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. My brother currently finished part one of his story 'Stitched Kitsune: Part 1'; so I'm going to try and wrap this story up ASAP so I can begin my next 2 stories. Now with nothing else to say lets begin.
Stitched Kitsune: Chapter 61
On the Top level: With Jiraya, Bee and Yugito
Jiraya, Bee and Yugito were making their way back to the top level; as they ran through the hallways there was the sounds of shouting and panic from both their forces and the remaining root shinobi. Upon reaching the area where they entered Jiraya saw an entire mob of people standing in front of a barrier.
"Lord Jiraya" came the voice of Sakura and Jiraya turned and saw her running over "thank Kami you're here; we have a massive problem".
"I know, I can tell" Jiraya said as he pushed his way past the crowd towards the barrier; Jiraya stopped right in front of it and looked at it "this is a intricate barrier; obviously someone put a lot of time and energy into this".
"But why now of all times?" Karin said as she walked up "why didn't they put it up before we entered the base?"
"Well, judging by the seals crawling across the ceiling" Jiraya said as he pointed to the intricate seal above them "I say this is a self destruction seal; I'm guessing Danzo wants to blow us all up along with him".
"Oh Kami" Sakura said as she began to feel panic run through her system "what do we do?"
Jiraya looked at her and spoke "I'm going to try and break the barrier as fast as I can" Jiraya said as he looked at it "if, I'm lucky I can disable it and we can all rush out".
"And if you're not able to?" Karin asked.
"Then we all blow up and die" Jiraya said sucking the life out of the room "so no pressure; by the way Karin, mind if I get a hand with this".
"S-sure" Karin said as she walked over next to Jiraya.
"Alright, lets do this as fast as we can" Jiraya said "I don't know how long we have but we better hurry". Both Jiraya and Karin began to go through hand signs as they began to try and disable the barrier.
Meanwhile: With Kakashi
Kakashi unlike the others wasn't making his way to get out of the base, but was heading to the lower levels in order to find Naruto and Gaara; as he ran through the lower levels Kakashi periodically made shadow clones in order to go and release the prisoners that were being held.
"Damn you Danzo" Kakashi said as he tried to find his way through the maze like structure of the lower levels "Naruto, where the hell are you?"
With Naruto vs Shikamaru and Asuka
"Wind Scythe Jutsu" Naruto shouted as he launched a powerful wind jutsu towards both Shikamaru and Asuka; Shikamaru jumped out of the way in order to avoid the attack but Asuka continued running towards him.
The wind jutsu hit her, making her stagger and gave her multiple cuts across her body; but with her being and Edo Tensei she did not feel any pain or die and continued running towards Naruto.
"Crap" Naruto said as he closed his fan just as Asuka closed the distance; Asuka hooked both ends of her twin hook swords together and spun around swinging them towards Naruto. Naruto used his fan to block the attack as the swords hit the fan with a loud clang.
Asuka seeing her sword attack failed rushed forward and sent a kick towards Naruto's face; Naruto reached up and caught her foot and gripped it tight. Naruto lifted his fan one handed and swung it towards Asuka aiming towards her head to destroy the seal inside.
Before the fan could contact Asuka spun around ignoring that Naruto was holding her foot; her foot broke off and she landed a few feet away and landed in a crouch before grabbing both of her swords.
Naruto's relief was short lived, because as soon as he let go he saw a shadow on the ground quickly approaching him; Naruto jumped back trying to avoid it and not get captured by it.
Shikamaru was controlling his shadow as it moved closer towards Naruto; however Naruto was unaware that Shikamaru wasn't trying to capture him. Shikamaru sent the shadow towards Naruto in quick strike.
Naruto saw the shadow launch off the ground and swing at him; unable to avoid it mid air Naruto was cut across the chest by the shadow. Despite being in his 'Kurama' mode, the wound hurt like hell despite it being healed quickly by the Kyuubi's chakra.
Naruto grit his teeth as blood began to gush from his wound as he landed and opened his fan and launched another jutsu towards Shikamaru.
Shikamaru made a hand sign and shouted "Earth Style: Mud Wall" he said and a wall made of mud formed, protecting him from Naruto's jutsu. When the jutsu died down Shikamaru took out six kunai and tossed them onto the ground and made another hand sign "Secret Art: Shadow Tendrils".
Shikamaru created six shadow tendrils and each tendrils picked up a kunai threading themselves through the rings tipped hilts; Shikamaru wanting to go on the offensive jumped over the mud wall and rushed towards Naruto.
Upon seeing this Naruto closed his fan and put it on his back before activating his gauntlet blade and got ready for the oncoming assault; Shikamaru launched the tendrils holding the kunai towards Naruto in an attempt to cut him down.
