Chapter 28: Air Battle
"Tsunade-sama, we're back from ki-" Sasuke is interrupted by the woman.
"Oh thank god you two are alright!" Tsunade stands from her desk, tawny eyes wide with relief. In the room are also Kakashi and Itachi, as well as Sakura and Shizune. She lets out a long breath, "I assume that your mission was a success? Where is Cross?"
I enter the room next, moving around Sasuke's frame in order to see the lot of them. "I'm right he-," I get interrupted too. However, it's by Kakashi whom wastes no time in walking forward and promptly pulling me into his chest. Arms are around my shoulders, and he holds me tight. I blink cluelessly. "Ummm...I missed you too?" I'm so lost right now.
"Thank god you're alive and well. Thank god," Kakashi mutters into my hair lowly.
"Sasuke," Itachi speaks up, I can hear the smile in his voice, "Welcome home".
"I'm home, Itachi," Sasuke nods back lightly. "Why is everyone so relieved?"
"You didn't get our distress call...Of course you wouldn't know," Kakashi speaks as he releases me only to walk around my frame and place himself between my furled wings and hold me by the waist.
"...About a week ago, a toad reported to us something rather unfortunate," Tsunade begins, "Jiraiya...Is dead". My eyes widen and my heart drops into my feet, body heat going with it. What? "A two months after you left to take care of Orochimaru, Itachi was summoned by Pein, and was given news of the fact that only he, you, Kisame, and Konan are the only followers left of the Akatsuki".
"When he summoned me, the clouds were dark and the sky red; a bad omen. So I sent a clone of myself instead. Pein ordered me to tell you that we'd best defect right away, as Akatsuki would be attacking Konoha in a few weeks. I had no choice but to blow our cover, and my clone was killed. Two days later, the toad came with the news of Jiraiya's death and the clue of, 'The real one is not among them' unfortunately we don't know what that means".
"All the same," Tsunade picks up, "Naruto left to go train after he had finished mourning for Jiraiya". That's twice now that he's lost his father. One he didn't even know, and the other he'd come to love like a real father. I feel tears welling up in my eyes. Oh Naruto...Sweet Naruto. I'm so sorry. I wish I could do something about that. My dearest Naruto. I didn't even get to thank the man for training Naruto in the first place. Tears drip down my face as this comes to mind. Thank you Jiraiya. For everything you did for Naruto.
"So...What now?" I command.
"Now...We wait," Tsunade sighs out. "We have no choice but to do just that. Go home, the lot of you, and get some rest. However stay on guard; we don't know when or how Pein is going to attack. Cross, don't worry about the report. So long as Orochimaru is dead, I don't care how you did it".
I nod once and sigh before turning to Kakashi, "Let's go to the roof". He raises a brow, but says nothing as he complies, holding my hand as he does so. The journey to the roof is a short and silent one, and once up there, I can't help but just stand near the front railing and look over the village. Kakashi stands at my side. "...Kakashi?"
"Hmm?"
"I love you," I tell him, my heart still sunk into my feet.
He smiles lightly to me from under his mask, "I love you too".
I smile lightly before backing up, and pulling an ever present scroll from my left shuriken pouch. Blood is smeared onto the parchment once opened up, and from it comes a familiar piano and stool. I sit, and sigh before beginning to play, letting the music ring through the air. Normally I would be nervous about playing in a spot where I'm sure the music will reach almost all of the village, but this is for Jiraiya. I snuff away the fear and shyness, and let my fingers play in the form of a song called 'Don't Leave'. I believe it to be appropriate. That night, Kakashi and I go home, and we just cuddle in his room until we sleep, me curled up to his chest and a wing covering both him and my front.
"MOVE! COME ON PEOPLE! GO GO!" I instruct through the pandemonium. What pandemonium? That of Pein and Konan's sudden attack. They infiltrated the village like it was nothing, and now there's multiple orange haired men and one Konan running around killing people and destroying things in general. "Fuku-Taicho!" I call out, and a man with brown hair and green eyes of about thirty years old reports, kneeling before me.
"Taicho," he greets.
"Kyofu," I tell him, "I'm giving you the job of getting these people out of here. Under no circumstance will you turn back to try and help me. Do you understand? I won't forgive you if you turn around and come back for me. I'll be fine".
"But...Taicho," Kyofu tries.
