Restoration of Faith
Karrafear
Summary: SEQUAL to Faith in Humanity; Naruto OOC; PG-13. After Sandaime's death, Naruto made a promise to himself to defy his own destiny and pursue a future that will lead to freedom and happiness. Chapter Thirteen: War III – 10 Gate Guardians!
xxx XXX xxx
"Demon's talk", /Thoughts/ , "Speech" , 'Speech emphasis' , (FLASHBACK) , Titles , (Author's interruptions)
Warning: (Continue on with the last chapter) A lot of violence... and a lot of jump scenes. Hope you get use to it. There will be a LOT of OCs appearing in this chapter and on-coming chapters. I will need all of you people to be patient and slowly absorb each of these characters into the plot. I promise I will dedicate as much time and space as possible to describe each of the OC’s personality in detail in later chapters so for now, hold on to your seats and prepare for a wild ride.
FINALLY! LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!! For those of you who HAVEN’T gone to my website, you will have to now. To look at the images of the 10 OCs described here, please go to my website (address is at my profile’s page), in the Faith Gallery section, there is a page dedicated to all 10.
I repeat, I will NOT be describing them in full physical detail here in this chapter, to learn more about these OCs, please go to my website. As for their character personality, it will be revealed in later chapters.
Hope you enjoy!!
Chapter 13
Just as Kisame’s large, bluish hand reached forward, ready to grasp onto the blonde boy’s head, Itachi’s voice rang out in warning. “Kisame! Back!”
Heeding his partner’s advice instinctively, Kisame jumped backwards just as a strange golden ring suddenly materialised in mid air and almost snapped Kisame’s hand off as it twirled around itself rotating on a vertical axis. In the silence that ensued, the golden ring abruptly enlarged itself before flipping over and literary swallowing Naruto’s body whole. The boy just literary disappeared as the ring (now with a diameter of almost a metre in length) slid over his entire body.
“What the FXXK!” Kisame grunted even as his eyes widened in shock.
A soft chuckle in the wind brought all the four Akatsuki members’ attention to their right, where they suddenly found themselves surrounded on one side by 10 mysterious people, and their blonde prey suddenly reappearing behind the group of assorted teenagers or children.
Itachi narrowed his eyes and glared at the young man (around the age of 17 or 18) that stood on the forefront of the group. His long, light, purple hair did nothing to conceal the smooth, pale-white, practically albino coloured skin on the man’s forearms. He wore a strange yet long white shirt that was shaped like a tank top for the upper body, but flowed down to form two long strips of material, one situated on the front of the shirt and the other behind. The long shirt was clipped in place by a number of golden rings surrounding the man’s stomach area, acting like a metallic belt of sort. And underneath the big shirt, the man wore long white pants that almost covered his bare feet entirely. How the man was even able to walk with suck long pants, Itachi didn’t know nor did he really care.
But what struck Itachi’s interest the most were the man’s eyes. They were white with a pale hint of violet in them, with no pupils present. He knew those eyes. They were the eyes that belonged to the Hyuuga clan of the Hidden Leaf Village. However, he also knew of every single Hyuuga that had ever been born in the Hidden Leaf and he was sure that none of them fit this strange young man’s description. That was when he finally realised whom they were actually facing and this realisation both excited Itachi as well as made him anxious.
“Jubei... Dokudes Jubei (1), I presume.” Itachi murmured in a soft voice.
“Indeed. It is an honour to finally meet you, Uchiha Itachi-san. However, I just wish we could have met under a different circumstance.” The man smiled unassumingly, almost a naïve, gentle smile. But Itachi wasn’t fooled by the man’s relaxed stance, he knew that none of the Kuunoki Ninjas were ever what they appeared to be, and especially true for descendants of the Dokudes clan.
“Oi. Itachi. You know who these people are?” Sasori of the Red sands grunted in irritation at having their mission interrupted yet again, but truthfully, he wasn’t too bothered by it. These people seemed truly strong and he was just itching for a fight with them, hoping to collect some of their hides back to become more of his personal puppets.
“Iie (No). I have never met the man but know of his reputation. He is the only Hyuuga descendant born outside of Konoha. The only one who wasn’t killed before birth when...” Itachi’s explanations were abruptly interrupted by the man’s own description.
“When the Hyuuga council members refused to acknowledge my existence. It’s rude to have a virtual stranger introduce people, Itachi-san. Let me have the pleasure of introducing my comrades, and myself instead. I am Dokudes Jubei, leader of the Kuunoki 10 Gate Guardians.” Jubei continued to smile gently while he went around introducing his comrades, ignoring the various shocked expressions on both Kisame’s and Deidara’s faces and body postures. Even Sasori had to grunt in surprise at the sudden revelation of whom they were actually fighting.
It was a well-known fact (well, as well known to those people who knew of the existence of the Kuunoki in the first place) that the 10 Gate Guardians are the only Shinobis to ever be regularly posted outside the Kuunoki village itself. Their job is to hunt down any traitors or escapees from the Kuunoki as well as guard the actual gate and border of the Kuunoki village. Only the 10 strongest fighters in the entire Hidden Air village were given the position of ‘Gate-Guardian’ and even then, it was completely unheard of that all 10 would be deployed at the same time for the same mission. Never in history had all 10 Gate Guardian be seen at the same place at the same time, or so the information stated but those who could have know probably didn’t live long to tell of it.
