Team Aeternum: From Heaven to Hell
Chapter 8: Forsaken (Truth)
I do not own Naruto
"Forsaken is the flower that blooms the prettiest behind closed doors."
-Unknown
Chapter Start
"Very interesting."
The words traveled across the throne room until they reached the crystal screen relaying the scene the trio was in. The ruler of the underworld, Maou, was sitting in his throne, one elbow propped up on his knee as he leaned forward to get a better view, keeping an eye on the champions' status. He had been doing this for the better part of a human decade, watching carefully as he saw their progress throughout the years, and the Dark Lord had to admit that their upbringing has been rather… boring, to say the least.
Normally, champions were chosen by fate at least a decade – give or take a couple of years; usually the former – into the chosen human's life, and the reason for that phenomenon is due to the parameters a champion has to have before officially receiving the title. Conviction, goals, dreams, will and determination have all been parameters for the past champions, yet these three – as far as Maou knew, and well, he did know everything thanks to his omnipotence – lacked all of them.
Sure, he conceded, they have goals, but they were all short term; "do this and that, today." While they may lack the basis, the foundation as to what makes a champion, by no means were they weak – as far as humans went, at least. They have strength, power that is acceptable for the standards of a champion, but with no true determination fueling their efforts, their strengths, that power was being held back. They had no conviction guiding them, either, he noted with a quizzical eye as they went with the flow rather than making their own.
And that is what caught Maou's attention.
Never before in the history of champions have there ever been three simultaneous chosen ones in the same lifespan of one another. It was unheard of, even to Maou's extensive knowledge of what is to come in the future. There had been a prophecy, sure, but those were dime a dozen and were prone to changing randomly, so the odds of one turning out to be true was still a surprise on its own right.
Three champions up for grabs, chosen at the youngest age both Heaven and Hell had ever seen and ultimately had the potential for the champion-grade power, but with none of the parameters that made a champion.
"Very interesting, indeed." He repeated as the doors to his throne room were opened.
"Greetings, Maou-sama. I hope I am not disturbing you with my visit." Fero, Hell's champion and Maou's most trusted friend, entered the large room before making her way over to her king.
"Ah, Fero, come on in. What news do you bring?" Maou asked before she kneeled in front of him – as was her tradition of showing devotion to her king.
"No news to bring, Maou-sama. I just wished to visit you." She replied, still kneeling before her king.
He crinkled his nose. "There's no need to kneel before me, Fero. You know that." Maou smiled as he brought his hand upwards, materializing a second throne to the right of him.
Fero shook her head. "What kind of champion would I be if I did not kneel before you, my king?" Maou didn't answer.
"I'd prefer to have you next to me, rather than below me, Fero." Maou motioned to the throne next to his, failing to notice her reaction. As she stammered, his thoughts went to her acquisition so long ago.
Fero had become a chosen one at age fifteen, older than these new champions had been when they got chosen, during one of the many, many wars the humans waged against one another. Before there were the five nations that established the new champions' home, there were two factions fighting for control over the territory. The first battle of that particular war began as both armies charged at one another; their battlefield created when the first soldiers of both soldiers of both sides collided – Fero's home in a small village.
The battle claimed her mother and father, home and all except for her life. As she held on to her parent's corpses, fate had chosen her as she chose her only motive in life.
Revenge.
She trained vigorously for several years, her will was iron and her conviction stirred her to no end until she became strong enough to fulfill her goal.
The two armies met once again, each facing one another, ready to attack. Before they could charge at each other, however, a woman stood before them with a blade in each hand. They warned her to leave, but she stood tall as she tried to remember the warning her family never received to evacuate. After failing to get the woman to move, both armies charged one another, not knowing of the deadly danger that came when challenging a determined champion.
Through soldier to bloody soldier, the woman hacked, sliced and dismembered without prejudice, twirling in a flurry of blood-soaked blades and death. When Maou had approached the girl, she had already collapsed from exhaustion as she fell surrounded by hundreds of corpses. As such was the power of a truly motivated champion.
Fero hesitantly took a seat next to Maou, noticing his serious expression, she asked him about it. "Is something bothering you, Maou-sama?"
He looked at her, Fero had chosen to forget that memory, perhaps in an attempt to leave that particular section of her life behind.
There was a pattern champions have to go through to receive the title, and if the pattern were to be true – and it has been for all the champions prior to these new ones – then that would mean something life changing must have happened to them.
And that confused Maou.
Tremendous grief or loss were the triggers that fate "preferred" when choosing a champion, yet, these three champions had already received the title before meeting the usual requirement.
A glint of amusement appeared in Maou's eyes as he looked across the room; the trio's determined faces reflection on the screen.
xxOxx
In the movies and stories the trio has been exposed to throughout the years, this type of scene would usually call for the villain to laugh uproariously at the protagonist's threat. The absurdity of the claim or threat would somehow tickle the villain's funny bone the right way, eliciting a – usually – evil laugh that echoed throughout the area they were in.
But those were works of fiction, tales to entertain the masses while this was real life. The trio knew this, so they were slightly amused when Gatō slowly chuckled several seconds after their claim of extorting him.
His chuckle was slow, amused and low as if he were waiting for a punchline to a joke that made him laugh during the buildup. Gatō's hands slowly inched back, carefully avoiding the sharp edges of the kunai around his fingers. When his hands met, his fingers intertwined in front of his chin as he placed his elbows on the desk's surface. An amused smile slowly spread across his lips.
The action bothered Shikamaru. "Do you think this is some kind of joke?" He growled in irritation. That caused Gatō to laugh.
"Oh, you were serious?" The short man laughed mockingly, his fingers stayed intertwined. The trio narrowed their eyes before approaching the desk to retrieve their kunai from its surface. They made sure to make as much damage to the desk by chipping the kunai at an angle, splintering the wood with a deep sound that filled the office. Gatō relaxed in his chair.
"Extortion is a man's game. Brats like you have no right to try it." Gatō spat out, as if he was insulted.
"This is not a game." Shino reassured with a threat as he placed his hands across the desk to the right of Gatō.
If the threat worked, Gatō didn't show it as he brought his right hand out of contact with his left one and brought it under his jacket's left breast pocket to take out a large cigar.
"Of course it is…" Gatō snorted as he waved the cigar in between his index and middle fingers. "…light this for me, will ya, brat?" His words felt like needles.
Shikamaru glared as he inhaled for a split second before spitting out a small flame, lighting the cigar.
"This world is nothing but a sandbox, where the ones that have the most toys have more fun…" He gave the cigar a slow drag, savoring it. "…and the ones that don't…" He exhaled the bitter smoke, aiming at the trio. "…try to take from the ones who do."
Gatō leaned back on his chair, the stress on the chair made a distinctive sound before he rose his feet on the desk. "Problem with that, trying to take from people like me, is that I have power – you've seen my work on that shit stain of a village, right?" Gatō smirked as he held the cigar in his hand. "I did that, my power did that, Power that I bought using my money." He frowned as he looked at the ninja in front of him.
"Enough talk, you will listen –" Shino started but got caught off.
"Money is power, my money my power. You three want my money?" He laughed for a second. "Then that means you want my power." The cigar was halfway burned out. "…and I can't afford to lose power." Gatō narrowed his eyes in distaste.
