Hello everyone I'm back once again to bring you another chapter of my story; if you are enjoying it please keep on supporting me and my other works. Now with nothing else to say lets begin.
Mist and Maelstroms: Chapter 43
On the Sphere: With Naruto, Mei and Kisame
Naruto, Mei and Kisame all looked at the Deva path as charged towards them; Naruto and Kisame both gripped their swords while Mei stood ready to launch jutsu towards the Deva path.
In an instant Naruto and Kisame both rushed ahead on the flanks of the Deva path while Mei began to go through hand signs "Earth Style: Earth Spikes"; Mei slammed her hands onto the ground and earth spikes began to shoot out towards the Deva path.
The Deva path seeing this jumped to it's left side and towards Naruto; Naruto closed the distance and swung his sword towards the Deva path. The Deva path seeing this brought up it's black chakra rods and blocked the sword; Naruto's sword clanged against the black rods as Naruto pushed with all his might.
Naruto pulled his sword away and spun around sending a kick towards the Deva path who dodged the kick before raising his sword and bringing it down like an axe. The Deva path jumped back from the sword and put it's hand in front of itself.
"All mighty push" The Deva said and sent a powerful wave towards Naruto and pushed him back; Naruto flew in the air and he thought he was about to fall off the sphere.
"Holy shit" Naruto shouted as he tried to get back down; suddenly from the bottom of Naruto's feet 2 chakra chains shot out and stuck into the sphere surprising him. The chains pulled him back down and Naruto looked at his feet wide eyed "woah… talk about lucky" he said 'did my armor do that on it's own' he thought.
The Deva path saw this and was intrigued by this but had no time to think about it as Kisame came up behind him; Kisame swung his sword towards the Deva path and the Deva path brought up it's black rods to defend itself.
When Samehada hit the rods Kisame smirked and spoke "Bad move" he said as he pulled his sword back; Samehada shot out it's skin like spikes and ripped away both the chakra rods and a piece of the Deva paths arm.
The Deva path jumped back and aimed it's palms at Kisame and began to shoot out chakra rods towards him; Kisame began to run and dodge the rods as they rained down.
Mei seeing this went through hand signs and aimed at the Deva path "Magma Style: Magma bullets" Mei fired a volley of magma bullets towards the Deva path. The Deva path saw Mei shooting at him and began to fly across the ground to dodge the bullets.
The Deva path changed it's target and began to fire chakra rods at Mei and Mei began to go through hand signs once again 'Magma Style: Lava wall'. Mei spit a stream of lava from her mouth in front of her forming a wall to protect herself; the Lava cooled down and became a sturdy wall.
The Chakra rods hit the wall and began to get stuck in; Mei thought she was safe until the wall broke and 2 rods came straight at her. Mei bent backwards at a ninth degree angle as the rods flew over her; one rod missed completely while the second grazed her and cut her dress.
Mei got back up and felt her back pop and she leaned forwards while grabbing her lower back "oh damn… my back" Mei whined as she rubbed herself. 'I need to work on my flexibility' Mei thought as she got ready to get back into the fight as she saw both Naruto and Kisame run back in.
With Tsunade, Jiraya and Hiruzen
Tsunade was back on shore with Hiruzen, Jiraya and her troops as Naruto, Mei and Kisame fought on the sphere above them; Tsunade was healing Jiraya's wound while trying to pull out the chakra rod in his stomach.
Tsunade knew if she took out the rod then Jiraya will die from blood loss and his stomach acid leaking into his body; so she was healing his wound before pulling out the rod a little and repeating.
Hiruzen looked at the battle above and spoke "those three are giving it their all" Hiruzen said gaining Tsunade's attention "me, Guy and Jiraya all tried to fight that thing ourselves; I hope they'll be enough".
Tsunade frowned as she looked at Jiraya "don't blame yourselves Sensei; he's on a different level than all of us" she said.
Hiruzen nodded at this "I'm old Tsunade; I'm a relic of a gladly forgotten time, this was my last battle" he said "and I failed, just like how I failed my students and my village".
Tsunade looked at him and spoke "we are still here sensei; don't talk negative" she said as she focused on Jiraya once more "have faith in them".
With Karin
Karin was using her minds eyes to scout the surrounding area to find Kurama and Itachi; she's been looking around for the past 30 minutes but haven't seen anything. As Karin ran through the woods she saw 2 chakra signatures about 100 yards inland and began to run towards it.
