Opening - Alones by Aqua Timez
"You're late, Kidoumaru. On Kabuto-sama's orders, I had to come here myself."
"K-Kimimaro...sama..." Kidoumaru choked out, finding it hard to breathe under the bone wielder's killing intent.
"Who the hell is this guy?" Naruto asked disbelievingly. "Hey, you! With the white hair and the pissy mood! Who are you!?"
Kimimaro turned his attention to Naruto. "...I see. So this is why you had so much trouble. The Uzumaki came for this mission. Well then." he slid his loose white shirt free of his shoulders, and pulled one of his bones out of his chest while shaping it into a sword. "I'm Kimimaro Kaguya, the strongest of Orochimaru-sama's elite guard. I'm here to take Sasuke Uchiha, but since you're here, I suppose it's best if I take your Rinnegan as well."
"K-Kimimaro-sama," the spider boy stammered, "Where are the others?"
"The rest of the Sound Four have been killed," the Kaguya replied flatly, and Kidoumaru recoiled. "I didn't bother killing the Konoha-nin and Suna-nin who were with the bodies; there was no point." he coughed quietly. "If you want to survive, stay out of this fight... better yet, dissolve that spider silk on the ground. It's in my way."
"Y-Yes, Kimimaro-sama. Right away." Kidoumaru shakily performed a few hand seals, and what was left of the spider silk covering the ground below exploded into smoke, leaving bare grass and earth behind.
"Much better." Kimimaro leapt down to the ground, landing easily on his feet before levelling his sword at Naruto. "I'll kill you first, Naruto Uzumaki."
Naruto unsealed his cutlass and swept it upward in a single smooth motion, unleashing his Banshou Karu at Kimimaro. Rather than dodging as everyone else had done, Kimimaro placed his bone sword between himself and the crescent of metal that tore up the ground in its wake. It's powerful enough to cut through all of that earth and stone without slowing... Kimimaro triggered the first stage of his Cursed Seal of Earth, which Naruto recognized from Mizuki's use of it.
The giant arc of metal struck Kimimaro's sword, and he was immediately shoved backward by its momentum. It's cutting into my bone sword... It's impressive, but I can't say I'm surprised. He focused his Shikotsumyaku into the bone in his hand, strengthening it and making it grow thicker. That should do- He wind was knocked out of his lungs as his back struck a thick tree, smashing it apart. The Banshou Karu that was pushing him then cut what remained of the trunk in two. ...Yes, quite impressive, Kimimaro mused as the blade began to slow down.
His eyes snapped wide open as Naruto appeared to his left in a blur of motion, and swung his black cutlass toward Kimimaro with his teeth bared. Kimimaro aimed his free left hand at Naruto intending to fire his Digital Shrapnel, but Naruto then vanished again. Fast... and that wasn't a mere Pulse Step. If it was, he'd only be able to move straight forward, but he was facing me. That means he turned and ran around me in a curved line... what is that jutsu? No, more importantly, I need to know where he went. And the answer is obvious.
Kimimaro shifted his arm as the Banshou Karu blade stopped pushing him entirely, and he aimed his left hand to his right flank. Naruto promptly appeared with his sword raised, and was shot with five bullets of bone. He gave a pained scream, and vanished again. So he can move at that speed even when he's injured... again, quite impressive.
Naruto emerged from his Empty Wind in the branches of a tree above Hinata, Kurama and Neji. "Kurama! How much hybrid chakra do I have now?"
Kurama hesitated. "...I'd say you have enough for a one-tailed Version One cloak," he decided after a moment.
"Good. I'm gonna need it." Naruto's Rinnegan darkened and turned blood-red, and orange chakra began to bubble upward out of his whole body, taking the appearance of a boiling liquid that was gradually shaped into the vague likeness of a fox, complete with Kurama's enormous ears and bushy tail. The whisker marks on his cheeks thickened and darkened, and his teeth subtly grew a pair of fangs. "Neji, keep an eye on Kidoumaru. Hinata-chan, Kurama, you can help if you want, but you'll be better off guarding Sasuke's coffin with Neji."
"Right," Hinata was the first to reply with a nod. "You can beat him, Naruto-kun."
