Chapter 398:
When Kurama feels what's happening, though weakened, he attempts
to corrupt Naruto with all the hate he feels; the loneliness, the betrayal,
the abandonment, the abuse of being hunted, and never allowed
peace. Naruto feels that dark energy enter him, but it's quite familiar as
he recalls all the same emotions growing up in Konoha; how he was
belittled, ignored, hurt, and hated. Words he's said before in the dead
of night, cold and alone, 'why me… What did I do… I hate them… I'll
get my revenge… I'll kill them all…'
It's so gripping, Naruto can't think of why he's never killed anyone
before. He would be well within his right to retaliate, to get revenge, or
even abandon the village. Kakashi ignoring him, Jiraiya abandoning
him, Ji-chan doing nothing to stop the abuse, Kurenai attacking him
with her fists and stabbing him with a kunai, Ino and Sakura hitting him
repeatedly… even when they use him for their own ends or pleasures,
it's so obvious they hated him throughout. Naruto is so consumed with
rational doubt, he can't help but give ground to the darkness within,
asking the great void of emptiness, 'why bother?'
He hadn't expected to hear a reply. 'Naruto,' she said. A thin woman
dressed in a green apron over her white dress with fair-skinned, blue
eyes, and long red hair stood before him with a gentle smile.
Naruto's mind was so confused, he could barely remember why this
woman felt important to him. She seemed familiar and he spoke under
his breath, 'long… red hair…'
Combing her hair with her fingers, she muses, 'that's right. Uh, okay, try
to guess who I am-'
Naru-nii had told him, and suddenly Naruto feels so ashamed for
forgetting and immediately hugs her. One of his favorite stories from
Naru-nii was when he met their mother. Naruto loved hearing it so
much, Naru-nii repeated it ten times for him. Naruto dreamed of
meeting her, and sobs in their embrace, 'I've always wanted to see
you, mom.'
Holding him back just as tightly, and petting his silky blond hair,
Kushina smiles as she gushes, 'you look a lot like your father.' Tilting
back to see him closely, she adds, 'but I have a feeling you take a lot
after me.'
Holding both her hands, an ecstatic Naruto bellows, 'I have so many
questions.'
'Yeah, same. We can take our time and talk,' she cheerfully returns.
Looking off to the side, as if sensing the Nine-Tails, Kushina suggests,
'but first, we should take care of the Kyūbi-'
'Kurama,' Naruto interrupts with a sniff, wiping his eyes of tears with his
forearm.
Curious, she asks, 'huh?'
'His name,' Naruto clarifies. 'It's Kurama.'
'It has a name,' Kushina returns in shock.
'I'm pretty sure it's a he,' Naruto casually tells her. 'But yeah. Actually, I
should catch you up on a lot of stuff.'
'Uh, okay,' Kushina slowly accepts. Returning her attention to the Kyūbi
outside their realm, she asserts, 'just hold that thought.'
Pulling out of Kurama's negative emotions and hatred with a great,
"OOF," Naruto feels sudden and sweet extensions shooting out of his
body, not unlike his tails when he's in his Kyūbi mode. Chains with
arrowheads shoot out with the force of a cannonball, causing repeated
and loud clinking noise as the series of chains wrap around all of
Kurama's limbs and tails before anchoring deep into the ground.
'These chakra chains,' Kurama remarks. As he struggles to free
himself, he yells, 'Kushina!'
Seated across from his mother, Naruto is smiling broadly as he voices,
'I know tou-chan included your chakra in the sealing ceremony, and
man, my mom is really pretty, just like Naru-nii said.'
Smiling at the compliment, she's also confused by the rest of what he
said, asking. 'uh, how do you know that and who is Naru-nii?'
'Um, well, I know a lot because a version of me from the future told
me,' Naruto bluntly confesses. 'Like, I know how you and tou-chan met,
how he's the first man to compliment your hair, your nickname in the
Academy, why you were brought to Konoha, how you were almost
kidnapped, and how tou-chan saved you. It's honestly my favorite story
to hear.'