Considering that every ten years or so a new generation of Gate Guardians were chosen for the position, which meant that the competition was very fierce to overturn the elder guardians, and that the Lady Oracle herself had handpicked a few for the positions in this current group this was a group of Guardians that would be known as the strongest for ages to come. It was enough to make all four Akatsuki members tense with anticipation. After all, even the leader of the Akatsuki had asked all of them to beware of this group, trained and bred by the Lady Oracle herself, they were bound to be a challenge.
Seemingly not noticing the tension in the air, Jubei continued to introduce the rest of the 10 gate guardians even while one of them (the youngest girl) knelt beside Naruto and started healing his eyes without being told to.
“Kazeha Akiko. (2)” This time, a teenage girl (around the age of 16 or 17) with wild, spiky red hair tamed slightly by a long braid dangling down her back, deep blue eyes stepped forward. She wore a small, skintight tank top and very short shorts followed by tough looking boots to finish off her looks. All the while, she smiled brightly at the four, leaving the Akatsuki members wondering why she seemed to be in an eternally happy mood. Akiko also had a very unusual weapon strapped onto her back - it was a giant boomerang, almost as long as she was tall.
“Raitei Koushiro. (3)” A nod was all that was received from a honey-brown haired boy with a blue cap on top of his head, stormy blue eyes, wearing a blue and black jumpsuit, and white gloves on each hand. From his choice of clothes, you would automatically expect him to be suffering from some sort of cold or something.
“Raitei Hikari. (4)” Wearing similar clothing to the previous boy (blue and black jacket, cotton blue skirt, and white gloves), this girl (whom had the same honey-brown hair and storm blue eyes) tied a long bandana around her head instead of a cap.
“Kaiba Mishizu. (5)” A blue haired girl (wearing a lopsided hat) bowed slightly in a formal introduction. Her military looking, high-coloured, deep green, short-sleeved jacket covered her blue, long sleeve shirt and shorts, followed by long, blue boots reaching as high as her thigh. Her pale face (though no where as white as Jubei’s skin) stoically stayed in a frozen state of neutral and blank expression, expressing nothing she felt or think.
“Shinzo Yami. (6)” This boy seems like a slightly younger version of Itachi himself (with ebony black hair and pale skin), if only you ignore his vibrant violet eyes that practically glowed under the sunlight, and the strange, intricate tattoo on the left side of his face as well as the strange black mark under his right eye (that looks almost like mascara). Like Mishizu, Yami seem to have a permanently neutral expression on his face also. Wearing the black, high collared, tight, long sleeve shirt and pants, it literary made Yami look and feel like his name’s definition – dark.
“Oniyoubu Maya. (7)” An even younger girl, probably in her early teens straightened and bowed slightly. Her entire face was covered by bandages (including most of her hair); the only parts of her face that were clearly visible are her pale green eyes. The only parts of her mid-night black hair visible were tied into a high pony tail, escaping the bandages around the top of her head to sway curly down the back of her head. She was wearing a strange garb - long cloth covering their throats, sleeveless shirt with a long sleeve jumper underneath, a long cloth wrapped around their waists, thick tracksuit pants underneath their clan embezzled waist toga, and short metal armbands on both wrists.
“Ryuji Katana. (8)” A very short, brown haired boy with piercing brown eyes, looking of the age of only 8 or 7 years old, stepped forward confidently, glaring for all his worth at the taller Akatsuki members. He wore some sort of traditional samurai attire – slippers instead of Ninja shoes, a slightly large coat, with flames decorating the bottom of the coat and tattered symbols of his clan on the sleeves. On both his arms, he has tied the Air village emblem on them and he carries around at 4 visible swords, two tied to his sides and two on his back.
“Kataichi Tori. (9)” Another young boy of around 9 or 10 years of age stepped forward unafraid, grinning widely at their opponents with naïve innocence. Wearing an old and tattered, green and red shirt as well as a red, 3-quater-length, red pants, the boy looks as dangerous as a newly born kitten. But all the Akatsuki members were still wary, even of this young an opponent. After all, their leader had specifically told them NOT to underestimate any of the Gate Guardians, and even with such a young opponent, they refuse to let their guard down.
“And Last but not least, Dokudes Seiko. (10)” The young girl who had knelt down and healed Naruto’s eyes, stood up straight and glared at the all the Akatsuki members with an icy, hateful look. Though considerably younger than the rest of the group, just her name had spun a tingle of fear down Kisame and Deidara’s spines. This was the heir to the Dokudes Clan, arguably one of the most powerful clans of the Hidden Air village and considered the most deadly kind of people alive. Though just a child, sometimes, Seiko could become the strongest and most ruthless of all 10 Gate Guardians, definitely not one to be underestimated, no matter what the cost.
xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx
xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx
With 10 new warriors standing on Naruto’s side, against 4 of the strongest Missing Nins in existence, the tension in the air grew as time slowly ticked by. With all the introductions over and done with, there really was only one thing left to do – to fight.
