CHAPTER REPOSTED AS OF (July 7th): MAJOR EDITS TO IMPROVE QUALITY.
AN: Due to a comment considering this chapter, I have edited it to better to explain Kakuzu's 'weaker' fighting style at random points. Basically, Kakuzu only possesses two hearts as of this point in the timeline, his fire and wind element. Due to my aim towards a more realist or 'human' take on him, these hearts are supporting his main one which supports him so losing one would be crippling due to his age. They are literally preventing him from just rolling over dead from old age. If I had written Kakuzu as he was at his debut, this chapter would only a paragraph long where he rekts without breaking a sweat and that would be boring. So basically to sum it up, Kakuzu is only at half power in this ONE fight scene because he has not yet discovered the limit of his power. Later on, when I have to write another scene as this, he will be at fullish power so please be patient and remember I am no good at writing these scenes. Just suspend your disbelief for this one sole chapter, please. Thank you.
Warnings: Violence, Language, Blood, Death
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Wasteland:
Act 1:
Chapter 7
Domon hadn't been raised a religious man but he knew what demons were. Demons were abominations rejected by God and often described as beings with sharp teeth and red eyes reminisce of the flames of Hell which they expelled from their mouths. When shinobi were born, demons were renamed as the Uchiha. If Domon has been alive during the time, then he was positive they were referred to as the Mayfly during the Second World War. Perhaps, they were demons themselves having crawled from the depths of Hell. Only a demon could accomplish the atrocious things he had witnessed this morning. How was mankind capable of reviving such a thing?
His bewilderment was interrupted however, when the Mayfly Man screeched, a sound that paralleled a fearsome bird of prey and charged into a sprint toward them, briefly galloping on all fours to gather speed.
"Teo!" Kakuzu shouted at his fire element mask.
The hulking creature, nicknamed Teo, inhaled and rapidly exhaled a barrage of fireballs at the charging abomination. The Mayfly Man displayed an impressive dodging technique as he skipped and danced around the blazing bullets. In the midst of his prancing, Teo seized the opening and spewed a sizable fireball at him, striking dead on as it exploded against his chest. The experiment screamed and dropped to the ground, rolling in the surrounding puddles like one was taught in school to exhaust the flames. Kakuzu snorted. How easy this would be, he would only need one of two hearts for this.
Once the mud smothered the fire, the Mayfly Man sat up and snarled at the thread monster who growled back, parting its red lips with a tiny flame twirling between as a threat. Heeding the warning, the Mayfly Man did not attempt another attack, instead he lunged forward into the mud and both Domon and Kakuzu swore aloud.
"He's going to phase again!" Domon cried, quickly digging for his clay to halt the man before he could successfully escape them. If he phased, they were sitting ducks.
"Teo!" The fire behemoth's mouth went agape, a fire roaring within its porcelain skull and directed it towards the submerged man. Kakuzu was about to give the command when he noticed something peculiar after seconds passed and the Mayfly Man had not yet phased. Domon paused also.
'He isn't phasing?' Kakuzu thought, observing the Mayfly Man as he attempted in vain to fuse with the ground to the point he was smearing his face in the mud. 'No, he can't phase. But why not? Too injuried? Did it have something to do with that vegetation?'
After more failed attempts, the Mayfly Man gave up and resorted to rushing Kakuzu instead. The mask, Teo, swiftly reacted aggressively to this, exhaling a flamethrower that the experiment attempted to block with his arm. The flames swallowed the limb and the man skipped away from the surge, arm alit like a torch. Within a second, he had switched attention to Domon and charged the blonde next with a yell. Domon dodged past the Mayfly Man as he thrusted the burning fist towards him, the hungry flames singeing his blonde facial hair and deforming the rubber of his googles. The experiment delivered a few more punches without success before the downfall doused the flames scorching his skin. Domon's extra mouths finished their chewing and the captain tossed a handful of clay beetles at the Mayfly Man now that his weapon was extinguished.
The Mayfly Man glanced around for a protection from the explosives and hastily crouched, shoveling an armful of mud and flinging it at the projectiles. The wet dirt knocked them from their airbound course, plastering their tiny wings to their bodies as they spiraled to the ground, the mud swallowing them up.
"Shit, Katsu!" Domon activated the explosives, causing them to erupt into a fountain of mud that drenched the Mayfly Man, temporarily blinding him as it splashed into his face. The experiment roared, thrashing to rid the slop and Kakuzu seized his distraction as an opportunity.
"Katon: Intelligent Hard Work!" Teo breathed a stream of fire on the Mayfly Man, making him scream and stumble away from the inferno.
The Mayfly Man tripped over his own feet in his sightless flailing and fell to the ground, burrowing into the mud to shield himself from the flames licking his skin. Realizing the mud rendered his attack useless, the creature ceased his onslaught and the Mayfly Man stood up, wiping the mud from his eyes and running towards Kakuzu with his muscled arm cocked.
"Teo!" Kakuzu barked and the fire elemental mask intervened, breathing a stream of white hot fire again at the charging abomination.
The flames engulfed the Mayfly Man but unlike before, they did little to deter him as he carried forward through the blinding fire, fist extended. The blaze devoured his skin, leaving blistering muscle behind and polluting the air with the smell of burnt flesh. The offending fist was stripped of flesh down to its skeletal form before the entire hand was designated from the wrist and part of the interlocked arm bone.
'Shit, it isn't stopping him this time!' Kakuzu thought and his back twitched as his leftover mask roused from its slumber to join the fray and protect its brethren.
