Disclaimer: First Chapter
Story Start!
His condition was so much worse than Ginko could imagine.
"So... after 10 long years, you've found him... and he still doesn't wish to come home."
Uzumaki Nagato, his long once red hair had become white and withered in appearance, no longer looking anything like the once vibrant hair he used to have even a mere 15 years previously. His once youthful skin had aged so much, the man looked that he was on death's door. His kimono that once fit his body hung off of his skin and bones, his body with almost no muscle remaining to it. Each and every one of his ribs was visible, and if there was any fat on his body, nobody would be able to find it.
His attendant looked at Ginko with a gaze of anger.
"You found Lord Naruto, but refused to bring him to Lord Nagato! You show yourself again wolf, as a failure to the Uzumaki you serve-!"
"Konan, be silent..." Nagato was practically blinded by the cooling towel that was over his face. The man's voice was still strong sounding, all things considered when you gazed at his withered, corpse-like body. Each of his words, all three that he spoke to Konan, packed enough weight to them to silence her.
The air stopped when he gave his order.
Nagato, his body ravaged by disease, was still that of an Uzumaki. His life force was powerful enough, that even on death's door, he could command the respect of the room. There was no breeze in the room once he spoke, even though the door to the outside of the mansion was open. The air itself decided to calm down, and respected his desire for silence.
"Lord Nagato, please, you don't have much time left. Allow me to leave your side, and collect Lord Naruto at once." Konan pleaded with him.
Nagato smiled softly.
"Is he healthy... is he... doing well?" Nagato asked Ginko the more important questions. His deep voice cut through the silence of the room.
"Master Nagato..." Ginko smelled something different in the air about the current, and temporary, head of the Uzumaki family. He didn't smell like he was long for the world, not at all. "He is... doing the best he can, and he's healthy." Ginko stated to Nagato the answer that he wanted. Her nose could tell her that Naruto had grown into a healthy young man.
Ginko reached out and grabbed Nagato's hand, which was cold, the blood flow to his body was barely that of a crawl.
"Good... after all the pain I caused him, I'm happy for him. When my cousin passed away, I tried to raise him to be the very best he could be... to become somebody his mother could look down on with pride..." Nagato stopped talking when his breath became extremely labored. He wheezed and struggled to draw breath. He stopped talking, and his feeble hand squeezed Ginko's hand.
She could smell the immense sorrow he felt.
Nagato's jaw quivered.
"I hurt him, I caused him so much suffering... I hoped that as he endured endless pain... that he would grow into an adult who is so much more than a man... I hoped he would become a god. That his will would become absolute." Nagato had pushed so much onto his young cousin.
He, Nagato, had watched as most of his clan, his people, were killed off over the years by the yokai, the devils, the fallen angels, the false gods who ruled over man. He had experienced so much pain that made him strong, and he had wanted to give Naruto that same pain, so that the two of them could grow closer and recreate the Uzumaki clan together. He wanted to raise the next head of the clan to become unmatched through out all time, a true god who could solve all problems the world had to offer.
He had been wrong.
All he had done was inflict pain and suffering on his family.
"You... you should tell him this. This is his home, his family is here... you, Karin... the yokai who serve the Uzumaki... we're his family, and this is where he belongs." Ginko didn't agree with the idea that Nagato was just willing to die without seeing his cousin again. She looked up at Konan.
"Lord Nagato!"
"Yes, I know... those two have shown up. They must have noticed Ginko came back... Ginko, take all the scrolls you can carry... and run. The yokai who can't defend themselves, carry them on your back and run away." Nagato gave the gentle order. When Konan noticed somebody enter her barrier, she became surprised that Nagato didn't seem surprised by the barrier that kept the Uzumaki home safe from attack had been penetrated.
He had sensed it before anyone else it would seem.
"Knock knock... well, well, well... aren't you a sickly one?" A very handsome man, tall in a black business suit, his hair slicked back, spoke as he entered the room. He had a small blond haired girl on his shoulder as he just walked right into the room as if he owned the place. Konan jumped in front of Nagato, and her arms started to turn into paper.
"Konan, Ginko, you're excused."
"Lord Nagato!"
"That's an order... you both are to take as many innocents as possible and flee." Nagato let go of Ginko's hand. He reached up and took the towel off of his face, and he turned his head to gaze towards the man and small girl who had invaded the room.