He nodded silently, then vanished again and reappeared before Kimimaro, bringing his cutlass down against the older boy's bone sword. Kimimaro gave a brief grunt of surprise when Naruto's blade began cutting into his own, and he noted that it was covered in the same orange chakra as the Jinchuuriki's body. That cloak is comprised entirely of dense chakra. Such power...
"Your Cursed Seal has a second stage," Naruto growled, and pressed his sword harder against Kimimaro's. "So why aren't you using it yet?"
"It doesn't suit me," Kimimaro admitted, and withdrew away from Naruto before taking up a high-level kenjutsu stance. "The second stage of my seal gives me far greater strength, but it also slows me down. With swordplay such as this, speed is more important than brute strength. I won't change my fighting style and use the second stage here. Why should I bother, when I can defeat you in this form?"
Naruto absorbed this information before using his Empty Wind again, retreating to the proper distance for use of his Banshou Karu. Before he could fire one of his destructive crescent blades, however, Kimimaro appeared in front of him with a Pulse Step, and stabbed him in the chest with his bone sword.
"You're skilled," Kimimaro admitted. "I didn't actually expect to slip through your guard so easily... perhaps it's because you didn't know I could use Pulse Step?"
"No." Naruto grasped the hand holding the bone sword in his chest. "I saw an oppurtunity to catch you, bastard." He brought his cutlass up, intending to kill Kimimaro with a single slash.
"I can't be caught." Bone spikes shot out of Kimimaro's wrist, shocking Naruto into releasing his grip, and Kimimaro retreated with a Pulse Step while leaving his bone blade in Naruto's chest. The Jinchuuriki hauled the sword free of his wound, hissing as it healed over in less than two seconds. "You've recovered easily from my Digital Shrapnel, and now from a stab of my Camellia Dance. That means you can heal from most of my attacks, but there's one that should be able to finish you off."
Naruto didn't respond; instead he simply cut the air with his sword again to throw another Banshou Karu. This time, Kimimaro didn't take the time to create a sword to block with. "Larch Dance," he called, and an array of sharpened bones grew out of his arms. He crossed them over his chest and caught the Banshou Karu with them, but he was then thrown backward by the force of the crescent blade. The bones covering his arms then cracked and snapped, and the Banshou Karu cut through his forearms until it reached the bones inside, slicing into them but not quite passing through his arms.
Kimimaru bared his teeth in pain, but the adrenaline in his body dulled that pain greatly. He waited patiently for the attack to lose its momentum, then pulled his bloody arms free of the blade and perched on a tree limb far from Naruto. I see now. That jutsu was specifically meant to be unblockable. Of course, it isn't quite unblockable, but I can see that this was his intent when he made it. With my arms the way they are, I'll have to start dodging it from now on. It's too strong to just catch it.
Naruto appeared in front of Kimimaro with his sword raised again, and the last Kaguya dodged the black blade before reaching behind the back of his neck and pulling out his spine. "Clematis Dance: Vine." Wielding his modified spine in a one-handed kenjutsu stance, he swung it at Naruto. The stave-like bone weapon extended and twisted into a whip as it flew through the air, wrapping around Naruto despite the Jinchuuriki's attempt to cut it as it closed in.
Naruto began to growl loudly, and his chakra cloak grew more intense along with his anger. Kimimaro noted the sight of his spinal whip beginning to dissolve, but he continued his attack. "Clematis Dance: Flower," he intoned, and formed a massive spike of bone around his right arm before stabbing toward Naruto.
"Shinra Tensei!" the Uzumaki roared, and sent Kimimaro flying backward. He flicked his chakra tail upward and cut through the bone whip entirely, freeing himself. He swished his sword through the air experimentally, then vanished with an Empty Wind in pursuit of Kimimaro.
Kimimaro, meanwhile, had reluctantly triggered the second stage of his seal. I'll need power instead of speed to properly wield the Clematis Flower, he noted, and landed in a crouch on the ground. Naruto appeared before him with a feral snarl, and smashed his cutlass against the Flower. "...Your sword isn't holding up," Kimimaro observed dully. "Look, the edge is chipping away. If you keep this up..."
