Chapter 50. Fall of an empire.

It was cold.

The once misty waters of the Wave country were now a winter wasteland. Ice-covered the surface of the water, stretching as far as he could see. Pillars of ice, remnants of an attack gave it an enchanted look. The mist that crept over the white plain froze all that it touched. Statues of clones frozen in place, littered the frozen scape. Proof of Naruto's struggle. It would have been beautiful if it wasn't so damn cold.

Kakashi has been to the land of snow, and that was a chilly breeze compared to this. Chakra coursed through him in an effort to keep him warm. And while it was keeping him alive, it was also a waste. If his Sharingan didn't drain him dry, the self-heating would.

He leaped out of the way of an attack from the sword's master. The executioner's blade carved through the ice surface as it swung past Kakashi. Zabuza glared down at him with wild eyes, before he attacked again. Kakashi remained on the defensive, choosing to dodge Zabuza's powerful swings rather than counter them.

The oversized blade slammed into the ice cracking it and revealing water before it froze. Kakashi leaped off the unstable ground landing a kick to Zabuza's chest as he went. The leaf jonin rolled away from Zabuza's retaliation and threw a kunai at him to stop any follow-ups. Blocking the kunai, Zabuza faded back into the mist.

Kakashi's single Sharingan gleamed through the mist that Zabuza had become. After his power-up, Zabuza had become a force to be reckoned with. He fired off Jutsu with no regard for chakra consumption and healed faster than they could cut him. And the problems kept piling up.

Asuma's grunt alerted Kakashi of Zabuza's attack on his fellow ninja. Turning quickly he bore witness to Asuma cutting down Zabuza before he turned to water and froze in place. Defeated water clones, or what's left of them, were plentiful on the ice plain. Zabuza had pulled a Naruto and kept producing Shadow clones to wear them down.

"Damn it so cold, after this in requesting a vacation on a beach." Asuma cursed, standing back to back with Kakashi.

"I'm surprised you'd go near water so soon, you're better off in a desert," Kakashi advised scanning the mist. "I think I'll have to take my cute genin's come where nice after this."

The jonin's readied their weapons as movement in the mist caught their attention. From the mist came an army of Zabuza clones. They charged at the two jonin with murderous intent. Asuma coated his blade in wind chakra as Kakashi's hand sparked with the Chidori. It was turning out to be a long day.

As Kakashi and Asuma faced a horde of shadow clones, Naruto and Sasuke were facing an equally deathly foe. The icy plain was their enemy as the two genin rain through the assault. Ice needles rained from above and ground spikes rose from below. The two weaved through it all and came out the other end with little damage.

Naruto ripped a needle from his shoulder and kept running forward. The goal was to reach Haku and put an end to this eternal winter. Said person was currently in a fortress of their own making, where they sent waves of attack down at them. Sasuke released a roar of flames at the crumbling pillars threatening to fall atop him. The structure turned to water before quickly returning to ice.

"Tsk."

Sasuke clicked his tongue and rolled out of the way. The pillar crumbled and he was running again. After attacking from a distance proved futile, they opted to attack directly. Rather Naruto declared he would kick the crossdresser's ass and charged at him, Sasuke was only there to back him up.

Naruto took out a fuma shuriken and tossed it over his shoulder. Sasuke, not being far behind, grabbed the blade and opened it. With a roar, he threw it at the train of ice spikes heading for them. "Fire style," he breathed. "Fireball jutsu." The blade was set alit and it sailed through the ice spikes and towards its target. As was the case with anything that got close, the flames were extinguished and the metal froze before falling uselessly to the ground. the attack was too close for comfort and Haku stood from his throne and glared at them. The malicious look didn't belong on Haku's soft face and looked out of place.

The ice user disappeared.

Naruto and Sasuke stood back to back ready getting ready for anything. Well, almost anything. Before their eyes mirrors formed a dome around them. Haku in all his glory, visible in each one. The ice user raised a hand filled with needles and threw it at the genins. From each mirror, needles flew towards the unsuspecting pair, who cried in agony.

They didn't expect the attack, though they should have. Blood froze on their skin as he bled. Needles of ice froze everything it touched and pierced. Sasuke quickly ripped the needles out before they froze him from the inside. He didn't worry about Naruto, who had a ridiculous healing factor. The blond's wounds steamed and the ice melted and froze.

