Chapter 12- Tears of the Seraphim, Part 1

Shizuka sat on a branch with her leg dangling, like a hungry leopard waiting for the right prey to come to it.

In her hands she held a single, tattered photograph, staring at it with sad eyes. Nobody would be able to tell, though, as she wore her welder's goggles.

Slowly, she stood up, putting the slightly frayed picture in her pocket.

"I'll kill him, Daddy," she told herself, "I promise."

Beneath her goggles, her eyes scanned the nearby area. Already her powerful senses could detect a team of Ame ninja coming too close.

She could pinpoint their exact locations; the team thought that if they divided and caught her from every major direction they'd be able to catch her off guard. This was what her powerful mind analyzed. They were so sadly mistaken.

Shizuka counted backwards in her mind as she waited for the team to strike. Right on cue, all three jumped out of the trees at the same time, their weapons ready to strike.

With the split second she had, a sneer crossed her face. A waste of her time; that was all this particular team was to her.

The world around her slowed down as her powerful mind began to work at full speed, processing everything faster than any supercomputer. With the added time, she pulled her butterfly knife out and began to twirl it in between her fingers until the blade was out.

She wouldn't kill them, but she was going to teach them a lesson she was sure they were going to remember for the rest of their lives.


The Sandaime looked up as the doors to his office were slammed open, revealing a scowling Jiraiya. The Sannin slowly walked into the office, not speaking a word even as he sat down in front of his desk.

If he wasn't trying to keep his composure, Sarutobi might've whistled at the glare Jiraiya was giving him; even Orochimaru might've flinched at the sight of it. His student wasn't somebody to get angry; most of the time he snuffed it out, and what little he did permeate was merely for bantering fun. Now, though, a killer intent seemed to leak into the air, centered at his former student.

Even as Jiraiya glared at him with enough force to burn a hole into carbonized steel, the aged man calmly took out his pipe and put some fresh tobacco in it. A second later, he used a low lever fire jutsu to light it.

After taking a small puff, the Hokage turned his attention to his student and broke the silence. "I'm just going to assume you've met Naruto."

"So, you've been anticipating this?" Jiraiya calmly shot back.

"Well, I hadn't expected you to meet him this early, but yes," the aged man answered. "Actually, it's more like I anticipated the fit you were going to throw."

Jiraiya sighed as he leaned into the chair he was seating in. He should have known; Sarutobi-sensei always seemed to be able to see into the future.

With a deep, calming breath, Jiraiya composed himself. Sarutobi waited patiently for his student to gather his thoughts. After all, it wasn't everyday someone found out there supposedly long dead grandson was, in fact, alive.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jiraiya asked as he looked into his teacher's aged and knowledgeable eyes. "Why did you tell me that he was dead?"

"It was for the best." Sarutobi answered slowly, carefully picking every word that was going to come out of his mouth –one wrong move and Jiraiya might make him toad food. "Besides, if you had raised him I don't think fate might've blessed us the way it did."

"What are you talking about?" he snapped back.

"Have you seen his eyes?"

Jiraiya could almost feel his heart skip a beat at the mere thought of those eyes. He stared numbly at the ground as he remembered the look of those silvery irises. A shiver made its way up his spine as he was reminded of another student he once had.

"You know what a Transcendent Bloodline is." Sandaime blew out a smoke ring. "You're aware of the Rin'negan and the Genzoume, and how valuable they are, but if you're like me, then you know what Naruto has is something completely unheard of. If you had raised him, then those eyes might've activated earlier, maybe at a time when Naruto wouldn't be able to defend himself as well as he does now. Tell me, do you know Naruto's eyes do?"

Jiraiya shook his head, still keeping his eyes on Sarutobi's. The Rin'negan itself was valuable, which made him only wonder just how important these eyes were.

"Let me tell you what's been happening the past couple months," Sandaime began, taking the pipe out of his mouth.


The leader of the Ame team frantically crawled away, his legs completely useless due to the severed tendons. Behind him his teammates lied. One had glassy eyes that were dilated, and his body seemed to be shivering. The other was curled up in a fetal position and muttering something under his breath that sounded like 'dark'.

It had only been a matter of seconds. They didn't even see it coming. She moved like a demon, disabling them and using her knife to cut into their legs. All three fell at one time. Before any of them could crawl away, she moved to each one and stared into their eyes with her pearlescent ones, sealing their fates.

The leader looked behind his shoulders and began to crawl even faster to a nearby katana as the pearlescent-eyed monster closed in on him. Before he could touch it, his hand was stepped on by a foot. A cry of pain wanted to escape his throat, but he swallowed it, trying to preserve what little pride he had left.

Slowly, he looked up to see Shizuka staring down at him, twiddling her knife between her fingers. She kneeled down so she could get a better view of his face, making him cringe from how close she was.

He tried his best to keep his eyes averted from hers, even if they were covered by a set of goggles.

"What… What are you?" he questioned with fear as he saw her pulling off the goggles.

"Not normal," was all she answered.

Finally, she opened her eyes, making the genin scream bloody murder as he was forever entangled in a world of nightmares. Caught off guard by the loud noise, she covered her ears and kicked him hard on the head, shutting him up. With a growl, she moved onwards to their supplies to find their scroll.

She hated it when they screamed; it always hurt her sensitive ears.

After a couple of seconds of digging through an assortment of bags full of supplies (all of it useless to her), she found an earth scroll. With a roll of her eyes, she tossed it over her shoulder.

"Figures," she told herself. "They always never have what you need."

She had an earth scroll already- meaning that she had to get a heaven scroll to pass. It didn't annoy her; this task was nothing more than time consuming to her.

With a deep breath, she slowly walked over to a nearby branch and pulled out the picture. It was a photograph of a married couple, happy and looking as if there wasn't a care in the world. The woman looked to be midway through her pregnancy, while a man wearing the signature robes of a kage gently hugged her.

That was her mother and father. She fondly smiled as she thought of them. Supposedly, her sensei told her that she was a clone of her mother, but at the same time, she carried herself like her father.

Shizuka stopped her reminiscing as she felt a very familiar chakra signature nearby, one she loathed more than anything. She slowly stood as she pinpointed the signature before it got too far away, and once she was up, she moved like a predator on a mission.

"I hope you're ready, Silver-Eyes," her voice echoed.


Jiraiya sat his head on his hands as he took in everything. Not only was his grandson a holder of one of the Three Great Doujutsu, but Minato had also turned him into a jinchuuriki. In short, Naruto probably had the most capability to become the strongest ninja to have ever been born in a very long time.

"This…" Jiraiya tried to say, but for the life of him, he couldn't bring the words out.

"Yes," the Sandaime said. "It's so much to take in such a short amount of time."

He stayed silent for a couple minutes as he processed every word the Kage told him. Naruto –his own grandson, a boy with one of the most legendary lineages in a long time, the carrier of a Bloodline Limit spoken of only in legends- was the absolute unluckiest person on the planet. He couldn't figure out whether the luck came from Minato's side of the family, or his mother's. It must have come from Jiraiya himself, because he knew his luck sucked something awful.