'Please be them' Karin thought as she ran towards the chakra signatures; after running for a few minutes she arrived and went wide eyed "oh my god".
"Fuuuck" Itachi cursed as he tightened a second tourniquet around his left leg; Itachi's left leg was severed about halfway above the shin and there was a pool of blood forming from the stump.
"Oh my god Itachi" Karin shouted as she ran over and looked at his wound; Karin rolled up her sleeve and put it to his mouth "Bite me now". Itachi surprised Karin was there hesitated for a moment until he nodded; Itachi bit her on the arm and Karin winced.
Itachi's wound began to close a little and the bleeding stopped; Itachi let go and looked at Karin "t-thank you Karin" he said weakly.
"Where's Kurama" Karin asked; Itachi winced and raised his arm off to the distance and Karin turned and paled.
Kurama was leaned up against a tree not moving and Itachi spoke "go to him; I'll be fine" he said and Karin nodded. Karin ran over to where Kurama was and gasped at the sight.
Kurama was bisected at the waist with his guts hanging out and his left arm completely gone; Kurama was breathing weakly as he looked to Karin.
"K-Karin" Kurama said weakly before smiling "Karin… hey… sorry I look like shit"; Karin immediately kneeled beside him and pulled up her other sleeve.
"Kurama bite me" Karin said in a panic "I can take you back to Lady Tsunade and-"; Kurama turned away making her heart drop.
"If I bite you… I'll kill you" Kurama said making Karin begin to tear up "this body is dying… my chakra is tapped… my soul is gonna die soon too".
"N-no" Karin said as she began to cry "I don't want to lose you Kurama, please don't go"; Kurama began to cry as he heard Karin begin to beg.
"Sorry my love… this is it for me" Kurama said "Karin… thank you"; Karin went wide eyed and Kurama continued. "You showed me love… you showed me that humans aren't all that bad" Kurama said "I just wish… I could be with you a little longer". Kurama coughed up a lot of blood and Karin grabbed him "K-Karin" he said even more weakly.
"What is it" Karin said through her tears.
Kurama raised his remaining hand and there was a marble sized ball of chakra; he moved his hand over and put it onto Karin's stomach. The ball went into her and she looked at him puzzled.
"A little thing to remember me by" Kurama said as the light began to fade from his eyes "Karin… I love…y-y"; Kurama went limp as his eyes lost it's life and Karin began to wail uncontrollably as she cradled his body.
Karin felt an intense heat and had to let Kurama go as she jumped back; Kurama's body was engulfed in a golden flame as his body began to burn to nothing. After a few seconds Kurama's body was gone and Karin was left there looking at the burnt grass.
Itachi looking at this was crying as well; Kurama was one of Itachi's closet friends and a comrade in arms. He was one of the few people who didn't think he was a monster for killing his clan.
'Goodbye… old friend' Itachi thought as he wiped his tears; Karin walked to Itachi with tears staining her face and helped him to his single leg.
"Lets go" Karin said as she began to walk Itachi back to the unit to be healed by Tsunade.
With Naruto, Mei and Kisame
Naruto blocked a swing from the Deva paths chakra rod with his sword and the Deva path followed up with a stab towards Naruto's chest; Naruto saw this and jumped back but the chakra rod hit his armor.
The chakra rod pierced the armor and started to make it crack, but luckily Naruto wasn't hit; Naruto landed a few yards back and his armor began to reform. Naruto stabbed his sword into the ground and made a hand sign.
"Shadow clone jutsu" Naruto shouted and he created 20 shadow clones before grabbing his sword and charging at the Deva path; as Naruto charged the Deva path pointed both of its hands to him and began to fire chakra rods at Naruto and his clones.
Naruto and his clones used their swords to block the oncoming chakra rods with varying results; half of the clones were destroyed in attempt while Naruto and the remainder continued the charge.
While Naruto charged the Deva path from the front Kisame went in from behind and the Deva path heard this; the Deva path turned around and engaged Kisame by firing several chakra rods towards him.
Kisame used Samehada to block several of the chakra rods but one made it through; the chakra rod embedded itself into his shoulder making him grunt in pain but still able to fight. When he was in range Kisame swung Samehada at the Deva path and the Path ducked under the sword and creating another chakra rod; the Deva path came up and stabbed Kisame in the gut much like how it did Jiraya.
However instead of going down Kisame powered through the wound and kicked the Deva path sending it towards Naruto and his clones; while in mid air 5 of the clones charged in to attack but the Deva path.
