Here it is: The not-so-long awaited showdown.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or RWBY.
Chapter 11: The Battle
Melissa was hurrying, but she found her speed too slow. Several minutes after Team MDNT had split up, she was still scurrying to her position. She was on the buildings as well, using her semblance to move between them with ease. Even still, she wasn't even halfway to where she needed to be. As far as she knew, both Naruto and Troy were already in position, with Diana close to her own.
As she jumped from one building to the next, amidst the roars and the explosions behind her, she heard a deep voice beneath her, one that sounded interrogational, "Where is Naruto Uzumaki? Tell me, and I may let you live."
She nearly froze, barely making it over to the roof she was jumping to. Naruto? Why? She crept to the edge of the roof, peering over. Below her, there stood a man. This man was choking another person, holding them in the air. Despite this, he seemed to be a shorter man, with orange hair tied in a bun behind his neck. But she was disturbed but the sight of metal sticking out of his skin in various places.
His clothing style was strange, too. He wore black robes, with a red pattern all over them, almost like clouds. In a certain way, he dressed in a way similar to Naruto. Of course, she wasn't terrifically focused on his clothing at the moment. The man he was strangling tried to choke something out, presumably that he didn't know who Naruto was. Before he was finished, the orange-haired man snapped his neck with a single hand. She gasped.
The man looked up and down the alley he was in. Then he looked up, and Melissa pulled back in shock. She had no idea if the man had seen her, but she wasn't about to wait around to find out. She took off running across the roofs once again, this time fleeing from the man, who might have been chasing her.
Getting an idea, she began to fly upwards. Once she got roughly fifty feet up, she looked below her. The man was there, where she had just been. He was staring up at her, and crouched down for a moment. The next, he jumped, flying straight at her. Her eyes widened, and she flew higher. Luckily, for her, the man fell just short of where she was. If she hadn't moved… she didn't want to think about it.
As the man fell back to earth, she was about to move onwards, when she felt an enormous amount of force pressed into her back. It sent her dozens of feet through the air, before she managed to stabilize herself. She was breathing heavily, trying to get her bearings back. As she turned around to search for whatever had hit her, she was met with the sight of a man levitating near where she had just been.
He was dressed the same as the other man, but he looked a little different. His hair was spiky, but still orange. And that's when Melissa noticed the eyes. They had a pupil, but with a circle around it. And another circle around that one. And so on, until the circles weren't visible. It created a pattern that looked like ripples in water. The man flew over to her, much faster than she could think to flee. He stopped several yards away.
"Where is Naruto Uzumaki?" he asked, raising his palm towards her, for some reason.
She panicked, "What do you want with Naruto?!" The man's strange eyes opened just a fraction more, in satisfaction and surprise.
"So, you do know who I mean? Where is he?" he asked. She only then noticed he sounded exactly the same as the other man. Just her luck, of course, that both of these people would spot her. She wasn't sure who they were, but they just exuded danger.
"Who are you? And why do you want Naruto?" Melissa wasn't exactly thinking straight, with the events she had witnessed that day. If she had, then she wouldn't have even begun to speak of Naruto. Just by doing so, she was putting herself in harm's way.
"I shall give you one more chance: Where is Naruto Uzumaki?" the man repeated. Melissa, eyes still wide as saucers, shook her head. Whoever this guy was, whatever he wanted with Naruto, it couldn't be good.
The man kept his stoic face, as he yelled out, "Banshō Ten'in!"
As before, some strange force acted on Melissa. This time, however, she felt herself go flying towards the man. As she grew near, the man reached out and wrapped a hand around her throat. Because of the sudden stop, her legs swung upwards. He and she dropped back towards the earth, and he drove her through a building with incredible force.
Thanks to her Aura, she wasn't dead. She could definitely feel broken bones all over, though. The man stared a moment longer, "This Aura you all have truly is amazing. Someone as weak as you, still alive after that…"
She coughed up a little blood, trails going down her face from the corners of her mouth. "W- What… do you… mean?" she asked. He spoke as though he didn't have an Aura, but since he was clearly human and clearly alive, he had to have one.
He didn't answer. He looked on her with discontent, kneeling for a moment, "Where is Naruto Uzumaki?" She mustered all the effort she could, and spit a wad of blood onto his face. He remained calm, and merely wiped it off. "Very well," he said, sliding a black rod out of his sleeve. "Then you shall face the wrath of a god."
Naruto laid low, taking it in. He saw the robes, he'd heard the jutsu name, and he'd seen the crater. But he couldn't see how they had come here. He had only wound up here because of… the… toads. Oh, no... The toads must have been killed. This Akatsuki member, whichever one he was, had probably killed all of them.
But then, Naruto remembered that there were seven sets of footprints. The other six had to have been all the other Akatsuki members. There would be time for confusion later. He needed Sage Mode. He drew himself further back into his cover, and sat in the familiar position. Five minutes. He would have five good minutes to beat this guy and any who came to help. After all, if he was comparing his own strength to the rest of Remnant's properly, than they couldn't handle the Akatsuki.
Sage Mode was easy enough to access, but something disturbed Naruto. While he was able to sense Aura and Grimm just fine, chakra was a little different. That said, he still knew how to sense it. The problem was, he sensed six identical chakra signatures across the town, including the one that was near him. There was also a seventh one, but it was different from the others.
In a moment of impulsiveness, Naruto burst from his cover, speeding towards the Akatsuki with his back turned. In an instant, he drove his fist through the guy, shattering him into metal pieces. Wait, what? Metal? Naruto stared at the shower of steel a he pulled his fist back. Right, well, he had seen weirder Akatsuki, so…
He pulled back, keeping an eye on the other chakras through his Sage Mode. As he did, the top half of the metal man's body crashed onto the ground, with its arms ripped out from the force of the punch. Naruto carefully walked over, eyeing it. Once he was close enough, he used his foot to cautiously roll it over onto its back.
