Killing Ground
Dreams are only realities that are not yet. – L. Polk
Sasuke watched his guards with contempt. Orochimaru felt that with the coming invasion, his prized Uchiha might feel the need to visit his old home. Like I would ever care about that place.
Memories of his teammates and teacher floated around, and his chest tightened. Sasuke took a breath and silently removed his blade from its sheath. Faceless guard number one cocked his head at the faint rustle of Sasuke's clothing, but he didn't investigate further. Sasuke smirked. Orochimaru has plenty of minions, he won't really care if I knock off one or two.
The Uchiha activated his Sharingan fully and charged the first guard. The man in gray camo spun at the last minute and blocked with a kunai. "Oi kid, Orochimaru-sama said you might try something. Back down, he doesn't want you out on the front lines."
"I don't care what that old man wants." Sasuke replied as he bent backward, surprising the guard with lack of resistance. The second one moved to intercerpt Sasuke but instead he found himself impaled on his partner's kunai. Sasuke flipped the sword handle around in his palm and spun, holding the blade diagonally away from his body. When the first guard attempted to grab hold of the boy, he failed as the blade sliced off his wrist. Sasuke looked like he was dancing as he avoided the attacks of other Sound nin, having been called because of the commotion. "This is boring. Can't you do any better?"
"Why you little… just because you're Orochimaru's pet don't think we'll let that slide!"
Sasuke's smirk turned into a mad grin as his Sharingan blazed and he charged the group. If I can't defeat these people here and now…there's no way I'll be able to stand against Itachi. This must be a test Orochimaru set up…and I haven't failed one yet.
Lee's green clothing blended in eerily well with the forest as he held still, waiting for the opportune moment. Ino had gone ahead to alert the village while he hid. I am Konoha's green beast; I stalk my prey, silent and skillful before striking. The boy watched the parade of gray camouflaged and grey clothed shinobi pass, undetected. When the last one had passed, Lee dropped to the ground and followed, a single kunai in hand.
Ino and he had been spying on the Stone Village, or rather Ino had. Lee merely took care of her body as she infiltrated the various villages. Iwa had actually been the third village they had scouted out, but the first to reveal hints of attack. The Yamanaka managed to take over an Iwa Chunin whose group was completing the paperwork for a large weaponry purchase. Lee had to admire the girl, she was an expert actress and it wasn't until she started asking questions that they realized there was an intruder.
Still, two undiscovered was pretty good in Lee's book. Ino barely managed to leave the body before it was killed by former companions. Lee had been holed up several miles from her position and it was an hour before she made it back into her body; meanwhile Lee had to defend her still form while being attacked by two enemy ninja.
The taijutsu user suffered several cuts, one to his hair, but by the time Ino woke he had finished off one of the shinobi and Ino blew up the second when Lee had him distracted. She rolled an explosive note into a ball and let it fall harmlessly beneath their opponent before setting it off with a simple ram sign.
Lee smiled as he remembered the hectic week that followed. The younger girl was nothing like his usual teammates. Where Neji and Tenten were quiet and thoughtful, Ino liked to put her own spin on things and let the fires of her youth burn widly. During the deadly game of hide and seek the border the two Konoha ninja practically took turns baiting the enemy and trapping them. Yet as skillful as she was at luring their pursuers out in the open she was equally capable at hiding and setting traps. No doubt a skill she had picked up from her old teammate, the Nara.
The green beast altered his steps to move in time with his prey so that they would no be alerted to his movements. It must be done. That is what a ninja is for, it is what we are. Tools of death. I am death. Lee raised the kunai and quickly crossed the gap between him and his unknowing victim. The blade bit into cloth and easily shredded the material in its quest to slice through the jugular. In a smooth motion Lee caught the body and fell back, bringing the Kunai across the throat as he did so in order to prevent his victim from screaming.
Lee's normally bright eyes watched passively as the life drained from his prey. It was not his preferred form of combat, but the situation called for more tact. Red blood poured out from the cut and Lee turned. "One down, a thousand more to go."
The hunter leapt up and continued pursuit of the larger group. Like dumb animals they ignored the drop in their numbers, and those in the lead went ahead unmindful of the losses to their rear.
Tsunade watched from a tower as civilians came out of their homes armed to the teeth. Small groups formed and took up easily defended positions, while those with bows reported to their assigned post along the wall. The sannin closed her eyes and held her arms straight out, palms facing the forest. Faintly, she felt them. Hundreds, thousands of shinobi of all skill level were coming to finish off the once proud Village of Konoha.
The healers nose twitched at the smell of tobacco smoke and the Tsunade turned to face her old teammate. "This is going to be messy. We might not survive."
Jiraiya blew out the smoke and looked out at the darkening sky. "It seems a bit early for nightfall. Is a storm coming, now?"
"The first wave has hit our outer posts."
"It would be troublesome if it rained."
Tsunade felt her hands become fists as she looked at the old man. Truly, he was the only one of their group to age well. Orochimaru had gone insane in his search for immortality and she herself had become trapped in a jutsu to preserve her body. Activating the seal on her forhead would give her power, but at the risk of aging faster. "Damn it! Are you listening?! To attack so soon, we are not ready for this!"
Jiraiya's eyes slowly focused on her, and he tapped the ash from his pipe out. "Tsunade-hime. I think you're forgetting something."
"What would that be?" She asked sarcastically.
"We have the will of fire. Quite literally. Nothing will beat it, nothing ever has."
She snorted leaned against the cold stone tower. "I think you're a dreamer. Even with two Jinchuriki, Naruto is harmed by using his and Gaara might kill us all if he goes into his perfect form."