Naruto used his gauntlet blade to block and deflect the first Kunai slash before ducking under the second and dodging the third; Shikamaru was launching his shadow towards Naruto at a rate where Naruto could barely keep up.
Shikamaru wasn't a fool, he knew he could not capture Naruto with his shadow especially with with the fact Naruto was using his 'Kurama' mode; so he had to use different tactics in order to defeat him.
Naruto blocked another one of the shadow tendrils with his gauntlet but was immediately cut on the side by another; the tendrils holding the kunai left a large gash right on his ribs. Naruto reached down with his free hand and grabbed onto one of his smaller fans.
In one, fluid motion Naruto pulled out the fan, opened it and launched a blade of wind towards Shikamaru; Shikamaru seeing this put his shadow tendrils in front of him to protect him but the wind blade cut through. Shikamaru was hit in the chest, the blade of wind cutting his uniform and was sent flying backwards.
Asuka seeing Shikamaru being knocked away rushed in and swung one of her swords towards Naruto; Naruto used his small fan to block the sword but underestimated her sword. The sword cut through the small fan but was slowed down enough to where Naruto was able to dodge and deliver a kick to her face knocking her away.
'Damn it; I'm down a fan' Naruto cursed in his mind as he saw both Shikamaru and Asuka recover 'man, this is bullshit'.
With Gaara
Gaara in his 'Shukaku mode' launched a wave of sand towards Rasa who in return launched a wave of gold dust; both waves collided with Rasa's gold dust winning due to it being heavier.
Rasa continued his attack by calling back some of his gold dust and formed the dust into a dozen gold shuriken; Rasa launched the shuriken towards Gaara who formed a sand wall in front of himself.
The shuriken hit the sand wall and most of the shuriken buried themselves deep into the sand barley being stopped; however one of the shuriken did punch through the wall and was heading towards Gaara's face.
Gaara at the last moment moved his head to the side and the shuriken cut through his 'Shukaku' mode sand armor and cut his cheek just and inch below his right eye. Gaara winced from the pain closed his eye out of reflex; this temporary distraction was enough for Rasa to close the distance and form the gold dust around his arm, forming it into a fist before launching it towards Gaara.
Rasa's gold fist punched through Gaara's wall and hit him in the chest knocking the wind out of him; Gaara was sent flying back hitting the ground several times before using his sand to stop himself.
'I think I broke a rib' Gaara thought before he began to manipulate his sand once more; Gaara made a sand ramp and hopped onto it and began to move like he was surfing on it. Gaara's ramp went around Rasa and Gaara began to launch volley after volley of sand shuriken towards him; with he room being made out of concrete, Gaara had a lot more material to make sand than Rasa to make more gold.
Rasa made gold dust tendrils and began swatting the shuriken making them explode and shower him in the particles; Gaara went down towards Rasa and Rasa was about to counter when he saw Gaara move his hands.
Rasa immediately felt the ground shift underneath himself and he lost his balance as he realized there was sand under his feet; Gaara had used his shuriken to cover the ground in sand to enact his plan.
Gaara landed on the ground in front of Rasa and to Rasa's surprise Gaara threw a punch hitting him across the face causing his body to crack; Gaara followed up by sending a kick to Rasa's stomach sending him stumbling back.
Gathering all the sand that he could Gaara sent a massive wave towards Rasa; Rasa was hit full force and was sent flying into the wall and the Sand covered him head to toe.
"Sand Coffin" Gaara said opening his hand; Gaara then closed his hand into a fist "SAND BURIAL!"
The sand compacted around Rasa and Gaara thought that his attack may have worked; suddenly Gaara's sand exploded showing the area. Gaara recalled his sand and saw Rasa standing there; half of Rasa's body was destroyed but slowly reforming.
"It'll take more than that to defeat me Gaara" Rasa said as he full reformed.
"I will defeat you; no matter what" Gaara said as his sand began to swirl around himself; the sand began to stick to Gaara and began to morph into shape. Gaara now had sand appendages in the form on claws on his hands and feet and a tanuki tail sticking out of his back "lets continue shall we?" Gaara said.
With Shino
Shino a swarm of his insects towards one of the anbu he was fighting and the anbu jumped out of the way before going through hand signs; the anbu fired a small ball of fire at the insects but before it could hit they dispersed. Shino knowing he had a small number of insects ordered them to avoid enemy attacks at all costs.
One of the anbu seeing Shino was wide open rushed in from his left side wielding his sword and bringing it back for a slash; Shino turned his head and as soon as the root anbu slashed he ducked under the blade and reached behind to the back of his pants.
Grabbing it by the improvised hilt Shino produced a crude shiv and sent a stab towards the anbu's gut; the shiv slipped in between the gap of the armor of his chest plate and hit him in the stomach.
