Hinata calmly walked up the steps, forcing herself to keep her breathing slow and even. Her arms ached with the accrued damage of the dozens of strikes she had blocked, and if she rotated her torso just wrong a dull pain would shoot up her side. She had examined the damaged area with her Byakugan and determined it wasn't a serious problem, but it was still quite unpleasantly painful. She would have to make use of her limited first aid skills and jutsu to deal with it before her next match.
More than the myriad bruises and injuries she had sustained, though, was the thrill of victory that hummed through her. She had faced down the most skilled genin of her class and won. No, not just won; she had won decisively. She may not have come out unscathed, but there wasn't a single person in the entire stadium who would doubt her victory now. She absently twisted her wrist, brushing the back of her hand along the edge of her sleeve and the small pockets where she had stored a set of needles.
She had thought long and hard about Naruto's advice regarding what she should do for this match. She had even developed a set of chakra string exercises based around the needle he had given her, attempting to thread the strings through the eye of the needle or pick it up by the small, sharp tip. It had taken a mishap when attempting to juggle the needle before she realized what she needed to do. She had told Naruto about her discovery and received one of his genuine grins, the ones that reminded her of how the other Naruto had been while also underscoring just how different this Naruto was.
Losing Naruto had been... painful. It was only more painful knowing that she'd never really had him in the first place. Instead she had admired him from afar, amused by his antics and inspired by his energy and eagerness. She had often daydreamed of joining him in his pranks, standing firmly by his side as he faced down the disapproval of the teachers without budging an inch. And then, while she had been fast asleep dreaming of a future as his teammate and trusted friend, he vanished.
In his place was... someone new. He looked like Naruto, down to the wild blond hair and whisker marks, but he acted nothing like him. Where Naruto had been energetic, this one was relaxed. Where Naruto had been loud, this one was quiet. Where Naruto had been warm, this one was cold. Looking back on it now, it amazed her that she hadn't seen the differences for what they were on the day of the graduation exam - instead she had brushed them aside, wrapped up in her own nervousness about the upcoming tests and believing him to be acting oddly for the same reasons. She'd even felt better about it, knowing that Naruto was a little nervous too; just like her.
As she reached the top of the steps, she tilted her head up and looked directly at where Naruto was standing on the edge of the roof of the arena. The strange red aura that constantly surrounded him made studying him directly difficult, but she was learning to adjust for it. He was wearing a standard issue chuunin uniform and flak vest, as he usually did; they were well-made, but nothing unusual or distinctive. The same could be said for the kunai in the pouch he kept strapped to his leg. The only unusual items he carried were the sealing supplies and scrolls on his person, as well as the highly customized sealing scroll he kept on the inside of his flak vest in a hidden pocket, the pocket itself surrounded by sealing arrays whose purpose she could only guess.
She finally focused on Naruto's face and noted that he was looking in her direction, at her. She felt her heart start beating faster and a small shiver run through her when she saw his lips set in that grin as he tipped his head to her. That grin embodied everything that was different about this Naruto; it was dark, vicious, and utterly fascinating.
After she'd had the truth thrown in her face, she'd spent far too long coming to grips with it, wasting her time wallowing in self-pity. And, in the end, it had been her memory of Naruto that had allowed her to face the new Naruto once more. He didn't offer soft words and meaningless assurances like Kurenai-sensei had, he didn't berate and threaten her like Father had, he just... asked why. Why she was there, why she kept going. And then she did something she never thought she'd be able to do, something that Naruto would have done - she told him, honestly and completely and, above all, loudly, pouring everything out in a torrent of so many conflicting emotions she would never be able to name them all. Instead of getting angry or upset, he'd told her about his Hinata, and what she lacked, and why it mattered.
And then he'd grinned.
That was the moment he'd stopped being "the pretend Naruto" or "the fake Naruto" or even "the other Naruto" and become just... Naruto. That was the moment that she decided she was going to be everything the other Hinata had failed to be, everything the other Hinata could never have been.
Hinata finally turned away and began walking along the railed off pathway that led to the contestant's platform. Her eyes narrowed slightly and her face hardened when she saw Haruno walking towards her, but she quickly plastered a polite smile on her face. The pink-haired girl called out her congratulations and accepted Hinata's encouragement as they passed, the pink-haired girl looking understandably nervous about facing her next opponent.
She knew that Haruno had been getting additional training from Naruto; she had even observed some of their sessions, giving in to her curiosity about what the kunoichi was learning that would help against a ninja of Gaara's caliber.
While she had satisfied herself that Haruno wasn't learning anything related to chakra strings or other advanced skills, she still didn't fully grasp just what Haruno was learning. She knew it was a movement technique, that much was obvious. Parts of it resembled the shunshin that so many ninja used to move through open areas quickly while other parts resembled the tree- and water-walking exercises. What she couldn't understand, even after watching again and again, was why Haruno's entire body shimmered with chakra at times or just how the disparate elements of the technique translated into the smooth, almost graceful motions that were its ultimate result.
More than her curiosity about Haruno's technique, though, was the awe she felt when she witnessed Naruto using the chakra string technique at a level she had not even dreamed of. He sometimes manipulated as many as a dozen ribbons at the same time without apparent effort, each of them working together seamlessly to harass and corral Haruno. He poured his own chakra into the ribbons and then controlled them as if they were extensions of his own body, using them with both power and finesse. It had been humbling to see just how far she had to go, but it also excited her at the same time.