"You've been using that power irresponsibly, Gatō!" Naruto leaned growled back as he leaned in on the desk from Gatō's left.
The short man rolled his eyes. "Oh, cut me the morality speech, you brat!" Gatō quickly rose from his chair and slammed his hands on the desk once more. "Now I'm going to tell you what I told the last couple of dumbasses who tried pulling this kind of shit before you three: You. Fucked. Up." He spat out the words with a delay in between them. "You'd be surprised as to how many men would kill for a couple hundred yen, let alone a thousand."
Gatō smirked as he pointed to the door. "Get the fuck out of my office and my building; I have some calls I need to make." The last part sounded ominous.
"We're not going anywhere, Gatō!" Naruto grabbed the desk's left side – Gatō's right hand side – and tossed it to the left of the office. The desk hit the floor hard as the various objects on its surface were scattered.
The trio stepped forward where the desk once was. "You are going to listen to our demands." Shikamaru glared at the man before them.
"Then humor me, what if I refuse?" Gatō looked pissed rather than worried.
"You will listen, or you will die." Shino replied as he brandished the kunai once more.
Silence filled the room for a moment before Gatō burst out laughing.
"Do you really think you can kill me?!" His laugh was strong. "If I could be killed that easily, then I would have died a long time ago, brat!" Gatō snarled as the blonde stepped forward.
"Do you really want to take a chance on that?" Naruto threatened.
"You don't scare me, kid. There will be severe consequences if that were to happen; you'd know that if you did your research." Gatō scoffed before puffing the cigar once. "If I go down, the company follows me down too and since my company is the biggest shipping industry that has ever graced these pathetic grounds, if it goes under it will affect everyone."
The sudden truth silenced the room, making Gatō smile in the process. Every assassin and two-bit ninja out there knew that to be true, for the consequences of Gatō's death would be very heavy on the entirety of the five nations, affecting millions of lives as the company was responsible for offshore medications, supplies and utilities that were not found anywhere else.
The morning sun was shining rays of light through the large window that made a wall for Gatō's office, overlooking the large body of water nearby.
Before Gatō could say anymore, he noticed the smirk on two of the ninja's faces.
"It's funny that you mention research, Gatō." Shikamaru began with a shrug. "Cause we did do research and plenty of it, too."
"We know every inch of this building, where you keep your earnings, your sales, income, products, buyers, drug labs and the locations of your offshore operations…" Shino stepped forward, his tone a tad superior.
Gatō's eyes widened. "How the hell would you know that?"
"And… we know you have a son…" Gatō gaped in surprise at the blonde's words. "Who, in the event of your passing or retirement, will take over the corporation, and have absolute control." Naruto, word by word, quoted the information they found on the file before coming here.
For the first time, Gatō was shaken. "H-How the hell do you know that?!" Naruto shrugged before he crossed his index fingers to form an "x". Gatō stepped back. "T-That fat bastard! I should have killed him when I had the chance!" Gatō cursed as he backed up, tripping on the chair behind him. He fell on the office floor with a thud.
"So now you know that your life can be forfeited, at any time, by our hands, let's discuss things one more time. What do you say?" Shikamaru crouched so he was face to face with the downed man.
"G-Get the hell away from me, damn it!" Gatō stammered as he backed away without turning his back on them. His back collided with the large bookshelf behind him before he used it to help him back on his feet.
"You're bluffing! You can't kill me, I'm too damn important to die by brats like you!" Gatō screamed as he inched himself to the left, his back against the bookshelf.
"Stop moving, Gatō!" Naruto warned as he and his friends stepped forward to secure the man.
"We're just going to talk." Shikamaru moved forward, his hands outwards in a grabbing position.
"Stay the hell, AWAY!" Gatō grabbed several books off of a shelf before throwing them at the trio. The books were easily deflected, but in that second that their attention was elsewhere, Gatō made a run for the desk, where a toppled over microphone rested next to several papers. With a press of a button, a large static feedback resounded through the building's P.A system, showing that Gatō could communicate to the personnel inside.
"ATTEN-"
"ATTEN-"
"ATTEN-"
Gatō's words cut off suddenly, the echo repeating throughout the building. With a thud, the microphone fell from Gatō's hands, followed by droplets of blood. Gatō looked down to see three pairs of bloodied hands holding onto three kunai; one stuck on his left side, one in the stomach, and the last one on his right side. He coughed at the sight, blood staining his lips.
"W-Why the, h-hell didn't you just l-listen to us?!" Gatō could hear the blonde kid stutter in shock, the kid's hands didn't leave the weapon.
Gatō fell to his knees, forcing the trio to remove the weapons off of his body; the sloppy, squelching noise of the action seemed to echo across the room. The fatally wounded man looked at their faces of shared disbelief as to what happened. Their eyes were wide and their mouths opened, like a bunch of scared kids seeing something they weren't supposed to. He tried to say something but it hurt to try.
'Y-You…" Is all the business man managed to mutter out before he fell on his back on the bloodied floor. His body's collapse was heavy as it seemed to shake the office.
The trio was in shocked silence, their hands were shaking, nearly letting go of the kunai that they used. Their eyes were fixed on the body before them, their insides fell numb – every muscle of theirs went cold, their legs wobbled before they caved in under their weight. They heard their hearts pounding – slamming against their chests as if to escape from what just happened. They heard nothing but the frantic beat of their hearts pounding in their chest for who knows how long as they stared at the body, but slowly they too began to grow silent as a fourth, weaker, heartbeat could be heard.
*ba…bump…* *…ba…bump…*
It was weak, slow and heavy. It was Gatō's.
*…ba…bump…* *…ba…*
Then everything went silent. Their eyes could not wonder off as their minds, their responses, went blank, to look at what they did, what they caused.
The team's first kill, was the man named… Gatō.
They were there, paralyzed as their minds stayed blank, their senses failing to come through except for the image of Gatō a second before he toppled over; when he looked them in the eyes as his life came to an end.
A guard came to check on Gatō thanks to the abrupt ending of his voice on the P.A system. When he entered the office, he saw the two guards slumped to the floor and three bloodied ninja kneeling over the corpse of his employer. The guard stammered as he slowly stepped out of the office before running to sound the alarm that their employer was dead. With no one to pay them, the guards and mercenaries needed to make sure they got what was owed to them.
As the alarms blared – a loud, shrill ring that completely covered the building – the trio blinked for the first time in what felt like ages. They could hear a high-pitched whine with the sound of the alarms muffled in the background.
"Killing is an unavoidable obstacle that every ninja will have to face in their career." Yugao explained.
'Yugao-sensei?'
"When the time comes, you will have to kill an opponent to defend yourself, defending each other or to protect the life of someone else."
"…you will have to remember your objective, stay alert and try your very best to not think about it once it is done…"
'Where am I?'
"Are you going to have to kill a lot? Hopefully not."
The trio shook their heads before looking away from the corpse, their senses going back to them as the alarm came at full volume.
'Remember your objective…" They repeated mentally as they forced the wretched feeling down. They got up on their feet and moved to the large window nearby and saw Gatō's men moving by boats…towards Wave.