Slowly taking this time to gather himself and swallowing a solider pill that Seiko had so kindly given him, Naruto found himself in the centre of a standstill. However, unlike the time when he was still back in the Hidden Air Village, he no longer felt inferior to all his peers, especially those that surround him today. He no longer felt weak when compared to them, and most of all, he no longer feared to lose their acceptance or respect. He was the Uzumaki heir, it is his responsibility to rule Kuunoki in the future, and though he does not wish to do so, he refuse to shy away from his duties. This situation just turned out to be the first and best practice run he could use before the real thing.
“Jubei. You fight against Itachi.” Naruto firmly ordered. Though he had never really taken a formal leadership role before in his entire life, after his experience within team 7 as well as how he was forced to take control of the situation only hours earlier, Naruto felt confident enough that his decision was the correct path to take. He knew that Jubei was the strongest out of all 10 Gate Guardians at the moment, and would definitely have the best chance at defeating the Uchiha prodigy.
Hearing screams in the distance, Naruto directed his gaze at the remaining snake summons that were still ravaging Konoha even as he speaks. “Akiko! Take care of those blasted snakes before fighting against Deidara.”
Gaining more and more confidence in his orders and the logic of his thought patterns, Naruto continued to give out commands to the 10 Gate Guardians. He wasn’t afraid of them anymore, and more importantly, they were here to protect him. As the Uzumaki heir, it is their duty to follow his orders. And not only that, this could be the major turn of event that Konoha has been waiting for. Naruto would not lose this chance to defeat both the Akatsuki and Orochimaru. Anything or anyone threatening his home (Konoha) would be dealt with in the most brutal way possible. And he wasn’t going to let this chance go to waste, even if it meant calling in the cavalry from Kuunoki.
“Yami, you’re opponent is Sasori of the Red Sand. Mishizu, you’re fighting against Kisame. Seiko! Take care of Kabuto (the Dokudes Half breed) and Orochimaru. Katana and Tori secure the Northern borders; don’t let any more Sound Ninjas invade Konoha! Hikari and Koushiro secure the Western Borders and take care of any other invaders within Konoha. Maya! You stay with me!”
A loud chorus of “Hai, Naruto-sama!” and instantly, everyone leapt into action. Maya took a strong hold of Naruto himself before both jumping away from the scene, heading in the opposite direction of where everyone else scattered.
It wasn’t that Naruto didn’t want to fight but even he knew that he shouldn’t continue to push himself while he was still recovering, not just from Chakra exhaustion but also from the massive use of the Yochigan. Due to this state of vulnerability, Naruto had no choice but to keep at least one of the 10 Guardians by his side. However, he was glad that Maya was the one to accompany him; she had always been more of a defensive and back-up fighter than the rest of the group, making her the best choice to protect him out of all of them.
xxx XXX xxx
Jubei had used his teleportation rings to ambush Itachi and before the Uchiha prodigy knew what was happening, they were both stranded some where far away in the surrounding forest of Konoha, at least a few kilometres away from the central village hub.
xxx XXX xxx
Kisame and Mishizu had leapt away, running towards the largest mass of water within the Leaf village – the man-made canal (11).
xxx XXX xxx
Akiko had gleefully yelled at Deidara to “hold on for a second” before pulling the massive boomerang off her back, taking aim and swinging it with all her force. The giant Boomerang sped through the air in the general direction of the three remaining snakes. Once it had reached its destination, it suddenly started glowing an unnatural aqua (blue-green) colour. With its surface still glowing, the boomerang seemingly sliced through all three snake’s neck with an easy arc, simultaneously destroying the remaining snake summons in one single breath. It was a magnificent and yet terrifying sight.
Akiko just grinned happily all through out the procession before she finally lifted her arm up in a slight gesture just in time to grab hold of the returning Boomerang. “Now, we can begin. Thank you for waiting, ne!” She yelled in cheerfulness, completely unaware of the fear and awe she struck in many of the Leaf and Sound Shinobis in this battle that had witnessed what she did.
“This will certainly be fun. Mn.” Deidara grunted before mentally ordering his giant clay bird to fly higher still.
Akiko, not to be outdone, simply dropped her boomerang onto the ground. Once it had landed haphazardly onto the flat earth, she stepped confidently on top of it. “Rise.” She commanded in her most serious tone of voice this entire day (of which still sounded as if it had more amusement and cheer than a usual serious command). As if heeding its master’s orders, the horizontal boomerang suddenly started rising into the air, pushed up by a concentration of air particles and wind force. “Two can play this game, Deidara of Iwagakure (Stone Village).” And with that said, Akiko, standing nonchalantly on her boomerang flew to pursuit her prey, Deidara of the Akatsuki.
xxx XXX xxx
When the orders were given, Katana had instantly run off towards the Northern front of Konoha, his blood already boiling in eagerness to fight, to kill, to slaughter. Without acknowledging his best friends cry (Tori), Katana efficiently and quietly leaped onto the destroyed rooftops of many Konoha buildings, killing any invader Shinobi that stood in his way by slicing them into multiple pieces even before they could blink. Katana wasn’t known as the fastest warrior in all of Kuunoki for nothing.
xxx XXX xxx
Tori, having been abandoned by his friend – Katana, due to the fact that he was obviously slower than Katana, decided to cheat a little in catching up with his friend. “Wait for me! Katana!” Tori yelled, even while he clapped his hands together and slammed it back down onto the ground. In that instant, Tori had made a pact with the Earth itself, it would assist him in whatever he endeavoured and in return he would use his Chakra to heal the earth itself. The Kataichi family has always had an affiliation with mother earth and as such, many people within the Kuunoki considered them to be nature’s warriors. But even as Nature’s warriors, they were powerful, especially when they had the aid of the very Earth itself.