One of the clones swung at the Deva path but the Deva path avoided the attack by going into the air and aiming it's palms at them "All Mighty Push"; the Deva path sent it's jutsu towards the 5 clones and sent them into the sphere at full force destroying them under the pressure.
Naruto meanwhile seeing this shouted to his clones "Give me a boost" he shouted; one of the clones dropped to it's knees and held it's sword above it's head with the flat side up. Naruto and his clones all used the clones blade as a step and jumped towards the Deva path; the Deva path saw this and turned towards Naruto and his clones and began to fire more chakra rods.
Naruto clones got in front of him like a shield using their sword to block the oncoming chakra rods; the Deva path continued to fire chakra rods at the clones until the rods broke through the defenses and destroyed the clones. This revealed Naruto behind them and Naruto had a rasengan in his hand; Naruto proceeded to use the water from his canteens to increase the power of his jutsu.
"Water Style Rasengan" Naruto shouted as he thrusted the rasengan towards the Deva path; the Deva path seeing this took out a chakra rod and thrusted it towards the oncoming jutsu. Naruto's water style Rasengan grinned against the chakra rod as screeching filled the air; suddenly the Deva pat let go of the rod and spoke.
"All Mighty push" Naruto was sent flying back down to the ground and crashed into the sphere.
"Gaaaah" Naruto shouted as he laid on the ground, Naruto's right hand had the chakra rod run through it and into the sphere "you fucker".
"Naruto" Mei shouted as she went through hands signs 'Boil Release: Scolding bullets'; Mei fired a large volley of boiling water bullets from her mouth towards the Deva path still in the air.
The Deva path merely turned and pointed it's hand at her "All Mighty Push" it said; upon saying that a powerful push sent the water bullets back to Mei and she was hit by her own Jutsu scolding several parts of her body and sending her flying off the sphere.
Naruto went wide eyed and shouted "MEI" he shouted at the top of his lungs; Naruto was about to force himself up until the Deva path shot several more chakra rods at him. Naruto using his left hand to wield his sword tried to defend himself but could do it effectively; Naruto was hit once more in his right arm directly at the elbow pinning his arm even further into the sphere.
Naruto screamed in pain as the chakra rod hit and the Deva path wasted no time; it flew down towards Naruto and sent a slash with a chakra rod at Naruto. Naruto tried to use his sword to defend himself but the chakra rod knocked the sword from his hands and off the sphere; the Deva path proceeded to stab Naruto in the gut pining him to the sphere even more and making him spit up blood.
As the Deva path brought out another chakra rod to kill Naruto it was attacked once more by a wounded Kisame "Get away from him you bastard" he shouted as he swung Samehada at the Deva path. The Deva path ducked and stabbed the chakra rod into his arm making him lose grip of Samehada; Kisame seeing he was disarmed threw a punch with his other arm.
Unseen by the Deva path Kisame kicked Samehada away and next to Naruto right arm; Naruto seeing this and barely conscious tried to reach with his left arm but couldn't do it. Naruto looked to his stomach and grabbed the chakra rod and began to pull it out; Naruto grunted in pain as he did so and he looked at Kisame who was fighting with all his might against the Deva path.
'Come on Naruto; show some fucking guts' Naruto thought to himself; Naruto pulled the rod out a little more and grit his teeth 'come on'.
With Mei
Mei was in full free fall from the sphere and was screaming as she fell down towards the earth below; as she fell through the air she didn't feel the pain from the burns of her own jutsu or the cold wind rushing around her. All she felt was fear of dying from a very long fall.
As she neared the ground by several hundred feet she had one final thought 'Naruto, I love you' she thought as a vision of him flashed through her mind. Suddenly Mei was hit from the side and was rolling through the air while still screaming as she began to crash through trees with her rescuer.
A the Raikage showed up with his forces and as soon as he did so saw Mei get thrown off the sphere above the water; A charged up his lightning cloak and ran full speed to where Mei was about to crash.
After getting close enough he jumped into the air and caught Mei before doing a forward roll to make sure she doesn't get whiplash; now A was using his body to shield her as he had a crash landing of his own.
"Fuck" A shouted as he crashed through another tree before hitting several more "shit, damn, crap"; A crashed through one more tree before hitting a patch of grassland and let Mei go. Mei landed a few feet away from A and was dazed at first before realizing what happened; Mei got up to her feet shakily before walking over.
"A, oh my god" Mei said as she kneeled next to the muscular man currently lying in a crater "are you ok".
