Apparently I have a pretty sizeable following in Indonesia. Thanks I guess!
Also I know I said I'd get these out fast, but I completely dropped fanfiction for a bit. My bad I suppose. But at least you guys get to see the first major diversion in the timeline.
The titanic combatants clashed with deafening sound. Trees were toppled like mere saplings and massive craters were strewn about from the two throwing each other around. Kakashi stood on the wall, sensing the Hokage moving towards him rapidly. He wasn't shy in releasing his chakra. Probably just to keep enemy shinobi away as he went to speed up the travel time.
His leader landed silently on his right, observing the fight casually. "Shukaku has rapidly exploded in both size and chakra. I presume the beast was fully released?" Hiruzen asked conversationally.
"Yes, I killed the boy. Apparently his seal was even lower quality than we thought." Kakashi confirmed, eyes locked on the battle.
The Third hummed while nodding. "We'll have to seal it somehow. I should be able to create a Four Trigrams Symbol Seal relatively quickly. The only problem is getting someone capable of containing the beast. Someone trustworthy. An individual with unquestionable loyalty and willpower. Yet, also someone who isn't too much of an overall loss if the process kills them." It went unsaid, but tradition practically demanded it: 'And a connection to me.'
Kakashi's jaw tightened. He could only really come up with one person who fit that description to a tee. The thought of putting one of his students through such a process was...unsavory at best. Downright evil by most people's standards.
The silver-haired jonin glanced to the Hokage who met his eyes with a grim look on his face. He felt the same. After all, Naruto and Takai were something of grandchildren to him. But no other could fill in that position.
"Takai would...be willing to serve the village." Kakashi practically spat out, his posture visibly slouching. Fucking fuck. Just saying it made him feel like a scummy piece of shit.
'Then again, I am.' He thought miserably, his eyes meeting the Hokage's shaded face.
The man nodded only once. His eyes were hidden by the edge of his combat helmet from Kakashi's higher view point, but he could see his mouth tighten. "Desperate times call for desperate measures, Kakashi. Bring Takai here."
The battle wasn't going in Takai's favor. His opponent completely out-matched him. He simply lacked any method to end the fight.
His lone eye ran over their surroundings. The land was pockmarked with craters from various jutsu and ninja tools. The building Takai was supposed to protect wasn't standing anymore. Though, the wreckage covered up the entrance to the basement pretty well at least.
"You will die today, boy." The man said, sheathing his sword. Despite their power difference, the man had been unable to land any real hits on Takai. Their exchanges left the both of them covered in dirt, sweat, and panting hard. The sun beating down on them didn't make it any better.
'That doesn't seem right. Its got to be a trap.' Takai reasoned, but he didn't have much of a choice. His chakra was running dangerously low after slinging around so many techniques in such a short time frame. He also couldn't just let the man sit there and do whatever he intended to do.
Takai dashed forwards, drawing a kunai in both hands. Not like he needed a free hand for anything any more. One more jutsu and he would probably pass out.
His opponent put his left foot back and his right forwards, his right hand gripping the hilt of his katana firmly, but not drawing. The hairs on the back of his arms and neck stood up in anticipation. He could sense something was coming.
"Kenjutsu: Deep Dune Quick-Draw." The man said, his eyes laser-focused on Takai as he neared. Takai raised his left hand up to his chest, preparing to defend as that side was closer to his opponent. And as soon as he got into range-
SCHLICK!
Takai stumbled passed the man, his pupils heavily dilated and shaking. A dull pain slowly radiated from his elbow. Something warm and wet poured steadily down his leg and onto the grass. A meaty thump signaled something with some weight to it falling to the ground just behind him. A faint feeling over took him as he slowly turned his head behind him, spotting...his arm. It was surreal. A lead weight formed in his core as he watched the severed limb bleed steadily, fingers twitching gently around the kunai still in his hand.
His eyes then trailed down to his left arm where his lower arm was just...gone. No longer attached. Takai felt like throwing up as the coppery scent of blood reached his nose. Oh, fuck. This was-
"Nasty, isn't it? I wonder, is this how my sons felt as you killed them in front of each other? Paralyzed with fear?" The man said, his tone getting rougher as he flicked the blood off his blade and approached painstakingly slow. Takai couldn't bring himself to even back away. His mind and body were frozen, stuck on the image before him. He couldn't believe it.
The man stopped just out of arm's reach, raising his katana at an angle, prepared to decapitate him.