When he did, its eyes, these strange… rippling… eyes…
This was… and he…
Pain.
Naruto's face contorted with anger as he realized whom he had just destroyed. This had to be Pain. Between the metal rods and the eyes, it was the only thing that made sense. For some reason he didn't understand, when Pain's eyes flashed onto him for a second, he smirked.
Naruto raised his foot, slammed it down, and crushed the head of the metal man in anger and rage. As he did, he noticed five of the other chakras began to move towards him. The chakras that were all the same. The rest of Pain. Before long, Naruto was faced with five identically dressed people. They each regarded him neutrally, as they stood several meters away. One of them, the one in the middle, had a metal rod that was dripping with blood.
Reaching out with his sensory abilities, Naruto checked where each of his team was. Troy was getting very close. Soon, he'd be able to see the battlefield. Diana wasn't moving, but she was nearby, so she might already be able to see the Akatsuki members. Imperius was almost directly behind Naruto. He'd be coming over the buildings in only a few seconds.
He couldn't find Melissa, though. He searched and searched, but she wasn't anywhere to be found. Realizing what that had to mean, he forced his focus back to the battle at hand.
"Naruto Uzumaki…" intoned the Pain in the middle. "You are a difficult Jinchūriki to find."
"Shut up! How are you even here!?" Naruto yelled in a fury. He thought that, at the very least, he had escaped these people when he was stranded in this world.
"I used the same method that, I believe, you did. The secret village of the toads took a long time indeed to find, but in the end they put up little fight," Pain explained. As soon as he finished, a man dropped in front of Naruto.
"Get back, Naruto! I'll fight them!" Imperius ordered, arm outstretched to the side in a defensive way.
Naruto stepped around him, looking back from the corner of his eye, while keeping most of his attention on Pain, "You can't handle them. I need you to take Diana and Troy, sir, and run for it."
Imperius seemed outraged, "UZUMAKI! This is no time for insubordination! I gave you an order! What makes you think you can defeat them?!" He looked livid.
"I don't have time to argue! Just ru-"
One of the Pains, a woman, went through a series of handsigns in quick succession. Naruto immediately ceased his conversation with Imperius, giving the Akatsuki his undivided attention. She slammed her hands down, invoking the familiar jutsu, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Despite not being their own world, her summoning worked. Out of the cloud of smoke, a huge rhinoceros charged towards Naruto and Imperius. While the latter's eyes almost bulged from his head, Naruto readied himself. As the rhino attempted to skewer him on its horn, he wrapped his arms around it and flung it away from the village. Midflight, it disappeared into smoke.
Naruto turned back to Pain, "How did you do that? Summoning doesn't work here!"
With the same neutral expression, the middle Pain answered, "I do not know where 'here' is, but a god's power is absolute. No barrier or other power could prevent it."
"Naruto!" Imperius yelled. "First, you're going to run! Later on, we can discuss this, but you need to get away! I gave each of you an order!"
Naruto didn't take his eyes of the Pains, "Imperius, I need you to either run away or not distract me!"
"Mr. Uzum-" Fully aware that both Troy and Diana could see the battle by now, Naruto turned in an instant, and punched Imperius full in the gut. In his shock, Imperius hadn't even had a chance to defend himself. He was sent flying, out cold.
Naruto turned off to where Troy was, "HEY! TROY! I need you to take him away from here!"
Naruto turned back to the Pains, ready to fight, as Troy appeared behind him, then all the way across the village. The middle Pain spoke again, "I agree; this battlefield has become cluttered. Allow me to fix that."
Before Naruto could react, the Pain put his hands together, "SHINRA TENSEI!"
A black sphere seemed to form around him, and the other Pains leapt away. Naruto followed their example, as the black sphere expanded dramatically, destroying a huge area, leaving behind a crater taking up half the village. It was such a quick move, but it caused so much destruction. As he watched the devastation unfold, Naruto realized this was the same jutsu he kept seeing in his dreams.
Looking at the crater just confirmed it: This was the one who destroyed the other villages. Naruto dropped in front of him, faced with the other five Pains once more. As he felt a presence retreat from the battle, Naruto tried to buy time so Diana could be out of danger. She may have been childish, but by no means was she stupid, Naruto had to admit.
"Why did you destroy those villages?!" he demanded in anger.
"I sought the Jinchūriki who had come here, so far from the Elemental Nations," explained the same Pain, still in the same monotone. He seemed to be the leader. "I questioned each village, and none would admit to knowing who Naruto Uzumaki was."
Barely after he finished, Naruto rushed towards him, only to be blocked by a giant crab. He sidestepped, avoiding one of its pincers. He pulled out his chokutō, switching it to a gun in an instant. He fired three quick shots at the Pain from a distance. A Pain with his hair in a bun behind his head stepped in front, and raised his arms cockily. Some kind of red light appeared, but the bullets went right through it, hitting the man with full force. Shockingly, however, none of them did more than stagger him.
Naruto switched back to his chokutō, and stabbed at the underside of the crab. He penetrated the skin, eliciting a shriek of pain as it vanished. He sheathed his sword, switching back to melee. With no rest for the weary, a bull charged at him from where the female Pain stood. He jumped upwards, and began to test his theory.
Miraculously, thanks to his training over the last few weeks, and his Sage Mode being active, Naruto was just barely able to form the Rasengan at full size in his right hand. Not waiting to see just how long he could maintain it, he drove it into the bull's head, forcing it into the ground with a huge crash. With a large cloud of smoke, it vanished.
He felt his Sage Mode running out, however. In a last ditch effort to defeat one more Pain, he created two clones.
"Tell me, Naruto," began the leader Pain. "Why are you fighting so desperately? What drives you on?"