"Yeah, I'm fine" A said as he sat up slowly and cracked his neck "I better get an invite to your wedding after this"; Mei chuckled at this and spoke.
"Trust me, you got it" Mei said before getting serious "I need to get back up there; Naruto and Kisame need me".
"No, I'll go; you stay here and get help for those burns" A said as he got up "I'm still fresh from my last fight; you looked pretty worn out". Mei was about to object until A spoke again "don't make me knock you out girl" he said and Mei scowled.
Mei then relented and nodded "fine, just bring them back" she asked and A nodded.
"Alright" A said before looking at the sphere "looks like I'm going to need a running start"; A activated his lightning cloak before running in the opposite direction. As Mei saw this her one visible eye widened.
'Wait…a running start' Mei thought.
With Naruto and Kisame
The Deva path threw another punch towards Kisame and Kisame blocked it with his good arm before throwing a kick towards the Deva paths abdomen; the Deva path used it's arm to block the kick and sent a kick of it's own.
Kisame was kicked in the chest and sent rolling back before getting to his feet; as he got up he saw Naruto still on the ground 'hurry the hell up brat; I'm getting my ass kicked' he thought.
Naruto grit his teeth as he pulled the chakra rod out more and more as blood continued to spill through his chakra armor; finally the chakra rod got pulled out and Naruto couldn't even scream as the pain was so intense. Naruto reached over to grab Samehada as it was only a foot away.
'Please don't cut me' Naruto thought as he knew Samehada would attack him if it didn't accept him; Naruto grabbed the sword and to his surprise it didn't attack him. Naruto smiled until he realized something; his right arm was still pinned to the sphere.
Naruto couldn't move his right arm anymore and he couldn't take out the chakra rods fast enough; Naruto turned and saw Kisame still fighting the Deva path and felt a wave of fear wash over him.
Kisame threw another punch towards the Deva path who dodged and countered with an uppercut; the Deva path created 2 more chakra rods and attacked. The Deva path stabbed Kisame in the chest puncturing both lungs and making Kisame spit up blood.
Naruto seeing this felt his blood run cold for a second; after that second all he felt was white hot rage.
"KISAME" Naruto shouted as his chakra fluctuated once more gaining the Deva path attention; Naruto's chakra armor grew 2 more tails now totaling 9 and Naruto got a second wind despite the chakra exhaustion and the loss of blood.
Naruto on instinct and accepting the fate of his arm put Samehada up against it and pulled; Samehada ripped though his arm tearing muscle, bone and ligaments as it did so. Naruto didn't even react to the pain as he got up and charged towards the Deva path; the Deva path spun around ready to fight Naruto but was grabbed from behind.
A mortally wounded Kisame was holding the Deva path in place keeping it's arms to its side and keeping it planted on the sphere "DO IT BRAT; KILL HIM NOW" he shouted in a gargle from all the blood in his lungs and mouth.
Kisame's POV
Kisame felt his lungs fill with blood and his vision begin to darken as he held onto the Deva path; Kisame watched as Naruto ran towards him in slow motion and wielding Samehada in his left hand.
Kisame couldn't help but smile at the sight; Naruto was no longer the little kid he trained back during the chunin exams. He was a true warrior, ignoring pain, fear and logic; he was fighting on pure instinct, grit and fortitude.
'I wonder if this is what it feels like to be proud of your son' Kisame wondered in his mind before chuckling 'heh… he's still a brat though'.
Normal POV
"Raaaaaaah" Naruto shouted in a mighty roar as he swung Samehada with his left hand; Samehada ripped through both the Deva path and Kisame bisecting the both of them and sending their top half's over the side of the sphere to the water down below.
Naruto was panting in a rage as he tried to regain his composure; Naruto took a breath and looked to the bottom half's of both Kisame and the Deva path still on the ground. Naruto knew the Kisame was dead; he died the moment he got stabbed.
But Naruto couldn't help but begin to cry; in one day he lost 2 sensei's. He lost Kakashi who saved his life by giving his own; and now he lost Kisame, who sacrificed his life for the sake of victory.
As Naruto sobbed he felt a shake and heard a boom; he looked up and saw A in his chakra cloak; A looked at Naruto and the surrounding area.
Naruto was holding Kisame's sword, and Kisame along with the Deva Paths other half was on the ground; A put 2 and 2 together and sighed.
"I was too slow" A said sadly before looking at Naruto "Kid I'm-" he began but Naruto interrupted.
