ero-sennin56: You find out this chapter.
serialkeller: Remember he just woke up from a week long coma where he 'lived' through the memories of both Obito and Orochimaru. What happens with the Rinnegan is explained this chapter.
Felicity Dream: Never seen/read anything related to Inuyasha myself. It's just something I wanted to do for this story. I know what you were getting at with Menma/Honoka, don't worry. Pulling your strings though, hmm? Maybe, maybe not. I hope it bothers you until a later chapter where I address it, heh.
And finally, Hyōton Naru/FemHaku - seriously? I tried doing a search for Hyōton/Hyoton/Ice Release and none of the stories I found were more than like 50k words or 5 chapters. (And most were updated years ago) If you can tell me a couple decent ones so I can check them out, I'd appreciate it.
Homarid: She only heard "Sakura-like" last chapter. You'll find out what happens this chapter.
Foxstar: Don't sweat it. I'm glad to get any review. It doesn't have to be per chapter.
Digitize27: Holy shit. I just started reading your "Yellow and Red makes" story the other day. It makes mine look pathetic. I'm only about 20 chapters in so far, but I'm liking it. I'll have to submit a review when I finish it.
Chapter 27
(Menma's Apartment)
Menma sat at his desk staring at a sleeping Tayuya as light from the window creeped slowly closer to her face. He had spent the night writing down all the techniques he had picked up from going through Orochimaru's and Obito's memories. Tayuya had stayed the night, just like she said she would.
He was currently trying to decide if he wanted to prank her or not. He had a prank in mind, but he was sure it would piss her off worse than anything he'd seen before. Would he risk a beating to get back at her for calling his bluff last night?
Yes. Yes, he would.
He quickly drew up a seal to block memories. The memory seal was intentionally made weak, so she could remember bits and pieces but not everything that happened last night.
After applying the seal he stripped Tayuya of clothing and threw it about the room haphazardly. After that was finished he pulled out a kunai and cut his hand, letting the blood drip onto the sheets. Satisfied with his work, he pulled the blankets back over her and left to go meet with Tsunade for the testing he needed done.
He was so busy thinking over what he had seen of Tayuya, he made sure to avert his eyes when he reached her lower half, that he didn't even notice the fire in another section of town.
(Konoha Hospital)
Tsunade was having a bad day, and the day had barely started! An apartment complex had burned down overnight. When the ninja investigating tracked the source of the fire they found it originated in the apartment of one Hatake Kakashi.
Said ninja had been brought to the hospital this morning as a mass of bruised and bloody flesh and broken bone. He refused to tell them who had caused it so she had ninja out scouring the village for the ninja that beat the hell out of him without any trouble.
Sakura had visited her first thing in the morning trying to get transferred to another team. When she had refused the girl then tried to get a restraining order placed on Kakashi.
Now she had some red-head blabbering on about Menma and eyes. She wanted to strangle the girl, but she was one of Menma's underlings. He wasn't the type to keep useless people around so she was probably important in some way.
She was just about to throw the girl out a window when they heard some rather girlish screams coming from just outside. The sounds of righteous feminine fury being unleashed upon a male.
When they walked out the main doors of the hospital they saw Tayuya slashing at Menma with a kunai. She managed to catch him in his left eye just as they approached.
Menma staggered backwards with a hand clamped over his bleeding eye and let out a string of curses. "Damnit, Tayuya, it was a prank! You just blinded me over a prank!"
Tayuya looked mortified before she saw Tsunade and Karin approaching. Karin clutched a small vial to her chest that carried the eye Menma had told her about when he was passing out in Pein's tower. Relaxing a bit she turned to Menma. "Or, relax, you big baby. The old drunk can heal you, and if not, I made sure we got that eye you wanted so you'll be able to see again in no time."
Menma glared at her before turning to Karin and Tsunade. "Yeah, well, it would have been nice to keep the one eye that was mine."
Tsunade walked over and ran a diagnostic on his eye. "This eye is useless now. If you want to see again you have no choice but to replace it." She turned a glare to Tayuya. "I'm all for punishing men when they do something stupid, girl, but you should never leave permanent damage like this."
"But he... he!" She held up a piece of cloth that was obviously torn from a larger piece. The cloth had a blood stain on it.
"Ugh... you destroyed my sheet too?" Menma groaned out.
Tsunade snatched the cloth and used her diagnostic again. Shortly after she tossed it back to Tayuya. "It's not your blood."
"But it was-"
"Do you have a penis?"
Tayuya flushed. "No!"
"Then it's not yours." She turned and grabbed both Menma and Karin by the arms. "Let's go get that eye replaced."
Tayuya stood in shock as the three walked away. Menma called back over his shoulder as they left. "I cut my hand. I told you it was a prank."
