Flash of Red and Black
Chapter XVIII
"Remember, we may not have another shot at this, so make the most of it! Rely on my bunshin, and return home safely! Dismissed," I watched myself order. It was odd seeing myself give out orders as the Hokage, but I didn't care. I'd already decided that it was the best way to keep everyone safe, so I vanished along with the rest of the teams and headed out of the village. The mission had officially begun, and I was ready to take Orochimaru down once and for all.
It would take about two days to get to the Land of Whirlpools, even with a fast pace, so it would be a while before we would encounter any enemies. I had eight active bunshin, seven of them mixed into the five teams around me, and one pretending to be the real me back in my office with Shikaku and Neji. Of course, neither of them knew that it was a bunshin, but I knew it would only be a matter of hours before they figured it out.
As we all dashed through the trees, I watched the people around me. They were silent and invisible to most, but since I and my bunshin were already in Sage Mode, I was acutely aware of each shinobi's location. I was so focused that I could even tell if there was so much as a rabbit within two hundred yards, so of course I already knew that Shino had his insects hovering around the group, monitoring the area, and Hinata had her Byakugan activated, but I didn't want them wasting their energy yet, so I slowed down slightly to talk to them.
"Rabbit, deactivate your Kekkei Genkai. Don't waste energy. Wolf, you too," I ordered quietly, and they immediately did as told. Then I rushed back up to my position.
I knew that it would be a taxing mission, and I wanted everyone in the best condition possible.
oOo
Finally, just over two days after we set out, I felt an enemy's chakra. It was still far out, but I immediately shot my hand up and stopped the group.
"There's an enemy about six miles ahead at two o'clock," I informed the group at barely even a whisper. Everyone nodded and Shikamaru gave the signal to split up as planned. I took a calming breath as I fell back to position. It was about to begin and I needed to focus. My team was to act as immediate backup for Kakashi's team, since his was the only team without a bunshin and my team consisted of entirely shadow clones. (At least, that was what everyone thought.)
As we got closer to the first enemy I sensed, I started noticing more and more chakra signatures that didn't belong to our group, and I fell back into the sharp weapon that I'd become during the war. If Kakashi's team didn't manage to down the enemy in one hit, that enemy would have a slit throat or a broken neck before they could even see me coming.
As we got closer to Orochimaru's base, the more enemies appeared, and the stronger they were, but my clones and I had to back off to make sure Orochimaru would be interested in taking the bait. At that point, Kakashi started unleashing Raikiri, and once he and his team had made enough of a commotion, he let a few of the enemies escape back into the snake hole, making sure that the Sanin would get word of Kakashi's arrival.
Once Shikamaru was satisfied that enough had escaped, we decimated the remaining above-ground enemies. Kakashi used his ninken to update teams two, three, and four, and I went down to talk to Shikamaru while my team of bunshin took watch.
"What do you think so far?" I asked.
"We seem to be moving along as scheduled," Shikamaru replied before crouching down into his usual thinking position. I nodded and left him to it before walking over to Sakura.
"You've got enough chakra left, right?"
"Yeah. I'll be good for a while. What about you? You're not about to vanish are you?" she asked, and I just shook my head.
"I'm good. The real one has been resting a lot lately, so we've all got plenty of chakra reserves," I said, making sure no one would suspect that I wasn't a clone. She nodded before handing out soldier pills to her teammates. Sai seemed to be doing fine since he'd ridden on his ink bird most of the way and didn't use any jutsu in the fights yet, so I just left him alone to recuperate while he could. I was more worried about Kakashi since he'd already shot off Raikiri several times.
"How's your chakra?"
"I've used about a quarter of my reserves so far," he said, leaning against a tree. Even in the dark, I could tell that he'd already worked up a sweat. I bit my lip, nervous, and apparently he could tell.
"I'll be fine. Just don't tell the real one yet. He doesn't need to worry any more than he already is," he said before closing his eyes and concentrating on molding chakra. I couldn't do anything but bite into my lip a little harder and nod. Then I dashed away to a tree branch and concentrated on trying to sense chakra beneath us.
A while later, Shikamaru had us gather around to tell us which course of action we would take from there.
"We'll stay here until sunrise or until enemies start surfacing, whichever comes first, so at most we have four hours. Either way, we're going to end up going underground, so be prepared. Sai, go ahead and start recon with your drawings. Kakashi, rest up as much as you can. The bunshin are on watch," he ordered, and we all nodded. Kakashi lay down beneath a tree and I followed, sitting next to him while my bunshin scattered about.
"Will you let me borrow your lap?" Kakashi asked after a few quiet moments. I felt my face go hot beneath my mask, but I nodded and he shifted around to lay his head in my lap.
I absently played with his hair and searched for chakra while thinking. My bunshin back home was discovered about half a day after we left, and Neji's backup team was sent out immediately. That meant that, if no more enemies showed up, they would be less than eight hours behind us before we entered the cave. I nodded to myself, hoping that it would work out well.
Eventually sunrise came, and I shook Kakashi awake as my clones woke Sakura and Shikamaru. Sai was already packing his things back up, preparing to head underground. Once Shikamaru sent a message to the other teams, we headed into the snake's lair.
