(Arc 4 - Attack - pt 3)
My part of the world hasn't been put under quarantine for the Corona virus (COVID-19), but there's, like over 50 cases in my area. So school's cancelled for two weeks. I have a lot of time on my hands now.
Make sure you guys stay safe and healthy!!!
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Sakura
There's a barrier around the Hokage-sama. Nobody knows what's happening inside. It was all fogged and nobody's able to see anything. Nobody is able to get in.
Sakura wanted to do something, but she knew that she couldn't. Nobody was able to at the moment.
The other ninja, along with most of the genin had all aided in the evacuation of the citizens of the Leaf. Everyone was off the battlefield; it was now the matter of driving their enemy out of the village.
The problem was that they weren't able to help out their Hokage.
He was fighting alone, and all they could do was watch.
But still, they had faith.
That their Hokage will win.
Sakura went around helping the injured to the emergencymedical tents. There were so many people hurt already, and the fighting had only started just fifteen minutes ago.
All she wanted was for all this to end, and that everyone was safe.
(Inside the barrier)
(You don't have to watch it, but the YouTube video above is the fight, if you want to see it. Most of this fighting is canon. There are slight changes at the end. This part starts at 9:33 if anyone is interested in refreshing their memory owu)
The Third Hokage had been overwhelmed by the two reanimated shinobi and laid on the ground, drained of energy.
Orochimaru walked over and stood above this body. A sadistic smile lingered on his face "Are you okay, sensei? Please hang in there." Though the words sounded affectionate, his tone certainly told a different story.
He reached down and grabbed the collar of the third hokage, saying, "You are called...'The Professor who knows and uses all the jutsus existent in the village,' am I right?" He chuckled again.
A thought flashed through the mind of the third Hokage. It was of the past; one of a younger Orochimaru.
Eyes with malice and ambition concealed in them...
I had noticed that you had such tendencies, but I had never acted.
If I did, things probably would have turned out much differently...
A tear tailed out of the old man's eyes. "Orochimaru..." His face scrunched up. "YOU FOOL!"
The sandaime hokage grabbed both of Orochimaru's arms and kicked the shins of the man's leg, throwing the snake sannin off of himself.
Orochimaru released himself from the older man's grasp and landed several feet away from his original position. His eerie smirk still lingered on his face. "Oh?~ for what reason am I a fool?"
The Hokage bent down in a defensive stance. "You know full well about what I'm talking about."
Orochimaru chuckled. "How bold, those words coming out of the mouth of one also fool." Orochimaru held up a hand sign. The two reanimated Hokages started shifting towards the sandaime hokage.
"Did you wonder, even the slightest, why it was so easy for me to bypass your barriers and infiltrate the leaf? How all the weaknesses of the Leaf village has been targeted?" The snake sannin laughed once again. "My, what a fool you have been!"
Hashirama and Tobirama charged at Sarutobi. Their arms flailed limply at their sides as they stumbled unnaturally, then suddenly have perfect form once again. A flurry of taijutsu was thrown at the old man, who had managed to either dodge the attacks, block the, or sometimes even counterattack. The fight was more or less one-sided as Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly lost his agility and movements becoming more and more sluggish.
Under all the taijutsu attacks, ninjutsu was used as well.
Hashirama attacked with his wood-style nature that eventually took up the most of the space in the barrier. Hiruzen wove through handsigns and created a large fireball jutsu that stopped the incoming water jutsu released by Tobirama.
The battlefield was covered in ninjutsu and occasional sounds of weapon clashing.
Just as fast as this all started, the offence towards Sarutobi Hiruzen stopped.
The Third Hokage only stood in the midst of the damages that had been dealt to the scene and the roof they were on.
Hiruzen took in a few deep breaths, and then managed to say, "So you have a spy in the ranks of the shinobi, am I right?" Hiruzen managed to straighten his posture once again. He managed a smirk of his own. "I'm assuming it is Kabuto Yakushi?"
A vicious smile crept his way up to his face. "Oh, you knew already? What a shame."
"It was not all that hard to go and find the odd one out of the rest. Kabuto just somehow newer belonged." A drop of sweat rolled down the side of his head. He had to end this fight soon.
The same vicious smile stayed on his face. "You got half of the answer right~ Kabuto is a good asset to our ranks and his value increases because of his status as a spy. But he will never be enough. What we needed was someone that already was deep in the Leaf Village, someone the Hokage would trust without batting an eye."
Hiruzen grimaced. "There is another spy here, one that's close to me?" All the possible shinobi flashed through his mind. There were only so many that he truly cared for, and was close to him.
Another thought flashed through his mind. His gaze and muscles slackened. "No, it can't possibly be-"
Orochimaru suddenly disappeared, reappearing in front of an unstable Sarutobi. "Yes, you know who it is, don't you?"
There were so many possibilities of who it could've been. There were so many people.
But only one shinobi he had trusted the most, with his strength and knowledge, he had shared a multitude of info with.