The old hermit shook his head and stretched. "Hime, you're problem is you don't dream enough. I'm going to kill some people, care to make it a date?"
Tsunade blinked and laughed tiredly. He was always one to run away from responsibility or turn things into a game. Now, they were on the brink of war and he was flirting with her. If this is our last stand, it was a wild ride, and I think it was worth it to see Naruto so happy. Yes. It may have been short, but it was the best thing this village ever did. "Sure. Care for the first dance?"
"Of course, it'll be fun to surprise those damn rocks." The toad summoner leapt down to the outside of the wall and rushed into the forest, his female comrade close behind.
Naruto jumped to avoid the massive bolder that appeared out of nowhere, simultaneously cursing at the person who had thrown it. Violet eyes burned as the jinchuriki knelt with his face cradled protectively in his arms. Several kunai and shurikan tore through his jacket and buried themselves in his limbs; streams of blood burst out as veins were severed. Naruto laughed. He braced one hand on the ground and pushed, spinning his body away from the fountain of earth that burst forth in the form of a mouth searching for his body to swallow. Chakra tunneled down his arms forming red transparent armor that lifted the weapons free from the boys body but held them floating in the substance. C'mon Kyuubi! You wanted blood? We'll give it to them!
With a mad grin, Naruto held his arms straight, fists clenched, and spun like a top while unleashing a volley of burning projectiles. As he moved, the demonic chakra shot the weapons back in rapid succession as a gun. The blades cut through foliage and flesh equally as Naruto kept turning until his ammunition ran out. Several stone ninja leapt toward him in an attempt to overwhelm the boy with numbers.
Naruto felt his teeth lengthen as he ran to meet the charge, his bare feet tearing up the ground as he yelled in defiance. Emotions ran wild as his mind worked. He didn't hate his opponents, but he wanted them to suffer. He wanted them to beg him for mercy and forgiveness. The boy caught one punch with inhuman speed and twisted roughly. The chunin screamed as Naruto raised one foot and kicked him viciously in the chest while still holding the hand causing the shoulder to pop from the socket. With one quick twist the ninja's arm ripped free from his torso with a squelching sound and he crumpled, dazed, blood squirt out in a rythm as his heart pushed it through and out of his system. Adrenaline coursed through the dying man's body speeding the draining process and leaving his corpse pale in contrast with the ruby ground.
Naruto ducked a sword strike from behind and swung the bleeding arm as if it were a bat, successfully knocking his next opponent off balance. Three of the Iwa nin's had surrounded him as if preparing for some sort of containment jutsu. "Can't have that can we?" Naruto asked himself as his eyes took in the individual hand seals each nin made. "Kage Bushin!"
As Naruto cried out his jutsu three clones, complete with enemy limb raised, appeared behind the three Iwa shinobi and repeatedly beat their heads with the stolen appendage in an attempt to distract them from their technique. It worked. Naruto ran from the group as his clones were destroyed only to be stopped by a Sound nin. Rage burned inside him and he swiped at the man's face. His claws ripped through the mask and left a bloody gouge from the left eye to the mouth. The follow-up punch was blocked, but Naruto was not deterred. He twisted his fist until the grip loosened, then pushed forward to grab the man's wrist and pull him back, biting into his throat as they fell.
Naruto coughed up blood when he tried to push the dead body off, but he had literally been pinned to the ground. "Damn demon!" One of the Iwa nin's yelled as he shoved the katanna deeper into the Sound ninja, Naruto, and the ground. "Cut off his head!"
Panicking, Naruto look around and saw a woman approaching with a large sword. She was a stone shinobi and her grim features made clear that she was determined to finish him off. Growling, Naruto pushed the corpse as far up as he could manage while the Stone nin laughed at their impalement. Almost…there!
Naruto winced as he shifted his body to the right, allowing the katana to slice cleanly through his body. The swordswoman cursed as she hit nothing but earth and Naruto staggered to stand while attempting to keep his organs inside with his hand. "Give up boy, that's not something you can live from without a medic nin on hand."
"Say's you…" Naruto coughed and grinned as chakra pooled around his body and his blood boiled. The enemy forces watched in sick fascination as the Uzumaki's intestines slowly pulled themselves back into his body and the frothy blood turned to skin. Naruto crouched on the ground as the healing process ended. As the remaining ninja looked at their opponent, they knew it was the end.
How do we fight an immortal?
Teuchi rubbed his chin and leaned back. He was confident that he held all the cards, and that the Mizukage would have little choice but to acquiesce to his demands. The other man just didn't know it yet. Shino and Tenten stood on either side of Teuchi's chair. Both were silent and composed, though no forehead protector was exposed to show which village they hailed from. It was a poor attempt at deception, for Shino's clan was well known outside of Fire Country and while his attire fit one stereotype in civilian life it marked him as an Aburame in shinobi circles.
"Mizukage-sama. It is a pleasure to finally meet with you." Teuchi said with an inclination of his head. He didn't hear the quiet shadow steps of Mist elite surrounding the meeting, but he did see Tenten cross her arms and watch a point beyond anything he could see.
The majority of the Mizukage's face was veiled by a white cloth but his eyes betrayed his boredom. Obviously meeting with a civilian was considered a waste of time. The man took his seat across from the drug dealer. "Tell me, Ichiraku, what brings a humble ramen chef from Konoha to request an audience of 'immediate and utmost importance' with me."
He's trying to impress me with information. He knows both my recent profession and past from that…he wants to intimidate me. Teuchi smiled politely. "Simple really. I need you to sign over a few small islands to Konoha, as well as a permit acknowledging the right for her people to come and go through the port of Wave."