"Shut it!" Naruto snarled, and whipped his sword against Kimimaro's arm several more times. He did, however, note the sparks flying from his strikes.
Naruto, Kurama's voice suddenly resurfaced in his mind. Calm down a little. I understand that the hybrid chakra might be affecting your emotions, but you can control that. Just calm down.
Naruto growled, but stopped attacking Kimimaro like a berserker. ...You're right, he admitted grudgingly. I'm feeling so much rage, but there's no reason. This guy hasn't hurt any of my friends, so I shouldn't be so angry. Thanks. He glanced at the edge of his sword, and noted that the edge was indeed chipped and worn away. This sword won't hold up against my full strength... maybe I should think about getting one custom-made...
Think about that later, Kurama advised quickly, as Kimimaro began his next attack with his Clematis Flower. Naruto dodged and raised his damaged sword to counterattack, aiming his blade at Kimimaro's throat. The older swordsman leaned back, letting the sword pass harmlessly in front of him, then swept his own weapon diagonally upward and scored a long, shallow hit across Naruto's chest.
Naruto paced backward lightly, and glanced down at the massive rip in his skin and shirt. The wound was already almost healed, but the shirt was still torn open. Naruto considered this for a moment, then took a few brief seconds to seal his sword, slide off his coat, and unseal the sword again. Kimimaro raised an eyebrow, and Naruto explained, "It was a gift from my girlfriend... fiancee," he corrected himself. "I don't want to get it cut to pieces."
"Then perhaps you shouldn't have worn it on a mission like this," Kimimaro pointed out reasonably.
"It was a very recent gift," Naruto elaborated with a sheepish smirk. "I just couldn't help myself, ya know?"
Kimimaro used a Pulse Step to blur forward, and Naruto swatted the Clematis Flower away with his battered cutlass. "You seem far more calm and rational than you were a few moments ago," he observed.
"It's my first time using this power," Naruto admitted. "It took me a while to get the hang of it." He said this while constantly parrying Kimimaro's increasingly forceful strikes, then leapt backward for a quick break. "Hey, I know this might sound kinda stupid, but I might as well ask. Is it okay with you if I take a second to replace my sword?"
Kimimaro paused thoughtfully, still standing in a battle stance with his Clematis Flower held up defensively. "...Feel free," he decided after a few silent moments.
"Thanks," Naruto replied with a hint of surprise in his tone, then called, "Seal Summonig Jutsu." In a puff of smoke, his stone vault appeared and he lifted the lid to pull out an identical U-1917 cutlass, replacing the half-broken one in his other hand. He sealed away the damaged sword, then fixed the scabbard of the new one to his waist and drew the freshly sharpened blade. He dismissed his vault before resuming his fight with Kimimaro. He closed in with an Empty Wind, slashing downward at Kimimaro's chest, but the Oto swordsman moved his own weapon to parry the cutlass easily.
Kimimaro moved to counter with a stab to Naruto's chest, but the younger swordsman vanished with another Empty Wind and reappeared behind him. Kimimaro aimed the fingers of his left hand behind his back, and fired his Digital Shrapnel. Much to his surprise however, Naruto was already gone in another blur of movement.
The Kaguya glanced upward as he heard Naruto landing on a tree limb high above him. "Banshou... Karu!" he roared, and Kimimaro dodged to the side of the downward-aimed crescent of metal. He failed to account for the two Rasengan set into the massive blade, however, and when they exploded he was thrown backward through the forest.
Kimimaro recovered quickly from the blast, but not quickly enough to be able to dodge Naruto's next Banshou Karu. Instead, he could only react fast enough to catch it with his Clematis Flower, although he noted with relief that his ultimate weapon was holding up nicely against the giant blade. Still, he was being pushed backward through the forest against his will, and he was unable to react when Naruto appeared behind him while the crescent blade was still pushing him back.
Naruto brought his cutlass down, slicing into Kimimaro's back before disappearing with another Empty Wind. Meanwhile Kimimaro cried out, and lost his focus on properly holding back the Banshou Karu blade. His arm went limp, allowing the metal crescent to slam the Clematis Flower into his chest and throw him out of the way, and he then crashed into a tree that buckled and nearly fell from the impact.