With raised eyebrows and wide eyes staring at her buoyant son, a
stunned Kushina simply acknowledges, 'mmm, okay… for the sake of
time, I'm just going to accept all of that… and say my son is very
knowledgeable.' Shaking her head and shrugging the disbelief off, she
adds, 'which makes me happy,' leading Naruto to chuckle happily. 'I bet
you don't know this though.'
'What?'
Grinning like Naruto tends to, Kushina proclaims, 'I love you more than
anything in the whole wide world.'
A sharp surge of embarrassing happiness bubbles up from his core to
the ends of his being, and like a great tsunami, fill him with suffocating
bliss. In contrast to how bleak and angry he was moments ago, he
feels happier than he ever thought possible, leveling confident eyes at
a restrained Kurama.
Naruto yells, 'WHHOOAAA,' as Kurama's dark hatred recedes from
their chakra link.
Naruto feels completely restored as his mother tells him, 'the chakras I
used to control him won't last much longer. Now's your chance to get
him.'
'Right,' Naruto calls before crossing his fingers. 'Kage Bunshin no
Jutsu.' A company of Naruto materialize as Kurama is attempting to rip
away Kushina's strong chains. Dozens upon dozens of Naruto rush the
strongest tailed beast, every single one of them creating a Rasengan
before leaping into the air.
They yell, 'Rasen Cho Darengan!' as they try to land a barrage of
Rasengans, only for Kurama to swipe most away with claws and tails.
While distracted, Kushina pulls on the chains around Kurama's legs,
forcing the large chakra monster to fall backward. When Naruto's sage
mode reactivates, the remaining platoon of clones flying in enlarge
their Rasengans for a Senpo Cho Odama Rasen Daregan. Like getting
wrecked with a dozen meteors, Kurama is blown back, and just as he
tries to stand, another Naruto lands in front of the great beast and
slams a Rasen Shuriken in his chest, tearing him apart from his
chakra.
'Pull!' All the sage Narutos yell as the clone hitting Kurama with the
massive Futon Rasengan forces the physical form of the grand beast
away from its chakra.
When all of Kurama's chakra is forcibly taken from the irate and skinny
Kurama, it quickly drains into Naruto, erupting him into bright firelight
and flickering flame. There are swirl patterns on his shoulders,
stomach, and palms connected by squarely shaped lines extending
along his body, two horn-like hairs on his head, and six magatama
markings around his neck. Naruto is in disbelief at how much raw
power is coursing through him. Looking at his bright hand, he can't
even believe the astronomical strength emanating from the limb is truly
his to wield.
He's interrupted when Kurama yells, 'Naruto! You have angered
meeeee!'
Observing someone he'd hoped to be friends with withering into a
boney skeleton of himself as he creates a massive black beast ball
above them, Naruto sadly voices toward the tailed beast, 'you really
are amazing,' before recalling the Fūin key to his arm and closing the
four symbol seal on his stomach. Red torii gates rocket down from on
high to bind every limb and tail of the angered and sad beast as
Kurama is sealed away, cursing Naruto all throughout.
Closing his eyes, Naruto sincerely apologizes, 'sorry, Kurama. We'll
sort this out, I promise. Just wait a little longer.'
When he opens his eyes, he's back in the white room with his mother
as she slowly confesses, 'now I can finally join Minato.'
Taken aback by that, Naruto breathes, 'mom,' as he realizes she's
leaving him again. He could already feel the surge of sadness bring
tears to his eyes, but he holds back.
'But before I do,' she brightly says. 'I need to tell you the truth about
your birth-'
'You don't, actually,' Naruto informs her with a weak smile. 'I already
know that too.'
Nodding in realization, she chuckles, 'jeez, what don't you know?'
'Can you instead tell me what happened in Uzushiogakure,' Naruto
asks before energetically adding, 'or maybe how to use those sweet
chains. Tou-chan taught me Hiraishin when I saw him. It'd be so sweet
if you taught me something too.'
