Chapter 20
AN: There are a few things that I'd like to make clear here. FIRST is the confusion between Menma, Naruto and Nawaki. Menma is not a character in this story, it's the CODE NAME of Naruto when he's doing ANBU missions. Like for Sakura its is 'Slug', For Nawaki it is 'Toad' for Neji it is 'Eagle' for Sasuke it is 'Snake'.
SECOND Sasuke is the reincarnation of INDRA and Nawaki is the Reincarnation of ASHURA. Naruto is a 'balance' between them.
The two greatest shinobi of all times was standing in front of them, ready to take them on at any moment. They knew their prowess; they had heard the tails of their bravery from their elders. Confusion, fear, uncertainty crept up into their minds. Would their skills be enough to defeat them? Of course, they didn't let their enemy see these emotions.
"Edo Tensei!" Itachi said as he saw Orochimaru inserting two kunais with seal tags into the first and second Hokage.
"A technique to revive the dead. It requires a living sacrifice to tie the soul to this world." Shisui looked on with disgust as the smoke rose from their bodies and their eyes opened and they looked around.
"How dare you insult our ancestors Orochimaru," Shisui yelled, getting furious by the second.
"Shisui! Calm down. They are not the real deal. Their personalities have been killed." Itachi activated his Sharingan blinked his eyes and twitched his fingers, that went unnoticed by Orochimaru.
"Do you know the sense of satisfaction gained by mastering a technique? A sense of thrill gained by perfecting a jutsu that no one has been able to do?" Orochimaru said, a smirk on his face. "I created this scenario just for Konoha, an organization. So please enjoy." The two Hokage rushed towards them. The second Hokage faced Shisui while the first Itachi and Orochimaru remained behind.
"Katon: Karyu Endan (Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Missile)." But Itachi and Shisui stood together, agreed to work together to take them down as Shisui spat fire at the two Hokage. The fire hit the two Hokage head-on.
"Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Style: Water Wall)." The Anbu standing outside the barrier were amazed to see the second Hokage creating a large water wall when there was no source of water.
"As expected from the previous Hokage's." Orochimaru's smirk widened.
"Suiton: Suishoha (Water Style: Water Wave)." A wave of water in a form of tornado appeared and rushed towards the Uchihas. Shisui quickly went through hand seals again.
"Doton: Doryuheki (Earth Style: Earth Wall)." He spat mud in front of him and Itachi as the wave crashed with the wall. Both Itachi and Shisui appeared on top of the wall. Hashirama rushed towards Shisui as he fired fire bullets towards him. The first Hokage deflected all of them and then gave a jaw shattering punch to Shisui's right cheek. Shisui's body moved left due to the force behind the punch and than Hashirama kicked him in the stomach that sent him flying.
Tobirama rushed towards Itachi and Itachi sent kunais at him, the second Hokage waved his hand and a small water shield appeared in front of him that deflected all the kunais. He quickly dived in the water and when the shield disappeared he was nowhere to be seen. Itachi looked around to see where Tobirama was but then water around him moved and tried to grab his legs and arms. Itachi quickly jumped in the air to avoid being caught when the water hit the earth wall, shattering it. Shisui landed on the ground near him. But it was too late as Hashirama slammed his hands together and…
"Mokuton: Hijutsu Jukai Koutan (Wood Style: Birth of trees)." Trees erupted around them and attacked Itachi and Shisui. Itachi burst into crows and Shisui flickered and disappeared and both of them appeared on the wall but again tress grew from the remaining earth wall and grabbed both of them. Orochimaru walked and appeared in front of them and looked at them.
Just then a large ball of purple chakra passed from the corner of their eyes and exploded near the chunin exams ground. The buildings at that side fell. Most of the anbu outside the barrier disappeared to investigate.
Ino-Shika-Cho trio was fighting summoned snakes that were destroying every building they could see. They could feel their chakra depleting but there was no end to them. They just keep coming no matter how many they dispelled. Three more snakes puffed into existence and they groaned at that but than a large toad fell from the sky on them. With Jiraiya of the sannin and Kushina standing on top of him.
"It's been a while Konoha shinobi. Was it only your bodies that grew?" Jiraiya unfolded his arms as he started his dance. "Listen up you ladies. Open your eyes and behold the sight of the great…'
"Bang! umph." Kushina hit Jiraiya on the head. Her eyes twitching as she held her fist in a threatening manner.
"Shut Up dattebane."
"Jiraiya-sama! Kushina-sama! Please help us with these snakes."
"That's what we are here for, gaki."
Neji and Nawaki met with Sakura and the other red-haired girl that was Naruto's friend. Neji went to help other Jounins and chunins with snake summons. Neji summoned eagles for help while they cleared their village from Sand and Oto ninjas. They could see their enemies losing. Their forces regained their confidence and determination when Jiraiya and Kushina arrived to fight those damn snakes. They were as crafty and slippery as Orochimaru.
"Where's Sasuke?" Nawaki asked Sakura since she was the one who went after him.
"He went to the hospital to check on his mother. I don't think he will leave her side after what happened to her."
"How was Sasuke's mother condition Sakura?" Neji asked.
"She was in very critical condition. She was fighting with two sound shinobi before we arrived. She was able to defeat them but she was suffering from chakra exhaustion. I don't know for how long she stayed unconscious in the house because her lungs were almost at the verge of collapsing." The three Midnight anbu grimaced at that. Her lungs were filled with smoke and Sakura could only hope to see Mikoto well again.