Naruto had chosen to teach her a technique that he must have devoted a great deal of time and effort to, while Haruno was merely learning a half-baked movement technique that held limited utility. With Naruto's help even someone like Haruno should be able to advance in the finals, but from Hinata's observations of their training and her own practice, she would have no trouble demonstrating just who the better kunoichi was between them. Her Byakugan could detect the preparation of the technique and Haruno had several physical tells on top of that; countering it would be a simple matter of the proper timing.
And for all that she wanted to defeat Haruno herself, to prove once and for all that Naruto shouldn't waste his time on her, a small part of her had other thoughts. The part that remembered all too well how the old Naruto had chased after Haruno, the part that remembered how the pink-haired girl had rejected his care and affection out of hand, the part that had endured listening to Haruno dismiss and insult Naruto as weak, stupid, pathetic, annoying... that part hoped that Haruno would be forced to forfeit in disgrace as she proved that even Naruto's help wasn't enough to make her into something useful.
Hinata felt the edges of her lips curling upwards into a grin as she took her place along the railing of the competitor's area and waited for the next match to begin. She couldn't tell for sure, but she liked to think it looked like Naruto's.
~ Scene Break ~
Sakura Haruno knew she was going to die.
She had known it intellectually since she was seven and her grandmother had passed away. She had known it scholastically since the fourth month in the Academy when they got the lecture about mortality rates among ninja. Now? Now she knew it viscerally; it thrummed through her veins with each beat of her heart, slammed into her body with each burst of shukuchi, and threatened to overwhelm her mind with each panicked breath. Even the frantic moments on their third C-rank mission when she could do nothing but watch the blade slicing through the air towards her paled in comparison to this.
Everything had been going so well at the start. Gaara had just stood there, exactly like he had in the prelims, and let his sand catch the kunai she had thrown at him. The modified explosive tags had worked perfectly, and the gas Naruto had given her had done its job quickly. She could measure the progress of the poison she had introduced into his system by the growing lethargy in the sand and the way Gaara became increasingly desperate as he lashed out. She'd been on the verge of declaring her own victory, buoyed by the elation of her month of frantic - and often painful - training paying off in such a spectacularly dramatic fashion. She had been vindicated, the words she had spoken to Hatake-san underscored and emphasized in a way that even her supposed teacher couldn't ignore.
Then it had all gone to hell.
Her only warning had been the abrupt change in the air, and if she'd been even a second slower to react she would have been crushed where she stood. What followed was an increasingly fast and brutal series of attacks that made Naruto at his worst seem lazy in comparison. She had managed to keep one step ahead of the sand up to this point despite the fact that her decoys had inexplicably stopped working, but that wouldn't hold much longer. Her chakra reserves, deeper and more refined than they'd ever been after Naruto's training, were dwindling rapidly as she used shukuchi after shukuchi, no longer even pausing between one step and the next as she bounced around the arena. She couldn't afford to.
"Annoying... little... ant!"
There was a flash of pain along her thigh and the world began spinning, ground and sky and sand and blood flashing by in rapid succession. That last one should have worried her more, but it was the sand that she focused on. She had been knocked off course, her targeted spot high on the arena wall tumbling away far out of reach. She would hit the wall still, but farther down, closer to the ground, closer to the sand. Too close.
She couldn't get her feet under her, couldn't prepare herself for another burst of shukuchi, couldn't do anything. Her mind absently calculated her situation, considering the angle of her approach, the rate of her spin, the speed the sand had shown so far. She would land on her side, awkwardly and forcefully. The wall was already damaged from a previous encounter with the sand, leaving rough pits and jagged tears in the stone; those would grate against and pierce her skin, injuring her even further and slowing her response. It would take her nearly a second to absorb the impact, get her feet under her, and utilize the shukuchi to escape.
She didn't have that much time.
"Fuck dying, Shannaro!"
She started moving even before she consciously realized what she was doing, flaring her chakra and stretching out her right hand to make contact with the rapidly approaching wall. She let out a grunt of pain through her clenched teeth when the broken remains of the wall sliced into her skin, desperately focusing all of her attention and chakra into performing the shukuchi in a way she had never practiced, never even thought of until this moment. Her arm jerked painfully in its socket as her grip on the wall fought against the rotation of the rest of her body, but she refused to let go now as she poured her chakra out and pushed. There was another sharp jerk and more pain, mostly from her hand.
Then she was flying again, a fierce grin on her face as the wind whipped her hair around. Below her she could see a massive stream of sand plowing into the wall where she had been a moment before, the impact powerful enough to shake the entire stadium. The sand gathered again, and the smile fell off of her face when she got a good look at it.
Two dark yellow eyes glared up at her while a toothy jaw gaped open below them. The sand had gathered together into a definite shape, thick and massive and animal-like. Whatever it was seemed to be inhaling, its chest swelling and its head rearing back. She turned her body, reaching out behind her to touch the wall again in preparation for another shukuchi, only to find that there was no wall behind her. Her last push had taken her out of the stadium entirely and she was currently hanging in the open air with no choice but to let gravity take its course.
Her eyes drifted closed and the last remaining tension drained out of her frame as a bitter, tired laugh escaped her lips. It seemed that, in the end, her best efforts simply weren't enough.
Sakura Haruno knew she was going to die.