Before then, Teo backpedaled, increasing the intensity of the tornado against the Mayfly Man, who persisted on and with a muffled scream, the experiment thrusted the protruding arm bone within the gaping mouth of the creature, impaling it into pumping heart within. The jet of fire ceased instantly and the creature twitched, gurgling as blood dribbled from the corners of its red lips. The Mayfly Man wrenched his arm back with the withering heart skewered at the end and clamped his yellowed jowls into the organ, devouring it off the bone similar to a shish kabob while uttering an audible purring until he swallowed down the last bloody chunk.
The black threaded creature released a keen squeal as it tittered backwards, its stringy body designating into dust and the leftover mask fell to the mud below, the wet dirt swallowing the porcelain mask until only a single black eye peered through. With the destruction of the heart, Kakuzu collapsed to his hands and knees, coughing up a mouthful of blood into the fabric of his bandanna and wheezing for the air that had been suddenly robbed from his lungs His two remaining hearts clenched painfully, struggling to support his older body with only them both. The Mayfly Man was swift to take notice to the elder's impaired condition and lunged with a screech, bone shiv aimed at the man's bowed back.
"Katsu!"
A clay beetle that had secretly latched itself to the Mayfly Man's pant leg exploded, sending the experiment reeling into the dirt. Kakuzu peered up to see Domon rushing toward him, clasping a handful of more squirming beetles. Experiment 001 recovered from the trip, glancing at his leg which now had a bloody chunk lacking in it between his knee and ankle from the small but lethal explosion. Domon chucked the beetles at the man while he remained downed and the abomination crawled away from the insects marching toward him, stumbling to his feet despite his mangled leg.
'I've got him cornered.' Domon thought and erected his hand into the handsign to detonate him when the Mayfly Man did something that took his off guard. He rushed towards the incoming explosives and launched himself over them, landing hard his feet as the bone holding his injured leg together fractured but little to pause him as charged Domon, weaponized Ulna aimed to kill.
The blonde had only a split second as he withdrew a kunai and reflected the offensive bone when the Mayfly Man snatched his free hand, yellowed canines flashing as he crushed the bones in it like a tin can. Domon shouted in pain as blood and teeth sprayed from the mouth on his palm and before he could react, the experiment knocked the knife from his other hand and stabbed the bone through the gasping mouth, making the captain scream. The Mayfly Man grinned, uttering a low rumble in his throat that mimicked a chuckle and Domon snarled, cringing from the agonizing pain originating from his crippled hands. The cannibal opened his mouth wide, inhuman fangs thirsting for blood. Before he could devour the man's jugular, a disembodied hand shot out towards him, grasping the Mayfly Man's head. He was wretched backwards by his black locks, dropping Domon in process, and through the air, landing directly into Kakuzu's awaiting fist which slammed into his abdomen and knocked him into the ground hard enough to leave a small crater.
"I hope you enjoyed your snack." Kakuzu remarked lowly, downwards at the stunned experiment. "Because you owe me another heart to replace the one you ate." The Mayfly Man snarled and made a motion to sit up but Kakuzu easily prevented it as his threads ejected from his wrist, coiling themselves around the abomination's limbs and pinning him.
Domon sat up, cringing and gazing down at his bleeding hands, the mouths of them rendered useless as one was trampled, tongue wagging limply and missing a few teeth while the other had a clean hole punched through it and gurgled on blood. The blonde swore, realizing with his extra mouths disabled, he could not use his kekkei genkai to its complete potential or effectively wield a kunai, essentially removing him from the fight.
'Bastard did it on purpose.' The blonde thought angrily as he painfully pushed himself to his feet, looking over to see the massive Akatsuki member hovering over the crumpled abomination before retreating to the back of the burning compound to care for his hands. 'Hopefully, this Kakuzu fella doesn't mind if I opt out for now.'
Kakuzu reared back, delivering a powerful punch to the Mayfly Man's stomach, over and over, causing blood to splash from the man's gaping mouth and shoving him deeper into the earth. All prior plans to keep the man alive for profit had been thrown out the window once he destroyed one of his cherished hearts. Kakuzu had no patience for it. His disfigured corpse would have to suffice now.
Kakuzu paused in his onslaught, swallowing a breath and snorting as he stared at the gurgling man. "I will gladly take your heart to replace the one you destroyed." He remarked as he drew back his arm for the killer blow and thrusted his groping hand towards the other male's heart.
With a burst of conjured strength, the Mayfly Man managed to roll out of the way of the attack and Kakuzu's hand harmlessly smashed into the ground with a shower of mud. The miser grumbled and glanced up to see the monster struggling to his feet, huffing and snarling. Once standing, he spat a glob of thick blood into the dirt before ridding the rest that flowed from his nose with his tongue, purring at the taste of the coppery substance. Kakuzu snorted again, begrudgingly admiring the man's determination as after losing two limbs, which included his Rafflesia, and being partly crippled, he was still going considerably strong.
Before the experiment had a chance to fully recover, Kakuzu's hand launched from his wrist, barreling forward and the man barely managed to dodge it, tumbling to the ground in the process. Kakuzu retracted his hand, striking the Mayfly Man in the back of the head on the travel back and knocking him face first into the mud. The hand reattached to his wrist and he adjusted the fingerless glove while approaching the unmoving brute, brown bubbles surfacing within the puddle.
"Finally, he has reached his limit. His persistence was troublesome." Kakuzu remarked to himself as he lent down to retrieve the experiment, presuming he had drowned in the thick liquid as the bubbles ceased.