'Kongō Fūsa, or Adamantine Sealing chain,' Kushina dutifully recites,
as if recalling a long lost past in fond memory. She then offers Naruto,
'how about both? If you get a chance to visit Uzushiogakure, there
should be underground safe bunkers only an Uzumaki can access. I'm
not sure how much was destroyed or recovered but I'm sure you'll find
something sealed away.' Naruto nods as it makes sense to him. She
also expresses, 'I don't know what you might learn, but remember,
nothing we do can change the past but everything we do now can
change the future. It's horribly sad to have lost so much of our history
and family—it's incalculable—but the future can still be bright as long
as we don't give up.'
'Yeah, I'll definitely remember that,' Naruto promises, solemnly adding,
'I'll make you proud.'
Placing her hand over his heart, she readily assures him, 'you already
have.' It took everything in him not to tears up, and mercifully, she
says, 'as for the sealing chains, training for that is a little different; very
focus heavy.'
'Like sage training?'
'Similar,' Kushina admits with a hesitant nod before asking, 'wait, can
you use senjutsu?'
'You know it,' he answers with a grin.
Wide-eyed, she replies, 'but you're so young!' Then suddenly realizing
something amiss, she sadly asks, 'actually, how old are you? Which is
a horrible thing to not know about my own son!'
Chuckling, he answers, 'sixteen.'
'You're practically a man,' she fondly comments. Naruto sniffs and
harshly rubs his eyes of the tears threatening to fall when she
mercifully marches on. Raising a finger like a teacher giving a lecture,
Kushina explains, 'right, so, um, first thing you should know is
Adamantine chain not only use our chakra but our life energies as well,
which is why this is something that only those of the Uzumaki clan
have ever succeeded in achieving. Our physical human form is like a
natural Fūin seal for our chakra, and like any seal, Fūin-specific hand
seals are the characters that can harness the life energy within us.'
Quirking his brow, Naruto repeats, 'Fūin hand-characters,' before
asking, 'like the characters written in a Fūinjutsu scroll but in hand-
seals?'
Nodding, his mother further explains, 'it's an ancient, and I guess now,
lost knowledge called the Kuji-in, or the Nine Seals. I say seals but it's
more of a nine-word prayer recited in secret meant to give form to your
chakra-mixed life force, very much like Fūinjutsu characters give
direction to spirit energy.'
'I'll pass it down to other Uzumaki I find,' Naruto promises to which she
smiles and nods.
Extending her palms forward for his viewing and wiggling her fingers so
he'd also follow along, she begins instructing, 'they go like this; Rin,'
she says, showing him the hand seal for it. He mimics her as she
continues, 'Hyuo,' then shows him the correlating hand seal. 'Tou, Sha,
Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, and Zen,' she finishes, displaying all the Fūin
hand-seals. Naruto is grateful when she slowly repeats each secret
and completely unknown hand seals. 'These hand seals, which
translate to, 'May All Those Who Preside Over Warriors Be My
Vanguard,' call upon your life chakras to channel and focus into
protective sealing chains.'
'Awwwwesome!'
After chuckling, Kushina continues, 'additionally, the word protection
takes a different form depending on the Uzumaki. There were only a
dozen or so in the clan I personally knew who could use the chains, but
none of them did the exact same thing.' Tilting her heard to carefully
recall the different traits of past Adamantine chains, she replies, 'all of
them were great for sealing, but on top of that, mine was good against
Bijū chakra. One cousin was great at healing nearly anything. Another
could cancel any ninjutsu, one could absorb chakra, one was great for
tracking, and another amplified the effect of their genjutsu. All of these
extra abilities can be seen as a form of protection, which is why they
vary from Uzumaki to Uzumaki, since it depends on what they believe
will best protect them.'
Nearly drooling with stars in his eyes, Naruto yells, 'EVEN MORE
AWESOME! How do I do it? How do I do it?'
Shaking her shoulders as she laughs silently to herself, it takes her a
moment to calmly explain, 'first, it's very much a kekkei genkai, so not
all those with Uzumaki blood in them will have it.' Though it takes the
wind out of his sails, she honestly tells him, 'your life-force either has at
least one chain or it doesn't.'
