Do I Have A Purpose Anymore?
Chapter 7: Enter Yugito
Despite the fact that his blade was being held at bay, Suigetsu was still confident that he could take this interfering little punk, as was seen by the jagged zigzag toothed grin he gave the former Leaf nin.
"So, it looks like out little Nibi vessel has a bodyguard."
Then his eyes narrowed, as he recognized the sword his potential opponent held.
"That's Zabuza-Senpai's blade! What is a peasant like you doing wielding one of the Legendary Seven Swords of the Mist? I shall kill you for taking hold of it with your lowly hands!"
Naruto shook his head in amusement, as Yugito was set down against a nearby tree by his shadow clone.
"Lowly hands huh? Well better the blade in my hands then yours. Nope, I'm no bodyguard, I just happened to be passing through, when I came across you two ladies picking on that injured girl over there and I wondered, why are the women of the Akatsuki attacking her? So I thought I would step in and ask you Mrs?"
'She's a Jinchuuriki like you kit and holds the Two-tailed cat demon Nibi within her.' Kyuubi voiced out inside Naruto's mind.
Naruto relished the chance to blow off some steam and who better to unleash it upon then the very organization that was causing him and others like him so much grief and pain?
The death of these two would make for a fine message to send to Madara. A message that said:
'You're next!'
A tick mark appeared on the faces of both Suigetsu and Deidara who were not enjoying the insulting verbal jabs of their gender Naruto was saying to them, as they both angrily shouted in unison.
"We are not women!"
"Really? Are you sure? I mean you both look like girls." Naruto commented in general surprise.
"Well we're not!"
"Ok, if you say so, no need to get your panties in a twist."
Suigetsu growled in rage before retracting his sharkskin scaled blade in his hand and raised the weapon indicating he was ready for a fight.
"Wait a minute Suigetsu, I recognize this guy. He's the Nine-tails Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Youko. I haven't seen him since the war, but I'm sure it's him, Naruto Uzumaki."
"Huh, this is the guy that defeated Sasuke-sama and the leader back in the war!"
"I'm sure of it, remember Suigetsu we need this guy alive as well as the Nibi vessel. If you do manage to wound him don't make it lethal or else Leader-sama will make us pay...dearly." Deidara declared, while eyeing the rogue nin with wariness, as he did with all Jinchuuriki unless they were belly up and dead.
The former Rock nin had learned caution the hard way when Sasuke had killed him years ago. If not for the Edo Tensai technique that Madara had used to revive him, Deidara knew he would still dead. Unfortunately, Madara was not as adept with the technique as Orochimaru or his protégé Kabuto had been. If he got killed trying to take down the Kyuubi container there would be no coming back as the ancient Uchiha had warned him. Deciding that prudence was in order, he stepped back to let his hot-headed partner deal with the Jinchuuriki. Suigetsu didn't seem to mind as he was focused on other matters, particularly of how Naruto had gotten a hold of that weapon.
"You have Zabuza's sword and he let you have it?" Suigetsu pondered in disbelief of how on earth this gaki could have obtained the sword without being cursed like most grave robbers and other thieves who had attempted to steal the blade.
'Does that mean he's unlocked the blade!'
Deidara was also a bit taken aback when he felt the chakra slowly rising within Naruto to unimaginable levels and thought to himself.
'This complicates things.'
The woman Naruto had rescued however seemed to doubt the combat ability of her savior. Using her unbroken hand, she tried to stand up only for the clone to firmly place a hand on her unbroken shoulder and hold her down thus preventing her from doing anything rash. Needless to say she protested to this, but the copy held firm easily keeping her in place despite her weak attempts to break free.
"BAKA!" She called out, drawing a look from Naruto.
"Hmm, you say something?" Naruto casually replied in his hollow metallic echo of a voice and with those soulless eyes of his mask staring back at her.
"RUN!" She screamed, as she saw Suigetsu raise his sword to attack.
"RUN AWAY! I'm a Jinchuuriki and I couldn't beat them! What makes you...
She froze in midsentence, as red chakra began to bubble around Naruto, and peel off sections of his exposed skin.
...Think you can win?" Was her choked murmur, as not one, not two, but FOUR tails of red chakra slowly grew out of the Kyuubi cloak that had enveloped Naruto and she silently realized.
'He's a Jinchuuriki too!'
Naruto raised a red thumb and for a second she could have sworn she saw him smile, even if it was behind the mask. The blonde Jinchuuriki's tone was that of a teacher lecturing an ignorant student, calm but reproachful.
"True, but you only have the Nibi."