"You shouldn't have lied to him Sakura. You know how he will react if he finds out that you lied to him about his mother's condition." Nawaki said. The three of them were childhood friends, knew his nature. He was kind and smart but as he grew that kindness disappeared, and now to him they were only comrades. The missions affect the psyche of every shinobi and even more for those who were chosen for Midnight operations. Naruto was a good example of that.
Slug shrugged her shoulders, an emotionless mask on her face, "I don't care anymore. He should be grateful to me for coming after him when he ran away." Neji just listened to them. He was never close to them in the first place. He was year older and they considered him their senior. After the death of his father, Joining Midnight was the only option for him. His father had left him some possessions and a letter to him. First, he hated the main branch. How could they decide the fate of his father who was just born minutes after his brother? They were equal in prowess, they were twins, but just because he was born a few minutes late his fate was decided and he was marked with that damn seal.
And when he turned four, he was marked as well. He hated it, he hated the main branch and their customs. His hatred increased when his father died, leaving him alone in this world. But then he joined Midnight. He met Naruto, they become an acquaintance. He found out about the Kyuubi, about the seal and he thought Naruto was like him in many ways than he thought.
'You're not the only one special.' He remembered those words that Naruto said to him. His hatred for the main branch started disappearing the more he learned about Naruto and his life. He was hated, bullied by the villagers. He was chosen for pseudo jinchuuriki when he was a year old. But he never blamed fate, so why should he?
'And they still hate him.' Although their hatred has decreased since he became the hero of Kiri. Even civilians knew what he did there. Through all of this he never mixed his personal feelings in the missions, he never tried to flee from the village, never mistreated the villagers.
'If they treat me like shit, then that doesn't mean I should treat them as such.' He was kind but still, there was darkness in him. He never hesitated to kill. Neji knew Naruto hated the villagers. He never tried to help them outside of his anbu duty. He was only kind to those who were kind to him.
"Just remember, don't mix your personal feelings with missions." That's what Naruto had done. Just then an explosion occurred near the chunin exams ground.
"That's Biju dama. Hurry up we should go and help Menma."
Yagura appeared behind Naruto and smacked his fist in the Susanoo's vertebra. The vertebra cracked and Naruto glanced back and glared at the jinchuuriki who jumped back just in time as Biju dama crashed into his Susanoo. He gritted his teeth as his control on Susanoo weakened. Yagura was taking advantage of the weakened Susanoo. He wanted Naruto outside that skeleton so that he could kill him.
"Futon: Shinkuha (Wind Style: Vacuum Wave)." Large blade of winds in a circular motion was exhaled from Yagura that surrounded Naruto's Susanoo easily. Naruto didn't have time to pump more chakra into his defense as the skeletal structure cracked and than shattered. The remaining vacuum blades crashed into him and ripped his clothes apart, several deep cuts appeared on his chest and arms. Naruto coughed blood as he stood up on his shaky legs. The Kyuubi's chakra worked like magic and started closing his wounds.
Hatred was visible in his Mangekyou Sharingan eyes. His Mangekyou Sharingan was simple in design. There were two circles around a small black dot with one tomoe in each circle.
"Don't look at me with these blood-filled eyes. The jutsus of these red eyes will never work on me." Yagura declared proudly. His proud and confident grin wavered Naruto's body started shaking.
"Never work on you?" Naruto chuckled, a bloodthirsty grin on his face as his grin grew and started laughing. "Hahaha Hahaha haha."
"Let me show you the true power of these eyes than." He suddenly stopped laughing and stated. Naruto clenched his fist together and mustered all the hatred that he'd in his heart as well as that silver chakra in his body.
"SUSANOO!" Even Yagura shivered when Naruto spoke and then light blue chakra surrounded his body that solidified into a skeletal structure with one right arm. It grew in size and a spear appeared in its hand. A skull appeared with two horns sticking out of its forehead. The eye sockets were empty. Then the left arm appeared with a small circular shield in it. Than roots like muscles appeared that covered the whole skeleton. It was huge, much larger than the previous one. Naruto stopped pushing chakra into the technique. He was already at the verge of collapsing, and he needed chakra to maintain the Susanoo otherwise it'd start crumbling.
Yagura was just standing there dumbfounded and shocked. The height of Susanoo was easily matching the trees. It was huge and enormous. He looked at Naruto who glared at him with hatred. His mouth covered with blood as he snarled at him.
"Shall we dance?" With the command of his mind, the spear shot towards Yagura who barely had little time to dodge at the speed it came. The next spear appeared again in the Susanoo's hand and Naruto shot it towards Yagura, who quickly launched his Biju dama at it. The two jutsu met in the middle and exploded, the sheer force behind the jutsus pushed Yagura back. Yagura didn't give time to Naruto to launch another spear as he rushed towards him like a bullet, leaving a small crater behind.
"Suiton: Mizu Shuriken (Water Style: Water Shuriken)." A massive amount of shuriken formed and attacked the Susanoo. Naruto brought his shield in front of him that deflected most of them but the jutsu acted only as a decoy as Yagura in front of him turned into a pool of water. The real one was behind Naruto with a massive Biju dama. It was so large that Naruto can't even see Yagura. It was already too late though as the ball of chakra hit the Susanoo from behind. The jutsu destroyed every tree at its path and created a massive trail.
