Devil From The Heavens

Chapter 42: Desperation

"With our- we'll call them full-body experiments, they're only able to last about twenty-four hours but with only a limb, along with some refinements on my part, this should last far longer without most of the drawbacks." Kabuto explained as he looked over the seam at where they attached the Zetsu limb; it was fully healed. While Sasuke may not have regeneration, the limb did and so the Uchiha was up within hours. "If you do experience any kickback, come back to me immediately. It could kill you."

Sasuke tested out his new arm. It was far too pale but it seemed to work fine otherwise. Well defined and it adjusted itself the moment it was attached; if he didn't know any better, he'd say this was the arm he was born with. When he looked at it with his Sharingan however, there was an energy right beneath the surface that he couldn't put a finger on. It certainty wasn't chakra.

"I know you said no to the eye but I do have to insist on it." The pseudo medic-nin held up a jar with an eye floating within it. It seemed to stare at Sasuke. "Having only one will mess with your perception and make you prone to mistakes while you get adjusted."

Sasuke clenched his new fist. Something told him he would have crushed a throat had it been in his grasp.

"I said no, Kabuto. Are we done?" He said with open hostility. Every second he wasn't training was another second these freaks left him further behind. There was also the orange problem currently locked up in a cell not too far from here that he wanted to take care of.

"Fine, head on out. Madara also said to leave the Jinchuriki alone. He knows you two have history but he wants him to remain alive."

"Why?" The words themselves scowled. "He wasn't able to remove the Kyubi so what use is he?"

"Ask Madara if you're so desperate then otherwise-" Kabuto stood and moved to leave the room. "I have more important things to do."

There was a noisy creak of twisting metal that alerted Sasuke. He looked down at the mangled bed railing within his death grip. There was more to this than a simple replacement then. He'll have to look into it some more later.

For now, he had a blond annoyance to visit.

Something small and hard bounced off of his forehead.

Naruto awakened in a cell. He was weak and thirsty but that only told him he was alive. The teen sat up and noticed that his hands were bound. There were seals there; he couldn't feel any of his chakra. Question was why was he alive? They should have already pulled the fox from him and that was always fatal from what he knew of the Jinchuriki.

"You're awake."

Whatever weariness he had felt was pushed away in an instant. "Sasuke?!" Naruto cried out as he turned to the bars. He was taken aback at his missing right eye. "What happened to your eye?"

The Uchiha, his best friend, looked down on him. "What did you do?" He demanded.

Naruto was befuddled by the question. They had kidnapped him. "I'm not following."

"Even when you're barely conscious, you're nothing but trouble." The Uchiha spoke with the purest scorn. A blade flashed forward and came to rest right underneath the Konoha shinobi's chin. "How did you stop Madara from pulling the Nine Tails from your body?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." The blond asked as he tried to look outside of his cell. Brown, featureless hallway was all he could see. They had to be deep underground or something. Was this where Madara was holed up? "Sasuke, what are you even doing here?"

The Uchiha flicked his wrist and a fresh cut appeared on Naruto's cheek. "Why do you think? Power and an opportunity to destroy the Leaf Village."

Naruto shook his head. The denial was both for himself and for Sasuke's stated goal. He didn't care what anyone else said; he could bring his friend back to the village. There was a path of redemption for him. "It's already gone." He answered in a low, melancholic whisper.

"Tch, you're still the same idiot." Sasuke crouched so as to be eye level with the Jinchuriki. "The Leaf is more than just its buildings. As long as the 'Will of Fire' and its people live, Konoha will just spring back up in time. I want something more permanent. If it wasn't for that Saiyan freak, I would have already killed Tsunade."

Naruto's eyes were wide open in shock at that. "What?!"

The missing-nin raised a brow. "You didn't know? We interrupted your little Summit. Iwa's Kage is dead and so is the general of the Land of Iron's forces. It would have been two Kage, I had Tsunade dead to rights, but Broly got in the way. I'll have to be satisfied with having taken her leg for now." He smiled sadistically at the mounting horror on Naruto's face. He gently tapped his former teammate's cheek with his blade. "The villages remain divided and vulnerable."

"You're only alive right now because Madara is still trying to wrap his head around what happened. The moment he says he doesn't need you-" Sasuke flipped the blade around and sheathed it before he stood. "I'll have the privilege of finally getting rid of you along with everyone else."

"You won't." Naruto said quietly even as he didn't look his friend in the eye. "You can come back with me to the village, Sasuke, it's not too late."

There was no answer as Sasuke left.

