Chapter 12
*static*
"- These are the new serums you've been developing. The results are- *static* -to say the least. And you say they're field ready?"
"Well, yes and no, we haven't been able to figure out how, but it seems that some test subjects have no responses when introduced to the serum."
"I see. That's interesting, but that's besides the point, I've wanted to ask you about *static* It's been a while since we've seen him."
"Ah, uh, y-yes, but that's because he's just very busy! Yeah, that's it!"
"I'm no fool, Anko, It's been a month now, and he hasn't asnwered any of my or the Hokage's letters. It's the main reason I'm here."
"I-I do-don't know what you're talking about! He's a busy man. He's making sure the Division 9-
"Division 9 will soon lose funding if progress isn't made in- *static* -then you'll have to work on building the undead army!"
"Lord Hokage does-"
"Our Hokage has had his priorities revaluated. He now believes that it might be needed to end this war! Either prove that we aren't wasting funds or bring me Orochimaru!"
*static*
*static*
"-Entry Log 155: After my last meeting with Lord- *static* I am beening forced to shut down the project on the Matter Transference Device, Orochimaru hasn't been found so I can't even have him try to-"
WARNING: MTD IS POWERING UP
"What!?"
CONNECTION TO MAINFRAME NOW ACTIVE
"What on earth is happening!?"
*electricity whirring loudly before a poof is heard*
TELEPORTATION COMPLETE
"Kukuku, wonderful I've made it!"
"L-lord Orochimaru?"
"Yes, it is I, Anko."
"Where have you been? How did you-"
"Nein! We don't have time so much to do, so much to learn, so much- SHHHHHHH! Do you hear that?"
"Nine!? What? What are you talking about? What do you hear?"
"SHHHHHHHH! The voices are sooo loud!"
*static*
Present:
Naruto and Satsuki were back to back as they inspected the dome of mirrors around them. They stood absolutely still as the hunter nin appeared in all of them. Then, faster than they could react, a hail of senbon needles pierced their skin from multiple directions, causing them to scream in pain. "Damn, that's freaking fast!" Naruto shouted as he started to remove a couple of needles out of his body. Satsuki meerly grunted before she went through hamd signs as fast as she could. It didn't get her very far, as before she could finish, more senbon needles flew towards them, causing more screams.
"ENOUGH! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted in a vain attempt to land a blow on his opponent, or at least one of the mirrors. 5 clones appeared quickly in a poof of smoke, and just as quickly were dispatched with more senbon needles to reward them for their attempts of retaliation. Satsuki tried using one of the senbon needles to block the oncoming attack. She succeeded in blocking 3 before she was overwhelmed by the rest, while Naruto was only able to bring his arms up to cover his head. The hunter nin spoke once again, "I... can't... lose..." he droned on once again.
"Oh, shut it already!" Satsuki retorted as she removed more senbon needles. She stumbled a bit as she did, feeling lightheaded. "Keep it together," she thought to herself as she took a deep breath and prepared herself for the next barrage, "I think I've figured out a pattern." Naruto created more clones, and Satsuki watched closely as she saw something zip from mirror to mirror as senbon needles flew towards them. This time, she dodged and blocked the one that she couldn't, this time remaining relatively unscathed from the barrage, as a couple of senbon still made it through her defenses. Her eyes flashed red a couple of times.
"Fucking pin throwing bastard! How many of these do you have!" Naruto pulled a senbon out and threw it at one of the mirrors but it just harmlessly bounced off the ice. The response was another barrage. The response from their opponent came in the form of more barrages of senbon needles. Satsuki's world slowed down as she watched the senbon needles head towards her. She dodged out of the way and watched as more came from another direction. Another angle, she managed to bring up her senbon and block the rest, which she was barely able to do. "I was able to see them coming this time!" Satsuki said to herself, proud of being abke to keep up with her opponent that was more experienced.