The eyes flashed dangerously. Kirikagure had suffered greatly during its civil war. Currently, they only possessed a handful of bloodline users, and those were only children that had yet to unlock their inheritance. Furthermore, Mist had an issue or pride when the villages of Cloud and Sound used the country of Water's inner turmoil to expand their own borders. Needless to say, the Mizukage wasn't about to let another rival village take any land. "You speak beyond your station, Old Man."
Even Teuchi, with his ageing and untrained body, could hear the scrape of metal on metal as weapons were unsheathed. As instructed, neither Shino nor Tenten moved. Teuchi merely gestured to a thick folder waiting at a desk. "Despite lacking any formal shinobi training, I have an old friend who owes me some favors. You may or may not remember him. He was known as The Rat back in his youth, and he easily got through your defenses." That's a lie; it wasn't easy, but Makoto enjoyed the challenge. "This is only a small portion of the information he managed to compile."
The Mizukage nodded to one of his guards and the masked elite checked the folder for traps. Finding none, he then handed the package over to the Kage who inspected the contents with growing shock.
Teuchi took a breath. This was the moment everything hinged on. "You'll find in there detailed maps – blueprints if you will – of the village and buildings as well as a list of active and retired mist shinobi. As I said before, this is only a small portion of the information he attained, the rest is elsewhere, along with copies of everything you see here."
The younger man closed the folder slowly with a barely contained anger. "Am I to assume you plan is to send the copies to all villages if we don't comply?"
"Perhaps. I only ask you listen to my proposal, doing so will assure that all copies will be burned. Only I and my friend have seen the papers, the two I have with me have not."
"Speak."
"Because of the drop in population, Konoha is looking for an alternative method of income. We have a solution, but it requires cooperation on Kiri's part. By signing over control of these islands…" Teuchi stood and pointed to a map on the far wall. It was old and out of date, but the land masses had not changed much since its creation. "Konoha intends to begin growing certain crops. It should be noted that of the six islands, only one of them is currently in use as a training ground. Konoha is willing to enter into a partnership, and offer 5 profit for the first seven years. After we have finished rebuilding we are willing to increase this to 25."
"Besides land, what would we be contributing to this…partnership."
"Perhaps boats, at the most. Business will be done mostly within Konoha and Wave. A small portion of what is being grown will be directly shipped to hospitals within both Fire and Water."
"Tch." The Mizukage shook his head in the negative. "Tough – the offer is tempting, as I see where it could lead – but I would decline. Our intelligence has uncovered a movement that would put Konoha currently under attack by the combined forces of Stone and Sound. The likely hood of the Leaf surviving this is remote. There would be no point to it."
Teuchi smiled sadly. They found out about the planned attack on their home last week, and Tenten had been screaming to go home and help fight. Shino had argued that they had to complete their mission first. Shino won. In the long run, they wouldn't make much difference and this mission would. "I fear, Mizukage-sama, that you are underestimating Konoha's people."
"What can they do?"
"You would be surprised."
Shikaku easily redirected the sharp projectiles aimed at himself and his comrades. They had volunteered to be part of the front line defense, mostly because the Nara had been a little tipsy. They would need a few jounin on the front anyway so the Stone wouldn't suspect anything. "Damn. Just where are these guys coming from…"
Nearby, the shadow master felt the ground shake as his friend utilized the partial mulitsize technique. Grinning, Shikaku lifted a gourd to his mouth and took a drink from its questionable contents. Over the years, it had been forgotten and written off as a myth, but the first Nara to use shadows as a primary weapon was an alcoholic. Shikaku knew this and used it to his advantage as a portion of liquor in the blood when battling increased the speed in which the shadows moved. He had tried to convince his son to try it; after all it wasn't too different from the Akamichi clan always eating on the job, but the boy refused to believe it. It is where the idea came from. He saw the shadows blur and move when drunk, and thus figured out how to use chakra to do it.
Shikaku knelt down as he felt the presence of shadows all around him. He instinctively knew which belonged to what through a vodka induced haze and quickly took aim for those of his enemy. shadows. "They're fast bastards, I'll give them that." Shikaku had spent so many years perfecting the technique he didn't even need to use seals to do it. "Kageshibari."
Instantly black tendrils jumped from the Nara to the dark shadows of the trees and traveled to their intended targets like heat seeking missiles. Distantly he heard a voice cry out, "Doton: Retsudotensho!"
"Shit! Cho!" Shikaku turned sharply, not caring that the action forced a number of Stone and Sound shinobi to run into tree trunks and fall to the ground. In his intoxicated state, he hardly noticed his body jerk in response to the feedback from the impacts. "Ino! 12 meters to the left!"
Choza cursed as the ground beneath him rippled and became a vortex attempting to pull him down. In this instance, his girth was working to his advantage, and he managed to wedge his staff between the roots of an old tree and use the leverage to prevent him from sinking further, only the staff wasn't meant to be used as such. Stress was building on the weapon and he knew it would break before long. "This is getting difficult!"
Inoshi ran through the branches heading for his target, the ninja supporting the jutsu that was threatening to crush his friend and teammate. "Shinrashin no Jutsu." Using the a family handseal to lock on his target, Inoshi's technique drove the enemy to madness. The ninja dispelled the earth trap long enough for the Akamichi to climb out, before turning it on his own comrades.
The Yamanaka held his technique until Choza arrived and split the Stone ninja's skull wide open with a well placed blow to the head. The two then leapt away from the brain bits, that resembled ground beef, and slowly led the invading shinobi into their trap.