Jiraiya sighed as he thought of how many people would want Naruto's head, or blood depending on the case. Being the son of the Yondaime, grandson of a Legendary Sannin, the only living heir to the Uzumaki, and the carrier of a Bloodline Limit that created other Limits, Naruto would become enemy number one in every country in the world, that or become the most sought after commodity on the planet.

"Damn," muttered Jiraiya. "It just plain sucks to be him."

"I know." Sarutobi stood up and walked over to the window overlooking his beloved village. "But it's a miracle things happened the way they did."

Jiraiya growled, but nodded his head.

It was true; had he raised Naruto, it was possible the Limit would've activated earlier. Then hell would've broken loose if someone was lucky to catch anything. On top of that he was always moving around; the last thing a young child needed was to become a virtual vagabond.

"What Limits has he copied?" Jiraiya asked.

He'd be damned if he didn't train the boy himself.

"So far," Sarutobi answered as he turned to him, "Hyouton, Sharingan, Byaku Chakra, Mokuton, Hyakurai, and from what I recently heard from Iruka, Naruto has copied the Byakugan from the Hyuga heiress." Sarutobi chuckled. "I hear that the two have become quite the close friends."

"That's a large list," Jiraiya thought aloud. "Two Bi-Elements, two Doujutsu, and two Body Manipulation Limits; is he any good with any of them?"

"Naruto is a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none," Jiraiya rolled his eyes, but that only made his teacher chuckle again. "But to make up for this, Naruto's learning rate is absolutely astounding. We're having trouble keeping up with him. Whereas it could take a single person a couple of months to learn a small percentage about their Bloodline Limit, Naruto can learn what they do in less than a couple of weeks. It's amazing really."

"Kushina was that way, too," Jiraiya said with a proud smile.

"If anything, he learns even faster than Kushina." The Sandaime slowly returned to his seat, wearing a kind smile. "I bet he could learn to utilize the Rasengan in about a month with the way he learns."

"I'd actually be willing to take that bet," Jiraiya grinned. His grin quickly did a one-eighty, making his teacher across from him frown from the sudden seriousness. "I need some info on a Komoriuta Shizuka."

"Komoriuta?" Sandaime questioned with a raised eyebrow. "That's a name I haven't heard someone mention in a long time."

The aged man dug through a stack of manila folders –the files of the genin partaking in the exams- until he pulled out a particular one marked with the insignia of Hidden Twilight. Jiraiya was quick to snatch it from his sensei's hand, and as soon as he did his eyes began scanning over everything.

"So, there is a Komoriuta left," Sandaime thought aloud, rubbing his beard. "Why didn't I see that name when I went through the folders? I thought Minato killed the last one during the Iwa/Konoha war."

"Well, evidently not," Jiraiya muttered. His eyes suddenly widened as he stopped on a certain spot. "I'll be damned. She's the Yondaime Tsuchikage's only child!"

"Huh? That can't be right," Sarutobi muttered as he took the file.

He looked over some results on a blood test done on the fiery-haired girl, and by the time he went over the info his student did his white eyebrows had shot into his hairline. His eyes rapidly blinked for a couple of seconds, or at least until he finally got his bearings straight.

"How could she have missed all of our scouts and spies?" Sarutobi thought aloud.

"It's simple," Jiraiya explained. "Her mother must've high-tailed it out of Iwa towards the end of the war. From the looks of it, she headed towards Hakubo to hide out. If my info from my spy network is as reliable as they make it out to be, it borders Northern Land of Earth and Eastern Land of Lightning, making it disconnected from the shinobi world. It would be nothing more than a fly speck on the map. Perfect place to hide out."

"I can believe that," the Hokage agreed with a nod of his head. "It isn't unheard of for Nuke-Nin or important nobles to find a quiet, out-of-the-way place to hide out."

"This would also explain why she's so intent on killing Naruto," Jiraiya explained. "Yesterday she made an attempt at him. Thankfully, I intervened before any permanent damage could be done, but she got away before I could detain on her. But here's the kicker: she's the holder of the Genzoume."

Jiraiya was worried that his teacher was having a heart attack, watching him recline in his chair with wide eyes. For the next couple minutes, Sarutobi stroked his beard in thought, all the while looking shocked.

This wasn't good info, and the Sandaime was one-hundred-percent sure this was going to send Iruka and Anko into orbit. He wasn't favoring the thought of being at the receiving end of their anger and their 'pull Naruto out the competition!' chants.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Sarutobi sighed. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do."

"I'm not worried about Shizuka killing him," Jiraiya told his master as he stood up to leave. Once he got to the door, he turned back to the Hokage. "I'm more worried about the Kyoukagan harming Naruto."

"What do you mean?" the Sandaime asked with slightly narrowed eyes.

This had definitely come out of the left field. What could the Kyoukagan do that would harm its user?

"The price for using the Kyoukagan… don't you know what it is?" Jiraiya asked, though his voice had an edge in it.

"I don't," his teacher answered honestly. "What is this price?"

"Let's just say it isn't pretty."

The Sandaime stood up and locked eyes with his student, trying to decipher what Jiraiya was telling him. In his eyes, he could see a terrible, terrible knowledge there, something he didn't want them to know.

"You know something about the Kyoukagan that we don't," he suddenly realized.

Before he could press on for info, Jiraiya had left, leaving the man to sit quietly to himself, contemplating what he had heard.


Naruto had to admit, he thought the Byakugan was one of the coolest Limits in his arsenal, on par with the Hyakurai.

Being able to see three-hundred and fifty-nine degrees was absolutely awesome, though he thought it would've been even better if there wasn't a black speck on his sight (the blind spot, though he didn't realize it yet). It was also downright awesome having x-ray vision, but he had to prevent himself from getting nosebleeds early on when trying to get a grasp of that ability –Sakura was in front of him, and thanks to his new Doujutsu, he could tell she was wearing lime-green panties.

Sakura looked behind herself, finding, much to her surprise, a smiling Naruto with his attention shifting everywhere. That is, everywhere except the way they were going, but somehow, he managed to dodge every tree branch and land in all the right spots, even when he wasn't paying attention.

"Naruto, this is serious!" she shouted, making Sasuke sigh in front of her. "This is a life and death situation!"

"Really?" Naruto said with a grin. "I'm having the time of my life!"

"Whatever," Sakura muttered, as she held her hand against the hilt of her katana, Bloody Rose. "Just act like a ninja for once! I don't intend to go home in a body bag!"

She couldn't understand how Naruto was having fun in a place like this. For her, it was one of the scariest moments in her life knowing everybody, except her teammates, was out to get her. It was for this reason she kept one hand on her sword and the other held against her kunai pouch, full of kunai, shuriken, and a couple of soldier pills.

Behind her, Naruto's excited grin became a deep frown. His teammate had a point; Gaara, Shizuka, and Mr. Freaky (the creepy genin) were all out to get him, and he was pretty sure Neji and he wouldn't have a very nice meeting should they just so happen to cross paths.

He stopped, prompting his teammates to do the same. When they looked back at him to see what his problem was, he shouted to them: "I think I should warn you guys about a couple of people!"