"Those.. eyes.." The hunter nin droned on. Naruto turned to see Satsuki's eyes have changed to a red eye with 1 tome in one and 2 in the other. "What the..?" he didn't get to finish his thoughts as she jumped in front of him and deflected another barrage. she wasn't fast enough to stop all of them, so a few past her defenses and hit her partner. "Naruto.. how many more of those clones can you make?" the Uchiha hissed at the blonde.
"As many as we need!" In another poof of smoke, 5 more Narutos appeared before they were dispatched. The hunter was out to send another barrage until out of the smoke, a giant fireball appeared and nearly hit him dead on. He was left with a burnt pant leg for his troubles. "Look, his leg!" Naruto pointed out, and sure enough, the pant leg was now scorched with ash."I figured him out!" Satsuki signaled again before more smoke appeared from the clones. Again, Satsuki went through hand signs in the cover of smoke before releasing another ball of fire. This time, it hit his chest, causing him to fall into another mirror with no grace."HA, you got him!" Naruto yelled excitedly. If they can hit him once, they can do it again. Satsuki nodded, and Naruto tried to summon more clones. This time, however, the hunter nin stopped him by unleashing another barrage that targeted him. Needles pierce body from multiple angles, causing him to grunt in pain and drop to the ground. "Naruto!" Satsuki screamed out only for her to dodge a barrage while the blonde struggled to recover, causing him to collapse once more as he attempted to stand. He wouldn't survive if this kept up. The Uchiha didn't think as she saw another barrage incoming towards her friend. She threw the kunai she had at one of the senbon needles while jumping in front of her teammate. In doing so, it, unfortunately, allowed for one senbon needle to strike at just the right angle.
*shliick* *thud*
Naruto looked towards the sound of something falling, and his heart sank. For what he saw, Satsuki Uchiha lay on the floor unresponsive with 2 senbon needles through her neck. Just like Zabuza did when he was first taken down. With adrenaline kicking in, he got up, ignoring the pain in favor of checking on the fallen Uchiha. He craddled her body as it lay cold, limp, and lifeless. "Sat..suki..?" Naruto's voiced wavered as he stared into her glossy eyes. He saw the 2 senbon needles in her neck and refused to believe it. Tears started to well up in his eyes. "nononononononono.. please no.." He hugged her body. He had failed.
He failed them all! Shisui, Itachi, Hinata, Mikoto Fugaku, Satsuki.. He failed them all in protecting her, and now she's gone. He was supposed to protect her, and now here he was, holding her corpse. "Forgive... me..." The hunter nin droned once again this time tho with a bit of honesty in the montone tone. "...what..." The orange clad ninja muttered out. barely a whisper. "I'm... sorry..." the hunter nin stated. "You're sorry??!!" he growled back, looking at the mirrors now. His rage slowly built up. "You took her life, and you're sorry!?" he hissed out. He glared at the culprit responsible. He was gonna kill him. Make him suffer! Naruto's head started pounding and grit his teeth. He held onto the ravenette's body as a lifeline in a desperate attempt to not hear them again. However he cold body did little to provide any solace.
"He killed her!" "There's so much to do!" "HIS FAULT!!" "Make him pay!" "Ascend from darkness!" "She would still be here if it wasn't for him!" "Not just through space but through time as well!" "The war!" "This is all your fault!" "HE DID THIS!" "The snake has the answers!" "The bastard deserves death!" "The opening of the gateways" "The vessel for Tobi!" "Tear him limb from limb!" "Eat his entrails!" "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" "Do it!" Trust no one" "Finish him!" "KILL HIM!" "The keepers!" "The one who summons wood knows!" "HIS BLOOD WILL SETTLE THE SCORE!"
