and put out the large fireball spat by the Senju shinobi.
"What? A Wind Style jutsu putting out a Fire Style one?" The surprised Nawirama questioned. With the smoke cleared, he saw what Madara was holding in his hand: a large gunbai, about 3/4 of his height and about his width, with the pole being twice that length.
"Not that simple. The winds created by this war fan can cut chakra apart, which means any form of chakra-based attack will be nullified. That's what happened to both your Fireball Jutsu and your Mokusa." Madara explained, causing Nawirama's eyes to widen. "Yes, I could've been using it since the beginning to erase your Apala and stop your increased battle power but you were being too fast for me be able to even summon it."
"And since I need a bit of time to gather natural energy, you will stop me from doing it midway with that fan of yours." Nawirama took a deep breath as he evaluated his options. "If your fan cuts through chakra, that only leaves Taijutsu."
"Which you can't use properly." Madara informed, shocking his opponent by doing so. "Yes, I noticed. The range of your vision field has been decreasing drastically. I know that's one of the consequences of using that Zennogan, but I never expected it to happen this fast. While you managed to follow my movements and counter me quite successfully in the beginning, I've been able to attack you from behind for quite awhile. Even though you expected my last attack and countered with Mokusa, you can't go on like this for much longer."
"Eh, I guess it's my own fault." Nawirama admitted. "The hate I have for these eyes stopped me from using them. Considering this is one of the few times I've done it, I guess they're not able to stand the strain of a long battle, so...since my vision will only get worse..."
"You're giving them up?" The surprised Madara asked as he saw Nawirama's eyes returning to their normal pattern.
"Yeah...they're a burden I cannot afford to carry while I'm fighting you." Nawirama answered, before assuming a new fighting stance.
Flashback
"Say Minato, if by any chance you become Hokage, would you consider it? Would you consider...to bring me back to Konoha?"
"Why do you want to be a shinobi that much?" Minato questioned.
"Why? Well, I...I'm sick of being a burden. For mom, for neechan...They didn't need this. They could be in the village like everyone else, if it wasn't..." Nawirama trailed off, with tears filling his eyes. "I want...I want to..."
End of Flashback
Nawirama attempted a punch from the right side, but Madara took a step back to dodge. The Konoha Jounin followed with a spinning kick, from which Madara ducked out. Jabs, uppercuts, roundhouse kicks, spinning kicks, nothing hit Madara. He was reading through everything Nawirama did and, even though he was carrying his gunbai on his right hand, Madara was able to block or dodge every blow.
"Right punch, left roundhouse, right spinning kick, headbutt, right rising kick, right spinning punch, trip, face first to floor!" Madara mocked his opponent by saying everything he was about to do. He even dared to say his own counter, the trip after the spinning punch, that made Nawirama fall face first into the rocky floor of the chamber. The Zennogan user furiously stood, only for Madara to drive the tip of the gunbai's pole into his stomach, taking his breath away. A rising motion made that same tip strike Nawirama in the jaw, making him lose his balance. "Giving up already?"
"Not a chance!" Nawirama shouted but as soon as he took one step, Madara hit him with a spinning kick to the face, immediately followed by a horizontal swing of his gunbai that hit his opponent's upper body. As if that impact wasn't enough, the fan released a powerful column of wind that sent Nawirama flying and crashing against one of the walls of the chamber. As his body was still falling towards the ground, Madara unleashed a new wind blast that sent Nawirama back against the wall again, this time making part of the wall crumble down on him.
"You sure have potential, boy, and you're already quite skilled. If you had better eyes, which you could have through training, you could have given me a hard time. It seems to me that you don't have much battle experience. That was your downfall." Madara told to the nearly unconscious Nawirama, who was almost completely covered by rocks. "It seems to me that Naruto is almost ready to enter Sage Mode. I'll finish you after I deal with him."
"Damn it, he's coming. C'mon, I'm almost there..." Naruto silently pleaded for more time, as he saw Madara coming nearer and nearer.
"Shit...Naruto, I'm sorry...I should've been able defeat him...or at least make him waste more chakra..." Nawirama tried to look up, but his body wasn't answering to him.
