SASUKE: The Fanfiction

[Ravenaelwood]

052 - Konoha Crushed {PT. II}
KONOHA​

Tsunade heaved, drawing chakra from her core and storing it in her right heel as she leapt thirty meters into the air. Spinning into a cartwheel, she swung her foot down in an axe kick, the chakra-charged appendage explosively cratering the ruby-red, crystalline surface of the barrier jutsu imprisoning her former teammate. Hairline cracks shot through the structure a split moment later before the entire thing imploded.

The legendary sucker leapt away, her narrowed glare wary as she waited for the resultant cloud of dust to disperse. Three figures walked out of the dust plume and a sigh of relief escaped from her lips as she recognised them. The relief on her face quickly slipped away as she caught sight of a small, orange-clad figure cradled in her fellow sannin's arms.

"What happened to him?" Tsunade exclaimed as she rushed forward to check the little fool's pulse.
"
He is fine," Jiraiya grunted in response as Tsunade pried Naruto from his grasp. "That Uchiha kid jumped us and stole some of the Kyūbi's chakra. Naruto is fine though; somehow the little bastard managed to extract the fox's chakra without killing him in the process."

Tsunade sighed again, relief washing over her as she confirmed her colleague's words. Handing the blonde to Shizune, she turned to face Jiraiya her expression turning grave as her mind, no longer clouded with concern, suddenly registered the sheer amount of chakra control required to pull off a feat like that.

"The kid jumped you two?" she asked, her eyes jumping between Jiraiya and Yamato as they turned to race towards the Hokage Rock. Tsunade frown deepened as she focused on the sinister, unfamiliar chakra radiating like a beacon ahead. The thought that a mere boy was capable of feats like that unnerved her more than she wished to admit.

"Actually," Jiraiya said, his voice snapping her from her thoughts, "I think his clone did, but he had help nonetheless. Two Kunoichis; one Kekkei Genkai user that used crystals and a Fire release user of unknown origins.

Names, Guren and Kage respectively. Both elite Jonin at the very least."

"Crystal user?" Tsunade asked with a frown.

"You know something of this, Lady Tsunade?" Yamato asked.

"...I never thought it truly existed," Tsunade replied after a moment of hesitation.

"What?" Jiraiya asked.

"Some time ago a story had spread about the existence of a Ninjutsu that could crystallize all matter; rumour had it that an entire hidden village was wiped off the map with the technique. After that alleged incident though there were no verifiable reports by witnesses or survivors so it was quickly dismissed. If this is the same technique then it would be prudent to neutralise its user as soon as possible."

Jiraiya grunted in agreement as the shadowed silhouette of the Hokage Rock came into view. "How's our status?" he asked.

"Lord First and Second as well as their ANBU compliment have surrounded the boy and Orochimaru on the Hokage Rock. The rest of our forces are currently preoccupied with responding to the sudden appearance of their goons at multiple strategically sensitive locations. With how quickly and stealthily they are popping up all around the village, Lord Second's fears about Hiraishin being compromised beyond what we already suspected might not be so far-fetched after all. Either way, Mito-sobo is running mission control."

Jiraiya nodded in understanding. "Although the ease with which the Uchiha unsealed and extracted the Nine-tail's chakra unnerves me, it shouldn't matter much in the end. To assume the Kyūbi's chakra would level the playing field against Lord First is simply wishful—"

The toad sage never finished that sentence.

Tsunade's head whipped around towards the Hokage Rock, eyes googling at the sudden, violent, display of power and martial prowess. Only by the sheer depth of her skills could she perceive all that was going on in the distance. Mere seconds had passed and nearly a dozen techniques had been exchanged. Skilled operatives turned corpses scarcely had the time to fall limp to the floor when a lance of molten light erupted from one figure to erase another from the battlefield.

Tsunade froze when she felt her grandfather's chakra signature fade away from the battlefield.

…No—

"Snap out of it!" Jiraiya growled as she suddenly began lagging behind. "Lord First is functionally immortal. His vessel will reform in a few minutes; get your head in the game, woman!"

Yes… Rght. Immortal. Forgot.

Shaking her mind free, Tsunade lurched forward again before her body froze again as the howl of an unending chain of explosions rang out as it shook the hillside from which the Hokage rock was carved.

Another chakra signature blipped out of existence.

For a moment, even Jiraiya's stoic facade slipped to reveal an uneasy interior.

"...Shit!" the sage spat.

"Shit," echoed Tsunade.

***​

We stared at Tobirama's surprised expression, suspicious.

Was this the legendary battle genius? Once could be ascribed to ignorance, but twice? That's just incompetence. Either way, it mattered little to us if he fell for the same trap twice. Our eye had revealed to us the adaptable steps needed to quell our hate; we only needed to execute them perfectly. The eidetic memory granted by our Sharingan ensured the vision—a mere glimpse at the threads of fate imbued with our hate depicting our path to victory—remained seared in our mind.

"I owe you a favour for last time," we said in accordance with the path, our lips curling into a facsimile of a smile. "I am sorry your current state won't let you enjoy it as much as I did," we continued before weaving a seal with our good hand.

"Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags!"

The smile on our face slid off as we suddenly found ourselves standing beside our main body. In that split second, our gaze met that of Second Hokage whose left hand clamped down viciously on our main body's shoulder, the Fūinjutsu seal that was meant to prevent him from using the Hiraishin technique formula on our ankle body broken.

Ah, we thought to ourself, impressed, he figured out how to break the seal. And he managed to resist the urge to do so earlier so he might catch us at such a decisive moment. Impressive. Sadly for him, the path we tread demands our victory.

His little ploy was destined to fail from the start.

Our gaze flickered to meet that of our main body, impassive eyes expressing understanding, then acceptance. To remain blind despite seeing so much. To have the fate of the world laid bare before our eyes, yet find we may see none except ours, blinded as we are by our hate.

Half-measures … we seldom appreciated them.

Either way, we remained unfazed.

This path we tread demands our victory.

And our victory we shall find.

***​

Hiruzen slid to a stop, the supersonic bolt of water he fired dispelling the last of Sasuke's clones. His gaze turned towards the chain of explosions that continued to rock the hillside, birthing an avalanche that levelled what remained of the Hokage compound. Panting lightly as he steadied his harried breath, Hiruzen grunted, acknowledging his former student's arrival.

"Lord Second?" Tsunade asked, pale-faced.

"I think he pulled off a suicide attack," Hiruzen replied. "It appears he succeeded in breaking the barrier seal Sasuke used to prevent him from using Hiraishin to reach him earlier. I couldn't tell due to the steam obstructing my vision, but I think Tobirama-sensei managed to turn one of the boy's attacks against him."

"...Lord Second claimed he couldn't break the seal, did he not?" Tsunade asked, baffled.

"He lied to us," Jiraiya interjected, his expression seemingly craved from the same granite beneath his feet.

"...He didn't trust us," Tsunade concluded.

"You are not the one to talk," Hiruzen grunted before the discussion could be further derailed. "Try as you might, I was the one to lay the foundations for your rise as a Kunoichi, Tsunade. Of all my students, you the most lacked the innate capacity to deceive. I don't know what it is, but intuition tells me you as well have secrets of yours you ought to share but refuse to do so out of distrust."

Hiruzen ignored the muttered grumbles from the spoilt woman as he tried to squint past the billowing dust cloud. The explosions slowly pittered out before an ominous silence descended on the battlefield.

"Where is Orochimaru?" Jiraiya asked.

"He left before the battle started."

"...What? Does that mean—"

"Yes. We have been fighting the boy alone."

A stiff breeze blew, slowly dispersing the screen covering half the battlefield. Hiruzen flexed his fingers as he waited. The boy put up a valiant fight, but Hiruzen knew even he couldn't possibly survive an attack of that magnitude at near point-blank range.

The greatest threat to the village since the Kyūbi's attack had hopefully been neutralised. Lord First's aura slowly returned; Hiruzen could see his body rapidly regenerating in one corner of the battlefield. Lord Second would reform soon after and they could all take their time to correct the mistake he made all those years ago by letting Orochimaru escape.

Then everything would be alright.

There would finally be a chance at peace again.

A cold chill ran up Hiruzen's spine as the dust cloud thinned further and a dark, iridescent glow leaked from the gaps in the tufts of suspended micro-debris. Another stiff wind blew to reveal a sight that sank the Hokage's heart.

The young Uchiha who had sworn vengeance upon the village sat, cross-legged on a dislodged boulder. The boy's gaze was languid, unmoving even as a severed arm hung limply from his right shoulder. The boy grabbed the arm, freeing himself of its grip before tossing it casually behind him. He rose to his feet, the phantasmal ribcage of oily black and firey orange chakra wrapped protectively around his form rising with him.

Then suddenly, without warning, the ribcage grew, gaining mass and form. Transforming. The long serpentine spine extended upwards to form three fused heads; a simple human skull with three pairs of skeletal wings extending from where the ears ought to be and curling regally around the head like a crown to the right; a flat, featureless face—like a board—with six darkened magatamas carved into it to the left; and an incomprehensible void in the centre.

Three pairs of skeletal forelimbs sprouted, followed by elongated hip bones sprouting three pairs of skeletal hind-limbs and nine blade-like tails. The monstrosity fell forward to rest on its forelimbs as the three pairs of wings on its back sprouted. Cords of chakra raced over the structure to form muscles and tendons. As the wings grew crimson feathers and oily black scale armour raced to wrap around the… thing, and a shinigami mask phased into existence over the right head. A tengu mask with three tiny magatamas each under the supposed eyeholes as tear drops hid the left from view.

Crowning the monstrosity, a fox skull and lower jaw warped around the incomprehensible centre to give the illusion of a visage frozen in a perpetual howl.

As it turned to face them, the thing glided on its twelve limbs—six feathered wings beating gently—in a manner so uncanny as to goad Hiruzen to nearly take a step or two back in horror and sheer revulsion. His intuition screamed to him as he watched the thing move. Despite its obvious bulk, he had harboured no delusions about the speed of the chimeric—draconic—thing the mad child had created. It looked fast. Acted fast.

Very fast.

 

[Ravenaelwood]

053 - Konoha Crushed {PT. III}​

KONOHA​

The air—heavy with the scent of spice and baked sand—gave way to a breath of petrichor. A shiver ran down Temari's spine as a cold draft suddenly drained the warmth from her sunkissed skin. Teleportation is bullshit, the Suna-nin decided as she blinked away the mild disorientation that bubbled to life behind her temples.

Beneath her feet, the ground shook, tremors racing past her chic sandals into her calves. The howl of non-stop explosions reached her ears. She looked ahead at the Hokage Rock in the distance, freeing her fan from her waist sash as she fought off the battle jitters that threatened to slacken her grip. The invasion had just barely begun, and already, Konoha was a scene of devastation. Far as they were from the battle, She could make out the blot of smog that rose from the pulsing fiery orb of explosions that sat where the second Hokage's sculpture once hung.

Exhaling a calming breath, her gaze flickered to regard the Kunoichi who ferried her to the rendezvous point. Kage said nothing as she disappeared before reappearing with Baki and Gaara, her hands on both their shoulders.

"It's time," the Kunoichi said before disappearing again, presumably to ferry in more combatants. Aside from the three teams of ANBU operatives tasked with looting Konoha's secretive archives, they were the only other team from Sunagakure participating in this attack. Their allies could only ferry so many people in at once, meaning only the most potent of shinobi were chosen to participate in this pivotal duty.

The stakes were high and the risks even higher.

Failure was not an option.

Beside Temari, Baki grunted, muttering something inaudible under his breath, before turning to face her and Kankuro. "You two would join me to create a defensive screen while Gaara summons the Shukaku. Kill anyone who attempts to approach. Gaara you can begin."

Temari exchanged a nod with Kankuro beside, unfurling her large fan before shooting Gaara a worried glance. The redhead stood motionless as he stared in the direction of the Hokage monument. The explosions had stopped and the dust and smoke that screened the battlefield had slowly begun to clear.

A morbid giggle leaked from Gaara's maw.

"Gaara," Baki growled in anger upon realising his instruction had gone unheeded. "You. Can. Begin."

The boy giggled again.

Temari stepped away from him, a shiver running down her spine as the sand gourd on his back cracked and began to leak sand on the floor.

"Sasuke," he rasped as he took an unsteady step forward. Another deranged giggle tinkled from his chest. The gourd shattered and the leaking sand poured, pooling around his feet before slowly engulfing him. Temari shot a worried glance at Baki.

"The mission is a failure," the Jonin grunted as he turned to leave. "Come on, let's go. We are running damage control."

Temari raised a hand, wanting to argue in her brother's favour before finding herself distracted by the monstrosity in the distance. She froze, the unnatural silence that descended on reality deepening her terror. The chimeric thing shifted, gliding on all twelve of its feet with an uncanny grace that tickled the small, lizard part of her brain.

Another giggle echoed from beside her, snapping her from her horror-induced trance.

Her gaze shifted to her brother, he stumbled towards the creature, globs of saliva leaking down his chin as he reached towards the monster in the distance.

"I will kill you," he said.

"I will kill you…

"Uchiha Sasuke!"

***​

Jiraiya forced his body to move, snatching a frozen Tsunade by the waist as the thing the Uchiha boy conjured suddenly moved. A shockwave battered his back, propelling him further from his previous position. The sannin's ears popped and his vision blurred as the film of chakra coating his eyes struggled to keep the worse of the debris out.

Tumbling mid-air he hit the ground with such force that he felt the joints in his knees creak. A plum of dust rose in front of him as his feet dug deep furrows in the dirt floor of the street below.

Jiraiya swore as he looked up to meet the Uchiha's passive stare. The boy floated within a pentagonal crystal set within the centre of the fox skull that adorned his susanoo's central head.

"Enma!"

The sannin looked away to see Hiruzen hanging from the sheared hillside with a clothed white-furred monkey by his side. The summon disappeared in a puff of white smoke leaving its place a black, gold-tipped staff. The Third Hokage twirled the staff in his hand before aiming it at the Susanoo.

The staff shot out as a blur, extending many times its original length to smash into the black and orange monstrosity. It missed, piercing an afterimage instead. The Uchiha retaliated, willing the nine, blade-like tails weaving behind him to shoot forward in a mimicry of the Hokage's prior attack. Hiruzen's staff snapped back as he twirled it, deflecting the thunderous assault before disappearing behind another cloud of dust as the Susanoo's tails gouged the hillside. Within that same moment, Lord First's battered figure burst out of the rubble like a speeding bullet to smash into the Susanoo; the Uchiha blocked with five of his tails before attempting to skewer the Hokage with the remaining four. A destructive game of whack-a-mole quickly ensued with the Hokage darting around between its limbs and the Uchiha trying to skewer him with his susanoo's tails.

Jiraiya smacked his bloodied palm against the side of the building behind him, willing the weaved jutsu in his core to manifest in a billowing plume of white smoke.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

"...Jiraiya," the summoned toad rumbled as he brought his shield down in front of them.