Just as he did, the Mayfly Man exploded from the puddle, shrieking and stabbing his broken arm at Kakuzu. Despite his age, Kakuzu's reactions remained sharper than any blade and he smashed his fist into the man's jaw, the crackling air echoing with the sound of breaking bone as his jaw was dislodged from his skull upon impact and sent reeling. However, he refused to remain down this time and scrabbled to his feet, jumping into the air towards Kakuzu, shrieking with his remaining arm cocked back and clashing fists with the other man. Immediately upon contact with the miser's stronger fist, the experiment's arm shattered, exploding into a mist of blood as the skin shredded with fragments of bone penetrating through. The impact sent the former summersaulting backwards and first face into the gathering mud, skidding a few feet before stilling. Kakuzu approached the thrashing abomination once more, rebelling against the dizziness that plagued his brain. The loss of his heart was beginning to take its toll. Two additional hearts were too little to support him physically. He would need more if such a situation arouse again.
The Mayfly Man struggled to lift himself with that which remained of his arms and gurgled threateningly through his dislocated jaw at the behemoth closing in on him when something, rather someone, caught his eye and the pupil lacking, crimson orbs flickered with renewed vigor. Kakuzu noticed the abomination's averted gaze and followed it to discover Domon who, yet having forfeited from the fray, lingered in the background as he tended his wounds. The raging forest fire had devoured the surrounding treeline, eliminating opportunity to flee to the nearby river for moderate safety and the crumbling ruins of Old Kusagakure had been ignited as well, leaving the blonde with nowhere to run or hide and praying the Mayfly Man didn't notice him as he stood helplessly in the middle of the soaked street to nurse his hands. Unfortunately for him, he had noticed him and Kakuzu realized this also when the Mayfly Man surged to his feet and barreled toward the captain, avoiding the black threads pursuing after him as he ran screaming towards the other man, butchered arms outstretched.
The Iwagakure shinobi dove to the ground, barely missing collision with the stampeding experiment and cringing as he landed atop his damaged hands, the thick layer of gaze had had wrapped them with staining with a well of crimson. Before he could stumble away, the Mayfly Man turned on a dime and screeched as he swung his makeshift arm-mace down onto Domon's back, the blonde's vest protecting him from the razor-like slivers of bone that penetrated through the arm. Another swing proved futile and 001 resorted to his other arm, stabbing his bone blade at the other man which Domon rolled away from and the arm sunk wet ground, the mud behaving like quicksand and ensnaring it.
The Mayfly Man squealed, flailing as he attempted to free his arm and Domon took advantage of the abomination's situation, fumbling out a kunai from his vest pocket and aiming it at the brunette's exposed throat. The cannibal caught the shine of the knife and swung his free arm at Domon, striking the blonde in the face, the broken bones impaling and shedding the flesh into ribbons. The man yelped and slashed the kunai blindly in return, hitting a bull's-eye, or human's eye as it sliced across the Mayfly Man's tattooed eyes. Experiment 001 teetered back, emitting an ear-splitting shriek as shook his head, droplets of blood spraying from his lacerated orbs and Domon stole the opportunity to crawl away. Suddenly, a horrid pain shot up his leg and glanced back to discover the Mayfly Man had stabbed his bone shiv through his calf. The abomination growled lowly in his throat, blood rivering from beneath his circled, closed eyelids.
"Shit." Domon swore and jerked his leg away, evicting the forging bone and scrambled to his feet. Apparently, being blinded did little to nothing to hinder the Mayfly Man as he swung his club-like arm, hitting Domon in the side and toppling him over with the force. He withdrew his arm, directing toward the sound of the man's body hitting the ground and swung the spiky limb down, only to be interrupted by a large fist colliding with his head and sending him skidding through the mud. Domon looked up to see Kakuzu hovering above, shaking out his fist from the punch against the other man's thick skull.
"Bastard never stops." Kakuzu sneered, coughing for a few seconds before shifting his attention to Domon. "And the fuck are you still around for? If you can't hold your own then leave. The path back to Kusagakure hasn't been overtaken by the fire yet and I need you breathing for my paycheck." He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder down the dirt road which was remained untouched from the forest fire, granting an escape back to the village for a short period of time.
Domon spat a mouthful of blood from his shredded cheek. "Is money all you care about, yes?" He muttered under his breath, earning a heated glare from a sharp-eared Kakuzu before quickly adding. "And what if he follows, yes? The entire village will be in danger."
"I'll take care of it."
"By yourself, yes?"
"What do you care?" Kakuzu retorted, taking the question as a personal jab.
"Point taken." Domon hustled to his feet, without the helpful aid of Kakuzu, and shifted his weight from his impaled leg, eyeing the open road to Kusagakure. How tempting it was, but a million thoughts prevented him from pursuing it.
For one, there was the possibly of the Mayfly Man stalking him to the village and placing countless lives at risk with his presence. The possibly was very real if the Akatsuki failed to subdue the experiment or died even. Second, was the thirst for revenge. This abomination against nature had slaughtered his entire troop, including his teammates he had been together with since the academy. Limping away with his tail between his legs was not an option nor the shinobi way. He desired his pound of flesh.
The Mayfly Man recovered once more, shaking his head to rid the sweat and dirt coating his face and Kakuzu detected the sluggishness of the man's movements, concluding his steam was finally running thin. It wouldn't be too much longer until he either collapsed from exhaustion or blood loss and being incapable to use his Mayfly, he could not escape suddenly. Kakuzu would buy himself a nice bottle of expensive booze with the bonus check he got from selling the abomination's corpse.
"Let's finish this, I am growing bored of this back and forth." Kakuzu commented, hiking up the sleeves of his black coat and securing the matching leather gloves on his hands.