Broly looked out into the rain from the doorway. The waters ran pure and the soft pitter-patter of the falling drops was entrancing when paired with the luscious greens of the nearby forest. The people here maintained their distance. While the conflicts of the villages and Madara had left them untouched, the Saiyan's imposing stature incited no small amount of fear when he made his demands.

Konan had been asleep for the last fourteen hours. Exhaustion, both physical and emotional, had stolen the woman from the land of the conscious. He was left alone to try and decide what to do next. A task much easier said than done.

As much as he needed the seals off, Konoha was not an inviting prospect. Given how the summit went, he couldn't imagine the rest of them were inclined to let him in. Not that he needed their permission but Konan would be left vulnerable. She was powerful for someone from this dirtball but not enough to be invulnerable given the injuries the doctors he 'persuaded' to look at her told him about.

As much as he hated to acknowledge it, and he would never speak these words out loud, she could be used as a bargaining chip against him. The women in blue was the friendliest and the one who'd suffered the least from what he could tell. Her village would be the best bet. What was it again?

He hated this. Being stuck when he should be moving mountains.

But he couldn't leave her behind.

It was the slightest breeze that alerted him that something was off. He thought nothing of it but the hairs on his neck rose regardless. Broly moved back through the house he had 'borrowed' to where Konan slept. Her bed was empty and the open window had let in a draft. It surprised him but, as he moved to said window and spotted a familiar shape in the sky, he had expected something like this.

Broly was beside her a few moments later in the grayed sky. There were dark bags under her eyes and they were still bloodshot. Her skin was a pale pallor and even her wings lacked the strength in their design that the Saiyan had known. She was still exhausted.

"You're awake." He said as nothing else came to him. Konan didn't look his way. The Saiyan felt awkward at the lack of response and began to look at random points across the horizon. "How- uh, how are you feeling?"

"I apologize for my poor reaction earlier." Her words were stilted. Forced. "It was unbecoming of me. It only delayed our mission."

He was confused to say the least. How the fuck did you react to this? He'd never dealt with anything like this. Everything up to this was improvising and wild guesses but that felt completely inadequate for this. He didn't want to accidentally push Konan away. He- she was the only one he could really trust right now. She glanced at him but it was a dead expression. Broly couldn't read it.

"I'm sure this is nothing new to you anyways."

He couldn't find the words to describe but he knew he'd rather repeat Might Guy's battle than hear anything like this again. He looked away in shame because, whether it was to hurt him or not, it was true. What right did he have to try and comfort Konan in this? All the same, it angered him too. What fault did he have here? It was stupid, he thought, to feel angry for how she reacted after nearly killing her but he felt it regardless.

"I'm sorry about your village, Konan, but it wasn't me who did it." He started as the last couple days of stress loosened his tongue. "I haven't done a damn thing against a single innocent since I got on this backwater without that masked fuck making me! The villages, the Summit, Ame, everything was Madara. I'm just trying to do what I can so I can kill him. So we can kill him."

There was no visible change in her expression from his response. There was a pregnant silence afterwards before Broly let out a frustrated grunt and turned away. Why was he letting her affect him like this? It was pathetic. Needless to say, he wasn't equipped for this; maybe somebody below could help. He looked for where the doctor could be.

"I promised I would help you so I will." Her quiet voice piqued his attention but he kept his gaze on the town below. Unseen to him, a shudder of fear ran through her. "I just...need some more time is all."

Broly shook his head. "I don't know if we'll have it. I felt something strong on the way here. It lit up the sky over there." He pointed at where he saw the ki. If he closed his eyes, he swore he could still feel that terrible power. "Konan, I don't know what it is or if I can fight it. I was thinking we go to- what's her name, Mei?- her village to-"

"No." It was stated so definitely; like a command more than anything. Broly turned to her and Konan's steeled eyes nearly stunned the Saiyan. "We go straight to Jiraiya. Not the Leaf; to my old sensei. Those seals are coming off."

He absently reached up to the one on his chest. "I can't trust him not to mess with it and kill me."

Konan's hands shook. Sheets of paper twisted around her fingertips and formed wicked claws.

"Trust is a luxury. We go now."

There was only so much someone could take before the mind became numb to save itself from further harm. Tsunade knew this but her lack of reaction to the news of Naruto's disappearance was concerning. Jiraiya, Kakashi, and other Jonin waited behind her. The anxiety in the room was palpable; this happened on their watch after all. Hinata was inconsolable and had to be dismissed.

"How's progress on the retrieval?" She asked. The boy she saw as a grandson had been missing for a whole day. There should be evidence they can use.