"C'mon! C'mon! C'mon! Co..." Naruto's eyes finally changed into their Sage Mode form and he stood. "Finally, I..."
"You what exactly?" Madara asked as he waved his gunbai. The winds cut through the chakra enveloping Naruto and dispelled his Sage Mode, much to the Jinchuriki's shock. "You certainly heard me earlier, didn't you? This fan cuts through chakra. Without it, the natural energy enveloping you is released."
"But the natural energy only blends with chakra when its inside my body." Naruto revealed. "How can your winds have cut through what's inside me?"
"I know how it works. See this?" Madara asked while he pointed to his right eye. "My Sharingan. With it I can see how this Sage Mode of yours is working. Unlike the Adamantine Powers, you mix the natural energy with chakra inside of your body, true, but there's still an aura that surrounds your body. By blowing that aura away, I disrupted the balance inside of your body. Believe me, I've fought natural energy users before, I know it's a lot harder to keep it balanced."
"So it was all for nothing?" Naruto asked, while he stared to his fallen team leader, on the other side of the room.
"I told you, Kyuubi Jinchuriki, today I win." Madara remembered, while he closed the distance between them.
"N-Naruto..."
Flashback
"What was that noise?" Nawirama thought as he stared into the woods, that were located only a 100 meters away from them. Both him and Shizune were in front of their house when they heard the sound of tree branches being broken in quick succession.
"Niichan..." Shizune worriedly called her cousin.
"Go inside and tell ma." Nawirama ordered and Shizune hesitantly obeyed. While he readied a kunai on his hand, Nawirama was able to see four figures coming out of the forest. "I knew it wasn't a good idea to remain in a place so close to the border. There's a war going on, damn it..."
"Is this the place, taicho?" A man with red markings on his face asked to his team leader, a blond man, younger than the first one. In the team, there were also a ninja hound, a large man with purple markings on his face and a pale-eyed man who was injured and was being carried by the larger one.
"Yeah. We'll have Tsunade heal your injuries before we return." The team leader confirmed while they walked closer to her place. When they reached it, a little boy was standing in front of the house, waiting for them. "Oh, hey kid!"
"Don't 'hey kid' me! Identify yourself!" Nawirama demanded, surprising the Konoha platoon.
"Is that really needed?" The man with red markings asked.
"Who knows if you haven't tortured the real guys from Konoha and traded places with them?" Nawirama countered, causing the hound-accompanied shinobi to sigh. The kid then pointed his kunai to the blond leader. "So why don't you prove to me that you're the real Minato Namikaze?"
"Well, if you insist..." Minato sighed while he drew one of his customized kunais, before launching it in the direction of the kid's head. Nawirama simply moved his head slightly to his left side to avoid the blade and, a second after, he felt Minato's hand on his right shoulder, causing his eyes to widen. "Geez, there's no way to deny it..."
"What's going on?" Tsunade asked as she came outside, with Shizune by her side. She saw her eldest son with his right hand on the younger one's shoulder and twirling a kunai on the other hand. "Is that you, Minato?"
(...)
"So yeah, we're in a good way." Minato guaranteed to his mother. "We're planning to blow up the other villages' access to food provisions. It will take some time to plan things out, but we have Shikaku after all. Things will end up working out."
"That's good to know." Tsunade told to her son, but she seemed to be a bit upset. "Was it really needed to bring those three?"
"Didn't have a choice. We met some Kumo shinobi on the way here and Hizashi ended up injured." Minato remembered. "Oh, before I forget, have you finished Sandaime-sama's last request?"
"Here." Tsunade simply answered while she threw a scroll to him. "The last poison discoveries I made regarding Sunagakure's poisons, their recipes and the antidotes. I was going to send it tomorrow anyway."
"This sure will be useful. Thanks, ma." Minato thankfully said. His brother kept on looking at him from all angles. "Something wrong, midget?"
"Shut it! I'm still in growing age!" The upset Nawirama shouted, but quickly turned serious. "You don't have even a scratch."
"Well, I guess I was lucky." Minato modestly said, but Nawirama wasn't convinced.
"Lucky to find weak guys."
"Oh no, in that I wasn't lucky at all. They were pretty strong." Minato assured.