"Mr Gamaken," the sannin greeted before gesturing to the Susanoo still preoccupied in his attempt to put down the Hokage, "can you pin down ugly over there long enough for Lord Third to get a clean shot?"

"I will try what I can," the great toad rumbled. "I want to apologise in advance; I can be quite ungraceful."

"Tsunade!" Jiraiya called as he hopped onto the toad's head with his hands clasped together in a manner akin to supplication. "I will be using Honoured Sage Mode to summon the two great toad sages, but it's still going to take me a little while and until that time I can't release my hands so I won't be able to use my Jutsu effectively… Can I trust you to take care of yourself?"

"...I will be fine," Tsunade replied.

"Are you—"

"I will be fine!"

"...Alright. Mr Gamaken, let's go!"

"Understood!"

The great toad leapt into the air, raising its great metal shield to block the Uchiha's attempt to skewer him mid-air. Using his great mass to his advantage, the toad bulled forward in an attempt to back the Susanoo-clad Uchiha to the sundered cliff behind him.

Realising this the Uchiha made to evade but was cut off by a great wooden dragon that erupted from the earth towards him. Seizing the opportunity Hiruzen leapt out from behind a pile of rubble he had hidden himself to aim his staff at their foe. The nigh-indestructible pole extended, faster than the eye could blink, before smashing into the Susanoo's side and pushing it. The Susanoo struggled against its forceful relocation, great claws digging furrows into the earth as its great bulk flattened everything in its path before coming to rest a few hundred meters outside the village.

The thing pushed itself to its many feet, turning to face them. From within it, Jiraiya could feel the Uchiha's baleful glare tingling his skin. A glowing orb of chakra began to coalesce into existence between the skeletal fox jaws that adorned the Susanoo's central head.

Jiraiya paled as he watched the Rasengan manifest, lightning crackling on its surface.

Just as the attack was about to blast forth, another smashed into the Susanoo's side. A pillar of wind release knocked it another few miles where it crashed explosively into the landscape.

Stunned, Jiraiya turned around to see a sand-coloured tanuki with black markings standing in the centre of the village. Its jagged, concave mouth widened as a bellowing guffaw erupted from its gut.

"I WILL KILL YOU…

"UCHIHA SASUKE!"

 

[Ravenaelwood]

054 - When Titans Collide
KONOHA​

Fuen watched the ongoing brawl with a healthy smattering of trepidation.

The earth beneath her feet shuddered as her employer's three-headed summon tackled the sand-coloured tanuki into the ground. The raccoon dog roared, clawing and kicking at its chimeric opponent to no avail as its great bulk was ploughed into the earth. A flaming orb of chakra formed in front of the central face of the Uchiha's summon; the air warping as the molten sphere spawned into existence between its ornamental skeletal jaws.

The giant toad that had been watching the tussle from the side chose that very moment to intervene, launching its two-pronged sasumata (A.N.: spear fork) at the Uchiha's summon with such speed as to send a thunderclap rippling through the air. The weapon struck the side of the chimera's fused heads, knocking it off balance and throwing its aim just wide enough for the molten orb in its maw to go careening off towards the horizon where it collided it a small hill, promptly deleting it from existence.

The chimaera righted itself, gliding on its twelve limbs to face the toad, the crimson eyes on its right head blazing with malevolence as struck towards it with three of its blade-like tails. Its other six tails shoot downwards, impaling the racoon dog. The toad raised its giant shield as it deflected the attack; inadvertently blinding itself to the crackling orb of electricity forming in its opponent's false maw.

Fuen subconsciously retreated a few steps in fear as the giant toad was flung backwards by the ensuing detonation before crashing back into the village, its great metal shield slagged.

That, Fuen noted, was not a battle she wanted to be anywhere near. Unfortunately for her, however, that was not a decision she could make herself. A mere glance at the dark-haired kunoichi who ferried her and her team to the battlefield made it abundantly clear to her that backing out was no longer an option. Kage stood on the side of the building they were perched upon, her face set into a pensive frown; not a hint of trepidation in her gaze as she watched a great, wooden humanoid creature crash into the side of their employer's three-headed, chimeric summon—The newcomer had an oni-like face and a wooden dragon wrapped around its torso.

"Fuen!" Fuen heard Kage call, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Yes?"

"It's time."

Fuen exhaled as she retrieved the giant scroll strapped to her back. She unfurled it and laid it down on the floor to reveal a detailed sketch of Konohagakure and its surrounding terrain. Focusing on the scroll, she infused it with her chakra and began to weave hand signs whilst trying her hardest to ignore the terrain-altering battle taking place just a few miles away in front of her.

Hitsuji → Usagu → Hebi → Tatsu → Ne → Ushi → Tora → Usagi → Hebi → Tatsu → Ne → Ushi → Tora → Hebi → Tiger → Ushi → Hebi → Tora → Usagi → Horse → Tatsu → Ne → Hebi → Tora → Hebi → Ne → Ushi → Tora → Usagi → Hebi

"Barrier Defence Seal Jutsu: Eight Gate Lock-Up!"

Another rumble shook the earth as four giant gates began to emerge from the earth at the four cardinal points of the village. The next moment, a dome-like barrier phased into existence to isolate the village from the outside world.

Fuen rose from her crouch and took a few steps back, to allow Fudo space to interface with the scroll. Wordlessly, the tall man slit his palm and flicked a few drops of blood on the scroll before weaving five hand signs. The blood on the scroll sizzled and disappeared in small plumes of white smoke.

For a moment, it almost looked as if nothing happened. The great battle outside the barrier persisted still, the earth rumbling as it was abused by powers far beyond Fuen's ken. The great toad that had been launched out of combat by the chimaera's surprise attack still lay in the cratered village centre, unmoving. Civilians swarmed about in great stampedes in an attempt to evade the all-encompassing carnage, whilst Konoha shinobi ran about, trying with limited success to establish some sort of order.

Then came the great rumbling. Great canyons and cliffs rose within the village from the earth as a dizzying maze, summoned from the ether choke-full of mines and death traps. Fuen stared in morbid awe at the unfolding of her masterpiece. Shinobi and civilians alike died in droves, murdered at a wholesale scale and rate that googled her imagination.

The wooden giant outside the barrier turned around, its attention swivelling from the chimeric thing it was battling to face the growing catastrophe. Then, seemingly without thought, it turned on its heels—ignoring the chimaera as it gouged great chunks out of its torso—and dove straight for the barrier. It instantly caught on fire as it fell through and started burning away; from the ashes of its corpse, a great forest grew, great roots and trunks branching out to stall and contain the rising maze.

Fuen watched amazed as roots and branches whipped out to snatch civilians and shinobis both out of the air as they fell to their deaths before depositing them safely on the clifftops. Many were saved.

Many more were not.

When Titans collide, the weak inevitably get trampled.

 

[Ravenaelwood]

055 - He Who Invites
LAND OF EARTH​

No one moved.

Konan's eyes did not leave Itachi even as she split her attention to watch the other Uchiha lying face-first in the dirt before her. Tobi's—or rather, Madara's—unpredictability made him an outlier even amongst the most eccentric of their members; she did not know what to make of his offer to remain neutral in this altercation with a proven traitor. Had he known of Itachi's continued involvement with Konoha? Was he also a traitor to the Akatsuki? What were his intentions—Paper wings sprouted from her back, snapping her from her thoughts as she sensed Itachi's chakra roil.

The Uchiha moved, flickering away from them. In response, Konan raised an arm, aiming at his retreating figure before launching a barrage of paper shurikens that perforated everything in their path at him. In front of her, Obito sank into the dirt before reappearing some distance away, seemingly in a bid to extricate himself entirely from the battle. A few meters ahead of her, Nagato's Animal Path leapt after the traitor, its arms a blur as it weaved a summoning jutsu. White smoke exploded behind it; a mass of writhing giant centipedes poured out of the screen and began racing towards the younger Uchiha.

The shuriken barrage reached Itachi first, filling the air around him as it cut off his escape. A frown creased Konan's face as Itachi's torso burst open to release a squawking murder of crows that disappeared into the forest the moment the projectiles pierced his body. A clone.

Typical.

Of course, Konan had not expected to be able to dispatch a former member of the Akatsuki with such a basic technique; that would simply be wishful thinking on her part. Still, the fact that she couldn't say with any confidence when exactly he had switched with the clone displeased her no less.

Frowning still, her gaze panned around the battlefield in search of Itachi. Nagato's summoned centipedes skittered about the forest floor, uprooting trees in an attempt to flush their opponent out of hiding. Another cloud of white smoke exploded outwards behind her to reveal a winged, five-meter-tall dog as the Animal Path completed yet another summoning. Its fur was a reddish shade of brown and a giant black metallic chakra receiver stuck through its head, its blunt end glimmering in the crimson light of dawn.

Meanwhile, some distance away, Tobi watched the entire exchange silently from his post on the bough of a large tree at the fringes of the battlefield. As promised, he did not seem particularly interested in taking sides in this matter.

Suddenly, a wave of heat buffeted Konan from behind. Instinctively, she dove out of the way, her wings beating as she spun midair to launch a retaliatory barrage at the reemerging Uchiha. A massive fireball shot past her, forcing the Animal Path in the process of another summoning behind her to evade. In turn, the Uchiha was similarly forced to reposition, leaping away just in time to avoid the barrage of shurikens launched in his direction. The summoned dog leapt after the traitor, hounding. In the background, Konan spotted three of the remaining Paths—Deva, Asura and Preta—emerging from a cloud of white smoke. Itachi's hands flashed for a moment before a rapid-fire barrage of flaming projectiles emerged from his mouth to shoot the summoned dog out of the air. Thrown of course by the explosions buffeting its torso the animal careened sideways into the earth before disappearing behind a cloud of dust.

Another fireball exploded beneath Konan's feet as she shot upwards, wings beating at a frantic pace to propel her beyond the Uchiha's range. Locking onto Itachi's flickering form flitting through the forest below, she committed into a barrel roll at the apex of her flight before strafing down at him with a hail of explosive paper projectiles. A line of devastation opened up in her path as she zoomed overhead, explosion after explosion ripping through the forest beneath her.

The Paths of Pain stood in formation some small distance away from the Uchiha's last sighting. The summoned animals settled into a patrol pattern, diving into the burning forest, as they resumed their task of attempting to flush the Uchiha out of hiding should he still be alive. Konan hovered over the battlefield in an overwatch position, eyes scanning the inferno below her for any signs of the traitor. Below her, thick columns of black smoke arose from the burning forest; the scene was one of wrathful destruction.

Surely, she thought to herself as she continued her search for the Uchiha or his corpse, that should have enough—

"Yasaka Magatama!"

Konan instinctively tucked in her wings, allowing gravity to pull her to the ground as a flaming projectile shot out of the billowing smoke towards her. That apparently was not enough as the projectiles exploded midair a few dozen meters away, the resulting shockwaves hurling her into the earth below.

She hit the forest floor hard, tumbling for a few desperate moments before righting herself with three, powerful beats of her wings. The cold frown on her face deepened as took flight again, cruising away from the battlefield at just above treetop level so she could better evade the Uchiha's next salvo.

Just as the predicted attack emerged from the smoke, Nagato acted—the Deva path raising both its hands as it pushed the flames and smoke obstructing their view out of the battlefield. At the same moment, Konan again folded in her wings and dipped into a small valley just as Itachi's second shot screamed past. For a split moment, a searing heat buffeted Konan's face as the projectile zoomed past just a few meters overhead before slamming into a nearby cliff face.

Pulling up into a vertical bank, she popped out of the valley to see Itachi single-handedly battling the Paths and the animal summons: a seven-meter-tall, humanoid avatar stood over him; In its right hand was a strange fiery sword with a gourd for a hilt, and in its left was an ethereal shield that seemed to deflect the worst of Nagato's attacks effortlessly.

Konan dipped slightly to the left, altering her flight path to bring her closer to the fight as she searched for an opening to exploit. The animal path, seemingly unable to evade quickly enough, was stabbed through the chest by the strange sword in the avatar's hand. For a moment, The weapon's blade shook like a flame in a stiff breeze, before violently sucking the Animal Path into its hilt. With the sudden absence of their summoner, the animal summons that were working in tandem with the Paths to corner the Uchiha all disappeared from the battlefield.

Seemingly startled by the new development, the other Paths retreated a few meters away from the Uchiha and his avatar, and for a few moments, a tense standstill ensued.
But like most things, it was short-lived. The Asura path aimed its arms at the chakra construct; the appendages morphing to reveal an arsenal of missiles that screamed off their rails towards their opponent. In that same moment, Itachi counterattacked with black flames struck the Asura Path even as his avatar raised its shield to defend against the salvo of missiles. The Preta Path which had been on stand-by, preempted the counterattack, absorbing the demonic flames as they appeared.

Konan looked around in expectation of a follow-up by the Deva Path only to realise she couldn't spot it on the battlefield.

Just as worry was starting to bubble onto her countenance, the earpiece in her right ear crackled. "Leave the battlefield," Nagato ordered via radio transmission.

"Why?" she asked, baffled.

"This is getting messy," came his stoic reply. "I am going to end this. Now."

The frown on Konan's face deepened, but she said nothing more as she altered her flight path to leave the vicinity. Moments later, she heard a distinct, telltale whine rippled through the air behind her. Then came a great rumbling as the earth beneath was uprooted by the ton and sucked towards a small, lightless orb floating in the air above Itachi.

"Chibaku Tensei!"

Even as far as she was from the battle, Konan distinctly felt her speed drop as she was faintly being pulled back towards the artificial gravity well forming behind her. Their opponent standing directly below the jutsu fared much worse. Although Itachi put up a valiant resistance, in the end, he failed to escape the all-encompassing pull of Nagato's technique. He and the phantasmal avatar he summoned quickly disappeared beneath literal tons of solid earth held aloft by supernatural forces.

Finally, the battle came to a grinding halt.

"...Is it done?" Konan asked as she swooped down to hover beside the Deva path. Obito appeared out thin air beside her, his gaze oddly contemplative as he stared at the artificial satellite suspended in the air.

"Yes," the Path replied before turning to leave.

Konan cast one last glance at the seemingly spell-bound Madara by her side before turning to leave as well.

"...Izanagi?"

"What?" Konan asked as she turned to face the Uchiha. Madara shook his head in response.

"Don't mind me," he said in a somewhat amused tone.

"It's nothing.

 

[Ravenaelwood]

INTERMISSION​

KONOHA​

She fought back the bile gathering at the back of her throat as she forced her palm, trembling and pale, against the bloody gash running down the thigh of the ANBU by her feet. The sight of the child's blood, even the very thought of it, filled her with dread and revulsion. The air was choked with the acrid scent of burning things. Burning people. The distant roar of titans battling reverberated like thunder in a tempestuous sky as they tore the very earth apart. Yet, it was the proximity of blood that unnerved her most—a crimson tide that painted the terraformed village in shades of horror and despair. Each drop fell as a sombre note in the symphony of agony that accompanied this unforgiving theatre of war.