With a sudden grumbling sound from the underneath the ground, a giant stone hand rose from the ground underneath Tori, lifting the boy up even while the rest of the Earth golem revealed itself to all bystanders. “That way! Pet! That way!” Tori cheerfully pointed in the direction that Katana had ran off to, and his ‘pet’, the Earth golem instinctively followed the little boy’s orders. Giant feet stepped carefully forward, treading around Shinobis belonging to Konoha and unceremoniously stepping on Shinobis that invaded Konoha. How the earth golem would recognise who belonged to where, even Tori didn’t know and didn’t really care to know. It was all part of the intricacies that is mother Earth.
xxx XXX xxx
When Katana had leapt off towards the Northern borders of Konoha, both Hikari and her twin brother, Koushiro, too, had leapt towards the Western front of the Leaf village. They were in no real hurry to get there as Katana was, but simultaneously, they were taking their time to kill off any enemy ninja that they saw. It was easy pickings for the Lightning twins as all they had to do was shock the enemies with a high voltage pass, and instantly, their opponents would be dead, bodies completely fried.
xxx XXX xxx
Seiko could feel her fury and confused jumble of emotion struggling against each other from within her heart. Naruto-sama had ordered her to take care of Yakushi Kabuto (the Dokudes half breed) using whatever means necessary. And if this half-breed proved himself to be too much trouble, well, it was her duty to kill him. But... but he was her cousin after all, even if he didn’t know it. Their mothers had been sisters, even though the previous generation didn’t really get along very well. Her own mother had been the clan leader as well as a Gate Guardian. It was by her mother’s hand that Kabuto’s mother was killed. Now, it was her turn to finish what her mother didn’t, to kill off all threads of her Aunt’s betrayal.
Half-breed or not, Seiko knew she could never forgive Kabuto for working with that sleazy snake Summoner – Orochimaru, but at the same time, she had never killed one of her own before. She had never been forced to kill another Dokudes. This indecision plagued her from the moment she was told by the Lady Oracle that she would have unfinished business to deal with and was given the permission to deal with it as she sees fit. And now, it was all Seiko’s decision whether Yakushi Kabuto lives or dies, whether her cousin deserved to live like a living member of the Dokudes clan, or die like his mother, a traitor and escapee from Kuunoki.
xxx XXX xxx
While the other three Akatsuki members had disappeared to where their new battle grounds were, Sasori of the Red Sands opted to stay exactly where he was. There was no point for him to go anywhere. Why should he, he could fight here just as easily as he could fight anywhere. And really, it was just too bothersome for him to move.
Before him, Yami looked on with an impassive expression on his face. That is, until the boy finally spoke. “Sasori of the Red Sands, are you going to reveal your true self or are you going to continue to hide behind that puppet’s body?”
xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx
xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx (Itachi Vs Jubei)
Itachi stared impassively at Jubei for several seconds. Both hadn’t moved a single inch since the moment they had been transported to this new area of battlefield, some kilometres away from the Hidden Leaf Village centre. It was as if both combatants were at a standstill even before they physically fought. Finally, Itachi decided to break the tension, eyes narrowing at the gently smiling visage of his opponent.
“Why are you here, Dokudes Jubei? You would be the last person to defend the Leaf. Like myself, you also have a grudge against this village.” Itachi calmly stated, eyes curious but never fully demanding.
Jubei gave off a musical laugh in response, as if taunting Itachi’s curiosity. After some seconds of chuckling, the light, violet haired teen finally settled down enough to answer Itachi’s inquiry. “My, my. Why so curious all of a sudden, Itachi-kun? And why so formal? After all, to the Kuunoki, you are considered one of our kin, being the disciple of her highness, Yuuki-hime herself. You don’t have to address me so formally, just Jubei or Jubei-kun will do.” The young man rambled without ever truly answering Itachi’s original question.
Itachi’s eyes narrowed even further. “Are you jealous? I heard from Yuuki-... hime that you were going to be her disciple when you grew up more. Was it because she only taught me? Is that why you’re here? For revenge?” Itachi continued to taunt back.
On the other hand, Jubei simply chuckled heartily again at Itachi’s insinuation and accusation. “Oh. Is that what you truly think, Itachi-kun? It may be true that I had been promised to become Yuuki-sama’s apprentice at one point in time, but after she didn’t return. Well...” He shrugged nonchalantly. “I was transferred into the care of Kaga-san, the only living Shadow master left.” Jubei concluded with an icy gaze in his eyes while the smile never left his passive face.