'BOOM' The ball pushed the Susanoo back until it hit the large rock and it exploded. As the debris cleared down there was no sign of rock and Susanoo. There was a large crater in which Naruto was dropped on his knees, breathing heavily. A first tail Kyuubi chakra cloak was around him as it healed his injuries. His clothes torn, his hair messy and dirty and every part of his body ached with pain.
"Pathetic! To even think that a three tail jinchuuriki can defeat you. Even with the help of Mangekyou Sharingan, you weren't able to defeat him."
"Shut up Fox. He was a kage for a reason. And I'm almost out of chakra." The Kyuubi didn't like talking to him. To him, he was a corrupt human for being in the possession of the Sharingan. He'd visited the seal many times inside his mindscape.
"If I die you will die as well and I know you don't want that." Kyuubi knew what Naruto was talking about.
"I don't care about that boy. This puny amount of chakra will not even put a scratch on my being." The Kyuubi declared arrogantly. But Naruto knew better, he'd never intervened in any of his fights but now that he was losing he came to help and spoke to him.
"I can smell arrogance out here. But still, even a tiny scratch on your great being will be an insult to you." Naruto looked at up to see Yagura standing at the edge of the crater looking down at him. His face turned serious as he spoke to Kyuubi.
"You're my last resort. We've been together for many years and I'd like to keep it that way. Demand your price in exchange for help." There was silence and Kyuubi didn't respond. Naruto couldn't see the look on the fox's face. The fox in his gut was similar to Minato's and Nawaki's but he only has one tail worth of chakra. The fox was lost in thought, as he looked outside through his jailer's eyes.
Yagura approached Naruto and grabbed him by his collar and lifted him to his eye level.
"Can't you use a Mangekyou Sharingan genjutsu to put him out of the fight." Naruto heard him but his mind and face were filled with confusion.
"What genjutsu?" He searched his mind for any Mangekyou Sharingan genjutsu he knew. But there was none. Outside of his mind, Yagura was using him as a punching bag. He could feel pain shooting and his consciousness losing. He desperately pushed more focus on his mind and searched for something that he knew about Mangekyou Sharingan genjutsu. Then it was like a Mist, a haze lifted from his mind.
His eyes shot open as new energy filled his body and his doujutsu shined.
"Tsukuyomi!" Kyuubi was impressed by the sheer power that Naruto's doujutsu held. It was as if he was seeing Madara again, no, not Madara. He was in his prime when he used that cursed eyes on him to subdue him but Naruto, he did it at the age of thirteen…maybe it was because he had already unlocked the final stage. Of course, he knew, he was Kyuubi, he knew everything about that doujutsu. He was not stupid, but he will not tell that to Naruto.
Naruto was surprised when Yagura dropped in front of him like someone had sucked the life out of him. He found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. There was a large red moon shining on the black sky with white clouds. He could feel the ground covered with grass that was tainted with blood. There were bodies with unfamiliar faces hanging from spears.
Two spears shot up from the ground and impaled Yagura through his palms. Yagura screamed as blood poured out. He was hanging in the air with arms extended outward as he screamed towards the sky. Naruto extended his right hand and another spear shot up from the ground which he caught.
"I'm the king of this world. You must feel proud that you are the first victim of this jutsu." Naruto started slashing and cuts started appearing on his body and the man screamed. The genjutsu world was filled with screams and not older than the thirteen-year-old boy was torturing a kage level shinobi. That boy had no emotion on his face as he tortured his victim.
'I-its only a genjutsu! I-its n-not real.'
"It's the Tsukuyomi. Like I told you before, I control everything in this world and I can listen to your thoughts." Yagura had his eyes wide like saucers, "Time and space and even the mass in this world." Two more Naruto appeared with spears in their hands as they began cutting Yagura. Blood would flow from the wounds but then it would immediately heal. "I think seventy-two hours torture will be enough for you." Yagura lost consciousness and then he woke up only to find himself looking at his duplicate being tortured. He still felt pain.
'K-keep c-calm. I-its o-only a g-gen-jut…'
"Telling yourself again and again that this is genjutsu will not do you any good. You can feel pain, don't you? Blood is coming out of your wounds, isn't it? For how long will you stay like this before your body and soul give up." For how long he stayed pinned by spears through his palms? He lost the track of time. His screams died, his body started giving up…
"Only Seventy-one hours fifty-nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds to go." Yagura's mind couldn't even register the shock.
Back in the real world, only a second passed and Yagura fell to his knees. His jinchuuriki state disappeared.
"Now you see the power these eyes hold." He was being arrogant but he was amazed by the prowess of the newly discovered jutsu. The jutsu was amazing and deadly, just one glance and your enemy will be on knees. He wiped the blood from his eyes as he kicked Yagura to get any response. He grunted and moaned. Naruto crouched and stared into his half-opened and half-glazed eyes.
"Any last wish." The Fourth Mizukage stared, his whole life's memories coming forth as he prepared himself for death. The Yondaime coughed as he opened his mouth to speak.
"Listen to what I've to say carefully." His voice was barely audible but he got Naruto's attention.
"How does it feel like to become so hopeless?" Itachi looked calmly at Orochimaru.
"We are not hopeless Orochimaru. If you look closely to your surroundings you will realize how careless you've been." Orochimaru frowned at Itachi's words, his eyes widened when he felt himself under a double-layered genjutsu. He flared his chakra and found himself being surrounded by Shisui's clones who attacked him.