His hair fell off of his eyes.
"Oooh, such strength in those eyes... so, lets just make this easy for everyone. All we want to do is know where the youngest member of the Uzumaki clan is, tell us, and consider our business done... this one lacked what we were looking for." The man tossed a severed head onto the floor in front of Nagato's face. He found himself staring eye to eye with his younger cousin, her severed head on the floor still fresh.
Thus, the Uzumaki clan had been reduced to a mere 2 members.
"Lady Karin! You demons! You attacked a healer who couldn't fight back, have you no shame, no honor!" Konon shouted, but Nagato's order was still active. She was unable to attack, Ginko stared down at the severed head with her eyes slowly widening.
Then it happened.
Nagato slowly stood up, grabbing a cane from next to his bed to assist him in standing. He turned and faced the intruders.
"We have hoped that this one had what we needed, but it appeared not. It seems she wasn't the Uzumaki we were after... a shame, really, after all the Uzumaki we have killed over the years, we just never found what we were looking for." The man lamented the lack of something.
Nagato didn't know what he was talking about.
"I am Uzumaki Nagato, the one who brings pain, relishes in pain, and suffers through pain... and you are no mere yokai. Fine then... if you wish to find Naruto, you will do it over my dead body." Nagato stated.
"Allow me to serve you in this battle Lord Nagato." Ginko transformed into her full size, and stood behind Nagato with her fangs bared at the enemies. Her yellow eyes were dyed red with bloodlust, before they turned back to yellow when she saw Nagato out of the side of her vision. She looked at him with concern.
Nagato raised his hand.
"Oh ho, you, in your fragile state wish to fight us... I will give you credit. You're a man worthy of respect... one who embraces his death is one who should be praised." The yokai male clapped his hands together.
He didn't notice it, but the girl on his shoulder became extremely alarmed.
"I am no mere man... I am he who has reached the realm of the Almighty."
-Outside of the House-
Half of the forest was erased, and the top of a nearby mountain was knocked away as a powerful blast of pressurized wind ripped the trees from the earth. A long crater, as if a god scooped the land up and pulled it away, spread across like a growing wound.
"Tama, are you okay!?"
The young girl on his shoulder was injured, a deep bleeding wound on his torso and shoulder. She had both of her hands up, and had formed a barrier in front of them. He had just as deep a young on his body as well, both of them bled freely, but the bleeding stopped as their regeneration powers began to slowly kick in.
The wind stopped.
There was unnatural stillness to the air as they stood in the deep crater that swept across the land, before the wind reversed direction. What had once been a wind so powerful it wiped away half a forest, became a vacuum of wind just the same that pulled them right towards the half-destroyed remains of the Uzumaki home.
There was the wolf.
"A man arrogant enough to call himself almighty, I've heard claims like that before!"
"I am no mere man, I am Uzumaki Nagato..." Nagato stopped calling the wind back to him when he brought the two yokai back into talking range. He closed his fist, and stepped out of the wrecked house, and into the crater he had left behind with his attack. His nose was bleeding, and he gazed at the two yokai with eyes filled with contempt. "... and today is the day I will go to hell, where I will pay for all the suffering and pain I caused. I pray that one day, I will atone for my crimes, and reincarnate... but that day is not today. Today, I have two more yokai to put into the ground first." Nagato stated.
"Lord Nagato, please, escape on Ginko's back, I'll hold these demons off." Konan stayed at his side.
"No, you will be needed."
"Hahahaha! HAHAHAHA! I enjoy you human... no! Uzumaki Nagato, a worthy opponent for the great me, who goes by the name of Shuten-Douji! I an the undefeated Yokai, who was only slain by the cowardly actions of a human who needed to poison me before cutting my head off! Come, face me with everything you have!" Shuten seemed excited, unbelievably happy when he saw the flames of power and life enter the dying man's eyes.
The girl, Tama, on his shoulder licked her lips.
Konan nodded her head, got into Ginko's back.
"Tell Naruto... to live his life as he sees fit. I hope he forgives me... I really do, because no matter how harsh I was to him, he really was my pride and joy... now come, Shuten! Let this land become your grave once more!" Nagato floated as the wind picked him up. Two weapons came flying out of the wrecked estate and landed in both of his hands, before he flung them towards the two yokai.