"If you provide a distraction then I can deliver the finishing blow." Domon offered, checking his remaining clay stash. Kakuzu stared at him flatly, irritated with the blonde's persistence.
"I thought you were incapable of fighting."
"I still have one mouth left." The captain said, gifting the Akatsuki a full-toothed smile and the older man sighed, already too tired with the conversation to argue with the stubborn younger man any longer. The ravenous fire that was currently devastating the ancient forest around them was closing in inch by inch and within a matter of minutes it would swallow the very path they stood on so it was now or never.
The Mayfly Man gurgled, pinpointing the two men by their voices and charged toward the source, cocking his arms back. Domon sprinting from the assault while Kakuzu dealt with it head on, sidestepping the charge and stretching out his arm to clothesline the cannibal. Experiment 001 felt the gust of air the miser's arm vented when he positioned it and dodged beneath it, spinning around and slashing his arm which Kakuzu reflected with his own before swiveling on his foot and punching at the other man. The two exchanges swings, bobbing and weaving from each other and Kakuzu realized that despite the experiment's blindness, he was using his other senses to fluidly evade him, listening to the mud splashing beneath his boots and the dragging of air by his heavy clothing.
Meanwhile, Domon chomped on the wad of clay he had withdrawn from his satchel, hastily chewing the earthy material into a liquid. Once it was thoroughly dissolved, he induced his gag reflex with his tongue and vomited the white fluid onto the ground, creating a gross puddle. He forced his hand into a painful hand sign and the pool exploded into a smoke cloud, clearing after a few seconds to reveal a perfect clone of Domon.
Hearing the ruckus, the Mayfly Man paused in his fisticuffs with Kakuzu and turned his head in the direction of the noise, eyebrows knotting and nose crinkling. Kakuzu took the man's distraction as an opening and threw a punch at his face, the other averting it before speeding off towards Domon with a shriek. Kakuzu ran after only to pause after a few feet to catch his breath, slamming his into his knee in frustration. He had never endured the loss of a heart to perceive the side effects but now he realized how desperately his dying body depended on them. He would need at least five hearts to support himself so he wouldn't be so crippled with one or two being taken out.
Meanwhile, Domon took safety while the clone took offensive, arming itself with a kunai and rushing the monstrosity. Experiment 001 heard the keen cutting of the blade through the air and narrowly avoided it as the clone slashed it at his face, dodging underneath the out sketched arm and resuming his pursuit towards Domon, the real one. Domon glanced up from his process of creating a second clone and nearly choked on the clay when seeing the Mayfly Man running towards him, broken arm pointed straight at him. The blonde stumbled out of the way, his wounded leg giving out and causing him to land on his backside. The clone rushed to its creator's aid and Domon scrambled away, hoping the experiment would confuse the footsteps of them both and mistake the clone for him. Unfortunately, he didn't and dodged the clone again as he continued his chase after Domon who limped away as quickly as he could manage while still chewing the mouthful of clay.
'Why isn't he attacking the clone!?' He thought frantically, dodging as the Mayfly Man swung his club-like arm at him. Kakuzu who had been perceiving the whole thing while he recovered understood why.
'The Mayfly grants him a sixth sense for chakra so he isn't tracking him with sound, but by his chakra signature. That is why the clone hasn't fouled him.' The elder realized, scowling as he straightened stiffly. 'That brat keeps getting himself into situations.'
A tremendous cracking from overhead caught Domon's attention and he gazed up just as a grand tree, bisected by the flames, fell towards him. He dove away from the path of the tittering trunk's path, rolling to safety and the tree struck the ground hard enough to make it briefly quake. The blonde pushed himself on his padded elbows and looked over to discover the Mayfly Man had managed to avoid the collapsed tree as well having heard it tumble. Domon's clone was not as fortune however as the tree had torn off one its arms and the intense heat of the fire eating the trunk only inches away caused the clay material of its body to rapidly harden until it solidified within seconds. The Mayfly Man thrusted his arm at the crackling clone and the contact caused it to shatter into several pieces like glass, broken face falling to the ground and staring blankly upward at the abomination.
With the clone decommissioned, the Mayfly Man focused on the sloshing on mud as Domon stood and charged the man, aiming his shiv at the man's turned back. The blonde avoided having his spine severed from the protruding bone but as he spun around, the experiment stabbed it through his hip instead, making the captain's steel grey orbs widen from behind his googles and cringe. The Mayfly Man's lips curled at the expelling of hot blood onto his bare chest as he retracted the makeshift shank and Domon stumbled backwards, cradling the spilling wound.
'Damn it…did he hit something vital?' He thought but before he could answer his own question, the Mayfly Man was attacking him once more.
The man backpedaled, wincing at the pain that pledged his side and leg and as he fled the length of the downed tree, he realized his cheeks were still stuffed with liquidized clay and a lightbulb flashed in his brain. The monstrosity swung his clubbed arm at Domon and as he did, the blonde quickly retched the clay. The Mayfly Man squealed, withdrawing as the foreign substance drenched his face and upper body, shaking to rid it but the gooey fluid clung like syrup. As he reeled about, the heat of the burning tree licked the clay and it proceeded to concrete it at an alarming rate, encasing the Mayfly Man in a white shell and transforming him into statue, his arms being rendered immobile and face freezing into a screaming mask. With his legs free, the living sculpture floundered backwards, tripping over his own feet and crashing against the kindling trunk, the earthy cocoon weighing him down and rendering him unable to stand again as he struggled and screeched behind the mask glued to his face as he baked alive. After a minute, the thrashing stopped and the abomination went silent.