Shino took this opportunity to reach into the anbu's pouch and grabbed two kunai; Shino immediately used one of the kunai to stab the anbu in the neck severing his arteries before pulling it back out.
Shino then turned towards two of the other anbu and threw the two kunai towards them; the anbu used their swords to knock the kunai out of the air and rush towards Shino.
Shino launched a swarm of insects towards the two anbu in order to stop them; the anbu both jumped around the swarm and got ready to attack. Both anbu slashed at Shino at the same time one aiming for his abdomen while the other aimed for the neck; both slashed hit their marks but instead of blood Shino exploded into insects.
"FUCK" one of the anbu shouted as he jumped away in time; the other anbu however was swarmed by the insects who began to suck the chakra out of him.
The swarm Shino sent towards the anbu formed revealing Shino; he used a insect substitution at the last minute to get behind his enemies and to ambush them.
"How pitiful" Shino said recalling his insects from the now dead anbu "losing to a prisoner who hasn't used chakra in nearly a year; and you call yourself Anbu".
"Damn freak" one of the two remaining anbu shouted "we'll kill you".
"Keep telling yourself that; and eventually you'll believe it" Shino said as his insects began to form around his hands.
Meanwhile: With Jiraya and the others
Jiraya stopped his hand signs and placed his hands onto the barrier in front of him; a seal formed on the barrier causing it to flicker once more "almost there" Jiraya said.
Karin slammed her hands onto the barrier once more placing another seal on it; the barrier flickered once more as the shinobi behind them looked on in anticipation and worry. Both Jiraya and Karin have been at this for a while now and the barrier was still up; as of right now some were praying for success while others were preparing to accept their fates.
"All right Karin, listen close to me" Jiraya said and Karin looked at him "when I put this next seal on I'll need you to use your chakra chains to hold open the barrier". Jiraya looked at her and spoke in a serious tone "Can.You.Do.That?" Jiraya asked.
Karin without hesitation nodded "Yes Lord Jiraya" she said and Jiraya nodded.
"Ok then" Jiraya said as he went through a series of hand signs; with a mighty roar Jiraya slammed a seal onto the barrier. The seal expanded in size and the barrier flickered for a moment until an opening appeared.
Karin immediately formed four chakra chains and held the barrier open on four corners as to not let the barrier close "go, now" Karin shouted; the people behind her didn't hesitate as they began to rush through opening.
"Keep that barrier open and when the last one is through get the hell out" Jiraya shouted as he began to rush back into the base; Sakura seeing this spoke up.
"Master Jiraya, where are you going?" Sakura asked and Jiraya stopped and looked at her.
"I'm going to find Naruto and the others; I'm not leaving them behind" Jiraya said; before Sakura could continue Jiraya ran off back into the base. 'Naruto is supposed to be in the lower levels; lets just hope I get there in time' Jiraya thought.
Unbeknownst to Jiraya or anyone else… they only had ten minutes left.
At the same time: With Kakashi
Kakashi continued his search through the lower levels of the base trying to find out where Naruto and Gaara was; as he did so his clones have been moving through the level releasing any prisoners remaining down there.
Suddenly he got the memories of one of his clones as it dispelled; one of the prisoners saw Naruto, Gaara and most surprisingly Shino run off together to a room not that far away from his current location.
"Hold on Naruto; I'm coming" Kakashi said as he dashed down a hallway.
With Shino
Shino jumped backwards and launched both of his swarms of insects towards the two root anbu; both Anbu jumped out of the way of his swarm and one of the Anbu went through hand signs.
"Winds Style: Great Breakthrough" the anbu shouted as he launched a mid powered wind jutsu towards his swarm; the wind jutsu destroyed the insects but this bought Shino enough time.
Landing next to one of the anbu he killed earlier Shino picked up the short ninjato sword he was using and gripped it tight; Shino dashed towards the anbu who killed his swarm and slashed at him with the blade.
The anbu was surprised at the attack and moved his sword in front of himself in defense; Shino's sword clanged against his enemy's as they fought for dominance. While not a kenjutsu user nor expert Shino knew the basics of how to swing a sword; his adoptive brother Torune taught him once but it never stuck with him.
But now his deceased brothers lessons were coming back to him, much to Shino's surprise.
Shino twisted his sword, knocking away his enemy's blade and launched a slash at the anbu's face landing a glancing blow to his cheek; the anbu cursed and came up with a slashed aimed towards the back of Shino's neck.
Shino remembering Torune's lesson put the blade behind himself parallel to the ground just as the swords collided; Shino followed up with a kick to the ribs knocking his enemy back. Shino immediately dashed forward and with a single precise strike sent a stab towards the anbu's neck.