"Disqualified!" a distant voice shouted, the word laced with a strange mixture of relief and fear.
Her eyes snapped open just in time to witness the creature that had formed at the bottom of the arena spit out some sort of large sphere of what looked like discolored air, the mass streaking directly towards her. The next moment some sort of red streak slammed into the creature, bowling it over. The air shook with a furious roar as the arena floor dissolved into a roiling mass of sand and curling streams of red.
Something slammed into her, knocking her out of the path of the roiling mass of air and carrying her towards the stands. Shaking arms wrapped around her shoulders and waist, holding her tight.
"I've got you, Sakura," someone said. "I've got you."
Her head lolled back and her eyes narrowed as she tried to focus. It was getting dark for some reason, but she could still make out the slanted headband and white hair.
"... told you," she said, her voice oddly distant to her own ears. "I'm not useless."
"Never," he answered, his voice thick. "You were never useless."
"Told you," she repeated.
"Medic!" someone whispered in her ear, and then all she could hear was screaming.
~ Scene Break ~
"Disqualified!" the proctor shouted the moment the pink-haired kunoichi rose above the top of the arena walls.
Temari clenched the railing tightly, struggling to ignore the growing press of the killing intent Gaara's demon was giving off. She watched as the Ichibi fired off a giant ball of compressed air and shuddered at how casually it launched a technique that would have taken a large portion of her chakra reserves to even begin to match. She was equally pissed and relieved that the girl responsible for this mess would survive. Well, probably; that white-haired jounin had caught her and carried her into the stands, but there was also a long trail of blood running up the wall marking the path the girl had taken into the sky.
Kankuro whistled lowly. "She lucked out on that one. I thought she was done f-"
His comment was interrupted by a loud roar that shook the stadium, and Temari returned her attention to the arena floor. The Ichibi's form had lost a lot of its definition and now resembled a lumpy layer of sand covering the ground more than an actual creature. She could make out streams of red chakra whipping back and forth as they rose out of the sand and lashed out. They were flailing around wildly, but seemed to emanate from a central source, and she could count nine... of... them...
Her hands started shaking as the blood slowly drained from her face, and Kankuro let out a choked "Oh, shit."
A massive wave of sand rose up and swept over the streams of chakra, forming into a large ball that began to compact, growing smaller and smaller as the Ichibi sought to crush whatever was attacking it. It looked like it was working for a moment before the mass of sand exploded in a flash of red. Temari clapped her hands over her ears as a high-pitched keening washed over her, so loud it felt like her eardrums would burst. As the sound faded she finally got a good look at what was attacking the demon her brother had unleashed.
The first thing she noticed were the tails. That was the true form of the red chakra she had seen before; nine impossibly long tails, coiling through the air above and around the creature stalking across the arena floor. Each must have been ten feet long, easily, and they looped and curved around each other as they undulated about. In comparison the being they were connected to seemed almost small, a mere six or seven feet long at most and half that in height. It was hard to say for sure since the main body was hazy, like it was surrounded in a thin fog of that red chakra. It pulsed as it moved, a ripple of slightly darker red that started at the main body before flowing up and along the tails.
In the brief moments where she could get a clear look, she could make out the form of a large fox, ears laying flat against its skull and jaws gaping wide.
For the first time Temari could remember, she was afraid for her brother rather than of him. Everyone assumed that Konoha had created their own jinchuuriki when they defeated the Kyuubi, but she would never have imagined that he could control his demon to this extent. She glanced over at the Kage's box where her father and the Hokage were seated to see if they would interfere, but neither were making any attempts to do so. Instead they seemed content to watch as the events unfolded.
"This is a joke, right?" Kankuro asked shakily. "They didn't just... the fucking Kyuubi..."
The keening wail finally cut off completely and the sand scattered about the arena began flowing towards a central point, quickly shaping back into the Ichibi once again. Its form towered over that of the Kyuubi, but even as Temari watched it actually backed up a step as the Kyuubi jinchuuriki continued its approach.
"You... you... you aren't Kurama!" the Ichibi howled. "Who are you? What are you?"
Temari didn't have time to wonder at that as the Ichibi lashed out with its single massive tail, letting loose a howl of rage as it did so. The red tails flashed out, wrapping around the Ichibi's descending tail, slowing and eventually halting its progress. Two of the tails stretched forward, wrapping around the tail near where it met the main body of the Ichibi, then all of the tails began to squeeze. The sound of cracking and shattering glass echoed throughout the stadium for a moment before it was drowned out by another scream of pain from the Ichibi.
Its entire body shuddered, the sand rippling wildly before its head reared back. After a moment it spat out another ball of air that slammed into the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and sent him tumbling across the arena. The red tails were ripped away from Ichibi's revealing deep gashes and cracks that were slowly healing over. The jinchuuriki himself bounced across the arena floor twice before hitting the opposite wall.
The battle fell into a lull for a moment, the Ichibi wobbling slightly as it focused on restoring its body while Konoha's jinchuuriki failed to immediately reappear. It didn't last long, however, as the jinchuuriki burst away from the wall in an explosion of dust and shrapnel, crossing the distance so quickly that there was a visible trail of red chakra in his wake. The red form impacted in the middle of the Ichibi's torso, hazy claws ripping and tearing at the sandy body while its tails coiled around the Ichibi's single tail again. The Ichibi fell backwards, spiky protrusions shooting out of its body and its limbs clawing at its own form as it tried to dislodge its attacker.