Tayuya was torn. She'd blinded him over a prank, but still, she woke naked. "Serves him right for looking," she muttered. She sighed shortly after. "No, it doesn't..."
Menma frowned as he sat in a hospital bed once again. The surgery had gone well enough and he now had a new eye, but it would take three days before he could get the bandage removed and actually use it. Now that he had some free time he could practice the skills he learned from the memories of the two men.
Using that intangibility of Obito's would have been helpful. He wouldn't have lost his eye if he could do that. He frowned and pulled out a kunai and focused. He stabbed at his hand.
"Tch," he frowned when the blade stabbed into him. He wiped the blood off and tried again. It happened the same way several more times before it passed harmlessly through his hand. Remembering how it felt he began to test it out on every area of his body. Satisfied he had learned it well enough he decided to try the other part of Kamui.
He snuck out of the bed and peeked out into the hallway. He had been kept overnight and would probably be forced to stay in the hospital for another two days until Tsunade decided his eye was ready. He snorted. They could keep a normal ninja trapped in the hospital until he was healed, but a teleporting ninja?
He focused and the world swirled around him. The next moment he found himself standing in his bathroom. "Hah! Trap that!" He registered the sound of two things then just then. The sound of running water, and the sound of something dropping.
He slowly turned around to find Tayuya in his shower. She had just dropped the bar of soap and was staring at him in shock. "Ah... I didn't..." He remembered his intangibility the moment before the kunai passed through his right eye. "Ahhhh! YOU ALMOST BLINDED ME AGAIN!"
"GET OUT!" Tayuya roared at him.
Menma dove through the wall as another kunai, this one aimed much lower, flew at him.
Menma stood in his kitchen contemplating something very important. "Where did the kunai come from?" It lasted all of about five seconds before an angry Tayuya stomped out of the bathroom clad in a towel.
She tried everything she could to harm him, but it all passed through him harmlessly. "I learned a new skill, by the way. Also, if you keep it up you're going to lose that towel." He pointed to the towel about to come undone.
She growled and grabbed it to make sure it didn't fall. "Twice! In as many days! You're going to die for this!"
"Actually, only once. I made sure not to look when I was setting up the prank," Menma calmly told her.
"Bullshit! If you really did only pull a prank why can't I remember last night?"
Menma reached out and broke the memory seal. "It really was just a prank. Nothing happened, you don't have to worry."
Tayuya glared at him before stomping back into the bathroom and slamming the door.
"Yeesh, that girl is crazy."
"I heard that!"
Menma stiffened and quickly used Kamui to escape before she could attack him again. "Such a handy ability. What perverts everywhere wouldn't give for this."
(Konoha Main Gate)
Tsunade had been called to the gate once again. This time she found a sea of people from Kumo standing outside. The Raikage was alive, but severely wounded.
Tsunade turned to the messenger. "Get me all available ANBU again."
When the first ANBU started arriving she turned to the people carrying the Raikage on a stretcher. "Follow these ANBU, they'll escort you to the hospital." She then turned to her ANBU. "Make sure he gets taken care of. I'll be along to heal him myself once I finish up here."
After the ANBU left she turned to the commander. "Same process as last time. Get them all recorded and put them in the abandoned sections. If you keep them in the same sections as Iwa we won't have to post any additional guards."
"Won't that cause conflicts?" The commander asked.
"I don't care. They're allowed to stay here by our good will. Make sure they all know that if they cause problems they can get the hell out," Tsunade said before turning and heading to the hospital.
(Konoha Hospital)
It had taken many hours to save the Raikage. He was crippled and his career as a ninja was over, but he was alive.
Two days had passed since then. Tsunade had arrived at the hospital to remove Menma's bandages over his eye and to meet with a now conscious Raikage.
Menma, curious as to why Tsunade looked so grim, had followed after her.
"Yeah... a giant black beast with ten tails. You've heard of it?" The Raikage asked.
"Yes. We have Iwa refugees here as well. They arrived a week or two ago. They were the first hit by the beast. Did it wipe out your village like it did Iwa?"
The Raikage growled. "Yes. Argh, I want to smash something!"
Tsunade smirked before sliding a small bedside table over within his reach.
The Raikage looked at her curiously before bringing a hand down to smash the table. He then lifted a chunk with his one good hand and threw it through the nearby window.
"I was fine with the table, but I'll have you pay for that window," Tsunade told him.
The Raikage grunted. "It made me feel better. I'm not sure how long it took us to get here, but you should probably warn Kiri. It was headed their direction when it left."
Tsunade frowned. "By the time a bird flew out there it could be under attack already." She bit her thumb. If that thing kept destroying villages how long before it attacked Konoha?
Tsunade nodded. "You should be able to leave in a couple of days. I'll tell your people you can have visitors now."
