I do not own Naruto. If there is a better way to say that, I have not found it.
Chapter 22: Hachimata
Kakashi paused, halting the rest of the team. Something was not right.
He glanced around the cavern passage. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Most of the rock was smooth from years of running water—leaving few, if any, areas for anything to hide. Behind them, the steady roar of water prevented proper communication.
A warm puff of air blew water droplets onto his face.
Wait…
…warm…?
The copy nin's eye went wide.
He turned around. "Everyone back outside!" But his voice was drowned out in the background.
He saw Naruto's mouth form the word, "What?"
But it was already too late.
Kakashi started running back towards the entrance, hoping that the rest of the team would take his lead.
A vibration coursed through the rock around them.
Even as they turned to run, it felt as if all the air around them was being sucked backward into the dark cave.
Kakashi could see the falling water at the entrance now.
A little further…
Just as swiftly as the air had been drawn in, something forced it back out. It barreled toward them, a warm ball of pressure, lifting them off their feet and sending them crashing through the waterfall and out into the gorge beyond.
The silver-haired shinobi found himself flung into a pool of water some hundred meters away. His body hit the water cruelly before he used his chakra to bring himself back up to the top.
He glanced around.
Jiriaya sat atop a large toad, the creature perched carefully atop a large bolder nearby. The sannin appeared unharmed, if not just a tad bit wet.
Naruto and Sakura were helping Saruwatari gain her feet as a disheveled Sasuke stood nearby.
A low rumbling laughter mixed with the sound of rushing water.
Kakashi looked toward the waterfall. His hand went up to his head and he uncovered his sharingan.
"Ahhhh" The rich female voice filled the air around them. "So you have finally arrived!"
A large, lizard-like head emerged from the center of the waterfall.
Kakashi stared in amazement. He knew little about Hachimata, and what he had heard didn't do the creature justice.
Shades of green gave the fierce some dragon face a strange leafy effect. And the more the head moved from side to side, the more the copy nin thought it looked to be completely made of vegetation. Only the eyes revealed the beast's true nature.
Brilliant red, they narrowed in triumph.
Hachimata chuckled some more—stepping out from the water.
Seven more heads appeared.
And behind the massive body, flicked eight tails.
"They were right!" Her voice boomed off the walls of the gorge. "You have come just as they said you would!" Her claws crushed the rocks beneath her. "You will not destroy me so easily!"
Again, Kakashi felt the sensation of vanishing air. He saw the dragon's chest expand.
The members of team seven hurtled themselves into the water.
It wasn't a moment too soon, as the air around them erupted into flame.
Sakura held her breath and tried to keep herself submerged as long as possible. Above her, she could see the orange glow of flames.
She kept treading water, forcing her body to stay under even though her lungs were aching. Her eyes strained to see through the water. Beside her, she could see Naruto and Saruwatari. They looked over at her.
At least they're okay.
Her expression hardened with resolve.
Jiraiya.
Sakura shot to the surface of the water. She sucked in gulps of air, her eyes searching the area around her.
The Toad Sage was on the other side of the river. He caught her eyes.
A look passed between them.
Sakura nodded. She needed to find a way to get close to him.
"Sasuke-kun," Her voice, though barely audible, snapped the Uchiha's attention to her. "Sasuke-kun, watch my back."
"Sakura!" He couldn't move quick enough to stop her.
The medic leapt from boulder to boulder, racing across the river expanse. On his own side, Jiraiya was closing the distance between them.
A claw shot out.
Suddenly, a wall of water flew up in front of Sakura as the dragon slammed her clawed hand down into the current.
Sakura and Jiraiya were thrown back.
"Do you think I'm a fool?" Hachimata snarled. "Do you think I don't know there is only one way to kill me?"
Naruto grabbed Sakura, hauling her back over to the rocks. "Sakura-chan?" He looked at her questioningly.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand but didn't say anything.
Naruto looked up at the dragon, his eyes dangerously angry.