Now all sections of Naruto's exposed skin had peeled away leaving his skin red, whilst oddly enough he kept his human appearance clothing intact and everything. The Leaf missing nin then took up an attack stance and although his voice was distorted, it was full of pride as well.
"But I have the Nine-tailed Kyuubi no Youko demon and with his power there is NOTHING I cannot do, especially against such a weak opponent like her."
A second later, he threw back his head and let out an insane cackle, all the while Samehada was on a collision course with his head swung from the right and ready to lop it off in one brutal swing.
"Either this kid has finally lost it and has gone suicidal or he actually does have the power to defeat us and personally, I think it's the latter." Deidara quietly murmured to himself as he watched the battle unfold before him.
As the blow came, Naruto simply ducked and it whooshed over his head the wind current of the blow blowing his blond hair sharply to the right, as he closed the thumb into his fist.
That had been just a little too close for comfort and looking over his shoulder, narrowed his red/black eyes at the former Mist shinobi, who had now brought his blade back to the right and was ready to swing again despite the fact that his foe had dodged the first hit.
"Suigetsu, we need him ALIVE! He's no good to us if you lop off his head!" Deidara angrily shouted.
Suigetsu paid no heed to his partner, as he didn't care about the leaders plan anymore and only wanted to retrieve Zabuza's sword for himself and to kill this unworthy peasant for daring to wield the weapon in the first place.
As the battle began, rain clouds began to slowly come in, blocking off the morning sun and darkening the sky. Thunder began to rumble overhead and anyone could tell that a storm was brewing up there and it was going to be big.
Suigetsu swung his mighty and spiky looking sword around once more and everyone was astonished at the speed to which Naruto leapt over the wide swing and landed deftly on his feet..
Unfortunately for Suigetsu, he had put too much effort into that second swing, which had left his sword hanging to the left and out of the way. In other words, he had just left himself wide open. That and the speed at which Naruto had moved was so unexpectedly fast was clouding his reaction time with shock and surprise.
Years of training under a Sannin can do that to a guy.
Surprised that Suigetsu had given him an opening, Naruto was not one to pass up such an opportunity in a battle. In a flash, his sword was coming down, as his own feet hit the dirt with a small tap. In fact, he just loved that 'oh crap, I just screwed up and now I'm gonna bleed,' look his enemies had right before he inflicted his wrath upon them.
However, Suigetsu bore no such look, as his was more…..confident.
It was evident by the look on his face, that the former Mist nin knew he had just blundered and desperately he tried to bring his weapon about to block the incoming slash...
Too slow.
Naruto moved in the blink of an eye easily hefting his own weapon with his right hand, and slashing down on his adversary. Unfortunately, Naruto's blade passed through his opponent's entire body as it had become liquefied in nature somehow.
"Still think I'm weak?" Suigetsu hissed before he solidified and raised Samehada above his head once again and declared with laughing derision.
"Fool, you might be a better swordsman than I am, but with the….enhancements shall we say that Orochimaru did to my body. You can never kill me or even hope to hurt me unless you can figure out a way to defeat water, ha, ha ha!"
"You have less brains then you have sword skills missy" Naruto declared smirking at Suigetsu who looked at the blonde Jinchuuriki with confusion.
'What is the Nine-tails planning?' Deidara silently wondered.
The smirk on Naruto's face and his insult of his swordsmanship infuriated Suigetsu and he furiously glared at Naruto before shouting in a rage.
"Damn you to hell you bastard, when I get done with you there won't be enough of you left to stuff into a match box!"
Suigetsu then attacked once more swinging his sword at Naruto in more complex forms related to the art of swordplay, involving a series of jabs, over-swings, and under-swings.
Deidara watched on in fascination, as Naruto easily blocked or dodged all of his partner's sword strikes. This was quite entertaining for him to watch despite the predicament that his comrade seemed to be in. He didn't really care what happened to Suigetsu, as he never really liked him in the first place.
The Two-tails Jinchuuriki felt like she was going to faint, from either the pain she was in or the shock of seeing this unknown man, practically playing with the Akatsuki member when she had gone all out and not even scratched him.
It was almost enough to make her jealous as she thought.
'And he's not even using all nine tails.'
Naruto dodged almost every single one, almost.
The last strike Suigetsu utilized involved a wide arc of a hit that if connected would in all likely hood destroy the upper half of his opponent. Deidara however, was not thoroughly convinced that Suigetsu would win when the blow made contact with its target.
When the blow did connect with Naruto, everyone noticed that the blonde Jinchuuriki had plenty of time to dodge the strike, yet he just stood there to take the head on attack.
'IDIOT! Is he TRYING to get killed?' Was the prevailing thought going through everyone's mind at that moment.