Recalling the number of his mother's chains coming out of him, he
remarks, 'you have a ton of them.'
'Hehe, look who you're talking to,' she returns with a cheeky glee. 'Your
mom's no slouch. Genetics plays a part in it, so you'll likely have some
chains. Whether it's enough to be useful in combat remains to be
seen.'
Chapter 399:
With a pumped fist, Naruto proclaims, 'let's give it a shot!'
'Remember,' Kushina says. 'It's a silent chant that helps as you focus
your life-force chakra. While you chant, try to remember what it felt like
when I was doing it, that happy energy that runs up and down your
body…' With deep melancholy, she voices, 'like when I had you.' The
silence between them threatens to expose their impending separation,
and Kushina shakes the thought away as she informs, 'repeat the
chant to yourself while focusing on that energy. You want to be able to
single it out, build it until you can't take it anymore, and let it explode
from your body. It'll be difficult at first but the more you practice the
better you'll be able to control it.'
Wondering about his Kage Bunshin training, he asks, 'is it like tou-
chan's Rasengan training?'
'Yup, so it might take you a few years but don't let that discourage you,'
she encourages. 'It took me years to learn how to use mine.'
'I'll definitely do it,' he confidently promises.
'I know,' she assures him before uncomfortable silence descends. 'I'm
almost out of time.'
Quickly feeling anxious, Naruto remembers Naru-nii suggesting he
think of something to say, and quickly tells her, 'uh, um, you and dad…
sacrificed your lives for me-' Clearing his throat of the large log growing
over his vocal cords, he forces himself to say, 'even if I didn't feel it, I
know now there was love inside of me way before all the hate. So I'm
happy.' Feeling the tears begin to well up in his eyes, he insists, 'I'm
glad you guys were my parents.'
Tears streaming down her happy face, Kushina struggles to express,
'thank you for making me your mother… for making Minato your
father… for being born to us… thank you so much, Naruto, for being
my beautiful boy.'
It's the last thing she says to him as she disappears far too quickly.
Letting the tears spill freely from red burning eyes, Naruto returns to
the real world feeling robbed yet happy to have had at least that with
her. Opening his eyes to the real world, Naruto says under his breath,
"thank you, mom," before standing on his feet.
"Jeez, you son of- gah, you scared the hell out of me," Jiraiya yells.
Somehow Naruto is an unfurnished house when he was originally in a
grassy field. Searching the empty room for Sakura, Jiraiya continues to
yell, "I nearly had a heart attack! Ohh, Kami, help me! Don't let me die
until I finish this book!"
Recalling the whole reason he engaged Kurama, Naruto doesn't recall
any new memories and surmises, "since they didn't pop, maybe they're
in sage mode…" Turning to Jiraiya, a red-nosed misty-eyed Naruto
asks, "how much time passed out here? And why are we in a house?"
"You didn't think I was going to let the Kyūbi roam free in the
countryside, did you? You were bubbling red chakra everywhere! I
summoned one of my toads in case we needed to be reverse
summoned to Myōboku."
"We're inside a toad?"
Nodding, Jiraiya then answers, "it's been nearly twenty minutes. Why?"
Posing deep in thought, Naruto figures, "I'll just tell them to try and see
if it works." Connecting paired fingers in a cross, he calls, "Kage
Bunshin no Jutsu." His clone immediately dispels after materializing,
then Naruto waits a moment before cursing, "shit, they can't." Grabbing
his head in disappointing frustration, he grumbles, "it's probably
because they're clones of me before I sectioned off Kurama's
chakra…"
Stunned to hear, Jiraiya asks, "you really… are you serious?"
Naruto nods absentmindedly before shaking his head and cursing,
"fuck it." Turning to Jiraiya, he asks, "where's the nearest river?"
"What for?"
"I got a lot of training to do," the blond quickly answers.
Looking around incredulously, Jiraiya asks, "now? What about Kurenai-
kun- ah, uh, I mean, what about finding Tsunade?"