"You still are arrogant Orochimaru, that will not change. Look what it costs you." The first and Second Hokage's bodies burst into pieces thanks to Itachi and his explosive tags. They fell to the ground like lifeless bodies.
Shisui used his body flicker technique and sparred with Orochimaru who was forced to take out his sword of Kusanagi. But it became obvious that Shisui was better in kenjutsu than Orochimaru. But Orochimaru was not a sannin for nothing. He quickly became dominant thanks to his experience and a good sword.
Shisui jumped back as Itachi appeared behind Orochimaru. Shisui sent a flurry of shurikens at Orochimaru who used his sword to deflect them but the shurikens multiplied as several shurikens appeared from the shadows of other shurikens and struck him. The Orochimaru in front of them crumbled to mud as both Hokage again stood up. First Hokage used his wood style again and roots again rushed towards them to catch them.
"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu (Fire Style: Great Fire Ball)." Itachi shot a fireball towards the First Hokage. The second appeared in the front of the fireball but Shisui appeared behind him. He shot the same jutsu but his fireball was much larger and wider than Itachi's. It was no surprise as Itachi knew he was the most skilled fire user in the Uchiha clan. The Nidaime hadn't expected to see such a large amount of fire at a low-level jutsu and he caught in it.
Shodaime appeared in front of Shisui but Itachi appeared behind him and grabbed both of his arms as Shisui placed explosive tags on him. The both of them jumped back as explosive detonated. As the smoke cleared the two Hokage again stood up as their missing body parts regenerated again.
"We've to do something about it, Itachi." Shisui looked at Itachi as his single Sharingan eye turned to Mangekyou Sharingan.
"Shisui! Are you going to use that jutsu on Orochimaru? It won't work on the Hokages." Itachi turned his attention to Orochimaru and glared at him with determination.
"I know Itachi. They have unlimited chakra supply. They can't feel pain and can regenerate. The only way we can stop them is to send them back from where they came from." Itachi nodded his head and agreed with Shisui but he didn't know how they can send them back.
"I know a jutsu but you will have to give me some time to prepare it." Itachi nodded his head as Shisui clapped his hand together to prepare the jutsu.
"The village that you call home would have been in such great shape if those two Hokage hadn't died," Orochimaru said. A smirk of confidence in his place as he spoke. "Everything ages. It gets old and dies. It's pitiful." Itachi merely raised an eyebrow when Orochimaru peeled his skin from his face. He was taken aback and a surprised look appeared on his face when a new face appeared. It was smirking as his body shook with giggles.
"Who are you?" Itachi was trying to see underneath the underneath. But he wanted to know the identity of the of that man. First, he attacked them as a Yondaime Kazekage than he revealed himself as Orochimaru and now this?
The man in front of him laughed and the whole training ground filled with his laughter. It was evil and twisted sound like an evil being was enjoying. Like he'd accomplished something. The First and Second Hokage was standing beside him.
"It seems you cannot comprehend the potential of this technique Itachi-kun." The voice was different as well. "This is the technique that I've been working on for more than a decade. Sarutobi sensei caught me many times during my experiments when I was a shinobi of this organization. I just wish that he was alive to see his prized student finally completing this technique.
I wanted to master all the techniques and learn the true nature of this world. But for that to happen you need endless time that I don't have. That's why I developed this technique. A technique dealing with eternal youth and immortality. This technique keeps my mind in this world that I can transfer to another body and control it." Orochimaru peeled his skin again and his original face appeared. "But you'd prefer that face, don't you?" Itachi observed the sannin calmly but his inside was boiling.
"You're after the Sharingan, aren't you? More specifically you're after Sasuke. After all, Sharingan can copy all jutsu." But then the next second large roots erupted from the whole ground and covered the whole arena. But Itachi and Shisui saved themselves from being crushed between roots.
"You've blabbered enough Orochimaru." Shisui appeared beside Itachi and created two shadow clones.
"I win Shisui-kun, Itachi-kun. Konoha is mine."
"Konoha was never yours if it had been yours than you wouldn't have done what you have done and don't think for a second that you've won." Shisui went through hands seals.
"Every ninja in this village have the will of fire. They are connected through this fire no matter if they're blood-related or not."
"Than I'll kill everyone in this village and destroy your little chicken house." Orochimaru taunted.
"Many have tried but failed Orochimaru, and you will as well. As long as ninjas like Hiruzen Sarutobi, Tobirama Senju and Hashirama Senju are alive this village will stay strong and its will of fire will burn brightly than ever." Shisui completed his hand seals while Itachi was busy fighting Orochimaru. He fell into a fit of coughs and then he coughed blood.
'Damn! It's getting harder and harder to ignore the pain.' He closed his left eye in pain as blood leaked out of it. Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself and his two clones rushed towards the Hokages.
"Fuinjutsu Shiki Fujin (Seals Art: Dead Demon Consuming seal)." A shinigami appeared behind Shisui. Shisui's soul extracted from his body, it was partly separated and suspended behind him. Behind his soul shinigami was standing.
Itachi was playing genjutsu game with Orochimaru. He was saving chakra for a fight he knew he will have. He was distracting Orochimaru from Shisui for whatever jutsu he was preparing.
Orochimaru dashed towards Itachi as he threw his sword at him. Itachi merely sidestep the attack and when Orochimaru appeared in front of him and tried to punch him in the gut he caught it and pushed him towards himself but Orochimaru jumped in the air and twisted whilst he threw snakes at him. Itachi jumped back to avoid them but Orochimaru was on him again with his sword and Itachi tried to stop the strike with his kunai but it cleaved in half and slashed it across his chest. Blood dripped and Orochimaru smirked.