"Minimal, so far." Kakashi, ever the professional when it counted, responded. "We have eyewitness reports of an unidentified light flying towards the north at the time of the abduction. The latest settlements we've managed to contact also reported an unusual green phenomena on the horizon in that direction just within the last week as well. Every shinobi that can help with tracking Naruto has been working around the clock otherwise."

"Contact Kiri and Kumo and request aid in the search." In spite of how poorly the Summit went, she had faith that they would help. You don't just witness the horror of those things firsthand and not try to stop them. "Dismissed. Except for you, Jiraiya."

She turned around in her chair. The Toad Sage glanced down at her improvised prosthetic for the briefest moments before meeting her eye. She didn't blame him, not wholly, because their whole village at its peak would not have been able to prevent this. Yet she let him simmer regardless. The Kage was only human and she wanted someone to be at fault, someone to lash out at, but Madara wasn't here.

Tsunade let her mask slip and she let her head drop into her hand. "I know you think this is your fault, Jiraiya."

"Because it is." He replied shakily. "My godson is gone because I wasn't there!"

"How would you have stopped it?" She snapped at him. "If it was just one, maybe the whole village could have banded together and stopped it with heavy casualties. Two of them made mincemeat out of a whole room of Kage and Jonin with hardly any effort based on what Temari told me. We're all impotent against these things. I won't hear another word of you flagellating yourself."

Tsunade leaned back and adopted a more dignified position. "Now, onto a more practical line of discussion. With the help of the other villages, we should have better luck locating Madara's hideout. From there, we'll try to-"

A shadow fell over their tent and the Sannin were instantly on high alert. Once they heard movement from their shinobi, they both ran out. Tsunade cursed as she hobbled her way out. The prosthetic was made out of the medical equivalent of scraps and only just enabled her to move; anything better would've taken weeks with their current resources.

"Hold! Don't attack!" Kakashi yelled just as the Sannin got their eyes on the intruder.

Angel wings a hundred feet from wingtip to wingtip nearly blotted out the Sun. As Tsunade's eyes got adjusted to the sunlight, Konan's dead expression came into focus. Right over her shoulder floated Broly. The Saiyan was tense like he was ready to strike. After a moment, the former Kage of Ame floated down and touched ground. Her Akatsuki robe was missing and she wore more typical kunoichi fare barring a flak jacket. Broly stayed where he was.

"The time for negotiating is over, Lord Hokage." Her skin was segmented into innumerable squares; she was ready to fight. They both were. "Jiraiya will remove the seals from Broly."

An uncharacteristic flare of anger filled Tsunade. Not only was the timing suspicious to say the least but this was an act of war. They could not deal with both infighting and Madara; it'd give the Uchiha a victory on a silver platter!

"And if we say no?" She said with an undercurrent of deadly hostility to her words. There was no question how suicidal provoking the former Akatsuki was but she couldn't just roll over and die. Not after just losing Naruto.

"I was not asking." The Angel of Ame responded curtly.

Jiraiya put a hand out in front of Tsunade and she stopped in her tracks. The Toad Sage's grim face told her all she needed to know; there was no fight here. Only a massacre that they had the moral obligation to avoid.

"Naruto's been kidnapped."

"What?!" The temperature jumped up several degrees as a sudden anger flared from the Saiyan. The ground cracked as he hit the floor. "What happened?"

"Our working theory is that Madara sent one or more of his Hybrids and they were able to grab him when he was alone." Jiraiya responded as he met the alien's eye. Broly's stance softened; for how brief a time they've known each other, the Saiyan felt an obligation to the boy. Jiraiya's concerns about the ancient warrior still held firm but they seemed so small when Naruto's life hung in the balance. "Freeing you will increase our odds at getting the brat back alive. That's enough for me."

"How long do you think it will take you?" Broly asked as he calmed himself down; he wanted to just tear over to where he thought Madara might be and rain hell but that would just get him killed. The Toad Sage approached him and took a look at the faint seal on the Saiyan's chest.

Jiraiya put a hand to his chin and thought for a moment. "Last time I looked closely at it, I estimated it would take about two weeks at a normal pace. If I work around the clock, I could shave most of a week."

"That'd put us just after the next full moon." Konan muttered. While Madara's intent with his message was clear, the contents weren't so. His plan required the moon for a genjutsu. Her best guess was that it had to be a full moon for it to work. He couldn't have done it before now so assuming no delays... "I believe that's when Madara intends to enact the final stage of his plan."

"We'll have to get started then." Broly said nonchalantly before he grabbed Jiraiya by the throat and lifted him clear off the ground. "You're coming with us."

Tsunade and Kakashi were the first to react. The Hokage put a hole through Konan with a chakra enhanced punch just as the Copycat ninja tried to catch Broly's head in a Kamui. The Saiyan vanished in a burst of speed before any harm was done. Ame's Kage fell apart into a pile of paper.

