Chapter 35: Through Blood & Ash
"More than the sound of my own beating heart, I miss the sound of a ticking clock. Time passes. It must pass..."
― Beth Revis, Across the Universe
Naruto
"Why are you visiting me?" Naruto sputters.
And why now of all times?
"I have business with you." Itachi answers back easily only perplexing Naruto even more. He assumes, like anybody probably would if they were in this situation that even in death any leftover desires Itachi could have that tie him to the living world would be with Sasuke alone and nobody else.
"What?! But we've hardly talked to each other y'know!"
Itachi's expression remains unchanged. "Like I said, I've come to you in regard to business involving Sasuke. During our final fight, I briefly got to see how he's become since his defection from the village. It, well it isn't what I expected.
Naruto snorts. "That's putting it mildly."
Itachi ignores the ire in his tone. "I thought Sasuke having a red thread would give him some peace of mind not to commit to revenge and destruction after learning the truth about the massacre, but I can see now love isn't enough to stop him."
"Did you tell him the full truth though? Or just half-truths that are the reason why he aligned with the Akatsuki and plans for Konoha's destruction? I'm sure knowing that you're revived will still cause him to look for you for confirmations now that both Old Man Third and Danzo are dead." Naruto pries.
Itachi goes quiet for a moment. "I'll face him and provide him with whatever answers he wants after this matter is taken care of. I know he's already heading this way, so we need to get going."
Naruto nods. "And where do I come into this?"
Itachi looks at him fully then. "I want your assistance in taking down the man who has resurrected me along with hundreds of other shinobi. Kabuto Yakushi is about 100 km (62 miles) if we keep heading northwest from what Nagato told me before I took him out. We'll follow his directions."
Killer B pipes up, draws his sword to form a blockade as Naruto's expression changes. "Hey now, how're we supposed to trust in a guy who can try and bust us up as soon as we turn your backs on him, ya fool!"
Itachi takes in Samehada, wide-tooth grin so similar to its former master.
'Ah, so Kisame must be dead.' He realizes.
Naruto pauses before nodding his head in agreement.
"You're not under Kabuto's influence?" He questions warily.
Even Pervy-Sage still attacked him despite acting and speaking like his usual self.
Before he can answer Itachi abruptly unleashes a blast of fire, B and Naruto moving out of the way.
'Okay that answers that question.' Naruto maneuvers behind him.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!
The burst of wind slams into Itachi's back sending him tumbling, Naruto ducking as Itachi twists, wind swirling with fire exploding into a tornado of whites and reds.
"Stay back!" Itachi calls out to him before can form a rasengan.
Itachi lands to the ground, whistles making the sky flood with ink black.
A sea of crows.
"I dispersed my crows across the nations before my death, ensured they'd stay in hidden locations nobody, even the Akatsuki would know about. I even gave one of their feathers to your teammate Sakura as a way to protect and form a barrier between her and whatever danger could befall the village." Itachi begins.
One swirls down out of the black, lands upon Itachi's hand dutifully.
B regards it carefully, frowning. "That crow's eye is either super dry or really is just as red as your own."
Itachi nods, orders it to cancel the genjutsu upon him.
"Thank you old friend for one last action." He mutters before crushing it in a burst of flames, Shisui's eye melting into a blaze of black ash.
Naruto and B stay on guard as Itachi turns back to them, nods he's clear from Kabuto's influence.
"Before I sealed Nagato on the way here, he provided me with the details on Kabuto's location. By getting rid of him here and now, this should hopefully prevent him from awakening any further legendary shinobi of old."
B clicks his tongue. "Don't be a fool, we don't know that for sure! Plus, there's still Obito lying in wait."
Itachi nods, gestures for the duo to follow him.
"One thing at a time. Kabuto comes first."
Naruto takes to his left, hears what else he isn't saying.
What he wants to avoid happening.
'Sasuke. We may just run into him for real next.'
Hinata
"Good to have you here Lady Hinata. Along with your...reinforcement." Kiba starts.
Mamiko growls at Akamaru's bark, golden eyes roaming to Hinata.
"This mutt realizes we're on the same side, right?"
Hinata sends her a look back to be polite, jabbing into a coming Zetsu before its teeth can sink into her arm.
They haven't let up at all since morning, seem to be multiplying like weeds no matter how many times one of them strike or rip them apart. Everyone around them is running low on chakra and stamina, can only keep going for a few more hours at most.