Kimimaro coughed blood, then pulled himself to his feet while breathing heavily. Of the two of us, I'm the better swordsman, but there just isn't anything I can do against his incredible speed, and this jutsu is... he coughed again, and his eyes widened as his Cursed Seal involuntarily receded back into its first stage. Damn it, my disease is getting worse, and fast. I don't have long... this boy is pushing me to my limit!
He steadied himself and used his Pulse Step to return to where Kidoumaru and the three Konoha-nin were now gathered again. Naruto was standing out in the open, waiting for him with his sword at the ready. "You could surrender, ya know," Naruto suggested halfheartedly. "We'd take you alive."
Kimimaro coughed a bit more blood, scowling. "That's out of the question entirely. I'm prepared to give my life for Orochimaru-sama, and I've spent a long time expecting to do just that. Still, I do appreciate the sentiment." He let his Clematis Flower crumble away into small fragments of bone, since it was too heavy to wield efficiently without the second stage of his seal. To replace it he pulled forth another bone sword from his left arm. "Prepare yourself, Naruto Uzumaki. I have to kill you now."
Naruto sighed, and his chakra tail swished slowly. "Kimimaro... you're not such a bad guy. I'm gonna feel bad about this, but still, I have to protect my friends. That includes Sasuke."
"Likewise, my purpose in life is to carry out Orochimaru-sama's will. I have never failed him, and today won't be the first time. Goodbye."
Kimimaro used his Pulse Step and Naruto used his Empty Wind, and the two of them clashed at the point directly between where they'd been previously standing. Both of them unleashed a flurry of rapid kenjutsu moves, and sparks flew as their weapons struck and grated against each other. Although Kimimaro's superior skill was slowly pushing Naruto back, it was clear that the older boy was tiring, and he would fall before he managed to even wound Naruto.
However, just as Kimimaro began to falter severely, they were interrupted by the sound of a body being run through with a blade.
In the distance, blood dribbled down Kidoumaru's chin and he croaked, staring weakly down at the jian blade emerging from the front of his chest, where his heart would be. Kimimaro's mouth fell slightly open in his shock.
Kabuto pulled the Kusanagi free of Kidoumaru's flesh as the last of the Sound Four died silently. "There. Now I've completed Sasori-dono's new collection. I'm sure he'll be pleased."
"Collection?" Kimimaro repeated. "Sasori?" his eyes narrowed. "That's Orochimaru-sama's sword. You bastard, what have you done!?"
Kabuto swished the jian lightly through the air as he spoke. "Well, first I sent you out here so that your illness would kill you faster, and you wouldn't be in my way. Then I helped Orochimaru switch into a new body... you might be interested to know that he chose Gen'yuumaru." Kabuto chuckled. "Then I sedated him, and applied a personalized juinjutsu while he was helpless. It's specifically meant to kill him if he ever acts against me, even if I'm unaware of it. I took this sword and the snake scabbard from his throat. Oh, and I amputated his hands as well. He didn't have much use for them, so I had them replaced with puppet limbs Sasori-dono specially made."
"You... betrayed Orochimaru-sama..." Kimimaro bared his teeth in a furious snarl. "You betrayed us!"
The Kusanagi's blade extended with lightning speed, cutting through Kimimaro's bone sword like it was paper. The last Kaguya cried out in shock as his chest was sliced open, and his Cursed Seal receded. He collapsed.
"Yes, I betrayed you. Is that all you have to say?" Kabuto waited, but Kimimaro didn't make a sound. "It seems so. Well then, I'll just leave you here for Sasori-dono to collect your corpse, which brings me to my next reason for coming here."
The traitor turned his eyes on the coffin guarded by Hinata and Neji, and raised his sword. Naruto used an Empty Wind to move between the Kusanagi and his beloved, blocking the jian with his cutlass. Kabuto focused his chakra into the extended blade, slicing Naruto's sword in two and carving a deep wound across his chest similar to Kimimaro's. To his surprise, however, Naruto's wound healed and he unsealed his older, battered and worn cutlass from his ring.
"Banshou Karu!"