'Remember your objective…' They smashed through the window, landing on their feet before they used the teleportation seals to bring them back to the village as quick as possible.
'Protect the village…'
xxOxx
Tazuna's Home…
It was early in the morning when Hana came face to face with Tenten in front of the room where the trio slept. The bun haired girl looked as if she had been in a fight; Hana sniffed the air and concluded that the girl also smelled like one. The Inuzuka knew of Tenten's team's extremely early morning training, and while she thought it was pretty overkill, it wasn't any of her business. What caught her attention, however, was that Tenten's teammates weren't back yet – come to think of it, didn't their training sessions end later than this?
"Good morning, Tenten-san." Hana greeted, her tone was a light one.
Tenten waved as she was leaning against the wall next to the room's door – "was" as she stood upright when Hana came into view. "Good morning, Hana-san."
"Training ended early, eh?" Hana asked as she too leaned against the wall in front of Tenten.
"Hmm?" Tenten arched a brow before she suddenly realized what the older girl had said. "Oh! No, no, I forgot one of my scrolls here and I just came to pick it up." Tenten explained.
"Oh, you mean the one attached to your waist?" Hana had her arms crossed across her chest as she leaned on the wall, her smile turned into a smirk when the girl stammered.
"Y-Yeah, I was just heading back right now!" Tenten shrugged, but her voice didn't match her actions. Tenten had her right hand cup her left elbow at chest level as her left hand touched her face.
"Which explains why you were leaning against the wall like you were waiting for something, right?" The Inuzuka teased.
The flustered girl looked away before she turned around towards the front door. "I-I'll just get going, they're waiting for me."
Hana laughed. "Hey, hold up! I was just teasing you! Were you here to wake up a certain someone?" The Inuzuka had caught up to the bun haired girl before she got too far away.
"L-Like I said, I was here for my scroll." Tenten shook her head in defense. Hana arched an eyebrow as her smile widened, causing Tenten to sigh. "Were you?"
The tables were turned as it was Hana's turn to be flustered. "T-That's not important." Tenten arched an eyebrow in the same manner that Hana had done so earlier. "Eh…"
"Normally, you would be taking a shower by the time my team comes back from training. You took one earlier than usual, huh?" Tenten smiled as she leaned against the wall.
"D-Don't you have somewhere to go?"
As the girls talked, the youngest of Hana's dogs nudged the door open with his paws before entering the room. He whined as he came out, catching Hana's attention in the process.
"What do you mean there's nobody in there?" Hana turned and entered the room to find it empty.
"Maybe they're out training too?" Tenten offered as she peered into the room.
"Maybe…"
With a quick wave, Tenten dashed out of the house to meet her team before they finished with their morning training session.
When she returned with her team to eat breakfast, she was surprised to find that the trio was still not back from whatever it was that they went to do. Considering that half of all three groups were not present, Hana decided for the present ninja to stay together with Tazuna until the missing members returned. With a quick meal, Tazuna and his ninja escort moved on to the bridge.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Hana muttered quickly, her dogs were at attention as they walked behind her, feeling their master's worry themselves as well. There was an ominous feeling that lingered on the air for far too long after every step was taken. The remnants of the festival that occurred several hours ago the night before littered the streets of the village center, adding to the less than safe atmosphere that today's morning sun brought.
When they reached the bridge, Neji grabbed Tazuna's collar from behind and pulled back, telling him to hold still. Something was not right, he noted as he looked around. Usually there would be workers dotting the entrance to the bridge, but this time it remained empty. Neji activated his Byakugan to do a scan across the bridge and stopped when he saw two chakra signatures standing in the middle of the structure.
"Tazuna, get behind us… Tenten, Lee, get in formation." Neji offered as he narrowed his eyes at the still chakra signatures before them.
"What do you see, Neji?" Lee asked as he moved to the Hyūga's right side.
"Trouble." He responded simply before the taller chakra signature moved its arms, causing a familiar thick mist to set across the bridge's surface. "Zabuza…"
At the sight of the mist, Hana immediately sent her dogs to get into position as they tried to detect Zabuza.
Zabuza cackled, sending chills down their backs as the noise echoed throughout the bridge. "Has your sensei not recovered yet?" Zabuza's voice echoed around the ninja from seemingly every direction.
Neji mentally cursed as the mist Zabuza placed over the area was coated in chakra, leaving his Byakugan relatively useless as he could not focus on any near chakra source.
"Maybe I'll pay him a visit…" His words were coated in venom. "…after I butcher his students to pieces!" Zabuza yelled before he appeared behind Team Gai, sword angled for a horizontal swipe to try and eviscerate all three of them simultaneously.
*clang!*
The sound of iron hitting steel sounded off as Zabuza's sword met with Tenten's as the girl had quickly summoned the weapon shortly after the mist had been set up. Her sword – a jian, a double-edged straight sword – blocked Zabuza's attack, holding the massive blade back as both sword users fought for dominance in this standoff. Tenten had been the one to forge her sword, giving it plenty of upgrades to allow it to sustain some punishment thanks to its heavily reinforced blade.
"Not bad girly." Zabuza admitted before he disappeared into the mist, avoiding a counter attack from the Hyūga and the Inuzuka's canines. "But it's going to take more than that to survive against me!" Zabuza growled before he appeared to her right, doing another angled swipe.
Tenten was barely able to sense where he appeared, just managing to deflect the strike by turning her body. The hit against her sword made her stagger as she was forced to take a step back. Zabuza disappeared once again as to avoid any and all counter attacks.
"Hasn't anyone taught you brats that you don't interrupt a sword fight?!" Zabuza spoke through the mist before targeting Lee and Neji, swinging his sword towards their midsections to force them to back away. He then used the same momentum from his swing to turn on his heels to deflect Tenten's sword, but was not able to stop one of Hana's canines from biting his wrist. The canine plunged its teeth into Zabuza's flesh before getting tossed aside.
"Target acquired!" Hana glared as she got on all fours, activating her clan's Beast Imitation Technique; Hana's fangs and nails became longer and sharper as her pupils changed into slits. With the scent of Zabuza's blood in the air, he will no longer be able to hide from her or her dogs anymore.
Before Neji or Lee could recover properly, a voice around them spoke up.
"I shall be your opponent, for now." The voice was soft but the action was anything but as a volley of senbon rained down on them, forcing several rolls to avoid becoming a pin cushion. The soft spoken assailant continued the barrage of senbon, quickly separating the two ninja from the group.
"Not again!" Neji cursed as he rolled once before making a run back to Tenten's position. Lee had the same idea as they both ran back, only to get stopped by a wall of ice that formed instantaneously. Lee attempted to jump the wall of ice using his initial momentum to try and clear the obstacle in a single bound. It seemed as if Lee had done, but when he was above the wall, a hand shot out through the surface and grabbed onto his left ankle before tossing the spandex-clad boy on to the ground with a thud.
"I am afraid I cannot let you do that. I shall be your opponent." The attacker repeated from within the ice wall. "I wish you luck." The attacker whispered before the wall of ice exploded, sending large shards of ice outwards at great speeds. The explosion alone sent the two ninja back several feet, but the fragments of ice forced them to maneuver backwards, getting even more distant from the group.