Out of curiosity, Sakura and Sasuke landed next to him.

"This had better be good," Sasuke told him warningly. "You're wasting our time."

"Oh, trust me," Naruto reassured, "you will want to hear this."

"And why now?" Sasuke questioned sardonically; the more he hung around the loser, the more he wanted to ring his neck.

"Because, there were too many people, and I already have enough of them wanting my head. Anyways," he looked to Sakura. "Do you remember that Gaara guy?" She briefly shivered and then nodded. "Well, we might want to avoid him. He has a Bloodline Limit of some kind, and he's really good at using it."

"Who's Gaara?" Sasuke questioned.

"This guy from Suna," Sakura answered with a frown.

She had to agree with Naruto; whatever Gaara's Limit was, he could control metal, meaning he was her worst nightmare made real. The memory of everything metallic on her body being pulled to him was still very frightening.

"He tried to kill us this one time," she continued, "but Iruka-sensei came before things could get violent. He has red hair and black rings around his eyes; you'll recognize him if we're unlucky enough to see him."

Naruto shifted uncomfortably as he remembered his second meeting with the ghoul. It also made him uneasy at knowing he was the container of Ichibi no Shukaku, adding to his already deadly status.

With a clearing of his throat, Naruto got the other two's attention once more and went on. "That's one of the three big ones we need to avoid. The other we should look out for is that bitch, Shizuka."

They didn't need to be told twice.

Sasuke grimaced as he remembered how he had been at the receiving point of her blade. Besides her air of arrogance, he could also sense a unique power from her, one that could possibly trump the Sharingan in a one-on-one battle.

But from what little he saw from her, he could tell she was an illusionist, which should make him her worst enemy. At the same time, there was no predicting what else she had up her sleeve; her weapon choice was very unique and only added to this thought.

"Number three," Naruto told them as he counted off everyone of the 'avoids' on his fingers, "is Mr. Freaky, you know, the guy from yesterday with that long tongue?"

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"Let's just say he freaked Anko out," Naruto explained. "She was the one who told me to avoid him. I'm not normally one to do what she says, but I really think we should listen to her this time."

"Anyone else?" Sasuke asked, finding the information surprisingly helpful.

Gaara sounded like a bloodthirsty ghoul; Shizuka was a bitch from hell who wore welder's goggles; the freak spooked the normally psychotic Anko. The Uchiha had to wonder why the stronger the opponent was the more eccentric they were. But either way, Naruto's info still had use to them.

"Not really. If there was someone else I would say to avoid, it would be the Sound team since they probably don't like us," the blond added.

"What about that team with Lee on it?" Sakura suddenly thought.

"I wouldn't worry too much about them," Naruto clarified. "I'm friends with Tenten, and I'm pretty sure she'll put a couple of leashes on the two if we were to meet up." He then grinned as another thought hit him. "Then again, a rematch with Lee would be downright awesome."

"Naruto, concentrate!" Sakura snapped him out of his daydream. "Who else should we worry about?"

He put a hand against his chin as he thought about it. "The only other person I can think of is that Kabuto guy. He just seemed too… nice. There was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way."

"I could understand about the first three," Sasuke said, putting his two cents in, "but that seems a little off. Why should we worry about him? He's already failed the exam god-knows-how-man- times." Thinking his teammate had no more to contribute, he gave the orders, "All right, let's keep going."

The three were off, but Naruto couldn't help but grimace as he followed the two.

Being a shinobi was a practical form of art, a way of life where weaving lies, facades, and cloaking one's self was a natural part of the job. Another part of it was learning to read people, to find the flaws in their real or made up personas, and then to take advantage of those flaws to gain something. Naruto would be the first to admit he didn't have the all-seeing eyes of the Hyuga or the clarifying Sharingan (or at least not naturally), but he had to learn this fine art from a very young age. He could read people, even if it was partially.

Kabuto just was somebody that unnerved him by his mere presence. He couldn't explain it. It was difficult to read the four-eyed genin; or what his motives were or if he had any and that aggravated Naruto.

He stopped his musing as his Kyoukagan picked up a very familiar signature he was coming to loath more than even the Kyuubi's. In his still active Byakugan, he could see the wisps of illusionary chakra in the air taking shape as a familiar figure entered his range of his sight.

Sakura halted suddenly as she sensed Naruto no longer following them. Sasuke followed suit when he felt his teammates slowing down. Both of them looked behind their backs to find Naruto stopped. He was staring off into a spot for what seemed like no reason, but they could see he didn't look too happy.

"What now?" Sasuke asked, letting some of his temper fly.

Next to him, Sakura was staring at Naruto's eyes or, to be more precise, the veins bulging around them. She hadn't noticed it when they stopped, but now she could see them as plain as daylight.

She was about ask if his eyes were alright, but was interrupted by Naruto. What he said sent a chill down her spine.

"I think you guys should start running," he suggested, his voice sounding more on edge than they ever heard.

"Why should we?" Sasuke spat back. "You idiot! We have to do this as a…"

"Shut up and listen to me!" Naruto raised his voice, letting a little killer intent into the air to show his team he was serious. "Shizuka is here!"

It happened in a split second. Naruto's head shot to the left as he sensed something, but it was too late as he was sent reeling straight through a tree and into a clearing several feet away by an invisible enemy.

"I think you should listen to him," a whimsical voice echoed.

"You again," Sasuke growled.

He blinked, and in that moment she appeared two inches away from his face. Before he could react, a roundhouse kick sent him flying backwards.

Sakura pulled out her sword and charged her, but Shizuka disappeared and used the momentary shock to punch Sakura hard in the gut. The poor girl doubled over in pain and vomited what little she eaten that morning.

Shizuka reappeared in a shimmer of light, and grabbed Sakura by her hair, forcing the girl to look into her covered eyes.

"I'm going to warn you right now," Shizuka cautioned dangerously, "if you or the Uchiha interfere in mine and Naruto's battle in anyway, I won't hesitate to kill either of you straight off."

"What do you have against him!" Sasuke yelled as he suddenly rejoined them, holding a fuuma shuriken.

"Everything," she vaguely answered, disappearing in another shimmer of light as the oversized weapon struck where she formerly stood.

Sasuke stood next to his teammate, helping her up, but then winced as he heard the girl's voice echo in the area: "Just stay out of the way and we'll get along fine."

Sakura and Sasuke watched below as Naruto was suddenly launched out of the clearing through several trees, disappearing from their sights. Shizuka shimmered back into existence for a brief moment and looked towards the pair while making a motion at her neck, meaning 'don't bother or die'.

"What should we do?" Sakura asked while looking towards Sasuke, finding his Sharingan fully activated. "If Naruto dies, we…"

"I know, but we can't do anything for the moment." His face contorted in aggravation as he looked at the clearing where the two had formerly occupied. "I can't see past her illusions… even with the Sharingan."

Sakura looked at him with wide, fear-filled eyes. It was then she realized that Naruto was up against someone by far not normal. She gave a silent prayer for her teammate, hoping he lived through the ordeal.