"Get me inside this fucking thing" Naruto said in a low and dark voice.
Inside the Sphere: With Nagato
Nagato waited in place as he the last of his Six Paths were destroyed; he waited in his large chamber for the inevitable. There was a large boom overhead and a hole opened in the ceiling; 2 figures jumped down and landed a few feet away from him.
Naruto in his chakra armor and wielding Samehada and A the Raikage stood in front of the disheveled and frail looking man; Nagato looked into Naruto's eyes and pursed his lips.
"No words" Nagato asked and Naruto nodded; Nagato sighed and folded his hands "very well".
Naruto rushed forward in a blur and swung Samehada at Nagato's head and the damage was devastating; Nagato's head burst open like a watermelon sending his brains all over the ground. Both his blind eye and his rinnegan were on the ground and Naruto went over and stomped on them, destroying them to ensure they are never used again.
A looked at Naruto as his chakra armor wore off and he spoke "you ok kid" A asked concerned; Naruto didn't answer as he began to fall backwards and A rushed forward and caught him.
A looked at Naruto and saw both his severed right arm and his stomach wound "oh fuck" A said in a panic; A used his lighting to cauterize his arm before putting his hand on Naruto's stomach. "I got to get to Tsunade quick" A said; suddenly there was a rumbling and the sphere began to collapse "damn it".
A jumped through the hole in the ceiling leaving the headless corpse of Nagato inside the sphere as it collapsed around him; the sphere began to fall towards the ocean taking with it the final Akatsuki to a watery grave.
Time Skip: With Naruto
Naruto opened up his eyes and saw a light above him 'let me guess, another hospital' he thought; Naruto looked to his left side and saw an I.V stand, another bed and multiple monitors hooked up to him 'if I had a Ryo for every time this happens I'd be able to buy my own damn hospital'.
Naruto looked to his right side and saw his right arm was gone and now a stump 'oh shit' Naruto thought 'looks like I'm going to need to learn how to write left handed'. Suddenly the door opened up and Naruto saw 4 people.
Mei, Tsunade, Hiruzen and Jiraya all walked in with Jiraya walking in with crutches; they all saw Naruto was awake and they all went wide eyed.
"Naruto" Mei shouted as she ran over and hugged him; Mei broke the hug and planted the biggest kiss on his lips before pulling away "oh my god you're awake; I was so worried, you've been out for two weeks".
"Brat" Tsunade shouted as she ran up and hugged Naruto as well before giving him a kiss on his cheek leaving her lipstick on it "I knew you could do it; you kicked his ass".
"Hey kid" Jiraya said "look at you, lost and arm and got stabbed three times; damn, if that's not fortitude I don't know what is".
"Welcome back Naruto" Hiruzen said puffing his pipe "you'll be happy to hear that we have both of your swords; Samehada and the Executioners blade are with Watasumi and the Shark clan".
Naruto smiled at all the kind words before it dropped "Kisame" Naruto said making everyone lose their smiles "Kakashi sensei". "They gave up their lives to save me" Naruto said as he put his hands over his face and tears began to run down his cheeks "goddamnit".
"Don't do that Naruto" Hiruzen said making him look at him "they died in battle to save a comrade… to save their student". "That is the most honorable thing a shinobi could do" Hiruzen said remembering his sensei Tobirama Senju "do not be sad for those who died; be grateful that such men existed".
Naruto hearing this nodded and wiped his tears "thanks Ji-ji" Naruto said and Hiruzen smiled "can I be alone with Mei".
Everyone nodded and Tsunade, Hiruzen and Jiraya left the room; upon the door closing Mei looked at Naruto and spoke.
"Do you want to talk Naruto" Me asked worried and Naruto shook his head.
"No, just…" Naruto began but paused "just hold me"; Mei nodded as she crawled into bed with Naruto and put his head on her shoulder and began to stroke his long blonde hair. Naruto wrapped his arms around Mei and closed his eyes wanting nothing more than to smell her sweet fragrance and the warmth of her touch.
"It's ok Naruto, it's ok" Mei said softly as she leaned down and kissed him on the forehead "it's over… we won".
Ok another chapter done; I hope you all enjoyed it. Holy shit this was by far my favorite chapter to write; Kisame died… it's a real kick in the gut but it seems fitting. Naruto is now the new wielder of the Samehada; kind of like a passing of the torch kind of thing. Ok then if you enjoyed it please like comment and share with your friends; and until next time bye.