They continued struggling like that for several seconds, locked in an apparent stalemate before three of the tails detached from the Ichibi to rise in the air behind the jinchuuriki. The tips came together at a single point and formed a ball of chakra, which began growing and shrinking rhythmically. The Ichibi's struggles suddenly intensified to the point that Temari could feel the stadium steadily shaking under her feet, but the jinchuuriki clung on stubbornly.
Trees suddenly began sprouting out of the ground, winding around the Ichibi and reaching for the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Temari barely had time to notice that the Ichibi's movements were slowing before the Kyuubi jinchuuriki thrust the ball of chakra forward. Branches lashed out to intercept the attack, then the air flashed white and she curled over, clutching her eyes in pain. She heard a sharp crack a moment later, the deep sound rattling her body and making her sway unsteadily for a moment.
She forced her eyes open, blinking rapidly as she tried to clear the slowly fading white blotches from her vision. She could hear other people crying out in pain and heard Kankuro cursing rapidly nearby, but her focus was on the battle below.
There was now a large wall in the middle of the arena, formed out of tree trunks that had wound around one another so tightly that there was no room to squeeze between them. On one side she could see branches curling around the Ichibi's form, and drew in a sharp breath as she noticed that its tail and one of its legs were missing. There were scorched and burning branches scattered around the area as well, though that didn't deter the trees from continuing to grow and bind the Ichibi's still form even tighter.
On the other side of the wall stood the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. His tails were sweeping back and forth and destroying any and all trees that tried to spring up around him, but he was not advancing any closer towards the Ichibi's location behind the wall of trees. He was instead pacing back and forth, his head sweeping from side to side as if just now taking stock of his surroundings. As she watched, the trees stopped trying to close in on his position, instead forming a loose ring nearly two dozen feet back from him in all directions.
Temari felt her pounding heart slowly begin to calm as the situation finally stabilized. This had to be the infamous Mokuton, the bloodline ability of the First Hokage that he had used to subdue the Tailed Beasts. She had only heard it mentioned as part of ancient history, a curiosity of the past that had no relevance in today's world, but clearly the ability was not as lost as Konoha had led the other villages to believe. Part of her was frustrated to know that Konoha had been holding such a powerful ability in reserve, possibly for decades, but most of her was relieved that they had intervened before something irreparable had happened to her brother. Or so she hoped, anyway.
The jinchuuriki abruptly froze, staring fixedly at nothing. His tails fanned out behind him, shrinking down to a length more proportional to the body and curling lazily in the air behind him. He remained like that, still as a statue, doing nothing as the seconds passed. The entire stadium seemed to be wrapped in silence, the few civilians who hadn't made a run for it or passed out cautiously picking themselves up while the ninja watched closely and waited for commands from the respective Kages.
Temari blinked as she thought she saw something pass over the jinchuuriki's form, rubbed her eyes to clear the last of the spots that interfered with her vision, then looked closer. She hadn't been imagining that after all; the jinchuuriki's current form was changing, the red hue of his chakra fading and growing darker. It was like watching rain wash away the sand from the streets as the red color bled away and streaks of black appeared, flowing down the tails and spreading across his body. In a matter of seconds his entire form had become pitch black, so dark that it seemed to be eating the light around it and growing darker still. After a few more seconds she could no longer make out the jinchuuriki's form clearly; it was like he was hidden in a deep shadow despite the sun that blazed directly overhead.
The jinchuuriki's form abruptly snapped back into focus and the red hue of his chakra returned, revealing the jinchuuriki's fox-like form as he staggered sideways and weaved about drunkenly for a moment. Once he had recovered from... whatever that was, he tilted his head back and stared upwards, an angry snarl on his canine face. His tails bristled and his entire form quivered as he opened his jaws.
Temari clapped her hands over her ears and fell backwards, curling into a ball. The sound itself was painful, even worse than the Ichibi's first scream, but the killing intent that accompanied it was infinitely worse. She forced her eyes open only to see the other ninja around her collapsing, some of her fellow contestants already unconscious and only a few of the jounin still on their feet as the terrible sound filled the stadium. Then the sound rose higher and she squeezed her eyes closed once more in a futile effort to shut it out.
She felt like her heart was being ripped out of her chest, like her skull was being crushed like a grape, like a thousand blades were slicing into her skin, like hands were clenched around her throat and squeezing, like she was burning alive and freezing to death, like every bone was stretched to the breaking point and beyond, like-
Her body went limp as she finally passed into blissful unconsciousness.
~ Scene Break ~
Kuushou slammed his youki into the seal again, sending more cracks crawling along the previously pristine walls. It was proving surprisingly resilient as it stood up to a continuous assault, but it was already reaching the breaking point. Outside, he continued to roar his refusal to remain bound to this sick and twisted world that dared replace Ryuudo with that... that thing.
Another push and the entire seal trembled, the cracks beginning to spread on their own as the sound of breaking glass and crumbling rocks filled the interior of the seal. One more push and he would be free of this mockery. It would take one hundred years before he could return to the human realm, but once he did there would be no more games, no more subterfuge. He would reduce every inch of the human realm to rubble if that was what it took, and there would be no mercy to any who stood in his way. He would not risk something like this happening again.