Naruto coughed out the blood collecting in his mouth and quickly jumped up, all the while trading his Byakugan for Hyakurai. The major weakness of the Genzoume was electricity and the powerful senses. If he could get lucky and hit her with a full blast of charged lightning, then he could buy himself several seconds to defeat her.

He could feel chakra collecting in the air and knew another one of those invisible blasts were taking aim at him. To put distance between his self and the Genzoume user, he charged up his electricity and poured it all into the ground. It got results as he heard some cursing from a nearby branch.

"Sounds like I almost got you," Naruto taunted.

Shizuka countered by making all the trees in the immediate area come to life. Some grew monstrous faces made from the bark while others seemed to grow even more demonic.

"Oh, shit," muttered Naruto as he watched every tree turn their attention to him. "Maybe I shouldn't have pissed her off so early."

He jumped out of the way as one monstrous hand came crashing down. The forest floor didn't looked to be touched, but Naruto knew better; these illusions were hybrids, capable of making the real thing happen. Becoming a red smear on the forest floor didn't sound very appealing to Naruto.

The blond dodge-rolled out of the way as several hands came at once, only to jump out of the way on all fours as tree roots shot out of the ground like a set of spears. Naruto clenched his teeth as he dodged roots, hands, and branches like a dancer.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an opening out of the literal forest of death, and immediately made a run for it. He sprinted for it, jumping over roots and branches that swung about wildly like an octopus's tentacles. Several times, tree hands tried to squash, or even capture, him, but failed.

He grinned as he came close to the edge, but as soon as he stepped foot out of the clearing, a hand came out of nowhere and slammed into him, making him fly back into the center of the battlefield like a golf ball being hit by a club.

Naruto took a second to catch his breath and mutter a few choice words, but instantly rolled out of the way as a hand came down. He then rolled back to his former position as another tried to smack him like a giant flyswatter, but he barely got out of way in time.


In the shadows, Shizuka was starting to get annoyed. She had to give it to him; he knew how to move on the wire, and he must've been luckier than hell to have gotten through some of those hits. But now, it was time bring things to the next level: introduce some strategy into the wild game of chess they were playing.


Naruto now found himself having to be quicker in his steps as the trees started to suddenly become more coordinated in their attacks. One would distract while another would try to pull a finisher. He cursed as a tree root came too close to his nose for comfort.

Out of the corner of his eyes he could see one branch come at him like a tentacle, sweeping the ground to trip him. On instinct alone he jumped out of the way, only to get slammed by another branch. He cursed as he slammed into one of the faux trees, immediately getting tied to it by rapidly growing branches.

"What do you think of my illusion?" Shizukesa asked as she shimmered into being. "It's my powerful Demonic Illusion: Nightmare Hell Forest."

Carefully, he studied her, making sure this was the genuine article. Much to his relief it was; she had yet to take over his senses, which meant he still could sense her with his Hyakurai and Kyoukagan.

He had to prevent himself from smiling. His plan to bring her out into the open was working beautifully. Now was it time was for the part he had yet to plan out.

Naruto shattered his eyes, changing them from the dark eyes of Iruka to the beautiful shattered mirrors so few knew him for. He went through all the Limits he copied and began trying to figure out which one would get him out of this mess, but at the same time he had to create as much damage as possible in a very short amount of time.

A plan came to mind. The only thing he needed was a lot of luck, and he needed her to talk until the Limit went into full activation in seven seconds. That didn't seem like a lot of time, but to a shinobi, a second ticked away like a minute.

"Hey you wouldn't mind telling me something would you?" he asked, making her suddenly stop her advance onto him to stare into his eyes. "You never did tell me the rest of that story."

She snorted in amusement as she pulled down her goggles, revealing her unique, pearlescent-green eyes –it was pretty dark in the immediate area, so Naruto assumed that was why she chose this place as the battle ground. "Why should I let you listen to the rest of it?"

"Because I'm about to die and it would only be fair," Naruto answered in a matter-of-fact voice.

He thanked the gods he was wearing goggles as he watched her slide them back on. It sort of protected him from her more dangerous illusions, and it prevented her from attacking him head on knowing that she didn't have control of his senses.

Shizuka laughed in amusement. "Remember the deal? You had to defeat me, and looking at this, you're not going to hear it."

He needed to buy at least another second, so he asked the first question that came to mind. "Then why do you hate me so much? I deserve to at least know why."

She stopped again. Naruto could sense killer intent leaking into the air. Well, she must have a very good reason to want to kill him that badly.

"Because you look like him," she spat the last word out as if it was poisoned water.

"You, you little freak, are messed up in the head if that's your only reason to kill me," he said with a grin, as if death wasn't staring at him already.

It got the effect he wanted. Shizuka, out of anger, pulled out her balisong and bum-rushed him. This only made Naruto's smile widen as it only pieced together his plan even faster. He didn't want to kill her, but he would be damned if his friends saw him in a body bag.

Just as she pulled the knife back for a killing strike, she suddenly noticed that the air seemed too dry for Konoha. At the last second, her eyes widened as she realized her deadly mistake: she waltzed right into his trap from the very moment the tree had caught him.

In a second that seemed like an eternity, Naruto moved his hand from his side, revealing a kunai made of ice. Using his powers of manipulation, he launched it like a bullet, aimed straight for her forehead with every intention to kill. It was only thanks to Shizuka's mind's power of processing that she stopped and tried to dodge, but the kunai went into her shoulder and out the other end in a glorious spray of scarlet that stained the forest floor.

She screamed as she fell backwards from the force of the ice knife, her powerful sense of pain making her blink in and out of consciousness.

All around her, her illusions disappeared in a snowfall of chakra, but even then Naruto cursed knowing he missed. He only had several seconds to deal the finishing blow before she used another illusion to get away. At once, he sprinted at her while making hand seals, making all of the nearby water in the air manifest on his wrists in the form of his Crystal Ice Swords Technique.

Shizuka felt even more moisture disappear out of the air and quickly leapt up. Just as Naruto came at her, she ducked and then dodge-rolled out of the way.

Naruto turned to give chase, but stopped as a sudden jolt of pain hit his leg. He cursed again as he looked down, finding it had become a pincushion full of her thin kunai. When he looked back, she had disappeared, but his Limit could still sense that she hidden herself in the forest, and even more to his annoyance, she had healing chakra on her wound.

He should have figured as much. Genjutsu required a large amount of control to work; it would only make sense that she would learn high-control techniques for the occasional need outside of illusions.

"Oh, hell no!" Naruto roared as he gave chase.


Sasuke and Sakura sat hidden against a tree, waiting for their teammate's return, or for the moment when they decided to hunt for his body. Only close to four minutes had passed, but to both of them that time seemed to move at a snail's pace.

"Do you…," Sakura tried to whisper, the words having a hard time passing her lips. "Do you think he's okay?"

She clutched her katana closer to herself as she waited for the Uchiha's answer.

Sasuke took a second to think about it. He remembered all of the battles Team Seven weathered, inside and outside –outside meaning the battles with enemy ninja, and inside meaning the battles between members. Naruto was not one to roll over and play dead at the snap of someone's finger. The blond was worse than a cockroach when it came to killing him, and he also happened to have enough power to back that amazing resilience.

