Author's Note

So, another short chapter after a long time. I can explain! It's the holidays, so I've had stuff to do with family. And because of guests, couldn't really write any smut since it would be a bit hard to explain to my under aged cousins who love to pester me. But there should be more in the next chapter. I should hopefully begin writing a lot more since most of the plans are over, but we'll see.

Warning! This story will contain language, sexual situations, and possibly fetishes that some people may feel uncomfortable with. If you are easily offended or disturbed, don't complain, you've been warned.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 48: An Anti-climactic battle

"You going to sleep in all day?"

Yoichi heard a familiar voice, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. Opening his eyes, he seemed to be in some sort of cell. Sitting up from what he felt to be a cot, he looked around. There was a barred window that let in the glow of twilight, making him think that it was sunset. There was no door as far as he could see, but what else he did see was a person.

Seeing them, Yoichi's eyes widened as he realized where he was, remembering what had happened to him. Groaning, he fell back, making the other person chuckle.

"So, I take it that I'm dead, huh dad?" He asked, watching from the corner of his eye as his father moved closer to him. Appearance wise, Yoichi really took after him. The same colored hair, but much shorter, his chin and cheeks forever donning a five-o'clock shadow. He was a couple inches taller than his son and his skin was a lot tanner, but the tell-tale eyes of their clan really sealed things in.

"I'm sorry…" His father said, kneeling beside him. Yoichi shook his head.

"You've got nothing to be sorry for. You didn't kill me, and you're sorry for hiding things from me, I understand. I didn't believe it at first, but I rather trust my friends that I know would never lie to me like that over a grandfather that's out to destroy everything. At least with my death, Sakata will never come back." His father shook his head.

"You're not dead, Yoichi. You're between life and death, but not dead yet. The problem is… Kamiko threw you into the box. You can choose to keep living, but…" He trailed off. Yoichi sat up, his eyes wide. He wasn't dead yet? He could still live after that injury?

"Wait, what do you mean?" His father got up and sat next to him.

"Because of the traits you got from your mother, you won't die from just a stab to the heart. Right now your body and mind are in shock because you would have died if you were fully human. It's like you're in a coma, and you can choose if you want to wake up or not." Yoichi nodded slowly.

"And since I'm in the box… if I do wake up, I'll turn on my friends. I might even be the one to bring about Sakata's revival. I'm better off dead then, right?" Letting out a sigh, his dad shrugged.

"It's the demon part of you that's keeping you alive, but it'll also help prevent that from happening. Problem is, it's a huge risk. There's maybe a ten percent chance that you'll be able to walk out the same." Yoichi smirked at that.

"Don't you mean one hundred percent chance? You know what my luck is like." That got his father to laugh, patting Yoichi's back.

"You're right, I almost forgot." He said, taking a moment to let his laughter out before continuing. "I've been watching over you the entire time. I know your… tastes aren't the same as mine, but how you've improved without me around… I couldn't be prouder." Yoichi felt his eyes water, having thought he'd never hear those words from his dad since he passed away.

"Thanks, that means a lot to hear you say that." He said, before sighing. "But, you know how I am. I've only gotten this far because of their help. Sure, teamwork is nice, but I'm relying on them more than they are on me. They say they want to give themselves to me, but I don't know if that's what they want, or if it's just the demonic charm." His father chuckled at that.

"Just like your mother…" He said, making Yoichi look at him in confusion. "You have the same kind of charm she has. Having been the one to fall in love with him, it took me forever to explain what it was like to her. What it comes down to, is that it's not something that makes people like you, you've just got a charming personality. It's nothing demonic, it's just who you are." Yoichi blinked.

"I… I don't get it. What about the pheromones?" His father thought for a moment before nodding.

"Okay, yes, there's that too… But it's not forcing them to be with you. It's not affecting their minds to make them stay with you. Yoichi, you don't have to be scared and think you're forcing them to be with you. They are all there because that's what they want. I know you've been… holding yourself back around them, but you never needed to. You're supposed to be in charge, right? Then take charge of them! You may feel like you rely on them, and while that was true at one point, you've grown past that and just haven't realized it yet." Yoichi thought over his words before smiling and nodding.