She places her palms to the ground, crackles lightning to the tips of her fingers.
"Lightning Release: Spider's Nest!"
The ground crackles as lightning spills out in every direction in a burst of white and yellow zigzags, pins and paralyzes dozens of Zetsu's in place, bodies crumbling from the rush of heat.
Kiba whistles in surprise at the move, hands moving behind his head.
"Ah, so you weren't just kissing and hugging it out with Naruto back on that island!"
Shino's bugs swarm a Zetsu behind him while Akamaru tears into a clone attempting to swoop in on his right.
"Hinata wouldn't have had time for such things. Why? Because this war is more important than her feelings and desires for Naruto. Am I correct?"
Hinata ignores red burning at her cheeks. "Of course!"
She catches her breath as the haze clears from the area, eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary.
"There's something big happening to the north, I can sense it from the animals change in behavior from the forests. They're running from more than just this war." Mamiko notes.
Shino confirms her sentiments with a nod as his beetles return to his arms. "There's a growing army of these Zetsu people we should assess."
They move in formation covering each other's backs, sky bleeding into colors of amber and gray, billows of ash shooting upwards like arrows.
This Zetsu is at least a good 8 feet tall, a blobbed collection of at least 4-5.
And in one of its Venus flytrap mouths lays a shinobi bleeding out, mahogany eyes turning glassy until they abruptly shift to them. He reaches a hand forward, gestures feebly for them to get going.
Her byakugan searches the man for any explosives, moving forward to jab at the sides of the flytrap mouth releasing its hold.
The man topples, breath coming out tired and cracked. She's seen him before around the market district with presumably his wife and son, often likes to go to the Eguchi's fisherman shop for bait. She wouldn't have taken him to be a shinobi if not for the trademark vest now upon him, called to action when he probably hasn't been on a true mission or assignment in years.
And now...
"S-Stay back! Or it will get you all next!" He manages to garble out.
Kiba curses beside her, yells for a medic that will probably be too late to this scene.
Shino shakes his head, halting him. "The medic teams need to focus on healing shinobi that can be saved. In terms of triaging, this man's condition is already considered black: imminent death."
Kiba shoots him a glare, turns his vitriol on him. "You could stand to not say that type of shit in front of him!"
The man points to something from the east, words dropping to a murmur.
"A masked man...is coming. Leave this area before you get caught." He hisses before his body slumps and stills.
Hinata turns her gaze in the direction he pointed, frown marring her lips. Mamiko nods when she catches her eye, low growl escaping her throat.
'Something, someone is coming in this direction.'
And there's no time for any of them to really get away.
Sasuke
'Itachi was here.'
Crows' feathers are practically his brother's signature, one of the main animals he used when casting genjutsu or sending information.
But to who?
"Is he still heading northeast or now to the west?" He mutters to himself at the multiple cracked and warped branches. Either multiple shinobi have come through here or his brother is purposely trying to throw him off. He casts his gaze to search through the grasslands and trees for the best path to take that can cut him off. It's easier to see the forest trails now in the daylight, but they offer up no clues, gold and orange light falling along earth the color of charcoal.
Where fire once was.
Suigetsu yawns beside him, fingers brushing at scorched rock and earth, lips setting into a firm line. "Hey Sasuke, not to be the bearer of bad news, but my earlier patrols noted a lot of ninjas from the various nations moving about looking for...the living?"
Jugo nods, peering upwards watching as blackbirds and sparrows take off for the south. "We shouldn't stay in this area for too long."
Sasuke nods, raises up a hand as the woods grow quiet.
The smell of decay wafts into the air, mixes with the dirt and blood staining the ground.
And then they hear a twig snap, crackle of metal along wood.
The figure of a woman none of them recognizes approaches out of the fog, tendrils of black hair wrapped around her ghostly skin.
Brown eyes snap to Sasuke first, anger twisting her features, blue of her veins seeming to glow against the gray.
"You. Sasuke Uchiha. Oh, but you're alone now without that slimy master of yours." She grins revealing patches of black.
'Master?' Sasuke scowls.
He takes in blood now a copper brown stuck to her tattered dress, the slashes along her shinobi vest.
The woman cocks her head, sighs. "Koizumi. Granted, I don't expect you to remember me. You and Orochimaru killed indiscriminately in your early training days, blew through my tiny village like a tornado."
'Why would a woman like this be revived?' Sasuke considers while getting into a defensive stance.
Suigestu forms a blade of water while Jugo cracks a fist.