Chakra spilt from her core, through her palm into the wound as it coaxed the boy's body to heal itself faster. The child couldn't be any older than thirteen, yet his gaze was cold and steely, robbed utterly of whatever innocence they might have once held. Willing herself to ignore the rivulet blood leaking past her fingers she sped up the process as much as she could. The child would not die on her.

Not again.

Never again.

Tsunade mourned the absurdity of it all. What madness compelled men to descend into this abyss of violence and suffering, to rend one another asunder in the name of some distant cause? In the name of vengeance? Could there ever be a justifiable reason for such horrors? Her heart, heavy with sorrow and disbelief, yearned for the peace and sanity that now seemed so distant in this bleak hour.

In the distance, past the insidious barrier trapping everyone inside the village, she could sense the unrelenting cacophony of the battle raging on. The Uchiha boy, driven down the warpath by foolish men, tore at his foes with a savagery that sent cold shivers down her spine. The tanuki it battled had been relieved of both its arms and was now being surgically carved down to size. Jiraiya's summon laid still, unbreathing; dead. For the second time today, Lord First had been knocked out of the battle. Lord Second and Third flitted between the monstrous Susanoo's towering feet as they struggled to keep the boy within distracted long enough for Lord Hashirama to reenter the battle.

Jiraiya was… missing. Worry jolted Tsunade's heart as the realisation settled in.

He is fine, she whispered, like a mantra, to herself. He's fine.

Pushing the dark thoughts from her mind, she turned to the villain of this calamity. A boy-child no more than fourteen, yet an unfeeling beast that cares not for the suffering it inflicts. So consumed by hate, he refused to acknowledge the innocence of the bystanders to this affair, seemingly determined to drag everyone down with him. And the slug princess is left to ponder the inexplicable cruelty of this world. How she wished foolish young boys would not play at war; that never ended well. How she wished the Kages would be more preemptive with their actions; more wary of the consequences of said actions. More considerate of what impressions their careless words make on the impressionable around them. Yet again, she was proven right.

To be Hokage is indeed a fool's job.

The boy's wound soon stopped spewing blood and Tsunade could finally ease up on the treatment. With the child no longer in critical condition, she left the rest to one of Katsuyu's clones to handle. Rising to her feet, she let her gaze pan around in search of anyone in similarly critical condition. The floor beneath her feet trembled still as she raced towards a middle-aged civilian sporting a chunk of wood lodged in his gut. As Tsunade went about patching him, she spotted, from the corner of my eyes, Jiraiya rejoining the battle.

Her relief however was short-lived as she sensed two equally familiar—and equally insidious—auras flare in the distance. '

Danzo…

Orochimaru!

Tsunade's thoughts on the matter however were interrupted as she grabbed the man she was treating by the collar and leapt away. A glob of thick whitish liquid splashed on the rock she had been perched upon, chewing through the material and reducing it to corrosive slag. The Senju caught herself on a nearby cliff face, depositing the critically injured man in a small crevice before leaping away to draw her attacker's attention away from him while one of Katsuyu's clones moved to take over.

Catching herself on another cliff face, Tsunade kicked against the rock, launching herself out of the splash radius of another one of those corrosive projectiles. Another two shots were lobbed at her mid-air. She evaded but was still somehow caught by her cloak. Shrugging off the piece of clothing, Tsunade rounded to face the enemy.

Tall. Slender. Green eyes and ankle-length, auburn hair.

"Mizukage…" She spat out, a sense of dread suffusing her very bones. That little bastard managed to drag Kiri into this?

How?

Why?

Kiri was actually swindled into joining his cause? What in the world is going on?

"Princess Tsunade," Mei greeted with a small incline of her head.

"Why?" Tsunade replied in lieu of a greeting.

"Uchiha-san pays well," the mizukage replied.

"...So he paid you to kill me?" Tsunade asked, fishing for information as she called upon the chakra stored between her brows. Terumi Mei was not a threat she could afford to take lightly.

"No, he paid me to dirty my hands," the woman said with a wry smile. "Killing you in particular is so I can get the bonus he promised."

"...He wants me dead?" Tsunade asked, stilling. I haven't physically laid eyes on the child until today; why would he want me dead … Unless!

No!

"...He is exterminating them?" the Senju princess asked, disbelief leaking into her voice. Her gaze panned back towards the battle raging on outside, and then, suddenly everything made sense.

This was all a distraction.

 

[Ravenaelwood]

056 - Wayward Child
LAND OF EARTH​

Itachi stood before a sink as he stared at his haggard reflection in the mirror across from him. Coating his finger in a layer of chakra, he plucked the spent Sharingan in his left eye socket. The expended Dōjutsu fell into his palm with a wet squelch and he stared at it for a long moment, disappointed. It was supposed to be a gift for his beloved child.

Now it was ruined.

With a sigh, Itachi deposited it in a jar before sealing it away, unsure now what to do with it. He picked up the second scroll sitting on the edge of the sink before him and unsealed it. In a puff of white smoke, a crow appeared perched on his outstretched arm; the bird had in its left eye a relatively fresh Sharingan that glowed ominously. Extracting the precious Kekkei Genkai from the creature, Itachi inserted it in his now empty left eye socket. For a few seconds, his vision swam, unfocused, as his chakra suffused itself into the organ before his body could fully acclimate to the unfamiliar replacement.

Content with the result, Itachi stepped out of the bathroom and dumped the storage scrolls on the Kotatsu table with the rest of his hoard at his feet. Easing himself into a comfortable sitting position, he picked, at random, another scroll from the pile, unfurling it as he quickly scanned through. The scroll, like a large majority of the rest in his newfound collection, was a pretty mundane thing. The paper was cheap and the penmanship was nothing to write home about. However, that was to be expected given he had purchased a large majority of them from the low-rank missing-nin and mercenaries stalking the seedier parts of the towns he had raced through in a bid to avoid suspicion from the Akatsuki.

Itachi's eyes scanned the scroll for a moment before he tossed it back on the pile with a sigh and picked another. Sure, there were a few discrepancies here and there between individual scrolls, but the overall message remained the same.

Konoha's leadership had orchestrated the systematic massacre of one of their founding clans.

Such information would have, on a normal day, been classified beyond the reach of everyone one best the most skilled of Jonins. Now, it was being sold in the slums for as low as a few dozen Ryōs a copy. An amount even a civilian child could comfortably afford. It was insidious, the method via which the perpetrators of this attack executed their plan. No doubt, his beloved child, sharp as he is, would have been quick to stumble upon the news.

The boy never truly cared for the Leaf, that much Itachi knew. Since the day the council had truly acknowledged his existence, Sasuke had made his stance regarding them clear; distrust and contempt. From his speech, it was easy to see how lowly thought of Danzo and his cronies and even the Hokage. Rumours of treason would only fan his hate. The boy yet still possesses the Mangekyō—very rare eyes. He holds a miracle inside—an ability to awaken and re-awaken the Uchiha's most coveted Dōjutsu. The world has not seen them in so long; it was easy to see why another would seek to mould that disregard and contempt he bears into genuine hatred of the Leaf.

Itachi could almost imagine the series of events that led to Danzo daring to disregard their prior agreement and place a bounty on his child's head. He could still remember, with painful vividness, the ferocity with which the boy sought after his life the last time they met.

Had he gone after the Danzo, or worse, the Hokage's life in such a manner?…

Itachi sighed, tossing the scroll he held back on the table. Thankfully, there was a bounty. That was at least proof that the child was still at large and probably alive. Oh, his poor child. Where had everything gone wrong? His meticulous planning should have filled the wee boy with hate. It should have made him stronger than his gibbering, swing-riding peers; and set him on the right path! And it did! But, now, all his hard work has been corrupted, twisted into a vile facsimile of his true intentions.

Sasuke was strong and full of hate. Stronger and more hateful than ever. The boy had always been a quiet little babe. He never cried for milk: he would only part his lips a little when he got thirsty, and Itachi would call upon Mikoto to feed him. Sasuke the Ponderous, their clansmen had dubbed him. Hours a day he would spend in blissful silence, watching with a maturity that eclipsed his age as the world went through its cycles. Beautiful. Peaceful. Docile.

Alas, such gentle beauties rarely lived long in this cruel world.

Itachi had stolen the child's innocence to temper him. Talented as he was, the boy blossomed. Quickly. Violently. A hint too well. Proud as he was of his sibling's progress, Itachi quickly found himself suffering from success. The boy grew fast. Too fast. Disobedient. Rebellious. Murderous. He could barely control him as it was; now burning with righteous anger, Itachi wasn't too sure of his chances of reining the boy in without crippling him once more.

Still, it was not merely the familial ties that bound Itachi to concern for his child's well-being, but his deeper connection to the village, to the legacy of the Uchiha clan. It festered like an unhealed wound. Hence, why, this mistake had to be corrected post-haste.

The child is of my blood, and so, I shall not allow him to forsake the principles and duties we have inherited. Try as he might to throw caution to the wind, tempting fate with each impetuous step he takes, I shall try harder still and bring him back to the noble path.

His little one, with his rash ambition and an insatiable thirst for vengeance, would become a harbinger of turmoil, a harbinger of discord. Itachi could see it. Inevitable. He feared that in the child's relentless pursuit of vengeance, he risked not only his own life but the fragile equilibrium of the village, disregarding the very essence of their existence... of the Uchiha's existence – the protection of Konoha, the preservation of the peace their ancestors swore to uphold.

No! I shall not allow it!

Itachi snatched a scroll from the pile, eyes growing bloodshot as plots weaved in his head. He unsealed the mystic script to reveal two bandaged forms. Samehada and its master's dutifully preserved corpse.

The living sword squirmed as it sensed Itachi's intent.

"...I might need your help, old friend," the Uchiha whispered as he patted Kisame's forearm. "My brother grows wayward; it is my duty as his guardian to set him straight."

Sasuke . . . darling child . . . brother . . .

Please forgive me.

 

[Ravenaelwood]

A.N.: This was an experiment to see how the style of writing might work. Got tiring to do and the results were clunky in the end so I abandoned it. Still a fun attempt though.

057 - Without rhyme or rhythm!​

KONOHA

The door to a dimly lit room swung open and in slithered a snake. Pale and grey it was; a serpent on two legs with a visage epicene. Fake.

Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with malice. Danzo sat across from him, stoic as an eunuch in the Daimyo's palace. "Ah, Danzo," he purred, voice chiming and tainted with venom like a silver chalice. "Puppetmaster Extraordinaire! It's been a while since you were last at the reins. Now your dearest Konoha ails and here you are, trapped here in a gilded cage; your cell. Still, how quaint it is to see you again. You seem to be doing well even as all around you ails."

Danzo's good eye never left the sannin's pale form. "Orochimaru," he acknowledged, face darkening like a brewing storm.

"You are here."

"Of course, I am here!" quoth the sannin. "Why else would we be having this conversation, ye doddery kin."

"...Your arrival is a bit earlier than expected," the Elder continued, disregarding the serpent's jubilant mien. "Nonetheless, this changes nothing; expect no mercy from me, traitor, for I am no Hiruzen."

"Always think you are one step ahead, don't you?" tittered the sannin in response. "The sheer arrogance to think I would return without a plan. Nothing can save you or Konoha now, Danzo-san. I've brought allies—"

"Foolish child," Danzo drawled, interrupting. "I see you still take pleasure in manning the role of the jester. Might I be bold as to ask if you are unaware that all is meaningless in the face of overwhelming power?"

The sannin said nothing in response and the room descended into an awkward sil—

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Orochimaru guffawed, clutching his trembling sides.

"...What amuses you so, traitor?"

"Overwhelming power, says the wannabe dictator! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Orochimaru coughed between laughs. "Forgive me," he said, wiping tears from his face's lower half. "Oh, please continue, Lord Fifth."

The Elder scoffed, face darkening. "Why are you here, low-born filth? You must know killing me achieves nothing."

The sannin's serpentine eyes glinted with amusement. "Oh, I never knew! Truly, is that so?—he giggled again—You've always been a pragmatic man, Danzo. That's why I can understand why you might struggle to understand the illogicalities of greater beings. So let me explain something important to you now with my mood being so agreeing. Your death today won't be to achieve a greater objective or something equally grand…

"It would simply be because he decreed it so; that much I am guaranteeing."

Danzo finally shifted, his gaze narrowing. "...You are not yourself," he said with a certain realisation. With a certain conviction. "...Shisui?" he murmured before a strange glint flashed through his eyes. "Is that the boy's second Mangekyo?"

The sannin blinked, expression level as the top of a plateau.

Danzo's hands clenched into fists behind his back. "Such a waste… A great shame also—"

"Binding Snake Glare Spell!" A large snake shot out from Orochimaru's sleeves, interrupting the Elder's monologue, to coil around him to no avail. Two other shinobi appeared from the concrete wall behind, like rats out of the woodwork; a trap—quite refined.

A cord of darkness shot out from the shadows, its master still like a rock; the second shinobi charged, blazing with motion that against his partner's juxtaposed. His blade rose, poised for a cleave downward—taut—as he flickered forward. Like a fly in fresh honey, the shadows ensnared the sannin, holding him by the spine as the other shinobi's Katana cleaved him in twine.

Two beds of snakes emerged from the sannin's bisected halves, splashing to the ground before slithering into the ether's shadowy paths. Orochimaru reappeared by the door, his hands a blur. His gaze flickered to see Danzo's free hand also ablur.

"Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation!"

The earth rumbled and three stone coffins emerged before the sannin; a bastion. Both blade and shadows faltered on their hardened mien. The Third Kazekage emerged first, eyes darkened by the curse as his signature
Iron Sand spilt out of his coffin. Pakura and Gari followed after.

Orochimaru said nothing as the first of the living corpses moulded a protective cast of iron powder around him. The cocoon formed. Neither Pakura nor Gari blinked as they raised their arms and took aim; Pakura at the men standing before her and Gari at the floor beneath their feet.

"Scorch Release: Scorching Wave!"

"Explosion Release: Impact!"

.

.

.

Silence.

More silence.

Even more silence.

In silence, the sannin pushed past the red-hot, slagging mass of metal covering him. Disfigured but rapidly healing, he rose as he took stock, eyes scanning the rubble for life or its absence, therefore. The underground room had caved in, shards of sunlight peeking in. The sannin frowned, his hands blurring before a tiny white snake appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Search the rubble," He ordered. The creature gave a small bob of its head before quickly slithering away and down a crack in the pile. A split second later Orochimaru leapt out of the cave in; a three-foot-long rod of hardened chakra speared through the place he stood moments ago.

Eyes narrowing in suspicion, he stared warily at the weapon burning in black flames.

"Amaterasu…?"