Sasuke built-up fire chakra inside him to rectify the internal freezing. His blood ran from the scratches on his cheek but froze as soon as they left his body. He wouldn't bleed to death at least. Naruto growled at the ice user that once again rose his hand to assault them with needles.

They were ready this time, pulling out kunais to block the attack. Haku threw the needles and they moved to block against them. Needles scattered on the icy plain as the genin desperately blocked the onslaught from all directions.

Their lungs burned, their arms going numb as they panted. Haku attacked them continuously without stopping for a good ten minutes. By the time the ice user stopped, they were on the brink of collapsing. Sasuke grunted as his legs trembled with numerous ice needles embedded in them freezing him from the inside. He already lost feeling in his leg at this point. Black eyes glanced over to the blond and winced.

Naruto wasn't the best when it came to accuracy. Though he trained with Itachi and Sasuke on occasions he sucked at shuriken practice. Numerous needles were littered all over Naruto's body making Sasuke wonder what he was aiming at.

"Oy, Naruto," Sasuke called, about to ask how he was holding up when Haku spoke.

"Shall we continue?"

Sasuke clicked his tongue, this guy was toying with them. Another barrage of ice needles was aimed at them. Sasuke glanced to Naruto; the Uzumaki wouldn't be able to take much more of this, even with his healing factor. The needles flew and Sasuke readied for round two.

"Rotation!"

At the scream a burst of chakra surrounded them. Sasuke looked over at the blond who clasped his hand in concentration. The move wasn't really rotation shin Naruto remained stationed, but it served the same purpose. Naruto's chakra swirled around them forming a protective dome. The needles couldn't piece the wall of chakra and bounced off, scattering around them.

Sasuke took a breath and pulled the cold needles from his leg, trying to get feeling in it again. He was shaky but he made his way towards Naruto who was maintaining the barrier. He yanked out an ice needle drawing a groan from the blond.

"What the hell, Naruto, you'd think with Sakura's hellish training you'd know how to block by now," Sasuke complained as he pulled more ice needles from Naruto.

"He was aiming for you." Naruto gritted out his voice gravely. He winced as Sasuke pulled another cold needle out of him, only to pause halfway in shock. "I think your fireballs' got 'im spooked." Naruto grinned. "How 'bout we turn up the heat!"

Sasuke's savage smile matched Naruto's.

Flames scorched the air as Gato's hideout burned. Trees too close to the hungry flames join the fire festival. The flames danced as they greedily devoured everything in sight. Screams of their victims slowly began to die out as those still in the hideout perished.

Red eyes, which Orochimaru realized were the Sharingan, turned to regard him. The girl tilted her head to the side with an oddly curious look on her bloodied face.

"Have we met before?" she asked. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "I know you from somewhere."

Orochimaru wasn't surprise that she recognized him. He was an infamous shinobi, a legendary sannin. He couldn't help the smirk that played at his lips. How would she respond to finding out who he was? Would she be stroke with fear, awe, a bit of both? He focused his killing intent on her to see her reaction.

She flinched, and her eyes widened with recognition. The remaining conscious child, genin most likely, froze in place, unable to breathe.

"That's right!" she said, slamming a fist into her palm, a satisfied grin on her lips. "You're the pervert that goes around molesting little boys' bodies!"

Silence.

Orochimaru was speechless. Yet the child kept talking.

"Right, right, collect young boys and lock them up in your hideouts. You do sick things to them for your own enjoyment, I remember now." She crossed her arms and nodded her head. Mutely, he realized her voice had an echo of a man's, but all that was placed on the back burner.

She called him a pervert.

Jariya was the pervert; how was he mistaken for his old teammate!?

Gato and his useless bodyguards gave him questioning looks, already judging him without knowing anything. He didn't have hideouts filled with young boys; girls were there too. He didn't appreciate being accused.

Seeing no point to this, he attacked. He didn't attack her out of anger or embarrassment, no it was purely tactical. She was distracted, and so he took that to his advantage. Why did he use more than a dozen snakes wielding swords from their mouth? To be thorough, of course.

The snakes coiled around her and aimed for her head.