Itachi tensed at this pronunciation. Neither he nor any of the Akatsuki members knew that Kaga had taken any apprentices. No one had imagined that the last Shadow Master would risk his family’s techniques on outsiders. And since Kaga had never gotten married nor had any children, many had simply assumed that he wish to bring his bloodline to the death with him. This was why all had been surprised when that Nara boy was able to perform the Kageho (Shadow Walk) (12) technique. By all rights, the Jutsu belonged to Kaga and only Kaga himself.
The last shadow master was the only person in the world known for instantaneous transportation and transmutation (13) of shadows. And now, that Nara boy was able to perform one of his most famous transportation jutsu know to the shinobi world. This also explained (in Itachi’s mind) how Jubei was able to transmute his rings into whatever shape or size he wanted it to become, as well as use it like a transportation instrument.
It suddenly dawned on the Uchiha prodigy that they may be the challenge that he had been looking for since the night his parents (and the rest of his clan) had died. Ever since that moment of triumph, Itachi had been left feeling as if there was no one left to challenge him, no one who was of equal standing to his power but now... This was part of the reason why he had left Sasuke alive, so that the boy would grow powerful in the future and challenge him. It was also another reason why he had joined Akatsuki in the first place. For the thrill, the excitement, the adrenalin rush of battling against powerful foes; this was what made Itachi feel truly alive, in the midst of a battlefield. And now, standing in front of him nonchalantly may be the most challenging opponent he has yet to face. Itachi couldn’t wait.
“Enough babbling. Let’s fight.” With this response from Itachi’s monotone voice, the battle began. Finishing off some lightning quick hand seals, Itachi released several, small fireballs flying at Jubei at high speeds. “Katon: Housenka no Jutsu! (Fire Element: Fire Flower Technique!)”
Jubei didn’t move a single step to dodge the flaming projectiles. Instead, several golden rings quickly left his body (from his fingers, wrists, neck and so forth) to form a sort of barrier between him and the oncoming assaults. And when the fireballs finally impacted against the central part of the rings, they suddenly disappeared without a trace, leaving Jubei completely unharmed.
Sensing an attack coming from his right, Itachi quickly dodged. Landing in a safe place, he looked back in time to see that somehow, his own attack (the Fire Flower Technique) were somehow transported to a direction behind him via the suddenly appeared rings that now floated above the ground (directly behind where he had been standing only minutes ago). The fire itself had fizzled away, leaving only the revealed shuriken stabbing off the ground where it had landed haphazardly.
/I see. The rings act like multiple transportation devices. When something travels into one of the rings, they reappear from another ring. So any projectile thrown at him, he’ll just use his rings to throw it back at his opponent. And the rings can resize themselves into whatever shape or size he wish them to be... This is an incredible ability – an absolute defence in its own right. Nothing can get close to him./ Itachi thought to himself as he analysed the results of his first attack.
Trying his luck again, Itachi quickly performed another jutsu, this time, aiming it directly at the violet haired teen with an intense Chakra concentration, hoping to force the rings to break under the pressure. “Katon! Gokakyuu no Jutsu! (Fire Element: Grand Fireball Technique!)” The giant ball of concentrated flames flew towards Jubei, burning and blasting anything that stood in its way.
Jubei continued to smile, not moving an inch while watching the approaching flame asteroid with nonchalance and ease. As if by a silent command, a golden suddenly appeared in between its master and the approaching attack, enlarging itself until it was at least 3 metres long in diameter before starting to turn in a clockwise direction. The ring spun around so fast that it created a slight wind tunnel, sucking everything into its centre, including the rapidly approaching giant fireball. As quickly as the fireball was created, it (and its power) was quickly absorbed into the centre of the ring, sucked right in like a vacuum.
As he watched the situation unfold, Itachi managed to narrow his Sharingan eyes in irritation before rapidly jumping up high in the air, just barely avoiding the massive force of flames and fire spurt forth from another ring that had suddenly appeared behind him. Landing some distances away, Itachi stood up tall before contemplating his next move.
/Hm. Weapons and other projectiles are useless against him. Ninjutsu doesn’t seem to work on him either. So now, I only have either Genjutsu or Taijutsu left./ Itachi thought to himself, further deciphering any weaknesses he can detect with his Sharingan eyes. To the Uchiha prodigy, it was truly amazing watching how the concentration of chakra could manipulate the molecular particles that make up the golden rings in the first place.
During its small size, the rings are made up of very tight-nit, compacted molecular particles squashed together to create a metallic substance that is incredibly hard. This coupled with the continually flowing chakra in between the particles holding them together makes the entire substance one of the hardest (if not the hardest) substance in the world. However, when the rings are enlarged or stretched across a large distance, the space between molecular particles is all spread out. At the same time however, the amount of Chakra flowing continuously within the rings remain the same, never loosing any due to time or the shift in structure.