Jiraiya formed a rasengan in his palm and shoved it in a Sound ninja's chest, ripping muscle and destroying the heart with a single action. Let's see, that makes…eighty five. The toad sannin felt his hand spasm and knew that it would be dangerous to make another sphere, so he would have to start varying his jutsu.
Absently, he jumped and performed a back kick, taking out some low level chunin as his wooden sandals collided with the man's chin. The planks broke, and Jiraiya bemoaned the loss of his favorite pair of footwear. Iwa ninja were much more physically tough than most. It was an annoying fact that the sannin discovered in the war between Konoha and Iwa.
"People, I am the GREAT TOAD HERMIT! This is insulting. Stop sending in all the low rankers!" Jiraiya yelled in frustration as yet another wave of genin and chunin appeared from the branches. The pervert clasped his hands together and whispered, "hari jizo."
His white hair moved as if alive and formed a protective shell of spikes against a barrage of shurikan, kunai, and sebon. Here we go again.
Naruto ran through the ranks of ninja like a madman. His claws raked along the flesh of his enemies cutting with ease, even armor did little good when he focused on it. Suddenly, the swarms of shinobi seemed to change tactics and put distance between themselves and the demonic boy destroying their people.
When several of the defeated began to rise, Naruto understood. It was all a distraction. The majority of those he had been fighting were only animated corpses, fodder until they were ready for their main attack against him.
Above, an Iwa jounin rapidly formed seals and cried out, "Doton: Doryuheki! Kaisei!" A stream of mud poured from the woman's mouth toward Naruto. The boy crouched to avoid the attack, but failed as another ninja forced the ground beneath him to rise and put him in the line of fire. At first it was cold, and Naruto was confident he could brush the mud off, when it suddenly hardened into a mound of stone.
"So this is the great and powerful Jinchuriki of the Ninetales?" Someone said snidely. The Jounin leaned against a tree, her eyes never leaving the struggling Naruto.
"Shut your mouth. Believe it or not, I have to maintain this or he'll break through. This kid has a lot more raw power then you can believe. Where is Orochimaru?!"
Naruto blinked. "Orochimaru? Then that means… Sasuke! Where is that bastard?!"
"Quiet!" A sound nin punched Naruto's exposed face, accidentally cutting his knuckles on the boys fangs. Some of his partners laughed, but the snickering came to an end as an ominous presence walked onto the battlefield. "Orochimaru-sama!"
"Snake bastard…"
Orochimaru smiled at the trapped jinchuriki. "How nice to see you again Naruto-kun. My old teammate is busy dealing with flies, so you see, no one can help you. Not even the fox." As the Snake sannin approached, a purple flame appearing at each fingertip, the small smile grew into a grin. The Iwa woman closed her eyes in concentration and the area around Naruto's stomach returned to mud exposing the seal. It had become blood red and pulsed with a warning to all that the Kyuubi was very much alive. "Gogyo Fuuin!"
Naruto shuddered as Orochimaru hit him with more force than was necessary, applying the elemental seal. The blonde went limp. "Is that it? Is he dead?"
"No. It's just the shock of the Kyuubi's chakra returning to the seal. You can kill him now, he won't be able to regenerate."
"Great." Orochimaru headed toward the village proper as his underlings closed in on the unconscious Naruto.
Naruto looked around and cursed every god he could think of. "I'm here AGAIN! Dammit!"
He began his trek through the sewers of his mind. Black mold grew along the brick walls and Naruto knew there was something wrong with his mind. Normally everything was simply wet and smelly, but the mold was like a vein of evil that radiated power. He didn't need to guess where it was originating from.
Naruto sloshed through the water tiredly. He felt drained and exhausted, like someone had just placed a huge weight on his shoulders after going so long without it. The entrance to Kyuubi's chamber glowed with a purple light reminiscent of the fire that formed Orochimaru's seal. Naruto stepped into the room preparing for another argument with the demon, when he stopped in shock.
The seal was not on the gate. Luckily the gate was still there, but only five flames danced around the lock. The Yondaime's seal had disintegrated, leaving only a faint discoloration to mark where it had been. Something lurked in the shadows beyond the bars, but Naruto couldn't see it. He swallowed nervously. "Kyuubi?"
There was a faint reply. "Here."
"Why aren't you, well, yelling at me and calling me a stupid weak human? I kinda need some power right now. I think they're about to put a lot of sharp pointy things in my body."
The presence moved toward the gate and Naruto gasped as the figure was lit by the sealing fire. No longer stood the great figure of the Kyuubi, mighty fox demon, and power incarnate. There was no sea of chakra battering the cage doors or a set of sharp teeth willing to devour the human. In their place was a figure that sent chills down Naruto's spine. Naruto stepped forward, his hand rising as the figure beyond the cage mimicked the action. It's like…like an evil mirror.
"I'm not evil."
Naruto instantly jumped back. "Stop reading my mind TEME!"
The figure looked down. "Evil is a relative term, you know. Someone who has killed in self defense could be considered evil by the friends of those he killed. Or someone who can only survive by stealing from those with more can be called evil by the standards of the rich. There is only power, and how we use it.
"This is a symbiotic relationship now."
Naruto felt cold metal form in his hand in response to his wish for a weapon in the mindscape. "What are you talking about?"
Kyuubi's new incarnation glanced at the five flames burning around the lock on the great cage. "It's been too long. I couldn't take over my host's body if I wanted to, his personality is the dominate one; I could never leave this cage. However, with the seal destroyed, I can flood his body with my power and influence his thoughts.