The pile of concrete shifted again and from the rubble rose a great figure. Dark purple and radiating such sinister chakra as to make the sannin momentarily pause. It was a creation of divine prowess. A spectre of ancient power.

A being born from the depths of the Uchiha's indomitable essence.

"Susanoo…"

Orochimaru's gaze panned down to regard the figure within. Danzo who hid behind him took the moment to begin unsealing his arm.

"Fugaku?" the sannin muttered as his eyes swivelled to meet Danzo's emotionless ones.

"Truly, Danzo," he sighed, "you are irredeemable."

 

[Ravenaelwood]

058 - Fatherly love​

KONOHA​

Warm crimson rays shaded by rising smoke painted a frenetic dance upon the fractured façade of the room. Shattered concrete and splintered wood crunched underfoot as the acrid scent of burnt flesh spread throughout the cave-in.

His stern countenance shrouded by the darkness, Fugaku bore the mark of his clan, his Sharingan aflame with suspicion as he stared at the pale shinobi standing across from him behind twisted metal, rubble, fallen beams and molten debris.

"Orochimaru?" the undead clan head intoned as he formed another spear of chakra in his susanoo's right hand before setting it aflame with Amaterasu and punting it at the sannin. Orochimaru, in response, flickered out of the projectile's path watching with narrowed eyes as Fugaku created another.

"Fancy seeing you again, Lord Fugaku," the enigmatic serpent said as he regarded Fugaku with a slight smile, eyes gleaming like emeralds in the dimly lit cave-in.

"What is going on?" Fugaku asked as the sannin dodged yet another flaming projectile lobbed disinterestedly at him. Much to the Uchiha's compounding confusion the sannin tittered in response.

"Oh, you know," Orochimaru said, giggling still, "The usual … Hehe. Konoha is on the verge of annihilation with the nine-tails power once again ravaging the village at the whims of an Uchiha. I find it hilarious that it happened twice."

Fugaku spaced out for a moment before suddenly realising his body was still moving of its violation, lobbing flaming spears at the sannin, intent on fulfilling the command of the puppeteer behind him. "...how many years has it been since I died?" he asked a feeling of dread suffusing his being.

"Give or take seven," Orochimaru replied as he dodged before lobbing a barrage of kunia bearing explosive tags in Fugaku's direction. The clan head willed his Susanoo forth, a great skeletal arm swinging into his field of view to defend against the salvo.

A frown creased Fugaku's face as he absentmindedly lobbed another spear in retaliation. "Itachi?" he asked, baffled. The wicked child was loyal to a fault—to the village at least. Fugaku couldn't imagine a world where his traitorous firstborn would turn against his leaf.

The sannin guffawed in response. "Itachi? No! Of course not!"

"...Then who?"

"...Guess."

"Stop conversing with Orochimaru, Fugaku," Danzo intoned, distracted as he worked. Clanking noises rang from behind Fugaku where the vile elder stood as Danzo continued to unseal whatever it was he kept hidden underneath his robes.

"...He can't be any more than fourteen," Fugaku whispered as his Susanoo's arm swung again to shield him and his puppeteer from harm. Spectral fingers unfurled to catch a pillar of compacted earth shooting out of the wall to their right. "Itachi promised me he would protect him…?"

"And you expected him to keep that—" The sannin began only to look down to see a blade sticking out of his chest. "Ha, good one—the sannin swung the kunai in his arm in an arc forcing his attacker to disengage to a distance he could now see her. He flickered immediately after, dodging another flaming spear launched at him from behind—Mikoto-san?"

"You pulled out all the stops now did you, Danzo?" Orochimaru continued even as blood leaked from his ruptured heart. Mikoto silently chased after him as she was compelled to do. In response, the sannin swung his right hand at her and a twelve-meter-long serpent slithered out of his sleeve, crossing the distance between the two of them in a blink of an eye to instantly constrict her within its gigantic coils.

At the same moment, the sannin crawled out of his mouth, shedding his old body and slithering away in a new one on a streamlined serpentine tail in a sudden attempt to flee the battle, seemingly unwilling to continue fighting with the odds stacked so high against him.

Fugaku lobbed another flaming spear at the sannin in an attempt to dissuade him from leaving the battlefield only for a wall of iron dust to rise from the rubble to stop the projectile. The black mass, caught aflame in Amaterasu's all-consuming wrath, instantly began to disappear but that meant little at the end. The sannin had escaped.

Freed herself from her restraints Mikoto moved to pursue only to be intercepted by a green-haired Kunoichi bursting out of the debris in front of her. Fugaku watched as his reanimated wife allowed a kunai to sink into her torso before whipping around—eyes lit in a baleful crimson—to snag her opponent in a Genjutsu.

The green-haired kunoichi dropped like a puppet that had its strings cut. Seemingly seizing the moment, a wave of iron dust burst out of the rubble to engulf Mikoto. Fugaku looked away from his cocooned wife, his eyes scanning the rubble in search of the hidden shinobi.
Instinctively, his eyes swivelled to his feet to see tendrils of the black mass creeping up his sandals and without any conscious effort on his part his body willed his Susanoo to punt the vile elder behind him away from harm. That split decision saw the tendrils explode into thick cords that
coiled around his waist in an attempt to pull him under.

"Amaterasu!"

With his right eye, Fugaku summoned the undying flames and with his left, he shaped it to consume nought but the iron dust coating him. A flicker of his gaze cast the tame flames at the cocooned Mikoto before swivelling around to coat the entire cave-in and flush out his opponent. A figure blurred out of the rubble and Fugaku's Mangekyo tracked it, nicking the shinobi's right limbs. With a noisy clatter, The Third Kazekage tumbled into the spreading flames and was summarily consumed.

Having fulfilled his directive to protect Danzo, Fugaku immediately burst his eardrums and sped away to escape receiving another. He crossed the apparent ruins of the village at a blazing pace racing towards the edge of the village to stop just outside the barrier surrounding it. Outside was a great monstrosity—a Susanoo of mythical proportions—raging across an equally monstrous battlefield. Many miles separated them both, but Fugaku could clearly see the frail figure of a teenager floating within the legendary summon.

His son.

Sasuke.

…what have they done to you? Fugaku whispered to himself unable to believe what was before his very eyes.

"...W-who are you?" a broken voice asked from behind him. His hearing now restored, the clan head glanced sideways at a ruined figure behind him. Cracks spiderwebbed across the fellow's earthen visage as his obliterated form was slowly being reconstituted.

"...Lord Hashirama," Fugaku intoned expressionlessly, the righteous anger of a helpless father still burning in him.

"Uchiha?" the First said as he caught sight of Fugaku's Sharingan.

"Fugaku Uchiha," Fugaku replied. "Last clan head of the Uchiha… and the father of the child your village has ruined so."

Silence.

Hashirama pushed himself upright on one partially reconstituted limb. "...It wasn't supposed to turn out this way," the Hokage mumbled as he looked away in shame.

"...It wasn't supposed to turn out this way?" Fugaku asked after a monetary pause. "The successor you chose, your brother, Tobirama … The boon he maliciously handed my Uchiha was, in fact, a poison chalice. One in a list of many devised to see the eventual downfall of my people … and you say it wasn't supposed to turn out this way? How then, oh great leader, was it supposed to turn out?"

"I am—"

"Amaterasu."

Fugaku looked away from Hashirama's burning form, his gaze panning back to the barrier before him as he thought of how he might bypass it without ruining his child's evidently well-thought-out plans.

If he could overlook Itachi's disloyalty and accept death at the hands of his kin, what then was indulging his youngest in a little iniquity?

 

[Ravenaelwood]

059 - Dead Things of the Past​

KONOHA​

It was all strange.

The crunch of dead leaves underfoot. The musk of rotting foliage. The chill of the morning breeze on her undead flesh. Even with the years that had passed, Mito found that little had changed. The sky was still blue and men still warred like childish fools. To imagine that decades after her death, she would return to find the shinobi world still rife with conflict; unsurprising, still, Mito couldn't be any more disappointed.

Surrounded by a circle of towering ancient trees, their bark tagged with barrier seals, the former jinchūriki, clad in a simple white kimono, held a scrying orb in her hands. It shimmered with a translucent, opalescent light that revealed the unfolding war that raged in the village. Being so physically removed from the conflict Mito could almost delude herself into thinking all she saw in the orb in her hand was false. An illusion. A lie. Birds still chirped ignorantly in the dense canopy and nought a tremor rippled through the earth.

With a piercing gaze, she watched as a squad of shinobi burst into the room she had been bunkered in just five minutes ago. Quick thinking on the part of the ANBU tasked with guarding her ensured she had been reverse summoned from the scene long before the decapitation force could close in on and hinder her. Mito gave an unimpressed sniff as she stared at the doomed group, wondering to herself what the enemy commander must have been thinking to send in weaklings for such an important task.

Fools, the lot of them.

Dismissing the thought her attention returned to the battle raging above ground, eyes flickering to pick out casualties from among the tangle of foilage and rubble. Her chakra pulsed as she transmitted information regarding the locations of a few trapped civilians to the closest medic squad in the area. The encoded message was imprinted into an unfurled scroll in her hand before being beamed forth to the concerned party.

Sighing, Mito turned her sights away from the casualties to more pressing issues. There was little more that she could do for them far away as she was at the moment. Instead, she quickly went to work dismantling the insidious sealing barrier surrounding the village. Positioned as she was, it was easy to see what the enemy's objectives were; divide, isolate and conquer in quite the most literal of sense. An inspired, yet equally horrifying plan.

Slowly, her chakra wormed through the barrier's internals; in its wake, she left a chain of parasitic seals poised to erode the integrity of the technique. Her efforts did not go unseen though. The barrier's creator soon took notice, then offence as they fought back intending to evict her presence. Wild and lacking in grace it was clear to Mito that her opponent, while skilled, was no fuinjutsu master.
Inexperienced.

Miles away, the barrier flickered, poised to collapse before another will made itself known; this one much more worrying than her prior opponent. The newcomer's will blitz through the barrier's internals, quickly repairing the damage done. The ancient Uzumaki frowned, not at all appreciating the ease with which her opponent undermined all her efforts.

There was a brush of intent and the faint perception that someone was watching her before Mito quickly cut the connection.

"What's the matter—" one of her bodyguards began only to falter as two figures appeared out of thin air just outside the barrier that was supposed to conceal their location. Mito's frown deepened as stared at the dark-haired Kunoichi across from her. Crouched before said Kunoichi was a shinobi. He had auburn hair, dark eyes and a chiselled face set into a stern frown. The fellow carried a small canister by his side from which gold dust leaked onto the ground, slithering beneath him like some sentient amorphous blob.

"Raza," the dark-haired kunoichi intoned, her features expressionless. "Be careful. The old lady is quite the Fuinjutsu expert so it would not be much of a surprise if this place had already been heavily fortified. I would hate to have to redeploy someone else to handle this just because you carelessly got yourself killed."

"I can handle it,' the man said without inflexion. And with nought even a nod of approval the kunoichi disappeared leaving him behind.

"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Imperial Funeral!" the shinobi declared as the growing blob beneath him surged forth like a tidal wave.

"Adamantine Seal: Yin Consuming Maw!" Mito replied. The head of a spectral red-furred monkey rose from the earth to consume the wave before descending back into the forest floor. Her opponent stared, stunned, at his greatly diminished gold wave before making a "tching" noise.

"Annoying," he murmured much to Mito's agreement. Who was that Kunoichi? she wondered to herself not at all happy to find someone capable of matching her skill as her ANBU bodyguards surged forth towards their opponent.

***

Behold, as the sun, that fiery charioteer of day, ascended the heavens with a solemn grace. The morning mist, like the breath of samurai awaiting their fate, dissipated in the face of the advancing luminary general. Each one, now kissed by the amber fingers of sunlight, stood as a soldier in the grand army of the leaf. The dewdrops on their flak jackets, like tears, shed in the quietude of the night, glisten as if mourning the inevitable clash that awaits.

Nuibari, moistened by the tears of heaven, gleamed in the crimson light. Mangetsu stared as a drop of dew gathered at the tip of the needle sword, seemingly ignorant of the shinobi amassing around him. Eyes dead, he looked away from the legendary blade in his hand to face his opponents, his short silver hair billowing in the wind.

"Rude," he said, flicking the blade to the side and sending a drop of dew shooting at the konoha-nin attempting to ambush him with a tendril of darkness. The compressed drop travelled at tremendous speed before detonating on the shinobi's chest, flinging him off the cliff he stood into the abyss below.

Nuibari twirled in Mangetsu's grasp even as his body liquefied to allow the barrage of Kunia and shurikens to harmlessly pass through him. Two water clones split from his amorphous mass before disappearing into the mist emanating from beneath his feet to hunt for prey.

Mangetsu was not certain how or why he was here, but he was certain he was itching for a fight.

A fight these konoha-nin seem all too willing to provide.

Lips curling into a soft smile that showed his serrated teeth, he summoned Shibuki, the explosive blade, in his other hand. This should be fun, whispered an errant thought in his mind as he also faded into the mist.

"...Silent killing."

***

A squad of ROOT operatives stood silently before the barrier as one of their ilk weaved a summoning jutsu before slamming his palm on the floor before him. With a rumbling noise, a stone coffin rose from the earth. The coffin's lid fell to the ground with a muted thud and a figure stumbled out on stiff limbs.

Shisui expressionlessly stared at the barrier across from him, his mind awhir as he wondered what was going on. Beside him, one of the ROOT operatives tasked to act as his handler retrieved a tagged kunai from a pouch by his waist before immediately inserting it in his head, dispersing the Uchiha's thoughts before they could even fully form.

"Your instructions are clear," the fellow said as steam emanated from Shisui's body, cementing the Jutsu's hold on his soul, "Destroy the barrier, neutralise Sasuke Uchiha and return immediately for further instructions. Ignore or bypass any obstruction to this directive. Don't try to play smart. Now, go!"

Shisui said nothing as his body blurred forth of its own volition, charging towards the barrier. He felt his chakra pour out, coalescing and hardening as a Susanoo took form around him. Great wings sprouted from his back as he raised a great drill-like lance before slamming it into the barrier. The weapon bored into the barrier that in turn strained valiantly against it, glowing brightly before faltering in the face of the divine weapon.

With an explosive bang, the barrier shattered, its fragments flickering out of existence as a great plume of dust rose from the malformed earth. Heedless of this, Shisui felt his Susanoo fade away as he Body-flickered toward the earth-shaking battle ahead; in a matter of moments he was at the battle. Appearing above the other Susanoo, his reemerged with its lance poised to pierce through its spine. Shisui ignored the mauled sand tanuki pinned beneath his fellow Uchiha, as well as the second and third Hokage trying their hardest to bring the twelve-legged monstrosity to the ground as he brought his weapon to bear.