Koizumi ignores the pair, eyes pinpointed on him alone.
"Unfortunately for me, Orochimaru was curious about my body, the ways my flesh and bone could sustain such heat from your flames."
Mahogany eyes turn vicious. "So, of course, he had you produce the fire that would burn me over and over again."
She slams a fist against the tree, ripples unleashing a screech that instantly thrums at his ears.
'Sound based attacks?'
He shakes it off just as Koizumi lunges with a kunai, slamming a fist to the ground inches from him, earth below thickening.
"Earth release: Earth Flow Spears!"
Koizumi growls, spikes not even scraping him. "Die like I did! Watching as my red thread slipped away from me, family members crying over me."
She shakes her head abruptly, cracking her neck. "Wait, I almost forgot. You don't even have any family left who will mourn you. Not even that brother of yours probably cares what happens to you since he's heading away from you."
Sasuke grits his teeth, lightning flickering through his hands.
But he can't kill someone who's already dead.
'Itachi.'
He's getting further away the longer he dawdles here.
Koizumi gives no opening, eyes the pure black of revenge he's seen in his own reflection.
"Earth release: Mudslide!"
Suigetsu curses aloud. "Damn it Sasuke, she's not the only who has a vendetta against you!"
Sasuke blows out a breath, forest quaking as trees start toppling down like dominoes, dirt and mud swallowing roots, dirt, and moss.
This woman is one of Orochimaru's old experiments...
An experiment he tested and grew his chidori on, unleashed his fireball jutsu on.
"You're not going anywhere Uchiha!" Koizumi hisses as he jumps out of reach of the muddy river.
Sasuke gestures to his teammates as others come out of the woodwork from the noise.
"Jugo. Suigetsu. Distract them while I go on ahead to get to Itachi."
"Asshole! What if they try to eat me?!" Suigetsu yells after him.
Jugo scoffs. "Then you turn into water like you always do."
He doesn't wait for the rest their responses or complaints, picking up the pace, pushing his legs to go faster.
The sky melts into the color of storm, of nightmares. A deep green tea color to the west and clouds dark as the night coming to mix with it from the east.
New voices soon enough pop up as he gets deeper into the heart of the woods, halting as a stream of black takes off in every direction.
Crows.
Sasuke peers down, crouches low into a thicket of burnt grass and bush. He recognizes that painfully annoying snicker, sees the flicker of blond hair before his face fully shows.
Naruto.
Along with the jinchuriki he failed to kill.
'Why is Itachi with them now of all times?"
Naruto and Sakura seem to learn things first when it comes to his family.
Well, no more.
He moves out of his crouched position as they head for an opening within the forest, a yawning stretch of darkness.
A cave.
'Most likely where Kabuto is.'
And it's then he makes a split-second decision, crackles lightning into his hands enough to singe surrounding bark and leaf.
'I'll follow them all and finish this hear and now.'
Naruto
"You keep staring at your hand like you're not sure it's still connected to you." Itachi notes.
Naruto startles, chuckles weakly.
"Yeah, force of habit you know to check and make sure my red thread is still there y'know!"
And it's still a vibrant red, the way he'll get back to Hinata no matter where she is on the battlefield.
Itachi turns his gaze forward once more.
"Stay focused on what we're dealing with now. Kabuto had injected his body with various poisons and substances he gained from his time with Orochimaru."
Killer B scoffs. "Doesn't matter what type of substance, he's about to get this justice for all the attacking and cracking he's done!"
Crimson burns into black, putting a finger to his lips.
"Everyone stay on guard."
Kabuto's laugh cackles in the dark, reverberates against the walls. "I must thank you Itachi! Bringing the last of the two jinchuriki straight to me before Obito could get his hands on them!"
Naruto's lips twist in disgust at his new body, skin now the scaly white of a snake's, eyes shining a golden yellow in the dark.
"Yikes. What the heck happened to you?!"
Kabuto ignores his remark, gestures proudly at his body.
"Hmph, this is the perfect body Orochimaru tried and failed to gain in life! And once you all submit to me, there will be nobody left strong enough to oppose me!"
He holds up a hand before any of them can get close, stalagmites warping and bending for them all like snakes.
B snaps and punches his way through the rock formation's twisting patterns, ignores the way Kabuto snickers as they eventually curl and wrap around his arms.
"You all rather as well give up! I've injected my body with more than just Orochimaru's DNA! I've taken the abilities of the best of his best experiments and former prisoners! "He boasts.