Kabuto jumped to the side of the incoming attack, and aimed the Kusanagi at Naruto's heart. He extended the weapon as fast as he could, but Naruto dodged while also knocking the blade aside with his cutlass to protect Hinata, Neji and Sasuke. Kabuto retracted the blade again, and chuckled briefly. "Your ability to regenerate is impressive," he noted. "That's why I'm aiming for your heart. If I strike you in the heart, and keep the Kusanagi in the wound so you don't regenerate, that should be enough to kill you."
He's right, Kurama growled. Be careful here, Naruto.
I will, Naruto replied, and moved to Kabuto's right side with an Empty Wind, pulling back his sword arm with the intent to cut through his enemy's throat. Kabuto turned and swung the Kusanagi at Naruto, noting with amusement that the Jinchuuriki was careful to slap the legendary jian away by striking the flat of the blade rather than its edge, knowing that the Kusanagi could cut through his saber like nothing.
"I'm not used to wielding such a long blade, as opposed to my kunai and chakra scalpels," Kabuto remarked, and swung the weapon several more times. "Still, I can clearly see that you're getting quite good with that cutlass of yours."
"Just get the hell out of here," Naruto snarled, and counterattacked. "I'll give you one chance to leave my friends alone and run. We won't follow you."
"Hm..." Kabuto seemed to consider the offer while blocking Naruto's attacks. "I would, really, but I want Sasuke's Sharingan rather badly. I've also promised Sasori-dono one of those eyes, and although he might be satisfied with his six new puppets, I'd rather not let him down again. Particularly since I want him to support my joining the Akatsuki."
"...Akatsuki, huh..." Naruto continued his attack. "So I guess that means you'd want to capture me for the Nine-Tails as well."
"I hadn't expected you to come after Sasuke, and I hadn't planned to capture you today," Kabuto admitted, "but it is rather convenient. On the other hand, I'll need to capture you alive, so-"
He was cut off by the sight of a blue orb of chakra soaring through the air toward his right temple, and he ducked. He failed to notice the shuriken following Hinata's Rasengan through the air, however, which meant she was able to Substitute with it and appear in midair above him, with a second Rasengan in hand. She gave a wordless cry of triumph as she slammed the chakra sphere into his exposed back, knocking him facefirst into the ground.
She then tucked and rolled to her feet past Kabuto, and took up a Gentle Fist stance next to Naruto. Kabuto stood and retreated away as quickly as he could, denying them the oppurtunity to attack him again. "Two on one?" he questioned with a light, almost cheerful tone. "This is beginning to look unfair now, especially considering this demonic power of yours, Naruto."
"It's not two on one!"
Kabuto's eyes widened, and he turned to where he could hear an otherworldly rumbling sound coming through the trees behind him. "...What-"
A massive tidal wave of black sand surged into Kabuto's view, stopping a solid distance away from the ongoing battle. The wave took several seconds to shape itself upward into Shukaku's upper body, and Gaara emerged from the One-Tail's forehead with his arms crossed.
"It's twelve on one."
Tenten, Haku, Lee, Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru, Temari and Kankurou then appeared on Shukaku's shoulders, and were lowered to the ground on small platforms of black sand that broke away from Shukaku's body.
Kabuto paled. "...Damn it..." after a few seconds of hesitation, he finally decided that he couldn't win against such odds, and he vanished with a Pulse Step.
X
Darkness.
For a long time, Sasuke laid there thinking his eyes were still closed, but eventually he grew more aware of his surroundings. The sound of crackling flames had grown neither louder nor quieter, meaning that he hadn't moved farther or closer to them. But if the Sound Four were taking him to Oto, how could that be?
Hesitantly, he curled his right fingers into a loose fist, and realized that he could feel a floor of warm, smooth marble under his hand.
"...Where am I?" he muttered to himself, and sat up. His surroundings were very dim, but that wasn't hard to fix. "Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" he called, spraying fireballs ahead of himself to light up the gloom.
To his surprise, the entire room lit up uniformly even though his fireballs vanished. He was sitting in the middle of a huge chessboard with black and red tiles of marble, which floated in an endless void of black smoke. The edges of the board were surrounded by a low wall of black flames, apparently the source of the crackling sound. There were no pieces on the chessboard, and in fact there was only one other human figure present here.
