Back again with another issue of Redemption. I must say that this was somewhat of a force chapter, but I'm quite content with the results. I'm still not back in my comfort zone regarding the rather undeveloped vocabulary I use, but I'm slowly getting back to it while I walk back towards my own flow and inspiration strikes.
Before I let you read, thumbs up and a cookie for the8anarchist! The man deserves it! He was the first one to discover the other series this series is crossovered with. I might not move it for another chapter to the Crossover section, just for tradition's sake.
Now, enjoy Redemption 19!
In all his years as a shinobi, Kakashi Hatake had only encountered this kind of barrier once before in his life. And that instance was laced with grief as it was the same day the Sandaime was lost to this world. It rang many bells, as it was obvious, since seeing a repeated dose of this brought back those deeply burned memories.
Standing close to the chanting enemy nin, he grumbled at his impossibility to act. It didn't mean that he didn't try. Oh, kami, no. He wasted at least half his ninja pouch and two Jutsu to try and cease them from this ceremony.
It proved to no avail. Odds were, they had no choice but to wait for it to finish and pray that nothing overly disastrous happened to Konoha.
It was frustrating that once he had figured out how they were going to infiltrate their defences, they had already done so and proceeded to enact whatever their agenda entailed. It was under this stressing matter that he decided this needed to be put forth to the Hokage. The more information she handled about this invasion, the better decisions she could take.
Sometimes even war veterans like him overlooked some things.
Thus, he grudgingly left the site of the arch and proceeded to Shunshin out of there in direction of the Hokage's Tower.
*****
It wasn't the first time her mind reaffirmed this, but Yamanaka Ino was not a happy camper. True, her skills in close combat were nowhere near what Lee or Gai had, but her development of her skill certainly helped with sky-rocketing her survival chance to an impressive digit. It was also thanks to this that she had also grown a sense of thrill and adrenaline rush while fighting for her life with a kunai in hand.
Comparing that to using guerrilla tactics against the offensive force was not what she expected of herself. Though it did fulfil her expectations of what a ninja should do.
Hiding in a nearby bush, she watched as the offenders rushed and fell to the traps like lambs to the slaughter. It had been easy. Almost too easy. The way they carelessly pushed forward without any care for defence was only a mistake green genin did, not fully-trained shinobi would do when invading another hidden village.
Watching the one she supposed had the highest rank of the group, she waited for her chance to catch her prey unguarded. She waited as she peered around and ordered a few of her underlings.
"You, you and you! Go to that building and see what you can find! You four! Go ahead and prepare for the opening. You two, you're with me. We're setting up another site here."
The opening? What did she mean by that? The ominous arch that had mysteriously risen in the centre of Konoha a few minutes ago sprang to her mind. Perhaps these guys know what this might do? Not needing to clear it with Shikamaru (He was slowly prowling to set up another trap when the others had left and finish this three off), she placed her hands in the usual seal for her family's trademark technique.
"Shintenshin no Jutsu!" She whispered harshly and felt the usual pull her mind did when leaving her body. Laying on her stomach within bushes was the perfect cover, since now she was laying motionlessly and she appeared dead to all lookers. Only observant and knowledgeable people or who knew her could assume correctly.
It took only an instant to travel the forty-five feet distance separating both females. However, once her jutsu made contact with the Jōnin, she felt strangely detached and instantly another pull from far away made her travel a much longer distance.
Once she opened her eyes, she was in the forest of Konoha a mile from the city. What is this? She could see a few others sitting in a lotus position holding a scroll in a ram seal with their eyes closed. There was a strange feeling that part of her was far from here but she ignored that as something known.
It felt exactly the same as the Kage Bunshin technique she had pilfered from her sensei after seeing Naruto's success with it.
An Oto shinobi appeared in her line of sight and offered her a soldier pill and a sympathetic half-smile. "Tough luck. Rest up for a few minutes and prepare for the second phase. Team 1 managed to dodge those Konoha bastards. It was expected, though. Those idiots have a full arsenal of burrowing Jutsu, after all." He spoke, trying to make small talk but she grunted and sluggishly raised to her feet, quickly swallowing the soldier pill and feeling her limbs back to normal.
Looking around, Yamanaka Ino couldn't help but be surprised at the full battalion of ninjas sitting in an enormous square formation, all holding a scroll, sitting in a cross-legged stance and with their eyes closed. Some even had bullets of sweat rolling down their faces. The strain of whatever technique they were doing was gigantic, it seemed.