"Die." He said simply, before there was a loud snap. Takai jumped out of his skin, apparently thrown back to reality. The man's head was twisted fully around, grotesquely pulling on the muscles and making them bulge awkwardly. The man's arms went limp as he fell to his knees. It revealed Kakashi. He'd saved him!
"No you." Kakashi replied, stepping over to Takai's severed arm, sealing it away in a storage scroll. He then stepped up to him. "The Hokage requires your presence." His sensei said shortly, pulling out white gauze and a roll of bandage from his pouch. He cut away at Takai's sleeve a bit and began wrapping the now severed limb tightly. It took a minute or two of silence for Kakashi to finish. Next, he pulled out a tourniquet. He slid it up Takai's arm and tightened it just below his armpit. Soon after, the end of his arm started to feel cold and tingly. Last, he fished some sort of needle out of his pouch before jamming it into Takai's neck, pushing the plunger. "A little cocktail to numb the pain and keep you awake." He said, dropping it.
"Your arm can be re-attached after the battle, Takai. For now, I'm taking you to the Hokage." The silver-haired jonin said, leaving no room for argument. He put a hand on Takai's shoulder and they both disappeared in a body flicker.
The duo appeared in a blur next to the Hokage on the ground outside the wall. The only reason Shukaku hadn't crushed him was because the giant toad locking him in fierce combat. Honestly, Kakashi was a bit impressed.
He had managed to lay out all the seals they would need to seal Shukaku in an incredibly short time frame. It wasn't perfect, but it also didn't need to be. Even just Hiruzen's honestly flawed Four Trigrams Symbol Seal would be leagues better than whatever Gaara had on his head. Regardless, the hardest part was actually restraining Shukaku long enough for the process to work. Or, maybe just the sealing process itself would be strong enough to halt the beast? He honestly wasn't sure what would have to happen.
Kakashi watched Hiruzen's eyes linger on the boy's freshly severed stump before beckoning him forth. "Takai, we are going to seal the One-tail. Alright?"
Takai blinked uncertainly as he stepped forward. "Yes. I understand. What do I do?" He asked shakily, but also like he was a touch unfocused. Perhaps that concoction Kakashi received from the hospital was a bit too strong? Or...y'know, the severed arm?
"Take off your shirt and lay down in the middle of this sealing array I made." The Hokage ordered, stepping aside for Takai. He did just that, tossing the article of clothing aside and laying, stiff as a board. Not that either of them could blame the boy. The ground tended to not be very comfy. "Now, I'm going to paint a Four Trigrams Symbol Seal on your body. Any preferences for location?" Hiruzen lowered to a knee, ink brush hovering over Takai.
The boy nodded. "Stomach is fine. Should be big enough too."
"Alright then." The oldest of the three said, lowering the brush to Takai's abdomen. He resisted the natural urge to shudder at the feeling of the cold ink on his skin. It was like ice and bit through his skin down to his bones easily. It was like the old man kept the stuff in a freezer!
Hiruzen nodded, slowly and carefully with a steady hand despite the more than six hundred foot tall creatures fighting not too terribly far away, he traced the most intricate and beautiful seal Takai had ever seen apart from Naruto's very own. Each stroke of the brush was purposeful and seemingly flawless on the surface. However, with Takai's somewhat decent sealing knowledge, even he could spot certain imperfections in the Hokage's work. Obviously, he was no master, yet he wasn't an amateur either.
Black ink stained his body. The coolness made his skin tingle. It was like ice yet Takai didn't dare move, regardless of the cold liquid. This was more important than a little discomfort. Thankfully, the Hokage seemed to be going at a solid pace as far as he could tell.
Though, it would clearly take a while. Yet again, time to play the waiting game.
Sasuke wasn't having a good time. His sensei had sent him away to the academy to help evacuate the children. Now, he was locked in vicious four on one combat. Thankfully they were inept for the most part, but sheer numbers were a quality in of itself.
He bent out of the way of a thrown kunai unnaturally at the spine before flowing into a back handspring to gain distance. An opponent had rushed him with a katana in hand.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke shouted, shooting out a gargantuan fireball. Predictably, his opponent dodged to the right, his favored side. The Uchiha followed it up with a kunai directly where his opponent would be. It impacted the darker boy directly in the chest, sliding between his third and fourth rib up to the hilt. His opponent stumbled to a stop, unable to drag air into his lungs.