And to show it, his navel area warps into the body of Kidomaru.
"Spider Web Unrolling!"
He unspools thread upon thread of white webs, seemingly paralyzing them all.
"This cave will be your true final graveyard if need be." Kabuto promises, halting when Amaterasu's flames melt them down.
Naruto doesn't waste a second, clapping his hands to the ground.
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Chains snap around his wrists and neck, coating his body in slime, shedding out of his entrapment.
He rushes for Itachi first, uses Jirobo's Earth techniques to split a path through the swirls of black fire.
B jumps in from behind him, charging him with a lightning infused fist.
"Oh no you don't! You're not taking out our only option of stopping and mopping up all these zombies!
Kabuto half looks to him, slithers low out of range of his punch.
"I know all of your tricks already; don't forget I've studied each and of you all's strengths!"
He focuses back to Itachi, talisman at ready for him to do his bidding once again.
His hand pierces through Itachi, bursts him into crows, jumping back too late as his sword digs into flesh.
Itachi studies him from behind.
"Good, but not enough!" Kabuto admonishes him, pulling away the sword to rush him once more.
"No matter what power or genjutsu you use, none of it will ever be enough!"
Itachi shakes his head, scarlet boring into amber.
"It's already too late for you."
Naruto imprisons him once more in his chains he slips out of, B's lariat attack brushes at his shoulder.
And again, Itachi breaks down into a bundle of crows...
'Why are they using the same moves over and over?'
It's...looping.
Naruto clenches his teeth at Kabuto's frozen position.
"So...he's not gonna attack us anymore, right? Because B and I need to get out of here y'know!"
Itachi nods, stepping forward.
"It's time I undo the reincarnation jutsu."
"Not yet Itachi!" A new voice announces from the mouth of the cave and Naruto bristles.
Sasuke is here.
Onyx eyes look his way once and Naruto changes to an offensive stance before they move on to his brother.
"Don't undo the genjutsu yet Itachi. I have questions you still need to answer to."
Naruto curses aloud, own attention shifting feeling a sharp sting upon his hand.
'Hinata?'
Alarms go off his mind, each one louder than the next.
His thread is still glowing thankfully, so that can only mean she's hurting in a way that makes his stomach sink.
Hinata
"You can't go out there alone." Neji decides at seeing Team 8's approach.
Hinata frowns. "We can runaway in a war Neji."
Neji clicks his tongue, not bothering to start an argument.
Because instead, he silently puts himself in front of her, pushes back slabs of wood and metal spreading across the field.
"The man behind this is Obito, correct? I will go ahead and attempt to block him from getting to the other skirmishes."
Kiba arches a brow, expression wary. "How so?"
He gives him a silent look Hinata doesn't miss, Neji nodding.
A stab of pain hits her in the chest, nerves set aflame as Neji steps back from her.
"My apologies Lady Hinata, you're Naruto's red thread, I refuse to let you knowingly walk into danger."
And then he slips into the dust.
Hinata catches her breath, peers to Mamiko, teeth launching her up and over onto her back to give chase.
Neji leaves in his wake a tornado of fire and earth, moves Father must've taught him in secret in preparation of this day, of this moment.
"Even with my byakugan he's made a zigzag trail!" Hinata hisses, panic rising up in her.
Mamiko lightly bumps her head, pushes her to focus and she moves to form a barrier of lightning to keep Zetsu and the undead at bay.
"Good thing I can track him by scent."
A screech of pain comes from her right, following it to Neji, posture bent, blood soaking through his vest.
'No.'
And above him Obito glares down at him viciously, slab of wood embedded in his right eye.
-x-
The war arc has been so difficult for me to write. There's so many things happening at once I feel like covering them all would just make these ending chapters boring and even more a slog for me to get through.
So, apologies on this chapter being a bit shorter than normal! My goal is not to copy canon completely and get Obito and by extension Madara out of the way in different methods.
As always, pa-tre-ons get early access to my chapters along with extra NSFW goodies and my original writing works! I just started a pa-tre-on exclusive NaruHina series that I'll think I'll be doing based on different time pieces. I've been binge watching 80s anime recently, nostalgic for a decade I didn't even grow up in lol and did a Video Girl themed one to start things out! I go by TheLovelyMidnightWriter there!
Check out my Insta by the same name for my drawings, book reviews, and travel pics as well!
Appreciate any thoughts!
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