She wasn't stupid enough to ask what they were doing, since she was supposed to know, but nodded and marched towards a big tent visible in the back with the scroll firmly grasped in her hand. Whatever technique they were doing had to be explained in this thing, and she intended to sort out this whole thing before things got out of hand.
Entering the tent, she came immediately face-to-face with one Yakushi Kabuto, who merely raised a brow at her and said nothing, motioning to the dozens of resting beds for her to use. Resisting her urge to put some pain into his system and perhaps end this traitor's life, she steeled her feelings and face and walked to one of the beds and laid down, closing her eyes.
Kabuto fumbled around for a few more seconds before leaving in a rush when he finished reading something on a scroll he had taken with him. No doubt he had ran off to Orochimaru's side. Fuckin' lap-dog…
Wasting no more time, she immediately set to work and opened the scroll, intent on studying this as quickly as she could to try and maybe understand what was truly happening in the invasion and their reckless but astoundingly effective invasion technique.
Just reading the first line confused her and made her furrow her brow.
"Munashii Bunshin no Jutsu" (Void Clone Technique).
This…
Didn't bode well.
*****
The fox clone avidly scourged the top floors of the Hokage Tower, intent on finding the assured saviour of the three idiots back in the office and his own life, of course. It obviously entailed dodging the bastard that back-stabbed his container. He was in no position to exact revenge, especially when something as simple as an inch-deep wound would disperse him.
He already had to hide behind a desk to avoid being detected by a patrolling ANBU. It didn't fit with how an ANBU would be patrolling the tower while in the middle of an invasion. It made absolutely no sense. The only possible reason was that there might something of value in there to guard, but aside from scrolls that were heavily guarded (He had found out that when Naruto first broke in here to graduate from the academy), there was nothing else.
Perhaps a few blades or distinct weapons, but he was sure there wasn't anything here of that value. The only other logical reason was to keep unwanted people from speaking to the Hokage.
He could only think of two or three people that at the moment fulfilled that requirement and they were currently dying in the Hokage's office.
Remembering his jailor, he frowned and silently passed the guard when he walked past the desk he was hiding behind. One of the advantages of having an animal body was that hiding his presence was made awfully easy. Thus, he managed to pass the corridor and quickly slipped into another room, awaiting his chance to finally move ahead.
The stairs to the roof were only a few turns away, but the two guards would prove to be his doom if caught. Looking around the current room with his enhanced sight, he only saw what could only be a meeting salon. The only off-thing from the otherwise immaculate place was the few boxes that currently sat neatly on a corner.
He didn't wait anymore to take his chance. As difficult as it proved to be, he managed to pull the top box (That thankfully only held a few scrolls that he moved away) and place it on the floor soundlessly, his tail being of great aid. It was another whole devastatingly tiring task to put the box upside-down and remain inside. With a few nibbles on the cardboard and spitting it out, he made a few looking holes in all four directions and slowly proceeded to progress in his quest to reach the Hokage.
Peering through the holes at the entrance to the room, the fox checked before the coast was clear to move ahead and stopped in the middle of a corridor, next to another box that held a few successful missions, according to the note on the side. He patiently waited for the guard to move away and through the corner before rushing ahead and halted before the last junction.
The last guard suddenly appeared from the way he had to go and halted in front of the stairs. The fox glared daggers at him for not moving but he almost killed him with the withering look he sent when the guard proceeded to walk up the stairs and opened the door to the roof. The ANBU exchanged a few words with the standing guard outside the door and then walked back into the complex, slowly walking back down the stairs and past the fox.
The Kyūbi idly noticed that he had forgotten to close the door and saw this as his chance to finally save his jailor, forgoing his hiding pseudo-garments, he rushed forward as fast as he could.
He reached the base of the stairs in a flash. Leaping through the steps, He quickly reached the end of the stairs and was about to take another jump into the approaching brightness of the day when the ANBU that had went past him blurred in front of him and with a quick slash opened him perpendicular to the ground. A second later, both parts of fox cleanly disappeared in a plume of smoke. It barely being seen by occupants of the roof.
"Sorry, kit. Mission failed." He grumbled back inside his cage.
*****
For one Kazama Arashi, life couldn't have been weirder.