"You're finished Itachi-kun. The poison has entered in your system." Itachi in front of him simply burst into crows and Orochimaru gritted his teeth.
Just then they heard the shout of Shisui and the both of them turned and saw Shisui's clones gripping the first two Hokages. Itachi's eyes widened when he saw a hand passed through Shisui's clones.
The shinigami behind Shisui was chanting as curse marks appeared around its left arm and it emerged through Shisui and then his clones before gripping onto first and second.
"Shisui! Don't tell me…" Itachi stared in horror as he felt hopeless. "I never imagined that you're trying to prepare this jutsu." Orochimaru looked confused and a little bit frightened when the Hokages stopped struggling.
"What is this technique?" Orochimaru yelled and his fears grew when Hashirama spoke.
"in every era there is war. We've caused you trouble, sorry about that." The real Shisui was standing behind them but still, he was able to hear them.
"It seems in this era there are Uchihas who love Konoha more than Senjus." The Nidaime Hokage said with a smile. "I apologize for the inconvenience that I caused." The soul separated from their bodies and their bodies crumbled to dust.
"Seal!" An array of seal appeared on the abdomen of both clones. Shisui coughed blood and fell into another fit of coughs.
"Shisui!"
"Don't come to me Itachi. It was the only option. Besides, you knew my condition." As the bodies of the first and second Hokage crumbled to dust the bodies of two dead Sound shinobi appeared.
"This is pathetic, you even sacrificed your own men's lives." Orochimaru gritted his teeth as clones of Shisui disappeared and he rushed towards Shisui. "My men's lives? Stop blabbering about something so trivial. They are mere tools to be used for greater purposes." But Itachi appeared in front of him and he found himself under genjutsu.
"Impossible! Have I fallen prey to paralysis jutsu?" Itachi's eyes glowed slightly as he shook his head. Orochimaru was having a hard time even speaking.
"Such visual prowess! Brilliant." His eyes were wide as he tried to cancel the jutsu.
"Keep him that way Itachi." Shisui appeared beside Itachi as gripped Orochimaru from his shoulders. Hand of Shinigami again emerged from Shisui's stomach and grabbed Orochimaru.
"This is bad. This is bad…" Orochimaru had his eyes wide and filled with fear. He used his full strength to move his hands to cancel the jutsu. He even tried to bit his tongue but it was still not enough to break from the jutsu. Then the sword of Kusanagi from the command of Orochimaru came towards him and sliced through his left arm. He was able to break from the paralysis jutsu but still, Shisui didn't let him go and Orochimaru's soul started coming out of his body.
"I'm going to die anyway, but I thought why not take you with me. I'll tear your soul from your body and seal it in the shinigami's stomach."
'Although I won't be able to seal his whole soul. It requires a large amount of chakra and I already had sealed two souls. But Orochimaru doesn't need to know that.'
"But you will not die today. I'll seal your arms. I'll take away your ability to cast jutsu."
"No, NOOOOO… YOU CAN'T DO THAT. I WON'T LET YOU DO THAT." Orochimaru yelled, his voice was filled with panic and fear.
The shinigami took out its tanto from its mouth and sliced Orochimaru's arms.
"AHHAHHAHA!" He yelled in screams as pain shot through his arms. His Kusanagi moved and went straight through Shisui's stomach.
"Shisui!" Itachi yelled but the barrier around them started collapsing and an arrow shot towards Itachi that went through his shoulder. The sound four ninjas, still covered in the cloak and their faces were hidden surrounded Orochimaru. Itachi quickly rushed towards Shisui and grabbed him before he hit the ground.
"Shisui!" Shisui smiled at his best friend and coughed.
"It was necessary Itachi."
"It should have been me. Why did you do it." Shisui frowned and plucked his left eye and gave it to Itachi.
"You know about my illness. The Mangekyou Sharingan is a double edge sword and it was getting harder and harder to see properly even by using Sharingan." Shisui let a wide smile hit his face as he heard Orochimaru's screams and yelling. It felt right to let go now. It felt right to go and meet his parents.
'T-take care." It was getting hard to even speak now. he can't see but he felt, Itachi's tears hitting his face.
"Shisui! Please don't go." He was like an older brother. He was his teacher. He was his comrade. He was his cousin.
"In the end, the only thing that matter, the village and the will of fire." He mumbled his final worlds and left the world of shinobi.
Shisui Uchiha, a legend, a brother, a cousin, a teacher and a true shinobi died defending his home. Shisui of the Flicker left the world defending his village.
"SHISUI…" Itachi yelled as he clutched his body as rain poured on him. He lost his senses of his surroundings, the only thing that registered in his mind was that Shisui has died.
Orochimaru disappeared with his four shinobi, leaving a grieving village and grieving sky behind.
An unreadable look was on his face as he digested the information. "Why didn't you tell me in our first fight?" Yagura didn't answer. "The world is not prepared for what is about to come," Yagura said. "You-You are s-strong Uzumaki. But not enough, you c-can't even defeat me w-without the Kyuubi." Naruto just stared into his eyes, hoping that he was lying. But the news itself was disturbing. "B-but you still h-have four, f-five y-years. You can train." Naruto didn't know what to say or feel. He'd no clue what to do.
