Holy crap, I never would've expected that updating this will take me that long. Around a month time since the last installment, wasn't it? If it's any consolation, the lateness of this chappie is caused by the fact I had little time to work on it (once I dig out enough, I wrote it all in record time XD). I might've managed to finish it last week, but I felt the need to update my original works on FictionPress first (and, as always, I wish to invite you to give them a try and possibly leave a comment).

Naturally I wish to thank everyone who sacrificed their time to review the previous chapter (and apologize if I haven't replied to your review, coz my mailbox sort screwed-up in the meantime) and hope that you'll find this chapter worth waiting for. Hopefully you'll leave a comment about it as well.

A word from our beta:

DarkHeroOrion: I don't have much else to say, other than my update for Birth of a Legend: The Fox Druid is going to have to take a back seat for the time being.

And with that, let's move on to the newest chapter of "Naruto: Next Generation"!

Chapter #113: Full Circle – Takai's Story part VII

Title Page: the desert: Takai is laying on top of a large rock; Aoru is sitting in its shadow, drinking water from a bottle, while Touba made himself a roof from his sand

Takaru sat on the rooftop with both his arms and legs crossed, gazing at the Hokage Monument, allowing the moonlight to clear his view. A saddened expression crossed his face, as he glanced to the side for a brief moment. A sudden 'tap', too quiet for a typical person to hear, reached his ears, making him look over his shoulder to see Senkou walking towards him from the other side of the roof. "It's pretty late. What are you doing here?" he asked. "And shouldn't you be hospitalized?"

"A midnight walk," the masked genin replied, crossing his arms. "As far as I know, this village is still a free one, so I'm allowed to do whatever I want. But, since I answered your question, I think it's only fair you repay me in the same manner. What are you doing here at this hour?"

Takaru threw his companion a death glare, but his face quickly softened and turned worried, while he shifted his sight to the mountain again. "I… I just wanted to think a bit, that's all," he finally responded with an annoyed voice. Senkou didn't react to that statement at first. He just stared at the scar-faced genin, as his speaker's gaze got lost in the distance.

"It's not easy, is it?" the masked boy finally asked, making Takaru turn his head towards him. "Being the son of a Hokage. These people our heroes of the village; legendary leaders that everyone respects. When someone you admire is gone, you usually hope another person will be able to fill in his or her spot. In most cases the children are those that are expected most of. It can't be helped; that's how this world works…"

The scar-faced boy didn't reply. He just glanced at the Monument once more, stone-faced.

Senkou threw a quick look at his speaker, only to follow his sight as he continued: "But you know what? We are not them," he announced, making Takaru gaze at him once more. "We may be related to them, use their techniques, even look like them in many ways, but we're not them. We are ourselves, regardless to how other people see us. We should be proud we're children of these great shinobi, but that alone shouldn't determine what we do with our lives. We can choose our own path, Takaru. By looking to the past, you'll only get lost in your future. You shouldn't let what happened to your mother hold you back. I'm sure she, for one thing, wouldn't want that…"

"You're awfully talkative tonight," the scar-faced boy replied, smiling after a moment, but the masked genin quickly responded, waving his hand. "I just don't want you to be unfocused. You're fighting a guy who beat my teammate. I'm counting on you to take revenge on him for Tsume, since I won't be able to do so myself. I guess I'll be cheering for you during the finals." And with that he was gone, leaving Takaru alone once again.

The black-haired boy turned towards the stone faces once more at a glance, managing a forced smile as a certain thought raced through his head: "Children of great leaders, eh? I'd wish things were as easy as you put it, Senkou… choosing our own path. But the thing is there's more to it than that. Should we not live up to everyone's expectations… won't we just get forgotten?"

--Five years ago in Hidden Sand Village--

"You won't change your mind?" Touba asked his friend, yet Takai's emotionless face was all the answer he needed, even though words were not spoken. "I'm still clueless as to why you're doing this," he announced, slightly worried, but instead of a reply, the crimson-eyed boy just charged forward, aiming his scythe at the head of the Kazekage's son. In a flash another wall of sand rose, blocking the assault, while grains of sand sprayed into the air.

"Your scythe cannot break through my Sand Shield," the redhead reminded him calmly, while his friend froze in place, his weapon still pressing hard against the barricade. "And if you can't hit me, then there's no way for you to defeat me, regardless to how strong you are…"

But as his words escaped his mouth, Takai replied, his voice as emotionless as his face: "That… is not entirely so." Pushing his blade further, he made it cut through the sand barrier; forcing Touba to duck under the assault, making the scythe cut the air above with a whistling sound.

Instantly the redhead flipped back a few times, extending the distance between himself and his friend, his eyes set on Takai.

"Why are you so surprised?" the crimson-eyed boy asked, almost as if he was mocking his adversary, yet the emotionless tone and expression put that in a doubtful manner. "We were created to be perfect weapons, it's only natural the research also included the issue of being able to get through Kazekage's sand. This scythe was specifically manufactured for that purpose: I can release my chakra and make it gather in the blade, thus increasing its destructive power. Things with chakra will be destroyed by simply putting more chakra into them. While your Sand Shield is definitely effective against physical attacks, once those get combined with one's inner energy, they can get through that protection of yours, should the barricade be thin enough…"

"I see," Touba replied, his face now different, more determinate. "Seems like it'll be pointless to try and talk you out of this in the end. But I should warn you: since this is your approach, I will not hold back either."

The only response he got was Takai's tightening grip on his scythe. In a flash the redhead threw his hand forward, making the sand dance around the crimson-eyed boy, wrapping around his legs like ropes. Without a second to waste the artificial shinobi jumped to the sky, just barely getting out of the desert's reach, but the son of the Kazekage was not yet done.