"I know this is a bit awkward for you, but thanks for that." He stood up, and stretched. "Alright! I'm going to live and take control of my life!"

"That's the spirit! Don't let anyone stand in your way." His father said to encourage him, Yoichi ready to go ahead and leave until one last thought crossed his mind.

"Wait… I'll have to fight our clan though, right? They need me to revive Sakata." Their mood quickly turned 180 degrees.

"Oh. Right." His father said before letting out a sigh. "To tell the truth, I no longer hold any love for the rest of our family. They've sealed your mother away, killed me, and are trying to convert you to their side by force." He stood up, placing a hand on Yoichi's shoulder. "They are the old Sakata clan as far as I'm concerned. You are the beginning of the new Sakata clan, a clan I would have much rather preferred. You are stronger than them, and your grandfather knows that. The seals on your body were him trying to keep you in check. You don't need to use them anymore. I know you're scared of the power you have, but so is Ichiro. I can't do much while I'm dead, but I've held on to as much as I could to wait and speak with you one last time. With the rest that I have, I'll redo the seal your grandfather did to let you unleash your full potential without any worries." Yoichi looked up at him and nodded before giving him a tight hug.

"Thank you dad… I'm sorry for doubting you. I've missed you, but I know you'll always be by my side. I promise, I'm going to help mom, and then someday, we can all be together in the afterlife. I'll make sure to introduce you to all of my girls. I know you'd like them, they're the sweetest, most caring people I know, even if someone of them don't show it. And… and…" Part way through, Yoichi began to cry, glad to have been able to see his father once more, but sad that this would really be the last time.

"It's alright, you'll be fine. I'll see you again for sure. Right now, you've got people who are alive, waiting for you to wake up. Just remember, I'll always love you…" His father's words seem to get further and further away no matter how much harder he hugged him. Once he could no longer hear him, he felt himself fall, his senses going numb.

The next thing Yoichi knew was darkness. Waking up, he opened his eyes, and it was almost like he hadn't even opened them. It was just pitch black all around him. He thought for a moment that he had gone blind, but the evil feeling creeping around him reminded him where he was. Inside the Box of Ultimate Bliss. Things were foggy, Yoichi clutching his chest as pain blossomed from it, feeling his hand immediately meet a warm, sticky liquid.

"Hopefully there's a medical nin out there." He muttered, not really knowing who all consisted of his backup other than Tayuya. They had all been disguised to make sure if Yoichi somehow was coerced into giving out the name of his teammates, he would only know one to give.

"Just give him back!" He heard faintly. Wasn't the box supposed to be sound-proof or something? That's when he noticed that one of the mouths were open. How didn't he see it before? He must have lost too much blood. Slowly, he began making his way to the possible exit, hearing voices grow steadily louder as he did.

"Nope~ He's the reason all of this was set up. Who else would have told the warden there all of the information he wanted to hear?"

"So you did all of this to throw his dead body inside!?"

"Dead? You really don't have that much faith in him, do you. He won't die from that, just needed to make sure he would go in easily without a fight. In fact, I sense he's already on his way out." Yoichi could barely tell who was talking, but he was indeed walking out of the box, the sun blocked by dark clouds. Slowly, he made his way down onto the courtyard's ground, feeling several pairs of eyes on him. There was a blur beside him as someone appeared beside him.

"Yoichi, be a dear and help me out with getting rid of your 'friends'." Kamiko said to him, believing the box had done its job on him. Yoichi simply glanced at her before looking ahead and continued to walk.

"Pass." He replied, making her eyes widen in surprise before narrowing them.

"Satori! Grab him and throw him back inside!" Kamiko yelled, Yoichi not even caring as he continued to walk towards the group of others he could just barely make out.

"His name… is Muku!" A girl shouted, following up with several fire balls being shot over Yoichi's head, aiming for something behind him.