"You leave Sakura-chan alone!" He growled. "I'll fight you!"
Kakashi covered his ears as the demon laughed.
"Fight me! You foolish boy!" A head leaned in closer to him. "Ohhhh so it is you!"
She blew a breath of hot air into Naruto's face.
"Well Kyuubi, do you think you can beat me now? Like this?"
"I'll beat you anywhere, anytime." His blue eyes stared into slitted red ones. "One way or another, you're coming back to Konoha with us!"
The head snaked back and the red eyes flicked momentarily up to the top of the cliff overlooking the gorge. All sixteen eyes narrowed.
"Back to Konoha?"
Naruto nodded. "We came here for your help. But this time, I'm not leaving empty handed!"
All eight heads snarled. "Someone here is lying. And I will find out whom."
Watching what was going on, Sakura felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Eh?" She turned around.
Jiraiya crouched behind the rock.
She looked back over at the opposite side of the river. A similar form of the sannin sat
motionless.
Sakura's green eyes widened. A clone!
She leaned back so she could hear him.
"Sakura, with all of us in this close of proximity, I can begin the sealing. Are you ready?"
She nodded, her heart thrumming inside of her chest.
He reached out and drew a small line of blood onto her arm.
Jiraiya moved further behind the protection of the rock. He concentrated, his hands performing the complex seals. It was not a simple jutsu. The seals he needed to make we long and complicated. If he missed one or got one wrong…
Sakura began to feel unsteady. The sound of Hachimata, the waterfall, and Naruto all began to blend together until all she could hear was a soft hum. Her eyes blurred and cleared, then blurred again. She knew it was just a matter of time before she was going to lose consciousness.
Naruto, Sasuke and Saruwatari were unaware of what was happening behind them. They all remained focused on the annoyed dragon.
Hachimata looked down at them again. "And you! The Raiju! Again, you think you can defeat me whie in the body of a host!?!"
"We don't want to defeat anyone!" Naruto called up to the monstrous head. "We came here for your help! Akatsuki is going to come here and try to trap you, or worse, destroy you! But we need your help to fight against them!"
A howl of rage echoed off the walls. "Akatsuki!"
The eyes glanced back up at the cliff.
"Akatsuki!"
The eight tails twitched angrily.
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Behind the cover of thick vegetation, Itachi pushed the kunai harder into the captive's back.
"Hurry," He whispered, though his voice was calm. He looked down at the thin line drawn on his own arm in blood.
"Kisame, is he doing the seals correctly?"
The shark man looked up from the scroll he was holding. He nodded.
Itachi turned back to the man.
They had captured him a day ago. A jounin from Takigakure.
Itachi lent the captive his own personal chakra as he pressed the weapon into the man's back. It would take all of the prisoner's chakra as well as a good portion of his own to complete the demon sealing jutsu.
After all, it did require the life of the seal-performer.
And now Hachimata was suspecting them.
They needed to finish this quickly.
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The dragon gnashed her teeth.
"Akatsuki! They told me a similar story about you!"
Naruto's eyes went wide. "They…they were here?! Then you defeated them?"
Again, the demon chuckled. She eyed him suspiciously. "They came to warn me about you, Kyuubi. I know about your plan to seal me in human form and then kill me. Do you think I'd be so foolish as to let you walk in here and do that!"
"What?!?"
"Foolish boy!"
Sasuke looked back as Sakura's unconscious form slumped against the rocks.
He jumped to her side. "Sakura!"
Behind the rock, Jiraiya was dripping sweat. He blocked out all other distractions, forming the seals one by one. Sakura was in the beginning of the transformation.
Naruto looked back at Sasuke and then up at the eight-tails. All the heads were looking around in confusion.
As he watched, the air around her began to shimmer, strange puffs of wispy smoke appearing around the massive creature. Her body was becoming transparent.
What is going on?
"Hachimata!" Naruto cried out as the demon stumbled backward.
Behind the rock, the young man's yelled pulled Jiraiya's eyes open, and the sannin looked up at the demon.