Instantly his hand rose up, making new whips shoot out from the ones that tried to bind the scythe-user a second ago, piercing the boy's arms and legs with a sound of ripping clothes accompanying them. Takai didn't scream. He merely narrowed his eyes before going into a spin, which made his weapon cut the spikes, only to have them break into dust that fell to the golden surface.

As Takai's feet touched the ground, more spikes shot out from all around him, rising to the sky and then dropping on the boy like rain. The crimson-eyed shinobi kept on charging forwards, slaloming between the falling whips as they crashed against the ground. He cut those that he could not dodge in time with his scythe, making them split into grains that fell freely on his head.

The instant his running form emerged from the 'apocalypse', Touba quickly formed a single seal, pushing a spike from the ground in the attempt to pierce Takai's chest, but the artificial ninja managed to jump up in time and somersaulting in mid-air, he landed safely on the sand lance, sliding down it, thus shortening the distance between the two fighters even further.

Seeing this, the redhead threw both of his hands to the sky, blasting up sand poles, each shooting from below the crimson-eyed boy's feet, leaving him not more than a fraction of a second to dodge. While Takai managed to avoid the first few, he was not fast enough to completely get out of the range of the next set. With his left foot falling behind, the pole hit it, making the young shinobi lose his balance and thus rendered him vulnerable, allowing another column to raise, hitting him hard in the stomach and lifting him up on its top.

The impact itself was enough to leave Takai breathless for a moment, stopping him from taking action until the pole froze. Without a second to waste, the crimson-eyed boy jumped off the column and struck his blade into its side, slowing down his fall and leaving a wide slash in the solid sand.

Countering, Touba threw his hands to the sides, suddenly making the pole Takai was jumping off spread into grains, circling in the wind. The crimson-eyed boy's fall took up speed, while the floating dirt began shaping once more, forming itself into a multitude of tiny needles, each aimed at the artificial shinobi.

"Suna Senbon!" the redhead called out, making all the needles shoot straight at Takai, but the boy didn't even bother to take evasive action. He just turned his back at the assault, having all of the sandy spikes strike him from behind, yet with no effect it'd seem as the scythe-user simply landed safely on the ground and resumed his charge at the son of the Kazekage, his weapon ready to swing.

As the blade ripped the air, sand arose to block the attack, but the scythe went right through it, separating Touba's head from the rest of his body. But Takai didn't seem to pay attention to the round object, covered with blazing-red hair that suddenly flew to the sky as he merely glanced over his shoulder. A moment later the real son of the Kazekage emerged from under the sandy surface, while the one he just 'killed' broke into a storm of grains.

"Seems the only way to tame you is to take away that scythe," the redhead stated, forming an instant seal. In a flash, sand whips shot from right below the crimson-eyed boy's feet, wrapping around the weapon's handle in an attempt to pull it out of the artificial shinobi's grip. As his attention concentrated on keeping his blade, more sandy ropes jumped up, this time from behind, binding Takai's shoulders.

"As long as there is sand, I can do anything," Touba reminded him with a monotonous voice. "You cannot defeat me. At the very least not as you are now. Give up and let's end this madness," he purposed, but his 'friend' did not reply. Instead, he just turned his back at the redhead and a moment later, the sand senbon that were stuck there shot out, right at the surprised son of the Kazekage.

"Shinobi, if only they're skilled enough, can deflect material objects with chakra alone," Honemaru noted to himself, while other spectators around him stood amazed at the turn of events. "I heard of a clan in the Leaf that mastered such a skill. With his entire skeleton made of chakra, I suppose it's not hard for Takai to fill whichever part of his body he desires with his ki. Most likely he just suddenly transferred great amounts of it to his back, blasting those needles…"

Before long, the sand spikes broke the distance between themselves and their target, but a single swing of the redhead's hand made the needles separate into grains again, merely hitting their master's face as dust carried by the wind. This covered the Kazekage son's view for a moment and the instant he regained it, the crimson-eyed boy was already near him, ready to deliver a fatal blow.

Touba quickly slammed his hands to the ground, making a huge wave of sand rise up with the redhead riding on its top. The golden tsunami came with a rumbling sound at Takai, who froze in shock, covering his face in his arms as the shadow of the attack engulfed him. He still did not scream, even as tons of sand crashed over his head, burying him completely in the vast desert, while the tidal wave disappeared, leaving the son of the Kazekage standing on top of wide pile of sandy earth.

"With this much sand covering you, all pressing against your body, it's basically impossible to move a finger, much less take any sort of action," Touba noted in his mind as his eyes shut in pain, while his head lowered. "Why? Why now? This is not fair," he complained, clenching his teeth in both anger and despair. "This is not fair at all. This is not how it was suppose to end. Is… is there really no other outcome? Does everything have to be decided by that?" Touba asked himself as he held out his right hand again. His arm shook as it hung stretched over the mountain of sand, under which the scythe was still buried. "Should I do this…? Wouldn't it all come to an end? Is this salvation or fate's cruel joke? Takai… forgive me…" His eyes slowly opened as hesitation faded into the recesses of his brain.

"Sabaku SouSou!" the redhead called out, tightening his fist.

--buried under the sand… and the conclusion? --

And with that this chapter is complete. I hope that you enjoyed it, that you'll leave me a review once you're done reading (all you need to do is push that pretty button at the bottom and write a few words) and that I'll manage to finish the next installment sooner this time. And just to be on the safe side, in case you're not aware (or have forgotten), Sabaku SouSou is "Desert Funeral" (in some translations marked as "Imploding Sand Funeral", "Sand Funeral" or even "Desert Coffin", though that last one is not accurate).

Well, that's that for now. Thanks for tuning in and hope to see/read you next time!