Exiting Jiraiya's summoned Toad building to the slowly lowering sun
and clear skies, Naruto hollers, "I need a big river!" He surprises
Sakura who's been waiting patiently on a stool beside the toad house.
Putting away the scroll she's been reading, Sakura rushes to them as
she asks, "what's going on? What happened in there?"
After Sakura points toward the nearest river, Naruto sprints north for
ten minutes before finding a wide body of streaming water. Looking at
the strength of the current, Naruto calls out, "yosh," before clapping his
hands together and igniting the massive amount of chakra within him
into a raging cauldron of flux. Naruto exhales a loud groaning deep
from his gut as he overloads his network with as much chakra as he
can suffer through before finally yelling, "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
After a massive gas of white smoke clears the entire area around
them, Sakura grunts, "geh," with wide-eyed shock. After scanning the
hundreds of blond clones, she loudly asks, "what are you going to do
with so many clones?"
He orders to his battalion of clones with a bright yell, "yosha! Start
powering up! We got some chakra control to work on asap!"
As the hundreds of clones rush into the water, splashing everywhere
and getting half-naked, a blushing Sakura repeats, "chakra control?
Now?"
Digging into his rear pouch, Naruto takes out a kunai and extends it to
Sakura, asserting, "here. Keep this with you, okay?"
Still confused by everything, she mechanically takes the ordinary
weapon and curiously looks it over before spotting and reading the
inscription out loud. "My Ninja Way." Confused, she turns to him before
asking, "what's this for-"
"I need you guys to keep going," Naruto tells them, as many of the
clones are already being swept away with the current. "Continue the
mission," he adds, however, Jiraiya is immediately against it, his big
arms crossed together in an X.
"No way," the Sage nearly weeps to say. "I have soo many questions!
No, I refuse to let you go until my great curiosity as an exemplary man
is sufficiently satisfied!"
Smacking his face with his palm, Naruto drags his hand hard down his
features as he explains with as much patience as possible, "I'll answer
them later." Grabbing his Godfather by his broad shoulders, he
appeals, "please, just keep going. You know where to go and I have to
stay here and train." Adding as much puppy-love in his big, lovable
blue eyes, Naruto pleads, "please."
"… grrrrr, fine!" He yells, throwing his arms up in sadness. He then
aims a stern finger at Naruto as he slowly and methodically stipulates,
"but only under the condition we visit a club soon… that has a private
room for dining and drinks… and I get to ask you all the questions I
want!"
"Yeah, fine, whatever," Naruto agrees, pushing the man's back to force
him to start running. "Later, later." As Jiraiya and Sakura turn to him,
torn by their colossal need to ask him questions, Naruto waves as he
adds, "stay safe."
Looking east and imagining an unconscious Itachi, Mei, and his
weakened clone trying to travel five hours without falling to Kisame's
blade, Naruto feels weighed down by his urge to just run and rescue
them. All Naruto knows from Naru-nii is that Kisame is so strong and
devout, it took one of Guy-sensei's strongest attacks to slow him down,
and he still committed suicide simply to keep his enemies from learning
anything about Akatsuki. They're facing a monster and it feels odd to
just train while they're running for their lives
'Just give me a couple of hours, guys,' Naruto mentally voices before
powering up just enough himself and hopping into the strong rushing
water to attempt to swimming against the current without moving his
limbs. When he realizes how impossible it is, he does as some of his
clones do and starts in the more shallow end so as to not be swept
away.
MEI
Mei is sprinting as fast as she can with Itachi on her shoulder all the
while sensing for any trace of Kisame's approach. Though it would be
in her country's best interest to gain any information on the mercenary
group known as Akatsuki, at the moment, her mission is to stabilize
Itachi and escape Kisame at all cost; for the man is far too dangerous.
Knowing him and his fidelity to protecting information, the chances are
high the powerful shinobi wouldn't let them abduct a member of their
secret group without a fight.