His target, seemingly distracted, did not react to Shisui appearing above him right up till the moment he dissuaded him of that notion; three of his blade-like tails speared upwards through Shisui's Susanoo, the tails piercing through hardened chakra to skewer his undying body within. Still, the undead Uchiha was unsurprised to find that his suicidal ambush had succeeded.

The lance smashed through the larger Susanoo's spine and it pinned it to the earth.

Seizing the opportunity, the Hokages rushed towards the boy cocooned within the gigantic construct, seeking to decisively end the fight. They were intercepted however by a dark-haired figure clad in a homely turquoise kimono.

"...Fugaku?" exclaimed Lord Hiruzen, his expression warping in stunned surprise

A screaming fireball was the clan head's only reply.

 

[Ravenaelwood]

060 - The Beginning of the End​

KONOHA​

A massive clawed hand swatted downwards from behind. Hiruzen dodged away from the giant summon, his eyes narrowed in concentration. The beastly Susanoo thrashed against the lance pinning it to the ground, its blade-like tails slashing against the weapon; rabid.

The third leapt again, dodging the gigantic fireball that surged his way, his body flickering out of sight the moment he did. The fireball, seemingly aware of this, turned and followed him before exploding in a great plume of heat that sent him tumbling backwards.

His feet skidding against the fractured earth, Hiruzen looked up just in time to see Fugaku charging towards him. A spectral ribcage wrapped the clan head from which a great skeletal arm extended holding a phantasmal spear that burned in black, unnatural flames. Hiruzen's hands blurred and a muddy river gathered beneath his feet before sweeping forward towards the Uchiha patriarch. Fugaku's Susanoo spear rose to divert the stream, splitting the conjured river in twain. Hiruzen's arms formed another string of hand signs, his chakra churning as a whiskered, four-legged mud dragon rose from the stream before shooting towards the Uchiha with the force of a speeding train.

Hiruzen pushed the offensive, his hands blurring still as a torrent of fire spilt forth from his lips to consume Fugaku. Skidding to a stop just in front of the conflagration, he raised his Enma as he prepared for Fugaku to emerge from the flames; he could still sense the Uchiha's chakra burning brightly ahead, his Susanoo protecting him from harm. All around was a scene of profound destruction. Sasuke's Susanoo was no longer in sight nor was the sand Tanuki that had turned on him; that was as bad a sign as any, Hiruzen decided, his eyes scanning the battlefield for his oppo—urk!

The Third Hokage looked down to see a short Tanto sticking out of his chest having punctured his heart. Behind him, Fugaku's shadow clone dispersed as the last of its chakra was depleted with the completion of the Silent Killing technique. At that moment a figure emerged from the dying flames, crimson eyes staring impassionately at the Third.

"...Wait," Hiruzen coughed as he choked on his own blood. Fugaku flickered away, seemingly unconcerned with the Hokage's fate.

***

Crimson eyes, wide open, saw through the chaos of battle. Beneath the surface, the earth shook with a constant tremor. The air shimmered and wrapped in a synchronized dance with heat waves emanating from the razed earth beneath. From our perch,
we could see the world through a veil of turbulent chakra.

We could hear the screams of men and women.

We could feel the thrum of their chakra.

We could smell the stench of blood and death.

We were hungry.

So, very hungry.

Vengeance was so close, we could taste it. Oh, sweet vengeance.

With a rumble, we shifted, sending the earth quivering. Our tails lashed out, dismembering the Susanoo standing on our spine. The smaller majestic attire toppled to the side, its severed arms and legs no longer providing it the much-needed purchase to
stay upright. The chakra construct fell, shattering into a million pieces as its undead pilot's severed halves tumbled to the ground before disappearing behind a billowing dust cloud.

With all six of our arms, we pushed off the ground to continue our assault, crawling forward as our lower half crumbled behind us. One of our clawed arms rose to catch a blur that shot out of the dust at our face; cracks spiderwebbed across the surface of our susanoo's spectral palm as it caught the gigantic Rasengan cradled in Jiraiya's palm. Two wrinkly toads stood on his shoulders as he pushed the spiralling orb of chakra against us.

From beneath our great bulk, the sand Tanuki's reformed arms wrapped around our torso before squeezing. The tailed beast's body dispersed as it gradually began to form a cocoon around our Susanoo; cracks rippled across the surface of the spectral armour as the pressure mounted. We squeezed, crushing the Rasengan in our Susanoo's palm; the arm detonated as a result with everything beneath the elbow being vapourised. The toad sage leapt away, his right hand dangling limply by his side. From the opposite side, Tobirama sprinted past an occupied Fugaku, a massive vortex of water in his wake. The second leapt up his hand blurring before a beam of pressurized water shot towards us.

Our remaining arms rose to catch the attack, but with how weighed down they were by the Tanuki's bulk we knew they would not be fast enough. A clone peeled off our body, its hands weaving chakra before it even fully emerged. As it freed itself an identical beam of water shot forth from its maw to knock the deadly stream off course.

From the chaos, a wave of electricity erupted; had we not seen it on the path, we might have been caught unaware.

"...Shisui," we tsked as the blow washed over us. Eyes flickering about the battlefield, we promptly came to a decision. Chidori gathered in our palm as we allowed ourself to free fall through our Susanoo towards the Tanuki beneath. Sand parted before lightning as we dove through molten silica, our outstretched hand punching a hole through Gaara's sand armour. We let our chakra sublime his being before gripping onto the essence of the tailed beast within.

With a tug we yanked it out, ignoring the boy's dumbfounded expression as we consumed the troublemaker within.

"...How?" he croaked.

We ignored him still as we tugged our arm free of his warm innards, our chakra sealing the wound as we tossed him aside. Around us, a few metric tons of compacted sand crashed to the earth as our Susanoo faded from existence beneath it and the will of Tanuki relinquished its hold over it to the force of gravity.

As another wall of dust billowed out about us, we willed another three clones to split from us before fading out of site to reset the battle.

***​

Yakumo could scarcely believe her eyes. It was happening; Sasuke-kun fulfilled his promise; Konoha was in ruins.

Flecks of dust fell from the ceiling of the bunker they hid in. All around, the most important non-combatants of the clans were gathered so they might be shielded from the carnage above. Still, with even some of the best protecting them, it was more than obvious to Yakumo that no one felt safe. Under the steely-eyed facade of stoicism worn by the shinobi tasked with protecting them, she could sense flickers of rage intermixed with smatterings of bone-deep terror. They were terrified of him, she realised; of Sasuke, a boy her age. The same boy they had all condemned because his continued existence made their livelihood just a touch more uncertain.

It was at that moment Yakumo fully comprehended the dynamic between Konoha and her best friend. The village's hatred for him was only matched by the impotence they felt in his presence.

…Envy, Yakumo found she felt knowing that. She wanted that; to be feared. To be able to so casually and nonchalantly wreak havoc on those who took from her what she cherished the most.

She exhaled a shaky breath as she tucked a strand of brown hair behind her left ear. Had anyone glanced at her at that moment, they might have easily mistaken her trembling for the fear of a young girl in need of comfort. Her lips quivered as she stared at the uneasy guards and her delicate hands stuffed in the pockets of her silken kimono were scrunched into tight, pale-knuckled fist.

…don't hesitate.

Yakumo shivered as she remembered the last words she heard whispered in her ear by him before he spontaneously decided to bring the leaf to its knees.

If you truly desire revenge, Yakumo… never hesitate.

Her right hand slid out of her pocket, a paintbrush held tightly in her clutches. "Ido," she whispered as her lidded eyes panned across the crowd to meet her former master's crimson ones; for a long moment, Kurenai's eyes narrowed in incomprehension before, suddenly, lighting up with panic.

"...Lend me your strength."

 

[Ravenaelwood]

Interlude (6)

KONOHA​

A dust cloud billowed forth, blotting out the light of the morning sun. The great shadows that previously loomed overhead had suddenly disappeared. Jiraiya cursed under his breath as his gaze panned in search of the tailed beast and the chimeric Susanoo to no avail.

"My right arm is broken," Jiraiya said as he leapt out of the dust cloud to a higher vantage point. "I might need help to fix it, boss."

"That would have to wait, Jiraiya boy," Fukasaku replied gravely from his perch on Jiraiya's shoulder. "He's still here. He is close; very close. I can sense him, although barely so. The child has simply gone into hiding to reset the playing field. We can't let him buy the time he wants; we must find him! Immediately!"

"On it!" Shima said from atop Jiraiya's other shoulder as she formed a two-handed ram seal. "Creature Detection Jutsu!"

The toad elder focused senjutsu chakra into her tongue, making it grow as its tip reshaped into a snarling face. The animated organ slithered out of her mouth, seeking the young Uchiha's scent as it sniffed about the rubble.

"Haha! Found him!" Shima exclaimed as her tongue whipped out to detonate an innocent-looking boulder. A figure blurred out of the way before it could be caught in Shima's grasp. Sasuke skid to a stop a few meters away only to flicker out of sight again as a lance of pressurised water cut the pile of rubble he was standing on in half.

"He's fast!" Jiraiya yelled.

"I'm aware, brat!" Fukasaku roared. "He shouldn't be able to keep this up though; it must be too taxing on his reserves. We must increase the pressure! Try to close the distance!"

"Taijutsu? But I can only use one arm!"

"Just do it!" Shima bellowed. "We will support you with Frog Kata!"

Jiraiya grunted as he sprinted towards the fleeing Uchiha. In response, Sasuke flickered, his body flashing between the rubble as he pushed to create distance. Jiraiya forced the Uchiha to dodge once again as his white mane suddenly puffed up, sending a barrage of hardened hair needles toward his opponent; the chakra-hardened hair strands burst through the earth beneath the Uchiha's feet, shattering the ground and sending him tumbling through the air.

The Uchiha landed gracefully on a rocky outcropping before rounding on his heels and blurring towards the sannin, his bone-white prosthetic poised to land a killing blow. Jiraiya's hair whipped out in response, thickening and lengthening as chakra flowed through it making its hardness comparable to that of steel wire. Sasuke batted aside the bundled mass with a short blade that stuck out from his prosthetic's palm before racing along the length of the hair towards the sannin.

Jiraiya responded with a pulse of chakra that sent spikes bursting out the length of his mane. The Uchiha leapt to evade; Jiraiya pressed the offensive, spewing a large volume of oil at his airborne opponent. Beside him, Fukasaku performed a large Wind Release technique to propel the oil, with Shima igniting it with an equally large Fire Release technique. Within an instant, the air was filled with oil burning at temperatures of thousands of degrees. The super-heated oil created an inferno of such magnitude that, within an instant, a ballooning field of negative overpressure and fragmentation erased the spot the Uchiha was last sighted.

"...Did that get him?" Shima asked, her voice filling the resulting silence.

"I doubt it," Jiraiya grumbled as he quickly repositioned to get a better view of the smog and dust-shrouded battlefield. "He can teleport. And even if he couldn't for some reason his Susanoo is sturdy enough to shrug off an attack of that calibre."

"Wouldn't his chakra reserves be low though?" Fukasaku pointed out.

"The boy can steal chakra from tailed-beasts," was Jiraiya's reply. The toad elder looked around at the ominously absent Sand Tanuki and muttered a dull "oh".

"...Lady Shima, can you help us root out the boy's location again? We mustn't let him get away."

***

Tobirama stared at the figure skewered along the length of his Katana as a black, unnatural flame ate away at his undying body. The Hokage staggered away from Fugaku, his face set in a deep frown.

"So you are that foul thing's father?" he asked as he stared at the Uchiha patriarch's unmoving form.

"Whose noble heir do you call foul?" the undead Patriarch replied, his gaze condescending. "Watch your tongue, Senju; my son is a hundred-fold the man you will never be."

Tobirama snorted, his eyes scanning the suddenly still battlefield even as his body crumbled away. "Your son is a monster; even you must know that."

"Do not speak as if you know him."

"I know him well enough, Uchiha. Better than you do, it seems."

The Uchiha patriarch fell silent at that. Tobirama glanced back at his opponent, surprised at the lack of a scathing retort. His katana fell to the ground with a clatter as Fugaku's body suddenly glowed before crumbling into a
pile of dust.

"...Well, at least, that sorted itself," Tobirama mused just before the black flames consumed him in totality.

***

"Tora, Hebi, Inu, Tatsu… Reanimation Jutsu!"

Dust and ash encased the screaming sacrifice, giving them Fugaku's appearance. The unfortunate fellow's chakra signature was completely overridden by the Uchiha Patriarch's within a few moments, as his rebirth slowly concluded. Danzo scowled as he stared at the living corpse, his previously depleted chakra reserves diminished further.

The elder had always known himself to be a man who did not appreciate uncertainty; for one with the sort of ambition he held, such a thing could only spell ruin and spawn disaster. And as his gaze swept over the scene above ground, Danzo found, to his great displeasure, that he was surrounded by a sea of uncertainty.

For all the power he held, and his careful machinations, it would appear that the Hokage's pet project would have its way; Konoha would fall...

No... it had already fallen.

Incensed, Danzo's hand tightened around his cane, a frown marring his scarred face. Beside him, Mikoto stood guard. Her reanimated husband joined her, his grey eyes set in a scathing glare.

"Follow me!" he ordered as he turned to speed away—urk!

Danzo looked down to see a fist sticking out of his right lung. With a gasp, he willed one of the Sharingan in his right arm to life... only to find nothing happened. Pain still radiated from his chest and a body fist remained embedded in his chest.

Izanagi had failed to trigger.

"Don't bother," a gruff voice said from behind him. "I've already severed the chakra conducts that control those."

Fear lanced through Danzo's heart as he unhesitantly burned the Mangekyo in his right eye socket, rewriting reality and reappearing a few meters away, free and uninjured.

"Oh," the voice said again. Danzo looked up to meet the gaze of an imposing, unfamiliar man with a scarred visage. "You had a backup? Orochimaru never mentioned that... Well, no matter."

Fugaku and Mikoto were already moving, but once again, they simply couldn't match the attacker's speed. The towering man blurred and Danzo found himself skewered again on the fellow's massive arm, this time without a backup sharingan to rewrite reality.

"You've been very naughty, Danzo," Jinrui said as he teleported them both back to an underground cell in the Land of Waves.

"No more Izanagi for you..."

***

Kakashi sat silently in his cell, his face set in a dull impassionate mask. Beneath his feet, the earth trembled, shuddering in the wake of a battle he could not intervene in; Tsunade having forbidden him from leaving due to the uncertainties surrounding his allegiances and mental stability.

…Still, how was he supposed to sit here and do nothing while his former student continues to wreak havoc on the village?

With a sigh, the Copy Ninja placed his head against the wall as he stared at the duo standing across from him. Muta and Ensui both wore equally sombre expressions and Kakashi could easily understand why; how galling must it be for them to be placed on guard duty while the entire village was being uprooted beneath their very feet?

"It's not too late," Ensui grumbled as another shudder shook the dust off the cell's ceiling. "We could still help."