Finally, he gave his answer. "He'll be alright. If not, I'll choke him when I meet him again in heaven, and then tell him it was his fault for being so stupid."

It alleviated the nervousness he himself was feeling by seeing Sakura smile. She gave an anxious nod, but some of the worry that built up disappeared, if only for another minute.

Everything finally came to a boil when they both heard a twig snap. With shinobi reflexes, they both jumped out of their hiding spot with weapons ready; Sasuke with his Sharingan and hands with fans of shuriken, and Sakura with Bloody Rose poised to fight. The two of them wore looks of surprise at the sight of Naruto standing before them, battered, bloodied, and with torn up clothes.

"Whoa, it's me you guys!" he shouted, holding up his hands in surprise.

Both of them were about to drop their weapons in relief, but instead tensed even more than before at the tiny things off with the picture. They might've not noticed the tiny flaws had they not been on guard so much.

"Drop the disguise," Sakura ordered dangerously.

"Wait, seriously, it's me!" the fake tried to reassure.

"No," Sasuke corrected. "Naruto never takes off his goggles for any reason. And your eyes are a shade darker than his."

True to what he had said, the fake's blue eyes were closer to a shade of sapphire than they were to Naruto's cerulean. And to top it off, the goggles were hanging around his neck. They had to thank the gods that their idiot teammate never took his off; otherwise it might've taken a more effort to identify the fake, or maybe only when it became too late.

A chill went up their spines as the fake gave them an evil smile that didn't fit well on their carefree teammate. In a poof of smoke, the Naruto changed into what they recognized as the freak genin that gave Anko her knife back yesterday.

"My, my," he said, "both of your skills are much better than I initially thought."

Sasuke took a step backwards at the sight of the newcomer. He remembered how the genin had spooked Anko by his mere presence; though, for what reason, he had yet to know. Jounin weren't people to go on guard for no apparent reason.

Every instinct in Sakura's body was telling her to run, like a mouse running from a snake ready to coil around its prey. There was something off from the very moment she saw him, but what it was, she couldn't put her finger on it. It was only natural for her body to shake in terror.

"I really wished to kill Naruto-kun, but it's unfortunate that little witch beat me to it," the genin told them with a sickening smile that made them take a step backwards. "I do hope you two will give me a good challenge like he will for her."

That was when the killer intent hit them.


Naruto finally caught up to Shizuka, but when he sliced at her with his ice sword all he met was another illusion. He cursed as he landed and began to search for her, expanding his Kyoukagan's abilities to their fullest extent.

Just as he was about to locate her, the ground below him cracked and then busted open, revealing Shizuka as she jumped out. She made a grab for Naruto's goggles with the hopes of snatching them off of his face, but he bent backwards and fired another ice kunai that sliced into her side and made her fall to the ground ungracefully.

She jumped out of the way as Naruto stabbed the ground she laid on, and before he could continue his assault, she grabbed her butterfly knife and a kunai and parried both blades at the same time.

The blond cursed as he seeing her arm now healed up enough to allow use of it, but not enough to close the wound; she was still bleeding profusely. It brought him some satisfaction, though, every time she moved, even when those were wounds most shinobi could slide by with.

They charged at each other, Shizuka parrying most of Naruto's hard blows with her knives. He crossed his swords like a scissor, but she bent backwards and then kicked him hard in the chin, launching him away from herself.

Before Naruto could straighten himself out, she was already upon him. He swept his swords outwards just as she was about to grab his goggles, but she jumped backwards at the last second. A kunai pinned the area where Naruto's head formerly occupied, and to counter he launched one of his ice swords like a missile, hitting her in the thigh and making her hit the ground.

Out of panic, she tried to stand, but was pushed to the ground by a sandal against her chest. She then felt an ice cold tip against her neck: Naruto's other sword.

"I win," he told her.

"You wish, Silver-Eyes," Shizuka shot back, "but you're not the only one who can think of a plan on the wire."

At that second she glared at him, but unlike normal, something happened. Naruto felt like he just been punched in the face as he was thrown a couple feet backwards, and as he stood, he felt naked for some odd reason. Then he felt his face, his eyes widening at the sensation of his missing goggles.

"Looking for these?" Shizuka asked him mockingly from behind his back.

He was afraid to, even when every single last one of the voices in his head told him not to look, but he did so anyways. Naruto saw her holding his goggles where they landed from the illusionary punch to his face. It was also unfortunate for him when she swung them near her own naked eyes.

"Oh, crap," he muttered as she melted into leaves.

Around him, he could see leaves picking up in a soft gale, circling around him in a large funnel as he slowly stood; the beginnings of a powerful illusion he was going to be at the receiving end of.

Naruto knew he had been royally screwed over. He made the mistake of accidentally looking into the eyes of Shizuka.


Sakura felt her forehead where a kunai had lodged itself. Usually when things like that happened, people usually dropped, but instead her hand went through it, only confirming what she was thinking. She concentrated her chakra and released a small pulse of it, dispersing the hellish, grisly illusion.

Next to her Sasuke used his Sharingan to pull out of it, and then doubled over to vomit. That one had to be one of the top ten worst genjutsu out there. He'd been subjected to some pretty bad shit, but that one was particularly nasty –not Tsukuyomi nasty, but still pretty bad.

At the sound of the genin's chuckling, Sasuke glared at him with enough hatred that he might have been looking at Itachi.

"Is this it?" the freak asked, moving slowly towards them. "I expected better."

Sakura stood up, grasping Bloody Rose as hard as she could in her shaking grip. She didn't want to be useless, but what was she supposed to do?

"Oh, how cute; a little sword mistress," Orochimaru taunted.

He then pulled at his face as if it was a mask, and as he did, his eyes turned sickly yellow and slitted, reminding the genin too much of a snake's. He then let go of it as he spoke: "Do you really think that you could take me with that little toy?"

With wide eyes, she took a couple more steps backwards, Bloody Rose vibrating even more than before. But she took one look at the recovering Sasuke and steadied her grip as much as she could from under the snake's gaze.

"Sakura, back away, I'll fight him," Sasuke ordered as he slowly stood, digging into his kunai pouch for a weapon.

He was caught off guard by her answer. "No, I'm going to help! I'm not useless like before!"

"Sakura…" he tried to order.

Before he could finish his statement, she snapped at him again. "I'll distract him while you go and make a trap!"

The ebony-haired boy tried to protest, but instead Sakura popped a soldier pill from her kunai pouch into her mouth, giving her a brief burst of chakra. Quickly, she began a set of hand seals Sasuke couldn't recognize… and couldn't copy with his active Sharingan.

Orochimaru stopped his advance while raising an eyebrow. Evidently this little girl had just enough guts in her to perform a jutsu, but from what he could see with as many seals as she was going through, this move was going to be taxing on her small chakra reserves.

Finally, she stopped on ox. "Metal Release: Dragon's Spine!"

Orochimaru's eyes widened at the mention of a Bi-Element, but his surprise was only capitalized even more as Sakura touched the ground and released a set of rapidly growing trail of metal spikes that were quickly making their way towards him. He jumped to the side, but then jumped again as they began to follow him like a bloodhound on the trail. The snake jumped all over the place, but everywhere he touched would explode into a new set of metal spikes.