Furious at the man who decimated four villages on Remnant alone, Naruto shouted, "I'm going to kill you! You're a heartless monster who kills for no reason!"
"Oh?" Pain responded. "And what of your Hidden Leaf Village? Were the shinobi there guilty of being heartless monsters?"
"JUST SHUT UP!" Naruto roared. He held the technique his clones had created in his hand high above his head. The Rasenshuriken whirred with power as the clones added more and more wind chakra to it.
He flung the shuriken directly at the Pain who kept speaking. It moved incredibly quickly, faster than any of the Pains could track. But without having been able to practice it in months, he was rusty. Just like it had in the fight against the guy with the weird tentacles, the Rasenshuriken fizzled out, doing nothing. Having used the last of his Sage chakra, Naruto reverted to his normal form.
"I do not know what it is you intended for that to do, but it seems to have been pointless. But more to the point, your Sage Mode seems to have run out. What do you intend to do now that you are weakened?" Pain taunted. Naruto glared. He was right, but that didn't mean Naruto was going to give up so easily.
"I don't wish to be captured any more than you do, brat. You must use my power."
'I can't! Not here! I'll just end up killing even more of these people!'
"Then let me use the power… I'll remain in control while I use your body to destroy these Akatsuki."
'No! You're trying to trick me into unsealing you, like always!'
"You don't have any other options. Give in, and let me kill them all."
'I'll find another way!'
"You'll lose, and everyone will die. Give over to me, and only the human with the Sage's eyes shall perish."
'I won't! Now stop! I need to focus!'
Naruto forced the conversation off, just as the Pain from before reached him, with that bloody metal rod. Before the blond could even begin to react, the rod stabbed into his shoulder. He winced, as he felt some kind of foreign chakra enter him.
'It's the same chakra as them! That means this Pain must be controlling the others.'
He wrenched himself free of Pain's reach, leaping backwards. Naruto reached up, and grabbed to metal rod. He yanked it from himself, and felt the hole begin to close up. The Pain began to talk again, "Without your Sage Mode, you stand no chance of defeating me. Why do you bother to fight any longer, when you know you won't win?"
While he was talking, Naruto realized he had an opportunity. He stood still, waiting until he had gathered enough. Fortunately, Pain apparently liked to run his mouth. A lot. By the time he was finished with a monologue about hatred, Naruto was back in Sage Mode.
"Tricky bastard…" Pain muttered. Naruto rushed at him once more, this time with no other Pain nearby to take the blow for him. The force of Naruto's punch into Pain's midsection was enough to physically explode the man's torso. Bloody chunks rained down, and Naruto suspected the battle would be over.
He was disappointed. He jumped backwards, avoiding a barrage of missiles.
Wait, missiles? Naruto glanced over to the other Pains, to see the one he had destroyed earlier stood upright, without any signs of damage. Near to that Pain, he saw another one stood next to some kind of head, with flames around the bottom.
'So, he can bring the dead back to life? I need to beat that one next. But, why haven't they all stopped, if the leader was beaten?'
Naruto looked over to the now scattered parts of the Pain he thought was the leader. If he wasn't controlling them, then who was? Perhaps a different one of these Pains. Naruto turned his attention to the Pain that could apparently resurrect the others.
Naruto made the familiar handsign, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Around the blond, half a dozen copies of Naruto popped into existence. Four of them ran off to distract the Pains with a small battle, while the other two helped form another Rasenshuriken in Naruto's hand. The only Pain not engaged by a clone, the one Naruto was focused on, stood behind each of the other Pains, as if using them as a shield.
To make sure he would be able to hit his mark, Naruto had his other two clones disperse with as much smoke as they could muster, creating a large smoke cloud. From the perspective of Pain, it appeared as though he was trying to hide his next move.
The shuriken flew from out of the smoke, directly for the Pain in the back. It soared over the heads of the other Pains, but one of them broke away from his fight. He landed in front of the other, arms outstretched. Once more, Pain began to absorb Naruto's jutsu. But it vanished, leaving only smoke behind.
In the confusion, the Pain capable of bringing back the others suddenly found himself being cut in half. Behind him, Naruto pulled his chokutō through the other side of the man, sheathing it in dramatic fashion. The absorption Pain turned in what was likely shock, though his face remained the same.
'Not him either… Damn it!'
Naruto had run out of Sage chakra from the effort of creating not only a Rasenshuriken, but also creating six Sage Mode fueled clones. The five remaining Pains re-grouped, leaving Naruto still exhausted only a few yards away, his clones having dispersed. Wait, five? At some point during the confrontation just now, apparently the one who created the crater had been revived.
"In the end, your Sage Mode will be useless, as it was with Jiraiya-sensei," taunted Pain. Naruto glared at him, before taking in what he said.
"Wait, Jiraiya-sensei? You called him sensei?" he questioned.
"Indeed. But now is not the time for words. I will not give you another chance to regain Sage Mode," Pain rushed at Naruto, who raised his arms in a hasty block. A fist met his crossed arms, and he skidded back a few feet.
"Use my chakra! You have no other option now!"
'No!'
Naruto formed the same handsign from before, "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
The air stood still for a moment, before a huge plume of smoke exploded outwards. The Pains waited, and when the smoke cleared, saw before them a veritable horde of Narutos. Each of them looked rather grim, as they stared down the 'god.'
"Oh? Now that is troublesome," droned Pain. "But all power is meaningless in the presence of a god."
He raised his hand to the crowd, "SHINRA TENSEI!"
With an enormous push from seemingly nowhere, several rows of the horde were sent flying through the air. The rest, however, charged at the assembled Pains. The female Pain slammed her hands down again, this time summoning a giant bird and a dog. Both tore through the ranks of clones.
His distraction was working, however. The Pains were so focused on the horde that they hadn't even noticed that there was one Naruto who was sitting behind the rest of them, gathering energy.