Domon stared, searching for any signs of life but saw none, the Mayfly Man had even ceased to breathe. He assumed it was due to the clay obscuring his nose and mouth or the sheer heat. When another minute passed with no movement, the blonde finally allowed himself to breathe and plop to the ground.
"Finally…" He wheezed, wiping the sweat from his brow and double checking the wound to discover it had clipped through his hip bone and though very bloody, had not hit anything critical. Kakuzu slowly approached, eyeing the experiment figurine that laid on the ground.
"Congratulations, captain." He deadpanned, leaning down and knocking on the sheet of clay that covered the Mayfly Man like a chocolate coating. "You successfully killed the one thing that slaughtered your entire army."
Domon snorted, hearing the sarcasm accompanying the personal jab but he couldn't bring himself to take offense to the remark. He had killed the Mayfly Man, and also had proof that the Mayfly existed. Now was just the matter of discovering who was behind it but he was positive that would be left to the Akatsuki. Right now, he just wanted to go home, kiss his wife and mourn the lives of all the men he was lost this day.
"I am to be paid still, correct?" Kakuzu asked suddenly. "I was hired to prove the existence of the Mayfly and secure it, and that just so happened."
Domon sighed, unsurprised that the conversation that steered but to the subject of money. The mindset of a mercenary he reckoned. "Yes, but not now. The guard tower I kept the rest of the payment has been burned down along with everything inside." He explained, gesturing towards the guard tower to the northeast of the forest cul-de-sac that was currently engulfed in flames, fire spewing from the broken windows. For extra salt in the wound, a nearby tree submitted to the fire and toppled onto the stone structure, collapsing in its roof. Kakuzu winced, the thought of burning money made the remainder of his hearts ache. "But if you are willing to join me back to Iwagakure then I'm positive the Tsuchikage will pay you handsomely."
Kakuzu snorted. "That is not ideal." He remarked, not bothering to explain how it would not be a wise idea to scroll into a Hidden Village with the label of S-Ranked regardless if they had personally employed him. And old man's paranoia perhaps. "Instead, you return to Iwagakure to retrieve payment and I shall babysit our friend until you get the money to me," He patted the fossilized Mayfly Man's head. "Otherwise, no payment, no Mayfly."
Domon scowled. He should have known better than to trust a member hailing from an organization of criminals. What was the old man thinking employing the likes of them? Unfortunately, he had no choice. Now that the existence of the Mayfly had been uncovered, he needed the Mayfly Man as proof so they could proceed with building evidence against Kusagakure and whoever was paying them to charge them with crimes against humanity. There was no choice as there was obviously no arguing with this man and he certainly couldn't wrestle the body away.
"Very well. Where shall we rendezvous, yes?"
"The border of Amegakure and Kusagakure. Three days. That should be manageable, correct?"
No, it wasn't. Domon had been hoping to at least have a day to rest, heal his wounds and mental scarring but again, there was little choice. "Fine. Three days. I shall retrieve the payment from the Tsuchikage and meet you again on the border with the Mayfly."
"It is a deal, captain." Kakuzu extended his hand to shake on it and Domon gingerly clasped his hand, shaking it slightly before jerking away and cradling the bandaged limb. "Until then, I shall keep care of our friend."
Kakuzu hunched over to scoop up the human mannequin when a cracking of the clay shell caused his hand to retract. The brunette narrowed his eyes, analyzing the giant crack that spanned abruptly across the Mayfly Man's chest when another shot across his face, then another at the shoulder, then, the encasing exploded. Kakuzu reared back and heard a scream, peering up just in time to see the Mayfly Man lunge towards him, broken jaw shifting back and forth with his shrieking. The man cocked his arm back to punch the abomination when the experiment straighten his legs mid-flight and delivered a forceful kick in his chest, sending Kakuzu skidding several yards.
'He played dead!?' Domon thought, scrambling away from the Mayfly Man who took a moment to shrug the rest of the hard clay from his blistering, pink skin. 'No,' He glanced at the nearby trunk that had been smothered by the rain and expelled black smoke. 'He purposely fell against the fire so the clay was heated to the point of breaking and waited. Why is he so smart!?'
Once having shed the clay, the Mayfly Man noticed Domon behind him and gurgled in his throat and he turned towards the blonde. Domon forced himself to his feet, reversing farther into the burning cul-de-sac as the other man approached slowly like a cat teasing a trapped mouse. The captain glanced down at his half-empty satchel, checking that which remained of his clay. There was barely enough for it and had a heavy weight in his stomach saying that he might need it too.
Kakuzu recovered from the harsh strike and ran forward towards Domon and the Mayfly Man when a sizable tree which had been chewed away by the flames collapsed onto the path, creating flaming barrier between he and Domon that spanned the width of the encampment. Kakuzu lep back from the blazing trunk, swearing. There was no avoiding any longer, he would have to risk his second heart.
"Doara." He breathed the single word and the following moment, the back of his trench coat shifted and throbbed as from beneath his upturned collar, slithered his wind-element mask, Doara.
The bird-like creature crawled over his master's shoulder and landed to the ground on all fours, shaking itself similar to a dog while flexing its stubby wings and emitting a metallic cawing.
"Futon: Pressure Damage!" Kakuzu directed the creature towards the smouldering trunk.
The foul obeyed, inhaling deeply, the threads composing its chest expanding before exhaling a mighty gust of wind at the hindering flames, causing them to waver and shrink and the trunk to splinter as it was swept into the funnel of a building tornado. Suddenly, a smothering wave of chakra assaulted Kakuzu and Doara, the demented creature ceasing the exhale of air and chirping frantically. Instantly, the older man realized what had caused such a skin-crawling emission of power.