"I did not expect this influencing to work both ways. Hence we are now symbiont instead of simply demon and container." Slitted red eyes turned to examine Naruto. The figure behind the cage leaned against the bars and reached out with one hand. "We can win. As Symbiotes one cannot exist without the other, and that is our greatest strength! Help me, Naruto. Help me kill these intruders. Work with me willingly and nothing will stop us."
Naruto froze and stared at the Kyuubi. Truly, if the 'influence' worked both ways there was a visible product. The person reaching for him was the same height as Naruto, with short red hair and gold tips. Red slitted eyes and fangs. Indeed the figure looked almost identical to Naruto, only nine bloody tails hung behind the figure. He wore black jeans, but not shirt or shoes. The Uzumaki glanced down at his own clawed hands and felt his fangs with his tongue. He hadn't thought about it before. Am I becoming the Kyuubi? He's been changing my thoughts? I…I don't want to be a demon!
"You are not. You are still human. I am still the demon. Two separate entities, but we have to work together!" Kyuubi looked like he just swallowed a lemon. "Please… there isn't much time. You can regenerate, but not at the required speed without my chakra to back it up."
"Two different people, huh. Forever locked together?"
Kyuubi nodded.
"Then let's do this… partner." Naruto walked forward and took Kyuubi's hand. The demon grinned and pulled Naruto into the cage, wrapping his arms around the boy and completely bypassing the seal Orochimaru had in place. Chakra flooded Naruto's senses as his mind returned to the real world, his stone prison exploding under the pressure as the backlash gave the Jounin maintaining it a heart attack.
Ino watched from her position at the wall tower. The adrenaline in her system urged her to run – either to or from the battle – but she had to wait. She focused on her breathing to calm down and turned to the east. There! That's two! Further along the wall another Konoha ninja used a mirror to reflect light in her direction. A set of four flashes meant that everyone who had been deployed to the first line had returned, all that could anyway.
Ino raised her arm and the civilian archers hidden along the wall pulled their fire arrows from the lighting bowls and nocked them. The girl turned her hand, and like a ripple in a pond, the archers along the wall raised their bows one after the other. He was coming. He had to hurry, or else be caught in the flames. Out of the corner of her eye, Ino saw the west wall flash a warning to say that the enemy was almost at the wall and out of the fire range. Hurry!
The green blur broke through the lines and hit the safe ground. Ino used a technique that projected her voice all around. "FIRE!" Ino dropped her arm with the action and the archers released with a war whoop. The arrows sailed across the sky, small fireballs that served as both excellent distractions and an ignition of the second defense.
At different points along the wall, a flaming arrow landed in the formerly empty ditch, now filled with oil from the Toads. Flames spread out along the hidden ditches leaping up and burning those standing over them. Ino watched Lee scale the wall and sighed in relief. He made it back before she was forced to order release. "I didn't think it would work after we covered them." An archer commented to the side.
Ino picked up a crossbow and shot at a Sound nin that managed to make it through the firewall. "Misconception. It isn't the oil itself that burns, but the fumes. Since we only covered the ditch with branches and light soil, the fumes made it though and caught, burning through the cover and spreading along the top of the oil. Reload! Stand! Chose your target! FIRE!"
Unlike the first volley, this one was pure arrows without flames. For a trained ninja the arrows were a mere annoyance, but after breaking through a literal wall of fire they were much more than that. Those with an expert aim that managed to hit a vital organ did even more damage. Still, many of the enemy made it through the rain of arrows and began making it around the wall. Ino watched and decided they only had time for one last volley.
"Stand! Look down! Select target and…FIRE!" That knocked a couple off. They'll be more careful about scaling the wall now. "Groups A through D, retreat to your inner positions! E and F, back up those guarding the children!"
Like trained soldiers, the archers shouldered their bows and slid down the ropes prepared for their retreat. Some went to empty houses and hid in windows, others on top of buildings and still others simply vanished. The trained shinobi took their place, and Ino discarded the crossbow she had taken up in favor of more traditional shinobi weapons.
"Ino-san!"
"Glad to see you made it, Lee. Things are just about to get busy."
Sound and Stone shinobi screamed as the heat from the never ending field of fire fried their lungs and peeled away their skin. Some stopped before entering the field at the noise, only to regret the decision as an extremely powerful entity appeared behind them.
Thousands of the creatures, each expressing the same rage as the last, flushed the invading ninja toward the hungry flames searching for the one that betrayed them. It was a creature none of them ever heard of, a wicked amalgum of different animals with a hint of human. It was twice the size of a horse. Two burning eyes seemed to swallow the souls of those who found themselves caught in it's gaze. It balanced on four legs, the front two equipped with foot long claws and the back resembling that of a wild cat. Multiple tails swished and blurred into one another making it impossible to count their number. Ocasionally it ran on it's hind legs, but mostly it leapt to it's victims, and devored them. To accommodate the six inch canine's decorating it's mouth it would unhinge the jaw like a snake and swallow shinobi whole or in pieces. Those that attempted to flee the creatures found themselves pinned by spider like legs that would burst seemingly on their own from the chakra based fur.
A terrible choice. To be burned alive, or eaten alive?
The girl yelled and moved away from the angry man trying to kill her, though admittedly she wanted to kill him just as much. Her large sword whistled as she moved it through the air with jerky swings. A torrent of water burst from her opponent's mouth and she dropped her weapon in surprise as the jutsu encased her in a sphere of water. Panicking, she swallowed several mouthfuls of her prison.