She called for the same two ANBU teams she had sent to Iwa as she left for her office.
(Hokage's Office)
"As you're aware, Kumo has been attacked by the same creature that attacked and destroyed Iwa. The Raikage has told me that Kumo was destroyed, but I would like you to confirm just like you did in Iwa," Tsunade explained. "Look for the same signs you found in Iwa. I want to be sure this is the same creature. If it is, you know what to expect." Tsunade frowned and looked out the window. "That is all, dismissed."
The ANBU teams quickly vanished to carry out their mission.
Tsunade turned back to her desk and quickly wrote down a letter. "I hope the message gets to them in time," she muttered as she finished and stood.
Menma phased through the wall when she stood. "I can deliver it immediately."
Tsunade jumped as he appeared out of the wall like a ghost. "Menma?!" She shook her head. "I'm sending it via bird. A ninja won't arrive in time."
Menma shook his head. "You don't understand. I can teleport now. Like the Hiraishin only without the kunai. I can deliver the message immediately."
Tsunade stared at him for a moment. "You heard everything?" Menma nodded. "Be careful. If the creature attacks while you're there I want you to return immediately. Understood?"
Menma nodded and took the scroll. "I'll be back soon." With a whirl of distortion, he was gone.
Tsunade shook her head and turned to look out the window. "I hope he makes it in time."
(Water Country - Outside Kirigakure)
Menma was confused. He had wanted to teleport to Kiri but somehow managed to teleport himself to a hellish landscape.
Thick black smoke blotted out the sky making it as dark as night. Geysers of lava erupted from the dead earth and fires lit up the area, giving everything an eerie red glow. The ground was scorched and dry. The earth was shaking and groaning like it was trying to tear itself apart.
"What the hell?" Menma shouted, staggering and trying to keep his footing. "Did I die and get dragged into the Underworld by those two assholes?"
Hearing an unusual sound he turned to see the ocean. He watched as a huge wave crashed into a fleet of ships fleeing into the open sea and capsize them. People and chunks of wood littered the surface of the water. He saw countless fins slicing the water surface and that was when the screams began. He turned away as the water began to turn red.
He grit his teeth and dashed forward. Eventually he came upon a thick black fog coating the ground. He instinctively knew to avoid it and jumped up to higher ground. The progress was slow as he would have to stop and cling to whatever he was on every time the shaking got really bad.
Eventually he came across what had to be the village itself. It seemed the further he got into the village the lower and lower the ground dropped. In the center, he saw something he couldn't comprehend.
A massive black beast stood in the center of the village. The black fog seemed to be pouring out of the creature. Buildings decayed and toppled down towards the beast, like people falling forward in worship of some dark god. Ten massive tendrils waved lazily from the base of the creature's spine as it stared down with a single red eye.
A lone woman with long auburn hair and wearing a blue dress leapt from building to building as they crumpled, spewing out streams of lava at the beast. Finally, the buildings had run out, and she stood on the last, staring up defiantly. As the building began to topple forward the beast raised up its arm and brought it crashing down.
Menma jumped forward as he activated Kamui. His thoughts as he hoped he made it in time were of a certain girl back in Konoha.
'Tayuya is going to kill me if I die here. Then again, she'll kill me if I bring home a woman I saved too. I'm screwed either way.'
The beast waited for the dust to clear. When nothing happened it turned and headed southwest, out of the village.
Two figures stood watching from afar on one of the few remaining bits of raised ground. As the beast slowly walked away from the village they turned to the sound of rushing water. The ocean was moving in to wash everything away as the land continued to break up and sink into the sea.
The younger of the two frowned and spoke quietly. "She wasn't kidding when she said she would destroy the world."
The older of the duo sighed. "This is the end of Kirigakure. I made a terrible Mizukage."
Menma jerked and turned towards the woman. "You're the Mizukage?"
The woman smiled at him. "That's right. Terumī Mei, Godaime Mizukage."
Menma frowned. "Ah, sorry. I had a message for you but..." he waved a hand at the sinking island. "it came a little too late. We should return to Konoha."
"You're a Konoha ninja?"
Menma frowned and brought a hand up to his forehead. 'That's right, Sasuke never gave it back. He's probably holding it hostage to make me move back into the compound.' He nodded. "Yeah. Ah, you mind? We should go before we sink into the sea along with your village."
Mei took one last look at her sinking village. "I hope others survived."
Menma laid a hand on her shoulder and the two vanished in a whirl of distortion.
End Chapter 27
A/N:
Three villages gone with Kiri's destruction being the most violent so far.
If you guys want to read a good Naru/Tayuya story go check out Digitize27's "Yellow and Red makes". (S)he has done a much better job at writing Tayuya than I have.