"Orochimaru."
"It took you long enough to wake up," the Sannin grumbled. "This is your inner world, Sasuke. I expected to welcome you to it with a bit more... grandeur," he admitted, "but the situation has changed drastically." Orochimaru pulled down the collar of his shirt to reveal a black line of fuinjutsu script that circled the base of his neck like a collar.
"...Is that...?"
"A Cursed Seal," Orochimaru confirmed. "Unlike yours, it isn't filled with any chakra for me to fight against. I can't break it like Naruto did with his own Cursed Seal of Heaven... all I've been able to do is analyze it. If I act too directly against Kabuto, I'll be killed. There's nothing I can do."
"Hn..." Sasuke stood up, and reached behind his back. He was pleased to find that his new shashka still rested there. "Tell me, just how did Naruto break this seal?"
"Ah. Well..." Orochimaru grinned and licked his lips. "I'm glad you asked. Naruto was pulled directly into his inner world when I applied the seal, which normally shouldn't happen. I imagine the Nine-Tails helped him with that... he then went on to confront the copy of me inside the seal, using his control over his inner world's reality to overpower me. He could've simply overpowered the seal entirely, but he chose instead to allow the Nine-Tails to... dismantle it."
"I see," Sasuke said simply, then prodded, "Go on. You're saying that if I were to kill this copy of you, the seal would break?"
"Oh, not at all," Orochimaru purred. "It would simply force my soul fragment out of your body. Naruto's Cursed Seal was actually destroyed by the Nine-Tails. Had he cast me out properly, he might've kept the seal with full control over it. In this situation, if you were to kill this copy of me, I'd be forced out of your body and into the caustic environment radiating from you inside this coffin. My soul fragment will dissolve and eventually return to the main portion of my consciousness, in my own body. That'll leave you with absolute control over your Cursed Seal."
"And... is there anything else you can tell me that might be of some use?" Orochimaru remained silent, wearing a taunting smirk. "Well, if that's all... Goodbye." Sasuke flashed forward as he drew the shashka in a reverse grip, slicing Orochimaru in half at the waist. "Absolute control, huh? I think I'll experiment a little with my new power."
The back of his shirt was torn open by a pair of emerging wings, which curled forward allowing Sasuke to see they were shaped like monstrous hands. "...That's... horrifying," he commented calmly. "Not good enough." The wings began to twist into a new shape, as Sasuke's hair grew into a long black mane down his back. He toyed with his new form, considering wings like a bat or a bird. Perhaps the magnificent wings of a hawk would suit him... "No. It's not... not quite me," he decided.
Finally, he chose a design for his new form. The currently hawklike wings extending from his back maintained their current form, and only the feathers changed their shape. In the place of each ordinary feather, there formed a slender, elongated kunai blade. "Yeah... this'll do well enough," the Uchiha decided, and allowed a very slight smirk to cross his face.
"Naruto has control over reality in his inner world, huh? That gives me an idea..." He waved his hand, and a rectangular mirror appeared in front of him. He studied his reflection with increasing dissatisfaction. "No," he muttered irritably. "The face mark and the blue lipstick are NOT staying," he growled, and erased those features. "Why is my hair blue?" he pondered briefly, before changing it back to its natural Uchiha-black tone. "Hn... this isn't so bad, but I can do better."
He willed his hair to grow a bit more, bringing the longest of the black locks down to the back of his waist, and he changed the tone of his skin to a much darker greyish tone, like charcoal. He kept his normally white sclerae in their current black tone, since the effect was rather imposing. "Now there's just one more thing..." he reached into his pocket and pulled out his Konoha headband, allowing a somewhat warm smile before he tied the metal plate comfortably to his forehead.
"Now, big brother, I'll deal with you soon enough. At the moment, I have something even better to do."
X
The coffin Naruto was carrying on his back exploded, sending him flying into the dirt with a cry of shock. He skidded a short distance along the ground, then scrambled to his feet and unsealed his sword. "W-What the hell!?" he exploded angrily, then realized what had happened when he spotted the winged ninja standing roughly where he'd been.
"Sasuke!"