"No buts, Kyofu!" I tell him, looking in the direction of where a large two headed dog crashes its paws upon homes and people alike. On top of one of these heads is an orange haired figure. My wings spread and I point at him, "Do your duty damn it!" I push off, and head for the orange haired person at top speed. Two hands dig into shuriken pouches and with a fling of both arms, they're thrown. They fly straight and true...Until a large wing blocks them, ignoring the blood that is spilled due to the sharpness of the obsidian. I stop my forward motion, and my Sharingan eyes narrow with frustration. Getting to this guy is gonna be harder than usual. The drill beaked giant bird screeches at me, Rinnegan eyes glaring down. "Oh, what? You wanna go?! Fine! Bring it you freak!" I snarl before looking up. The bird looks up as well, and with a strong push of my wings, I head up into the air. The bird follows me swiftly with an angry cry. I look below me to see where the bird is when suddenly I find myself having to swerve to the side just to not get hit by the beak. However, I grunt as one of its legs lashes out with massive claws. I manage to dodge them, but still it was a surprise. Next thing I know, there's an angry cry that makes me look up. What I see is the bird flying down at me beak first with incredible speed for one its size. My hands fly through signs before I call out. "Aoikassai: Jigokuen no Tori!" Blue fire erupts around me, encasing my body but not harming it.
I know that around me is something of a shroud of fire in the shape of a bird. My wings push, and Next thing I know I and the blue fire bird shroud are rushing at the drill beaked bird. When we clash, I wince as the beak is actually quite hard, but I pay this no mind. Fire envelopes the bird, causing it to screech in pain. However it doesn't back off. Instead, its wings furl even tighter to its body, and like a drill it spins. Blood comes from the skin of my hands where the beak's tip meets me. However, I refuse to give in. I'm no where near done. I help my wings by putting chakra into them. They push against the falling momentum, and I look behind me to see where the ground is. Pretty damn close! "Come on wings! Let's go! Push damn you! PUSH! Raaaaah!" More chakra flows into my wings, and they continue to push until finally, finally, I begin to make some head way on this mother fucker. "Okay wings, now...Move!" My wings push again, and with the help of my chakra, they make the bird raise just enough for me to move to the side and cause the still spinning bird to fall to the side. It crashes on homes and shops alike, and I find myself panting. "Why the hell am I taking this bastard on by myself? Oh right, because I refuse to lose more lives. Damn my hero complex!" I look at my hands and see that the damage, while it's not too bad, it's still pretty bad. They hurt like I just stuck them in my own fire. The bird stands, but I refuse to let it take to the sky again. Like hell that's going to happen. "Take this you mother fucker," I yell up to the bird, getting its attention as it tries to stand up again. "Aoikassai: Kindan no Kassai: Jigoku no Dai Mōka Wa!" Unlike Jigoku no Dai Nana Jigoku Wa, this attack is not in the form of a giant wave of fire. Instead, it's in the form of blue fire twisters. Twenty of them to be exact. And each of them with enough power in them to easily floor someone like Kakashi or Guy if hit by just one. If hit by all twenty...Well you're dead multiple times over obviously. The blue fire twisters dance around me, the sky above us turning dark and gray and unforgiving.
I snarl before directing with my hands for the twisters to go on forward. They move as fast as your average twister, which is of a distance speed, raging forward and burning all in their path. It's a good thing no one else is here. The bird by now is on its feet. Upon seeing the blue fire twisters, it takes to the sky, and I follow it. So long as my chakra is feeding those twisters, they'll follow the designated target. The bird flying straight up allows the twisters to surround it as though trapping it in a cage. And when it realizes that they're sky high, it tries to break through the fire that closes in on it. I fly my way to it as the fire continues to close in on it, and look from my claws to the eyes that glare at me. "Bye bye," I snarl out as I shoot forward, getting around its beak and stopping only when claws are imbedded into the bird's eye. Blood spurts out as a result, and the bird thrashes. The result is it getting burned with every time it hits a twister. I move to the other eye, and repeat the process of destroying it. It's then that the bird tries to fly forward, only to run into fire. From just above it, I look to the twisters sneer at the bird. My hands with splayed fingers and claws stops the twisters movements, and chakra strings connect to these twisters, two per finger. I clench my hands into fists- or rather, the best fists I can make with unsheathed claws- and the twisters connect and collide in order to create one large fire tornado. The tornado continues to close in on the bird, but leaves me be. In other words, the tornado consumes the bird until I deem it dead. When I do, the fire disperses. My eyes now travel to the Pein that has been riding on the two headed dog. "Hey fucker!" I call out to the being, "You're next, asshole". That said, I dive bomb towards him, only leveling out when I'm low enough and charge his way. There's nothing to stop me, even if there is a giant centipede or a giant crab fighting other squads of shinobi. No no, I will settle for nothing but the multi-headed dog and the man atop one of its heads.