The sword pierced through his trachea and out the back of his neck, severing the spinal cord; Shino pulled out the sword just in time to see the last anbu rushing towards him cocking back his sword.
Shino didn't think he could put up a guard in time and got ready for the oncoming pain; but before the anbu could strike he was hit in the left temple by a single shuriken. Shino was surprised before he looked over to where it came from.
"Kakashi sensei?" Shino said wide eyed behind his glasses.
"Shino" Kakashi said as he stopped in front of him; Kakashi looked to the sword him his hand and chuckled "I see you picked up a new skill".
Shino looked to the sword and proceeded to toss it "So uncivilized" Shino said before looking at Kakashi "Naruto and Gaara are on opposites sides of us; splitting up would be best"
"Right" Kakashi said "I best go and help-".
"Go help Gaara; he's fighting the fourth Kazekage" Shino said making Kakashi do a double take "Edo Tensei"; Kakashi groaned at this.
"That annoying jutsu" Kakashi said in a whine "fine, go help Naruto; who's he fighting?"
"Shikamaru" Shino said with barely traceable anger in his voice; Kakashi caught this and nodded.
"Be safe" Kakashi said; both Kakashi and Shino parted ways hoping they could help their respective partners in time.
With Gaara
Gaara slashed at Rasa with his sand claws just as Rasa formed a gold dust wall to block the attack; Rasa followed up by exploding the gold dust, obliterating Gaara's sand arm.
Not being deterred by this Gaara spun around using his Tanuki tail as a large mace to knock Rasa away; Rasa seeing the attack jumped over the tail and formed a gold dust platform and floated up into the air.
Rasa began to form shuriken from his gold dust platform and shot a large volley of shuriken towards Gaara; Gaara began to run across the ground on all fours as the shuriken followed him closely. Rasa changed his angle and fired some shuriken in front of Gaara, leading him towards the volley.
Gaara tried to jump out of the way from the shuriken and dodged to the side as it came down; most of the shuriken hit the ground missing him but 3 shuriken hit him in the back. Gaara stumbled and hit the ground hard skidding to a halt; Gaara's sand armor moved and wrapped around the shuriken and removed them from his back.
Gaara began to bleed from the wounds but were quickly covered by his sand; despite being covered the wounds continued to bleed and the sand on Gaara's back began to turn red.
Rasa seeing that Gaara was down formed his good dust above his head and in one swift motion launched it down towards Gaara; Gaara looked up and saw the gold dust coming down on him and he got to his knees and made a hand sign.
"Sand dome" Gaara said as sand gathered around him and formed into a thick dome to protect him; the gold dust slammed into the dome and Rasa formed his own dome around Gaara's.
"This is the end" Rasa said as he began to compact his gold against Gaara's dome; there began a light rumbling that shook the entire area as Rasa continued to squeeze, his hand closing more and more.
Rasa then closed his fist and the dome exploded sending both gold and sand shooting off in every direction; Rasa called his sand back and expected to see Gaara lying crushed in the middle.
Instead he only saw a hole in the middle and Rasa sent wide eyed 'Where'd he-' Rasa began until a rumbling came from down below.
A crack in the ground appeared and without warning Kakashi shot out towards Rasa with his hand crackling with purple lightning "Raikiri" Kakashi roared as he thrusted his hand forward; Kakashi's lightning jutsu cut through the gold platform like it was made of tissue paper.
Kakashi's hand cut Rasa from his lower left to upper right severing him in half and causing his gold dust to fall apart; Rasa's top half began falling towards the earth and as it did so out of the opening Kakashi popped out of Gaara appeared.
Gaara cocked back his sand claw and when he was in range he swung at Rasa; the result was Gaara's claw obliterating Rasa in a shower of dust and destroying the seal and the body of Danzo that was used for the Edo Tensei.
Gaara landed on the ground below and fell to a knee as his 'Shukaku' mode faded and his sand gourd reformed; Gaara was bleeding heavily from his back as the wounds from the shuriken continued to pour out.
Kakashi landed next to Gaara and spoke "Lord Kazekage, are you ok?" Kakashi said not waiting for an answer as he pulled out a medical kit Sakura made him and pulled out a bandage and put it on Gaara's back.
"I'm fine, just a little injured" Gaara said breathing hard "thank you for the assist Kakashi, you're subterranean jutsu may have saved my life".
Kakashi gave him an eye smile and spoke "oh, it wasn't a problem; I was just in the neighborhood" he said and to his surprise Gaara chuckled.
"I'll patch myself up… go help Naruto" Gaara said and Kakashi shook his head.
"It's fine; Shino is helping him out" Kakashi said as he took out some gauze "I need to stop the bleeding; I can't have the Kazekage dying on my watch". Gaara hearing this nodded and Kakashi continued to tend to Gaara's wounds.