"Nee-chan!" The enemy shinobi turned to see a set of knitting needles fly through the air and drive straight through his eyes and into his brain. He dropped dead, and so did the Jutsu. A woman knealt down, her face reveiling disgust as she attempted to pull her impromptu weapons from the skull. Her needles left a slight poppong sound as they dislouged from the man's head, but she nearly threw up when she saw that his eyeballs still remained on them, turning the knitting tools into some sort of macabre kabob.
The swordswoman fell to the ground and coughed up some water. "You okay? You look a little pale... Let's get out of here before more show up." The girl batted her older sister's hands away and picked up the broadsword from where she dropped it.
"Yeah." The older woman looked around, impressed and a little disturbed that the baby of the family managed to take out two Sound nin all by herself. Blood littered the streets like it had so few months ago, but this time they were strangers. She didn't know the names of the dead, and she really didn't want to. Steeling her courage, the woman closed her hands around the accusing eyeballs and jerked them from her weapons of choice.
Kakashi ran through the village, moving like the lightening his personal technique was named after, as he fought the Stone nin. He moved through the enemy faster than he remembered, but with Obito's sharingan it was easy to compensate. The offspring of Konoha's white fang was a bit confused why so many armed civilians were out but he didn't need to save nearly as many as he thought he would.
There was one with throwing daggers the Hatake judged to be jounin level, but his taijutsu was too poor to even be considered an academy graduate. Obviously something had changed while he was away.
"Shinobi-san!" A man cried to get his attention as he blocked a kunai with a bat and jabbed his elbow into the Sound nin behind. "I saw two cloaked ninja roof-hop that way. Black with red clouds!"
"Cloaked shinobi? With red clouds?"
"Yes!" The man spun and managed to kick a ninja in the chest, but the person was much more skilled than him and caught the foot while breaking it with practiced motion. "Hurry! Jiraiya-sama said they had to be stopped at all cost if they were sighted!" The civilian ignored the pain and took a cleaver from the ground, swiping at his enemy and forcing the ninja back. He hopped awakwardly and crouched facing the man.
The sannin? "I'm on it!"
"ITACHI!" Sasuke screamed as he saw his brother and his blue partner leap over and away from the fighting. He's running like a coward! Snarling Sasuke blurred and reappeared before the two Akatsuki members. His katana was bared and he watched his brother through full Sharingan eyes.
"Oh man. Itachi, can't you do something with this pest? He always appears at the worst moments." Kisame grumbled and gripped the handle of Samehada.
"You go on. I'll deal with him." Itachi spoke coolly as he sized up his younger brother. "You've grown Sasuke. However; this much is not natural, have you been doing drugs? Didn't mother and father teach you anything? Just say no."
"Shut up. I've waited my whole life for this day." Chakra wrapped around the blade Sasuke held and a faint buzzing and popping noise echoed above the sound of fighting.
"I'm curious, foolish little brother, what is it like taking orders from Orochimaru? Have you understood that only by killing what you hold most dear can you attain the Magenkyo?"
Sasuke answered with a lunge, his weapon cutting the air leaving behind the smell of ozone. Itachi dodged and danced around the swings suddenly spinning and releasing two kunai that deflected a pair thrown by Sasuke far earlier. "Tsk. Tsk. I invented that technique, though I don't remember teaching you."
"You didn't teach me anything." Was that a tear in the corner of the young Uchiha's eye? "You always said next week; later. Do you realize that you never even spent the day with me. Even when you volunteered to go to my Academy entrance ceremony father went instead of you. You didn't care!"
Itachi gasped as his arm seized in pain, and he was barely able to dodge the fireballs that leapt from Sasuke's mouth. He rolled along the tiles of the roof, before applying the Chakra needed to stop. Something is wrong! I need to get away from him…
"No you don't!" Twin snakes burst forth from Sasuke's sleeve and blocked the roof. Itachi gave a resigned sigh and turned his gaze on Sasuke, Uchiha blood limit at the max. The three commas' blended together, but Sasuke was ready for it. He closed the distance in a second by powering his legs with chakra, and turned at the last possible moment so his back faced Itachi.
Itachi Uchiha privately thought that Sasuke's technique was stupid. He still had the boy trapped in his genjutsu, it didn't matter if he was facing him or not. The katana charged with energy suddenly grew and crossed the few feet separating the two Uchiha, nearly skewering the older.
"Nice try. But this is where I…" The chidori?
Kakashi barreled into view, the Chidori bright in his hands and screaming warning to everyone in the area. Itachi's eyes widened as he saw the chakra in and around the jounin reach its limits. I didn't think he would be so stupid as to try this.
Sasuke felt the genjutsu fall and he turned to see his old sensei, looking like the scarecrow his was named after, charge toward them at full speed. What the hell is he doing?
Kakashi narrowed his eyes as his breath was coming in shorter gasps. Black cloak, with red clouds. Black cloak, red clouds.
"He's mine to kill!" Sasuke roared and moved to intercept his sensei. Itachi's mind whirled at the turn of events, and the pain in his arm began traveling to his heart. Everything blurred, and his chest hurt. Itachi crouched with one hand clutching his cheat. Sasuke turned his head and unconsciously whispered, "Nii-san?"
"That's it. Then. Damn." Itachi felt his heart stop and nothing was going to start it again. He had a minute at most before the lack of oxygen shut his brain down. He wasn't going to have even that.
As Kakashi approached the air around Sasuke seemed to shimmer in the Hatake's eyes. He saw himself standing there, standing over the dead body of his father after killing himself. You could have stopped it. "CHIDORI!"