Her fist trembled. She trusted Jiraiya's judgement and now he was gone too. She was here this time and still couldn't do a damn thing to stop them. The Hokage couldn't help but feel the betrayal in this. They rescued them, sheltered them, and vouched for Ame at the Summit and they just bulldozed her. Were they all just supposed to live with that? At the mercy of some untouchable god and his angel?

"They won't accept something like him floating over their heads long term."

Tsunade hated to admit it but she supposed she was like them at the end of the day. "Everyone beside Kakashi, leave."

When the silver haired shinobi was suddenly alone, the dread he felt was something he'd only known on suicide missions when he was sure of failure. He knew what Tsunade wanted; he was privy to more details of the Summit than most.

"Get me Shizune and Sakura." She said. "Tell them I have a special project and to come as soon as they can."

His stomach dropped. "Lady Tsunade, please-"

"That was an order, Kakashi."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

It wasn't long before the two kunoichi, the Leaf's best medic-nin even before the ruin of the village, stood nervously in front of the Hokage. They were normally much more comfortable around the woman, she was a mentor to them after all, but there was a tension in the air that had their instincts practically screaming that something was wrong.

Tsunade didn't even look at them as her finger tapped endlessly on her desk. The quiet had stretched for some time and they had looked at one another with some trepidation. Sakura gestured with a nod of her head for Shizune to talk; she had known the Hokage for much longer after all. While that was true, Shizune disagreed with being the one to talk. Sakura was her most talented student after all; she should be the one to break the silence.

Sakura ultimately decided to do it. If she could face Broly down and live to talk about it, she could talk to her Kage.

"Lady Tsunade, forgive me for speaking out of turn, but what is this about?"

The tapping stopped. The Hokage took a deep breath before she turned to her kunoichi. It appeared that she shared some of their apprehension if some of the sweat on her forehead was any indication. That was the only sign though; she appeared calm and cool otherwise.

"I'll say this once and never again. Be assured that if a single word of this leaves this tent, I'll hunt whoever leaked it and kill them myself. Understood?"

While they hadn't been relaxed, whatever slouch may have been in their postures disappeared in an instant as their military discipline took over. There was a terror in their eyes. Not because they would leak whatever this assignment was but because they had never seen this side of Tsunade before.

"Yes, Lord Hokage." They responded promptly.

"Good." Tsunade steepled her fingers and rested her chin on her hands.

"We're going to create a poison that can kill Broly."

Author's Note

Big ol' bomb to end the chapter on. Things are racing to a head and Madara will be feeling the squeeze soon.

Not much to say here but let me know what you all think.

Ent out.

Review Responses!

Abyss Emperor: Nothing's gonna stay the same after the end. It can't with all the damage that's gonna happen.

NoNoName: I'm gonna put the squash on this and firmly state that's not going to happen.

fightingchampion: Here's some Konan and Broly! More will come soon.

DTLA1992: We got a taste of Naruto and Sasuke here and it should give you a good idea of how things will go in the future.

Isaiah Navarro: Unfortunately, not a clone on Naruto's part. You can't really risk that here. That's a cool theory too but I can firmly state this takes place in the far future compared to his original DBZ appearance. Also, no worries man, we all need something to take the edge off sometimes lmao

SilverJoJo: Oh, Broly wants to but he knows it will get him killed. He's too vulnerable right now. As for the real Madara, it's up in the air to be honest. If he makes an appearance, it'll be so brief relatively, y'know?

Anankin1: *Throws confetti in the air*

urlgang: I mean, we've never seen one without ki in canon so we can't really be sure either way.

oscuro oscuro: Para la primera parte, Isshiki y Toneri no aparecen en esta historia. La razon es realmente la misma razon por que no aparecieron en Shippuden. Todo el poder que Ape y Broly están lanzando no es suficientemente loco para llamar su atención por ahora.

Para tu pregunta, si Raditz simplemente los bombardeo desde los cielos? No hay posibilidad de que los ninja gane. Si tratara de jugar con peleas? Algunas de las habilidades del shinobi mas fuerte podrian matarlo. Un Kamui de Kakashi podria tomar su cabeza, por ejemplo, y algo como el Reader Death Seal puede matarlo tambien. Le daria 80 - 20 a favor de Raditz a menos que me falten algunas habilidades absolutamente reventadas en Shippuden. (My spanish isn't the best so hopefully this is legible.)

Music is life: So I'm not doing this but I got something in the works that should scratch a similar itch for you but saying anymore would be spoilers.