"And you think that four-five years of training will be enough to defeat whatever weapon they are trying to develop?" Again he got no response.
"Naruto! Let me take control of your body so that I can talk to the three tails." Naruto blinked and his eyes glazed for a second. The fox has never asked for anything, let alone called his name. The tone that he used was normal. It was not filled with hate or teasing or sarcasm. It was serious and normal tone. His eyes focused when Yagura spoke again. The man was at the verge of unconsciousness but he knew it was necessary to tell him.
"I-I can feel t-that you will become powerful one day. I-its just my instinct. Help the shinobi world while you can. Give me a quick death Uzumaki a-and bury m-me in my v-village." Naruto didn't respond at that but he nodded at his last wish and he allowed Kyuubi to take control of his body, whiskers marks appeared on his cheeks and his eyes turned red with slits.
"Jinchuuriki of the three tails! Allow your biju to take control of your body, I'm the Kyuubi and I want to talk to your biju." Yagura took the last breath and fell into unconsciousness and three tails took over.
The ninja from the sound village, who were lucky enough to not get killed retreated when the remaining snake summons disappeared along with the whistle that blew for them to retreat. The invasion came to an end with heavy loses on three sides. It was the bitter reality of war. The destruction was massive. The losses were massive. An unknown enemy almost wiped out the whole Uchiha clan. Only a few knew that some Uchiha were involved with that unknown enemy to start a civil war in the village.
The Sky turned black and it poured rain as screams, explosions, and cries of help all died down. But there were still people, crying for their loved ones. There were people on their death bed crying and injured in hospitals screaming because of pain.
The Yondaime Hokage and his two bodyguards, Fugaku Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake arrived at the destroyed village gates thanks to the snake summons. The first thought that came into the Senju Minato's mind was…
"I didn't leave this village in this state."
"It seems we were too late."
"That's why they didn't respond to your letter." Kotetsu and Izumo arrived to greet them. Their expressions were anything but cheerful. They were injured and bandaged.
"What happened?" Minato said, his voice was filled with sadness and dread.
"Orochimaru and Sand attacked the village in the middle of the night, Hokage-sama." Minato started walking into the village. The people around them started noticing and Minato was expecting them to yell at him for not being there when the village was attacked. But he got the opposite reaction. The gloomy and sad expressions on their faces disappeared and they cheered for him. He nodded, return their handshakes as he made his way towards the Hokage Tower.
Kushina was about to go after Naruto after finishing that Baki guy when Jiraiya appeared beside her. He forcefully took her towards the snake summons saying that they need her help.
"Naruto can take care of himself. We need your abilities somewhere else." He'd said. As the invasion ended she quickly went after Naruto. Along the way, she met Naruto's teammates. They were not wearing anbu masks. Sakura and Sasuke were not present. Neji, Nawaki, and Kana were going after Naruto as well. Everyone preferred to stay silent as the approached battleground. There were craters, destroyed trees and kunai and shurikens scattered around them. It was like an army had fought here. Kana started moving in a specific direction where the largest crater was. As they appeared on the edge of the crater they saw two bodies.
"Quickly check him for vital signs," Kushina instructed Kana who approached Naruto first as everyone hurried towards the bodies and she appeared beside the unknown shinobi.
"He's alive. But he needs to go to the hospital though." Everyone sighed in relief.
"But he is dead," Kushina said.
"Than what are you waiting for? Let's go." Nawaki and Neji picked them and they started running towards the hospital.
One day later
The sky was still dark and it was raining. There was no sign of sun and its warmth. Everyone was clad in black clothes for the funeral. People were crying as they remember the memories of their loved ones. They were gathered in the ground as they stared at the portraits of the fallen ones.
The Uchiha clan was the worst. Few members, those who had survived were gathered together as they placed flowers in front of their cousins, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives…Everyone had a story and memories to share.
Sasuke had his fists clenched as he stared at his mother's smiling portrait. She had died in hospital when he was waiting for her to get better so that he can apologize to her for his behavior towards her recently. He was too weak, too miserable to do anything. If he'd been stronger he would have been able to save her. She would have been standing beside him right now. Sakura was standing beside him and she tried to grasp his hand but he jerked it away.
He will avenge his clan. Whoever was responsible for this, he will kill them. He will avenge his mother and Shisui. He will do whatever he can to gain power, to become stronger than anyone else.
Tears flowed from Kushina's eyes as she stared ahead. Her best friend had died. She was like a sister to her. They had gone to many missions together, they were classmates.
"Shisui." An emotionless look was on Naruto's face as he stared at the picture of him. When was the last time he met with him and asked how he was? When was the last time he met his friends and spent some time with them?
Naruto glanced at Sasuke. The boy was silently crying. His father, his brother was standing stoically. No emotion was on their faces. They had lost almost every clan member. The Uchihas were at the brink of extinction.
Naruto looked at his father who had emotionless look on his face. But he knew what his father was feeling. What he was thinking. His mother was crying, shedding tears for Shisui and Mikoto. Nawaki was the same. The whole village was crying.
'That's what war does to the nations.' It was not the first time he was seeing this. It was not the first time he was attending funerals. It was not the first time he'd lost people that he knew. The memories of Kiri were still fresh in his mind. The brutality, the massacres of the bloodline holders, the torture victims and most of all the suicidal genin exam.
His heart was in pain, but his eyes were not filled with tears. Maybe because he knew how to conceal his emotions.