His roar took on a triumphant note as he gathered his youki and slammed it into the seal for the final time. The weakened seal shattered and-
Everything froze as something other descended.
He tried to leap away, tried to put some distance between himself and the thing that was manifesting, but he couldn't move at all. He was fully aware of what was happening, but even the slightest twitch was denied him. No one else seemed to be responding either, each of the numerous ninja watching him from a distance staring blankly at nothing, some even hanging in midair as they were frozen in the midst of a shunshin or a jump. He couldn't tell for certain if they were conscious or not, but their chakra was completely still and silent and there was no sign that they were reacting to the presence as it gathered within the arena.
The Death God finally appeared, its form mostly human with wild white hair that blended into the pure white robes it wore. Two horns jutted out from its skull, and it held a knife clenched in its teeth while its arms were spread wide. This was... not what he had expected. It was clearly the Death God, there could be no doubt of that, but it had never taken this form around him before. The other two times he had met it hadn't had a visible presence at all, instead manifesting as a sensation, the feeling of a spark of youki teetering on the brink of nothingness.
"Kuushou of the Bijuu," it began slowly, its words echoing in the still air, "shall be sealed within the designated vessel for as long as the vessel is capable of enduring. Upon the failure of the vessel, Kuushou of the Bijuu shall be banished once again from the human realm for a period of one hundred years. Thus is the agreement."
The Death God fell silent then, and remained so for some time. Kuushou tried to produce sounds to speak with it, tried to swipe his tails to attack it, tried to shake himself free of whatever grip it had upon him; as before, all his efforts were for naught. He could do nothing but wait for it to act.
"Thou who art bound by the Death God that is not, yet is," it finally continued, "the terms of thy binding must abide, yet the terms cannot abide. Banishment must fall upon thee, yet banishment cannot fall upon thee. The agreement cannot be broken, yet the agreement will be broken."
It fell silent for a moment, but this time only for a moment.
"The agreement must be made anew, yet no agreement may come without sacrifice."
Kuushou suddenly found that he could move, his youki curling about itself as it was freed from its restraints. The next moment his tails lanced towards the Death God only to pass harmlessly through its form. He let loose a small growl of annoyance before he settled back and stared at the emaciated figure clad in white.
Silence filled the arena, Kuushou staring at the Death God who was in turn staring at nothing, Then the feeling of other that the Death God exuded began to grow stronger. The air became thick and cloying, pressing down on him and resisting his every movement. He drew his youki in tighter around himself, condensing his form in an effort to fight off the pressure, though that provided little relief.
The Death God's head shifted, turning to look directly at him for the first time. When it spoke, its words no longer echoed through the air but instead reverberated through his youki, each syllable washing over him in an uncomfortable and slightly disorienting way.
"Kuushou of the Bijuu," the Death God said, no longer speaking in a simple monotone but instead with the slightest hint of curiosity, "state your desire."
Kuushou's eyes narrowed as he studied the Death God closely. He had a feeling he had Kami's attention now, and it wasn't something he relished. He chose his words very carefully now, remembering all too well how literally Kami interpreted his agreements and how easily a careless phrase could be used against the speaker.
"Why have I not been banished?" he asked slowly.
"Banishment cannot fall upon you."
"What does that mean? I broke the seal, I should have been sent back to Makai and been free of this... this abomination," Kuushou spat, turning to glare towards the area where the demon masquerading as his brother was bound and still.
"The agreement made in your world requires that the Death God banish you from the human realm. The human realm does not exist here, and thus you cannot be banished from it."
Kuushou's youki rippled, but he clamped down tightly on his anger and tried to keep his focus on the Death God. Freedom was within his grasp, and he wasn't about to let it slip away now.
"The human realm doesn't exist? Where is this, then?"
"You stand within the whole of my creation. This world is unsundered and exists as one, unlike your own."
Kuushou nodded slowly as things began to click into place. The differences in the Outlings, the altered history, even - he shot another disgusted glance towards the sandy form on the far side of the arena - even the presence of demons other than the Bijuu could be explained by that. If all of the realms were together from the start, rather than separated and isolated from one another, he could see how things would develop so differently. He shot another glance towards the other end of the arena, frowning darkly, then turned back to the Death God.
"Then isn't this at least partially the human realm?" Kuushou pointed out. This type of argument was really more Kounori's specialty, but he'd learned a thing or two from her over the years.
"No," the Death God said.
So much for that approach.
"I desire to be sent back to my own world," Kuushou said next, watching the Death God closely for any reaction.
"No."
He stared blankly at the Death God for a moment. "And why not?" he growled, wishing that he could actually act against this infuriating thing in any meaningful way. Even if it just pretended to be hurt it would still be more satisfying than having the fact that he was essentially helpless against it shoved in his face. Helplessness and weakness was for other beings.
"To use my power to send you back would be to unmake that which I have made - I will not agree to this," the Death God said.
Kuushou bit back a snarl of frustration, then his eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "You won'tdo it, but it can be done."
"Yes," the Death God said simply.
"Will you stop someone else from doing it?"
"No."
"Then let me out of the seal and I'll do it myself," Kuushou said. He was sure he could manage it if he could bring all of his own power to bear.
"Your desire is to be free of the seal. This can be done. Now you must offer a sacrifice."
"More of your rules," Kuushou spat. His mind flickered back to the Shiki Fuujin, the technique which summoned the Death God at the cost of the user's soul. "You need a soul, don't you?" he mused. "That's the sacrifice."