"God damnit! I told that brat not to blow himself up!" Without a second of hesitation, he sprinted down the heated road back towards Kusagakure to escape the potential blast radius, Doara fluttering behind with fearful cawing as it attempted to refuse with its host.
…
With the forest crashing down around him and the flames licking his back, Domon knew this was the end. Trapped between the circling forest fire and rabid Mayfly Man, separated from the Akatsuki, his entire team dead, incapable of using his kekkei genkai and bleeding. It was the end, and there was no fighting it. All he could do at this point, was to ensure if he died, he was making damned sure he was bring this abomination of humanity with him.
The Mayfly Man snarled, blood and saliva rivering from the corners of his mouth, the silence irking him as Domon groped painfully into the pack strapped to his hip, withdrawing a sizable ball of clay. The blonde tilted his head backwards as he loosened the head protector around his neck, the bandanna falling away to reveal a series of ugly, black stitching holding the man's throat together. The broken mouth on his free hand weakly chewing at the thread, eventually breaking through and clamping into the edge of the string as the man yanked back his hand, unraveling the stitching. Once freed, the grotesque scar circling his throat twitched and the separate rolls of flesh curled back over rows of crooked canines, exposing it to be another mouth.
The mouth yawned, causing Domon's entire head to tilt back and exposing the various tendrils and inner muscles composing the blonde's neck. Domon lifted the mass of clay to the mouth and it gladly accepted it, hungrily chowing down into the earthy material and chewing it like a wad of bubble gum. As it chewed, the veins coursing through his throat darkened as the blood rotted with excess chakra. Suddenly, an influx of chakra assaulted the Mayfly Man's senses and he shrieked, provoked from the discharge.
Despite this, Domon, ever so calmly, reached into his vest pocket and withdrew his cigarette pack. He tapped the package on his bloodied palm until the last of the death sticks slithered out. He dumped the empty box into the dirt and lit the cigarette on his skin that sizzled as the skin burned from within, propping it between his discoloured lips and inhaling deeply, the warm smoke scorching his raw lungs and leaking from the corners of the mouth on his neck.
The lingering rain briefly increased in its downpour and a weird sense of peace blanketed him. He had always adored the rain. Unlike most people, example being his wife, it perked his mood and opposed to those people would hide from it, he embraced it. If today's events hadn't unfolded, then he would be walking the complex right now, and relishing the cold chill it left on his skin. The rain softened the realization of his impending death. It was such a beautiful day to die.
"I'm sorry, Kira," Domon apologized, exhaling the smoke with a droplet of blood crawling from the corner of his mouth which mixed with the single tear that escaped from the canvass of his googles. "Looks like I won't be coming home this time."
The Mayfly Man screamed and rushed Domon, amputated arm cocked back with the jutting bone aimed at the man's grinning throat. Domon lifted his hand, the skin having gone completely black and steaming, forming a single hand sign and uttering one last word.
"Katsu."
…
In the early morning hours, a sleepy Kusagakure was rocked by a massive explosion that engulfed the ruins of Old Kusagakure. Buildings swayed precariously on their neglected foundations and the windows shuttered and crack. The inhabitants flee into the streets, yelling fearfully to one another and casting their gaze to the darkened sky above that is now illuminated with a grand pillar of light and fire. The eruption swelled into the likeness of a bird with its wings extended, caressing the heavens above as their tears were halted and radiating a light bright enough to be seen from every corner of the world and blinded those who viewed it directly. The silhouette lingered for only a second before the bird withered, folding in its wings and shrinking away into nothingness from which it came, leaving behind a mushroom cloud of ash and smoke in its wake. The blackness of the storm returned and the downpour resumed, washing away the ashened air. Those which had witnessed the eruption turned to their neighbor to discuss the sudden events.
"What was that?" Was gasped by a few.
"Did that come from the Iwagakure camp?" Murmured others.
From the shadows, Kakuzu observed the fading mushroom cloud and sighed with a shake of his head. His paycheck had just gone up into smoke. He had lost a heart and a payday for nothing. He had half a mind to leave now, but he had never been one to accept failure. The deal with Iwagakure had been terminated but there were plenty of other villages which would pay an arm and leg for the Mayfly. A live specimen was unlikely now but a few documents or samples were worth just as much.
He dug in the breast pocket of his coat and retrieved a pair of sunglasses, pushing them onto his nose to conceal his mismatched eyes before departing into the depths of Kusagakure. But for now, he would have to regroup and organize a plan as to how he would obtain the Mayfly.
…
Days later, news reached Iwagakure about the misfortune regarding Captain Katsu and his squadrons, the Explosive Corps and Fourth Iwagakure division. Ironically, it had been a rainy day and a sense of gloom smothered the village. Ōnoki paused in his tedious paperwork to close his drapes and shut out the sad weather. 'Nothing good ever comes on days such as these.' He concluded, heaving himself back into his chair and returning to his labour. Minutes later, there was a knock on the door of his office.
"Enter." The old man grunted. The door opened and his assistant, Jirou, entered the claustrophobic office and bowed politely, adjusting his thick rim glasses on his nose as they slipped from the action.
"Tsuchikage-sama. Captain Sho's ninken, Aogiri, has arrvied." He said, stepping aside a large wolf depicted with a tiger-patterned pelt lumbered in and the assistant stepped out behind, shutting the door to grant both parties privacy.