"Neji, what do we do?" Lee asked as he too was on edge.
Neji blinked before getting serious. "We stay together and fight." Neji narrowed his eyes as he looked around for the attacker.
"Yosh!" Lee got into his fighting stance.
"Your eagerness is strange, but not unwarranted." The voice came from behind them initiating a hand to hand fight between both ninja and the attacker.
Lee reacted by quickly turning on his heels to deliver a roundhouse kick with his right leg while Neji quickly attempted to do a strike with an open palm. The attacker dodged to the left, avoiding Neji's palm strike while catching Lee's attack before stomping on his left leg, causing him to cave in.
Neji had a feeling of déjà vu as this fight progressed and, not wanting to repeat the outcome, the Hyūga went into full assault to cover Lee. The attacker was fast, Neji noticed, almost as fast as Lee as all of his attacks were dodged with ease. The attacker would dodge all of his attacks with a level of flexibility that almost seemed unfair, but was not able to avoid Lee's dropkicks as the boy had quickly recovered and waited for the perfect opportunity to attack.
Lee's kick landed on their opponent's chest, sending the attacker on to the floor several feet away, but Lee was far from finished as he jumped into the air, where he spun three times before slamming his leg to where the attacker was, but missed.
"You are quite fast." The attacker complimented Lee from a safe distance away.
"The same could be said for you, stranger." Lee smiled with determination.
"I will have to fix that." The attacker said calmly, yet the words made Lee's blood go cold at how malevolent the undertone was. The attacker moved his/her hands into several hand signs, making Lee and Neji run at him/her to interrupt the jutsu, but were too slow as the attacker finished.
"Hidden Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!" The attacker spoke calmly before twenty-one walls of ice formed a dome around Neji and Lee.
'Again…?' Neji cursed as this was the same result from the fight against the trio several days back. The ice mirrors offered more room to move, however.
"I hope you do not hold it against me, but the real fight begins now."
"You can't hide from me!" Hana yelled as she and her dogs charged the mist, eliciting the sounds of a scuffle before they became visible again.
Zabuza growled. "I fucking hate dogs." The sword user raised his hands up to his chest and made a hand sign. "Water Clone Jutsu!"
The sound of water sloshing came across the nearby area before five clones appeared next to the original.
"Now it's a fight!" The clones said simultaneously before rushing at the ninja.
*clang!* *clang!* *clang-clang!*
Tenten cursed as she fought off two sword wielders, where every counter has to follow up with another counter and another, forcing her body to twist and turn to not get cleaved in half. This was much different than her spar with Shino several days ago, as this was more taxing, stressful and life threating.
Hana was having a difficult time trying to even attempt to get an attack out as the clones kept an all-out offensive, forcing her and her dogs to stay at a defensive position by constantly dodging. Her clan's fighting style is to hit hard and hit fast, but a simple mistake here and she risked losing a limb – if she was lucky.
As the group was fighting off their opponents, a single thought echoed in their minds.
'Where are they?!'
xxOxx
They fought the urge to vomit when they appeared in the village center after their consecutive teleporting from Gatō's building; the fast movements churned their already volatile innards in all the wrong ways.
There was a silent panic going throughout the village as people ran past them, their movements were frantic and blurry to the trio while the villager's shocked and panicked faces would normally scream, it remained silent to them.
A group of villagers stopped in front of them and were making erratic gestures that matched with their faces of fright. Their words fell on deaf ears as the trio could only blink; their eyes half-closed as it already were.
Naruto recognized the hair color of one of the villagers, the stark contrast between the amber head of hair and the brown wood behind it made the villager stand out, but try he might, Naruto could not force himself to think, talk, or do anything.
She must have noticed his lack of attention as she, tears in her eyes, raised her right hand before slapping the blonde across the face with one fierce strike.
The slap jerked Naruto's entire body.
"S-SNAP OUT OF IT!" Naruto heard her scream as he snapped out of his stupor. The village was filled with screams from both thugs and villager, but joy and fear were what separated them, respectfully.
"We need your help!" The woman begged as she hugged her son tighter. "The whole village is under attack, p-please stop them!"
'Protect the village.' Naruto repeated his team's current objective. Naruto nodded at the woman quickly before he shook his teammates to snap them out of their stupor as well.
"S-Snap out of it, Shikamaru, Shino!" Naruto spoke for the first time in what felt like an eternity. His teammates shook their heads in attention.
A sudden wave of villagers soon ran past the trio, the tell-tale roar of flames from a molotov exploding behind them sounding off. Behind the trio, the rest of the villagers were chased into the village center as mercenaries came into view from both sides, boxing both sides from escaping.
The villagers' cries increased as the men came closer.
"You guys know what we need to do, right…?" Naruto muttered as his stomach fell from his own words. Shikamaru and Shino said nothing for a few seconds, but nodded slowly. The trio swallowed hard as they steeled themselves.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu…" Three dozen clones appeared around the mass of villagers standing between them and the enemy. The clones themselves looked uneasy for a moment before their expression hardened into something serious.
The sudden appearance of the clones only seemed to encourage the mercenaries even more so at the thought of a fight. Little did they know was that the clones were not there to fight…
With shaky, regretful hands, the trio raised the kunai strained with Gatō's blood and readied them.
…the clones were there to keep the villagers out of the kill zone.
The mercenaries shouted before three of them, two from in front and one from the back, began the rush to the mass of villagers.
In the blink of an eye, the three originals disappeared before the three men leading the charge stopped in their tracks, the men behind them doing the same as they saw that one of the ninja had suddenly appeared in front of them.
"I…I'm sorry." The boy muttered as he twisted his hands on the kunai he was holding. The man tried to say something, but no words came as blood rushed to his mouth. The boy jerked the weapon inside of the mercenary upwards, eliciting a gasp of pain, before violently pulling the kunai out. A splatter of blood followed the kunai before it hit the boy's sleeves.
'F-Focus!'
The man slumped to the ground, a gaping wound on their chest evident on his form.
The nearby mercenaries backed up slightly at the sight.
'Get it over with!'
The trio – Naruto was on the other end of the villagers while Shikamaru and Shino stayed on the same side – focused on the task at hand, emptying their emotions.
Without warning, Naruto immediately vanished from his spot and reappeared to the nearest mercenary in front of him. The man had no chance to notice the threat had moved as Naruto plunged the kunai deep into the man's throat, tearing the flesh and muscles apart in one stab. With one violent jerk, Naruto removed the weapon from the man's throat before spinning on his heels to sink the bloody weapon in to the mercenary closest to him. The weapon went in from below the jaw, piercing the tongue and everything past that as the blade went in until Naruto's hand touched the underside of the man's head.
Naruto pulled the weapon from underneath the man's head with a jerk, causing the body to follow the blade downwards. The body hit the ground with a thud.
'Focus!'
The mercenaries were not able to counter attack as the blonde then teleported to the man farthest to the right, greeting him with three consecutive stabs to the chest. As the man doubled over, Naruto sliced open his neck with a simple swipe, staining the wood of the nearby stall, before teleporting to the next enemy.
"COME ON…! COME ON…!" Naruto yelled in an attempt to feel something, anything as he plunged the kunai deep into the body of a mercenary before teleporting to the middle of the enemy group, where he sliced open the jugular of another one.