'This is my last chance. Got to make it count.'
He reached Sage Mode, and stood. All at once, he popped his clones, creating another smokescreen. He rushed in it, hiding himself. Sensing one of his targets just ahead of him, he began to form two Rasengans, one in each hand. Reaching Pain, he thrust them forwards, ripping through the flesh as it drilled into the body of a Pain with long hair.
The Pain he attacked went flying through the air as a result of the Rasengans. He fell to the ground, unmoving, as the smoke cleared. Naruto found the other four Pains staring him down once more.
Troy and Diana were sat at the edge of the crater, watching an incredible battle take place. Troy had barely been able to get away from the blast, while Diana had had to run out of the crater quickly before the fight began. Imperius was still unconscious, as the result of whatever it was Naruto had done.
At first, his teammates had tried to disregard some of what he was doing as some trickery, or a dream. But they could feel the shockwaves, they could hear all the sounds, and they could practically taste the tension in the air.
Somehow, Naruto was fighting evenly with all six of them at once. Somehow, Naruto had the ability to make clones, despite having a speed semblance. Somehow, Naruto could throw his Aura around as a weapon. He also didn't seem to be fazed by the giant monsters that one of them kept creating.
Imperius began to stir, but it seemed as though it would be a while before he woke. As Troy and Diana kept watching, an enormous cloud of white smoke appeared. Behind it, there was revealed to be an army of Narutos. Troy's jaw dropped. But when one of his opponents defeated over half of them by doing nothing at all, it nearly hit the floor.
"What in the world is going on? How is he doing this?" he asked, as if Diana would know.
With four Pains left, Naruto focused on the Pain that could absorb his jutsu. That one would be the most difficult, he was sure. He would have to rely on just his taijutsu and chokutō, enhanced by his speed. Well, at least he'd had practice. After several months spent here, working on those two things, he felt like he could probably pull it off.
He bent down, one knee touching the ground, hands in front of him. He took off, right for Pain. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he heard off to the side. He jumped upwards, narrowly avoiding the mandibles of a centipede that struck the ground beneath him. He punched downwards as he came down, crushing the giant insect's head beneath his punch.
As he recovered, the giant bird plunged down at him, nearly cutting him in half with its beak. Naruto jumped backwards quickly, barely avoiding the attack. He stepped around the bird quickly, and finished his charge towards the absorption Pain. He pulled out his chokutō as he swung, but Pain caught the blade. Naruto let go of it, trying to uppercut him while he wasn't looking. He dodged it without turning, and tried to stab Naruto with his own chokutō. Naruto sidestepped it, and broke the Pain's arm with little effort.
He dropped the sword, and Naruto punched him in the side of his head faster than he could dodge. Thanks to his Sage Mode, he was able to add Natural Energy to the punch, blowing the man's head clean off.
Almost the instant he had beaten that Pain, he felt himself go flying through the air, towards the one he suspected was the leader. Thinking on his feet, he grabbed his chokutō, and flung it towards the man. Pain dodged it, but in the process, Naruto fell back to the ground.
'Not him either… Damn it! There's only one left!'
Naruto knew he wouldn't be able to take down another one of the Pains without beating the one that seemed to be able to pull him in and push him out. He only had three left, but one of them kept summoning creatures, another had demonstrated he had great amounts of power, and the last one had a metric ton of explosives attached to him.
Naruto sprinted for the magnetism Pain, trying to surprise him. As before, Pain managed to dodge his attack even when he shouldn't have been able to see it. Naruto rolled past Pain, not about to try again so hastily. As he went, he grabbed his chokutō again. It would be helpful against Pain's jutsu.
Speaking of, the dog Pain had summoned before was bearing down on the blond. Naruto was starting to feel fatigue catch up to him, even in Sage Mode, as he grabbed its leg and hurled it into the air. He created two more clones, and began to make a Rasenshuriken immediately. He ran towards the magnetism Pain, and thrust the Rasenshuriken forwards. To Naruto's great shock and panic, it was dispelled just before it hit the man.
Having used too much Sage chakra in his last shuriken, Naruto could feel the power quickly leaving him. In a last ditch effort, Naruto tried to cut the man in half with his chokutō. To his surprise, he managed to get it to cut deep into the man before he leapt backwards.
"I'll admit, you're much more difficult to handle than I initially anticipated. However, this is-"
He stopped, and for a moment, Naruto couldn't tell why. His Sage Mode had run out, and he had collapsed to the ground, exhausted. He looked up, only to see another black sphere forming. He tried to get away from it, but he could barely move.
Troy appeared right behind him, grabbed his arm, and they both vanished. On the edge of the crater, they reappeared. Troy fell over, breathing almost as heavily as Naruto was. "Troy? Wha-" he tried to ask. Troy held up his hand, telling Naruto to wait. He needed his breath back first.
"Imperius," he got out. Naruto's eyes widened, and he whipped around, seeing the signs of a clash far into the crater. Huge storms of dust were being kicked up, but beyond that, Naruto couldn't see much. Troy sat up, as Diana walked up next to them. "Naruto… WHAT?"
Naruto turned around, glancing at his teammates before turning back to the fight, "I'll explain later, I swear. But right now, Imperius needs help." Naruto sat up, crossing his legs. Seconds later, he fell over, exhausted still from the fight. He was too low on chakra to enter Sage Mode. If he tried, he was likely to turn to stone. "No… Nonononononononononono! I need to get down there!"
"Naruto, calm down. Imperius said he has this under control. Can you please tell us what just happened?" Troy asked again. Naruto looked at him, trying to think up anything to pass this off. "How can you make clones, even with a speed semblance like that? And how do you know how to throw your Aura like that? How are you so strong? And who is that guy?"
"I swear to Kami, I will tell you after this is over! If we don't help Imperius, he's going to die!"