Ōnoki's eyebrows lifted to his wrinkled forehead at the animal's unexpected appearance. Sho was stationed on Kannabi Bridge in Kusagakure, the ninken had traveled quite the distance across war-torn countries to be in the Tsuchikage's presence. A war hawk would have been remarkably safer, but to each their own. "Aogiri, to what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"
"Not a pleasure, sir." The wolf rumbled, sitting at the foot of the man's desk. "I come to report unfortunate news regarding the Fourth Iwagakure Division and the Explosive Corps and their captain, Katsu Domon."
Immediately, Ōnoki's stomach pummeled to his toes with the use of his disfavoured son-in-law's name and the word 'unfortunate' in the same sentence. He wasn't fond of the boy, but that did not mean he wished any ill on him and his old heart proceeded thump hard in his ears with anxiety. "What unfortunate news did you bring regarding Katsu Domon?"
"Three days ago, Kusagakure was rocked by a massive explosion originating from Old Kusagakure where Captain Katsu and his troops were stationed. Captain Sho, along with a small squadron, set out to investigate the source of the explosion and what they discovered was…distressing." The canine paused, clearing his throat which felt strangely stripped, obviously from the misfortune of informing the Tsuchikage about the death of one of his own. "The entire encampment had been wiped out for a mile radius from the explosion. No survivors nor bodies were uncovered. They are all assumed deceased."
The quill in Ōnoki's hand cracked between his compressed knuckles, echoing loudly through the deadly silent room. The thumping stopped, a cold sweat broke out and he questioned if he was having a heart attack by the foul pain that sickened his heart. Deceased…dead. Domon…was dead? Killed himself and his entire troop? Impossible. It was impossible! He might not be fond of the boy but he knew he would not be responsible for such a thing. He wasn't that dull!
"What happened!?"
Aogiri flinched from the sharpness of his superior's tone and shuffled on the carpet, coiling his maned tail around his paws. "Sho contacted Captain Simon of Tenchi Bridge after the discovery but he reported observing no movements from the Konohagakure encampment across the river nor did Konoha attempt to cross the Tenchi Bridge or the Kannabi Bridge before or the day of the incident. We hypnotized that Konohagakure ambushed Old Kusagakure during the night and slaughtered the troop and Captain Katsu sacrificed himself to eliminate them. This is only a theory, however, as we were unable to recover any evidence to support or reject this. All we know from interviewing locals of Kusagakure was the fighting began early in the morning as they reported explosions and screams from Old Kusagakure during that time. Shortly after was the explosion that destroyed Old Kusagakure." The ninken concluded his lengthy report and dropped his sight to his feet, eyeing his overgrown nails and making a mental note to have Sho trim them.
Ōnoki slumped in his office chair, unable to even comprehend the news which had been given to him as his mind cluttered with a million thoughts. With the thoughts came emotions such as bewilderment. He wanted to know what had caused such an incident. What or who had achieved in the slaughter of an entire troop of highly trained Iwagakure within a night? Next, he was overwhelmed with anger towards Domon. What in that boy's head had convinced him that sacrificing himself with his kekkei genkai was a good idea? There was no evidence he had killed any of the enemy as well so his death might have been in vein. And what if a few of his troops has been alive still and he inadvertently killed them also? Finally, came sorrow when his daughter, Kira, entered his mind. He had promised her that by two week's end she would be reunited with her husband and instead, he now had to inform her of his untimely death. The most, he pitied his unborn grandchild that would now have to grow without a father.
The elder Tsuchikage straightened in his seat, folding his hands on his desk top and sighing softly with his eyes closed. "Thank you, Aogiri. You are dismissed." He whispered.
The dog nodded, standing and bowing. "I apologize for your loss, Tsuchikage-sama." He said, straightening before quietly leaving the office, bumping into Ōnoki's female assistant on the way out who squeaked an apology for colliding with the huge mutt.
"Rika." Ōnoki addressed the blonde woman quietly. "Would you please retrieve my daughter Kira? She should be with Hotaru. Urgently."
The young woman hesitated, noticing the somber look on her employer's face and debated about asking him what could be wrong but decided against inferring with the old man's affairs as she nodded instead. "Yes, Tsuchikage-sama."
Meanwhile, on the other side of Iwagakure, Katsu Kira released a sigh and slumped in her seat, dropping her arms onto her swollen belly and staring blankly at her untouched bowl of hot ramen.
"What's up, Kira?" Her younger sister, Hotaru, questioned, pausing the noisy slurping of her noodles to stare at her somber sister.
"Rainy days bum me." The woman remarked, gazing out of the window of the ramen shop they were currently having lunch in, tucking her black fringe behind her ear as she watched people hurry by to escape the rain. "But it feels like more today. I can't place my finger on it."
"The baby?"
"No, the baby is fine. Usually I can feel him gumming on my organs or kicking me in the kidneys but today he has been oddly quiet. Perhaps the rain calms him like it does for Domon." Kira said, smirking slightly at the memory of her husband and his queer love of the rain to the point he would take walks in it without an umbrella and shirtless. He would love today, just the right amount of downpour and chill in the air to make him sick for days. Those were his favourite.
Suddenly, her casual viewing of the few people walking the streets was interrupted when she saw their father assistant, Riku, scurry by and she quirked an eyebrow as she observed the blonde's almost frantic glancing around as she searched for someone or something. Eventually, the girl's eyes settled on Kira's that gazed at her through the window of the shop and she hurried for the door, yanking it open and stumbling in towards their table.
"Kira-chan!" The girl squeaked, hunching over as she caught her breath from her jog across the village. "Your father has summoned you!"
"Papa?" Kira asked, glancing at her sister who shrugged, swallowing the mouthful of ramen stuffing her cheeks. "What for?"
"I don't know, madam, but it is urgent."