"Get him back over here, quick!" Someone shouted. It was a familiar male voice, but his mind was too muddled to tell who is was. It wasn't long before two people were on either side of him, hauling him over to where the others were, setting him on the ground against a wall.

"Yoichi, are you alright?" A voice asked. This was a voice he knew for sure, further telling him who it was by the red hair.

"What happened to shithead?" He asked, his vision slowly clearing up to see her worried expression turn into a glare. "I'm fine, I'm fine… you have the scroll I asked you to hold onto? I'd like you to bring it to me."

"We need to get you out of here first. You're covered in blood." She said, Yoichi looking down to see his shirt and jacket were both a dark scarlet.

"Good thing I wear the same thing every day. I can just toss these. Besides, I just need a little rest and I'll help finish things up here. I promise, I'm fine, I just need that scroll right now." She furrowed her brow before sighing and nodding, beginning to look through a bag she had for it. Since she was more of a long-ranged fighter, she wasn't afraid to have a carry-on in battle.

"Despite how it looks, his wound's already healed. He's just low on chakra and lost a lot of blood, but he's mainly fine. We can't really stay much longer, though. That monster is too much for us to handle." Looking to the other side he saw Sakura finishing up a diagnostic on him. Behind her with a frown on his face and arms crossed, stood Jiraiya.

"Nice to see you, Sakura. Who've we got?" He asked, giving her a small smile.

"Me, Tayuya, Lord Jiraiya, Team Gai, and two ANBU. One named Yamato, the other named Sai. We had Kiba, but we sent him for back up after getting the message your shadow clone delivered. Don't really know why you had the clone write it instead of just telling us, though." Yoichi shrugged, just as Tayuya handed him the scroll he had asked her to bring along.

"The message was all that was important. Didn't want to get any faces in case something went wrong either. Anyways, what's the problem? While I'm not sure of how capable of those ANBU are, I'm a bit surprised he's givng you all this much of a problem." Taking the scroll, he opened it up to reveal there was a seal inside. Unsealing it, he pulled out… an apple. A single apple. The sight of it made his face light up a bit, grabbing it and taking a bite out of it.

"This isn't the time for a fucking snack, shithead! None of us can land a single hit on that thing, or that bitch that's pretty much riding on top of it. We were put on the defensive pretty damn quickly, waiting for it to attack to catch it off guard, but nothing seems to work. All the girl's been doing is shit-talking us, and making me really want to punch her in the face." She said, trying to knock the apple out of Yoichi's hand but him easily blocking it to continue casually eating it.

In the background, Yoichi saw just what she meant as Satori/Muku tried coming in for an attack, only for the members of Team Gai rushing forward to hit it. In return, the puppet stopped its attack to dodge each of their attempted hits, even a large wooden spike that emerged from the ground, before returning on top of the box, Kamiko yelling out something that was barely audible to him, but he could tell she was taunting them.

"The monster spoke to us as Muku, telling us about his time inside the box and how he's predicting us because of our fear and anger. We managed to hit a few times after that, but as soon as the girl jumped on top of it, we haven't been able to hit it again, nor has he talked." Jiraiya spoke up, mainly keeping on guard in case it came for Yoichi.

"Well, that girl is my cousin, Kamiko. She's probably suppressing Muku's personality to have Satori's full potential let loose. She was also trying to use the box to 'convert' me over to my clan's side, I think. Didn't work because of sheer luck, but at least I got to speak to me dad." He said, finishing his apple and slowly standing up. Tayuya and Sakura both grabbed onto him.

"Just take it easy. As soon as you can run, we'll get you out of here while the rest of them stall to wait for the others. Shouldn't be too long." Sakura said.

"The hell you mean you talked to your dad? Isn't he dead?" Tayuya added. Yoichi nodded his head as he steadied himself.

"I was on the brink of life or death for a moment. I got to talk with him briefly for the last time because he said he was holding on in case he got a moment to talk with me. I've been a bit scared without him around, but he always knew what to say to get me back on my feet. I'm not going to run away, I'm probably the only one that can deal with them." He said, grabbing his shirt and jacket by the collar and ripping them off his body, not wanting the bloodstained clothes to weigh him down.