It was too much. Too much noise, too many voices, too much to think, and so loud, just constant yelling! In a desperate attempt to drown them all out, Naruto himself let out a roar before purple glowing chakra chains appeared out of Narutos back and shot out in random directions. The kunai like tips of the chakra chains stabbed into various mirrors, shattering a couple while cracking the rest severely. The hunter nin himself barely had time to react as he threw himself out the jutsu before it could hurt him. The nin looked back to see purple slit eyes staring back at him with such fury and rage, it caused him to step back in fear and bring him a bit back to his senses, but not enough just yet. It didn't matter to him because his attention was brought back to Naruto, who was standing in front of the corpse in a defensive manner. The chains retreating back into his body before he yelled, "YOU'RE NOT LEAVING HERE ALIVE!"
Kakashi ducked under a swing from Zabuza's blade before attempting to sweep his legd out from under him. The demon of the mist jumped back to avoid the blow only to be kicked in the chest as he landed. As the fight progressed Kakashi would land blow after a blow to seemingly no effect 'This is getting to be irksome. He's seems to not take notice of any damage done to him' He prepared to throw kunai at the man when a loud roar was heard.
"YOU'RE NOT LEAVING HERE ALIVE!"
Kakashi recognized the sound of his student's voice, even if it sounded distorted along with the sound of glass breaking. He also recognized the feel of this kind of chakra. 'That's the Kyuubi's chakra! Along with... I gotta end this fast!' he avoided another slash from Zabuza. "Focus... help... impossible..." The mist ninja droned out again. The copy ninja had enough of this and rushed Zabuza again. He swiped at him with a kunai, which was evaded. The demon of the mist swung his sword in retaliation, slicing at Kakashi and grazing his left shoulder with the blade. However, this time, the copy ninja was able to diable one of Zabuza's arms via a well placed kunai. He watched as the hand went limp and caused Zabuza to kick him away. Kakashi grunted in pain but was satisfied with the outcome. He quickly eent through a series of hand signs, "Earth Style: Tracking Fang!" his hands hit the floor, and a runblimg was heard. The sound of flesh being pierced followed the scream of pain that was heard. What the silver haired shinobi wasn't expecting to hear was the sound of laughter.
"Hahahaha! Oh... finally, finally!...
ah... it feels good to be... in control again!" Zabuza panted out breathlessly and in pain. Kakashi walked towards the sound and found Zabuza trapped in place. Kakashi's ninken had their teeth sinked into Zabuza in various places, blood flowing from their clamped jaws to indicate how strong their teeth were and how dtrong of a grip they had on him. He wasn't moving any time soon. Yet he almost looked, relieved? "Thank..you.. Kakashi.. you've got to stop him..: he panted out. The copy nin noticed that he wasn't making any attempts to escape his predicament. "Stop who exactly? Last I checked, you were the main threat."
"Haku.. he got strapped down like me... he's not in control, " Zabuza said out of breath again. While yes, they were fighting earlier, it wasn't anything too crazy. Zabuza was part of the bloody mist, he wouldnt be out of breath of a small excursion like this. "Gato..hah... he used this rock to power it up." Zabuza panted out. That had caught Kakashi's attention. "Rock? What rock? Was it glowing,!?" Zabuza nodded slowly. He was tired, trying to regain control of your body after you've been reprogrammed in a sense. "Yeah, it was glowing. Used this weird helmet and a lot of shock therapy. You gotta stop that damned tycoon! He already plans to distribute thought all 5 nations!" The sound of glass shattering drive their attention back to the other battle that was commencing. "Save the kid...please. Haku deserves more than what I've given him." Kakashi looked for a moment, surprised at the concern the demon of the mist was showing. He nodded his head and ran towards the other battle raging on. Zabuza went limp in the jaws of the dog summons, holding him in place. He has no intention of escaping. He was exhausted. With extreme effort, he positioned one hand into a hand sign and released his jutsu. "That should help a bit, even if it's gonna take a bit for the mist to disperse and the clone is done too."
"This should be fun!"
"Can I take him?"
"No, me!"