"You only have one option left. Use my chakra, and your Imperius will survive."
'I can't use it; not here!'
"KIT!" Naruto suddenly found himself inside his mind. The fox was glared even more darkly than usual. "You're going to be captured if you don't. Use my chakra!"
"But-" Naruto tried to argue.
"And if you get captured, I get captured! So, prevent that, and use my chakra!"
"But I might hurt my friends!"
"And the human with the Sage's eyes has already done that once!"
Silence. It lasted for a while, between the seething Kyūbi, and Naruto staring blankly at him. Finally, Naruto asked, "Wh-What?"
"Yes, brat! You felt it earlier, too! This human skewered that 'partner' of yours!"
Naruto just… froze. He realized he had forgotten about that. When he'd checked for Melissa's chakra earlier…
"Kyūbi… Give me chakra."
"Finally!"
Naruto exited his mind, and found the chakra being delivered to him in spades. He took just enough to get the red eyes. He didn't bother turning to his teammates as he said, "Stay back."
He bent, left leg stretched fully in front of him, right leg bent behind him. With a colossal push, he left the ground. He found himself high above the clouds of dust, looking down on them, scanning for where the fighters were.
He'd been outside the crater for roughly fifteen seconds. And in that time, one of them had done something to kick up this much dirt. He rocketed down into the cloud, landing with a crash on one knee. He heard the sounds of a battle nearby, several meters behind him.
"Begone. You cannot hope to defeat a god," Naruto heard the same monotone voice between what sounded like gusts of wind.
"Shut up! You're just a monster who destroys village after village for fun!" Imperius shouted back.
Naruto turned, standing as he did. He ran for the sounds, looking about wildly for any sign of them. Something flew from out of the dust, ramming right into Naruto. Both Naruto and it flew a few more feet, sliding for good measure. Pushing it off of himself, Naruto saw it was Imperius, and he had been knocked unconscious.
The blond stood, facing the direction Imperius had flown from. He raced forwards, waiting for something to appear. By now, the dust had begun to settle, as a result of the fight dying down. Naruto kept looking around, stopping as quickly as he could once he saw one of the Pains. Without thinking, he flung himself at the Akatsuki, thrusting his fist forwards. By the time he realized which Pain it was, he had already been sent flying away.
The magnetism Pain rushed forward, pulling another metal rod from his sleeve. Landing on his back, then flipping through the air onto his feet, Naruto met him with his chokutō. Locked in a short stalemate, Naruto switched over to a pistol, with the blade still locked against the rod. He was able to shoot at a downwards angle, hitting Pain's knee and foot.
The man jumped backwards, inspecting the damage. It didn't seem to do anything notable, because Pain raised his hand once more after a second. Naruto braced himself. "Banshō Ten'in!"
Naruto began to fly towards the man, but he stabbed his blade into the ground deeply, and used it to anchor himself. The force died down, and Naruto still stood several feet away from Pain. He pulled his weapon from the ground, holding to his side, as he rushed forwards once more, swinging it upwards once he was close enough.
His strike was intercepted by the metal Pain. Naruto's strike hit him just under the arm, severing, to Naruto's surprise, three arms. Naruto recovered quickly, grabbing the man's head and driving downwards into his knee. He could feel the metal face dent slightly under the impact.
The metal Pain fell to the ground, either defeated or in great pain, and Naruto tried again to stab through the other Pain, only to be flung upwards into the air uncontrollably. He fell back to the ground from several stories into the air, crashing into the ground. He stood shakily, able to tell he wasn't going to win like this.
'Kyūbi! I need a little more chakra!'
Naruto felt the chakra surge up again, and this time he drew in more than was advisable. He felt his skin start to burn, and fell to one knee, as three tails formed behind him. Along with those three tails, a shroud of red chakra formed around him, taking on its usual appearance of a fox. He felt his canines growing longer, sharper. His fingernails grew out to be claws.
The boy glowered at Pain, who was passively watching this. Naruto suddenly realized the summoning Pain hadn't shown up this entire time. He looked around for her briefly, but he didn't see her in the crater at all. He could worry about that later. He crooked back to the Pain before him.
"So… this is the Nine Tails…" Pain muttered. Not giving him a chance to start a monologue, Naruto dashed forwards, punching Pain right across the face, sending him spiraling through the air. He caught himself, and spun back to face the Jinchūriki, before he raised his hand towards him.
"SHINRA TENSEI!" he roared. Naruto felt another massive push against him. He tried to resist, but he slid several feet before losing his balance and being sent through the air. He managed, at least, to land on his feet.
Pain flew higher into the air, evidently thinking to avoid Naruto. As he was getting ready to jump, Naruto heard a voice behind him, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
He whipped around, seeing the summoning Pain and a woman with blue hair coming at him. He attacked Pain first, launching himself directly at her, blade drawn. He just barely managed to pierce through her middle before she jumped backwards.
'So… they don't die to bullets or being stabbed, they all have the same chakra… What else do they have in common…?'
Needing to focus on fighting, Naruto pulled himself out of his thoughts, and dodged a strike from the blue-haired woman. She attacked him with paper, strangely. As if that wasn't enough, she broke into several thousands of pieces of paper when he swung his chokutō around at her, reforming a few feet away, ready to attack him again.
He switched to his pistol, firing several rounds at her. Her eyes widened in response, and she barely avoided each of them by reforming once more.
'So that one might be hurt by bullets, huh?'
Naruto could certainly feel the pain of his skin burning up start to set in. He needed to finish this, fast. He rushed for the summoning Pain, chokutō ready, and swung it into her once more. This time, she was too slow to react, and was cut in half. At the same time, the giant dog, which had been terrorizing the village, also disappeared.
Naruto was about to go after the blue-haired woman, but he felt himself rise into the air.