We followed the maps made by Sai's ink animals as best we could, but the tunnels seemed endless. Finally, once we were at least three levels down, I sensed some heavy chakra below.
"It's another two levels down, at least," I told Shikamaru.
"Curse-marked?"
"Most probably are," I said, trying to get a better feel for what was below.
"There will probably be a few Sharingan too, then," Shikamaru muttered before turning to Kakashi. "Are you ready?"
Kakashi lifted his forehead protector and revealed his colorful eye in response.
"Let's do this," Sakura said, adjusting her gloves. Shikamaru nodded and gave the order.
We dashed down the next two levels to be met with a hoard of curse-marked enemies and a few had Sharingan. We blasted through them as best we could, making sure to leave no survivors this time. Orochimaru already knew we were coming. There was no need to give him any more courtesy. We just hoped that he wasn't already making an escape.
After another couple floors, the team was starting to wear down, and even I knew that we were in bad shape.
"He's probably trying to stall us!" Shikamaru shouted out as he threaded another enemy with his shadow technique.
"Do you think he's trying to escape?" Sakura called back, leaving a dent in the wall after punching an enemy into it.
"We won't know until we reach him," Shikamaru called back as he froze an enemy just before I hit him from behind.
I could tell their attacks were getting slower and the enemies just kept coming. I made another bunshin to focus on trying to sense Orochimaru's chakra while the rest of the bunshin and I tried to blast through as quickly as possible, though it was more difficult than it normally would be since I was trying to keep from revealing my identity to the enemy. But I was getting impatient.
"I'm breaking cover!" I shouted to Shikamaru, and before he could order otherwise, I released my henge and went into Bijuu Mode. At the same time, I made several Rasengan and took down a wave of enemies. As soon as they went down, my bunshin called out.
"Orochimaru's down there!" shouted the clone. Immediately I released it and absorbed its knowledge. Then I started looking for him myself as I fought off another enemy with a Sharingan.
"He's definitely down there. Just a few more floors," I called out to the group as I slammed a Rasengan into the enemy's chest.
"Then let's do this," Sakura responded as she bowled down a group of curse-marked thugs. Kakashi's only response was piercing the enemy Shikamaru had paralyzed, and one of Sai's Great Beast Drawings slashed the enemies that were after Shikamaru.
I grinned as I tossed away the mask I'd been wearing. I ran past them and gave them each a tap on the shoulder, transferring some of Kurama's chakra to them since I knew they wouldn't last much longer without some help.
"Let's take him down for good," I nearly growled as I drove through the enemies in front of us. Their Sharingan were nothing compared to Kakashi's, and the curse-marks were useless if they didn't have time to activate. (Which they didn't. I made sure of it.)
After a few more floors, we finally reached a giant set of doors, and I could sense Orochimaru's chakra on the other side. After checking for traps, we opened them, readying ourselves for another battle, but what we saw was not nearly as pleasant as we'd hoped.
"Shit," Shikamaru hissed as he crouched readying himself for an attack, though I could tell he was mostly trying to think of a plan. At the same time, Kakashi summoned his ninken and immediately sent them off to warn the teams waiting outside.
"Don't bother," I grit out to Sakura, who was about to rush over to the bodies lying on the ground a few feet in front of us. I couldn't feel any chakra from them anymore, but I could still tell exactly who they were. The final members of Sasuke's group, Taka, were dead.
Worse yet, Orochimaru was grinning as he stared at us, finishing the last of his seals for some jutsu, and I just knew that it wouldn't be good.
"Behold, the God Rebirth Seal!" he cackled ominously. The moment he finished the last seal, the entire room started shaking and then a burst of light and chakra shot out, and it felt like I was hit with Edo Tensei
We were all knocked back against the wall behind us and my bunshin vanished as they smacked against the wall. I hardly even noticed that, though. Instead, I was looking around, trying to figure out the source of the scream that was ringing in my ears. The others looked alright, so I was confused until Kakashi rushed over to me, panic in his eyes. It was only then that I realized that I was the one screaming. I shut my mouth and bit my lip to keep from making any more noise, but I vaguely felt blood trickling down my chin.
"—ruto! Naruto!" Kakashi called to me, still panicked. Sakura was next to me now too, her hands glowing green over me as she tried to figure out what was wrong.
Kurama's chakra was thrashing about dangerously, and my own was flickering wildly in response. It felt like I was burning from the inside out, but I tried to push that aside as I looked around. Shikamaru had Orochimaru bound, but I could tell that it wasn't going to last for long, and I could see the darkness slowly receding from the Sanin's arms. He had complete use of his arms back, and I was not only useless to help but also putting the team in danger.
"Damnit!" I cursed as I tried to stand up.
"What are you—" Sakura started as she grabbed my arm to try to force me back down before she yelped and jumped back. Her hand was charred from touching me for that small moment. I cursed again and stood up completely, backing away from them.
"Kurama, the fuck's going on?" I grit out before I let my consciousness drift to him.