Overall, Itachi’s conclusion on the rings as a weapon of choice is highly impressive. But what’s even more impressive is that Jubei doesn’t have to physically touch the rings to control them. In most instances, one would assume Jubei to be some kind of puppeteer (like Sasori), using Chakra lines to control a weapon of some sort. But in Jubei’s case, it’s completely different. Due to the enhanced skill in Chakra manipulation (without the use of touch) learnt by all Air Shinobis, they don’t need that particular skill. With a concentrated mind or a sudden release of a silent pulse (air pulse or wavelength), they are able to communicate and control any weapon they so choose to the absolute maximum efficiency. It was amazing and at the same time, it makes the Air Nins one of the most dangerous people to fight.
/Looks like I don’t have much of a choice./ Creating a single hand seal, Itachi slowly lowered his right hand before minutely pointing his index finger towards Jubei’s direction. With the stage set finally, the surrounding forest around the two combatants suddenly simmered away, revealing a catacomb of rugged stonewalls and fire lit in certain areas, highlighting the surrounding surface of walls and earth close to the light, but shadowing everything else. Itachi was just about to make his move when Jubei emitted a quite chuckle from his side of the tomb like structure.
“Ne. Ne? Itachi-kun. Do you really think an Air ninja would fall into such a simple Genjutsu? Do you truly think Genjutsu even affects us?” Another quiet chuckle accompanied the first, instantly decreasing the temperature in the room to several degrees below room temperature.
Itachi narrowed his eyes further and contemplated Jubei’s expression as well as his previous reply. /Genjutsu are advance intellectual Ninjutsu, which controls the chakra flow within the cerebral nervous system of a opponent by attacking one or more of the person’s five senses.(14) However, if the opponent themselves have perfect Chakra control of their own body and mind, they can easily disrupt the control that I set up with the Genjutsu technique. In effect, it would be rendered useless and would probably backfire on me more than anything else./
After a few seconds of thought, the illusion of the catacomb slowly disappeared, leaving behind the original forest environment that had surrounded them in the first place. Curious, Itachi voiced a question that had been plaguing his mind for some time now. “Are all Air nins immune to Genjutsu?”
Jubei shrugged with childish disinterest, gentle smile never leaving his face. “Yeah. We are. It’s a bit hard to invade the minds of people who already have their mind controlled by the 7 councillors. Even your Mangekyo Sharingan doesn’t stand a chance against the mind controlling abilities of the 7 (15).”
“Hm. I see.” Itachi stated monotonously as he lifted his right hand towards his face. Griping the sides on his Akatsuki jacket loosely, he slowly but surely pulled open the buttons holding the sides of the jacket together, revealing the netted black shirt he wore underneath. Once all the buttons were undone, the heavy Akatsuki cloak instantly fell downwards due to the pull of gravity. With the cloak gone, Itachi’s internal assemble is completely revealed. The netted collar black shirt was folded into a white cloth wrapped around the waist followed by slightly-baggy black pants folded into white and black Ninja boots / sandals.
Free of the pesky big cloak, Itachi reached onto his back and unsheathed his old but still incredibly sharp ANBU sword – the same sword he had used to stab his own parents and the rest of the Uchiha clan. Aiming the sword’s tip directly towards Jubei, Itachi took up a formal Taijutsu stance, ready and waiting to attack.
Jubei’s smile turned into a smirk at Itachi’s movements. He chuckled in cynical humour. “Itachi-san. Do you really want to challenge me in hand-to-hand combat? You do know that though I’m only a half-breed, I am still a Dokudes by blood. Or have you forgotten the blood abilities of a Dokudes?”
“I haven’t forgotten. The Dokudes clan are deadly in hand to hand combat, simply because a single touch from their palms or any part of their body will eventually render their opponent death. Due their special bloodline ability and affinity to poisons, anything that is within close enough range automatically becomes their target – a target for death.” Itachi answered calmly, knowing exactly what he is doing.
“And you still want to challenge me in a Taijutsu only fight?” Jubei taunted back, readying his own stance. He left around four rings to surrounding him in the air as a defensive parameter, while the rest of the rings that he had employed shrunk back in size until they all fitted onto his slender fingers (on both hands). Fisting his hands, the golden rings on his fingers glimmered in the sunlight, reinforcing his knuckles with chakra-condensed metal, hardening them even further.
“Yes. I want to know how much of a challenge you are.” Itachi replied back in conclusion. With that said, all conversation between the two combatants halted, both ready and waiting for the next move.
In a blink of an eye, both had suddenly launched themselves at the other. Itachi swung his sword expertly, aiming to slice Jubei’s head right off. Jubei had his floating rings react by blocking the sword, his fist flung forward towards Itachi’s face. Itachi dodged the punch, dropped down to the ground and swung his legs around. Jubei jumped up, avoiding Itachi’s legs before lifting his right fist aiming to slam down on Itachi with it. Back flipping, Itachi landed some distance away from Jubei when his fist impacted the ground causing a great rumble as he shattered the very earth underneath him (16).