The Death God didn't answer.
One of Kuushou's tails waved through the air, gesturing to the arena at large. "Pick one. I'll be more than happy to feed it you." He grinned suddenly, turning towards Gaara and the demon he contained. "In fact, I'll give you those right now."
"To offer the soul of another is not a sacrifice; you must make a sacrifice of yourself. Your sacrifice shall instead be of service. You shall receive freedom from the seal in exchange for the soul of the one who has trespassed in my domain. Thus is the-"
"Wait!" Kuushou snapped quickly. "We're not done yet!" Kuushou shivered as the pressure the Death God gave off increased sharply for a moment, then eased back to its previous level. He eyed the Death God warily as he waited.
"Speak," it said at last.
Kuushou considered what the Death God has said carefully, looking for any potential traps or misdirections. "If I deliver the soul of the trespasser, I will be released from the seal and no longer be trapped within it in any way, shape, or form, correct? I will be completely and totally free and unrestricted?"
"Yes."
"And how am I supposed to deliver the soul? Just kill them?"
"You possess the knowledge required to call upon me. Find the trespasser and do so, and the sacrifice will be fulfilled."
Kuushou felt his anticipation growing. This wasn't immediate freedom, but it was a chance to be free of the seal without being barred from the human realm again. Once he returned to where he belonged, he would actually be in a better position than before. "Who is the trespasser?"
"The trespasser is hidden from my knowledge."
He stifled his anger again; it was frustrating but hardly surprising that Kami - or his manifestation, or whatever it was he was dealing with now - would be supremely unhelpful even under these circumstances. "How will I know who it is, then?" he forced out.
"The trespasser is the one who trespasses upon Death's Domain."
And with that useless bit of information, Kuushou fell silent as he searched his memory for any clues. He spent several minutes considering it, but only one thing came to mind.
"The Shiki Fuujin?" he asked finally. "Is the trespasser someone who has used the Shiki Fuujin but managed to keep their soul?" If that was the case, it was possible that person was in Konoha at this very moment. Identifying them would be a pain, but it probably wouldn't take very long to narrow it down. They would have to have access to the Forbidden Scroll, for a start...
"To call upon me is not trespass."
Kuushou lapsed into silence once more as he continued to think about what else that could mean, but could come up with no other ideas. Something that trespassed in Death's domain would probably be quite obvious when he saw it or heard about it, but with only that he had no idea where to even begin to look, or how.
"Perhaps another soul would suffice?" he suggested. "Or a hundred souls? As many as you like, even."
The pressure increased sharply again, rising higher and higher until Kuushou felt himself pressed into the ground, unable to even move his tails or push back against the force weighing on him.
"Do not test my patience, Kuushou of the Bijuu," the Death God intoned harshly. "I am bound of my own volition while you are bound at my whim - you would do well to remember that." The pressure eased, but a dull ache suffused his youki as a reminder of its passing.
Kuushou rose to his feet slowly, mastering his anger at the treatment. He took a moment to phrase his next question properly, seeking to extract as much benefit as he could from the price that was being foisted upon him. "What would be the price for freedom from the seal and protection from ever being sealed in the future?"
The Death God was silent for several seconds before it finally replied. "Such a price is not within your means at this time. Once you have gained your freedom, you may seek such a bargain." It fell quiet once more, then asked. "Do we have an agreement?"
Kuushou scoffed in annoyance, but slowly nodded. The Death God wasn't going to change the price, and he wasn't about to turn down a deal that could free him from the seal without banishing him, regardless of how he felt about it otherwise.
As soon as he nodded his assent, strange motes of light appeared around the Death God, flickering in the air like flames burning without a source. Its arms slowly drew together as one hand grasped the knife in its mouth and the other reached forward, plunging into his body. Kuushou shuddered - he couldn't actually feel the Death God's touch, but its presence grew closer somehow, seeming to press on him from all sides without actually growing any stronger.
"Kuushou of the Bijuu shall be sealed within the designated vessel until the price has been met. The vessel shall not fail, for Kuushou of the Bijuu and the vessel shall be as one until the price has been met."
Kuushou's eyes widened as the Death God spoke, adding an entire section to the agreement that they had not previously discussed at all. Before he could object, however, the Death God continued.
"Thus is the agreement."
As the last word was spoken, the Death God's knife slashed through the air and through its own wrist, slicing through flesh and bone. It pulled its arm back, leaving the severed hand buried deep within Kuushou while another reformed on the end of its arm. The severed appendage rapidly dissolved, spreading out to coil around Kuushou's form even as some of the pressure faded. The Death God replaced the knife between its teeth, then slowly brought its hands together and clapped once. The sound, instead of fading, grew louder and louder until it seemed as if the very air would shake apart from the force of it.
And then Kuushou was slammed back within his container's body, reeling from the abrupt shift. He watched mutely as the cracks in the walls sealed themselves up; within moments the walls that represented his seal were once again smooth and pristine with no sign remaining of the damage he had done to them. Dark lines began spreading across the walls, delicate swirls and sharp lines digging into the surface.
"The sealing is complete," the Death God intoned. "The soul of the the trespasser shall stand in payment. Thus is the agreement."