Kira blinked at the girl, pondering what her father could possibly want so desperately he would send an assist to retrieve her and tell her it was urgent. Had Domon returned early? The thought perked her downed mood as an excitement pooled in her stomach. The baby kicked, displeased with her zeal bothering his nap.
Kira awkwardly stood from her seat while Hotaru swallowed down the last of her ramen, and part of Kira's, before following after Riku who led them back to their father's tower. As they navigated the streets there, the positive anticipation in Kira began to sour and the funk returned, growing more and more intense as they neared their destination. When they arrived at the Tsuchikage's tower and slowly ascended the stairs to their father's office, the feeling was so overbearing that Kira stopped and had to gasp for breath.
"Kira, are you alright?" Hotaru asked, worry evident in her voice as she placed her hand on her older sister's slumped shoulder.
"Yes, just…the baby." Kira replied, wincing. It wasn't a lie. The baby had suddenly decided to throw a cow, and the entire farm with it, inside of her stomach as he thrashed and kicked, obviously disturbed by his mother's drowning anxiety.
After regaining her breath, she carried on and Riku opened the door to the office, quickly stepping out of the way of the two women as they entered. Immediately, Kira's unspeakable dread struck her when Domon was not there, ready to scoop her into his arms and smother her with sloppy kisses. Instead, her father was seated behind his desk, head bowed with his forehead resting against his knotted knuckles, eyes closed. His silence did not ease her tension. Riku hustled out of the office and closed the door behind, making Kira flinch as the sound shattered the unnerving muteness.
"Papa…" Kira whispered after several seconds when Ōnoki said nothing. Hotaru shuffled nervously behind her. "Is something wrong?"
"Kira…" Ōnoki finally sighed but could not bring himself to face her as he spoke. "I am so sorry…" That was all it took, just those few words, and Kira's entire universe came crashing down around her as her worse fears were realized.
Kira collapsed to her hands and knees and released a keen wail. Hotaru rushed to her sister's side and cradled her as she trembled, fat tears and globs of snot dripping from the elder's dark eyes and nose and onto the carpet. Kira screamed again, punching her fist repeatedly onto the floor until the threading rubbed away the skin on her hand and it bled. "No! No! No! That bastard! He promised me! He promised me he would come back! No!" She hiccupped. "H-He promised to be here for our baby!" She lifted her red face towards her father, skin wet with cascading tears from her bloodshot eyes. "How!? How Papa!? How!?"
Ōnoki did not answer, instead he averted his sight and pressed his fingers against his eyes, casting away the tears welling them in them from his daughter's meltdown. What was he to say to her? He wasn't sure himself what had occurred except the glaring fact Domon had killed himself. Suicide was such a dishonourable way for a shinobi to embrace death. He would have rather the boy die with his troop then taking his own life and possibly the lives of the men he had been appointed to protect. He could not bring himself to tell Kira that.
"Hotaru…" Ōnoki quietly addressed his youngest, unable to witnesses anymore of his dearest daughter's misery. "Please remove your sister…take her home."
Hotaru nodded curtly and nudged her heartbroken sister. "Come on Kira…" She whispered, sniffling softly herself. "Let's go home…" After several seconds, she managed to heave her sobbing sister to her feet and wrapped an arm around her waist, supporting her as she led the hysterical woman to the door. Riku politely opened the door for two woman from the other side and seeing the weeping Kira, quietly gave her condolences despite not being aware of what had occurred and winced when Kira's loud crying could still be heard even as they disappeared down the stairwell.
"Riku." The blonde quickly directed her attention to her superior who was hunched over in his chair, fishing out something from one of the drawers of his desk. "I have a letter I need you to copy and deliver." He said, producing a folded paper that he pushed across his desk towards her.
Riku retrieved the paper, not reading its contents. "Very well, Tsuchikage-sama. Who is the letter being address to and how many copies should I make?"
"It will be addressed to every Iwagakure shinobi that is currently or not currently involved in the war so at least one thousand copies?"
"O-One thousand copies!?" The woman shuttered, the letter slipping from her hands and onto the floor. "That will take days to produce and distribute, sir!"
"I need this letter out as soon as possible, Riku." Ōnoki replied, swiveling in his chair to face the massive window overseeing the village, standing up to push away the drapes to discover the rain had thinned into a sprinkle. He stared hard at his own reflection. "I am bringing this war against Konohagakure to an end, now."
…
An investigation into the Old Kusagakure Massacre, as it was labeled, was launched. However, after only a few weeks, it was abruptly shelved when the Iwagakure forces stationed were ordered to march to Konohagakure in one final surge, abandoning Kusagakure as a stronghold in the progress. No evidence was ever recovered explaining the events of that day and several rumours circulated around Iwagakure, one that told that Captain Katsu had killed himself and troop on purpose while another spoke of a superweapon that Konohagakure had conceived that wiped the army out. The event eventually became a ghost story and for years people hypnotized what had truly taken place on that day. Only one item had ever been recovered from the explosion but it had been deemed unimportant to the investigation and scrapped.
A burnt Rafflesia flower.
…
AN: Holy crap finally. I hate only updating once a month but I had no choice in the matter as last month I had summer school and I would have finished this chapter after it concluded, but then I got sick for a week. But here it is, my lonest chapter yet. I'm glad I don't have to write a fight scene again. At least for a few chapters. Sorry for the lack of beta. R&R please, it's greatly appreciated and encourages faster writing if nothing else comes up.
Next chapter: The focus returns to Kiyoshi and the aftermath of the field test with 001.
Note: Some prior chapters have been edited and tweaked so please review those when you can or like. Thank you.