The orange haired man looks to me before tapping on the head he stands on, making it turn in my direction. When one Rinnegan filled head sees me, so does the other. The massive dog's black rimmed mouths snarl at me, showing me rows of teeth sharp as any sword. I in turn bear my own fangs and claws. The dog charges, its master low and holding on with one hand as it goes. As one set of jaws snaps at me, I fly away from the teeth, only to have to fly through the other set. A paw of claws lashes down at me as the dog snarls. I concentrate wind and fire natured chakra and mix the two which is then sent to cover my wings in full. This is a move I like to call Aoikassai: Goka Tsubasa. It requires no handsigns, and only a little bit of the mixed chakra. However, it's very powerful even with the minimal amount of power poured into it.
I growl as my fire covered wings push me forward. As the first head comes back down again, I weave around his mouth once more. Though this time, instead of just letting his second head repeat the same action over and over again. I land on the first head's face, digging long claws into the upper lip just by the nose- where the whiskers reside- to the point that my actual fingers are making contact with the flesh. The dog yowls in pain and begins to shake and thrash his head back and forth, trying to get me off. However, I stand my ground. As a paw comes down at me to force me off despite the pain that'd cause him, my right wing- the one closest to this paw- spreads from its momentarily furled position, still covered in blue fire. With the cutting attributes of the wind chakra in it and a jerk of my shoulder and upper back, the wing cuts through the paw cleanly, going so far as to cut the two longest toes off. I hear the pain filled scream that practically roars from its lungs. The burning attributes of the blue fire has already cut in, cauterizing the wound on both the cut off toes and the now stumpy toes. I grin towards the stumps. However, what my Sharingan eyes catch but my body is too slow to react to, is the second paw that swipes down and catches me off guard. I scream in pain as the claws make contact with my much smaller frame, cutting me deeply and unforgivingly. The massive paw pins me to the ground, and the fire on my wings is snuffed out. The two heads snarl and growl in my face even as my claws dig into the pads of the toes that hold me down. The foot pushes down harder, making me scream in pain again. Why? Because with the way I'm pinned, it's awkward for my wings. There's another push, and another scream of agony. My wings! It broke my god damn wings!
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I scream out as the breaks in my wings' bones are only made worse. And just when I think the first head is going to chomp onto my own head, there's a frame in front of me. I see a kunai thrown at the head's eye. However, at the last second the dog's heads split into two separate bodies. How the hell does that work?! This allows the first head to dodge the kunai to its eye, however it makes it release me.
"Cross Taicho!" A familiar voice calls out, picking up my still stunned form, "Taicho! Snap out of it!". My frame is moved to on top of one of the few intact buildings in my fighting area. The rest of them have been burned down by my blue fire twisters.
"K-Kyofu," I mutter through the pain that washes through me in wave after wave. It's not as bad as having your wings ripped off, but it's still pretty damn bad. "I told you not to come back".
Kyofu smiles down to me a white toothed smile, "Long before you were Taicho, Kakashi Taicho engraved one thing into our heads as soon as he became Taicho. 'Those who don't follow the rules are scum. But those who leave their friends behind are worse than scum'. I'll gladly be scum if that means that it'll save my Taicho's life in return". His eyes trail to the side, but I can't see them from where I am. However, my Sharingan tells me that my entire team, along with a few other Anbu I've never met, "Team! On my mark aim for the wounds Cross Taicho left on the furthest right head's upper lip! Ready!...Aim!...Fire!". There's a shout of jutsu names ranging from fire to lightning to earth and wind. "Hana! Tsubaki! Come heal Taicho's wings! That fire technique looks to be our best bet!"
"Hai Fuku Taicho!" Two almost identical voice speak up. I am placed onto my stomach as Hana and her mother Tsubaki come to my aid. They're the only two medical shinobi on our team.
"Fuku Taicho, the heads never stop multiplying!" One voice says.
"Kyofu! Our jutsu are doing nothing! Everything's minor damage!"
"Son of a bitch," I hear the man grumble before he addresses the mother-daughter team. "How's it going?"
It's actually going a lot faster than I figured it would. I sigh as the pain finally fully subsides, but I know for a fact that they're not quite fully healed. The bones are, but the tendons that had been ripped are still being worked on, "We need a few more minutes, Kyofu," Tsubaki speaks up from my left wing. "Five minutes tops".
"You heard her! Men! Don't give up! Protect this village and our Taicho with your very last breath! Men! Women! Go!" He takes off himself as well, and I hear the onslaught of every member of my team attacking this massive beast that the long haired Pein stands on. After a few moments, I hear screams of pain and devastation. And yet I can't do anything else but lay here until my wings are better. I try to move them, only for a shoulder to be placed on my hand.
"Don't move Taicho. Please," Hana's voice is heard.
"How can I not?! Let me up! I need to protect them!"