The Death God's presence abruptly vanished and Kuushou stumbled and fell to the ground, landing flat on his face as his physical limbs refused to work properly. He frowned, focusing on the feeling of his youki circulating throughout the body even as his hands and feet twitched. There was something... different. The motions eased and became more controlled as he adjusted, and after a few seconds he managed to get his hands under him.
He felt several ninja land nearby, forming a rough ring around him while one approached and knelt next to him.
"Naruto-san?" the voice asked, the tone oddly hesitant. The ninja's chakra was coiled and ready to be unleashed at a moment's notice, and the same was true of all of the other ninja around him.
Kuushou paused in the act of lifting himself off the ground as he consciously realized his position for the first time. He was on the floor of the arena. He was on the floor of the arena because he'd just attacked Gaara and his demon, the demon he still refused to recognize as the Ichibi. He didn't care if that foul thing really was what passed for a Bijuu in this world - he would never acknowledge it as the counterpart to his brother.
He was on the floor of the arena after attacking Gaara and his demon while looking and acting like... well, like himself.
This... could be a problem. Then again, his Ino always had a tactic prepared for occasions like this and she had perfected its use over the years.
Kuushou resumed moving, pushing himself up to his knees and then staggering to his feet, flashing a confused expression on his face before adopting a wary but non-threatening stance, his hands turned with his palms out and a guarded expression on his face. He surveyed the area carefully, his gaze lingering on sections of the arena that had sustained the most damage and spending several seconds eying the giant wall of wood that divided the arena floor.
He spotted Anko in the distance being held back by Kurenai and Asuma, both of whom looked shaken and were watching him warily. He smiled and relaxed his stance slightly as he nodded to Anko, who relaxed in turn, looking highly relieved. He then finally turned his attention to the ANBU who was standing next to him.
"What's going on?" he asked, his voice a pitch perfect mix of stifled frustration and carefully hidden confusion.
As Ino had phrased it: deny, deny, deny.
~ Scene Break ~
Danzo placed the last page back in the folder and then slowly laid it on Hiruzen's desk.
"We seem to have inherited a fine mess from our... counterparts," Danzo commented softly. "I am curious as to what drove them to it, but I suppose we'll never know for sure." He fell silent, his eyes distant and his cane occasionally tapping against the floor. "Who else knows about this?" he asked after nearly a minute of silent contemplation.
Hiruzen continued to puff idly on his pipe as he stared out of the window of the Hokage's office. "With you, there are now seven people aware of this information."
"Tenzou's placement during the exams makes more sense if he was aware," Danzo said slowly, "and I would think you would inform Jiraiya and Dragon as a matter of course. The file notes that Inoichi uncovered the problem in the first place, which would make the last... Shikaku?"
"Yes," Hiruzen replied, inclining his head slightly as he confirmed Danzo's deduction.
"You have written off Mitarashi, then?"
Hiruzen sent a small frown his way. "I do not write off my ninja, Danzo, as you are well aware." He sighed slightly as his gaze returned to the window. "However, I am forced to admit that Anko is too close to the situation to be informed, and would react negatively to efforts to separate her from Naruto now. Her objectivity is questionable at the best of times, and Naruto has done a great deal for her since they began partnering for missions."
Danzo twisted his cane idly in his hands as he considered Hiruzen's words. There had been a great deal of activity following the Chuunin Exams that had kept all of them rather busy. Konoha as a whole was engaged in damage control, making sure that the various guests went home with the correct spin on the events that had transpired and that anyone who had sustained minor injuries were fully healed before the end of the day. It was fortunate that the three elderly civilians who had died - none of them related to nobles - passed due to heart failure rather than physical injury. Fast action on Konoha's part had even shifted the blame for that onto Suna's jinchuuriki.
Konoha had merely stepped in when Suna's ill-trained and unstable ninja had gone too far during his match. Konoha had acted to contain the situation and ensure that no civilians were injured in the Suna-nin's rampage. How unfortunate that the Suna-nin had caused the deaths before he could be stopped. How much worse it could have been if Konoha had not acted so quickly...
That situation was dealt with, however, and Hiruzen would be meeting with the Kazekage directly to address further reparations for the incident. The boy's interruption, whatever the cause, had worked out very well indeed for Konoha; a show of force and a clear reminder as to why Konoha was the strongest of the Hidden Villages. Even the fact that Tenzou had been revealed had been worked into an advantage for Konoha, leaving the other villages to wonder just what other abilities Konoha was still keeping in reserve.
His gaze drifted back to the folder that lay on the Hokage's desk. That was not to say, however, that Konoha did not have its own problems to address.
"And what do you want from me?" Danzo asked, deciding to cut to the point of this meeting.
Hiruzen swiveled in his chair, turning to face him directly. "I have a standing mission for your 'private security force'."
Danzo's hand tightened on his cane as he worked to control his surprise. He had long suspected that Sarutobi knew ROOT was still active, if in a reduced capacity, but the veiled references and the pretense of mutual ignorance was all part of the game they had been playing for decades. The last time Hiruzen had spoken this openly was in the wake of the Kyuubi's attack and the Fourth Hokage's death.
"Your orders are as follows," Hiruzen continued, his voice firm and even. "You are to maintain a complete profile on the demonstrated and suspected capabilities of Naruto Yamanaka at all times. You are to develop strategies and techniques to neutralize or counter his abilities. You are to have at least one squad capable of combating him at the ready whenever he is present within Konoha. This standing mission will be referred to as Operation Briar Patch.