With Naruto
"Rasengan" Naruto shouted as he sent a rasengan towards Asuka who put both of her swords in front of herself in a 'X' formation; Naruto's rasengan crashed into Asuka's swords and there was a loud screeching sound as the chakra sphere grinned against the metal.
Asuka tried to push back with all her might but her swords began to bend due to the pressure; Asuka decided to perform a risky move and parry Naruto's rasengan to one side.
Upon doing this the rasengan broke through one of the swords snapping it in half and going into Asuka's shoulder; Asuka's shoulder disintegrated into dust as Naruto's rasengan tore her arm off. However Asuka did not let up as she swung her remaining sword toward's Naruto.
Naruto moved his gauntlet blade in the path of the sword which stopped it from cutting him; at the same time Naruto felt a stinging sensation in his back as 2 kunai slashed him from behind.
Shikamaru attacked Naruto from behind as he was distracted by Asuka; using his shadows tendrils he slashed Naruto across the back causing 2 large wounds to form.
Naruto gritted his teeth and raised his foot and kicked Asuka in the chest sending her rolling backwards; at the same time Naruto reached behind himself and grabbed his large fan and opened it one handed.
"Wind Scythe Jutsu" Naruto shouted as he swung the fan at Shikamaru; Shikamaru was too close to avoid the attack so he put his hands in front of himself as the wind hit him. The wind gave him multiple cuts across his body and he was sent flying into a nearby wall; Shikamaru crashed into the wall and had the wind knocked out of him.
His vision wobbled as he tried to focus and he did regain his composure just as Naruto cocked back his gauntlet arm and sent a stabbing punch towards Shikamaru. Shikamaru seeing this attempted to move out of the way but was too slow; Naruto stabbed Shikamaru in the shoulder with his gauntlet blade making him scream in pain.
Naruto tried to pull his blade free but before he could Shikamaru grabbed his arm and held him in place; Shikamaru with his free hand made a hand sign "Shadow Strangulation Jutsu" he said.
Shikamaru's shadow began to wrap around Naruto and crawl up his body; a shadowy hand appeared and grabbed Naruto around the neck and began to choke Naruto.
Naruto began to gag as he tried to break free; despite being in his Kurama mode and having a decent range of movement, Shikamaru had him stuck in place. His free arm was restrained, as was his legs and torso.
"I don't care if I die here" Shikamaru said through gritted teeth as he looked at Naruto choke "as long as you die here with me".
Naruto strained his neck as his wind pipe began to collapse "in…you're…dreams" Naruto choked out as he moved his head back; Shikamaru thought Naruto was trying to break free until Naruto rocketed his head forward towards him.
Naruto head butted Shikamaru right in his nose, using his own forehead protector as a weapon of last resort; Shikamaru's nose exploded in a shower of blood and the shadow restraining Naruto loosened slightly.
Naruto now able to move his free hand cocked it back and threw a punch towards Shikamaru; Shikamaru barely even conscious from the head butt was then punched by a cross punch to the face.
Before Naruto could go any further he heard a noise behind himself and saw Asuka, now fully reformed, running towards him; Naruto grabbed Shikamaru by the collar and proceeded to throw him towards Asuka.
Asuka seeing this ducked under Shikamaru and continued towards Naruto; Naruto opened his fan and launched a wind blade towards her "Wind Sickle Jutsu" he shouted.
Asuka dodged to the side as the wind blade passed her and continued running forward until she was attacked by a swarm of insects; Naruto was caught off guard and looked across from Asuka and saw Shino standing there.
"Naruto; get her now" Shino ordered and Naruto nodded.
"Thanks Shino" Naruto said as he retracted his gauntlet blade and began to form chakra into his palm; Naruto formed a rasengan in his hand and began to infuse it with the Kyuubi's chakra. The rasengan changed from blue to violet and Naruto looked at Asuka "time to end this" he said.
"Fire Style: Fireball jutsu" Asuka shouted as she fired a fireball at her feet causing a small explosion to occur; the explosion killed all the insects but also damaged her Edo Tensei body as well.
When the smoke cleared Asuka looked towards Naruto and went wide eyed when she saw him only feet away "take this you brat" Naruto shouted as he thrusted the rasengan forward. Asuka couldn't move in time as the rasengan buried itself into her chest and began to grind away; the rasengan ripped through her body and found the seal that was right in her core.
As Asuka's conscious began to fade she had one last thought 'Daddy… Auntie… I'm sorry' she thought as her core was destroyed; Naruto canceled his jutsu as Asuka fell to the ground and her dust and ash body began to fall apart. When her body was gone all that was left was the body of Shikaku Nara.
"Finally, she's gone" Naruto said with a sigh as Shino walked up beside him "hey Shino, thanks for the save".