Slice! Slice, slash! In a flash of pink, his snakes were chopped up to the size of sushis.

Plop plop splat. They fell to the blood-covered ground, adding to the swamp of bodies. It was a reminder that this small child was the one that massacred Gato's thugs. The flames of what was once a building still burned bright.

"Right… you're into tentacles, aren't you," she muttered as pink petals formed blades behind her. "That's going to be a problem. I'm not fond of rule 34."

"Shinobis should never allow themselves to be captured?"

"I don't want to be one of your pet projects," she glared at him then. Blades floated like wings behind her as he took a step forward. "You aren't my target, but if you stand in my way, I will kill you."

He stood defiantly in front of Gato. At this point, he didn't care about the man left in his care. He just wanted to shut this little brat up.

She moved. Ripples in the blood tracked her movement until she was on him. Leaping in the air, she came down with an ax kick. He moved out of the way taking, Gato and his guards with him. Her heel didn't touch the ground. She japed her sword into the ground and used it as support as he kicked him in the chest before he could escape her reach.

Before he could recover, he was greeted with a barrage of kicks. He used his hands as guards only to grunt in pain. Her kicks were heavier than he expected. What was she made of!? He retaliated, sending snakes to retain her, but they were cut apart by her blade for wings.

He clicked his tongue. She leaped off his arms and narrowly avoided his sword. Saliva dripped from the blade he pulled from inside him. He swallowed the snake that came from his throat and licked his lips. This was him getting serious.

He went on the attack, a blade from her wings clashed with his. Sparks flew from their weapons. Her six against his one. He pushed her deeper into the forest and away from Gato. She frowned when she realized what he did and kicked off him, flipping away.

They both landed in a clearing and faced each other. He smirked and readied his weapon. She ran up a tree before leaping off, thrusting her sword at him. He blocked the odd move, but she gracefully landed on his shoulder and flipped away.

She spun off a free trunk and trust at him again, releasing a series of rapid trust before he retaliated. Her wing blades shielded her as she was pushed back. He didn't give her time to rest, speeding after her to continue their clash.

She swiped her hand, and the blades followed the movement. Orochimaru bent beneath the attack resulting in the slaughter of the tree around him. . The severed trunks fell to the ground behind him as she attacked once more. He kicked out but she grabbed his leg and threw him away. He right himself in mid-air and landed on his feet in time to block her dropkick.

He blocked her attacks as she got faster and stronger. Her misses leveled trees, and her hits broke bones; it was like fighting Tsunade all over again. He closed his legs around her waist and launched her into the air to create some distance.

Weaving through hand seals, he took a deep breath.

"Fire style, fireball Jutsu!" he roared fire at the girl in midair.

"Water style water wall." In defense, a wall of water formed around her and blocked his attack. Her water jutsu rained down on him. He was surprised she could use fire and water. Mastery in one usually met subpar in the other. This was getting interesting.

She stood on the underside of a tree branch looking down at him. It seems the time for kenjutsu was over. She released her hold on the tree and stood atop her blade instead, defining gravity all the while.

"Fire style, Raging flames!"

Fire rained down on him with incredible heat.

"Water style, Water tighter Jutsu!'" a tiger of water rose from the drips and ran towards the flames. It ran through extinguishing the fires and attacking the girl. It didn't reach far as she dropped, cutting through the Jutsu and diving towards him.

He smirked as a snake rose from the ground and attacked her. She clicked her tongue and spun, cutting through his attack like a drill. She continued to spin even as she shredded through his attacks.

He leaped out of the way, and she crashed into the ground.

"You're quite the problem," he muttered, taking out a handful of shurikens. As the dust settled, he threw them at her and weaved through hand seals.

"Shuriken shadow clone jutsu!" The shurikens multiplied as they honed in on their target. His shuriken hit their target with a satisfying stab. But the smirk was wiped off his mouth at the poof the followed.

"Senkei Senbonzakura Kageyoshi"

The sky darken and he was suddenly surrounded by a void. One by one pink blades lid the void, pointing their blades at him. Among the blades, she sat with her first on her cheek. Her eyes gleamed in the dark but she seemed bored.

Orochimaru looked at the array of blades aimed at him and smirked.