'Is that why you did what you did to me, Hagoromo?' The old man was a saint, he wanted peace and nothing else. Naruto would have been raised in a lovely household if Hagoromo would have wanted to. But old man wanted him to experience it and see in what world he was living. It was a bitter pill to swallow to think that he'd have…he shook his head. He can't change anything about his past.
As people started going back to their usual duties, the sun came out of the clouds and shined brighter than ever before. Naruto stood there for how long he doesn't know. Then he went towards the memorial stone where he saw Itachi standing there. He stopped beside him and stared at the stone himself.
He doesn't know what to say? What should he say to a guy who lost his mother, his best friend, and his clansmen?
"The Uchiha love this village more than any other clan." Itachi glanced at Naruto with a strange look on his face.
"I don't need your consoling Naruto." The tone was normal. There was a pause as Itachi collected his thoughts. "Have you ever lost someone close to you?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders.
"No. But I've seen people getting killed. I've attended funerals before as well." Itachi merely stared at the stone before sighing.
"Than there's no need for you to stay here," Itachi said and disappeared. Naruto was used to receiving harsh replies. But still it'd hurt but he let it go. The Uchihas were going through hard times. He glanced back and saw Yugao coming towards the stone with flowers. She placed them on the stone and stood beside him.
"I'm surprised that Kakashi is not here." Naruto slightly chuckled. "It hurts when someone you know talks to you harshly, isn't it?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders and looked at her.
"I'm not normal Yugao-chan." He squeezed her shoulder, "Try not to stay here for too long." She nodded her head. Without a single glance, he turned around and left, his red hair shadowing his eyes as he went to his apartment. He sank into a chair and stared blankly in the space.
"Hey, Fox! What did you do after you took over my body?" There was no response from the Kyuubi. Naruto waited but it didn't come and he was about to speak again when Kyuubi spoke.
"What do you want to do now? Your current skills are useless against him." Naruto sighed again. He was doing that a lot lately. If Kyuubi believed what Yagura had told him to be true, then he should as well. The one thing that he'd learned about the Kyuubi was that it was not stupid.
"Am I sensing worrying there? Are you worry about me?" There was no reply and Naruto chuckled, "Well, I'll train than I guess."
"And where you will train? In Konoha? Get serious human." Kyuubi said and Naruto pouted.
"Than I think a training trip will be the best option, and I'll be able to meet my clone as well." His blood clone who was in his hideout in Kiri was training and mastering the chakra natures. The Kyuubi didn't respond and Naruto got a clue that it was the end of the discussion.
Yagura was a captive of Madara Uchiha. He was under the genjutsu and ordered the bloodline purge when he was Yondaime Mizukage. That man was behind the Uchiha massacre. Yagura had told him that the man was developing a weapon. In a hideout where he was kept, there was a large statue with ten closed eyes.
That particular information even got Kyuubi's attention and if Naruto was correct he was worried, and since than Kyuubi was persisting and talking to him more and more about his plans and training.
"What are you not telling me?" Naruto appeared in front of the cage. Kyuubi opened its eyes and stared at him.
"Why do you think I'd tell you?" Naruto stared at the fox. Even with one tail, it was massive.
"That confirms that there is something that you're not telling me. If you want us to cooperate than you will have to tell me." The Kyuubi didn't respond and sank on the floor and closed its eyes.
"Look! I know you hate me for having the Sharingan but it is not my fault that I've it. It is not my fault that you're sealed in my father and brother. If you can't help me then I can't help you. That masked man is responsible for this. Madara Uchiha is responsible for this." The Kyuubi snarled at Naruto.
"DON'T SPEAK HIS NAME IN FRONT OF ME…"
"THAN HOW AM I GOING TO DEFEAT HIM? ARE YOU THAT AFRAID OF HIM? THAT YOU WOULD STAY QUIET INSTEAD OF HELPING ME? THEN YOU'RE HELPING HIM NOT ME." Naruto yelled and the Kyuubi was taken aback for a second. Naruto had never talked to him like this before.
"All my life I was shunned, abused and hated because of you. When I first met you I thought that we'd become friends, partners but you acted like the villagers. You turned me away. But I still want to become your friend." Kyuubi closed its eyes and sighed. Naruto waited for Kyuubi's reply but it never came. Sighing to himself he turned around to leave.
"Come to me later when I'll call you and we will talk." Nodding his head, he left. it was more than he could ask for.
One week later
It was early in the morning after breakfast when an Anbu arrived outside of Naruto's apartment.
"Hokage-sama is calling for you." Naruto was expecting the meeting for some time. Its been a week since they arrived in the village after a Kage summit. The village was under construction. Nawaki was helping the villagers, with the use of his Mokuton he was rebuilding and repairing the buildings in no time. He'd gone to their house many times, to meet his parents and Kana.
Exiting the door to his apartment Naruto preferred to walk towards the Hokage the tower.
"The meeting is in the Military chambers." The Anbu said and vanished. Genin, chunin, and civilians were not allowed to go there. Naruto felt relief that he wouldn't have to face the civilian council members. They never liked him and the feelings were mutual.
He came out of his thoughts when the noise of hustle and bustle disappeared around him. Looking around the shops and civilians around him, he found them staring at him.
"You shouldn't have come back."
"Look what happened."
"An evil filth like you will attract evil filth." The mutterings around came back and it was like he was looking into his past.
"You brought back another demon with you." They had felt the Biju chakra when he was fighting with Yagura. The fight was epic and Naruto enjoyed it but he didn't imagine that the villagers will react like that. They thought that the Kyuubi had escaped.