"SHUT UP HE'S MINE!" Naruto shouted before he threw out his hand, and 4 purple chakra chains shot out towards his opponent. The hunter nin jumped back to avoid them. While the chains didn't land in the body, one managed to wrap itself around his ankle. Naruto pulled his arm, pulling along his target. Once he was within range, he delivered a blow to the masked face with such force it shattered that mask along with sending the now unmasked shinobi flying back and bouncing a bit, hefore coming to a stop.
Haku slowly got up on all fours, shaking as he did. "What... happened?" His vision was fuzzy. He had a pounding headache, and his ears were ringing. He watched as blood landed on the floor he was looking at. "Huh?" Another drop hit the floor as he brought a hand to his face. He winced as he touched where the blood was coming from and felt some shards of porcelain. "What the?" The sounds of footsteps brought his attention to the threat heading towards him, purple chains slowly retracting back into his skin. His glowing purple eyes and he snarling teeth were the only thing visible as his hair shadowed his face. The sight of the blonde cleared his mind just to cower back in fear. "W-wait! I didn't want to! I wasn't myself, I swear!" Haku said in hopes that he would slow him down. The confession caused the snarl to turn into a smile, but the murderous intent in the eyes remained.
"Yes, I see! What? No! I have my own plans for him. What do you think?" was the response from the purple eyed shinobi. Haku stood up and prepared for a battle while processing the response. "Neither of those answers were directed at me." He jumped out of the way as more chains attempted to grab him or stab into him. His arms pushed off the floor just as Naruto landed, causing him to punch the floor instead. "I know! I know! I KNOW!" the blonde shouted before he rushed Haku once again. This time, however, he was interrupted by a kick in the face by Kakashi, who stood in between him and Haku. "Naruto, listen to me. Stay calm, " Kakashi said with his arms in front of him as a form of peace.
"She's gone! Gone! Dead! And it's my fault!" Naruto put both hands on the floor before chakra chains started appearing from the ground, forcing Kakashi to grab Haku and jump out of the way. "What do you mean they're coming!" Naruto shouted as he ran towards the pair. Kakashi went through hand signs and threw a fireball at the teen in hopes of slowing him down. However, the blonde kept charging straight through the fireball and grabbed Kakashi's head before delivering a knee to his face, sending him back. Naruto covered his ears. "Shut UP!" He didn't escape unfazed from the fireball as his left arm and his right shoulder were on fire! Slowly burning away his clothing and skin. He looked terrifying as his smile never left his. His eyes darted everywhere, looking for Haku. Kakashi, thinking fast, made a water clone and sent it towards Naruto, who grabbed it before it exploded, putting him out but infuriating him also. Haku this time threw senbon needles towards Naruto, not to kill but to incapacitate. His needles met their mark, disabling an arm, causing his attention to turn towards him. "You see what you caused because you all wouldn't listen!" He gestured towards his arm.
"Damn! He's already hearing them!" Kakashi thought to himself dreadfully. He stood up and looked for his student. He found him approaching Haku, still rambling. "NO! I don't care about the Aether! What? He lives? Who? Yes! STOP TALKING TO ME!" Naruto shouted before he was tackled by Kakashi. They tumbled to the floor with Kakashi struggling to restrain his student. "Where's that damned seal!" The silver haird nin thought to himself as he tried to find the seal designed by the Toad Sanin. However, before he could find it, his student started shouting again. "They're all around us! We're trapped!" Naruto was staring at the end of the bridge. Everyone turned to look and saw a mob of thugs alongside a small man in a business suit. "Gato?" Haku quetioned as he tried his best to stand. "Well, well, well, it looks like you guys weren't gonna cut it after all." Gato said before he waved his hand forward. One of the thugs moved forward and dropped a dark-haired woman at his feet. She looked a bit bruised, but Kakashi still recognized her. "Tsunami?" he whispered out in shock. "Damn, I didn't think to leave a defense behind!"
"Now then, where's Tazuna!"
Another chapter done. Trying to find time to write this story is starting to become difficult but hey better late than never! Rate, review it and all that good stuff let me know what you think. Like it? hate it? Don't care for it?