Teleport.
Stab, stab, and kill.
The mercenary barely registered that the blonde had moved before his eye was pierced with the kunai.
Teleport.
Slice, kill.
The mercenary attempting to avenge his fallen comrade by charging forward towards the civilians was silenced permanently by a clean evisceration across the neck.
Teleport.
Pounce, stab, and kill.
Teleport.
Stab, stab, stab, and kill.
Teleport.
Slice, and kill.
Teleport.
Kill.
Teleport.
Kill.
Naruto's movements became bulky as he aimed to kill as fast as possible.
Teleport.
Kill, kill, kill, KILL, KILL, KILL!
The remaining mercenaries attempted to run away.
Attempted.
Run.
Run!
Run!
Jump.
KILL, KILL, KILL!
Naruto screamed as he plunged the thoroughly blood-drenched kunai out of a mercenary.
xxOxx
As the two men in front of Shikamaru and Shino fell to the ground – twin gaping chest wounds on their corpses – the duo wasted no time as they teleported to the nearest mercenaries around them. Each stab coated them with blood as sudden, violent jerking movements had to be used to pull the kunai out as quickly as possible.
It was when Shikamaru had pinned a mercenary to the ground, stabbing the man consecutively across the chest, that his and Shino's body and mindset went into automatic; kill at any cost, don't get hit, protect one another. The duo would protect one another when one is in the middle of a kill by countering any enemy who poses an immediate threat.
'Focus!'
Shikamaru pulled out the kunai from a now dead mercenary and teleported behind the large group enemies, stopping those that attempted to escape. The duo knew what needed to be done, despite the brutality that was required to do so as they brandished their kunai. This "fight" was going to end soon.
The Aburame disappeared when the Nara did, surprising the enemy.
"GAH!" A scream was heard from the middle of the group before grunts of effort, steel meeting flesh and the sound of bodies hitting the ground came roaring into action. The duo was attacking to injure then kill by stabbing the men on the sides before teleporting to the next man, repeating the step before returning to finish off the first man.
The mercenaries screamed as they attempted to escape but were cutoff, a sickening silence permanently muffling their screams as blade after blade cut into them instantaneously.
When the last man fell, the clones dispersed, burdening the original trio even more as memories of their assault on the mercenaries came roaring back to them from different points of view; each scream was different, yet the blood that covered their bodies felt the same.
The villagers separated to let Naruto through towards his friends. The village center was eerily quiet for the eternity it took for the blonde to get to his teammates as his movements were sluggish. When he finally reached his teammates, they looked at one another, noticing the state they were in gave them a strange comfort from knowing that they did not – will not – go through hell alone.
Blood dripped from Naruto's hair, tainting the only clean place on the ground free of blood. Their senses came back to them when they fell on their knees.
Shino quickly pulled down his blood soaked scarf before he and his friends vomited on to the ground. Tears escaped their eyes as the smell, look and feel of the gore on them hit like an explosion. They gasped for air, spitting to remove the bitter taste of the bile that came up before shaking their heads to snap out of it. They looked at the villagers.
"…I-Is…Is everyone okay?" Naruto wiped his mouth with his thumb as he stammered. The villagers said nothing for a moment.
"Are… Are you three okay?" One of them, a man, asked, earning similar question directed at them. They looked at the ground.
"…We are not injured." Shino clarified as he raised the scarf back into its place over his mouth.
The trio slowly got up off of their knees before standing straight. From the distance, shouting could be heard coming closer towards the village center.
"T-There's more…?" Naruto voiced in disbelief, akin to that of a desperate man. "Please…" His friends shared the same feelings as they looked at the blood that coated them.
"I am afraid so!" A voice boomed from above the village center, catching the attention of all the people nearby. From below, the villagers only saw the silhouette of a man as it descended to the ground, revealing Gai in his unhindered form. "There appears to be more enemies approaching from the north!"
"G-Gai-sensei, you recovered!" Naruto exclaimed weakly once the man settled to the ground in front of them.
Gai nodded. "That is correct, Naruto-kun, and it is all due to your potions! I was resting at Tazuna-san's home when two men broke in and threatened Tsunami-san and Inari-kun. I had no choice but to resort to your gifts!" Gai explained, his tone getting serious at the end as he looked around.
"Are you three okay?" His voice was deep and sympathetic as his gaze softened while simultaneously hardened at the scene. The trio nodded gently, not being entirely convincing.
"This isn't our blood." Shikamaru muttered as he rubbed his index finger against his thumb, feeling the texture of the foreign substance.
Gai walked over to them. "It was the villager's lives on the line, you three had –" He began, but stopped.
"We know, Gai-sensei, we know…" Naruto sighed as he made eye contact with the man in front of them. "We'll be…fine, right guys?" Shikamaru and Shino nodded, this time slightly more confident.
Gai looked them over for a second before giving them a small smile. "Good to hear that. I need you three to collect my students for me; they should still be at the bridge with Tazuna-san. Bring them over to me and make sure that Tazuna-san is safe."
"What will you do, Gai-sensei?" Shino asked, his voice sounded stressed.
"Me? Why, I am going to welcome our new guests!" Gai smiled, a twinkle appearing on his teeth.
The trio nodded before making their way towards the bridge.
"You will be able to rest after this, you three!" Gai shouted before running towards the oncoming enemies to intercept them.
The trio welcomed the idea before they teleported to the nearest seal closest to the bridge. Once they neared the bridge, the trio could see a thick mist obscuring the area.
"Ah, shit." Shikamaru cursed as they stopped short of the mist.
"Zabuza?" Naruto pondered as he inhaled.
"More than likely." Shino answered before the blonde let a strong gust of wind out, sweeping the thick mist away, allowing them to see in front of them a couple of feet.
"This mist is way too thick; I won't be able to blow it all away at this rate." Naruto muttered.
Before one of them could say anything else, they heard the sound of metal hitting the ground, an evil laugh sounding out soon following closely.
"Forget it, just go!" Shikamaru ran, his friends at his sides as they entered the thick mist towards the sound.
xxOxx
Tenten was breathing heavily as she attempted to block another attack with her sword, but Zabuza's superior strength won over her depleted energy, sending her sword flying before it hit the ground with a *clang!*. As Tenten was in recoil from the hit, Zabuza kicked her in the stomach, causing her to fall on the ground. He laughed.
"You're pretty good, kid. I'll give you that for surviving against me for as long as you did. Who knows where your skills could have ended up if you hadn't been so unfortunate to face off against ME!" Zabuza gloated before he raised his sword up in the air. Before Tenten could be cut in half, however, Shino appeared and scooped her off of the ground bridal-style before rolling out of Zabuza's sword's range. The blade crashed against the bridge's surface, smashing it in to pieces of broken concrete.
Shino placed Tenten on to the ground gently as he stood up, facing Zabuza. "S-Shino, where the hell were –" Tenten stopped as she felt her hands, noticing the moisture on them. She brought them up to get a better look at them and saw the crimson glisten of spilled blood. She looked down and noticed her clothes were also covered in the stuff on the places she had come into contact with Shino when he picked her up.
"Are you injured, Tenten-san?" The Aburame asked without looking away from the sword user.