Sasuke gasped as the lightening broke the blade he brought up to block, pierced his lung, and easily cut through Itachi's heart. Itachi fell to the ground, blood pooling around as Kakashi jerked his arm free of Sasuke's torso. Sasuke felt light headed, and staggered away from his sensei with shock written on his face. He didn't think the man would actually harm him.
Kakashi looked around once and fell dead, soon rolling to a stop beside Itachi's corpse. The final attack had taken all his chakra, all his life force to perform.
Hinata finished off the Stone nin she was fighting by sending a palm of chakra to his heart. Before his body could fall, she grabbed his wrist and draped his larger body over her back, effectively forming a human shield from the spikes of earth that were coming towards her position. Blood dribbled out of the corpse's mouth and began to sting her eyes.
Using her byakugan, she could see the man in the next building aiming his bow at the Stone nin throwing the jutsu at her. The man drew the string to his cheek with expert grace, and Hinata recognized the armor piecing head attached to the arrow. It flew through the air and bored into its target's spine, causing the body to thrash about before completely dieing.
Obstacle destroyed, Hinata shrugged her shoulders and dropped the body. Her back was covered in the blood of her victim that ironically came not from her attack, but its comrades. The girl pulled a dagger from her sleeve and rushed down the street finding the clusters of civilians that were fighting back and assisting them.
"Fuujin! Raijin!" Hinata called to gain the brothers attention. The energy leaking off of them was disturbing, and the young girl didn't like the look in their eyes. Blood dripped from Raijin's mouth and he held a human leg in his hand.
"Oh. Hinata-san!" Raijin looked down and hid the body part behind his back. "You wouldn't tell Tsunade-sama would you?"
The Hyuuga noted that the leg belonged to an Iwa ninja. If they hadn't started eating their own teammates then there was nothing to be worried about. At least that was what she told herself. Oni-sama would approve of it. Wouldn't he? It is funny, in a way. "What are you two doing?"
Hinata spun and kicked at the shinobi trying to come up from the ground and attack her. He crumpled under the force of her chakra enhanced kick. It was a wonder the man made it as far as he did. She scanned the area for more playthings and was disapointed to find none.
Fuujin held up a watermelon. "We're guarding the storehouse! Smart, huh? They've already tried to set it on fire three times! This is hungry work…"
She smiled at them, though the effect was hampered by the blood flowing down her face. "Good job! Well, if you don't need any help, I'll be off."
She ran from the scene and ended up linking up with Kiba. The two of them fought through the streets trusting the civilians to keep the houses clear. The Inuzuka stiffened and Hinata sighed as she was forced to twirl around him and fight off two attacking Sound ninja. Kiba started shaking. "Hinata, he's here."
The girl ducked a lethal wave of chakra enforced wind and struck with her daggers, slicing through the ninja's stomach. Acid poured out and Hinata back flipped while tossing her second dagger out to distract the remaining enemy. "Who?" She had some thoughts, and it had to be someone Kiba had met before. Either it was Sasuke, unlikly as the boy had never caused her teammate to grow nervous, or Orochimaru. The thought of the snake daring to come so far into her terrority forced her face to flush with anger. She needed to kill something else.
Akamaru bit Kiba's hand, succeeding in snapping his master out of his panic. "Orochimaru! I can smell him, he's been here."
"Damn. I thought he might come but… where's Tsunade-hime?" The slug princess sould deal with the traitor. Though skilled Hinata didn't believe she was ready to face someone with so much more experince than her, added to fact he probably knew much about her family style didn't help the argument. Frustrated, she almost missed the enemy heading toward their poistion. Hinata knealt close to the ground, months of teamwork drills overriding her thoughts, and felt the brief weight that signaled Kiba's foot leaving her back.
He had used Hinata as a springboard and leapt up to cut off the head of a shinobi preparing to attack them on a rooftop. With the threat dealt with the two moved on, picking up stray kunai and shurikan to replace those they lost on the way. "You know, one of these days we really ought to go through the forest with a metal detector... I mean even if it's all rusty the price for scrap alone..."
Hinata Hyuuga giggled. They came to an intersection closer to the outer wall and grinned. They had known it was an ambush, but headed for it anyway. What was life without risk? Hinata and Kiba faced each outher back to back, Akamaru balanced delicatly on his masters head waiting. Bloodlust thrummed through their veins. With an inhuman shout they broke apart.
Hinata worked around one nin's defenses and took out his arms, before leaping to avoid another. She spun in the air and lashed out with her dagger, and woudl have missed if not for the chakra that wrapped around and lengthened the blade. Upon landing she grinned and kicked, several images flashing through her mind. Draw them closer...
Kiba was having a blast. Akamaru had assumed his form and the two were vanishing and appearing at random throughly confusing the portion of invades that had chosen to come after them. Are we one, or two? They don't know! The dog user used the replacement technique and appeared beneath one of them. This is gonna hurt you a heck of a lot more than it's gonna hurt me. He pulled his leg up to his chest adn rammed it with accuracy in apoint most considered out of bounds.
"YOU LITTLE FUCK!!!"
Kiba grinned and quickly cut the mans ankles with a kunai before vanishing once again.
Tsunade and Jiraiya each stood atop old towers watching their foes. Orochimaru had already summoned a duo of giant snakes to help him against his former teammates, and now it was simply a waiting game. The slug princess shifted her weight and prepared to jump toward her enemy, when she suddenly felt the presence of an ally. "You should clear the area; our fights always seem to lead to massive collateral damage."
"Forgive me, Tsunade-sama but I think I'll stay as back up." Iruka Umino replied. He knew he was no where near Sannin level, not even Jounin, but there were a few things he was good at. It wasn't like he was only one that decided to stay near, just in case.