"No problem; I got done with my battle a while ago" Shino said and Naruto nodded; Naruto's Kurama mode deactivated and he turned around to see Kakashi helping a wounded Gaara.
"Kakashi Sensei, Gaara?" Naruto said surprised "what the hell happened?"
"My father was more troublesome than I thought" Gaara said as he limped along.
"Thankfully I came along to assist him" Kakashi said with an eye smile; Kakashi then looked towards Naruto and spoke
Naruto hearing this looked back over towards Shikamaru who was struggling to his knees; Shikamaru was holding his shoulder trying to staunch the bleeding, but he was failing. Naruto's gauntlet blade severed an artery and he was bleeding out fast.
When he got to his knees he looked up and saw Naruto standing over him; Shikamaru didn't say anything, he only glared at Naruto with hatred and disdain.
"Any last words?" Naruto said as he activated his gauntlet blade and covered it with wind chakra.
Shikamaru glared at Naruto and spoke "no" was his simple answer; Naruto nodded and raised his gauntlet up ready to strike Shikamaru down. But before he could Shino spoke up.
"Naruto, wait; don't kill him" Shino said and Naruto stopped and looked at him surprised.
"What; why the hell not?" Naruto shouted in protest.
"Because Danzo is dead; we need Shikamaru to stand trial" Shino said before looking to Gaara "if we don't have anyone to blame the war on then the nations who allied against it may take reprisals against the village".
Gaara hearing this nodded "he is correct" he said as he looked at Shikamaru "we need a scapegoat; someone to blame everything on".
"Are you fucking serious?" Naruto protested "this bastard killed so many of our people; I'm ending this now"; Naruto raised his blade up to slash at Shikamaru but Kakashi spoke up.
"Naruto, think of Temari" Kakashi said and Naruto stopped once more "don't you think she deserves justice; I'm sure she'll want him dead, but making him stand trial and explaining what he did will do more than just killing him in cold blood".
Naruto grit his teeth and Shikamaru continued to glare at him 'he won't do it; Naruto relies too much on emotions' Shikamaru thought 'he'd rather take out his anger on me than see me in front of a-'.
"DAMN IT" Naruto roared as he cocked back his other fist and proceeded to slug Shikamaru across the face knocking him out; Shikamaru hit the ground and a few teeth hit the concrete floor "you just had to use Temari in the argument; that's freakin' low".
Gaara and Kakashi chuckled as they both knew Temari was his weak point; suddenly all four of them heard beeping and all heard it was originating from Shikamaru.
Naruto knelt down to Shikamaru and saw it was his wrist watch on it's timer setting; it only took Naruto half a second for him to realize what it was beeping for. They only had two minuted remaining until the base self destructs.
"HOLY SHIT THE BASE IS GONNA BLOW UP IN TWO MINUTES" Naruto shouted in panic as everyone else's eyes widened; they were all so focused on fighting they completely forgot about Shikamaru's final plan.
"RUN" Kakashi said as he lifted Gaara onto his shoulder; Naruto did the same by grabbing Shikamaru.
They all made a mad dash to the door and ran into the hallway trying to escape before the base explodes.
In the hall ways
Naruto was carrying Shikamaru as he lead the group through the lower levels with Shino, Kakashi and Gaara following close behind; whether it was the chakra in their feet, fear or a mixture of both they were zooming down the hallways in blurs of speed.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit" Naruto kept repeating as he skidded around a corner and began to run up a stair way "how much longer do we got?"
Shino looked at Shikamaru's watch and spoke "one minute" Shino said in a slightly panicked version of his monotone voice.
"We're not going to make it" Kakashi said as he carried Gaara.
"Put me down; I will create a sand dome" Gaara said.
"That won't help us" Shino said "we'll have thousands of tons of concrete falling on us; we'll still die".
"Oh come on; after all I've been through, this is how I die?" Naruto shouted in panic 'oh man if I die, Temari will resurrect me just to kill me a second time'. As Naruto and the others reached the next level Naruto saw a blur of white and red and he realized who it was "Pervy Sage" Naruto shouted and Jiraya looked at him.
Jiraya seeing this went wide eyed "NARUTO HOLD ON AND GET READY" Jiraya said as he began to go through hand signs.
Outside the compound
Sakura, Kurumi, Karin and Sasuke were all about a mile away from the base with the rest of the forces when the explosion happened; the explosion shook the ground and created a large mushroom cloud of debris.
Everyone shielded their eyes as a concussive wave hit them and made their bones and organs rattle; a few seconds later everyone opened their eyes and looked at the mushroom cloud.
Sakura seeing this held her hands to her mouth "K-K-Kakashi" Sakura shouted as she got to her feet and began to rush towards the base.