"Ignorant fools." He muttered under his breath as he vanished from their sight.
The chamber was filled with people. There was almost everyone he knew to some extent. Minato, Kushina, Sasuke, Nawaki, Kana, Sakura, Neji, Itachi, Fugaku, Kakashi, Shikaku, Tsunade, Jiraiya and some more.
"Ah, you're here finally," Shikaku said, the man suppressed a yawn as he complained about his tardiness.
"I thought why not to take a page from Nara's book this time." Nawaki chuckled at Naruto's remarks. Shikaku muttered 'troublesome'.
"We are here to discuss the events that happened during the invasion. Team 2, what do you have to report." Minato said. Naruto took a seat between Kushina and Nawaki. Neji cleared his throat and spoke.
"We were ordered to be on guard and spy for any info. We were informed that an unknown enemy will attack the next night. But around Midnight the Uchiha clan came under attack and we responded as we were ordered to, Hokage-sama."
"Didn't you notice how they entered the village or arrived in the Uchiha compound?" Fugaku said and Neji shrugged.
"I was using Byakugan for most of the time to check the border walls. But I didn't find anyone trespassing." Minato frowned in thought as he looked at Fugaku and Shikaku.
"If I may speak?" Minato looked at Naruto, still with a frown on his face as nodded his head.
"Can you tell me about that attacker who released Kyuubi almost fourteen years ago?" Minato recalled the fight between them.
"He was using some kind jutsu that made him intangible that he also used it for traveling." Minato's eyes widened.
"If that man appeared in this village all those years ago than he can appear again as well without anyone noticing." Naruto nodded his head when Shikaku connected the dots. Minato motioned Neji to continue.
"We were attacked by unknown enemy Anbus because they were wearing faceless masks and it was Naruto who appeared during the fight told us that they were Ne agents. Danzo's trained soldiers." Itachi raised an eyebrow at that information and sighed.
"We were expecting Danzo to appear as well but he didn't appear," Nawaki said.
"That's because he was in the Kage summit," Kakashi said. Everyone looked confused but Minato motion Neji to continue.
"While Naruto, Nawaki and I fought with them, Sakura and Kana were busy evacuating and saving the Uchihas." Neji didn't mention Sasuke as everyone knew Sasuke didn't fight. Naruto glanced at Sasuke who was looking in his lap and wanted to be anywhere but here.
"The villagers are concerned and frightened. Not only they but our shinobi populace also felt the kyuubi's chakra during the invasion." Shikaku said and everyone turned to Naruto and Nawaki.
"We ended up facing Yagura. Since I'd fought him earlier I was the best candidate to fight him that's why I sent Neji and Nawaki to help others. He fought with me in his jinchuuriki form and I was forced to use the Biju's chakra as well."
"But how exactly did you defeat him?" Jiraiya said and Naruto tried to glare at him. He wanted him to tell them about his power and jutsus. His father knew about Sharingan, and Indra and Ashura's chakra in him. But it was a coincidence that everyone present in the room knew about his Sharingan. It was not a secret anymore.
"I used my Sharingan to place him in a genjutsu and than I killed him. The genjutsu used all of my chakra and I fell unconscious." But they don't need to know about his Mangekyou Sharingan and even the Rinnegan.
The meeting went on for hours. It was almost noon when they exit the chambers after everyone told Minato what they did during the invasion. Itachi also told them how they fought with the first two Hokages and how Shisui sacrificed himself.
They also got a letter from Sand, stating that Orochimaru somehow invaded their village and killed the Kazekage before acting as the village leader without anyone noticing.
Sasuke exited the chambers and trailed after Sakura who was walking alone. He felt lonely and miserable. The memories of his mother, the invasion, the meetings with black Zetsu. Maybe it was black Zetsu behind the attack. He'd denied it's an invitation in the past and it warned him that it will take away his family if he didn't join. And now he'd lost his mother.
Or maybe it was because he was weak. If only he would've been stronger. Nawaki had surpassed him. He was helping the villagers and they look at him like he was a prince in shining armor. Zetsu never came back to him after he denied its proposal.
And now, two days after the invasion, shinobi from the Sound village came to him with the same proposal. Orochimaru will grant him power in exchange for his loyalty. He'd already given him a curse mark; it gave him power. He'd used it several times during his missions without anyone noticing. But what Orochimaru would do if he denied his proposal? He'd killed Shisui. Who will be next if he didn't go?
He bumped into someone and looked up to see Sakura.
"Sasuke-kun!" She looked worriedly at him. "Are you alright?"
"I'm visiting my mother's grave. Would you like to come with me? Sakura-chan." His mother's death had taught him the importance of relations. He knew he will have to become strong if he wanted to protect them. He didn't want anyone else to die because of him. He will push them away; he will let them hate him. But he will protect them.
"Sure why not." Sakura smiled her eyes widened slightly when Sasuke grasped her hand. It was very unusual for him to act like this. Maybe he was trying to mend their relationship. But Sakura didn't care as she let him drag her to wherever he wanted to go.
Shisui and Mikoto died.
Is Danzo still alive?
Was Han or Roshi captured by the Akatsuki?
Sasuke will go to Orochimaru in the next chapter. Would you like to me to write his retrieval arc? Let me know in the review.
Naruto will begin his training as well and there be a time skip.
And what about Nawaki?
Find out in the next chapter.