First of all, he barely remembered how he came to be in Konoha. With only fading mirages as memories of his parents and a very solid picture of an orphanage for an upbringing, he soldiered on through his young life with a grin plastered on his face and immersing himself in his ninja studies to one day find out what happened to his parents. As time passed on, the Second Shinobi War passed through in a breeze with him being a mere spectator of its horrors. A few months after he became chūnin, he met one Uzumaki Kushina, which he promptly listed off as a simply pretty transferred kunoichi and paid her no mind.
First big mistake.
Arashi hit Jōnin soon after that and for the first time had his ass handed to him when he was taken by surprise. Obviously, he had underestimated his opponent. Not that it would happen again. The fight had lasted barely more than thirty seconds, but it was enough for the Uzumaki red-head to overwhelm the future Yondaime. That was when his sights were firmly poised on the woman and his interest was picked.
It wasn't until at least a year later that they dated, and it was only because of a bet they had that Arashi wouldn't be getting a Genin team until he hit at least the two-year mark.
She didn't complain much at having to pay up.
That meeting had ended up disastrously funny. Arashi had gone far beyond to set that night to be one of the most memorable they could have. And in a sense it had. Just not in the way he wanted it to be. First, the waiter had bathed him in scalding soup when he tripped on a fallen piece of bread from another customer in the fancy restaurant.
This elicited the first giggle from the redhead while the blond would be seen fuming and glaring the ever-apologizing waiter to death.
One upside of that was the lack of having to pay the bill as an apology from the establishment. Of course, they were respectful and had a very light dinner, since they knew the waiter would have to pay for it and it wasn't really his fault for not having seen the bread.
Under the discretely thankful gaze of the waiter, they left and just as they crossed the Inuzuka kennel, Arashi had to run for it when the dogs within caught scent of the beef-themed soup he was soaked earlier with.
Second giggle from Kushina, this one nearly bordering a laugh.
After he had managed to ditch the canines and managed to put them in their respective kennels thanks to a young Inuzuka Hana after giving them some food, he came back to the pretty redhead's side and continued walking towards the park. That travel had to be peaceful, he prayed, since all had gone downhill for him that night.
Just as things were beginning to look up for him, a man scurrying away passed by him.
It was then when the night became hot.
Hot as in Gōkakyū hot.
One of the Uchiha Police Corps had been trailing the robber and decided to stop the man in his tracks with a light fire Jutsu. Of course, he had miscalculated the chakra he put in the Jutsu, the trajectory of it and the robber's surroundings before using it. Arashi blinked once for an instant before his mind caught up with the pain and he began running in circles yowling in pain and then rolling on the floor to put the fire off.
Third giggle, finally breaking down in a heartfelt laugh before she launched a weak water Jutsu to aid her date.
The scorched-black Arashi lying on the floor sent her the same look the waiter had when they left the restaurant. His eyes were the only non-black coloured of his body. Once he had recovered a second later, he turned on the eight-year-old looking at the blond in fright of what his actions would do.
The first and only night one Uchiha Itachi feared for his life as the irate blond marched up to him, Kushina having quickly knocked the robber out.
Of course, being Arashi who he was and how young the just-accepted-into-the-corps Uchiha was, the man smiled understandingly and let the boy off after he gave him a good and lasting nudgie for good measure.
After grinning at the embarrassed raven-haired youth, the dating pair waved him off when he marched with the robber to impart proper justice before the pair continued their march and reached the park. Just as the duo set camp on one of the many benches and proceeded to look up to the beauty of the past, Kushina felt something cool land on her nose, rapidly followed by many others.
It began raining.
Mentally, Arashi cursed in every language he knew, using a wide array of expletives a sailor would be impressed and hard to come by. Instantly, he had removed his long all-white overcoat and used it as an umbrella for her. Smiling at his chivalrous gesture, she stepped closer so the coat covered the two of them and motioned for him to follow her back to her place, since it was closer.
Nodding both at her command and at finally having some shade of good luck, the pair soon arrived soaked to the bone at her doorstep.
She soon scurried away within her abode, leaving the Hokage-to-be stumped by her brashness. Just as he was considering leaving disheartened, she returned in a flash with a towel and quickly ushered him inside.
That date had finished with laughs, two teas and a chaste kiss.