"Sakura, wait" Sasuke shouted as he got up and followed her; Kurumi, Karin, Lee, Hinata and everyone else who could still move all rushed towards the explosion.
After running for about six minutes Sakura and the others stood on the edge of a deep crater; the crater was maybe a thousand yards wide and a five hundred feet deep with chunks of concrete still raining down and filling the hole.
Sakura covered her mouth and began to silently sob and shake.
Kurumi was wide eyed as she stood next to Sakura "t-they made it out right… right?" Kurumi asked but no one answered "I-I mean… Gaara and Naruto they… they wouldn't…". Kurumi began to feel another wave of panic as her heart began to race and her vision began to blur.
Kurumi was on the verge of having a breakdown; she lost her father and now it looks like she lost the man she loves and her best friend.
Hinata had her byakugan activated and was scanning around inside the rubble; through the smoke and the fire she could hardly see anything clearly. Suddenly her eyed widened and she pointed.
"Over there" Hinata shouted "at the eleven o'clock position".
Everyone turned their heads and saw a pile of concrete behind to shift; the concrete shot out hitting the edge of the crater revealing a massive toad which was dead. The toad was burned to a crisp and had multiple holes in it's body and was missing it's head.
Jiraya stepped out of the neck of the toad covered in blood, with burns on his body and completely naked; he took a wobbly step on the concrete before losing his balance and falling down.
Naruto, dragging Shikamaru by his foot with his right hand while holding his large fan with his left followed suit; he and Shikamaru were also completely naked and supported burns along their bodies.
Naruto swayed side to side before letting go of Shikamaru and collapsing to his knees.
Kakashi, Shino and Gaara followed after them looking disoriented and confused; Kakashi and Shino were also naked but Gaara still had some of his cloths on as show through his cracked sand armor.
"Holy shit they're alive" Anko said with happiness in her voice.
Sakura smiled and looked around "Kurumi, Karin, Hinata, Anko, Sasuke; come with me" she said and they all nodded and jumped down into the crater. Running as fast as they could they reached the group of men and Sakura skidded to a halt beside Kakashi "oh my god Kakashi, I thought you were dead; I'm so glad to see you're ok" she said.
Kakashi looked at her with his one uncovered eye before speaking "WHAT?" Kakashi shouted startling Sakura; Sakura was confused before she looked at him closely. Sakura could see Kakashi, Naruto and everyone else was bleeding from their ears.
Sakura mentally slapped herself for not realizing it; along with being cut, burned and having their cloths blown off, the explosion also popped their ear drums. "Crap" Sakura said before looking around "hey girls, heal their ear drums first before anything else".
Karin was already healing Gaara while Kurumi helped him sit up "Already on it" she said.
Kurumi was relieved to see that Gaara, while hurt and disoriented was still alive 'thank goodness; I don't think I could've taken any more heartbreak today' she thought.
Hinata had her eyes closed as she healed Naruto's ears with medical chakra 'don't look, don't look, don't look; he's Temari's boyfriend, he's Temari's boyfriend, he's Temari's boyfriend' she thought. But curiosity got the better of her and she opened her eye slightly getting a look at Naruto before closing it quickly 'oh Kami why did I do that?' Hinata thought.
After a few second Naruto's hearing and balance was back and he looked at Hinata "Hey, thanks Hinata" Naruto said standing up; Naruto then saw Sakura, Kurumi, and Karin all looking at him with blushes on their faces. "What?" Naruto asked confused.
"You're naked you idiot" Sasuke said; Naruto looked down and saw he was in fact naked.
"Nice dick bro" Anko said and Naruto immediately put his hands over his privates.
"OH CRAP" Naruto shouted.
"Hang on Naruto" Lee said as he reached inside his green jumpsuit and pulled out another green jumpsuit "here, have my spare".
"You have an extra one of those things?" Sakura asked and Lee nodded.
"Actually I have three extras" Lee said as he pulled out another two "Shino, Kakashi sensei; do you want one".
"Hell no" Kakashi snapped his hearing coming back.
"I'd rather go back to solitary confinement" Shino said as Karin just got done healing his ears.
"You're loss" Naruto said as he took one of the jumpsuits from Lee and began to put it on.
"Ok, now then; how the hell are you still alive?" Sasuke asked "how were you able to survive an explosion that big".
Jiraya raised up his hand and he sat up, only one of his ears was bleeding "I summoned an old toad who's job is to protect the user from any kind of massive attack" he said "it's an honorary position because of the need of self sacrifice".
"The toad swallowed us and took the majority of the blast" Kakashi chimed in "but not enough for all of it".
"I had to use my sand as a shield to protect us" Gaara said weakly "but my sand also wasn't strong enough to hold; so we took the rest of the blast head on".