"Orochimaru! I'm will see that you die this day!" Anko crouched on a rooftop closer to Jiraiya, clutching her shoulder in pain. Her cursed seal was activating and causing great pain but the kunoichi refused to retreat. She would see her former master's downfall and revel in it!
"Anko-chan. Sorry to disappoint you, but I won't lose here." Orochimaru replied as his snakes hissed and coiled around the buildings his fellow Sannin stood upon. Jiraiya jumped and bit his thumb, running it along the length of the giant snake as he fell. "Kuchiyose!" Thousands of small toads appeared with a cloud of smoke all along the reptile. Each cried out and began harassing it in one way or another as their master aimed for Orochimaru.
Tsunade flipped off her own building, and came crashing down on the snake that had targeted her. The heels of her sandals broke from the impact, and the brown snakes head collided with the ground dazing it. Kicking off her shoes, the former Hokage rushed Orochimaru from the side, all the while creating handseals in an order he did not recognize. Jiraiya did, and retreated from his opponent with a well placed phoenix fireball.
"ANKO!" Tsunade yelled as she finished the last seal, standing no more than five feet from the man who betrayed and attacked their home.
Anko bit her lip and fought the pain. Whatever the jutsu Tsunade was attempting she needed her. The Mitarashi quickly moved over to the other woman and felt her hand be ripped from her shoulder and pressed to the ground. Foreign chakra poured through Anko's body, and she began to shake as memories of the curse seal surfaced. "It hurts."
"Stay with me, Anko. Kuchiyose: Yato-no-kami!!"
All around the rooftop puffs of gray smoke announced the arrival of…something. Orochimaru looked around and gasped as he saw thousands of tiny decaying snakes appear and head toward him. A double summoning?! But those can't work if the contracts are different! Anko shuddered and felt Iruka cradle her against his chest and leave the field. "Mmm. No. Have to, see."
The teacher looked down. "I understand. We still need to get out of the way. I don't know what Tsunade-sama did, but I think she used your snake connection to bring something here. I've never seen them before." The woman turned her head to watch the battle, faintly noting that her seal no longer hurt.
Orochimaru backed up as the tiny corpse snakes moved toward him as a wriggling mass of worms. Venom dripped from their mouths and ate through the concrete; even Tsunade had retreated from the area. The previously summoned snakes let out a shriek as they smelled the smaller ones and vanished. What are these?
"This is where you finally die, Orochi-kun. These are not the usual animal lords your friend has summoned. These are GODS. Gods of death…gods of famine…they are your undoing."
"I will not die here. I am the Master of Snakes. I hold the scroll!" Orochimaru cried and quickly summoned several fire vipers to burn the monsters surrounding him. The vipers flicked their tongues and spasmed once the scent of their enemies reached them. One fell under the undead bodies and was quickly devoured. Fire did not harm the creatures. "Impossible!"
"You know…I'm out of here. My grandmother once said these things poison the land they inhabit for years and will steal the soul they capture for endless torment."
Gen'yumaru? Wait! How do you defeat them?
Orochimaru screamed as minute fangs sunk nipped at an ankle, drawing out his very chakra. The Sannin kicked the thing away and tried to avoid the creatures but Jiraiya kept him pinned.
It was not to be a pleasant or a quick death.
Temari rested her fan against the ground and glanced down the street. A few buildings had been torn up, but for the most part their new home remained whole. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and sat on some rubble. The smell of ash was heavy in the air, and she longed for a bath.
"Temari?" Asked a rough, tired voice.
The girl sighed and turned to the person, and froze. "N-naruto?!"
The boy tilted his head, causing blonde-red-tipped hair to fall in front of his face. His eyes were nearly red with a blue ring and slits. The whisker marks had faded, but were replaced by a much more obvious mark of his demon. Behind him a single red tail swept back and forth as if it had a mind of its own. Naruto shuffled over to the older girl, his eyelids dropping. "I'm…really…sleepy."
"Naruto! Someone get help!" Temari screamed as he fainted into her arms, face planted between her breasts.
THE END!!
Revised July 18, 2007
Kudos go out to Ashmo, Justin, and Islaglatt. They did the job of beta wonderfully.
A/N- Without the note, this chapter is 7,918 words. It could have been longer, but I refrain from giving everyone a fight scene. Not only would it be too much trouble to think of them, but that would make this span 20+ pages. It's already on 13. I'll let you wonderful people use your own imaginations as to how the other battles went. I thought about having a scene where Udon uses his chakra spear to create a wall of earth to protect the little kids, but… naw. Kisame has left the village. In an off camera shot he witnessed Naruto, surrounded by Chakra, walk straight through the firewall. Itachi is dead. He won't be coming back. Sasuke isn't quite dead, and if Kabuto manages to get to him fast enough he won't die. I was thinking about a third installment, but I don't know. I want to finish other stories first.
Lets see, Tsunade's technique is what I like to think of as a Team Summons. Basically it's an altered way of summoning that would have been written in the Scroll of Seals, which both Jiraiya and Tsunade have seen. The person performing the technique uses another as a medium and can summon anything they wish associated with that animal. For instance, if this was a crossover she could force Kakashi to summon Inuyasha. Or Gai to summon the ninja turtles. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!!! God that was such an awful movie! XD
I was looking up Yokai on wikipedia after watching 'The Great Yokai War'. This is what wikipedia had to say on Yato-no-Kami: Deadly snake gods infesting a field. So in my head that translated into snake Shinigami that kill everything they come into contact with.