With her senses trained on the slightest hint of Kisame, Mei continues
west either leaping from tree to tree, running over water, or when she
couldn't avoid it, sprinting over the traceable terrain. For miles, Mei
wonders who she'll sense first, and is eventually let down to feel
Kisame's ominous approach closing in. Sighing, she groans, "well
that's unfortunate."
Immediately she begins weighing her options. Mei either continues to
help Naruto in the hopes it will buy her more goodwill with the strong
young ninja, or she booby traps Itachi's body with explosive tags and
tries to take Kisame out. Mei knows she wouldn't have the upper hand
in a straight-up contest of strength against the Tail-less Tailed-Beast.
Despite having two kekkei genkai, Mei has always been someone who
fought with her mind rather than brute strength; objectively searching
for an enemy's weakness and exploit it. In this case, however, fighting
Kisame would only end in one of their deaths and likely at great cost,
for no real benefit.
Leaping over a nearby stream, Mei wonders if helping Naruto is worth
it just to add Zabuza and Haku to her rebellion to overthrow the
Yondaime Mizukage. She may be the illegitimate daughter of the
Sandaime Mizukage, but that was never why she desired her father's
seat above even her desire for a happily married life. If she craves for
her country to change for the better—as she knows it can— and wish
to make that dream a reality, the only way is to take the Kage's hat
from the tyrannical Karatachi.
Chapter 400:
Feeling a light scratch on her cheek from ducking under a branch, Mei
knows she won't be able to change her country for the better if she dies
or is heavily wounded today. She asks herself if this risk is worth it.
Feeling her grip on Itachi's back softening, she makes her decision as
Kisame slowly closes the thirty minutes of distance between them a
dozen seconds at a time.
'At the pace he's going, he'll be on me in less than ten minutes,' she
thinks as she inspects the terrain around her for the ideal condition to
set Kisame up.
Only then does she sense something moving faster than Kisame,
quickly meeting him, and suddenly both Kisame and the serene surge
of energy fall off her senses completely. Mei assumes it's Naruto in his
sage state and prays he knows not to use any attacks in chakra form,
or Samehada will simply absorb it.
Mei runs through the massive forest of Fire Country for another hour
before she senses a strong force tailing her again. Several minutes
later, she realizes it's Kisame. Despondently, she hopes Naruto's clone
is only delayed and not dispelled because she's still only two hours into
a five-hour trek west to Kami knows where, and Itachi is not worth
going all out against Kisame. Mei calculates thirty-five, possibly forty
minutes before he catches up, and if Naruto doesn't catch up in that
time, she's simply going to booby trap Itachi with all her exploding
notes and pray she kills them both.
Pumping her sprinting legs efficiently with chakra—managing Itachi's
weight with her own to reduce drag—Mei feels it in her bones, she
doesn't want to make the wrong choice here. Though she never made
Naruto a promise, she can't help but recall how much the blond has
helped her countrymen when they were trying to kill him and his team;
in Zabuza's case, trying to kill Naruto twice. It seems far too unsavory
to honor that integrity by failing to keep the Uchiha alive, and that irks
Mei the most.
It wouldn't be the first unsavory thing she's done in her life—not when
one grows up in Kirigakure—but Mei's grown far too tired of all the
bloody compromises. It's why their population is so low. She wants to
protect life now, as indiscriminately as Naruto seems to, however, Mei
doubts she can take Kisame on head-to-head without sacrificing a limb
or her life. As the minutes' tick by and more and more sweat slides
down her delicate brow, Mei realizes Naruto's clone wasn't going to
catch up this time. It'll be just her against Kisame with no backup. She
has to booby trap Itachi soon or she may not have adequate time to do
it without raising suspicion.
'Fuck, he's fast,' her mind curses when it's down to mere minutes. 'It's
now or never,' she tells herself. Reaching into her pouch, she feels her
body hesitate to grip the exploding notes, and in the ever-length of that
moment, she realizes the difference between the easy choice and the
right one. Closing her green eyes a moment, she wonders if this
decision will help quell some of the screams she hears in her sleep.