Madara...
The other Konoha-nin and the Sand Siblings stopped running toward Konoha and turned to see Sasuke. The newly empowered Uchiha turned toward Naruto with his two-tomoe Sharingan blazing. For a brief moment, Naruto was put on-edge by this, but then the doujutsu faded away into darkness that blended with Sasuke's black sclerae and dark skin.
Sasuke forced back the senjutsu chakra flooding through his body, making the Cursed Seal of Heaven revert into its first stage before sealing its power off completely. He gave a broad smirk. "It worked, Naruto," he declared proudly. "I now have full control over the seal."
"Yeah, that's... great!" Naruto exclaimed halfheartedly, as he resumed running toward Konoha. "But we gotta go, so pick up the pace, teme!"
"...Wha-" Sasuke fell silent, watching the other ninjas following Naruto, and he began running as well. "What's going on, dobe?"
"Look over there," Naruto pointed to Gaara, who was being followed by a cloud of black sand supporting... something. Sasuke activated his Sharingan to get a better look, and he was surprised to see that it was a person, and not anyone he recognized. "Who is that?" Sasuke asked.
"That's Kimimaro Kaguya," Naruto told him. "He was the last of the Oto-nin we fought, and the only one who survived. We're hoping to get some intel on Oto from him, but the problem is that he's dying. I was able to heal his wounds with my Naraka Path, but there's some kind of disease that's killing him, and the King of Hell can't destroy it. All it can do is repair the damage it does to his body."
"...Naruto, did you know that Kabuto..."
"Betrayed Orochimaru, yeah," Naruto nodded quickly, still running. "That's why we're hoping to get something out of Kimimaro. From what I can tell, he's really loyal to Orochimaru, so he might tell us whatever we need to know to defeat Oto if it means defeating Kabuto. We could probably convince him by promising to take Orochimaru alive, or at least that's what I think."
"So we're heading for the village so quickly because you think Tsunade-sama can cure this guy," Sasuke concluded.
"Right. If anyone can do it, it's her." Naruto fell silent for a few moments, then glanced at Sasuke again. "Hey, your hair's grown really long, ya know. When'd that happen?"
He looks exactly like Madara, Kurama threw in.
"Hn." Sasuke ran a hand through his now waist-length hair. "It grows when I use the second stage of my seal, but I didn't expect it would stay this long after I changed back. I'll have to cut it when we get back to Konoha."
"That might be an idea... by the way, Kurama says you look like Madara Uchiha with it like that."
"I already told you, I don't know who that is. I've been meaning to do some research on him in the Uchiha Clan's records, but with everything that's happened, I haven't had a chance." Sasuke hesitated. "Naruto... you never actually told me how the hell you've got the Nine-Tails on your side. And how you found out its name is Kurama. And now I want to know how you can hear it talking when it isn't here."
"And you call me 'dobe,'" Naruto chuckled. "I'm his Jinchuuriki, baka," he drew out the word tauntingly. "It can't be that hard to figure out once you've seen him fighting with me."
"His Jinchuuriki," Sasuke repeated quietly. "Naruto, I don't know if you're aware of this, but... Kakashi-sensei knows about it. He mentioned it when he was teaching me before the exam finals, but I didn't know what he was talking about until now."
Naruto shrugged, but the gesture wasn't very apparent since he was running. "He doesn't seem to have anything against me, or think I'm a demon or anything like that, so why should it bother me?"
"I just thought you might want to know." Sasuke paused for a while, then asked, "Did anyone get hurt while you were saving me?"
"Not really," Naruto admitted. "Tenten got hit with some kind of unstable chakra blast, but she's fine. Other than that, well... I haven't really had a chance to ask anyone yet, ya know? We've been busy."
"Where's Hinata?"
"Up there," Naruto nodded to where Hinata was leaping through the trees above and ahead of them with her Byakugan active. "Hina-chan, how're we doing!?"
"I have the village in sight!" Hinata called back. "We're getting close now; I'd say less than a minute at this pace! How's Kimimaro?"
"He's still breathing regularly!" Neji replied where he stood behind Kimimaro's floating, limp form. "He should make it at this rate!"