"Ah, so that's why you're all butt ass naked" Kurumi said and Naruto who just got done putting on the jumpsuit nodded.
"Yeah I guess, after the explosions died down I used my fan to blast the rocks away" Naruto said pointing to his heavily damaged fan "pervy sage had enough chakra to make a rasengan and drill the rest of the way out".
"We're lucky to be alive" Shino said running his hand through his hair.
After hearing this Sakura then realized that Shikamaru was laying next to Naruto and she spoke "what the hell is he doing here?" Sakura asked angrily.
"And why the fuck isn't he taking a dirt nap" Anko said as she took out a kunai but Naruto held his hand out.
"We want him to stand trial… for everything" Naruto said with finality "don't worry… he'll pay for what he did".
"I don't know" Sakura said and Kakashi patted her shoulder making her look at him; Kakashi gave her a eye smile.
"Don't worry Sakura; it's for the best" Kakashi said and Sakura nodded hesitantly.
"Well no matter what; I'm killing this fucker for what he did" Kurumi said and Naruto looked at her.
"What happened?" Naruto asked and Kurumi looked at him.
"Oh year… you don't know" Kurumi said her voice hitching "Pa's dead; Itachi killed him"; hearing this hit Naruto like a brick to the face.
"O-Obito sensei?" Naruto said as tears began to well up in his eyes.
"Yeah" Kakashi said softly gaining Naruto's attention "I was there; I saw it".
"Not just that" Hinata said gaining both Naruto and Kakashi's attentions "Kurenai sensei also died, fighting Orochimaru; Guy sensei is alive though, but he's badly hurt".
"Kami" Naruto said as he pinched the bridge of his nose as tears began to fall and his shoulders began to shake; Sasuke seeing this walked up and patted his shoulder.
"We all knew the risks Naruto" Sasuke said and Naruto nodded.
"Yeah… but it doesn't make it any better" Naruto said as he wiped his nose and his eyes "can you guys handle everything here?"
Sakura looked at him surprised and spoke "uh, yeah; where are you going?" she asked; Naruto bit his thumb, drawing blood and went through hand signs.
"Gotta deliver some news" Naruto said.
In the Amegakure hospital: with Temari and Tsunade
Temari was lying in bed as Tsunade watched over her; so far it's been nearly 4 hours since Naruto and the others left on the mission and they were trying to keep themselves busy. Currently Temari was reading one of the manga Naruto left behind actually intrigued with the story.
"You know I have to say this isn't a bad read" Temari said to Tsunade who was sitting in a chair filing her nails "who would've thought a manga about a magical book where you write a name down to kill someone could have such a smart and intricate plot".
"Oh yeah, that 'Death Note' series; Naruto talked about it a lot" Tsunade said.
"And I can see why Naruto thinks that gothic looking girl seems attractive" Temari said "I wonder if I'd look good in goth cosplay"; Temari looked to Tsunade who merely shrugged.
Suddenly a puff of smoke appeared in the room and Tsunade got to her feet ready to fight until the smoke cleared; Naruto stood there with a small toad on his shoulder, the toad 'poof'd' away leaving Naruto there.
Temari seeing Naruto smiled "Naruto, you're back; and you're… what the hell are you wearing?" Temari said; she and Tsunade realized Naruto was wearing one of Lee's jumpsuits and was shoeless. It was then they realized that Naruto was caked in blood, soot, dust and burns.
Tsunade suddenly got a bad feeling "what happened?" Tsunade demanded and Naruto looked at her.
"Obito and Kurenai sensei are dead" Naruto said with a small quiver in his voice; hearing this Tsunade collapsed in her chain and stared at the ground. Tsunade remembered wishing Hinata, Anko and Kurenai good luck on their mission; she couldn't even imagine the pain Hinata and Anko are going through.
"Damn it" Tsunade said folding her hands together.
"Oh my god" Temari said holding her hands to her mouth "poor Kurumi"; suddenly Temari's eyes began to water. Suddenly it her her "and Sango…" she said her voice breaking; upon hearing this Naruto felt another wave of dread as he realized he needed to tell Sango as well.
Naruto cleared his throat and pushed his emotions down "Danzo, Asuka, Orochimaru and Itachi are dead" Naruto said "Shikamaru has been captured to be put on trial". To his surprise they did not protest as they were still too stunned by the deaths.
Naruto walked over to Temari who looked at him with eyes full of tears; Naruto sat next to her on the bed and held her hand. Naruto looked at Temari, his big blue eyes softening and he spoke two words that conveyed everything to her.
"We won" Naruto said with a melancholic smile.
Ok another chapter done; I hope you all enjoyed it. If you did please like, comment and share with your friends; and until next time bye.