With a snap of her finger, the blades trusted towards him with lightning speed. His sword clashed against the blades as he danced around the rain of swords. He swatted them away as they came dodging where he can, never standing still. It was a sword dance if he'd ever seen one and it ended with an elegant stance. Like cherry blossoms, the swords lay scattered on the ground. He looked up at her pleased with himself. He believed that was her strongest attack, a one-hit kill.

Imagine his confusion when he saw a bloodthirsty smirk on her red lips. He wondered if it was blood or lipstick when his eyes widened in horror. New blades formed from pink petals, looking down he realized were from the pink blades on the ground. The array of blades reassembled for round two.

He clicked his tongue.

Before she launched another attack, her eyes looked off into the distance. Orochimaru couldn't see anything beyond the black void so he was confused.

"Tsk," she looked down at him. "Let end this here."

"Ryujin Jakka!"

The blades in the void caught fire with unbearable heat. The wet grass dried up and turned to ash within seconds of exposure. Even as his eyes were filled with nothing but flash his one thought was.

Snap! She snapped her finger and the flame blades flew towards him.

I've never burned to death before.

BoOoOm! An explosion shook the forest, throwing charred trees about. Smoke rose into the sky signaling to the world ground zeros location. Shikamaru looked horrid at the pillar of smoke rising from the forest Sakura was fighting in. Was it her doing or her demise?

He clenched his fist and rose to his feet. He was paralyzed by fear all this time, but he couldn't let Sakura's sacrifice be in vain. He took Ino and threw her over his shoulder. The bandits that escaped with them were distracted by the pillar of smoke, those that didn't run away with Gato that was.

Shikamaru turned and ran towards Tazuna's house.

Go to didn't stop to gap at the pillar of smoke. He ran through the woods and towards his boat. If he could get to it, he would be home free. His right hand couldn't keep up with him, because of the dead weight he carried and so he was left behind. The others under his employment chased after him and served as his new guards. He would be fine, if trouble came his way he could use them as meat shields.

He clenched the scroll containing his most valuables tightly for comfort. He was skeptical at first but conceded that it was very convenient. Having all his treasures in one place could be dangerous, but only if they know it's there. If they don't know his treasure is in the scroll they have no reason to sell it. Or at least that's what the handsome bastard said.

"Ahhhhhh!"

A scream of agony pulled him from his thought and he looked back to see a nightmare.

She was back.

Her blood-stained kimono now sported burns at the ends but she walked towards them unfazed and unharmed. Orochimaru was nowhere in sight. Had she really defeated him!?

"You bitch! I had friends in that place you burned down!" One of his men roared as he charged at her. There was a flash of pink and their body fell to the ground with several plops. The demon walked by the corpses unfazed, her eyes trained on him.

He ran for his life as his men attacked her in some stupid sense of revenge. Didn't they see what that thing can do? She'll rip them apart. He would tell them to run if their actions didn't give him more time to escape.

And run he did. His expensive shoe slammed on the ground as he hastily made a retreat. His heart beat like drums in his ear, his breath came in ragged pants. The sound of death rang loud behind him but he didn't look back. Despite his deafening heartbeat, he heard her footsteps as she trudged through the grass. Getting closer with each step.

The last man fell at her feet as he saw his boat. He was so close.

Something slammed into his back sending him tumbling onto the ground.

"Are you down running little pig?"

The voice was distorted, sounding like a man and a child at the same time. He looked back to the red eyes of a killer. A killer in the body of a cute little girl. This shinobi world was messed up.

"P please I can give you money if you spare me. Whatever they're paying you ill double it!" He pleaded money always solved everything. At least that's what usually happened. The demon remained unfazed by his offer.

"T three times!" He tried again. The demon stepped forward a sword in hand, already stained with warm blood. "Please ill give you anything you want!"

"Your head."

Before he comprehends what she meant all thoughts stopped. His world tilled as his head fell to the grass below.

She was barefoot was his last thought, before the world turned dark, and the void swallowed him.

RIP Gato you won't be missed.

Next chapter

January 25

We'll wrap things up then.

Ryojin Jakka is the name of Head Captain Yamamoto blade "Flowing blade-like Flame" if you prefer and it does what you think it does.