Muta looked at the insomniac Nara then, his expression morose. "...and risk triggering whatever trap that boy planted inside his head?" he groused, gesturing towards Kakashi with his chin. "Nah, I'll pass. Sorry, but Kakashi going rogue is too great a risk to ignore."

"That's assuming that he could go rogue in the first place," the dark-haired Jonin muttered in response, his eyes narrowing as they met the Aburame's impassive gaze. "Lady Tsunade didn't find anything, did she? Seems counterintuitive to be wasting valuable manpower during a time like this, no?"

Muta said nothing for a long moment before responding. "...that's not your call, Ensui. Lord Third didn't veto this decision, nor did any member of the Council; they ought to know what they are doing."

"...Lately, I have been finding it hard—"

"Enough."

"Oh, for fuck's sake!"

Muta hissed in response. "The more you speak, the more I suspect you might be the one going rogue, Ensui."

Kakashi blinked at the accusation, his brow creasing into a slight frown as he suddenly felt the urge to intervene.

"Excuse me?" Ensui growled.

"Yeah," the Aburame replied. "You heard me."

"Stop it. Both of you." Kakashi sighed, his gaze shaded with disappointment. "Don't you two understand the stakes at hand? We are all on edge, so how about you both stop bickering like a pair of Genin and do your jobs?"

Muta and Ensui stared at each other, neither willing to concede the point. Still, it appeared Kakashi's words got across to them as silence again reigned in the cell with nought but the occasional rumble of a tortured earth.

And in this silence, Kakashi found himself wondering…

***

Mito stared at her opponent's body as it lay unmoving before her. Around her, the rubble had settled, and the dust was starting to disperse. The air was quiet; there was almost no sound, no movement. Just the soft, gentle breeze rustling the leaves above and a sense of peace, as if the world was holding its breath.

The Uzumaki woman took a step forward, her eyes narrowed condescendingly on her fallen adversary before panning to the dead ANBU littering the forest floor.

"...It seems you couldn't handle it," she mused as she weaved a string of hand signs. Thick roots emerged from the earth to entomb Raza's corpse before pulling it underground. Insurance, just in case the gold user turned out to be the sort of shinobi that tended to refuse to stay dead.

With the disturbance taken care of, the former jinchūriki turned her attention back to her scrying orb. Eyes glinting stubbornly, she set her mind to dismantling the barrier surrounding the village.

Mito wasn't about to allow some upstart skank to get the better of her.

No, she wasn't.

***

In the already dim and murky depths of the underground cave, Baki stood with his arms crossed above his chest. The Jonin couldn't help but think they might have bitten off a bit more than they could chew as he stared at
Gaara's curled-up form. The boy was fast asleep; unmoving as he had since the moment Kage teleported in with him hanging from the crook of her arm.

To see him so peaceful... it was a strange sight.

"...The Tanuki?" Baki asked as Temari suddenly overcame her trepidation and slowly began to approach her slumbering sibling; Kankuro stood unmoving behind her, his eyes narrowed in suspicion as he stared at the younger boy.

"Sasuke destroyed it; It was making itself a nuisance."

Baki's right hand quivered as he raised it to adjust his vest.

Destroyed it? he whispered in his mind, his spine tingling as a cold chill caressed the heckles on the back of his neck. What kind of person just destroys a tailed-beast because it was 'making itself a nuisance'?

"...So what now?" he asked, unwilling to think further about the matter.

"Exfil," Kage said simply. "Our job here is done. Sasuke should be wrapping things up soon."

***

Tsunade panted as she slid to a stop before a cratered bunker. Her skin was covered in horrid burns, her hair was a frazzled mess, and her dress was melting off her shoulders, but none of that mattered; she had finally managed to shake off the mizukage.

The Senju Princess leaned heavily on the remains of a wall to catch her breath, her chest heaving as she tried to regain her bearings. Before her, the bunker lay open, the door hanging by its hinges as the building's innards were laid bare to the naked eye.

The sight made a pit form in Tsunade's guts.

"...No," Tsunade breathed as she stood to rush inside.

The bunker was in ruins. Broken furniture littered the floors alongside shards of glass, splinters, slagged concrete and shattered wood. Bodies littered the floor and blood ran down the walls; it was a slaughterhouse.

Tsunade's hands shook as her eyes caught sight of the corpses, her body frozen in shock.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" She staggered towards the closest victim, her hands glowing green as she knelt to do... something.

Anything.

"That one is dead," a gruff masculine voice rumbled. Tsunade looked up to see Ibiki standing on the other side of the room. Beside him was Yamato, Might Guy and Genma. "Come with me, Lady Tsunade," he said, "we might be able to save a few others."

"How is this possible? The bunker! The bunker was supposed to be sealed and protected! How did they get past the barrier?"

"...It was Yakumo," Might Guy said with a tired sigh.

"Who?"

"Yakumo Kurama," Ibiki replied. "Heiress of the Kurama Clan and one of Kurenai's former students. She possesses a powerful Kekkei Genkai; one able to project a very powerful Genjutsu, if her records are to be believed. She often used paintings as a conduit to cast these illusions, causing those around her to believe what is on the painting as reality, despite it only being an illusion. We suspect she managed to turn the Shinobi who were supposed to protect the civilians against them and each other. The result of so many Chunin and Jonin-level actors suddenly turning against each other in such an enclosed space, as you can see, was quite catastrophic."

"...Where is the traitor now?" Tsunade asked darkly.

"My cell arrived to see a four-man team absconding from the scene with the culprit," Genma replied. "When we did a cross-reference to confirm the identity of the squad and we found them to be the infamous Furido 4-Man Team that terrorized the coastal regions of the Land of Fire a few years prior before they were forced into hiding by bounty hunters."

Tsunade remained silent as she followed the men underground. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but she knew now wasn't the time. Inside, Tsunade found a sight that had her guts roiling in horror. She shut her eyes for a moment to recentre herself before opening them again. Her gaze descended on a stone-faced Asuma; he knelt beside a body that upon closer inspection Tsunade found was a badly battered Kurenai. The red-eyed woman was still alive, but only so.

As her gaze panned around, the sannin was forced to remember why she loathed conflict as much as she did.

***

Guren raced ahead, ignoring Toroi and Kimimaro as they fought off an enraged Hiashi Hyūga. The Patriarch fought valiantly, but against two immortal reincarnations of their calibre, he could only watch as his youngest child was carted away, encased in a pillar of pink crystals.

***

Mangetsu enjoyed himself today. So much so that he didn't mind so much when Kage stole him away without permission. Being immortal had a way of making those fights he cherished feel all the more carefree.

***

We side-stepped the punch, as well as the phantom strike one of the toads on the sannin's shoulder threw at us. Sticking to the side with Jiraiya's bad arm, we slid past him before dodging another beam of high-pressure water shot at us by the second toad on his shoulder. We could feel, the climax approaching as the path neared its end. Expressionlessly, we kicked the sannin in the back, launching him into a crater before righting ourself.

In the distance, we could feel several Chakra signatures approaching—Hashirama's being the most pronounced—but we ignored them. The Path showed no victory there. Instead, we willed our presence away, returning to the Land of Waves.

There was no point in participating further in that battle; Kage would find much better use for the Tanuki's chakra than we at the moment.

The battle was already won; our revenge halfway achieved.

We felt...

Content.

.

.

.

For the moment at least...

 

[Ravenaelwood]

061 - Dishonoured
KONOHA​

He could recall it perfectly; the memory seared into his consciousness. Itachi had been four years old then, a toddler in the eyes of the world but a genius among the Uchiha. As a result, he had been brought to see a mountain of corpses; to see the reality of his existence as a shinobi.

"Father," Itachi whispered as he stared at the corpse of the Iwa-nin he had just killed. "I don't understand ... why did the shinobi try to kill me?"

"This is war," Fugaku replied calmly, a hand on Itachi's shoulder. "Strangers kill each other for genuinely senseless reasons. Never forget this sight, my son..."

"Never forget."

"This is war."

Itachi never forgot.

The funeral came after. It was a sombre affair.

"Lord Third will take full responsibility and retire."

Minato assumed the role of Hokage. Not Fugaku.

The Uchiha grew incensed.

Dissent began festering amongst their ranks, their loyalties questioned by a suspicious Leaf.

Then came a pivotal encounter. "The only way there is meaning in life is if it is eternal," whispered the snake sannin.

Itachi was confused.

"There isn't truly anyone who wants to die," he asked the cackling corvids following his failed suicide. "Is there?"

Pessimism.

Nihilism.

Existentialism.

Then...

Hope?

"You'll have a little brother or sister," Mikoto said to the young Uchiha, her lips curled in a small, happy smile.

"Huh?"

"The baby will be born in the summer," she said.

The baby was born in the summer.

"His name is Sasuke," Fugaku uttered with a bellowing laugh. Itachi was surprised; his father almost never smiled. "Sasuke Uchiha... Sasuke. We'll raise him never to dishonour his family name."

The baby was a crier. A relentless one. Eternally fearful... until he wasn't.

"It's okay now," Itachi cooed, cradling the infant as a demon fox rampaged across the Leaf. "I know. It was a little scary. Don't worry, I am here. Big brother will protect you."

"Hehe!" Sasuke giggled, carefree. Itachi was surprised; his brother only ever cried.

The demon was subdued. Lord Fourth was dead; the Third was reinstated with Fugaku overlooked.

The Uchiha grew incensed.

Dissent continued to fester amongst their ranks, their loyalties questioned by an increasingly suspicious Leaf.

Time passed.

Life was good. On the days the child toddled not on Itachi's trail, he spent hours staring in a ponderous haze as the world went through its phases. Sasuke was a marvel. A genius. Everything Itachi was and more.

Much more.

Often fixated on the oddest of things. Ponderous. Patient.

"This is a core jutsu of our clan," Fugaku said as he demonstrated a fire-style technique, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

Itachi copied him perfectly. Fugaku was impressed.

"That's my boy!" he said with a hearty laugh.

"Hehe!" Sasuke giggled from behind them. The toddler toddled forward before aping the duo. A beach ball-sized flame leaked from his lips before fizzing out.

"Hehe!" Sasuke giggled again, staring at the twisting haze of his technique with that enthralled expression he tended to wear. Itachi looked to his father; the older man was similarly gobsmacked. The toddler toddled off, distracted by a passing butterfly.

Time passed.

The toddler had grown; a kid now. Sasuke, the promise of a bright future. Itachi stared into the child's crimson, hateful eyes. Their parents lay by the child's feet. Unmoving.

Dead.

"...Why?" Sasuke asked. Itachi stared on impassively, aching as he envisioned the path he sought to set his child on.

"Why?" he asked again, trembling.

"...Curiosity," Itachi replied, gaze unflinching as he desperately fought back tears. "I wished to measure my vessel; my worth."

His child chuckled. Cackled. "Your worth?"

Sasuke's eyes bled red; Tears of blood ran down his pale, full cheeks. His essence blazed. Blossomed! The air wrapping from the build-up of chakra. Sparks became an inferno, enveloping his entire body.

Instinct honed by years of battle was all that saved Itachi's life.

The child flickered into his face, courtesy of Shisui—bless his heart. With a harsh crack, a wooden pillar across the room disintegrated. The child pulled free his arm from the ruined fixture as he turned to face Itachi.

"Baby brother," Itachi said, lying, "you're weak. Pathetic. Do you wish to kill me? Settle for hating me instead … Hate me and live like the failure you are. Continue clinging unto your worthless existence for as long as you can; this little I grant you for the sake of my amusement."

The child was upon him the next moment, fist blurring towards his forehead. Itachi flickered out of harm's way, training his gaze on the child as he called upon his dojutsu.

"Tsukuyomi."

The child collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Time passed.

The kid had grown; a teen now. Sasuke, his beloved child. Eyes red like two pools of blood rebuffed his genjutsu. The child flickered before him. Itachi raised his kunai, instinct honed by years of battle, once again saving his life.

"Hello, Itachi," his child said, dismissing Kisame's counterattack with admirable skill.

"Sorry about dragging you into this," Sasuke told his partner. "Kisame, right? I hope you don't mind if I and my brother catch up a little."

"Yes... Itachi, you never told me you had a little brother. I thought you killed off your entire―"

"Kisame! Close your―" Itachi ordered. Sasuke smiled fondly.

It was already too late; it seemed.

"Sōzōamatsukami: Yomi's Garden!"

Kisame fell to the ground, limp. Itachi desperately fought back against his child's insidious technique. Reality sloughed away, a domain of deathly energies appearing in its place. A celestial Sharingan appeared in the darkening sky above, glaring down at him. A heavy mist rose from the ground, weighing down his chakra. All around him, a forest of skeletal trees sprouted. The ground beneath his feet grew slick and crystalline, and the shadows lingering about swelled until they reached grossly exaggerated proportions.

"You resist," Sasuke whispered, his gaze mocking. Itachi could feel his will weakening; the aura of death lingering just behind his soul like an excluded ghost desperate for company.

"Amaterasu!" Itachi watched as his child flickered away. The boy's expression was twisted in a rictus of pain as he looked down at his burning arm, before unhesitantly severing it.

Itachi's mind was filled with white noise.

...What have I done? He thought to himself as he stared at his crippled child.

Time passed.

The teen had not grown; a traitor now. Sasuke, bearer of his hopes and dreams, had taken the Uchiha name he killed and died for, and dragged it through the muck.

Konoha lay in ruins.

Brought to its knees by Sasuke...

His wayward child.

 

[Ravenaelwood]

062 - Toppled Hegemon​

KONOHA​

The first sign that the Leaf had crumbled under the assault came from the great plume of smoke rising over the horizon. From a distance, it was akin to a storm cloud; the haze spreading in a wide arc across the sky had completely blanketed the village, casting a murky shadow over the land, its effects only enhanced by daylight's slow departure beyond the horizon.

An exhausted Sakura sat idly by as older shinobi scurried about the hall of a hastily constructed hospital just outside the village borders. The last remnants of sun rays beamed through a nearby window, casting a long shadow across her bare legs. Idly, she kicked the metal frame of a chair across from her with her feet as she exhaled a weary breath in the otherwise quiet, tense room. Being in the company of others today felt oddly like being back in the thick of things. However, the tension of the battlefield had been replaced by a deep sense of foreboding.

After all, her teammate was the one responsible for all of this. Many considered her a traitor as well, and some had even refused what meagre treatment she could offer; dark gazes crawled over her skin, and she had caught more than a few others staring at her with murderous intent in their eyes.

It was terrifying.

Sakura still couldn't believe the village had been destroyed; despite being there, witnessing as the whole debacle unfolded, and seeing the results for herself.

Even more so, she couldn't believe Sasuke was capable of such... wanton destruction. Or rather, she didn't want to.

How could she have been so blind? She thought to herself. So naïve as to believe he would forgive the destruction of his clan and let bygones be bygones? What was she thinking? That he would come back home and everything would be magically forgotten?

What a fool she had been...