"Let's switch," he told me and I immediately agreed.
"What the hell's going on with your chakra, Ku—?" I started shouting at him before pausing as I stared at him. "When'd you get so huge?"
"That God Rebirth Seal not only gave that snake his arms back, but it also gave me back the Yin chakra the Yondaime sealed away," Kurama said, taking control of my body. I couldn't feel the pain as much when he was in control, but I wondered if it was just as painful for him too.
"Kurama-san, will you be able to control it?" Kakashi asked.
"Of courseIcan. The question is whether or not the kid's body can," Kurama growled, and Kakashi frowned worry still etched into is face.
"Retreat!" Shikamaru ordered. Instantly, Kakashi threw down some smoke bombs, Sakura punched through the already weakened ceiling, and Sai painted and mounted an ink bird, grabbing Shikamaru as he ascended.
Kakashi reached for me to help me out, but Kurama pulled away and forced my body to escape on its own, though Kakashi hovered next to me.
"Thanks, Kurama," I said to the giant fox.
"You'd throw a fit if I let him burn himself like that girl," he huffed.
Just as we all landed above ground, the other three teams appeared, though my clones weren't among any of them.
"Sai! Send word for back-up!" Shikamaru ordered.
"Don't bother. They already figured out that I only left behind a clone. Back-up is only a few hours away," I choked out after switching back with Kurama.
"A few hours? You seem quite confident that all of you will last that long," Orochimaru taunted when he joined us on the surface. He surveyed us all before looking directly at me, his expression morphing into a twisted grin. "Well, Naruto there might last a while longer, since I'll be using him for some experiments."
Immediately, Kakashi jumped in front of me, ready to fight and the others all followed suit.
"The hell's going on?" Kiba shot as soon as he was in line with everyone else around me.
"Orochimaru's stronger. Kurama's chakra doubled, and I'm the real Naruto," I explained quickly, taking control of my body again. I didn't have the luxury of time to explain anything more as Orochimaru headed in for an attack.
Temari knocked him away momentarily with her fan just before a giant mud wall rose in front of us thanks to the Suna ANBU captain.
"Naruto, you're escaping first. The Suna-nin are accompanying you back. We'll follow after once Kakashi's caught him in a genjutsu," Shikamaru ordered just before the wall in front of us crumbled.
"That's a nice plan. Too bad the Sharingan is useless against me now," Orochimaru called as his snake summons surrounded us.
"There are more enemies on their way! It looks like they have curse-marks!" Hinata called as she dodged a sharp pair of fangs.
"Fuck," I cursed out again before willing my body to move and my mind to work. "Like hell am I leaving you guys here," I shouted before forcing my body to make a Rasengan, albeit a fiercely unstable one, and slamming it into a snake summon that was about to bite into Kakashi's leg.
"Shikamaru! Use your shadows to control my body for a while! Kurama, I leave the rest to you," I shouted before we switched.
"Damned lazy brat," Kurama growled, though he took over anyway.
"Naruto! What are you doing? He just said that he's after you!" Shikamaru yelled at me, though he moved his shadows to control my body anyway.
"The kid's trying to force his body to accept my chakra," Kurama shouted at Shikamaru before Shikamaru made me slash a summon that was approaching the Suna ANBU vice-captain.
"Is something like that even possible?" Sai asked as he created several beasts to take out the snakes.
"He'll find out," Kurama replied as Shikamaru made me take out the remaining snakes, just before the other enemies emerged from the hole we'd blasted to escape.
"Really, I didn't mean to give the Kyuubi its power back," Orochimaru called, dodging Lee's attacks. "But, well," he said, pausing as he ran past everyone else and moved towards me. "I suppose that made it easier for me anyway," he finished before moving to bite into my neck, and Shikamaru wasn't fast enough to force me to block it.
Luckily, though, the Suna ANBU were. The vice-captain threw shuriken that narrowly missed my face and forced Orochimaru to recoil back. In that moment, the captain dashed in front of me and engaged the Sanin herself and Shikamaru moved my body back. Just after he moved me, though, his jutsu broke, making our shadows no longer be connected.
"Shit," Shikamaru cursed, panting heavily as he dodged an attack from a curse-marked enemy before Kakashi stepped in with Raikiri. "Kurama-san, you'll have to manage on your own for a while," Shikamaru called.
"Can you handle it for a while longer?" I asked him.
"Don't patronize me, boy," Kurama growled back, though I was starting to see evidence of the strain in his face, and I knew that my body's reaction times were totally thrown off.
I was trying to focus on just getting my own chakra under control, but it was hard to do with Kurama's chakra whipping all over the place. I considered having Shino use his insects to eat away at some of it to make it easier to manage, but when I remembered Sakura's hand, I counted that plan out.
So, I decided that my only option was to force my body to accept the chakra, and I knew that I needed to make it happen soon or everyone else would spend what was left of their chakra defending me.
So this will be the last chapter until the end of April or the beginning of May. Sorry that I can't be more regular about my posts, but I hope you'll be looking forward to the next one! And if you have any predictions, I wanna hear them. Thanks for reading!