"N-No, I'm not injured! Shino, are you okay?" Tenten's words were hasty as she saw his bloody clothes.
"I am fine." The reply was quick, sharp and sounded more as a reminder to himself rather to convince her.
"Shino…?"
xxOxx
Hana panted heavily as she moved around on all fours, keeping eye contact with Zabuza's last clone at all times. Hana had been fighting Zabuza's three clones since they were formed around ten minutes ago, and she was about ready to collapse. The other two clones had been taken out seven or eight minutes into the fight, but had physically drained Hana's energy and chakra while her canines suffered several injuries. The clone in front of her began to rapidly make a long range of hand signs, prompting Hana to charge towards it.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" The clone called out as it released a viscous current of water outwards, transforming into a massive dragon. Hana cursed as she stopped abruptly to avoid colliding with the dragon by rolling out of the way. Hana had reacted too slowly as the attack grazed her side.
With pained grunts, Hana barreled several feet backwards before Shikamaru appeared and caught her mid-roll as he kneeled down. Her back was against his chest.
"Inuzuka, are you alright?" Shikamaru asked as he looked at the girl he caught.
Hana wanted to respond but couldn't as the deep stench of blood forcefully invaded her advanced sense of smell.
"W-What the hell happened…to you?!" Hana asked in between gasps of air as she tried to ignore the moist warmth of the blood on his clothing.
"Inuzuka is safe, go Naruto!" Shikamaru ignored her question before the blood soaked blonde came dashing through the mist to engage the clone.
"What the hell happened to you guys?" Hana asked once again as she regained her breath.
"Nothing we couldn't handle." Shikamaru replied as he stood up, his tone was distant.
After Naruto dispelled the clone after several dodges and a few clean hits, Shikamaru and Naruto ran off to support Shino.
"What happened to you…Shikamaru?"
xxOxx
Zabuza narrowed his eyes at the newcomers with interest as their blood soaked clothing left crimson stains against the bridge's surface. The scene was heartwarmingly…nostalgic.
"What's this? You Konoha brats come dime a dozen, don't you?" Ha laughed from within the mist, his voice going in circles around the trio. "But you three are different, you have to be! Making your big entrance to a fight? Covered in blood?! Fucking perfect!" Zabuza laughed.
"Come out and fight, Zabuza!" Naruto yelled as his patience began to run dry.
"Tell me, how does it feel – the weight of blood on you? The smell of it?" Every question of his was heard from a different direction. "Whose blood is that, anyway? From the villagers of that piss-poor village, perhaps?" Zabuza laughed. "I didn't know that goody two-shoes of a village could produce real ninja like me. I'm impressed."
Naruto growled as he had enough of Zabuza talking. Fifteen clones appeared, each inhaling heavily. "ENOUGH!" They all yelled before exhaling while simultaneously clapping their hands together, making a very large gust of wind to erupt from the area. The wind cleared most of the mist from the center of the bridge where they were.
"Well then, guess you don't like to play around, do you kid?" Zabuza asked from behind them before he swung his sword horizontally. Six clones were sliced in his attempt to kill the trio, but failed to do so as they rolled forward to avoid getting dismembered.
"Shino, Naruto! Cover me while I set up!" Shikamaru ordered as he made three clones appear.
"With pleasure!" Naruto and his clones nodded angrily as they charged Zabuza while Shino sent a medium sized swarm to cover the blonde.
"Shit, it had to be this type of weather, huh?" The Nara cursed as he and his clones looked at the heavy clouds covering the sun. The mist nearby also hampered Shikamaru's shadow techniques, so for moments like these, he came up with a contingency plan.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" His clones announced together as they combined their jutsu into a massive floating sphere of inferno. The ball traveled high above them, giving the area more of a bright tone. "Artificial Light!"
"You're fast on your feet, kid!" Zabuza growled as his attacks were dodged again and again by the blonde.
Zabuza lifted his sword and swiped downwards from a vertical angle to try and smash the blonde, but Naruto sidestepped the attack before he took advantage of Zabuza's slow recovery. Naruto ran forward and slammed three hard punches across Zabuza's face, each punch cracking his knuckles at the sheer force, before he slid in between the sword user's legs to avoid a grab. With Naruto temporary underneath him, Zabuza was vulnerable to a leg sweep but caught himself from falling to the ground by using his sword as leverage.
"Try again, brat!" Zabuza growled as he lifted himself using only the hand on his sword's hilt before flipping over its side, his feet on the ground once again. Naruto rolled away as soon as he recovered, but would have been cleaved in half if Shino's kikaichū hadn't slowed down the massive blade before it hit the spot the blonde was in a second before.
"Go Shino! Herd him over here!" Shino heard Shikamaru's orders before nodding in reply as he readied several concussive grenades. Shino wanted to go all out and use all of his ordinances to make this problem end as quick as possible, but he did not know the infrastructure of the bridge and did not want to put Tazuna's work in jeopardy.
So with a slightly disappointed toss, Shino's concussive grenades landed in front of Zabuza and Naruto – in between them. The blast pushed both forces flying back, each one landing on their feet as if it meant nothing before Shino began to toss concussive grenades to Zabuza's general direction, covering every direction he would think about dodging to – except for the back, where Shikamaru was waiting. Zabuza jumped up in the air to avoid getting hit by the blasts but got tackled by one of Naruto's clones, slamming itself and Zabuza back on to the ground, right below Shikamaru's massive fireball.
The Nara's clones got ready as they took the original's ninja wire holsters off of him. "Same as before, hold Zabuza down Naruto, make sure he stays planted there, Shino!" It was the same plan as the fight with Team Gai. The trio was planning on ending this fight now.
"You got it!" Naruto yelled as he made five clones to keep Zabuza distracted.
"Affirmative." Shino replied as he jumped in the air to provide a ring of concussive explosions to keep Zabuza in place with Naruto.
"Impressive way to keep someone in place, but I would personally disable the opponent's legs first before I play with them." Zabuza added his opinion, bothering Naruto in the process.
Naruto snarled, his head hurt from everything he was bottling inside from what happened earlier in the morning until this very moment, and he wanted to vent.
Hard.
Naruto charged at Zabuza, the blonde's clones following him, ducking under a sword swipe before rolling to the left to avoid another swipe that crushed the concrete the blade landed on. It was during those attacks, where Zabuza would slam his sword on to the ground where he was vulnerable for just a second longer than normal. In that small gap of vulnerability, Naruto jumped up and delivered a left punch from above, landing on Zabuza's right cheek, making the sword user stammer slightly with the direction of the punch. Naruto rolled away, not taking the chance of trying to squeeze another attack in like his clones did, only for Zabuza to recover and take them all out in one swing of his sword.
"You are a pain in my ass!" Zabuza yelled as he charged at Naruto, his moves faster and less time consuming, not allowing Naruto a chance to attack, only to dodge in a circle inside the ring of explosions.
"A-Anytime now!" Naruto called out as he narrowly avoided a slice aimed at his head.
From outside the ring, Shikamaru and his clones nodded at one another. "Do it now, Shino! Cover them!" Shikamaru's clones ran towards the two fighting ninja as Shino stopped the bombardment to throw a large cylinder canister to the center of the ring.