Next to Sakura, Sasuke's mouth dropped. He'd seen Naruto's ice moves, but he now felt the idiot had nothing on Sakura's metal moves. It only surprised him even more at the fact that he couldn't copy the attack. Did Sakura suddenly develop a Bloodline Limit? If so, how long had she been keeping it a secret?

Sakura was now straining to keep it up. This attack required a huge amount of chakra to work with, and it was supposed to be much bigger, but with her tiny reserves she couldn't bring out the full potential of the attack.

Orochimaru jumped up to a tree to escape the dirt, knowing the metal element had to be earth based, but before he could relax, a spike rapidly grew, aiming at him in the tree. Just as he was about to jump off, it stopped an inch away from his face. Looking towards the girl, he could see why: Sakura ran out of chakra and collapsed on the ground.

"Sakura!" Sasuke said as he came to her side.

"Go," was all she said as she stood back up, digging out another soldier pill. She gave one last look to him as he nodded and went off to the forest to set up a trap.

As she turned around to greet her enemy, Orochimaru punched her in the face, launching Sakura across the clearing. She thanked the gods that she still held onto the soldier pill and popped it into her mouth as she lay on the ground, even as Orochimaru slowly advanced on her again.

She quickly jumped up and ducked under his kick and grabbed a kunai, but before she could stab him, he bent in an ungodly way and snatched her hand. Orochimaru then launched her back at the point where they started.

"You have a lot of potential," he said as he slowly walked to her.

Sakura found her katana next to her and grabbed the weapon. She stood up to meet him, but she couldn't help but shiver in fear at the sight of his yellow, snake-like eyes.

What was this man? He had to be a monster in the skin of a human. There was no way she was fighting just another ninja. Those thoughts only intensified her already great terror.

"But you lack so much at the same time," he continued, hitting a sore spot on her emotions. "You're indeed the weakest member of your team."

Despite her current circumstances, Sakura couldn't help it as she listened to the painful truth the ugly genin spoke.

She had to admit, he was right. Every time there was a battle, it was always Naruto or Sasuke that saved her or did the hard work. All she did was guard people or do meaningless work.

But she was tired of that! She would be strong for her teammates!

"You're right," she said, raising her now wild and angry eyes at him, "but I refuse to stay the same!"

Sakura could feel a surge of adrenaline entering her body as she took a stance Sasuke taught her.

She wouldn't let them down; her teammate was counting on her to distract this monster for a short time, and Naruto was going to win his fight and then search for them. Her resolve to be stronger hardened more than ever in that second. She wasn't going to roll over and play dead!

With that, she roared and charged forward, her katana readied to strike. Orochimaru parried the initial blow, but she seemed to have sped up in her righteous anger as she already had a second attack ready, making him grab a second kunai to parry it. But then he did something Sakura knew was not genin level; he caught the katana in between the two knives and, using strength nearer to jounin, then broke Bloody Rose.

Out of shock, Sakura jumped backwards, still holding what was left of her precious sword. Her eyes were wide in fear. Sasuke and she were up against someone that shouldn't be here. No wonder Anko got so worked up.

Orochimaru rolled up his sleeve, revealing an intricate tattoo. He bit his thumb and then wiped the blood across it, and in a poof of smoke, the largest snake Sakura ever saw appeared. It had to be at least a hundred feet long, and behind it, its master smiled evilly.

"Devour her," he ordered his summon, making the snake hiss in delight.

Sakura put away the remains of her beloved katana in her kunai pouch –she didn't know why, but she wanted to keep her sword and maybe even fix it later- and began doing hand seals for the first move that came to mind.

Orochimaru watched in fascination as she finished the seals, curious to see what other metal move the girl had up her sleeve. "Metal Release: Dragonfly Weaver!"

She punched into the ground, making it shake slightly from the impact, and when she pulled out her hand, a long metal pole followed, revealing an elegant spear she experimentally spun around.

The traitor licked his lips in anticipation. Maybe this girl would have some use to him… Depending on what happened next, she would either be useful to his cause, or he might be merciful and put Sakura-chan out of her misery.

The summoned snake swayed its head, determining what would be the best angle to attack. After a second, it roared and charged straight on, figuring it could just swallow the stupid human before it ran away.

Sakura leapt as hard and as high as she could, making the snake eat dirt, and then landed spear first on its head, jamming it into the serpent's skull. It flailed around wildly to get the girl off, but Sakura kept hanging on to the spear with white knuckles, using chakra to stick to the scales.

When the snake couldn't shake her off, it slithered as fast as it could into the direction of a tree with its head down to squash her. Being the smart person she was, Sakura dived off and watched as the snake rammed into it, further piercing itself with the spear and making it go straight into the brain. She sighed in relief as it disappeared in a cloud of smoke, marking its end.

Sakura's breath suddenly caught as she felt a cold hand wrap itself around her throat. Sakura could then no longer move her limbs, suddenly becoming paralyzed from fear, a minor genjutsu from what she could sense. She clenched her teeth while wondering what he planned to do to her.

"You're of some use to me after all," a chilling voice whispered into her ear. Sakura could tell that it was much deeper, belonging to an older, more sinister male, but it didn't belong to the genin using it right now.

"I only planned to give this gift to Sasuke," he continued, "but I know you'll enjoy it as well. You'll come to me, seeking the power you so desire."

A single tear fell out of the corner of her eyes as Sakura felt the sharp tips of a pair of fangs pierce the side of her neck. The moment they entered an awful burning shot allover her body, breaking the illusion she was in and making her fall to the ground screaming.

"SAKURA!" Sasuke yelled as he leapt into the clearing, now done setting up the elaborate trap.

He ran to her side as she stopped yelling, but through the silence he could hear Sakura gnashing her teeth. She gasped for air and shook, almost to the point she was having a seizure. After several seconds of Sasuke agonizingly watching her, she closed her eyes and passed out from the intensity of the pain.

"You… YOU BASTARD!" Sasuke screamed, as he stood up and stared at the monster watching him. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER!"

"Nothing," for the first time, Sasuke heard the darker and deeper voice. "I thought she was worthy enough, so I gave her a little gift. Of course, there's always a one in ten chance that she'll die."

The Uchiha was so rage filled his Sharingan instinctively turned on. Orochimaru watched with glee as a new tomoa entered the boy's eyes, upping the power of his Doujutsu even more.

"Splendid," he said as he tore off his mask, revealing the true face of the most infamous traitor of Konoha. "Let us fight Uchiha Sasuke, and let me see if you're as worthy as she was!"

He was caught off guard by the sudden sight of the infamous Orochimaru, but it wasn't enough to scare off Uchiha Sasuke. If anything, it only served to piss him off even more knowing the traitor had the balls to come back and raise hell in his former home.

Of course, the traitor attacking Sakura –a person he couldn't believe he had become so attached to- was an even deeper sin. He hurt one of his most precious people. There was hell to pay!

Sasuke roared like an angry lion as he charged the smirking Orochimaru.