"Kid, I don't doubt that you can help, but not in the condition you're in." Jiraiya said, making Yoichi smirk before making a handseal. His seals on his body all appeared before most of them lit up, Yoichi removing them. The burst of chakra that came from him was enough for everyone to stop and look to him, Tayuya and Sakura taking a few steps back in surprise. They watched as the only seal that didn't glow, the one on his chest containing the demon inside him, changed from being circular, morphing into the shape of a heart before vanishing one again.

"Thanks for the help, dad." He said to himself, feeling not only stronger, but not afraid of the strength he had held back. Moving his head to crack his neck, then cracking his knuckles, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

"Yoichi, do you know what you're doing?" Jiraiya asked, Yoichi looking to him with a smirk on his face.

"Not at all. I just feel like an army of seven nations together couldn't even hold me back." He says, not even sure if that was accurate, but damn did it feel like that. Before anyone else could say anything, he looked back towards Satori before crouching and then just… vanished.

"Grandfather would be furious if I failed, but this sudden burst of power wasn't expected at all. It might be better to just throw his allies into the box and escape while-" Kamiko muttered to herself as she witnessed Yoichi disappear, perched back on top of Satori's head, interrupted by something flying towards her from the side. She caught it easily, bringing in front of her to inspect. "An apple core?"

That was the last thing her mind fully registered before she found herself soaring through the air, a large pain running through her back while the sight of Hozuki beneath her was replaced by quickly moving trees.

"Okay, maybe I should have held back a little bit." Yoichi said as he appeared in front of the box, watching his cousin quickly disappear into the distance. "Ah well, probably broke her spine. Hopefully, at least. One down, one to go!" He said, turning around to face Satori who seemed to be clutching its head in pain.

"Arggghhhh!" A strangely human voice came from it, confusing Yoichi, not expecting a monster to sound like that.

"Muku!" Two voices yelled, one belonging to an older male, the other a young female. Mui and Ryuzetsu quickly appeared beside Yoichi, the boy looking to the older man.

"Oh, hey, you're still alive." He said nonchalantly.

"Yoichi, please, let us try to reason with him. Muku's still in there, I can tell." Ryuzetsu said, making him sigh.

"You know, I should say no, but after kicking my cousin so hard that I think she'll land back in Kiri, I think I'll be able to step in if things change. Go for it." He said. What followed was a deep and heartfelt plea from Ryuzets and Mui for Muku to come to his sense that Yoichi tuned out soon after it began. A few parts he got were how Muku made a promise to come back, how Mui wanted to make things better, and at some point Muku landed as a human in front of them, stating that while he understood, he still had to kill them because that was what the box wanted.

That was the point Yoichi decided to step in, appearing in front of Muku as he began to step towards his father and best friend, intending to carry out his duty, only to have Yoichi fist land square in his chest, not only fatally injuring him but also sending Satori back inside the box. With that, Muku came to his senses to deliver his last words to his father and Ryuzetsu.

"Tch, man, I was hoping for something a bit more climatic than that…" He said as the box closed, the other Konoha nin making their way over to him.

"How the fuck did you do that, shithead?" Tayuya asked him, making him shrug.

"The better question is, how are you able to gather nature energy for senjutsu? That's not something people can do easily." Jiraiya asked, making Yoichi blink.

"Nature energy? The hell is that?" He asked, just as his body began to feel like a ton of lead, slumping over. "Okay, this isn't good." He said, feeling his consciousness slip away as he fell forward onto the ground.

"Stupid brat." He heard Jiraiya say as several people quickly made it to his side, before darkness consumed him once again.

Author's Note

And that's it for now. No reviews since my last chapter, but I blame holidays. Ah well, least writing this is fun! Just need to make more time for it.

Anyways, hope you all enjoyed! Please make sure to follow this story to keep up to date on when I post as I do not have a regular schedule. Also leave a review/comment telling me what you did or didn't like and what you'd like to see more or less of. Any bit helps!

Until next time!

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