"We're almost there," Naruto murmured. "We can do this."
"I could fly ahead with my Cursed Seal, and take him the rest of the way to the village," Sasuke offered.
"...No," Naruto shook his head hesitantly. "You should stay with us, since you're kinda hard to recognize now. It'd be even worse if you had those kunai... wing... things."
"Hn." Sasuke shrugged. "You have a point."
"...It doesn't matter now," the host of the Nine-Tails picked up his pace a little more, "'Cause we're back!"
The fourteen shinobi, counting Sasuke and Kimimaro, emerged from the forest onto a pale brown dirt road just in front of the gates of Konoha. Excluding the comatose Oto-nin, all of them then sprinted through the gates.
Sasuke's eyes widened when he spotted Sakura standing there, and he made his way to her in the blink of an eye. He appeared and wrapped her arms around her so quickly that she never even had time to react.
"...S-Sasuke-kun..."
"I promised I'd apologize when I got back," Sasuke began immediately, and continued, "so I'm sorry I did this to you. I'm sorry I worried you like this, and I won't do it again."
Sakura's arms wrapped around his back and tightened. "It's okay, Sasuke. You came back." she paused, and brushed her hands through the spiky black hair running down his back. "But, um... what happened to your hair?"
"It grows out when I use my Cursed Seal," he admitted, "but I honestly didn't expect it to stay like this."
"How could you not?" Sakura giggled quietly. "It's not like your hair can shrink back into your head or something."
"...Hn."
They were interrupted by the sound of a crow loudly cawing behind Sasuke, and the Uchiha released Sakura to turn and face the bird. It was currently perched on Jiraiya's right wrist, with its body facing the Toad Sage but its eyes trained keenly on Sasuke.
"...What's up with the crow?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly. "Last I checked, your summons were toads."
"It's nothing," Jiraiya quickly lied. "We're thinking about letting someone new sign the Crow summoning contract, that's all. They're useful messengers, and we shouldn't disregard them just because of what Itachi uses them for." He shook his arm lightly, and the crow fluttered away with another shriek. "Listen, Sasuke. You two can go ahead and have your moment, but after that I need to talk to you."
"It can wait until later," Sasuke replied firmly. "Sakura, there's something else I want to check in on. We brought an Oto-nin back with us, and he's in bad shape."
"I'll go with you," she replied, and Sasuke nodded with a slight smile. He turned and jumped away in the direction of the Academy and the Hokage's office, shortly followed by Sakura. After a moment's hesitation, Jiraiya followed them as well.
It didn't take long for them to catch up to Naruto's team, and they found them with Tsunade, standing over an unconscious Kimimaro in the infirmary of the Academy. "...It's not a virus either," the Hokage murmured, with her hands hovering over Kimimaro's ribs and glowing softly blue. "This isn't contagious at all," she decided, "In fact it's not because of any organism that entered his body. It's his bones; they're not growing properly."
"How so?" Sakura asked curiously, drawing the older kunoichi's attention.
"It's difficult to explain," Tsunade admitted. "The cells in his body, specifically the osteoclasts and osteoblasts... his bone cells... they never stop dividing. They're growing out of control, and as a result his bones are thicker and denser than they should be. Not only that, but it isn't happening evenly over his whole skeleton. He's got growths of extra bone along his spine and ribs in particular... it's like they're pressing against his organs."
"Can you cure it?" Naruto asked quickly.
"I think so," she answered hesitantly. "But it's not as simple as 'curing' him. From what I can see, this is being caused by something coded wrong in his DNA, or rather in the DNA of these bone growths. I'll have to destroy the growths, and maybe if he's careful with this bone power of his, or if I find a proper cure, he won't do this to himself again whenever he uses his kekkei genkai."
"You said you're going to destroy them?" Naruto repeated curiously. "What does that mean?"
"There's too many bone tumors in his body for me to cut them out with surgery, and a lot of them are in places I can't get at. Besides, I still freeze when I see blood. But with medical ninjutsu, I can use my chakra to erase those growths directly. Shizune!"
The Hokage's assistant jumped. "Y-Yes, Tsunade-sama!"
"He'll need a powerful sedative; this process is going to hurt."
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