/He has Chakra enhanced strength./ Itachi concluded while he efficiently dodged another fist, a flying kick as well as a slicing ring in the air before launching into another assault using his sword. The backwards and forwards of this seemingly seamless tug-of-war continued on for a long while, leaving neither Itachi or Jubei in the clear advantage or disadvantage. Overall, both were tied at a very high standard of fighting, but even they noticed that the other didn’t give it their all. They both knew that each combatant was holding something back, and both were wondering if this battle would ever truly end.
xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx
xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx XXX xxx (This part will be totally about Katana & Tori)
Within a few seconds of high speed running, Katana had already reached the fringes of Konoha village, leaving a trail of massacred and sliced up bodies behind as a sign of his strength. However, upon reaching the main battle fields where hundreds upon hundreds of (to him) obviously brainwashed civilians fighting with Sound forehead protectors strapped to their heads, Katana instantly sneered at the cowardly way the enemy had enslaved others to do his bidding. The situation just came way too close to what the 7 councillors had done almost 50 years ago - when an entire Kuunoki clan had been slaughtered by a young boy simply because the 7 had deigned the clan too difficult to handle and had mind-controlled their youngest descendant to deal out the carnage to his own clan. It brought back childhood nightmares in which his people feared for their very minds, souls and freedom. After all, if you’re not in control of your own body, what right do you have to live?
Pulling his beloved sword out from each side by both his hands, Katana jumped right into the foray between the Sound and Leaf Nins, blocking attacks from both ends as the stupid Leaf Nins had no idea that he was on their side. If it wasn’t for the fact that he knew Naruto-sama would be incredibly angry at him for killing supposed allies, Katana would have off-ed anyone who stood in his way, whether they be Leaf Nins, Sound Nins, Rain Nins or whatever. But with the threat of the Uzumaki Heir’s fury hanging over his head, Katana would rather not risk it. As such, he was careful in his dodges and blocks of any Leaf attacks, while killing off the professional Sound Nins as he went along.
As for the Brainwashed civilians, it only took a forceful kick into one of the younger girl’s stomach, before the girl suddenly turned greener in skin colour and abruptly vomited out a sludge like substance. It was then that Katana discovered the sludge like substance was alive and it was moving. Quickly slicing whatever the entity was, Katana deciphered it to be none other than a very small snake. Looking back at the girl, he noticed that though unharmed, she was weak and unconscious.
Finally figuring out this way of combating their enemy, he yelled over at the Leaf Nins to follow his lead as he replaced his swords before punching and kicking his way into victory, forcing out snakes after snakes directly from the mouths of their host before stepping on them, killing the controlling creature in a single move. Though reluctant at first to follow the strange boy’s lead as none of the Leaf Nins recognised him, but after watching his actual success at disposing the enemy with one strike, most started following his lead and motions, gaining a lot more success than they had previously.
Pausing after he had freed the last of the civilians in the near by surrounding area, Katana suddenly recognised the repetitive vibration of the ground underneath him as being caused by Tori’s Stone Golem. That means that Tori has finally caught up to him. And just as Katana thought that, he heard a cheerful yell from said friend. “KATANA!!! Don’t run so fast! Do you know how much of a hassle it was for poor ‘Okita’ to practically tiptoe all the way here, trying to avoid all the houses and Leaf Nins underneath! We even met a man as big as ‘Okita’ but he was really nice and left us alone when he realised we’re good people!!” Tori continued to ramble on about his adventures through the village of the Leaf, while Katana could only lift an eyebrow in curiosity.
“Okita? Who’s that?” He asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion though he wasn’t willing to show it yet.
Tori gave him a brilliant smile in return. “This Stone golem of course. What else would it be? I named him ‘Okita’!”
Katana sneered in disgust. “What about Ran, or Edo, or Konkon, or any of the other stupid names you’ve given all your other golems? Aren’t they the same anyway?!”
Tori pouted cutely as a ten-year-old boy would. “No, depending on which earth I use, I create a different golem all the time! And since this is Konoha earth, it’s the first time that ‘Okita’ had come out. I thought you knew that, Katana!!” He yelled out, rather annoyed that his best friend would make fun of his new creation.
Shrugging in slight irritation and looking at anyplace other than the boy within the Stone Golem’s hand, Katana snorted. “Whatever. Just built the barrier already will you, and I’ll handle everything from the outside.”
“HAI!” Tori yelled cheerfully from atop his pet’s hand. The stone creature slowly but surely lowered the boy until his master only had to jump down a distance of about 5 inches to reach the ground. Once the young boy was safely standing on his beloved earth, he looked up almost lovingly at his creation. “Otika! Go back and rest, okay! You’ve done well today for your first day! But I don’t need you anymore!” He yelled cheerfully to the impassive stone structure. As if a silent command had been given, the giant stone humanoid statue slowly started to crumble into dust, rock and other sandy particles floating lightly onto the ground below.
Turning around to face his best friend, Tori enthusiastically punched his fist in the air. “Yosh! I’m ready when you are, Katana!”
Katana rolled his eyes in irritation. “About time.” The sword wielding child then started running towards the outskirt forested area of Konoha, jumping over the crumbled walls that once guarded the inner city, running towards the outline of defence in which most of the more dangerous rouge and Sound Nins are located.