Naruto cautiously walked around, his last sword at the ready for the moment he heard anything even remotely off. All around him, leaves swirled in a complicated illusion he could tell wasn't going to be good for his health. A gentle breeze was heard whistling in the area, but it only unnerved Naruto even more.

His Kyoukagan's sensing abilities were now useless since it was nothing more than a fuzzy feeling all around, and he couldn't afford the sixteen seconds to change Limits; otherwise, those seconds would turn disastrous for him. Hyouton could be very effective, but only if he could see his opponent.

The blond looked to his sword as he heard a shattering sound, and then cursed as he saw it in pieces on the ground. He looked up and saw an image of a smirking Shizuka briefly flash into existence, twirling her butterfly knife in between her fingers. He growled as he fired an ice kunai at it, but the image of the girl disappeared.

It didn't take a genius to know she had an unbelievable advantage in this fight, and the problem was that she knew it too.

"I hate that bitch," he muttered, but the next second, a gash appeared on his shoulder.

Obviously, she didn't like to be called names.

Naruto had to think. There had to be a way out of this mess. The chances, though, looked so bleak. He wished he knew a couple more ice moves, especially a defensive one, but no luck there.

Then again, he did have that one he was working on. It wasn't the most defensive of moves, but it would buy him some distance, and maybe a little bit of time.

He quickly flashed through a set of hand seals, performing Haku's third ninjutsu. He stopped on 'dog' and the air around him began to dry out.

"Ice Release: Winter Shards!"

Water began to rapidly spin around him in a large dome, making the invisible Shizuka back off a bit. Then, Naruto shoved the wind chakra into the water. Using the momentum of the spinning water, thousands of ice shards, varying in size from tiny to shuriken sized, launched from him in all directions. Everything was turned into ice cushions, including Shizuka, who was much too close.

She bled from everywhere, and looked at him with something akin to shock, but then smirked and turned into a pile of mud.

It was Naruto's turn to be shaken. That was a damn clone, a move that he was supposed to be specialized in, and yet he had been fooled by one!

"You'd be a fool to think I don't know moves outside of my genjutsu," her voice told him. "Play time is over; it's time to end this."

Naruto only had a chance to widen his eyes before he suddenly began getting shredded by an invisible enemy. He almost screamed from all the gashes he was getting; not an inch of his body was spared.

He couldn't get out. All around him he could feel pain and the feeling of cold steel piercing his skin. This was no illusion like before; she was actually killing him this time.

He fell to his knees, breathing hard and rapidly losing blood. By time she got done with him, he looked as if someone took broken glass across his back, face, and limbs; and from what he could tell, she slipped the knife in between his ribs and gotten both lungs, and maybe even came close to cutting the heart. Now, he looked like a bloody mess. All around him, his life blood stained everything and there was nothing he could do about it.

Naruto could feel his eyelids suddenly becoming heavy, as if he just became so tired that he couldn't keep them open. His body felt numb, as if he was being pulled away. And at that moment, he could also hear a sweet voice telling him to come home –later, when he looked back on this moment he guessed that might've been his mother. Without a doubt, he knew he was dying.

Slowly, his eyes blinked away his last moments of life, and in between, he could see Shizuka coming closer to him.

"I guess you'll never hear the end of the story," she told him mockingly as she stood in front of him, putting her hands on her hips. "I'll admit, you gave me a run for the money, but in the end it doesn't matter."

She knelt down to him and cradled his chin so that he could look into her uncovered eyes. "This is revenge, just like how your father killed mine, Namikaze Naruto. He died the same way: shredded and cut up. Enjoy your death."

Komoriuta Shizuka stood and slowly backed away, a satisfying smile on her face as she watched Naruto slowly dying. She then spun around and began to walk away while storing her balisong.

Naruto knew if he blinked this last time, he would die. With all his might, he kept his eyes open, but failed miserably. They slowly began to fall, the world being cast in a never ending darkness he'd be forever engulfed in.

No… I can't die. The soothing voice of the angel of death kept getting louder. There… there are too many people… that care for me… Iruka, Sandaime, Kakashi, Anko, Yamato… Tenten… Sakura… Sasuke…

Hinata…

At the thought of her name, he began to allow himself to cry silvery tears with what little time he had left. She became his best friend; she knew all the pains he did, and she actually cared for him. He had to live; if only for her. If he left, who would care for her like he did?

He then closed his eyes.


"Naruto, hope is never lost," a calm voice whispered to him.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in his mindscape, staring into the stormy-blue eyes of his dead friend, Haku. His friend wore a white kimono as stainless as his soul, and he looked at Naruto as if he was never dead, smiling and being friendly like the moment when he was picking herbs.

Looking at his self, he could see that he didn't have the gashes Shizuka gave him, and the clothes Anko and Iruka had bought him were no longer shredded.

His mindscape had also changed. The cracks in the mirrors seemed to be fixing themselves and the water he was standing on looked like the silver he cried. He turned his head slightly to Kyuubi's cage, but found that the demon wasn't there.

He turned back to Haku, and sadly smiled. It seemed his friend was also his guardian angel.

"What's wrong, Naruto? You look so sad," Haku asked.

"I'm so tired," Naruto muttered sadly. "I don't know if I can keep going."

"Are you giving up? That's not the Naruto I remember," Haku gently spoke to him.

It took a couple of seconds for Naruto to think about it. He was never one to just throw in the towel, but it was so hard. So many people wanted him dead, and each one just seemed to get stronger. Could he truly continue on?

"Naruto," he turned back to Haku on the verge of crying out in frustration and sadness. The boy before him still wore the sad smile that seemed so comforting to him. "Everyone has a weight of some kind on their shoulders. Some others have heavier burdens, but nobody has too much. It all depends whether they're just going to stop and give up. I'll admit you have it rough, but it's just the right amount for you. You can do things nobody else can, and that's what makes you so unique."

After a second, Naruto nodded his head. He was right; circumstances were what put him here, and the only thing he could do was to keep going until the burden got lighter.

"Naruto," Haku's smile slipped, being replaced by a sad frown, "you have a beautiful but terrible power. It has consumed so many in the past. The price of the mirror flower is great, and to grasp it is to grasp this curse."

In Haku's hand, the silvery flower from Naruto's dreams formed itself. The cursed boy knew from looking at it that it could give him strength, but at the same time it would consume him. The former Hyouton user reached out the hand holding the rose, handing it off to the boy.

"I wouldn't touch it if I were you," a voice that Naruto hated so much spoke with caution.

Naruto spun around, finding the Kyuubi standing on the water with them. She was smiling seductively and held out her hand for him to grasp, but Naruto took a step back.

"Come to me instead. I'll give you what you want; I'll lighten that burden," she told him, smiling like the angel she wasn't. "If you take that rose, you'll regret it immediately."

"Naruto," he turned back to Haku, who wore his sad smile again, "power has a price, no matter where you turn. Either choice is not wrong. It just depends on what you want."

"That's why he should come to me," Kyuubi interrupted. "I'll make him great. He'll become the Hokage with my power. He'll be loved, and he will be the greatest."