Naruto shielded his eyes a second before the canister detonated; multiple flashbangs went off, blinding Zabuza with the bright lights. When the sword user could see again several seconds later, he was more than a little surprised to find that he and the blonde were inside a dome of wire, with the only opening being the circular exit at the top…if it weren't being occupied by the massive fireball the other kid had put up.
"You've got guts kid for wanting to fight me this close." Zabuza narrowed his eyes as he raised his sword up high. "But it's going to take more than just wire to keep me in here!" The sword was brought down to try to break the wire but stopped suddenly.
"What the –?! Why can't I move?!" Zabuza groaned as he fought for control over his body.
"C-Capture complete!" Shikamaru struggled to maintain control over Zabuza's body, even though his clan's technique was being reinforced by the added light of the fireball. Shikamaru slowly raised his hands, forcing Zabuza to do the same. "C-Come on, let g-go of the sword…!" The Nara struggled as he tried to open his fingers on his left hand to force Zabuza to do the same so he could drop the sword.
Zabuza's hand did not budge as he refused to drop his sword. "D-Damn it! N-Naruto, just do it!" Shikamaru had to fight off Zabuza's power as the sword user sent chakra surges to try to disrupt Shikamaru's control over him.
"Argh… you…got it!" Naruto groaned before he slammed a hit-stun packed punch straight at Zabuza's stomach the moment Shikamaru lost control.
"Shino, now!" The blonde yelled as he winded his leg back, gathering power to his leg when Zabuza doubled over in front of him.
At Naruto's words, Shino charged his elemental chakra to his right hand, sparks forming around it. When Naruto's kick connected with Zabuza's body, Shino grasped the wire's stability frame (a small square-like section of wire that held the dome's frame that connected every wire together) before he poured the elemental chakra into his palm. The dome of wire gave a huge spark as electricity ran throughout it.
Naruto's kick sent Zabuza flying several feet before his back collided with the now electrified wire, cutting into his back while delivering a tremendous shock wave that launched him forward after a second of electrifying him.
Zabuza growled in pain as he was being shocked, but was forced to be cutoff as Naruto caught him after being launched off of the wire's surface. The blonde caught the sword user, his arms wrapping around Zabuza's bleeding back as their chests collided with one another.
Naruto growled. "Get bent, asshole!" Before going with Zabuza's momentum as the blonde jumped up about two feet in the air, arching his back in mid-air to position his and Zabuza's head towards the bridge's surface. With a resounding cracking noise, Zabuza's head was smashed into the concrete surface.
Zabuza's body soon followed suit as his back hit the ground, letting him see the fireball above him. He was dazed from the attack and hurt from the wires as his back bled.
Naruto panted slightly as he bent down to collect Zabuza's sword – which was still being held by Zabuza's grip. "Now just let go of the damn sword, already-!" Naruto placed a hand on Zabuza's wrist when the sword user brought his leg up while arching his back to kick the blonde's face. Naruto staggered backwards as he placed a hand on his aching face, but got immediately picked up by the throat with a single hand.
Zabuza tightened his grip on the blonde's throat, choking him as he lifted the boy off the ground. "You are one of the most annoying pieces of shit I have ever met, brat!" Zabuza roared as he stared into Naruto's panicked eyes. The blonde's hands were grasping Zabuza's grip in an attempt to break free.
"Naruto!" Shikamaru and Shino yelled simultaneously as the Nara sent out his shadow while the Aburame sent out a massive swarm.
"I'll see you in hell, BRAT!" Zabuza tossed Naruto up in the air before sending a monstrous kick to the blonde's stomach as he fell, sending him flying to the wires, cutting into him while electricity flowed through his body until he broke through the dome, causing it to collapse. Naruto screamed in pain as he hit the ground hard, barreling well past fifty feet, where his body rolled as the kick's power died down…straight into the giant crystal ice dome that held Neji and Lee captive.
Zabuza jumped back several times to avoid being ensnared by Shikamaru's shadow or attacked by Shino's bugs.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Zabuza yelled as he aimed for the massive fireball floating above, causing it to turn into a thick steam. "You brats are making me serious!" He screamed through the mist he brought back. "Huge mistake!"
Shino and Shikamaru were back to back as they kept an eye and ear for any indication as to where Zabuza was. It was their intensive years of reflex training that alerted them to the tell-tale sound of a blade cutting through the air as they ducked to narrowly avoid getting decapitated.
"Stay still and DIE!" Zabuza roared as he would disappear into the mist before attacking again and again.
Shino grunted as he let his swarm out as they dodged, spreading them as a makeshift shield, barely breaking the crash of Zabuza's sword whenever the duo couldn't dodge.
'They need my help!' Tenten and Hana thought simultaneously as they finished catching their breath and patching up any minor injury they had. Tenten picked up her sword from the ground and moved just in time to block a hit that would have sliced through Shino like butter.
"I'm still in this fight, damn it!" The bun haired girl pushed back Zabuza's sword as she began to feel adrenaline rush to her.
"And so am I!" Hana yelled as she managed to land a surprise claw attack across Zabuza's chest. Her canines were too injured to deal with at the moment.
"Again with you two?!" Zabuza growled in distaste. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!" Three clones appeared, each with their own sword for more effectiveness at the cost of more chakra. "IT'S OVER!" The clones yelled in unison.
Hana was next to Shikamaru when a clone got the jump on them as he struck them with the sword's blunt end across both of their chests, sending them barreling backwards. Shino pushed Tenten out of the way of the same fate as he received the blunt end of the sword, crushing the ordinances on his vest. Shino flew back and hit the ground hard, barely able to remove the vest as he threw it upwards before it detonated in the air. Shino fell back on to the ground, his chest heaving for air.
"Shino!" Tenten yelled in worry, but was not able to help as she got kicked in the stomach causing her to double over. The clone grabbed her by the head before throwing her about ten feet away from Shino's left hand side.
One of the clones approached Hana and Shikamaru before grabbing the downed Inuzuka by the throat. The clone laughed before slamming her to the ground, where he kicked her all the way towards Tenten's downed position.
"You two…" Zabuza spoke slowly as he pointed to Shikamaru and Shino. "…I'll enjoy killing. While you two just get in the way!" A clone of his dispersed, showing that Zabuza now needed to conserve chakra. The other clone walked over to the original in front of the girls, where they both raised their swords.
Zabuza let the mist disappear, to allow their failure to be seen by them all.
"Now die." He said simply as he and his clone were about to slice them from both sides, but stopped when Hana's youngest canine came from the hiding place that she had put them in to recover, before he jumped and bit the original's arm.
"GAH – FUCKING MUTT!" Zabuza yelled before jerking his arm, forcing the canine to let go. Zabuza kicked the dog away, letting it roll on the ground before pulling a kunai out. "Enough out of you!"
"NO!" Hana screamed as the kunai flew towards the downed canine. Before the weapon could connect, however, Shikamaru intercepted the attack as he rolled in front of it to shield the canine.
The kunai pierced his coat and stabbed him as several inches of steel penetrated his left side.
"G-Get out of here! Don't worry about her; I'll make sure nothing happens, so go!" Shikamaru gasped as he removed the weapon from his body, the coat following suit as he removed it. The dog whined, but limped away from the boy.