His jaw dropped.
How…how can this be happening?
Already feeling himself weakening, the Toad Sage squinted his eyes. Hachimata was already in the final stages of sealing…but…Sakura was still in the initial phase.
His brow furrowed and he scanned the cliffs around them.
He saw a black silhouette above.
Shit!
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Kisame snarled at Itachi.
"Get him back from the edge! He's out in plain view!"
The Uchiha pulled the man back. He had lost focus for a moment. The use of his chakra for such a powerful jutsu was taking its toll.
In his grasp, the waterfall shinobi was already slumping. He was almost done with the seals.
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"Naruto!" Jiraiya pulled himself out from behind the rock. "On the cliff!"
He pointed, too weak to do anything else. "Akatsuki! They're sealing the demon!"
Before he blacked out, he glanced over at Sakura.
She was still unconscious.
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Naruto, Sasuke, and Saruwatari looked up at the cliff.
Sasuke felt his heart stop for a moment.
Itachi.
He and Naruto leapt up the side wall of the gorge, leaving Saruwatari next to Jiraiya and Sakura, a dismayed look on her face.
Itachi.
He could feel his brother's presence.
At the top of the cliff, Sasuke and Naruto found themselves face to face with the Akatsuki.
The youngest Uchiha took in the situation quickly, noting the barely moving form of an unknown shinobi.
They're using him to perform the seals! He had seen that before. It was not uncommon to lend chakra to someone else while they preformed the jutsu itself. He even though Naruo had once done the technique with the frog boss.
We have to get that guy away from them!
But Naruto was already on it.
With no concern for his own person, the blond man threw himself between Itachi and the prisoner.
Free from his torture, the man fell to the ground. His hands were still.
Shit. Sasuke stared at him and then into the gorge below.
Hachimata was no where to be seen.
Did he complete the jutsu?
He looked up in horror. Then…
That would mean…someone was now a host…
Itachi…
His sharingan slowly turned to the standing form of his older brother.
But the Uchiha wobbled unsteadily, his shark-like partner fending off Naruto with a vicious looking sword.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
He'd kill his brother now, while he was in this weakened state. He couldn't allow him to access the power of the eight-tails.
Sasuke flooded Chakra to his hand. A brilliant blue fire appeared.
He stepped forward slowly.
But a thunderous cry split the air around them. Naruto and Sasuke jumped back as Hachimata erupted from within the waterfall, her eight tails smashing into the ledge on which they stood.
Both members of team seven plummeted towards the bottom of the river.
A clawed hand caught each of them, setting them down roughly next to the Raiju woman.
The dragon turned her attention once again to the smashed cliff.
With an intake of breath, she roasted the area, burning everything beyond recognition.
Naruto looked up as something fell towards the water.
A body.
It hit the surface with a splash, sinking into the current.
Jumping in quickly, he hauled the form over to the rocks and stared down at the face.
The unknown shinobi.
He was dead.
"Hachimata!" Naruto called. "Hachimata!"
The dragon stopped in her rage and looked down.
"Hachimata, stop!"
A head whipped down to him. "I am not used to being indebted to a human, little Kyuubi."
He grinned in relief.
"Tell me your name." The red eyes blinked.
Naruto puffed up his own chest. "Uzumaki Naruto! Future Hokage of Konoha!"
The gorge echoed with the demon's laughter.
"Well then, Uzumaki Naruto, I will let you live. But," the other heads looked around, "it seems my other 'friends' have escaped."
"Come help us! Fight for Konoha! You'll get to see those Akatsuki again."
"I fight for no one, little man." Her many faces grinned. "But I will allow you to explain the situation to me."
"Naruto," Kakashi's voice made the blond turn around.
His composure dropped when he saw the forms of Jiraiya and Sakura.
"Sakura-chan!" He knelt next to her. "What happened!"
Kakashi shook his head.
"We won't know until they wake up."
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Chapter 23: Explanations, Return to Konoha