After that things quickly spiralled in a happy-go-lucky fashion as time blurred, only marred by a very dark happening. The Third Shinobi War, which he had come back as the hero and mourning the loss of one of his cared for underlings.
Those few years that the war lasted would forever be burned into his memory. They marked and showed the world who he was. Soon after, the mini-war within Konoha's best raged for the title of Yondaime Hokage, with him rising as the victor over Hiruzen's apprentice due to the old man's own choice. He didn't quite understand much his decision since he hadn't explained it very well in public and he supposed he hadn't explained Orochimaru either, taking into account he went nuke-nin the following week.
And thus, he had become the strongest and most respected person in all of Konohagakure no Sato.
Of course, this went hand-in-hand with finally being able to secure a firm and ever-growing relationship with the local redheaded tomboyish kunoichi.
Needless to say, Arashi was in cloud nine for several months, even more so after the news of her going to have his son in the next few months. His anticipation as her belly slowly grew in size and her mood swings became more apparent almost became palpable near the last weeks.
The final two days, when she was expected to delivery anytime soon was when disaster struck and it forever changed their lives. Word soon got into his office that someone had managed to warp within this world the Co-Ruler of Hell, the Kyūbi no Yōkō and it was in a direct road towards Konoha. Not relenting in the least but also not hurrying in the least.
Uzu no Kuni had been the first casualty, and he would be damned if he told that to his now secretly-wed wife. The shock of her home being destroyed in single night might be too much for her and her emotions were already tense with Naruto's birth coming soon.
So, he locked himself up with at least forty Kage Bunshins, working furiously within the most obscure sections of the Konoha library and the Hokage's personal library. It sucked up most of his time but in the research he managed to do, an astounding two-thousand, five hundred and thirty eight scrolls having been read in the space of a day, he could only come up with one word and one method.
Jinchūriki and Shiki Fūjin.
Also, there was stated the payments for the creation of a Jinchūriki. His own life, but he didn't put much value in that. He would gladly give his life to protect his wife, his unborn son and his village if need be. It was the other cost that made his blood run ice-cold.
A newborn.
There was only one child to be conceived in Konoha in the next two days was one Kazama Naruto.
Convincing Kushina had been a heart-breaking event. Hell, convincing himself had nearly torn his heart apart.
Sacrificing his son for the well-being of the village? What was he thinking?
It still needed to be done.
Working with around two-hundred Kage Bunshin (nearly exhausting his chakra capacity), he worked around the clock for a counter-measure that would aid his son once he was gone.
The Hakke no Fūin Shiki and the Shishō Fūin were born from that project, thirty minutes before the Kyūbi kindly knocked on Konoha's doors.
His heart was shredded once he had his son after being delivered by a now-unconsicous Kushina and was facing the fox on top of Gamabunta's head.
He didn't try to reason with the beast, though he knew that it was intelligent and was capable of talking. He had heard his mockings while he approached. His heart had been under too much of a beating lately and it demanded this to cease at once. He felt all too happy to comply and motioned to do the Shiki Fūjin…
Shaking his head off that trip down memory lane, he focused on the sight in front of him.
His son was dying from blood-loss and his measure for helping him wasn't working. The undiluted horror and irony of finding him in such an state in the office he had once sworn to protect didn't escape him and the stake currently stinging his heart started twisting slowly. The night of the sealing wasn't even close to what he was spectator to now. The son he loved so much was dying and unless he did something, he would be the one to pass away instead of him eighteen years before. Falling to his knees, the tears were rapidly rolling down his cheeks and he broke down in sobs before the crushing reality called him back.
Recovering as much as he could from the scene of the unconscious forms of the three fallen shinobi, he didn't need further prodding to immediately shoot out of the window and with two quick Hiraishin, he landed next to the Hokage, startling her.
"Arashi! What are you doing here?" She quickly inquired, seeing his face.
"Naruto, Jiraiya and Yugito are dying! I need you now!" He exclaimed powerfully, her mind unconsciously remembering his time as the Yondaime. But soon what he said registered in her mind and she hopped to her feet, concern gripping her heart and mind. No one touched her Naruto or her Jiraiya and lived to tell.
"Where are they?" She said dangerously calm and Arashi was internally relieved. Heads would roll once they found out who did it.