Mei holds Itachi tight and continues running for another twenty minutes
before Kisame leaps over her and lands several yards away, cutting off
her path. Both Kiri-nins breathe heavily as Mei slowly sets Itachi down
and notices Samehada shivering to shed stone-like scales off bit by bit.
The stone denticles even hit the ground with a heavy thud, making her
wonder what Naruto did to hurt the sentient sword in such a way.
Kisame's sweat bends around his maniacal grin as Mei steps to the
right of Itachi, keeping both Akatsuki members in her field of vision.
After all, she can't be sure when Itachi might wake up.
Standing confidently straighter, Kisame chuckles as he comments, "this
ain't your style, Terumī."
So long as it isn't about the prospect of marriage, Mei isn't one to lack
confidence and stands just as straight as she remarks, "you know as
well as I do defeating me won't be as easy as you might imagine."
"Oh, I hope not," Kisame cheerfully replies. "You wouldn't know this but
my partner over there isn't much for the joys of good bloody battle.
We're opposites like that, so I haven't been able to cut loose in Kami
knows how long. I'd be all for dusting off as long as it's the bloodiest
fight I've ever been in."
Recognizing that sort of bravado everywhere in Kiri, Mei has a good
understanding of why most shinobi go that far. Far too many ninjas in
Kiri have done too many horrible things, and accepting the monster
within them is the preferred method of coping with those horrible
memories. As she's done many times before, Mei counsels, "that's not
the strength you think it is, Kisame."
"This is the world," he purports as Samehada sheds another stone
scale and replaces it with a lighter blue one. "You're either the biggest
bad in the water or you're food. Your father failed to see that, which is
why he's fertilizer now."
Despite the deep sting, Mei never shows such vulnerability and calmly
replies, "I suppose there's nothing left to talk about. Though I will say I
hope I'm there the moment you realize the world isn't what you think it
is."
"Oh," he grins snidely. "Then educate me, Terumī. Regale me with one
of your poor-man's proverbs from your decimated people. Tell me how I
got it wrong… what this world's really about, like it's so fucking
complicated. Come on, tell me before I kill you."
Taking out a kunai from her white pouch, Mei effortlessly spins the
metal horizontally from the middle on her fine finger, as if it were a tray,
and confidently assures Kisame, "it has, and always will be, about
balance."
As he brings the nearly 'healed' Samehada in front of him, Kisame
grins as he proclaims, "I'm going to enjoy shredding you apart." Kisame
blitzes to full speed, ready to slash Mei in half and grate inch by inch of
her flesh off.
Mei knows her greatest disadvantage against a powerful shinobi like
Kisame is speed. He's simply faster than she is, however, there are
ways of dealing with that disadvantage. Mei expected his attack, his
speed, his power, and she managed six hand-seals in the second it
took him to strike her. He wasn't surprised when he gutted her
midsection, however, when she turned into an odorous mud, he
staggered at the strong acid of her Lava release.
Kisame leaps back, swiping the hurt Samehada to rid it of the acidic
mud when Mei attacks from the high branch of the nearby tree with a
laser-straight, stone cutting water. Busting through his chest and out
his back, Kisame then turns to water, compelling Mei to whip her head
behind her, spotting Kisame a second before he brings his large sword
down. Raising her arms, Mei defends with her kunai but unable to
withstand the force of the blunt sword, Mei is rocketed to the earth
below.
Landing away from Itachi, Mei watches Kisame land next to his partner,
and for a fleeting moment, she wonders if he'll simply take the Uchiha
and run. Of course, he kept on walking, confident in the real Mei before
him.
"Don't disappoint," he mocks her.
"You mean like this," she asks, as she puts up two fingers.
Behind him, an exploding tag on Itachi's side begins to sizzle. Kisame
leaps to snag it, and it's all the decoy she needs to call, "Yōton-" but a
sound behind her alerts her senses, and she only has enough time to
turn and receive a kick to the stomach. Mei tumbles back several feet
before collecting herself on skidding feet between two Kisames.