"Hey," a familiar voice called out, distracting her from her thoughts.

Sakura looked up to see Kiba. The boy moved to sit cross-legged on the chair across from her. He wore an expression she had never seen him wear before. The Izunaka was a shadow of his former self, his usual brashness replaced by a quiet pensiveness. His clothes were stained, and his eyes were tired and worn.

"Hey," Sakura replied softly.

"Found your parents yet?" he asked. "Are they alright?"

The pinkette nodded. "They are fine; the attackers failed to breach the bunker they hid in. What about your family? Are they alright?... and the others?" she asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears.

Kiba winced. "Hana suffered a few major fractures and is still unconscious, but the medical-nin said she would be fine... Ino, Choji, and Tenten weren't so lucky. They are still searching for some of their missing family members. The rest are assisting them in their search. Others are helping where they can out in the village... or at least what remains of it ... Hinata has been unresponsive ever since they informed her of Hanabi's abduction ... Shikamaru disappeared after finding his father's corpse. No one knows where he went."

"...Oh."

"Yeah," Kiba sighed, staring out an open window. "Things have really gone down the drain, haven't they?"

Sakura frowned. "We'll make it through," she replied. "We are the strongest village in the world, after all. We've survived worse, right?"

"Right..." Kiba replied, unconvinced.

Sakura looked down at her bruised palm before sighing as well. Oh, how weak she was, she now realised. She had only managed to heal four people before running out of chakra. Now, she was useless and would remain so, unable to help, for at least a few more hours.

Her gaze rose to settle on Kiba's desolate form as she realised he probably shared the same feeling.

***

"Sensei," a familiar voice called out.

Guy's snapped his eyes open and glanced up. "Lee," he greeted. The boy looked haggard, his usually well-kept appearance unkempt. Beside him stood Neji. The Hyuga appeared similarly unkempt.

"Any luck?" Guy asked.

"None," Lee replied with a sigh, sitting down beside Guy. "We've found no trace of her; her tracks seem to have vanished as soon as we entered the forest."

"Do not fret, my youthful student," Guy replied as he forced a smile. "Tenten is a tough girl. She will return as soon as she calms down, I'm sure."

"Yes, I am sure she will," Lee agreed.

"...Sensei," Neji began, "what about Lord Hiashi?"

Guy's smile fell, and he shook his head. "No news yet," he replied. "The ANBU team that went out to search for him still hasn't returned either. It seems he is still in pursuit of Hanabi's captors; at least, that's a good sign."

"Then... what will happen now?" Neji asked. "Would the young miss be safe?"

"Have faith, Neji," Guy said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Hiashi is one of the strongest men I know. Hanabi would be fine."

***

Tsunade had never been one for prayer. She had never believed in a god or gods; had never trusted in higher powers. But now, as the dust settled and the sunset, her gaze settled on the smouldering ruins of her home and the thousands dead and injured, she couldn't help but pray.

Though, to whom, she did not know.

The Third Hokage lay before her atop a bed, unresponsive to the chakra she was channelling into his body. The sexagenarian bore a stab wound in his chest. He lived still, the hardy old git, but his condition remained critical. Beside him, a Naruto slept peacefully, oblivious to the tragedy that had transpired in the wake of
his capture.

Tsunade turned her gaze away, as she continued to channel her medical ninjutsu, a lump forming in her throat.

A knock on the door sounded.

"Come in," she answered without looking back.

The door swung open, and Jiraiya entered. Tsunade had never been so happy to see her old teammate. The old pervert had been injured during his battle with the Uchiha, his right arm hanging limply from a sling wrapped around his neck, but at least he survived the confrontation.

Not many could claim such a thing today.

"How are they doing?" Jiraiya asked as he approached the unconscious pair.

"They will be fine," Tsunade replied, her voice hoarse from exhaustion.

"That's good," he said, nodding his head. He looked at the comatose Third and the sleeping Jinchuriki before letting out a weary sigh. "Koharu and Homura were found dead, their corpses mutilated, in the Uchiha compound."

"...What?"

Jiraiya sighed. "...Someone had gone to great lengths to nail their corpses to the ground in a Dogeza outside the Naka shrine ... Their eyes and tongues had been removed and placed in offering bowls just outside the shrine's entrance. The ANBU who discovered the scene suspects their attacker had done this to them while they were still alive."

"Good Sages," Tsunade muttered, fighting off a shiver that threatened to race up her spine. "...and Danzo?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "Still missing."

"Shit."

The toad sage hesitated for a moment before continuing. "...Once Lord Third awakens, please keep him away from the village matters. At least until he stabilises."

"Why? What's wrong?" Tsunade asked, feeling a faint premonition bubbling in the back of her mind.

"...I am not sure, but it seems his entire family had been targeted and wiped out during the attack. Most are still missing, but almost all the Sarutobis we found were already dead. Asuma is the only one who's well and has been accounted for, and that's only because reinforcements were close enough to come to his aid."

"...Shit," Tsunade muttered again.

It seemed to her that things only got worse with each passing minute.

When would it end? bemoaned the Senju princess.

***

Hashirama was a man who had lived through many tragedies. He was a man used to hardship, pain, suffering, and loss. But no matter how many times he suffered through it, the sting never lessened. It always felt as if his heart were being ripped out of his chest, and this time was no different.

The Hokage had spent the last two hours in the underground shelters, watching as the citizens of the Hidden Leaf emerged. There had been many who had lost their homes, their possessions, their livelihood, and even their loved ones.

It was a devastating sight.

Hashirama looked to the side. His wife, Mito, stood beside him. The redhead was unnaturally stoic; her face drawn, and her lips pinched into a thin line.

"Perhaps," Mito replied, her voice but a whisper. "Still, the truth remains that no one could have predicted what occurred today. You simply chose the path you believed most appropriate. Whether or not you chose wrong is another matter entirely; do not condemn yourself for choices made in good faith."

"...I know," Hashirama sighed, "but it does not lessen the sting."

Mito's lips curved up in a sad smile. "It never does, does it? What is done is done, Anata. All we can do is make sure we don't make the same mistakes twice. You've started this, but we will finish it. Together."

"Come, let us depart. There's a lot still required of you before I can permit you to go running around in search of monsters to destroy."

 

[Ravenaelwood]

063 - Forged in Chaos​

KONOHA​

In the days following the attack, Konoha's population dwindled further. Some fled the village out of fear, and some simply had nowhere else to go. Still, others with ill intent looked to take advantage of the chaos and slip in during the night.

Not many succeeded.

The situation in the village was not ideal, and with a significant number of council seats suddenly vacant, the upper echelons were at a loss as to how to deal with the crisis.

The Hokage had been confined to a bed for the better part of the week at Princess Tsunade's vehement behest, his wounds deemed too extensive for any sort of physical activity. The only reason the Sandaime was able to retain the position at all, was that the council was still reeling from the attack and the Fire Daimyo's court was unsure as to how to proceed with the matter as delicate as it was.

As such, the First Hokage and his spouse were tasked with handling the aftermath, tirelessly rebuilding the village. The pair had spent the last few days working together, their efforts focused on repairing infrastructure and expediting the reconstruction process with their unique Jutsus.

Against her will, Tsunade had been given the unenviable task of acting as interim head of the Council during this time of great peril. She had been assigned the task as both Jiraiya and Tobirama were busy upholding border integrity in the face of an increasing number of hostile incursions from bordering states and, as a result, did not have the time to waste on meetings.

In the midst of all this, Asuma found himself saddled with temporary leave from his duties that he did not desire. With the deaths of Kurenai, his unborn child, nephew, brother, sister-in-law and many other family members, he grew increasingly vengeful, burning with hate... but lost and confused as a sense of helplessness overwhelmed him.

And so, the Jonin sat there in a quiet corner, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he contemplated what his life had become.

"Mind if I join you?" a voice called out, distracting him.

Asuma looked up, a bit of smoke escaping his nostrils as he exhaled. A tall figure was standing a few feet away, his hands crossed over his chest. The man had a high ponytail with the ends styled into what resembles horns, and a small goatee and faint lines framed the border of his mouth.

"...Suzaku?" Asuma mused contemplatively before replying with a shrug. "Not at all. Come, sit."

The newcomer flashed him a grateful smile as he took a seat.

"It's been a while," Suzaku commented, pulling a cigarette from his vest pocket.

Asuma nodded his head. "It has ... Why are you here, Nara-san?"

Suzaku said nothing as he retrieved a small scroll from his pocket and tossed it.

"What is this?" Asuma asked, catching the scroll before unfurling it to read its contents.

"Someone managed to track the assets used to fund Kirigakure's intervention in the attack," the Nara whispered as he took a deep drag from his cigarette. "It led back to some Jinrui Tanaka fellow; a shinobi-turned-shipping-magnate who had managed to turn an abandoned Gatō Company into an international trade conglomerate within a few months."

"...But why?" Asuma asked as he skimmed through the brief.

"We are unsure, but we intend to find out."

"We?"

"A few of comrades had grown tired of the manner with which the Council have been handling this insult to our way of life; more than a few had grown tired of fearing for the lives of their loved ones...

"...While some are just in it for revenge."

At that, Asuma looked up from the scroll, something glinting in his eyes.

"I want in," he said.

Suzaku smiled in response. "I knew I could rely on you; Welcome to the Brotherhood, Asuma-sama."

***

In the depths of Waterfall's deepest bowels, a lone figure stood atop the edge of a precipice overlooking the chasm that had been formed ages ago. The cavern was wide, and the ceiling was high. It had a large hole in the top, through which the light from the moon poured, illuminating the entirety of the place.

The cavern was massive.

It was also cold.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

"Do you regret it?" a voice asked out, the first disturbance in the otherwise silent cavern.

"No," came the reply.

Kabuto melted out of the shadows to join Sasuke at the edge of the steep drop. "Good. For a moment there, I thought you were losing your spine, Uchiha-san. That would have been rather disappointing."

The Uchiha cast a side eye at the shinobi before looking back at the bottom of the cliff. "Why are you here?" he asked.

"I have always liked to stick to the background," Kabuto replied. "I once imagined you to be the same as me; an introvert who despised the spotlight. Regardless of what all evidence contrary to the opposite might suggest, you always seemed to dislike being the centre of attention. Now, I am not so sure ... It intrigues me."

Sasuke allowed one of his brows to rise in inquiry.

"You've inspired me, Uchiha-san," Kabuto continued. "I had learnt much about the world under Lord Orochimaru and once believed you would do the same. But now, it seems I was wrong all along... You have shown me that living life serving others has prevented me from making an identity for myself. So, I am here to thank you..."

The older Shinobi gave a deep bow. "Thank you, Uchiha-san. I now know what it is I must do to find my true purpose in life."

Sasuke watched as Kabuto rose and straightened his vest before flickering away.

"Uhn," the Uchiha mused.

"I wonder what that was about."

 

[Ravenaelwood]

064 - Motion
NADESHIKO​

The room in which Hanabi found herself confined was a stark departure from the humble opulence of the Hyuga compound. Its cold, stone walls were devoid of any adornment, and the only source of light filtered through narrow, barred windows high above, casting feeble rays that barely illuminated the shadows. The air hung heavy with the musty scent of dampness as if the very essence of the room had been swallowed by the passage of time.

A thin, worn straw mat covered the unforgiving floor, offering a meagre respite from the chill that seemed to permeate the chamber. The only piece of furniture in the room was a rough-hewn wooden stool placed in a corner with a simple bowl of rice and a cup of water.

The Hyuga heiress, her once-modest-but-well-made training garments had been replaced by a grey, threadbare kimono that clung to her like a shroud. She sat cross-legged on the mat with a stoic grace that belied the turmoil within her as she stared blankly ahead. Her ebony hair cascaded in disarray, unkempt—hands and feet bound by pink crystal blocks.

The sound of distant footsteps echoed occasionally through the corridor outside, a constant reminder of her isolation. A solitary, rusted door littered with numerous seals stood as both a barrier and a gateway to the unknown. The Hyuga knew not whether it led to her captors or a fleeting chance of escape.

The footsteps came again. Closer this time. A creaking noise echoed as a lock was unlatched, then, slowly, the rust-crusted door swung open and an unfamiliar woman walked in.

The stranger said nothing as she approached.

Hanabi croaked through parched lips. "Who are you?

Silence. The stranger's palm came to rest on her shoulder and suddenly there was a change of scenery.

Another cell. This one was a relatively small chamber with visibly dense concrete walls. The floor and ceilings were layered with metal and also bore a worrying amount of seals. The room was sparsely furnished, containing only the essentials. Light bulbs were recessed into the ceiling with no visible switch in sight. A simple cot with thin bedding was positioned against one wall, and a basic sanitation unit was discreetly integrated into another.

"Is this the child?" one of the older women asked. The one who had brought Hanabi simply nodded before promptly disappearing again much to the Hyuga's confusion. Hanabi felt cool air settle on her hands for what must have been the first time in days and looked down to see her crystal restraints were gone as well.

Flexing her fingers experimentally, She looked up, silently contemplating if escape was even possible.

"Don't stress your head, little one," the older woman said as she turned to leave with the two at her back. "Someone spent a lot of money to build this place specifically for you. You aren't leaving unless we let you out."

"Wait!"

"...What?"

"Why?"

"...You tell me, kid. I am not sure myself. Hot food and water will be brought to you in a few minutes. Behave yourself when the help arrives. You will be treated well for as long as you don't make yourself a nuisance."

The door swung close soundlessly behind the trio before sealing shut with a heavy clunk.

***

Their projections all gathered in a circular chamber. Silence prevailed. No one spoke as each watched the other warily. Pain sat at the head of the table, his Rinnegan surveying the room with a calculating gaze. The atmosphere crackled with suppressed tension.

Deidara was the first to break.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked, his voice edged with frustration and his projection's hands unconsciously forming a bird with clay. "That Sasuke bastard blew through a hidden village like it was nothing. I thought he was crippled? And Itachi... Itachi betrayed us!"

The zealot with the scythe, Hidan, leaned back in his chair with a wicked grin. "Well, well, well, and here I was hoping things would get interesting. I always thought the Uchihas were a bunch of backstabbing maniacs, but to think—"

"Enough."

Pain's gaze panned across the assembled Shinobi as his steely voice reverbed through the cavern. "I did not gather you all here to complain about what has happened. Our focus should be on how to deal with the fallout. Sasuke's attack has drawn significant attention, and the loss of a combatant of Itachi's calibre from our ranks complicates matters further."

The room fell into a contemplative silence as each member considered the implications of the recent events. Pain leaned forward, his voice resonating with authority.

"We must prioritize the completion of the Akatsuki's ultimate goal. The tailed beasts are essential to our plans; two of which we are still unsure of their status. Itachi's actions have complicated matters, but he is dead now and we will adapt. It is his brother that worries me; he was reported to have the nine-tails in his possession during the attack and our informants in Suna claim the Shukaku was missing following a battle with him. I don't know why or if my assumption is true or even possible, but he seems to have taken a liking to collecting tailed beasts."