"In your office. Hold on." Using a Hiraishin kunai he had left in her office, they were there in the blink of an eye, the dark room contrasting heavily with the brightness outside. At first, the change of scenery blinded them and slowly they adjusted their vision to the room. Just as sluggishly did they finally notice the three prone figures on the floor, two sitting against a bookcase and close.
It took Tsunade three seconds to recognize the state they were in and seven more to come out of her shock and start issuing orders. "ANBU!" Instantly six masked shinobi phased in front of her. "I want these three transferred to Konoha Hospital at once! No one but medical staff is to approach them!"
The nin didn't need to hear more as they carefully heaved one person per pair and vanished in a plume of smoke.
"Who…" She let out before her own choke silenced her. Just the image of the state the three of them were was enough to bring tears to her eyes. "Who did it?"
"I'm still trying to find out. Once I do…" The sheer message of a threat carried away in the wind, the faint sounds of battle and loud explosions barely made a dent on its intent. For the first time in over twenty years did Arashi resemble the so-called Demon Yellow Flash Iwa knew him as. Tsunade held his memory with care and a certain kind of aunt-ish affection, but even she was somewhat afraid and certainly not one bit jealous of the person responsible for this heinous act.
"Arashi. Let's go. I have to take care of-" At that instant the small slug that comprised a part of Katsuyu spoke.
"Tsunade-sama. We are set all over."
"Finally some good news! Tell them to give me what info they can. Especially on what tactics they are using and what the hell is that arch in the middle of the market." The Godaime Hokage ordered as she half-forced, half-motioned Arashi to start moving towards the Hospital. At least now the network was online now. That signified some sort of strategy was in order and not some distant cells of operation.
As they sprinted away from the tower, she was updated as to what was happening around the village by several people.
"Tsunade-sama. Kakashi-san says that there are invaders chanting around the slabs of the arch and they are protected by a type of immolation shield. Nothing can get close. He speculates that they are putting energy into it either for a mass explosion or some sort of spatial distortion for a forbidden summon. Either way, he says that the result will be disastrous for us but we can't do anything to stop it."
Senjuu Tsunade cursed like a sailor at this. What exactly was that ex-team-mate of his up to now? He was the only one she knew that used that kind of shields. Why did he invade them again? The slug interrupted her thoughts again.
"Tsunade-sama. Yamanaka-san has some… interesting news…" At her impatient nod, the slug remained silent for a few seconds and resumed speaking. "It seems she used her family technique to enter the mind of an invading Jōnin and discovered the truth behind this attack."
"What do you mean? Truth? They are attacking recklessly!"
"Tsunade-sama… They're using clones." They halted before hopping to the next rooftop. What? "Yes, Tsunade-sama. They're using a special clone technique. It's based on Kage Bunshin but somehow it can withstand more hits and when it dies, it takes a while before they gradually fully disappear, or so she says. Downside is that only one clone can be used because of the concentration needed. Also, from what she found, they use a cyclic move, when one clone is beaten, the next one from the same person goes to another gate. Also, the chakra cost is relatively low, so they can keep going for a while… That's all she has for now. Her crew is already moving on towards the invading camp, trying to stop them using explosives."
"I see. Tell her to take whoever is willing to aid them from the defending gates. Get Kakashi to follow them. If he can't do a thing about the arch, he better make himself useful by decimating their numbers. Also, inform all of our shinobi of the clones and order them to leave no prisoners. If these are clones we're handling, then we'll use this to our advantage and have no qualls in using any underhanded tactic we can use." She finished issuing the orders as soon as they reached the hospital and they were rushing towards helping the three injured ones. Of course, the hospital was bustling with people with wounds of varying degree. Instantly, her presence raised the morale of the doctors and they worked slightly more efficiently.
"Yes, Tsunade-sama." The slug replied before proceeding to do what it was tasked with.
If the Arashi-flashback was irritating, sorry. But I needed to add emphasis on the feeling of despair that boarded him after seeing his sole offspring laying half-dead in the place he had worked for years. It needs more pressure on the man, but I just can't focus enough on it to make it like it should be done.
Also, Konoha found out the Oto-Iwa tactic they were using and why they were attacking head-on without a care in the world. But be calm. This is just the first phase of the invasion. Phase two is where things get TRULY interesting and it starts next chapter. Be prepared. Old foes will come back and many surprises await you readers. Au revoir and godspeed.
Later,
Soulcry.