"In addition, should I or my successor give the order, you will maneuver Naruto Yamanaka into an isolated area outside of Konoha and forcibly extract the Kyuubi from his body, sealing it into a new vessel using the Shiki Fuujin. You will surrender the new jinchuuriki directly to the Hokage as soon as possible after the sealing has taken place. Should anyone attempt to interfere with the execution of this mission, regardless of their affiliation or status, you are hereby authorized to use whatever force you deem necessary to ensure the success of the mission. This mission will be referred to as Operation Clean Slate."
As Hiruzen finished speaking, Danzo let out a low grunt and tapped his cane on the floor of the office twice. "Resources?"
"You will receive an annual stipend directly from the Hokage for the duration of the mission. I will also give you priority for acquiring the services of any ninja you require to develop your techniques. Full-time personnel, however, will be limited to those already in your employ. If you require specific ninja or just additional numbers, I will consider assigning more ninja to this mission on a case by case basis."
"What of Tenzou?"
Hiruzen let out a low growl as he sat break in his seat. "He will be ineffective for this mission."
"So that was not a ploy, then," Danzo said, his suspicions confirmed.
"No. For reasons we have yet to determine, the Kyuubi did not react as expected in the presence of the Mokuton. Additional tests performed while Naruto was recovering have only confirmed that the Kyuubi's chakra is completely non-responsive to the Mokuton, in either a positive or negative fashion."
"And the Ichibi's words?"
"We don't know," Hiruzen admitted sourly. "I have tasked the Intelligence Division to delve deeper into the history of the Bijuu and search for any references to 'Kurama,' but so far they have found nothing. Not even the Shodai's private journal shed any light on the matter."
"What of Inoichi? Has he found anything in the boy's memories?"
The Hokage let out a small snort of amusement. "An entire book, as it turns out. The Legends of the Tailed Beasts, written roughly eighty years ago. The stories varied from simple folktales of travelers who saw one of them in the distance once to what was supposedly an account from a ninja who faced the Rokubi in combat, though it read more like the ravings of a madman. The entire book was rife with inconsistencies and contradictions; the only points the stories could agree on were that the Bijuu were only barely sentient, if at all, and that they were a danger to everyone and everything around them.
"That's assuming, of course, that the book actually existed at all and wasn't planted by the other Inoichi to mentally distance Naruto from the Kyuubi."
Danzo nodded thoughtfully as he absorbed the information. "Have we determined what triggered his loss of control?"
"We believe so," Hiruzen replied. "Anko reported that as soon as the Ichibi began fully manifesting, Naruto collapsed and the Kyuubi's chakra formed a shell around his body. Once it was out, the Kyuubi focused its attention entirely on the Ichibi to the exclusion of all else and only ceased attacking when the Ichibi was fully subdued. We also have multiple accounts, including first-hand reports from Anko and Sakura Haruno, that Naruto viewed Gaara in a negative light from the very beginning with no discernible cause except for the presence of the Ichibi within him. Sakura Haruno even quoted Naruto as describing Gaara as 'foul' and 'twisted'.
"Based on that, we have concluded that he was essentially programmed to respond immediately and aggressively to the release of other Bijuu, which has bled over into a prejudice against jinchuuriki as well. Inoichi has been unable to locate the triggers for such programming, but he also pointed out that the other Inoichi had over a decade to hone his skills and bury the triggers deep within the constructed mindscape, possibly in its very foundations. It's entirely possible that he's already seen them and didn't know them for what they were, or that he'll never find them."
"And what of his actions after the Ichibi was subdued?" Danzo asked pointedly.
Hiruzen let out a slow breath. "We don't believe that was actually the actions of the Kyuubi," he said. "When Jiraiya examined the seal afterward, he found that the design had been changed significantly."
"How so?" Danzo asked, actually leaning forward slightly. This was entirely new information to him; he had not yet had an opportunity to approach Naruto since he was released from ANBU's care.
"The seal is now entirely composed of the unknown script and no longer conforms to any known template, not even that of the Shiki Fuujin which it had previously resembled. Jiraiya believes that the temporary change in the Kyuubi's chakra that caused it to appear black was a safety mechanism built into the seal which prevented the Kyuubi from breaking free. The suppression of the Kyuubi's chakra, along with Naruto's subsequent collapse would seem to support that theory. We are still trying to determine the long-term effects of the change, however."
"And Naruto? Are there any signs that he remembers his actions against the Ichibi?"
"He does not remember anything that occurred after the Ichibi made itself known. He will inevitably hear about what happened during the finals, however, even if he doesn't remember it himself, and most of the ninja who were not already aware of his status as the Kyuubi jinchuuriki have made the connection now. Inoichi is working to make sure that Naruto views the Kyuubi's actions as a weakness in the seal that allowed the Bijuu to temporarily manifest rather than a personal loss of control."
"And if he ever figures out that he actually is the Kyuubi? That 'Naruto' is nothing more than a fake personality?"
Hiruzen met his gaze grimly. "You already have your orders."
~ End Chapter ~
A/N: As always, thanks for reading and thanks for all the reviews!
And thanks to the folks on the SB forums who provided feedback and suggestions for this chapter.
Revised 5-15-2013 - Major expansion of Kuushou PoV to clarify what's going on and why, as well as making the situation seem less arbitrary. Minor tweaks to phrasing and such elsewhere.