'Shit! I forgot about the other Pain!'
The last Pain was pulling Naruto towards him, black metal rod at the ready. He stabbed into Naruto, piercing through his chest. Naruto roared in pain. As expected, given he had a piece of metal stuck through him right next to his lungs. In a quick action, Pain grabbed Naruto by the neck, and began to fly downwards, dragging Naruto towards the ground. He stopped just short, letting go of Naruto, allowing him to smash into the hard earth.
Naruto felt several of his bones break all over his body, as the metal rod flew out of his chest from the impact behind him. His chakra cloak dissipated as well, leaving him unable to even move.
"Can't you see? It is as I told you: you cannot win against a god," Pain taunted, kneeling down with another black rod.
"Shut up! How did you get here, anyway?!" The question had been bugging Naruto since he had first seen Pain.
He began to tell a story, after he stabbed Naruto's hands together with the metal rod, "I came through the pond of the toads, appearing in the wilderness very far away from here. Without knowing where you had gone, I began to question each town. When it was concluded they knew nothing of your whereabouts, I destroyed each town one by one.
Eventually, I thought that perhaps I had been placed somewhere separate from my goal. I see I was not, and now, peace is once again within reach."
"Peace?! You think you'll achieve peace like this? By killing senselessly?" Naruto shouted at Pain.
"When people understand the pain of death, it will deter them from war. Without war, peace is all that can exist," he explained. "I will show the world pain, and bring peace. But for that, I shall need the Bijū inside of you."
"What makes you think I would ever give in to someone like-" Naruto began to violently cough up blood. It seemed like the impact with the ground was catching up to him.
"You don't have a choice anymore. I have disabled your movements, and not one of these people has the power to stand against a god."
"Give me control, Kit. I could fight him, I could beat him."
'Not now, Kyūbi!'
Even without the Kyūbi's chakra, Naruto's absolute last-ditch effort seemed to be working, unfortunately. Even through all the pain in his hands, in his chest, and just about everywhere else on his body, Naruto could hear the army of Grimm approaching. Ozpin had said that they attracted to hate and negativity. If that was the case, then the power of the Kyūbi had to be irresistible to them, like metal to a magnet.
"Bothersome creatures. They put up very little resistance, and yet there are such great numbers of them," spoke Pain. Naruto, while Pain was distracted, tried to absorb Natural Energy. His hope was that he had recovered enough chakra to at least enter Sage Mode, even if it wasn't perfect.
But no, his plan fell short. Pain barely batted an eye as he blew three Nevermores into dust with his jutsu. There were more on the way, as well as a large pack of the monsters pouring through the gates into the village. Deathstalkers, King Taijitu, Ursai, Beowolves, Boarbatusks, and even some others Naruto didn't recognize. His eyes widened at the horrible sight. He hadn't expected so many Grimm to feel the Kyūbi's power.
He tried to lift his hands out of the ground, but the rod had them stuck firmly. The pain and worry for his friends and the villagers began to make him think madness.
'Kyūbi, I need more chakra!'
"You can barely move. You need to give me control for you to fight."
'FINE! I don't care, just save my friends!'
"YES!"
Naruto blacked out from the pain, and the Kyūbi's chakra flooded into him.
Troy and Diana could barely see what was happening from the distance they were at. All they could see was some red fighting some black. They couldn't make out any details, just the colors of the clothing each fighter wore. They weren't even sure where Naruto had gone, or where Imperius was.
But they were distracted from the fight when the Grimm began to flood into the town. Troy turned to Diana, and gave her a look that clearly said "Goodbye," before he turned and left, headed for the north gate. It really did seem to him that this would end up being their first and last mission.
But he stopped as soon has he felt the cold. It wasn't that he felt cold, not at all. The air around him was filled with malice, with hatred, with anger, frustration, and a thousand other painful emotions. It was literally rolling out of the crater in waves. Troy could see spirals of red energy arcing high into sky, seeming to rip the sky apart.
This energy felt… wrong. Like it shouldn't be here. Troy's skin felt like it was crawling in the opposite direction, and he felt like he should follow its lead. But instead, he crept to the edge of the crater, and looked down into it.
There, across the way, was a dome of red. It was the same energy that rose into the sky, and was slowly turning a deep black. A blast of energy raced out from it, slamming into the walls of the crater. As Troy watched, the dome slowly followed the rest of its energy into the sky. He felt the anger and hatred surge one more time, then passed out.
Pain watched as the sphere of red dispersed into the sky, and a red creature, vaguely foxlike, rose up off the ground, four tails waving behind it. "So… this is the power of the Kyūbi no Kitsune… Glorious," he muttered. It roared. A feral, guttural roar. A roar that spoke of one thing: bloodlust.
As he watched, the Jinchūriki transformed even further. The energy from before descended back down, right onto it, and the fox began to sprout two more tails. As he did, bony pieces, similar to those Pain had seen on the annoying black creatures that infested this world, sprouted out.
"It seems that this may have now become more difficult."
Half a crater away, Imperius was stirring. He began to regain his consciousness slowly, and for a while, it sounded like his ears had been knocked to high hell. But as he recovered more, he realized that the sounds he thought were in his head were coming from hordes of Grimm behind him, in the city. He rocketed to his feet, whirling around to see the entire city overrun.
"What in the world?" he asked himself, under his breath. But he felt a presence. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was nearby, and it was dangerous. Far more so than any Grimm he had met before. As he to try and find it, he was met with a gruesome sight. All throughout the edges of the crater, there were people fleeing from the Grimm, only to be cut off by yet more of them.
Then, Imperius saw what he was looking for. It looked almost… peaceful, but for the red skin, and the bony armor that all Grimm had. But beyond that, it had six tails swaying behind it. He began to make his way to it, fast. He could tell why so many Grimm had come here. Even without his training, Imperius knew he would've been able to feel this creature from miles away, easily.