Tama placed a barrier in front of theme.
The weapons, wind enhanced spinning chakram, ripped right through her barrier, and Shuten had to parry them while the yokai who served under the Uzumaki began scrambling. They carried everything they could as they jumped onto Ginko's back.
"Master Nagato!"
"Allow us to help!"
"No, you mere yokai will only get in my way, as your Master I order you to flee to safety... and allow me, the almighty bringer of pain, to fight this duel alone!" Nagato created a barrier of still air in front of himself. Tama had opened her mouth, and a torrent of blue flames washed over the land. He extended his hand back, and formed a barrier around Ginko that protected her and all the yokai who got onto her back.
She whined and looked at him with sadness.
Tama jumped off of Shuten's shoulder, and flew at the yokai, opening her mouth to get ready for the feast in front of her.
"Almighty Pull!" Nagato called out.
The wind sucked Tama right into Nagato's grasp, and he held his hand firmly around her neck. He flung her, and the same powerful wind that attacked them earlier returned for a second round. Nagato practically flew with the wind, as both of them did their best to put up barriers to protect themselves from his wide range, but still very potent, attack that ripped up the land.
"It seems we won't be able to feast while he still draws breath, fine then... guh."
Neither he nor Tama were prepared for what happened when the wind pushing them changed directions, and faced downwards. The wind slammed both of them into the ground, with so much force that their bones broke. Bruises started to quickly appear on their bodies, the wounds adding up quickly as Nagato floated above them. He continued his technique until both of the yokai were pinned to the ground by their own very mangled limbs.
Nagato landed on the ground as his technique ended.
He stumbled and fell onto his face, bleeding from every part of his own body. Neither of them could stand up, their bodies too broken to stand under their own power. Even with their regenerative abilities, neither of them would be healed enough to stand back up for a good few days.
"Heh... a shame you weren't at your prime... and a shame I wasn't at my prime... it would have been a battle of legends." Shuten lamented as he felt Nagato's heart stop beating through the ground. He looked at Nagato with pity. "... and to think, you really could have killed me. Still... a dead man is only a man, all the same." Shuten stated with a content sigh.
He had survived.
Tama whispered to him.
"... Oh... maybe I haven't survived." Shuten wondered.
By some miracle, he saw Nagato standing up once more. He walked right over towards them, the two of them.
"Tama, teleport away... use my power if you need to. Only one of us needs to die today, and I'll gladly give this life away for you." Shuten told Tama next to him. He was too wounded to be able to use his magic to save her, but if she sucked his blood and power, she could heal herself enough to teleport herself away.
Nagato stood over them, and extended his hand at them.
Yet nothing happened.
"... Even dead, he's still trying to kill us..." Shuten whispered when he saw that, no, even though Nagato had stood up and walked towards them, he hadn't magically come back to life. He was just as dead as any other corpse, but his sheer willpower had allowed him to stand back up. His life force, even as a corpse, had been able to keep fighting.
Still, a corpse was a corpse.
Nagato's hand was extended, but no technique came.
"You were right, my dear Nagato... you were no mere man, you truly were something far greater... but with your death, all there is, is one Uzumaki left for us to find." Shuten taunted.
The technique activated.
A single spark of life re-entered Nagato's eyes, and he launched a weakened air blast that pierced Shuten's ribcage. Even for a yokai, the wound would not be one so easily healed. Shuten gasped in agony when his ribs were crushed, and his side exploded. He forced his broken arms to cover the wound.
"I've... already hurt him enough... I will allow nobody else to hurt him, my dear child Naruto." Nagato fell face forward. His final words spoken, having forced his body to come back to life purely in an attempt to get off his final attack, to hopefully kill one of the attackers who were after his cousin.
Shuten smiled a bloody grin.
"If it were up to me, I would respect your final wish, my wonderful opponent... but Tama needs him. Still, I pray that the when I join you in hell, that we can do battle once more. Luck was on my side today... next time..." Shuten passed out, leaving only Tama awake. She forced herself to stand back up.
She licked her lips.
It was time to heal her injuries.
Chapter End!
Please Leave Me Lots of Nice Long Reviews, But No Flames Please!