Naruto closed his eyes for a second and when he opened them, they burned with determination, more than they ever had. Slowly, he walked over to Haku, forcing the Kyuubi to make a shocked face over his choice.

"The price for this power is high, Naruto," Haku warned as he held out the rose. "Are you sure about this?"

"I am," he quickly answered.

Haku nodded. "Just remember: the choice between the mirror flower and the fox is always open."

Naruto nodded and gently took the flower, but from behind him, the Kyuubi shook her head. Her container leaned to close to the light… and now he was going to pay the price.

"Enjoy your mistake," the Kyuubi whispered as she watched Naruto disappear from his mindscape.


Shizuka stopped as she suddenly felt a cool sensation, like the feeling of cold steel rubbing against her body.

"No way," she muttered in shock as she spun around.

The sight greeting her eyes made her take a step back in awe. Naruto was slowly standing as silvery chakra began to come off of him like a silver wind. Then the onrush became more intense until the chakra began to spiral around its master. It moved chaotically like fire, but the next minute it moved as fluently as water.

Naruto's wounds rapidly began to heal, his blood becoming silvery and reflective as the wounds mended themselves before Komoriuta's eyes. Tears of silver gently fell from his face as his birthmarks became more defined; and his hair began to fade until it became shimmering metallic silver.

Shizuka visibly grinded her teeth and clenched her fist as she watched him fully rise. Her eyes also glowed dangerously, and around her, the air became distorted from her illusionary chakra.

"WHY WON'T YOU DIE!" she finally yelled, losing control of her temper.

The answer she got was not one she had been expecting. "Because," Naruto answered with a voice that seemed to echo, "they all depend on me."

For one of the few times in her life, Shizuka didn't know what to say.

Naruto felt cold, as if the blood in his body had suddenly cooled. It also felt like he was falling into nothingness, as if a cord snapped preventing him from falling into an abyss suddenly snapped. The deeper he fell, the more powerful he became.

Shizuka took a step back in shock when he opened his eyes. They were fully active, and now the whites of his eyes became silvery as well. But it wasn't this that had made her take a step back.

His eyes were a window into his soul, and from there she could see an infinite sea of insanity.

Kill Joy no Jutsu (A.K.A. Author's Note): I'm back and I'm better than ever! If you all are wondering why there hasn't been any update for any of my stories, well, I'm only seventeen, which means I still live with my parents. Yes, that's right, I got grounded. Trust me, I was having withdrawals after the first day, and I even snuck to the internet cafes I was so desperate. Too bad foreign USB aren't allowed on their computers. It sucked. And I've also been in and out of town for various reasons, either to see my girlfriend, or just because I get dragged along by the family. Time for discussion and my other notes.

The chapter itself was pretty straightforward, but it became so epic that I had to make it into a two part chapter. I basically give you one of the most epic battles of my entire story. I'll have a lot but there are some specific ones I planned to be big, i.e. this one. It was actually a little hard to write because I had to switch between the Sasuke and Sakura/Orochimaru and the Naruto/Shizuka fight. Tell me what you all thought of the changes.

One of the most obvious changes you should have seen was Sakura getting a Cursed Seal. Which one? Well, I'll leave that as a surprise. For you Sakura haters out there: don't be offended. I don't bash characters; it ruins a good story very quickly and whenever I review stories I'll always flame the ones that do it, but I will do what very few authors will: use characters to advance my storyline.

If you don't know, Shizuka's full name is Shizuka Komoriuta. Her name literally translates as 'peaceful lullaby' and is an intended pun against her. And yes, if you hadn't or had guessed, she is the primary antagonist of Naruto: Shattered Eyes Part One.

Here's the list of original jutsu and Limits, including the info on the Genzoume that some of you have been wanting.

Forbidden Scroll of Techniques:

Demon Illusion: Nightmare Hell Forest- Genjutsu- Mid S Class- A powerful illusion technique that almost always requires the augmentation of a Limit in order to work. It requires near perfect control outside of a Limit to work. It works by making the surrounding forest seem monstrous, but skilled users aren't limited to just trees and can even use other plants such as flowers. It all is nothing more than a monstrous illusion that is usually sure to trick even the strongest of minds into thinking it's real. Has a high rank because of the complexity and the effectiveness of the illusion. Shizuka Komoriuta is one of the few people alive that can effectively use this attack.

Metal Release: Dragon's Spine- Ninjutsu- Bloodline Limit- An effective attack that quickly turns an area into a field of spikes. If used with higher chakra control, one can control the direction the attack takes and can even make it follow targets. Spikes can vary in size, and some can even grow to the size of a tree. For best use, a large amount of chakra is necessary.

Ice Release: Winter Shards- Ninjutsu- Bloodline Limit- An attack created by Haku before his death, it gathers nearby water either from the air or a nearby source and makes it spin in a dome at a fast pace. Using the momentum gained from the spinning, the user adds his secondary chakra and releases the ice, creating a large spread shot of varying ice fragments that can quickly shred, maim, or impale an opponent. Excellent for crowd control, but not good if there are allies nearby.

Original Limits:

Genzoume (Phantom Image Eye) - Transcendent Limit- One of the Three Great Doujutsu, the user is marked by forever pearlescent green eyes. According to legend it was originally used by the Sage of the Water Moon, possibly the greatest master of illusionary techniques. The Genzoume hadn't reoccurred until modern times, now in the possession of Komoriuta Shizuka, a genin that hails from Hidden Twilight.

According to legend, all illusionary techniques are descended from the Genzoume, and thus this Limit specializes in powerful hybrid illusions that are almost near impossible to break. Usually they're only limited by the user's imagination and whatever happens really does occur because it tricks the brain into thinking its real. On top of this, the user can even form illusions using their own chakra, rather than using their enemy's chakra like regular genjutsu requires. The illusionary abilities even go as far as to fool other Doujutsu, including the Sharingan and the Byakugan, thus making this the ultimate limit involving illusionary techniques.

To use such powerful illusions, the Genzoume has an equally powerful nervous system and powerful mind. Users are known to have above normal senses, comparable to or even higher than that of the Abarume bugs and the Inuzaka clan. Their minds are also just as, if not more, powerful than a Nara's, allowing users to process information at phenomenal speeds and gifting them with high IQs. Because their nervous system is dramatically increased, an incredible sense of balance also comes naturally to them.

A Genzoume user's eyes are also very unique; if they can make eye contact, they can gain control of an enemy's senses, increasing the power of their already effective illusions. More powerful users can even look into a person's mind and read it, only as long as they keep eye contact.

Of course, power has a drawback. The senses they pride themselves on are incredibly sensitive and any too powerful stimulus is going to cause damage to them. Because their sense of pain is also increased, it could only take a well-placed hit put a user out of the fight, making them incredibly fragile compared to the normal ninja. Also, electricity disrupts their nervous systems, making wide ranged electric attacks one of their worst enemies. Another minor weakness is that if a person is wearing something over their eyes, like goggles or sunglasses, they're immune to the user's stronger illusions, and until they come off, a user cannot fight to their full potential.

They're might be a couple more of hidden abilities that have yet to be recorded as of yet…