He never made it far. Before he could even get close, a collection of spherical objects began to float around the foxlike Grimm. They gathered into a purple ball in front of what appeared to be its mouth. Imperius didn't know what it planned to do with whatever that orb was, but he also didn't want to find out. He dove into a crevice in the ground, and as he did, he heard the massive sound of destruction above him.
He very cautiously peered out of the crack he'd jumped into. All the ground around the creature, or, at least, in front of it, was flattened, until the point it reached the man Imperius had been fighting.
That reminded him… his students were all probably fighting for their lives. And later on, Naruto would need to be punished for insubordination. But for now, Imperius needed to find a way to stop both of these things.
He reached out with his semblance, his ability to manipulate wind, forming a blade of air behind the man and behind the neck of the Grimm. He sent both of them forwards at once, but neither accomplished anything. The man used his strange semblance to disperse the air, while the Grimm just… stood there, unaffected. It was like it had an Aura protecting it.
The fox Grimm, which Imperius decided to dub the 'Vulpecula,' after a name from an old myth, ran towards the man on its four legs, moving so quick Imperius couldn't even see it. Apparently, the man could, and he raised his right hand, performing his strange semblance once again.
The Kyūbi dashed for Pain, coming at him from the right. In response, he raised his arm, pushing against the Jinchūriki. To his outstanding shock, the fox was able to resist the attack, and force its way to him. Pain had to let up on the jutsu, and when he did, the fox lunged forth, chomping right through his head.
He fell, defeated, broken, headless, and unable to move.
The fox remained, however. Naruto had given over control, and since he was unconscious, the fox had free reign. He began to send more chakra through the boy's body, trying to reach his glorious set of nine tails. As he did, a green light appeared around him.
It was that damned sealing jutsu on the First Hokage's necklace. The Kyūbi reached for the boy's neck, where it sat. He grabbed it, and it dangled in front of his face for a brief moment, before he crushed it with utter satisfaction.
Naruto awoke, finding himself inside his mind. He looked around, because it seemed… unfamiliar. But he blinked, and whatever was different had apparently fixed itself, as it looked completely normal afterwards. He called out to the fox, "KYŪBI! Did you beat him?"
The Kyūbi didn't answer, which worried Naruto. There was no reason he would be silent. But then, relieving Naruto, he spoke, "Of course I did, brat. Now this world is mine."
Naruto felt like either smacking himself. Somehow, he managed to be stupid enough to trust a fox who was literally known as the Demon Fox to not take over his body completely . Naruto couldn't believe he had been capable of being so idiotic as to think this would end well. For Kami's sake, the fox had even repeated time after time that he was only helping so he could break free.
"Kyūbi, give me back my body!"
"Sorry, Kit. But I have waited for this day, for this chance, for seventeen years. I'm will not give it up now, on the plea of a human brat."
"Kyūbi…"
"What?"
"What is your name?"
"Why in the name of Kami to you care?"
"Well, if you take my body, then I'll die, right? I swore I would know your name by the time that happened."
"You… You…" The fox's voice had much less of an edge to it. "You are perhaps the most stubborn person I have ever met."
"Kyūbi, just please don't hurt my friends."
In the centuries he had lived, the fox had never met someone so determined as this before. The only comparison he could even begin to make was to that damned First Hokage. Even knowing he was about to die, even knowing this world was ending, all Naruto Uzumaki wanted wasn't his life, wasn't power, wasn't anything selfish. He was as kind and as determined to help people as the old man had been. And it began to affect even the supposed 'embodiment of hatred' that was the Kyūbi no Kitsune.
"Stop calling me that! Kyūbi is a title given to me by you humans. Even if it refers to my great power, the man who created me, the one human I ever respected, gave me a different name. As payment for giving me your entire being, I shall let you know it."
He paused. Naruto was silent.
"My name, Kit, is Kurama."
Naruto smiled weakly. 'Kurama...' At least he could consider the fox a comrade in the end. And speaking of which…
Naruto stepped forward, towards the cage. He stopped just outside of it, and looked up. Comrades help each other out, right? And maybe this way, he could convince Kurama not to kill his friends here. He used the water beneath him to raise himself up to the seal. He wrapped his fingers around the seal paper, finding it was already flimsy and weak.
"What are you doing, brat?"
Naruto grinned past the cage as much as he could, "Helping a friend."
As Naruto was about to rip the seal off, as he began to pull downwards on the brittle paper, as Kurama was about to be freed, someone appeared just in front of Naruto, and tackled him away from the seal. Not in a violent way. Whoever it was, they were clearly trying to stop Naruto from unsealing the Kyūbi.
Naruto looked up from where he sat, to see and white haori, a jonin outfit, and a mane of blonde hair. The back of the haori, though... It read 'Yondaime Hokage.'
The Fourth Hokage stood before him, helping him to his feet.
"L-Lord Fourth… Hokage," Naruto murmured, in awe and confusion.
"Well… Seems like I'm just in time," the Yellow Flash replied. "I- I never thought things would end this badly, not after you left the Elemental Nations."
"What? You know where we are?" Naruto asked. It was fair to have suspicion, since they were in a completely different world now.
The Fourth nodded, "Of course. I've been a part of the seal your entire life, Naruto. I saw when you came here, and everything before then as well. I'm… proud, of who you've become."
"But, how are you here? How is someone as powerful and famous as the Fourth Lord Hokage a part of the seal?" Naruto demanded.
"FOURTH HOKAGE!"
Naruto had completely forgotten where they were, and jumped a little at Kurama's bellow.
"HOW DARE YOU STOP THE BOY FROM FREEING ME! HOW DARE YOU IMPRISON ME! HOW DARE YOU!"