He slowly fell on his side, his heart having had a kunai thrown into it.
"TEKATSU!" Another boy screamed, flinging four kunai at Sasuke. Sasuke didn't even bother using a jutsu to evade them, simply weaving between the four projectiles like an acrobat. He landed on his feet like a cat before launching himself backwards to avoid another two kunai and a charge with a sword.
His opponent swung directly downwards, nearly taking off a few inches from the top. Sasuke responded with his own kunai, pressing his opponent aggressively. He forced the darker boy into a tight blade lock before reaching around and jabbing him in the eye with a finger. His enemy flinched, taking a step back out of instinct. He didn't last much longer before Sasuke planted his kunai firmly under his chin, piercing the bottom of his skull.
Now it was two on one. Much more manageable.
Suddenly, the hairs on the back of Sasuke's neck rose. With little time to spare, he dodged back. The boy who had screamed dropped down from above, slamming some sort of kanabo. Dirt was thrown into the air from the strike. Sasuke took advantage of the long time to draw the weapon from the ground. He threw a hard knee into the boy's teeth, throwing him back before leaning back onto one hand and spinning to both avoid a kunai swing and to sweep the second boy's legs who had approached.
After sparring with Takai so much, he became accustomed to odd tactics and stronger opponents. These guys were absolute small fries. Their only real advantage was giving him so many variables to keep track of.
"Die already!" The club-wielding boy shouted while charging with his weapon raised. Sasuke's sharingan scanned his form and the ways his muscles flexed.
'Horizontal swing from the right.' Sasuke thought, his eyes perfectly predicting his enemy's move. The Uchiha ducked down low and sprang up, slamming a fist into the boy's stomach. He went to follow up but once again had to move back from a kunai throw.
"Tch." He grunted, drawing his own kunai and placing it in his left hand. These guys were getting annoying.
The boy he had knocked down was behind and to the left of the kanabo boy. A plan formed in his mind rapidly as he positioned himself to be just big enough of a target for the boy behind the kanabo boy to reasonably throw at.
He set his jaw firmly before moving forwards, side stepping some sort of lunge attack with the kanabo. As soon as he heard kunai whistling towards him, he shifted to the right some and hit the kanabo boy hard in the ribs with a right hook, moving him directly into the path of the kunai. Sasuke grabbed his shirt to keep him up right in order to shield him from the projectiles.
Sasuke shuffled forwards, hearing a number of thumps as kunai landed in his shield's back. As soon as he was able to, he dropped the body and leapt up, three kunai in each hand. He threw all six, two at the boy himself and the other four in the paths of possible directions he could dodge.
The boy used his own kunai to deflect the two center ones before responding with three shuriken. In less than half a second, Sasuke performed the replacement jutsu. Three hollow thunks were heard as the shurikens lodged themselves deep into the log.
His opponent spun around, correctly guessing Sasuke's avenue of approach. Yet, he made a crucial error.
He dared make eye-contact.
The boy's eyes met Sasuke's own, full of both anger and fear. None of that mattered to Sasuke as he threw a genjutsu at him. Suddenly, all his opponent could see was flame. Fire everywhere. It clawed at his feet, roaring in his ears. It begged to consume him and turn him to ash. The only area not aflame was a small circle of dirt path around him.
Sasuke watched coldly as his opponent screamed and patted at his shoes, trying to prevent a fire that wasn't there. As he walked by, he dragged a kunai along his throat, slicing it open. His opponent dropped to the ground like a puppet with it's strings cut, the boy choking on blood. The red liquid sprayed from his neck in an arc, coating the path up to the academy's front door.
He didn't think much as he leapt atop the building and hid in an alcove. Distantly, he wondered how his teammates were fairing in the chaos.
I'm considering using shorter chapters to get stuff out quicker in case of a bout of writer's block. Consider this chapter a test run. Any opinions on this? Hate it? Love it? Send me your opinions either in the reviews or through my discord server guys!
Anyways, some interesting things happened. Hokage has an idea which will completely change the timeline and whatnot. I'm thinking after this arc I'll write the lizard clan arc. After that? No idea. Probably some training stuff.
As always. feel free to leave reviews! I read all of them and I will absolutely take any suggestions I like. You want to see a pairing? Let me know! An idea for a cool arc? Post it in the reviews or (preferably) post it in my discord server! Love y'all, peace.
Discord invite: T9sPwzGbMp