"And given his affiliation with Orochimaru and possible presumption that we are allies of his brother, whom he bears a blood grudge with, I suspect we are being targeted."

Kakuzu's projection scoffed at that.

"You deem him unwilling or unable to?" Pain asked, one brow rising. "The same individual who dared stage an attack on a hidden village and succeeded?"

No response came.

"We will be putting all other non-essential activities on hold until further notice," Pain continued as he prepared to dispel the projection jutsu. "Until then, we are to find Uchiha Sasuke, kill him and retrieve the beasts in his possession.

***

The room was vast, filled with an array of scientific equipment, arcane symbols etched into the walls, and mysterious substances bubbling in glass containers lining tables by the walls. The low hum of machinery and the occasional drip of liquid echoed through the sterile chamber.

At the centre of the room lay a pristine surgical table bathed in an eerie, greenish light. Strapped to the table was the object of Orochimaru's attention, his Sharingan eyes staring at the ceiling with cold apathy. The Sannin manoeuvred around the table holding the Uchiha in place with cold steel clamps, his eye alight with eagerness. He moved with deliberate precision and ritualistic efficiency, under the watchful eyes of two blood clones armed to the teeth.

Even after everything The Uchiha still didn't trust him. Had Orochimaru cared about that at all, his feelings truly might have been hurt.

A large tank filled with a thick, viscous liquid dominated one corner of the room. Inside floated a pristine amalgamation of organic matter, shaped into an arm by the infusion of Hashirama Senju's legendary cells. Twisting veins and sinewy muscles grown from the First Hokage's cells pulsated with an unnatural vitality over a skeletal frame of specially treated Kaguya bone notorious for its unnatural hardness and the ability of osteoblasts and osteoclasts to be consciously altered.

"Prepare yourself, Sasuke-kun," the sannin purred as he placed the serrated teeth of a bone saw on the stump that remained of Sasuke's right arm.

Being the spoilsport he was, the Uchiha simply sighed in response.

"Just get on with it, would you? We don't have all day."

 

[Ravenaelwood]

065 - Impending
Land of Waves​

Fugaku, standing tall yet with an air of disbelief, gazed at his youngest, Sasuke. He had never thought he'd see the child again. The atmosphere was thick with unspoken emotions, a mixture of joy, sorrow, and a deep sense of regret. Mikoto clung to the boy, sobbing quietly as she smothered him within her embrace.

"...Oyaji, Kaachan," Sasuke finally spoke up, his voice soft, "...It's been a while."

His mother gave a sniffle as she released him. "Yes, it has," she said with a sad chuckle, subconsciously wiping nonexistent tears from her eyes. "I'm so glad to see you're alright."

"It's been too long," Fugaku said, stepping forward to rest a hand on his son's shoulder. "...You've done well, my son."

The boy shrugged noncommittally in response. "My complacency cost us the Uchiha. I can only try to even out the scales now... Let's forget that for a moment. Come, father, mother. Let's catch up."

Fugaku felt his left brow rise involuntarily at his son's words. "...You've grown," the undead patriarch said, unsure himself if that was a good or bad thing. "Seeing you again fills my heart with both joy and pain. Joy, for you have grown strong and capable. Pain, for the path you seem to have chosen, is one clouded with vengeance. Your brother—"

"Intercession?" interrupted a voice as frigid as the waters of the Land of Glaciers. "Is that what I hear on the weasel's behalf, Father?"

The child's expression remained stoic; his eyes, reminiscent of Fugaku's, revealed little. The mention of Itachi, however, had ignited an ominous spark in them.

Fugaku stilled, his expression growing indecipherable as the room fell into an uneasy silence.

"...Of course not, Sasuke-kun," Mikoto said, steering away the boy's attention. The stare she turned to trained on Fugaku was cold and withering. "It's nothing. Nothing at all! Your father is just being silly. Ignore him."

For a long moment, Fugaku watched as his boy remained silent before suddenly nodding as if seemingly dismissing the topic entirely.

"Now that we are certain Danzo was your summoner, I will be dispelling the Edo Tensei anchoring you both to his existence," Sasuke said, smoothly changing the topic of their discussion as he took his mother's hand and led them out of the chamber they had being resummoned in. Behind was a brutalized Danzo hanging from chains attached to the ceiling.

"I am not sure what destroying the fool's soul might do to you both since he is your anchor in this plane," the child continued, displaying a profound understanding of matters that Fugaku believed should be beyond his ken yet somehow weren't. "We might have to correct that first. Still, it's nice having you back."

***

A stood alone, his broad shoulders silhouetted against the maps and scrolls adorning the walls. The chamber, usually alive with the voices of his few advisors, was steeped in silence, broken only by the soft rustle of parchment as he reviewed the latest reports from his scouts. Behind him, C and Darui exchanged tense glances while Mabui quietly assisted in keeping all the documents organised as he perused them.

The Raikage's gaze lingered on a detailed map of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Once a formidable power, Konoha now lay vulnerable in the aftermath of Sasuke Uchiha's vengeful, worryingly effective rampage. The missing-nin had orchestrated an attack unlike any in shinobi history; even the use of politically, irreparably damaging, forbidden techniques had failed to stall the boy's ire. This and the village's weakness suddenly on display had not gone unnoticed, as evident from the alarming intelligence reports spread across the table. Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Otogakure, Takigakure, and Kirigakure—all were amassing forces, their headache-inducing intentions clear as day.

It was so bad, that mere days had passed and the Frost Daimyo had already sent a message requesting protection for himself and his people should the fall out of the impending conflict spill into the Land of Frost.

A deep frown etched the Raikage's face. As a leader, he understood the political calculus all too well. Kumogakure could greatly benefit from capitalizing on Konoha's misfortune. It was a chance to elevate his village's standing on the world stage, ensuring prosperity and security for his people. Yet, the thought of plunging his comrades into another conflict and potentially aiding in igniting another Great Shinobi War weighed heavily on his mind.

He paced slowly, his hands clasped behind his back. A was a man of action, infamous for his decisive nature and immense physical strength. But this was a different kind of battle—a battle of strategy and foresight, where the stakes were not just the survival of his comrades, many of whom he would be sending to their deaths, but the very survival of his village.

Memories of the past wars haunted him. The loss, the pain, the endless cycle of hatred and retribution—it was a path he loathed to tread again. Yet, the pressure of his duties as the leader of Kumogakure pressed upon him. He had to consider the future of his people, and their place in a world where the dynamics of power were quickly and violently shifting.

The room felt smaller, the air thicker. Heavier. A light smattering of sweat beaded his forehead as his annoyance grew. The Raikage hated being forced into positions like this.

"Lord Raikage," Mabui said suddenly, her voice quiet, "may I offer a word of advice?"

The Raikage felt one of his brows crease in intrigue. "Of course," he rumbled. "Go ahead."

Mabui's gaze flickered from his to the scrolls and maps on the table. "We must consider the long-term implications of an invasion," she said. "Konoha may be weakened, but that does not make them helpless. Engaging them as they are would seem unwise from a tactical standpoint. Still, not engaging at all would be even more foolish if viewed from a strategic standpoint. With Konoha weak, we have to expand our territory and secure resources that would ensure Kumogakure's prosperity for generations to come. Not doing so would mean leaving those resources to others who may eventually turn them against us."

"So what are you suggesting?" A asked.

"A compromise," replied Mabui. "We amass our forces and let the eager ones, Suna, Kiri and Iwa, run head first into battle with an increasingly cornered and desperate Konoha. When all sides are sufficiently weakened, we can then decide if intervening is even worth the effort at all."

A scoffed. "The others aren't stupid," he said, casting his gaze back to the layers of raw data before him. "They will see that from miles away."

Mabui nodded. "True, but it's not like they have a choice. Suna has to strike now while Konoha is still weak lest face a vengeful leaf at a later date. Iwa wouldn't just stand by and watch as their long-time nemesis gains a monopoly of Konoha's weakness. Had Iwa and Konoha been on better terms, cooperation to put the sand back in its jar might have been on the table, but everyone knows Iwa hates Konoha almost as much as they hate Suna. Otogakure and Kirigakure are in the same boat as Sunagakure; they must strike now while the metal is still hot lest face the backlash of their actions shortly. Even if they are fully aware of our intention, what can they do about it? Not fight?"

The room fell silent as the Raikage mulled on his assistant's words.

"...You've made a compelling point, Mabui," A said finally.

---

To support the author and read advance chapters you can visit Raven Aelwood

Or check out my other fics
Of Blood and Duty: A Naruto Fanfic - Itach SI
Convergence/Sasuke: the Fanfiction: A Naruto Fanfic - Eldritch Sasuke SI
The Sanguine Arts - Medieval Uplift: A Medieval Uplift/ Age of Sail
The Watchdog: A Grimdark Parahuman Webserial

I haven't moved the majority of these fics to SV yet, so the links all lead to QQ. When they have been moved, the links here will be updated.

 

[ACON]

Jesus Christ, that's a large amount of chapters

 

[Ravenaelwood]

Jesus Christ, that's a large amount of chapters

Click to shrink...

Yep. Been writing this for a while. Just started to update to all platforms.

 

[Idirexii]

Yep. Been writing this for a while. Just started to update to all platforms.

Click to shrink...

Awesome chapters!
It's by far my favorite Naruto fanfic.
Thank you for sharing.

Unfortunately when I clicked on Sanguine Arts and Watchdog, it said I don have permission?
What gives?

 

[Ravenaelwood]

Awesome chapters!
It's by far my favorite Naruto fanfic.
Thank you for sharing.

Unfortunately when I clicked on Sanguine Arts and Watchdog, it said I don have permission?
What gives?

Click to shrink...

I haven't uploaded them to SV yet. Will in a moment.

 

[Ravenaelwood]

066 - Muddying the Waters
Land of Water
​

The night was thick with the scent of polished wood and salt air. Terumi took a sip from the delicate, bone china cup cradled in her hands as she stared at the man across from her. His ship, the Sardine was a beast of opulence. Gold-inlaid wooden panels, elegant, blood-red upholstery and intriguing, obviously expensive paintings dominated the interior. A heavy, ornately carved table sat between them. Just based on what she saw, the mizukage reckoned the vessel cost almost as much as she made in a year.

Its stoic owner sat calmly across from her, toying with a quill as a dainty maid ground a block of high-quality ink for him. Jinrui Tanaka was an enigma of a man. His origins continued to elude her even with the resources and manpower she had at her disposal. At this point, Terumi wasn't even sure if Jinrui was his real name. Her ANBU had followed the only lead they had—his deceased "brother"—and had predictably found nothing. And given the fact that no village had come out to claim him as their own it was almost as if the man materialised out of thin air.

Normally, she would be leery about making deals of this magnitude with a person whom so little was known about, but he was still Jinrui Tanaka, a person who could arguably be the most influential man in the maritime world. And with the Land of Water being what it was, and how intricately connected their finances now were to the tycoon's enterprise, Kirigakure had to put much more weight to his name than would be expected from any other one of the Great Shinobi Villages.

That was why she, The Mizukage, had to acquiesce to attend this meeting on his ship rather than in her office at Kiri as is proper. The tycoon was special in that he had enough leverage to dictate matters such as this.

Terumi did not like the dynamic that was starting to materialise between them. The other shoe she had been waiting for had finally dropped and the poison chalice that Uchiha Sasuke had fed them with his defence contract was now ever so glaring. She always knew it was too good to be true. Yet, the potential to elevate her village, to provide for her people, was a siren call she found hard to resist.

Still, it remained that unless some drastic changes occurred—and soon—the tycoon's ability to influence Kiri's finances would only continue to grow as the village continued to grow reliant on him for the majority of its funding.

Her lips thinned, her vibrant green eyes sharp and assessing as she regarded the man carefully.

"My resources are vast," Jinrui began, these being the first words he had ever spoken to her in person, "and the matters inland to the west continue to hold my attention. So, to ensure my ability to influence the Land of Fire continues to go unimpeded, I intend to provide Kirigakure with the logistics and funding required to mount a proper campaign against Konoha; the region must not be allowed to stabilize, at least for not now."

Terumi felt one of her brows climb at the casualness with which he spoke. "We just recently secured an exclusive defence contract with your subsidiaries operating within our western territories," she replied, placing the cup in her hand gently on the table. "The mission contracts your company generates daily are enough to keep us unable to accept mission requests from an already worrying number of our clients. For at least the next five years, we might have to refuse all non-essential requests just to fulfil the terms of the defence agreement between us. This estimate was, of course, made without taking any future growth your operations might experience in our jurisdiction, but that's beside the point. The point is, that Kirigakure is currently stretched thin in regards to manpower. It would be impossible for us to engage in any operations of the scale you are proposing."

She fell silent, watching as the businessman dipped his quill in a prepared inkwell before he leisurely began to fill the scroll lying in front of him with delicately drawn characters. Even if Kiri had the manpower to spare, Terumi was not about to drag her people into another senseless war for such a flimsy reason.

Especially not at a time like this.

The magnate nodded calmly in response.

"I would be leasing one of my newly acquired islands off the Land of Fire's eastern coasts to the Mist so it can establish a military base to project force in the Land of Fire," he said without looking up. "The former owner, a prominent noble related to the Fire Daimyo, was assassinated during the attack on Konoha and a large portion of his assets were also, coincidentally, burned to the ground. His family, fearing a violent power reshuffle and desperate to consolidate themselves following this tragedy, began selling off their remaining non-essential assets to fortify what they deemed important to maintaining their grip on power. "

"The island I intend to lease was one of the non-essential things sold off in haste. It belonged to the Land of Whirlpool once but after the village's destruction, it was entrusted to one of the former Fire Daimyos who went on to give it away as one of his concubine's dowry. It has since been abandoned, with only a few fishing villages inhabiting it. Ships bearing resources enough to construct a new port arrived at the island a week ago and construction on said port has already begun. Konoha is still reeling, hence distracted, but a window like this closes fast. I need shinobi entrenched on that island before they realise what is going on and intervene."

Terumi stared at the man, agog. Did he not hear what I said? She asked herself.

"I cannot force the Mist if it doesn't want to involve itself," he continued, "but be aware that should you leave here without us working some sort of agreement, the offer would simply be extended to another. And as I am sure you know, there are quite a number of smaller shinobi villages who wouldn't mind forming a coalition if it meant it let them meet the minimum requirements for this operation. This is, after all, a once-in-a-lifetime chance for them to expand their influence."

"...Are you threatening me?" The Mizukage asked, her expression turning gloomy.

The shipping magnate allowed one of his brows to rise in amusement. "No, but if you are unwilling to aid me, I would elevate any competition in the region who would. I assure you, it's just business, Mizukage-sama. Nothing personal."

Terumi found she was really, really starting to dislike this man.

 

[Idirexii]

Delicious.
This is what Gato should have been, not that annoying man child.