The Fourth ignored him, mostly, "Well, he's a bit loud, don't you think? Let's go somewhere a little quieter." Naruto felt the air all around him shift, and he found both himself and the Hokage in a bright space, with seemingly no walls or floor, but with the entire horizon being yellow. "To answer your question, I'm a part of this seal because I made it. That much you knew, of course. But I'm here because I wanted to make sure my son was never tricked by the Kyūbi into undoing the seal."
"Son? Who?" Naruto asked, clueless. The Fourth smiled warmly, in the same way a parent smiles at their child.
"You, of course. I wanted to make sure you never fell to the Kyūbi, Naruto."
Well, wasn't that a bomb dropped? Naruto learned possibly the biggest mystery of his entire life, and at the same time had his next big question decided. He said softly, "Dad…" When the Fourth looked at him curiously, Naruto furiously punched him right in the middle. The Hokage winced in pain. "WHY!? WHY WOULD YOU SEAL THE KYŪBI INSIDE YOUR OWN SON!?"
His dad looked up at him, "Naruto… I am sorry. Truly. But I believe you benefitted a great deal from your partnership with it over the years. And that's why I sealed it inside of you, so you could master its power."
"Kurama…" Naruto muttered. The Fourth cocked his head. "His name is Kurama."
His dad smiled again, "He told you his name? I never imagined you would… Naruto, I am proud to call myself your father."
Naruto looked up, still angry, upset, and confused, before the Fourth spoke again, "Now, I don't have much time. I'm going to rebuild the seal now, and put you back in control, but I won't be able to do this again."
He knelt down, and Naruto felt Kurama's power recede back into the seal. "One more thing, Naruto…" Naruto looked up at his dad as he stood. "I like her. I'm sure your mother would too. When you get back to Beacon, make sure you tell Blake how much you like her."
Naruto's anger vanished in an instant, embarrassment taking its place, "Well I- You- Shut up!"
For one last time, the Fourth Lord Hokage smiled at his son, before he faded away.
Naruto awoke, this time in the real world. He felt like his entire body had been set on fire, doused in water, then dropped in burning acid. In other words, he hurt. A lot. He closed his eyes as he waited for the initial wave of pain to pass. It didn't take long to, thankfully. He opened his eyes once more to see a spear of paper come rocketing down towards him.
His eyes widened, and he rolled to the side, pulling out his chokutō as a pistol as he moved. As he did, he noticed he was in the middle of some woods. He aimed upwards, and spotted the blue-haired woman from before. She was the last enemy left from his own world. Forgetting that her chakra was different, he assumed that she must have been the one to control the other Pains. According to her, she had come here without informing the other Akatsuki. If he could defeat her, then this would all be over, and he-
Oh, shit. He needed to come up with a way to explain this. Uh… he could think about that afterwards. For now, he fired his pistol up at her. Several of the bullets missed, due to her distance, and the rest were dodged by her turning into paper and moving away. He sent the last of his usable chakra to his legs, switched over to his chokutō, and leapt up at her, quicker than she could possibly dodge, faster than a bullet. He swung his sword through her, and she fell to the ground in two pieces, dead.
Unfortunately for him, he fell to the ground as well. Just before he hit, someone caught him. Imperius set him down, glanced around, and turned back to him, "Naruto, did you see the red Grimm? I lost track of it. After it killed the last of the village destroyers, it bolted, going so far out of the village that I could only track it after it made a pained howl."
Naruto was barely able to keep himself conscious as he answered, "No… ran… away. Couldn't… fight." From all the chakra he had used, and from all the injuries he still had- which were mercifully lessened- he fell into a chakra-exhaustion fueled coma.
Well, I can't see there being a better place to stop.
Right, so… this chapter. Quite a few things happened.
1) Pain! I'll be honest, the Pain Arc is my favorite in all of Naruto. I'd describe myself as a fanatic. And something I had noticed, as I was getting the inspiration to start this story, is that before Naruto shows up, Ningendo Pain learns where Naruto is from Shizune.
2) How? Well, here's the reasoning. The pond only works for toads or people using Toad Sage Mode, correct? (As I said in Chapter 1) So, Naruto, who wasn't currently using Sage Mode, was sent to another dimension, one filled with all of our favorite warrior teens. But when Pain/Nagato tries the same, he's under the same conditions as Naruto. Hell, he's even an Uzumaki. Not sure what that has to do with it.
3) In case you didn't notice, this ended a little differently than in canon. For one, Konan's dead. More importantly… Nagato isn't. Dun Dun DUN! Nah, I'm kidding. He's so emaciated by the end of the canon fight that I don't think he would've lived long even if he hadn't helped Naruto.
4) So, Kurama let Naruto have his name. I'll be honest, I feel like I could have written that part better. I'm okay with HOW it happened, but the dialogue definitely has room for improvement.
5) Kurama trying to take over Naruto's body... I'll be honest, I rewrote that part no less than four times. It ended differently each time, and even now I'm not perfectly content with it. BUT! I refuse to believe, no matter how well they were getting along, that a creature literally called the Demon Fox wouldn't take his opportunity to break out of his jail of sixteen years. I mean, canon Naruto had to do a bunch of shit before Kurama trusted him, including freeing another tailed beast from control.
That appears to be it, leastways that I remember. I don't think anything of any importance happened all chapter beyond that. Also, I made a chapter long fight. So… at least I managed to stretch things out unnecessarily long. I would honestly estimate this entire chapter to take the in-universe time of about an hour.
One more important thing. I'm taking a short break from writing this. Don't worry, it won't last too long. I just need a break from writing in general. I've been doing it so much recently. By taking this break, I think that I'll be able to get back in the mood to write this. Of course, it could just be how serious the last two chapters were. Regardless, this story will make it's return on April 23rd.
I swear, I'm going to stop ranting at the end of each chapter. Just not yet.
Until Chapter 12!