The only one who fit the criteria.
"Your beloved Naruto Uzumaki~"
.
.
(A/N: Everything else is canon to the story, though that doesn't really matter.)
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Sasuke
"-[REDACTED]- " Sasuke half whisper-yelled curses to himself when he saw the smoke a long distance away from them. He rummaged through his pouch, pulling out a smaller orb. "Sensei, you remember that first B-Ranked mission we had?"
(A/N:Arc 1)
Kakashi slowly nodded. "Yeah, I do vaguely remember that time. What of it?"
"You remember what happened, better than Sakura or I. What Naruto said right after we returned home."
Kakashi looked lost in thought for a second. ".....well shit."
Sasuke held up the marble in his hands. "Naruto told me that this can be used to combat the Kyuubi's power. Something about sealing its power inside." Sasuke rummaged around his pouch again. Then came up with about two more. "These are for you and an extra just in case."
Kakashi held out a hand, receiving the small, muddy orange-colored marble. He examined it in his hands. "Sasuke, why did he only tell you?"
Sasuke only replied with a shrug and a dejected sigh. "I will never know what's going on in his head."
"True." Kakashi nodded. "By the way, why did you follow that guy?" He pointed at the still figure, still apparently scanning the village's situation.
"It was his stance." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the cloaked individual. "It's the same as Naruto when the Kyuubi's chakra coats his body."
He pointed a hand at the direction of the ever rising smoke that had not died out yet. "Naruto's over there; you can tell too, can't you? I actually thought that was Naruto in the beginning-." Sasuke pointed at the other cloaked figure. "But I don't feel Naruto's chakra. Only a faint amount of Kyuubi's, but not Naruto's."
Kakashi stared at the distance. And he sees a long, tan....fish? Kakashi sweatdropped. "What is that thing over there?"
Sasuke stares along with Kakashi. "I somehow thought you would know."
Both turned their attention back to the person they were stalking.
He was gone.
"We done fu×ked." Sasuke whispered.
"Nice to meet the both of you." a muffled voice said from behind.
•<>•<>•<>•
Naruto
Gaara had immediately started attacking Naruto as soon as the said blonde finished his sentence. An arm made of sand swiped, aiming for Naruto's side. Naruto swiftly dodged by jumping into the air. "Well, I guess it saved me the trouble of finding you." He landed on the ground outside the walls.
. "Gaara of the sand, join me." Naruto said, smile lingering on his face.
Gaara's face was contorted with anger and confusion. "You said that to me once before... who are you?"
Naruto laughed his usual cheerful laughter. "A friend, of course!"
Gaara momentarily stopped in his tracks. "Friends? No such things exist in this disgusting world. And you say that we are FRIENDS??" A surprised, pained expression lingered on the redhead's face, betraying the his words. Despite that, he still held an aggressive stance.
Naruto tilted his head to the side, and smiled. "Aren't we?"
Gaara growled. "Our villages are currently enemies! We attacked your Hokage!"
Naruto let out what seemed like something between a sigh and a laugh while shrugging. "My Hokage? Not really. This place is my where I was born and grew up in, but that is about all it is. That is the reason why I desire to protect it. There isn't much else that is keeping me rooted in this village besides Sasuke and maybe a few others." Naruto glanced up at Gaara and stared him in his eyes. "If you still want to fulfill your duties, go ahead. Lets fight."
With almost no hesitation, Gaara leapt towards Naruto, intent on clearing the thing that was obscuring his mind with light. He sent sand towards Naruto's back to block off his escape route as Gaara sent his sand, coated fist towards Naruto, attempting to grab the blonde in the palms of his now large hands.
Naruto calmly stood there, and his afterimage flickered once before disappearing. Gaara stopped in his tracks, whipping his head behind him. The blonde smirked playfully, seemingly teleporting behind him. Gaara tried to throw another hook at Naruto, but it was clumsier, so Naruto easily wove between the attacks, but was unable to get through the sand barrier that suddenly rose up from the ground when he attempted to land a punch.
Naruto grunted, annoyed that he wasn't able to get through the infamous sand barrier and Gaara's ultimate defense.
Naruto was in close range so Gaara managed to send a large amount of large sand spears, almost as small as senbons, in a rain barrage towards Naruto. Naruto threw one of his special kunai, embedding it into a trunk of a tree not that far away from their battle site.
He managed to hiraishin away, and wove through handsigns, releasing a water-style jutsu. "Water style: Water Dragon Justu." He muttered under his breath.
A large water dragon erupted from the ground, blowing up the ground in the process, and flew towards Gaara, ready to attack.
Sweet! I remembered correctly! There is a waterway underground here!
The water dragon flew towards Gaara at an incredible speed. Gaara saw the attack coming and gritted his teeth. Water was his sand's natural enemy.
He sacrificed some sand to protect himself from the water. From behind the falling, moist sand came the blonde shinobi, arm behind him already ready for a heavy punch. Naruto was practically in Gaara's face when he let out a mean straight.