"N-Nara…" Hana sighed in relief at the sight of her canine being alive.
Zabuza frowned. "And here I thought you had potential, but anyone that would take a hit for a mutt is not cut out for this world." He turned and looked at the girls. "Time to end this already." Zabuza and his clone lifted their swords one last time.
"Not yet!" Shikamaru yelled as he threw the kunai that had pierced him. "Now, Shino!" The kunai flew, approaching the area in between Zabuza and the girls. As it flew by, Hana saw a paper wrapped around the kunai's hilt as it began to glow.
"Now die!" Zabuza and his clone shouted as the kunai flew past them, their swords swung – the original's sword to Hana's left and the clone's sword to Tenten's right to form a double sided guillotine.
*clang-clang!*
At that instant, Shikamaru's last teleportation seal activated on the kunai, allowing him and Shino the chance to intercept Zabuza's attack. With the bloodied kunai ready, Shikamaru teleported in front of Hana, pulling her closer as he used the kunai to try and stop the attack as he kneeled. Shino did the same as the kunai he had used to deal with Gatō and his men was used to try and save Tenten.
When Hana and Tenten opened their eyes, they found that they had not died and were more surprised to see Shikamaru and Shino, respectively, kneeled down in front of them as they had not noticed the duo move.
"S-Shino…?"
"Nara, are you…?"
Their heads were facing down as their bodies went limp. Shikamaru and Shino's hands relaxed, letting go of the kunai's broken hilt. The broken hilt joined the broken fragments of steel underneath them. The smell of freshly spilled blood stained the area.
The girls looked down at their bodies to see their left (Shikamaru) and right (Shino) sides cleaved by the massive swords.
"SHINO!"
"NARA!"
xxOxx
Naruto turned as he heard his friends' names being called out in such a way. His stomach dropped in worry.
When Naruto had recovered from Zabuza's attack, he found himself inside an ice dome with an unconscious Lee and Neji. Lee's legs were riddled with senbon, making it impossible for him to move while Neji was covered in the metal spines. From that point on, Naruto had to avoid the same fate by dodging attacks from the assailant.
When he heard his friends' names, Naruto ran towards the voices to go help them but got stopped in his tracks as a storm of senbon struck him across the back.
"I am afraid I cannot let you leave." The enemy said from within the ice mirrors. "If you try again, I will be forced to kill your comrades here."
"D-Damn you!" Naruto cursed as he tried to move. "If you wanted to kill them you would have done it a long time ago!"
"…Are you sure you want to take that kind of risk on someone else's life?" The voice echoed.
Naruto gasped as he fell to his knees. "I-I don't care anymore!" He cried out as he fell on all fours to crawl. "My friends are out there and they need my help! So get out of my way!"
Naruto's heavy breathing could be heard as he struggled to move.
"They are gone now." The voice was sympathetic, but that only infuriated the blonde.
"THEY ARE NOT DEAD!" Naruto yelled, getting energy from his anger, Naruto managed to get up to rush the nearest ice mirror but got stopped by a wave of senbon hitting his legs. He fell hard on the floor.
"…t-they can't be dead…" Naruto tried to yell but only a whisper came.
"…All that awaits you out there is death, so please…" The voice was almost pleading.
"You… You must be the most fucked up… most fucked up person I have ever met to say… to say something like that. H-How is… How is this a-any better than that…? Y-You're toying with me… if… if you're going to kill me… then just fucking do it already!" Naruto cried as he crawled forward.
There was silence as he struggled to push himself forward, but was getting nowhere.
"You… do not have to die." The voice perked up, almost as if it got a big idea that could fix everything. "I can place you in a deathlike state-"
"WHAT'S THE POINT IN LIVING WHEN EVERYTHING I LOVE IS GOING TO DIE?!" Naruto yelled as he forced himself to crawl faster. His arms moved his hands to push him forward but got pierced by senbon, rendering them useless. "Agh! F-Fuck you!" Naruto muttered as he remained motionless.
"This is the ninja world, where death happens at every turn." The voice was low, almost sad. "Your friends succumbed to this world, but they were very lucky to have someone like you as a-"
Naruto growled. "D-Don't you dare speak about them as if you knew them! Y-You don't know the things they've… the things they have done for me…or the things they have given me…! They…They would do the same for me…!" Naruto willed his body to respond as his hands twitched to move him forward.
More silence, the same dreary silence accompanied the blonde's grunts of pain and effort.
"Please stop this!" The voice lost some composure. "They are not alive anymore, so please stop…"
"…they're not dead…" Naruto whispered as his body gave in to the damage. "…they can't be dead, not… not when I'm still breathing…" His body felt extremely heavy. "…we still had the whole future…. the whole future ahead of us…" Tears escaped his eyes.
"…we had dreams…we had goals…we were going to be friends forever." Naruto's breath shook as he spoke. Memories of them as children came to his mind; when they first met, the sleepover, the park.
"…we have people waiting for us back home – family…" The parents he had around him appeared in his mind as well as Jiraiya and Yugao. The picture of them, their team, came to his mind before it burned to ashes.
"I… I can't let that happen…!" Naruto shook his head against the floor.
"We… have dreams and goals…! The whole future ahead of us!" His arms twitched before they were slowly made to move. His arms moved forward until the palms of his hands were against the floor.
Naruto groaned in pain as he pushed his upper body into a kneeling position.
"Please…stop this!"
Naruto's heart pounded against his chest. "They…" His friends, Shikamaru Nara and Shino Aburame… The thought of losing them terrified him.
"They can't be dead…" The thought of someone killing them made him enraged. His head faced the ground as he grinded his teeth.
"I…" The blonde gasped out as every fiber in his being refused to accept that they might be dead.
"I WON'T ALLOW IT!" The anger in his voice flooded the area as he growled. "THEY…ARE NOT DEAD!" He screamed as steam began to form around his kneeling form.
"I…" The steam around him erupted outwards as a violent ring of red chakra surrounded him. The ring circled Naruto before the chakra made a trail – the chakra dug into the concrete towards the area Shikamaru and Shino were. The chakra crawled on to their limp, kneeling forms before it engulfed them.
"I'LL…" His voice changed into something different, something…evil.
"I'LL KILL ANYONE WHO TRIES TO TAKE THEM AWAY FROM ME!" Naruto roared, causing large spires of red chakra to erupt around him, turning the atmosphere the same color of the energy.
Shikamaru and Shino were still facing the ground when they gasped a shaky breath. Their hands twitched, moving slowly to the blunt end of the swords that were cleaving them from the sides. Their hands closed on the edge of the swords and pulled them deeper into their wounds, not letting Zabuza or his clone remove the swords from them.
"S-Shino…?"
"N-Nara…?"
The duo growled before jolting their heads up to face the ones that called their names, startling them as Shikamaru's eyes were now crimson red with slits for pupils while beneath Shino's sunglasses a red glow could be seen.
Naruto looked forward, catching the assailant by surprise as the blonde's eyes were now demonic.
The trio looked up towards the sky above before roaring as the malevolent entity that has remained dormant for the past seventeen years has finally…
Awoken.
Chapter End