But the only thing Naruto did to show he was trying to defend himself was to raise his chakra cloaked his left hand to catch the massive blow Suigetsu had unleashed. Holding onto Samehada tightly, the Leaf missing nin grinned at Suigetsu almost as if he was mocking the Akatsuki member before saying in a bored tone of voice.
"Is that it?" Naruto commented in a bored tone of voice revealing no pain in his words, but instead of someone who was clearly unimpressed by the attack. A gnawing fear then began to grow within Suigetsu, as he realized that he might be in over his head here.
"W-What the hell?" Suigetsu exclaimed, suddenly finding himself afraid of someone other than Leader-sama when he was pissed off.
As if on cue, Naruto got nasty right then and there, as his tone hardened dripping with derision and disdain, whilst his chakra pressure suddenly flared around him causing Suigetsu and Deidara to be rooted where they stood in fear.
"If this is all you got Suigetsu, then your reputation among the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist has been clearly...exaggerated!"
Naruto then pushed the shark like blade away from him with the arm it came in contact with before slowly deepening his grip into the sword with his left hand and releasing a huge amount of killing intent that froze everyone in their place.
"I don't like a sword that eats my chakra and pigs out on it shortly after getting a taste of what it considers a good meal. Your sword is like big dumb dog or in this case shark that can't stop eating until the food is taken away and frankly it sickens me. Do you even know the inner workings of your sword? Naruto asked in disgust, while pouring more chakra into the sword, but at the same time twisting it and turning it to his very whim.
"W-What are y-you doing?" Suigetsu screamed in a panic when he realized that he couldn't pry Samehada away from Naruto or even let go of the blade.
Naruto ignored his opponent's terrified question.
"Did you know the main reason your sword can eat so much chakra is because it has its own small network of tunnels to take that chakra and circulate it around? Samehada does this to let it thin out and dissolve into the sword itself. However, just because this sword absorbs or eats' chakra, it doesn't mean the chakra can't be manipulated by the very source it came from,"
"What, what do you mean?" stammered the now panicking Akatsuki member former Mist nin, as he felt his hand which was gripping the sword start to grow hot.
"What it means missy is even as we speak I'm manipulating the Kyuubi's charka into your stupid sword. And as I'm sure you're starting to feel that chakra is growing quite hot in temperature."
Suigetsu suddenly screamed out in agony and looked down to see his hand holding Samehada begin to boil and bubble, as steam began to arise from it. Even worse, the boiling effect was beginning to travel up his arm towards the rest of his body. Desperately, then former Mist nin tried to let go of the infamous sharkskin scaled blade in his hand, but to no avail as he heard Naruto say.
"Don't bother trying to let go, the Kyuubi's chakra has locked your grip onto the sword. You know earlier you stated that I could never kill you or even hope to hurt you unless I could figure out a way to defeat water. Guess what, how about if I turn you into a cloud of steam. Does that hurt and will that kill you?"
"ARGHHHHHHHHHH!"
A scathing cry of agony and anguish was the only answer Naruto received before Suigetsu became a unrecognizable mass of boiling water. Which quickly rose into the air as steam before dissipating in the air completely, as Samehada fell to the ground in a thud.
Naruto then turned his attention to Deidara only to find that the blonde Akatsuki member had made a hasty exit during his battle with Suigetsu. Naruto flashed a devious grin and was about to pursue the fleeing former Rock nin when he suddenly stopped and now sensed a distinct chakra signature he recognized with annoyance causing his red chakra cloak to recede back into him, as he growled out in anger.
"You can come out teme, I can sense you now!"
Out of the shadows stepped Sasuke Uchiha, who walked calmly towards Naruto while saying.
"Nice job with the water-freak dobe."
"Screw your praise Uchiha, what do you want?"
"I'm here under orders from Lady Tsunade to take you back to the village Naruto."
"Well then you wasted a trip teme, because I'm not going back. I'm done with Leaf village now and forever."
"Quit being unreasonable dobe! I don't know what caused you to leave the village, but you can't stay out here. Madara and the other Akatsuki members we weren't able to finish off during the war are still out there. If they get a hold of the Kyuubi no Youko, it will be the death of you and the end of us all. You need to come back to the village so we can protect you Naruto."
"Well as you can see, I can handle the Akatsuki just fine, so I don't need the village's protection. I'll deal with Madara when the time suits me. So go back and tell baa-chan to just leave me alone!"
"I can't do that dobe. You have only three options on this matter. One, you come back to the Leaf village with me peacefully. Two, you come back to the Leaf village with me in pieces after I get done kicking your ass. Or three you leave me no option except to….eliminate you per Lady Tsunade's decree to prevent the Kyuubi falling into enemy hands. I don't want to fight you Naruto, so please just come back with me. I'm sure whatever it is that's bothering you can be fixed. You have a lot of people back in Konoha who care about you deeply."