Gaara's sand immediately flew up to block the attack, all the while a blanket of kunai rained down upon them, all coated with a type of red chakra.
Gaara's eyes widened. Is that....a tailed beast chakra?
His absolute defense went up and encased his whole body in a sphere of sand before he could deduce anything else. Despite his defense barrier around him, the kunais all managed to work their way into the barrier. Gaara dodged them as they fell to the ground and lost their red color.
Naruto's hand was starting to leak red chakra that cloaked his fist. Naruto pointed his fingers towards the barrier of sand and slowly dug his hand through the barrier.
Gaara's eyes widened as he saw the red, menacing chakra entering his shield that was supposed to be unbreachable.
The coating on Naruto's hands slowly disappeared and then booped Gaara on the forehead.
Naruto took a peek inside the barrier and gave a closed - eye smile. "Haha, I win!"
Gaara was shocked, as his sphere of defense slowly dissipated around him, going back into the gourd on his back. The right side of his body, which was coated with sand, started to dematerialize and started falling on the ground. After he was returned to his original state, his face scrunched up in anger again. "Why are you so persistent?!"
Naruto blinked at Gaara. "Uh, because if I don't, I'd lose a close friend?" He said, as if it was obvious.
"What is this about friends??!" He yelled, voice cracking. "What makes you keep on fighting?!"
Naruto was suddenly in front of Gaara and put a finger against the redhead's forehead; right on top of the 愛 kanji . "Love. It's right there on your forehead." He tapped on the kanji one more time for good measure, and then retracted his hands. His eyes looked distant and glazed over. His bright, cerulean eyes swirling with emotions
He turned his back to Gaara. "You and I are not so different, you know. We are already bonded by fate. But for today, I was fighting for a certain friend inside here." He touched his stomach, where the Kyuubi seal was. He then gave Gaara a pained smile.
Naruto turned back around and leaned forward to hug the red headed boy in front of him. Gaara stiffened at the sudden contact, eyes widening.
It was as if Naruto was sharing his emotions with him.
Even if it was a small portion, he could feel Naruto's emotions.
His face twisted with confusion. The emotions he felt from Naruto were mixed. It was hard to depict what it meant.
A moment later, he was released from the hug. Naruto smiled again. "Let's talk about this next time, when we meet under better conditions. We will, no matter what everyone else says."
He pat a hand on Gaara's shoulder. "Remember, to become stronger, you fight for the ones you love. That's what makes me strong. So start with those who are close to you right now."
Naruto waved and then used his Flying Raijin Jutsu, disappearing again.
Gaara stood there blankly, trying to process what had happened.
A shout of his name snapped him out of the trance and focus on reality.
"GAARA! Are you okay??" Temari yelled, landing next to the said person.
Kankuro also landed next to the blonde kunoichi. "You just suddenly up and left us, so we came to check on you."
Temari motioned for them to follow. "We're going now. So if you're okay, lets get moving."
Gaara said nothing, and stared at the ground.
Start with those who are close to you right now.
"I'm sorry..." Garra muttered.
Temari and Kankuro stopped in their tracks. "Um...sorry, what did you say?"
Gaara rubbed the back of his neck, and he looked tired out. "I'm sorry for everything."
Temari and Kankuro slowly turned to each other and then back to their younger brother. "It's okay, you don't have to apologise."
Gaara looked lost in thought still. "Okay, let's go."
Gaara was the first to disappear and his two siblings followed behind him, both wondering the same thing.
What exactly happened while he was gone?
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Naruto
Naruto squatted in a tree, observing the surroundings as he dug a crystal out of his shirt. "How are you guys doing?"
"They figured out about our little plan. They've turned on us, obviously." A lazy voice drawled on their connection.
Konan sighed. "We are retreating now."
"Aight." came Hidan's voice.
"We're leaving?" Deidera sounded incredulous.
"Yes." Zetsu's voice growled.
"Wha- since when were you here???"
"The start."
"WUAT-"
"Kay, we'll check in later.." Hidan interrupted, huffing in annoyance.
The other connections cut off.
Kona remained on the line "Naruto, you're leaving Konoha today, right?"
Naruto 'mhm'd in confirmation as he stared straight intently.
"Are you just going to leave without saying anything?" Konan asked smoothly, albeit anxious.
Naruto didn't reply for a second. "No, I've already planned for this moment. If I just leave, the people of Konoha will search for me."
Konan didn't say anything, but it was obvious that she frowned on the other side. "What are you implying?"
"No one searches for a dead person."
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If anyone guesses the reference, I will love you forever.
It's a really unpopular manga, so I'm not sure anyone is gonna guess it.
But guys, we finally got to the part where Naruto's leaving the village! And it took 26 chapters for it to be! XD
(I'm such a good writer lol)
And as promised, this episode is longer than the rest.
Word count: 2875 words
See you next episode!