“OI! Kid! Get back here. It’s dangerous out there, that’s the first line of defence where the Jounins are killing off the enemy! You’re not supposed to go out there! You’ll die!!!” Genma shouted in caution towards the two new comers. Though he didn’t know who they were and where they come from, but since the two had appeared, their side seems to be winning this war suddenly. And let’s not forget the spectacle with the boomerang only moments ago. So for now, Genma would assume that these two were allies of Konoha and as such, should follow the same rules as other Konoha Shinobis.
Katana didn’t eve pause slightly at Genma’s outburst, and Tori could only look back at the man with a pout on his face. “Don’t worry, Mister. Katana likes being out there. He can take care of himself.” Ignoring any further outburst from the rest of the surviving Leaf Nins (and there weren’t that many to begin with), Tori took a calmly breath before clapping his hands together and slamming both open palms onto the ground behind him. “RISE!!!”
A deep rumbling vibration of the earth underneath Konoha shook the entire foundations of the village, and just as suddenly as the rumbling noise began, a huge wall started rising out of the earth, replacing the many parts of damaged wooden walls that originally surrounded Konoha. This new wall of earth and hard stone rose even higher than the original wall, completely cutting off those on the inside of Konoha village and those on the outside (17). All the Shinobis and civilians currently within the city found themselves enclosed completely with no way out at all.
“Now, Katana can have his fun without being interrupted, ne!” Tori shrugged as he rubbed some dirt off his pants, grinning brightly at those around him while they only stared back at him in shock. It isn’t everyday you find someone with enough stamina and Chakra capacity to mould the very earth under your feet to create such a large wall, and especially from a child as young as the one standing before them. It was unheard of. And not only that, Genma could only imagine the precise Chakra control a person will need to manipulate and mould actual particles are sand, dirt and soil in order to form those types of stone creation. This was practically on par with what the first Hokage could do with his special tree-growing jutsu.
The Leaf Shinobi’s awe were abruptly cut off however when suddenly, multiples screams could be heard from the other side of the earth wall where most of the Sound Nins are still situated and where most of the Leaf Jounins are fighting. These human screams continued to fill the air chilling the Leaf Nin’s very bones, while Tori seem to remain completely unaffected by the unholy noise. In fact, he just shrugged and continued to smile as if it was just another normal day in the park. “Wow. By the sound of it, it looks like Katana is having a lot of fun. Oh well, I don’t like all those icky stuff, too much blood.” He blinked innocently at Genma, while Genma’s mouth simply hung open, his worn tooth pick falling down the side of his opened lip.
(End)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Summary on my website. Want to know more about Jubei, go to my website and read.
(2) “Kazeha” translate to ‘wind blade’ in English. Summary on OC, find it on my website.
(3) “Raitei” translate to “Lightning Emperor” and “Koushiro” translate to something like ‘son of light’. Summary on OC, find it on my website.
(4) “Raitei translate to “Lightning Emperor” and “Hikari” translate to “light”. Summary on OC, find it on my website.
(5) “Kaiba” translate to “sea horse”. Summary on OC, find it on my website.
(6) “Yami” means ‘dark’. Summary on OC, find it on my website.
(7) “Oniyoubu” means ‘ghost summoner’. Summary on OC, find it on my website.
(8) “Katana” means “sword” or a type of sword. Summary on OC, find it on my website.
(9) “Kataichi” translate into something like “Hard Earth.” Summary on OC, find it on my website.
(10) “Dokudes” translate into “poison handlers”. Summary on OC, find it on my website.
(11) This was the same canal that Itachi and Kisame fought against Asuma, Kurenai, Kakashi and Gai in the Naruto Cannon series.
(12) For those of you who don’t remember, this is an original jutsu first used in Faith in Humanity Chapter 16, where Shikamaru fought against Temari.
(13) “Transmutation.” A word I copied from Full Metal Alchemist. It basically means the process in which a person changes the very properties of a material. It can be as simple as heating liquid water and turn it into gaseous form, or it can be as complex as collecting particles from the air and moulding the atoms together to form something completely different.
(14) Explanations coming from Naruto Cannon series, book 29, Chapter 259 where Jiraiya was explaining the differences to Naruto.
(15) As mentioned before, why the 7 councillors are so feared in the Kuunoki stems mainly from the fact that they can take over a person’s mind and control their body as they wish.
(16) Think of what Tsunade is capable of when she fought against Kabuto.
(17) Inspired by Full Metal Alchemist when Izumi built that wall to stop the water from the over-flowing river from crushing the town.
So, there you have it. Next chapter, more fights and more descriptions about the OCs and their personality. I’ll also be talking a bit about what happens to the other Naruto Characters but mostly, it’ll be an action packed chapter. In fact, I think there’ll be several action packed chapters coming up. Hope you all enjoy! And remember to review! I love reading comments from all of you.
By the way, if possible, I would like to inquiry if anyone is interested in beta-ing the up-coming chapters of Restoration of Faith. I’ve already got one (THANK YOU! BIG AZN DADDY!) but I’m been use to having two at the same time reviewing my work. And somehow, I’ve lost contact with Kage_Naruto after he changed his email address. So if anyone is interested, email me (shella “at symbol” iinet. net. Au) – without the spaces. Thanks!