"Taicho, if you move now, you'll mess up everything we did and your wings will be useless," Tsubaki places a hand on my shoulder as well, "If you move now, you're better off with ripped off wings". That fact keeps me still.
However, as I see one of four paws coming for myself, my eyes widen and my body tenses. However, instead of my frame being impaled by the claw, there's a splatter of blood, and I watch as though in slow motion as Kyofu moves in the way of the claw. Blood spatters my face and hair, one splat going fairly close to my left eye, and dripping down like a tear. Before me is the very man whom had saved me not once, but twice now from the beast that is the multi-headed dog. "K-Kyo...F-Fu," I whimper. Just as the healing stops, I stand and rush to the man whom is only a few feet from me. In seconds My hands are on his shoulders as the claw is pulled from his massive frame, as he stands at an impressive six foot five.
"T-Taicho...," he mumbles as blood drips from his lips and his chest cavity.
He slumps against my hold, and I lead him to the ground to lay down. "H-Hana! Tsubaki! Come heal Kyofu!". However, when I turn my head to look to them, I find nothing but headless bodies. My jaw drops, and a wave of sheer coldness comes over my frame. I look back to Kyofu as his eyes dazedly stay on my frame. "Kyofu! Stay with me. Do you hear me?! Kyofu don't you dare die! That's an order!"
Kyofu smiles lightly, dulling eyes meeting my tearful Sharingan ones, "Ahh, good. You're safe, Taicho. I was worried".
"Stop talking, Kyofu. Kyo, just...Just focus on living. Please," I tell him, putting a hand to the older man's face.
"I get to see my wife and sons now, Cross-chan," he tells me lightly, "Finally, after ten long years. I get to see them". They had died in a horrible fire created by an unknown source. It burnt his wife and his two sons- a ten year old and a five year old- to death. "Let me go".
"No! No, please Kyofu. Please! Just a little longer," I plead. Tears well in my eyes, and soon enough they're dripping onto his blood stained face.
A large hand reaches up and slowly wipes the tears from my eyes, only for them to well up with more that threaten to fall. A hand reaches up and holds his hand to my cheek, "Ahh, we'll see each other one day. Promise. But now...They're calling me. Goodbye, Cross Taicho. It was an honor to serve under you". And it's with that, that the hand that I hold becomes limp. I slowly lower it to the ground with a whimper. Oh Kyofu. Dear, dear Kyofu.
My eyes snap to the multi-headed dog, whom by now has at least fifty heads. A wave of rage washes through me. How dare that beast take my friend's life?! I stand, and silently make my way towards the beast, high in the sky. Once I'm above it, I centralize chakra to my right eye as my left one closes. The tomas in this eye spin, changing to the more advanced Mangekyo Sharingan, and I can feel the scleroses becoming blood shot. Wings furl to my back upon my command and I dive bomb as fast as the legendary Yellow Flash could move. My claws find a home the long haired Pein's chest, while the other hand has found a home in the dog's back and into one of the vertebra in its spine. The beast crumples, and I watch as long haired Pein stares at me silently and surprised. Pain pulses in my right eye, and I feel something like a tear drip down my face. Though when it lands on my enemy's face, it's red. "Amaterasu," I snarl lowly. The fire ignites from my point of vision, starting on the long haired Pein's face and consuming his body as I push off and away from him as to not get caught myself. I place a clawed hand to my face, trying to staunch the momentary bleeding of my eye. The blood flows through the cracks between my fingers. I pant as I stare down at the black fires that are said to be from hell itself. Funny. I make it seem that my blue fire is from hell. For a good while I watch those fires, and then I look around once my eye has stopped bleeding.
However, faster than my Sharingan could track, something slams into me and sends me flying to the ground and in an unknown direction. My body slams into the ground with a heavy slam, my wings instinctively curled around my front while my arms slam down in an attempt to hook my claws on something that'll slow me down. However, I stop with an "Oof!" when nothing does stop me. I stand, my skin ripped but otherwise fine, and look around. Where did I land? As my eyes roam, I realize just how fucked over the village has become. Let's just say that it's not a pretty sight to look at. I hear coughing, and look around. There's someone alive here? Who? Where? I strain my ears to find the source of the sound, and ever so slowly, I get closer to the source. However when I make it there, I wish I hadn't. Laying there in a bloody heap is none other than the love of my life. A silver haired Jonin- former Anbu- by the name of Kakashi Hatake. I see no fatal wound, which must mean that he either has internal bleeding or he used up all his chakra. "KAKASHI!" I wail out and rush to his side, not caring for the fact that sliding to his side tears up my knees. "Kakashi!" I call again, gathering his torso into my hold and pulling his limp frame into my lap so that his face rests on my breast and rest of him lays against me.