"How strong?" Tsunade was the one to ask this time, causing Minato to sigh.
"Kage strong." Minato relutanctly admitted. Both mother and brother stared at eachother with their eyes wide open.
"You fought the Raikage and won without a scratch?" The incredulous Nawirama asked.
"Well, it wasn't really a victory. Just stalled him and his brother long enough for us to flee. Then, Hizashi..."
"Not only the Raikage, but the Hachibi's Jinchuriki too?" Tsunade asked in the same way as her younger son. "Gosh, I really don't know what Sarutobi-sensei is waiting for to nominate you."
"Well, it's not like I want to be Hokage. I was given my first Genin team not so long ago and they're all younger than usual. I actually like the idea of being a Jounin leader better." Minato admitted.
"Gosh, just go and be Hokage already." Nawirama stood from his chair and went in the door's direction. When he reached it, he stopped for awhile. "Perhaps then I'll have a chance of being a shinobi."
(...)
"Bye, kid. I'll come to visit you when things calm down a bit." Minato assured to his half-brother, who was staring down to the floor.
"Sorry about earlier, about my attitude." Nawirama apologized but didn't lift his head. "Say Minato, if by any chance you become Hokage, would you consider it? Would you consider...to bring me back to Konoha?"
"Why do you want to be a shinobi that much?" Minato questioned.
"Why? Well, I...I'm sick of being a burden. For mom, for neechan...They didn't need this. They could be in the village like everyone else, if it wasn't..." Nawirama trailed off, with tears filling his eyes. "I want...I want to..."
"If I was the Hokage right now, I wouldn't allow you to be a shinobi." Minato revealed to his brother's shock. "It sounds like you only want it so you can feel better. That isn't the way, Nawirama. You need to find your Will of Fire. Only in that situation, I would allow you to become a shinobi."
"Will of Fire?" The confused Nawirama asked.
"Yes, the Will of Fire. Something every Konoha shinobi should have. The burning desire to love, believe, cherish and fight for the village's sake and for its future." Minato put one hand on his brother's shoulder. "The reason why mom left the village to protect you. The reason why Sandaime, even though it pained him, issued the order for you to be taken away. For you, who aren't a burden. For you, who are also the future."
"Will of Fire, huh?" Nawirama pondered and then wiped his tears. "Do you have it, brother?"
"Sure have." Minato nodded and Nawirama smiled softly before delivering a powerful stomp to his brother's left foot. "AAAAHH! What the hell was that for?"
"If you have the Will of Fire, if you want to protect everyone, just accept to be Hokage when the time comes!" Nawirama shoved an accusatory finger into his brother's chest, even though he had to jump to do so. Minato's eyes widened slightly. "Then, when you're Hokage, make sure you bring me back, because now I really want to find my Will of Fire!"
End of Flashback
"Time to go, Naruto." Madara announced, as Naruto's back hit the chamber's wall. He had nowhere to go.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu" Naruto shouted out of desperation. With a swing of his gunbai, Madara created a wind column that destroyed the 20 clones created by Naruto in one shot. From the cloud of smoke created by destroyed clones, Naruto darted towards Madara with his arm stretched forward, a Rasengan of the palm of his hand. However, Madara swung his fan once again, this time like a baseball bat, and took Naruto's Rasengan out of his hand, sending it through the roof. Disarmed, Naruto was kicked back against the wall.
"I guess I'll have to beat you a bit before we go..." Madara pondered, before lifting his fan above his head. Before he could unleash a new attack from it however, Nawirama came from behind him and delivered a natural energy enhanced chop to the gunbai's pole, breaking it in two. "How?"
"That thing's hard as hell!" Nawirama complained, before jumping and delivering a powerful punch to the rest of the gunbai, breaking it into tiny pieces.
"You..." Madara angrily hissed as he stared into Nawirama's blue eyes. His Zennogan had been activated once again and his body was emanating that golden glow as well. "I thought you had given up on that burden."
"This isn't a burden!" Nawirama corrected his earlier statement, as he pointed to his own eyes. "This is something I'll have to use to protect the ones precious to me. To protect my Will of Fire!"
Next Chapter: Madara's Cursed Will
-nawirama13