Crushing the paper tag, Kisame smiles as he asks, "you didn't think I
could tell the difference between a decoy tag?" Hand to heart, he
admits, "I'm insulted you'd think I'd fall for that like some guppy. You're
up against a shark here."
"Am I?" Mei cheekily asks, dusting her slitted blue dress of dirt. "I
thought I was talking a sad and disillusioned man lost in the world."
Looking between both Kisames, she doesn't feel any more or less in
danger. She simply becomes more serious, priming her pool of chakra
like boiling water, until steam began emitting from her every pore.
White vapor fresh off her body is dragged away in the passing wind as
the internal pressure created by the steam within her musculature and
chakra network amplifies the force of her strength. Despite feeling her
strength double, Mei rarely uses this Boil Release technique as there
are side effects she'll now have to contend with later.
Her auburn hair flows effortlessly in waves as she conveys, "you have
my apology, Kisame. I'll take you much more seriously now."
As both Kisames lung at the same time, gripping Samehada to rip her
in three, she can already feel her chakra depleting. Though worth it as
her increased speed allows her to dodge both swipes and her
increased strength easily sent one several feet back with a counter
kick, Mei's mind knows she has to finish him as fast as possible, or she
won't survive.
Fighting them both with her enhanced taijutsu was like a dance to her.
Her footwork is paramount against a broad sword and slightly easier to
counter when she kept one Kisame in the cutting path of the other. It
allowed Mei openings for a punch or kick that now hit with the strength
like a large war-hammer. Her speed was swifter and her intellect was
where she frustrated Kisame. Mei would purposely provoke an opening
he would fall for and she'd easily counter. Juking left to go right, sliding
out a kunai to distract his eyes, attacking his footwork, Kisame was so
frustrated by the dance, he sacrificed his clone by slashing through him
to strike her in the gut, sending her back a dozen yards.
Though her durability also increased, she felt that strike, seeing stars in
her vision of him smiling smugly. He tore the midsection of her combat
dress and a few of Samehada's scales managed to dig out some skin
through her wire-mesh body armor cause blood to flow. Mei's legs were
still strong but Kisame had already blitzed her and though ready to take
him, she didn't expect the body where Itachi laid to suddenly be behind
her. They were attacking her from both sides and as Mei managed a
half-spin to the left, she only saw an orange flash pass her.
The loudest grunt pierced her ears as the auburn bang over her right
eye whips high enough for her to see the sun, in human form, hit
Kisame in the gut hard enough to rocket him back—perfectly leveled
with the forest floor—a hundred yards in a matter of seconds. The large
blue man eventually hits the ground and rolls like an uncoordinated ball
of limbs to a skidding stop. Before Kisame can even get on his feet, the
Sun-Man turns, grabs her stunned figure, followed by Itachi, then
somehow, she's suddenly dropped in a completely different
environment.
Taking in the room that appears to be an inn, as well as the pink-haired
girl dressed in nightwear midway through setting out her futon,
completely dumbfounded Mei; unable to explain how she ended up
there from one second to the next. The Sun-Man suddenly loses all his
brilliant flames and Naruto is standing before her in his red and black
cloak, smiling, as he often does, at her.
"Sorry it took me so long," Naruto huffs, wiping his brow of sweat.
"That's a lot harder than I thought it'd be."
"…Naruto," the stunned Mei and pink-haired girl gasp at the same time.
Turning to the girl she recalls is Haruno Sakura, Naruto asks, "would
you mind healing Itachi? I'll tie him up with a special Fūinjutsu binding-
Oh, and where's Ero-"
"NARUTO!" They all hear before a large old man with long, spiky, white
hair in a purple robe slides the window open and backflips inside. With
blushing cheeks and widely flaring nostrils, the old man points a strong
finger to Mei and yells, "who is this absolutely stunning bomb-shell?!
And why is she with you?!"
Hollering sickeningly, Haruno yells at the perverted sage, "were you by
my window while I was changing?!"
Naruto simply sighs, shaking his head, before a terribly confused Mei
lets out the steam and slumps to the floor, feeling tired enough to go to
sleep.