"So, baa-chan actually issued the death sentence on me if I didn't return like a good little dog. How typical, someone else who supposedly loved me turning their back on me for their own selfish reasons. This is all a bunch of bullshit! If there are people back in the village who love and care about me and want me to come home, it's only because they haven't had their shot yet to tear me apart like everyone else who has professed to love me has done! Well fuck them and fuck you Uchiha, I'm not going back and that's final!"
"Damn it Naruto, I didn't want it to come to this!" Sasuke angrily declared, before dropping into an attack stance twenty feet away from Naruto.
"We don't always get what we want teme. A lesson you never learned being the golden boy of the village who always got everything he wanted. However, it's a lesson I learned the hard-way three times in my life!"
Sasuke could only shake his head sadly at his friend and was about to activate his Mangekyou Sharingan when a shout rang out.
"BACK OFF ASSHOLE!"
Instantly a fiery blast of blue chakra slammed into Sasuke from behind and sent the Uchiha hurtling through the air before he crashed into a stone-wall of the abandoned factory bringing the majority of it down on top of him. Naruto looked over to see the young woman he had saved from the Akatsuki enveloped in a blue chakra shroud which resembled a cat. However, the shroud soon disappeared when he saw her fall to one knee in obvious pain and exhaustion. Rushing over to help his fellow Jinchuuriki Naruto knelt down and offered his hand to the young woman who looked up and said in desperation.
"Forget about me, go finish that guy off I knocked into the wall before he recovers! That was the last shot of chakra I had and you've got to be running low after your fight. So hurry up and go kill that asshole before he wakes up."
"Ha, ha, ha, I can't kill the teme when he's unconscious. When we fight each other to the death it will be when we're both at full strength. He deserves nothing less than that and neither do I."
"You're a strange Jinchuuriki. What is your name?"
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, but most people call me Naruto." The blonde Leaf missing nin answered, as he removed his mask.
"Namikaze! Are you related to the Yondaime Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Minato Namikaze?"
"He was my father."
"So your own father sealed the Kyuubi no Youko demon within you, that's incredible!"
"Yeah, it's been a barrel of laughs. So, I told you my name, what's yours?"
"I'm sorry, my name is Ni'i Yugito and as you have already figured out, I'm the Jinchuuriki vessel of Nibi the Two-tailed cat demon."
"Well Yugito, if you feel up to it, let's go track down that other Akatsuki prick who was chasing after you and give him a painful death. What do you say?" Naruto asked, while picking up Samehada before sealing the mighty sword away into a storage scroll.
"Hai, I would like that very much Namikaze-sama."
"Naruto, just call me Naruto, ok Yugito."
"Hai, Naruto-sama."
"We'll work on it. Hey Nel-chan, did you enjoy the show?"
Yugito looked up to see a little girl wearing a green dress with matching colored hair adorned with a strange looking skull-type hat atop her head sitting in the tree she had been resting against clapping and smiling at Naruto.
"You're the beth Naru-kun!" Nel giggled happily in response.
"Come on Yugito, let me introduce you Nel then we can go after Deidara and…"
Naruto stopped talking midsentence when he suddenly felt three all too familiar chakra signatures heading towards them at impressive speed. Pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, the blonde Jinchuuriki could think of only one thing to say.
"Aw crap, not them!"
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Authors Note: Well, there's chapter seven four, I do hope all of you enjoyed it. Once again, I was required to do a lot of rewriting from the original version. My apologies if the Naruto/Suigetsu fight sucked. I had a difficult time writing a battle involving a walking, talking raindrop. I have to say that I'm simply blown away by so many people adding this story into their favorite or story alerts categories in such a short time. Nearly 300 of you so far and I want to say thank you to all the readers for doing that. I'm pleased that this revised story seems to be a hit with most people. I also want to thank those readers who took the time to leave a review for the tale. They're very helpful in letting me know how the story is progressing with all of you. And they really do assist an author out in knowing what people like about a story.
If you enjoy my work, then I humbly urge you to checkout my main Naruto fictional story called "Naruto vs. Sasuke: The Aftermath" If you're a fan of the angst, drama, suspense, surprises, and romance I've done with this story. Then you should really enjoy reading that tale as well. It's a long read, as it's the first story I have ever written and continue to write, but it's definitely worth it if I'm to believe the reviews I've gotten on it. So please check it out when you have the chance and let me know what you think via review. Thanks again to everyone for all of your support.
Take it easy and be good!
Kingkakashi